https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories daily 0.75 2026-04-02 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-dubroy-sacrifice-billy monthly 0.5 2026-03-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a4eaee7-6b8e-40ec-8f4d-a92699ad8c69/BillyTitle.jpg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bb1867a0-ca8e-4bc7-bea3-9642e882f506/Billy.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Sergeant Joseph William “Billy” Dubroy. Photo: Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ba55e849-0944-406c-9009-761db9c53f0c/TheCrew.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Wing Commander Richard Kemp “Dicky” Wildey, Pilot: Pilot Officer James Murphy, “Second Dickey” Pilot; Sergeant Frederick Esmond Perry Burtonshaw, Flight Engineer; Flight Lieutenant Alfred “Fred” Brindley, Rear Gunner. Photos: findagrave.com, newspapers.com, and ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d047d935-6e69-44b2-b1bb-2320aee3cde9/Wildey.jpg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Billy Dubroy couldn’t ask for a more competent and experienced crew leader than Wing Commander Dicky Wildey. Before his command of 10 Squadron, he flew with 51 and 78 Squadrons and then was posted to RAF Bomber Command Headquarters Staff. Dead centre in the front row is Air Vice Marshal A.Coningham, DSO,MC,DFC,AFC, Officer Commanding Bomber Command. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/013e5d8c-dd83-4109-af54-160760e5a0bf/67d6fca904f1496418d07870_Halifax_3.jpg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out A Handley Page Halifax Mk II in similar configuration to the W1058. Billy Dubroy’s position was in the top turret with an extraordinary 360º view. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c7efd09-aca3-4b23-969c-723421ca590a/TakeOff.jpg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out A Halifax of Bomber Command takes off into nightfall en route to a bombing raid deep into Germany. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0491dbcb-e457-464c-bcec-3992f9e42650/IMG_0020-1.JPG The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Cologne under attack by RAF bombers with the spires of Kölner Dom at left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4590b5f3-e6f3-4d5d-9c57-02ee7a6e916e/Screenshot+2026-03-10+at+10.28.43%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out The Canadian National Telegraph and Cable Company’s office at 93 Sparks street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bebc0073-6b6f-4713-8f7b-3a7fcdcc351d/18408782_542f1bd4-859b-4018-968a-2ef8f7351455.jpeg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out The three were initially buried in the nearby Duisdorf Cemetery, about 20 miles south of Cologne. On 12 April 1947, they were re-interred in the Rheinberg War Cemetery, 50 miles north of Cologne, which holds 3,300 Commonwealth Second World War casualties. The widowed Eileen Wildey took the option of adding a personal inscription to his headstone on collective grave 5.D.16-17, “In loving memory. / The wound is deep / it will not heal; / forget you, Dick, / I never will.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/29cdfc1c-e2a3-4f85-aae6-f3a1f7e62c02/Screenshot+2026-02-26+at+8.31.02%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Billy’s childhood home at 109 Cartier Street at the corner of Waverley Street still exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/29506400-12c5-494d-8fc2-d116fb6c8a77/richard-and-eileen-wildey001.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Dicky Wildey and his wife Eileen after receiving his DFC. Right: Dick (second from left) with pals at 78 Squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8cfc12b7-ef2c-4839-94ec-52f5ab920458/Burtonshaw.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Fred Burtonshaw (second from right in back row) and some of his comrades. Right: the cover of his memorial service program featuring a painting of a Halifax taking off got an op. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ea67c27-6c96-4073-8f43-ad6b18546ef6/Murphy_Patricia.jpg The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant James Wilfred Murphy and his wife, the former Patricia Eileen Gertrude Ryan of London. Image via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e1d22a6e-2425-4c2d-b03f-559135bccb61/Damage.png The Stories - The DuBroy Sacrifice – Billy - Make it stand out Photos of the damaged sustained by Harrison’s Whitley on the March 14, 1941 raid on Rotterdam. Image from ORB https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-stowaway-bride monthly 0.5 2026-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0ca3c15-9f1f-45c9-8fbd-0a99288ca726/TheStowawayBrideTitle2.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c44fee3-7a5b-4698-ad57-d375ad141a72/Crew.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The crew of Dakota FD773 (Left to right): Aircraft commander: Captain Nat Tooker, a pilot and parachutist before the war. He went to high school in Kuling, China where his father was a missionary; Co-pilot: Captain Burton Craig Miller, also a civilian pilot before the war and Radio Officer John Donald McIntyre, all civilians. Neither Miller nor McIntyre survived Ferry Command and the war. Burt Miller was killed a few months later along with the ferry crew of a Martin Marauder near Puerto Rico and McIntyre was killed almost two years to the day later in the crash of a Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquito near Amherst, Nova Scotia (the Mosquito parted with a wing following a dive). Photos: Tooker, newspapers.com; Miller and McIntyre: CASPIR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/84cf79ba-7079-4a23-b63e-8a062761a00d/School_Hospital.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out As with so much of Ottawa’s Victorian past, the buildings of Gordon Darling’s young life no longer exist. Darling came into the world at Ottawa Maternity Hospital (right) at the eastern end of Rideau Street in Ottawa. While it looks like a posh home of one of Ottawa’s lumber barons, it was purpose-built for $18,000.00 as a maternity hospital—perhaps to provide mothers a sense of homeliness. The ladies in attendance at its opening in 1895 were the wives of the who’s-who of Ottawa’s most important leaders — Bronson, Ahearn, Topley, Mutchmor, Wright, McNab, and Lady Aberdeen the wife of the Governor General. Darling attended Borden Public School at the corner of Powell and Bronson Avenues a couple of blocks from his home. Both structures were later demolished to make way for apartments and condominiums. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bcb9d46-09cf-4f01-86d3-deacf807cb8e/FOOTBALL.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The Glebe Collegiate Institute Gryphons junior rugby football team in their blue and gold uniforms pose in November of 1930 in front of their school building with 16-year old Gordon Darling sitting at left. They had just beaten a team from Pembroke in a sudden-death play-off. This qualified them to play against Kingston Collegiate in the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (E.O.S.S.A.A) football final at nearby Lansdowne Park. Darling played outside wing in this, his first year of collegiate rugby football. They won the game 15 to nothing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd9716e9-49f6-475b-9b4e-70ec487605a0/ElmwoodApts.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The Elmwood Apartments on Barrington Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a2ec24f-ab4b-43fe-a2d8-c1ab65924ecc/finch-flight-unkonw.jpg.webp The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out At No. 13 EFTS in St. Eugène, Ontario, Darling learned to fly the Fleet Finch trainer. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2c0f634-ac98-4ffc-825f-51cdcf64acc6/Screenshot+2026-01-26+at+12.15.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The North American Harvard was the mainstay of advanced single-engine training in Canada throughout the war and for twenty years after. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c0c1f26-d4af-4f9d-9ca6-8fc9fc031aa6/Darling.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Sergeant Gordon Darling poses for a studio portrait after earning his pilot’s wings on Dominion Day, 1942. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2cf7c4d-5be8-4886-97e0-61d6d9226703/Marian.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The only image of Marian Elizabeth Bowers to be found online. Her large eyes framed by delicate features command your attention and did so for many newspaper writers in 1943. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/60682917-8f5c-447f-b71b-1c9bb036d96b/Screenshot+2026-01-26+at+2.42.10%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The Miles Master trainer was used by 7 (P) AFU to bring pilots up to speed again following the month since getting their wings. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d087f3ef-0e6f-47ac-bdb9-6574dcd7daa4/Watton.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out RAF Watton in Norfolk was an important air base in the Second World War housing training, fighter and bomber units. The photo on the left was taken just a couple of months before Darling’s arrival at 7 (P) AFU, while the photo on the right was taken 12 months later when it was being used as a major overhaul depot for B-24 Liberators of the USAAF. What a difference a year made. Photos: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/636ee164-9b38-40d1-bd18-2b8cdc9cf4a3/Botha.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Blackburn Botha Mk. I of No. 3 School of General Reconnaissance, RAF Squires Gate, out over the Irish Sea. Photo by Charles E. Brown, from the RAF Museum collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e1aef9b-5bbb-403b-963d-306c5d6d18fb/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+3.58.33%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool with the Irish Sea in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b1b8dc0-b5e0-41b2-a362-fc8c8a022eea/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+2.56.45%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out A newly-qualified pilot is introduced to the Supermarine Spitfire, a Mark IIB, P8315, by his instructor at No. 61 Operational Training Unit, Rednal, Shropshire. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ff8b4b5-7afa-4caf-9be3-774b841e3840/Screenshot+2026-01-02+at+2.26.22%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out If Marian was caught, she would have to contend with the likes of no-nonsense Gander Station Guards John Squires of St. John’s, Newfoundland [left] and John Freemen of Trinity Bay. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb943aeb-156a-4dd4-8387-3c255f206446/Screenshot+2026-01-05+at+11.46.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Marian’s story was picked up worldwide in early March, 1943, but Canadian newspapers gave it front page status. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6205ea6-cb9e-4aca-bc3f-5f3fdac1e02c/Beatrix.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Beatrice Fairfax was a cultural touchstone of the early 20th Century in America — made into a movie, a popular song and a series of saccharine comic books for teenage girls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bc0d35d-d4c0-411b-b4e5-41a170a9f7a4/Royal_Air_Force-_Operations_by_the_Photographic_Reconnaissance_Units%2C_1939-1945._CH10847.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out A Type F.8 Mark II (20-inch lens) aerial camera being loaded into the vertical position in a Supermarine Spitfire PR Mark IV at Benson, Oxfordshire. By the time this photograph was taken, the F.8 had been largely supplanted in operational service in the United Kingdom by the Type F.52, and the aircraft pictured may have been operating in a training role. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ac400a5-134d-4dd3-a8a9-0f14119afd96/Pinch.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Sergeant Bruce Edward Pinch, after his wings ceremony at St. Hubert. A few weeks later, he was groomsman at Gordon Darling’s wedding. Photo via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a43e93b0-6c67-4b17-9151-c05bd9c4432c/Screenshot+2026-01-31+at+2.15.52%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out RAF Sharjah in the Second World War, so typical of stations visited by Pinch on his journey to join 681 Squadron in RAF Dum Dum, Calcutta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/438466af-f80b-4434-8614-aa326517a364/Clarky.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Walter “Clarky” Clark. Image via findagrave.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70a4665e-c9dc-46ab-8c4a-8d971d1d198c/Map2.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out The route travelled by Sergeant Bruce Pinch was to be followed by Gordon Darling a month later. Map: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d6d80ae-9d40-4e3d-a6e0-7160a45739df/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+5.58.20%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Spitfire PR IVt. Model by Pavel S at https://www.warbirds-blog.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfba97b6-cdc3-4e28-a3d6-5d75305917eb/spitfires-at-gibraltar.webp The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Spitfire “trops” parked at RAF North Field, Gibraltar. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c67457d-3903-4d0c-b014-c0869a517f7f/Screenshot+2026-01-24+at+12.40.34%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Marian and her husband Paul settled in Springfield after the war in this simple house, likely built for returning servicemen and their families https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2ec1cf00-845c-4601-a0e0-e4f8304d6bcf/Screenshot+2026-02-06+at+8.47.06%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Paul Lidstrand (right), lefts take a refresher flying course at Westover Air Force Base in the summer of 1948. Image via Springfield Daily News, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/455763b0-87ff-4e31-9785-03adfc207669/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+3.53.55%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Tooker as a competitive “fancy diver” in East St. Lewis, Illinois. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f2ad493-4cc0-46af-8c49-d7065579876f/Screenshot+2026-01-29+at+10.47.00%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Nat Tooker is pictured here with his second fiancé, Ottawa-born Mary Elizabeth (Bette) McNally https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e948b16-f13a-47f7-8a3e-f728b13621d8/TookerGroup.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out A group of uniformed civilian aircrew working for RAF Ferry Command pose formally with Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, commander of Ferry Command in front of a Ferry Command Liberator. Captain Nat Tooker is circled. Photo thanks to Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b34dc340-6759-4e05-847e-05113aee2705/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+8.58.59%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Tooker, second from right, was the baritone in the “Ocaladonians”, a barbershop quartet from Ocala, Florida. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b67c3bc0-3e25-4119-b4b7-c0316b1afee2/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+9.03.02%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Captain Burton Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a3f22d7-c84d-453a-8783-935b50f6dbe2/McIntryeDiana.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out John Donald McIntyre and his wife, British-born Diana Dolores Richardson Images via ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/524a8a35-b392-4580-ad18-23291330f714/McIntyreGorup.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out A wonderful group photo of the pilots, navigators and radiomen of the first seven Lockheed Hudson medium bombers and indeed the first aircraft to be delivered across The Atlantic Ocean (November 10-11, 1940). That ferry operation was an enterprise that was then managed by Canadian Pacific Railway. The crews were composed of three men each — pilot, copilot, and radio operator/navigator. The organization primarily employed civilian crews to maintain the appearance of U.S. neutrality before that country formally entered the war. These crews pioneered the transatlantic air routes, establishing the necessary infrastructure, including weather and radio communications stations. John McIntyre, the radio operator for the delivery of C-47 Dakota FD773 (circled) was one of those very first adventurous crews —more than two years before the voyage of FD733. Photo thanks to Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2125f81-3573-44bc-8183-1f3c81c5bd8d/FraserGroup.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Another group of civilian Lockheed Hudson transatlantic ferrymen with J. R. Fraser, the navigator aboard FD773, circled. The lead aircraft, with Fraser aboard, was piloted by Captain Humphrey Page (far right). Photo thanks to Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c2446ae-3bac-465f-9085-47ee4752698a/Screenshot+2026-02-07+at+2.14.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Bruce Pinch on the occasion of his wings parade in St. Hubert, Québec. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eaee35e6-2a06-4346-9bc4-213e9b2257b2/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+11.37.25%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Burton Wilder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69c650d1-0103-483d-a559-17e0dce1af0d/F-84+in+Korea+1951+-+Burton+E+Wilder+kneeling+at+left.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Burton Wilder (Front Row left) with the 522nd Fighter Squadron, at Taegu, South Korea in the spring of 1951. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93aa2eb6-4e46-46f6-8d41-dbf641d3896e/Screenshot+2026-02-03+at+12.09.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Paul Delbert Lidstrand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22b24d03-69b1-4a05-bedd-6feb35c339d0/Screenshot+2026-01-13+at+6.59.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Following Tooker’s delivery to Prestwick, Douglas C-47 Dakota FD773 (above) was transferred to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and operated under the civilian registration G-AGGB. Photo via gruppoflachi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3e2be95-afed-4076-96b4-968bb5d8d119/1904.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out Dakota C-47 FD773 in Israeli Defence Force markings as IDF/1409 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0a52070-a8db-48f4-ba19-dfac0b1ec7ae/4X-ATA_Hadi_Or_collection.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out 4X-ATA at Eilat, Israel, between February 1951 and January 1952. In this photo, the aircraft has EL AL titles, while the side retains the livery (paint scheme) of Universal Airways which was owned by Jewish interests in South Africa from the late 1940s until EL AL acquired Universal in fall 1950. Photo in collection of Hadi Orr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/311711fc-6ca6-43e2-9bd9-4449edf1732d/4X-AEO_Arkia_%2C_R._Keating-_John_Wegg.jpg The Stories - THE STOWAWAY BRIDE - Make it stand out FD-773 with Arkia as 4X-AEO https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lepouse-clandestine monthly 0.5 2026-03-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac77aced-8018-45e7-b212-734fb3e8f4f4/L%27epouse_Clandestine.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c44fee3-7a5b-4698-ad57-d375ad141a72/Crew.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out L'équipage de Dakota FD773 (de gauche à droite) : Le Commandant : Capitaine Nat Tooker, pilote et parachutiste avant la guerre. Il a fréquenté le secondaire à Kuling, en Chine, où son père était missionnaire ; Copilote : Capitaine Burton Craig Miller, également pilote civil avant la guerre, et Officier radio John Donald McIntyre, tous des civils. Ni Miller ni McIntyre n'ont survécu au Ferry Command et à la guerre. Burt Miller a été tué quelques mois plus tard avec l'équipage de livraison d'un Martin Marauder près de Porto Rico, et McIntyre a été tué presque deux ans jour pour jour plus tard dans le crash d'un de Havilland Mosquito construit au Canada près d'Amherst, en Nouvelle-Écosse (le Mosquito a perdu une aile après une piquée). Photos : Tooker, newspapers.com ; Miller et McIntyre : CASPIR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/84cf79ba-7079-4a23-b63e-8a062761a00d/School_Hospital.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Comme tant d'autres éléments du passé victorien d'Ottawa, les bâtiments de la jeune vie de Gordon Darling n'existent plus. Darling est venu au monde à l'Hôpital de maternité d'Ottawa (à droite), à l'extrémité est de la rue Rideau à Ottawa. Bien qu'il ressemble à une élégante demeure d'un des barons du bois d'Ottawa, il a été construit exprès pour 18 000,00 $ comme hôpital de maternité — peut-être pour donner aux mères un sentiment de chaleur domestique. Les dames présentes à son ouverture en 1895 étaient les épouses des leaders les plus importants d'Ottawa — Bronson, Ahearn, Topley, Mutchmor, Wright, McNab, et Lady Aberdeen, l'épouse du gouverneur général. Darling a fréquenté l'école publique Borden au coin des avenues Powell et Bronson, à quelques pas de chez lui. Les deux bâtiments ont été démolis plus tard pour faire place à des appartements et des condos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bcb9d46-09cf-4f01-86d3-deacf807cb8e/FOOTBALL.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out L'équipe de rugby junior des Gryphons de l'Institut collégial Glebe, dans leur uniforme bleu et or, posent en novembre 1930 devant leur bâtiment scolaire, avec Gordon Darling âgé de 16 ans assis à gauche. Ils venaient de battre une équipe de Pembroke lors d'un match en supplémentaire. Cela les qualifiait pour affronter les Kingston Collegiate lors de la finale de football de l'Association athlétique des écoles secondaires de l'Est de l'Ontario (E.O.S.S.A.A.) au parc Lansdowne. Darling jouait ailier extérieur lors de cette première année de rugby collégial. Ils ont remporté le match 15 à 0. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd9716e9-49f6-475b-9b4e-70ec487605a0/ElmwoodApts.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Les appartements Elmwood sur Barrington Street à Halifax https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a2ec24f-ab4b-43fe-a2d8-c1ab65924ecc/finch-flight-unkonw.jpg.webp The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out À la No. 13 École de formation élémentaire (EFTS) de St. Eugène, en Ontario, Darling a appris à piloter l'avion d'entraînement Fleet Finch. Photo : ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2c0f634-ac98-4ffc-825f-51cdcf64acc6/Screenshot+2026-01-26+at+12.15.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Le North American Harvard a été le pilier de la formation avancée sur monomoteurs au Canada tout au long de la guerre et pendant vingt ans après. Photo : ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c0c1f26-d4af-4f9d-9ca6-8fc9fc031aa6/Darling.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Le sergent Gordon Darling pose pour un portrait après avoir obtenu ses ailes de pilote le jour de la fête du Dominion, en 1942. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2cf7c4d-5be8-4886-97e0-61d6d9226703/Marian.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out La seule image de Marian Elizabeth Bowers disponible en ligne. Ses grands yeux encadrés de traits délicats attirent votre attention et l'ont fait pour de nombreux journalistes de journaux en 1943. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/60682917-8f5c-447f-b71b-1c9bb036d96b/Screenshot+2026-01-26+at+2.42.10%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out L’avion de formation Miles Master était utilisé par le 7 (P) AFU (Advanced Flying Unit) pour mettre à jour la formation des pilotes depuis l'obtention de leurs ailes. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d087f3ef-0e6f-47ac-bdb9-6574dcd7daa4/Watton.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out La base RAF Watton dans le Norfolk était une importante base aérienne pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Elle abritait des unités d'entraînement, de chasse et de bombardement. La photo à gauche a été prise seulement quelques mois avant l'arrivée de Darling à la 7 (P) AFU, tandis que la photo à droite a été prise 12 mois plus tard, quand elle était utilisée comme dépôt majeur de réparation pour les B-24 Liberators de l'USAAF. Tant de changements en un an. Photos : RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/636ee164-9b38-40d1-bd18-2b8cdc9cf4a3/Botha.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Le Blackburn Botha Mk. I de l'École no 3 de reconnaissance générale, RAF Squires Gate, au-dessus de la mer d'Irlande. Photo de Charles E. Brown, de la collection du RAF Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e1aef9b-5bbb-403b-963d-306c5d6d18fb/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+3.58.33%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out La base de Squire Gate Blackpool, avec la mère d’Irlande en arrière-plan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b1b8dc0-b5e0-41b2-a362-fc8c8a022eea/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+2.56.45%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Un pilote nouvellement qualifié discute avec son instructeur au sujet du Supermarine Spitfire, un Mark IIB, P8315, à la No. 61 Operational Training Unit, Rednal, Shropshire. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ff8b4b5-7afa-4caf-9be3-774b841e3840/Screenshot+2026-01-02+at+2.26.22%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Si Marian était prise au piège, elle devrait affronter des gardes déterminés de la station Gander, John Squires de St. John’s, à Terre-Neuve [à gauche], et John Freemen de Trinity Bay. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb943aeb-156a-4dd4-8387-3c255f206446/Screenshot+2026-01-05+at+11.46.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out L'histoire de Marian a été reprise dans le monde entier au début de mars 1943, mais les journaux canadiens lui ont accordé la une. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6205ea6-cb9e-4aca-bc3f-5f3fdac1e02c/Beatrix.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Beatrice Fairfax était un point de repère culturel du début du XXe siècle en Amérique — adaptée en film, en chanson populaire et en une série de bandes dessinées mielleuses destinées aux adolescentes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bc0d35d-d4c0-411b-b4e5-41a170a9f7a4/Royal_Air_Force-_Operations_by_the_Photographic_Reconnaissance_Units%2C_1939-1945._CH10847.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Appareil photo aérien de type F.8 Mark II (objectif de 20 pouces) en cours de chargement en position verticale dans un Supermarine Spitfire PR Mark IV à Benson, Oxfordshire. Au moment où cette photographie a été prise, le F.8 avait été en grande partie remplacé par le type F.52. L’avion dans cette photo servait probablement pour l'entraînement. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ac400a5-134d-4dd3-a8a9-0f14119afd96/Pinch.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Sergent Bruce Edward Pinch, après sa cérémonie de brevet de pilote à St-Hubert. Quelques semaines plus tard, il était garçon d'honneur au mariage de Gordon Darling. Photo via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a43e93b0-6c67-4b17-9151-c05bd9c4432c/Screenshot+2026-01-31+at+2.15.52%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out La base de RAF Sharjah pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, si typique des bases visitées par Pinch lors de son voyage pour rejoindre l'escadron 681 de la RAF à Dum Dum, Calcutta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/438466af-f80b-4434-8614-aa326517a364/Clarky.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Sergent Walter « Clarky » Clark. Image via findagrave.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70a4665e-c9dc-46ab-8c4a-8d971d1d198c/Map2.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out L'itinéraire emprunté par le sergent Bruce Pinch devait être suivi par Gordon Darling un mois plus tard. Carte : Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d6d80ae-9d40-4e3d-a6e0-7160a45739df/Screenshot+2026-01-03+at+5.58.20%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Spitfire PR IVt. Modèle par Pavel S à https://www.warbirds-blog.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfba97b6-cdc3-4e28-a3d6-5d75305917eb/spitfires-at-gibraltar.webp The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Spitfires adapté au région désertique, stationnés à RAF North Field, Gibraltar. On peut voir les les filtres Vokes sous le nez des Spitfires. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c67457d-3903-4d0c-b014-c0869a517f7f/Screenshot+2026-01-24+at+12.40.34%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Marian et son mari Paul se sont installés à Springfield après la guerre dans cette maison simple, probablement construite pour les militaires rentrant au pays et leurs familles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2ec1cf00-845c-4601-a0e0-e4f8304d6bcf/Screenshot+2026-02-06+at+8.47.06%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Paul Lidstrand (à droite), prend un cours de perfectionnement en vol à la base aérienne de Westover à l'été 1948. Image via Springfield Daily News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/455763b0-87ff-4e31-9785-03adfc207669/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+3.53.55%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Tooker en tant que « plongeur fantaisiste » compétitif à East St. Louis, Illinois. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f2ad493-4cc0-46af-8c49-d7065579876f/Screenshot+2026-01-29+at+10.47.00%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Nat Tooker est photographié ici avec sa deuxième fiancée, Mary Elizabeth (Bette) McNally née à Ottawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e948b16-f13a-47f7-8a3e-f728b13621d8/TookerGroup.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Un groupe d'équipages civils en uniforme travaillant pour le RAF Ferry Command pose formellement avec le maréchal en chef de l'air Sir Frederick Bowhill, commandant du Ferry Command, devant un Liberator du Ferry Command. Le capitaine Nat Tooker est entouré d'un cercle. Photo grâce à Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b34dc340-6759-4e05-847e-05113aee2705/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+8.58.59%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Tooker, deuxième en partant de la droite, était le baryton dans les « Ocaladonians », un quatuor de chanteurs « barbiers » d’Ocala, en Floride. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b67c3bc0-3e25-4119-b4b7-c0316b1afee2/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+9.03.02%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Le Capitaine Burton Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a3f22d7-c84d-453a-8783-935b50f6dbe2/McIntryeDiana.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out John Donald McIntyre et son épouse, Diana Dolores Richardson née en Grande-Bretagne. Images via ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/524a8a35-b392-4580-ad18-23291330f714/McIntyreGorup.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Une magnifique photo de groupe des pilotes, navigateurs et radio-opérateurs des sept premiers bombardiers moyens Lockheed Hudson et en effet des premiers avions livrés par-dessus l’océan Atlantique (10-11 novembre 1940). Cette opération transport était une entreprise alors gérée par le Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique. Les équipages étaient composés chacun de trois hommes — pilote, copilote et opérateur radio/navigateur. L’organisation employait principalement des équipages civils pour maintenir l’apparence de la neutralité américaine avant que ce pays n’entre officiellement en guerre. Ces équipages ont ouvert la voie aux routes aériennes transatlantiques, en établissant l’infrastructure nécessaire, y compris les stations de météo et de communications radio. John McIntyre, l’opérateur radio pour la livraison du C-47 Dakota FD773 (cadré) faisait partie de ces tout premiers équipages aventureux — plus de deux ans avant le voyage de FD733. Photo gracieuseté de Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2125f81-3573-44bc-8183-1f3c81c5bd8d/FraserGroup.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Un autre groupe de ferries transatlantiques civils Lockheed Hudson avec J. R. Fraser, le navigateur à bord de FD773, a survolé en cercle. L'avion de tête, avec Fraser à bord, était piloté par le capitaine Humphrey Page (à l'extrême droite). Photo gracieuseté de Donna McVicar-Kazo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c2446ae-3bac-465f-9085-47ee4752698a/Screenshot+2026-02-07+at+2.14.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Bruce Pinch à l'occasion de la remise de son brevet de pilote à St-Hubert, Québec. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eaee35e6-2a06-4346-9bc4-213e9b2257b2/Screenshot+2026-02-04+at+11.37.25%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Burton Wilder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69c650d1-0103-483d-a559-17e0dce1af0d/F-84+in+Korea+1951+-+Burton+E+Wilder+kneeling+at+left.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Burton Wilder (première rangée à gauche) avec la 522e escadrille de chasse, à Taegu, en Corée du Sud, au printemps 1951. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93aa2eb6-4e46-46f6-8d41-dbf641d3896e/Screenshot+2026-02-03+at+12.09.14%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Paul Delbert Lidstrand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22b24d03-69b1-4a05-bedd-6feb35c339d0/Screenshot+2026-01-13+at+6.59.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out À la suite de la livraison de Tooker à Prestwick, le Douglas C-47 Dakota FD773 (ci-dessus) a été transféré à British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) et a été exploité sous l'immatriculation civile G-AGGB. Photo via gruppoflachi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3e2be95-afed-4076-96b4-968bb5d8d119/1904.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out Dakota C-47 FD773 en marquages de la Force de défense israélienne comme IDF/1409 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0a52070-a8db-48f4-ba19-dfac0b1ec7ae/4X-ATA_Hadi_Or_collection.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out 4X-ATA à Eilat, Israël, entre février 1951 et janvier 1952. Sur cette photo, l'avion porte les titres EL AL, tandis que le côté conserve la livrée (schéma de peinture) d'Universal Airways, qui était détenue par des intérêts juifs en Afrique du Sud de la fin des années 1940 jusqu'à ce qu'EL AL acquière Universal à l'automne 1950. Photo de la collection de Hadi Orr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/311711fc-6ca6-43e2-9bd9-4449edf1732d/4X-AEO_Arkia_%2C_R._Keating-_John_Wegg.jpg The Stories - L’ÉPOUSE CLANDESTINE - Make it stand out FD-773 avec Arkia en tant que 4X-AEO https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/chums monthly 0.5 2026-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d238ba6-fb27-4a0b-88ca-08c5be955dee/ChumsTitle.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d34a3121-2128-4098-8ecb-cb94db30d70a/Screenshot+2025-12-12+at+12.37.35%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Typical of the maps I created for each neighbourhood, the map of Ottawa’s Centretown depicts the more than 800 men and 2 women from Centretown who died in the wars of the 20th century. I created similar maps and a list for each of Centretown, The Gebe, Sandy Hill, Kitchissippi Ward, Old Ottawa South, Lowertown and Old Ottawa East and published them with a story in each of the community’s newspaper. Map by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/285ae7eb-f60a-4380-857a-5173a0fdcbb4/Chums1.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out It was this newspaper clipping from the Ottawa Citizen, February 23, 1943, just a few days after their deaths, that caught my attention. The words “Boyhood Chums Die Overseas” and the wistful, determined and worried looks on their faces seemed to leap from the page. Even now, the looks on their faces speak of a sad fate to come. Photo: Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a530515-fa03-42b6-9615-083db009be47/Chums4.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out A typical series of news pieces for Carl Caldwell fell, as most did, into a set pattern. Initially Caldwell’s mother Gwen sent a photo to the Ottawa Citizen when her son graduated from pilot training in December of 1941. Upon his arrival in Great Britain he cabled his mother that he had arrived safely and she contacted the newspapers to announce it to neighbours and friends (second from left). When she learned that he had survived but had been seriously injured in an airplane accident in May, 1942, she shared that news too (middle). And finally Carl’s death in the same 24-hour period as his best friend Manny Niblock. Clippings from Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/be0d8aeb-61f5-4382-9837-7c5d9f802bc6/Manny.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Manny Niblock’s photo appeared several times in the Ottawa papers. At left, the RCAF gathered the six Ottawa boys at No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School in Macdonald, Manitoba together for a publicity shot which they knew would be a big hit in Ottawa. It also helped to alleviate parental fears that their sons were isolated and homesick. Later, following his graduation and his wings ceremony, his parents proudly announce his accomplishment, followed by another announcement from the Department of Defence about four graduating wireless/air gunners from Ottawa. Then sadly, only a few months later the joint announcement and human interest story of Manny and Carl’s deaths so close together in time and space. Clippings fro Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/506ae3b9-d7e3-41bb-8fb3-e459face86f9/Maccarthy.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Hamilton MacCarthy, prolific and respected monument sculptor. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d22cd34-2c03-46ac-afd6-e41f1cf05195/Statues.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out MacCarthy’s work can be seen from Victoria, British Columbia to Halifax Nova Scotia. Several of his works have been the subject of controversy in the past decade, suffering historical reset. His most famous work (top row) was the statue of Samuel de Champlain, the respected founder of New France. On the bottom row are three other bronze monuments by MacCarthy —Alexander MacKenzie, Canada’s second Prime Minister on Parliament Hill; a bust of General Sir Isaac Brock, hero of the War of 1812, in Brockville, the city named after him; and a monument to Eggerton Ryerson, the one of the creators of the Canada’s public school system which stood in Toronto for more than 100 years. While Ryerson was instrumental in building the public school system, he was also instrumental in creating the Indian residential school system which was one of Canada’s greatest shames. This statue was toppled in 2021 and decapitated. The head ended up on a pike at an Ontario reservation. At right is Coeur de Lion MacCarthy’s Canadian monument icon “Angel of Victory” at Montréal’s Windsor Station. Images via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4438485e-7a6c-4cad-b9e5-f6010d5b83ee/Chums14.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Carl Caldwell and Manny Niblock attended both Elmdale and Devonshire Public Schools. Devonshire was built in 1901 and originally named Breeze Hill Avenue School. When it was expanded in 1920, it was renamed to honour the Duke of Devonshire, the Governor General at the time. Photo via Old Ottawa and Bytown Pics group on Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7180a92c-de75-4e38-86ad-3e58840c4e30/32712366_1753334338099116_214261663400984576_n.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Glebe Collegiate Institute was built as a satellite facility of Ottawa Collegiate Institute (now Lisgar Collegiate) a mile to the north east. Now a decidedly inner city school, it was at the time of its construction thought to be on the far outskirts of town. The school opened officially in 1923 (above) and was doubled in size just four years later to accommodate the classrooms of the Ottawa High School of Commerce. Photo via Old Ottawa and Bytown Pics group on Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5124c336-c0f3-48ea-ba0e-6babd3667738/House.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The modest Niblock house at 105 Faraday Street. The house has recently been demolished to make way for a pair of semidetached homes. Photo: Google maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c35999f-03e5-44a0-a210-0d574f145f68/Chums3.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Niblock (right front) poses with five other Ottawa boys for an air force photographer at No. 2 Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba in February of 1941. The RCAF knew the importance of gathering up airmen from one city and taking their group photo so that folks back home could see the impact “their boys” were having on the war effort. The photo appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on February 11, 1941, about halfway through Manford Niblock’s time at Brandon. The men in winter great coats are identified as (Back row, L-R: Eddie Richardson, Arthur Pepper, and Ernie Abbey. Front Row: Harry Hodge, Bill Laugh and “Nib” Niblock. Eddie Richardson of Richmond, Ontario was also lost on operations in Egypt — on October 15, 1942. Arthur Pepper was lost in Egypt as well… just eight days later whilst flying with 462 Squadron RAAF — the only Halifax-equipped unit operating from Egypt in 1942. Image: Ottawa Citizen via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a9eb9aa-50ca-4dd6-a3d0-66014f5c9715/487552609_10162973043986565_2570010456134028796_n.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out No. 2 Wireless School on Calgary, Alberta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a996c91-4c91-49da-b751-a06db7be7ee2/Toronto.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Airforce recruits right dress in front of the Sheep and Swine exhibition hall at No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto. Photo via BCATP.wordpress.com and the Frank Sorensen collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/507de75d-e8f5-4fd2-9a51-7e91aec86246/Exhibition_Coliseum_Interior_1921-ec659a6177.jpg.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The Coliseum at Toronto’s exhibition grounds served as an indoor parade square where recruits like Carl Caldwell learned to march. Photo: Toronto Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dcaf0b0-9447-4335-96ca-a03c761071ea/SKIES-24-Tiger-Moths-20-EFTS-2048x1087.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Pairs of student pilots and instructors head to their Tiger Moths at No. 20 Elementary Flying Training School, Oshawa. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/674b8b44-e22c-4c6b-a209-2aebc20c1749/Screenshot+2025-12-31+at+11.26.33%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out AC2 Claude Derosiers, August, 1941. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c818ad9-c055-4d7a-84d5-4fcc2cc3d26b/Gunner.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Manny Niblock took gunnery practice from the rear cockpit of a Fairey Battle Mk.I IT similar to this example. The gunner would raise the canopy behind his back to create a windbreak, but even in October when Manny was training, it must have been terribly cold being so exposed the slipstream at altitude. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69d24d5b-bfdd-40c6-93c9-a1bcfcbe9b65/Screenshot+2025-12-21+at+12.01.44%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out A student gunner poses with his Vickers K-gun or VGO (for Vickers Gas Operated), an iron-sighted .303 inch machine gun with a 100-round flat pan magazine mounted on top. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e985d29e-ac85-4817-b291-fa1a4c7d9443/Chums17.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out When Manny Niblock graduated from No. 2 Wireless School in Calgary, he had three other Ottawa boys in his class. Both Niblock and Seguin were killed on operations and never made it back home to Ottawa. James Abbey (left) was a former shipper who enlisted in Ottawa January 20th, 1941 and trained at No.2 Wireless School (graduated 14 September 1941) and No.7 Bomber and Gunnery School (graduated 13 October 1941). He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for anti-submarine operations with Coastal Command. Frank Stokoe, a classmate of Carl’s and Manny’s at Glebe was the only one of the four to receive a commission upon graduation. He finished the war a Squadron Leader having served in India, Belgium and England. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/94653675-01ba-40be-8012-8d7174a4ea55/468533706_10160399561961237_8570085819140107038_n.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Young LAC pilot trainees (note white cap flash and LAC propeller rank insignia) pose for a propaganda photo while consulting a map prior to taking off on a cross-country formation flight in their Ansons. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5da20647-dc23-479d-aeb3-0d303e186745/Chums15.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out During his month-long attachment to No 14 O.T.U., Manny Niblock familiarized himself with the Handley Page Hampden in which he would eventually serve with 415 Squadron RCAF. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac30195f-ea78-428b-945b-aa3d2361eade/Chums4.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The Handley Page Hampden was one of the mainstay bombers of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command in the early stages of the Second World War. By 1942, four-engine Halifax and Sterling aircraft were proving to be better platforms for long-distance strategic bombing and shortly thereafter the Lancaster began operations with Bomber Command. With the arrival of more capable aircraft types, Hampdens were moved to a more tactical role such as the anti-shipping tasks of Niblock’s 415 Squadron. The KM squadron codes on these aircraft identify them as belonging to 44 Squadron, one of only two RAF squadrons to sustain operations continuously from the first day of the war to the last. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a092a8a-94e1-49db-93c1-ea1d728d62db/Screenshot+2025-12-23+at+6.07.38%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Aerial oblique view of RAF Grantham, Lincolnshire, from the north. Airspeed Oxfords of No. 12 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit can be seen parked in front of the hangars in the foreground, and by the airfield boundary with the A52 highway, at top left. Carl would have lived in one of the H-hut barracks at middle right during his seven months at Grantham. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f28a2715-fd2a-4f39-b52d-0d2eebf29051/Chums11.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out At Grantham, the recently promoted Flight Sergeant Carl Caldwell built experience on the Air Speed Oxford, a British-designed multi-engine trainer. He very nearly lost his life piloting one solo on a foggy night in May 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa57b2e8-f604-4dab-89d8-a76c476d792a/Screenshot+2025-12-30+at+2.32.29%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out It was Manny’s job to man the twin Vickers K guns n the dorsal position of his Hampden as well as managing radios. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d16ddc8f-51fc-4244-bd6a-ae7108dd8ecf/Screenshot+2025-12-30+at+2.39.27%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out 415 Squadron’s Hampdens were part of Coastal Command of the RAF and they were tasked with strikes on enemy shipping along the North Sea coast of Europe — From Norway to Belgium — and the Bay of Biscay. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bce2e6d2-5c27-4921-959a-aefff0cffb68/Screen+Shot+2023-11-02+at+5.36.23+PM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The Bristol Beaufighter strike aircraft. The RCAF had four Beaufighter-equipped squadrons in the Second World War — 404, 406, 409 and 410. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81cc571e-2719-4b86-b553-a35368d3bb0f/AE436.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out An English Electric-built Handley Page Hampton TB-1 with RAF serial number AE436 was the next airframe after Niblock’s AE435 on the English Electric “shadow factory” assembly line at Preston, Lancashire. This example was operated by 144 Squadron RAF. The Hampden crashed into a Swedish mountainside in Swedish Lapland on September 5th, 1942. Two crew members managed to walk but the wreckage was not discovered for 34 years. It is present being restored by the Lincolnshire Aviation Preservation Society. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9f0f20c-c108-46b3-8fa3-670e6ca81454/Screen+Shot+2025-04-03+at+10.44.50+AM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Members of Niblock’s all-Canadian crew. They are Left to Right: Warrant Officer Reginald Ernest Vokey, Wireless Air Gunner; Pilot Officer Kenneth Reginald Maffre, the navigator, and Warrant Officer Paul Brewer Campbell of Arthurette New Brunswick. Images via Canada’s Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e2bc12e-d94e-4d64-bb27-2319bd6e50ed/Screenshot+2025-12-24+at+10.04.12%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out A diagram of the relation of Docking Station to RAF Docking. The station, the rail line and the airfield are long since gone. Image via Goole Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b54b4ec1-fedb-4eae-b63b-3ea04a98f024/docking-stn-2.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Docking, Norfolk Train Station as it was in 1943 on the West Norfolk Junction Railway. Photo: Docking Heritage Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75dba8f1-64b3-4b2a-bf7e-e416b5856d36/Screen+Shot+2023-11-02+at+5.37.02+PM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out During his time at No. 2 Coastal Operational Training Unit, Catfoss, Carl’s dream was fly the Beaufighter with one of the RCAF’s four Beaufighter-equipped squadrons like 404 Squadron shown here. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b0b0cb27-03f3-4b12-a151-04b36c6f471d/Screen+Shot+2023-11-29+at+11.08.50+AM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out A temporary cross was erected at St. Mary’s church for each of the four Canadians who died in the crash of Hampden “U” for Uncle. The funeral, with full military honours for all, was conducted on Wednesday, February 24, 1943. After the war, the graves of all four received a proper War Graves Commission headstone. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebade043-c9ad-4b81-8b02-8abf5b5f849b/Chums9.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The Union Jack-draped remains of Carl Caldwell are carried to Brandesburton cemetery at St. Mary’s church near Catfoss on a towed flatbed trailer. Six Sergeant pall bearers dead march at his side. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1bf773b-c387-4f87-94e6-f340bfb11a13/Chums7.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Carl is laid to rest with full military honours. In the RAF, a deceased Sergeant or lower is entitled to an escort of 20 service men led by a Sergeant, a 12-member guard led by a Sergeant and a bearer party of 8 Sergeants or below led by a Sergeant. Here we see bearing party dead marching past the firing party and the bugler who will play the last post at the grave side. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a690448d-d766-4453-a259-559273763d04/Chums8.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Sergeants, likely fellow pilots and navigators from No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit, carry Carl’s flag-draped and flower-topped casket to the grave site. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf53e91f-44db-4095-a220-ed3c8868dc7c/Chums6.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The vicar at St. Mary’s says a few words as Carl is laid to rest. Here the young Ottawan remains to this day. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c33f2fe-6a9b-472d-a773-57a5d9bfe71d/Chums10.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The RAF photographer present at Carl Caldwell’s interment was there to record the event in order to offer his family a record of the honours given him in a full military funeral. These images were there for the asking and often provided some degree of closure as we say today. Knowing that a son was honoured in this way and was laid to rest in a proper and well tended cemetery gave a modicum of solace to parents and siblings. I have never seen a photographer go to the extent of photographing an airman’s casket at the bottom of the grave — perhaps a bit macabre. Carl was laid to rest in a simple pine box with a brass plaque giving his name, rank and date of death. Carl and Manny had been promoted to Warrant Officer before their deaths, but the plaque and all records relating to the accidents still referred to them as Sergeants. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6678151-0504-4479-ab42-dc15045732f0/Cross.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The beautiful and well-tended cemetery at Great Bircham St. Mary’s church where Manny and his crewmates rest had the distinct honour of being the very first post-Second World War cemetery to have The Cross of Sacrifice Memorial. On July 14, 1946, King George VI came to the village of Great Bircham, a few kilometres south of Docking and unveiled the memorial. The King chose the Great Bircham Churchyard for this honour as he often frequented nearby RAF Bircham Newton aerodrome which was the closest RAF airfield to his country residence at Sandringham Estate. Wikipedia explains the history the cross: “The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or more graves. Its shape is an elongated Latin cross with proportions more typical of the Celtic cross, with the shaft and crossarm octagonal in section. It ranges in height from 18 to 24 feet (5.5 to 7.3 m). A bronze longsword, blade down, is affixed to the front of the cross (and sometimes to the back as well). It is usually mounted on an octagonal base. It may be freestanding or incorporated into other cemetery features. The Cross of Sacrifice is widely praised, widely imitated, and the archetypal British war memorial. It is the most imitated of Commonwealth war memorials, and duplicates and imitations have been used around the world.” Photos: Dr. Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85cbd79e-2d53-4d7c-a4cc-c25eef2008de/Graves.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out My dear friend Jay Pinto, visited Great Bircham (St. Mary’s) Church Cemetery in Norfolk in 2020 and photographed the headstones of the four men of Hampden “U for Uncle” who have now lain there for more than 80 years. The photos that he placed among the flowers of their graves show us so vividly the meaning of the words “They Shall Not Grow Old.”. We never got to know them as old men, as old warriors steeped in duty, humility and honour. They are forever young men. The framed image of Manny Niblock (Top Left) with rose petals from his graveside, now sits in my office, three feet from where I write this. Photos: Dr. Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/698e5d5d-fac6-469b-9b83-12e27ba2cdbd/Chums16.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out The military graves in the Brandesburton (St. Mary’s) Churchyard form a long line. The graves are in a plot which was used by RAF Catfoss. Buried along with Caldwell are Brits, Australians, a New Zealander, a Polish airman, eight other Canadians, 3 German airmen of the Luftwaffe, and two unknown RAF airmen, whose bodies likely washed up on the Norfolk coast. The next-of-kin usually get to determine the epitaph at the bottom of each airman’s stone — in this case his mother Gwen chose to tell visitors just who were left devastated by his death: her, his brother Dalton and half-sisters Winifred and Winona. Photos: Veteran Affairs Canada and Dr. Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/531421ab-d030-40ab-9626-fcd41f614b4a/118783994_10158781067684629_9187369531611198887_n-1.jpg The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out Jay Pinto made pilgrimages to the graves of both Manny and Carl. He collected leaves (including some sort of maple) from the quiet churchyard and photographed them and the newspaper image with the sad headline: Boyhood Chums Die Overseas. Photo: Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1c4f4b3-823e-4356-ad99-4d7fcba14405/Screenshot+2025-12-27+at+2.25.34%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out In addition to his grave at Brandesburton St. Marys Churchyard, Carl Caldwell’s name is listed on a memorial at Catfoss along with more than 100 men and a woman who were killed whilst on training flights there in the Second World War. Photo: Richard E. Flagg, Warmemorialsonline.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/143de9aa-ea4b-4956-a3e5-618bece991d7/Screenshot+2025-12-28+at+8.09.32%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - CHUMS - Make it stand out For the Niblock and Caldwell families, the dying was over, but for the Maffres of Montreal, with four airmen in the family, tragedy would come again one year later when their son Gerald (second from left) a Halifax pilot with 434 Squadron RCAF, was killed on operations near Maastricht, Netherlands. Image: Newspapers.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/les-copains monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd09e2a9-0ef6-4566-a749-a95527973d11/LesCopains.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d34a3121-2128-4098-8ecb-cb94db30d70a/Screenshot+2025-12-12+at+12.37.35%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Comme les cartes que j'ai créées pour chaque quartier, la carte du Centreville (Centertown) d'Ottawa représente les plus de 800 hommes et 2 femmes de Centertownqui sont morts pendant les guerres du XXe siècle. J'ai créé des cartes similaires et une liste pour chacun des quartiers suivants : Le Centreville, Glebe, la Côte de sable, le secteur Kitchissippi, le vieux Ottawa sud (Old Ottawa South), la Basse-ville (Lowertown) et le Vieux Ottawa est (Old Ottawa East), et je les ai publiées avec un article dans le journal de chaque communauté. Carte par Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/285ae7eb-f60a-4380-857a-5173a0fdcbb4/Chums1.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out C'est cette petite coupure de journal tirée de l'Ottawa Citizen du 23 février 1943, quelques jours seulement après leur mort, qui a attiré mon attention. Les mots « Boyhood Chums Die Overseas » (Des amis d'enfance meurent outre-mer) et les regards mélancoliques, déterminés et inquiets sur leurs visages semblaient jaillir de la page. Même aujourd'hui, leurs expressions laissent présager un triste destin. Photo: Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a530515-fa03-42b6-9615-083db009be47/Chums4.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Comme la plupart des articles consacrés à Carl Caldwell, cette série d'articles suivait un schéma classique. Au départ, la mère de Caldwell, Gwen, avait envoyé une photo à l'Ottawa Citizen lorsque son fils avait obtenu son brevet de pilote en décembre 1941. À son arrivée en Grande-Bretagne, Carl envoie un télégramme à sa mère pour l'informer qu'il était bien arrivé, et elle avait contacté les journaux pour l'annoncer à ses voisins et amis (deuxième à partir de la gauche). Quand elle a appris qu'il avait survécu mais avait été gravement blessé dans un accident d'avion en mai 1942, elle a également partagé cette nouvelle (au milieu) et enfin, pour annoncer la mort de Carl dans les mêmes 24 heures que celle de son meilleur ami Manny Niblock. Coupures de presse provenant de Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/be0d8aeb-61f5-4382-9837-7c5d9f802bc6/Manny.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out La photo de Manny Niblock apparaît à plusieurs reprises dans les journaux d'Ottawa. À gauche, l'ARC a réuni les six garçons d'Ottawa à l'École de bombardement et de tir n° 3 à Macdonald, au Manitoba, pour une photo publicitaire qui, comme prévu, fit sensation à Ottawa. Cette pratique continue à apaiser les craintes des parents qui s'inquiétaient que leurs fils soient isolés et aient le mal du pays. Plus tard, après l'obtention de son diplôme et la cérémonie de remise des ailes, ses parents ont fièrement annoncé son exploit, suivi d'une autre annonce du ministère de la Défense concernant quatre diplômés en radiotélégraphie et tir aérien d'Ottawa. Puis, malheureusement, quelques mois plus tard seulement, l'annonce conjointe et le récit humain de la mort de Manny et Carl, colocalisée dans le temps et dans l'espace. Coupures de presse provenant de Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/506ae3b9-d7e3-41bb-8fb3-e459face86f9/Maccarthy.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Hamilton MacCarthy, sculpteur prolifique et respecté, spécialiste en monuments. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d22cd34-2c03-46ac-afd6-e41f1cf05195/Statues.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Les œuvres de MacCarthy sont exposées de Victoria, en Colombie-Britannique, à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse. Plusieurs de ses œuvres ont fait l'objet de controverses au cours de la dernière décennie, subissant une reconfiguration historique. Son œuvre la plus célèbre (rangée supérieure) était la statue de Samuel de Champlain, le fondateur respecté de la Nouvelle-France. Dans la rangée du bas, on trouve trois autres monuments en bronze réalisés par MacCarthy : Alexander MacKenzie, deuxième Premier ministre du Canada, sur la Colline du Parlement ; un buste du général Sir Isaac Brock, héros de la guerre de 1812, à Brockville, la ville qui porte son nom ; et un monument à l’effigie d’Eggerton Ryerson, l'un des créateurs du système scolaire public canadien trône à Toronto depuis plus de 100 ans. Si Ryerson a joué un rôle déterminant dans la mise en place du système scolaire public, il a également contribué à la création du système des pensionnats indiens, l'une des plus grandes hontes du Canada. Cette statue a été renversée en 2021 et décapitée. La tête a fini sur une pique dans une réserve de l'Ontario. À droite, le monument canadien emblématique de Coeur de Lion MacCarthy, « l'Ange de la Victoire », trône à la gare Windsor de Montréal. Images via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4438485e-7a6c-4cad-b9e5-f6010d5b83ee/Chums14.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Carl Caldwell et Manny Niblock ont fréquenté les écoles publiques Elmdale et Devonshire. L'école Devonshire a été construite en 1901 et s'appelait à l'origine Breeze Hill Avenue School. Lorsqu'elle a été agrandie en 1920, elle a été rebaptisée en l'honneur du duc de Devonshire, le gouverneur général à l’époque. Photo via Old Ottawa and Bytown Pics group sur Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7180a92c-de75-4e38-86ad-3e58840c4e30/32712366_1753334338099116_214261663400984576_n.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le Glebe Collegiate Institute a été construit à titre d’annexe de l'Ottawa Collegiate Institute (aujourd'hui Lisgar Collegiate), situé à un kilomètre au nord-est. Aujourd'hui clairement une école du centre-ville, elle était considérée, au moment de sa construction, comme étant en banlieue. L'école a officiellement ouvert ses portes en 1923 (ci-dessus) et a doublé de taille quatre ans plus tard afin d'accueillir les salles de classe de l'Ottawa High School of Commerce. Photo via le groupe Old Ottawa and Bytown Pics sur Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5124c336-c0f3-48ea-ba0e-6babd3667738/House.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out La modeste maison Niblock au 105 Faraday Street. La maison a récemment été démolie pour faire place à deux maisons jumelées. Photo: Google maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c35999f-03e5-44a0-a210-0d574f145f68/Chums3.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Niblock (à l'avant droite) pose avec cinq autres garçons d'Ottawa pour un photographe de la force aérienne au dépôt de recrutement n° 2 de Brandon, au Manitoba, en février 1941. L'ARC savait combien il était important de rassembler les aviateurs d'une même ville et de prendre une photo de groupe afin que les gens à la maison puissent voir l'impact que « leurs gars » avaient sur l'effort de guerre. La photo a été publiée dans l'Ottawa Citizen le 11 février 1941, à peu près à mi-chemin du séjour de Manford Niblock à Brandon. Les hommes portant leur grand paletot d'hiver sont identifiés comme suit (rangée arrière, de gauche à droite : Eddie Richardson, Arthur Pepper et Ernie Abbey. Au premier rang: Harry Hodge, Bill Laugh et « Nib » Niblock. Eddie Richardson, de Richmond, en Ontario, a disparu lors de missions en Égypte, le 15 octobre 1942. Arthur Pepper a également disparu en Égypte, huit jours plus tard, alors en mission avec le 462e escadron de la RAAF, la seule unité équipée de Halifax opérant depuis l'Égypte en 1942. Image: Ottawa Citizen via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a9eb9aa-50ca-4dd6-a3d0-66014f5c9715/487552609_10162973043986565_2570010456134028796_n.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out École n° 2 école de radiotélégraphie à Calgary, Alberta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a996c91-4c91-49da-b751-a06db7be7ee2/Toronto.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Les recrues de l'aviation s'alignent par la droite devant le hall d'exposition Sheep and Swine au dépôt n° 1 de Manning à Toronto. Photo via BCATP.wordpress.com et la collection Frank Sorensen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/507de75d-e8f5-4fd2-9a51-7e91aec86246/Exhibition_Coliseum_Interior_1921-ec659a6177.jpg.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le Coliseum, situé dans le parc des expositions de Toronto, servait de manège militaire couvert où les recrues comme Carl Caldwell apprenaient à marcher au pas. Photo: Toronto Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dcaf0b0-9447-4335-96ca-a03c761071ea/SKIES-24-Tiger-Moths-20-EFTS-2048x1087.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Des élèves-pilotes et instructeurs se dirigent vers leurs Tiger Moths à l'école de pilotage élémentaire n° 20, à Oshawa. Photo: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada/MDN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/674b8b44-e22c-4c6b-a209-2aebc20c1749/Screenshot+2025-12-31+at+11.26.33%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out AV2 Claude Derosiers, août 1941. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c818ad9-c055-4d7a-84d5-4fcc2cc3d26b/Gunner.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Manny Niblock a suivi une formation au tir depuis le cockpit arrière d'un Fairey Battle Mk.I IT semblable à celui-ci. Le mitrailleur relevait la verrière derrière lui pour créer un pare-vent, mais même en octobre, lorsque Manny s'entraînait exposé au vent, il devait faire terriblement froid à cette altitude. Photo: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69d24d5b-bfdd-40c6-93c9-a1bcfcbe9b65/Screenshot+2025-12-21+at+12.01.44%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Un étudiant mitrailleur pose avec son fusil Vickers K ou VGO (pour Vickers Gas Operated), une mitrailleuse de calibre .303 à mire métallique équipée d'un chargeur plat de 100 cartouches monté sur le dessus. Photo : Bibliothèque et Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e985d29e-ac85-4817-b291-fa1a4c7d9443/Chums17.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Lorsque Manny Niblock obtient son diplôme de la No. 2 Wireless School à Calgary, trois autres garçons d'Ottawa faisaient partie de sa classe. Niblock et Seguin ont tous deux étés tués au combat et ne sont jamais rentrés chez eux à Ottawa. James Abbey (à gauche) était un ancien expéditeur qui s'est enrôlé à Ottawa le 20 janvier 1941 et a suivi une formation à la No. 2 Wireless School (diplômé le 14 septembre 1941) et à la No. 7 Bomber and Gunnery School (diplômé le 13 octobre 1941). Il a reçu la Distinguished Flying Cross pour ses opérations anti-sous-marines avec le Coastal Command. Frank Stokoe, camarade de classe de Carl et Manny à Glebe, fut le seul des quatre à recevoir une commission d'officier à la fin de ses études. Il termine la guerre avec le grade de commandant d'escadron après avoir servi en Inde, en Belgique et en Angleterre. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/94653675-01ba-40be-8012-8d7174a4ea55/468533706_10160399561961237_8570085819140107038_n.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out De jeunes pilotes (remarquez l’écusson blanc sur le calot et l'insigne d'hélice d'un aviateur chef ou AVC sur la manche) posent pour une photo de propagande tout en consultant une carte avant de décoller pour un vol en formation à longue distance à bord de leurs Ansons. Photo : Bibliothèque et Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5da20647-dc23-479d-aeb3-0d303e186745/Chums15.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Au cours de son stage d'un mois à la 14e unité d'entraînement opérationnel, Manny Niblock s'est familiarisé avec le Handley Page Hampden, sur lequel il allait finalement être déployé au sein du 415e Escadron de l'ARC. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac30195f-ea78-428b-945b-aa3d2361eade/Chums4.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le Handley Page Hampden était l'un des principaux bombardiers du Bomber Command de la RAF au début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En 1942, les avions quadrimoteurs Halifax et Sterling se montrèrent plus performants pour les bombardements stratégiques à longue distance et, peu après, le Lancaster entra en service au sein du Bomber Command. Avec l'arrivée d'avions plus performants, les Hampden ont été affectés à des missions plus tactiques, telles que les opérations anti-navales du 415e escadron de Niblock. Les codes KM de ces avions indiquent qu'ils appartiennent au 44e escadron, l'un des deux seuls escadrons de la RAF à avoir mené des opérations sans interruption depuis le premier jour de la guerre jusqu'au dernier. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a092a8a-94e1-49db-93c1-ea1d728d62db/Screenshot+2025-12-23+at+6.07.38%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Vue aérienne oblique de la base RAF Grantham, dans le Lincolnshire, depuis le nord. On aperçoit les appareils Airspeed Oxford de la 12e unité avancée de pilotage (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit devant les hangars au premier plan, ainsi qu'à la limite de l'aérodrome, près de l'autoroute A52, en haut à gauche. Carl aurait résidé dans l'une des casernes H-hut, au centre à droite, pendant les sept mois de son séjour à Grantham. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f28a2715-fd2a-4f39-b52d-0d2eebf29051/Chums11.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out À Grantham, le sergent de section Carl Caldwell, récemment promu, acquiert de l'expérience sur l'Air Speed Oxford, un avion d'entraînement multimoteur de conception britannique. Il a failli y laisser la peau en pilotant seul cet appareil par une nuit brumeuse de mai 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa57b2e8-f604-4dab-89d8-a76c476d792a/Screenshot+2025-12-30+at+2.32.29%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Manny devait s'occuper des communications radio ainsi que des deux mitrailleuses Vickers K situées dans la tourelle dorsale de son Hampden. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d16ddc8f-51fc-4244-bd6a-ae7108dd8ecf/Screenshot+2025-12-30+at+2.39.27%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Les Hampden du 415e escadron faisaient partie du Coastal Command de la RAF et avaient pour mission d'attaquer les navires ennemis le long de la côte européenne de la mer du Nord, de la Norvège à la Belgique, et dans le golfe de Gascogne. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bce2e6d2-5c27-4921-959a-aefff0cffb68/Screen+Shot+2023-11-02+at+5.36.23+PM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out L'avion d'attaque Bristol Beaufighter. L'ARC dispose de quatre escadrons équipés de Beaufighter pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale : les escadrons 404, 406, 409 et 410. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81cc571e-2719-4b86-b553-a35368d3bb0f/AE436.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out An English Electric-built Handley Page Hampton TB-1 with RAF serial number AE436 was the next airframe after Niblock’s AE435 on the English Electric “shadow factory” assembly line at Preston, Lancashire. This example was operated by 144 Squadron RAF. The Hampden crashed into a Swedish mountainside in Swedish Lapland on September 5th, 1942. Two crew members managed to walk but the wreckage was not discovered for 34 years. It is present being restored by the Lincolnshire Aviation Preservation Society. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9f0f20c-c108-46b3-8fa3-670e6ca81454/Screen+Shot+2025-04-03+at+10.44.50+AM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Les membres de l'équipage entièrement canadien de Niblock. De gauche à droite : l'adjudant Reginald Ernest Vokey, mitrailleur radio ; le sous-lieutenant Kenneth Reginald Maffre, navigateur, et l'adjudant Paul Brewer Campbell, d'Arthurette, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Images Le Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e2bc12e-d94e-4d64-bb27-2319bd6e50ed/Screenshot+2025-12-24+at+10.04.12%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Schéma illustrant la position de la station d'accueil par rapport à la RAF Docking. La station, la ligne ferroviaire et l'aérodrome ont disparu depuis longtemps. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b54b4ec1-fedb-4eae-b63b-3ea04a98f024/docking-stn-2.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Quai de la gare ferroviaire de Norfolk telle qu'elle était en 1943 sur la West Norfolk Junction Railway. Photo: Docking Heritage Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75dba8f1-64b3-4b2a-bf7e-e416b5856d36/Screen+Shot+2023-11-02+at+5.37.02+PM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Pendant son séjour à la 2e unité d'entraînement opérationnel maritime, à Catfoss, Carl rêvait de piloter un Beaufighter dans l'un des quatre escadrons de l’ARC équipés de Beaufighter, comme le 404e escadron que l'on voit ici. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b0b0cb27-03f3-4b12-a151-04b36c6f471d/Screen+Shot+2023-11-29+at+11.08.50+AM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Une croix temporaire a été érigée à l'église St. Mary's pour chacun des quatre Canadiens qui ont péri dans l'accident du Hampden « U » pour Uncle. Les funérailles, avec les honneurs militaires pour tous, ont eu lieu le mercredi 24 février 1943. Après la guerre, les tombes des quatre hommes ont reçu une pierre tombale officielle de la Commission des sépultures de guerre. Photo : RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebade043-c9ad-4b81-8b02-8abf5b5f849b/Chums9.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out La dépouille de Carl Caldwell, recouverte du Union Jack, est transportée au cimetière de Brandesburton, à l'église St. Mary's près de Catfoss, sur une remorque à plateau. Six sergents porteurs marchent à ses côtés. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1bf773b-c387-4f87-94e6-f340bfb11a13/Chums7.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Carl est inhumé avec les honneurs militaires. Dans la RAF, un sergent ou un grade inférieur décédé a droit à une escorte de 20 militaires commandée par un sergent, une garde de 12 membres commandée par un sergent et un groupe de 8 sergents ou grades inférieurs commandé par un sergent. Ici, nous voyons le groupe funéraire défiler devant le détachement d'honneur et le clairon qui jouera la dernière sonnerie auprès de la fosse. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a690448d-d766-4453-a259-559273763d04/Chums8.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Des sergents, probablement des collègues pilotes et navigateurs de l'unité d'entraînement opérationnel n° 2 (côtière), transportent le cercueil de Carl, recouvert d'un drapeau et orné de fleurs, jusqu'à la tombe. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf53e91f-44db-4095-a220-ed3c8868dc7c/Chums6.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le pasteur de St. Mary's prononce quelques mots alors que Carl est inhumé. Le jeune Ottavien repose ici depuis ce jour. Photo : RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c33f2fe-6a9b-472d-a773-57a5d9bfe71d/Chums10.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le photographe de la RAF présent lors de l'inhumation de Carl Caldwell s'est chargé d'immortaliser l'événement afin d'offrir à sa famille un souvenir des honneurs qui lui ont été rendus lors de ses funérailles militaires. Ces images étaient disponibles sur demande et apportent souvent un certain apaisement, comme on dit aujourd'hui. Savoir que leur fils avait été honoré de cette manière et qu'il repose dans un cimetière convenable et bien entretenu apportait un peu de réconfort à ses parents et à ses frères et sœurs. Cependant je n'ai jamais vu un photographe aller jusqu'à photographier le cercueil d'un aviateur au fond de la tombe, ce qui est peut-être un peu macabre. Carl a été inhumé dans un simple cercueil en pin avec une plaque en laiton indiquant son nom, son grade et la date de son décès. Carl et Manny avaient été promus adjudants avant leur mort, mais la plaque et tous les documents relatifs aux accidents les désignaient toujours comme sergents. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6678151-0504-4479-ab42-dc15045732f0/Cross.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Le cimetière magnifique et bien entretenu de l'église St. Mary's de Great Bircham, où reposent Manny et ses camarades, a eu l'honneur d'être le tout premier cimetière d'après-guerre à accueillir le mémorial The Cross of Sacrifice. Le 14 juillet 1946, le roi George VI s'est rendu dans le village de Great Bircham, à quelques kilomètres au sud de Docking, pour dévoiler le mémorial. Le roi a choisi le cimetière de Great Bircham pour cet honneur, car il fréquentait souvent l'aérodrome voisin de Bircham Newton, qui était le plus proche de sa résidence de campagne à Sandringham Estate. Wikipédia explique l'histoire de la croix : « La Croix du Sacrifice est un mémorial de guerre du Commonwealth conçu en 1918 par Sir Reginald Blomfield pour l'Imperial War Graves Commission (aujourd'hui Commonwealth War Graves Commission). Elle est présente dans les cimetières militaires du Commonwealth qui comptent au moins 40 sépultures. Elle a la forme d'une croix latine allongée dont les proportions rappellent davantage celles d'une croix celtique, avec un pied et un bras octogonal. Sa hauteur varie entre 5,5 et 7,3 mètres. Une longue épée en bronze, lame vers le bas, est fixée à l'avant de la croix (et parfois à l'arrière également). Elle est généralement montée sur une base octogonale. Elle peut être indépendante ou intégrée à d'autres éléments du cimetière. La Croix du Sacrifice est largement admirée, largement imitée et constitue l'archétype du mémorial de guerre britannique. C'est le mémorial de guerre du Commonwealth le plus imité, et des répliques et imitations ont été utilisées dans le monde entier. » Photos: Dr Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85cbd79e-2d53-4d7c-a4cc-c25eef2008de/Graves.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Mon cher ami Jay Pinto s'est rendu au cimetière de Great Bircham (St. Mary's) dans le Norfolk en 2020 et a photographié les pierres tombales des quatre hommes de Hampden « U for Uncle » qui reposent là depuis plus de 80 ans. Les photos qu'il a placées parmi les fleurs de leurs tombes nous montrent de manière très vivante la signification des mots « They Shall Not Grow Old » (Ils ne vieilliront pas). Nous ne les avons jamais connus comme des hommes âgés, comme de vieux guerriers imprégnés du sens du devoir, de l'humilité et de l'honneur. Ils resteront à jamais des jeunes hommes. La photo encadrée de Manny Niblock (en haut à gauche) avec des pétales de rose provenant de sa tombe se trouve désormais dans mon bureau, à un mètre de l'endroit où j'écris ces lignes. Photos: Dr Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/698e5d5d-fac6-469b-9b83-12e27ba2cdbd/Chums16.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Les tombes militaires dans le cimetière de Brandesburton (St. Mary's) forment une longue rangée. Elles se trouvent dans une parcelle qui était autrefois réservée à la RAF Catfoss. Outre Caldwell, on y trouve des Britanniques, des Australiens, un Néo-Zélandais, un aviateur polonais, huit autres Canadiens, trois aviateurs allemands de la Luftwaffe et deux aviateurs inconnus de la RAF, dont les corps ont probablement échoué sur la côte de Norfolk. Ce sont généralement les proches qui choisissent l'épitaphe inscrite au bas de la pierre tombale de chaque aviateur. Dans ce cas-ci, sa mère Gwen a choisi d'indiquer aux visiteurs ceux qui ont été dévastés par sa mort : elle-même, son frère Dalton et ses demi-sœurs Winifred et Winona. Photos : Anciens Combattants Canada et Dr Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/531421ab-d030-40ab-9626-fcd41f614b4a/118783994_10158781067684629_9187369531611198887_n-1.jpg The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Jay Pinto s'est rendu en pèlerinage aux tombes de Manny et Carl. Il a rassemblé des feuilles (dont certaines provenaient d'un érable) dans le cimetière paisible et les a photographiées, ainsi que l'article de journal au triste titre : « Des amis d'enfance meurent à l'étranger ». Photo: Jeroen Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1c4f4b3-823e-4356-ad99-4d7fcba14405/Screenshot+2025-12-27+at+2.25.34%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out En plus de sa tombe au cimetière de Brandesburton St. Marys, le nom de Carl Caldwell figure sur un mémorial à Catfoss, aux côtés de plus de 100 hommes et d'une femme qui ont perdu la vie lors de vols d'entraînement pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Photo: Richard E. Flagg, Warmemorialsonline.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/143de9aa-ea4b-4956-a3e5-618bece991d7/Screenshot+2025-12-28+at+8.09.32%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LES COPAINS - Make it stand out Pour les familles Niblock et Caldwell, les décès étaient terminés, mais pour les Maffre de Montréal, qui comptaient quatre aviateurs dans leur famille, la tragédie allait frapper à nouveau un an plus tard lorsque leur fils Gerald (deuxième à partir de la gauche), pilote de Halifax au sein du 434e Escadron de l’ARC, fut tué lors d'une opération près de Maastricht, aux Pays-Bas. Image: Newspapers.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-blitz-de-la-salle-de-bal monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34bc3761-ae4e-4e07-b5a4-7f3c41b568a2/BlitzFrench.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a240223c-579f-4bc6-af52-cce3547a5d2c/Screenshot+2025-11-15+at+3.36.42%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Des bombardiers Dornier Do 217 de la Luftwaffe survolent la Tamise près de Plumstead, à l'est de Londres, le 7 septembre 1940, jour considéré aujourd'hui comme le premier jour du Blitz de Londres. Ce jour-là, et pendant les huit mois qui suivirent, l'Angleterre, et Londres en particulier, subirent une campagne de bombardements cauchemardesque qui coûta la vie à 43 000 personnes. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/708a90dd-faa2-4067-a83b-cb8ba2d8c697/Screenshot+2025-11-15+at+3.47.33%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Après une nuit de bombardements à Londres, les pompiers observent, impuissants, l'effondrement dans la rue d'un immeuble de cinq étages. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6531c23-f651-4809-82cd-e80ee9c97503/Subway.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Pour échapper aux bombardements, les Londoniens commencèrent à dormir dans la sécurité souterraine du métro londonien. Les citoyens éprouvèrent un faux sentiment de sécurité en passant la nuit dans « The Tube » et ce sentiment d'invincibilité souterraine donne lieu à l'affirmation injustifiée du Café de Paris qui se considérait comme la boîte de nuit la plus sécuritaire de la ville. En réalité, de nombreuses personnes trouvèrent la mort une fois réfugiées dans le métro. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2f437d7-8c26-4f91-8e85-0b68a13f38ed/19091.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out L'une des images les plus emblématiques du Blitz de Londres est celle prise à la station Balham Green, où l'on voit un bus londonien n° 88 qui s'est retrouvé dans le cratère créé par l'explosion quelques secondes après l'ouverture du trou. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06e80e40-0008-4b18-b94d-4a1c6b4790da/Screenshot+2025-11-21+at+12.47.13%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out La Banque d'Angleterre et le Royal Exchange après le raid de la nuit du 11 janvier 1941. La bombe a explosé dans le hall de la station de métro Bank. Ce cratère était le plus étendu de Londres. Le Royal Exchange, à droite à l'arrière-plan, arbore une bannière imposante et ironique, encourageant les Londoniens à CREUSER POUR LA VICTOIRE. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a41557ad-dd21-4636-9413-549117f7182b/cafe-1.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out La scène et la piste de danse du Café de Paris avant la guerre à une époque plus glorieuse. Des hommes en smoking et des femmes glamour en robes longues donnaient au club une atmosphère sophistiquée et ont contribué à sa réputation de club pour les riches et célèbres. D'ailleurs le prince de Galles était un habitué de la piste de danse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f93f3d5-2c7f-4b7d-b730-cd27d34f637f/Screenshot+2025-11-20+at+12.04.07%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Le Café de Paris, situé sur Coventry Street, était l'une des boîtes de nuit les plus populaires de tout Londres. Alors que le Blitz s'abattait sur Londres, les propriétaires du club du West End ont profité de leur emplacement souterrain pour attirer les clients, comme le montre cette publicité parue dans le magazine mondain Tatler and Bystander le 5 mars, trois jours avant que le club ne soit détruit par une bombe allemande.‍ ‍Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fbb45e56-3740-4fe1-876b-ec9b417b62f8/Screenshot+2025-11-08+at+4.11.46%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Kendrick Johnson (à gauche) dirige le Kendrick Johnson Band (tel qu'il était connu avant de devenir l'orchestre attitré du Café de Paris) lors d'une émission télévisée de la BBC en 1939 depuis leurs studios à Alexander Palace. On considère que cet orchestre fut le premier orchestre noir à apparaître à la télévision. Le guitariste Joe Deniz est assis au premier rang avec sa guitare, tandis que Dave « Baba » Williams se trouve à droite, le visage tourné vers la section des trompettes en haut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/059428c0-7d0a-4861-b466-8257b3b58a88/Screenshot+2025-11-21+at+2.26.30%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Les visiteurs du Café de Paris descendent un escalier depuis la rue jusqu'au balcon au haut de la photo. De là, ils empruntaient l'un des deux escaliers incurvés et symétriques pour rejoindre la piste de danse. La configuration de base des escaliers est restée inchangée pendant 100 ans, depuis l'ouverture du club en 1924 jusqu'en 2020, date à laquelle le Café de Paris a fermé ses portes en raison d'une autre guerre, celle contre la COVID-19. L'orchestre représenté ici est celui de Teddy Brown and His Cafe De Paris Dance Band, avec le xylophoniste Teddy Brown, pesant 160 kg, à droite. Sans surprise, Teddy est décédé d'une crise cardiaque à l'âge de 45 ans. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c2931fa-6e64-4344-a33c-afc8c8305aeb/ken.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Avec son mètre quatre-vingt-quatre, son sourire charmeur et ses pas de danse éblouissants, Kendrick « Snakehips » Johnson était l'homme idéal pour diriger un orchestre entièrement composé de Noirs à Londres. Selon son guitariste Joe Deniz, dans une émission télévisée des années 80, Johnson ne connaissait rien à l'arrangement musical et à la direction d'orchestre. Il improvisait au fur et à mesure et a fini par comprendre comment diriger. C'est le saxophoniste et clarinettiste Joe Barriteau qui était le directeur musical du groupe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a8dd71e-059a-41fb-8178-5fb2b6368541/Bradshaw.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Le sergent Richard Bradshaw était originaire d'Ottawa. Lui et son ami Gord Quinn, originaire de la vallée de l'Outaouais, ont tous deux été tués. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/613a66c2-78a4-4889-be7f-11c9d214f7cb/Seagram.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Le capitaine Phillip Seagram (à gauche), héritier d'une riche famille canadienne de distillateurs, était l'aide de camp (remarquez son brassard ADC) du major-général Andrew McNaughton (à l'extrême droite) . Son origine riche et sa formation supérieure lui ont valu des affectations prestigieuses, comme celle d'aide de camp, et l'occasion de serrer la main du roi George VI et de la reine Elizabeth. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74f30c48-515b-4711-8bef-cc34afd2c26e/Screenshot+2025-11-29+at+3.38.22%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Un Defiant du 264e escadron se prépare sur la piste de la base aérienne de Biggin Hill pour une sortie nocturne contre les raids de la Luftwaffe au-dessus de Londres. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4efbe92d-838c-42a2-b3d9-546995106d11/Screenshot+2025-12-02+at+7.15.14%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Infirmière militaire Helen Stevens, de Toronto, physiothérapeute à l'hôpital de l'armée canadienne à Londres. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d92f565-d31a-439c-a7ae-1285546f76ed/Poulsen.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Martinus Poulsen, restaurateur et promoteur de boîtes de nuit danois, tué avec ses clients dans le bombardement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79ea8990-e9bc-421c-b64a-03d629aff1cb/Baba.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out La section des instruments à vent en bois du West Indian Dance Orchestra : de gauche à droite : George Roberts, les Trinidadiens Dave « Baba » Williams et Carl Barriteau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ed474e4a-0703-4257-8533-ce1eddca7ade/Screenshot+2025-12-09+at+11.24.32%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Eileen (née Taylor) Farrell (à l'extrême gauche) en compagnie de sa troupe de danse en 1938. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4340cd1a-a441-4398-bc42-72e6a55dbbec/TheOthers.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Les victimes canadiennes. En haut : le capitaine Phillip Frowde Seagram, le caporal Gordon Wapren Quinn, le lieutenant John David Wright, le sergent Richard Albert Bradshaw. En bas : l'infirmière militaire Thelma Blanche Stewart, l'infirmière militaire Helen Marie Stevens, le capitaine John Cameron Clunie, le capitaine Robert George Robarts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/584ea2e8-c98b-4854-9d40-e6153ef3d29f/Ballard.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Ballard Blascheck, alias Ballard Berkeley, agent spécial de la police métropolitaine de Londres, a aidé à secourir les survivants.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8802d5e-7ad2-48dd-8513-452951064696/Inspectors.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Les enquêteurs, dont un homme en smoking qui se trouvait peut-être dans le club au moment de l'explosion, inspectent les débris le lendemain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/acd27b80-0ed8-4c8e-bcd2-e68a75de9040/556925532_1226938022812841_981540599907110391_n.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Le nettoyage commence : un agent de la protection civile transporte la guitare électrique Gibson de Joe Deniz et les restes de la contrebasse de Pops Clare, entourés de meubles cassés et de compositions musicales. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50869866-3a2b-4415-80d9-308191bf225b/500283506_24426230193631856_8191466046459111288_n.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out Les responsables de la défense civile aérienne et les secouristes déblayent les débris d'instruments musicaux, notamment une batterie, un piano et un marimba, de la scène le lendemain du carnage au Café de Paris. On voit aussi le piano qui a sauvé la vie des membres du groupe assis derrière lui. La semaine suivante, lors des funérailles de Snakehips Johnson, cette batterie a été transportée à même le corbillard qui se rendait au cimetière. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/beaac0b9-b4f8-4fa9-81ad-d3f864c0a6ec/Screenshot+2025-11-26+at+5.37.17%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out The Imperial War Museum in Great Britain holds in its collection this memorial plaque created from bits of crockery from the Café de Paris explosion. It once belonged to Café de Paris dancer Eileen Farrell who picked up the shards as she left to club following the explosion. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bfb8e429-9221-467c-a994-1d79d051b7a3/Princess-Margaret-Cafe-de-Paris-1955.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out By 1955, the Café de Paris had risen from the ashes of the Blitz and re-established itself as one of London’ premier night clubs, frequented by the likes of Princess Margaret and members of her “Margaret Set”. At left is her longtime companion and Lady-in-Waiting, Lady Anne Genconner and at right Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/26a60192-3f6f-4530-9678-7ce0680cd205/IMG_4024.jpg The Stories - LE “BLITZ” DE LA SALLE DE BAL - Make it stand out The Café de Paris remained a trendy and outrageously wild nightclub into the 21st Century. It survived the London Blitz in 1941, but the COVID pandemic restrictions finally put it out of business in 2020. Photo: OnInLondon https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ballroom-blitz monthly 0.5 2026-01-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1762548737718-TJ6SA7ZPUJ9O56S29FAT/Blitz.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a240223c-579f-4bc6-af52-cce3547a5d2c/Screenshot+2025-11-15+at+3.36.42%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Luftwaffe Dornier Do 217 bombers flying over the Thames near Plumstead, east of London on September 7th, 1940, the day that is today considered to be the first day of the London Blitz. On this day and for the next eight months, England and London in particular, would endure a nightmare bombing campaign that would claim 43,000 lives. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/708a90dd-faa2-4067-a83b-cb8ba2d8c697/Screenshot+2025-11-15+at+3.47.33%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out After a night of bombing in London, firefighters watch helplessly as a five-story building collapses into the street. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6531c23-f651-4809-82cd-e80ee9c97503/Subway.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out To escape the bombing, Londoners took to sleeping in the underground safety of the London subway system. Citizens had a false sense of safety spending the night in “The Tube” and that feeling of subterranean invincibility gave rise to the Café de Paris’ unwarranted claim to being the safest nightclub in town. In fact, many people were killed while sheltering in the subway. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2f437d7-8c26-4f91-8e85-0b68a13f38ed/19091.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out One of the most iconic images from the London Blitz is the scene at the Balham Green station showing a No. 88 London bus which had driven into the crater created by the explosion seconds after the hole opened up. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06e80e40-0008-4b18-b94d-4a1c6b4790da/Screenshot+2025-11-21+at+12.47.13%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The Bank of England and Royal Exchange after the raid during the night of 11 January 1941. The bomb exploded in the booking-hall of the Bank Underground Station. The crater was the largest in London. The Royal Exchange in the right background displays a massive and ironic banner, encouraging Londoners to DIG FOR VICTORY. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a41557ad-dd21-4636-9413-549117f7182b/cafe-1.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The stage and dance floor of the Cafe de Paris in happier times before the war. Well-heeled men in tuxedos and glamorous women in full length gowns lent the club its an air of sophistication and built its reputation as a club for the rich and famous. The Prince of Wales was a regular on the dance floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f93f3d5-2c7f-4b7d-b730-cd27d34f637f/Screenshot+2025-11-20+at+12.04.07%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The Café de Paris on Coventry Street was one of the most popular nightclubs in all of London. As the Blitz descended on London, the proprietors of the West end club took advantage of their subterranean situation to entice patrons as this advertisement in the society magazine Tatler and Bystander on March 5, three days before the club was destroyed by a German bomb.‍ ‍Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fbb45e56-3740-4fe1-876b-ec9b417b62f8/Screenshot+2025-11-08+at+4.11.46%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Kendrick Johnson (left) conducting the Kendrick Johnson Band (as it was known before it became the house band at Café de Paris) during a 1939 BBC television broadcast from the BBC’s studios at Alexander Palace. It’s thought that the band was the first black orchestra to appear on television. Guitarist Joe Deniz sits in the front row with his guitar while Dave “Baba” Williams is at right with his face turned towards the horn section at the top. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/059428c0-7d0a-4861-b466-8257b3b58a88/Screenshot+2025-11-21+at+2.26.30%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Patrons of the Café de Paris entered down a flight of stairs from the street to the balcony seen at top of photo. From there they descended via one of two reflected curving staircases to the dance floor. The basic stair configuration remained for 100 years from the club’s opening in 1924 until as late as 2020 when the Café de Paris closed during another war — the one against COVID 19. The orchestra depicted here is Teddy Brown and His Cafe De Paris Dance Band, with the 350 lb. xylophonist Teddy Brown at right. Not surprisingly, Teddy died of a heart attack at 45. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c2931fa-6e64-4344-a33c-afc8c8305aeb/ken.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out At 6’-4” with a winning smile and dazzling dance moves, Kendrick “Snakehips” Johnson was the perfect man to lead an all-black band in London. According to his guitarist Joe Deniz in an 80s TV interview, Johnson knew nothing about musical arrangement and conducting. He made it up on the fly and eventually figured out how to conduct. It was saxophonist/clarinetist Joe Barriteau who was the musical director of the band. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a8dd71e-059a-41fb-8178-5fb2b6368541/Bradshaw.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Sergeant Richard Bradshaw was from Ottawa. He and Ottawa Valley friend Gord Quinn were both killed. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/613a66c2-78a4-4889-be7f-11c9d214f7cb/Seagram.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Captain Phillip Seagram (Left), scion of a wealthy Canadian distilling family, was Major-General Andrew McNaughton’s (far right) Aide-de-camp (Note ADC armband). Being high born and highly educated meant he would get plum assignments like ADC and a chance to shake hands with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74f30c48-515b-4711-8bef-cc34afd2c26e/Screenshot+2025-11-29+at+3.38.22%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out A 264 Squadron Defiant warms up on the ramp at RAF Biggin Hill for a night sortie against Luftwaffe raiders over London. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4efbe92d-838c-42a2-b3d9-546995106d11/Screenshot+2025-12-02+at+7.15.14%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Nursing Sister Helen Stevens of Toronto, a physiotherapist at the Canadian Army hospital in London https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d92f565-d31a-439c-a7ae-1285546f76ed/Poulsen.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Martinus Poulsen, the Danish restaurateur and nightclub promoter who was killed along with his patrons in the bombing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79ea8990-e9bc-421c-b64a-03d629aff1cb/Baba.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The woodwind section of the West Indian Dance Orchestra: L to R: George Roberts, Trinidadians Dave “Baba” Williams and Carl Barriteau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ed474e4a-0703-4257-8533-ce1eddca7ade/Screenshot+2025-12-09+at+11.24.32%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Eileen (née Taylor) Farrell (far left) poses with her dance troupe in 1938. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4340cd1a-a441-4398-bc42-72e6a55dbbec/TheOthers.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The Canadian Victims. Top: Captain Phillip Frowde Seagram, Corporal Gordon Wapren Quinn, Lieutenant John David Wright, Sergeant Richard Albert Bradshaw Bottom: Nursing Sister Thelma Blanche Stewart, Nursing Sister Helen Marie Stevens, Captain John Cameron Clunie, Captain Robert George Robarts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/584ea2e8-c98b-4854-9d40-e6153ef3d29f/Ballard.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Ballard Blascheck, AKA Ballard Berkeley, a special constable of the London Metropolitan Police helped rescue survivors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8802d5e-7ad2-48dd-8513-452951064696/Inspectors.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Investigators, including a tuxedoed man who may possibly have been in the club at the time the explosion inspect the debris the next day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/acd27b80-0ed8-4c8e-bcd2-e68a75de9040/556925532_1226938022812841_981540599907110391_n.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Clean up begins— a civil defence worker carries Joe Deniz’ Gibson electric guitar and the remains of Pops Clare’s double bass, surrounded by broken chairs and sheet music. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50869866-3a2b-4415-80d9-308191bf225b/500283506_24426230193631856_8191466046459111288_n.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out Air raid wardens and rescue personnel clear musical wreckage, including a drum set, piano and a marimba from the stage the day after the carnage at Café de Paris. The piano saved the lives of band members sitting behind its bulk. The next week at Snakehips Johnson’s funeral this drum was carried on the hearse as it drove to the cemetery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/beaac0b9-b4f8-4fa9-81ad-d3f864c0a6ec/Screenshot+2025-11-26+at+5.37.17%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The Imperial War Museum in Great Britain holds in its collection this memorial plaque created from bits of crockery from the Café de Paris explosion. It once belonged to Café de Paris dancer Eileen Farrell who picked up the shards as she left to club following the explosion. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bfb8e429-9221-467c-a994-1d79d051b7a3/Princess-Margaret-Cafe-de-Paris-1955.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out By 1955, the Café de Paris had risen from the ashes of the Blitz and re-established itself as one of London’ premier night clubs, frequented by the likes of Princess Margaret and members of her “Margaret Set”. At left is her longtime companion and Lady-in-Waiting, Lady Anne Genconner and at right Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/26a60192-3f6f-4530-9678-7ce0680cd205/IMG_4024.jpg The Stories - BALLROOM BLITZ - Make it stand out The Café de Paris remained a trendy and outrageously wild nightclub into the 21st Century. It survived the London Blitz in 1941, but the COVID pandemic restrictions finally put it out of business in 2020. Photo: OnInLondon https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-red-baron-and-the-varsity-blue monthly 0.5 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1759935833464-Z2FB8EYETDLJIHVXU7OW/RedBaron.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/473ba3e1-00bf-457e-8b91-844a563f2179/Jasta.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Albatros D.III fighters of Jastas 11 and 4 lined up at Roucourt in March 1917 with Von Richtofen's crimson colored aircraft, “Le Petite Rouge” visible second from the camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab796d3c-8a11-42e0-a9a9-1548d85839e8/Cups.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Photographed in the late 1930s, Manfred von Richthofen’s curious collection of silver and pewter cups commemorating the men he killed The larger drinking cups commemorated each group of ten victims. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9555fcd1-0092-441a-a5f2-a59f6970ea2f/Cup.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A silver cup commissioned by Richthofen to commemorate his 12th Victory was on display in the “Deadly Skies” exhibit at the Canadian War Museum in 2017 — 100 years after the capture and imprisonment of Number 12 — Lieutenant Benedict Hunt of 32 Squadron. Richthofen assumed he had shot down Hunt in a Vickers Gunbus, but in fact it was an Airco D.H.2, an aircraft of similar pusher configuration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87bf89c6-4f8e-4e35-a37a-70e11a187ee0/Buward.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A scene of Ottawa’s Byward Market from the late 1800s. The McDougall and Cuzner Hardware store was just off to the right of this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ca1af006-3e33-429c-b12c-bda8acab07ff/Screenshot+2025-10-23+at+11.11.47%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out An illustration for an Ottawa newspaper depicting the northeast corner of Sussex and George Streets celebrating the Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibition in the four storey Clarendon Building. In the background at left are the letters McD & C STOVES painted on the side wall of the building which housed the McDougall and Cuzner Hardware store at 521-23 Sussex Street. Eddy’s father John was the proprietor of this store. The art exhibited here in 1880 formed the nucleus of the National Gallery of Canada’s outstanding Permanent Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e428e71d-8112-4151-879c-74362fddd651/duke_bridge_august1896_1.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A photograph dating to August of 1898 shows the McDougal and Cuzner Hardware company store in Ottawa’s Lebreton Flats neighbourhood which was originally located at the corner of Duke and Bridge Streets. It was burned to the ground a year after this photo was taken along with the entire neighbourhood in the Great Fire of 1900 which swept through the lumber storage yards of the Flats and consumed part of Hull and Lebreton all the way to Dow’s Lake. The store relocated to 40 Queen Street West, next to the City’s Fleet Street Pumping Station. It remained there until new premises could be built one block west at the southeast corner of Queen W. and Lett Streets (No. 60 Queen W.), where it remained for decades along with the Sussex location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2999a1ab-d265-497b-9257-50818a94b4ca/Duke.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A view from the 1920s looking southwest along Queen Street West. Duke Street is at right as is the car sheds of the Ottawa Electric Railway. The building at left with the painted sign touting DODGE SPLIT PULLEYS AND MILL SUPPLIES is the third McDougal and Cuzner store in the neighbourhood (no. 60 Queen W). The first was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1900 and the second temporary one was just a few doors to the left of this photo frame at 40 Queen W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/09186dc3-ccc2-4248-9db6-24540b7f45d0/Screenshot+2025-10-13+at+3.15.30%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out In 1958, the building which housed Cuzner Hardware on Sussex Street suffered heavy damage in a fire that started in the kitchen of the Sussex Grill restaurant on the ground floor and spread through the ventilation system. It was a tough pill to swallow after the recent death of Eddy’s brother Willard who had run the store since 1902. The driving force behind the Cuzner Hardware enterprise had diminished drastically, and in February of 1960, Cuzner Hardware surrendered its charter and ceased to exist. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/450baa5d-b5bb-4515-8370-88cb43957210/45614104_2002807756485105_8014963914175414272_n.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out After the fire, Cuzner Hardware left the premises and its new tenant, Hobby House, another iconic business, opened for business on May 1, 1959, but vacated in 1964. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff00984a-2ae7-4e63-bf06-811d81de696c/509428725_10160949068235896_8281701283968563502_n.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The 521-523 Sussex Street location of McDougal and Cuzner Hardware (Later Cuzner Hardware) was a much-loved address in Ottawa’s Baby Boomer history as the home of internationally known Le Hibou Coffee House. It began operating as early as 1960 on Bank Street but made the move to Sussex in March 1965. It was in these historic Cuzner store premises that such music icons as Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Leonard Cohen, John Lee Hooker, Tom Rush, Jesse Winchester, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Kris Kristofferson and hundreds more performed for the Beat and Baby Boomer generations. Visiting performers like Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison performing at larger Ottawa venues could often be seen at after-hours concerts at Le Hibou. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3998c19-5a65-495a-898c-01f13e5388ba/Screenshot+2025-10-14+at+2.01.50%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbeb24f9-c502-4996-a6cb-311265f091e9/Team2.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A 1912 photograph of the University of Toronto Rugby Varsity Blues team superimposed on a modern photo of the same doorway at University College building at 15 King's College Circle, Toronto. Eddy Cuzner is circled in red. A year later, his injuries had forced him into a managerial role on the team. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bea5914e-f525-4499-8e97-120fa63f96a7/Managers.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out After suffering career-ending knee injury, Eddy Cuzner remained part of competitive varsity spots at the University of Toronto — as Assistant Manager of the rugby team and later as Manager of the U of T ice hockey team. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d285dbf-d79a-4176-9c6a-fbd31f4a4a4f/FlyingBoat.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A Curtiss Model F flying boat over Toronto harbour. Eddy Cuzner and fellow pilot trainees began their basic flying training on these slow-moving flying boats operating from Hanlan’s Point Beach near today’s Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Even as early as 1884, part of Hanlan’s Point Beach was reserved for nude bathing — the world’s first municipally sanctioned nude beach. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d118896-ab1a-45b5-9e39-7ce34c5ab086/Screenshot+2025-10-24+at+3.14.52%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A pilot of the Curtiss Flying School at Longbranch, Ontario (now Mississauga area) get ready to fire up his Curtiss JN-4 Canuck in October of 1915. This is the type of aircraft Eddy flew and the time of year that he took instruction. Photo via Harold Skaarups www.silverhawkauthor.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b557f6ea-9736-4193-867e-894a2ffff19e/Corinthian.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Eddy Cuzner sailed for Great Britain aboard S. S. Corinthian of the Allan Line (by then merged with Canadian Pacific), arriving in London on September 30, 1916. Corinthian became a part of the Canadian Pacific fleet when CP took over Allan in 1917. On 14 December 1918, Corinthian was wrecked in the Bay of Fundy. There were no deaths, but efforts to salvage the ship were soon abandoned and she was declared a total loss. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f324d1b4-091f-490e-bbc8-0c340871666d/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.43.02%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Life for a raw recruit in basic training at Crystal Palace was not for someone seeking privacy as witnessed by these endless rows of hammock sleeping accommodations. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ddbb5fbe-5212-437e-aa0e-048fc3b1cb28/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.50.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Probationary Flight Sub Lieutenants get a beginner’s lesson on the Caudron biplane at Crystal Palace. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f72cbdbe-2ef4-455b-8093-6d00d2ccf5a4/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+4.20.29%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Cuzner and Clayton took further primary flying instruction at RNAS Redcar on the ungainly Caudron G3, a French-designed and built sesquiplane used by the British early in the war on the battlefront when supply of British-made aircraft was not yet up to speed. It was nicknamed “Cage à poules” by the French for its resemblance to a wire chicken run. The Caudron in this photo, a Belgian example restored in the markings of RAF serial number 3066, still exists today, on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon. Caudron 3066 was an aircraft flown by RNAS students at RNAS Flying School Vendome in France Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e39a50a3-321f-4e21-ae44-224e4b49a431/Caudron2.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The Caudron in this image, a civil-registered post war example, shows the cockpit and instructor/student configuration. This aircraft (F-AFDC) exists today on display at The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels, Belgium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df1c0874-7ab7-48cc-914f-a2202b3c7140/Grafbe2-index.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out At Cranwell, Cuzner and Clayton earned their pilot’s wings flying the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f9cb2900-4706-4497-9e09-37128d575005/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.00.26%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Aerial view of RNAS Station Calshot where Clayton completed his training on flying boats. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d1bce455-3692-4ccc-9bca-7f312b35ed91/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.00.54%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Clayton went on to further training on the Felixstowe F.3 military flying boat at Calshot. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99e6cd86-1a31-4e08-87b7-fb1996874e25/terrain+st+pol+juin+1917-1.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out No. 8 RNAS reformed at Saint Pol-sur-Mer in February of 1917, the year this aerial view of the aerodrome was taken. This was no rough and ready airfield at the front, but rather a large and permanent air base. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a020cf8-a410-4e65-98cd-bf570d44afd9/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.28.39%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The Auchel region of northern France was, for the better part of a century, an industrialized coal-mining area where giant slag heaps made from the waste from coal mining and known as “terrils” rose to massive heights on the otherwise flat plain of the Pas-de-Calais “Département”. The Mining Basin is a now UNESCO World Heritage Site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/214d0a3b-758d-4b71-9f08-3da549a4f5b0/vimy-memorial-03.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The immaculate figure of “Canada Bereft” stands on the massive podium of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial near Arras. Far in the distance we can see the “terrils” or slag heaps of the Pas-de-Calias Département where Eddy Cuzner’s No. 8 operated during his brief war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6a232c0-61c4-4c90-9ecf-69e64c2636be/bb.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The Sopwith triplane was ordered in quantity by the Royal Naval Air Service and used almost exclusively by that service. Richthofen commented that the Triplane was the best Allied fighter at that time, a sentiment that was echoed by other German senior officers such as Ernst von Hoeppner. Several examples were captured and assessed and in a matter of months resulted in the design of the Fokker D.I, the triplane with which Richthofen would eventually and forever be associated. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1f31901b-3b49-4b2f-9998-5811ccb82b85/aa.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out The triplane’s stack of wings was an impressive sight giving it plenty of climb and maneuverability. Like many of contemporaries, it was surprisingly small, measuring about 19 feet long with a 26-foot wingspan. During late 1916, quantity production of the type commenced in response to orders received from the Admiralty. During early 1917, production examples of the Triplane arrived with Royal Naval Air Service squadrons like Cuzner’s No. 8 which first took delivery in March, 1917. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3fccfdb-8733-4b6b-aca6-f5006041d2ad/ccc.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A Quick Look at the back end of a Triplane shows us that it had ailerons on all three wings, giving it extraordinary maneuverability. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28047e76-51e7-4489-9a9e-33c5ff2412e1/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+4.53.07%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Smiling Manfred von Richthofen, the Commander of Jasta 11, surrounded by his fellow pilots and his dog Moritz, at Roucourt, France in April 1917. These five men alone took an enormous toll on the RFC and RNAS in the month of April — Left to right: 81 Allied aircraft!! Sebastian Festner (nine victories that month, killed on 25 April), Karl-Emil Schäffer (fifteen victories), Manfred von Richthofen (21 victories), his brother Leutnant Lothar von Richthofen (fifteen victories) and Leutnant Kurt Wolff (21 victories). Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d24114c5-c740-4947-98fc-b6105881b98e/Screenshot+2025-10-08+at+11.40.18%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Richthofen, second from left introduces some of his Jasta 11 pilots to Generalleutnant Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner, the Commanding General of the Imperial German Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) at Roucourt, France on April 23, 1917 — just 6 days before Richthofen shot down Eddie Cuzner. Hoeppner was there to congratulate Richthofen and his pilots on their recent victories against the British in what became know as “Bloody April” to the pilots of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Photo via www.masnystoria.fr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/979bf354-2706-4740-b71c-fa42076fb4ca/Screenshot+2025-10-16+at+12.30.28%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out In addition to celebrating his victories with a commemorative silver cup, Richthofen enjoyed visiting the crash sites of his victims to cut out the serial number from the sides of the wreckage. This scalp-taking tells us a lot about how he viewed the men he killed. Since all of the serials in this image are from aircraft he shot down in April 1917 or before, there’s a good chance this was his room at the Chateau Raucourt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9f9b7772-6085-425a-ad5d-f6748971c566/5.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out No’s 49, 50, 51 and 52 of Richthofen’s silver cup collection were young men from England and Canada. I was able to find photos of five of them: Left to right: Richard Applin, George Stead, Alfred Beebee, George Rathbone and Eddy Cuzner. In all that day, Richthofen sent 6 young men into oblivion, for their bodies were never found and none have a known grave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3755bd5a-d80e-4794-8817-e9f478e55b26/Screenshot+2025-10-22+at+2.22.49%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Sopwith Triplanes of No. 8 (Naval) Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, in France. The aircraft nearest the camera (N5468 — ANGEL) is just five airframes on the Sopwith assembly line from Triplane 5463 Doris which was flown by Cuzner when he was caught by Richthofen. Pilots of Naval 8 were encouraged to paint the names of their sweethearts or family members on their Triplanes — names like Dusty, Dixie, Hilda and Doris. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36e5f221-23e7-4c98-aa99-7fe50f094918/Model.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A finely detailed model of Sopwith Triplane N5463 by model builder Oleg in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine in 2012. Oleg’s work can be seen in its entirety here. Photo via Aeroscale.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c6e4b53-4920-4cf7-bfe3-c90b63f943d7/Others.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Three of the five scout pilots who took off with Cuzner that day. Left to Right: Flight Commander Anthony Rex Arnold DSC DFC; Flight Sub-Lieutenant Robert Alexander Little, DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Roderick McDonald of Nova Scotia who also started at the Curtiss Flying School at Longbranch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e377d009-6fb2-45d1-8616-18c3c9cb2167/Shootdown.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A painting by Tom La Padula depicting the death of Eddy Cuzner and the only time that Richthofen claimed a victory over a triplane. La Padula will soon publish a book with paintings of each of the aerial victories of the Red Baron, of which this is one. His book, The Red Baron's Kills An Illustrated Portrayal of Manfred von Richtofen's Victories will be released in the July, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46165e0d-7316-4937-b9e8-92110851f41f/CrashSite.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out An image which purports to be of the wreckage of Cuzner’s triplane shows up on several locations — Canadian Virtual War Memorial and Ancestry.com. It’s hard to source proof of this and the sign in the background shows two crosses leading me to wonder if this is the wreck of a two-seater. As well, Eddy Cuzner has no known grave, yet it is clear from the sign that at least one body was being memorialized. For someone to take the time and effort to make the wood marker and then have a photo taken, it is, in my opinion, likely they also buried the airman or airmen and recorded the grave. As well, it’s possible we are looking at the motor at the far right of the wreckage pile and the silhouette of the cylinders does not appear to be that of a nine-cylinder Clerget 9B Rotary which powered the Sopwith Triplane. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c77eca78-2d65-4745-a237-4f01980f058c/Story.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out There was plenty of misinformation in the newspapers during the First World War. The second headline of this story in the Ottawa Citizen stated that Eddy was at the front for 18 months prior to his disappearance, but in fact Eddy had arrived in the UK just seven months earlier and had only been at the front for a little more than a month before his death. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c97d7e87-b0ba-494a-a1e2-62dcc4a5e556/Pasedna.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out In the years following the death of Eddy until her death in 1923, his mother Sarah travelled by train to Southern California, there to spend a warm winter in the embrace of extended Cuzner family. James Cuzner, Eddy’s cousin (son of his Uncle Luke), had left Ottawa for California in 1869, travelling by ship around Cape Horn, had made a fortune in the lumbering business in California and resided in this Spanish-style mansion in Pasadena. Perhaps the warmth of California and family helped assuage the sorrow of the loss of three sons. Image from GoogleMaps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/05f711b9-aa6f-4b05-aa20-76c6aa5fb1c7/Screenshot+2025-11-03+at+2.49.49%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out British soldiers stand guard around the burned wreck of L-31 at Potters Bar. All that remained of the once the fire was out was her aluminum framework. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa264114-ff02-45e0-82d3-c6add1c3f406/Ring.jpg The Stories - The Red Baron and the Varsity Blue - Make it stand out A cherished family heirloom — a ring, made from aluminum salvaged from the wreckage of the German Zeppelin L-31 which was shot down on the day Eddy arrived in London. Photos via Alicia Cuzner https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-baron-rouge-et-le-varsity-blue monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/62742e28-a414-4f3d-b700-797712fa61f9/LeBaron.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/473ba3e1-00bf-457e-8b91-844a563f2179/Jasta.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Les avions de chasse Albatros D.III des Jastas 11 et 4 alignés à Roucourt en mars 1917, avec l'avion rouge vif de Von Richtofen, « Le Petit Rouge », visible en deuxième position juste derrière le premier appareil en avant plan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab796d3c-8a11-42e0-a9a9-1548d85839e8/Cups.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Photographiée à la fin des années 1930, voici la curieuse collection de coupes en argent et en étain de Manfred von Richthofen commémorant les hommes qu'il a tués. Les plus grandes coupes commémoraient un groupe de dix victimes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9555fcd1-0092-441a-a5f2-a59f6970ea2f/Cup.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une coupe en argent commandée par Richthofen pour commémorer sa 12e victoire a été exposée dans le cadre de l'exposition « Deadly Skies (Ciel meurtrier)» au Musée canadien de la guerre en 2017, 100 ans après la capture et l'emprisonnement du numéro 12, le lieutenant Benedict Hunt du 32e escadron. Richthofen pensait avoir abattu Hunt dans un Vickers Gunbus, mais il s'agissait en fait d'un Airco D.H.2, un avion de configuration similaire à hélice propulsive c'est à dire que le moteur est placé devant l'hélice qu'il commande. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87bf89c6-4f8e-4e35-a37a-70e11a187ee0/Buward.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une vue du marché Byward à Ottawa à la fin des années 1800. Le magasin McDougall and Cuzner Hardware se trouvait juste à droite de cette photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ca1af006-3e33-429c-b12c-bda8acab07ff/Screenshot+2025-10-23+at+11.11.47%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Illustration pour un journal d'Ottawa représentant l'angle nord-est des rues Sussex et George pour commémorer l'exposition de l'Académie canadienne des arts dans le Clarendon, un édifice de quatre étages. À l'arrière-plan, à gauche, on aperçoit les lettres McD & C STOVES peintes sur le mur de l'édifice qui abritait le magasin de quincaillerie McDougall and Cuzner, situé au 521-23, rue Sussex. John, le père d'Eddy, était le propriétaire de ce magasin. Les œuvres d'art exposées ici en 1880 ont servi de base à la remarquable collection permanente du Musée des beaux-arts du Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e428e71d-8112-4151-879c-74362fddd651/duke_bridge_august1896_1.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Cette photographie datant d'août 1898 montre le magasin de la société McDougal and Cuzner Hardware dans le quartier des Plaines Lebreton d'Ottawa, qui était à l'origine situé à l'angle des rues Duke et Bridge. Ce quartier a été entièrement détruit par un incendie un an après cette photo, tout comme l'ensemble du quartier, lors du grand incendie de 1900 qui a ravagé les entrepôts de bois des Flats et une partie de Hull et de Lebreton jusqu'au lac Dow. Le magasin a alors été relocalisé au 40, rue Queen Ouest, à côté de la station de pompage de la rue Fleet. Il y est resté jusqu'à ce que de nouveaux locaux puissent être construits un coin de rue plus à l'ouest, à l'angle sud-est des rues Queen Ouest et Lett (au n° 60 Queen Ouest), où il est demeuré pendant des décennies, parallèlement à l'emplacement de Sussex. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2999a1ab-d265-497b-9257-50818a94b4ca/Duke.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une scène des années 1920 prise en direction sud-ouest le long de Queen Street West. Duke Street se trouve à droite, tout comme les garages de l'Ottawa Electric Railway. Le bâtiment à gauche, avec son enseigne peinte vantant les poulies et fournitures industrielles DODGE, est le troisième magasin McDougal and Cuzner du quartier (au n° 60 Queen W). Le premier a été détruit lors du grand incendie de 1900 et le deuxième, à caractère temporaire, se trouvait à quelques portes à gauche de ce cadre photo, au 40 Queen W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/09186dc3-ccc2-4248-9db6-24540b7f45d0/Screenshot+2025-10-13+at+3.15.30%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out In 1958, the building which housed Cuzner Hardware on Sussex Street suffered heavy damage in a fire that started in the kitchen of the Sussex Grill restaurant on the ground floor and spread through the ventilation system. It was a tough pill to swallow after the recent death of Eddy’s brother Willard who had run the store since 1902. The driving force behind the Cuzner Hardware enterprise had diminished drastically, and in February of 1960, Cuzner Hardware surrendered its charter and ceased to exist. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/450baa5d-b5bb-4515-8370-88cb43957210/45614104_2002807756485105_8014963914175414272_n.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Après l'incendie, Cuzner Hardware a quitté le quartier et son nouveau locataire, Hobby House, une autre entreprise emblématique, a ouvert ses portes le 1er mai 1959, mais a quitté les lieux en 1964. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff00984a-2ae7-4e63-bf06-811d81de696c/509428725_10160949068235896_8281701283968563502_n.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Le 521-523, rue Sussex, où se trouvait McDougal and Cuzner Hardware (plus tard Cuzner Hardware), était un endroit très populaire dans l'histoire des baby-boomers d'Ottawa, car il abritait le Le Hibou Coffee House, un café de renommée internationale. Cet établissement a ouvert ses portes dès 1960 sur la rue Bank, mais a ensuite déménagé sur la rue Sussex en mars 1965. C'est dans ces locaux historiques de Cuzner que des icônes de la musique telles que Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Leonard Cohen, John Lee Hooker, Tom Rush, Jesse Winchester, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Kris Kristofferson et des centaines d'autres se sont succédés sur scène pour le plus grand plaisir des générations Beat et baby-boomer. Des artistes de passage comme Jimi Hendrix et George Harrison, qui se produisaient dans de plus grandes salles à Ottawa, pouvaient souvent être présents aux concerts après les heures d'ouverture au Hibou. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3998c19-5a65-495a-898c-01f13e5388ba/Screenshot+2025-10-14+at+2.01.50%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbeb24f9-c502-4996-a6cb-311265f091e9/Team2.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une photographie de 1912 de l'équipe de rugby Varsity Blues de l'Université de Toronto superposée à une photo moderne de la même porte d'entrée du bâtiment de l'University College, situé au 15 King's College Circle, à Toronto. Eddy Cuzner est encerclé en rouge. Un an plus tard, ses blessures l'ont contraint à assumer un rôle d’entraineur au sein de l'équipe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bea5914e-f525-4499-8e97-120fa63f96a7/Managers.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Après avoir subi une blessure au genou qui a mis fin à sa carrière, Eddy Cuzner est demeuré dans le milieu sportif universitaire à l'Université de Toronto, d'abord comme entraineur adjoint de l'équipe de rugby, puis comme entraineur de l'équipe de hockey sur glace de l'université. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d285dbf-d79a-4176-9c6a-fbd31f4a4a4f/FlyingBoat.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Un hydravion Curtiss Model F au-dessus du port de Toronto. Eddy Cuzner et ses camarades pilotes stagiaires ont commencé leur formation de base sur ces hydravions lents opérant à partir de Hanlan's Point Beach, près de l'actuel aéroport Billy Bishop Toronto City. Dès 1884, une partie de Hanlan's Point Beach était réservée à la baignade nudiste, devenant ainsi la première plage nudiste au monde autorisée par les autorités municipales. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d118896-ab1a-45b5-9e39-7ce34c5ab086/Screenshot+2025-10-24+at+3.14.52%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Un pilote de l'école de pilotage Curtiss Flying School à Longbranch, en Ontario (aujourd'hui dans la région de Mississauga), se prépare à démarrer son Curtiss JN-4 Canuck en octobre 1915. C'est le type d'avion qu'Eddy pilotait à la même période de l'année où il a suivi sa formation. Photo via Harold Skaarups www.silverhawkauthor.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b557f6ea-9736-4193-867e-894a2ffff19e/Corinthian.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Eddy Cuzner s'embarqua pour la Grande-Bretagne à bord du S. S. Corinthian de la compagnie Allan Line (qui avait alors fusionné avec Canadian Pacific) et arriva à Londres le 30 septembre 1916. Le Corinthian fut intégré à la flotte de Canadian Pacific lorsque CP acquit Allan en 1917. Le 14 décembre 1918, le Corinthian fit naufrage dans la baie de Fundy. Il n'y eut aucun mort, mais les efforts pour sauver le navire furent rapidement abandonnés et par conséquent il fut déclaré une perte totale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f324d1b4-091f-490e-bbc8-0c340871666d/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.43.02%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out La vie d'une recrue en formation de base à Crystal Palace ne convenait pas à quelqu'un en quête d'intimité, comme en témoignent ces rangées interminables de hamacs servant de couchettes. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ddbb5fbe-5212-437e-aa0e-048fc3b1cb28/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.50.28%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Probationary Flight Sub Lieutenants get a beginner’s lesson on the Caudron biplane at Crystal Palace. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f72cbdbe-2ef4-455b-8093-6d00d2ccf5a4/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+4.20.29%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Cuzner et Clayton ont suivi une formation initiale supplémentaire à la RNAS Redcar sur le Caudron G3, un sesquiplane[1]de conception et de fabrication françaises utilisé par les Britanniques au début de la guerre sur le front, alors que la production d'avions britanniques demeurait insuffisante. Connu sous le nom « Cage à poules » par les Français en raison de sa ressemblance à un enclos à poules en fil de fer. Le Caudron que l'on voit sur cette photo, un exemplaire belge restauré et portant le numéro de série 3066 de la RAF, existe encore aujourd'hui et est exposé au musée de la RAF à Hendon. Le Caudron 3066 était un avion piloté par les élèves de la RNAS à l'école de pilotage de la RNAS à Vendôme, en France. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e39a50a3-321f-4e21-ae44-224e4b49a431/Caudron2.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Le Caudron représenté sur cette image, un modèle civil d'après-guerre, montre la configuration poste de pilotage et instructeur/élève. Cet avion (F-AFDC) est aujourd'hui au Musée royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire militaire à Bruxelles, en Belgique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df1c0874-7ab7-48cc-914f-a2202b3c7140/Grafbe2-index.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out À Cranwell, Cuzner et Clayton ont obtenu leurs ailes de pilote en pilotant le Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f9cb2900-4706-4497-9e09-37128d575005/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.00.26%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Vue aérienne de la base RNAS Station Calshot où Clayton a suivi sa formation sur les hydravions. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d1bce455-3692-4ccc-9bca-7f312b35ed91/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.00.54%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Clayton a ensuite suivi une formation complémentaire sur l'hydravion militaire Felixstowe F.3 à Calshot. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99e6cd86-1a31-4e08-87b7-fb1996874e25/terrain+st+pol+juin+1917-1.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Le n° 8 RNAS a été reconstitué à Saint-Pol-sur-Mer en février 1917, l'année où cette vue aérienne de l'aérodrome a été prise. Il ne s'agissait pas d'un aérodrome improvisé au front, mais plutôt d'une grande base aérienne permanente. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a020cf8-a410-4e65-98cd-bf570d44afd9/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.28.39%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out industrialisé où d'énormes amoncellements de déchets issus de l'extraction du charbon, appelés « terrils » s'élevaient à des hauteurs impressionnantes dans la plaine autrement plate du département du Pas-de-Calais. Le bassin minier est aujourd'hui inscrit au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/214d0a3b-758d-4b71-9f08-3da549a4f5b0/vimy-memorial-03.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out La silhouette immaculée de « Canada Bereft (Canada dépourvu) » se dresse sur l'imposant socle du Mémorial national canadien de Vimy, près d'Arras. Au loin, on aperçoit les terrils du département du Pas-de-Calais, où Eddy Cuzner a servi avec le n° 8 pendant sa brève période de guerre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6a232c0-61c4-4c90-9ecf-69e64c2636be/bb.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Le triplan Sopwith fut acheté en grande quantité par le Royal Naval Air Service qui s’en servait presque exclusivement. Richthofen déclara que le triplan était le meilleur chasseur allié de l'époque, un sentiment partagé par d'autres officiers supérieurs allemands tels qu'Ernst von Hoeppner. Plusieurs exemplaires furent capturés et évalués, ce qui aboutit en quelques mois à la conception du Fokker D.I, le triplan auquel Richthofen serait finalement et pour toujours associer.Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1f31901b-3b49-4b2f-9998-5811ccb82b85/aa.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out La disposition des ailes du triplan était impressionnante et lui conférait une grande aisance de montée et une maniabilité impressionnante. Comme beaucoup de ses contemporains, il était étonnamment petit, mesurant environ 5,8 mètres de long et 7,9 mètres d'envergure. À la fin de l'année 1916, la production en série de ce modèle a commencé pour satisfaire aux commandes passées par l'Amirauté. Au début de l'année 1917, les premiers exemplaires du triplan ont été livrés aux escadrons du Royal Naval Air Service, comme le n° 8 de Cuzner, qui a reçu son premier appareil en mars 1917. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3fccfdb-8733-4b6b-aca6-f5006041d2ad/ccc.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Un rapide coup d'œil à l'arrière d'un triplan nous montre que ses ailes étaient toutes les trois dotées d'ailerons, ce qui lui assurait une maniabilité extraordinaire. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28047e76-51e7-4489-9a9e-33c5ff2412e1/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+4.53.07%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Manfred von Richthofen souriant, le commandant de la Jasta 11, entouré de ses pilotes compagnons et de son chien Moritz, à Roucourt, France, en avril 1917. Ces cinq hommes seuls ont infligé d'énormes pertes à la RFC (Royal Flying Corps) et à la RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) au mois d'avril — De gauche à droite : 81 avions alliés !! Sebastian Festner (neuf victoires ce mois-là, tué le 25 avril), Karl-Emil Schäffer (quinze victoires), Manfred von Richthofen (21 victoires), son frère Lieutenant Lothar von Richthofen (quinze victoires) et Lieutenant Kurt Wolff (21 victoires). Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d24114c5-c740-4947-98fc-b6105881b98e/Screenshot+2025-10-08+at+11.40.18%E2%80%AFAM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Richthofen, second à partir de la gauche, présente certains de ses pilotes du Jasta 11 au Generalleutnant Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner, le général commandant du service aérien impérial allemand (Luftstreitkräfte) à Roucourt, en France, le 23 avril 1917, six jours seulement avant que Richthofen n'abatte Eddie Cuzner. Hoeppner était venu féliciter Richthofen et ses pilotes pour leurs récentes victoires contre les Britanniques lors de ce qui fut baptisé « Avril sanglant » par les pilotes du Royal Flying Corps et du Royal Naval Air Service. Photo via www.masnystoria.fr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/979bf354-2706-4740-b71c-fa42076fb4ca/Screenshot+2025-10-16+at+12.30.28%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out En plus de célébrer ses victoires avec une coupe commémorative en argent, Richthofen aimait se rendre sur les lieux des épaves de ses victimes pour découper le numéro de série normalement trouvé sur le fuselage des débris. Ce « scalp » en dit long sur la façon dont il considérait les hommes qu'il avait tués. Étant donné que tous les numéros de série figurant sur cette image proviennent d'avions qu'il a abattus en avril 1917 ou avant, il y a de fortes chances qu'on se trouve ici sa chambre au Château Raucourt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9f9b7772-6085-425a-ad5d-f6748971c566/5.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Les numéros 49, 50, 51 et 52 de la collection de coupes d'argent de Richthofen correspondent à des jeunes hommes originaires d'Angleterre et du Canada. J'ai pu trouver des photos de cinq d'entre eux : de gauche à droite : Richard Applin, George Stead, Alfred Beebee, George Rathbone et Eddy Cuzner. Au total, ce jour-là, Richthofen a réduit six jeunes hommes à néant, car leurs corps n'ont jamais été retrouvés et aucun d'entre eux n'a de tombe connue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3755bd5a-d80e-4794-8817-e9f478e55b26/Screenshot+2025-10-22+at+2.22.49%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Triplans Sopwith du Naval 8 du Royal Naval Air Service, en France. L'avion le plus proche de la caméra (N5468 — ANGEL) n'est que le cinquième appareil sur la chaîne de montage Sopwith après le triplan 5463 Doris, piloté par Cuzner lorsqu'il fut abattu par Richthofen. Les pilotes du Naval 8 étaient encouragés à peindre les noms de leurs bien-aimées ou des membres de leur famille sur leurs triplans — des noms tels que Dusty, Dixie, Hilda et Doris. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36e5f221-23e7-4c98-aa99-7fe50f094918/Model.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une maquette très détaillée du Sopwith Triplane N5463 réalisée par le modéliste Oleg à Zaporizhzhya, en Ukraine, en 2012. L'ensemble des œuvres d'Oleg peut être admiré ici. Photo via Aeroscale.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c6e4b53-4920-4cf7-bfe3-c90b63f943d7/Others.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Trois des cinq pilotes de reconnaissance qui ont décollé avec Cuzner ce jour-là. De gauche à droite : le Commandant Anthony Rex Arnold, DSC DFC ; le Sous-lieutenant Robert Alexander Little, DSO & Bar ; et le Sous-lieutenant Roderick McDonald, de Nouvelle-Écosse, qui a également fait ses débuts à l'école de pilotage Curtiss de Longbranch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e377d009-6fb2-45d1-8616-18c3c9cb2167/Shootdown.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une peinture de Tom La Padula représentant la mort d'Eddy Cuzner et la seule fois où Richthofen remporta une victoire sur un triplan. La Padula publiera bientôt un livre contenant des peintures de chacune des victoires aériennes du Baron Rouge, dont celle-ci fait partie. Son livre intitulé, The Red Baron's Kills An Illustrated Portrayal of Manfred von Richtofen's Victories sera en vente en juillet 2026. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46165e0d-7316-4937-b9e8-92110851f41f/CrashSite.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Une image qui est censée représenter l'épave du triplan de Cuzner apparaît à plusieurs endroits, notamment sur le Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada et Ancestry.com. Il est difficile d'en trouver la source, et le panneau en arrière-plan affiche deux croix, ce qui m'amène à penser qu'il s'agit peut-être de l'épave d'un biplace. De plus, Eddy Cuzner n'a pas de tombe connue, mais il est clair d'après le panneau qu'au moins un corps a été commémoré. À mon avis, quelqu'un qui a pris le temps et a fait l'effort de fabriquer ce panneau en bois et de le photographier a probablement aussi enterré le ou les aviateurs avant d’enregistrer la tombe. De plus, il est possible que nous voyions le moteur à l'extrême droite de l'épave et il semble que la silhouette des cylindres ne correspond pas à celle d'un moteur Clerget 9B Rotary à neuf cylindres qui équipait le triplan Sopwith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c77eca78-2d65-4745-a237-4f01980f058c/Story.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Les informations erronées dans les journeaux pendant la Première Guerre mondiale ne manquaient pas. Le deuxième titre de cet article publié dans l'Ottawa Citizen indiquait qu'Eddy avait passé 18 mois au front avant sa disparition, mais en réalité, Eddy était arrivé au Royaume-Uni sept mois plus tôt et n'avait passé qu'un peu plus d'un mois au front avant sa mort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c97d7e87-b0ba-494a-a1e2-62dcc4a5e556/Pasedna.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Au cours des années qui ont suivi la mort d'Eddy jusqu'à son décès en 1923, sa mère Sarah s'est rendue en train dans le sud de la Californie pour y passer un hiver chaud au sein de la famille élargie des Cuzner. James Cuzner, cousin d'Eddy (fils de son oncle Luke), avait quitté Ottawa pour la Californie en 1869, voyageant par bateau autour du cap Horn. Il avait fait fortune dans le commerce du bois en Californie et résidait dans ce manoir de style espagnol à Pasadena. Peut-être que la chaleur de la Californie et la famille ont aidé à apaiser la douleur de la perte de trois fils. Image via GoogleMaps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/05f711b9-aa6f-4b05-aa20-76c6aa5fb1c7/Screenshot+2025-11-03+at+2.49.49%E2%80%AFPM.png The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Des soldats britanniques montent la garde autour de l'épave calcinée du L-31 à Potters Bar. Une fois l'incendie éteint, il ne restait plus que sa structure en aluminium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa264114-ff02-45e0-82d3-c6add1c3f406/Ring.jpg The Stories - Le Baron Rouge et le Varsity Blue - Make it stand out Un précieux souvenir de famille : une bague fabriquée à partir d'aluminium récupéré dans l'épave du zeppelin allemand L-31, abattu le jour où Eddy est arrivé à Londres. Photos via Alicia Cuzner https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sentinelle monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8cd8336a-cdb8-4c09-af33-091c3b647008/ShortyMoyesFrench.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/db1bb3c4-a369-4247-bda0-b4ea2b36d04d/Shorty.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Ronald « Shorty » Moyes, aviateur de deuxième classe âgé de 17 ans, peu après son enrôlement en septembre 1943. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/042d9532-f99e-481c-be85-0e98dd5cd22c/sdc-bing-crosby-960x700.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Bing Crosby et de nombreuses autres célébrités se sont produits pour les militaires alliés à la Stage Door Canteen de New York. Photo: nationalww2museum.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2dff213b-b739-4b12-b866-a342dd737774/Ron_Assault-course.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Ron Moyes (en haut) s'attaque au filet d'escalade sur le parcours d'assaut de l'École d'entraînement physique du personnel navigant à Valleyfield, au sud-est de Montréal Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c71b917-aeca-4cf9-b266-c3718e133f6d/Screen+Shot+2025-02-10+at+12.51.06+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out L'Empress of Scotland du Canadien Pacifique a revêtu une peinture gris cuirassé pendant sa période de transport de troupes alliées dans l'Atlantique. À l'origine, il avait été construit comme paquebot de luxe pour les liaisons transpacifiques et lancé sous le nom d'Empress of Japan, mais en 1942, à la suite des attaques japonaises sur Pearl Harbor, Singapour et Hong Kong, il a été rebaptisé Empress of Scotland. En 1943 et 1944, l 'Empress of Scotland a effectué douze voyages transatlantiques aller-retour, transportant des troupes depuis New York et d'autres ports d'Amérique du Nord en vue de l'invasion de l'Europe. Malgré l'activité intense des sous-marins dans l'Atlantique Nord, il s'en sortira indemne. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46eaa981-b14f-4475-9579-9bf8fae1ccbc/Crew.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out L'équipage Walkley. De gauche à droite : Sergent Ron « Shorty » Moyes, mitrailleur arrière; Sous-lieutenant d'aviation Hugh Ferguson, navigateur; Lieutenant d'aviation Don Walkley, pilote; Sous-lieutenant d'aviation Stuart Farmer, viseur de bombes; Sergent Alvin Kuhl, mitrailleur intermédiaire; Sergent de section Jake « Red » Redinger, radiotélégraphiste. Les rangs sont les mêmes qu'au moment de la photo. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c81653cf-c7d8-439e-89dc-284ca0492884/Screen+Shot+2025-02-11+at+4.38.16+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out « Il était très important que l'un des membres de l'équipage surveille les avions qui se trouvaient au-dessus et dont les portes de la soute à bombes étaient ouvertes pour avertir le pilote s'il devait s'écarter », raconte Moyes. Cette photographie aérienne, prise quelques mois avant l'arrivée de l'équipage du Walkley au Leeming, montre un Handley Page Halifax du 429e escadron (LW127 'AL-F') en vol au-dessus de Mondeville, en France, après avoir perdu tout son empennage tribord sous les bombes larguées par un autre Halifax au-dessus de lui (très probablement par l'avion qui a pris la photo). Trois membres de l'équipage sont tués, un s'échappe et trois sont faits prisonniers de guerre. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c46818b-1e5d-4fb3-89d3-24fdde651860/488906791_644223525265643_3136805142361840105_n.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Il y avait de nombreuses façons de mourir pour un mitrailleur arrière. Ici. L'équipage au sol inspecte un Lancaster qui est revenu d'un raid de bombardement avec sa tourelle arrière complètement cisaillée par une bombe tombant d'en haut. La tourelle et son occupant malchanceux n'ont jamais été revus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d2305cbf-5e8f-462d-9d37-96193c6a6262/Screen+Shot+2025-02-12+at+9.21.33+AM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Trois membres d'équipage montent à bord de leur Avro Lancaster. La différence entre les vêtements du mitrailleur arrière (à droite) et du mitrailleur intermédiaire (à gauche) en dit long sur les conditions de froid brutales endurées par Ron Moyes et tous les mitrailleurs arrière, même lors d'une mission d’été comme celle qui est décrite. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab08d139-8d2c-41b6-9fd8-75ed1dc98e16/Coffee.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out After an exhausting, hours-long operation over enemy territory, aircrew could finally stretch their legs and have a cup of tea or coffee (with or without rum) to help them unwind. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ae6bc35-e81b-4d02-aa36-0b3fad2d5577/castrop-rauxel.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out La raffinerie de pétrole synthétique de Castrop-Rauxel a subi 35 bombardements pendant la guerre et la production a finalement cessé dans la nuit du 31 novembre 1944. Cette photo d'après-guerre montre les dégâts accumulés. Photo via. www.trolley-mission.de/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7a3fc037-7ac8-49e1-a956-573abd984bb4/Map2.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out À l’aide de son carnet de bord, Ron Moyes a retracé toutes les missions de son équipage depuis RAF Leeming avec le 429e escadron et depuis RAF Grandson Lodge avec le 405e escadron. Map via Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8fc156ff-74af-4830-9de1-0e822bcf162e/Screen+Shot+2025-02-12+at+5.12.43+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Lors des missions de longue durée, Moyes et son équipage recevaient des amphétamines pour les maintenir alertes et éveillés.L'utilisation d'amphétamines était courante au sein du Bomber and Coastal Command de la RAF lorsque les hommes devaient rester éveillés et vigilants lors d'opérations de longue durée.Ce sachet de quatre pilules faisait partie de la trousse de survie de chaque équipage d'avion.. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2f69e91e-2eb5-4d72-b2de-ffb54f7ae39c/66b0ec80386e631a51ce0a77_63f57af0ef14a7e84605662a_Halifax_tail_turret_IWM_CH_11320.jpeg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Gros plan de la tourelle d'armement de queue Boulton Paul Type 'E', montant quatre mitrailleuses .303, sur un Handley Page Halifax. Les douilles étaient éjectées par les deux orifices rectangulaires situés à l'arrière de la tourelle. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2c9fe3c-8402-44f4-b217-340b3b11bd16/Liberator-bombers.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Au cours de l'hiver 1944-1945, des Liberator de l'US Army Air Corps appartenant au 785th Bombardment Squadron sont stationnés à la base RAF Leeming. L'unité était basée à la station de la RAF Attlebridge dans le Norfolk. Elle était peut-être en attente là-bas pour une mission pendant la bataille des Ardennes.. Photo: Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd464cee-d188-4075-a7a7-99a351e820ab/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+8.46.04+AM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Lorsque Ron Moyes était affecté au 405e Escadron, l'unité était commandée par le Colonel d’aviation William F. M. Newson, DSO, DFC et Bar. Newson a été intronisé au Temple de la renommée de l'aviation canadienne en 1984 après une brillante carrière dans l'ARC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6853a917-9511-43c4-8a7e-de52724ae6ac/Screen+Shot+2025-03-23+at+6.20.03+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Ron Moyes dans sa tourelle hydraulique Nash & Thompson équipée de quatre mitrailleuses. Le poste du mitrailleur arrière dans le Lancaster était un endroit solitaire. Isolé des six autres membres de l'équipage en poste à l'avant de l'avion, les mitrailleurs arrière comme Ron Moyes avaient une vue impressionnante mais terrifiante sur les destructions causées par chaque raid. La plupart des mitrailleurs retiraient la verrière en perspex pour mieux voir, s'exposant ainsi au froid extrême à 20 000 pieds d'altitude. Photo: Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef1070a2-6df3-46e7-8890-8e01ef32c2b4/Lanc.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out L'équipe Walkley après avoir été affectée au 405e Escadron Pathfinders à bord d'un Lancaster. De gauche à droite : Kuhn, Moyes, Redinger, Ferguson, Walkley et Farmer.. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66bb233e-c511-47bf-b60e-6fe7cbc85551/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+9.35.28+AM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Emplacement du radôme H2S sur le Lancaster. Le H2S était le premier système radar aéroporté capable de balayer le sol. Il a été développé pour le Bomber Command de la Royal Air Force pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale afin d'identifier les cibles au sol pour les bombardements de nuit par tous les temps. Ce système a permis de mener des attaques au delà de la portée des différentes aides à la navigation radio telles que Gee ou Oboe, qui étaient limitées à environ 220 miles de distance depuis différentes stations au sol. Il a également été largement utilisé comme système de navigation général, permettant d'identifier des points de repère à longue distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5dc21f2-84c3-449c-96de-0b1f9d919638/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+8.24.37+AM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out La salle des opérations et de planification du 405e escadron Pathfinder à la base RAF Gransden Lodge, à environ 10 miles à l'ouest de Cambridge, en Angleterre. Dans cette salle animée et enfumée, les missions étaient planifiées dans les moindres détails, en tenant compte de toutes les variables telles que le carburant, les signaux quotidiens, la météorologie, les renseignements, les défenses allemandes et les temps d’amorçage des bombes. Après la planification, l'escadron se réunissait pour un briefing avant d'être conduit aux avions. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17bf7155-ed96-4bba-b28a-9e4752c3de96/Screen+Shot+2025-02-18+at+2.22.18+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Un junkers JU 88 descend un Lancaster en utilisant le système Schräge Musik de tire vers la haut. Illustration Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e98fd51b-793c-4fad-802b-dc70d60ef1d5/Voedseldropping_op_Ypenburg.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Les citoyens néerlandais affamés applaudissent lorsqu'un Avro Lancaster largue son chargement de vivres près d'Ypenburg, au nord de Rotterdam. Les missions se déroulèrent pratiquement sans encombre. En gros, les Allemands ont tenu leur parole de ne pas tirer sur les avions, et d'innombrables civils néerlandais bénéficient de cette « manne tombée du ciel ». En une semaine, les efforts combinés de la RAF, de la RCAF, de la RAAF, de la RNZAF et de l'USAAC (ils appelèrent cette opération « Chowhound ») permirent de larguer plus de 10 000 tonnes de vivres aux Néerlandais affamés mais toujours reconnaissants. Parmi ceux qui survivent à « l'hiver de la faim » et bénéficièrent de ces vols figurait la petite-fille mal nourrie de l'ancien maire d'Arnhem, une adolescente nommée Audrey Hepburn.Photo: via nationalww2museum.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/54ff4b1e-b42d-434f-b690-19b8baad0c34/MMA2.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Le vice-maréchal de l'air « Black Mike » McEwan et son chien Blackie. Remarquez le nom « Malton Mike » sous son drapeau de commandement sur le Lancaster derrière lui. Ce surnom lui a été donné après l'une de ses premières visites à l'usine AV Roe de Malton, en Ontario, pour voir la chaîne de montage du Lancaster X. Bien que l'histoire de Moyes ne le mentionne pas, il est probable qu'Ashby pilotait le M-Malton Mike lors du vol transatlantique avec le vice-maréchal de l'air à bord en tant que copilote, car il est documenté que McEwan a accompagné son chien lors de son retour au Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600360076-ZDO0TB2KYKQ2DC3XH3J2/LastCall19.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Une cinquantaine de Lancaster construits au Canada sont alignés sur les rampes de la base de la RCAF à Scoudouc, au Nouveau-Brunswick, dont l'un est probablement le Lancaster Mk. X de Moyes, immatriculé KB957, LQ-W. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebaef3ba-3e1d-4690-99df-dbb2e1b2cb9a/Screen+Shot+2025-02-18+at+2.45.32+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out 130 Mustang nord-américains ont équipé plusieurs escadrons de chasse de réserve de l'ARC après la guerre, dont le 402e escadron de Moyes de 1951 à 1957. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/763a8749-12bb-4644-958c-6bcb1fb5670b/Screen+Shot+2025-02-19+at+9.33.37+AM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Ron Moyes à la RAF North Luffenham en 1953, servant comme armurier au sein du 401e Escadron sur des Sabres de Canadair. Après la guerre, la plupart des aviateurs qui choisissait de rester dans l’ARC ont été rétrogradés. Moyes s'est réengagé comme caporal, mais au moment où cette photo a été prise, il avait déjà été promu caporal-chef. Remarquez la poitrine couverte de décorations militaires et ses ailes opérationnelles indiquant qu'il avait accompli un tour opérationnel complet avec Bomber Command, un exploit remarquable compte tenu de toutes les probabilités de perte associées au rôle de mitrailleur arrière. Photo: Ron Moyes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97ec4df1-0618-436d-b32b-f1b0dbdd223f/Screen+Shot+2025-02-23+at+1.59.54+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Lorsque l'équipage s'est réuni en 1984 à Sault Ste Marie, en Ontario, le sergent de section Jake « Red » Redinger, opérateur radio, était porté disparu. Ils l'ont recherché sans succès pendant les quatre décennies qui ont suivi. Photo: The Sault Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1eb10e40-a56d-4a8c-9004-6c749f32442f/Screen+Shot+2025-02-23+at+2.02.40+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes - Make it stand out Je ne suis pas certain de la date de la photo du bas, mais il est clair qu'elle a été prise après 1984, car Jake « Red » Redinger (à droite) figure désormais parmi les membres de l'équipage dans cette reconstitution de leur photo d'époque. C'est peut-être l'article de journal qui a permis de retrouver Redinger. L'équipage Walkley était un groupe de pilotes extrêmement soudé. C'était peut-être parce qu'ils avaient survécu ensemble à une campagne opérationnelle complète. Beaucoup n'ont pas eu cette chance. La plupart des équipages se sont séparés après la guerre, surtout s'ils venaient de différents pays du Commonwealth. Les membres de l'équipage Walkley étaient tous Canadiens et ils ont gardé contact pour même se réunir pendant les années et les décennies qui ont suivi la guerre. Photo: Ron Moyes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129439534-U4RKB7343ZR3HON1LG1P/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+7.01.44+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129449291-DSC0RESVFLB8Q5I1SEAE/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.51.38+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129464155-IKTXTG9XE8VKKCG9LVO2/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.52.39+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129492946-R7T8DPY0YGKAQZ5X0LD5/BosloyTitle.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129506609-SKQ7NNFXHW22UVV83T5C/BaldwinTitle.jpg The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129517610-JQO8HY1EL1KE9R5MF7GA/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.54.08+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129527537-4EUEQZQ44KNP2ED4ED8D/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.58.13+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129547755-CX1Z35VHXTCKEOX5T395/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.55.20+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129560138-V2RBGCYADKOJO63LCHED/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.56.27+PM.png The Stories - Sentinelle - L'histoire de Ron Moyes https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sentinel monthly 0.5 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07d26ba5-bc32-4c8d-ab98-4879d6f3ef7e/ShortyMoyes.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/db1bb3c4-a369-4247-bda0-b4ea2b36d04d/Shorty.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out 17-year old Aircraftman Second Class Ronald “Shorty” Moyes shortly after his enlistment in September, 1943. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/042d9532-f99e-481c-be85-0e98dd5cd22c/sdc-bing-crosby-960x700.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Bing Crosby and many other top celebrities performed for Allied servicemen and women at New York’s Stage Door Canteen. Photo: nationalww2museum.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2dff213b-b739-4b12-b866-a342dd737774/Ron_Assault-course.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Ron Moyes (top) attacks the climbing net on the assault course at Aircrew Physical Training School in Valleyfield, southeast of Montreal. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c71b917-aeca-4cf9-b266-c3718e133f6d/Screen+Shot+2025-02-10+at+12.51.06+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Canadian Pacific’s Empress of Scotland painted battleship grey during her period as an Allied Atlantic troopship. She was originally built a as a luxury passenger liner on the trans-Pacific routes and launched as Empress of Japan, but in 1942, following the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, Singapore, and Hong Kong, she was rechristened Empress of Scotland. During 1943 and 1944, Empress of Scotland operated a shuttle of twelve transatlantic round trips, bringing troops across from New York and other North American ports in preparation for the invasion of Europe. Despite intensive U-boat activity in the North Atlantic, she came out unscathed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46eaa981-b14f-4475-9579-9bf8fae1ccbc/Crew.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out The Walkley Crew. Left to right: Sergeant Ron “Shorty” Moyes, Rear Gunner; Pilot Officer Hugh Ferguson, Navigator; Flying Officer Don Walkley, Pilot; Pilot Officer Stuart Farmer, Bomb Aimer; Sergeant Alvin Kuhl, Mid-Upper Gunner; Flight Sergeant Jake “Red” Redinger, Wireless Operator. Ranks at time of photo. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c81653cf-c7d8-439e-89dc-284ca0492884/Screen+Shot+2025-02-11+at+4.38.16+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out “… it was very important for someone in the crew to watch out for any aircraft above that might happen to have their bomb bay doors open to tell the pilot to get out of the way” recounted Moyes. This aerial photograph, taken a couple of months before the Walkley crew arrived at Leeming, shows a Handley Page Halifax of No. 429 Squadron (LW127 'AL-F'), in flight over Mondeville, France, after losing its entire starboard tailplane to bombs dropped by another Halifax above it (very likely by the aircraft taking the photo). Three of the crew were killed, one evaded and three became POWs. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c46818b-1e5d-4fb3-89d3-24fdde651860/488906791_644223525265643_3136805142361840105_n.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out There were many ways to die for a rear gunner. Here. ground crew inspect a Lancaster which has returned from a bombing raid with its rear turret sheared clean off by a bomb falling from above. The turret and its unlucky occupant were never seen again.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d2305cbf-5e8f-462d-9d37-96193c6a6262/Screen+Shot+2025-02-12+at+9.21.33+AM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Three crew members climb aboard their Avro Lancaster. The difference between what the rear gunner (right) and the mid-upper gunner (left) wear tells you all you need to know about the brutal freezing conditions endured by Ron Moyes and all rear gunners, even on a summertime op like the one depicted. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab08d139-8d2c-41b6-9fd8-75ed1dc98e16/Coffee.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out After an exhausting, hours-long operation over enemy territory, aircrew could finally stretch their legs and have a cup of tea or coffee (with or without rum) to help them unwind. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ae6bc35-e81b-4d02-aa36-0b3fad2d5577/castrop-rauxel.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out The synthetic oil refinery at Castrop-Rauxel endured 35 bombing raids during the war with production finally ceased after the night of November 31, 1944. This post war photo shows the accumulated damage. Photo via. www.trolley-mission.de/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7a3fc037-7ac8-49e1-a956-573abd984bb4/Map2.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Ron Moyes used his log book to map all of his crew’s operational raids from RAF Leeming with 429 Squadron and from RAF Grandson Lodge with 405 Squadron. Map via Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8fc156ff-74af-4830-9de1-0e822bcf162e/Screen+Shot+2025-02-12+at+5.12.43+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out On longer ops, Moyes and his crew were issued amphetamines to keep them alert and awake. The use of amphetamine was common in Bomber and Coastal Command of the RAF when men were required to remain awake and vigilant on long-duration operations. This four pill packet was part of every aircrew survival pack. Image: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2f69e91e-2eb5-4d72-b2de-ffb54f7ae39c/66b0ec80386e631a51ce0a77_63f57af0ef14a7e84605662a_Halifax_tail_turret_IWM_CH_11320.jpeg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Close-up of the Boulton Paul Type 'E' tail gun-turret, mounting four .303 machine guns, on a Handley Page Halifax. Spent shells were ejected out the two rectangular ports at the back of the turret. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2c9fe3c-8402-44f4-b217-340b3b11bd16/Liberator-bombers.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out In the winter of 1944-45, US Army Air Corps Liberators from the 785th Bombardment Squadron are parked at RAF Leeming. The unit was based at RAF Attlebridge in Norfolk. Perhaps the unit was staging from there for a mission during the Battle of the Bulge. Photo: Ron Moyes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd464cee-d188-4075-a7a7-99a351e820ab/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+8.46.04+AM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out When Ron Moyes was posted to 405 Squadron, the unit was commanded by Group Captain William F. M. Newson, DSO, DFC and Bar. Newson was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 1984 after a stellar RCAF career. Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6853a917-9511-43c4-8a7e-de52724ae6ac/Screen+Shot+2025-03-23+at+6.20.03+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Ron Moyes in his hydraulically-operated Nash and Thompson four gun turret. The rear gunner’s position in the Lancaster was a lonely place. Cut off from the other six members of the crew who were stationed in the front of the aircraft, rear gunners like Ron Moyes had an awesome yet terrifying view of the destruction each raid wrought. Most gunners removed the perspex panel for better visibility, leaving them utterly exposed to the extreme cold at 20,000 feet, Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef1070a2-6df3-46e7-8890-8e01ef32c2b4/Lanc.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out The Walkley Crew after posting to Lancasters with 405 Squadron Pathfinders. Left to right: Kuhl, Moyes, Redinger, Ferguson, Walkley and Farmer. Photo: Moyes Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66bb233e-c511-47bf-b60e-6fe7cbc85551/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+9.35.28+AM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out The location of the H2S radome on the Lancaster. H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed for the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War II to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing. This allowed attacks outside the range of the various radio navigation aids like Gee or Oboe, which were limited to about 350 kilometres (220 mi) of range from various base stations. It was also widely used as a general navigation system, allowing landmarks to be identified at long range. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5dc21f2-84c3-449c-96de-0b1f9d919638/Screen+Shot+2025-02-13+at+8.24.37+AM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out The 405 Pathfinder Squadron operations and planning room at RAF Gransden Lodge, about 16 kilometres west of Cambridge, England. In this busy and smoke-filled room, missions were planned down to the smallest detail, taking into account all variables such as fuel, daily signals, meteorology, intelligence, German defences and bomb fusing times. After planning, the squadron assembled for a briefing before being driven to their aircraft. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17bf7155-ed96-4bba-b28a-9e4752c3de96/Screen+Shot+2025-02-18+at+2.22.18+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out A Junkers Ju 88 shoots down a Lancaster using the upward-firing schräge Musik system. Illustration Piote Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e98fd51b-793c-4fad-802b-dc70d60ef1d5/Voedseldropping_op_Ypenburg.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Starving Dutch citizens cheer as an Avro Lancaster releases its bomb load of foodstuffs near Ypenburg, north of Rotterdam. The missions went off practically without a hitch. The Germans honored their word, almost entirely, that no coordinated anti-aircraft would fire upon the planes, and countless Dutch civilians benefited from this “manna from heaven.” In one week the combined efforts of the RAF, RCAF, RAAF, RNZAF and the USAAC (they called it Operation Chowhound) dropped over 10,000 tons of food on the starving and grateful Dutch. One of those who had survived the “hunger winter” and benefited from the flights was the malnourished granddaughter of the former mayor of Arnhem, a teenaged Audrey Hepburn. Photo: via nationalww2museum.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/54ff4b1e-b42d-434f-b690-19b8baad0c34/MMA2.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Air Vice Marshal “Black Mike” McEwan and his dog Blackie. Note the Malton Mike name under his command flag on the Lancaster behind him. Then sobriquet came after one of his earlier visits to the AV Roe factory in Malton, Ontario to view the Lancaster X assembly line. Though Moyes’ story does not mention it, it is likely that Ashby was flying M-Malton Mike on the transatlantic flight with the Air Vice Marshal on board as the second pilot, as it is documented that McEwan accompanied his dog back to Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600360076-ZDO0TB2KYKQ2DC3XH3J2/LastCall19.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out 50 or so Canadian-built Lancasters line the ramps at RCAF Station Scoudouc, New Brunswick, one of which is likely Moyes’s Lancaster Mk. X, KB957, LQ-W Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebaef3ba-3e1d-4690-99df-dbb2e1b2cb9a/Screen+Shot+2025-02-18+at+2.45.32+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out 130 North American Mustangs equipped several RCAF reserve fighter squadrons after the war including Moyes’ 402 from 1951-1957 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/763a8749-12bb-4644-958c-6bcb1fb5670b/Screen+Shot+2025-02-19+at+9.33.37+AM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Ron Moyes at RAF North Luffenham in 1953 serving as an armourer with 401 Squadron on Canadair Sabres. Following the war, most airmen were rank reduced if they chose to remain in the RCAF. Moyes re-upped as a Leading Aircraftman, but by the time off this photo he had made Corporal. Note the chest full of service decorations and his Operational Wings indicating he had completed a full operational tour with Bomber Command — an achievement that defied terrible odds for a rear gunner. Photo: Ron Moyes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97ec4df1-0618-436d-b32b-f1b0dbdd223f/Screen+Shot+2025-02-23+at+1.59.54+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out When the crew reunited in 1984 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Flight Sergeant Jake “Red” Redinger, the Wireless Operator was missing. They has been searching for him unsuccessfully doing the intervening 4 decades. Photo: The Sault Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1eb10e40-a56d-4a8c-9004-6c749f32442f/Screen+Shot+2025-02-23+at+2.02.40+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story - Make it stand out Not certain of the date of the bottom photo, but it’s clear it was after 1984, as Jake “Red” Redinger (right) is now with the crew in this reenactment of their wartime crew photo. Perhaps it was the newspaper article that resulted in contact with Redinger. The Walkley Crew was an extraordinarily bonded group of airmen. Perhaps it was that, together, they had survived a full tour. Many did not. For the most part crews went their separate ways after the war, especially if they came from mixed commonwealth countries. The Walkley Crew were all Canadian and they made an effort to stay in contact and even get together in the years and decades after the war. Photo: Ron Moyes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129439534-U4RKB7343ZR3HON1LG1P/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+7.01.44+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129449291-DSC0RESVFLB8Q5I1SEAE/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.51.38+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129464155-IKTXTG9XE8VKKCG9LVO2/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.52.39+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129492946-R7T8DPY0YGKAQZ5X0LD5/BosloyTitle.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129506609-SKQ7NNFXHW22UVV83T5C/BaldwinTitle.jpg The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129517610-JQO8HY1EL1KE9R5MF7GA/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.54.08+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129527537-4EUEQZQ44KNP2ED4ED8D/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.58.13+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129547755-CX1Z35VHXTCKEOX5T395/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.55.20+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129560138-V2RBGCYADKOJO63LCHED/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.56.27+PM.png The Stories - Sentinel—The Ron Moyes Story https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-first monthly 0.5 2024-04-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8915faae-845b-42e9-89ac-e52646423c37/TITLE2.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out Photo Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47e40b95-8c40-4c05-a022-8b822a567077/TheFirst11.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out “Passing overhead, crofters looking up might have seen the ghostly silhouette of a Westland Wallace, a lumbering giant of a biplane, as it passed overhead, bleeding in and out of the haar. ” Photo Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a1d22f14-80b8-4ec4-88b3-e5d0469f5c45/Screen+Shot+2023-10-17+at+4.14.25+PM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A rather elegant-looking Westland Wallace Mk I sits on a hard stand at RAF Martlesham Heath. The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland as a follow-on to their successful Wapiti. Shortly after its introduction in 1933, a Westland Wallace became the first aircraft to fly over Everest, as part of the Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition. As the last of the interwar general purpose biplanes, it was used by a number of frontline and Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons. Although the pace of aeronautical development caused its rapid replacement in frontline service, its useful life was extended into the Second World War with many being converted into target tugs and wireless trainers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/065b0a4c-91f6-4dc2-b285-6f8b3f227cfd/Wallace.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A Westland Wallace made history in 1933 as the first aircraft to overfly Mount Everest. Six years later, it was long obsolete and the remaining examples of the type were relegated to towing targets for gunnery schools. Photo: rarehistoricalphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8172d9dd-eb64-4b1a-970a-37d3d281c074/TheForst8.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out Bennachie’s Mither Tap from the heathered and scrub pine slopes of Bruntwood Tap. Photo: Shayne MacFaull via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1c931c3-1763-4067-8456-504d0fac4dd4/TheFirst9.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The farmland of Aberdeenshire as seen from the top of Bennachie’s Oxen Craig. Photo: Yvonne Vincent via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b540889-a9ca-47b2-a984-baad335ad96c/63f2b161d74baba4e2edd212_Gwallace-2.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The serial number, K6020 on this Westland Wallace MkII indicates it came of the Westland assembly line in Yeovil, Somerset just eight airframes ahead of the one flown by Ellard Cummings. The Mk II featured an enclosed cockpit for the crew, a first for an aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The use of canopies or enclosed cockpits was in use in commercial aircraft in Great Britain in the early 1930s, but the RAF had still to employ them. Photo: avionslegendaires.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f12d13c4-e366-4157-9fd4-d430e3e1e842/16976129022_04aeda3045_o.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out When Ellard Cummings finished high school, he took employment the Beach Foundry in his Hintonburg neighbourhood. Beach products were a common sight in Canadian homes when I was young. They shut down operations in the 1980s and some of the original factory structures still exist today. Photo: R. D. Barry, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/952b5336-9674-4f32-a96e-41efd1033a48/TheFirst3.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A studio photo of Pilot Officer Ellard Alexander Cummings taken in Great Britain shortly after he earned his wings and commission in the Royal Air Force. At right, a delightful shot of a beaming and boyish Cummings snapping his best air force salute for his family back home in Ottawa shortly after signing up and before earning his pilot’s brevet. Photos via: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/35a08f77-4e80-4c71-822d-1e37b003b02c/Andania2-1922.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out In March of 1938, Ellard Cummings took passage to Scotland on RMS Andania of the Cunard Line, arriving in early April. He was accompanied by other Canadian recruits of the RAF. Photo via tynebuiltships.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a601d324-2c33-41e3-aff7-475c313bb146/Andania.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out Sailing with him from Halifax to Great Britain aboard RMS Andania were three men who would also be killed in the next two years. Upper left: Pilot Officer Selby Roger Henderson, DFC of Winnipeg was killed on operations with 203 Squadron in July of 1940. Upper Centre: Flying Officer Edmond Kidder Leveille, also of Winnipeg was a Gladiator fighter pilot with 33 Squadron in Egypt. He was killed in late October, 1940 shortly after the squadron re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. Top right: Flight Lieutenant Hugh Norman Tamblyn, DFC of North Battleford, Saskatchewan and a Battle of Britain ace was killed with 242 (Canadian) Squadron in April, 1941. Bottom: One of the most published photographs of the Battle of Britain is this photo of fighter pilots of 242 Squadron taken at Duxford in 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain posing with their commander Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. Hugh Tamblyn is second from the left. Bottom Photo: Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a0891cfd-9b73-4eba-8b5f-219b87d41559/Screen+Shot+2023-10-24+at+11.06.57+AM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out After his transatlantic crossing and some basic training, Cummings was granted a probationary Pilot Officer’s commission and posted to RAF Sywell (above) to begin flying training. Approximately 2,500 wartime RAF, Commonwealth and Allied pilots were trained at Sywell; the Aerodrome was also the centre for training the "Free French" pilots who had escaped to England from occupied France. Photo via FinestHourWarbirds.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc2fced0-9eb0-48b7-bbc2-a221d20ff8ff/Screen+Shot+2023-10-19+at+2.50.34+PM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The front page of the Ottawa Evening Citizen just three days after his death carried frightening headlines about Poland’s situation, reports of Ottawa passengers aboard the sunken passenger liner S. S. Athenia, the first ship sunk by German U-boats in the this war and Ellard Cummings (centre), then thought to be the first casualty of the Second World War. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3cea3d7a-b0d2-40c9-8b1d-ca297fa41f01/1698680090375blob+%281%29.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The miniature model of a Westland Wallace carved by Stewart’s father from a piece of the wooden propeller from the crash site. A very poignant reminder and a special gift which Alan Stewart sent to the Cummings family. Photo: Unknown at this point. Possibly Linzee Druce https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d5ed7ec-e911-414f-afbb-aef6e26c677f/Screen+Shot+2023-10-18+at+4.46.42+PM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out I found very little about Pilot Officer Cummings on the internet and lot less about LAC Alex Stewart. He was the son of Alan Stewart and Elizabeth Renfrew of Paisley, Renfrewshire on the western outskirts of Glasgow. He had two brothers and two sisters and was engaged to be married. Photo: Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c751090a-7642-4345-b284-391f49148a11/TheFirst10.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The man given the unfortunate title of the first Allied serviceman to die in the war was probationary Pilot Officer John Noel Laughton Isaac who lost control of his Bristol Blenheim on only his second solo flight on the type. He crashed into a residential area near Hendon and was killed, 90 minutes after war was declared. Photo: Roath Local History Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86a27a58-a9e5-4092-8c06-b6171b4558c4/TheFirst2.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out Two photos of Ken Cummings. The left likely was shot in Ottawa when he was still at school and the right at Manning Depot in Brandon. Photos via: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/02b38730-0bfa-4d40-9fd1-1af1a9f7af76/TheFirst1.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A photo of LAC Ken Cummings in front of an Avro Anson at No. 7 Service Flying Training School in Fort MacLeod, Alberta, likely in September of 1942. It was at No. 7 SFTS that Cummings earned his pilots’ brevet and followed in his brother’s footsteps. Interestingly, he is wearing a sweater vest, a fashion accessory he seemed to like. When his personal effects were returned to his family after his death over Germany, they included no less than 13 vests! Photo via: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/88ccdbad-845a-4660-ae69-36bb5593003c/Halifax.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A Handley Page Halifax II of 102 Squadron flies over Yorkshire in 1944 while filming a sequence for an aircraft recognition film. The full film from the Imperial war Museum can be seen here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/427edec2-94b7-4dd7-8405-c8431ae49b7a/Screen+Shot+2023-10-26+at+10.06.55+AM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A 102 Squadron Halifax I waits at RAF Pocklington in the summer of 1943 while the Station Commander (centre) signals them to begin their take-off roll. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9e2ca6f-ab42-4636-8e14-ef597fe05a05/TheFirst4.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out In 1949, a former RCAF 427 Squadron wireless operator visited the Hanover, Germany graveyard dedicated to Allied servicemen (mainly from Bomber Command) who were killed on operations in Germany. The remains of the men in this cemetery were brought here from all over Germany. He took a few photos of the grave marker of a Sergeant Roy Wells, one of his own crew and then sent copies of the photos to his navigator Flying Officer Adam Meyers of Toronto, who also survived the shooting down of their Halifax. Adam Meyers understood that the family of Ken Cummings whose grave marker was also captured in the photo would appreciate having a copy of the image so that they could see that their son was well taken care of and he sent the photo to the RCAF who passed it on to James Cummings. The remains of Clark, Lingley, Rees and Torrance are buried in a communal grave with separate headstones. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3751d359-8f60-4289-9395-2845fb10d677/Screen+Shot+2023-10-27+at+11.56.17+AM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The wreckage of Westland Wallace K6028 still lies strewn about the rocky slopes of Bennachie’s Bruntland Tap. The rusting Bristol Pegasus engine from the Bennachie Wallace remained on the hill until the 1960s, when a local firm recovered it with the intention of selling it for scrap. When the RAF learned of this plan they acquired it, intending to restore it for display. Photo: What To Do When Highland Dancing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d42b67ef-1c18-4ce3-9d33-71951b92bb68/Screen+Shot+2023-10-17+at+3.24.23+PM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out A memorial was built at the top of Bennachie to honour Cummings, Stewart and a pilot named Brian Lightfoot who flew into the mountain in similar conditions in a Gloster Meteor jet fighter in 1952. The cairn is made of rock from the mountain with parts of both aircraft embedded on the mortar. Photo: What To Do When Highland Dancing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3c88885-b52e-4239-a89c-af88a2a8b941/Screen+Shot+2023-10-17+at+3.24.32+PM.png The Stories - THE FIRST - Make it stand out The granite plaque set in a stone cairn at the top fo Oxen Craig helps the thousands of hikers who summit Bennachie each year to understand what happened there so long ago, when the world fell into the abyss. Photo: What To Do When Highland Dancing https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-last-flight-of-buffalo-33 monthly 0.5 2024-11-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e55ba51-a62e-4811-8bb6-4f3ff66d9188/BreadnerTitle.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1af70e92-7309-4c3b-9a62-51e915bd9758/60f99113330938273cece7d6_de-Havilland-B-25-Mosquito--RCAF--Serial-No--KB380---R--No--8-OTU--16-Oct-1944--MIKAN-No--3650675.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out An RCAF Mosquito at No. 7 OTU, Debert, Nova Scotia in 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dabeae5d-6fab-4bed-91b2-2701b01f3922/Boli.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out The Fairchild-built Bristol Bolingbroke was a variant of the British-designed Bristol Blenheim light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft and was built in Montreal. Outdated and outclassed for combat operations, they were relegated to coastal patrol, liaison and target-towing duties across Canada. Bolingbroke 9171, which Jasieniuk was flying that day, was a dedicated target tug and as such was likely painted overall in yellow paint (as above) to make it more visible to aircraft targeting it. Some also carried the “Oxydol” paint scheme of broad diagonal black and yellow stripes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/817aeab1-b1be-4a84-b2de-6b12d37f8ed7/Debertaerial.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out An aerial view of RCAF Station Debert in the Second World War, looking north over the rugged hills of Colchester County . Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea14f780-0ced-485d-acff-11ec893c0e1d/60f99112129f74fb958b10a2_de-Havilland-Mosquito-B-Mk-25-25-January-1943--DND-Archives--PL-14570.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out One of the most beautiful aircraft designed in the Second World War, the de Havilland Mosquito was made mostly of wood and plywood as a way to get around shortages of vital aircraft aluminum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66c11153-545d-4c1c-b469-78d4f8a406e5/BreadnerBennett.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Donald Lloyd Breadner, left, was the 20-year old son of Air Marshal Lloyd Breadner, Chief of the RCAF overseas. Growing up, he had met many important and sophisticated people, attended many political and military events and had even lived abroad with his family in Great Britain. Pilot Officer Kenneth Brian Bennett, 22-years old, grew up in a small farming community in Southern Alberta, worked on his father’s farm and had not seen much of the world when he enlisted in December that same year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076378469-YAH62WTI9WHETKJJ29O6/Screen+Shot+2023-06-19+at+9.21.32+AM.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076310168-HMQVVVTNQD4OJ2HP4OR1/6428b57f3e9ff8025712781f_e011157163-v8.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Lloyd Breadner Lloyd Breadner (left) was one of Canada’s early aviators, learning to fly at the Wright School in Dayton, Ohio before joining the British Royal Naval Air Service in December of 1915. Here we see him in a Wright Flyer getting preflight instruction from Jack Simpson of Guelph, Ontario. Simpson, an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, would be killed in France on Dominion (Canada) Day the next year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076289438-S15D4J0IQVX0D86QSFFX/6428b46dab8db0b954162526_e011183292-v8.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - First world War fighter pilot Lloyd Breadner was a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. He is seen here in Sopwith Pup His Majesty’s Aeroplane (HMA) “HAPPY” of No. 3 Naval Squadron at Marieux, France in April of 1917 when he held the rank of Flight Commander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076331133-E6ZK9HQEH4O96XQN477N/209819471225591.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Roy Brown Lloyd Breadner was from the same small rural town called Carleton Place 50 kilometres west of Ottawa as Captain Roy Brown. Brown, one of four young men (including Breadner) from Carleton Place who journeyed to Dayton, Ohio’s Wright School of Aviation to learn to fly, was in the process of attacking the Manfred von Richthofen, when German uber-ace was shot down by Australian ground fire. Carleton Place, dubbed the “nursery of the air force” by local newspapers of the day, was home to several aces in the First World War—Breadner (10 victories), Roy Brown (11). Stearne Edwards (17), Murray Galbraith (6), Ken Conn (20), Harry Edwards (21). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d048848b-eae3-4f63-9703-e2f2be6de0a1/Pup.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Lloyd Breadner’s Sopwith Pup mount in the First World War is a favourite of builders — whether a full-size flying replica or a scale model. Photos: Left: Ron Eisele, Right: Ivan Ivan Bouinatchov of Aeroscale https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e34de96a-5a5c-4cab-b1fc-e1d042c734c3/64288d4bf8206b5a89011fa9_4.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Air Marshal Lloyd Breadner (Fifth from left) was used to power as demonstrated by this photo of Allied military leaders who accompanied Roosevelt, Churchill and King to the Quebec Conference at the Chateau Frontenac. Left to right: Lord Louis Mountbatten, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, General Sir Alan Brooke, Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Breadner, Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Lieutenant General Sir Hastings Ismay, Admiral Ernest J. King, General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Admiral W D Leahy, Canadian Lieutenant General Kenneth Stuart, Canadian Vice Admiral Percy W. Nelles and General George C. Marshal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77398393-152a-47d8-a659-508039bd5949/Screen+Shot+2023-07-12+at+7.37.42+AM.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Even Donald Breadner’s mother Elva was a leader in the RCAF world in the Second World War — as a long-time President of the RCAF Officer’s Wives Association. Photo: Yousuf Karsh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d836ef4-d4cc-4802-b864-b8ae7f8a5df7/Clippings.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Left: “Son, I’m proud of you.”. Air Marshal Breadner poses for an Ottawa Citizen publicity photo with his teenage son following the boy’s enlistment in the air force he commands. The Ottawa Journal reported that Donald and 11 fellow high school students “banded together and played “hookey” from school to apply for enlistment as pilots in the RCAF”. At right: Breadner (far right) and old friend David Heakes (next to him and also the son of a high-ranking RCAF officer, Air Commodore Francis Vernon Heakes) try their best to impress the drill corporal at Manning Depot in Lachine, Quebec. They have clearly just arrived from “Civvie Street” and Breadner is sporting his Glebe Collegiate varsity sweater. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5d81760-9027-4b0a-9381-beb67a8370a6/Air_Marshal_Robert_Leckie%2C_CB%2C_DSO%2C_DSC%2C_DFC%2C_CD_RCAF.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Air Marshal Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD, was not only in charge of training in the RCAF, he was a colleague and close personal friend of the Breadner family. As Donald Breadner faltered in his training, he went to bat for him. Photo: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b8ce0df-537e-481c-86f8-46b533e5c54d/DeSoto.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Brian Bennett, 18-years old, poses with the family’s brand new 1940 DeSoto sedan. Photo: Bennett Family Collection, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f10be6df-027f-4baf-8163-216e65083856/FunGuy.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Brian Bennett must have been a fun guy to be around based on these two photos. He was a terrific dancer and all the girls wanted a chance to dance with him. At right he poses with three of his eight sisters including the oldest Norma (41 years, at Back on right), the youngest Eloise (21 years, Bottom) and Maude (called Mollie by family, at left) on his leave in late August of 1944 after he was awarded his navigator brevet. Photos: Bennett Family Collection, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6efcb8aa-fe55-441f-85a4-414241ecb8f4/Bennett3.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Photos taken of Leading Aircraftman Kenneth Brian Bennett taken during his time at Air Observer School at Ancien Lorrette, Québec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/43b96f44-162d-42cc-8407-51a749944db8/Statue.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Bennett (left) and two friends from No. 8 Air Observer School at Ancienne Lorette, Quebec pose in front of a statue of a mounted Joan of Arc on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City while on a weekend pass from their studies. The airfield created at Ancienne Lorette for the purposes of training air crew, is now Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB). On his sleeve, Bennett wears his Leading Aircraftman propeller badge and above that, his Wireless Operator trade badge (a fist grasping three lightning bolts. The photo has an ‘X’ written over Bennett’s head, likely signifying his loss while in the RCAF. Photo: Bennett Family Collection, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff6d0b3d-8169-49f9-aaa5-9466afb92c0d/Screen+Shot+2023-06-26+at+1.14.05+PM.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out A group photo of Breadner and Bennett’s Squad 1 on No. 12 Mosquito course at No. 31 Operational Training Unit, Debert. Donald Breadner is seated third from left and his Buffalo 33 navigator Brian Bennett stands at far left. Standing behind Breadner is Sergeant E. H. Smith, Breadner’s regular navigator. Judging by the greatcoats and gloves this photo was taken in October shortly after their arrival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/944b54c2-5025-4e6f-bdc0-f06721900ede/Debert.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out A scene on the Debert flight line in 1943 with Hurricanes, Harvards and Anson of No. 123 Army Cooperation Training Squadron lined up for a parade. The Hurricane at right (RCAF 5636) was lost the month before Breadner and Bennett’s accident. During the attempted recovery following a high-speed dive, the outer half of the starboard wing was torn off due to a structural failure. The pilot, Flight Sergeant J.A. Holding, was killed. 123 Squadron would be renumbered 439 Squadron when it was transferred to Europe. Legendary 439 Squadron went on to operate Hawker Typhoons, F-86 Sabres, CF-104 Starfighters and CF-18 Hornets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1304695d-46ba-4e11-b63c-c32404e08552/KA114.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Mosquito KA114 was one of the aircraft assigned to No. 7 OTU at Debert in the time that Breadner and Bennett were there. It’s entirely possible that they flew this aircraft, which is one of the few Mossies that survive in flying condition today. Photo by Jack Zavitz, RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c70bc0b0-466f-4353-8bbb-daeb94d60fcc/IMG_3236.JPG The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out KA114, restored to flying condition at Avspecs in Ardmore, New Zealand, now flies at Jerry Yagen’s Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07f1710c-a92f-40d4-aa2f-bf66b255b8b0/0.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Another surviving warbird from RCAF Station Debert is the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Hurricane XII (G-HURI), a former 123 Squadron Hurricane now in the markings of RAF 302 (Polish) Squadron. In September 2005 Hurricane Z5140 became the first Hurricane to return to the Mediterranean island of Malta since the Second World War. It flew there together with Spitfire BM597 as part of the Merlins over Malta project. Howard Cook was one of the Hurricane pilots of that project. In August 2012 she flew to Moscow to display in their centenary airshow. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7edea576-ca8c-47b6-8e12-8bf5faf4d7d6/Map.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out A map depicting the relationship between Atkinson Siding, Higgins Mountain and Debert. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb783886-6dd4-421c-a888-817d064126a1/Fireman-4T2.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out SIDEBAR: Debert’s station Medical Officer, Harold Henry Fireman, was from Ottawa, Ontario. As an young student doctor at the Ottawa Civic Hospital he was chosen to be the “intern in attendance“ at the birth of Princess Margriet of Holland. He joined the RCAF were he was a Medical Officer during the war with Eastern Air Command for four years. After a long and respected career he retired at age 88 and died in Ottawa in 2020 at the age of 101. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c4ba535-5d74-4053-864a-44f17964d31a/Mosquito.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Mosquito KB278 simultaneously lost both outer wing panels (shaded) and crashed at very low altitude with no chance of recovery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81378952-45a7-4117-be34-e3a29c2231a2/WiseGrabowski.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Three weeks previous to the crash of Buffalo 33, Donald Wise (left) and his navigator Joe Grabowski were killed when the outer wings of their Mosquito broke off in a similar way. At the time, they had climbed to 25,000 feet and possibly were overcome by anoxia. The wings must have come off during a dive‚ intentional or otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/052674a2-bc5f-479d-b01c-7062bed89024/Dignitaries.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Solid Brass! There were several hundred mourners who attended the funeral of young Donald Breadner, demonstrating the respect that Canadian military leadership had for his father. Some of the Canadian war leaders who walked in the procession included (left to right top row): Air Marshal William Avery Bishop, VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC, ED, Canadian First world war ace and , Angus Lewis Macdonald PC QC, First World war veteran, former Premier of Nova Scotia and federal war cabinet minister responsible for the navy; James Layton Ralston PC, CMG, DSO, KC, First World War Veteran and former Minister of National Defence; Air Marshal Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD, First World War Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) pilot, and officer overseeing the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan on Canada; Second Row: Air Vice-Marshal Adelard Raymond, CBE, ED, Air officer commanding (AOC) No. 1 Air Command; Air Marshal Wilfred Austin Curtis, OC, CB, CBE, DSC & Bar, ED, CD, RNAS fighter pilot in the First World War, Member of the Air Council; Air Vice Marshal George Roberts Howsam, CB, MC, First World War fighter ace and Director of Training for the RCAF. Honorary Air Commodore The Reverend William Ewart Cockram, First World War pilot and Principal Chaplain (Protestant) of the RCAF. Lieutenant General Maurice Arthur Pope CB MC, Veteran of the First World War and Vice-chief of the general staff in Ottawa, Chairman of the Canadian Joint Staff Mission in Washington, head of the Censorship Branch and military staff officer to Prime Minister Mackenzie King. Legendary John Alexander Douglas McCurdy MBE, Canada’s first pilot and Assistant Director General of Aircraft Production; Air Marshal Harold "Gus" Edwards (Ret’d), CB, First World War pilot, PoW, escaper, Air Member for Personnel at RCAF Headquarters, and recent AOC-in-Chief RCAF Overseas and Ottawa Mayor J. E. Stanley Lewis of Ottawa. Billy Bishop, J. A. D. McCurdy, Robert Leckie, Wilfred Curtis, and Harold “Gus” Edwards are all members of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d7574ff-ce25-4379-973b-117bffe3e03b/BreadnerCross.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Though young Donald Breadner is always written up as a Pilot Officer in the No. 7 OTU Operations Record Book and subsequent accident investigation, ha actually died a Flying Officer. His promotion to Temporary Flying Officer (TFO) had been granted in September, 1944, and the promotion finally came though shortly after his death. The same applied to Bennett. Unit records and newspapers of the day reported them both a Pilot Officers, but they were in fact Flying Officers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/14433d37-f9bc-4b59-82e1-7556d249090c/20856798_023418ae-b2fb-4aee-947d-79bb9be4a962.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Lloyd Breadner requested a simple military headstone similar to that of his son Donald and was buried alongside him in 1952. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97c21e8e-232f-4525-a6db-bf38d7bb84f0/BennettFuneral.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Stan Bennett with Flying Officer John Caine ahead of the Union Jack-draped casket emerges from Raymond’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after the funeral for his little brother Brian on December 8, 1944. The Bennetts were a large, hard working and close-knit family and the pain of the loss of his brother can be seen on Stanley’s face. Family photo via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/29293656-5634-4646-beee-2b087c554969/BennettFuneral2.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out A hundred or so airmen were bussed in for Brian Bennett’s funeral, likely from a nearby base in Southern Alberta such as Lethbridge or Fort MacLeod. At left, the funeral procession makes its way to Raymond’s Temple Hill Cemetery over new fallen snow on Church Avenue. I cannot be certain, but the officer standing before Bennett’s draped casket at right appears to be Flying Officer Johnny Caine, the man who accompanied the casket all the way from Nova Scotia by train. Family photos via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e6bc13c-e1c3-48ca-841c-2655b62f481a/Funeral3.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out At right, officers wearing black arm bands salute and the honor guard presents arms while the bugler sounds the Last Post. The large quantity of flowers demonstrates how much respect there was for the Bennett family in Raymond. Family photo via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c439f15-5c05-433c-a2b6-e979a8c18b3e/Screen+Shot+2023-09-19+at+5.13.22+PM.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Here, Brian Bennett’s mother “Nel” poses with his eight living sisters (two other sisters and brother died in childhood) in front of the Raymond Cenotaph. Left to right: Genevieve, Hannah, Eloise, Normal, Nel, Maude, Bernice, Marjorie and Catherine. Brian’s name was added to the monument in 1962 when a plaque honouring the fallen of the Second World War was added to the base. This possibly may be on that occasion, but the women all look pretty young still and this does not feel like 18 years after Brian’s death. Photo via familysearch.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9f4d2402-d42e-44c2-bbc1-40fd84232c4a/Breadner4.png The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT OF BUFFALO 33 - Make it stand out Most of the wreckage of Mosquito KB278 was removed in the weeks following the crash, but a few pieces remained. One painful fragment from that terrible day long ago, a strip of aluminium strapping, was, decades later caught between two poplar saplings on Higgins Mountain which merged into a single tree enveloping the relic. In 2013, two local aviation history enthusiasts from the Canadian Aviation History Society, Norman Sheppard and Daniel Goguen, created a memorial and placed it along a roadside which passes near the site. It includes photos of Breadner and Bennett and a brief description of what happened there so long ago. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-dernier-vol-de-buffalo-33 monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57bcbbbd-ed62-43cc-811a-142d2a0e57d2/BreadnerFrench.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1af70e92-7309-4c3b-9a62-51e915bd9758/60f99113330938273cece7d6_de-Havilland-B-25-Mosquito--RCAF--Serial-No--KB380---R--No--8-OTU--16-Oct-1944--MIKAN-No--3650675.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Un Mosquito de l’ARC, à l’unité d’entrainement opérationnelle de Débert en NE en 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dabeae5d-6fab-4bed-91b2-2701b01f3922/Boli.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le modèle Fairchild Bolinbroke était un variant de la version britannique du Bristol-Blenheim, un bombardier léger et de reconnaissance et construit à Montréal. Un modèle désuet et surclassé lors d’opérations de combat, on les a plutôt relégués à des tâches de patrouille côtière, de liaison et de remorquage de cible partout au Canada. Le Bolingbroke #9171 que Jasieniuk pilotait ce jour-là, était identifié comme un remorqueur peint en jaune (comme ci-dessus) pour le rendre plus visible aux autres avions pour le cibler. Certains portaient le schéma « Oxydol » de larges bandes noires et jaunes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/817aeab1-b1be-4a84-b2de-6b12d37f8ed7/Debertaerial.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Une vue aérienne de la base de Debert de l’ARC. On y voit au nord les collines du conté de Colchester. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea14f780-0ced-485d-acff-11ec893c0e1d/60f99112129f74fb958b10a2_de-Havilland-Mosquito-B-Mk-25-25-January-1943--DND-Archives--PL-14570.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Un des plus beaux avions conçu Durant le Deuxième guerre est sans doute le de Havilland Mosquito. Un avion entièrement construit en bois et contre-plaqué afin de pallier les pénuries d’aluminium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66c11153-545d-4c1c-b469-78d4f8a406e5/BreadnerBennett.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le sous-lieutenant d'aviation Donald Lloyd Breadner, à gauche, était le fils de 20 ans du maréchal de l'air Lloyd Breadner, chef de l'ARC outre-mer. En grandissant, il avait rencontré de nombreuses personnes importantes et sophistiquées, assisté à de nombreux événements politiques et militaires et avait même vécu à l'étranger avec sa famille en Grande-Bretagne. Le sous-lieutenant d’aviation Kenneth Brian Bennett, âgé de 22 ans, a grandi dans une petite communauté agricole du sud de l'Alberta, travaillait sur la ferme de son père et n'avait pas vu grand-chose du monde lorsqu'il s'est enrôlé en décembre de la même année. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076378469-YAH62WTI9WHETKJJ29O6/Screen+Shot+2023-06-19+at+9.21.32+AM.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076310168-HMQVVVTNQD4OJ2HP4OR1/6428b57f3e9ff8025712781f_e011157163-v8.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Lloyd Breadner (Copy) Lloyd Breadner (left) was one of Canada’s early aviators, learning to fly at the Wright School in Dayton, Ohio before joining the British Royal Naval Air Service in December of 1915. Here we see him in a Wright Flyer getting preflight instruction from Jack Simpson of Guelph, Ontario. Simpson, an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, would be killed in France on Dominion (Canada) Day the next year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076289438-S15D4J0IQVX0D86QSFFX/6428b46dab8db0b954162526_e011183292-v8.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - First world War fighter pilot (Copy) Lloyd Breadner was a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. He is seen here in Sopwith Pup His Majesty’s Aeroplane (HMA) “HAPPY” of No. 3 Naval Squadron at Marieux, France in April of 1917 when he held the rank of Flight Commander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1689076331133-E6ZK9HQEH4O96XQN477N/209819471225591.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Roy Brown (Copy) Lloyd Breadner was from the same small rural town called Carleton Place 50 kilometres west of Ottawa as Captain Roy Brown. Brown, one of four young men (including Breadner) from Carleton Place who journeyed to Dayton, Ohio’s Wright School of Aviation to learn to fly, was in the process of attacking the Manfred von Richthofen, when German uber-ace was shot down by Australian ground fire. Carleton Place, dubbed the “nursery of the air force” by local newspapers of the day, was home to several aces in the First World War—Breadner (10 victories), Roy Brown (11). Stearne Edwards (17), Murray Galbraith (6), Ken Conn (20), Harry Edwards (21). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d048848b-eae3-4f63-9703-e2f2be6de0a1/Pup.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le Sopwith Pup de Lloyd Breadner pendant la Première Guerre mondiale est l'un des favoris des constructeurs , qu'il s'agisse d'une réplique volante pleine grandeur ou d'un modèle réduit. Photos : À gauche : Ron Eisele, à droite : Ivan Ivan Bouinatchov d'Aeroscale https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e34de96a-5a5c-4cab-b1fc-e1d042c734c3/64288d4bf8206b5a89011fa9_4.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le maréchal de l’air Lloyd Breadner (cinquième à partir de la gauche) a été habitué au pouvoir comme le démontre cette photo de chefs militaires alliés qui ont accompagné Roosevelt, Churchill et King à la conférence de Québec au Château Frontenac. De gauche à droite : Lord Louis Mountbatten, amiral de la flotte Sir Dudley Pound, général Sir Alan Brooke, maréchal de l’air en chef Sir Charles Portal, Breadner, maréchal Sir John Dill, lieutenant-général Sir Hastings Ismay, amiral Ernest J. King, général Henry « Hap » Arnold, amiral W D Leahy, lieutenant-général canadien Kenneth Stuart, vice-amiral canadien Percy W. Nelles et général George C. Marshal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77398393-152a-47d8-a659-508039bd5949/Screen+Shot+2023-07-12+at+7.37.42+AM.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Même la mère de Donald Breadner, Elva, a été un chef de file dans le monde de l'ARC pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, en tant que présidente de longue date de l'Association des épouses d'officiers de l'ARC. Photo : Yousuf Karsh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d836ef4-d4cc-4802-b864-b8ae7f8a5df7/Clippings.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out À gauche : « Mon fils, je suis fier de toi. ». Le maréchal de l'air Breadner pose pour une photo publicitaire de l'Ottawa Citizen avec son fils adolescent après son enrôlement dans la force aérienne qu'il commande. L'Ottawa Journal a rapporté que Donald et 11 camarades du secondaire « se sont regroupés et ont joué au « hookey » de l'école pour demander à s'enrôler comme pilotes dans l'ARC ». À droite : Breadner (à l'extrême droite) et son vieil ami David Heakes (à côté de lui et aussi le fils d'un officier de haut rang de l'ARC, le commodore de l'air Francis Vernon Heakes) font de leur mieux pour impressionner le caporal d'exercice à la Reserve du personnel (« Manning depot ») à Lachine, au Québec. Ils viennent clairement d'arriver du « civil » et Breadner arbore son chandail Glebe Collegiate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5d81760-9027-4b0a-9381-beb67a8370a6/Air_Marshal_Robert_Leckie%2C_CB%2C_DSO%2C_DSC%2C_DFC%2C_CD_RCAF.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le maréchal de l’air Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD, était non seulement responsable de la formation dans l’ARC, mais il était aussi un collègue et un ami personnel proche de la famille Breadner. Alors que Donald Breadner vacillait dans son entraînement, Leakie a pris sa défense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b8ce0df-537e-481c-86f8-46b533e5c54d/DeSoto.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Brian Bennett, 18 ans, pose avec la toute nouvelle berline DeSoto 1940 de la famille. Photo : Collection de la famille Bennett, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f10be6df-027f-4baf-8163-216e65083856/FunGuy.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out On peut voir sur ces deux photos que Brian Bennet était tout un numéro. Il était un excellent danseur, et toutes les filles voulaient danser avec lui., A la droite, il pose avec trois de ces sœurs y compris Norma, 41 ans la plus vielle (à la droite en arrière), la plus jeune à 21 ans, Éloise, (en bas), et Maude (surnommée Mollie, à la gauche). Sur la photo, il était en permission à la fin août 1944 après qu’il ait obtenu son brevet de navigateur. Photos: Bennett Family Collection, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6efcb8aa-fe55-441f-85a4-414241ecb8f4/Bennett3.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Photos de l’aviateur en chef Kenneth Brian Bennett prises pendant son séjour à l’École des observateurs aériens à l’Ancien Lorrette, au Québec. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/43b96f44-162d-42cc-8407-51a749944db8/Statue.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Bennett (à gauche) et deux amis de l'École d'observation aérienne no 8 de l'Ancienne Lorette, au Québec, posent devant une statue d'une Jeanne d'Arc montée sur les plaines d'Abraham à Québec alors qu'ils sont sur un laissez-passer de fin de semaine de leurs études. L’aérodrome créé à l’Ancienne Lorette pour la formation de l’équipage, est maintenant l’aéroport international Jean Lesage (YQB). Sur sa manche, Bennett porte son insigne d’hélice d’aviateur en chef et au-dessus de cela, son insigne de métier d’opérateur radio sans fil (un poing saisissant trois éclairs. La photo a un « X » écrit sur la tête de Bennett, ce qui signifie probablement sa perte alors qu’il était dans l’ARC. Photo : Collection de la famille Bennett, Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff6d0b3d-8169-49f9-aaa5-9466afb92c0d/Screen+Shot+2023-06-26+at+1.14.05+PM.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Une photo de groupe de Breadner et de l'escouade 1 de Bennett lors du cours Mosquito no 12 à l'Unité d'entraînement opérationnel no 31, Debert. Donald Breadner est assis troisième à partir de la gauche et son navigateur Buffalo 33 Brian Bennett se tient à l'extrême gauche. Derrière Breadner se trouve le sergent E. H. Smith, le navigateur régulier de Breadner. À en juger par les grands manteaux et les gants, cette photo a été prise en octobre peu de temps après leur arrivée.l. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/944b54c2-5025-4e6f-bdc0-f06721900ede/Debert.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Une scène sur la ligne de vol de Debert en 1943 avec des Hurricanes, des Harvard et Anson du 123e Escadron d’entraînement à la coopération de l’armée alignés pour un défilé. L’Hurricane à droite (RCAF 5636) a été perdu le mois précédant l’accident de Breadner et Bennett. Au cours de la tentative de récupération à la suite d’un piqué à grande vitesse, la moitié extérieure de l’aile tribord a été arrachée en raison d’une défaillance structurale. Le pilote, le sergent de section J.A. Holding, a été tué. Le 123e Escadron serait renuméroté 439e Escadron lorsqu’il serait transféré en Europe. Le légendaire 439e Escadron a ensuite exploité des Hawker Typhoon, des F-86 Sabre, des CF-104 Starfighters et des CF-18 Hornet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1304695d-46ba-4e11-b63c-c32404e08552/KA114.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le Mosquito KA114 était l'un des avions affectés à l'UEO no 7 à Debert au moment où Breadner et Bennett s'y trouvaient. Il est tout à fait possible qu'ils aient piloté cet avion, qui est l'un des rares Mossies qui survivent en état de vol aujourd'hui. Photo par Jack Zavitz, ARC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c70bc0b0-466f-4353-8bbb-daeb94d60fcc/IMG_3236.JPG The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out KA114, remis en état de vol à Avspecs à Ardmore, en Nouvelle-Zélande, vole maintenant au Musée de l'aviation militaire de Jerry Yagen à Virginia Beach, en Virginie. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07f1710c-a92f-40d4-aa2f-bf66b255b8b0/0.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Un autre « warbird » survivant de la station de l'ARC Debert est le Hurricane XII (G-HURI) de la collection d'avions historiques, un ancien Hurricane du 123e Escadron maintenant dans les marques du 302e Escadron (polonais) de la RAF. En septembre 2005, le Hurricane Z5140 est devenu le premier à retourner sur l’île méditerranéenne de Malte depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il y a volé avec le Spitfire BM597 dans le cadre du projet « Merlins over Malta ». Howard Cook était l’un des pilotes de Hurricane de ce projet. En août 2012, le Hurricane s’est envolé pour Moscou pour participer à leur spectacle aérien du centenaire. Photo : Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a8c1cc5f-b8d7-40aa-884c-8917d58f6eb0/Map.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Une carte (en anglais seulement) illustrant les points de Atkinson Siding, Higgins Mountain et Debert. On y remarque le site de l’écrasement. Map: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb783886-6dd4-421c-a888-817d064126a1/Fireman-4T2.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out ENCADRÉ : Le médecin en poste de Debert, Harold Henry Fireman, venait d’Ottawa, en Ontario. En tant que jeune étudiant-médecin à l’Hôpital Civic d’Ottawa, il a été choisi pour être le « interne présent » à la naissance de la princesse Margriet de Hollande. Il s’est enrôlé dans l’ARC où il a été médecin militaire pendant la guerre avec le Esatern Air Command pendant quatre ans. Après une longue et respectée carrière, il a pris sa retraite à l’âge de 88 ans et est décédé à Ottawa en 2020 à l’âge de 101 ans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c4ba535-5d74-4053-864a-44f17964d31a/Mosquito.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le Mosquito KB278 a simultanément perdu les deux panneaux d’aile extérieurs (ombragés) et s’est écrasé à très basse altitude sans aucune chance de récupération https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81378952-45a7-4117-be34-e3a29c2231a2/WiseGrabowski.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Three weeks previous to the crash of Buffalo 33, Donald Wise (left) and his navigator Joe Grabowski were killed when the outer wings of their Mosquito broke off in a similar way. At the time, they had climbed to 25,000 feet and possibly were overcome by anoxia. The wings must have come off during a dive‚ intentional or otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/052674a2-bc5f-479d-b01c-7062bed89024/Dignitaries.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Les dignitaires ! Plusieurs centaines de personnes ont assisté aux funérailles du jeune Donald Breadner, démontrant le respect que les dirigeants militaires canadiens avaient pour son père. Parmi les chefs de guerre canadiens qui ont marché dans le cortège, mentionnons (de gauche à droite rangée du haut) : le maréchal de l'air William Avery Bishop, VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC, ED, as canadien de la Première Guerre mondiale et Angus Lewis Macdonald PC QC, vétéran de la Première Guerre mondiale, ancien ministre de la Nouvelle-Écosse et ministre de guerre fédéral responsable de la Marine ; James Layton Ralston C.P., CMG, ASM, KC, ancien combattant de la Première Guerre mondiale et ancien ministre de la Défense nationale ; le maréchal de l'air Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD, pilote du Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) de la Première Guerre mondiale et officier supervisant le Plan d'entraînement aérien du Commonwealth britannique sur le Canada ; Deuxième rangée : Le vice-maréchal de l'Air Adelard Raymond, CBE, ED, officier de la Force aérienne commandant (AOC) no 1 du Commandement aérien ; Le maréchal de l'air Wilfred Austin Curtis, OC, CB, CBE, DSC & Bar, ED, CD, pilote de chasse RNAS pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, membre du Conseil de l'air ; Le vice-maréchal de l'air George Roberts Howsam, CB, MC, as du chasse de la Première Guerre mondiale et directeur de l'instruction pour l'ARC. Commodore de l'air honoraire Le révérend William Ewart Cockram, pilote de la Première Guerre mondiale et aumônier principal (protestant) de l'ARC. Le lieutenant-général Maurice Arthur Pope CB MC, vétéran de la Première Guerre mondiale et vice-chef d'état-major général à Ottawa, président de la Mission d'état-major interarmées du Canada à Washington, chef de la Branche de la censure et officier d'état-major du premier ministre Mackenzie King. Le légendaire John Alexander Douglas McCurdy MBE, premier pilote du Canada et directeur général adjoint de la Production d'aéronefs ; Le maréchal de l'air Harold « Gus » Edwards (à la retraite), CB, pilote de la Première Guerre mondiale, prisonnier de guerre, évadé, membre de l'Air pour le personnel au quartier général de l'ARC et récent commandant en chef de l'ARC outre-mer de l'ARC et maire d'Ottawa, J. E. Stanley Lewis d'Ottawa. Billy Bishop, J. A. D. McCurdy, Robert Leckie, Wilfred Curtis et Harold « Gus » Edwards sont tous membres du Temple de la renommée de l'aviation du Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d7574ff-ce25-4379-973b-117bffe3e03b/BreadnerCross.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Le jeune Donald Breadner est toujours identifié comme sous-lieutenant d’aviation dans le livre des opérations de l’UEO n ° 7 et l’enquête sur l’accident. Il est en fait mort lieutenant d’aviation. Sa promotion au grade de lieutenant d’aviation temporaire (TFO) avait été accordée en septembre 1944, et la promotion a finalement eu lieu peu de temps après sa mort. Il en est de même pour Bennett. Les dossiers de l’unité et les journaux de l’époque faisaient état qu’ils étaient tous deux des sous-lieutenants d’aviation, mais qu’ils étaient en fait des lieutenants d’aviation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/14433d37-f9bc-4b59-82e1-7556d249090c/20856798_023418ae-b2fb-4aee-947d-79bb9be4a962.jpg The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Lloyd Breadner a demandé une simple pierre tombale militaire similaire à celle de son fils Donald, et a été enterré à ses côtés en 1952 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97c21e8e-232f-4525-a6db-bf38d7bb84f0/BennettFuneral.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Stan Bennett et le lieutenant d'aviation John Caine avant le cercueil drapé de l'Union Jack émergent de « Church of Latter Day Saints » de Raymond après les funérailles de son petit frère Brian le 8 décembre 1944. Les Bennett étaient une famille nombreuse, travailleuse et soudée et la douleur de la perte de son frère peut être vue sur le visage de Stanley. Photo de famille via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/29293656-5634-4646-beee-2b087c554969/BennettFuneral2.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Une centaine d'aviateurs ont été transportés par autobus pour les funérailles de Brian Bennett, probablement à partir d'une base voisine dans le sud de l'Alberta, soit Lethbridge ou Fort MacLeod. À gauche, le cortège funèbre se dirige vers le cimetière Raymond’s Temple Hill dans la neige, sur l’avenue Church. Je n'en suis pas certain, mais l'officier qui se tient devant le cercueil drapé de Bennett à droite semble être le lieutenant d'aviation Johnny Caine, l'homme qui accompagnait le cercueil depuis la Nouvelle-Écosse en train. Photos de famille via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e6bc13c-e1c3-48ca-841c-2655b62f481a/Funeral3.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out À droite, les officiers portant des brassards noirs saluent et la garde d'honneur présente des armes tandis que le clairon sonne le « Last Post ». La grande quantité de fleurs démontre à quel point il y avait du respect pour la famille Bennett à Raymond. Photo de famille via Ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c439f15-5c05-433c-a2b6-e979a8c18b3e/Screen+Shot+2023-09-19+at+5.13.22+PM.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out Ici, la mère de Brian Bennett « Nel » pose avec ses huit sœurs vivantes (deux autres sœurs et son frère sont morts dans l'enfance) devant le cénotaphe Raymond. De gauche à droite : Geneviève, Hannah, Eloise, Normal, Nel, Maude, Bernice, Marjorie et Catherine. Le nom de Brian a été ajouté au monument en 1962 lorsqu’une plaque honorant les morts de la Seconde Guerre mondiale a été ajoutée à la base. C’est peut-être le cas à cette occasion, mais les femmes ont toutes l’air encore assez jeunes et cela ne ressemble pas à 18 ans après la mort de Brian. Photo via familysearch.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9f4d2402-d42e-44c2-bbc1-40fd84232c4a/Breadner4.png The Stories - Le dernier vol de Buffalo 33 - Make it stand out La majeure partie de l’épave du Mosquito KB278 a été enlevée dans les semaines qui ont suivi l’écrasement, mais il restait quelques morceaux. Un fragment douloureux de ce terrible jour il y a longtemps, une bande de cerclage en aluminium, a été, des décennies plus tard, pris entre deux jeunes peupliers sur le mont Higgins qui ont fusionné en un seul arbre enveloppant la relique. En 2013, deux passionnés d’histoire de l’aviation de la Société d’histoire de l’aviation canadienne, Norman Sheppard et Daniel Goguen, ont créé un monument commémoratif et l’ont placé le long d’une route qui passe près du site. Il comprend des photos de Breadner et Bennett et une brève description de ce qui s’est passé là-bas il y a si longtemps. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/laviateur-fantome monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d308796-791b-46c5-afe1-687e78642bca/L%27aviateur-fantome.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bad6ce2-5e87-4f1b-b5c0-fbabb2453ecb/Bosloy6.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Une magnifique photographie provenant des Archives juives d’Ottawa d’un groupe familial comprenant des membres de la famille Bosloy, ainsi que des familles Gosevitz (Gosewich) et la famille Friendly liée par le mariage. Prise en 1929 à Ottawa, on peut voir le jeune Philip Bosloy âgé de neuf ans, alerte et attentif, à l’extrême gauche au dernier rang. Le père dévoué de Philip, Louis, est assis au deuxième à partir de la droite. En quatrième position à partir de la droite au dernier rang se trouve Chawa (Eva) Bosloy (née Gosewitz), la mère de Philip. Mary Bosloy, la sœur de Philip, se tient au sixième à partir de la droite au dernier rang. Assis devant Philip, à l’extrême gauche, se trouve son frère aîné, Jack. Photo : Ottawa Jewish Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73b1598c-bb8a-48cd-842f-fd9c2cf22cc5/Screen+Shot+2023-05-31+at+4.30.59+PM.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Une photo des années 1950 du commerce de la famille Bosloy au 885-891 Bank Street. Ici, dans le bâtiment dont ils étaient propriétaire, les Bosloy et les Gosewich exploitaient l’Empire Fruit Store (où l’on voit l’enseigne de cigarettes Export) et Excel Radiator Repair (garage à l’arrière). Le stationnement du United, Car Market, concessionnaire Studebaker, est occupé par un restaurant mexicain depuis la fin des années 1970. Ayant passé un demi-siècle dans ce quartier, je connais intimement chacun des bâtiments de cette photo, mais je n’ai jamais su la triste histoire qu’ils renfermaient. Photo : historynerd.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bf6afb7-3f4d-4112-8925-bd9aa45dcf73/Bosloy4.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Le 885 de la rue Bank abrite aujourd’hui Irene’s Pub, une icône pour les musiciens et musiciennes à Ottawa. À côté, au 887, se trouve le coiffeur préféré du Glebe : Ernesto’s. Dans les années 1940, Phillip Bosloy utilisait l’adresse de l’entreprise familiale, l’Empire Fruit Store, comme adresse postale. La famille Bosloy vivait au-dessus du magasin. On accède aux appartements à l’étage par une porte située au 889 Bank Street. L’un de mes meilleurs amis a vécu dans les anciens appartements Bosloy pendant les années 1970 et 1980 et je lui ai rendu visite à de nombreuses reprises pour partager un expresso et du cognac. Mon ancienne épouse exploitait également un cabinet d’Architect au sous-sol de l’immeuble. Jack Bosloy, le frère de Phillip, s’occupait d’un atelier de réparation de radiateurs et un garage à l’arrière jusqu’à la fin des années 1970. J’ai d’ailleurs rencontré Jack lorsqu’il travaillait sur la Volkswagen de mon ami il y a un demi-siècle. Photo : Google Street View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd0e718e-abd7-4563-85a3-e31acbf62620/Bosloy5.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out La photographie de Philip Bosloy, aviateur de deuxième classe du dépôt Manning, montre un beau jeune homme aux cheveux noirs et aux yeux verts pénétrants. Photo : Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4dca134-2160-46a9-beca-131ca3a2ffd5/Map.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Carte (en anglais seulement) des défenses côtières de l’armée et de la marine. Les soldats et les marins qui occupaient ces emplacements d’artillerie s’entraînaient tous les jours. Leurs cibles étaient des drogues remorquées par les Lysanders de l’escadrille de coopération d’artillerie côtière n° 4, qui ajustait également les tirs des pièces de plus gros calibre. Map by author and Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/053e8e77-f352-4954-8319-3badd7635d32/63eed20b36f7d28e10bc77b9_4.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out En plus de leurs tâches de remorquage de cibles, les pilotes du 4 CAC s’entraînent au bombardement en piqué et à la mitrailleuse. Les bombes étaient transportées sous de petites ailettes dépassant du train d’atterrissage. Les mitrailleuses sont également logées dans le train d’atterrissage et alimentées par des munitions sur bandes dans le train (ci-dessus). Il ne s’agit pas d’une formidable puissance de feu, mais elle peut donner à réfléchir au commandant d’un sous-marin qui envisage de remonter à la surface le long de la côte. Photo : Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61b8e533-458e-4938-a29b-5449ff86830e/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.09.25+AM.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out La batterie de Chapel Point à l’embouchure du port de Sydney. Comme il s’agissait d’un fort d’artillerie de gros calibre, Philip Bosloy et d’autres pilotes et opérateurs radio du 4 CAC ajustaient les tirs d’artillerie et transmettaient par radio les corrections aux artilleurs du fort. Photo : Atlantic Memorial Park Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/255689a8-3737-4241-8c07-741ec168d434/Stubbert%27s_Point_Twin_Six-pounder_Gun_c1945.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out La batterie de Stubberts Point consiste d’une pièce de défense portuaire située sur la rive nord de la large entrée du port de Sydney. La batterie utilisait un canon de six livres à double canon à tir rapide, que l’on voit ici dans sa tourelle en acier pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Ces canons jumelés à chargement semi-automatique pouvaient tirer 70 coups par minute, ce qui était suffisant pour dissuader tout attaquant en surface. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/568b20b3-42c3-4b2e-87b4-0adfdccb17f8/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.15.04+AM.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Un convoi de navires marchands se rassemble dans le port de Sydney, l’un des principaux terminaux du système de convoi de l’Atlantique Nord pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le 4 CAC avait pour mission de maintenir en alerte les batteries d’artillerie côtière qui protégeaient le port en fournissant des informations sur la portée requise et en remorquant des cibles. Photo : Atlantic Memorial Park Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b151ef74-7c4f-4f60-8002-f8c7328cb6c5/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.17.19+AM.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Une autre photographie du port de Sydney avec le filet anti-sous-marin et le bateau de veille au premier plan et des dizaines de cargos ancrés au-delà. Photo : Beaton Institute Digital Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48ab6b6a-e1be-4cbb-8281-3d25904ccedd/Bosloy1.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Le Lysander 459 sur la rivière des Outaouais après un essai d’atterrissage sur skis. Il y avait un petit ski à l’endroit où se trouvait la roue de queue, mais on peut voir que, tout dépendant de la consistance de la neige, si la queue s’enfonce encore un peu, les stabilisateurs horizontaux risqueraient d’être endommagés. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/83d373e8-32fb-4ed1-9cec-14bd43455f6b/Bosloy2.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Le Lysander 459 arrimé à la glace sur la rivière des Outaouais en service au Centre d’essais et de développement de l’ARC à la station de Rockcliffe de l’ARC. Photo : Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/679ebba7-24e4-46fd-81fb-7e27b83e108f/Screen+Shot+2023-06-14+at+5.36.45+PM.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Philip et Ida ont loué un appartement près de la base aérienne, au 140 Brookland Street à Sydney. Photo : Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/891181b7-f8e8-417b-89f2-53405d2a8184/Bosloy_Slabick.png The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out L’équipage du Lysander 459 en convoyage aller-retour vers Scoudouc sera composé du Lieutenant d’aviation Philip Bosloy, pilote, et du Sergent de section John Joseph Slabick, radiotélégraphiste. Photos via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b894dce2-1764-41fd-a7f9-26a5f913e035/Map3.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out (Carte en anglais seulement) Bien que Scoudouc se trouve à 370 km à l’est, il est probable que Bosloy et Slabick aient longé le long de la côte du détroit de Northumberland pour des raisons de sécurité. La ligne bleue représente une trajectoire possible pour leur vol aller-retour vers Scoudouc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff6ba63d-c66d-4897-ae93-16dddde6860f/Bosloy8.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Le secteur riverain de Sydney, en Nouvelle-Écosse, à l’époque de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, avec son aciérie et ses charbonnages. L’appartement de Philip et Ida se trouve à l’extrême droite de cette photo. Photo : Beaton Institute Digital Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a74c662e-c43a-477d-91bd-8ef66db58fcf/aud1.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out The Ottawa Auditorium, where Louis Bosloy’s suffering finally came to an end. Photo: Lost Ottawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93957aa9-e4f2-46f6-80ca-24b9c3cd76d4/IMG_Sec5_Row7_12.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out La pierre tombale commune de Louis et Eva (Chawa) Bosloy au cimetière Jewish Memorial Gardens dans le sud d'Ottawa. L'épitaphe des parents de Philip nous dit tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur leurs priorités dans la vie. Pour quelqu'un comme Louis, qui a vécu et peiné pour sa famille, la perte inexpliquée de son fils a dû percer un trou dans son cœur dont il ne s'est jamais remis. Photo via Jewish Memorial Gardens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b1866705-8ee3-4f14-a445-be8ab2341bb8/Ottawa-Memorial-8.jpg The Stories - L’aviateur fantôme - Make it stand out Bosloy et John Slabick n'ont pas de tombe connue. Au lieu d'une pierre tombale, leurs noms sont inscrits sur les panneaux de bronze du Mémorial d'Ottawa. Photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/la-plume-de-dieu monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/53ae964c-2d4b-434a-8f3e-d0b0234162b2/Plume-de-dieu.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5b8194d-9d45-4bbf-848d-5f171ebee064/Halifax_Mk_II_HR918.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Un Handley Page Halifax II HR918, G pour George, équipé d’un moteur Merlin et fraîchement sorti d’usine, est le même avion que celui vu par Ernst Heuer et ses amis. L’avion sur cette photo est si nouveau qu’il n’a pas encore reçu son immatriculation LQ-G du 405e Escadron. Image via worldwarphotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/131865c5-642e-4017-9889-d22695b6a9f5/Baldwin4.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out L’adresse 182 Fifth Avenue, la maison d’enfance en briques rouges de Bill Baldwin, ressemble aujourd’hui à ce qu’elle était lorsqu’il y vivait dans les années 1920 et 1930. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92d69e19-d93d-4a00-a023-a56bed62ff32/15164151314_28dffe3c29_o.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Clayton Baldwin, le père de Bill, travaillait à l’imprimerie principale du gouvernement sur la promenade Sussex. Le bâtiment a été démoli après que l’Imprimeur de la Reine ait traversé la rivière pour s’installer à Hull, au Québec, à la fin des années 1950. Le magnifique Musée des beaux-arts du Canada occupe désormais le site original. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea74139f-019a-4cb0-9246-75d7692cf8b0/7659896556_8c919b69ac_o.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Cette double page témoigne de l’extraordinaire minutie et de la régularité de la main de Bill Baldwin. À bien y réfléchir, Baldwin devait commencer par le début alphabétique de chaque année de la guerre et continuer sans faute jusqu’à la fin. Il a certainement pris son temps pour s’assurer que l’ordre, les unités et l’orthographe étaient corrects. Son travail semble avoir été réalisé mécaniquement. Il n’est donc pas étonnant qu’il ait mis cinq ans à le réaliser. Au milieu, le marque-page du Livre du Souvenir, orné d’une épée, offert en 1949 par la Ligue de service de l’Empire britannique (British Empire Service League), maintiennent les pages à plat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e223629e-9ee7-4732-afdb-09a0492f3c45/Book_of_remembrance.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Symbolique à tous les niveaux, le Livre du Souvenir de la Première Guerre mondiale repose dans un sarcophage dont le dessus est en verre sur un autel en pierre au centre de la Chapelle du Souvenir. L’autel repose sur un sol fait de pierres provenant des champs de bataille canadiens de la Première Guerre mondiale : Ypres, la Somme, Vimy, Verdun et d’autres. Le sol de la salle se trouve près de la base de la tour de la Paix, qui est le centre symbolique du Canada. Autour de l’autel central se dressent sept autres autels, également en pierre et en bronze. Sur ces autels reposent les livres du souvenir commémorant les morts de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, de la marine marchande, de la guerre de Corée, de la guerre des Boers, de Terre-Neuve avant son entrée dans la Confédération, de la guerre de 1812 et de ceux qui sont morts au service du Canada au cours d’une guerre non déclarée. Ces livres portent les noms de plus de 120 000 hommes et femmes, dont plus de la moitié ont été inscrits par Bill Baldwin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63d549f9-323b-480e-be58-bb54124eadb9/Screen+Shot+2023-05-03+at+8.47.07+AM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out L’écriture parfaite de Baldwin ne se limite pas au Livre du Souvenir. Le jour où il s’est engagé dans l’ARC, il a rempli ses papiers d’attestation avec un soin extraordinaire. La plupart des formulaires que j’ai vus (et j’en ai vu plusieurs milliers — NDLR) sont remplis à la hâte et souvent avec une écriture à peine déchiffrable, mais Baldwin a pris presque autant de soin à les remplir qu’il en a mis à remplir le Livre du Souvenir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2039814-592f-47fc-8003-2eb31bdbc725/Baldwin1.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Une superbe photo de Bill Baldwin en tenue de vol ajustant son sextant à bulles RAF Mk IX. Baldwin se montre un excellent navigateur de combat, très respecté par son équipage, l’aidant à survivre à un tour opérationnel complet. Mais en matière de navigation astronomique lors de sa formation, il est misérable. Hugh Halliday, historien de l’aviation, déclare : « À l’école de formation au sol, il a obtenu des notes vraiment médiocres (28 % en navigation astronomique, tracée, et 25 % en navigation astronomique, écrit). Il échoue au cours et se classe 82e d’une classe de 82 élèves. » Photo via le Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada. Photo via the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44e718b7-6eac-4194-971e-012544eb2500/Screen+Shot+2023-05-29+at+8.14.29+AM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Un Vickers Wellington Mk II typique, équipé d’un moteur Rolls-Royce Merlin, du type utilisé par le 405e escadron lorsque Baldwin est arrivé à la station RAF Pocklington. Photo Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bd0a6e9-f7fa-4435-8713-31c52a77ba8e/Screen+Shot+2023-05-11+at+5.22.14+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Une photo de la salle des opérations de la RAF Pocklington avec des aviateurs du 405e Escadron examinant des cartes avant l’opération de la nuit. Au fond, le troisième à partir de la gauche se trouve le Lieutenant-colonel d’aviation Fenwick-Wilson, commandant du 405e. Le tableau affiche la date du 12 août 1941, soit trois semaines avant l’arrivée de Baldwin au sein de l’escadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f8bd9c16-5645-479f-83c1-a8dc29b4b435/Baldwin16.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out En janvier, après l’attaque sur Saint-Nazaire, Baldwin et Fauquier, deux héros locaux, apparaissent ensemble dans l’Ottawa Citizen, trois jours seulement après le raid. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e16a9eb8-b784-401a-b79e-b08974e12f4c/Screen+Shot+2023-05-26+at+2.34.56+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Le Commandant d’aviation Keith Thiele, DSO, DFC et deux barrettes, le commandant d’aéronef ultra-compétent de l’équipage du premier tour opérationnel de Baldwin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/08943e42-ac4d-468f-8577-dd16e3958867/6102682ca099f543c3ec3ab0_1280px-Miles_Magister_of_No-_8_Elementary_Flying_Training_School_at_Woodley-_Berkshire-_September_1940-_CH1250.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Le Miles Magister dans lequel McCormack et Fetherston ont trouvé la mort était tout probablement l’appareil à tout faire qu’on utilisait pour les liaisons, les vols de remise à niveau et pour s’amuser un peu pendant les périodes d’inactivité. Photo via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ca96c91f-a8e4-4e33-a3f1-78605dab4505/Baldwin12.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out À gauche : le Commandant d’aviation Jack McCormack et le Capitaine d’aviation Bill Fetherston sourient alors qu’ils quittent leur 405e escadron Wellington sur cette photo publicitaire. Bill Baldwin remplacera Fetherston lors de la dernière opération de McCormack. McCormack (en haut au centre) et Fetherston (à droite) étaient de bons amis et ont été enterrés ensemble lors de funérailles militaires à RAF Pocklington. En bas à droite : Un chariot transporte le cercueil de McCormack, suivi d’un grand cortège et d’une musique militaire. Il est intéressant de noter que le cercueil est drapé de l’Union Jack et non du Red Ensign canadien ou du drapeau de l’ARC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4cd54ef-22ae-4641-a52c-da513ace9577/Screen+Shot+2023-05-12+at+11.12.13+AM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Au cours de son programme de conversion des Halifax, la station a reçu la visite du 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight (EAF) de la RAF le 14 mai. Pour fins de familiarisation, les pilotes du 1426 EAF ont piloté leurs avions pour faire une tournée des bases de chasseurs et de bombardiers à travers l’Angleterre, escortés par des chasseurs alliés au cas où ils seraient confondus avec l’ennemi. Le registre des opérations du 405e escadron indique que « ces appareils se sont révélés être une nouveauté et un spectacle très intéressant pour nos aviateurs ». Ici, dans un scénario similaire, un pilote de la « Rafwaffe1 » discute et répond aux questions des pilotes et de l’équipage d’une base américaine plus tard dans la guerre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7964efc-3654-4547-b780-c791e19e9b04/Baldwin9.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Les habitants d’Ottawa ont dû être très fiers de Baldwin lorsqu’il est apparu dans l’édition du 15 juin 1942 du magazine LIFE, dans un article sur le Bomber Command et le raid massif de mille bombardiers du 30 mai sur la ville de Cologne. Baldwin (à gauche) est ici en train de prendre une tasse de thé après l’opération avec son opérateur radio américain, le Sergent de section R. J. Campbell. Photo via LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/752ea3f4-38b4-4c37-aa75-002715f3f261/Screen+Shot+2023-05-26+at+12.56.56+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Handley Page Halifax Mk II LQ-R (WW7710) « Ruhr Valley Express » dans lequel Thiele, Baldwin et l’équipage ont attaqué Düsseldorf et Brême. Le nez de l’avion représentait une locomotive tirant une rame de wagons. Après chaque mission, l’équipe au sol ajoutait un autre wagon au train. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f25b51a3-79aa-4541-9b90-0b1da1dec5d0/60f99476408f5b4582c98b50_Handley-Page-Halifax-Mk--I--LQ-R--banking.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Une belle photo du Halifax LQ-R de Thiele et Baldwin en vol. Tous les appareils portaient le code LQ réservé pour l’escadron 405 ainsi qu’une lettre qui désigne l’appareil en question, dans ce case (R). Généralement, mais pas exclusivement, les lettres A à M étaient réservées à l’escadrille A et les lettres N à Z à l’escadrille B. Baldwin est affecté à l’escadrille B et la plupart des Wellington et Halifax qu’il pilote suivent cette règle : LQ-R, LQ-Q, LQ-P. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/da11c380-9ff1-4351-8e01-a7344d293c2e/Baldwin7.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Une pleine page de publicité dans le Ottawa Citizen, le jour de l’inauguration du Livre du Souvenir, montre une illustration de l’autel où repose l’œuvre de Baldwin et exerce une forte pression morale pour inciter les citoyens d’Ottawa à acheter davantage d’obligations de guerre. Image via The Ottawa Citizen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bfe39b6-d88b-4e4a-9db9-c7bff2f02bd7/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+5.33.50+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Lors du dévoilement officiel du Livre du Souvenir de la Première Guerre mondiale, le premier ministre William Lyon McKenzie King (avec une loupe) examine attentivement le travail de Baldwin et les magnifiques enluminures créées par des artistes comme la jeune Sylvia Bury (à droite). À gauche, on retrouve le colonel Archer F. Duguid, chef de la section historique de l’armée canadienne, le Dr Gustave Lanctot, historien canadien renommé, le colonel J. W. Flanagan, le premier ministre, le colonel Henry C. Osborne, secrétaire de la Commission des sépultures de guerre, et Mme Bury. Photo : Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adea380c-eff3-4c3a-a010-6bd76695ae8b/Baldwin13.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out L’Ottawa Journal a consacré presque une page entière à la dédicace du travail de Purves, Beddoe, Baldwin et les membres de l’équipe d’artistes qui ont créé le Livre du Souvenir. L’Ottawa Journal et le Citizen ont tous deux été séduits par les charmes physiques de l’une des artistes, Sylvia Bury, qui a travaillé sur le projet. Elle a fait l’objet de plusieurs articles dans les deux journaux à propos du livre, bien qu’elle ne soit que l’une des femmes artistes qui ont participé au projet. L’une d’autres, Grace Melvin, est reconnue pour avoir introduit certaines esthétiques de la calligraphie moderne au Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3b2f4b72-2c7f-47d7-a24f-45898cde6476/Baldwin14.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Un montage de photos concernant le Livre du Souvenir a été publié dans l’Ottawa Citizen le jour du Souvenir 1942. Encore une fois, l’adorable Sylvia Bury est mise en vedette alors que d’autres femmes artistes plus importantes ne le sont pas. Je soupçonne que c’est parce que Bury était physiquement attirante. En bas à droite du montage se trouve une photo d’une page de la main exquise de Baldwin hautement illuminée par des membres de l’équipe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a69a527-65c8-4c02-8f87-1df521a0ea27/Baldwin11.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out REMARQUE : Sans rapport avec l’histoire de Baldwin, j’ai tout de même trouvé intéressants les détails concernant l’une de ses collègues artistes. Mlle Sylvia Rita Bury d’Ottawa (en haut à gauche) a été photographiée à de nombreuses reprises (en bas à gauche) dans des reportages sur la création et le dévoilement du Livre du Souvenir — probablement simplement parce qu’elle était séduisante. Au moins cinq autres femmes artistes d’Ottawa (calligraphes et coloristes) ont été employées pour la production du livre — Edna Bond, Patricia Macoun, Evelyn Lambert, Grace Melvin, Florence Meagher — mais seule Bury a été photographiée. En septembre 1942, un mois avant l’inauguration du livre, elle se trouve à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse, sous contrat avec les studios Universal Film, en tant que doublure de la star de cinéma Ella Raines (en haut au centre) dans le film Corvette K-225, une œuvre de propagande théâtrale sortie l’année suivante. Amateure de danse et comédienne de théâtre musical (en bas au centre), elle apparaît avec sa compagne Edna Bond dans plusieurs revues et pièces du Ottawa Little Theatre. Inspirée par son travail sur le film et le livre, elle rejoint le Service féminin de la Marine royale du Canada (WRENS) sur la côte ouest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1445172a-c863-4276-891d-0b66ecc1d0ea/Screen+Shot+2023-05-16+at+8.51.31+AM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d43205d2-4845-468f-a395-6e495475e036/Baldwin2.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Cette photo de Bill Baldwin avec son ruban de la Croix du service distingué dans l’aviation et ses ailes d’observateur a fait la une de l’Ottawa Citizen. En tant que navigateur chevronné, sa casquette est formée à la dure. Baldwin ne semble pas pour autant avoir été marqué par le stress de 32 missions remplies de terreur au-dessus du territoire ennemi. Photo via the Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa052b42-8aab-474e-9f1c-b849aecbfa98/Screen+Shot+2023-05-16+at+5.11.53+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Ce sera super amusant ! Une page complète de publicité dans l’Ottawa Journal mentionnait que Bishop et Baldwin (surlignés en jaune) seraient présents pour distribuer les prix. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b9e248a-6aa2-4104-9669-bf4107118de3/p_fauquier3.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Le Lieutenant-colonel d’aviation Johnny Fauquier, DSO et deux barrettes, DFC, à côté d’une bombe de 10 000 kg Grand Slam « Earthquake Bomb » (bombe à effet tremblement de terre). Fauquier a commandé le 617e escadron (les Dam Busters ou casseur de barrage) de décembre 1944 à avril 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7e48efe3-cb32-4a0c-9307-cf844278b86a/Baldwin15.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Frank Harman était un motocycliste passionné, et sur ses papiers d’attestation, il a déclaré qu’il avait « une moto et une certaine expérience de la course et du travail sur les motos. Je roule depuis sept ans et aime rouler vite ». « Ce garçon est au top », écrit son patron, Bob Hanes, dans une lettre de recommandation lorsqu’il s’est engagé, « il m’est apparu comme un très bon élément. Il est venu me voir alors qu’il était tout petit pour livrer et collecter les fonds. Il était intelligent, apprenait vite et se comportait bien. Son argent était toujours exact au sou près. Je ne saurais trop féliciter ce jeune homme. Son intégrité, son honnêteté et son caractère sont absolument irréprochables ». Photo : Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c97dcff0-88fb-4904-a0aa-efd32de4f9e5/Baldwin5.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Cinq Canadiens et deux Britanniques se trouvaient à bord du Halifax LQ-G lorsqu’il a été abattu. Les Canadiens, en plus de Baldwin, étaient le Lieutenant d’aviation Frank Harman de St. Catharines (Ontario), le mitrailleur arrière James Miller de Mactier (Ontario), âgé de 19 ans, le mitrailleur intermédiaire supérieur Allan Menzies de Toronto et le Lieutenant d’aviation Philip Magson de Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50f710d0-c8dc-4557-a697-846bcb8e3043/Baldwin8.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Les deux membres d’équipage britanniques appartiennent à la Royal Air Force : le pilote Leslie Ronald French King, DFM, le mécanicien de bord et le sergent radiotélégraphiste Sidney Cugley. Cugley porte un brevet « S » ailé qui, selon deux forums d’histoire de l’aviation que j’ai visités, n’a été délivré qu’en février 1944, soit six mois ou plus après la prise de cette photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5760942f-9f27-4c46-a37a-33bc68788ae1/Screen+Shot+2023-05-25+at+5.06.22+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Le feldwebel Franz Laubenheimer (à droite) avec deux autres camarades de la Luftwaffe : Unteroffizier Heinz Emanuel (à gauche) et Hauptmann Ludwig Hölzer, plus tard dans la guerre. Laubenheimer a été abattu et tué en mars 1944. Photo via Kracker Luftwaffe Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f6b5f4c6-3e94-4d0c-bb18-6dd23aabb585/Screen+Shot+2023-05-03+at+3.43.55+PM.png The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Une photo émouvante d’un pilote du 405e escadron au retour d’un raid sur Berlin en août 1943. Le 405e escadron n’a participé qu’à deux raids sur Berlin, le second ayant eu lieu le dernier jour du mois. Il est donc très probable que cette photo date de la nuit où Baldwin et ses compagnons d’équipage ont été tués. L’image témoigne de l’horrible stress enduré par les équipages au-dessus de l’Allemagne, et de Berlin en particulier. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c3423337-243d-454e-b136-1220bc7c91ca/Baldwin18.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Grâce à a la désignation « DFC » après son nom, Baldwin a droit à deux lignes à la page 133 du Livre du Souvenir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En tant qu’amateur de polices de caractères, je pense que la plume de Bill Baldwin avait plus de présence et de gravité que celle des deux hommes qui ont inscrit son nom et les autres noms dans le livre de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Image : Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3611ba53-ece2-4106-aed5-a4a0ec38c4a0/17136547941_773d5e2e95_o.jpg The Stories - LA PLUME DE DIEU - Make it stand out Chaque matin à 11 heures, dans la chapelle du Souvenir, un fonctionnaire en uniforme de la Chambre des communes enfile des gants de coton blanc, ouvre les vitrines contenantes chacun des livres commémoratifs, soulève le signet arborant la Croix du Souvenir (dans sa main gauche) et tourne la page pour révéler une nouvelle liste de personnes tombées au champ d’honneur. C’est ce qu’on appelle la cérémonie du changement de page. Cette simple cérémonie se déroule avec la révérence et le respect dus à nos concitoyens tombés au champ d’honneur. Le Livre du Souvenir original sur lequel Baldwin a travaillé comptait 606 pages, pesait 68 livres et mesurait 10 pouces d’épaisseur. En 1959, le livre a été relié en deux volumes. Chacun des noms des soldats tombés au champ d’honneur pendant la Première et la Seconde Guerre mondiale, y compris celui de Baldwin, peuvent être consultés au moins deux fois par an. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-phantom-airman monthly 0.5 2024-10-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/830eb452-3d43-4843-af40-6807a0e47afc/BosloyTitle.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bad6ce2-5e87-4f1b-b5c0-fbabb2453ecb/Bosloy6.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out A wonderful photograph from the Ottawa Jewish Archives of a family group that includes members of the Bosloy family, as well as the Gosevitz (Gosewich) and Friendly families, who were connected by marriage. Taken in 1929 in Ottawa, we can see a bright, shining nine-year-old Philip Bosloy at the back on the far left. Sitting second from the right is Philip’s devoted father Louis. In the back row, standing fourth from the right is Chawa (Eva) Bosloy (née Gosewitz), Philip’s mother. Standing sixth from the right is Mary Bosloy, Philip’s sister. Sitting in front of Philip at the far left is Philip’s older brother, Jack. Photo: Ottawa Jewish Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73b1598c-bb8a-48cd-842f-fd9c2cf22cc5/Screen+Shot+2023-05-31+at+4.30.59+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out A 1950s photo of the Bosloy family place of business at 885-891 Bank Street. Here, in the building they owned, the Bosloys and Gosewichs operated the Empire Fruit Store (where we see the Export cigarette sign) and Excel Radiator Repair (garage at rear). The lot of the United Car Market, a Studebaker dealership, has been the site a Mexican restaurant since the late 1970s. Having spent a half century in this neighbourhood, I know every one of the buildings in this photo intimately and never knew the sad tale they held. Photo: historynerd.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bf6afb7-3f4d-4112-8925-bd9aa45dcf73/Bosloy4.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out 885 Bank Street today is the home of Irene’s Pub, an Ottawa live music icon. Next door at 887 is the Glebe’s favourite barber — Ernesto’s. In the 1940s, Phillip Bosloy used the address of his family’s business, the Empire Fruit Store, as his mailing address. The Bosloy family lived above the store. The upstairs apartments are accessed through a door at 889 Bank Street. One of my best friends lived in the former Bosloy apartments in the 1970s and 80s and I visited there many times, drinking espresso and cognac. My former wife also operated an architectural practice in the basement of the building. Jack Bosloy, Phillip’s brother, operated a radiator repair shop and garage in the back until the late 1970s. I did in fact meet Jack when he was working on my friend’s Volkswagen half a century ago. Photo: Google Street View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd0e718e-abd7-4563-85a3-e31acbf62620/Bosloy5.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Aircraftman Second Class Philip Bosloy’s file photograph from Manning Depot depicts a handsome young man with dark hair and penetrating green eyes. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4dca134-2160-46a9-beca-131ca3a2ffd5/Map.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out A map of the Army and Navy’s coastal defences. The soldiers and sailors manning these artillery emplacements were kept sharp by daily practice. Their targets were drogues towed by the Lysanders of No. 4 Coastal Artillery Co-operation Flight, which also spotted shot for the larger calibre guns. Map by author and Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/053e8e77-f352-4954-8319-3badd7635d32/63eed20b36f7d28e10bc77b9_4.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out As well as their target towing duties, pilots of 4 CAC practiced dive bombing and machine gunning. Bombs were carried under small winglets protruding from the wheel housing. The machine guns were also housed in the landing gear and fed by belted ammunition in the gear leg (above). It was not a formidable array of firepower, but it might give pause to a U-boat commander considering coming to the surface along the coast. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61b8e533-458e-4938-a29b-5449ff86830e/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.09.25+AM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Chapel Point Battery at the mouth of Sydney Harbour. As this was a large-calibre gun fort, Philip Bosloy and other 4 CAC pilots and radio-operators would spot artillery shot and radio adjustments to the gunners in the fort. Photo: Atlantic Memorial Park Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/255689a8-3737-4241-8c07-741ec168d434/Stubbert%27s_Point_Twin_Six-pounder_Gun_c1945.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out The Stubberts Point Battery was a harbour defence gun on the northern shore of the wide entrance to Sydney Harbour. The battery employed a quick-firing Twin Barrel Six-pounder Gun, seen here in its steel turret during the Second World War. These semi-automatic loading, duplex guns could pour out 70 rounds per minute — enough to deter any raider on the surface. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/568b20b3-42c3-4b2e-87b4-0adfdccb17f8/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.15.04+AM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out A convoy of merchant ships assembles in Sydney Harbour, one of the major terminals of the North Atlantic convoy system in the Second World War. It was 4 CAC’s duty to keep the coastal artillery batteries that protected the harbour sharp by providing ranging information and target drogue towing. Photo: Atlantic Memorial Park Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b151ef74-7c4f-4f60-8002-f8c7328cb6c5/Screen+Shot+2023-06-05+at+8.17.19+AM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Another photograph of Sydney Harbour with the submarine net and gate boat in the foreground and dozens of cargo ships anchored beyond. Photo: Beaton Institute Digital Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48ab6b6a-e1be-4cbb-8281-3d25904ccedd/Bosloy1.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Lysander 459 on the Ottawa River after test landing on skis. There was a small ski where the tail wheel was, but we can see that if the tail sank any lower, there could be a chance of damage to the horizontal stabilizers depending on the snow’s consistency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/83d373e8-32fb-4ed1-9cec-14bd43455f6b/Bosloy2.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Lysander 459 tied to the ice on the Ottawa River when it was operated by the RCAF’s Test and Development Establishment at RCAF Station Rockcliffe. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/679ebba7-24e4-46fd-81fb-7e27b83e108f/Screen+Shot+2023-06-14+at+5.36.45+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Philip and Ida rented an apartment off the station at 140 Brookland Street in Sydney. Photo: Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/891181b7-f8e8-417b-89f2-53405d2a8184/Bosloy_Slabick.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out The crew for the ferry flight of Lysander 459 to Scoudouc and back would be Flying Officer Philip Bosloy, pilot, and Flight Sergeant John Joseph Slabick, wireless operator. Photos via Canadian Virtual Wwar Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b894dce2-1764-41fd-a7f9-26a5f913e035/Map3.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Though Scoudouc lay 230 miles due east, it is likely that Bosloy and Slabick remained along the coast of Northumberland Strait for safety reasons. The blue line depicts a possible track for their flight to and from Scoudouc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff6ba63d-c66d-4897-ae93-16dddde6860f/Bosloy8.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out The waterfront of Sydney, Nova Scotia around the time of the Second World War with its steel plant and collieries. Philip and Ida’s apartment was near the extreme right side of this photo. Photo: Beaton Institute Digital Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a74c662e-c43a-477d-91bd-8ef66db58fcf/aud1.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out The Ottawa Auditorium, where Louis Bosloy’s suffering finally came to an end. Photo: Lost Ottawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93957aa9-e4f2-46f6-80ca-24b9c3cd76d4/IMG_Sec5_Row7_12.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Louis and Eva (Chawa) Bosloy’s shared headstone at the Jewish Memorial Gardens cemetery in south Ottawa. The epitaph for both Philip’s parents tells us everything we need to know about their priorities in life. For someone like Louis who lived and laboured for his family, the loss and vaporization of his son must have burned a hole in his heart from which he never recovered. Photo via Jewish Memorial Gardens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b1866705-8ee3-4f14-a445-be8ab2341bb8/Ottawa-Memorial-8.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman - Make it stand out Philip Bosloy and John Slabick have no known graves. In lieu of a headstone, their names are inscribed on the bronze panels of the Ottawa Memorial. Photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129439534-U4RKB7343ZR3HON1LG1P/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+7.01.44+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129449291-DSC0RESVFLB8Q5I1SEAE/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.51.38+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129464155-IKTXTG9XE8VKKCG9LVO2/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.52.39+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129492946-R7T8DPY0YGKAQZ5X0LD5/BosloyTitle.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129506609-SKQ7NNFXHW22UVV83T5C/BaldwinTitle.jpg The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129517610-JQO8HY1EL1KE9R5MF7GA/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.54.08+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129527537-4EUEQZQ44KNP2ED4ED8D/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.58.13+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129547755-CX1Z35VHXTCKEOX5T395/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.55.20+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1687129560138-V2RBGCYADKOJO63LCHED/Screen+Shot+2023-06-18+at+6.56.27+PM.png The Stories - The Phantom Airman https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-hand-of-god monthly 0.5 2023-12-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ec390428-a875-49f5-b126-e21119827bd4/BaldwinTitle.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5b8194d-9d45-4bbf-848d-5f171ebee064/Halifax_Mk_II_HR918.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A factory-fresh Merlin-powered Handley Page Halifax II HR918, G for George, the same aircraft seen by Ernst Heuer and his friends. The aircraft is so fresh in this photo that it has yet to receive its 405 Squadron LQ-G codes. Image via worldwarphotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/131865c5-642e-4017-9889-d22695b6a9f5/Baldwin4.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out 182 Fifth Avenue, the red brick childhood home of Bill Baldwin, looks much the same today as it did when he lived there in the 1920s and 30s. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92d69e19-d93d-4a00-a023-a56bed62ff32/15164151314_28dffe3c29_o.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Clayton Baldwin, Bill’s father worked at the large Government Printing Bureau on Sussex Drive. The building was demolished after the “Queen’s Printer” moved across the river to Hull, Quebec in the late 1950s. The beautiful National Gallery of Canada now occupies the site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea74139f-019a-4cb0-9246-75d7692cf8b0/7659896556_8c919b69ac_o.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The extraordinary, meticulous and consistent hand of Bill Baldwin can be seen in this two-page spread. Upon consideration, Baldwin would have had to start at the alphabetical beginning of each year of the war and continue faultlessly until the end. He would most certainly have taken his time, making sure the order, units and spelling were correct. His work looks as if it was set by a machine. No wonder this took him five years to complete. In the middle, the Remembrance Book Marker with sword emblazoned, a gift in 1949 from the British Empire Service League, holds the pages flat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e223629e-9ee7-4732-afdb-09a0492f3c45/Book_of_remembrance.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Symbolic at every level. The First World War Book of Remembrance rests in a glass-topped sarcophagus on a stone altar in the centre of the Memorial Chamber. The altar stands on a floor made from stone taken from Canadian battlefields of the First World War — Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, Verdun and others. The chamber’s floor itself lies near the base of the Peace Tower, which is the symbolic centre of Canada. Surrounding the central altar stand seven more altars made also of stone and bronze. On these altars rest the books of remembrance commemorating the war dead of the Second World War, the Merchant Marine, the Korean war, the Boer War, the fallen of Newfoundland before it entered Confederation, the war of 1812 and those who have died in the service of Canada but not in a declared war. These books carry the names of more than 120,000 men and women, more than half of which were inscribed by Bill Baldwin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63d549f9-323b-480e-be58-bb54124eadb9/Screen+Shot+2023-05-03+at+8.47.07+AM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Baldwin’s perfect penmanship was not limited to the Book of Remembrance. In filling out his attestation papers on the day he joined the RCAF, he took extraordinary care. Most of these forms that I have seen (and I have seen several thousand) are hastily filled out and often with barely decipherable handwriting, but Baldwin took almost as much care in filling this out as he did with the Book of Remembrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2039814-592f-47fc-8003-2eb31bdbc725/Baldwin1.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A great photo of Bill Baldwin in full flying kit adjusting his RAF Mk IX bubble sextant. Baldwin proved to be an excellent combat navigator, much respected by his crew, helping them survive a full operational tour, but he was miserable at astro navigation while in training. Hugh Halliday, aviation historian states: “In Ground School he had truly terrible marks (28 percent in Astronomical Navigation, Plotting and 25 percent in Astronomical Navigation, Written). He failed the course and ranked 82nd in a class of 82. Photo via the Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44e718b7-6eac-4194-971e-012544eb2500/Screen+Shot+2023-05-29+at+8.14.29+AM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A typical Rolls Royce Merlin-powered Vickers Wellington Mk II, the type operated by 405 Squadron when Baldwin first arrived at RAF Pocklington. Photo Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bd0a6e9-f7fa-4435-8713-31c52a77ba8e/Screen+Shot+2023-05-11+at+5.22.14+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A photo of the RAF Pocklington operations room with 405 Squadron airmen poring over maps before the night’s operation. At the back, third from the left is Wing Commander Fenwick-Wilson, Commanding Officer of 405 Squadron. The date on the board is August 12, 1941, three weeks before Baldwin’s arrival on squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f8bd9c16-5645-479f-83c1-a8dc29b4b435/Baldwin16.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out In January, following the attack on Saint-Nazaire, Baldwin and Fauquier, two hometown heroes, appeared together in the Ottawa Citizen just three days after the raid. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e16a9eb8-b784-401a-b79e-b08974e12f4c/Screen+Shot+2023-05-26+at+2.34.56+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Keith Thiele, DSO, DFC and Two Bars, the uber-competent aircraft commander of Baldwin’s first tour crew. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/08943e42-ac4d-468f-8577-dd16e3958867/6102682ca099f543c3ec3ab0_1280px-Miles_Magister_of_No-_8_Elementary_Flying_Training_School_at_Woodley-_Berkshire-_September_1940-_CH1250.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The Miles Magister in which McCormack and Fetherston were killed was likely the station hack used for liaison, refresher flying and for a little bit of fun during down time. Photo via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ca96c91f-a8e4-4e33-a3f1-78605dab4505/Baldwin12.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Left: Squadron Leader Jack McCormack and Flight Lieutenant Bill Fetherston smile as they walk from their 405 Squadron Wellington in this publicity shot. Bill Baldwin would replace Fetherston on McCormack’s last operation. McCormack (top Centre) and Fetherston (right) were close friends and were buried together in a station-wide military funeral at RAF Pocklington. Bottom right: A wagon carries McCormack’s coffin followed by a large procession and military band. Interesting to note that the coffin is draped in a Union Jack and not the Canadian Red Ensign or the RCAF Ensign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4cd54ef-22ae-4641-a52c-da513ace9577/Screen+Shot+2023-05-12+at+11.12.13+AM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out During their Halifax conversion schedule, the station had a visit from 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight of the RAF on May 14. Pilots of 1426 EAF took their aircraft on the road to fighter and bomber bases across England, escorted by Allied fighters in case they were mistaken for the enemy. The 405 Squadron ORB states that “They proved to be a very interesting sight and novelty for our airmen.” Here, in a similar scenario, a pilot of the “Rafwaffe” chats with and answers questions from pilots and air crew at an American base later in the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7964efc-3654-4547-b780-c791e19e9b04/Baldwin9.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The folks back home in Ottawa must have been pretty proud of Baldwin when he appeared in the June 15th, 1942 edition of LIFE magazine in a feature story about Bomber Command and the Thousand Bomber mass raid on May 30th on the city of Cologne. Baldwin (left) is seen here having a post-op cup of tea with his American Wireless Operator Flight Sergeant R. J. Campbell. Photo via LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/752ea3f4-38b4-4c37-aa75-002715f3f261/Screen+Shot+2023-05-26+at+12.56.56+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Handley Page Halifax Mk II LQ-R (WW7710) “Ruhr Valley Express” in which Thiele, Baldwin and crew attacked Düsseldorf and Bremen. The nose art featured a locomotive pulling a line of rail cars. After each operation, the ground crew added another car to the train. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f25b51a3-79aa-4541-9b90-0b1da1dec5d0/60f99476408f5b4582c98b50_Handley-Page-Halifax-Mk--I--LQ-R--banking.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A great shot of Thiele and Baldwin’s Halifax LQ-R in flight. All aircraft wore the LQ 405 Squadron code along with a letter (R) denoting the specific aircraft. Generally, but not slavishly, letters A to M were reserved for “A” Flight while N to Z were for ‘B” Flight. Baldwin was assigned to “B” Flight and most of the Wellingtons and Halifaxes he flew in followed that rule LQ-R, LQ-Q, LQ-P. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/da11c380-9ff1-4351-8e01-a7344d293c2e/Baldwin7.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A full-page advertisement in the Ottawa Citizen on the day of the unveiling of the Book of Remembrance uses an illustration of the altar where Baldwin’s work lies and heavy moral suasion to pressure citizens of Ottawa to buy more war bonds. Image via The Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bfe39b6-d88b-4e4a-9db9-c7bff2f02bd7/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+5.33.50+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out At the official unveiling of the First World War Book of Remembrance, Prime Minister William Lyon McKenzie King (with magnifying glass) closely inspects Baldwin’s work and the beautiful illuminations created by artists like the young Sylvia Bury (right). At left is Colonel Archer F. Duguid, head of the Historical Section of the Canadian Army, Dr. Gustave Lanctot, respected Canadian historian and long-time Dominion Archivist, Colonel J. W. Flanagan, the Prime Minister, Colonel Henry C. Osborne, Secretary of the War Graves Commission and Ms. Bury. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adea380c-eff3-4c3a-a010-6bd76695ae8b/Baldwin13.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The Ottawa Journal devoted almost a full page on the dedication of the work of Purves, Beddoe, Baldwin and the members of the team of artists who created the Book of Remembrance. Both the Ottawa Journal and Citizen were drawn to the physical charms of one of the artists, Sylvia Bury, who worked on the project. She was featured in several newspaper articles in both papers about the book, though was only one of several woman artists who worked on the book. One of the others, Grace Melvin, is credited for bringing modern calligraphy designs to Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3b2f4b72-2c7f-47d7-a24f-45898cde6476/Baldwin14.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A montage of images about the Book of Remembrance was featured in the Ottawa Citizen on Remembrance Day, 1942. Again, the lovely Sylvia Bury is featured while other, more key women artists are not. I suspect that this is because Bury was physically attractive. At right bottom of the montage is a photo of a page of Baldwin’s exquisite hand highly illuminated by members of the team. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a69a527-65c8-4c02-8f87-1df521a0ea27/Baldwin11.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out SIDEBAR: Not germane to Baldwin’s story, I still found the details of one of his fellow artists interesting. Miss Sylvia Rita Bury of Ottawa (Upper Left) was photographed numerous times (lower left) in stories about the creation and unveiling of the Book of Remembrance — likelysimply because she was attractive. There were at least five other woman artists from Ottawa (calligraphers and colourists) employed in the production of the book — Edna Bond, Patricia Macoun, Evelyn Lambert, Grace Melvin, Florence Meagher—but only Bury was ever photographed. In September, 1942, a month before the unveiling of the Book, she was in Halifax, Nova Scotia under contract to Universal Film Studios as the stand-in double for movie star Ella Raines (top centre) in the film Corvette K-225, a theatrical propaganda piece released the following year. She was an amateur dancer and musical theatre actor (bottom centre), appearing with fellow book artist Edna Bond in several Ottawa Little Theatre revues and plays. Inspired by her work on the movie and the book, she joined the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens) and served on the West Coast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1445172a-c863-4276-891d-0b66ecc1d0ea/Screen+Shot+2023-05-16+at+8.51.31+AM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d43205d2-4845-468f-a395-6e495475e036/Baldwin2.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out This photo of Bill Baldwin with his Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon and his Observer’s wings appeared large on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen. As a seasoned navigator, his hat has a suitable casual crush. Baldwin does not seem to have been diminished by the stresses of 32 terror-filled operations over enemy territory. Photo via the Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa052b42-8aab-474e-9f1c-b849aecbfa98/Screen+Shot+2023-05-16+at+5.11.53+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out It’ll be Fun! Fun! Fun! A full page advertisement in the Ottawa Journal mentioned that Bishop and Baldwin (highlighted in yellow) would be on hand to hand out prizes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b9e248a-6aa2-4104-9669-bf4107118de3/p_fauquier3.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Wing Commander Johnny Fauquier, DSO and Two Bars, DFC standing next to a 22,000 lb Grand Slam “Earthquake Bomb”. Fauquier commanded 617 Squadron (the Dam Busters) from December 1944 to April 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7e48efe3-cb32-4a0c-9307-cf844278b86a/Baldwin15.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Frank Harman was an avid motorcyclist, and on his attestation papers, he stated that he had “a motorcycle and some experience racing and working on them. Have been riding for seven years and like travelling fast.”. “This boy is tops” wrote his boss, Bob Hanes in a letter of recommendation and support when he enlisted,. “He came to me as a very small boy to deliver and collect money. He was smart and quick to learn and well behaved. His money was always correct to the cent. I cannot give this young man too much praise. His integrity, honesty and character are absolutely beyond reproach.” Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47acc1e1-3aca-496e-be5c-7cd911975266/DSC04902.JPG The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Evidence of the gunfight over Satuelle between Baldwin’s Halifax and the German nigh fighter still exists to this day in the form of this large bomb crater in a wooded area. The bomb likely came from HR918. Photo: Peter Milner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c97dcff0-88fb-4904-a0aa-efd32de4f9e5/Baldwin5.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out There were five Canadians and two Brits aboard Halifax LQ-G when it was shot down. The Canadians, in addition to Baldwin, were Pilot Flying Officer Frank Harman of St. Catharines, Ontario; 19-year old Rear Gunner F/Sgt. James Miller from Mactier, Ontario; Mid-upper Gunner F/Sgt. Allan Menzies of Toronto and Flying Officer Philip Magson of Vancouver, British Columbia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50f710d0-c8dc-4557-a697-846bcb8e3043/Baldwin8.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The two British crew members were from the Royal Air Force —Pilot Officer Leslie Ronald French King, DFM, Flight Engineer and Wireless Operator Sergeant Sidney Cugley. Cugley is sporting a winged “S” Signaler brevet which according to a couple of aviation history forums I visited was not issued until February of 1944, 6 months or more after this photo was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5760942f-9f27-4c46-a37a-33bc68788ae1/Screen+Shot+2023-05-25+at+5.06.22+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Feldwebel Franz Laubenheimer (right) with two other Luftwaffe comrades: Unteroffizier Heinz Emanuel (Left) and Hauptmann Ludwig Hölzer, later in the war. Laubenheimer was shot down and killed in March of 1944. Photo via Kracker Luftwaffe Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/89f62e17-3c43-4eff-b28e-afa97d10e415/BaldwinCrash.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The crash site today. It’s hard to imagine the horrors that this field once held. Thankfully time has erased the evidence of the night of August 23-24, 1943. Photo: Peter Milner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f6b5f4c6-3e94-4d0c-bb18-6dd23aabb585/Screen+Shot+2023-05-03+at+3.43.55+PM.png The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A moving photo of a 405 Squadron pilot after returning from a raid on Berlin in August, 1943. There were only two Berlin raids which involved 405 Squadron, the other on the last day of the month, so its very likely this is from the same night that Baldwin and his crew mates were lost. The image underlines the terrible stresses endured by aircrews over Germany, and over Berlin in particular. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/530b7d7c-8258-4a4c-a484-2d6ed3c0ff76/DSC04892.JPG The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The small churchyard cemetery in Zobbenitz where Bill Baldwin was originally buried. Photo: Peter Milner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7706a129-a82a-4836-af88-21ab7c1eae1b/Satuelle+cem4.JPG The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out The cemetery at Satuelle where most of Baldwin’s crew were initially buried. Photo: Peter Milner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/089bed63-9bcf-4dc0-a603-458f3e4b45d8/satuelle5.JPG The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out A memorial erected to the memory of the crew of HR918 in the village of Satuelle. Photo: Peter Milner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c3423337-243d-454e-b136-1220bc7c91ca/Baldwin18.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Thanks to Baldwin’s DFC, he is afforded two lines on page 133 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. In my opinion as a font-nerd, the hand of Bill Baldwin had more presence and gravity than that of the two men who inscribed his and the other names in the book for the Second World War. Image: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3611ba53-ece2-4106-aed5-a4a0ec38c4a0/17136547941_773d5e2e95_o.jpg The Stories - THE HAND OF GOD - Make it stand out Every morning at 11 o’clock in the Memorial Chamber, a uniformed House of Commons officer dons white cotton gloves, opens the glass cases containing each of the memorial books, lifts the page marker with the Cross of Remembrance (in his left hand) and turns the page to reveal a new list of the fallen. This is known as the Turning of the Page Ceremony. This simple ceremony is done with the reverence and respect due our fallen citizens. The original Book of Remembrance which Baldwin worked on was 606 pages, weighed 68 pounds and was ten inches thick. In 1959, the book was rebound into two volume. Each of the names of the fallen for the First and Second World Wars including Baldwin’s can be seen at least twice a year. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/premiers-vols-a-ottawa-episode-3 monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/521e5136-930c-40c8-a043-96eb24b33b6b/FrenchEpisode3.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eb40ba4b-6336-4e95-8b34-fed9940f0bba/Peoli6.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out On trouve aujourd’hui sur Internet les plans de l’appareil de Peoli, le « Peoli Racer », muni de deux hélices propulsives, soit l’un des modèles les plus durables et les plus populaires de l’histoire de l’aviation artisanale et sportive. Selon The Second Boys' Book of Model Aeroplanes (1911), son modèle propulsé par un élastique détenait le record américain de temps de vol de soixante-cinq secondes. Il revendique également un record de distance de 515,57 mètres. Le livre indique également que la conception de Peoli « montre une appréciation intelligente des principes impliqués ». Photos: The Second Boys' Book of Model Aeroplanes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c5a7208-18f2-4b38-8089-04e065294e91/Screen+Shot+2023-03-22+at+8.02.41+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Un beau portrait du tout jeune aviateur Cecil Peoli avec un avion Baldwin Red Devil. Au cours de sa tournée en Amérique du Sud, six mois après Ottawa, il a été surnommé « el Niño Aviador » (le petit aviateur). Remarquez la transparence du radiateur https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c664d30-3c31-4aae-bab8-225e28fec430/Peoli5.jpg The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Cassandra, la mère de Peoli, l’accompagne à Ottawa et le voit épater les foules aux Exhibition Grounds et au-dessus de la ville. La jeunesse de Peoli est mise en évidence ici en comparaison au jeune âge de sa mère. National Air and Space Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5608ed9f-9229-448a-b686-9adfe6222741/Cecil.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Lorsque Cecil Peoli s’est envolé du parc Lansdowne en 1913 et a fait trois fois le tour des édifices du Parlement, il n’avait que 19 ans. Bien que jeune, il a habilement démontré les exploits de l’avion Red Devil appartenant à Baldwin de Kitchener à Caracas, de Saint John, au Nouveau-Brunswick à l’Indiana. Photo: National Air and Space Museum Archives, Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c125e4df-0688-49d2-9364-b865f77f30aa/Site2.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out La zone marquée en jaune est reconnue par les historiens d’Ottawa-Est comme étant le terrain Slattery’s Field réservé aux moutons et au bétail et qui servait, au besoin, comme terrain d’aviation. Images via http://history.ottawaeast.ca/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93a1bac2-0fea-401b-aa6a-9e2182673eef/Slattery53.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Bien qu’il s’agisse d’une image composite des édifices du Parlement de l’époque et d’une image de Peoli pilotant le Red Devil, elle donne une idée de ce qu’un invité du Château Laurier regardant de sa fenêtre en 1913 aurait pu voir quand le jeune aviateur faisait trois circuits autour de la Colline parlementaire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1073b17b-fd46-4dc3-9935-7fec3aad8fb2/51856573151_efb32b878a_o.jpg The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Un biplan Baldwin Red Devil modifié semblable à celui que Cecil Peoli a piloté au-dessus d’Ottawa en septembre 1913. Il diffère du Red Devil piloté par Lee Hammond deux ans plus tôt en ce que le stabilisateur horizontal de contrôle du tangage se trouve à l’arrière du fuselage, comme la plupart des avions sont configurés aujourd’hui. L’ancien Red Devil de Hammond profitait d’une grande surface de contrôle en tangage installée devant le siège du pilote. Photo : Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1b41ac4c-b75e-41dd-9c2e-5d1811c4214c/Cecil2.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out La jeunesse de Cecil Peoli, « le chouchou des cieux » est visible sur cette photo de lui avec le bienveillant capitaine Tom Baldwin (bras croisés), prise trois semaines seulement après ses évolutions à Ottawa. Photo : the Bain collection at the Library of Congress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/477ebdf8-5b42-47b3-8943-22a52766ab62/Peolii3.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Deux ans après ses vols à Ottawa, à l’âge de 21 ans, il est tué instantanément dans l’accident d’un avion de sa conception (ci-dessus) à l’aéroport de College Park, au nord de Washington D.C. La société qu’il a créée avec le soutien de quelques importants hommes d’affaires new-yorkais est rapidement dissoute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9314434-01c2-4374-ac81-c89d4dd8b79a/Screen+Shot+2023-02-12+at+3.33.03+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Le Montreal Daily a publié des annonces d’une demi-page dans les deux quotidiens grand format d’Ottawa, le Journal et le Citizen. Si les journaux ont accepté les forfaits publicitaires du Daily Mail, ils ont été moins enclins à célébrer le succès de leur concurrent. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1692faa-7036-405a-92cd-116451432037/Slattery7.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Iowan William Cornelius “Billy” Robinson, “Bird Man of the Prairie”, was one of a numberPlus grands que nature, William Cornelius « Billy » Robinson, « l’homme-oiseau de la prairie », originaire de l’Iowa, était l’un des nombreux pionniers de l’aviation aujourd’hui oubliés. Il a parcouru l’Amérique du Nord dans le genre des artistes de cirque effectuant des démonstrations de vol piloté au grand plaisir des spectateurs allant d’Ottawa en Ontario jusqu’à Ottawa, au Kansas. À droite : dans le numéro du 28 décembre 1915 du Grinnell Herald, toujours prêt à promouvoir l’utilité de l’aviation, on voit Billy Robinson livrer un échantillon de 2 livres d’Amber Rice de la société Sam Nelson Jr. Company à Eugene Handy, le « roi du pop-corn » d’Iowa City. Robinson a parcouru la distance de 65 miles en 46 minutes. Il faudra attendre encore 45 ans pour la première livraison Fedex. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f37ff678-86b8-4565-b3cb-381ee359fd86/Slattery28.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out William C. Robinson dans le biplan Lillie-Vought (parfois appelé Lillie Tracté) qu’il a utilisé pour son vol historique de Montréal à Ottawa afin de livrer une liasse de journaux du Montreal Daily Mail à la capitale nationale. Il a parcouru les 187 kilomètres en deux heures et 55 minutes, établissant ainsi le premier vol longue distance au Canada. Cet appareil rudimentaire est le premier avion conçu par Chance Milton Vought, dont la société du même nom concevra plus tard le chasseur Corsair de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et le magnifique chasseur à réaction F-8 Crusader. Le fuselage de ce biplan particulier n’est pas recouvert comme l’exemplaire que Robinson a apporté à Ottawa. Il pourrait donc s’agir d’un autre biplan. Magnificient Photo via avialogs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d94f696-91ee-481d-a1f2-5ace96d09d02/Slattery42.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out L’avion Lillie-Vought de Robinson à Snowdon Junction le 8 octobre 1913 avec le maire Lavallée de Montréal (deuxième à partir de la droite) et des cadres du Montreal Daily Mail réunis pour le départ de Robinson. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d41b31c3-276a-46ba-94c7-a9ebfaa486e6/Slattery9.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Selon les archives de la bibliothèque publique de Grinnell, cette photo représente Robinson à Montréal avec des écoliers et le biplan Lillie-Vought qu’il a piloté de Montréal à Ottawa. Il est possible que certains de ces enfants soient ceux des cadres du Daily Mail et d’autres dignitaires présents ce jour-là, car ils sont bien habillés comparés aux enfants de la ferme locale. Nous voyons ici le moteur French Gnome de 50 CV qui tractait l’avion. Selon la collection Harold E. Moorehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies de la Smithsonian Institution, Robinson « a commencé à faire voler [le 1er octobre] le Lillie tracté équipé d’un moteur Gnome de 50 CV à Cicero [Chicago], puis l’a emmené au Canada pour une exposition et des vols transnationaux ». Photo via University of Iowa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/796ca2af-015f-4b08-80a5-db35b0179f73/Screen+Shot+2023-02-12+at+4.48.54+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out À Montréal, la brume s’est dissipée et Robinson prend en charge les journaux de B. A. McNabb, rédacteur en chef du Montreal Daily Mail. Bien que le Daily Mail ait tenté de se faire remarquer par son coup de publicité aérien, le journal disparaît en moins de quatre ans. Photo : PA-165980, National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a1ee14d-47f6-47a6-aafc-9e281e4cbdf7/Slattery44.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out À Snowdon Junction, le maire de Montréal, Louis-Arsène Lavallée, offre quelques mots de sagesse politique avant de souhaiter un bon vol à Robinson. J’ai d’abord cru que son Homburg ici était emporté par le vent, mais d’autres photos du moment montrent qu’il était coincé sur l’aile entre les fils. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7477afb-487f-498c-867b-0c660011ae64/Slattery45.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Robinson au décollage à Snowdon Junction. Destination: Ottawa — Montreal Daily Mail Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/560898a9-c0db-4876-8fe4-67859b950fe3/Slattery32.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Robinson, moteur en marche, échappement fumant, s’apprête à décoller de Lachine, au Québec, après avoir réparé sa conduite de carburant endommagée. Photo via Drake University Digital Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/161df85b-e895-4a2d-8c39-c1f6863211c0/Slattery43.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Robinson décolle en direction d’Ottawa, tout probablement à Lachine. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7c5e060-2c9d-41cb-a302-cf408ee6062f/Screen+Shot+2023-03-28+at+8.53.05+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Caledonia Springs, « The Old Canadian Sanitarium and Summer Resort » la plus importante station thermale du Canada — NDLR , s’enorgueillissait d’un majestueux hôtel du CP blanc mettant en vitrine un embellissement minutieux et somptueux, avec un porche panoramique sur trois étages où les visiteurs pouvaient se détendre à l’ombre tout en prenant les eaux pour lesquelles le spa était réputé. On peut imaginer ce Robinson taché d’huile de ricin et vêtu d’un ciré, assis sur un fauteuil en rotin sous le portique principal, en train de se désaltérer à l’aide un grand verre de leurs fameuses eaux minérales. Photo : Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5be3ca75-3169-44ea-b359-96a3e65bad56/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+8.17.54+AM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out La première page du volume 1, no 2 du Montreal Daily Mail, vante les mérites du vol historique de la veille. Image via Avialogs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b59f9162-ec69-4d6f-83fd-3ee5a4ea0fc9/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+8.32.07+AM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out La page 2 de l’édition du 9 octobre du Montreal Daily Mail présente une carte de l’itinéraire de Robinson montrant le maire de Montréal Lavallée à droite et le maire d’Ottawa Ellis à gauche. Visiblement, cette carte a été créée bien avant le vol réel puisqu’elle représente un monoplan Blériot alors qu’en réalité, Robinson pilotait un biplan Lillie-Vought. Les photos ci-dessous montrent les destinataires des journaux expédiés par avion : l’ancien premier ministre Wilfred Laurier, le premier ministre Robert Borden et le juge en chef Charles Fitzpatrick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/920e7c0b-ac97-404a-83de-303c4b8d0ea3/Slattery31.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Une photo de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada prétend avoir été prise pendant le vol de Robinson entre Montréal et Ottawa — probablement lors de l’arrêt de ravitaillement en carburant à Caledonia Springs, dans le champ d’un fermier entre Vankleek Hill et Plantagenet, en Ontario. C’est tout probablement le panneau à charnière du capot du moteur qui a été ouvert pour inspecter le niveau d’huile qui reflète la lumière sur cette photo. Photo via oldottawasouth.ca, Peter Pigott and Library & Archives Canada/PA-165978 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd4fecca-8cde-481d-b1bc-d944459c062c/Slattery39.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Une image floue tirée du Montreal Daily Mail du 11 octobre 1913 montre un groupe de garçons et de fermiers inspectant la machine volante pendant que Robinson est ravitaillé en carburant à Caledonia Springs. On ne peut qu’imaginer l’excitation du groupe. Photo : Montreal Daily Mail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bf67a474-584b-4ea0-a76d-fb6c516317c6/Slattery29.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out A photo of the Lillie-Viought biplane, possibly taken at Slattery’s Field, Ottawa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9253e28a-72a4-4403-be09-e6fb2595f5a6/IMG_7285.jpg The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out En plus de la plaque apposée sur l’édifice de la centrale électrique, une autre plaque rappelle cette époque visionnaire pour Ottawa : une rue de banlieue, située à proximité de l’aéroport d’Ottawa, a été baptisée en l’honneur de cette humble prairie qui a connu ces événements il y a plus de 110 ans. Photo : Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/15d0b508-4b84-419c-8377-e98c9596d968/Slattery10.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Robinson à Grinnell en Iowa avec son monoplan GrinnelI IIA (également appelé Grinnell-Robinson Scout) qu’il a conçu et construit en 1915, propulsé par un moteur radial de 60 ch de sa propre conception. Il s’agit du premier avion à être construit dans cet état américain. Photo: Child of Grinnell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/637f9256-030c-44e9-990a-d0b7242295ef/Slattery41.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Conçu en 1915, au cours de grande guerre, le Scout Grinnell-Robinson n’a jamais progressé au-delà du stade prototype. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1e64af57-9c20-4319-ac8e-287297a44a76/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+12.24.20+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out A top Vue de haut, le Grinnell-Robinson Scout semble ne pas avoir d’ailerons. La photo a probablement été prise depuis le toit du bâtiment de la Grinnell Aeroplane Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c0023c4b-a7de-4021-bded-c8e184eedeb1/Screen+Shot+2023-02-22+at+11.35.16+AM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Robinson roule au sol aux commandes de son monoplan Scout dans l’herbe haute près du hangar-usine de la Grinnell Aeroplane Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/670aa3bf-2bdc-4574-9dc5-bc83f81289ed/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+5.41.04+PM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Voici le deuxième projet de Robinson, le biplan Grinnell-Robinson. Sa performance semble impressionnante puisqu’il s’est rendu à plus de 5000 mètres d’altitude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b1f2611-b549-41e2-9154-52369c21366f/Slattery8.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out La carte postale macabre de l’Iowa exhibant le corps de Robinson après son accident. Historic Iowa Postcard Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Grinnell College Libraries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/09caf679-2304-4b16-884f-86fcfb1bc209/Slattery11.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Voilà Max Lillie (au centre) au visage d’ange, peut-être en train d’apprendre à piloter, qui est en compagnie d’un autre pionnier de l’aviation, Bob Fowler (à droite). Ce dernier est la première personne à effectuer un vol transcontinental d’ouest en est (par étapes), qu’il a commencé en septembre 1912 à San Francisco et achevé cinq mois plus tard, en février 1913. L’homme à gauche est le célèbre lutteur Frank Gotch. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/362f1532-8184-47ab-a961-405566ba5b58/Slattery12.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Billy Robinson (à gauche) apprend à piloter aux commandes d’un Wright Flyer en 1912 avec l’instructeur Max Lillie, un entrepreneur et pionnier suédois. Lillie s’est associé à un autre pionnier, Chance Vought, pour créer l’avion que Robinson allait utiliser pour apporter les journaux du Daily Mail à Ottawa. Quelques semaines avant le vol de Robinson à Slattery’s Field, Max Lillie meurt dans un accident d’avion en Illinois. Max Lillie avait notamment formé Katherine Stinson comme pilote. Elle n’était que la quatrième aviatrice en Amérique, mais elle a conquis le cœur des Américains. Elle a également été la première pilote de la poste aérienne pour Edmonton, en Alberta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4f565f0-5a91-4616-8a26-020b9f7edd40/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+10.59.09+AM.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out « Sûr et sain d’esprit ! » Max Lillie, le pionnier suédois-américain de l’aviation, s’est servi d’une photo le montrant donnant de l’instruction à Katherine Stinson sur un Wright Flyer à Cicero Field, à Chicago, dans cette publicité parue en 1912 dans Aerial Age, un des tout premiers magazines spécialisés dans l’aviation. Image via Chicagology.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01e6c918-69ee-4da1-a7f8-1b8e305b7c8f/Slattery13.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Katherine Stinson, connue sous le nom d’écolière volante, était l’une des aviatrices les plus populaires des premières années de l’aviation. Elle a été la première femme à effectuer un looping en Amérique et la première femme à voler en Chine et au Japon. Contrairement à son instructeur Max Lillie, elle a connu une carrière plus longue en tant que pilote cascadeuse et pilote de courrier aérien, dont elle s’est retirée prématurément pour des raisons de santé. Décédée en 1977, elle a vécu relativement longtemps et a été intronisée à titre posthume au National Aviation Hall of Fame en 2019. Une réplique de l’avion Curtiss-Stinson Special [et non pas l’avion sur cette photo] qu’elle a piloté lors du premier vol postal aérien en Alberta se trouve à l’Alberta Aviation Museum d’Edmonton. Pour visionner une magnifique vidéo sur Katherine Stinson, cliquez ici. Son succès et sa célébrité dans les airs ont incité son frère Eddie à créer la légendaire avionnerie Stinson Aircraft Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f91fa3e5-754d-4ef1-88f5-063f52172d1f/Slattery17.png The Stories - Les premiers vols à Ottawa - Épisode Trois - Make it stand out Le terrain de Slattery a accueilli Billy Robinson, qui a formé Max Lillie comme pilote, lequel a enseigné à Katherine Stinson, responsable du premier courrier aérien à Edmonton, en Alberta. Il est donc évident qu’au cours des premiers jours de l’aviation, il n’y avait que quelques degrés de séparation entre les pionniers qui nous ont donné le coup d’envoi à l’aviation au Canada. Photo via New Mexico History Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/premiers-vols-a-ottawa-episode-2 monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1a7582f7-836e-460f-9755-f908be69b21a/Episode2French.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/caa146a3-9b4f-4df0-821c-273404a7b468/AtwoodConneau.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Pendant plusieurs années, les citoyens d’Ottawa n’ont pu lire les histoires de ces audacieux artistes aériens que dans leurs quotidiens. Le monde extérieur était les premiers témoins des exploits aériens d’un nombre croissant de pilotes aventuriers (dont certains ont pris des noms de scène) qui devenaient rapidement des noms familiers. Les quotidiens d’Ottawa de 1910-11 étaient remplis de leurs exploits et de leurs tragédies. Ce n’était qu’une question de temps avant que l’un de ces pionniers aériens ne prenne son envol dans le ciel au-dessus d’Ottawa. Deux de ces premiers aviateurs notés dans les journaux locaux étaient : Gauche : Harry Atwood, un ingénieur et inventeur américain connu pour son travail de pionnier dans les premiers jours de l’aviation, y compris l’établissement de records de vol longue distance et le vol de la première livraison de courrier aérien en Nouvelle-Angleterre. À droite : André Beaumont, pseudonyme de Jean Louis Conneau (1880-1937), pionnier français de l’aviation, lieutenant de marine et fabricant d’hydravions. En 1911, il a remporté trois des défis aéronautiques les plus difficiles : la course « Paris-Rome », le premier circuit d’Europe et la course du Daily Mail Circuit of Britain. En 1911, Ottawa attendait impatiemment que l’un des nombreux nouveaux « aéronautes » vienne dans la ville et démontre ce qu’ils avaient tous lu. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ba7ac45-7c2f-4cf5-9602-9d7e3e9f4e66/Screen+Shot+2023-03-20+at+3.21.03+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Charles Foster Willard devait à l’origine être le premier homme à s’envoler à Ottawa, mais il a été frappé par la foudre à Louisville, au Kentucky, la semaine précédente. Photo : Archives de la Ville de Toronto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/315e8753-43c7-4e0f-909d-f0688636f1cb/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+4.33.15+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le pionnier belge de l’aviation Georges Mestach aux commandes d’un monoplan Morane-Borel. Mestach ainsi que l’aviateur français Romain Gressier et l’Américain John Wilmer (alias Jean Wilmer, propriétaire d’avion) agissaient comme une sorte de groupe d’aéronautes se déplaçant en Amérique du Nord pour démontrer les merveilles de l’aviation lors de foires et d’autres événements municipaux. Ils croyaient également qu’ils avaient un contrat en place pour s’envoler à l’exposition annuelle du Centre du Canada en 1911 et qu’ils avaient amené leur avion à Ottawa en train pour le faire. Au « Slattery’s Field », il y a eu des discussions sur qui aurait l’honneur et la rémunération pour avoir piloté les envolés au parc Lansdowne. En fin de compte, Baldwin et Hammond l’ont emporté. Ici, le fringant Mestach peut être vu assis dans son Morane à Grant Park, Chicago avec une foule de gens en arrière-plan. Cette image a été prise à l’époque de la rencontre de l’aviation internationale qui s’est tenue à Grant Park, du 12 au 20 août 1911. Mestach semble porter une paire de chambres à air d’automobile, anticipant peut-être être jeté du cockpit au-dessus du lac Michigan. C’est lors de cet événement que Mestach avait rencontré Lee Hammond et Thomas Baldwin. Photo : Chicago History Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/af87f0b0-991c-4ba7-b8ae-9b39c7f81998/Slattery20.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out John Wilmer (alias Jean Wilmer), pilote et propriétaire du Morane-Borel qui était en conflit avec le « Red Devil » de Baldwin et Hammond. En plus de l’aviation, son passe-temps favori était le détournement de fonds. Cette photo provient des archives du comté de Westchester qui ont documenté les condamnations pénales. « John Wilmer (Martine) a été reconnu coupable de grand larcin au premier degré par la Cour de comté de Westchester. Il a été accusé d’avoir volé à Belle Schreyer, une riche veuve, des diamants et des bijoux d’une valeur de 1500 $ le 16 octobre 1912. Wilmer n’avait pas de dossier judiciaire à l’époque, mais avait été accusé de vol par son ancien employeur, la mercerie W.A. McLaughlin Fine Shirt Maker de la Cinquième Avenue, New York, où il était un vendeur en 1906. Parce qu’à l’époque, il était populaire auprès de la riche société de New York et qu’il aurait été fiancé à la fille d’une ancienne sénatrice américaine, Ruth Mason de l’Illinois, il a reçu une libération conditionnelle. Son employeur suivant l’a également accusé de détournement de fonds, mais aucune accusation formelle n’a jamais été portée. Wilmer était bien connu dans la société new-yorkaise, un interprète de scène de multiples talents, dont celui d’acteur, de vaudevillien et de contorsionniste. Une lettre de 1913 de l’avocat, Matthew Stern, engagé pour aider l’appel de Wilmer, l’a décrit comme « environ 32 ans, marié avec 3 enfants, diplômé de l’Université de Virginie, parlait trois ou quatre langues, est un aviateur agréé et un homme d’une certaine capacité histrionique ». Les lettres de Wilmer confirment l’évaluation de Stern d’un penchant pour le dramatique, les images de lui dans cette collection confirment ses capacités en tant qu’aviateur, mais sa maîtrise des langues, de l’éducation et du nombre d’enfants n’ont pas pu être vérifiées. Le crime de Wilmer a tous les attributs d’une pièce de théâtre du début du 20ème siècle. La distribution des personnages comprend : Belle Schreyer, la riche veuve de Westchester à la fin de la cinquantaine qui a apprécié la compagnie de jeunes hommes et Robert Miller, le jeune homme naïf qui connaissait Schreyer et pris sous l’emprise de Wilmer et convaincu d’être partie prenante au vol. Le crime impliquait une planification préméditée, une coordination avec les horaires de tramway et de trains, des établissements d’élite à Westchester, y compris le Park Hotel à Larchmont et le Robin Hood Inn à New Rochelle. Il y a eu aussi un déguisement (une moustache portée par Wilmer alors qu’il traquait la veuve), du chloroforme pour droguer Schreyer et une foule de complices qui ont fourni de faux alibis de Wilmer. Ce dernier a purgé une peine légère pour son crime après que Miller a témoigné contre lui et a été libéré en 1915 après avoir souffert de complications de santé en prison. Source : https ://collections.westchestergov.com/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b78b7130-dc9f-4de4-aeee-3e1e33b79f89/Slattery21.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le monoplan Morane-Borel amené à Ottawa dans le but de démontrer les merveilles du vol était le même avion utilisé par l’aviateur de longue distance français de renommée mondiale Jules Védrines (ci-dessus). A bord de cet avion, il a remporté le prix Daily Mail de 50 000,00 $ durant cet été. Il a aussi gagné la course Paris-Madrid en mai où « les femmes l’ont accueilli de baisers et des roses ». Dans le même avion, il a également remporté un prix de 100 000 $ en juin pour une course Paris-Madrid-Turin. Les Ottaviens avaient lu sur ses exploits tout l’été et maintenant son avion était à Ottawa, mais avec son nouveau propriétaire, John Wilmer. Photo : Ville de Vincennes, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df9b5bc3-4c8d-4c54-8c4b-bfacb487a4ae/Screen+Shot+2023-03-23+at+7.45.13+AM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le même avion que Georges Mestach et son entourage ont apporté à Ottawa il y a 110 ans fait maintenant partie de la collection de calibre mondial du Musée de l’aviation et de l’espace du Canada, à quelques kilomètres de « Slattery’s Field ». Selon le site Web de l’MAEC, « Ce Borel-Morane [le musée a choisi d’inverser l’ordre du nom du type tel qu’il apparaît de cette façon dans leurs dossiers de provenance- Ed] est le seul avion survivant de ce type dans le monde et le plus ancien avion survivant à avoir volé au Canada. Il a été importé aux États-Unis de France en 1912 par Georges Mestach, un pilote belge, et Ernest Mathis, directeur et mécanicien de Mestach. Mestach et Mathis ont volé l’avion à travers l’Amérique du Nord, avec des arrêts qui comprenaient Québec, Sherbrooke et Winnipeg. L’avion s’est écrasé à plusieurs reprises, une fois à Winnipeg, où les vents violents des Prairies se sont avérés trop forts pour le Borel-Morane. Un autre accident s’est produit lors d’une rencontre aérienne à Chicago et a causé le premier décès par collision en vol en Amérique du Nord. Earl S. Daugherty, un pilote américain, a ensuite acquis et piloté l’avion et il est resté en possession de sa famille jusqu’à ce que le Musée l’achète en 2002. Photo : R L Kitterman à Deviant Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c125e4df-0688-49d2-9364-b865f77f30aa/Site2.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Bien que les terres entre la rivière Rideau et le canal Rideau aient été entièrement aménagées pendant de nombreuses décennies, il s’agissait, en 1911, principalement de pâturages et de champs cultivés. Slattery possédait plusieurs lots de grande taille dans le secteur où Riverdale rencontre la rue Main aujourd’hui. La zone marquée en jaune sur la photo est reconnue par les chercheurs d’Ottawa-Est comme un pré d’élevage de moutons et de bovins ainsi qu’un aérodrome connu sous le nom de « Slattery’s Field ». Cette photo aérienne des années 1930 regardant vers le nord montre l’emplacement de « Slattery’s Field ». À l’extrême gauche, nous pouvons faire ressortir la piste de courses de chevaux devant la tribune du parc Lansdowne où des citoyens d’Ottawa curieux et excités se sont réunis lors de l’exposition du Canada central de 1911 pour voir Lee Hammond piloter l’avion « Red Devil » de Baldwin. « Slattery’s Field » n’aurait pas été plus d’un vol de 20 secondes du parc Lansdowne, même pour un engin lent comme le « Red Devil ». Images via http ://history.ottawaeast.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b356d806-1564-42fe-b155-a400b399fbea/SiteofField.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out L’emplacement de Slattery’s Field aujourd’hui. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16ca523f-3a49-4c69-90c0-ab90e022d624/Salletry50.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Slattery’s Field en 1911 y compris le bétail, ressemblait à cette photo datant de 1898 soit 13 ans avant le vol de Hammond. Photo : Bibliothèque et Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/459b7931-69ce-4794-9992-aed67116762e/IMG_7287.jpg The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Une plaque commémorative montée sur le mur extérieur de la sous-station d’Hydro à l’angle sud-ouest de l’avenue Riverdale et de la rue Main est le seul indice de l’endroit où les premiers avions sont apparus à Ottawa. Bien qu’il soit situé pour être accessible au plus grand nombre de personnes, c’est aussi un emplacement trompeur pour la plaque. Bien que la maison de ferme de Slattery se trouvait directement en face de l’endroit où se trouve aujourd’hui la plaque, sa section de terrain, celle maintenant connue sous le nom de « Slattery’s Field », se trouvait plus au nord de l’avenue Riverdale. Photo : Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e9ef7a7-6967-4fcd-9b91-261791af4818/Slattery6.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out La maison de Slattery sur l’avenue Riverdale était encore là jusque dans les années 1990, mais a été détruite par un incendie en 1993. Photo : OldOttawaSouth.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32492f49-7e3b-4cff-adb0-b70e0272f28a/Slattery15.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Les deux pionniers de l’aviation qui ont amené l’avion « Red Devil » pour faire un spectacle aérien à Ottawa devant la foule au parc Lansdowne étaient Thomas Scott Baldwin (à gauche), concepteur et constructeur de la série d’avions Red Devil et le pilote récemment formé Edward Lee Hammond. Baldwin était un pionnier aéronaute, inventeur de l’aéronautique et major de l’armée américaine pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Il a été le premier Américain à sauter d’un ballon en parachute. Il était titulaire de trois certificats de pilote : le certificat de pilote de ballon no 1, le certificat de pilote de dirigeable no 9 et le certificat de pilote d’avion no 7, tous délivrés par l’Aero Club of America. Hammond avait fait son premier vol en solo seulement trois mois avant ses performances à Ottawa. Photos : Smithsonian Institution https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28bd1aad-8a79-45b2-b46c-abbd47a56ed6/Slattery52.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Thomas Scott Baldwin était plus qu’un simple aéronaute à la fin du 19e et début du 20e siècle. Il était un expérimentateur, inventeur et n’hésitait pas à prendre de risques lorsqu’Il développait le concept du ballon dirigeable propulsé et dirigé. Contrairement à beaucoup des premiers aérostiers, il ne s’appelait pas lui-même « Professeur », bien qu’il se soit plus que qualifié pour le titre. Ici, nous voyons l’un de ses pilotes (probablement Lincoln Beachy) au tournant du siècle grimpant le long de la structure centrale suspendue sous le sac à gaz de son dirigeable California Arrow. Le changement de poids était son seul contrôle de tangage. À l’extrémité gauche de la structure centrale se trouve l’hélice qui tourne lentement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21d9ee28-c843-48af-ba26-34404f06a44c/Screen+Shot+2023-03-20+at+8.03.06+AM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Thomas Scott Baldwin (à droite) était pilote lors de l’essai du dirigeable n ° 1 de l’Army Signal Corps à Fort Myers, en Floride, en 1908, Glenn Hammond Curtiss (à gauche) gérait le moteur à quatre cylindres refroidis par eau. Avec ce moteur, le dirigeable était capable de vitesses allant jusqu’à 20 milles à l’heure. Curtiss et Baldwin ont collaboré à de nombreux projets tout au long de leur carrière. Photo : Société historique de Quincy et comté d’Adams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9eaf9315-9a5f-415c-b237-3dc881328db8/Screen+Shot+2023-02-24+at+5.31.27+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out En 1911, les « aéronautes » étaient largement considérés comme des casse-cous de type Evil-Knievel, regroupés avec des artistes de cirque et des actes de vaudeville. Les vols à venir de Lee Hammond lors du spectacle devant la tribune étaient pour « réchauffer » la foule avant les spectacles de variétés populaires. Ottawa avait attendu longtemps pour assister à l’émerveillement du vol aérien. Image : Ottawa Journal, 1911 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e4454fd-4a77-4607-853d-e928f82ed9cf/Screen+Shot+2023-03-18+at+1.54.21+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Au moment que les baigneurs de Brighton Beach sont à l’eau, les bateaux de sauvetage se dirigent vers l’écrasement de Sopwith et Hammond à bord du biplan Howard Wright 1910, la veille du départ de Hammond pour Ottawa. Image via New York Tribune https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6b963cec-3a19-4d96-8a84-72a7e1598694/Slattery38.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Les dangers de voler des machines comme le « Red Devil » et la persistance de pionniers de l’aviation comme Baldwin et Hammond, ont fait qu’un autre pilote et protégé de Baldwin du nom de William R. Badger (ci-dessus) a été tué alors qu’il pilotait un « Red Devil » identique seulement quatre semaines avant l’arrivée de Baldwin à Ottawa. Apparemment, l’une des pales de l’hélice s’était rompue en vol et Badger s’est écrasé lors d’une rencontre aérienne internationale à Chicago. Hammond lui-même s’est écrasé dans le lac Michigan la veille lors du même événement et J. A. D. McCurdy s’est écrasé après avoir heurté des fils électriques. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b78476ed-a78b-4b9a-a523-f61673da67a1/Screen+Shot+2023-02-11+at+6.10.47+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Tom Baldwin (à gauche) et l’aviateur Lee Hammond avec le « Red Devil » dans un autre site. Le site Web du Smithsonian Air and Space Museum déclare : Après s’être fait une réputation avec des engins plus légers que l’air, Thomas Scott Baldwin s’est tourné vers des machines volantes plus lourdes que l’air en 1909. En 1911, il avait construit plusieurs avions et avait acquis une vaste expérience en tant que pilote de démonstration. Il commença à tester un nouvel avion au printemps de 1911. Il était similaire à la conception de base de l’avion à hélice propulsive Curtiss, très populaire auprès des constructeurs à cette époque. C’était un engin innovateur qui avait des composants structuraux en tube d’acier. Il était propulsé par un V-8 Hall-Scott de 60 chevaux. Baldwin a appelé sa nouvelle machine le « Red Devil III », et par la suite chacun de ses avions serait connu comme un « Baldwin Red Devil ». Baldwin construisit environ six « Red Devils ». La plupart étaient propulsés par le Hall-Scott, mais on a utilisé occasionnellement les moteurs Curtiss. À la mi-1911, Baldwin formait des pilotes, prenait des passagers et s’envolait régulièrement avec des avions « Red Devil » lors de rencontres aériennes. Il annonça la vente de « Red Devils » en 1913. À l’aide d’un « Baldwin Red Devil », Hammond a effectué le tout premier vol aux Philippines quelques mois après sa démonstration au parc Lansdowne. Photo : Collection de Shellie Brodie Nelson, via filipiknow.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219b9a3c-b774-43ae-9ee0-56aad65b71d4/Screen+Shot+2023-02-09+at+4.35.11+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out L’avion « Red Devil » piloté par Lee Hammond, prend son envol près de la rivière Rideau le lundi 11 septembre 1911 à partir du « Slattery’s Field ». La légende qui accompagne cette image indique qu’il s’agissait du « début du premier vol d’avion jamais effectué à Ottawa ». Photo : Ottawa Citizen, le 12 septembre 1911 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0dab91fc-1cbe-45de-ba39-acc500b05d3e/Slattery18.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Cette photo est de Baldwin volant son « Red Devil » ailleurs qu’Ottawa. Cela aurait toutefois été la scène que les spectateurs auraient vu à l’est de la tribune ... une scène étrange et presque incroyable d’un homme assis dans un avion s’élevant au-dessus des arbres sur les hauteurs de la promenade Echo le long du canal Rideau près de la rue Bank. — Image via commons.Wikimedia.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e3d82b1-9e86-40a4-9f20-816046afc405/Screen+Shot+2023-02-09+at+4.26.30+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le pilote Lee Hammond (à gauche) et le capitaine Tom Baldwin posent avec l’avion « Red Devil » dans le « Slattery’s Field » à Ottawa-Est. Photo prise avant le deuxième vol de démonstration de Hammond au-dessus du terrain de l’exposition Central Canada au parc Lansdowne le 11 septembre. Photo : C. J. Wallis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5976baec-c240-4aac-b6d7-09e323ccb4b8/Lansdowne.jpg The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le Parc Lansdowne. Bien que cette photo ait été prise 15 ans après le premier vol. La scène ci-dessous aurait ressemblé un peu à ceci pour Lee Hammond. « Slattery’s Field » se trouve à environ 50 mètres à gauche de la photo. La tribune où les citoyens d’Ottawa et de la région attendaient avec impatience l’apparition de Hammond est la longue structure blanche à fenêtres multiples au centre-droit de la photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a263fbfd-6432-4586-ad3d-6e3c191b8e37/Grandstand.jpg The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out L’estrade du parc Lansdowne datant de l’ère victorienne. Hammond l’a survolé avec son « Red Devil » au cours des jours suivants. Quand j’étais jeune garçon, je vendais du maïs soufflé et des boissons gazeuses à la même exposition et aux mêmes foules de football au début des années 1960. Le bâtiment a été démoli et remplacé par une installation plus grande avec une patinoire intérieure pour le hockey en 1967. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/452bcb4c-8808-44f3-9ab4-452e47cd824d/SlatteryField.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbfb1720-8c0f-426c-bedb-9eb0ece47f72/Slattery14.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Citizens of Ottawa, old and young, assist Hammond and Baldwin to position the Red Devil aircraft for a take off at Slattery’s Field. Photo: Ottawa Journal, Jun 27, 1967 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32a3fdd7-7e3e-4102-ac1f-ce6d72c6bbf3/Slattery3.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Le « Red Devil » de Baldwin au « Slattery’s Field » en 1911 au milieu d’une foule de spectateurs curieux. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92ef1461-2102-4c1d-9193-65c6da668fd6/Slattery4.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Des centaines de spectateurs curieux se rassemblent à « Slattery’s Field » le long du canal Rideau pour voir la machine et la technologie qui allaient bientôt transformer le monde. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f217f98-5ab1-47e5-8f59-996a57a9c2e6/Slattery5.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out On aperçoit les grandes surfaces de contrôle du « Red Devil » avec sa construction en tube d’acier. La photographie en noir et blanc de l’époque ne peut pas nous montrer la scène colorée de ce jour-là. Ciel bleu et herbe verte avec les ailes du « Red Devil » en jaune vif et sa construction en tube d’acier peint en rouge vif. Il semble que l’hélice propulsive à l’arrière du moteur tourne, mais il ne semble pas qu’il y ait quelqu’un dans le siège du pilote à droite. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8464803-7424-4d9d-90f8-eefc0bbcb8f7/Screen+Shot+2023-03-18+at+12.19.49+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Hammond, jouant lui-même dans The Aviator and the Autoist Race for a Bride, prend la charmante Bertha Monroe par la main et pointe vers le ciel où il l’amènera. L’actrice qui jouait Bertha n’était pas une femme fatale - elle était Blanche (Betty) Scott qui était en fait la deuxième femme pilote américaine et avait plus d’expérience de vol que Hammond et plus d’expérience de conduite que William Crane qui jouait l’« autoiste ». Elle avait traversé les États-Unis en voiture dans les deux sens - la première femme à le faire de l’ouest à l’est. Scott est devenue la première femme américaine à voler dans un jet alors qu’elle était la passagère d’un TF-80C piloté par Chuck Yeager. Connaissant l’histoire de Scott en tant que pilote cascadeur, Yeager lui a fait des vrilles et une descente de 14 000 pieds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/137723cc-bee7-426a-b9e1-cbe969cb535a/Screen+Shot+2023-02-11+at+6.17.57+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out Quatre mois après leur visite à l’Exposition centrale d’Ottawa en 1911, Baldwin et Hammond étaient aux Philippines pour démontrer le même avion. Ils ont effectué le premier vol dans cet archipel un an auparavant. À la fin de 1911, ils ont convaincu un chef tribal Igorot local du nom de Gagaban (ci-dessus) de voler en tant que passager, faisant de lui le premier Philippin à voler. Photo : filipknow.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79839a37-ce47-400d-940c-3da103c3601b/Slattery24.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa — Èpisode 2 - Make it stand out À gauche: Un diagramme illustrant à quoi ressembleraient les sauts de Sewell et de Levan. En haut à droite : Edmund Rayne Hutchison, alias le professeur E. R. Hutchison, artiste de cirque, aérostier et pionnier du parachutisme. En bas à droite: Howard Levan, alias Howard Le Van, aérostier, parachutiste et aviateur pionnier qui a commencé sa carrière à l’âge de 17 ans. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/premiers-vols-a-ottawa monthly 0.5 2026-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f66b917-6405-4347-8203-332706454bf1/Episode-OneFrenchtitle.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d9a9b7a-d210-4caa-a34f-fa3ec4abf980/Screen+Shot+2023-02-23+at+12.39.30+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Selon le Musée Bytown, cette estampe est basée sur la lithographie originale d’Edwin Whitefield, « Ottawa City, Canada West » de 1855. Le ballon de Lowe ayant été ajouté par Charles Magnus & Co, de New York, pour commémorer l’ascension. Au premier plan se trouve Major’s Hill, d’où Lowe a décollé. À droite, on aperçoit les écluses du canal Rideau et, juste en dessous, le toit de l’économat de l’armée britannique, qui abrite aujourd’hui le Musée Bytown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0c71162-ade3-427d-b574-0c9309315eee/Salttery36.jpg The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out LÀ gauche : le « professeur » Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe, alias Monsieur Carlincourt, le grand magicien européen. À droite : Si Lowe était très mal outillé lors de sa première aventure commerciale dans la capitale canadienne en 1958, trois ans plus tard, au début de la guerre civile américaine, il était beaucoup mieux équipé à Washington - wagons à gaz, grands tuyaux, wagons de soutien et soldats américains réquisitionnés. Notez que le Capitole est toujours en construction 68 ans après la pose de la première pierre. La construction a été interrompue pendant la guerre civile. Photos via la Gazette Galactique https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cfa2b13c-5bd2-427a-9f17-501996462e33/Lowe.jpg The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Si vous vous êtes déjà demandé si ces « professeurs » arnaqueurs ont connu du succès à la suite de leurs voyages et des risques encourus, voici la maison de Thaddeus Lowe à Pasedena, en Californie, doté de son propre observatoire. Photo : Pasedena Digital History sur Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a79afef6-bcc1-45ed-b3bb-30500d4f01cd/Prof-Grimley%27s-balloon-%282%29.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Le professeur Charles H. Grimley et son ballon, City of Ottawa. Sous son portrait on peut lire : « PROFESSEUR AUDACIEUX : Charles H. Grimley était un « professeur » de l'art d’aérostier. Il a failli être gelé, noyé, asphyxié et battu à mort. Mais pour autant il continue à exercer sa profession avec son enthousiasme intact. Homme fascinant, les dames n'hésitent pas à l'accompagner dans sa montgolfière, à condition qu’elle soit rattachée à la terre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e9810e7-51e8-4d5f-8153-ac80e3aef796/Screen+Shot+2023-02-22+at+5.14.17+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Le reportage de l'ascension de Grimley depuis le parc Lansdowne, en compagnie du journaliste du Citizen Gibbens, couvre toute la une du journal du lendemain Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22bd17e6-93a0-4bf2-a396-0022460b6dd2/Slattery35.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Quelques années plus tard, dans cette scène tirée d'une carte stéréoscopique, Grimley gonfle un ballon similaire à Montpelier dans le Vermont Image via The Barre Montpelier Time Argus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f8a62be-7bad-4e8b-9c93-50de764d1686/Carlotta_Myers_1903.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Miss Carlotta, connu par son nom de scène : « The Lady Aeronaut » (ou dame aérostier à gauche). Son nom original était Mary Myers, née Mary Breed Hawley à Boston (Massachusetts). Avec son mari, elle a créé une entreprise prospère de fabrication et de vente de ballons à hydrogène dans leur ferme de cinq acres (à droite) à Frankfort, dans l'État de New York, connue alors sous le nom de « Balloon Farm » (ferme des ballons). Son mari, contrairement à la plupart des « professeurs » de ballon, était un scientifique et ingénieur aéronautique breveté. Ils ont tous deux déposé de nombreux brevets pour la montgolfière et ont contribué à perfectionner cette science. Images Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bab998a-01cb-402c-a6ad-b3bfaf53a481/Screen+Shot+2023-02-21+at+4.16.25+PM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out D'après ce dessin paru dans l'Ottawa Journal le 22 septembre 1904, il semble que Hutchison et sa femme soient suspendus à un parachute déployé, mais non gonflé, attaché au ballon, d'où ils s'envolent. Remarquer la fumée du feu de bois utilisé qui alimente le ballon en air chaud. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b7d8690-0153-46fd-bc34-96585cecf3cb/Slattery22.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out 'inventeur Lohner (en médaillon) né à Munich, en Bavière, affirme avoir passé toute sa vie à tenter de résoudre les mystères du vol aérien et avoir reçu de nombreuses médailles de l'Aéroclub d'Allemagne. Il a également affirmé avoir déjà construit un engin volant en Allemagne. Malgré les récompenses et la célébrité qu'il prétendait avoir, il n'était pas allemand, mais suisse, et vivait dans l'un des établissements les plus modestes d'Ottawa, le New Arlington Hotel, [T. A. Brown proprietor], où l'on pouvait diner gratuitement toute la journée. Il semble que le dîner gratuit soit ce que Lohner recherchait le plus. Photo via apt613.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd9f1e9c-705b-4c08-acd7-a7410cd0d3b7/Slattery23.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out En septembre 1909, alors qu'il assiste à l'Exposition du Canada central, Lohner est témoin d'une série d'événements tragiques au parc Lansdowne. L'un des événements en vedette à l'Exposition de 1909 est la démonstration de Tony Nassr, le Syrien audacieux, originaire de Toledo (Ohio), qui s'envole à bord de son ballon dirigeable propulsé. Ce matin-là, le 16 septembre, un homme qui assistait Nassr fut électrocuté et deux autres gravement brûlés lorsque son dirigeable entra en contact avec des fils électriques. Il poursuit son « ascension » et tout semble en ordre pour un nouveau vol en soirée. Vers 17 heures, il s'élève dans les airs et tout semble à nouveau bien se passer, mais peu de temps après, son moteur s'arrête et il dérive vers le sud-est, perdant son gaz en route. L’appareil s'est écrasé dans un pré près de la ferme de Slattery à Ottawa Sud. Nassr réussit à mettre en marche le moteur, mais l'hélice est endommagée lorsqu'elle se bloque dans le cordage et l'ascension doit être abandonnée. Il recrute plusieurs hommes pour l'aider à transporter l’engin le long de la rue Bank et du canal pour pénétrer le parc Lansdowne par la porte sud. Malheureusement, le sac à gaz s'emmêle à nouveau dans les fils électriques au-dessus de l’entrée. Le sac à gaz recouvert de soie caoutchoutée prend feu et Nassr, craignant une répétition des événements fatals du matin, crie à ses assistants de lâcher les câbles. L'hydrogène en combustion provoque une ascension rapide de ce dirigeable sans équipage et maintenant en flammes. À une altitude élevée, la poche de gaz finit par exploser et l'ensemble de l'appareil est tombé en flammes sur les maisons de l'avenue Aylmer, Ottawa Sud, où des habitants attentifs ont éteint les flammes. Lohner a déclaré à l'Ottawa Journal : « C'est simplement un exemple du fait que le ballon dirigeable ne sera jamais d'aucune utilité pour le commerce ou la guerre. Il est trop encombrant et trop délicat ». Il n'a exprimé aucune sympathie pour l'homme qui a été tué ou pour ceux qui ont été brûlés. Nassr survécut à ces événements éprouvants et devint inspecteur des ballons pour Goodyear en 1919 et directeur de l'aéroport de Toledo en 1927. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b8c8adb-2669-4894-adec-e49ccc295d2f/Lohner.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Quelques associés et assistants de Lohner tirent l'énorme embarcation disgracieuse sur la neige à côté de l'hippodrome de Lansdowne Park sur ses patins de traineau. L'Ottawa Journal décrit l’appareil comme : « ...le premier engin aérien construit à Ottawa. La partie avant, d'où dépasse un manche, s'appelle le contrôleur et sert à le faire monter et descendre lorsqu'il est en l'air. Il y a deux grandes surfaces triangulaires en toile, placées horizontalement, celle de l'avant étant plus haute que celle dernière. La machine mesure 18m de long et 6m de large, et entre 3 et 5m de haut. On peut voir les trois patins en acier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f4f967f-9a53-4eea-9b43-c62c7f6db560/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+10.56.12+AM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out H. Code en utilisant un manivelle, démarre sa voiture pour ensuite remorquer le Lohner n ° 1 sur la piste de course à Lansdowne Park. On note les conditions hivernales. Photo via Kees Kort, Pays-Bas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13734d2f-72d6-48f9-adbd-54c02cbde173/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+10.56.23+AM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Les investisseurs et les aides ont du mal à garder le Lohner n ° 1 debout alors que le vent jette l’engin sur son côté gauche tout en étant remorqué. On se demande pourquoi Lohner a pensé qu’il était sage de tenter de tester son engin en forme de voile dans de telles conditions hivernales. Photo via Kees Kort, Pays-Bas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef9c1bfd-9725-419d-bcf0-78aa4b42157d/Lohnermodel.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Un modèle du Lohner No.1 nous montre à quel point la conception était instable, fragile et mal conçue. Néanmoins, il s’agit d’une partie importante de l’histoire de l’aviation d’Ottawa. Photo via Kees Kort, Pays-Bas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/02d4c75a-e552-4880-ac6b-1da55f6389cc/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+11.27.42+AM.png The Stories - Premiers vols à Ottawa - Make it stand out Lorsque George Lohner a dévoilé son Lohner No.2, il était évident qu’il était très différent de sa première tentative, étant plus large dans ses surfaces de vol et son train d’atterrissage. Il s’était transformé d’un avion en papier géant en un cerf-volant à roues géantes. La légende accompagnant cette image dans l’Ottawa Citizen du 21 juillet se lit comme suit : « Vue de face de la grosse machine qui a réussi avec succès son premier envole ce matin » Clairement s’envoler était une exagération. Image : Newspapers.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-flights-of-ottawa-three monthly 0.5 2023-05-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74699a74-e245-44b4-992f-cdfc1c8006b1/Episode3.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eb40ba4b-6336-4e95-8b34-fed9940f0bba/Peoli6.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Plans for Peoli’s twin propeller pusher “Peoli Racer” can be found on the internet today — one of the most enduring and popular designs in the history of the sport/hobby. According to The Second Boys' Book of Model Aeroplanes (1911), his rubber band-powered racer held the American record for time aloft at sixty-five seconds. He also claimed a distance record of 1,691 feet 6 inches. The book also stated that Peoli’s design “shows an intelligent appreciation of the principles involved”. Photos: The Second Boys' Book of Model Aeroplanes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c5a7208-18f2-4b38-8089-04e065294e91/Screen+Shot+2023-03-22+at+8.02.41+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A fine portrait of the “Boy Aviator” Cecil Peoli with a Baldwin Red Devil aircraft. During his tour of South America six months after Ottawa, he earned the sobriquet “el Niño Aviador” — The Boy Aviator. Note the transparency of the radiator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c664d30-3c31-4aae-bab8-225e28fec430/Peoli5.jpg The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Peoli’s mother Cassandra accompanied him to Ottawa and would witness him electrifying the crowds at the Exhibition Grounds and over the city. It shows just how young Peoli was when you see the youth of his mother. National Air and Space Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5608ed9f-9229-448a-b686-9adfe6222741/Cecil.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out When Cecil Peoli flew from Lansdowne Park in 1913 and then circled the Parliament Buildings three times, he was just 19 years old. Though young, he demonstrated the Baldwin Red Devil aircraft from Kitchener to Caracas, from Saint John, New Brunswick to Indiana. Photo: National Air and Space Museum Archives, Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c125e4df-0688-49d2-9364-b865f77f30aa/Site2.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The area marked in yellow is recognized by Ottawa East researchers as the sheep and cattle meadow come airfield known as Slattery’s Field. Images via http://history.ottawaeast.ca/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93a1bac2-0fea-401b-aa6a-9e2182673eef/Slattery53.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Though this is a composite image of the Parliament Buildings as they were and an image of Peoli flying the Red Devil, it gives one a feel of what it would have looked like for a guest at the Chateau Laurier looking out from his window in 1913 to see the Boy Aviator circle Parliament Hill three times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1073b17b-fd46-4dc3-9935-7fec3aad8fb2/51856573151_efb32b878a_o.jpg The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A “headless” Baldwin Red Devil biplane similar to the one Cecil Peoli flew over Ottawa in September of 1913. It differs from the Red Devil flown by Lee Hammond two years earlier in that the pitch controlling horizontal stabilizer is at the rear of the fuselage as most aircraft are configured today. Hammond’s earlier Red Devil had a large pitch control surface ahead of the pilot seat. Photo: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1b41ac4c-b75e-41dd-9c2e-5d1811c4214c/Cecil2.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The youth of Cecil Peoli, “the darling of the airways”, can be seen in this photo of him with the fatherly Captain Tom Baldwin (arms folded) taken just three weeks after his appearances in Ottawa. Photo: the Bain collection at the Library of Congress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/477ebdf8-5b42-47b3-8943-22a52766ab62/Peolii3.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Two years after his Ottawa flights, at the age of 21, he was killed instantly in a crash of an aircraft of his own design (above) at College Park Airport north of Washington D.C.. The company he created with the backing of some prominent New York business men was shortly dissolved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9314434-01c2-4374-ac81-c89d4dd8b79a/Screen+Shot+2023-02-12+at+3.33.03+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The Montreal Daily ran half-page ads in both Ottawa’s broadsheet dailies — the Journal and the Citizen. While the papers accepted the Daily Mail’s advertising spend, they were less inclined to celebrate their competitor’s success. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1692faa-7036-405a-92cd-116451432037/Slattery7.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Iowan William Cornelius “Billy” Robinson, “Bird Man of the Prairie”, was one of a number of larger-than-life aviation pioneers, now forgotten, who travelled North America as quasi-circus performers demonstrating manned flight to enthusiastic spectators from Ottawa, Ontario to Ottawa, Kansas. Right: Always the promoter of aviation’s utility — in the Dec. 28, 1915 issue of the Grinnell Herald, we see Billy Robinson delivering a 2 lb. sample of Sam Nelson Jr. Company’s Amber Rice popcorn to Eugene Handy, the “Popcorn King” of Iowa City. Robinson flew the 65-mile distance in 46 minutes. Fedex was still 45 years in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f37ff678-86b8-4565-b3cb-381ee359fd86/Slattery28.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out William C. Robinson in the Lillie-Vought biplane (also sometimes referred to as a Lillie Tractor) which he used for his historic flight from Montreal to Ottawa to deliver a bundle of Montreal Daily Mail newspapers to the nation’s capital. He made the 116-mile flight in two hours and 55 minutes, establishing the first long-distance flight in Canada. This crude aircraft was the first airplane design by Chance Milton Vought, whose namesake company would eventually design the Corsair fighter of the Second World War and the magnificent F-8 Crusader jet fighter. This particular biplane does not have the covered fuselage of the example that Robinson brought to Ottawa, so may be another and the MAGNIFICENT Photo via avialogs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d94f696-91ee-481d-a1f2-5ace96d09d02/Slattery42.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson’s Lillie-Vought aircraft at Snowdon Junction on October 8, 1913 with Mayor Lavallée of Montreal (second from right) and executives from The Montreal Daily Mail waiting for Robinson to depart. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d41b31c3-276a-46ba-94c7-a9ebfaa486e6/Slattery9.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out According to the Grinnell Public Library Archives, this photo depicts Robinson at Montreal with school children and the Lillie-Vought biplane he flew from Montreal to Ottawa. It’s possible that some of these kids are the children of the Daily Mail executives and other dignitaries there that day as they are well dressed and quite different from the local farm kids. Here we get a good look at the 50 hp French Gnome engine that powered the aircraft. According to the Harold E, Moorehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, Robinson “started flying [October 1] the Lillie tractor with a 50 h.p. Gnome engine at Cicero [Chicago], then took it to Canada for some exhibition and cross-country flights there.” Photo via University of Iowa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/796ca2af-015f-4b08-80a5-db35b0179f73/Screen+Shot+2023-02-12+at+4.48.54+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out In Montreal, the mist has cleared and Robinson is stowing newspapers from B. A. McNabb the editor of the Montreal Daily Mail. Though The Daily Mail made an attempt to get noticed with its flying publicity stunt, the newspaper would be defunct in lest than four years. Photo: PA-165980, National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a1ee14d-47f6-47a6-aafc-9e281e4cbdf7/Slattery44.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Montreal Mayor Louis-Arsène Lavallée offers up some words of political wisdom at Snowdon Junction as he bids Robinson a safe flight. At first I thought his homburg was blowing away in the wind, but other photos from the same time show that it was resting on the wing and a wire. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7477afb-487f-498c-867b-0c660011ae64/Slattery45.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson on take-off at Snowdon Junction. Final destination: Ottawa — Montreal Daily Mail Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/560898a9-c0db-4876-8fe4-67859b950fe3/Slattery32.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson, engine gunning, exhaust smoking, is set to take off from Lachine, Quebec after fixing his broken fuel line. Photo via Drake University Digital Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/161df85b-e895-4a2d-8c39-c1f6863211c0/Slattery43.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson lifting off on his way to Ottawa, likely at Lachine. Photo via Grinnell Public Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7c5e060-2c9d-41cb-a302-cf408ee6062f/Screen+Shot+2023-03-28+at+8.53.05+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Caledonia Springs, “The Old Canadian Sanitarium and Summer Resort” boasted a grand white and ginger-breaded CPR hotel with a three story wrap-around porch where visitors could relax in the shade while they took the waters that the spa was known for. One can imagine a castor oil stained Robinson in oilskins sitting on a rattan chair in the main portico while he downed a tall glass of their famed mineral waters. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5be3ca75-3169-44ea-b359-96a3e65bad56/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+8.17.54+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The front page of Volume 1, No. 2 of The Montreal Daily Mail touts the historic flight from the day before. Image via Avialogs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b59f9162-ec69-4d6f-83fd-3ee5a4ea0fc9/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+8.32.07+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Page 2 of the October 9th issue of The Montreal Daily Mail featured a map of the Robinson’s route with Montreal Mayor Lavallée at right and Ottawa mayor Ellis at left. It is clear that this map was created well before the actual flight as it depicts a Bleriot monoplane when in actuality, Robinson flew a Lillie-Vought biplane. Below are photos of the recipients of the air-shipped newspapers — Former Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minister Robert Borden and Chief Justice Charles Fitzpatrick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/920e7c0b-ac97-404a-83de-303c4b8d0ea3/Slattery31.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A photo from Library and Archives Canada claimed to be taken during Robinson’s flight from Montreal to Ottawa — likely at the fuel stop at Caledonia Springs, in a farmer’s field between Vankleek Hill and Plantagenet, Ontario. Curious as to what the light is reflecting from in this photo — perhaps a hinged panel tilted up from the engine cowling to inspect oil level. Photo via oldottawasouth.ca, Peter Pigott and Library & Archives Canada/PA-165978 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd4fecca-8cde-481d-b1bc-d944459c062c/Slattery39.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A poor image from The Montreal Daily Mail, October 11, 1913 shows a group of boys and farmers inspecting the flying machine while Robinson is refuelled at Caledonia Springs. One can only imagine the excitement. Photo: Montreal Daily Mail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bf67a474-584b-4ea0-a76d-fb6c516317c6/Slattery29.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A photo of the Lillie-Viought biplane, possibly taken at Slattery’s Field, Ottawa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9253e28a-72a4-4403-be09-e6fb2595f5a6/IMG_7285.jpg The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out In addition to the site plaque on the hydro station building, there is one other reminded of those heady days when the future came to Ottawa — a suburban street, appropriately near the Ottawa Airport, was named after that humble meadow and the events that took place there over 110 years ago. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/15d0b508-4b84-419c-8377-e98c9596d968/Slattery10.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson at Grinnell Iowa with the GrinnelI IIA monoplane (also called the Grinnell-Robinson Scout) that he designed and built in 1915, powered by a 60 hp radial engine of his own design, the first airplane to be built in that state. Photo: Child of Grinnell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/637f9256-030c-44e9-990a-d0b7242295ef/Slattery41.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Designed in 1915, while the rest of the world was at war, the Grinnell-Robinson Scout, never got beyond the prototype stage> https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1e64af57-9c20-4319-ac8e-287297a44a76/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+12.24.20+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out A top view of the Grinnell-Robinson Scout which appears to have no ailerons. Photo was probably taken from the roof of the Grinnell Aeroplane Company building after completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c0023c4b-a7de-4021-bded-c8e184eedeb1/Screen+Shot+2023-02-22+at+11.35.16+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Robinson taxiing his Scout monoplane in the long grass near his Grinnell Aeroplane Company hangar/factory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/670aa3bf-2bdc-4574-9dc5-bc83f81289ed/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+5.41.04+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The Grinnell-Robinson biplane, Robinson’ second design. It must have been a relatively good performer as he took it to 17,000 feet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b1f2611-b549-41e2-9154-52369c21366f/Slattery8.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out The voyeuristic Iowan postcard depicting the body of Robinson after his crash. Historic Iowa Postcard Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Grinnell College Libraries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/09caf679-2304-4b16-884f-86fcfb1bc209/Slattery11.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Baby-faced Max Lillie (centre) is seen here (possibly learning to fly) in the company of another aviation pioneer, Bob Fowler (right), the first person to make an West-to-East transcontinental flight (In stages) which he started in September 1912 at San Francisco and completed 5 months later in February 1913. The man in the left is famed wrestler Frank Gotch. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/362f1532-8184-47ab-a961-405566ba5b58/Slattery12.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Billy Robinson (left) learning to fly in a Wright Flyer in 1912 with instructor Max Lillie, a Swedish entrepreneur and early pioneer. Lillie partnered with fellow pioneer Chance Vought to create the aircraft that Robinson would use to bring the Daily Mail newspapers to Ottawa. Just a few weeks before Robinson’s flight to Slattery’s Field, Max Lillie died in an airplane crash in Illinois. One of Max Lillie’s notable accomplishments was that he taught Katherine Stinson to fly. She was just the fourth female aviator in America, but one who captured the hearts of Americans. She was also the first person to fly air mail to Edmonton, Alberta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4f565f0-5a91-4616-8a26-020b9f7edd40/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+10.59.09+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out “Safe and Sane”! Max Lillie, the Swedish-American aviation pioneer used a photo of himself instructing Katherine Stinson in a Wright Flyer at Cicero Field in Chicago in this 1912 advertisement in Aerial Age, a very early aviation trade magazine. Image via Chicagology.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01e6c918-69ee-4da1-a7f8-1b8e305b7c8f/Slattery13.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Katherine Stinson was one of the most popular “aviatrices” of the early years of aviation, known as The Flying Schoolgirl”. She was the first woman to fly a loop in America and was the first woman to fly in both China and Japan. Unlike her instructor Max Lillie, she had a longer flying career as a stunt and mail pilot which she retired early from due to health reasons. She lived a relatively long life, died in 1977 and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2019. A replica of the Curtiss-Stinson Special aircraft [not the aircraft in this photo] she flew on the first air mail flight in Alberta resides at Edmonton’s Alberta aviation Museum. For a wonderful video about Katherine Stinson, click here. Her success and fame in the air inspired her brother Eddie to create the legendary Stinson Aircraft Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f91fa3e5-754d-4ef1-88f5-063f52172d1f/Slattery17.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three - Make it stand out Slattery’s field welcomed Billy Robinson who was taught to fly by Max Lillie who taught Katherine Stinson who brought the first air mail to Edmonton, Alberta. In the early days of aviation, there was but a few degrees of separation between the characters who gave us a start. Photo via New Mexico History Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1680194435357-YII5CSK71QJ5GMRC8GZS/Episode1.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1680194435894-XSRDFHQ6BSW6PY4SOOMT/Episode2.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1680194436567-57EZJPAODEPN42LOZMYM/Episode3.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa - Episode Three https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-flights-of-ottawa-two monthly 0.5 2023-07-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9752322d-073f-4432-bcf4-7e604b1ef63b/Episode2.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/caa146a3-9b4f-4df0-821c-273404a7b468/AtwoodConneau.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out For several years, the citizens of Ottawa could only read about these audacious aerial performers in their daily broadsheets. The world outside was witnessing first hand the aerial feats of a growing cast of theatrical and swashbuckling pilots (some of whom took on stage names) who were fast becoming household names. The Ottawa newspapers of 1910-11 were replete with their exploits and tragedies. It was only a matter of time before one of these pioneering pilots took his craft up into the skies above Ottawa. Two of these early aviators covered in the local newspapers were: Left: Harry Atwood, an American engineer and inventor known for pioneering work in the early days of aviation, including setting long-distance flying records and flying the first delivery of air mail in New England. Right: André Beaumont, a pseudonym of Jean Louis Conneau (1880-1937), a French aviation pioneer, naval Lieutenant, and flying boat manufacturer. In 1911 he won three of the toughest aeronautical tests: the 'Paris-Rome' race, the first Circuit d'Europe, and the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Race. By 1911, Ottawa was impatiently waiting for one of the many new “aeronauts” to come to the city and demonstrate what they all had been reading about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ba7ac45-7c2f-4cf5-9602-9d7e3e9f4e66/Screen+Shot+2023-03-20+at+3.21.03+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Charles Foster Willard was originally scheduled to be the first man to fly in Ottawa, but was hit by lightning in Louisville, Kentucky the week before. Photo: City of Toronto Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/315e8753-43c7-4e0f-909d-f0688636f1cb/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+4.33.15+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Belgian aviation pioneer Georges Mestach at the controls of a Morane-Borel monoplane. Mestach, along with French aviator Romain Gressier and American John Wilmer (AKA Jean Wilmer, aircraft owner) were acting as a sort of troupe of aeronauts moving about North America and demonstrating the wonders of aviation at fairs and other municipal events. They also believed they had a contract in place to display at the annual Central Canada Exhibition in 1911 and brought their aeroplane to Ottawa by train to do just that. At Slattery’s Field, there was some discussion about who would have the honour and remuneration for flying the demonstrations at Lansdowne. In the end, Baldwin and Hammond won out. Here, the dashing Mestach can be seen sitting in his Morane in Grant Park, Chicago with a crowd of people in the background. This image was taken around the time of the International Aviation Meet held in Grant Park, August 12-20, 1911. Mestach appears to be wearing a pair of automobile inner tubes, perhaps anticipating being thrown from the cockpit over Lake Michigan. It was at this event that Mestach had met Lee Hammond and Thomas Baldwin. Photo: Chicago History Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/af87f0b0-991c-4ba7-b8ae-9b39c7f81998/Slattery20.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out John Wilmer (AKA Jean Wilmer), pilot and apparent owner of the Morane-Borel that conflicted with Baldwin and Hammond’s Red Devil. In addition to aviation, his favourite pastime was embezzlement. This photo comes from the archives of Westchester County which documented criminal convictions. John Wilmer (Martine) was convicted of grand larceny in the first degree in the County Court of Westchester. He was charged with having stolen from Belle Schreyer, a wealthy widow, diamonds and jewelry of the value of $1500 on October 16, 1912. Wilmer had no record at the time but had been charged with theft by his former employer, haberdasher W.A. McLaughlin Fine Shirt Maker of Fifth Avenue, New York City, where he was a salesman in 1906. Because at the time he was popular with wealthy New York society and rumored to have been engaged to the daughter of a former U.S. Senator, Ruth Mason of Illinois, he received parole. His subsequent employer also accused him of embezzlement however no formal charges were ever brought. Wilmer was well known in New York society, a stage performer of multiple talents, actor, vaudevillian and contortionist among them. A 1913 letter from attorney, Matthew Stern, enlisted for assistance in Wilmer's appeal, described him as "about 32 years old, married with 3 children, a graduate of the University of Virginia, spoke three or four languages, is a licensed aviator and a man of some histrionic ability". Letters from Wilmer confirm Stern's assessment of a penchant for the dramatic, images of him in this collection confirm his ability as an aviator, however his command of languages, education and number of children could not be verified. Wilmer's crime has all of the trappings of an early 20th century stage play. The cast of characters include: Belle Schreyer, the wealthy Westchester widow in her late fifties who enjoyed the company of younger men and Robert Miller, the naive young man who was acquainted with Schreyer and taken under the wing of Wilmer and convinced to be party to robbing her. The crime involved premeditated planning, coordination with trolley and train schedules, elite establishments in Westchester, including the Park Hotel in Larchmont and the Robin Hood Inn in New Rochelle, disguise (a moustache worn by Wilmer as he stalked the widow), chloroform for drugging Schreyer and a host of accomplices who provided false alibi's for Wilmer. Wilmer served a light sentence for his crime after Miller turned State's witness against him and was released in 1915 after suffering health complications in prison. Source: https://collections.westchestergov.com/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b78b7130-dc9f-4de4-aeee-3e1e33b79f89/Slattery21.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The Morane-Borel monoplane brought to Ottawa for the purposes of demonstrating the wonders of flight was the very same aircraft used by world-famous French long-distance aviator Jules Védrines (above) to win the $50,000.00 Daily Mail Prize that summer as well as the Paris to Madrid Race in May where “Women Showered Kisses and Roses upon [him]”. In the same aircraft, he also won a $100,000.00 prize in June for a Paris-Madrid-Turin race. Ottawans had been reading about his exploits all summer and now his aeroplane was in Ottawa, albeit with new owner John Wilmer. Photo: Ville de Vincennes, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df9b5bc3-4c8d-4c54-8c4b-bfacb487a4ae/Screen+Shot+2023-03-23+at+7.45.13+AM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The very same aircraft that Georges Mestach and his entourage brought to Ottawa 110 years ago is now part of the world class collection of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, just a few kilometres from Slattery’s Field. According the CASM website, “This Borel-Morane [The museum chose to reverse the order of the type’s name as it appears this way in their provenance records-Ed] is the only surviving aircraft of its type in the world and the oldest surviving aircraft to have flown in Canada. It was imported to the United States from France in 1912 by Georges Mestach, a Belgian exhibition pilot, and Ernest Mathis, Mestach’s manager and mechanic. Mestach and Mathis exhibited the aircraft across North America, with stops that included Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Winnipeg. The aircraft crashed several times, once in Winnipeg, where the harsh prairie winds proved too much for the Borel-Morane. Another crash occurred during an air meet in Chicago, and resulted in North America’s first midair collision fatality. Earl S. Daugherty, an American exhibition pilot, then acquired and flew the aircraft and it remained in his family’s possession until the Museum purchased it in 2002.” Photo: R L Kitterman at Deviant Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c125e4df-0688-49d2-9364-b865f77f30aa/Site2.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Though the land between the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal has been fully developed for many decades, it was, in 1911, mostly pasture and farmed crop fields. Slattery owned several sizeable lots in the area where Riverdale meets Main Street today. The area marked in yellow is recognized by Ottawa East researchers as the sheep and cattle meadow come airfield known as Slattery’s Field. This aerial photo from the 1930s looking North shows the location of Slattery’s Field. At the far left, we can make out the horse-racing track in front of the grandstand at Lansdowne Park where curious and excited citizens of Ottawa gathered during the 1911 Central Canada Exhibition for the chance to see Lee Hammond fly Baldwin’s Red Devil aeroplane. Slattery’s Field would have been no more than a 20 second flight from Lansdowne Park, even for a slow-moving contraption like the Red Devil. Images via http://history.ottawaeast.ca/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b356d806-1564-42fe-b155-a400b399fbea/SiteofField.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The location today of Slattery’s Field today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16ca523f-3a49-4c69-90c0-ab90e022d624/Salletry50.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Although this photo was taken in 1898, 13 years before Hammond’s flight, Slattery’s Field looked much the same in 1911, including the livestock. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/459b7931-69ce-4794-9992-aed67116762e/IMG_7287.jpg The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out A plaque mounted to the exterior wall of the Hydro substation at the southwest corner of Riverdale Avenue and Main Street is the only clue to the place where the first airplanes appeared in Ottawa. Though it is sited to be accessible to the greatest number of people it is also a misleading location for the plaque. Though Slattery’s farmhouse was directly across the street from where the plaque is today, his section of land, the one now known as Slattery’s Field, was farther north of Riverdale Avenue. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e9ef7a7-6967-4fcd-9b91-261791af4818/Slattery6.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Slattery’s home on Riverdale Avenue was still there up to the 1990s, but was destroyed by fire in 1993. Photo: OldOttawaSouth.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32492f49-7e3b-4cff-adb0-b70e0272f28a/Slattery15.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The two aviation pioneers who brought the Red Devil aircraft to demonstrate in Ottawa before crowds at Lansdowne Park were Thomas Scott Baldwin (left), designer and builder of the Red Devil aircraft series and recently trained pilot Edward Lee Hammond. Baldwin was a pioneer balloonist, aeronautical inventor and U.S. Army major during World War I. He was the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute. He held three pilot certificates: Balloon Pilot Certificate No. 1, Airship Pilot Certificate No. 9 and Airplane Pilot Certificate No. 7, all issued by the Aero Club of America. Hammond had soloed his first airplane just three months previous to his Ottawa performances Photos: Smithsonian Institution https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28bd1aad-8a79-45b2-b46c-abbd47a56ed6/Slattery52.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Thomas Scott Baldwin was more than your average aeronaut in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was an experimenter, inventor and risk taker as he developed the concept of the dirigible… essentially a balloon that could be propelled and steered. Unlike many of the early balloonist performers, he did not call himself “Professor”, though he more than any qualified for the title. Here we see one of his paid pilots (likely Lincoln Beachy) at the turn of the century clambering along the central truss suspended beneath the gas bag of his California Arrow dirigible. Weight shifting was his only pitch control. At the left end of the truss is the slowly spinning propeller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21d9ee28-c843-48af-ba26-34404f06a44c/Screen+Shot+2023-03-20+at+8.03.06+AM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Thomas Scott Baldwin (right) was pilot during this Army Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1 trial at Fort Myers, Florida in 1908 with Glenn Hammond Curtiss (left) managing the water-cooled, four-cylinder engine. With this engine, the dirigible was capable of speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Curtiss and Baldwin collaborated on many projects throughout their careers. Photo: Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9eaf9315-9a5f-415c-b237-3dc881328db8/Screen+Shot+2023-02-24+at+5.31.27+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out In 1911 “aeronauts” were largely thought of as Evil-Knievel-like daredevils, grouped with circus performers and Vaudeville acts. Lee Hammond’s upcoming flights at the grandstand show were a warm-up for popular variety shows from the stage at the Grandstand. Ottawa had waited a long time to witness the wonder of aerial flight. Image: Ottawa Journal, 1911 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e4454fd-4a77-4607-853d-e928f82ed9cf/Screen+Shot+2023-03-18+at+1.54.21+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out While Brighton Beach bathers bob in the waves, lifesaving boats deal with the aftermath of Sopwith and Hammond’s crash in the Howard Wright 1910 Biplane the day before Hammond entrained for Ottawa. Image via New York Tribune https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6b963cec-3a19-4d96-8a84-72a7e1598694/Slattery38.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out As if to underscore the dangers of flying in machines like the Red Devil and the persistence of aviation pioneers like Baldwin and Hammond, another pilot and protegé of Baldwin’s by the name of William R. Badger (above) was killed when flying an identical Baldwin Red Devil just four weeks before Baldwin brought one to Ottawa. Apparently, one of the propeller blades had failed in flight and Badger crashed at an international aviation meet in Chicago. Hammond himself crashed an airplane into Lake Michigan the day before at the same event and J. A. D. McCurdy crashed his airplane after hitting electrical wires. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b78476ed-a78b-4b9a-a523-f61673da67a1/Screen+Shot+2023-02-11+at+6.10.47+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Tom Baldwin (Left) and aviator Lee Hammond with the Red Devil in another location. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum website states: After making a reputation with lighter-than-air craft, Thomas Scott Baldwin turned to heavier-than-air flying machines in 1909. By 1911 he had built several airplanes and had gained extensive experience as an exhibition pilot. He began testing a new airplane in the spring of 1911. It was similar to the basic Curtiss pusher design that was becoming quite popular with builders by this time, but it was innovative in that it had steel-tube structural components. It was powered by a 60-horsepower Hall-Scott V-8. Baldwin called his new machine the Red Devil III, and thereafter each of his airplanes would be known as a Baldwin Red Devil. Baldwin built approximately six Red Devils. Most were powered by the Hall-Scott, but Curtiss engines were also occasionally used. By mid-1911, Baldwin was training pilots, taking up passengers, and performing regularly with Red Devil aircraft at air meets. He advertised Red Devils for sale into 1913. Using a Baldwin Red Devil, Hammond made the first-ever flight in the Philippines a few months after performing for crowds at Lansdowne Park. Photo: Collection of Shellie Brodie Nelson, via filipiknow.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219b9a3c-b774-43ae-9ee0-56aad65b71d4/Screen+Shot+2023-02-09+at+4.35.11+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The Red Devil, piloted by Lee Hammond rises near the Rideau River on Monday, September 11, 1911 from the open meadow known as Slattery’s Field. The caption accompanying this image states that it was the “Start of the first Aeroplane flight ever made in Ottawa. Photo: Ottawa Citizen, September 12, 1911 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0dab91fc-1cbe-45de-ba39-acc500b05d3e/Slattery18.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out This photo is of Baldwin flying his Red Devil in another time and place, but this would have been the scene awaiting spectators would have seen to the east from the Grandstand… the strange and almost unbelievable sight of a man sitting in an aircraft rising above the trees on the Echo Drive heights along the bend in the Rideau Canal near Bank Street. — Image via commons.Wikimedia.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e3d82b1-9e86-40a4-9f20-816046afc405/Screen+Shot+2023-02-09+at+4.26.30+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Pilot Lee Hammond (left) and Captain Tom Baldwin pose with the Red Devil aircraft on the grass at Slattery’s Field in Ottawa East prior to Hammond’s second demonstration flight over the Central Canada Exhibition grounds at Lansdowne Park on September 11th. Photo: C. J. Wallis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5976baec-c240-4aac-b6d7-09e323ccb4b8/Lansdowne.jpg The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lansdowne Park. Though this photo was taken 15 years after the first flight, the scene below would have looked somewhat like this for Lee Hammond. Slattery’s Field lies about a 50 metres to the left of the area captured by this photo. The Grandstand where citizens of Ottawa and area awaited anxiously for Hammond’s appearance is the long multi-window white structure at centre-right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a263fbfd-6432-4586-ad3d-6e3c191b8e37/Grandstand.jpg The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out The Victorian-era Lansdowne Park Grandstand in front of which Hammond demonstrated the Red Devil on successive days. As a young boy, I sold popcorn and soft drinks to the same Exhibition and football crowds in the early 1960s. The building was demolished and replaced by a larger facility with an indoor hockey rink in 1967. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/452bcb4c-8808-44f3-9ab4-452e47cd824d/SlatteryField.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbfb1720-8c0f-426c-bedb-9eb0ece47f72/Slattery14.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Citizens of Ottawa, old and young, assist Hammond and Baldwin to position the Red Devil aircraft for a take off at Slattery’s Field. Photo: Ottawa Journal, Jun 27, 1967 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32a3fdd7-7e3e-4102-ac1f-ce6d72c6bbf3/Slattery3.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Baldwin’s Red Devil at Slattery’s Field in 1911 amid a crowd of curious onlookers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92ef1461-2102-4c1d-9193-65c6da668fd6/Slattery4.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Hundreds of curious onlookers gather at Slattery’s Field along the Rideau Canal to catch a glimpse of the technology which would soon transform the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f217f98-5ab1-47e5-8f59-996a57a9c2e6/Slattery5.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out A good view of the large control surfaces of the Red Devil with its steel tube construction. The black and white photography of the day cannot show us the colourful scene there that day. Blue sky and green grass with the Red Devil’s wings in bright yellow and its steel tube construction painted bright red. It appears that the pusher propeller at the rear of the engine is turning, but it does not seem like there is anyone in the pilot’s seat at right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8464803-7424-4d9d-90f8-eefc0bbcb8f7/Screen+Shot+2023-03-18+at+12.19.49+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Hammond, playing himself in The Aviator and the Autoist Race for a Bride, takes the lovely Bertha Monroe by the hand and points to the sky where he will sweep her away. The actress who played Bertha was no femme fatale — she was Blanche (Betty) Scott who was in fact America’s second woman pilot and had more flying experience than Hammond and more driving experience than William Crane who played the “autoist”, having crossed the USA by car both ways — the first woman to do so from west to east. Scott became the first American woman to fly in a jet when she was the passenger in a TF-80C piloted by Chuck Yeager. Knowing Scott's history as a stunt pilot, Yeager treated her to some snap rolls and a 14,000 foot dive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/137723cc-bee7-426a-b9e1-cbe969cb535a/Screen+Shot+2023-02-11+at+6.17.57+PM.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Four months after their appearance at Ottawa’s Central Canada Exhibition in 1911, Baldwin and Hammond were in the Philippines exhibiting the same aircraft. They made the first flight in that island archipelago a year before and then in late 1911 convinced a local Igorot tribal chief by the name of Gagaban (above) to fly as a passenger, making him the first Filipino to fly. Photo: filipknow.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79839a37-ce47-400d-940c-3da103c3601b/Slattery24.png The Stories - First flights of Ottawa - Episode Two - Make it stand out Left: A diagram depicting how Sewell’s and Levan’s jumps would look. Top right: Edmund Rayne Hutchison, AKA Professor E. R. Hutchison, the circus-like performer, balloonist and parachute pioneer. Bottom right: Howard Levan, AKA Howard Le Van, balloonist, skydiver and pioneer aviator who started in the business at the age of 17. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-flights-of-ottawa-one monthly 0.5 2023-05-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/04db08b2-4b02-4437-b531-05d864e4bd65/Episode-One.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d9a9b7a-d210-4caa-a34f-fa3ec4abf980/Screen+Shot+2023-02-23+at+12.39.30+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out According to the Bytown Museum, this print was based on Edwin Whitefield’s original lithograph, “Ottawa City, Canada West” from 1855, with Lowe’s balloon being added by Charles Magnus & Co., of New York to commemorate the ascension. In the foreground stands Major’s Hill where Lowe lifted off. To the right we can see the terminus locks of the Rideau Canal and tucked in just below that is the roof of the British Army Commissary, present day home of the Bytown Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0c71162-ade3-427d-b574-0c9309315eee/Salttery36.jpg The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Left: “Professor” Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe, AKA Monsieur Carlincourt, the Great European Magician. Right: Though Lowe was pathetically equipped in his first commercial adventure in Canada’s capital in 1958, three years later at the outset of the American Civil War he was far better equipped for a demonstration in Washington — gas wagons, large hoses, support wagons and commandeered American soldiers. Note that the US Capitol Building is still under construction 68 years after the laying of the cornerstone. Construction was stopped during the Civil War. Photos via the Galactic Gazette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cfa2b13c-5bd2-427a-9f17-501996462e33/Lowe.jpg The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out If you ever wondered if these huckster “Professors” ever made anything from their efforts, travels and risks, this is Thaddeus Lowe’s home in Pasedena, CA, replete with its own observatory. Photo: Pasedena Digital History on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a79afef6-bcc1-45ed-b3bb-30500d4f01cd/Prof-Grimley%27s-balloon-%282%29.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Professor Charles H. Grimley and his balloon, the City of Ottawa. The caption beneath his portrait read “AUDACIOUS PROFESSOR: Charles H. Grimley was a “professor” of the art of ballooning. He had been nearly frozen, nearly drowned, nearly asphyxiated, nearly battered to death. But he still pursued his profession with undiminished zest. A fascinating man, ladies were not adverse to going aloft with him in his balloon, so long as a rope anchored it to earth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e9810e7-51e8-4d5f-8153-ac80e3aef796/Screen+Shot+2023-02-22+at+5.14.17+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out The story of Grimley’s ascent from Lansdowne Park along with Citizen reporter Gibbens covered the entire front page of the next day’s paper. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22bd17e6-93a0-4bf2-a396-0022460b6dd2/Slattery35.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out In a scene from a stereo-view card, Grimley inflates a similar balloon at Montpelier, Vermont a few years later. Image via The Barre Montpelier Time Argus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f8a62be-7bad-4e8b-9c93-50de764d1686/Carlotta_Myers_1903.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Miss Carlotta, “The Lady Aeronaut” (left) was a stage name. Her real name was Mary Myers, born Mary Breed Hawley in Boston Massachusetts. Along with her husband she set up a successful business of making and selling hydrogen balloons from their five-acre farm (right) in Frankfort, New York which was known as the Balloon Farm. Her husband, unlike most balloon “professors” was an actual scientist and aeronautical engineer and they both had many patents for ballooning and helped perfect the science. Images Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0bab998a-01cb-402c-a6ad-b3bfaf53a481/Screen+Shot+2023-02-21+at+4.16.25+PM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out From this drawing in the Ottawa Journal of September 22, 1904,, it appears that Hutchison and his wife were suspended beneath a deployed-but-not-inflated parachute rig which was attached to the balloon, from which they would cut away, Note the smoke from the wood fire used to make hot air for the balloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b7d8690-0153-46fd-bc34-96585cecf3cb/Slattery22.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out The inventor Lohner (inset) claimed to have been born in Munich, Bavaria, to have spent all his life trying to solve the mysteries of the air and to have been awarded numerous medals from the Aero Club of Germany. He also claimed to already have built a flying craft in Germany. Despite the awards and fame he claimed to have, he was not German, but Swiss and was living at one of Ottawa’s low brow lodgings— the New Arlington Hotel, [T. A. Brown Proprietor] where there was a free lunch all day. It seems a free lunch was what Lohner was after. Photo via apt613.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd9f1e9c-705b-4c08-acd7-a7410cd0d3b7/Slattery23.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out In September of 1909, while attending the Central Canada Exhibition, Lohner witnessed a tragic set of events at Lansdowne Park. One of the featured events at the 1909 Ex was Toledo, Ohio native Tony Nassr, The Daring Syrian, demonstrating flight in his powered dirigible balloon. That morning, the 16th of September, a man assisting Nassr was electrocuted and two others severely burned when his airship contacted wires. He went ahead with the “ascension” and all seemed OK for another flight in the evening. Around 5 o’clock that evening, he rose up into the air and all again seemed well, but shortly thereafter his engine quit and he drifted southeast, releasing gas as he went. The ship came down in a meadow close to Slattery’s farm in Ottawa South. Nassr managed to get the engine working but the propeller was damaged when it caught in a guy rope and the ascent had to be abandoned. He recruited several men to help him carry the lighter-than-air ship up Bank Street, over the canal and in through the south gate of Lansdowne Park, the gas bag again became entangled in electrical wires overhead. The rubberized silk-covered gas bag caught on fire, and Nassr, fearing a repeat of the mornings fatal events, shouted to his assistants to let go the lines. The burning hydrogen resulted in a rapid ascension of the unmanned and flaming dirigible. At a great height, the gas bag finally exploded and the whole rig fell in flames onto homes on Aylmer Avenue in Ottawa South where watchful locals put out the flames. Lohner told the Ottawa Journal “This is simply an example that the dirigible balloon will never be of any use in commerce or in war. It is too bulky and too delicate.” He offered no sympathy for the man who was killed or those burned. Nassr survived his harrowing vocation to become Balloon Inspector for Goodyear in 1919 and the Director of the Toledo Airport on 1927. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b8c8adb-2669-4894-adec-e49ccc295d2f/Lohner.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Some of Lohner’s business associates and assistants pull the huge and ungainly craft on its sled runners out onto the snow next to the racetrack at Lansdowne Park. The Ottawa Journal described the ship as: “..the first aerial craft built in Ottawa. The front portion from which a stick protrudes is known as the controller and is designed for raising and lowering the drome when in the air. There are two big triangular canvas surfaces, set horizontally, the front one being higher than the rear one. The machine is 60 feet long and 20 feet wide, and between ten and fifteen feet in height. The three steel runners on which it is moved over the frozen surface can be seen, and also the circular shaped ones in the rear. ” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f4f967f-9a53-4eea-9b43-c62c7f6db560/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+10.56.12+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out E. H. Code crank starts his car to tow the Lohner No.1 onto the race track at Lansdowne Park in winter conditions. Photo via Kees Kort, Netherlands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13734d2f-72d6-48f9-adbd-54c02cbde173/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+10.56.23+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out Investors and helpers struggle to keep the Lohner No.1 upright as the wind throws the craft onto its left side while being towed. One wonders why Lohner thought it wise to attempt to test his sail-like contraption in such wintry conditions. Photo via Kees Kort, Netherlands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef9c1bfd-9725-419d-bcf0-78aa4b42157d/Lohnermodel.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out A model of the Lohner No.1 shows us just how unstable, fragile and ill-conceived the design was. Still, it is an important part of Ottawa aviation history. Photo via Kees Kort, Netherlands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/02d4c75a-e552-4880-ac6b-1da55f6389cc/Screen+Shot+2023-03-25+at+11.27.42+AM.png The Stories - First Flights of Ottawa — Episode One - Make it stand out When George Lohner unveiled his Lohner No.2, it was evident that it was quite different from his first attempt, being wider in its flying surfaces and its undercarriage. It had morphed from a giant paper airplane to a giant wheeled kite. The caption accompanying this image in the Ottawa Citizen of July 21 reads: “Front View of Big Machine Which Was Given Successful Soaring Test The Morning” Clearly soaring was an exaggeration. Image: Newspapers.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/on-the-warpath-with-421 monthly 0.5 2023-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9089e2f0-c968-4c39-8390-2a9fd337acf2/421Flash.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e638836f-c2ec-4aaa-8d63-8f847fa83171/archie.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Author Archie Robertson (right) with his brother Alex of Bainsville, Ontario on the north shore of the St. Lawrence upstream from Montreal. Four of the six Robertson brothers were in the service of Canada in the Second World War. The two oldest — Albert and William — joined the Army while Archie (the youngest) and Alex were both airframe mechanics in the RCAF. Photo: Archie Robertson Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/810b76f7-13a4-494e-8ab3-d23b22a5d462/Screen+Shot+2022-07-26+at+1.58.10+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out In the previous paragraph, the author Alex Robertson, is referencing the education manual/French-English phrasebook “A Canuck Goes to the Continent — Volume 1” which taught colloquial French and German to Canadian servicemen and women. Every Canadian soldier who stormed the beaches on D-Day or who came ashore in the weeks after carried a copy. The French component was written and compiled in Vancouver by Isabelle Burnada. First published in 1941, Canadian troops had already used it in North Africa and the Congo. Photo: Juno Beach Centre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d841cf54-0b7d-4177-b967-3c718ec45e20/Spitfire_Mk_IX_421_Squadron_RCAF_at_B2_Bazenville.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out B2, the first forward aerodrome used by 421 Squadron on the continent, was at Bazenville, Normandy. “It looked like the Sahara Desert — dust and sand all over the place” according to the author. Here, a 421 Squadron Spitfire pilot prepares for a sortie over enemy lines just a few miles away. B2 was constructed by Royal Engineers who started the night of the 6th of June. Bazenville would have been completed as the first Allied landing ground in Normandy on 9 June, but a B-24 Liberator crash landed at the uncompleted airfield that morning and ripped up a lot of the steel mesh used for runways and ramps. Instead it was completed two days later, on 11 June, and serviced the first 36 aircraft (Spitfires) of No. 127 Wing RCAF that same day. 421 Squadron, a 127 Group unit, would arrive three days later. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c89e57-093e-48c1-b24c-6b1f571d790d/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+5.51.59+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A photo of Flight Lieutenant John N. Paterson sitting in his and the author’s Spitfire during operations after D-Day. Note the three victory markings on the fuselage. Photo via Northeast Ontario Air Search and Rescue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6043d545-4dbf-4392-ad87-897fb4493b5e/IMG_6718.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out 421 Squadron pilots pose together with their Wing Commander Johnnie Johnson, DFC and Bar (centre with patterned ascot) and Squadron commander Squadron Leader Buck McNair, DFC and 2 Bars (in white silk scarf). John Paterson sits in front row at far right. This was taken in August of 1943. Photo: Len Thorne via Spitfire — The Canadians by Robert Bracken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2a1c9d6-f0e3-48fa-a6e1-e2f54f2701b8/ArchieSpit.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A poor photo from a photocopy of the author Archie Robertson (right) with friends next to a 421 Squadron Spitfire, which could very well be “H” for Harry (the letter H is possibly read on the fuselage ahead of the fuselage band). It is not known who the others were but the man in the middle is likely Flight Lieutenant John N. Paterson. Photo: Archie Robertson Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7d219118-ea90-4741-9c13-b344f45b57ec/CFNUS2.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A spectacular shot of Paterson flying Spitfire CF-NUS on its first flight in the winter of 1961/62 over Fort William. The Spitfire was medium blue all over with white lightning bolt and black Photo via Fly North, the newsletter of The Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre. From collection of Jim Lyzun Collection via Joe Osmulski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41fbc242-2a5b-439e-a37f-683b8b704475/CF_NUS.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out John Paterson at the controls of his newly-restored Supermarine Spitfire at Lakehead Airport in the summer 1962. Note the 421 Squadron warrior emblem on the cowling. Paterson was the scion of a wealthy shipping family from the Lake Superior port. Photo: Allan Peden. Meteorological Technician at Lakehead Airport at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9539a66-2168-488a-98c5-5190e901af6a/Peden.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Another angle on Spitfire CF-NUS, possibly the first privately owned Spitfire in Canada. John Paterson is at the controls as it warms up in June, 1962. Photo: Allan Peden. Meteorological Technician at Lakehead Airport at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72a42b0f-7c73-4faf-baad-1e90a154638f/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+2.55.20+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9f6fbab-544b-4b7d-b1d8-8b5ad421489d/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+2.56.15+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A British modeller by the pseudonym of “lancfan” with a flair for the rare posted an Airfix kit he repurposed to create a likeness of Paterson’s Spitfire.. More views here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70dcdbb5-3833-44b9-af0c-b4801d49fae5/Peden2.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out John Paterson chats with some friends after his flight while adoring boys look on. Photo: Allan Peden. Meteorological Technician at Lakehead Airport at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9b88ead8-cc27-4172-90ba-1c3902d41c74/Paterson.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out The 421 Squadron clipped-wing Spitfire of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum was donated to the collection by former 421 Squadron pilot John Paterson. The Spitfire was similar to one he had flown during the Second World War in the RCAF and, at a time when the preservation of historic aircraft was still uncommon, he restored and refurbished it to flying condition and had it painted in the markings which “his” Spitfire carried in 421 Squadron. After completion of the restoration, it first flew in the winter of 1961/62 and remained at the Lakehead (Thunder Bay) until 1964 when Paterson gifted it to the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa. Here we see the “author’s pilot” John Paterson flying it in 1964 with civil registration CF-NUS over Lake Superior near today’s Thunder Bay. Photo Wiki Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76513f19-cd60-4534-9791-2c7f785cd60b/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+3.35.12+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out CF-NUS on the grass at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in 1964, shortly after Paterson flew it from Thunder Bay to Ottawa for permanent display. It can be seen in the Second World War display of the current Canada Aviation and Space Museum still at Rockcliffe. The only thing that is different today from this photo is the removal of the civil registration on the tail. Photo: The Caz Caswell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27e72366-6a9f-401f-bdc3-e274af1fa4f2/t_conrad_wally_854.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out At the time that 421 Squadron first landed in Normandy, it was commanded by the much-loved Wing Commander Walter Allen Grenfell “Wally” Conrad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc7e046d-652c-4777-a22e-1be43a64fdbd/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+11.34.27+AM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out In addition to messing “al fresco, 421 Squadron and other 127 wing airmen conducted religious services in the open air. Here, Squadron Leader Reverend H Crawford Scott, an RCAF Protestant chaplain, conducts an informal service in an orchard on the edge of B2/Bazenville, Normandy, attended by ground crew. In the background a Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX (AU-H) of No. 421 Squadron RCAF undergoes maintenance. AU-H is the Spitfire maintained by Archie Robertson and flown many times by Flight Lieutenant J. N. Paterson. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3168d1bd-d870-4689-87d3-af8b8b0104a6/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+11.42.33+AM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A Supermarine Spitfire of No. 127 (Canadian) Wing takes off on a dusk patrol from B2/Bazenville, Normandy, while a Spitfire Mark IX of No. 403 Squadron RCAF waits at readiness. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc1e83be-3af5-4643-ae22-8777cb16b2af/large_000000+%285%29.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Winston Churchill crosses “Winston Bridge” on the way into Caen to tour the damage following its capture by the British and Canadians at great cost. While at the front on July 18, he visited B2 airfield at Bazenville to give the men of 127 Wing a pep talk. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a83d532d-a473-4df8-92fc-382805b62a7c/fox01.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out The author writes in the previous paragraph that “Rommel got it in that too. I hope one of our kites got him then our work was not in vain.”. A Canadian Spitfire pilot by the name of Charley Fox was one of many different pilots who were credited with or claimed to be the one who attacked Rommel’s staff car on a road in Normandy and injuring the general so gravely that he was sent home to Germany. Regardless of the veracity of any claim, Charley’s service during the war and particularly in his later years was extraordinary. He became the Honorary Colonel of 412 Squadron and worked tirelessly on behalf of veterans and to keep their memories alive. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c6b98c9-bd53-4488-87ce-2fdd350842df/1617309_10202446161589704_1891251732_o.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out American C-47 Skytrain aircraft loading up at B-82 Grave for operation Market Garden. The author arrived at Grave a week after the operation took place. The shadow of the photographer’s L-19 can be seen at bottom. The airstrip, in the old forelands of the Maas at Keent, was made by the Germans as an emergency landing field but never used by them. However, on 26 September 1944, 209 C47 Dakotas of 52nd Wing Troop Carrier Command landed at Keent with troops and supplies for the Americans and the 2nd British Army. Despite the marshy and soggy ground, the strip continued to be used by fighter squadrons of 2nd Tactical Airforce. Photo: ForgottenAirfields.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/779ff9b6-10bf-47c4-96e1-37b158d17d95/Keent.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out A recce photo of B82 at Keent/Grave surrounded by a dike at bottom and left. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e99316bd-5b89-4cbe-bf7a-acfad23ea793/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+4.24.07+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Spitfires under attack at B-82 Grave/Keent in 1944. Photo: LiberationRoute.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/146f92d5-8038-4a2a-9928-b68775b948eb/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+1.22.16+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Vertical photographic reconnaissance aerial showing the airfield of Melsbroek, Belgium, following a daylight attack by aircraft of Bomber Command on 15 August 1944. Craters from bombs cover most of the airfield, which was one of nine attacked in preparation for a renewed night offensive against Germany. Within a few weeks it would be captured by the Allies and used as a major base for the RAF’s 2nd Tactical Air Force. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de6f9cec-7243-4096-b6c1-f12d42385651/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+1.29.53+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out In order to prepare Melsbroek to receive forward units of the 2nd TAF, the bulldozers and graders of No. 5205 Plant Squadron RAF busied themselves undoing the damage that the 2nd TAF had done to the field when it was in German hands. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66fd9e11-bcd2-4f47-8bbb-817086e67393/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+3.33.38+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out The hangars at Meslbroek were elaborately camouflage to appear as civilian row houses and shops. The disguise included mansard roofs, windows and chimneys and likely looked pretty real from the air. One wonders if attacking pilots ever asked the question: “What is a row of houses and shops doing at an airfield?” We can still read the German No Smoking sign on the hangar’s back wall. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c62340ba-6f5e-4e92-8874-5b983f00b83e/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+3.09.42+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out On 3 September 1944 Haren-Evère area was liberated, and only three days later the first RAF squadrons landed. It was designated as Advanced Landing Ground B-56 Evère. As the Germans had left in a hurry, the twin airfields needed very little repair work. Between September 1944 and October 1945, the British further expanded the runways, taxiways and aprons. When World War II ended the two airfields continued to be used by the military. It took until March 1946 before the airfields were fully released for civilian use.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e4db28f-0c2b-4615-a343-e9b1173199b6/421.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out 421 Squadron Spitfires at B-56 airfield at Evère, Belgium prepare for a winter operation as an RAF Transport Command Hudson touches down on the cleared runway. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c60e8466-d041-4f73-94d6-e761e93d1571/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+4.37.05+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out 127 Wing Spitfires at B-56 Evère, Belgium get ready for an early morning sortie in winter conditions. Fitters like the author made sure they were ready under any conditions. Photo: LAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a1f36fa0-fea7-4496-b902-04ad75750d8e/Butte.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out 403 Squadron Spitfire pilot Pilot Officer Steve Butte of British Columbia, shot down three German fighter aircraft (Two Bf 109s and one Fw 190) on New Year’s Day during the Luftwaffe’s Bôdenplatte attack. This photo was taken later as we can see his Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon. Later in his life, Butte would serve as Honorary Colonel of 403 Squadron, then a helicopter training unit commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Dean Black. Photo via https://rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16979cdb-0b11-4f84-8d82-d12218bdc366/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+2.18.42+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out The aftermath of the Operation Bödenplatte attack at Melsbroek on January 1st, 1945. Bödenplatte called for a surprise attack against 16 Allied air bases in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, resulting in the destruction or crippling of as many aircraft, hangars and airstrips as possible. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d58f8c12-d051-4cd9-9232-a38a44617bab/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+2.12.43+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out From belgians-remember-them.eu : Operation Bodenplatte, the German aerial attack of 1 January 1945, hit Melsbroek hard. According to Emil Clade (leading III./JG 27), the AAA positions were not manned, and aircraft were bunched together or in lines, which made perfect targets. The attack caused considerable damage among the units based there and was a great success. The Recce Wings had lost two entire squadrons worth of machines. No. 69 Squadron RAF lost 11 Vickers Wellingtons and two damaged. Possibly all No. 140 Squadron RAF′s Mosquitoes were lost. At least five Spitfires from No. 16 Squadron RAF were destroyed. No. 271 Squadron RAF lost at least seven Harrow transports "out of action". A further 15 other aircraft were destroyed. 139 Wing reported five B-25s destroyed and five damaged. Some 15 to 20 USAAF bombers were also destroyed. Another source states that 13 Wellingtons were destroyed, as were five Mosquitoes, four Auster and five Avro Ansons from the Tactical Air Forces 2nd Communications Squadron. Three Spitfires were also lost and two damaged. At least one RAF Transport Command Douglas Dakota was destroyed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/88acb24b-acf9-4eea-90c4-933dc9dff4d6/shutterstock_1028117350.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Brussels’ Manneken-Pis fountain, depicting a life-sized child taking a piss into a fountain is a tourist favourite to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d086dfa-056a-43d8-a050-4b4a3c1c1111/Q-Spr17-Varsity-1.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out American WACO gliders en route to Wessel as part of Operation Varsity. Photo: warfarehistorynetwork.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d336103-02a4-4081-84c9-24de394c0f4a/Q-Spr17-Varsity-2.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Hundreds of WACO gliders litter the landscape near Wessel.. Photo: warfarehistorynetwork.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73d7c460-4eec-4a8f-8309-0f917463fc54/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+3.56.59+PM.png The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Clipped-wing Supermarine Spitfire LF Mark IXEs, of 'B' Flight, No 443 Squadron RCAF, parked in a dispersal surfaced with pierced steel planks (PSP), at B114/Diepholz, Germany. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/afff2bac-c99d-4e16-a52a-21aa84578f8a/Flugfeld_Ho%CC%88pen_1.jpg The Stories - ON THE WAR PATH WITH 421 - Make it stand out Contrary to the author’s belief that there was no place named Reinsehlen near the B-154 airfield, there was and still is a small village by that name nearby. Today, the larger B-154 is no longer a functioning airfield, but half a mile to the west lies Segelfluggelände Höpen (the Höpen Glider Field). Photo: wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donald-lambies-war-3 monthly 0.5 2025-10-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9226b064-3e74-457c-b697-d685a83395c9/FLASH3.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a4de3f9-9d2e-482f-9729-fd9dc2d4ba34/Lambie324.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out When Lambie joined 417 Squadron in March, 1945, it was led by Squadron Leader David Goldberg, DFC of Hamilton, Ontario. When war broke out in 1939, Goldberg had just completed a degree in business administration from Boston University. He returned to Canada immediately and attempted to join the Canadian Army but was refused. He joined the RCAF a year later and upon getting his wings he was posted to a training base in Canada. In late December, 1942 he travelled overseas for Spitfire fighter training and was posted to 416 Squadron, RCAF in the summer of 1943, followed shortly thereafter by a posting to 403 Squadron RCAF. On his 80th op, his Spitfire was damaged by flak and he force-landed in a farmer’s field. Knowing that being Jewish his fate would be harsh if the Germans captured him, he buried his dog tags and made a run for it. He managed to evade capture and with the aid of the French Resistance made his escape though Paris, Toulouse and then the Pyrenees to Spain. He returned to Great Britain and after a period of recovery was given command of 417 Squadron in November, 1944. After the war, Goldberg completed his law degree and while practicing in Hamilton, continued to fly Mustang and Vampire fighters with the RCAF Reserve until 1958. He died in 2006 at the age of 89. For more on Goldberg when he was with 416 Squadron click here. Photo vie Hamilton Jewish News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41d27308-0e7c-4717-b0a6-de61de37f3e9/Lambie87.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out 417 Squadron Spitfires take off at five-minute intervals at Bellaria on the Adriatic coast (between Rimini and Ravenna) with the control tower in the cupola on the roof of the building at right. Lambie and his fellow pilots were doing exactly what they were taught at Camp Borden — providing ground support to Allied forces pushing the Germans farther up the Italian boot to Austria. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/10dea868-4bc6-4ac6-90eb-344223661a32/Lambie273.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A photo taken from the airfield at Bellaria, Italy showing a 601 City of London Squadron lorry driving down the perimeter road. Lambie’s caption calls the lorry a “biscuit box” which must have been their nickname for that particular type. In the distance at left we see the squadron’s tents while the white building in the centre is identified as the airfield’s officer’s mess and quarters and the darker building (a former paediatric tuberculosis sanatorium) at right he identifies as the Education Office which also housed the “Windsor Club” for officers. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/131717a6-e55d-4375-8efb-5cb0448f681f/Lambie88.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Vern A. Herron and Flying Officer Douglas A. Love (rear) and Flight Lieutenant Tony Bryan, DFC and “A” Flight Commander Flight Lieutenant Karl Linton (front) lazing near tents outside the mess at Bellaria Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/044879c3-7c1b-4da8-91c2-7531c00680ef/Lambie241.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie’s photo of a muddy 417 Squadron flight line at Bellaria with Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII, JF627 in the foreground. This particular Spitfire was flown by Don Lambie on only one occasion — on a long four-Spitfire recce to the area to the north of Venice from Conegliano to Udine. They came back with “No movement seen, nothing to report, No Flak”. According to airhistory.org.uk, an excellent online registry of the entire Spitfire production list, Spitfire JF627 wore the squadron code AN-M. This photo proves that incorrect. The Spitfire known as AN-M actually bore the serial number JF672 (last two numbers reversed). For the minutia-minded, here is a list of all 417 Squadron Spitfires flown by Lambie (the number of times he flew them is in brackets): LZ923 (35), JF423 (6), EN580 (4), MH770 (2), JG242 (2), MK148 (2), MJ366 (2), EN462 (2), MK284 (1), JG197 (1), JF627 (1), JG495 (1), JG337 (1), NH352 (1), and MH554 (1). The ink of Lambie’s personal address stamp on the back has worked its way to the front after 80 years. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd712aa7-e2cf-452f-988b-bb692c4eefb7/Lambie90.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Bob Latimer, Karl Linton and “one of the boys” with the Chevrolet flight truck on the line at Bellaria. Squadron Spitfires can be seen in the distance at right and Auster liaison aircraft at left. I love this scene so much — a Canadian boy in Italy reading letters from home while sitting on a Canadian truck with a Canadian maple leaf on the door and Canadian Spitfires in the distance. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c43e9eb0-b288-4c03-b9e4-390099ce8da4/Chevrolet-CMP11.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The CMP (Canadian Military Pattern) truck (see previous photo) was made in the hundreds of thousands by Ford and Chevrolet in Oshawa, Ontario during the Second World War. It was configured in many different ways from fuel bowser to command car to cargo truck. Photo via Yorkshire Air Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e2490eb-5a11-4756-8bba-64f8641fdc66/Lambie215.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Anthony John Adrian “Tony” Bryan, DFC, B-Flight leader, lounges on the beach at Bellaria in decidedly un-beach-like flying gear. Born in 1923 in Mexico of British parents, Tony was educated in England at St. Richard's prep school and then Ampleforth College. In 1942 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force serving in 403 Squadron in the south of England. He flew over 250 missions and just weeks before D-Day, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over German-occupied France. He hid from the Germans and eventually found members of the Resistance. After five months assisting the local French fighters, he returned to England, rejoined his squadron, and continued to fly sorties from Kenley, before being moved to Italy. After the war, Tony left the air force and attended Harvard College and then the Harvard Business School. His business successes are nothing short of spectacular — from Vice President of Monsanto, to Director of Federal Express, Chairman of the Chrysler Pension Fund, Koppers Corporation, AMRO Bank, PNC Financial Group, Imetal (Paris), First City National Bank of Houston, and Hospital Corporation of America International. He was a member of numerous golf and social clubs including, Gulfstream Country Club (Florida), Sunningdale Golf Club (London), The Union Club (NY), and the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters tournament. He was runner up in the US National Doubles Squash Championships in 1957. He was a champion swimmer almost qualifying for the US Olympic team before the Second World War. He continued to fly after the war, flying a Super Decathlon as well as a SIAI Marchetti. He loved to demonstrate his flying skills for all his friends right up to eight weeks before his death. He died in Florida at the age of 86. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9484df5-e0d8-4684-9929-b238dcede9aa/Lambie210.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Warrant Officer Michael James Carroll and Flying Officer Alfred Alcide Desormeaux, (AKA “Des” or “Bug Eyes”) on the beach at Bellaria. Both Mike Carroll of Toronto and Lambie’s old friend Tony Whittingham left the squadron shortly after his arrival in Bellaria in mid-March which time stamps these beach shots at the end of March or beginning of April, 1945. Whittingham simply went over to 241 Squadron at Bellaria and Carroll, according to the ORB, was still on squadron but “awaiting disposal”. The 26-year old “Bug Eyes” Desormeaux was a dairy farmer from Winchester, Ontario, a small town south of Ottawa. He had joined the RCAF in 1941, training at the same EFTS and SFTS as did Lambie and had just got to the war ahead of him in February 1945. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41656ad5-d37e-49dd-96d1-534d0a3db86d/Lambie214.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Shiny vs dirty boots. Flying Officer George Herb Slack of rural Merivale, Ontario and Vern Herron of Toronto find themselves on a sunny Adriatic Sea beach — about as far away from home as they could have imagined just a few short years before. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d314338f-be13-41db-8f49-65c157f918ce/Lambie277.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Vern Herron, from the previous photo was from Toronto, Ontario. Upon returning to Canada at war’s end, he enrolled in the University of Toronto’s School of Dentistry in 1949. He caught pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital where he met his future wife whom he married in 1955. He moved his new dental practice to the town of Orillia, north of Toronto and raised his family there. Sadly, in 1973 at just 51 years old, he died in his sleep from a massive and unexpected heart attack. Photo: Dr. Vernon A. Herron Collection via daughter Marci Csumrik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1402503-637f-49a8-ae94-60841062dfd3/Lambie31.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flying Officer George Herb Slack in Spitfire AN-Z at Bellaria in April of 1945. On the 25th of April, while taking off with Flying Officers Jack Leach and Tony Bryan, on a Rover mission (armed reconnaissance flights with attacks on opportunity targets), Slack’s Spitfire blew a tire and the 500 lb bomb he was carrying dropped off and rolled away without exploding. The Spitfire, RAF Serial No. MJ366, was a write-off. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34af1dd8-8fff-4787-895b-5c365d6c98df/Screen+Shot+2022-03-14+at+9.13.14+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out G. Herb Slack earned his pilot’s wings at No. 1 SFTS, Camp Borden on November 12, 1943, just a couple of weeks before Lambie got his at St. Hubert and was a close friend of Lambie’s on 417 Squadron. He was from a small community called Westboro near Ottawa which, today, is a central suburb of the city. Some records indicate his home as “Merivale”, an even smaller community just south of Westboro. I found only a single article referencing Herb Slack in the Ottawa broadsheet papers in the 1940s, and that was on April 17, 1947. We can see Herb at far left in this line-up of Merivale softball players being awarded the Bracken Trophy as Carleton County’s softball champions. Today, one of the important city streets in the Merivale area is called Slack Road. Photo via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a3060f36-d662-457b-815c-a52a31bf9c69/Lambie79.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Nearly every photo of Bob Latimer in Lambie’s album shows a fun-loving guy. Perhaps his bigger-than-life personality went arm-in-arm with his diminutive size. Here, on the beach at Bellaria, he dons a German stahlhelm helmet and clowns around in the abandoned wreck of a German “Kübelwagen” (Jeep) that has been stripped of its tires, lamps and spare by locals. The looted German sign means something like “Pull Up”, probably from a Nazi checkpoint. Hanging off the empty windshield frame is a German infantry M42 field cap. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74e4bd12-af83-4617-b506-0bab271fdb71/Lambie125.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out It appears that the “Klimmesch” road/checkpoint sign was a popular prop for photos. Here we see Lambie’s friend from the Spitfire OTU, Flying Officer Jack Leach, standing next to abandoned German Army horse-drawn artillery limbers and caissons along a road near Bellaria. The curious boys made several sightseeing “field trips” to the front in search of souvenirs and information. The caption on the reverse of this photo states: “It wasn’t all modern by any means!! Those 88s” Perhaps these limbers were used to haul the feared and versatile German 88mm gun. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bb042543-6fa0-4c25-b06e-d15a6e9b7333/Lambie306.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lost comrades. Flying Officer Roy Cotnam (left) of Pembroke was killed on April 8 and Flying Officer Jack Rose (centre) of the logging and railroad town of Chapleau, Ontario on the 16th. Flying Officer “Mac” McNair of 241 Squadron, from Edmonton, Alberta, died on the 12th. Photos: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/869a416d-960f-45f9-91cc-63a35b5ca385/Lambie91.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Pilots and ground crew of 417 Squadron get in on a “big crap game” going on while they wait for “Wing-Ops” to find out where the front line was “so that the kites can get airborne”. It’s personal and candid photos like this that set the Lambie collection apart from the photos of other Allied airmen. It helps us see how they dealt with the tedium of operations. We can see by their dress that it is still cool in March in this part of the Italian Adriatic coast. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcac5734-d5c4-4b84-b9af-f3ca551fc0a9/Lambie85.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Adjacent to the Bellaria airfield, the wing requisitioned the Colonia Pavese, an Italian youth tuberculosis sanatorium as the headquarters and officer’s mess — known as the “Windsor Club”. Here they socialized and watched feature films such as on 3 April when they watched the comedy Roughly Speaking, starring Rosalind Russell, Jack Carson and Alan Hale Sr. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz the director of the film Captains of the Sky, a dramatic film about pilots training in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (Also starring Alan Hale Sr.). The ORB makes mention of the Windsor Club frequently, such as this note on the evening Roughly Speaking was screened: “The bar is resplendent in its array of new bottles of wine, cognac etc. as the result of a recent effort on the part of the bar officer, Flying Officer L. A. Thomas.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2527989-3cc0-486e-9f6f-caefc2360170/Screen+Shot+2022-04-28+at+8.37.01+AM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A postcard from the 1930s of the Colonia Pavese at Igea Marina Bellaria, locally known as “Pavia”. From what I can tell, it was some sort of tuberculosis sanatorium for children at risk of contracting the disease. Both before the war and after the war, the Adriatic beaches between Rimini in the south and Revenna in the north were very popular tourist destinations for middle-class Italians. It was an idyllic setting for children and youth to spend their mandated time away from their families for up to a year. The building was demolished in 1984. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48015509-a7a0-4807-bd64-60731b094914/Lambie86.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Not the most pleasant looking building but home to 417 Squadron Officer’s quarters at Bellaria, Italy during Lambie’s time there. The back of the Colonia Pavese can be seen at the right. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ae3bcf1-8a5c-4ec5-b578-ab2a77291895/Lambie102.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Tony Whittingham, who had been with Lambie since their days together at No. 1 OTU at Bagotville in Quebec, pays a visit to his pal at the 417 Squadron officer’s quarters at Bellaria. Whittingham was posted to 417 a few weeks before Lambie arrived, but transferred over to 241 Squadron, RAF, a similar fighter unit sharing the field with 417 as part of 244 Wing, 211 Group of the Desert Air Force. He would go on to a stellar career in the Canadian civil service, retiring as Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b88b5a9-0da8-4cc2-8aee-16fdc6f296ed/Lambie274.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Wherever he went, Lambie made friends and charmed the ladies… even the Italian locals in Bellaria. Here his good squadron buddy Jack Leach stands in the back doorway of the officers’ quarters with three women, listed as (L-R) Maria, “Butch” [Lambie’s quotation marks] and a relative of Maria’s. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c7e2cd-a322-489d-8526-e46c047e2697/Lambie30.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Motley Crew. “Tiny” Lalonde (likely ground crew), Flying Officer “Bug Eyes” Desormeaux (squatting)‚ unidentified ground crew member, Flying Officer Larry Thomas, the mess officer and another member of the ground crew stretch their legs beside a 417 Squadron CMP truck “on a sightseeing trip to the front.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f313108-24fb-48ea-b82e-79735513f1d2/Lambie83.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie photographed his buddy Jack leach inside the cockpit of this totally destroyed wrecked of a Caproni Ca-314 with Jack Leach aboard. It’s hard to tell where this photo was taken, but the time stamp puts it in March. The only two airfields Lambie was posted to in March were Gaudo and Bellaria, Since Gaudo was an Allied constructed airfield, there would be no Italian wrecks there. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f53d962-1306-489b-8ef5-66ccc0f3fdc8/Lambie200.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out This is what the aircraft type in Lambie’s previous photo should look like when undamaged. Typical of many Italian aircraft designs of the Second World War, the Caproni Ca.314 was a beautiful looking airplane. Its retractable landing gear included distinctive wheel spats. Derived from the similar Ca.310, this Avro Anson-sized monoplane was used for ground-attack and torpedo bomber duties. It was the most extensively built Ca.310 derivative, and included bomber, convoy escort/maritime patrol, torpedo bomber, and ground-attack versions. Photo: via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95827964-cb16-4d62-a0c0-1ff3d462dd69/Lambie287.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out At Treviso, the pilots in the mess would acquire a new and unnamed mascot (above) to replace the Toughie, first dog who was lost during the move by truck convoy from Bellaria to Treviso on 2 May. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68777f01-5cd9-431c-aa65-be7bca4b7d58/Lambie92.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Jack Leach doffs his cap from the back of a 417 Squadron CMP after arriving at Treviso. That CMP is probably two years old but looks 20. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a483bc75-e5f3-4bdd-ae3a-33563841faa2/Lambie94.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Having just recently arrived by convoy at Treviso, Jack Leach plants the unit pennant alongside their tents and laundry lines. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/05f57a68-02c4-4d1e-89ae-9f8d78133254/Lambie318.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Chuck Holdway of Cedars, Quebec (now Les Cédres) on the north shore of the St Lawrence west of Montreal poses with his tent at 417’s first encampment at Treviso. The floors are not even in yet. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df3b8f93-be18-4bc1-beb3-ce8daca60f25/Lambie93.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Newly arrived at Treviso, four Ontario pilots settle in to their temporary campsite, awaiting more formal quarters. In the foreground, Al White (left) of Toronto and Jack Leach of Windsor use a school desk to write letters back home while in the background, Vern Herron (back to us) of Toronto and Pete Helmer of Ottawa are washing up in the warm Italian sunshine. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c00cc96-7cb2-4456-a60e-6a3d1a0e5890/Lambie184.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The boys (Left to right G.P. Hope, David Goldberg (C.O.) and Chuck Holdway of 417 Squadron inspect some of their handiwork — a pair of damaged Italian Autoblindo 41 armoured scout cars — on the road between Conegliano and Vittorio Veneto near Treviso. It’s not known if these were operated by the Germans as there are no German markings on them, but the Wehrmacht operated a large number of them after the Italian surrender, calling them Panzerspähwagen AB41 201s. I bet the missing tires were taken by local Italians! Photo: Donal Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/443e32af-b9bd-4966-8210-5d4e4a4860b3/Lambie308.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie’s friends Jack Leach, Len Dudderidge (at the wheel) and Bob Latimer park their Willys Jeep in front of a surrendered German 88 MM anti-aircraft gun after the cessation of hostilities. This had to be a great day for the men as they toured the area previously occupied by the Germans. It was late Spring and the trees were shady, the weather warm and the victory total. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d11f016f-13cb-4ed2-86c2-d764bd0f4cff/Lambie310.gif The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Along the highway north near Conegliano, the 417 airmen inspect more damaged Motor Transport, wondering if this was more of their handiwork. There is a small group of photos from this trip that are square in format and with the name “Leslie” written on the back, leading me to believe these were additions to Lambie’s album from Flying Officer Jack Leslie, another 417 pilot from Montreal. They would have stayed in contact after the war since they were from the same town and likely shared personal photos. Photos: Jack Leslie, Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/94425b92-93d2-475a-a290-83e2a9be2708/Lambie309.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out An Italian military bus rumbles down the highway as Lambie and his friends tour the recently surrendered territory in the northeast of Italy. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the internet trying to identify the make of this bus — Alfa? Macchi? Lancia? Opel? etc … no luck, so if anyone knows anything about Italian busses of the Second World War, please reach out to me. I need ot put my mind to rest. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/11495ee3-a999-4102-9967-076bcf4731ad/Lambie268.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Along with the surrendering Germans, came some of the few remaining tanks left to the retreating Wehrmacht including this Intact German Panther Tank with turret facing the rear. It looks in relatively good condition but its German Army markings are missing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6ead1530-f4f1-48d8-a36d-452c5fbcf06e/Lambie118.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Out of curiosity no doubt, Lambie and some mates from 417 Squadron went to visit the PoW Camp (more like an assembly area) at Conegliano on May 7, 1945. While we celebrate VE Day on May 8, the Germans signed surrender documents in Caserta, Italy on April 29 with the cease fire effective May 2nd. Just weeks before, the men had bombed enemy targets in Conegliano about 40 kilometres north of the centre of Venice. Lambie notes in his caption that the “Hun officer - Iron Cross - shows dejection.” He describes the others in the photo with their back to the camera: “In the group with back towards the camera – Hun Capt. (Arty) Iron Cross acting as Adjutant, ginger haired and very precise — Tall chap - a colonel”. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c36eb2e-edea-483c-98ea-45af53bd1236/Lambie119.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out These were very experienced and blooded German soldiers. Lambie captions his photo, describing the officer walking towards him: “Another Iron Cross chap — getting ready for a trip to the south. One Capt. stripped himself down to an ordinary private in so-called disgust towards those who surrendered.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bd504a6-c8d4-413c-94fb-10749bf2da96/Lambie120.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another photo at Conegliano on May 7. After years of hearing about the Master Race and the might of the German Army, there was disdain in Lambie’s voice as he writes: “One of the cowed Supermen, awaiting removal to the south… They were as happy as hell to be our prisoners rather than the Russians.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66799ddc-be23-4bb5-8c0d-9113ac5c001e/Lambie121.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Clinging to the shade of a building in Conegliano, German soldiers await transport south to a proper PoW processing camp. Lambie describes them as “Very docile and co-operative.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c3d38ec-85cc-490a-a38e-cd099300e931/Lambie123.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie shows a lack of sympathy for the gathered German prisoners stating… “How soft we are!! They were extremely well treated compared to the treatment they justly deserved.” I suppose it’s hard to find empathy for troops that were recently responsible for killing three friends. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6787e4ad-9b02-4912-a5fd-87165ea85f23/Lambie103.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Getting the Spitfires looking spiffy for the big “Wing -Do” — a Desert Air Force mass victory fly-past at the end of May — Flight Sergeant “Mac” McCloskey, one of the ground crew, with paint in hand appears to be touching up the yellow propeller tips of this Spitfire (AN-P) at Treviso. Note the covers over the tires to prevent sun and oil damage and the custom “P” marking on the air intake. There would be 39 squadrons participating in the flypast and David Goldberg wanted his Spits looking sharp. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/51eaaeda-ff10-41ab-a6c0-73f1eee67e32/Lambie99.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Tony Bryan, DFC leads a squad of enlisted airmen through the Treviso airfield motor transport section on the way to the mass VE-Day church service held on the airfield on the Sunday following VE-Day. A year before this day, Bryan had been shot down over France and spent several months with the French Resistance before making his way back to his unit. Now, here he was leading a formation of victorious airmen onto an Italian airfield near Venice to celebrate an end to the horrific war that took so many of his friends. Many memories were brought back to the light this day no doubt. Photo: Jack Leslie via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a6f1cd90-aabd-411e-8e33-010bf102785b/Lambie100.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out 417 Squadron officers in the squadron motor pool line up for a parade onto the airfield for Sunday service following VE Day, May 13, 1945. Lambie is fourth in the front row, Jack Leach to his right, Karl Linton at this end of the front row, Bob Latimer at end of back row. Photo: Jack Leslie via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e07670a6-4595-436b-9d0d-c9ec404fd0df/Lambie98.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Square Bashing. Enlisted men, NCOs and officers of 244 Wing (No.s 92, 145, 241 and 601 RAF with 417 RCAF) form up on the grassy infield of Treviso airfield for Sunday Service. The airfield is crowded with the wing’s Spitfires and American C-47 Skytrain transports. Photo: Jack Leslie via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa6775ef-6a7f-44e6-b406-37feed1dace6/Lambie101.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie turns his camera to the right to get a full picture of Treviso’s sweeping grassy infield with more 244 Wing Spitfires and other aircraft. Photo: Jack Leslie via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2546a8ce-11d2-4655-bc93-3f5dcdedf14c/Lambie135.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out There are a number of photographs in Lambie’s album that show him and others at a seaside beach at the bottom of high cliffs. I am not certain when this visit to the Adriatic Sea happened (or even if it was the Adriatic), but assume it was sometime after VE Day when they had more time to enjoy themselves, possibly in June. In the background we see beach cabanas, a couple of man-made tunnels, likely leading down from the clifftop. It looks as if Lambie is standing on the balcony of a house, restaurant or hotel. Any help identifying this location would be greatly appreciated. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f92eb8be-6370-4bac-adb2-9e28bc23620e/Lambie227.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The men of 417 Squadron at the seaside. Note the stocking tan lines on the man at right and the man sitting down on the deck. With such a distinct location — black sand beach, shear cliffs and tunnels — you would think this place would be easy to identify. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8bcc74f-b8f6-4b90-828f-5e6a2fb110d1/Lambie323.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Pilots of 417 Squadron cavort in the surf on the black-sands of some Italian beach. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2fbe517-e6e7-45a2-a1df-a6fd03ecc610/Lambie95.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out George “GP” Hope poses with veteran Spitfire pilot Warrant Officer Leonard John Duddridge in the garden behind what Lambie calls “Our Castle”. Duddridge, from Hanley, Saskatchewan, joined the squadron for the last month of the war, but was a combat veteran with two previous tours to his credit. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/45e35546-c032-4e18-9965-730807bc6233/Lambie279.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Leonard Duddridge (left) from the previous photo poses with his siblings Gladys and Leading Aircraftman Lewis when he was in training to be a pilot with the RCAF. The Duddridge family was from the small farming community of Hanley, Saskatchewan. The two boys enlisted at different times (Lew started a year earlier and took courses in aircraft mechanics), but they were posted together to No. 7 Initial Training School, Saskatoon. They completed their Elementary Flying Training together at No. 6 EFTS and then they were together for their Service Flying Training at No. 10 SFTS, Dauphin, Manitoba. Len flew Spitfires on Malta with 94 and in North Africa with 238 Squadrons, RAF before coming to 417 Squadron while Lewis flew Lancasters with Bomber Command over Europe. In a fine example of 6-degrees of separation, Len Duddridge had flown from HMS Eagle on Operation Style in June 2, 1942, the very same operation in which Pilot Officer David Rouleau was killed. On that day, Duddridge and Rouleau were both in a formation of nine Spitfire pilots trying to get to Malta when they were attacked by Messerschmitts. Duddridge survived, Rouleau did not. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e789cc1-4dc1-4526-a4ee-e5b6645e64d2/Lambie291.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out One lived, one died. On June 3, 1942, nine unarmed Spitfires launched from HMS Eagle were approaching Malta after a long flight when they were set upon by Messerschmitts based at Pantelleria. Four of the pilots were shot down and killed, the other five struggled on and landed on Malta. David Rouleau of Ottawa, the man on the right, was one of the four who were killed. He lived just a few blocks from my home. Len Dudderidge, the man on the left, survived and continued to fight for another three years and ended his career with 417 Squadron. Photos via Dudderidge and Rouleau families https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c5a557a-c48e-451d-8b3d-2bd8c831dafa/Lambie276.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Absolutely my favourite photo in the collection — 417 pilots getting drunk at the “castle” mess at Treviso, Italy, about 26 kilometres north of Venice. Treviso was where the storied Second World War history of 417 Squadron came to an end. They soon lost their Spitfires and disbandment was not long after. It was the time of victory in Europe and the boys looked for reasons to let their hair down. Left to Right: Flying Officer Bob Latimer, Flying Officer George Proud “GP” Hope, Flight Lieutenant Karl R. Linton, DFC, Flying Officer Ted Whitlock peeking in from the right and Jack Leach at the back. Karl Linton in the white shirt had joined 417 Squadron mid-February after returning from leave in Canada. Prior to that he had flown with 416 Squadron in England followed by 11 months with 421 Squadron, all flying Spitfires. This was essentially his third tour. Linton, from Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, died in 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the age of 87. After the war, Ted Whitlock attended the University of Toronto and earned a degree in Political Science and Economics . Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea5735d4-2f57-484b-9a46-fb5ca9e6bf74/Screen+Shot+2022-03-17+at+3.51.09+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Sadly, six years after Lambie took the photo of his partying comrades at Treviso, George Hope was killed in a flying accident near his home town of Windsor, Ontario. As a member of the RCAF Reserve, he was flying a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk when he was overwhelmed by bad weather. Image via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c63203c5-9b0d-4abd-b522-8e207b635aa9/Screen+Shot+2022-03-17+at+3.50.49+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out According to newspaper reports at the time, the aircraft went down in “a welter of stormy, drizzly weather which cut visibility to nothing.” Chipmunk CF-CXF was a civilian-registered aircraft purchased by the RCAF and loaned to the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association. He was on a routine cross-country training flight when he went down. Hope, as a member of the RCAF Reserve, was one of 36 reservists taking part through the Windsor Flying Club in Operation Chipmunk… a scheme to give former combat pilots refresher courses. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a6c141fe-5410-404a-ab25-0bb776cb6642/Lambie281.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Karl Linton, DFC who was a flight leader with Lambie’s 417 Squadron and who is seen in the drinking photo above, had an exceptional career. After arriving overseas in March of 1942 and attending a Spitfire OTU, he spent eight months posted to 416 Squadron followed by another 11 months with 421 Squadron before a seven month posting as a staff pilot for No. 83 Group Support Unit, RAF. Then, after a well-earned trip back to Canada, he joined up with 417 Squadron in February of 1945. In 2003 at the age of 80, he wrote and published a memoir of his flying experiences in the Second World War called Lucky Linton—A Second World War Spitfire Pilot’s Memoir and was recently mentioned in another Vintage News story by Stephen M. Fochuk about a one in a million event. Karl Linton of Plaster Rock, New Brunswick died in 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9edbe12e-5b99-4214-a424-ed587217488a/Lambie286.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out There a few photos of 417 officers posing for Lambie in small groups at Treviso. This was certainly the result of Lambie’s desire to remember his comrades long after they had all scattered across Canada following the war. Without his photos, some of these men might fade to obscurity. In this group, “GP” Hope (left) stands with two of the squadron’s non-flying officers — Flight Lieutenant Bob Hogg (centre), the squadron Education Officer and Flight Lieutenant Hal “Doc” Smythe, the Medical Officer (flight surgeon). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82bd090c-5209-4a7b-a071-87f0a3f072a2/Lambie131.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out At war’s end, Lambie and a few 417 Squadron mates took an R and R trip up the Piave River Valley by squadron lorry to visit Belluno and the Italian Dolomite Range of the Eastern Italian Alps, then on to the Wing’s rest hotel. Here, they stop at a spectacular overlook of Lago di Santa Croce. This was in May of 1945, and the occupying German army had just recently surrendered. One can’t help thinking what this Canadian Spitfire pilot (possible Jack Leach) was thinking as he looked upon the spectacle of this Italian alpine paradise which had, until a couple of weeks ago, had been in enemy hands. The notation on the back of the photo reads: “A good view of Lake St. Croce when we had our squadron rest camp. The white house [next to pilot’s left shoulder] is where we had our “chop”.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9fc6c3b2-9035-48f9-bfde-faa1c8f407a3/Lambie201.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out With the aid of Google’s Streetview, we are able to drop into the same spot where Lambie and friends stopped to look at Lago di Santa Croce (previous photo) and the high peaks of the Dolomite Mountains. Image via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/023f3d88-7384-4fc9-88d3-1ecfc481e716/Lambie288.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A composite view of a very still Lago di Santa Croce made from two of Lambie’s photographs. This seems to have been taken a bit farther along on the same road shown in the previous photo. The stillness of the lake is remarkable. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b63d6f68-36a6-4157-9e16-b6fda2e43946/Lambie207.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A squadron CMP truck loads gear and other 244 Wing personnel having just dropped off pilots and officers of 417 Squadron at the Trattoria Bolognese for a 48-hour rest period. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f81fc5a2-cff0-4b75-8c15-c1033a697ded/Lambie202.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out It’s truly amazing that nearly 80 years later, the Trattoria Bolognese is still in operation in the same location, but as Bar Ristorante Bolognese. Image via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6f7abc6-4802-4de2-89cf-3e12b9294bb5/Lambie133.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out With the stress of daily operations over, their Spitfire flying days at an end, the pilots of 417 Squadron can truly relax. Here with the noonday sun warming them after the long winter of war and the breathtaking Dolomites rising over the lake, they read and write letters home. Two of the officers are mentioned in the backside caption, but not identified among the four men in the photo. They are Flight Lieutenant Larry Doucet, the squadron’s admin officer and pilot Flying Officer Chuck Urie. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25f81760-ec71-42c5-87e6-90590d000385/IMG_20210730_105216.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out This is the magnificent view that Lambie and his fellow 417 pilots enjoyed while sitting on the terrace of Trattoria Bolognese. Photo: Victoria Popa, 2021 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c3b388b-95fc-4146-81e8-32548583048d/Lambie289.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and some friends borrowed a boat and rowed their way out onto Lago de Santa Croce. Here, we are looking back towards the Trattoria Bolognese [the white building at centre right]. Officers slept at night in a concrete boathouse at the base of the hill leading down from the trattoria. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63313aec-6bad-478d-918e-00f8ffff96fb/Lambie134.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Fling Officer Charles Edward “Chuck” Holdway of Les Cédres, Quebec beams in a rowing skiff in the middle of Lago de Santa Croce. Holdway was one a relatively small percentage of Second World War pilots who remained in the RCAF after the war. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the post-unification Canadian Armed Forces. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/057c1b19-dbb7-4c50-8862-12cb8cfba74f/Lambie218.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out While at Lago di Santa Croce, the officers of 417 Squadron slept in a brutalist modern concrete boathouse by the water’s edge. Here Bill Craig and 417 Squadron Medical Officer Hal Smythe take in the sun. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e4c10b48-6832-48ff-9c58-c46db01826d5/Lambie219.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out For one of their sightseeing trips while resting at the lake, the 417 boys commandeered a Fordson WOA2 Heavy Utility Car — the Second World War equivalent of the modern day Hummer and made by the British Ford Motor Company. Here, Lambie (centre) stops along the Lago di Santa Croce shore road to stretch his legs and take in the turquoise alpine lake. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0288863-9d49-4f05-956d-c91a38f92f29/fe7966f1e87b1f3ecaa96b9347c1a33b.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A similar view of a Fordson Utility Car - the grand daddy of the Hummer and today’s SUVs. It must have been “really something” to be roddin’ around the Alps as victors in a roaring six-man Fordson with the snow-capped mountains, the alpine meadows, the turquoise lakes, the Italian welcome and the war behind you. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63502637-d1ea-465c-8be8-f57ce0588000/Lambie124.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out After one day-trip to Belluno, the largest and most important city in the Eastern Dolomites, a group of 417 pilots stop along Strada Statale 51 at the north end of Lago di Santa Croce to stretch their legs and compare notes and souvenirs. The 417 Squadron-marked Fordson looks pretty battered and dusty. The building and facilities at right control the flow of water to Il Canale Cellina, the short canal the brings boats around the shallower north end of the lake Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c72a6227-2514-4f69-9d4f-f91965739ea2/Lambie203.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out By “driving” the road from Santa Croce through Google Streetview, it was only a few kilometres to the very spot where Don Lambie and the group of 417 Spitfire pilots stopped to chat and show off their “booty”. Those young men would never have imagined that nearly 80 years later, some 71-year old man would be using something like Streetview and the internet to find the exact spot and then gaze upon it while contemplating the beautiful absurdity of it all. Photo via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9ff2a64-169a-4c0d-8f39-565d97b49432/Lambie222.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and his friends commandeered that RAF Ford utility vehicle and took it on more than one trip up through the valleys of the Veneto/Belluno region of Northern Italy, venturing deep into alpine river gorges in the southern Dolomites. One such valley followed the flow of the Cismon River to the alpine town of Lamon where Lambie took this dramatic shot of water overflowing the dam near the Ponte Serra bridge crossing. One can only imagine the power these young men must have felt as they experienced the beauty and hospitality of a region recently freed from the yoke of Nazi tyranny. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72309885-a8f5-482f-9545-eb171719b403/maxresdefault.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The road and viewing areas at bottom centre is where I believe Lambie was standing when he took the previous photo. Though the “cascate” is not overflowing the dam on the day this drone shot was taken, the reservoir still releases water through spillways downstream on the Cismon. The switchback road at left climbs up out of the gorge to the alpine town of Lamon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c872105-2064-42cf-9b86-2e1adbf44f26/Lambie132.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out After literally hours of fruitless searching the internet and Google Earth, I could not find the identity of this village in the Dolomites visited by Lambie and his friends. The caption on the back of the photos simply states: “A little village in Northern Italy where a few Huns made a feeble stand. The tower and top of the steeple has [sic] been damaged as well as a few houses nearby. May 1945” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d85a808-61cd-4ae5-ac1b-15e405809440/Lambie262.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out On a sightseeing trip from Lago di Santa Croce, Lambie and the boys drove right to the Austrian border through the mountain pass known in Italy as Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico or as the Austrians call it: the Kreuzberg Pass. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50d7b469-06cd-4743-bae0-839020642205/Screen+Shot+2022-03-05+at+11.44.22+AM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In the same Austrian border crossing in the Kreuzberg Pass, a newer Kreuzberg Hotel stands at the same location on the highway. Image vie Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d0fbc5e-f2a8-4cc2-92e2-692fdbafca9f/Lambie321.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In a photo taken by Jack Leslie, we see German bunkers ready to repel the enemy should they attempt an attack through the mountainous Kreuzberg Pass. They were never used. Photo: Jack Leslie via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2237761b-e6a6-4fb9-9abd-62a8938b23b2/Screen+Shot+2022-05-15+at+7.39.56+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Cut from the Dolomite granite and reinforced with concrete, the bunkers still exist today. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/443cb7ee-a69f-4268-ba01-c97cd3dc1877/Lambie313.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out South African Air Force Mustangs (left) of No. 5 Squadron, 239 Wing and 450 Squadron Kittyhawks led by S/L Jack Doyle take part in the DAF’s flypast on 28 May, 1945. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2ceebfc-4d3b-4dbc-8f09-1ea9838143ae/Lambie312.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In the reviewing stand that day were Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, KCB, OBE, MC, DFC, LLD, Commander in Chief of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean and Middle East (Centre) with Air Vice Marshal R M Foster, Air Officer Commanding, Desert Air Force (left), and Brigadier General Thomas D'Arcy of the USAAF. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0ea9651-8412-4e46-9dfc-a541f54e8f3d/Lambie311.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out 12 Spitfires thunder past the reviewing stand at Campoformido. One wonders if they were the Spits of 417 Squadron which had practiced a 12-plane arrowhead formation leading up to this fly past. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a493401-ad5e-418a-b747-304e7ec208b2/Lambie130.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out When visiting Klagenfurt Airfield Lambie took this photo of a derelict Siebel Si 204 light transport. A satellite camp of Buchenwald was created in Halle an der Saale (Saxony province) to provide labor to the Siebel Flugzeugwerke GmbH in July 1944 and one wonders if slave labour contributed to the building of this aircraft. A Seibel 204 holds the odd distinction of being the last Luftwaffe aircraft shot down by the Allies — on 8 May, 1945 in Bavaria. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7273b31-a1cc-4f95-a9ad-b44aec2b5c89/Lambie269.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Looking for images of the Luftwaffe at Klagenfurt on the internet, I immediately came across this amazing official RAF photograph of 232 Wing RAF ground crew taking refuge from the sun under the wing of the VERY SAME Siebel Si 204 as the one Lambie shot. This reminds me of the line from the old Second World War song We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line. Nothing says victory like using an enemy warplane as a laundry rack. In the background at right is parked another Siebel aircraft — a Siebel Fh 104 Hallore. Image: via the Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum, USA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630a3f7-b0f1-4faa-ad66-965e099ce820/Lambie270.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another photo (not one of Lambie’s) of the boneyard at Klagenfurt in the summer of 1945. One understands the draw this sort of aircraft graveyard had for curious Canadian airmen. One of the dispersal areas is jammed with Luftwaffe Siebel Fh 104 and Si 204 transports, loads of Arado Ar 96 advanced trainers including several Hungarian Air Force examples (white cross on black square), a pair of Focke-Wulf 190s and possibly a Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz biplane trainer buried right in the middle. We forget that Hungary was part of the Axis Powers in the Second World War and embraced an irredentist policy similar to Hitler’s and even today’s Vladimir Putin to justify invading their neighbours. Klagenfurt-Annabichl was a short-lived home base for the 1st Courier/Liaison Squadron of the Hungarian Air Force from April-May of 1945, which explains all the Hungarian aircraft in place. It was also home to a Luftwaffe “Flugzeugführerschule” or flying school for most of the war. The last school to occupy its ramps was Flugzeugführerschule FFS A 14 which in turn explains the presence of the Steiglitz trainer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f318006-8bd0-4515-a1f3-ccbc61bfa648/Lambie129.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and other 417 pilots inspect a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 on the grass at Klagenfurt-Annabichl Flugfeld in the summer of 1945. Under the fighter’s wingtip at left we can make out a collection of junked German and Hungarian aircraft. The visit to Klagenfurt was likely not an official squadron-sanctioned trip but rather a curious group of friends who wanted to see a Luftwaffe base and all the German aircraft rumoured to be collected there after the end of hostilities. Klagenfurt was about 100 miles north east of Lago de Santa Croce in the Austrian Alps. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/261e03b0-4525-4ac7-9157-1bc1eb52b41c/Klagenfurt_Airport_-_Hangar%2C_General_Aviation%2C_Heliport.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The two huge hangars shown in Lambie’s previous photograph are still in very active use to this day, nearly 80 years after the war. The field, once known as Flugfeld Klagenfurt is now Flughafen Klagenfurt, the airport for Austria’s sixth largest city. Photo: Zacke82 via Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef0ba0f4-1337-4586-8dc2-6165baf2789e/Lambie109.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out An Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 “Sparviero” [Hawk] gets refuelled by a 417 Squadron Bedford QLC fuel bowser at Treviso in May, 1945. One of the most beautiful looking [in my opinion] aircraft of the Second World War, the Sparviero was not a particularly lovely thing to hear according to Lambie who stated in the caption: “Sounds like a “clapped out” truck when it took off.” Bedford QL series trucks were often nicknamed “Queen Lizzie” for it’s QL suffix, but I can’t find reference for what QL actually stands for. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0fdc1ed5-fcb2-45da-b1fb-aaefda4105f1/Lambie302.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another angle on the SM.79 reveals a post-fascist Italian roundel (red outer rings with green in centre) and tells us that it belonged to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force. The Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI), or Air Force of the South (Aeronautica del Sud), was the air force of the Royalist "Badoglio government" in southern Italy during the last years of the Second World War. The ACI was formed in October 1943 after the Italian Armistice in September. Since the Italians had left the Axis and declared war on Germany, ACI pilots flew with the Allies, but never against Italian fascist troops still in the fight. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5569b283-b6ec-44b8-8b60-0c9823c23ea2/Lambie301.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Liberator C.IX is serviced at Treviso in June. In the background we see what appears to be the rear fuselage of another Savoia-Marchetti S.79. The one in the previous photo has a mottled camouflage while this one appears to be monotone in colour. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46a04003-7768-4d97-8510-873454704a19/Lambie307.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another angle on the previous Liberator shows it to be KK311. The South African Air Force in Italy operated their Liberator bombers without the nose-mounted guns, and most had the normal turrets still fitted but with the guns removed. This one, as can be seen in the previous photo, has the streamlined nose fairing which is normal for the C-87 Liberator Express transport variant which carried about 6,000 lbs of cargo or up to 20 passengers. The RAF called these cargo variants Liberator C.IXs. I believe this is an RAF cargo Liberator C.IX which had, until recently been a bomber with 40 Squadron. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd89953b-004e-463c-bde2-e578d7cf1536/Lambie111.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In May, the war was over, but still there were many ways to meet your end. I can’t find anything on-line about what may have befallen this RAF Hudson at Treviso in June, but it does appear to be survivable for the crew. Since there are no crash vehicles or ambulances, it seems they have decided to let the fire burn itself out. Lambie was on hand to snap a number of photographs as the wreck burned to the ground. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fda0b8da-e7f2-4ec1-938f-e40aa20ffffd/Lambie234.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another photo from a different angle shows us that the propellers are bent forward and this tells us that the engine was making power when the props struck the ground. To me this suggests an engine failure on takeoff or a ground loop. My understanding from some research is that if the tips are bent forward, they were under power, if they are bent back, the power had been pulled back. If anyone knows the circumstances of the loss of this Hudson in June, 1945 at Treviso, let us know. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6572593-fe2e-470d-9913-1a6c8bd4426e/Lambie108.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out “A little Hungarian job, probably used as a Luftwaffe elementary trainer by the Horthy Miklo Co. Acquired by one of the squadrons” states the caption on the back of this photo of a commandeered civil-registered Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann. There were no Jungmanns built by a Hungarian company — this is a bit of Lambie humour as he is mocking Admiral Miklos Horthy, the de facto wartime president of Hungary, an ally of the Nazis. In October 1944, Horthy announced that Hungary had declared an armistice with the Allies and withdrawn from the Axis. He was forced to resign, placed under arrest by the Germans and taken to Bavaria. At the end of the war, he came under the custody of American troops. He was imprisoned at Nuremburg but was not indicted for war crimes (he should have been) and then, because Hungary was now a communist state under the control of Stalin, he self-exiled to Portugal where he died in 1957. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe10ce9a-3db6-437c-aa4a-686a0dec2e66/HA-LDF%281%29.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out I found a Hungarian website with a poor wartime photo of Jungmann HA-LDF flying in formation with others. Photo via https://www.avia-info.hu/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dc7b08ee-4a70-466b-bd38-35331d7fd2c1/Lambie96.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In June, 1945, Jack Leach, Chuck Holdway and Don Lambie strike a relaxed and friendly pose outside the “castle” mess and barracks they “found” near Treviso. Note the “417 Squadron” chalked on the brick next to the window, laying claim for the squadron. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4dc4dc39-5169-4b3e-80a0-ea0dd6735ed1/Lambie213.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out At the “castle” gates, the Canadian boys are looking casual and confident. Note “417 Sqn.” chalked on the brick wall between Lambie and Latimer. They are (L-R) Flying Officer Charles Edward “Chuck” Holdway, Flying Officer Bob Latimer, Lambie, Flying Officer Jack Douglas Leach and Flying Officer Alfred “Al” White. There were a number of men on the squadron from the Ottawa/Rideau Valley and St Lawrence area — Latimer, Lambie, Holdway, Desormeaux, Slack and others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95c44a93-5c0a-47b7-930e-99c66f57f280/Lambie305.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out I found the patch and jacket that Al White was wearing in the previous photo to be of great interest. The flight jacket does not look RCAF issue and the patch is very similar to the one shown in colour here — but NOT the same. The one at left belongs to 145 Squadron of the RCAF’s Home War Establishment, a Hudson/Ventura unit operating out of Newfoundland in the Second World War. The one worn by White has the same gremlin figure riding a bomb with a sledge hammer (not a telescope in this case) in hand, but the text says “ATU — SFTS 1”. This was a patch for an Advanced Training Unit at No. 1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden. If you read Donald Lambie’s War — Episode One, Lambie and his Bagotville Hurricane cohort spent two weeks at Borden on an Advanced Tactical Training course. Could this be a patch from that course? The inset at right is a poor shot of a weathered but otherwise identical decal on the side of Brad Hieronimus’ de Havilland Tiger Moth CF-TBS. Detail from Brad Hieronimus, Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f50dd5eb-2b87-4713-892e-90781d3623df/Lambie97.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Bob Latimer and Lambie concentrate on a game of chess at their Treviso officer’s quarters/castle. Mosquito netting can be seen on the wall in the background. Malaria was a constant threat in the regions around the Mediterranean Sea. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/12fe4ede-fc72-4c86-a077-0bd359362632/Lambie194.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out In June of 1945, while waiting for transport home, a dark and Hollywood-handsome Donald Lambie makes repairs to his uniform in their castle at Treviso, Italy. The back of this photo has a cute caption which leads me to believe he had mailed the photo to his mother. It reads “I have to do these things myself now, mumy!!!”. Note the mosquito netting over each bed. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b39787df-6875-4cea-9861-94053bf45b59/Lambie317.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flying Officer Stuart Allan “Al” Marshall of Peterborough, Ontario responds to a wisecrack from another 417 pilot in the Treviso officers’ mess. It is the candid nature of the photos in Lambie’s collection which makes them so special. Sure most people want to see airplanes, but you can’t learn about the experiences of these men by looking at another photo of a Spitfire. Born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Al Marshall, at age 10, moved to Peterborough with his family in 1931. He was a gifted athlete who won many championships in swimming — at local, provincial, interprovincial and national levels. He was Canadian Champion, 200 metre breast stroke, 1940 to 1952; had five Ontario and Quebec records in breast stroke; was captain and coach of the University of Toronto Senior Water Polo team for three years and Dominion Champion in 1946. Peterborough’s Trent University pool was dedicated to Marshall in 1978, and his record certificates are in showcases at Trent. After completing his degree at U of T, Marshall rejoined the RCAF in 1948. He was killed on Saturday, 19 May, 1956 when his CF-100 Canuck Mk 5 crashed at a military air show in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He was performing a high speed, low-level pass at the Kinross AFB airshow when the CF-100’s port wing failed. 1st Lt. R. De Genova of the US Air Force, his passenger, ejected, but his parachute failed to open and he was killed along with Marshall who died in the wreckage of his aircraft. At the time, he was with 428 Squadron and stationed at RCAF Station Uplands here in Ottawa and was given a full military funeral along with two other RCAF airmen. Even more tragically, the other two — 20-year old Flying Officers William John Schmitt and Kenneth Dinismore Thomas, possibly succumbing to hypoxia, lost control of their CF-100 on the night of 15 May and plunged thousands of feet before crashing into a convent in the small town of Orleans, now a suburb of Ottawa. Thirteen people in the convent were killed all of whom were nuns except for a convent staff maid and one priest who had been a well-regarded RCAF chaplain during the war. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8bb8d956-6b47-445b-8f3e-9e81b7a3064d/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+4.59.43+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A newspaper clipping from the Ottawa Citizen two days after Marshall’s crash tells a sad story of Marshall’s death. His regular navigator Hugh Anderson gave up his seat to the USAF back-seater thereby saving his life. Unfortunately he watched as his good friend was killed. The article states that, though 417’s main work was strafing, Marshall had managed to shoot down two German aircraft. When he rejoined the RCAF, he did so as a Public Relations officer, but managed to find his way back to the cockpit and was considered a good and conscientious pilot and was “one of those few who by their attitude and example hold a squadron together and make morale something real.” He was the 54th Canadian airman to die in a CF-100 since they went into service five years before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85107206-4450-4b2f-8cc2-2edf3880ea18/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+5.11.11+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Reading several articles about Marshall in the local Ottawa papers following his death, it was clear that 428 Squadron and the RCAF had been dealt a very heavy loss. In the Ottawa Citizen of 23 May, 1956 staff writer Bob Martin said of him: “As public relations officer for Ottawa’s 428 Ghost Squadron, he cheerfully gave much of his time and efforts and patiently offered hundreds of explanations to inquiring newsmen.” Marshall was always permitted, willing and ready to take any newsman flying who was interested in doing a story about the RCAF, 428 Squadron or the CF-100. He was a gifted writer and chronicler. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86776b66-155e-475d-85bf-ae57d0fa0e4e/Lambie113.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and friends are down at the gondola and boar rental slips at the foot of Basilica de San Marco and it surrounding plaza, looking across the Giudecca canal towards the Church of Giorgio Maggiore, the famous Benedictine masterpiece on the island of the same name. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/033e7c99-9d3c-4b37-9bda-8e523204c8ba/Lambie275.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie sits on the roof of a motorboat at the tour boat slip with gondolas plying the Giudecca Canal. There seems to be a female on the cabin below. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a81967c2-5767-48c9-bb36-db0a915ec585/Lambie319.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out I can’t make out who this is, but this 417 pilot has a date and a gondola as they ride down the Grand Canal in style. The woman in this photo appears to be the same woman noted in the previous. She may be a nurse out of uniform or perhaps a local gal. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21064a06-0089-4c77-9a53-57c3d4f8a32d/Lambie114.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Left to right: The three Montrealers : Chuck Holdway (Les Cédres), Bruce Johnston and Donald Lambie drive their own powerboat beneath the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice. This appears to be an official RAF photograph as it is stamped with “Crown Copyright Reserved” in the reverse side and a hand-written caption lists the men in the photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97a9b6d5-14a6-4b1d-9765-e643cbbe1616/shutterstock_1580018680.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Bridge of Sighs on Venice’s Rio di Palazzo as it looks today — exactly as Lambie, Holdway and Johnson would have seen it nearly 80 years ago Photo: Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/567adbb9-5d8f-4932-b3da-9dbff9c32ed3/Lambie112.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie’s two Ottawa area pals, Bob Latimer and Herb Slack test the water from a drinking fountain in the forecourt of the gothic masterpiece Chiesa de San Zaccaria (Saint Zachary) in Venice. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bb67356-7814-4b7e-82ac-cff9a4230f92/Lambie314.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The forecourt or “Campo di san Zaccaria” as it is today. The basin that we see in the previous photograph has been filled in, but the fountain has been unchanged, save for its elevation. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c701025-be08-492f-8a5a-e6d92e42a2a0/Lambie116.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out While on one of his outings to Venice, Lambie met and befriended a pair of young Red Cross nurses, possibly American volunteers. He appears from photos to have spent the day with them. Our man seems to have had no trouble meeting and building relationships with the women he met. I’m sure his shyer comrades loved to be with him. The ladies were looking sharp in their grey uniforms, white epaulettes and beaming smiles. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21c2ac83-882c-466e-bc86-8cf9a4d8b1b9/Lambie315.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out With him in Venice that sunny day in June, 1945 was Flight Lieutenant Tony Bryan, DFC, seen here posing with “Charm”, one of the two Red Cross nurses they were with on this visit. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6d8e55c-b557-4299-9368-3b7b73f1c0e4/Lambie115.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out The two Red Cross nurses pose for Lambie’s camera. What a day this must have been for everyone—the war was over, Venice was at hand, handsome fighter pilots hanging out with beautiful nurses in the Italian sunshine. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1d2e912e-6c2d-4f4e-9bd2-23dfe3e4fa99/Lambie320.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out From this photo of Tony Bryan lifting one of the two Red Cross nurses, it’s clear they were familiar with these ladies. We must keep in mind that they were all in their mid-20s, were in a romantic city and had just survived a war, so they weren’t holding back from having a little fun. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c80c3e58-0cfb-483e-a4f5-dfd56ea74fe6/Lambie104.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out At Treviso, Italy on June 19, 1945 pilots prepare to take the entire squadron complement of Spitfires to the Aircraft Storage Unit at Campoformido airfield near Udine close to the Yugoslavian border. The entire squadron came out to see them off. At Campoformido, they would hand over their aircraft and that would be the end of it. For many 417 pilots, it would be their last flight in control of an aircraft, military or civilian. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6f97d1b-68a4-4ce7-8521-871c2e2295db/Lambie105.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out 417 Squadron Spitfire Mk IXs at Treviso bound for Udine with 90-gallon centreline slipper tanks fitted beneath the fuselage. The distance from Treviso to Udine is just over 100 Km, so slipper tanks were overkill. It’s possible they were needed for ferrying home to Great Britain after the hand over or it’s possible they all wanted to have max fuel to allow them to linger in the air with their Spits as long as possible. The Spitfire in the foreground does not wear the 417 Squadron “AN” code. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82dc68de-42f5-440f-8982-7ad200e01039/Lambie110.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out 417 Squadron lined up at Treviso. These appear together in the album with photos of the last trip to Udine, but this could possibly be from an earlier time when they were practicing for the Desert Air Force flypast in May. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eeff1b55-21ea-4ae6-ab01-8b455ad418d1/Lambie107.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Spitfire AN-L (MH773), which Lambie captioned “Bob’s Kite”. Indeed, Bob Latimer flew it on many occasions, as did other pilots in this story including “Bug Eyes” Desormeaux, Vern Herron, Tony Bryan, Chuck Holdway, Ted Whitlock and Al White. It looks in great shape. Note the white stripe around the spinner. In the previous photo there is a similar spinner (fifth in line). Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ded5b5d-dfdb-4db9-9d24-6f89510c41f0/Lambie106.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie might have taken a perfect shot of Bob Latimer’s Spitfire for posterity, but when he handed over the camera to him at Campoformido airfield, he got pretty poor results. As it’s the only shot that Lambie had of the markings of “his ” kite, he kept it. Lambie’s caption reads: “Bob took a “twitchy” one of me just after we landed from our last trip in Spits at Udine, June, 1945”. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e210a250-3675-4ae1-9943-53fe9a7bbeb4/Lambie128.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out After landing at Campoformido, Udine, Lambie and some fo the men checked out a few wrecked Luftwaffe aircraft scattered about the airfield. Here Flying Office Jack Leslie, also from Montreal, pokes around a shot-up carcass of a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7f41ff4-b885-401f-84bc-2e2fa01c4864/Lambie126.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Flying Officer Jack Leslie inspects the damage to the Messerschmitt. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b4d78d3-5e6f-47bb-9dd8-ef7868192db9/Lambie127.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Another photo from Udine. This particular pile of ashes and junk may be have once been a Messerschmitt Bf 109 parked in its revetment. The boys seem amused by some words said — left to right: Flying Officer Leslie, Pete (the squadron cook apparently — how he got to Udine, I don’t know), Chuck Urie and Herb Slack. Flying Officer Charles H. “Chuck” Urie of Windsor, Ontario died just last November, 2021. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b562d5d4-147b-43a8-a007-103d448683c7/Lambie233.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie with his “kite” — Spitfire Mk IX LZ923 at Udine on June 19, 1945— the last flight he ever took in a Spitfire. In all, Don Lambie flew AN-T (LZ923) on 35 separate occasions. The now-veteran fighter pilot looks ready to go home and pick up where he left off. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c03d9aa1-181c-4c89-ac9a-0b31b98e44a6/Lambie160.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out HMS Ascania, a former Cunard liner took Lambie from Naples to Sicily and then on to Liverpool. Ascania was taken into naval service in 1939 and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser. Armed with 8 x 6-inch and 2 x 3-inch naval guns, she became HMS Ascania with the pennant number F68. She sailed with the Halifax Escort Force and later with the North Atlantic Escort Force on convoy protection duty. From November 1941 to September 1942 she deployed to the New Zealand station. In October 1942, she was returned to the UK and was employed as a troopship by the Ministry of War Transport. The following year, Ascania was modified into a Landing Ship Infantry and took part in the Invasion of Sicily in 1943, the Anzio Landings and those in the south of France in 1944. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85ae0705-9bba-4359-b4c6-66ef36d675a7/Lambie155.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out From the promenade deck Lambie snaps a photo of Ascania’s name board on the port side of her open bridge while one of her officers descends the ladder aft. Before the war, Ascania’s upper works were brilliant white in the Cunard style with a bright red black-topped funnel, but for the duration of her Royal Navy service, she was painted an overall battleship grey. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ec5a53bd-62a5-4686-8c8f-fd0398fc22e7/Lambie154.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out During the voyage to Sicily and then back home, Lambie enjoyed the company of two female Auxiliary Territorial Service officers whom he identifies as Joan Westwood (left) and another Lieutenant who is simply called “Scottie”. Scottie appears to be wearing a different type of epaulette than others I have seen from the ATS, so if I am wrong about that, I would appreciate knowing. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5eea975-c89c-4067-8bdb-9f8a67338af9/Lambie145.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and fellow officer Gerry Minnis pose for Joan Westwood’s camera. Minnis, who I cannot find any information on appears to be a British or Canadian army officer. We can see Lambie’s all-important camera in his hand. Lambie must have corresponded with Joan Westwood after the war and exchanged photos from the voyage as I found the following photograph posted by Westwood on a site dedicated to the voyages of Ascania. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f34d005-0c8e-4395-9a9e-55990d0bfd48/Lambie156.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie snaps a photo of Joan (always with a beaming smile) and Scottie in the same position as the previous photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/933251c5-7bea-4b0b-ab75-1401e102d849/Lambie158.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lieutenant Joan Westwood and Gerry Minnis smile broadly for the camera as they scan the horizon while en route to Sicily. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e694dd2-eaa5-43f1-8d63-a2716643bb75/Lambie157.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out While the enlisted men on the deck below are crowded and without the company of women, Lambie and Gerry Minnis (foreground) seek the shade of a lifeboat along with at least seven women. Lambie was likely lying in the empty space between Minnis and Joan Westwood. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ddafba5-a3b6-48f1-ad47-be05d9fd9ac1/Lambie146.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Looking aft along the main deck we see Ascania’s anti-aircraft gun tub and lots of milling servicemen. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1b3ca81e-4cef-4c8c-a38b-56f61d4f5088/Lambie153.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Soldiers, sailors and airmen crowd the aft main deck to hear a musical performance by a pianist and likely a larger band. Enlisted men and NCOs did not have the creature comforts afforded the officers in the deck above. The derricks, dorade box vents and machinery housing are the same ones in the previous photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f8ef4bd-b25d-46ea-8e4e-2bca983b51c7/Lambie152.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Lambie and his friends Joan Westwood and “Scottie” and more female officers enjoy the concert from the “balcony” of the life boat deck. They are wearing warmer clothing, so this event might have taken place as the sailed west and north to Liverpool. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/af0501e8-1ca8-4d2d-9ec5-15cafb504930/Lambie159.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Towards the end of their time together, Lambie and Westwood pose together. Lambie is in full civilian uniform. The weather is clearly getting cooler, so perhaps they are nearing Liverpool. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f601e256-374e-44a5-a851-05501f15adb0/Lambie316.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Back to Liverpool. HMS Ascania has just tied up at the passenger terminal in Liverpool and the gangway lowered. As a British Army band plays a welcome, officers climb aboard to confer with ship’s officers about disembarkation. The date is 14 July, 1945. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8348797-128f-4329-967e-24dd671c47d1/Lambie149.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Bournemouth Pier and Beach, July 1945. With the war behind them, the waterfront at Bournemouth was crowded with Canadian servicemen and women and locals. It’s mid-July in England, but everyone is dressed for cooler weather. People are happy to be here, but anxious to get home to Canada. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bb3d5b4e-27aa-4e63-8fac-5998326bf768/Lambie325.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out While in Bournemouth, Lambie chummed around with a couple of Canadian Army officers from the nearby Aldershot Army Transit camp. Here the lads have rented bicycles to ride the waterfront which is packed with young people out for the day and unsure of what to do with themselves. The soldier on the left is Frank Dorchester from Vancouver, though I could find no mention of him in Vancouver newspapers from the day. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf19c533-2be3-4377-8f68-4cc0c154f9d4/Lambie245.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out On the final leg of his war journey, Lambie boarded HMT Duchess of Richmond for the return crossing of the Atlantic and home. The former Canadian Pacific ship departed Liverpool on 12 August, arriving at Quebec City on 18 August. Duchess of Richmond was hired as a troop ship in January of 1940 and remained in that service until 1947, when she was returned to Canadian Pacific, refitted and renamed Empress of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bba43e2e-3ea8-4e76-b927-7b1e0b6a22f0/Lambie244.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out Donald Lambie’s life after the war was one of long service to the community. Perhaps the best outlet for his need to belong and to contribute was the Masonic Order. Lambie held several high offices in both Montreal and Toronto including Deputy Grand Master in Toronto’s District 2 and a 33 Degree A & ASR (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada) in the Order. Here we see him decked out in the royal blue and gold regalia of a Deputy Grand Master. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/091e5bfc-d59e-4603-887f-98c4568bc2a6/Lambie243.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Three - Make it stand out A studio portrait of Lambie, probably in his late 40s or early 50s. Still the superb dresser, still the exceedingly handsome man, but now with a solid look of experience, wisdom and confidence. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/gone-west monthly 0.5 2022-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5f51640-e2fe-4955-a9ec-a9acffd16d48/Stocky.png The Stories - GONE WEST — Stocky Edwards, dies at nearly 101 - Make it stand out The photo. Of all the photos of Edwards taken during his storied military career, none speak the volumes that this one does. It is taken somewhere in Italy in 1943. Stocky has risen from Flight Sergeant to Wing Commander in two years. What is truly remarkable is that his countenance is one of calmness, peace and even bemusement. His face is not pinched with stress or lack of sleep. His shoulders are relaxed, his hands in the pockets of his khaki trousers. Fear or loss cannot be read in his eyes. His whole body is surrounded by an aura of self-awareness and determination. He gazes outward, placidly, eyes focused on the job ahead. This is a portrait of a leader. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ff161b3-4cfe-4195-bb35-dd65d9ceb3d6/Wedding.png The Stories - GONE WEST — Stocky Edwards, dies at nearly 101 - Make it stand out Stocky and Toni on their wedding day in 1951. Photo:Edwards Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0133ffea-f8be-4a33-b663-c0e0d558779e/Screen+Shot+2022-05-16+at+7.35.09+AM.png The Stories - GONE WEST — Stocky Edwards, dies at nearly 101 - Make it stand out Time had only made them closer—Stocky and Toni at Vintage Wings of Canada in 2013. Toni is wearing a fishing fly made by Stocky who loved fly fishing. Stocky is wearing a pin denoting he is a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-flight-of-the-reaper monthly 0.5 2023-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ee0e03c1-f281-44b7-a165-e931e866b9a2/Reaper.png The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13f21974-b142-44e7-8dd4-188c3abd9d0d/VWC_2022_423-2078.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Vintech Aero engineers Paul Tremblay (Director of Maintenance)and Pat Tenger (in cockpit) go over last minute details before the flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf910a88-d2b7-4ea4-9bb1-5fa8eb9c1af3/VWC_2022_423-2114.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Vintech AME André Laviolette dons his LE-A sneakers in preparation for the first flight of the Hurricane that inspired the design. The shoes are made by I Love a Hangar and were suggested to the manufacturer by Timothy Dubé, the leading authority on McKnight’s life and flying career. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c84c3d3c-aafc-460a-a697-af0c76bdaa10/VWC_2022_423-2135.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Still in the hangar, Dave Hadfield goes over his checklists. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37c94111-f0f9-4ddc-ba90-8ca74731f3af/VWC_2022_423-2178.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield executes a pre-flight walk around and tests the “ring” of the exhaust stacks which might reveal an otherwise invisible crack. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8f06d8f4-12d9-4e15-894f-2053ba40e260/VWC_2022_423-2192.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Mike Potter (Right) and Hadfield confer before the Hurricane is pushed from the hangar. Potter, the founder of Vintage Wings of Canada Foundation and Vintech Aero, will fly the Extra 330LT chase aircraft. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c31d0d03-86fc-4389-a4bb-b584caba5f2b/VWC_2022_423-2251.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Early Saturday, April 23, 2022 Paul Tremblay pushed the Hurricane into the weak April sunlight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3af266fa-0c7d-4489-8f79-9656cfb88106/VWC_2022_423-2352.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield checks rudder movement Paul Tremblay briefs City of Gatineau firefighters. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a93acd0a-e6df-4350-b79f-c8373dbdfaf2/VWC_2022_423-2413.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Time to strap in. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/89cdc2ab-b2cd-4caf-a757-e4ee6d304caf/VWC_2022_423-2439.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out The Grim Reaper artwork point forward to the work to be done — in this case to test the Hurricane in flight — One take-off, a short, slow-speed flight including a couple of stalls and one landing — all with the wheels down. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7bc09864-bf68-434f-972c-857206a6aa42/VWC_2022_423-2429.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Vintech engineer André “Lav” Laviolette gets a pointing lesson from the Grim Reaper himself. Photo: Peter handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d59914e-51b7-4faf-85a7-ff523140e993/VWC_2022_423-2491.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Time to turn the prop. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3edc8948-663e-4cf8-a3d9-7433ad3a5c54/VWC_2022_423-2585.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the Extra 330LT is ready to roll with AME Pat Tenger in the front. They will take photos and watch for any visible problems like leaks and smoke. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8994fb52-8b59-4eab-b5ca-f2862e848faf/VWC_2022_423-2684.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out The winds are light and down the runway as Hadfield taxies to the main ramp at Gatineau where he will do his final run-ups. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0df430a-3f5e-4faf-a33c-81a78751c9c6/VWC_2022_423-2735.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Peter Handley captures the Hurricane in perfect symmetry, as Hadfield runs up the Merlin. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a839cb8-88c3-4a36-a635-b7ef73c1dc06/following+Extra.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Dave follows Mike Potter and Pat Tenger in the Extra 330 chase aircraft out to the single Gatineau runway. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f6539ec-7484-42e0-80bc-896c8042e1fd/lining+up.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out The long awaited moment is just seconds away as Hadfield turns the Hurricane to line up on Gatineau’s Runway 09. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e7575ef-d612-48fd-881e-f3af4688c551/VWC_2022_423-2921.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Lift-off. Hadfield climbs into the cool morning air and back into history. The wheels will remain down throughout the flight which will be short and flown at low speed. Cycling the gear will start with the next flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9781de52-dda2-46ab-a062-5e5d6507325e/VWC_2022_423-2930.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out A 242 Squadron Hurricane flies in Canada for the first time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4840df64-09c9-40ed-a35b-82878cc1676c/VWC_2022_423-2938.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Climbing out. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2303cc8-c762-4aa2-a9e5-b78e221c5da3/airborne+and+turning.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Meanwhile, inside the cockpit. The Hurricane MK XII (RCAF Serial 5447) takes to the air for the first time in more than 20 years and turns to the test area north of the airfield. Previous owner of the airframe, Harry Whereatt, took the Hurricane (then registered as C-GCAJ) into the skies only a couple of times in 2000 following his restoration. Prior to those flights, the Hurricane had not flown since the Second World War. It is interesting to note the blanking effect of the exhaust glare shield in this photo. No doubt this was fairly effective in reducing the blinding effect from exhaust flares at night. Of course, this Hurricane will never see a night take-off again. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e838b36f-ed9b-42d6-9326-45d4fc6d580c/VWC_2022_423-2975.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield circles the airfield and flies overhead with Potter off his left wing. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7caf5111-1ea6-4e7c-b276-0bf5b5acbc44/FF5.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out As Mike Potter slides in close to “The Reaper”, Pat Tenger gets this moody shot of the Willie McKnight Hurricane and shows off the deeply researched and authentic markings of one of the best known fighter aircraft of the Battle of Britain and Blitz defensive aerial battles. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6afbff1f-15b7-4df0-933b-3bd7ff5a7f96/FF3.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Potter steadies on the Hurricane’s port wing while Tenger grabs a nice shot showing off its beautiful paint scheme Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7bcc9ef-2850-431c-8274-3816332d26a5/FF15.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Climbing a higher, Hadfield turns to starboard and we get a glimpse of the underside markings — Black “night” underside the port wing and a “robin’s egg blue-like” colour under the starboard wing and fuselage. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21b6a8ea-0e9d-43e6-aea7-19ce36618c0b/FF16.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out In line astern with the Hurricane, Tenger gets a god shot of the Hurricane in a light that seems almost without colour. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b1ddb9a-edaa-4b17-b3a1-5e581ee7cb29/FF22.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out With Potter closing up on the Hurricane, Tenger finds a unique angle on the hurricane. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72b2188a-85d9-46ec-9cb1-6f129e96b47d/stall+recovery%2C+facing+rockcliffe.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield completes a stall recovery. In the upper left of the front windshield (just above Kettle Island) stands the Canada Aviation and Space Museum where another Hurricane Hurricane XII is displayed. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5996aa26-2d4d-44a6-9418-0105be58ec98/FF14.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out With the Laurentian Hills on the horizon to the north, Hadfield levels out heading east. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0cbe194e-3372-458b-b659-0db5ed6464cf/FF20.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out A easy turn to the left shows of the beautiful underside colour of the McKnight hurricane which is a different shade than the“Sky” hue used on the fuselage band and nose spinner. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a847696c-6eee-436c-a61a-c67ec5727e1e/FF8.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield continues his easy turn. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/455c8e98-c431-42ef-bdcc-3a0bcccd37e2/FF6.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out With Potter sliding to the starboard side of the Hurricane, Tenger gets a nice tight short of the pilot art on that side— while intimidating, not nearly so iconic as McKnight’s more famous port side artwork. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c99ebdc6-fd11-4e5b-99a7-baea14e794b9/FF9.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Now flying northwest over outer suburbs of Outaouais Region with the winding course of the Ottawa River from right to left. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e0c07f1-6df5-4c82-ab67-762011be83c0/FF13.png The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Potter drops down in the turn to get a good look at the underside of the Hurricane and its early-war Fighter Command camouflage. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82e5c895-c9d8-4ddb-9d5d-10720907d6c5/FF17.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Turning final. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e7989e29-22ce-49a5-9969-d143ba62ceb3/FF21.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Coming home. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7db45c9e-7cc1-491a-8642-07a1a237fc28/over+the+fence+runway+09+landing.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Dave in over the fence on final and about to touch down on Runway 09. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/10b173e8-5ed9-4689-b963-a6f49b338a81/VWC_2022_423-3095.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield rolls out after touchdown. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/19102928-8f6a-4194-af3e-77cb20e42a51/thumb+up+to+photographers.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Hadfield offers up a triumphant thumbs up to Vintage Wings photographers as he taxies back to the hangar. Photo via Hadfield’s helmet cam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25c0be00-2410-46c4-82a9-3c4f3563471a/VWC_2022_423-3174.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Swinging onto the taxiway, you can read the smile on Hadfield’s face — it was a perfect flight! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76d8d7a5-120c-4221-8ad0-973a57bf774a/FF1.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out A close-up of that smile! Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e706ac7d-c9e0-4dd8-8a97-94fef4dc7228/VWC_2022_423-3271.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield goes over some highlights of the flight and aircraft handling with Vintech Aero engineers. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/51cd32ab-e965-4453-83cc-7c0be3c9bd37/VWC_2022_423-3296.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Bravo Zulu Dave, Mike and Pat. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5bc5d78-620a-4877-9228-63e04a6683eb/VWC_2022_423-3330.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield and Mike Potter shake hands over the successful first flight. Now, it’s on to Oshkosh! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9fdb0a18-0809-4851-8c89-71889c6336cb/VWC_2022_423-3340.jpg The Stories - The Return of the Reaper - Make it stand out The core team that worked on the Hurricane project: Jim Luffman, Volunteer; Laurent Palmer, Vintech Aero; Paul Tremblay, Director of Maintenance, Vintech Aero; Pat Tenger, Restoration Project Lead, Vintech Aero; Dave Hadfield, pilot; Mike Potter, Founder and Funder; John Aitken, test program consultant; André Laviolette, Vintech Aero. Of course, over the 16-year span of the Vintech restoration, there were many others who worked on the project. Three notable contributors who were not present for the first flight are Korrey Foisey who did an extraordinary job of the paint scheme, Mike Irvin who did magic with the fabric and Ken Wood who worked on fabrication of some of the more difficult sheet metal components as well as other work. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donald-lambies-war-2 monthly 0.5 2022-04-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e205699-a388-4f26-bc24-718e98092ed9/2Flash.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe76f41b-c443-4b7f-96e3-1d3b1805cc1a/Lambie22.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Donald Walter Lambie during his training in Canada in 1944. By the time he landed in Europe in the summer of 1944, he was already promoted to Flying Officer. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a705380-fbc4-4953-9e0e-0a88cea0f8fc/92562826.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie embarked HMT Andes, a 27,000 ton, 648-foot long liner of the Royal Mail Line now in the service of the Royal Navy, on June 2, 1944. From October 1943 to June 1944 Andes spent eight months transiting back and forth across the Atlantic, usually from New York or Halifax to Liverpool or vice versa. One of her last voyages of this period in her illustrious war career was to Liverpool with Lambie and some of his friends aboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44eddb26-852f-4375-8d4b-bf147515c0bd/large_000000.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie spent nearly a month at RAF Fairford and left just a few days before that station was used by the RAF in Operation Market Garden. Here, paratroops assemble on Fairford’s infield in front of Short Stirling Mark IVs of 620 Squadron RAF parked on the perimeter track. In the distance we can see one of the giant Horsa gliders they will travel on to the Netherlands. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb34ea53-d22e-4744-8aed-9a5bdad62fcf/Lambie148.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out While awaiting a posting to an Operational Training Unit, Lambie spent some time at the home of his Aunt Amy and uncle. Judging by the lovely bungalow and extensive gardens, these folks were relatively well off. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff74a61a-004c-4562-b3f9-9859de9a5f5a/Lambie151.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie and Aunt Amy, the headmistress at his old elementary school at Bolnhurst, pose in the garden of her home. The last time Amy had seen Donald was in 1930, 14 years previous. Where once there was a mischievous boy, there now was a handsome, elegant, committed young fighter pilot. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6b4b68c-ea49-40d4-b886-a8752928ed38/Lambie65.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Aunt Amy and her husband lived near Bedford, about 25 kilometres from Cambridge. When their nephew Donald came to visit, they took him on a visit to that beautiful university town in their 1939 Ford Prefect Saloon. The war is on, gas is rationed and there are mostly military vehicles in the car park, but somehow, they managed to acquire petrol. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b1d3f00-1377-47d1-8940-a8e15e459fab/Lambie150.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Standing on the lawn outside the main gate and Porters’ Lodge of King’s College, Cambridge, Lambie snaps a shot of the shops and apartments along King’s Parade with the Church of St. Mary the Great (or as it is known to locals Great St. Mary’s) in the background. In addition to being a parish church in the Diocese of Ely, it is the official church for the University of Cambridge. As such it has a minor role in the university's legislation: for example, university officers must live within 20 miles of Great St Mary's and undergraduates within three. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c5ae11d-e98e-4e9b-83bf-989e45e3afc4/Screen+Shot+2022-02-12+at+10.19.36+AM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Quite literally nothing has changed in the intervening 80 years since Donald Lambie took the previous photograph, but Google Streetview brings it to life in living colour. I am not a fan of colourizing old black and white movies, but using modern colour imagery does show us that King’s Parade is not, nor was not, a dark grim place in the way these old photos portray it. Photo: Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fff00f40-2c53-4c0c-8f54-4d7af3647f56/Lambie144.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out On his visit to Cambridge, Lambie stood beside the famed Front Court of King’s College, University of Cambridge. The Late Gothic spires of King’s College Chapel are at left. The cornerstone for the chapel was laid in 1446 (before Columbus’ voyage to America) by King Henry VI, so Lambie was there almost exactly 500 years afterwards. The fantastical structure in the centre is the Gatehouse and Screen containing Porters’ Lodge and the Mail Room where students have pigeon holes for their mail. Only fellows of the college, people speaking to fellows and ducks are allowed to walk on the court’s lawns. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb68d3fe-8cfd-45e2-bf5f-31a89fdefa12/Screen+Shot+2022-02-12+at+10.24.20+AM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Today, Front Court is much the same as in Lambie’s time, save for less ivy on the walls of the Gate House. The manicured lawns remain off limits to tourists and students. The fountain at left was built just 70 years before Lambie’s visit and features a statue of Cambridge founder King Henry VI holding out the charter that allowed the college to be built. Beneath him sit statues representing “Religion” and “Philosophy”. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d26b856a-0918-47f2-857c-5c327c429d3f/Lambie290.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out In Donald Lambie’s photo album from these three years of his life, they are many photos of him with attractive female companions. It appears he met Carolyn Granger, the elegant young woman in the smart suit while he was in Great Britain awaiting a posting to an Operational Training Unit. For more than a year (including after Lambie returned to Canada), Ms Granger sent him photographs of herself and hand written notes on the back that seemed to indicate she was quite sweet on the handsome young Canuck. In the photo at right, taken in April 1945 while Lambie was in combat with 417 Squadron, she worked up the courage to sit upon a tomb in the cathedral’s forecourt. She wrote a saucy little note on the back side which reads “Don’t you think the view of Winchester Cathedral is rather good? It took quite a lot of nerve to sit on top of the tomb, but as you can see… I took the plunge. Sincerely Carol.” Surely photos like these meant a lot to a pilot risking his life in Italy. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7764189b-0536-4aea-b7c9-ed22d540e570/Lambie15.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out While he was in Great Britain, Lambie visited RAF Skipton-on-Swale (where he took this photo), which was home to two Canadian heavy bomber squadrons operating Handley-Page Halifax heavy bombers — 433 and 424 Squadrons. One wonders if it was to visit a friend from his training days. It was pretty common in those days for nose art on Canadian Halifaxes and Lancasters to begin with the same letter as the aircraft code. The nose art “Carolyn” suggests that this was possibly either 433 Squadron’s “C” aircraft (BM-C) which carried RAF serial No. MZ807 or 424 Squadron’s (QB-C) which carried LW164. Both aircraft were later lost — Halifax MZ807 on December 2, 1944, and LW164 two months later in January. The entire crew of the 433 Halifax was lost when it was shot down over France and all but one of the 424 Halifax crew were killed when it crashed on take-off at Skipton-on-Swale. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f70915b8-33c4-49ba-b5b0-f3d48c3dee5d/Screen+Shot+2022-03-27+at+3.23.13+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The aftermath of the Luftwaffe attack on Bournemouth’s once-beautiful Hotel Metropole. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f032403d-c4d6-4460-9b67-d480e8090f6c/Lambie304.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The smiles of Canadian airmen holding the wing of a downed Focke-Wulf Fw-190 after the Luftwaffe attack on Bournemouth belie the trauma of the event. Photo via BBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2bcda579-18e8-4c27-8b57-9d562a0395f1/Lambie296.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Several of the seaside town of Morecambe’s holiday hotels were requisitioned for various ancillary RAF requirements. The modernist streamlined Midland Hotel (Left) became a military hospital while the waterfront Clarendon Hotel (Right) was used as a local RAF headquarters and later accommodations for personnel bound overseas. Photos: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/523914e5-b237-44b1-b790-18faf8eda306/Lambie295.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie sailed from England for Egypt aboard HMT Alcantara on September 28, arriving at Alexandria in October 11, 1944. In 1939, the Admiralty requisitioned Alcantara and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser. The mainmast and a forward dummy funnel were removed to increase the arc of fire for their anti-aircraft guns. Alcantara was sent to Malta for further modifications, but en route she had a major collision with the Cunard ship RMS Franconia. Alcantara was refitted as a troopship in 1943, and remained on that role well after the end of the war, and did not return to civilian service until October 1948. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc8787b1-80d8-4b17-8f8a-7c27be88de08/Lambie29.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie (foreground) and a few of “the boys” including Canadians Jack Leach and Bob Latimer (the two men at right) in the background at Damanhour Station, October 11, 1944. Damanhur is a city about 50 kilometres east of Alexandria, Egypt in the Lower Nile Region. This is likely a train change on the rail line from Alexandria to Cairo (Almaza) where they would join No. 22 PTC that very same day. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/604ab25e-caba-421d-a5ac-b6375cf489a8/Lambie192.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out In October of 1944, Lambie and his friend Dave Evans (Left) met up with some young women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. They were Captain “Paddy” Arthur and Captain Patricia Rawlinson. Lambie picked his friends well. Flying Officer David Evans, a Canadian from Windsor, Ontario would remain in the RAF after the war, and eventually become Air Chief Marshal Sir David George Evans, GCB, CBE, a very senior commander of the Royal Air Force. At the end of the war, after flying close air support operations in Hawker Typhoons with 137 Squadron he would be one of the first RAF officers to enter Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In 1964, he was the pilot for the British 4-man bobsleigh team at the Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria where Canada took the Gold Medal. On another occasion, he represented Canada in the Commonwealth Winter Games and won two bronze medals. In 1973 Evans was made Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group and in 1976 he was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command the following year. He was Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from 1981 to 1983. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7e82c870-388c-4874-9927-36e7167067dc/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_25ed5c14-6f71-11ea-ac40-2259b5e452c2.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Air Chief Marshal Sir David Evans, GCB, CBE about to fly an RAF Panavia Tornado strike bomber. Though he remained in the RAF after the war and was eventually knighted, Evans never gave up his Canadian passport and returned often to visit. He has the distinction of being made an Honorary Citizen of three cities including Winnipeg and Dunnvile, Ontario where he earned his wings. Born and educated in Canada, Evans was commissioned into the Royal Air Force as a Pilot Officer under an emergency commission during the Second World War. He underwent pilot training in Canada and he then completed operational training in Ismailia before joining a Typhoon squadron in Europe. LGen (Ret’d) Lloyd Campbell, former Commander of the Canadian Air Force and highly accomplished fighter pilot had this personal remembrance of Evans. “On August 20th, 1977, I had the pleasure of flying Sir David Evans in a CF-104D (tail number 104649). He was a very charming man and the duty of taking him for a trip in the 'zipper' was a real pleasure. I was introduced to him the evening before our flight at a dinner in his honour. When we had the chance to chat after dinner, I asked him whether he wanted the front seat or back. He acted quite surprised at the offer but, when I told him I could do everything necessary to safely operate the aircraft from the back seat, he enthusiastically volunteered to take the front. The next day was a quite pleasant summer day in Cold Lake and, as we were strolling out to the jet with our 'chutes on, he said to me, rather conspiratorially "Lloyd, something I suppose you should know is that the last fixed-wing aircraft I flew was the VC-10 ... so, if you want to change your mind, it's OK" or something along those lines. Nevertheless, we stuck with the game plan and had a great trip together ... some supersonic flight at tree-top level in the range, some simulated attacks and then a return to base for some touch-and-go landings before a final full stop ... all of which, as I recall, Sir David greatly enjoyed and (with coaching) carried out with admirable skill.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2fe523a9-c135-4cf5-b4b7-13f6889f16f3/Lambie293.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out One of the women ATS officers in the photo above was Captain Pat Rollinson. Thanks to the dogged and digital sleuthing skills of Richard Mallory Allnutt, an aviation writer and historian, a brief story of Rollinson emerged. Patricia Kathleen Rollinson, from Camberwell, London joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1941. She joined as a Sergeant (as shown above) but was promoted to Subaltern in March, 1942. By the time she met Lambie, she had just been promoted to Junior Commander (Temporary), the ATS equivalent of a British Army Captain. She married a man named Philip Arthur Warner in Hendon during 1946. Warner had been at Singapore with the Royal Signals Corps and endured the war in a Japanese POW camp. They had four children together. Sadly Patricia died in Hove during January, 1971, while Warner lived until 2000. Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen of England was also an ATS officer during the war and served as a transport driver. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9115040-088f-45fc-a19e-abf54e244cdd/Lambie68.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie (right) and three friends (Al, Ted and Jack according to the caption on the back) pose near their tent city barracks at Almaza (Heliopolis), Egypt in October, 1944. If you look closely, you can see Lambie’s ubiquitous camera in his hand. Lambie and his friends were encamped here for a month before being posted to RAF Ismailia. RAF Almaza (formerly RAF Heliopolis) was first established as a civilian aerodrome in 1910 in Heliopolis, a north-eastern Cairo suburb. It would be taken over by the RAF prior to the war. For the first few days here they were with No. 22 Personnel Transit Centre and the rest of the month with No. 5 Middle East Aircrew Reception Centre (MEARC)— both at Almaza/Heliopolis—while they sorted out their posting to the Spitfire OTU at Ismailia, near the Suez Canal and the Great Bitter Lake. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f83a25e-dabd-4814-81da-a5fa826086f5/Lambie38.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out In December of 1944, Lambie poses with his “two camara-shy batmen”. Being an officer, Lambie benefitted from having a personal servant to clean his clothing, shine his shoes, clean his room and generally look after his well-being. Sergeant pilots who endured the same hardships and dangers as the officers had no such help. The man in the dark fez was Absid and the fellow in the white “kufi” was named Hassan. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/14b06478-8efd-4696-be7b-f1509b6bf9b2/Lambie294.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The legendary Squadron Leader Bert Houle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2019f349-f657-436b-8662-c3f4f2704ce6/Lambie217.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out At Ismailia, Lambie met many other airmen from Canada and around the world, some of whom would later join 417 Squadron with him. Here, in December, 1944, we see him at right making a silly face with three other Spitfire pilots on the OTU. Left to Right: Flight Lieutenant John Joseph Doyle, “Chalky” White, Royal Australian Air Force and Robert Edward “Bob” Latimer another Canadian who would become a close friend. John Doyle’s sweat shirt with “Elgin Field, Florida” emblazoned on it tells us he quite possibly learned to fly in the United States as part of the Arnold Scheme. Elgin Field was not one of the bases used in the training of RAF pilots but Clewiston on the shores of Lake Okeechobee, Florida was. Doyle likely got the shirt on a cross-country to Elgin. For the past few days I have been doggedly (with no success) trying to connect this John Joseph Doyle to another Spitfire pilot of the same name who flew as a “machal” (foreign fighter) with the nascent Israeli Air Force in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. That pilot was apparently a Canadian Spitfire pilot in the war and became an ace after scoring one victory in the Second World war and four in the 1948 war. If anyone out there can help determine whether these two are one in the same, that would be great. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0214623-2365-4867-bae8-9cbd6ca1a6b3/Lambie191.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie and friends clean up before Sunday services at RAF Ismailia and pose for a photo in the garden behind the officer’s mess on December 3, 1944. Lambie’s two friends were to survive the war and rise to high levels in their careers. Dave Evans (left) of Windsor, Ontario would become Air Chief Marshal Sir David Evans of the RAF while Bob Latimer (seated) would become Assistant Deputy Minister for Trade Policy in Canada’s Department of External Affairs. On this particular day, however, they were just three chums far from their Canadian homes and seeking solace in Sunday services. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c8a7ef60-d5a5-4d95-be81-ade03e2fbd6c/Lambie40.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A line up of five Supermarine Spitfire Mk VcT “Trops” at RAF Ismailia in late 1944. The OTU pilots trained on war-weary Spitfires with the profile-altering, beauty-killing Vokes tropical filters. The filter was initially installed on the Mk.V for operations in North Africa and Malta to filter out the dust of rough strips which was effecting the Merlin engine’s performance and life span. Note pilot’s seat on Spitfire 49 has been removed. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/624e89e5-4b5b-4777-967b-55cdf66266c2/Lambie39.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A close-up of the same flight line showing Spitfire 49, a Mk VcT “Trop” of C-Flight at No. 71 Spitfire OTU. The pilot’s seat has been removed for some type of maintenance work and placed on the ground next to the fuselage. Note the bomb racks under the fuselage between the landing gear legs. Bombing would become a vital skill for Lambie as he joined the continuing campaign to push the Nazis out of Italy. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71d21f14-a26a-43c3-b576-2c05e9c9ed5c/Lambie41.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Another angle on the flight line at Ismailia — looking more like an RAF field in East Anglia than in the Egyptian desert. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87c30731-c361-487b-8bea-e3fc304eb03e/Lambie35.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A pilot at Ismailia, in Spitfire MA360, a Mk VcT “Trop”, leads Lambie in tight formation over Egypt, with the Suez Canal’s Great Bitter Lake in the distance. Spitfire MA360 spent its entire operational life in Africa, arriving in Takoradi, Ghana in the summer of 1943 and was finally struck off charge in 1946. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a38c13ad-4e5b-409d-af4d-1c320db7eede/Lambie190.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A course mate in Spitfire Trop No. B-46 peels away to the left near the Suez Canal as Lambie snaps another cockpit POV photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b831089-81db-4307-9670-d9a163f4b2c0/Lambie37.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A group of colonial boys in front of the officers mess at Ismailia. Back row: L-R. Flying Officer Robert Latimer of Seeley’s Bay, Ontario, Flying Officer Tony Whittingham of Toronto, Ontario, Flying Officer Jack Leach, Lambie and Ron Chapman. In front is Flying Officer Jack Weekes. Weekes would make it to 417 Squadron a month before Lambie and be shot down on March 16, 1945, the day after Lambie arrived on squadron. On that day, he was with five other pilots (all mentioned in this story) assigned to dive bomb a rail line and then provide an escort to 24 Martin Maruaders of the RAF who were hitting the same line. He was last seen beginning his dive. According to the ORB, “No trace of aircraft wreckage could be found although the area was thoroughly searched. In fact, Weekes managed to survive and was captured by the Germans. It wasn’t until after the end of the war that anyone knew he was alive. He died in London, Ontario in 2017 at the age of 96. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/070be9a3-817f-480d-8284-112d07c272a8/Is1+%282%29.JPG The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out In this colour photo from Canadian Army pilot LCol (Ret’d) John Dicker, we see that Ismailia was much the same in the 1970s — note the particular type of metal roof pattern common to this and the previous and following photographs. Canadians returned to Ismailia thirty years after the war as part of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNEF II. This force was established in October 1973 to supervise the ceasefire between Egyptian and Israeli forces and, following the conclusion of the agreements of 18 January 1974 and 4 September 1975, to supervise the redeployment of Egyptian and Israeli forces and to man and control the buffer zones established under those agreements. Photo: John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46c624b4-7019-417d-8f5d-5150306b7301/Lambie36.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out If the number of photos is any indication, Jack Leach was one of Lambie’s best friends in his Mediterranean Sea war experience — with him at Ismailia and on squadron in Italy with 417. Here we see them both in late 1944 outside the officers’ mess at RAF Ismailia, Egypt. Leach would remain in the Royal Canadian Air Force long after the war, retiring in 1971. I am not sure what rank he attained, but by 1971, the Canadian Air Force had adopted an army rank structure, yet on his headstone he chose to be called F/L Jack Douglas Leach. He died in 2013 at the age of 91. His obituary ended with the simple statement that “Jack was a man worth knowing”. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d0840a6-5dc3-48b0-9612-8ef540289a71/Is5.JPG The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The officers quarters in the 1970s looked a bit rough for the Canadians of UNEF II. This building, which, according to UNEF II pilot John Dicker was behind the officers mess at Ismailia, does look like the same structure pictures at right on the previous photo (minus the shutters). Photo: John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de4f8448-accc-4e3a-ae98-256ae347ddab/Lambie42.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The pilots of “C” Flight, No 71 Operational Training Unit gather for a photograph at RAF Ismailia, the week before Christmas, 1944. From Lambie’s captions across a few dozen other photos we can identify a number of the young pilots. Lambie is fourth from left in back row. At left is Jack Leach who would join him at 417 Squadron. Second from the right in the back row is Bob Latimer, another of Lambie’s close friends on 417 Squadron. Fourth from the right in back is the Rhodesian Whitfield. The Canadian John Doyle, RAF is second from right in front. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16986c61-b5f4-4d1c-8174-ece1ac062ed3/Lambie196.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Time to celebrate. Perhaps in celebration of completing their OTU course, Jack Leach lights off a “two-star rocket” over the Egyptian desert at dusk in January, 1945, while Flying Officer Shelton-Smith, an RAF Spitfire pilot from London, England looks on. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f41d060-dade-4c7b-b50b-1891ad896b28/Lambie63.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Ismailia was a well settled air base with accommodations that were a far cry from the previous Almaza tent city and what these young pilots would live in later in the war. The officer’s club included a tennis court where Jack Leach, Flight Lieutenant Ken Archer and Flying Officer Bob Latimer strike a “clubby” pose in January of 1945. Ken Archer is wearing a sweatshirt with the words USMC Air Crops, Yuma Arizona, which to me means some of his training was in the united States, possibly under the Arnold Plan. Archer, from Great Britain went on to fly Spitfires with 241 Squadron along with John Doyle and Tony Whittingham. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3ec0ccb6-f546-4cd0-9b85-ce8d1ea0ce67/Lambie69.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out One of the great attractions for sightseers in Cairo in 1945 and even today are the brilliant white Arabic vaults and domes of Al-Ittihadiya Palace, also known as Al-Orouba Palace or Heliopolis Palace. The beautifully kept national treasure was located a short distance from Ismailia. It is today the official workplace of the Egyptian Presidency where the president receives official visiting delegations. The palace is located in the uptown district, Heliopolis (Masr El Gedida), East Cairo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f5cf41b0-73a3-495d-bf56-4fe8a781dab2/2020-12-30-egyptian-palace-cairo-al-ittihadiya-heliopolis-outside.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Al-Ittihadiya Palace as it looks today. Not much has changed here either since Lambie took his photo in 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37f0a771-9744-4566-a534-978e2ee8f80d/Lambie70.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie and his OTU course mates knew they were near some of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and also knew they might never be back, so they spent their leave visiting the ancient sights including the Great Pyramids. I suspect that nearly 100% of the tourist trade for Pyramid touts came from soldiers, sailors and airmen during the Second World War. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c03f700-4c70-45b6-88e7-61a283faac99/Lambie-229.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Absolutely nothing has changed since Lambie’s time at the pyramid of Cheops Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza… except the two fallen obelisks have now been uprighted. Seeing some of these images in modern colour helps us transcend the distance created by faded and yellowed black and white photographs. That’s why we put these photos in here. Photo: Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f528812b-44b0-4835-ad28-f0e3c2b73bfb/Lambie71.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out After completing the OTU at Ismailia, Lambie and few friends took the time to see some sights in Egypt during a two-week leave before being assigned to a combat squadron. Here his OTU mate Jack Smith catches up on the news in the Hotel LeRoi. Note the line-up of beer bottles on the shelf in the hotel room. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e47520b-9dbf-4a64-9c08-196de31bc6bf/7119021103_2e7b91a0c4_b.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A period flyer for the Hotel LeRoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c9dbad1-710b-4ed8-8a18-9956f88bc379/Lambie33.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out After settling into their hotel, Lambie and his pals went out to see the sights. Here he poses outside the gates of the Imperial Services Information Bureau in Alexandria, January, 1945. I found a brochure online called the Services Guide to Cairo, published during the war that describes the purpose of the Services Information Bureau there (which I assume is the same for the one in Alexandria): “This bureaux [sic] places at the services of H. M.'s Forces on leave the extensive knowledge and experience of those operating it of local conditions. Expert advice is gladly given on the best places to stay, the best places to visit, the cheapest way to do things. One of the bureaux's main activities is the arranging of entertainment by civilians of men on leave.” Clearly, the bureau functioned much the same as a tourist information office or a hotel concierge would today. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b602a56c-1c4c-4fc9-8f17-925d1e1b8bbc/Lambie72.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Sightseeing in “Alex” in January of 1945. Lambie (top left) and a couple of friends stop at the base of a massive statue on the Alexandria corniche dedicated to Saad Zaghloul, an Egyptian revolutionary and statesman. He was the leader of Egypt's nationalist Wafd Party. The figure shown here is not Zaghloul, but rather a supporting statue at the base of the plinth. He served as Prime Minister of Egypt from 26 January 1924 to 24 November 1924. The other pilots are John Whaley (left) and constant friend Jack Leach. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ea80250-7fdc-4061-963f-a8a31544cdda/Lambie278.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The lap of the figure at the base of the monument to Saad Zaghloul has been sat on by tourists since before Lambie’s time and glows gold with the attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8cb36c7d-1191-40d9-a7e7-74b92947bcd1/Lambie197.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A period photo of the Saad Zaghloul monument in Alexandria from the previous photo. At the time, “Alex” was a major Royal Navy base and military crossroads for the RAF, British Army and Royal Navy. It was also far more civilized and comfortable than Cairo — a place where airmen like Lambie and his friends could find good service, great clubs, military nurses and beachside relaxation. Photo from a postcard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e808057a-77da-4016-8051-179043caf994/Lambie34.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Don Lambie sits on a dock railing on the waterfront of Alexandria with the Mediterranean Sea behind him. It’s taken him a long time to get here. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a130a6ef-9c31-40ba-b016-98c624fcbb29/Lambie235.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out On his leave in “Alex”, Lambie made an appointment with a studio photographer at Studio Broadway, 10 Rue Cherif Pacha, Alexandria (Egypt). He wanted a new up-to-date formal portrait to send his parents and perhaps the many ladies who fancied him. Fun Fact: The photographer was Yasser Alwan who, in addition to his studio work, shot images depicting daily life in Egypt for decades before the revolution of 1952. Later, his photographs would be exhibited in Cairo, New York, Frankfurt, San Francisco, London, Canterbury and Abu Dhabi. New York University Abu Dhabi hosted a retrospective of his work during the 2011-12 academic year. He taught photography at various institutions including the German University in Cairo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c2a1721-a7bb-43d6-9962-795953b0fc44/Lambie297.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out It was a C-47 Dakota of 44 Squadron, South African Air Force that flew Lambie and his fellow OTU graduates to Italy from Cairo at the end of their leave. As part of 216 Group, Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, 44 Squadron was responsible for passenger, VIP, cargo and liaison flying on scheduled and special flights throughout the theatre to such exotic-sounding destinations as Khartoum, Teheran, Lakatamia, Aden, Cyprus, Habbaniya, Kalamaki and Algiers. Here a South African pilot of a 216 Group Dakota takes a smoke break at an Italian airfield next to the wreckage an Italian Fiat CR.42. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61b3e7a3-5f3c-4599-a6e1-eef29b5b4f3d/Lambie303.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The first leg of the journey from Athens to Naples brought them to Malta, the recent historical significance of which was not lost on these young fighter pilots. While the Dakota was serviced, Lambie took a few photographs of the aircraft he found there including three B-17 Flying Fortresses and a B-24 Liberator. Judging by the distant mountains, this is Luqua, one of three legendary airfields on the island. Since the date of Lambie’s flight was January 29, we know this was the day before the historic Malta Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt began. It’s possible these American heavies have something to do with that. Lambie’s photo caption says that it was a “Fort carrying one of the Big Three.” Of course this is not correct, since both Roosevelt and Churchill arrived at Malta on capital ships of their respective navies. They were at Malta for private discussions ahead of meeting Stalin at Yalta, so this would have been the Big Two, not Three. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c8d8ffd-d576-46bf-b563-a132a27beef5/Lambie300.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The 44 Squadron SAAF C-47 Dakota that brought Lambie from Ismailia to Naples makes a stop at Catania, Sicily en route and the men pile out for a smoke and then a walkabout. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ff6a04f-d0ec-4919-8fc6-5ec5d6fb20ba/Lambie228.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie photographs a group of airmen in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily. The man who is standing second from the right is wearing the cap and army-style uniform of the South African Air Force, so might be Du Toit, the Dakota’s pilot. In his caption Lambie points out his buddies in amongst the others — Whitfield (third from left), a Rhodesian pilot; John Whaley (in back, 5th from left); Red Sharman, Royal Australian Air Force (6th from left); and Bill Bower, Royal Air Force at far right. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97c5a40a-1e85-4466-8879-ab07e0323a62/Lambie76.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A bare metal North American Mustang IV (P-51D) KH799 of the Royal Air Force at Catania in January, 1945. This Mustang would soon be assigned to 5 Squadron, South African Air Force in the Italian campaign and wear the code GL-B on her flanks. RAF Dakotas can be seen lining the far flight line, possibly one of them is KK158, the Dak that brought Lambie to Catania. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/53c60dad-664e-4309-a5ed-1323f20decec/Lambie74.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie’s friend Jack poses with an RAF Mustang III of 112 Squadron in at an Italian air base in Catania, Sicily. Lambie marked the back as being a photo of a P-40, so was clearly not looking past the shark mouth painted on the nose. Mustang III fighter replaced 112’s P-40 Kittyhawks after the invasion of Sicily. In the background stands the open structure of a bombed out Italian hangar. Beneath it stands a Bristol Beaufighter at right and a Spitfire at left. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/694324a8-8f3a-420f-8842-9e30a0a4e2fc/Lambie77.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Under the open structure of the Italian hangar from the previous photo, Lambie’s friend John Whaley inspects a Percival Proctor liaison aircraft, while in the background we get a bit better view of the Beaufighter. One wonders what originally covered the structure — likely canvas which could have burned away leaving the open structure. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8db3db73-a048-4a28-8bfd-3b5129bcf53f/Lambie64.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out At Catania, Lambie enjoyed inspecting and photographing Allied aircraft he had not yet seen like this Royal Air Force B-26 Marauder. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2efe5e36-cf6a-4982-b968-36adc996cc2e/Lambie89.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Immediately next to the Marauder at Catania in the previous photo stood a B-25 Mitchell. We can just make out the RAF Marauder at left. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/698d61d0-8723-4ebb-bed5-fc8233998029/Lambie75.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Also at Catania was this all-white RAF Vickers Warwick of Coastal Command, used for long range over-water reconnaissance, a larger development of the Vickers Wellington, the mainstay of Bomber Command in the early years of the war. It employed the same geodetic structure designed for the Wellington by the genius inventor Barnes Wallis. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/020427b9-bbae-4f5f-8e61-37f7b1527c1f/Lambie78.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie found plenty to photograph at Catania — from the most advanced Mustang fighters to antiquated biplane amphibians like this Royal Air Force Supermarine Walrus. Lambie’s caption calls it a Walrus ASR — for Air Sea Rescue — used primarily by the RAF for the rescue of downed airmen as well as reconnaissance. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc32b3c7-50bf-45d6-8c9e-a43dbb1dfb6f/Lambie80.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out An RAF Bristol Beaufighter at Catania. Judging by the dark paint scheme and no markings, this was possibly a factory-fresh night fighter yet to be assigned to an RAF squadron in theatre. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9eac3a26-f9fa-424a-9b25-d994b28cc2af/Lambie298.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out On the 24th of March, 1944, ten months before Lambie was there, Vesuvius exploded after a lengthy eruptive period of lava flow. At the time, the United States Army Air Forces’ 340th Bombardment Group was based at Poggiomarino Airfield near Terzigno, Italy, at the very base of the volcano. The tephra and hot ash from multiple days of the eruption buried everything and damaged the fabric control surfaces, engines, Plexiglas windscreens and gun turrets of the 340th's B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. Estimates ranged from 78 to 88 aircraft destroyed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4c7e3ae-b853-4cdb-a1a8-ef5cd546cec3/Lambie81.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out While at Portici, Lambie visited Naples and took this photo of a crowded harbour with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77fd228b-6f2f-42e9-a84a-3cd970170517/shutterstock_1603280851.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Though higher up, this is roughly the same Naples harbour angle on Vesuvius as Lambie’s from 80 years ago. He would have been down on the waterfront on the other side of the harbour to shoot his photo. Photo: Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7ad45db-e263-45e4-8eba-25020aa0c37f/Lambie225.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out After a lorry ride from 56 PTC to a train station near Portici, fighter pilots and other airmen unload baggage from their trucks and line up at a small station to board a boxcar for a trip of more than 300 kilometres north through Rome to Perugia. Note the RAF ensign streaming hard above the boxcar beckoning the excited pilots. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41460bd5-2978-49b9-af01-e16d21de99fd/Lambie212.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out A photo taken in February, 1945 by a squadron mate — Lambie (upper left in braces and shirt) poses for a photo with other Canadian pilots heading toward Perugia... eventually. The caption reads: “In a siding at Rome, waiting for any engine to pull us north! Don, Smithie [Jack Smith], Chapman [in door] Phillips [squatting in doorway] and [left to right bottom] Latimer, Whitfield [the Rhodesian], Geoff Taylor, Manson, Beasley and unknown. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e8ccd34-15d2-4f31-8f31-63e8425b1c16/Lambie299.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The Perugia airfield at Sant'Egidio in August on 1944 with RAF Spitfires of 145 Squuadron, 244 Wing parked outside the destroyed hangars. There was no desire by the RAF to repair the hangars as they would not be here long. Likely this was the same when Lambie got there six months later. Photo: forum.12oclockhigh.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69f88969-3f7a-4070-9314-73bd4ffe5710/Lambie185.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The caption with this photo reads: “The Pilots’ Mess at Perugia… Muddy What!”— proof that conditions were often rough. Perugia was well behind the lines, but even still the pilots, officers and men of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces were making-do. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3c48fe0-f0f3-42bd-b221-0135d8da6e1a/Lambie82.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out In Lambie’s photo album, there was a few post cards from the time he was in Perugia, Italy with No. 5 Refresher Flying Unit, including this one to his parents dated February 15 showing a view of Assisi. The mountain town of Assisi, birthplace of Saint Francis, one of Italy’s patron saints and Saint Clare, is about 30 kilometres from Perugia. At centre stands the mass of the Basilica of St. Francis which dates back to 1253 and houses his stone sarcophagus. On the right is the rather austere entrance to the Basilica di Santa Chiara. (Saint Clare’s). Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adccb4a1-e555-46f3-bce7-24e831231053/Lambie285.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The very same scene today shows us that nothing has changed since Lambie’s visit to Assisi in 1945. The note penned to his parents on the back of the previous postcard hints at his growing frustration : “My Dearest Mum and Dad. I am spending a few days in this beautiful & interesting town. The people are very hospitable here and with what French I know, I am getting along well enough. This was taken from the castle on the top of the hill, where Frederick “Barbe-Rosa” I of Germany once lived. On a clear day the view of the valley with its many vineyards etc. is wonderful. The evenings are quiet and an ideal spot for a rest. Not that I need one. Hope you are both well. Your mail beginning to reach me once more. Don” Photo: Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eec079fd-b97c-436d-aeae-f1ed8039f55e/Lambie199.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Standing in the Piazza Santa Chiara in Assisi, Italy, Lambie captures the rather grim-looking front facade of the 13th century Basilica di Santa Chiara. As usual, black and white photos from war time tend to make places and landscapes look tired and distressed. In fact, the Basilica is a bright pink and white limestone structure. Note the Allied ambulances parked at right. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d8b824c-235f-40cb-a0cd-f605f82d4265/Screen+Shot+2022-01-22+at+2.00.09+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out If you were to stand in Lambie’s spot in the Piazza Santa Chiara today, nothing would be changed, except that the basilica would now be spruced up a bit since wartime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/951e8d6a-b39b-4d76-9b7d-58d706717023/Lambie272.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out The caption on the back of this photo says “Our truck in the convoy. We used the tailboard for a table”. The date is given as February, 1945 meaning that this was the convoy of airmen moving No. 5 Refresher Flying Unit and its people from their base at Perugia south to a new airfield called Guado near the ancient Roman city of Paestum, south of Sorento. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/573d48e6-815d-4aad-8a7a-dd717002549e/Lambie284.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out While the Paestum-bound convoy halts for lunch, the airmen are swarmed by Italian children (left) trying to scrounge anything they can from the airmen — a scene that Lambie describes as pitiful. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7aea7cfc-b019-4c53-b402-dd39d4ef301b/Lambie224.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Lambie’s convoy rolls through an historic Italian city with men in the trucks sitting atop the canvas roof or looking out the front, not wanting to miss a thing. I’m sure this day was burned into Lambie’s memory. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/523e878f-6870-4ca3-8f1a-bd89d665a0fc/Lambie84.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out At Guado airfield near Solerno, Lambie photographed this Martin Baltimore medium bomber which he claimed in the caption had suffered flak damage. Note the pilot standing on the oil drum, almost lost in the tangle. In addition to the damage on the nose, the propeller tips are bent backwards, meaning those tips struck something on both sides. If propeller tips get bent backwards when they hit the ground it means that the engines were not making power. I think Lambie was just guessing about the flak damage. The nose damage seen here and the way it is bent to the side leads me to believe that the Baltimore actually ground looped (with power pulled back), left the runway and tipped up on its nose while skidding to the left, with the very ends of the propeller blades striking the ground. By the time Lambie was here at Guado, the flak-baiting bombing war was hundreds of miles farther north. No pilot would fly his aircraft hundreds of miles bypassing other secured Allied bases if he had suffered this kind of damage. In the background sits a Bell P-39 Airacobra. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58aaee5f-74eb-4089-aaf6-9f0e8116b508/Lambie32.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Gaudo airfield, March, 1945. Flying Officer Jack Leach takes close look at an American P-39 Airacobra at Guado airfield. A search for her name “Torrid Tessie” brings up only a P-47 Thunderbolt with that nickname. If anyone had any information on this particular aircraft and her unit at Guado, I’d love to hear from you. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/494829b0-5629-4e56-8844-3e8d233b933d/Lambie283.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Fun Fact. At the time Lambie was in Italy, tricycle-gear Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters like the one in the previous photo, were used not just by the Americans and RAF, but also by the Italian Co-belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana — ACI) in ground attacks on the retreating Germans. Here, the green, white and red roundels of the ACI are overpainted on the American roundel. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fda0b8da-e7f2-4ec1-938f-e40aa20ffffd/Lambie234.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donald-lambies-war-1 monthly 0.5 2022-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f5654d5-ec21-43c4-b6ff-916cd87f53fb/LambieFlash.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832238023-MQB78KY7ZKE3O6I1RMVW/Undaunted20.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The only image of Harry Hannah during the war to come to light is this 602 Squadron group photo taken at RAF Lasham where the squadron was based for most of April 1943, a few months before Harry was shot down. This is the only image of Harry from his wartime service, all his photographs having been lost in the intervening years since the war. Harry sits in a relaxed manner beside his best friend Jimmy Kelly. Kelly would be shot down and killed after D-Day the following year. The loss of Kelly hit Harry hard when he found out about it after returning from prison. Photo: 602SquadronMuseum.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/362023e0-520f-477c-8b07-1175b1547a10/Lambie250.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The leather-bound album that caught the eye of collector Tim Krete in an antique shop on Manitoulin Island. The shop’s owner was from Toronto and spent the winters there looking out for unique antiques and collectibles to sell in his seasonal shop on the island. Photo Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1128814-fee2-4911-9988-125216143222/Lambie252.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out As soon as Tim Krete opened the album he knew he had stumbled on something greater than a “collectible”, but rather a unique window on one man’s experience in the Second World War and an historic record of a sparsely documented period in RCAF fighter operations. Photo Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3fe21f1-3612-4cac-b3f8-4d3bce1252b1/Lambie52.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out An initial search of the internet brought to light this studio photograph of Donald Lambie — a handsome, elegant man in his 50s engaged in the insurance business. It was immediately apparent that this was the same man as the 20-year old whose life was so fully depicted in the more than 400 photos in the album. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce9ba27d-60d3-415b-90ff-1d34dc49f8a2/Lambie254.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Jeff Krete and Karen Lambie at her home in Etobicoke, Ontario in 2022, a little more than 100 years after the birth of Donald Lambie. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1a9aa9b8-f0df-4f55-91e3-c4264fcd3b40/Lambie253.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Donald and Karen Lambie on the occasion of their wedding in 2004. With Karen’s help and the gift of his mementos, we are able to tell more of his life story than even she knew. Photo via Karen Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a410378-964d-4bd1-ac9b-9bc5fb5b2706/Lambie256.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Most English-speaking Canadians at the outset of the Second World War still had a strong socio-political connection with Great Britain. It was one of the reasons so many young men joined the fight to save Britain. But Lambie’s was deeper than most. His parents were Britons and he was conceived there. When he was a boy of 7 years, he sailed with his mother to England to meet and live with family for two years. While he was there, he was schooled at Bolnhurst School in the hamlet of Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire. The tiny school lay just 1 kilometre from RAF Bedford to the west and RAF Little Straughton to the east. Here we see young Lambie standing third from the left in the back while his Aunt Amy, the school’s headmistress, stands behind. I must admit, there are a few Village of the Damned-like children in this group! Photo: Donald Lambie Colllection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3673f723-e893-4ccb-b7e2-dae82eadaed4/Screen+Shot+2022-03-05+at+10.47.44+AM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie’s Aunt Amy was headmistress at Bolnhurst for the 32 years before it was closed. Today, Bolnhurst School is a private residence on School Lane in a very rural area.. This will be the first of many modern photos that I have added of locales depicted in Lambie’s album to help add literal colour as well as modern context to his images. The children and Miss Amy were standing in front of the white framed window to the left of the white door in this Streetview screen capture. Photo: Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4f070af0-fa92-4245-862f-7aa48ba1e36d/Lambie237.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Donald Lambie grew up an only child in a solidly middle-class family in English-speaking Montreal. Many of his comrades from the war grew up in much more hard-scrabble existences, working on the family farm on the prairies or on the family fishing boat. But Lambie grew up well, got involved in the world around him and learned the value of hard work. Counterclockwise from upper left: Lambie as a toddler in the ambiguous clothing favoured by parents in the day; 11 year-old Lambie in 1933 with his father David Lambie down to the docks of Montreal Port for a tour of the visiting Royal Navy sloop HMS Scarbourough, a gunboat of the Royal Navy launched in 1930. She served in the Second World War, especially as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic. Lambie’s father worked in the shoe department at Eaton’s department store as evidenced by high quality wingtips worn by his son; then a photo of a young Lambie having a little fun turning a few garden implements into a chariot of some kind. Lastly, a photo of 8-year old Lambie in 1930 with his German Shepherd dog on Sandy Beach in Hudson, Quebec. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf29add3-4625-48b9-8410-0c837e566f29/Lambie248.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Research into any photo can be an obsession, a rabbit hole from which there is only one exit. The photo of young Lambie and his German Shepherd dog from the previous photo collage had a single word caption on the back — Hudson. For a while we thought that might be the name of the dog, but I got to thinking maybe it was for the small town of Hudson, Quebec on the shores of the Ottawa River as it feeds Lac des Deux Montagnes west of Montreal, a favourite summer spot for English-speaking Montrealers for a century. Google Earth revealed only a single sand beach in the immediate area of the town — a 100 metre long patch of silicon dioxide known appropriately as “Sandy Beach”. I placed the photo of Lambie and his dog into an image I found on the web — a perfect match! “Who cares?” you might say, and you’d have a point, but I find searching for these places and finding the coloured modern equivalent photos to be a way to connect with the life of Donald Lambie and to literally bring colour and a better understanding of his own experiences. Black and white photos have a way of distancing you from the realities of the days and place where they were shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50201911-ef6e-4f56-8ad2-41a72d81016e/Lambie246.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Perhaps this is off topic, but this is the Royal Navy sloop Scarborough, the ship Lambie and his father went to visit at Montreal Port in 1933 as seen in the previous photo collage. I always find adding these asides into the image mix helps to colour Lambie’s story. Well, at least I find it interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01804b77-b9d0-41d3-b00b-366c64cccdef/Lambie238.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out On another family outing, this time to St. Jovite, Quebec (near Mont Tremblant) Lambie’s visiting Aunt Amy grabs a shot of the family—mother Edith Annie (Bayes) Lambie, Donald Walter Dambie and father David Lambie. One notes the more formal dress worn on outdoor adventures in the 1930s. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78eb4faa-9295-4d72-93bb-e680dd5451e1/Lambie242.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Music was always an important part of the young Lambie’s life and circle of friends. He was a member of the youth choir at St. Matthew’s Anglican church in Montreal — seen at left in the bottom photo of the mixed church choir in surplice and cassocks; and fourth from right in the young mens choir performing on stage. Like Scouting, singing in the church choir was one of Lambie’s passions. After he moved to Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto, after the war he sang in the All Saints’ Kingsway Anglican Church for 16 years. .Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/406cbf6f-bcc0-4612-9f2a-a22cf1a879f5/Lambie263.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The choir in the previous photo was standing beneath of the three stained-glass transept windows on the south side of St. Mathews Anglican church. Man, I love to go back in time like this! Photo: Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b97fae20-95d4-4ef0-95fa-7444d0bb1e2f/Lambie239.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie loved the great outdoors and devoted many years of his life to the scouting movement in Canada. In the top photo, Lambie (middle) enjoys a bright sunny day of skiing in March of 1941 with some younger scouting friends [looks a lot like Grey Rocks near Tremblant]. Bottom: Lambie (second from left) and some friends stand for a full-dress scouting group shot at Camp Tamaracouta in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal. It was the summer of 1941, Lambie’s first year as commanding Officer of “Ruperts House” (his particular lodge?). Camp Tamaracouta is about an hour northwest of Montreal near the small town of Mille-Isles. The camp has been welcoming scouts for more than a century. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c5790417-3b18-4cf7-b6f9-6a536b778386/Lambie240.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Left: A photo of Lambie in full Scouting attire taken in September of 1942, the month after his initial enlistment. Right: The year before he enlisted, Lambie was already involving himself in the war effort leading a troop of scouts in a Victory Loan Parade in downtown Montreal. No doubt, he was ahead of the game in maintaining his uniform, polishing brass and marching. Photos: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64758cfd-2df2-432c-83f2-7b0e8d1db7da/Lambie220.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out One of the earliest photos in the album. Donald Lambie (second from right) poses with his friends in their civilian clothes next to a 1932 Chevrolet Cabriolet roadster at the University of Montreal in October of 1942 — perhaps taken at nearby Mount Royal. The men (L-R: Chuck DePoe, Reg Chapman, Bob Gray, Lambie and Doug Howard) were attending a “refresher course” according to the handwritten caption on the album page. Following enlistment, in order to continue with real prospects for flight or aircrew training, they were required to refresh their math skills, other academics and their study habits. Once the WETP courses were employed, there were fewer failures in Initial Training School. A visit to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial reveals that Doug Howard was killed on operations with 166 Squadron, RAF in December of 1944 while flying as a navigator on a Lancaster. As for the other three men in this photo, I could find nothing on the interwebs to help me tell their stories except that Gray earned his wings with Lambie at st. Hubert. The man on the far left, Chuck DePoe, bares a strong family resemblance to famed Canadian broadcaster Norman DePoe, an American and Oregonian by birth. Many DePoe family histories found on the internet lead to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon. They were of Native American heritage. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2eb63b6a-a03d-45c5-9c0b-65c9c23939bc/Lambie221.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Douglas Studholme Howard of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, the man on the right in the previous photo was killed on operations with 166 Squadron, RAF on the night of 4/5 December, 1944. These photos are not from Lambie’s collection and you might ask why tell his story. Well, he was Lambie’s friend and everyone’s story needs telling. Flying Officer Howard was the navigator on a largely Canadian crew of seven that was lost when their Lancaster crashed returning from a night operation. Howard’s Lancaster (RAF LM176, Squadron Code AS-X) took off at 4:25 PM local time at RAF Elsham Wolds to bomb the German industrial city of Karlsruhe with a load of twelve 1,000 lb. bombs. It was one of two 166 Squadron Lancasters lost on that raid out of 24 participating bombers. Howard’s crew almost made it home, crashing seven hours into the flight near the village of Kirmington, Lincolnshire just 6 kilometres from base. They were in the process of approaching to land when their Lancaster, piloted by Canadian Roy Stanley Hanna stalled and crashed in Brocklesby Park. Photos via The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8fb44e13-5ed5-4086-b6ee-5fc93b0a7d8a/Lambie44.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Young 21-year old Aircraftman Second Class Donald Walter Lambie stands proudly in his new uniform and great coat near his home in Montreal in the winter of 1942/43 . The date is possibly immediately after Manning Depot or perhaps after he returned from guard duty at Camp Borden on his way to Initial Training School (ITS) in Victoriaville, Quebec. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/557a2176-165e-486d-9614-4713f554481b/Lambie51.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A photo of Aircraftman 2nd Class Lambie with a young woman named Tess, one of many pretty young ladies recorded in his company. He had no relatives in Montreal save his immediate family, so this is likely his girlfriend. Given the snow and his AC2 rank, it is likely that this is after Manning Depot, and just before he leaves for guard duty at Camp Borden. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7b14259-6505-4fee-a59c-77720d618523/Screen+Shot+2022-01-22+at+2.45.45+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A wartime aerial photograph of RCAF Station Camp Borden looking towards the east and showing the long line of First World War-vintage hangars along the flight line. Today, while the runways are no longer in use and gone to seed, the line of hangars remains, though not in original condition. Overhead photo via FlightOntario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b060bbc-6f88-4740-a44a-b5edfa94c750/Lambie142.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out On January 29th, 1943 a North American Yale based at Camp Borden’s No. 1 Service Flying Training School was forced down on a snowy frozen farm field near Milton— west of Toronto, Ontario while on a cross-country flight. On landing, the Yale, RCAF Serial No. 3416, flipped onto its back and suffered Category B damage. As was the custom in the RCAF in those days, two newly-recruited Aircraftmen Second Class (AC-2) awaiting an Initial Training School assignment were dispatched from Borden to stand guard over the wreck to prevent theft, accident or vandalism until a recovery crew and equipment could be mustered. In the case of Yale 3416, AC-2 Don Lambie and a friend was handed a rifle and driven to the site of the crash, there to protect the King’s Yale. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0732ddc-7e6c-45b5-ae5c-b200ace98dd8/Lambie54.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Aircraftman Don Lambie, rifle at the ready, stands on guard beside the forlorn Yale. A folding chair was provided to Lambie to relieve the strain of standing throughout the night in temperatures that hovered around the freezing point on the night of January 29-30—a relatively benign winter’s night for Canada. According to the Operations Record Book for No 1 SFTS at Borden, Yale 3416, piloted by LAC B. J. Hart “turned over while landing near Milton, Ontario at 1700 hours.” “Landing near Milton” must be a euphemism for a forced landing, since there was no airfield at Milton and if Hart was landing there, they would not have used the term “near”. In fact, Hart had become lost on a cross-country flight and with daylight soon to fail, made a precautionary landing, but “turned over”. Though he landed at 1700 hours, sunset that year on the 29th of January was at 1824, so the light was good and the shadows long. Given the prevailing winds in that region, he likely made a landing into the glare of a setting sun, which, any Canadian will tell you, is particularly bad when the ground is covered in reflective snow. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bd14c6db-9e7b-4261-91b3-88f6923f5c1b/Lambie141.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Mechanics from Borden assess the work to get the damaged Harvard onto its wheels and disassembled for the transit to a maintenance depot. The airframe (3416) was assessed as having suffered Category B damage which meant that: "The aircraft must be shipped, not flown under its own power, to a contractor or depot-level facility for repair." It’s pretty clear that even if the Harvard was flyable, it could never have taken off from a snow-covered farm field. We are lucky that Lambie brought his camera with him everywhere so that we can see the kind of assignment new recruits were often given. It’s rare to have that glimpse into an airman’s life. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f50df2b-28fa-4c23-bed3-f6c02b4967c7/Lambie143.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Don Lambie, this time wearing a great coat, sits on the hub of the Yale’s propeller warming his face in the winter sun while mechanics from Camp Borden assess the damage and come up with a plan. When researching these stories, I find many interesting and telling details in Operations Record Books. The day before Hart’s botched landing (the 28th), a pilot taxied his Harvard into a fuel truck. On the same day as Hart’s accident two Harvards collided while practicing formation flying — with no injuries. Two days later, a Borden-based Harvard turned over at Edenvale, one of two relief fields for No. 1 SFTS. Bad weather put a stop to flying until the 4th of February when a Harvard, a Yale and an Anson all ended up on their noses within 90 minutes of each other at Borden. The pace of training never stopped despite accident rates that would shut down the modern RCAF. There was a war on and schools like No. 1 SFTS understood this was the price of a rapid RCAF build-up. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/480ac616-866d-4a82-81ee-f41583ce1ec2/Lambie206.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Taken the same day as the previous photo, Lambie snaps a photo of a young woman sitting on the same propeller hub. It’s doubtful that he knew a young woman in the town of Milton hundreds of mile from his Montreal home, so likely this was a local farm woman or a citizen of the town, drawn by curiosity to check out the downed aircraft. It was a different time when townsfolk could come out to these crash sites and befriend the crews salvaging it. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d463e016-3f98-4ef4-b0de-45656a8cac45/Lambie205.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The Farmer’s Daughter. It didn’t take the handsome young airman long to meet and become friendly with the locals. It’s hard to believe that Lambie knew this woman from the Milton area, and it also hard to believe he could make a friend so fast that he and his fellow airman could start cavorting with such joy in a snowdrift. Other photos on the page indicate that Lambie was staying at this young woman’s farm near the accident site. So, I consider it likely that Lambie and the other guard shown here were billeted at the farm house during the recovery of the Harvard in the nearby field. In the background, the young woman’s little brother “Dave” peeks out. The other photos in the sequence show Lambie not only getting to know the family of this woman, but also helping them out on the farm. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32510b90-8a0e-45bc-b1d0-8b2c1ae9fa22/Lambie264.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out While Lambie was on guard duty, he helped out at the farm where he was billeted. Here, he drives a horse-drawn milk sleigh with the day’s milk output. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad88c409-c267-41a5-bf0e-17a734d5b24f/Lambie267.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie (left) and his buddy help clear a heavy snowfall from the farm roadway, as young Dave watches. While these photos have no airplanes or air bases in them, these experiences are just as much a part of the Donald Lambie story as anything he experienced later in his war. We are particularly grateful for these insights. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/da3849f9-5af2-46a5-bf7b-98e632174c17/Lambie58.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A great shot of ground crew changing the port wheel assembly on Avro Anson 7231. Note the cold weather baffles in the engine nacelles. This particular Anson Mk II was assigned to No. 1 Bombing & Gunnery School at Jarvis, Ontario from December 1, 1942 until a year later when it went into storage. For that reason, I will place this photo in this section on Lambie’s time doing Guard Duty at Camp Borden. His other winter training was a year later, when this aircraft was in storage. I think that possibly Lambie took this photo at Camp Borden or while hitchhiking on a Borden flight to Jarvis or to Aylmer’s No. 14 SFTS. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cca21183-cd31-4882-b724-f6b011ee62a9/Lambie62.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Most images in Lambie’s album have no written captions on the back, but they are in groups on pages which lead us to assume they were taken around the same time. This photo of Harvard 3176 is connected to the next photo in that they are in the same grouping on the page. More importantly, the pattern of snow and asphalt on the ground around the Harvard is also the same in both photos which means they were taken at the same time in the same place. This aircraft served with No. 14 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Aylmer, Ontario for its entire wartime career, so it’s likely that this photo was taken there as opposed to Borden which had First World War hangars. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2cdf64f9-b2c6-4b21-8348-2ad680915957/Lambie28.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Perhaps standing on the control tower’s catwalk or on a hangar roof, Don Lambie captures part of a Service Flying Training School flight line after a light early winter snowfall has been cleared. For reasons already stated, I feel this is at Aylmer. Fourteen yellow Harvard trainers are prepped and ready for students and instructors. Note the two wooden frames standing on the grass in the centre foreground next to Harvard 3176. These frames are visible, in the same positions, in the next photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/65669b46-eb2c-4975-8735-74cf2136849e/Lambie59.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A bare-metal Lockheed Model 12 (RCAF Serial Number 7641) taxies away from the flight line at an airfield on a sunny day in the spring of 1943 (note the dirty residual snow on the edge of the ramp). Used to move commanders, inspectors, staff pilots, accident investigators and even needed parts around the various Training Commands, the Lockheed 12 was used as a utility aircraft and not for training purposes. The Royal Canadian Air Force operated a small number of used examples of the type (also known as the Junior Electra) purchased from private owners in the United States and Canada. The wooden frames in the foreground can be seen in the previous photo which Lambie took after a snowfall, so we know this was definitely taken while Lambie was in training. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcc78d01-7d5a-46fb-a749-e2dcd29e9cec/Lambie27.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out From the control tower, Lambie snaps a photo a Lysander target tug. Not sure what’s going on here, but the lone yellow and black aircraft in this cold landscape seems to be attracting a lot of attention with at least eight men watching it warming up. This particular Lysander (RCAF serial No. 2316) served its entire life at No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery school at Jarvis, Ontario so I am placing it here in this section when Lambie was in Southern Ontario in January 1943. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0146c523-62c5-4576-97c4-b58401f8a13b/Lambie67.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out It’s difficult to tell, but the underwing RCAF serial for this winterized Tiger Moth is either 8889 or 8885. Either way, both of those Tiger Moths worked their service lives with No. 1 Training Command in Ontario. This was again likely photographed at the same time and Ontario location as the previous winter shots. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edb42af0-1885-482f-aac0-0372b110759d/Lambie50.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out In the summer of 1943, Leading Aircraftman Don Lambie, having just completed Initial Training School, proudly strolls the streets of Montreal in his summer tunic, polished shoes and white cap flash denoting that he is now aircrew in training. He was granted the wish of every recruit — to train to be a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Lambie had, for three years, listened to the stories of Canadian fighter pilots like Stan Turner, Willie McKnight and “Eddie” Edwards (nicknamed Stocky after the war) so was likely extremely proud to be in their company. The good-looking Lambie had no trouble attracting female companionship, but now, with his uniform and aircrew status, one can almost imagine the sound track and opening lyrics to the Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive playing as he walks down the street— “Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32f4ca26-ad8d-4703-bb30-7900545be9b5/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.12.55+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out An overhead shot of the facilities of No. 11 Elementary Flying School at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières. The school operated the Fleet Finch at first and then later instruction was given on both the Finch and the Fairchild Cornell. In this photo we see both Cornells and Finches on the flight line and around the parade square. As well, there appears to be an Anson and a Harvard on the upper ramp and Tiger Moths at the bottom of the image. The barracks where Lambie lived are at upper right. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32a6b615-fd21-4562-9a39-984932c695b7/Lambie43.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie snaps a blurry shot from the front seat (note the strut at right) of his Fleet Finch trainer of what he would have called Three Rivers in 1943, but is now better known by its French name Trois-Rivières. It was the closest community to No. 11 EFTS at Cap-de-la-Madeleine. In the middle of the photo we see the distinctive shape of the Hippodrome race track and at bottom its bustling St. Lawrence River riverfront. The city, now the fifth largest in Quebec, stands at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Maurice Rivers. “But that’s only two rivers.” you might say. The name comes from the fact that the St. Maurice River (upper right) coming down from the north, flows into the mighty St. Lawrence through three separate channels. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ace8849-f004-4ce2-97e8-5f3a4355f64a/Lambie56.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out At Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Lambie trained on Fleet Finches like the two aircraft pictured here. The Finch on the right (4723) was damaged at Trenton more than two years before this photo was taken, so perhaps it was repaired and assigned to No. 11 EFTS. Why Lambie is on the outside of the perimeter fence is not known, but he surely would have had access airside. For more on the Fleet Finch operated by Vintage Wings of Canada, click here. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8cfef45-effb-4ea1-9876-808c7015bf1f/Lambie02.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Judging by the fencing in this photo, it was taken at the same time as the previous photo of the two Finches. It shows a a nice cross section of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan aircraft types parked along the fence and moving about on the ramp. In the foreground sits Avro Anson 8359, a Mk II built in Nova Scotia by Canadian Car and Foundry. The multi-engine training aircraft was assigned to No. 3 Training Command which was responsible for all training bases in Quebec and the Maritime provinces. Next to 8359 sits a North American Harvard IIB, (H40 with RAF serial FE842), and beyond that, a British-built Fairey Battle bombing and gunnery trainer sporting a white diagonal fuselage band with the numerals 54 on it side. In the distance, Fleet Finches are active on the ramp. Since Anson 8359 was released from five months of storage on August 2 of 1943, this puts the scene likely in August or September at No. 11 EFTS Cap-de-la-Madeleine where Lambie was completing his elementary flying training. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e5879fc-ce18-4d2b-9424-241efd969472/Screen+Shot+2022-02-21+at+9.06.47+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out While at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Lambie became close friends with one of his instructors, Flight Lieutenant George Morrison, who he would remain close friends with until the 21st century. In his log book, he has pasted a news clipping of Morrison’s wedding which occurred in January of 1944 while Lambie was in Bagotville, Quebec. Image via Donald Lambie’s logbook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2282945f-737a-4390-845f-e269726143f3/Lambie180.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Throughout the three years covered by the Lambie album there are numerous photographs of him in the company of beautiful young women — acquaintances, neighbours, military nurses and girlfriends. With his Hollywood good looks and ease with making friends, this comes as no surprise. The title of the album page where this photo appears states “Île Perrot, July 1943”, which means he was on leave there during his time at Cap-de-la-Madeleine — perhaps on a weekend pass. Île Perrot is a large island at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, west of Montreal and its shoreline is populated by summer homes. Perhaps he was visiting the family of this woman. The handwritten caption on the back, obviously written by the young woman in the photo, reads“ I really don’t look like that, do I? What “muskles” on you!! When you’re lonely and sad, if ever, I’m sure this will revive you.” Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/078af19f-5c5e-4c36-adbe-329807cf1dd3/Lambie61.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie, in a third aircraft, takes a photo of two other yellow Harvards from No. 13 Service Flying Training School flying in loose formation across a hazy landscape in Quebec. The school was situated near the South Shore community of Longueuil, across the river from Montreal. These aircraft have only the single occupant and one wonders if Lambie was also flying solo when he took this photo—something he would do in Hurricanes and Spitfires later in the war. They are overflying a very distinctive region to the east of the school known for several large mountains that rise from an otherwise flat alluvial plain known as the Collines Montérégiennes or Monteregian Hills, a series of eight butte-type mountains in the St. Lawrence River valley. The hills extend eastward for about 50 miles (80 km) from Île de Montréal to the Appalachian Highlands. The name, derived from the Latin Mons Regius (“Royal Mountain”), was first applied by Jacques Cartier, the French explorer, in 1535. That’s where Montreal gets its name. They range in height from 764 feet (Mont Royal in downtown Montreal) to 3,635 (Mont Mégantic). Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a8d3bb73-7389-447d-b209-6530d359ed37/Monteregian_Hills_in_the_Fall.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The Monteregian mountains today— from atop Mont Saint-Hilaire, receding into a similar haze as in the previous Lambie photo. Mont Rougement is next in line, with Mont Yamaska on the horizon at left and Mont Saint-Grégoire in the distance at right. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3dcbabe-b7fe-44d6-8e6d-281eb7dce3bc/Lambie195.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A poor photo but one that speaks to the conditions of flying from St. Hubert aerodrome in the winter of 1943 on the snowy South Shore of the St Lawrence River south of Ile de Montréal. While the vast majority of Harvards of the BCATP aircraft were painted yellow, this looks to be painted in a dark camouflage scheme as were some the RAF serial Harvards. We can just make out the pitot tube on Lambie’s Harvard in the lower right corner. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5ceb7e35-484c-42b5-a77d-910b4edf9870/Lambie187.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A classmate of Lambie’s flies close alongside in Harvard FE523 in the South Shore skies of Quebec. I believe this is similar to the camouflaged aircraft from the previous photograph (or likely the same aircraft). We can make out the yellow underside and the darker camouflage topside. Given the open cockpit and lighter dress of the pilot, I wonder if this is from an earlier, warmer time during Lambie’s SFTS training. Perhaps sometime between August and October of 1943. Taking photographs from the cockpit, especially during formation flying, was not necessarily encouraged, but Don Lambie seemed determined to keep a record of his war. Later, he would do the same while flying Hurricanes and Spitfires (both single-seat aircraft) while training. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e785e317-53e5-4bb3-a1c1-519aaaeb6f2f/Lambie188.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Moments after the previous photograph, Lambie’s aircraft crosses beneath the yellow belly of Harvard FE523 while he snaps this photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2231a8b-f2aa-4f16-9223-68db58ebc302/Lambie57.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out It’s difficult to positively identify the control tower depicted in this photo taken by Lambie. St. Hubert had a similar tower, but the previous photo reveals that St. Hubert’s structures seemed to be all painted white. This tower does not look like those at any base to which Lambie was posted — Borden, Cap de la Madelaine, St. Hubert or Bagotville. If anyone can positively identify this tower, please write to me. After his wings were awarded, his next posting was at Bagotville, but that station had a control tower that was attached to one of its hangars. I’ll place this photo here in the section about his Service Flying Training, but it could be anywhere — even taken in Ontario when he was doing Guard Duty. Of note is the radio/flying control truck parked on the ramp outside. These trucks, with their mobile control cabs, were used to supplement air traffic control, especially at relief fields with no tower facilities. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3879f4aa-b535-4a31-81df-d2915a88b47c/274227806_3188422928056571_6949923146675520503_n.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out On the day he received his wings at St. Hubert, Lambie was featured along with 14 of his fellow airmen and one army officer in the pages of The Montreal Daily Star newspaper. Lambie is dead centre. Sergeant R. B. Gray (Left back row) is the same Bob Gray who took War Emergency Training Plan courses with Lambie at University of Montreal in 1942. Tragically, the only one of these men to die in the war was army Lieutenant Henry James Stuart O’Brien, who quit the Army and joined the RCAF. He would be killed almost exactly a year later flying a P-51 Mustang on a recce op over the Ruhr Valley. Clipping via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff8e1f11-7edb-4efd-9990-2dd5f29b75cb/Lambie265.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A cautionary tale. On the last page of Lambie’s logbook section devoted to No. 13 SFTS, he pasted a small news clipping which he came across in the Montreal papers in January of 1944 when he was at the Hurricane OTU in Bagotville. Just three paragraphs long, it named Flight Lieutenant J. F. Kosalle of Toronto as the young Harvard flying instructor from St. Hubert who was dismissed from the RCAF after a court martial that found him negligent in the deaths of two Canadian Army officers and injury to four others. The accident in question happened during a demonstration of what we now call close air support at Camp Farnham, an army training base in the Eastern Townships, south east of Montreal. Kosalle and other pilots were engaged in a very low mock strafing run but Kosalle was lowest of all and struck six standing officers with his port wing and propeller. Two were killed instantly, while the other four were severely injured. On top of that, an ambulance rushing to bring victims to the Camp Hospital swerved to avoid troops on the road and overturned in a ditch. This tragedy happened on August 5, 1943, just two days before Lambie got to St. Hubert. After an investigation, Kosalle was court-martialled on October 12, but his name was not released to the public until early January. This story must have made a deep imprint on Lambie as he was commencing his service flying training. Kosalle was a good man, who had worked so hard for his wings that he graduated top in his class at Dauphin, Manitoba… all that hard work and achievement to be dashed and covered in shame for one moment of poor judgement. War is hell. Training for war is hell too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe76f41b-c443-4b7f-96e3-1d3b1805cc1a/Lambie22.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A terrific photo of Lambie sitting casually on the wing root of a Hurricane named SALOME. According to the hand-written caption on the back, this was taken at St. Hubert in November of 1943 after his assignment to the Hurricane OTU. This would have been just days after he got his wings, as he is wearing an officer’s cap.Perhaps the Hurricanes were at St. Hubert to inspire the next course of Hurricane students. The pride and excitement for the next few months of fighter training is easy to see. SALOME was likely named after another popular song from the early 1940s by British band leader Harry Roy and his band. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8856811a-4f68-4ab6-96a6-26301c27b916/Lambie18.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out My heart skipped a couple of beats when I saw this photo taken at St. Hubert of one of Lambie’s pals standing in front of a Hurricane with the words “STAR DUST” on her cowling. "Star Dust" was a popular jazz song from the late 1920s composed by American singer, songwriter and musician Hoagy Carmichael. The Vintage Wings of Canada Hurricane XII (5447) had those same words painted on its cowling too, but in a different font and with a large yellow number 71. As well, it appears that the “Salome” Hurricane is in the background. We can just make out the nose art on her cowling. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd8fd56c-30e0-4635-98b0-0301ab6cc92b/harry-whereatt-and-wife-anna-800.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A photo of Hurricane XII 5447 “Star Dust” with Harry and Anna Whereatt on the their Assiniboia, Saskatchewan farm in 1993 during a visit by the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. This aircraft is now fully restored by Vintech Aero/Vintage Wings of Canada as the Willie McKnight Hurricane. Photo from Angie McNulty https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/032b31f1-7f1c-4928-a6af-a3d36c2b4005/Lambie48.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Another photo of Lambie and the young woman named Tess together in 1943. Given that Lambie is now clearly an officer, this places the photo in Montreal shortly after he received his wings at No. 13 SFTS, St. Hubert, or on some leave from Bagotville during the later winter. I would bet this was from the end of November 1943. Lambie’s course at Bagotville would not start until December 13th and his “Record of Service Airman” records that he was granted two weeks leave following his wings parade. One thing that strikes me immediately is how perfect his dress is. His light blue shirt looks bespoke, his tie knotted with experience and style, his greatcoat and cap right out of the box. Lambie looks the perfect officer and gentleman. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/67ea180a-3356-424e-a353-14bb45e794e9/Lambie49.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Hand in tunic pocket, Pilot Officer Donald Walter Lambie, RCAF of Montreal, Quebec, son of David and Edith Lambie, strikes a confident pose while on leave in the winter of 1943/44. Prior to his leave in Montreal, Lambie was pinned with his wings at St. Hubert on the afternoon of November, 26th by Wing Commander Georges Roy, DFC, a Bomber Command squadron commander. Roy had just the month before been CO of 424 Squadron in Tunisia from where the squadron’s Vickers Wellingtons were attacking targets in Italy. After 32 ops, he was home for a rest, a short war bond tour and then given the honour of placing wings on Lambie and his course mates at St. Hubert where in 1940, he had been a flying instructor. Coincidentally, he had been an instructor at Cap-de-la-Madeleine as well. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f1083d8-8d33-46dc-87e8-d8ba0851595d/Lambie174.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out There is a page or two in Lambie’s album dedicated to the day, not long after after his commissioning, when he visited this couple and their three boys. He had no relatives in the immediate area, so perhaps these were neighbours, friends of the family or a work mate. Given that they are in their Sunday best, perhaps this is, in fact, Sunday and everyone is heading to or from church The couple and their boys, turned out in tweeds, plaid ties, plus-fours and knee socks, stand in front of their 1939 Dodge two-door sedan. The photo speaks to the socio-economic stratum that Lambie came from — solidly middle class, educated, urban. In Canada during the Second World War, it did not matter what socio-economic class you came from, the level of education you had reached or your religious background—everyone offered up their services and even lives to the cause. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f356371c-237b-4c58-8319-31095d2fe338/Lambie175.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The returning hero. Lambie has yet to fly fighters or indeed get more than a few hundred kilometres from his hometown of Montreal, but I doubt that was significant to these three young brothers posing with him in front of their porch. Having grown up through the last three years of the war with their boy’s life books, newspaper comics, and serialized stories filled with the derring-do of RCAF fighter pilots like Montreal’s George Beurling, these boys must have been in awe of the young officer in blue. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6de5062-6965-4ed8-aeab-4dafd8e27fed/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.15.07+PM.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out An overheard view of No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bagotville, Quebec shortly after its opening in July, 1942. This is where Lambie would take advanced flying training on the Hawker Hurricane. Unlike other BCATP airfields in Southern Ontario and in the prairies which were surrounded by flat open farmland, Bagotville was situated in the Canadian Shield wilds of Quebec, south of Lac Saint Jean, the headwaters of the Saguenay River. To the southwest (top left here), the Mars River snakes through the forest. Any Hurricane pilot in trouble more than a few kilometres from base would have to find somewhere to put his airplane down in the rugged hills, mountains, remote lakes or forests of the “Sagamie” region. Bailing out might be a better option in some cases. Note the ramps and hardstands full of Hurricanes and the five home-plate-like concrete run-up pads at the runway thresholds. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bdce95a-64d8-42a4-902a-ca2ae2b95839/1-OTU-Hurricane-bagotville-1943.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out About 20 Hurricanes warm up on the flight line at No. 1 Operation Training Unit, Bagotville in the fall of 1943, just a couple of months before Lambie’s arrival. Bagotville Air Defence Museum Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71ecd363-1fc2-4b47-8f60-1b7d6c22ae98/Lambie47.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Donald Lambie arrived mid-December at Bagotville for his Operational Flying Training, where he would learn to not only to fly advanced fighter aircraft, but more importantly, how to use them to fight the enemy when he got to Europe. Here he stands at the entrance to H-Hut 3A — a largely uninsulated and poorly heated barrack block that would be his “home” for the next few months. More than half of his classmates would not complete this exacting course for one reason or another. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f7162e2-040f-4544-b5d0-47ccae781b75/Lambie13.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A sunny photo of Lambie on cross-country skis in February, 1944 while at Bagotville. Lambie was a bit of an outdoorsman, remaining with and supporting the Boy Scout movement long after he aged out of it. In this period of his training in Quebec, the sheer number of his photos taken on sunny days leads me to believe it was a particularly cold winter. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ab83f96-9860-4e75-8340-c25420293140/Lambie04.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out In the low sun of a Quebec winter, a pilot warms his Hurricane before the day’s training exercises, while a Harvard sits cold on the far side of the ramp. When Lambie was there, Bagotville had 64 Hurricanes and 22 Harvards on station. Throughout the BCATP, many ramps, hardstands, taxiways and even some runways were not ploughed to the asphalt, but rather the snow cover was rolled flat. The only way to tell where the supported surface ended and the grassy infields began was to mark them with tiny fir saplings like these that edge the ramp at Bagotville. There is so much I love about the discovery of Lambie’s photo album, in particular his uniquely personal views of training and operations previously unavailable to wanderers on the “interwebs” like me. Lambie took the time to document his experience in order to share with others and to savour the memories long after the war. That’s why it’s so strange and even sad that Lambie lost contact with his album, something I am sure he would have enjoyed sharing as he approached 100 years old. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d79d8da-61dd-4810-87ca-ed97a08d38ef/Lambie03.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A Bristol Bolingbroke target tug in yellow and black “Oxydol” paint scheme gets a drink from a fuel bowser at Bagotville. Bolingbrokes were similar to Bristol Blenheims but built under license in Montreal. Target tugs were flown by Bagotville staff pilots and would stream a canvas banner on a cable, allowing student pilots in their Hurricanes the opportunity to make quartering runs while firing some of their 12 Browning .303 machine guns at the streamer. Each student’s rounds were painted with a different colour which left coloured paint marks around the holes made by successful rounds. This allowed instructors to assess the accuracy of individual pilots. On average, students of Lambie’s cohort shot 3,000 rounds during their course. With the Hurricane XII being a 12-gun fighter, 3,000 rounds would have been expended rather quickly as each of its Browning machine guns was capable of 1,150 rounds per minute. If all guns were firing, that would mean each gun fired only 250 rounds… which would have lasted just 13 seconds. I suspect that only one or two of the Hurricane’s guns were used for these exercises. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/20074cf1-cdfd-40d4-bf90-f406a9fa4af1/Lambie11.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out It’s hard to tell if this is morning or late afternoon, but the light has that marvelously fresh quality and wintry warmth that so many Canadians are familiar with. The line of four silhouetted Hurricanes and the lone casual pilot or mechanic up-sun from the near Hurricane make a powerful image. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fdade369-0a5c-4efa-ac23-ca47f6042d88/Lambie5.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie’s wingman in Hurricane “32” flies over a cold and snowy landscape marked by the arrow-straight line of a power line cut and the Saguenay River. These distinctive makings helped students familiar with the area navigate on days like this when the horizon was obscured. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfa6977e-7f56-4512-bffe-7ff0b104a8e8/Lambie07.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie takes a moment from leading his wingman in Hurricane 32 (on its nose and flanks) to snap a photo of him on a snowy day near Bagotville. The brutally cold conditions of the Saguenay Region winter played havoc with the sensitive systems of the Hawker Hurricane. In No. 1 OTU’s summary of activity for February, 1944, only 33 of the 64 Hurricanes on station were serviceable. On the other hand 18 of the 22 Harvards were good to go. That tells you a lot right there. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78af55ff-d546-466e-a889-5a80811c3b17/Lambie12.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Perhaps taken on the same flight as the previous photos, with Hurricane “18” close to his side, Lambie takes his eyes off the horizon and his hands off the stick and turns to the left to take another photo while in tight formation. Don Lambie was a confident man. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e88cc9c9-2510-43ea-9d57-722b9ddb266c/Lambie181.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie was granted leave at the end of January, 1944 and he spent it in Montreal where he and some friends met for a celebration in a private room at the Mount Royal Hotel for something he calls the “Continental Banquet”. Lambie is the only one wearing a silly hat, the kind you wear for New Year’s, St. Patrick’s day or a birthday. That January, the Germans were far from defeated, D-Day was still more than four months away, so living for the moment and enjoying the company of friends was cherished. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4de866fd-71cd-4732-aa9e-c1234f9973ac/Lambie10.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Reading through the ORBs for No. 1 OTU at Bagotville for the time Lambie was there, there were a number of mishaps with Hurricanes, 26 of which could be dealt with on the runways without dismantling the entire aircraft. There were two complete losses of Hurricanes — one a fatal crash, the other a successful bail-out. There were seven forced-landings outside the airfield (some quite distant) that would have required the dismantling and transportation of the damaged aircraft back to base. This was likely one of them. There was also an instance of a damaged Bolingbroke and a Harvard crash involving the deaths of its two occupants. In times of peace, this attrition would be unacceptable, but there was a war on and training stopped only for funerals. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c5d04fd2-48f3-4fd1-b1dc-1b661a8bc251/Lambie25.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie (in cargo door) and friend inspect an American C-47 Dakota up from Presque Isle, Maine in February, 1944. The only C-47s to arrive at Bagotville during the time Lambie was stationed there arrived in connection with an American B-17 Flying Fortress flying from Presque Isle to Goose Bay, Labrador which had force-landed near Bagotville after getting lost and running out of fuel. They came on February 27th to retrieve the crew and then on March 1st and 3rd to work out the salvage. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dc3d6dee-b906-4511-a693-92fb41451e7a/Lambie266.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out I always like to look for corroborating images to support what are educated guesses like the explanation of the previous photo. During the Second World War, Presque Isle Army Air Base was home to the 23d AAF Ferrying Wing, assigned to the Air Transport Command and was responsible for the trans-Atlantic ferrying of aircraft, crews and supplies. Here a group of GIs return to Presque Isle, Maine at the end of the war aboard a station C-54. If you look to the right, you will see that the crest on the C-54s fuselage is the same basic design as the one just visible in the same position in the photo of Lambie at Bagotville. As well I found this embroidered command patch for the Ferrying Division of Air Transport Command at Presque Isle, thus confirming that the American C-47 Skytrain (Dakota to us Canucks) in the previous photo was indeed from Presque Isle, Maine. Photo via https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0d60adc-c1d2-4790-898a-b718025a17db/Lambie06.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie and a course mate he identifies as “Frank” pose at the entrance to their H-Hut Barrack building No. 3A at Bagotville. They are on their way to living their dream of being fighter pilots and their confidence shows. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0cc1b9b3-3cb2-4195-a85c-9bb8b3c1f09e/Lambie46.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie at the door of his Bagotville home, looking proud and confident. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d18587ea-a285-4aec-887e-dc04937b0e9f/Lambie09.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out There are a few photos in the album depicting Lambie and various course mates standing in front of station Hurricanes. This shot of his friend Pilot Officer George “Bahamas” Moseley in front of Hurricane 74 on a snowy ramp also shows a number of other Hurricanes and one of the station Bolingbroke target tugs. Flight Lieutenant George Winthrop Sargent Moseley, a member of the Royal Air Force, was one of a very small number of Bahamian pilots of the Second World War. Moseley did not finish the syllabus at Bagotville, instead, on January 30, 1944 he was posted No. 36 OTU at Greenwood, Nova Scotia to learn to fly the de Havilland Mosquito. Ten months later, on the night of 25/26 November, 1944, 25-year old Moseley and his navigator Sergeant Kingsley Nugent were killed during a night intruder operation into Germany with 305 (Polish) Squadron, RAF. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81e89036-e88d-4bf0-af43-0eab6d4bcd0f/Lambie08.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out This photo of another of Lambie’s course mates, Pilot Officer Jack Campbell, also with Hurricane 14 was taken at another time (note the Harvard at left, the cowling shifted and the missing Hurricanes and Bolingbroke). I wonder if this was a coincidence or if this aircraft had some particular significance. Lambie did in fact fly Hurricane 74 on several occasions. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b57888d0-5ced-4d98-8cf1-12b7ae9781d7/Lambie247.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie’s log book is extremely neat, well-kept and filled with extra bits stapled and taped to various pages — more storybook than regulated document. The page at the end of his time at Bagotville includes newspaper clippings concerning two men who were at Bagotville during his stay. The story at left is about the loss of Flight Lieutenant Llewellyn Evan Price of Quebec City, a flying instructor at Bagotville. Price and Captain Abraham Steinberg, the station dentist, were flying in a Harvard from Bagotville to L’Ancienne Lorette, near Quebec City on January 21st, 1944 when they went down in bad weather. The wreckage was not found for two days. Both men were killed. The story on the right is about the appointment of a new commanding officer for No. 1 Operational Training Unit —Group Captain Vaughan Bowerman Corbett, DFC. Corbett, a Battle of Britain veteran, was promoted to head the Hurricane training unit at Bagotville, having just been CO of the RCAF station at Moncton. Corbett was killed in February of 1945 along with two others in an aircraft crash at Bagotville. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0edc4011-96ab-4ef2-ad2f-a3fbc3f64873/2F5EDF60-A499-4B1D-AA3C-BE83EA7826CC.jpeg.595deb453ceca0aac701f46ac79e244f.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The RYPA tank simulator. The acronym name for these simulators stood for Roll, Yaw, Pitch and Alter Course… thus mimicking the motions experienced by a tank while firing. Photo via the Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/035383f1-12d5-4e40-b3ce-8065416f7cf9/Lambie161.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Course 22B, No. 1 OTU, Bagotville. Of Lambie’s 50 Course No. 22 classmates, only 23 graduated. Of those, 11 were posted to do Advanced Tactical Training (ATT) at Camp Borden as Course 22B. Note that Canadian Army Camp Borden was the Army side of Borden whereas RCAF Station Camp Borden was the air station. Here we see 11 young men including Lambie (second from the right in front next to his friend Frank while the guy kneeling at left I will call Flying Jacket Guy for now as he appears again) who I suspect are the 11 graduates of the Bagotville OTU Course 22B. The mustachioed man in the centre of the front row is Tony Whittingham who would follow Lambie all the way to Italy. It seems that this was at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range (also known as the Meaford Tank range), some 80 kilometres to the north west of the camp. It looks like the group has just arrived by truck in winter conditions at Meaford and have decided to pose for a group photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85e2dfaa-5f87-499b-a820-3458f2dde556/Lambie163.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out There are several photos from Lambie’s visit to Meaford and Borden that show the men near a rough log cabin, perhaps their accommodation for a day trip. Here a bunch of the ATT students from Bagotville channel their inner infantryman, donning pans for tin hats and using anything at hand for a weapon — axes, shovels, a bucksaw and in Lambie’s case, a combat broom (squatting at right). Flying Jacket Guy is standing at left. It appears this cabin was their abode for whatever activity they were engaged in. As weather conditions and clothing are identical to the group in the previous photograph, one can assume they are from the same day or field trip. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3079d444-d5dd-4e52-9ad5-14fdc36d755a/Lambie169.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Royal Canadian Gothic. Lambie and his Bagotville course mate Frank, wearing tank crew overalls, pose at the open door of their cabin in the woods at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range, Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44a0be79-654a-4c69-b2dc-0eca12609a4a/Lambie162.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Fighter pilot Lambie looks right at home in the commander’s hatch of a Canadian Army Ram tank. By the fresh track marks, it’s likely Lambie has just gone for a ride in it. The Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to Canadian standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for training purposes and was never used in combat as a gun tank. The chassis was used for several other combat roles however, such as a flamethrower tank, observation post, and armoured personnel carrier. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5df610c2-3bc0-4e57-a271-07926203cbd2/Lambie164.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie takes a turn at the driver’s hatch of the same Ram tank in the previous photograph while at Meaford. The tank’s turret is turned to the rear. On one of his field trips to Meaford, Lambie received instruction on firing both the Ram’s 6-pounder main gun in the turret and machine guns from the hull. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61895133-89b5-40aa-97e5-e94c4b6df823/Lambie171.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie and his friend Frank pose next to a Vickers-Armstrong Light Tank Mk VI on display at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range or Borden (not sure which). The Light Tank Mk IV was used for training of Canadian Army tankers in the early part of the war. This one, sitting on a concrete pad is some sort of gate guardian/museum display. With the snow now gone from the ground, this was obviously later in their course there. The Meaford region on the south shore of beautiful Georgian Bay will receive plenty of snow at times during the winter, but temperatures can warm rapidly and snow coverage can melt in a matter of days. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dafaccc4-2c2e-46eb-b334-2cbba640c160/Lambie165.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie snaps a photo of two of his Course No. 22B comrades (friend Frank in the turret and Flying Jacket Guy) posing with a Medium Mark A Whippet tank, a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks we are all familiar with by using its relative mobility and speed (a blistering 8 mph!) in exploiting any break in the enemy line. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1f9757a1-0c78-43de-862e-0a4f8473664d/Lambie166.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Don Lambie gives a smiling thumbs up atop the gun turret of a Canadian Army M1917 training tank. The M1917 tank was an American license-built version of the French Renault FT tank. The Canadian Government was sold 265 of these First World Ware era tanks as ‘scrap metal’. They paid the going rate for scrap with each tank costing around $240US. The first M1917 tanks arrived at Camp Borden on 8th October 1940, transported by train from a parking lot at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. For nearly two years, the M1917 proved to be a useful tank training vehicle. The M1917 6-ton light tanks lacked suspension, so gave a very hard jarring ride when students drove across country. They had a tendency to suffer from mechanical breakdowns frequently and some even caught fire. The upside was this gave the students more practical experience in tank maintenance and repair. Tank crew students had to learn flag and hand signals, as the tanks were not equipped with radios. This one was on display at the Meaford Tank Range. (info from The Online tank Museum) Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4351c2c7-d2b0-4158-92c6-21d0577aabfa/Lambie231.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Though not one of Lambie’s photos, this newspaper photo is interesting enough to include as background. Canadian Army mechanics at Borden’s rail siding in 1940, inspect at least 60 of Canada’s 256 “new” M1917 training tanks. Bought for scrap at 20 dollars a ton, used for training. Image: The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps: An Illustrated History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e81b8f0-af8c-47e7-80a7-05f4f955c4b2/Lambie170.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie and friend Frank pose on the hull of a Churchill Tank at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range in April, 1944 Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79954509-f76c-47bd-8f4c-e711fe108728/Lambie168.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Four of Don Lambie’s Course 22B mates from Bagotville (Tony Whittingham at right) pose in front of a British-built Churchill tank at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range. Canadians will remember the Churchill tank well from photographs of several of them burning on the gravel beaches of Dieppe after the failed raid on that French coast port in August of 1942, which cost the lives of 907 Canadians in one day. Though the Churchill was known for its ability to climb steep slopes, it could barely move on the smooth gravel of Dieppe’s rocky beaches. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1df05ff6-d9e4-4770-956a-eccb93586ee2/Lambie167.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie pretends to shoulder up a RAM tank so that it can be fitted with a new set of treads. Note the unique side entry hatch typical of the RAM. Lambie was quick to turn his camera over to his friends in order to record his own personal experiences. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ededcef3-10e7-4898-b00f-708fe621375d/Lambie230.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie’s friend and course mate “Flying Jacket Guy” poses with a borrowed Willys Jeep at the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range while on Advanced Tactical Training there. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ce060b3-e0d3-4e1f-bd7a-5d57242a44a0/Lambie257.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out On a sunny afternoon at the Meaford range, some of Lambie’s buddies pose for a group shot. Tony Whittingham is on the right and friend Frank at left. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d97b213f-21db-44e2-a48f-f53f96e375f8/Lambie258.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out At the Meaford Armoured Fighting Vehicle Range identification and maneuver of armour was often taught using models in a literal sandbox. During his course at Borden, Lambie took lessons in the identification of enemy armoured vehicles. It is likely these Panzer and Tiger tank models in the Meaford sandbox were used for that very purpose. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d93f5237-6091-4285-b0fc-97fc6cf0709f/Lambie259.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The pilots of Lambie’s detachment clown around on a 6-pounder gun at Meaford while bemused artillerymen look on. Tony Whittingham is second from the left. The Ordnance, Quick Firing 6-Pounder 7-cwt gun was an anti-tank weapon used in Canadian anti-tank units during the Second World War. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9c1ebe73-3e30-4559-ab43-5b206e28d8bf/Lambie260.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A Canadian Army RAM tank is secured to an M9 tank transporter “lowboy” after giving a demonstration on the use of its 6-pounder gun to Lambie and his class mates. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0409af9d-3a26-43d2-9bc9-448ec58c7afa/Lambie172.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Flight boots, tanker suits and longbows. Every once in a while one of Lambie’s photos astonished Jeff and I, none more so than this head-scratcher of Don Lambie drawing a bow, from his time at Meaford. In the distance on the right, there appears to be some sort of shooting/gunnery happening. Any insight into what this photo represents would be welcomed. Perhaps it was a way of teaching trajectory theory. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28431a8b-c142-40da-839e-56d690daff1c/Lambie23.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out During his visits to the Meaford Tank Range, Lambie and his course mates got to fire a few rounds from Grizzly (6-pounder) and RAM tanks (75 mm) as well as a 6-pounder artillery piece. Here, wearing a tanker’s set of coveralls, (and a tie of course!) he cradles what appears to be three rounds for the 6-pounder of the Grizzly — maybe his allotment for the day! Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47127889-4940-4359-8551-52805c9695b4/Lambie223.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out An overhead photograph of the airfield at Greenwood, Nova Scotia during its time as home to No. 36 Operational Training Unit. The yellow arrowhead points to the spot and direction that the following photo was taken. Photo via FlightOntario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/419a63ad-4285-4828-9922-ab4cb434237e/Lambie01.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Hurricanes, Harvards and crash vehicles fill the No. 1 Advanced Tactical Training Detachment’s ramp space at Greenwood, Nova Scotia in late April/Early May of 1944. The detachment was from No. 1 OTU, Bagotville but operated alongside Greenwood’s prime tenant, No. 36 OTU, a de Havilland Mosquito and Lockheed Hudson training school. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9ddae59-98c7-4bc3-aa85-2d94eff4491a/Lambie189.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The eleven men (there is a 12th, but he was cropped out) of Course No. 22B soak up early May sunshine on their last days on course at No. 1 Advanced Tactical Training Detachment at Greenwood. Lambie stands at right, Tony Whittingham is fourth from left with Frank behind him. The confidence and obvious camaraderie of these pilots leaps across the years. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f071ec9c-fbb7-4254-b338-f7c74bb94c69/Lambie20.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out As with most of these photos, it’s difficult to know when they were taken during Lambie’s stays at various stages of his training. Because the weather seems warm and sunny, and Lambie is relatively lightly dressed, it’s very likely at Greenwood., though the number 93 does not appear in any of his logbook notes. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5ae74978-e7c3-4362-a6f7-081f233ada9e/Lambie19.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out A photo of a Canadian-built de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito B Mk. VII (KB314) of No. 36 OTU taken by Lambie on April 29th at Greenwood. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95051e47-7bba-4746-a270-31ad4491b309/Lambie17.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out While on leave after the Hurricane OTU course, Lambie visited with family at a property at Orford Lake. It is not known if the family owned this cottage or if they rented it. Here we see him before boards the train at Orford Lake train station Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dc45bee-9eca-4480-bcfe-29abc5204246/Lambie249.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Don Lambie relaxing in the spring sunlight while on leave in the summer of 1944 at what could possibly be a family cottage. At right, his mother and father in front of the same house. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/839b102f-2a07-4a55-9785-b070444bf572/Lambie55.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out During his embarkation leave in May of 1944, Lambie was seen in Montreal on the arm of a young officer of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (the women were known as WRENS). The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) was established on 31 July 1942 during the Second World War. It was the naval counterpart to the Canadian Women’s Army Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division, which had preceded it in 1941. The WRCNS was established as a separate service from the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). It was disbanded on 31 August 1946. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e74bf9c0-62bb-48a7-a1f9-7e923db94e8f/Lambie24.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie enjoyed two back-to-back 14-day leaves after completing his Advanced Tactical Training course — one for completing the arduous No. 1 OTU course followed by an embarkation leave, granted to anyone about to go overseas. On one of those leaves, he visited friends in Washington, D.C. and posed with two young women (relatives?) here at the Senate Fountain close to the Capitol. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cae72dca-0b36-49ff-ad37-f04174785bbc/upper5.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The same Senate Fountain from a similar angle as it looks today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ba4153f-fddd-4757-b574-5471eb979cc9/Lambie208.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie posing with relatives/friends in front of the Columbus Fountain, a monument to the explorer which stands in front of Washington’s immense Union Station. The woman with the black and white saddle oxford shoes holding hands with Lambie is the same young lady with the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, seen in a previous photo. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d87567ba-0c3b-47cd-a6d4-83402e9cb05d/Monumento_a_Cristobal_Colon_-_Washington_DC.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out The Columbus Fountain, the target of anti-colonialist vandalism in recent years, still looks much the same as it did when Lambie was there in 1944 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99b9bb65-8171-42a0-8725-14ebc716037d/Lambie261.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out It appears that several of Lambie’s course mates travelled across the Atlantic together including his friend and long-time course mate Tony Whittingham who is seen here waiting with his duffle and suitcases in Canada en route to Great Britain. Not only did Whittingham train at Bagotville and Borden with Lambie, he followed him all the way to 417 Squadron in Italy—joining the squadron on January 31, 1945, a month before Lambie did. Inset: A photo of John Anthony “Tony” Whittingham when he joined the Law Society of Ontario in 1948. Whittingham’s obituary in 2007 stated: He served his country during WWII in the RCAF. He was a lawyer, a gentleman, a great fisherman, a talented raconteur and had a legendary sense of humour. He was widely loved. He looks it. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection, Inset: Ashley and Crippen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1a694dc4-2c22-4960-b13b-e512fe9de78e/Lambie255.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out There is a set of photographs on one page showing Lambie and his friend Frank (right) clambering over a ship alongside a dock. There are buildings obvious in the background which make one wonder the size of the ship they are on. Lambie boarded His Majesty’s Troopship Andes in Halifax, but after close inspection of that ship, it is evident she did not have those tuba-like dorade box ventilators (see next photo). As well, Andes was a large ship that would have towered over any quayside building. So, what ship is this? Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a705380-fbc4-4953-9e0e-0a88cea0f8fc/92562826.jpg The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Lambie embarked Hired Military Transport (HMT) Andes for Liverpool, England on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Andes was a relatively new ship, built in 1939 for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The Admiralty almost immediately requisitioned her as a troop ship and had her converted to carry about 4,000 troops. In troop service she broke three speed records for long-distance voyages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b562d5d4-147b-43a8-a007-103d448683c7/Lambie233.png The Stories - DONALD LAMBIE’S WAR - Episode One - Make it stand out Episode Two of Donald Lambie’s War will feature 150 never-been-seen-before photographs of life on a Spitfire OTU in Egypt and on an RCAF squadron (417) in the closing weeks of the war in Italy. There are scenes of German prisoners, destroyed enemy aircraft, VE Day, air force rest centres and sight seeing in Venice and the Italian Alps. Here we see Lambie in his “kite” (LZ923) on the day the squadron handed over their Spitfires and prepared to go home. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/black-buffalo monthly 0.5 2022-02-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629391148010-Y1OPIJ1BXLGCJ5LDVKDW/BlackBuffaloTitle7.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629393585457-6Y9BI76CGU7Z7IGQDK4Z/BlackBuffalo20.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out The RCAF's first black commissioned officer was Pilot Officer Tarrance Freeman, seen here sitting at right, with his bomber crew. Photo courtesy of The Collection of James Allen, Windsor Mosaic, African Canadian Community https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629393632104-Q2WU769EHC7Q2989BE48/BlackBuffalo19.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Tarrance Freeman (at right), the first black commissioned officer in the RCAF, poses with his Lancaster crew during the war. Photo courtesy of The Collection of James Allen, Windsor Mosaic, African Canadian Community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629393703442-1AL3XF8N115EGRV2WT7F/BlackBuffalo11.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Sergeant Gerald Bell, was one of a few black Canadians to be accepted into the RCAF before the arrival of Bundy. Bell is widely regarded as the first Black Canadian to earn a pilot license in Canada. Photo: McMaster University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629393789591-SFM2ZCBV31MJ5K1E5N12/BlackBuffalo3.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Two photographs of Bundy from his Second World War service. On the left a photo of him in uniform with his new pilot brevet. On the right, a civilian photo of him taken for future need for escape documents. Hiding anonymously in a crowd behind German lines, should he need to evade capture would have been far more difficult for a man of colour in Nazi-held territory. One thing for sure, he was a better dresser than most pilots of the day. Photos via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629393957291-7VR6L37MANRZUY9KC81D/20201106111124-bundy-jpg.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A photo of a stoic Bundy taken during pilot training — either No. 9 Elementary flying Training School (EFTS) at St. Catharines, Ontario or No. 14 Service Flying Training School at Aylmer, Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629394272274-ZABGHDRYDMKGKZNSAT71/BlackBuffalo10.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A group photo of 404 Squadron pilots, navigators and personnel pose on a squadron Beaufighter with Pilot Officer Allan Bundy of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, sitting on the wing next to the starboard engine nacelle. The last two missions flown by Bundy in Beaufighters were in fact in the Beaufighter depicted here - EO•V. Photo via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629394409197-TSGP9P0OMICM66HV9TSU/BlackBuffalo4.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A close up from the previous photo shows Bundy sitting proudly on the wing of a 404 Squadron Beaufighter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629394439869-E7XYDSNBOC0Y831QO72U/BlackBuffalo26.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A good look at the Bristol Beaufighter coastal strike fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629394990172-P3734SCQN62T5EZE04HX/Lee-Ed-fromWindsor-RCAF-1939-1945.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out 404 Squadron ground crewman Ed Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629394941616-86XWUHN3HED43CW4IEQE/BlackBuffalo6.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF Mark Xs (NV427 'EO-L' nearest) of 404 Squadron RCAF based at Dallachy, Morayshire, breaking formation during a flight along the Scottish coast. This photo clearly shows why some wags have described the powerful attack fighter as "A fuselage in hot pursuit of two engines.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395044972-3JY4I1FDRQADQ8PTUZMO/BlackBuffalo8.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Four 404 Squadron RCAF Bristol Beaufughters form up nicely while thundering down the coast of Scotland during an operation.This is clearly the same flight as the previous photo of the breaking Beaus. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395075757-KZYFYRKJ8XZOXRL5C4GK/BlackBuffalo27.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out The front office of a Beaufighter offered exceptional views forward, but side views were restricted by the massive engines reaching out ahead of the aircraft. This is the cockpit of a later model Beaufighter similar to that Bundy would have flown. A Beaufighter TF.X - a completely redesigned glazing /framing design, radio altimeter scabbed on to the left of the main panel, more comprehensive radio "repeater" controls for pilot along the left sill, R/P and strike camera controls along the right sill, and extra fuel gauges behind the heater duct beside where the pilot's right arm would be. Composite photo by Ed Lee, 404 Squadron veteran https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395117121-AICP69QXN8ARKKP4PZ8K/BlackBuffalo12.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out Banff-based “Beaus” strike hard at enemy shipping. This photo was in mid-August 1944 when the Squadron was based at RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire. The visible aircraft is reportedly EE•M with CO Gatward in the cockpit. He flew this one quite frequently through July and August. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395140779-YQBZDQL6YTDUPAZ69327/BlackBuffalo21.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out An enemy coaster struggle up the coast of Norway while being raked by fighters of the Banff Strike Wing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395179349-7W7SFRXHQDPPQGN9C28A/BlackBuffalo22.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A phenomenal image that shows just how close attacking Beaufighters get to each other as the converge from all directions on enemy shipping - an image both frightening and chaotic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395241477-78THJDGL8DR5RXENE6I9/BlackBuffalo23.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out The airfield, runways and dispersals at RAF Banff in Northern Scotland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395268166-ZTDA44IYLV9DD8CS5I78/BlackBuffalo14.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out More attacks on shipping along the enemy coast. This image is one of a series of strike camera images taken by Beaufighter O/144 during the 24 March Egersund Harbour action on which two 404 Squadron crews were lost. Of the four Dallachy Wing squadrons participating that day, the ten a/c of 144 were the last ones into the target. Bundy and the other three surviving 404 aircraft were already on their way back to Dallachy by the time this frame was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395296222-8CZHXQRNH0C42NLCKWWT/BlackBuffalo2.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out A 144 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter retracts its gear as it lifts off from its base at Dallachy Scotland between January and March of 1945. DND Photo PL43242 via 404 Squadron website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6f838dc-fca0-4d28-9afe-6e22ecacfbf9/62142322_1074301576086709_510687923780190208_n.jpg The Stories - BLACK BUFFALO - Make it stand out This is likely one of the most famous photos of a Canadian Beaufighter taken during the War, but colourized by Canadian Colour, one of the best colourizers of vintage photos, but with a Canadian focus. It is likely the Commanding Officer's (W/C Gatward) aircraft and was taken well after D-Day, even though the invasion stripes still adorn the plane. She had an odd history on 404 and was still wearing these markings on 9 March 1945! Beaufighter S/404 in the background would be flown by Bundy much later. The photo is most probably taken at RAF Strubby in mid August '44. Gatward may have flown this a/c once or twice. (PL 41049) https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/buffalo-soldier monthly 0.5 2022-02-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386252937-TF4PM4QB173SZWO9GQ0J/BuffaloSoldierTitle3.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386318917-MX5VCKX975QXVSEWFNHI/BuffaloSoldier25.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out An excerpt from the ORB with the first mention of the Bundy / Wright crew highlighted. Via the author, with thanks to Carl and Elizabeth Vincent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386374586-J47VGCSAPNHS8TD0JNNC/BuffaloSoldier2.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Close in on Beaufighter TF.X NE339 as EO•U of 404 Squadron when part of the Dallachy Strike Wing late in its life. The Bundy and Wright crew flew this aircraft several times in November when it was still marked as EE•U. Artwork by the author as it appears in Carl Vincent’s Canadian Aircraft of WWII (Aviaeology, 2009) Should readers wish to build a model of a 404 Squadron Beaufighter or other RCAF aircraft, the author's company offers well researched and exquisitely designed decal sets for RCAF Beaufighters: Canadians in Coastal Command #1: Scale model decal sets with 8 pages of historical and technical details on 404 Squadron Beaufighters written and illustrated by Terry Higgins. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629387332400-KI2SEDBI767O07K31LT1/BuffaloSoldier24.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X NE800 as EE•N of 404 Squadron. Although it came to the Squadron from 46 MU on 7 May 1944, NE800 only shows up in the ORB five times prior to Bundy’s first operational hop in October. Presumably it was held in reserve or used within the training pool for much of its earlier life. Still she could make one claim to fame during those times. Its Form 78 shows two ROS/CRO (repaired on site by the civilian repair organization) entries through the summer and a return to the Squadron on 1 September. The cause of the second of these was most certainly flak damage received while in action with three tour veteran W/C Gatward DSO, DFC at the controls on his final Beaufighter sortie as 404s OC. Returning to the squadron in September, she may have then been held in reserve, or dedicated to training flights (which are not detailed in the ORB) until the second week of October, after which the crew of Bundy and Wright were her most frequent crew. A determined search did not result in useful overall photographs of this particular aircraft during Bundy’s time on the squadron. The illustration is therefore based on a careful study of both contemporaneous 404 Beaus and those close to NE800 in serial number. Bundy flew at least 23 operational sorties in this aircraft; most of those with Wright as navigator. Artwork by the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629387571934-PXRN434IXZW9PLMB2ZGM/BuffaloSoldier3.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out The official caption of the only known photo of this aircraft tells the story of NE800s close call: “F/O WK McGrath of Hamilton, Ontario, looking at the useless starboard aileron of his Beaufighter after an attack on shipping off the French coast. Hit in the port wing too, while finishing the attack the aircraft nearly spun in. McGrath helped his pilot, W/C Ken Gatward of London, England and the Squadron CO, jam a hatchet between the control column and a longeron and they flew the aircraft like this for three hours to reach the base.” The other photo of Gatward taken around the same time is believed to be in the cockpit of his personal mount LZ451 EE•M. CF photo PL41042 via the author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629387704353-WRCC68CBMO4ZCZZ52PIU/BuffaloSoldier19.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X LZ451 as EE•M of 404 Squadron as flown by S/L Christison DFC, and others, circa late October 1944. Earlier, this aircraft became the mount of former squadron commander W/C Ken Gatward DSO, DFC and Bar. He flew it often through the summer of 1944 before leaving the squadron in late August. The aircraft remained to soldier on into late February. The unofficial Buffalo emblem was most probably applied in late May or early June and the command pennant a little later, possibly July. The French tricolour is believed to have been added after Gatward, flying LZ451, landed in France on 7 August 1944, claiming a first for Coastal Command. Some say that it may also commemorate his “show the flag” flight over occupied Paris in 1942 when he was with another Beaufighter squadron, but that seems a stretch. The “The Ancient Mariner” inscription may have been applied shortly after Gatward posted out, in recognition of either the aircraft itself (the 2nd or 3rd oldest on 404 strength at the time) or its two-tour veteran former pilot. Interestingly, the command pennant remained into 1945 although the new commander never flew this aircraft. Artwork by the author (available in model decal form at www.aviaeology.com) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629387740619-2S6HISTI9O7FSHA7WLZD/BuffaloSoldier4.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X NT991 EE•E circa October – December 1944. The Buffaloes received this former 236 Squadron Beau on 9 October 1944 while at Banff. Bundy was flying it in these markings (most probably in addition to full AEAF stripes remaining around the fuselage) as a participant in the sinking of a German M/V on 21 October as related above. The caption from engine fitter Ed Lee’s photo album reads simply “Arnold”. Presumably a member of 404s "flights" servicing groundcrew or the 8404 Servicing Echelon. The aircraft is typical of those in its serial block; the bump just visible on the engine nacelle is part of an oil system mod associated with a propeller pitch control mod and the artifacts just visible below the navigators cupola comprise the mounting clip, handle, and cables that make up an external emergency release for the cupola hatch. The small venturi-powered vent fairing seen just ahead of the first “E” on the fuselage side indicates provision for long range auxiliary fuel tanks in the wing gun bays. Both this and the Gee whip antenna atop the fuselage were standard equipment on all operational TF.Xs since at least May of 1944. Allan Bundy would also go on to fly the aircraft in the background when it was marked EO•L in 1945. Ed Lee via the author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388119075-N9CH1KL4HGQIMF4CO1JQ/BuffaloSoldier5.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X LX940 as 2•Y of 404 Squadron under tow by LAC White in her pre-D-Day markings, circa May 1944. Like Gatward’s LZ451, this aircraft, one of the squadron's first TF.Xs, soldiered on with 404 Squadron further into 1945, even returning to service on 9 March after a Cat AC induced repair on site by Bristols contractors earlier in the month. Bundy and Wright crewed this aircraft, marked as EE•Y, on an uneventful anti U-boat mission along the Norge coast north of Stavanger on 8 November 1944. CF photo PL28090 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388171766-EDPRTCC1IL89DBC7M9ZH/BuffaloSoldier6.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out “The Ancient Mariner” under a ponderous sky: Beaufighter LZ451 spent her entire career as aircraft M of 404 and was on ops almost continuously from late October 1943 through to late February 1945. The photo illustrates typical conditions in northeast Scotland around the time the Buffaloes made the move from Banff to Dallachy. This is how LZ451 would have looked during the 8 November A/U patrol related above. LX940 (above) would have had similar finish and markings (with a “Y” code letter in place of the “M” of course) when flown by Bundy on this same trip. The pre-heater lorry was an absolute necessity at both Banff and Dallachy this time of year. Ed Lee via the author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388253452-EAQU5UNOE9H1Y7IS4JMN/BuffaloSoldier7.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out The official caption for this photo reads “P/O P. McCartney (Harrogate, England) left with his pilot F/O R.C. Ridge (Toronto, ON) of the Buffalo Squadron”. Their backdrop, Beaufighter NE339 as aircraft EE•U of 404 Squadron in circa October-November 1944 markings Another 404 “lifer”, NE339 first came on the Squadron’s inventory 20 December 1943 until lost on operations 24 March 1945. Veteran 404 Squadron flight commander “Chris” Christison would fly it on the ill fated Black Friday op of 9 February 1945, which he survived. It was lost with a sprog crew on board during the final Buffalo Beaufighter operation on 24 March. In one of those strange twists of war, second tour veteran S/L Christison DFC was also lost, flying Beaufighter NV428 EO•R, on this mission. CF photo PL41454 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388336461-553GG5OS1S1KEX92G5MT/BuffaloSoldier23.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out The Vickers Warwick ASR was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs as a larger bomber on the same lines and using similar construction to their Wellington bomber. The Air-Sea Rescue (ASR) variant of the Warwick bomber could carry an airborne lifeboat and other lifesaving equipment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388380776-5G0EO85TTI3KDEV24YSS/BuffaloSoldier8.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out An ominous title is ascribed to this photo in LAC Ed Lee’s personal scrapbook: “The last flight of X.” However, it may be that this was the last time Ed – who was the engine mechanic on this, the OC’s personal aircraft – remembered having something to do with this particular Beau, for some other aircraft in the taxi line-up did not fly on 9 December. It is more likely 5 December when all four aircraft, whose codes are visible in the original photo, were part of the same strike force. EE•S is the fourth aircraft along the line under the wing of the stationary Beau. Allan Bundy flew this S/404 on the 5th. Ed Lee via the author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388418368-YMHVQQU31LE8T8J8UE5U/BuffaloSoldier9.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Two young airmen are lost: The full fury and attendant dangers of a Beaufighter anti-shipping strike are well illustrated in this haunting image. The strike camera of an unknown Beau had the dubious honour of recording the demise of a very new crew out on their second op in the OCs personal aircraft. The M/V (Motor Vessel) is nearly invisible amidst the R/P and cannon splashes and smoke, the aircraft impact is directly above it in frame while the dark artifact with a smoke cloud beyond it to the right may be the stricken aircraft’s wing. Two Beaufighters can be seen just leveling out from their R/P run. Flak is coming up to the right of the camera aircraft. From the official caption… “Attack by Beaufighters of No. 404 Squadron on motor vessel off Utvaer, Norway, 9 December 1944. Aircraft “X” (pilot A.K. Cooper, navigator WO C.F. Smith) was believed to have struck the mast, lost its port wing and is shown here exploding on striking the water.” CF (DHH file copy) Photo PMR 92-585. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388540466-1LSTP12TRLC2BXV2MCVH/BuffaloSoldier10.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out R/P! The 3” Rocket Projectile (R/P) with its armour piercing (AP) warhead was the primary anti-shipping weapon used by 404 Squadron from early 1944 until the end of the war. The four rounds under the wing of this Beaufighter are tipped with the later AP Mk.II warhead which gave much better water entry and underwater travel ballistics due in large part to its double ogive profile. Each rail is set at a slightly different angle of incidence which indicates that this aircraft’s rig is harmonized for a predetermined impact grouping at a set dive angle. The “pigtail” electrical leads hanging out of the back of each rocket body would be plugged in to the aircraft's electrics just prior to take-off. Beaufighter NE686 EE•T sits in the background in November-December 1944 era markings. The author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388598389-CCCH3D5JDVWCN8ZNU8ED/BuffaloSoldier11.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Sometime in mid January 404 Squadron was assigned a new two-letter squadron identification code. The “EE” that had been with them for quite some time was replace by “EO” sometime in mid January. In this photo, L, S, Z, and D/404 pose in textbook formation for the camera. One of a series of similar images which were almost certainly taken on 18 February 1945 when S/L Schoales DFC and F/L Bolli took official Air Ministry photographer F/L BJH Daventry up in the base hack Beaufort while “four crews practiced formation flying.” Allan Bundy flew NV427 EO•L in these markings and NT916 EO•S before the code change. Hit in the starboard engine, L/404 went missing during a strike on 8 March 1945 with F/O Ridge and P/O McCartney aboard. IWM CH17872 via the author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388738038-PG2WA7A8EJXLH7PRSJCZ/BuffaloSoldier12.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X NE339 as EO•U of 404 Squadron when part of the Dallchy Strike Wing circa February / March 1945. Codes changed from “EE” to “EO” sometime in mid January and the white propeller spinners are from mid/late February. It is not known if it signifies squadron, or A Flight (within squadron) identity here, but by the time the squadron made the switch to Mosquitoes, all of its aircraft had white spinners. F/O Bundy and Wright crew flew this aircraft several times in November when it was still marked as EE•U. “Chris” Christison survived the Førde Fjord strike – Black Friday – in it on 9 February 1945. It was lost with a sprog crew aboard on a combat mission over Ergesund Harbour; S/L Christison DFC and Bar was lost in a different aircraft on this same operation. Bundy, flying V/404, survived it unscathed. LAC AC666 via the Carl Vincent collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388791220-4YREA78WZG41IRBL84UA/BuffaloSoldier14.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Beaufighter TF.X RD427 as EO•O of 404 Squadron circa March 1945. This series of late production TF.Xs featured a dorsal extension to the tail fin, enlarged elevators with refined balance, and either new or rearranged A.R.I. (Aerial Radio Installation) equipment. Also new was the single element landing light in the port wing. In previous production TF.Xs destined for R/P specialist squadrons like 404, the twin-element landing light installed at the factory was either removed or disconnected while its Perspex cover was replaced with a screwed-on sheet metal fairing. It is assumed that this was done because the type of Perspex used could not, as the R/P salvo left the wing, withstand the heat of the slower-burning rocket motors used through early/mid 1943. O/404 was one of three, possibly four, Beaufighters configured thus on the squadron’s inventory before they converted to Mosquitoes. Allan Bundy flew one of the few V/404 on two operational sorties. The author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388836076-HTXKES7RKANXDHUONNDV/BlackBuffalo10.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out A beautiful squadron photo of Beaufighter RD421 EO•V, with the entire squadron posing for a photograph. Bundy, sitting on wing beside the starboard engine nacelle, flew this aircraft on his last two missions in a Beaufighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388898048-2TFQENWEPP5V2GUMYW6G/BuffaloSoldier15.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Anygumchum? (at right)… one of those neat little plays on words that show up from time to time on the noses of operational Second World War aircraft. This one, likely in response to the sheer gumption exhibited by the snarly lightweight and maneuverable Mosquito compared to the equally powerful but heavyweight (some would say overweight!) and not nearly as agile Beaufighter. Also reportedly a favourite question asked of squadron personnel by the local children. Mosquito RF838 EO•A was the first one to be received by the squadron, and as far as is known to date, the only one with any sort of nose art. RF852 EO•E in the background was flown by Allan Bundy on the 12 May 1945 VIP escort mission. The author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629388932510-SZZTCUS9081LSEDSNWJ3/BuffaloSoldier16.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Anygumchum?… the author’s graphic interpretation of this 404 Squadron Mosquito aircraft’s finish and markings. Artwork by the author (available in model decal form at www.aviaeology.com: RCAF Mosquitoes: Canadians in Coastal Command #3: Scale model decal sets with 8 pages of historical and technical details on 404 Squadron Mosquitoes Written and illustrated by Terry Higgins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629389027426-K1LU8MQCO0CLCDLVPCZG/BuffaloSoldier20.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out The magnificent "Repat Boat” (Repatriation Boat) "designed" a built by 404 Squadron groundcrew as part of their VE Day celibrations. The sign reads “HMCS Buffalo” – 'Repat Boat' – Canada or Bust – Ted Pierce – And His – WAAF Pursuit Boys". From Author's Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629389087588-QPH91ZLO122HYQJ586DK/BuffaloSoldier21.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out A massive bonfire is set to be torched as soon as the sun sets – part of the Wings's VE Day celebrations. The huge pile of combustibles is topped by effigies of Adolph Hitler and Herman Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe. Men like Bundy and Wright deserved the symbolic release from the stress of battle offered by the fun they were about to have this night. From Author's Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629389161092-IHTVVHGWOOOHZKUFS6BU/BuffaloSoldier17.jpg The Stories - BUFFALO SOLDIER — The War Patrols of Flying Officer Allan Bundy - Make it stand out Mosquito FB.VI RF857 EO•Q keeps company with another 404 Squadron Mosquito in the maintenance area at Banff, probably late April / early May 1944. By late May the factory-standard exhaust shrouds would have been removed and, whenever R/P launch rails were installed so would the drop tank guard rails as seen on A/404 above. These kept the R/P setup from being fouled by the drop tanks when they were punched off. Not being a combat tank, it was Coastal Command SoP for these large tanks to be dropped before any engagement. If they hung up, and they often did when first brought into service, then the aircraft had to abort the mission. Ed Lee via the author’s collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/survivor monthly 0.5 2022-01-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/daa4a3d7-587a-4eed-995f-abc6c5303164/Survivor.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ab55763-f054-48b4-92c5-c417d1ad9a3b/Me109-g8.jpeg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Luftwaffe ground crew load cameras and film into the camera bay on a Messerschmitt Bf 109 reconnaissance aircraft at Dinard-Pleurtuit airfield, France, while the pilot discusses his flight plan with his crew chief. Schwantje’s NaGr 13 [Nahaufklärungsgruppe] recce fighter group was housed here from August 1943 to June 1944. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6dff249f-ed12-40b7-8efd-9436267211b2/a0jd9b8ylm0z.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Another angle on the same Dinard-based aircraft as in the previous photograph showing details of the German Handkammer aerial reconnaissance camera. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/11b94554-c6c0-4180-bc5f-51854495c738/109g.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out A reconnaissance variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-8/R5**. Similar to those flown by Schwantje’s Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13 (NaGr 13), this aircraft (200413) flew with sister recce unit NaGr 12. Photo: Asisbiz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbf8cf1e-b1b0-40a2-ad84-64347cf4f426/NaGR13.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out The unit badge of 1 Staffel Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13 — a red eagle watching enemy shores — was worn on some of the unit’s Messerschmitt 109 Gs and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s (Left). Photos: Left, Asisbiz; Right, Ebay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01f1a895-17da-45f0-a6b1-024c8324a492/Dinard.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out During his time at Dinard-Pleurtuit airfield, Schwantje no doubt enjoyed the pleasures of the seaside resort of Dinard just a pleasant afternoon walk to the north of the field where he could sun himself on warm sands Plage de l’Ècluse or sip a cold bière at the Gallic Hôtel (centre). Today, Dinard remains a popular ocean resort in Brittany. Photo: thegallic-hotel.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9fa22681-1a15-4002-883d-635b15844455/3FFD170900000578-4478574-image-a-2_1494026901887.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out German Kriegsmarine sailors stroll down a typical British street in the town of Saint Anne on the Channel Island of Alderney during the Second World War. Werner Schwantje would have found a safe emergency landing field here as nearly all of Alderney’s residents were evacuated before the arrival of the German occupation. During the war, the Nazi’s worked thousands of European slave labourers to death on the island to build fortifications and according to some, a chemical warfare factory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ff64467-abab-4156-bf3b-8f6518d45864/109G-11.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Black-11, a Messerschmitt Bf-109 G of NaGr 13 that has force-landed. Photo: Asisbiz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c93faba-440e-448a-ae29-945a6a1b6ebc/Helmut.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Werner’s brother Helmut (above) was also a Luftwaffe fighter pilot, seen here receiving some sort of honour next to his Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Perhaps is was a milestone flight of some sort, but possibly some high honour like a Knights Cross. Oblt. Helmut Schwantje was a Staffelkapitaen in I. Gruppe of Schlachtflieger-Geschwader 102 from August 1944 to February 1945. SG 102 (originally Stuka-Geschwader 102) was a training, not a fighting unit. It was formed in October 1943 with two groups (6 wings of 12 Fw 190s each) to train Jabo (Jagdbomber = fighter-bomber) pilots at the Schlachtflieger-Schule 2 at Memmingen in Bavaria. Photo: falkeeins.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/534f63c2-c70d-43ca-aeaf-eda834c7674b/Heinkel72.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Werner completed his elementary flying training on the Heinkel He 72B “Kadett” biplane powered by a BMW-Bramo Siemens-Halske Sh 14A 7-cylinder air-cooled radial engine of approximately 160 horsepower. It was about the same weight empty as a Tiger Moth or Fleet Finch, but more powerful. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6891f2fd-add7-47fb-9648-f240d7a03635/Bucker.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out For aerobatic training and just plain fun in the air, Werner flew the nimble, sturdy and much-loved Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann two-seater and Bü 133 Jungmeister, an aircraft so suited to aerobatic flying that the assembly line was re-opened briefly in 1994. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/746ea9e1-ee68-4d6a-95d9-8c46f6e89c6b/Junkers34.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out The steady Junkers W 33 and W 34 (above) were flown by Werner for instrument and radio instruction. Likely the Junkers carried more than one student, each taking time at the controls for instrument training and at the radio (This is not Werner in the photo). Photo: luftwaffereviews.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9f9ef70-6f63-4b97-a55a-6f677b72354b/Goeland.jpg The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out Werner also gained time on an unlikely twin-engine trainer — the French-built Caudron C.455 Goéland (Seagull). 55 Goélands were captured by the Germans after the fall of France and pressed into service as a general duty transport crew/navigation trainer and production of the type was allowed to continue to equip Vichy Air Force, the Luftwaffe and Lufthansa. (This is not Werner in the photo) Photo: falkeeins.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2fbc7fbd-304f-4e2a-8aa2-709abcc2e016/Plymouth.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out A high altitude Luftwaffe reconnaissance photo of Plymouth, England’s Royal Navy dry docks, basins, fuel storage (top left) and repair facilities on the Tamar River (top centre). Luftwaffe photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a5216f3-fde7-411c-ba2c-c3d786530f60/Screen-Shot-2017-03-30-at-10.54.49.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out In the final weeks of the war, Schwantje was selected for training on the Messerschmitt Me 262 “Schwalbe” (Swallow). Fortunately for him, his training ended before he could get one airborne. The factory-fresh, unpainted Me 262 depicted in this photo landed at Frankfürt/Rhein-Main airfield, Germany on March 30, 1945, piloted by defecting Luftwaffe pilot Hans Fay. It would soon be transported to Wright Field, Ohio where it would be thoroughly tested and compared with the American P-80 then in development. It was lost in a crash when an engine caught fire. The test pilot baled out successfully. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e65db555-bd82-4d49-b5de-076ca8475d5d/Yelloe11.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/R2 (W.Nr. 230785) “Yellow 11", of Werner Schwantje’s NAGr. 13, abandoned to the Allies at Fritzlar, Germany in April 1945. Perhaps this is one of the 109s Werner had flown. Photo: Asisbiz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3dc6341-7451-4c4d-93b0-7f2551526000/Yellow%21%21.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out American pilots inspect an abandoned Messerschmitt Bf 109 Yellow 11 of Schwantze’s NaGr 13 at Fritzlar Flughaven (airfield) in April, 1945. Screen capture image via Youtube. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ec3b23b8-92c0-4f81-abf3-dad56bef33b8/Yellow112.png The Stories - SURVIVOR — The Werner Schwantje Story - Make it stand out An American GI reporter inspects a gaping hole cut into the port side of Yellow 11, a Messerschmitt 109G of Schwantze’s NaGr. 13. The hole appears to have been cut deliberately and one wonders if this was souvenir hunters or intelligence people wanting quick access to cameras inside. Screen capture image of US Army film via Youtube (lazar Bakic). https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/one-in-a-million monthly 0.5 2021-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37a58c43-4f11-43b2-85a7-6e508573b700/OninaMillion3.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Pilot Officer James Elmer “Jimmy” Abbotts. PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-15833 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b0b0077a-5b1b-4575-996c-291869ecbd4d/pilots-group-of-4.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out P/O James Abbotts (second from right) and 403 Squadron mates pose on a squadron Spitfire. The pilot leaning against the fuselage at left is 19-year old George Rawson Brown of Hamilton, Ontario. He was killed on operations on May 31, 1943. Sitting on the starboard tailplane is British-born 21-year old Flight Sergeant William George Uttley of Toronto, Canada, also killed on operations in the same month. The aircraft, Spitfire EN130, had suffered heavy damage from cannon fire in January, so must have been reissued to 403 Squadron not long before this photo was taken. It does look freshly painted. Photo: rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/336f3c6f-3798-45c0-bac6-7331a08e332c/Screen+Shot+2021-10-25+at+1.36.42+PM.png The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Wing Commander (later Air Marshal) Johnny Johnson, RAF, CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, DL, commanded the Kenley Wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force (seen here a year later — taken late July or early August after No.144 Wing RCAF was disbanded and he took over No.127 Wing RCAF). Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e417e9e2-49fd-4c2c-8e2f-ace3080f88c6/pl-15079.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out The Digby Wing Commander Lloyd Vernon "Chad" Chadburn DSO & Bar, DFC had just turned 23 years old when he took command of the wing. He led the Wing in flying escort to American bombers and the RAF medium bombers of No. 2 Group. He was supposedly dubbed The Angel, for his escort would assure the bomber crews a safe passage to and from the target. He did not survive the war. PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-15079 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0848733b-3ffe-4e1b-98e0-9648edc4df4f/Forlow.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant, later Squadron Leader Norm Fowlow, DFC, White section leader and a 421 Squadron pilot. Though Abbotts was a 403 pilot, he and J.D. Browne (an American) flew attached to 421’s White Section. Other 403 Squadron pilots who flew that day included a who’s who of Canadian fighter pilots — Bob Middlemiss, Hugh Dowding, Wally Conrad, and Hugh Godefroy. Photo via FlyingForYourLife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7fdeb9da-3fe0-4634-9af0-54f46791cf80/ballantyne-finley-buckham-browne-goldberg-1.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant David Goldberg (right) was flying in Abbotts White Section when Abbotts was shot down, returning to base alone. He is seen here later in the war with 403 Squadron stalwarts Jimmy Ballantyne, Hart Finley, Bobby Buckham and J. D. Browne. Photo via Dean Black and rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b5dc1f8-8f41-4162-9a9e-4e94a4f6256b/harten.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant John Wilbert Edmund “Web” Harten of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario was killed on operations two years after the Schiphol raid. Photo via FlyingForYourLife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e4be8ab-60a3-4ad9-9ddc-c0bcf124a5d7/Hooked.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Unable to extricate himself, Jimmy Abbotts was doomed to ride his Spitfire to the ground. He passed out from the stress and the violence of the slipstream. Recreation by Dave O’Malley, from flightsim.to with Jan Kees Blom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd1f1744-8f16-4c1d-92d0-da3de2a09f5a/Screen+Shot+2021-10-25+at+12.38.06+PM.png The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out A photo of Abbotts’ Spitfire KH-H (RAF Serial No. BS509)on the ground in Holland was taken by the German soldier tasked with standing guard over the wreck. The radio mast that hooked Abbotts to his Spitfire rises aft of the break in the fuselage. Photo via https://rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ab1ddd5-c1a4-4a4e-8038-0311b9a4d4dc/shutterstock_1970503979.jpg The Stories - ONE IN A MILLION - Make it stand out Though the previous photo looks grim, it fact, Abbotts’ Spitfire came down in the wide open and very flat tulip fields surrounding the farming town of Hillegom west of Schiphol airfield. Fate could not have chosen a better place for him to end up. Photo: Jollanda Aalbers, via Shutterstock https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-shepherd monthly 0.5 2021-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5a51a04f-189c-49bc-b76f-b4803b1a9680/The_Shepherd_Falsh.png The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625858069113-Y9LXVHJCYFLCYUDUX2SE/Shepherd2014-01.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out “It’s a very lonely place, the sky, even more so the sky on a winter’s night. A single-seater jet fighter is a lonely home, a tiny steel box held aloft on stubby wings, hurled through freezing emptiness by a blazing tube throwing out the strength of six thousand horses every second that it burns.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625858128601-WWPXNHFBXW1A8UBMV44P/Shepherd2014-02.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out The small painting of the moment the Vampire pilot sees The Shepherd emerging along with hope from the North Sea cloud. My daughter gave me this nearly 8 years ago. Appropriately, it was a Christmas gift. Image by Lauren Grace O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625858170358-BNZ1ZMM4J12Y3147IJLU/Shepherd2014-03.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out “And then he came up towards me, swinging in towards my left-hand wing tip. I could make out the black hulk of him against the dim white sheet of fog below...” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625858277242-2NHQUAVY8W6UHG72NDTR/Shepherd2014-04_1.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out “Without warning, the shepherd pointed a single forefinger at me, then forward through the windscreen. It meant “There you are, fly on and land”, I stared forward through the now streaming windscreen. Nothing. Then, yes, something. A blur to the left, another to the right, then two, one each side. Ringed with haze, there were lights either side of me, in pairs, flashing past. I forced my eyes to see what lay between them. Nothing, blackness.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625858323467-6UYK92Z52T4XAW86Z9XM/Shepherd2014-05.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out “By the time the two headlights came groping out of the mist I felt frozen. The lights stopped twenty feet from the motionless Vampire, dwarfed by the fighter’s bulk. A voice called ‘Hallo there.’ ” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3533bc54-62db-415e-8faf-fe3edcde9e92/Shepherd201400.jpg The Stories - THE SHEPHERD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/christmas-at-biggin-hill monthly 0.5 2021-12-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396779681-LUOR00BJFKG2JVVKAC42/ChristmasBigginTitle.jpg The Stories - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AT BIGGIN HILL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396832933-OV43ASWG24HBU4KX3RY7/Bill7.jpg The Stories - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AT BIGGIN HILL - Make it stand out Bill McRae and a 401 Squadron Spitfire V at RAF Redhill. Photo via Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396891092-U4PHY2X24BE1KRNNVID0/ChristmasBiggin3.jpg The Stories - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AT BIGGIN HILL - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Lorne “Boss” Cameron cuts a dashing figure standing next to his Spitfire. Photo via Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396991635-BPNU3K9G7QIXB5MEJ7QR/Bill9.jpg The Stories - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AT BIGGIN HILL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/relic-hero-behind-the-villain monthly 0.5 2024-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515586381-1B3MBP66GEK8M5ITNPIF/Relic00.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515630965-EZRYZCOWSOSMWXN5QK7V/Relic09.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Richard Attenborough, playing Squadron Leader Roger “Big X” Bartlett in The Great Escape—the epitome of the determined British hero. Screen capture: United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515687370-8NQ2LW3Z4AEH41WC19FG/Relic11.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out British actor and former Bomber Command Lancaster pilot Donald Pleasence channelled personal experience in a Prisoner of War camp during the Second World War to portray the part of myopic and soon-to-be-blind document forger, Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape. Screen capture: United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515759065-VVM9WJFQRBEROQTCJYC2/Relic01.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Robert Clothier, DFC played the part of Stafford T. “Relic” Phillips, the scruffy and ill-mannered log scavenger in 213 episodes of The Beachcombers, a long-running drama produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Photo: CBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515795221-XBQGFIOZ32FCQC0FA8TW/Relic06.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out According to IDMb.com, Relic, an acerbic loner, was always surly and ill mannered. A miser, he rarely did anything unless he could profit by it. As the primary competitor of Nick Adonidas (right, played by Bruno Gerussi) many of the show’s episodes had him competing with Nick over something, usually with Nick on the higher moral ground. While sneaky and dishonest Relic would frequently find ways to cheat, though he was usually careful to avoid breaking the law. There were also several episodes in which Relic played the central character. Photo: CBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515830232-8TIR5DMMULCV2BX476VX/Relic03.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out A nice colour photo of Clothier sitting on the gunwale of his beachcombing boat, the High Baller II, looking filthy and dishevelled and worthy of the name Relic. Photo: CBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515873950-3FQA67JC7QLWZZBJP18Y/Relic40.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Robert Clothier (left) at his Handley Page Hampton Operational training Unit for pilots and navigators (observers) in October of 1941. Photo via theygavetheirtodsay.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515913898-GXHG35D3JIO6KIHY24GR/Relic24.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out A 408 Squadron RCAF Handley Page Hampden warms up off the taxiway across from Hangar 7 at RAF Syerston. The Hampden was nicknamed the Flying Suitcase by its crews for its cramped crew accommodations. During one of Clothier’s combat ops, he was shot at twice by the nervous crew of a Vickers Wellington, who likely mistook him for a twin-engined Dornier Do-17 night fighter, which had a very similar configuration. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515963708-E8R142YGU0G7OLR5RJXE/Relic04.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out As nasty and amoral as Clothier was on screen, he was the opposite in real life—a decorated war hero, Bomber Command pilot and to all accounts an enthusiastic and elegant man. Here we see him with his entire 408 Squadron Halifax crew at RAF Lindholme, Yorkshire, Great Britain—a very experienced crew indeed with commissioned gunners and gongs galore. Left to right: Flying Officer L. Corbeil, Bomb Aimer; Sergeant J. McCart , Flight Engineer; Flight Lieutenant B. Austen, Wireless Operator; Flying Officer S. DeZorzi, Navigator; Flight Lieutenant Robert Clothier, Pilot; Flight Lieutenant T. Murdoch, Mid-Upper Gunner; Flying Officer B. Fitzgerald, Rear Gunner. In this one crew, Corbeil, Austen, Clothier, DeZorzi and Fitzgerald all had Distinguished Flying Crosses. Clothier would also fly the Bristol Hercules-powered Lancaster II when the squadron transitioned and moved to RAF Linton-on-Ouse in the summer of 1943. On 24 July 1944, Clothier flew 408 “Goose” Squadron’s 3,000th operation sortie when he took his crew to Stuttgart, Germany for a raid. Clothier must have been a really dramatic character even then as here we see him smiling wildly, wearing a scarf and toting a pistol in a gloved hand. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515995961-2M4MB80ZAY5AH9FVBS0Z/Relic20.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out This photograph, taken at the same time as the previous photo, portrays a very happy crew with a gentle, comfortable and smiling Clothier at the heart of that happiness. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628516030191-MTY7T12XDVCPQXWR2ENA/Relic22.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out The Bomber Command Museum of Canada has a pdf copy of part of Clothier’s logbook, covering part of his second operational tour—flying Lancaster IIs, the Bristol Hercules-powered variant of the Lancaster. Clothier has cut tiny photos (likely from a contact sheet) for each of his crew members and pasted them in his logbook. We have scanned them here (clockwise, from upper left): Flight Lieutenant Robert Clothier, Pilot, looking happy and full of youthful vigour; Flying Officer S. DeZorzi, Navigator at his station; Flying Officer L. Corbeil, Bomb Aimer; Flying Officer B. Fitzgerald, Rear Gunner; Flight Lieutenant B. Austen, Wireless Operator; Sergeant J. McCart, Flight Engineer (not sure why Clothier has written FIRED! on this photo) and Flight Lieutenant T. Murdoch, Mid-Upper Gunner. Records at Bomber Command Museum of Canada show that Clothier had DeZorzi as his Navigator on both of his operational tours, demonstrating the loyalty crew members had for each other. Photos from Clothier’s logbook via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628516903658-ICL9JM0Z62QO5RQTKWNR/Relic27.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out A scan of a page from Clothier’s logbook tells us a few things about the man. First, his assessment by Flight Lieutenant Smith of A-Flight, following Conversion Training at 1664 Heavy Conversion Training Unit was “Above Average”. We can also see that he was training with his new crew and his old navigator De Zorzi. Clothier is then transferred back to his old squadron and we can see the signs of an artist in the way he titled the section pertaining to 408 Squadron. Scan via bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/905e3720-c3e7-4c8c-aa11-d0615379a536/Relic_X.jpg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out The three other crew members in the crash of Mitchell HD315 were Corporal Robert Edward Dutton of Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, Flying Officer George Raymond Spencer of Thorold, Ontario and Flying Officer Thomas Leslie Walmsley of Toronto. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628516951214-Z6IQDDLKNO1U9BXD7THQ/Relic15.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out North American B-25 Mitchell bombers of the Royal Canadian Air Force line the flight line at No. 5 Operational Training Unit, Boundary Bay, near the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was here, in late 1944, that Clothier arrived to begin training new bomber pilots. Photos by Noel Barlow, DezMazes Collection, via No. 5 OTU Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517062785-Y131IKHD2LKMASDVJGCS/Relic16.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of RCAF Station Boundary Bay from the Second World War. To the left runs a deep ditch-like depression into which Clothier’s crippled B-25 Mitchell crashed, 23 December 1944. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517096213-MVJ2XMOOPB2SZVVSTAYP/Relic18.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out A No. 5 OTU B-25 Mitchell in the skies over the Vancouver area. It was in a similar aircraft that Clothier received his only major injuries of his Second World War service, despite two operational tours. Photos by Noel Barlow, DezMazes Collection, via No. 5 OTU Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517128077-FPOPTF21M6M215N39LNW/Relic02.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Boundary Bay fire fighters battle the intense flames following the crash of Clothier’s B-25 Mitchell. RCAF photo via The Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517188963-A3XOZSVRQRBVT36QQV15/Relic28.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out The remains of Bomber Command Halifax HX332 after Operation GISELA. This aircraft was flying at between 2,500 and 3,000 feet when it was attacked from below by a Junkers Ju88 night fighter, part of the GISELA force. It sustained serious damage and the Canadian pilot, 22-year-old Flight Lieutenant John Gifford Laurence Laffoley of Montréal, was unable to sustain control. He ordered his crew to take to their parachutes, with three of the crew surviving. Laffoley crashed near Spellow Hill Estate, between Boroughbridge and Staveley just after 1 AM. Five airmen lost their lives as a result of the crash. This image shows only one of the wings of the destroyed aircraft. The second dickey pilot, navigator and air gunner survived. Photo via wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517464935-GJJJ6QYYRCM5EBWNJ23X/Relic26.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out After his long-running role as Relic in The Beachcombers, Clothier continued to act, appearing in film and television, while remaining a British Columbian to the core. The hugely successful television series, the X-Files, was largely filmed in Vancouver and Clothier made a couple of small part appearances in that series. Here we see him as “Old Man” driving a pickup truck with agents Mulder and Scully. Screen capture from X-Files https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517512954-NO7SVFF3DZUS3PETY3FE/Relic21.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out Robert Clothier’s crew photograph was selected from literally several hundred similar crew photographs from 6 Group and other Bomber Command squadrons to represent all others on Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial in Nanton, Alberta. The monument bears the names of the more than 10,000 Canadian boys who died on operations with Bomber Command. It is likely that the Clothier crew photo was selected for the quality of the photograph and the experience of the crew (most with 2 tours and a DFC), but I like to think that it is because of the looks on their faces—all handsome, innocent and wise, all smiling with promise and hope for a future that may extend beyond the bloody skies of Europe. I like to think it is because of their leader, Flight Lieutenant Robert Clothier, DFC—young, beautiful, open faced and roguish. Though it appears smaller in this perspective, the flag pole over the museum, flying the RCAF ensign, is over 100 feet tall. The flag itself is massive as well—40 feet by 20 feet. Metal from a crashed Canadian Halifax (LW682) is incorporated into the RCAF finial at the top of the pole. Photo via Bomber Command Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517549012-PSPUA6AKRZ8WS4QBM34R/Relic23.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out More than four thousand miles away from Nanton, Alberta, in Walton-on-Naze, a memorial was constructed in 1978 by the Royal Air Forces Association. The second Clothier brother, John George, is honoured with the other members of that unfortunate crew. The propeller blades were recovered from the crash site of Clothier’s Halifax by officers and cadets of 308 Squadron, Air Training Corps, RAF. The memorial is dedicated to the crew of the Halifax and all local men and women who have served with the RAF. No mention is made of the friendly fire incident. Photo: Oldpicruss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628517583244-QGPJG2K06NFR8TSBESYQ/Relic25.jpeg The Stories - RELIC – The Hero behind the Villain - Make it stand out A close-up of the plaque at the base of the Walton-on-Naze memorial with Clothier’s name highlighted by the author. The two Clothier brothers gave more than most—four completed tours between them; Robert training pilots after his two tours, John upping for one more tour and retraining as a pilot. The death of John affected the life of Robert, there is no doubt. They deserve to be in these two quiet and very special places. Photo: Oldpicruss https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/two-by-moonlight monthly 0.5 2021-12-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626884793489-DYSE8GIBC49NRXMJK33P/Moore00.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626884838915-P2GVBXPFJX7TWBQY9WN8/Moore23.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of RAF St Eval taken from about 10,000 feet on 18 July 1942. St Eval, situated along the northern coast of England’s Southwest Peninsula, was originally built in the late 1930s as a large grassy landing field with aircraft able to land into the wind at all times. However, rainy coastal weather meant that the field was soggy and unsuitable for operations much of the time. In the spring of 1940, a 1,000 metre paved runway and two intersecting shorter ones were built. A ring taxiway allowed aircraft to reach the start of the operational runway without interfering with landings and takeoffs. St Eval’s littoral location made it a natural base for Coastal Command aircraft patrolling the Bay of Biscay and the Western Approaches. The airfield supported Spitfire operations during the Battle of Britain and after the war it was an Avro Shackleton base. If one looks closely there are three things of note in this image. First, there are a number of multi-engine aircraft distributed across the infield grass. Secondly, the infield grass is divided into separate farm fields. These fields were not visible in earlier aerial photographs and the dark dividing lines also cross runways indicating camouflage designed to hide the larger field. And finally, one can see the craters of Luftwaffe bombs as well as damaged hangars, the result of raids in the summer of 1941. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626884880899-VU5C1PEHE7KS7S8UQG8I/Moore02.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out An obviously staged shot of mechanics swarming a 224 squadron B-24 Liberator at RAF Beaulieu getting her ready for a patrol in December of 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626884929235-4IDLFVPGGF5ZW05XN6TJ/Moore03.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out In a more candid photograph, 224 Squadron mechanics work on the 1,200 hp Pratt and Whitney turbo-supercharged R-1830 Twin Wasp radials while in the background another Liberator rolls up to the dispersal at RAF St Eval on the northwest coast of Cornwall. This was in February of 1944, four months before the legendary actions on the night of 7–8 June 1944. Photo: Comox Air Force Museum Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885085171-9NZ3PJIACB5CE3ZTR9HZ/Moore25.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out The first of six 224 Squadron Liberator Vs to take off on Wednesday, 7 June 1944, was “B-Baker” (BZ915) flown by 21-year-old Flight Lieutenant Ronald Henry Buchan-Hepburn, RAAF, a native of northern Queensland, Australia. It is not known for certain, but it is likely that he and his crew were lost when shot down by return anti-aircraft fire from U-415. No trace was ever found of the aircraft or the men. Though he took off on 7 June, Buchan-Hepburn’s “Lib” was actually the last aircraft of the previous night’s sorties, leaving shortly after midnight. His failure to return likely was the reason the first of the next day’s planned sorties left in daylight and several hours before the rest. Buchan-Hepburn was trained in Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885336471-JK6FVW60CIG0H68V2QHK/Moore24.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Fourteen hours after Buchan-Hepburn’s departure and 12 hours after the last radio call received from “B-Baker”, the squadron commander “Mick” Ensor took off in “S-Sugar” for his patrol area and possibly to search for his two lost crews. New Zealander Squadron Leader Maechel Anthony Ensor was a highly decorated veteran of Coastal Command with two Distinguished Service Orders, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and an Air Force Cross. Here he poses with a 224 Squadron “Lib” and his Border terrier dog named “Liberator”. Photo: www2awards.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885373732-IL9702XWLY3BYPDDNMAD/Moore31.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out “Mick” Ensor and eight members of his crew pose with a 224 Squadron Liberator. Ensor is second from left, holding his dog “Liberator”. While unable to identify who is who in this image, here are the members of Ensor’s crew who took part in Operation CORK on the night of 7–8 June 1944: Squadron Leader Ensor (RNZAF), Flying Officer W. Andrews (RNZAF), Flight Lieutenant F.F. Addington, Flying Officer R.G. Tate, Pilot Officer D.M. Muir, Sergeant T. Cockeram, Flying Officer A.G.R. Pugh (RNZAF), Sergeant R.G. Plummer, Flight Lieutenant S.R. Carter and Sergeant W.G. Moses. Photo: Comox Air Force Museum Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885480332-E4KB2XWXV83Z031SPPAM/Moore05.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out A beaming Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Owen Moore, DSO sits in the left seat of his 224 Squadron Liberator GR-V. Despite his smile and being just 22 years old, Moore shows the weight of command in his eyes. Moore’s obituary 66 years later in 2008 stated “A natural leader, his unselfish, compassionate and understated strength touched everyone’s life.” That too is visible in these very same eyes. Moore learned to fly within the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, completing his first solo and Elementary Flying Training syllabus at No. 6 EFTS, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, just a hundred miles from his Rockhaven, Saskatchewan home. He was selected for the challenges of multi-engine flying and was sent to No. 5 Service Flying Training School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he earned his wings on the twin-engined Avro Anson. It was fortunate for a Saskatchewan farm boy to do all of his air force flight training so close to home. This included his basic air force training at No.7 Initial Training School in Saskatoon as well. He was never more than a short train ride from home. Moore’s comfort with long flights over flat expanses of water may have a founding in living and training on the wide-open prairies of his beloved Saskatchewan. Photo: Comox Air Force Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885530070-8JFI7ED1J27QF58IUT6P/Moore01.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Kriegsmarine U-boat captains remembered wistfully the First and Second “Happy Times”, when they roamed largely unmolested in the shipping lanes between Halifax and Liverpool. Convoys bound for Liverpool faced being ravaged by torpedo attacks from wolf packs that lay in wait. But by May 1943, known to the U-Boot-Waffe as “Black May”, three critical and interlaced systems that had been put into place by the British, Canadians and Americans finally began to pay dividends, turning the hunters into the hunted. The first was “Huff-Duff” or High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF), a radio direction system that could triangulate on the radio transmissions of U-boats as they made contact with headquarters in Lorient, France. This enabled convoys to be vectored away from concentrations of German submarines, and aircraft to be vectored towards them. The second system was Asdic or sonar, which allowed escorts to find submerged submarines and hunt them with depth charges. During the first years of the war, these first two systems, working in concert, helped considerably to reduce the carnage, but there was always a large gap in the middle of the Atlantic that was not effectively patrolled by aircraft (Wellingtons, Whitleys, Hudsons and the like) from either coast until the advent of long-range Coastal Command Liberators and Short Sunderlands. The Consolidated B-24 Liberators were relatively inexpensive, had very high endurance and, operating from bases in Canada, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the South of England, were able to cover the entire Atlantic. Day or night, U-boat crews surfacing their boats in the mid-Atlantic to recharge batteries or communicate with Lorient now felt the pressure of a possible attack from the air. In this photograph, a 224 Squadron Liberator Mk III is photographed flying back to its base at RAF Beaulieu, Hampshire on the south coast of England near Lymington. 242 Squadron flew from both Beaulieu and St Eval, a 19 Group Coastal Command base on the Southwest Peninsula of Great Britain. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885576624-4E8PBGQNDUDUTP8BN3KW/Moore26.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out I hunted the web for images of the 224 Squadron pilots who launched on 7 June 1944 to help illustrate the squadron’s efforts on the night of 7–8 June. Ensor, Buchan-Hepburn and of course Moore were found; Jones and Jenkinson could not be found (yet) and Norman Bradley Merrington’s image was elusive even though he was part of a later piece of early cold war history. After the war, Merrington found employment as a civilian airline pilot with British European Airways (BEA), a new carrier that got its start in 1946. As a co-pilot aboard Vickers Viking VC-B G-AIVP (similar to the one pictured above), he was killed in an air crash known as the Gatow Air Disaster. On 5 April 1948, while on final into western Berlin’s RAF Gatow air base, Merrington’s Viking with four crew and ten passengers aboard was buzzed by a Soviet Yak-3 fighter. At approximately 2:30 p.m., while the Viking was in the airport’s safety area levelling off to land, the Yak-3 approached from behind. Eyewitnesses testified that as the Viking made a left-hand turn prior to its approach to land, the fighter dived beneath it, climbed sharply, and clipped the port wing of the airliner with its starboard wing. The impact ripped off both colliding wings and the Viking crashed inside the Soviet Sector, at Hahneberg, Staaken, just outside the British Sector and exploded. The Yak-3 crashed near a farmhouse on Heerstrasse just inside the British sector. The occupants of both aircraft died on impact (Wikipedia). Photo: VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626885649902-W1ML1YV3IBSZN23PEJ9B/Moore32.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out A superb photograph of Moore’s crew taken on the very day they made history—8 June 1944. They are (Back row, left to right) Warrant Officer Jock MacDowall, DFC, Navigator, Flight Sergeant I. C. Webb, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner; Flying Officer Ketcheson, Second pilot; Warrant Officer E.E. “Ernie” Davison, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner; Sergeant J. Hamer, DFM, Flight Engineer; Warrant Officer D.H. Griese, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. Front row: Pilot Officer Al P. Gibb, DFC, one of two Navigators; Warrant Officer Mike Werbiski, DFM, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner; Flying Officer Kenneth Own Moore, Pilot; Warrant Officer William P. Foster, DFC, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner (who had been operating the radar at the time of the attack). The identities of the men are from a caption written on the back of the photo. Photo via www.richthistle.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886520424-2WXBQDLL3DPKVS0R54TJ/Moore04.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Then Flying Officer Kenneth Owen “Kayo” Moore (left in front row) poses with eight members of his 10-man crew who were involved in the sinking of two U-boats on the night of 7–8 June 1944. In the very front is Moore and crew’s lucky stuffed Panda “Warrant Officer Dinty Moore”, named not after the popular Dinty Moore canned stews from Hormel, but likely after a Canadian hockey player named Frank “Dinty” Moore who played on the 1936 Canadian Olympic team in Garmisch–Partenkirchen, Germany. This photo, with the men out of their flight gear, was clearly taken at a later time than the previous photo. Photo: Comox Air Force Museum Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886573638-NKIGRSPGP3B68LWYNJJ8/Moore27.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Armourers at RAF St Eval manhandle 250 lb. depth charges from a bomb trolley as they prepare a Liberator GR Mark VA of 53 Squadron for a patrol. Moore’s “G-George” was loaded with twelve of the cylindrical weapons as well as a 600 lb. acoustic homing torpedo. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886632724-PJFJZGYD7YRIJ3AJODYR/Moore14.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out The first submarine to be sunk by Moore sank rapidly following the attack, taking with it to the bottom not only her full crew, but her identity as well. This submarine has been identified by different sources as either U-629 or U-441, both of which were lost under uncertain circumstances in June of 1944. I won’t get into making a determination of the sub’s identity, leaving that to the experts, but perhaps we should know a little bit about both U-boats and their crews, for in this will be found the truth. U-629, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans–Helmuth Bugs was on its 11th war patrol, having slipped out of the pens at Brest on 6 June 1944 (D-Day), likely bound for the Normandy coast and the English Channel. Bugs (above left and at left in right photo) was with U-629 through its launch and commissioning and was a seasoned veteran commander. Like U-373 (the second U-boat attacked by Moore that night), which would leave port the following day, Bugs’ U-629 had just completed repairs after having been seriously damaged by an RAF Coastal Command Wellington of 612 Squadron on 12 March. At that time, U-629 was only a day out of Brest and was forced back to base to affect repairs to her heavy damage. Nearly three months later, her next attempt to cross the Bay of Biscay would result in her sinking with all hands. The repeated attempts and ultimate fates of both U-373 and U-629 illustrate the severe threats to U-boat operations presented by 19 Group anti-submarine bombers. Photos: Left: uboote.fr; Right: uboat.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886674227-ERDIXPHRD0DFIZ83I4HE/Moore15.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out U-441, a Type VIIC U-boat of the 1st Flotilla in Brest, was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Klaus Hartmann (top left), a 32-year-old veteran who was with U-441 during its construction in late 1940 and launch in late 1941 in Danzig. At one point, U-441 was one of just four U-boats fully converted as a “flak boat” with extended “winter garden” and gun platforms. Equipped with two 2-cm quad anti-aircraft machine guns (upper right), a 3.75 cm machine gun (at far left in lower photo) and additional MG 42 machine guns, U-441 and the others were designed as surface escorts for incoming and outgoing attack U-boats transiting the Bay of Biscay. Called “aircraft traps”, they were intended to lure Coastal Command anti-submarine aircraft and shoot them down. The concept worked well at the outset, with U-441 luring a lumbering Short Sunderland to its death but RAF pilots soon learned to keep their distance and attack in numbers. A flight of Beaufighters attacked U-441 and heavily damaged her, killing 10 and wounding 13 including Hartman. The experiment was cancelled and U-441 and the others were converted back to the traditional deck gun and defensive weapons of a typical Type VIIC submarine. Middle right: the fanciful crest of U-441 as a Flak Boat showing a swordfish impaling a Coastal Command aircraft. It is widely thought that U-441 was sunk with all 51 crew members being killed on the night of 7–8 June 1944. It was the boat’s ninth and final patrol. Photos: U-boat.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886737948-9D3X4WFN8UJYRXMDZZXL/Moore29.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out The attack on U-373 was another textbook straddling of the submarine with depth charges, just aft of the conning tower. By the time Moore had turned back to the position of the attack, the U-boat was already in its death throes. Photo Illustration by author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886791923-JXHVBE5ZTK38C5JYJLWQ/Moore16.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out It is important to know that while the enemy was indeed the German U-boats, they were manned by extraordinarily courageous young men, everyone of them handpicked professionals. An astonishing 75% of all U-boat men were killed in the line of duty, many whose fate and final resting place were never known. Of all the services on either side of the war, the U-Boot-Waffe suffered the highest death rate—by a wide margin. It is important to uncover what we can of the history and crews of the two U-boats sunk that night by Moore. There is however some disagreement as to the identity of one of the submarines sunk on 7–8 June. This is of course because U-boats were often out of contact with Lorient for days and weeks—weeks when possibly several U-boats might be lost in the same area of operations, so determining date and time of a sinking was a postwar process of elimination in many cases. The one U-boat that was sunk for certain that night by Moore and his crew was the second one attacked—U-373, a Type VIIC submarine under the command of 27-year-old Kapitänleutnant Detlef von Lehsten (left) from Hamburg, Germany, a major U-boat production centre since the First World War. We know the identity of this U-boat from the simple fact that all but four of the crew survived. Von Lehsten was one of the survivors who were picked up the next day by French fishermen, but his chief engineer Leutnant Kohrgal Korger (right) was one of the four men who were killed in Moore’s attack. Photo: Coastal command’s Air War Against the German U-boat, Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives by Norman Franks, via Google Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886823951-UP1JA73ESO9CS95ATLVP/Moore21.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886849338-P1LN8N8NTYNV5B5NQOJT/Moore30.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886885741-3RWWILC79OLPWOXTOPGQ/Moore17.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886955078-4Q8UFG9OVVZHA1B0JDTA/Moore08.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626886986620-NRV8P9KSUPWIR1YDY5OL/Moore06.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887021949-PO64BPLAR9L8FYQVKGLR/Moore07.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887051610-VALQPFB3179KL57X3E12/Moore28.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887094690-8ASF8RD9VWW4ULZSDK8Z/Moore11.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887124748-DXY1BV9V39TSC6MNENIT/Moore12.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887157868-0W882BSAPDQI4I5FG120/Moore09.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887191978-KUM7U76SLVUPSN99YI1U/Moore13.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887231112-7U0JMOPDUGA9ZK4HI53Y/Moore18.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626887255925-JGAWJ8JTHXHQ6KUWJFXM/Moore10.jpg The Stories - TWO BY MOONLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lower-than-a-snakes-belly monthly 0.5 2022-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512551997-Z0V9GHE30J201WTSK6JQ/1570FB76-BB32-4933-96E2-3FA58BDB1DB5.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out On a particularly hot day, a Royal Australian Air Force English Electric A84 Canberra bomber drops to within 25 feet as thrill-seeking mechanics get ready for the visceral experience of 13,000 lbs of Rolls-Royce Avon power full in the face. Photo: RAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512598682-VPZD2GLRMYTB4JYF9R91/92CCB0FE-BDEC-4E69-8684-EC4A2711A865.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Ian Coristine inspects the alfalfa in his Quad City Challenger ultralight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512627666-WMD9V2P4JDJB8GJUQATG/00BAA3C2-9CD3-4005-90A3-BA5E73609BCF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out I guess you could say that the first flight in history was in fact a low-level flight. Ever since, men have dreamed for higher altitudes, but did all their showing off right down on the deck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512654196-X4H91TKG8BRIFG2CLWZJ/B7855931-5DB1-4FBB-B167-747DF2CFABC8.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Douglas A-20G Havoc night fighter of the 417th Night Fighter Squadron does a little daylight low flying down in the weeds possibly near the Orlando, Florida base where they were formed. Their first deployment was to Europe where they immediately re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512720731-6DS5GNWBMJXYSBGR8FQU/9CCBB733-79A7-49A0-A1D7-82DA6F5E8E57.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A P-40 flies down the beach at extreme low level, as Marines practice an amphibious landing somewhere in the Pacific. In order to get this photo, the photographer standing on the beach would have had to have his back to the oncoming P-40, trusting that pilot would do a “buzz job” of the beach and not his hair. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512767113-JNNOQFFZ8W8NY72VXTWL/1C7D79D3-EFBC-4D34-85FC-FD6C26F17533.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A squadron of Luftwaffe Ju 52 Junkers stream low over the Russian countryside near Demjansk, south of Leningrad. In February to May of 1942, the Germans were surrounded by the Red Army. Supplying the Germans during and after the “Demjansk Pocket” was the role of the air force. Here, low flying in the slow transports was more a survival tactic than a joyride. Photo via Akira Takaguchi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512801483-VXLY0E7W2WE22WE9PIXL/F88D1EC3-4EE8-4ED8-9A4C-E3954822E8B1.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Thought to have been taken in the region of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1944, this shot of an Airspeed Oxford scaring the bejesus out of half the waiting airmen while the other half remain calm, is a beauty. Photo via Joe Hopwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512834207-RW4V7H8S68IFC6GC6NTL/7192C166-E3E2-40E5-B9FC-D9FE79127661.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Two USAAF P-47 Thunderbolts rip down a recently constructed airstrip, while a construction battalion soldier directing traffic holds up a deuce and a half dump truck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512863987-PJ6SBRUXA6L99YJS8A2B/1F1F8159-7410-420E-97F4-7ED193A5B0EA.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Disregarding the hazards involved, a USAAF 8th Air Force P-47 attacks a Flak tower at a German airfield in occupied France. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512892140-NGTB3STD9A2DDFBVAJHU/9FA87A1D-651B-473E-855D-A975057175D6.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A USAAF P-47 Thunderbolt at extreme low level. Note that the sweep of the camera’s pan has bent the buildings in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512923855-BN6OOFIDZZCQ9B4CS6BX/71C8D248-EA40-4AEC-8D84-A46A42F5A313.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Another shot that has the same effect of bending the buildings in the background (see previous photo). Like our own Spitfire XIV RM873, Griffon-powered PR Spitfire XIX PS890 was sold to the Royal Thai Air Force after the war. She is seen here with 81 Squadron markings and being put through her paces down low at RAF Seletar, Singapore in the summer of 1954 just before her sale. In 1961, PS890 was donated to the Planes of Fame Museum in California. It was eventually restored and took to the skies again in 2000, albeit with clipped wings and contra-rotating props. It was then purchased by Frenchman Christophe Jacquard and taken to Duxford for the wingtips to be added and a single 5-bladed propeller installed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512952160-C9P68TSU2K6DMF58XK17/56201540-73A4-45D7-8047-E5EA977BC4E9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out It appears that this and the previous photo of a PR Spitfire were taken at the same time and by the same photographer—here an 81 Squadron Photo Recce Mosquito beats up RAF Seletar, Singapore after the war. The navigator stares out the side window at the photographer. Photo: Twitter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629512982235-684YUZ88RZ4ED1FOEUU8/DF6AF67A-766B-43F4-802F-87CFBF844B71.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A pair (if you include the photo aircraft) of Italian Savoia Marchetti SIAI SM.79s scares the ravioli out of a group of Italian airmen in North Africa in 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513016858-X8Y4BSFRQJ4RZZBX2LGK/A51A6A22-0187-4337-B1A3-412FBA6C27D5.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Interesting photo. The B-24 in the foreground is possibly the first B-24A. Then there is the group of A-20s doing a low flyby at the Marston Experimental Strip in the Fall of 1941, some 2 months prior to Pearl Harbor. This was the 1st experimental use of PSP (Perforated Steel Planking), also known as Marston Mat. It is being followed by what appears to be Navy Wildcats. PSP played a BIG part in winning the battle for Guadalcanal less than a year after this photo and was subsequently used for quick construction of all-weather runways in remote locations throughout the world. Thanks to Bob Merritt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513046802-W2EG8EY3EV9M8HXH22S8/A423E935-C742-4367-B335-59BECAA7151B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An American P-38 Lightning pilot makes sure of his shot as he lines up a ground target in a Panamanian range during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513079405-FFT4EGB5LWIJI2TDUW2U/6CF25D63-3649-4A3A-9C04-D7433E38DE30.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A P-38 Lightning buzzing the field at Lavenham, England which was the home base of the 487th Bomb Group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513107391-QIAGVNH31BHYK9ZKXGQV/40749913-0A76-45EF-8879-A4F6ADFC7B73.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Photo-Recce Lockheed F-5 Lightning, nicknamed Maxine of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance group, USAAF beats up a snow covered airfield in Kent. Photo: AmericanAirMuseum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513143219-FY8D4JHOE7OQMKG7WVGN/8CC4226A-1462-404A-A560-3D8272A1313A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An A-20 Havoc beats up sand dunes at Benghazi in 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513171708-TRPWT4Z66UETFZBAXK39/877B0273-B5A9-4957-A31B-EFD2A51E4717.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Northrop P-61 Black Widow of the 421st Night Fighter Squadron does a low-level pass at Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines in February of 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513349033-2JWJNVJ6WM9965P2F9UN/638D69D5-2630-44BF-BE7B-32C8AF05E571.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Westland Whirlwind twin-engines fighters of the RAF buzz a couple of squadron pilots. Photo: Flight Global https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513382517-TO8EMFS2PUQYJ1SR35SE/7E271BF7-24BB-4412-83D0-7D5845826BD2.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Lockheed Hudson screams in low over assembled photographers and squadron pilots. Photo: Flight Global https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513413987-7DDS2XRW4MIFSCTA3UV5/D074772B-889A-4A5C-B190-D40CAAD113D2.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A flock of Mitchells head to the target low over the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513450785-C5G9ZZ4KV3SYSF1U31WL/B55E76F1-B8B7-4557-A12D-C9499A57E72B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An American Mitchell follows his lead and makes an extremely low-level wave top attack on a sitting duck Japanese picket boat off the coast of Paramushiru in the Kuril Islands. Photo: WarbirdInformationExchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513480127-9VF8PW4S3VPIVTUJ5YD9/46E27157-A7BD-4319-A259-A66CB3F12BB3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The B-25 Mitchell in the previous photo was attacking its target using the bomb-skipping technique which bounced a bomb off the surface and into the face of the enemy. Here a Beech AT-11 Kansan bomber trainer bounces a bomb right smack into the mouth of the floating target on Lake Childress, Texas. Skip bombing required excellent low flying skills and nerves of steel—some pilots could skip a bomb off a railroad track and into the mouth of a tunnel. Photo: TexasHistory.unt.edu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513516112-21RNV08NKIZNNKFSB9PA/E6EA2E04-5C3A-4106-ADD7-C13933EA1AA4.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Blenheim aircraft from 60 Squadron RAF level out for the “run in” to make a masthead attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab, Burma in 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513548064-UGYB2T46HDTHX6JK97B0/7F390A60-AB82-4753-82BF-EF6163CE9546.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A squadron of Martin Baltimore light attack bombers in tight formation head to battle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513579085-MYKDEFTJ9D85PTJ2JQUQ/CCD9B5D9-D50E-4C8D-8B9F-B7D47FB2D109.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Showing off your extreme low-level flying skills at an air show or in peacetime takes balls, but flying low-level at chimney top height through oily smoke with Flak and machine gun fire trained on your ass… well that takes big clanging balls. Here, we see a B-24 Liberator named Sandman, among the last through on the raid at the Ploesti, Romania oil refineries, piloted by First Lieutenant Robert Sternfels. A photo taken of his battered bomber, climbing hard to barely clear the smoke stacks of Astra Romania oil refinery after dropping its bombs, would become the trademark photo of the mission so often thereafter associated with the deadly low-level mission against Ploesti. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513807816-7TJM637FBLWFYU9JVLZD/83E7BB3D-8680-49CF-9BC6-7AC54DA84A30.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out While researching images for our P-40 stories over the past year I came across a massive collection of marvelous wartime photos—mostly of P-40s collected by Steve Reno. This P-40 pilot is risking his life only a little less than the man taking the photo of this ridiculously low-level pass across the runway. He’s not much higher than he would be if he was standing on his landing gear! If you trace the invisible line of his prop arc, this skilled numbskull’s tips are only about 4 feet off the ground. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513837677-FQZOS6V721FERTRQ311S/D65A1E09-9E75-4E61-B190-8DF24F56816E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Halifax B Mark II Series 1 (Special), JB911 KN-X, of No. 77 Squadron RAF, making a low-level pass over other aircraft of the squadron at Elvington, Yorkshire. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513878231-C94B19PQ217VW3P0L23F/1AB1C18D-5E8D-433A-8235-32AE400666BE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The same Halifax of 77 Squadron beats up a group of appreciative ground crew at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire in 1943. The pilot of this aircraft couldn’t have much more than a few hundred hours, but clearly a lot of testosterone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513907229-J3H1EK2WFSKQJMOILT7Q/43528E7C-9148-42AE-B3F0-BCCC08781216.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out For many attacking aircraft, safety lay down low in the wave tops beneath enemy radar coverage. Here, a squadron of Douglas A-20 Boston bombers of the RAF’s 88 Squadron head to the target over the North Sea. 88 Squadron crews became highly proficient in low-level bombing. In December 1942, almost 100 aircraft from 2 Group attacked the Philips Valve Factory at Eindhoven including 12 Bostons from 88 Squadron at RAF Swanton Morley. They were led by W/C Pelly-Fry, the CO of 88 Sqn. Pelly-Fry’s aircraft was hit just after he had released his bombs. With much-reduced hydraulic pressure, a large hole in the starboard wing and a coughing and spluttering starboard engine, he narrowly avoided the rooftops but found that the aircraft could not climb above 800 ft, nor could he keep up with the others on the way home. Despite his difficulties, he fought off two Fw 190s before eventually managing a belly-landing back at Oulton. Deservedly, he was awarded a DSO; the raid also resulted in the award amongst the other crews of another DSO, two DFMs and eight DFCs. But not all the low-flying was “in the face of the enemy.” A former 226 Squadron flight commander, a navigator, relayed to me one such series of antics by which his crew “nearly came a cropper.” The pilot and captain of his Boston was Sqn Ldr Shaw Kennedy (who became, after the war, the Air Attaché in Prague.) Kennedy was a brash Irishman with a wild and wicked sense of humour. His favourite jolly jape was to buzz the German and Italian prisoners of war working the fields around the perimeter of Swanton Morley airfield. At this point in the story, it helps to understand that Swanton Morley airfield is situated on the top of the only significant hill in central Norfolk. Despite being a mere 150 ft or so above sea level, the ground falls away significantly on the north and eastern edges of the airfield into the valley of the River Wensum. Kennedy’s “standard approach” was from the east, hugging the bottom of the river valley before banking sharply to port and roaring up the slope at full power over the startled POWs, who immediately hit the dirt to avoid getting a haircut. Kennedy would then stay low, heading south across the grass airfield, before banking steeply to port again across a small pond, surrounded by trees, to the south of the hangars. He would shave the tops of the trees which, to this day, are shorter in the middle than at the outside, due to his “pruning.” This unorthodox procedure worked fine until one, almost fateful, day. As Kennedy rolled out of the left bank to scare the POWs again, his navigator (sitting in the nose) noticed that the POWs had all ducked down well before the Boston would be on them. Sensing that the POWs were up to something, he had no time to tell Kennedy to pull up as all the POWs threw their farming tools in the air as high as they could - straight into the path of the Boston. There were fleeting visions of rakes and spades flashing over the wings and the faint ping of something ricocheting off a prop. Fortunately, Kennedy managed to land the Boston safely. He never buzzed the POWs again! (Story from Squadron Leader Alan R. James (Ret’d) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513928362-GRCB4NRRVH6O41KO2ZL1/F9C470CE-7F93-4A9F-9602-FB4AC30C351C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A powerful photograph of a USAAF B-25 Mitchell bomber attacking shipping in the South Pacific. Judging by the tracks of gunfire, there are other aircraft on other heading firing at the obscured target. The high mountains and confined area make this low-level attack particularly dangerous. There appears to be a trail of bullet splashes either following or coming from this Mitchell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513953313-AVC4MKH2JW90L9WWNJGQ/C9679433-181B-4416-8F3A-669FB899F236.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Two of twelve U.S. A-20 Havoc light bombers on a mission against Kokas, Indonesia in July of 1943. The lower bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire after dropping its bombs, and plunged into the sea, killing both crew members. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629513984618-ZYCIYN2A70BD11XY77YZ/84EC909C-DD7F-4E35-B314-BB5FE234487D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Sometimes, flying low is not your choice. With its gunner visible in the back cockpit, this Japanese Nakajima “Kate” dive bomber, smoke streaming from the cowling, is headed for destruction in the water below after being shot down near Truk, Japanese stronghold in the Carolines, by a Navy PB4Y on 2 July 1944. Lieutenant Commander William Janeshek, pilot of the American plane, said the gunner acted as though he was about to bail out and then suddenly sat down and was still in the plane when it hit the water and exploded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514017365-KCG9QZE0574AS0WQ6LKU/8D317D2A-6CF2-4A25-9E3B-13EB916B442E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Three Japanese Mitsubishi G4M Betty bombers with torpedoes aboard scream extremely low into the target at Guadalcanal. At this height, the bombers are well set up for a launch of their “fish” and at the same time, as witnessed by the explosions above them, somewhat safe from AA fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514041832-57H5YOXLL9XG0UPAMFY7/84F0477D-14C0-42C1-B739-845E89A4567D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Dornier Do 17 light bombers approach England at Beachy Head during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514067175-M0WMPQYXOT7MYXFOSQXR/BC7657D5-64E1-4D71-84D5-CFA5F0E00E3C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514096368-7RHA65W7XHS07UK9WODY/23DAE378-ED62-4964-8EC6-0085B4FB43B0.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A dangerous game. In the top photo we can see a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk of the Royal New Zealand Air Force with a good lead in a race against a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura at RNZAF Station Ohakea near the city of Bulls, North Island. The lower photo shows the Ventura as it passes the photographer. The occasion was a race between aircraft of two operational training units (OTUs)—the Kittyhawk from No. 4 OTU and the Ventura from No. 1 OTU. Photos: RNZAF.proboards.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514130274-BF0AJLK6EODDZY1ITUPC/6A22FBFD-8747-496B-8A44-49BC8F33048C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out I’m not sure if this is real or faked, as the Heinkel He 111 aircraft seem almost too close together as they fly low over the English Channel bound for England in 1940. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514161664-QTU5IFA6SYQZF7UDJRBO/E2744D2F-89A8-4133-BE10-07BD4A3BF986.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Vickers Wellington I medium bomber is about to scare the bejesus out of this RAF photographer at RAF Bassingbourn, in 1940 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514186411-9S5K0ZKENTPFRIGMJ81K/59DA69AB-5C80-438B-AB1C-1D0295D5935E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An RAF Blenheim IV light bomber flies low to lay a smokescreen during a demonstration of air power in front of a gathering of Regular and Home Guard officers and NCOs in East Anglia, 29 March 1942. During the display fighter aircraft strafed ground targets, bombers carried out low-level attacks and parachute and glider forces were also deployed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514239114-YLB9T94F937T60J20CNA/5F8A46C5-E95D-4B3F-A3CE-0F10BA4991FF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A six-pack of USAAF B-25 Mitchells chase their shadows across the North African desert. The web is filled with shots of Mitchells down low… something they and their crews were particularly good at. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514265464-D7CRAVWTYQX14JNQEYJE/69E5829D-4950-474C-9CC1-206D587FAA5B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut. Another of my favourite photographs of the Imperial War Museum's collection depicts a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombing a bridge at extreme low level. We don't see the Liberator, but its shadow tells us just how low it is, and if one looks very cafefully, a stick of bombs can be seen dropping just off the port side of the shandow's nose. The wooden road bridge was between the the cities of Pegu (now known as Bago) and Martaban in Burma. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514297035-MN7Q8L6DVEEEOEW0I8C2/CF66F42D-58F3-4C6D-8F7F-BBF88D9925A1.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out This is the only shot in this story without an airplane in it or even a shadow of one. It was taken by an American aicraft whilst strafing a Japanese destroyer. This is possibly a shot taken during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, when American Havocs attacked Japanese transports and destroyers. It shows just how low these pilots were willing to fly. Photo: jalopyjournal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629514337553-SI3BK178NEDU3JZAB19Y/0EAB5D3B-09FF-46F6-BE6C-3B2F2A63C277.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A very famous shot of a P-47 pilot flying though the trouble he has wrought when he hit an ammunition truck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544687814-5YICJSBWCHI6FVKP9NJM/EB3D23AA-1E5E-4C31-B869-E5EA653182B4.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out ‘One more beat-up, me lads.’ Flying Officer Cobber Kain, DFC, a New Zealander and the RAF’s first ace of the Second World War makes a fatal mistake. On the 6th of June 1940, Kain was informed he would be returning to England the next day. The following morning, a group of his squadron mates gathered at the airfield at Échemines, France to bid him farewell as he took off in his Hurricane to fly to Le Mans to collect his kit. Unexpectedly, Kain began a “beat-up” of the airfield, performing a series of low-level aerobatics in Hurricane I L1826. Commencing a series of “flick” rolls, on his third roll, the ace misjudged his altitude and hit the ground heavily in a level attitude. Kain died when he was pitched out of the cockpit, striking the ground 27 m in front of the exploding Hurricane. Kain is buried in Choloy War Cemetery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544720425-LR7LNKP029CC5EP3OBW4/DF13C810-91C7-49A2-A43C-AE3C574A6949.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Some aircraft, such as this Spitfire, reach that fine line between crashing and flying low… about 12 inches too low in the case of this 64 Squadron Spitfire with shattered wooden blades. The aircraft, no doubt shaking badly, was nursed back to the safety of an Allied base. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544763144-41AEBOPVRFKU8HZP085O/E70D34B3-2FD4-436E-A3EB-ADE2E66EABA2.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An Allied pilot, flying a Macchi 200, buzzing Taranto, Italy. It sadly proved that these kind of stunts aren’t without danger as the pilot hit a member of the ground crew and more or less decapitated him. The pilot hadn’t noticed a thing and after landing was confronted with a dent in his wing’s leading edge, containing skull fragments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544794719-ZP7D1D6XYDPMZH488BJJ/AECC094C-3834-44B1-B292-09E9C26EA85A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Perhaps the best and scariest seat from which to enjoy some low-level flying is from the bombardier’s seat in the nose of a bomber… in this case a Luftwaffe Heinkel 111. Photo via Thomas Harnish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544821131-H27CYZNWJLWTZ19UG4I6/04EE9F70-D3B5-4F32-98AF-46BD040C756D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A P-47 of the 64th Fighter Squadron, while on a mission to Milan, struck the ground during a low-level strafing run. Despite the bent props and crushed chin, the pilot nursed the Jug 150 miles home to Grosseto. Photo via Hebb Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544846387-U6O8CQ6SHUQ1I713VMOX/79EC59D3-0682-40FE-A6A6-8DF8B158FF4F.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A P-47 flown by Lt. Richard Sulzbach of the 364th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force on 1 April 1945. Lt. Sulzbach had a little run-in with some trees while on a strafing run over Italy. He was able to fly the plane 120 miles back to base and land safely. It’s a real testament to how tough the P-47 was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544879931-X6KK4IAXWRZM4P82PA52/1DC1EFD7-2353-4BE7-B23B-8C0E6C8137E5.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Fairey Gannet at extreme low level, trailing smoke. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544908237-OWLJUD9A8KKSA0BLMX21/679ABE02-107B-4328-BE3F-183D35AEA2CF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not an extreme low-level shot, but this image of a P-40 chasing a B-25 Mitchell over buildings in the Vancouver area is worth a lengthy explanation. Jerry Vernon explains: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544937017-0BDOAZL5IHPNUYJS332Y/CFB0FA27-8848-47C2-BABA-A9E800C8A78B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not actually a scene from the Second World War, but rather the opening scene in the great film A Bridge Too Far. A school boy watches over his shoulder as a recce Spitfire rips up a cobbled road in the Netherlands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629544968194-5O3EUSR749GPIF15IZO6/7927394C-6148-43CF-AB4B-23D90F4416C6.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Modern day photographer Murray Mitchell captured this action shot super low B-17 Flying Fortress performing for a film crew and followed by a P-51D Mustang and a P-47 Thunderbolt. Photo via www.murraymitchell.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545024523-PTOHSV9RA40MS6KYLOJ7/6124F459-8B5A-4950-A2EF-0D10BCBDCAB7.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A low flypast during the filming of the Steve McQueen–Richard Wagner film, The War Lover. Nothing like a good buzz job to get the juices flowing; in this case one of the War Lover ex PB-1Ws being flown by John Crewdson for a key scene in the movie. Crewdson reportedly flew the airplane solo for the sequence. For some outtakes from this day of filming, visit YouTube. Photo by David M. Kay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545090634-4JIYTBERT2G93U7SW73I/85337191-FEA2-49A6-AE56-9AF29810C44B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Royal New Zealand Air Force Canberra presses vapour from the air on a low flyby in 1970 before being sold to India. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545135117-3QF4NI2FGWC52KRJ5JVR/723EAFD1-3DB4-4187-94AF-F24356B37ADD.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not to be outdone by the Canberra boys, this Royal New Zealand Air Force A-4K Skyhawk from 2 Squadron executes a picture perfect low-level top side pass. Photo: RAN RNZAF Skyhawk page on Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545181931-Z7CD709B3JKJ34WYKCE1/16209842-E1CF-4248-AC4D-4F8435243044.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Sometimes, the difference between ground and aircraft is quite literally… inches. A Piper Cub comes as close as possible to a wing strike without damage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545220933-KY0QO9IIR3RVGHF05CWN/DE56B476-6057-4726-BAFF-73D7D2593F20.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Royal New Zealand Air Force Harvard makes a low-level turn and drags a wing tip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545249662-EZNJCHY58G2AKHG2LANZ/C7FE1BD5-CEB5-41A5-AAD7-4251521854FA.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Piha Surf Life Saving Club near Auckland, New Zealand is one of the country’s most famous and has been in existence since 1934. The daring young people who form its membership would be the very same kind who would go to war in the air six years later. Before being posted overseas during the Second World War, Piha Surf Club member Ernie Laurie used to fly from Hobsonville to strafe Piha. Photo via x-planes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545301928-7VHODSMWZ5SCBBGHBL2O/50872673-79E8-468E-BD2D-A96C68E56F19.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out To give you a sense of the beautiful geography of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club (previous photo) in which Ernie Laurie flew his Harvard, here is a photo from the club showing the same promontory today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629545784597-88YBMTZTVP8CE3L2OJFQ/CBB3C877-62DB-4FF0-9BB3-05BED863A374.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Geoffrey Tyson repeated the feat of picking up a handkerchief with a spike on the wingtip of his Tiger Moth more than 800 times while flying with National Aviation Day Displays, 1934–36 in Great Britain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629573994619-23C79QX2VIAX2VDA6CLH/05AC820C-5AD5-4E5C-B650-8FA241DB0756.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Another great shot of a Belgian Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar executing a super low-level flight at Deurne Airfield… with just one engine! You get the feeling that the loadmaster could just step out that rear crew door onto the field. Photo via www.belgianwings.be https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574023380-UJW9P4YAYEE9UEWW8ZA1/5B135808-94E8-4A98-A856-0F9E47D30C64.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Two Turnin’ and Two Burnin’ goes the old adage about the magnificent Lockheed Neptune, referring to the two radial engines paired with two turbojets on wing pylons. Here a Dutch Lockheed SP-2H Neptune (7248) Koninklijke Marine 320 Squadron does a “spirited, low-level” pass at a Prestwick Air Show in 1981. Photo: Gordon Macadie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574054108-3OF5S6MZZY4YHB8QNZ2Q/5A18870C-0185-401A-ACCD-738A79C9A285.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The legendary Don Bullock was well known for his low-level flying… in particular in B-17s. Here, he beats up the field at Biggin Hill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574075918-S0072V0U1OPKGE8G454C/D22710D3-E75F-4B06-B0B3-A52D86150314.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Also at Biggin Hill, Don Bullock coming “out” of the valley at the 1979 Biggin Hill Air Fair. Bullock would eventually kill himself and six others in a B-26 Invader in this very spot after a botched manœuvre at low altitude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574101706-QMKDLHX1TEZQDZYL03OW/493D328E-B047-4C32-B8E9-05E78A23E899.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A particularly heartstopping photo of a Hawker Hunter of the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force beating up the base at Thumrait. The Sultan employed former RAF pilots to fly Hunters and Strikemasters to help put down the Dhofar rebels in the south. They clearly were bored from time to time! The rebellion ended in 1976, the same year I visited Oman. One of our readers, Kevin Turner, writes: “I used to work at Thumrait back in the 1980’s and 90’s and this was standard practice when returning from a sortie in those bad old days, most of the pilots were seconded from the RAF or contract pilots. I think the Jaguar was being flown by Dick Manning, an ex-Phantom jockey from the RAF and a regular low-level “offender.” He used to aim for anyone walking out on the pan! You could hear the Hunter coming as it had this low frequency howl before it arrived, but the Jag was totally silent until it arrived and your senses were shattered by the noise! We even had a Jag hit a car being driven by one of the Hunter pilots coming back from Salalah. That was Dick Manning again. The centreline pylon caved the roof in and the ventral strakes on the engine doors took the A, B and C pillars out on the car. Dick said he didn’t even know he’d hit the car!!! Another Jag hit the Range Safety Officers walkway handrail with the outer section of the port wing during a beat-up. Other versions of this type of flying in Oman are on YouTube I think.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574131744-YF30XJWWDOJMHKWIKNU5/D47C4B4E-230B-4995-9B1C-C343EC6FAC70.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Hawker Hunter pilot of the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force (SOAF) shrieks across the ramp on an Omani air base. Photo via PatricksAviation.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574162620-D0PHZJIY8OME9648GNCG/30A52BBB-5303-4A52-AF4C-B22B4DA7BD17.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out In the shimmering white heat of an Omani summer day, a Sepecat Jaguar adds superheated jet exhaust to the miserable mix as its pilot shows off for the ground personnel watching from the shade. In 1990, the SOAF was renamed the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). Since this photo was taken in January of 1981, this would be an SOAF Jag. The shot was taken by Bill Fletcher, a British contractor working on maintaining the Jaguars and Hunters at Thumrait. What is not clear in the photo is that behind the photographer a fuel bowser was crossing the ramp and the Jag had to do some drastic manœuvring to avoid disaster. Tim Croton, the son-in-law of the photographer, tells us the aircraft was at 10 feet of the deck—plus or minus two feet! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574188292-9E9ESK09WPE172C762DO/F29C8B3F-C501-47E7-ADE5-38703C1DA0F7.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Two Armée de l’Air Sepecat Jaguars about to scare the bejesus out of a beach walker on a West African shore during Opération LAMANTIN, the French military campaign in support of the Mauritanian government in 1977 and 1978. The Mauritanians were fighting a group known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front for short), who were fighting for independence for the former Spanish colony known as Western Sahara from the French in Mauritania and Morocco (who took control after the Spaniards had left). Photo via TheAviationist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574220691-4JVDN98QEY4HNF25FKRE/78C786E3-445B-4CC0-999E-1D48717A5DD9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Two RAF Sepecat Jaguars fly extremely low over an Iraqi Air Force hardened bunker and a MiG-23 on the ramp while an Iraqi soldier watches… likely crapping his pants. It is not known if this image is from the Gulf War or before since it is hard to imagine that an RAF Jaguar would leave the MiG unmolested in the Gulf War. The distance of the shadow from an aircraft tells us just how low the pilot is. In a millisecond that shadow will get closer still as it climbs up over the roof of the hangar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574241038-P74MV5FGXWYIO74LN72L/A6D724C8-D6AF-4C92-B3ED-F360E308B0EE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An Argentinean Pucara ground attack aircraft forces mechanics to hit the tarmac in this dramatic low flyby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574269073-XVAUTQH09EUNJ7X9J92H/A90AF4E1-10AD-48E4-8397-97412EB72AC4.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Dutch F-16 with burner lit seems to follow the turn in the road. On the ground, Dutch airmen stuff fingers in their ears as he passes overhead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574292116-MRJQ72S7OF60R8Z1C9PQ/51918DD0-0336-43E4-90DA-5B1F7C89EE1D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Testosterone fired, speed addicted, and happy-to-still-be-alive youth were the primary source of pilots of the Second World War. At 6 foot, 4 inches, I wouldn’t want to be standing up on the runway for this beat-up by a Mosquito. This aircraft had the military serial number RR299 and was built as an unarmed, dual control trainer at Leavesden in 1945. It served in the Middle East until 1949, when it returned to the United Kingdom. It then served with a variety of RAF units, this service being interspersed with periods in storage. The aircraft was retired from the RAF in 1963 and was acquired by Hawker Siddeley Aviation (now British Aerospace) at Chester. The first Permit to Fly was issued on 9 September 1963. The aircraft continued to be based and maintained at Chester and typically flew around 50 hours per year. The Mosquito crashed in 1996 with the loss of the crew. Photo C F E Smedley/Oscarpix Imaging https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574314359-ZVCCKYN0HPXOWPKWP27J/7DF6A6A4-4268-4AB1-9C70-80262306ED59.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Saab test pilot Ove Dahlen flies a mini-counter-insurgency aircraft variant of a trainer, known as the Malmo MFI-9B, between houses in Sweden. The concept of a super-light, super-cheap attack aircraft with hard points for rockets was not well received and SE-EFM was eventually sold (as all other MFI-9B trainers were) as a civilian sport/general aviation aircraft; but for a while it was a bad-ass attack aircraft clearly capable of sneaking around buildings. Though SE-EFM and the purpose-built mini-COIN concept did not take hold, 5 airframes of the MFI-9B trainer, known as the Biafra Baby, were fitted with rockets and employed in the conflict in Biafra. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574342340-PQPXDB6XJBVJDBZGVWKP/FB453E2E-C299-4B40-92F6-1D3F7273AB3D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The “Gutless Cutlass” looks pretty capable in this shot of a Vought XF7U-1 “Cutlass” prototype being photographed by the press on 18 November 1948 at the Naval Air Test Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (USA). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574369448-J7CECSHXHS2MEOI3HJVA/EA14B3DD-3663-4E40-8CA3-95CE9A80E620.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out This is my favourite of all the low-level shots, as the people (except the man on the left who is smartly covering his ears) have no idea how low this Avro Vulcan really is as it sneaks up behind them. Though this was a formal and serious occasion at RAF Swinderby (a graduation ceremony), there were no doubt some shrieks and some Olympic flinching when the sound reached them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629730350825-NHAHID1ODI3DVP5C597R/DownLow244.jpg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Second runner-up in the Imminent Coronary Category is this Fleet Air Arm de Havilland Vixen a mere 30 feet overhead a Forward Air Control team at Naval Air Station Yeovilton. Photo: Royal Naval Reserve Air Branch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574393228-SYTM5GBQ0Q3038PU92U5/C3A02025-8D8D-4AF4-86C0-27FDB5628433.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Another pair of Forward Air Controllers appear to be looking in the wrong direction as this F-4K Phantom II is a half second from blowing them clean off the Land Rover. Photo: Royal Naval Reserve Air Branch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574422179-YHBH906MCN57PIB8L36K/5E4C9509-F83E-4095-BF9F-54ADDE2556D0.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A British-based B-17 flown by Don Bullock beats up a grass field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574448202-KOVENBIXW0PS6YV5LFYR/6A40F222-6023-4F32-8906-B3ABCDCC05C5.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Canadian Warplane Heritage Lancaster drops down to the infield of the Saskatoon airport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574469434-D9SYMEVMHUYXSHHV2HT7/CA8094B2-EBC0-4B14-8DAD-EC56D9FD612E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Royal New Zealand Air Force Short Sunderland doing a touch and go at Wellington airport in 1959—Surely no-one can go lower than that! A touch and go in a wheelless flying boat is not recommended. You couldn’t get a damn slice of pastrami between the hull and the runway. There exists a crystal-clear shot in one of the RNZAF flight-safety publications that showed the aircraft just after it had done the “touch and go” clearly showing the bilge water escaping. Spectators were treated to a shower of dirty bilge water as it climbed away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574507542-86EX3CG922IX1DQTBN3N/130EB2C6-BC12-4E02-BC59-0857471E490D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Another Sunderland being “demonstrated” at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, may not be as low, but the pilot gets full degree of difficulty points for having two props feathered! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574529200-4EPCIU169313EZC7HCG3/95EAAD04-77AE-415C-AFB9-3859BAB8A9A3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Thought two feathered engines on the same side was impressive for low-level flight? How about three feathered and 20 feet below? This Avro Lancaster appears to be postwar with the nose turret de-activated and a dome in the dorsal position. This is a very foolish manœuvre.The aircraft can’t be flown on a single engine. It’s done by a dive, a high-speed pass and a zoom climb at the far end of the runway with a mad scramble to unfeather. The situation gets serious if the first unfeathering knocks the generator on the good engine off-line, leaving only battery power. Photo via Blake Reid https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7126dafb-5f8e-41a1-b406-3b10f42f1c29/312809513_5822617911136609_712459616797234184_n.jpg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An Avro Lincoln executes an extreme low-level pass with only one of its four Merlin engines turning. It’s hard to distinguish the Lincoln from the Lancaster at this angle, but the facetted glazed nose of a Lincoln can just be seen below the nose turret. To do this pass, the Lincoln’s pilot must have dived on the field to give him the speed he needed to climb out and restart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574553977-GOG7CR3ICSD39PI83AQE/B79A3194-38AB-4F07-AA72-C4A6E55A42E3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out There were three squadrons in the RAF with an LK squadron code, but only two of them flew the Halifax—51 and 578 Squadrons. Of these two, 578 Squadron had one particular Halifax that flew more ops than any other—LK-W (MZ527). Given the number of bombing mission numbers on the nose of this Halifax, it was my guess that we are looking at the 578 Squadron LK-W as she celebrates some milestone. A quick look on Wikipedia brought confirmation that this was the 578 Halifax, beating off the RAF Burn control tower, F/L “Maxie” Baer at the controls. Baer was a native of Toronto, Canada and was celebrating the completion of his tour. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574674619-3SA8ODAZN6NDDKXDJHRX/AA11451B-EE17-438C-9ED3-E2717AC55D09.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An RAF Phantom II in full burner passes between two hangars at RAF St Athan in South Wales. There isn’t a Rhino-driver alive who didn’t love dropping his locomotive-sized Phantom down to the hard deck and pushing the throttles right past the detents. Darryl Dyke, a former airman at St Athan, writes: “I used to work at St Athan and the incident was legendary there. There was also a story that the pilot, a Wing Commander, had something of an argument with the base commander following the incident after which the pilot, on his next flight, flew low over the base headquarters, pulled the nose to vertical and pushed the throttles to afterburner. A pair of Speys with the taps open don’t half make a mess of conference room glass roof!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574704866-IYHE14TN31XZDFTYU30N/341B9004-DDCF-4D68-9909-A801A783A36D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Like I said before, Phantom drivers love it down low. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574736610-3NTFXCR13ALWTA7ZH4K6/F3956AFF-BCDE-4E72-8095-F7937DCD7AF3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Flying even lower than the Greek economy is this GAF F-4 Phantom II picking its way through the bushes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574764298-Q0Z5K2H4GKZ4OJETHS9K/2F14EE2A-0736-442D-AC17-980104CD6D11.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Down low, add in a little rock and some flat water and the fun escalates. This picture was taken in Goose Bay, Labrador and the aircraft is from the Luftwaffe’s FBW 35, where Oberst Dieter Reiners was commander of the flying group at the time. Oberst Reiners tell us, “We used one set of aircraft the whole season and the different wings would paint their crest on the aircraft, when they took over. The crest from Flugplatz Pferdsfeld was blue and yellow and my maintainers had forgotten to bring blue paint, so I ordered to use red paint!! And that is what you see. It could have been me, flying that aircraft over Harpers Lake, but I cannot tell the tail number. It was legal, by the way, to fly that low!!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574790210-KFUYQGN5Y2NZ3ADHTO0S/6F75EFE0-0940-4913-989C-35D0DB63A57C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Panavia Tornado spews heat, gas, and vapour as she howls from the runway with her wingtip a few feet off the ground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574820901-87Z83QW6UTAY8EPH3Z3K/BA4C48EA-3134-40EE-B8EC-DDC1FA15990C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out From Colin Smedley comes this magnificent image that seems to show 55,000 pounds+ of Blackburn Buccaneer hovering over the runway. In the 1980s and 90s, No. 208 Sqn RAF were the real experts in ultra low-level under the radar nuclear strikes. During the International Air Tattoo in 1993, to mark the squadron’s 75th birthday, this Buccaneer S.2B was flown at an altitude of just 5 feet for the entire length of RAF Fairford’s runway. From inside the massive strike aircraft, it must surely have felt as though they were actually in the ground. Thank God for ground effect. Photo: Colin Smedley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574850622-QBMLNXJNKEDYXV42615V/8C4453AE-0491-441D-BBBC-334FDE11FB03.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out On 13th June 1992, flamboyant Russian test-pilot Anatoly Kvotchur in his Sukhoi Su-27P “Flanker” arrived at the Air Tattoo International at RAF Boscombe Down in company with his T-134A “Crusty” support aircraft. He maintained formation as the Tupolev completed the let down and landed and stayed in position until the transport engaged reverse thrust. At this point many observers were certain that his Flanker was actually lower than the larger aircraft which had all its wheels on terra firma! He kept the Flanker low and in a hi-alpha attitude for most of the runway before regaining circuit height by the simple expedient of opening the throttles. Photo: Colin Smedley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574881910-HWODYVPJNPTO9M258J7Z/3240A3D5-5D44-49A9-9E15-57D8512EAA3A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out During an air show at RAF Wethersfield in 1964, Belgian Air Force pilot Jo Marette in a Republic Aviation F-84-F Thunderstreak flies not only feet off the ground, but apparently just feet from the crowd. Times have changed. While perhaps not as exciting for the spectators, it is certainly safer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574913544-RP7EJVR2I45Z5GP9E0BV/C0C4048D-0B08-4E1B-8478-2F007690A35A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Warbird display pilot John Allison brings in Lindsey Walton’s F4U-7 Corsair low and fast over the boundary hedge at the Fighter Meet at North Weald in 1985. Photo: Colin Smedley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574954182-9WC7J5YZ98E2EGR0JLO9/D56919BB-B294-4BCC-8286-885BF024E5BE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not really low-level flight, this pilot nearly buys the farm at the bottom of a loop. The tail strike occurred during a 1990 air show in Harrison, Arkansas. The photographer, who was a technician for the FAA and somewhat of a camera buff, was tracking with his camera, as this guy looped off the deck in a MiG-17. The pilot had just completed a loop and misjudged his pull-out. Everyone considering themselves as potential victims took off running in all directions. But the photographer had a non-threatening position along with a strong motivation to take the picture. So, just as the MiG scraped the ground, he captured this rare image… Oh, by the way, the guy just made a wide circle, lowered his landing gear, touched down and then taxied in showing scratched paint, but no sheet metal damage. Photo: Kelly Angell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629574977106-RTQGJ08LSFPJZAX76YG8/E52CCFDF-02F4-4714-8007-B660CAADF0AE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The legendary Ormond Haydon-Baillie checks our wheat production at a farm outside of Duxford in 1974 in his T-33 (RCAF 21261), the Black Knight. Born in Devon, England during the Second World War, OHB moved to Canada in 1962, joining the RCAF. He would become a well-known warbird collector and pilot after his service. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575006633-0WR47FQNP6WSQ40Y4U71/4BFFA885-AFEF-422D-8144-A4A73E919AA7.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Another crazy low pass by Ormond Haydon-Baillie in his Black Knight T-33 Silver Star. The spectacular paint scheme is based on an RCAF design for 414 Black Knight Squadron that flew the type. Vintage Wings of Canada is proud to have been part of 414’s history. The squadron was disbanded in the 1990s. However, in December of 2007, approval was received for the squadron to stand up once more, this time as 414 EWS (Electronic Warfare Support) Squadron. Belonging to 3 Wing Bagotville, the squadron is based in Ottawa and is composed of military Electronic Warfare Officers who fulfill the combat support role, flying on civilian contracted aircraft. The squadron was re-formed at the Vintage Wings hangar at the Gatineau Airport on 20 January 2009 to operate the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet provided by Top Aces Consulting. Haydon-Baillie died in Germany in a P-51 Mustang on 3 July 1977. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575036283-L1E42RAP6MKJQ0URY55N/7F97D83B-71C4-435D-A286-ADA79CE9FD5E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A fine shot of an RCAF Golden Hawk Sabre burning the concrete ramp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575066128-MT7QBETA2TB6TWO0SACE/3C1B25C5-9772-49A7-8836-BBF44471563C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out With speed brakes out this is neither a landing nor a takeoff. This low flying Lightning is an F6 in 5 Sqn markings. The photo is definitely of a low pass since wheels-up landings were not to be attempted in a Lightning due to the large ventral tank underneath. In the event of the ‘cart’ not coming down, the standard Lightning action was to point the aircraft somewhere safe (e.g. the North Sea) and eject. Indeed, quite a few Lightnings ended up in the North Sea, mostly from RAFs Binbrook, Wattisham and Leconfield! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575109546-61RQ8L0HDHH0MTRQ1KWS/53D130E3-82E6-4390-922F-96D5995C1BB0.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out This Sukhoi Su-30 could be going Mach .98 or it could be hovering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575138760-THTJZTQYNIGRZIXBN89K/B6745E8D-5DD3-4656-8765-591B8864F25C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Crop-dusters, or as they prefer to be called these days – aerial sprayers, know more about low-level flying than any professional pilot on the planet today. Here, Johnny Seay, a Grammy Award–nominated country singer turned crop-duster, locomotive driving sculptor and painter brings his highly-modified Boeing Stearman in for a run just inches from the surface of a field in Texas. If there aren’t any fence posts, high-tension towers, silos, trees, windmills or the occasional horse, then Johnny wouldn’t have any fun. For more information on this crop-dusting Renaissance man, visit his website. Photo via Johnny Seay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575166274-1QE3HZA5VPN2KY89RQ5B/643F3FBC-30E1-46A7-ACF3-8BAE8AD357CF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out What do crop-dusters do in the winter? Try spreading coal dust on the surface of a river to speed up the melting of the ice. Not something you might do in an open cockpit sprayer. Here, a crop-duster spreads dust on the Platte River near Ashland, Nebraska. The black dust absorbs solar radiation and converts it to heat, which helps melt the ice. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Division https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575190969-5RHIJVCQQ3J38BXTFUAX/594C8C15-53CB-48C4-8B59-CD295645C652.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out There is a fine difference between taxiing and low-level flying. 1000aircraftphotos.com sends us this fantastic image of a Stearman about 6 inches from a high-speed taxi in a field of cotton while his propeller chews through the harvest. “The pilot of this Stearman was 19-year-old George Mitchell, the son of one of the founders of M & M Air Service, located in Beaumont, Texas. The reason the wheels are in the cotton is that George was having a hard time getting work, and this farmer told George that he had watched him working a field the day before and said George was flying too high above the cotton when he was spraying the field. George told him he would fly the field close if the farmer would give him a chance. The farmer did and so did George. George said the farmer was running around, jumping up and down trying to get him to stop because George was wiping out 2 rows of cotton with each pass.” Photo: Ken Smith Collection via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575220225-B9KGRCWA2V07BP7KJDUC/A766AE5E-6D6B-42A3-B1A9-C67FDB92E9B6.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Even if aircraft never show, you are in heaven and given the gift of this magnificent view to the valley leading up to the watchers spot on CAD West (Cadair Idris West). Here we see the view towards Bala, just where the “V” shape is on the horizon over towards the right. To the left is Dolgellau; both places can have aircraft flying in both directions and from Bala/Dol into CAD. To the extreme right of the photo is where they exit from the Bwlch, again it’s pot luck as to which direction they travel thereafter. Photo and comments: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575247065-00FL5R1KU1IIQD3JI5HW/5F6CCBC1-D9AB-446A-B94C-498A423DC3F2.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The imposing and Lord-of-the-Rings-like slopes of Cadair Idris. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575272738-YMG7GQ68ZXZTYSY56P7S/4A61AD8A-D5F3-47BB-9A66-2AB76DA45373.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out CAD East, the highest point, is known as the “Snake Pit” and one can see the narrow slot aircraft have to negotiate. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575294600-UVDI0P8VOCF2IVX9C5UC/3368C2AD-139C-4F97-B5A4-34E50EB0A81F.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out After coming up the valley, through the Snake Pit, aircraft drop to the lake far below. Aircraft either transit over the lake and out to sea or turn left at Corris Corner; if the latter is the case expect them to do a second pass! Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575322562-SYYJG44WE5ZM61GTJY5W/DB47CCE0-9705-4D59-8D74-018EE3E0BF8A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The high bluffs of the Welsh mountains edging the Loop behind this Harrier GR7 from RAF Wittering truly give you the sense of the dangers and skills involved in flying this route. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575350233-57I4XNDU1WPG3JA2EXML/21D3787C-7FB6-4A6B-A170-F6F1062AE0BB.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out If you stand on one particular hill at CAD West (Cadair Idris West), the aircraft rise up out of the valley past you, some in knife edge like this Hawk T2 from RAF Valley (a station on the island of Anglesey, Wales). Here you can see the white gloves of the pilots and practically read their maps. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575384925-BYMVO30X4YKKIVWY00YQ/FAEE6B47-8819-4E5A-B40F-5165418B76F9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out From this photo you can see that the Harrier GR9 (from RAF Cottesmore) is actually pulling towards the spot where Croton is standing. There is no doubt that the pilots know the photographers like Croton are there and perhaps pull a little more aggressively. The craggy, fescue covered hills are close behind. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575496248-Q8ARUAJ3U1SRZLNZQ022/48F5FA7B-D787-4F33-9D67-872AFA922EB6.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A pair of Tornadoes tail chase up the valley at a spot called Top Shelf Bwlch (pronounced “bulk”.) The name Mach Loop is actually named after Machynlleth and not the speed of sound. USAF crews call it the “Snowdon Roundabout.” Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575533447-VAPCQRGCWXKV99KTH8SZ/0C11F8A1-C233-46F9-B58E-DC2F5AC09EA3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Star Wars plan form of the Eurofighter Typhoon II is best enjoyed at Mach .7 and at eye level! This one is likely from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire… home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575565095-GHQU9OVCVNSNX95SQG3F/BEF5D45B-682B-48D3-B894-01AD1C8F104B.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Having flown in Hercs in a few Tactical Airlift Exercises, I can tell you their drivers like it down low and the navigators love to fly with just a map and a few notes. Here, an RAF Lyneham based Herc rips it up the same narrow slot as the Typhoon. Photo: Tim Croton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575600386-BM5WHHY8UM4STNJRSAUO/094C51CA-A232-4AA9-86AE-D6B7906F598D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not all great low-level “courses” are in Wales or Scotland. Here, as viewed from the navigator’s seat, an A-6 Intruder flies video game style down the heart of the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River below. This image came to us via another Navy Intruder navigator, Thomas Harnish, who tells us “I’ve seen a couple views like that myself as a former A-6 and EA-6B right seater. I assure you, I had a firm grip on the seat even though both hands were busy with equipment when they occurred.” Photo via tailspintales.blogspot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575620593-3DLV257C5RNZ52T1MT5Z/B4BE4C00-3092-4092-8740-0C8FAE3B4FDE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Human Fly, a stuntman by the name of Rick Rojatt, makes a low pass on top of a DC-8 flown by the legendary Clay Lacy in front of the grandstands between events at the 1976 California National Air Races at Mojave. The aircraft is ex-Japan Airlines JA8002. It was owned and operated by American Jet Industries in 1976. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575644481-8T2F9L0ZBM017K63E6G8/70537E96-CBDF-45A3-B013-5CD5BD9EF132.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Clay Lacy was no ordinary airliner pilot. In addition to his Human Fly aero-circus act, he also raced a dragster in his Douglas DC-7 Super Snoopy at the 1971 San Diego Cup Air Races. A post on the Supercar Registry website states “In those days there were 1,000-mile air races and some of the guys thought that the prop-liners, with their speed and fuel capacity, were the way to go. Lacy came in 6th at the 1970 Mojave 1000 in this airplane but was not allowed to race at San Diego because the WWII fighter guys complained about the wake turbulence from the DC-7.” Imagine an air race of prop liners! Photo: The Supercar Registry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575672930-40CETL1A78RN660V9HPL/CD9FB936-BD5C-46B7-8B2B-82430762DCBE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Boeing 707 of Air Zimbabwe, flown by Captain Darryl Tarr doing a low-level, high-speed flypast in Harare in 1995. According to witnesses, this was not the lowest the pilot flew. Tarr says that his radar altimeter read 10 feet beneath his keel at one time. He recounts the true facts of the flight in fine detail in Boeing 707 Display Flight.pdf. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575697243-835YFJX754TFVWJTTB0S/F9A9066D-52F7-4115-B85A-FFAE9384446E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Avro Tudor II G-AGSU makes an extreme low-level pass. Photo: Flight Global https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575724614-ICYPASPFRPB0TSVET8JF/75BE2B65-E5B7-4F0B-A369-BB36222849CE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out No low-level pass down the runway could be better that the clattering approach and Harley-esque pass of a venerable and beautiful Douglas DC-3. To witness this simple and timeless flypast at just 12 feet is a gift from God. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575754737-9VZR18IS9X9LHTJNB9OJ/CF216832-E1ED-44E4-AF5C-081D75966759.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An American registered de Havilland Canada Caribou does an extreme low-level air drop at a New Zealand Army forward operating base in Afghanistan. On another pass, the Caribou hit the flag pole but managed to recover safely to Bagram Air Force Base in Parwan Province. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575778063-7U0E3Z0V36DUFB0JPQVA/4E4A7DD3-4846-4843-B0EB-9BF7F599407D.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules gets down in the dunes in Kuwait. Photo: Flight Global https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575806904-RQLW7NML1GIKFHJ6PIA0/9D075D0A-29A6-4BD9-AABB-DFC46E7036EF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out This Russian Antonov An-12 “seems” to take the prize for low-level flight in a large airplane flying at less than 3 feet. You can make out the vortices of the turboprops as she thunders down the snow covered runway. Nothing like an Antonov impaling pole on the edge of the runway to keep you flying the centre line! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575834263-NWKKBFL8CSXXG3AD6ZVD/A12D658A-1AFE-4667-9C32-C34D63E64296.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Sometime, when an airplane is so low it could be taxiing, well, maybe it’s just taxiing. Photoshop can make a fool out of anyone… good work whoever did it. From one Photoshop guy to another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575857279-P3BLOH8F740IOV3OOTLB/0BB15FE0-7F1E-4BB2-B034-FD63699BAF96.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out I can’t even imagine how amazing it would have been to be on the beach this day to see a Consolidated B-36 “Peacemaker” fly down the line between water and sand. If he passed right overhead, both wingtips would be a spectacular 115 feet away in both directions. Designed for altitudes in excess of 35,000 feet, the Convair was a rare sight this close to the ground in level flight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575875315-NUFGSXKPLKK5X9ZA3PAS/4C82AAC2-0A4D-490F-9BA6-9F5DA247A788.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Douglas Skyraider performs for the troops, possibly on China Beach in Vietnam, judging by the conical hats on the women at left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629575907355-SQGEA5IROLUUUSG3NTA3/FC9D41DB-B91A-4C6D-9923-E90F3CCB8690.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out With bomb bay doors open and beautiful filthy freedom-smoke coming from the 8 engines, this B-52 flies down the beach in its typically nose-low attitude. The white smoke trails are most likely to demonstrate wind drift to the pilot, making this an orchestrated low-level flight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576004929-W52MMBIEKHHQRF3QGHNV/4304CCBB-CA04-49EF-8401-F80B0913C310.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out An Avro Shackleton maritime patrol bomber of 38 Squadron RAF rips up Majunga Beach, Madagascar in 1966, with both port propellers feathered. Photo: Richard Hugo Walker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576024003-7RKAFQ40PG9DZABA8V9E/A534E571-748F-44CB-897D-E1F88090F4CB.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out This photo and the following one are my two favourite shots of low-level flying. A South African Air Force Harvard trainer rips up a beach on the Atlantic coast near Saldanha Bay with its propeller tips no more than three feet from the sandy surface. A group of Army officer candidates walking up the beach are just now realizing that their lives are in jeopardy. In the far distance you can just make out three other Harvards. Thanks to Bayou Renaissance Man https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576050092-QJUA85PBA6QD2CTCKVDN/C51CBA4E-7B4B-436C-9C67-6E322144E386.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Not sure if this is the first Harvard or one of the three following as the aircraft seems on a different line. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576092521-KVYTVQBON64DB1S6RPRG/1C1EFD00-EAE3-4635-B9C0-3A8331B26EC7.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A spectacular shot of a Fairchild C-119 Flying Box Car flying low over sunlit waters… one of my favourite shots! Photo via Blake Reid https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576121868-329PTCKZNRKGFF0FHK2S/A2783633-F36B-4378-A17C-302201ADA74C.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Mathematically, you can’t get much lower than two inches below the hard deck. This South African Harvard aerobatic team set the bar as high (or is it low?) as is physically feasible with this wheels in the water formation flypast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576143046-VDPPOMGYGT5FLXR33ORI/EE2F7CE6-ED07-471D-944E-849045A3002E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The twin-engined Diamond Star Twin rips along a beach. Judging by the number of cameras at the ready, this was not an unauthorized flyby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576168171-YDCYXCU5JXT88G0Q711S/C42E14ED-4737-4DC6-B5EE-0917A98E4A56.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Dramatic footage from a dramatic time. Argentinean pilots showed they were a match for any air force during the Falklands War. This attack is carried out by Grupo 5 de Caza of Fuerza Aérea Argentina flying A-4 Skyhawks just a few feet off the water to avoid radar detection. This particular attack took place on the 25th of May against the HMS Broadsword. Pilots: Captain Pablo Carballo (left); Lieutenant Carlos Rinke (right). Though Argentinean ground forces on the Falklands were conscripts with very little will to fight, the Argentinean Mirage and Skyhawk pilots were given much-deserved respect for their daring attacks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576202616-Q4UU5U9LWYSVL1LD0XDH/F6197D2F-66A1-4AE0-BD1A-77E222E85FBE.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Down under, a Royal New Zealand Air Force A-4 Skyhawk flies well below the deck of HMS Invincible (the Harrier “ski jump” can be seen at the right). The photo dates from the deployment of NZ A-4s to Singapore for the “Vanguard” Five Powers Defence Agreement exercise in March 1989. Many thanks to Sam Hall of Wellington New Zealand for the information. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576226649-Q2VCJGF4VTW1JVS6U037/5543016F-471A-4706-A483-3CB7FE770683.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out One of the most celebrated images of a low pass is this shot of F-14 Tomcat driver Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass making a curving pass alongside USS America. Many web-wags have stated that this was unauthorized, dangerous or that it even was a photo of a Tomcat about to crash. However, Snodgrass explained: “It’s not risky at all with practice. It was my opening pass in a Tomcat tactical demonstration at sea. I started from the starboard rear quarter of the carrier, slightly below flight deck level. Airspeed was about 270 kts. with the wings swept forward. I selected afterburner at about a half-mile out, and the aircraft accelerated to about 315 kts. As I approached the fantail, I rolled into an 85-degree bank and did a hard 5–6G turn, finishing about 10–20 degrees off of the boat’s axis. Microseconds after this photo was taken, after rolling wings-level at an altitude slightly above the flight deck, I pulled vertical with a quarter-roll to the left, ending with an Immelman roll-out 90 degrees and continued with the remainder of the demo. It was a dramatic and, in my opinion, a very cool way to start a carrier demo as first performed by a great fighter pilot, Ed ‘Hunack’ Andrews, who commanded VF-84 in 1980–1988.” Photo by Sean Dunn, http://www.f14flybyphoto.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576250932-A638225RRX3AM5B2TBJE/BEE568C8-1B3A-45C5-BCF8-E66711F23ED0.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A B-52 slides down the port side of USS Ranger (CV-61) in its typical nose down cruise attitude. Though it looks like it, this is not photoshopped. It happened in early 1990 in the Persian Gulf, while U.S. carriers and B-52s were holding joint exercises. Two B-52s called the carrier Ranger and asked if they could do a flyby, and the carrier air controller said yes. When the B-52s reported they were 9 kilometres out, the carrier controller said he didn’t see them. The B-52s told the carrier folks to look down. The paint job on the B-52 made it hard to see from above, but as it got closer, the sailors could make it out, and the water the B-52’s engines were causing to spray out. It’s very, very rare for a USAF aircraft to do a flyby below the flight deck of a carrier. But B-52s had been practicing low-level flights for years, to penetrate under Soviet radar. In this case, the B-52 pilots asked the carrier controller if they would like the bombers to come around again. The carrier guys said yes, and a lot more sailors had their cameras out this time. Photo was taken from the plane guard helicopter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576272065-3YVILAP1ZKM0OYO3N8Y5/9E5C6941-608A-4844-B9B0-AD57ECF0F592.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out One of our readers, former USAF B-52 commander Doug Aitken, sent us this photo of two Guam-based B-52s flying low past USS Nimitz. The caption on the back reads “Grand Forks bomber over the Nimitz, winter of 81.” The story that comes with this photo makes for a long but very interesting caption — See below https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576293730-3CR4CS8HEA3ABS39LCKX/1EEF92B8-208F-4D39-A8CB-E45F6DEF30D4.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A brace of Buffs whistle over a sea of a different kind (sand) on a former salt lake bed in the American Southwest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/348be595-f3a2-4d19-92b0-86fcfc7b9de2/292665699_5494813787250358_6832141811151004536_n.jpg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out As Slim Pickins’ character Major “King” Kong said in Dr. Strangelove: "Well, boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader's mule, the radio is gone and we're leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we'd need sleigh bells on this thing... but we got one little budge on them Rooskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain't gonna spot us on no radar screen! " https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576327008-UZM04QAKDUVJ51T6VM0T/2FB17388-E409-4969-BDDE-D98DCA167AB9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out In 2009, a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet crew got permission for a low-level demonstration flight as part of the opening ceremony for a speedboat race on the Detroit River. This is what it looked like for Motor City residents. Officials waived rules to allow the Navy flyers to swoop under 100 ft along the waterway. One resident said, “I couldn’t believe how low they flew and how close they came to our building. I’m sure the pilot waved at me.” Photo: AP/The Detroit News, Steve Perez. Originally spotted at the Daily Mail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576368858-TMZN3TT95EUU358BGU2H/45B492C6-3644-4F43-8A95-C86BAE7D9E31.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Hawker Siddeley Sea Harriers of 801 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, execute an enthusiastic low-level pass of the flight deck of HMS Illustrious following their final launch from her deck. The squadron was the last Fleet Air Arm unit to fly the Sea Harrier. Photo: Key Publishing Forums https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576392044-P8W37EWZJCDCZ6Q1G11W/0A3366E3-7AE3-4A9D-B415-399A69337ED9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A German F-104 leaves a crease in the surface of the water in 1985. Photo: Key Publishing Forums https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576441811-83MG5C3Q1XM4KABA001O/2F0CF9F8-DE26-4A2A-B636-8B2AFDBC3F25.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Belgian F-104 turns out after a high-speed low-level pass. Photo: Key Publishing Forums https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576461474-BTQ3MFWT431YC9DGO3P5/B0496772-919C-4A16-8EC8-72B4C58AB00E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out On 13 April 2016, Russian fighters and a helicopter pushed the very limit and risked an international situation with extremely low-level passes of the US Navy’s destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. Over a two-day period, two Russian Su-24 “Fencer” strike aircraft made close-range low altitude passes by the Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629576481250-VHDF7JXBZMIAWI34VVQT/063CDAC2-9B5D-4D94-ABCE-80229F79DF64.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The Spitfire MK923, belonging to Hollywood actor Cliff Robertson of 633 Squadron fame, and flown by Jerry Billing, does an extreme low pass over a grass strip at his home in Essex County, Ontario. From 1975 through 1994 the Billing air strip was a prime spot to see Jerry practice in MK923. People would line the 5th Concession Road to watch Jerry wring out the Spit. Cliff Robertson, famed for playing JFK in PT 109, died in September of 2011. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577232762-PBR2RJQYTDYOCSNDKW2S/ADEF17D6-42F4-4F1E-95E0-0F82B1361C41.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The legendary, extraordinary Ray Hanna makes an extreme low-level pass in a Spitfire down pit lane at the Goodwood auto racing track in England in 1998. Sadly, with the death of Hanna, we will not see such feats again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577258795-CK9YOA9J8DOR7VHC167W/1D961C6C-68B1-47B2-BC67-67183C809469.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Ray Hanna was an incredible pilot who flew in many movies including The Empire of the Sun and the TV series Piece of Cake. In this iconic image, Ray Hanna is seen flying under Winston Bridge, County Durham, for the filming of Piece of Cake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d03939d3-dad0-4ad1-a61d-52f5558882fe/Screen+Shot+2021-11-16+at+7.24.39+AM.png The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Low level flying ran in the Hanna family. Mark Hanna, Ray’s son and also a “dab-hand” at the art of low level flight, is seen here in a P-51 Mustang leading a formation of warbirds just feet above the ground. Photo via Sarah Hanna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7fc06e10-878b-4780-b711-5b49cdfbffd0/Screen+Shot+2021-11-16+at+7.24.48+AM.png The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out In 1998, Mark Hanna concentrates hard as he takes this Spitfire down into the weeds. The Spit is painted in the markings of 316 City of Warsaw Squadron, and the personal aircraft of Wing Commander Aleksander Klemens Gabszewicz. Photo: John Dibbs via Sarah Hanna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6f91bfc2-9046-4ce9-ac08-71b564353ee9/Screen+Shot+2021-11-16+at+7.25.09+AM.png The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Ray Hanna trims the wheat in a farm field near RAF Biggin Hill. Photo via Sarah Hanna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577288039-1O3KT2REM91KZS7RFRU9/14DF0AF0-EC38-4346-BF02-15455553E7B3.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out If you haven’t seen this video over the past five years, you’ve been living in a cave with Bin Laden. One of the best low-level snippets anywhere… click here. Warning… contains high levels of “Fuck-me.” It features the flying of the legendary Ray Hanna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577306995-MYJTB8OHAGHEBE8AIGFG/55A6BC7E-2438-4E34-91E8-1BEE4DD5B66A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Fighter pilot Jacques Borne learned his low-level chops with l’Armée de l’Air flying the small but nimble Dassault Mirage III E. The supersonic fighter, designed in the 1950s, also flew with many countries including Gabon. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577328899-1OY4LFINL0JF7DAC0C93/BEC2BAEA-13D2-48B2-9B56-FBB4893E2143.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A photo of Borne and a Mirage with l’Armée de l’Air. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577351576-QBGNYZ2T81ERZIETSYUQ/5EEB2DD1-120B-4F2F-8001-0ECD6766486A.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Mercenary pilot Jacques Borne in the seat of a Fouga Magister of the Forces Aériennes Gabonaises. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577376383-B3ZR6M524F2ZM4091RFL/958EEC90-7E0D-431C-9812-BEC215503858.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Posing like desperadoes in the summer of 1977, Jacques Borne and his fellow Skyraider pilots, formerly of l’Armée de l’Air and Forces Aériennes Gabonaises, now stand in front of a Chadian Skyraider at a place called Faya-Largeau. Chad is a Central African country which had a civil war that ran from 1965 until 1979 when Muslim rebel factions conquered the capital and all central authority in the country collapsed. The disintegration of Chad caused the collapse of France’s position in the country. Libya moved to fill the power vacuum and became involved in Chad’s civil war. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577395963-FVODNT8L21ID4U716U5F/27CBB32B-757B-4D30-AC9D-3A48256F8F17.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Borne at the helm of a Beechcraft T-34 Turbo-Mentor helps with the wheat harvest on a Gabonese farm. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577417382-HIN4VKD9MU1OU614CJ71/70794C2B-2CC4-4ABA-95EB-6BB459A283AF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A Gabonese T-6 Texan with Jacques Borne at the controls keeps the grass trimmed at a Gabonese airfield. The red roundel at the back of this Texan is one simultaneously used on Gabonese aircraft along with the standard green, yellow and blue one—representing the Presidential Guard Flight of President Bongo. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577434080-M0MA8O2EW0UER6122FAB/68CF13B8-6447-4CC1-94D7-C408F3F5F7AF.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Long before the South African Harvard team was skimming the still lake surfaces of their country, Borne was dancing across the waters in Gabon in a similar Texan. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577456835-TEZPF7YW84D39TT9OIO8/7E735D04-7B3B-4B17-8B0C-58F1119F52A7.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out The pilot on the Harvard in which the photographer sits qualifies for this story, but Borne in the subject Texan is lower still, with his right tire kissing the water in Gabon. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577476909-6YZI9HEQPATR2TMB7V98/553D802D-C691-451D-B6DD-9EC800F2BE63.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Borne takes his Skyraider down to 15 feet where the air is nice and dense. One wonders if the stubs of trees were the result of other low-level adventures. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577496763-R538Q5VDXB5LOKUR54OT/EFD61C37-4536-42E3-A463-3174BE7FF392.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Borne flies by his yacht. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577524717-PT9DC4HG13S7TOYBW0YI/61001838-AF78-4527-B23E-09D566AA183E.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Borne takes his Gabonese Fouga Magister low over a runway. Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577544706-MC44WE533KQ4ZO5KWZD1/6F8BDC79-42F9-46A3-8D20-00CEE288D5E8.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out Flying as a paid contract pilot with the Gabonese Air Force, former Armée de l’Air fighter pilot Jacques Borne, flying a T-34 Turbo Mentor, executes a below-deck pass of an oil rig off the coast of Gabon in the Gulf of Guinea. The Gabonese roundel, like their flag, is blue, yellow and green (centre). Photo via Frédéric Borne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629577568882-0W5UTUHICOKVWZHA3P3X/4BB639B1-F8E0-4751-9A21-E242D19C5ED9.jpeg The Stories - LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY IN A WAGON RUT - Make it stand out A silent rush. I leave you with a photo of four young men sitting in the middle of the runway at the Mollis Gliding Club in Switzerland as a slender-winged glider passes low over their heads in a fine unpowered example of low-level flight the length of the 6,000-foot runway. Photo: fly13.co.uk https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-moment monthly 0.5 2022-01-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34de57b0-d309-4389-a82e-2929f7979cf1/HucksStartTitle.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e62bc82-1365-4aa8-b897-c5fc62d91e31/HucksStart2.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The immaculate and elegant Hawker Hind of the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum is pulled from the facility's storage building. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27872899-3f0d-4c34-8c1d-140264e68d6b/HucksStart3.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out In a cloud of smoke, Roger Hadfield fires up the “contraption” known as the Hucks Starter, while son Phil Hadfield looks on. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c9b2b6e8-f26c-4d6b-ae7d-4bb4cdf8e6a1/HucksStart4.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out With fellow Hucks Starter builder Reg Miller guiding him, Roger Hadfield inches toward the priceless aviation artifact known as the Hawker Hind with the Hucks Starter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/80972aa2-942f-47fc-b373-0480bcaeb015/HucksStart5.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Before the hook up and start, Dave Hadfield (right) shows Vintage Wings of Canada mechanics how the machine works. It will be these young superstars (L-R: Angela Gagnon, Andrej Janik and Xavier Simard) who will employ the Hucks to fire up our Hawker Fury in the years to come. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61f06ab8-7535-4c86-b0a8-3c5a5d46659a/HucksStart6.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Phil Hadfield climbs aboard the front deck of the Hucks Starter, with Roger firmly on the brake. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/afe931e0-800b-461a-ad2b-14e0d5aa5a3e/HucksStart7.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out As Roger inches forward, Phil lines up the drive shaft of the Hucks with the propeller hub. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2156c9b-c762-48e7-90fc-64ce031734bc/HucksStart9.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out It clearly takes a tall assistant to reach up and attach the shaft to the spiral-grooved receiver. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2998c1b-ab7c-4d86-8ca7-e2f953b25367/HucksStart10.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out With back wheels solidly chocked to prevent forward motion, Roger engages the Hucks drive shaft and turns the propeller of the Hawker Hind. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa7c98cb-faa2-46b4-886d-a506f99b532b/HucksStart11.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out As advertised, the Kestral barks to life and throws the Hucks device clear of the propeller hub. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e9c57a4-4f84-4791-a884-1d5233b4333f/HucksStart12.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out With the Hind's Rolls Royce Kestral engine roaring to life, Roger backs away. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2d49d01-dfda-47b9-ab36-a60510f2d301/HucksStart13.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The Hind, which hasn't been started in a long time, is delighted to be outdoors and alive. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/59a2aff2-7a2a-4b3f-bcf1-b44d8ef41b04/HucksStart14.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The Hawker Hind is indeed one of the most beautiful pre-war biplane fighters. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07a674a8-bac5-4778-9262-78888d0bad51/HucksStart15.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Before using the Hucks for another start of the Kestral, builder Reg Miller (L) and Phil Hadfield inspect the universal joint and chain drive for damage or loosening due to stress. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8a37cba-d989-4e52-9b78-7a49bb75da10/HucksStart16.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out While Canadian Aviation and Space Museum staff enjoy the running of their Kestral in the background, and while, in the foreground, Reg and Roger discuss the event that just happened, Vintage Wings of Canada staffers Rob Fleck and Angela Gagnon inspect the worm drive and undersides of the Hucks Starter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3983d0a3-16e0-4096-b98a-7fcb1ee21292/HucksStart18.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out With the Hind still roaring merrily, Roger Hadfield chats with CASM Director General, Stephen Quick. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/91d1e1d5-7016-4208-b02d-377cb3cc1cac/HucksStart19.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada engineer Paul Tremblay looks over the now-quiet Hawker Hind. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2fdf152-d414-48a4-aeee-104ecd476e68/HucksStart21.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings mechanic Xavier Simard looks on seriously as Phil Hadfield makes some fine adjustments to the Hucks Starter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5617a789-7df5-4253-a2e3-b4389219f8e2/HucksStart22.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Phil drives this time, bringing the Hucks in to line up on the now warm Hawker Hind and a second start. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64b598f2-c276-4b75-8762-810ef3367f59/HucksStart23.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Aligning the Hucks properly takes a team. Here Roger, the Hadfield patriarch, talks son Phil in close. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ec79197d-e874-419f-bca2-a8881e9e10a5/HucksStart24.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out With Dad (right) looking on, Dave Hadfield shows Andrej Janik the proper technique for Hucks attachment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd92cedc-fb78-42f8-a601-11cd38b40fea/HucksStart26.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Step One: Attach the Hucks Starter to the spiral cleat on the nose of the Hind. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77b9bdf3-a006-4e49-b0e8-4edc576540aa/HucksStart27.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Step Two: Engage the starter and rotate the propeller. Here we see exhaust coming from the rear left cylinder as the engine fires. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f19175fd-053f-40fd-9a32-512ab87f19f1/HucksStart28.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Step Three: The engine catches, the and the propeller shaft spins faster than the Hucks shaft, thus spitting the Hucks free. If you look close, Handley has captured the Hucks at the millisecond it is released from the propeller hub. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9976a3c-1739-403e-a5bb-af0044f75d7c/HucksStart29.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The bungee attached to the inner shaft of the Hucks pulls it back smartly as the engine roars to life. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/405ae36f-31b2-4da3-b505-2d33c4f973b9/HucksStart30.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Three men with vision watch as the Hind thunders on the now-sunny CASM ramp. Left to right: Rob Fleck, President of VWC, Mike Potter, founder of VWC and Roger Hadfield. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd1d098c-e575-4fb0-b7fd-4ad180ba1f8f/HucksStart31.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The team: Members of the Hadfield Family, the Hucks Starter build team, Vintage Wings of Canada and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum pose Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b6dda4c-066b-441e-9217-a88ac2879362/HucksStart32.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Proud of what they have accomplished, the folks who built the Hucks pose at the end of the session. Left to Right: Roger Hadfield, Eleanor Hadfield, Laura Miller and Reg Miller. For a look at the really cool miniature machines and engines built by the Millers, visit Miller Workshop. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f636d1aa-8c47-471a-ac76-635dc0335447/HucksStart54.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The epitome of biplane grace: the inimitable Hawker Fury. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9097a19-f92d-47c5-af1f-e77d91def32e/HucksStart34.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Grunt Work -- an early start of the CASM Hind's R-R Kestrel engine. There is no inertia-wheel at work here; these gentlemen are turning the engine over in direct-drive, one cylinder at a time. The spark and the mixture have to be exactly correct for a start to happen. Photo: CASM Image LIbrary https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1776f589-6d0b-4e3d-b87d-678175535edf/HucksStart36.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Roger Hadfield's aviation roots go way back. Here he is in 1961, climbing Kenting Aviation's B-17E (CF-ICB) up to 30,000+ ft over Venezuela, for photographic mapping survey flights. Photo: Hadfield family collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d10edab8-9ce3-41e3-abff-399396b2906b/HucksStart35.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Roger as airshow performer at Geneseo in the mid-90s in the family SV4B Stampe (CG-OMD‚ which he still flies. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9624c12f-7414-4146-9e3f-fc0c6acc3a7d/HucksStart37.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Roger learned about Model Ts as a teenager when he traded a flock of sheep for one. Later he rebuilt several. Here, granddaughter Kelly Hadfield (Dave's daughter) goes solo in a restored 1915 Model T. Photo: Chris Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b42e6a6-6a81-43aa-8e45-431ce1a2b028/HucksStart38.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out "It runs! It moves" The Hucks' first journey, around the farmyard in Milton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13bb8d3a-1037-4d92-b8e1-cc483f0a3fb4/HucksStart40.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Roger with Peter MacAllister, builder of the most recent Hucks restoration in England, at the RAF Museum, Hendon, UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c909be3f-d565-4bef-b299-af9178dfdca3/HucksStart39.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The heart of the Hucks: the dog-clutch. When it shifts to the left, it engages the drive-sprocket for the overhead chain. When shifted to the right, it powers the drive shaft and thus the rear wheels. The was re-created from photos and sketches, but no proper drawings, by machinist-volunteer Reg Miller, St. Thomas, Ontario, and worked flawlessly, first time! Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e60d2e52-d422-4b3e-9171-50f700056f3e/HucksStart41.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Reg Miller, machinist extraordinaire. His models have won prizes at many shows. They run and move as per the full-size versions. All parts are built by Reg – down to the spark plugs. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/299f314e-fa01-4ce7-9d92-a84c75e0df41/HucksStart42.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Re-creating a Hucks is a tall order – but Reg has a short garage. The upperworks had to be woven amongst the rafters during construction, then disassembled for transport. No problem. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4fd02747-260d-4214-9275-2427cc708259/HucksStart55.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Upperworks disassembled, friends and neighbours pressed into service, the Hucks is rolled onto Roger's trailer for the return journey to the farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e8280b5-883d-461e-8976-110109b2163d/HucksStart49.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Wood is good. In the Model T days, many of the custom-made bodies were built of wood just as is the framework for the Hucks. Here Dave, a builder of canoes and other small boats, has joined Roger in the shop for a session of sawdust and shavings. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5996c832-ecd4-4161-9a3e-9633f2e7d467/HucksStart46.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The foredeck of the Hucks must hinge up to allow access to the hand-crank, for starting the Model T. And it must also support the weight of the crewman hooking-up the mechanism to the aircraft propeller. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c85f7ab-b8ee-4410-97d2-5691ef585ca5/HucksStart47.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out "Hey, it's a truck!" Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56df293f-cdfd-48e5-aa05-59a4df102289/HucksStart43.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The first test of the Hucks was on the Gipsy Major 10 of the Stampe (which has had no electric starter since the '70s, when such effete extraneous items were removed to save weight for aerobatic performance, as is right and proper). Here, the normal prop hub fitting has been replaced with a Hucks receiver made by Reg Miller. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74045d7e-cb9f-4584-9806-816c6ccbd1ec/HucksStart45.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out First Test: at the hangar on the farm -- testing to see what needed fixing or adjusting prior to paint. The Hucks ran, and the propeller turned freely. Good News! The Gipsy, however, needed its carb cleaned out before it would run. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5563b698-807e-4cea-ac68-37be4d161406/HucksStart44.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Phil Hadfield, whose other occupation is B-767 Captain for Air Canada, adjusts the starter shaft. This photo taken later, after the Hucks was painted, during a Rolls-Royce Club event. Photo: George Morita https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bd52131-e5c2-4401-91ee-127bf2983616/HucksStart52.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Starting the Stampe. Looking at the angle, it can be seen that the Hucks is built for the much-taller Hawker Fury. (What no aircraft chocks? No worries, the other end of the airplane is made fast to a tie-down.) Photo: George Morita https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac25c431-cd99-4931-b612-9ea17fdd6ee2/HucksStart51.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out "Champagne and hors-d'oeuvres will be served after the Hucks performance." Photo: George Morita https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3788ae1-bb12-4e30-88b2-b3928a0af02e/HucksStart53.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out "Wow, it actually spins!" Mike Potter checks-out on the Hucks Starter, coached by Phil and Roger. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57cb5330-27db-4a57-9f12-cb1661f97c61/HucksStart33.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Phil Hadfield has a fine eye -- the RCAF crest, painted by him freehand. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77527fd0-cfb2-4e2f-a876-1bb4e3e38655/HucksStart56.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out A typical scene that could be any part of the far-flung sun-scorched reaches of the Empire. Hucks Starters were used from Australia to Aboukir, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbb2c62c-1f72-46ad-be7e-649b57a4e931/HucksStart63.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Hucks Starters spread throughout the Commonwealth during the 1920s and '30s as well as the United States. Ground crews much preferred using them to risking arms and legs, particularly as engines grew bigger and delivered higher horsepower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/42f3cfe4-0826-4897-8ac6-b68a720fee15/HucksStart57.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Geoffrey de Havilland was Chief Designer for "The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Ltd", or AIRCO. After 1920, he designed and built aircraft under his own name. In this photo the Hucks Patent is clearly identified. AIRCO built all the early Hucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef80a543-857f-4737-8b82-dd864cf573be/HucksStart58.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The RCAF used Hucks Starters. This typical mid-30's scene at Camp Borden features a Fairchild FC-2, and a Lynx-engined Avro 504N.The ground crewman appears to be stowing the chocks after starting the trainer. Another ground crewman appears to be holding the 504's tail by a rope as the pilot climbs in. There are chains on the rear wheels of the Huck. (Some of those hangars survive.) Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/62580a78-aade-4cd2-89fa-8861b58cf752/HucksStart59.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Another Borden scene with Avro 504Ns. CFB Borden's runways have recently been replaced by grass, just like in the photo, and a complete Avro 504K, airworthy until recently, is in their museum in one of those original hangars. Hmmm.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/afa00be2-847f-4848-9306-305daf296927/HucksStart60.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out A post-war First World War de Havilland DH-4, at High River Alberta gets an assist from a Hucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50a017b5-b954-4626-bf99-93f5588a732a/HucksStart61.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out Avro 504N at Borden. Note: the Le Rhone rotary-engined 504Ks were usually hand-started by pulling the propeller. When they were re-engined by the Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx, a radial, the compression was much higher, and the Hucks was often used. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c88de85-aa3d-4008-b349-c492a0338a16/HucksStart62.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out The business end of an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar, 385 HP, equipping an RCAF Siskin fighter. Note the Hucks receiver. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f926561b-63cd-4fde-9f0f-68c786d574e9/HucksStart64.jpg The Stories - THE MOMENT - Make it stand out A NACA (Now NASA) Hucks starts a Vought VE-7 pursuit aircraft. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/last-carthaginian monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194723256-MLKXXZYNGWUT15CKZ13L/ShellHouse44.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194809648-4DOX4DW9GA4JB7ZR98PH/Kirkpatrick13.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Bob Kirkpatrick (left) and his much loved flying instructor Flight Sergeant Scot Smilie at No. 13 Elementary Flying School at St. Eugène, Ontario. Photo: Bob Kirkpatrick Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194846550-QODYXXJCBFXZZ4O7OAIZ/ShellHouse42.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out After the Second World War, St Eugène’s runways were used for motorsport racing up until the 1970s. Returned in the last decade to its original agricultural use, St. Eugène’s once busy runways are now faded from memory and from the landscape, visible only by satellite. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194928869-COJSMDMQACYUIUU2JDEK/ShellHouse01.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The Shellhuset (Danish for Shell House) in better times, before it was taken over by the Gestapo as their Danish headquarters and prison for captured Danes of the resistance. Photo via Danish Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194968239-W90UN5TDY4CZ4CS7MKQ8/ShellHouse02.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Shell House in the days before the attack, painted in dark green and black camouflage in a poor attempt to disguise the large structure. Photo via The People’s Mosquito https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195029051-0LADC4MUFT9PUWLNY8B4/ShellHouse39.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out So much of the success of the raid would be the result of training and superior navigation. The master navigator for the raid was Pilot Officer Ted Sismore (left), Lead Navigator for Kirkpatrick’s 21 Squadron and someone that Bob spoke of in reverent tones. Sismore was also lead navigator in other low-level raids such as Operation JERICHO and the Aarhus Gestapo Headquarters Raid. Like Bob Kirkpatrick and Wally Undrill, Sismore was part of a two man team. His pilot on most of his operations was Squadron Leader Reginald W. Reynolds (right). Wikipedia states: “Over the following 20 months [after they teamed up], the pair would see little rest and make some of the most daring targeted raids of the war, which came in retrospect to recognize Sismore as the RAF’s finest low-level navigator of World War II.” Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195076438-6D02JTNYSLPRK7DWHZX9/ShellHouse03.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A photograph taken from a camera in one of the Mosquitos shows the wide curving sweep of Hammerich Street at centre left and the rail lines leading into the city. Judging by the light smoke, this is from the PRU Mosquito that accompanied the first wave of six 21 Squadron Mossies. The smoke seen at the lower right comes from Shell House. The smoke in the mid-left is possibly from the flak guns located on the top of a building called the Dagmarhus. This flak position was known by planners prior to the raid. A wonderful interactive map of Copenhagen with details of the raid is available on line here. Photo: Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) Flickr page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195118633-JABYDNJFYNYKGZLWZFWE/ShellHouse18.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photograph reveals a dramatic, if slightly retouched, image of an RAF Mosquito thundering over Copenhagen coming from the west, having just attacked Shell House. The buildings in the scene still exist today. Photo: Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) Flickr page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195166147-6XU8H2PKR2XZEYC850M1/ShellHouse04.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A screen capture from a pretty grainy RAF film shows Mosquitos making a turn across the rooftops of Copenhagen. All of the film shot for the RAF was shot from two camera ships including Bob Kirkpatrick’s Mosquito. His normal “looker” (RAF slang for navigator/observer), Wally Undrill, was replaced for this raid by an RAF cameraman named Sergeant Raymond Hearne. What we see here is what Bob saw. RAF film footage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195217319-4MQQ4FDFNQD5IQTKDZ82/ShellHouse05.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A photograph taken by a Copenhagener (likely at great personal risk) shows just how low the attacking Mosquito bombers were as they sweep across the rooftops of city. The spire at left looks very much like that of the International Church of Copenhagen, which puts this photo a few blocks to the east of the Shell House and likely on the run out from the target. It would be shortly after this that the aircraft would have been in the sights of AAA guns aboard the German cruiser KMS Nürnberg tied up in the harbour. Mosquito (SZ977), flown by the 21 Squadron’s leader, Wing Commander Kleboe, struck a light tower at a bend in the rail yard. The damaged Mosquito was thrown dramatically off course to the left, where it grazed a building, shedding one of its bombs. It staggered through the air for another kilometre or so before crashing into The French School on Frederiksberg Allé. Unfortunately, the smoke coming from the crash at the school was interpreted by several following aircraft as the Shell House target. The results were tragic. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195258526-CIZYF00A1ZUQQL8690YY/ShellHouse33.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Another photograph taken by a Dane on the ground shows Mosquitos during the raid, inbound over the suburbs of Copenhagen. Bob said of this photo: “I think the four Mossies are the remnants of 487 Squadron making an orbit, the Mossie far right is probably FPU flown by myself. We were two minutes behind as planned but the orbit made me catch up to them. Things went to hell after that. I’m guessing at all this but the railroad towers, the spacing and the 4 Mossies are where I remember running into them. I went on East about a mile and they all took off to the North.” Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195333361-VEB5QTPLFM92ST80VNU3/ShellHouse30.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Bob Kirkpatrick and Ray Hearne at RAF Rackheath after the Shell House Raid: “This photo was taken after a precautionary landing at RAF Rackheath, a USAAC base, after returning from Copenhagen, March 19, 1945. Sgt. Hearne (right) FPU photographer was my passenger and the photographer on Operation Carthage. We were the 20th Mosquito in the op and 6 minutes behind the first flight. Flak was getting heavy and we were damaged in the nose and starboard engine. No navigator, so I flew home on reciprocals from the trip out doubling the drift. Without a navigator and no radio I landed at the first place I saw.” Photo via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195400757-DFBECKGJURYUMQGZE21S/ShellHouse06.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The northwest corner (back side) of Shell House collapses into the Nyropsgade (Nyrop Street) as flames begin to engulf the entire structure. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195452326-I8E4QRLFTGZJOWFH8668/ShellHouse35.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the north face of Shell House at corner of Kampmann Street and Nyrop Street supposedly shows two men attempting to escape, one climbing down from a third floor window on Kampmann Street and the other contemplating a jump from the fifth floor. Some Danes managed an escape while others were seriously injured and even killed jumping. The Danish website Denstoredanske.dk describes the escape attempts: “Several Danish prisoners escaped from the bombed building with their lives, including two members of the Frihedsradet (Freedom Council), Mogens Fog and Aage Schoch. Four prisoners were trapped on the fifth floor, including Conservative politician Poul Sørensen and resistance man Carl Wedell-Wedellsborg. They found German military belts and, as Poul Sørensen recounted later, Wedell-Wedellsborg attached two belts to the steel windows and swung himself to the outside of the building and came back in on the fourth floor. Here he stood and pulled us in as we came down using the belts. From the fourth floor, four prisoners were forced to jump, with two dying from the fall including Wedell-Wedellsborg. Poul Sørensen survived with serious injuries.” Others have said that this photo was faked. It’s hard to tell. Photo via Denstoredanske.dk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195491592-II51DKAAFOAV3L2MORU2/ShellHouse08.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Looking from the west later on in the day, we see the Kampmann Street facade of Shell House fully engulfed in flames. It appears that no great attempts were made to fight the fire as there is little in the way of firefighting equipment and hoses. It’s likely that the Gestapo would not let anyone near the building. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195543884-JS0LHIR3XB4O6W2QK30A/ShellHouse36.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A short time later, the fire on the Kampmann Street side of Shell House reaches its peak. Despite the conflagration the facade did not collapse. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195587376-A5O07SGE6AIT2QR0IWVJ/ShellHouse09.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The south facade or front of Shell House on Vester Farimags Street at the peak of the fire. It was on these top floors that the Danish resistance prisoners were held by the Gestapo as a deterrent to attack from the air. The Danish resistance knew all too well that these men were being tortured and that none would be allowed to live anyway. The attack was called down by the Danish resistance movement to do two things: Prevent further information from being beaten from the prisoners and to help some escape or to end their suffering. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195636449-MX68U2RVYCO9BQT3JOKO/ShellHouse32.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A Copenhagener watches from the southwest across Hammerich Street as the Shell House burns furiously after the raid. The facade in flames is that on Kampmann Street. Palls from two major fires darkened the sky above the beautiful city this day—at Shell House and at the French School on Frederiksberg Allé. Photo: Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) Flickr page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195689430-12RO94ZETJCHJTK62TRQ/ShellHouse10.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Looking at the main entrance to Shell House after the raid, we see there is nothing left to save. From this perspective, the raid was a total success. The sad and tragic result of the crash of Wing Commander Kleboe’s Mosquito would forever hang a pall over the daring raid, but this is part of history and must be told with the whole story. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195728756-ELBEQA65TO8VZY4F2C72/ShellHouse11.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The north facade of Shell House suffered the greatest damage with near total collapse. This image appears to have been taken within days of the raid as the ruins appear to still be smoldering. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195772347-IRB9GLSSDI5VRMFK0F07/ShellHouse15.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The north facade of Shell House after the fire as cleanup begins. Much of the facade to the right was brought down shortly afterwards. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195807481-LIBI38PCJZBVSC3RS0FM/ShellHouse12.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A similar photograph to the previous shot shows the same angle weeks later after the debris has been removed from the streets and the eastern part of the facade was brought down. We can see through the block to the inside of the front facade of Shell House. Photo: Danish Public Domain via denfrie.blogpsot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195849119-QZG62TVQ7Y7GXRI0UPVJ/ShellHouse14.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A rare colour photograph of Shell House taken long after the attack showing the devastating effects of the raid. A Danish flag waves defiantly at right. Wikipedia sums up the results of the Shell House attack: “The raid had succeeded in destroying Gestapo headquarters and records, severely disrupting Gestapo operations in Denmark, as well as allowing the escape of 18 prisoners of the Gestapo. Fifty-five German soldiers, 47 Danish employees of the Gestapo, and eight prisoners died in the headquarters building. Four Mosquito bombers and two Mustang fighters were lost, and nine airmen died on the Allied side.” Sadly, the scoreboard must include the devastating crash and subsequent mistaken bombing at the French School on tree-lined Frederiksberg Allé. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195908692-NW5XFRN76PZDTD62HOVU/ShellHouse16.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Institut Jeanne d’Arc, a Roman Catholic school on Frederiksberg Allé, Copenhagen, established in 1924. It was struck by a crashing de Havilland Mosquito 1.5 kilometres to the northwest of the actual target. Though this caused destruction, the smoke and flame from the crash attracted incoming Mosquito fighter bombers of the second and third waves. As many as 7–8 of these crews mistook the site as Shell House and released their bombs on the school. Photo by Stender, via Royal Library, Copenhagen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195943410-0RKEE3VH1AEJCQQNSDJ1/ShellHouse43.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out In this poor resolution photograph of firefighters attempting to put out fires in buildings adjacent to l’Institut Jeanne d’Arc on Maglekildevej, we can see the form of the vertical stabilizer (with fabric covering of the rudder burned away) from Wing Commander Kleboe’s Mosquito rising from the smoking ruin. Kleboe and his navigator F/O Reginald J.W. Hall were killed instantly. The firefighters who attended the disaster reported that the damage was extensive not just to the buildings but to the water system causing reduced pressure in the lines, as witnessed by the ineffective water flow in this image. Photo via Flensted.eu.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628195978965-S80HTC16SPAFYKQJ6IMD/ShellHouse31.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Fires rage at the site of the crash of Kleboe’s Mosquito and the subsequent mistaken bombing. Photo: Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) Flickr page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196016755-QZYREE3NGF9078TI7FDS/ShellHouse38.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Another dramatic image of the chaotic scene at the French School. Photo: Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) Flickr page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196057827-8U7QIJ46TDQS8BV8O07D/ShellHouse17.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out In the neighbourhood of Frederiksberg, firefighters struggle to keep control of the fire at the French School. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196112202-KPLO1FHURGP4QOBX656T/ShellHouse37.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Today, a memorial of heartbreak stands at the site of the destruction of the Institut Jeanne d’Arc French School. Two children look with fear to the skies, while a teacher/nun comforts them. Pilots and planners of the raid, while successful in their goal, would have to live with the knowledge of the accident that took so many children’s lives. The catastrophe would claim the lives of 18 adults and 86 schoolchildren, one of the most tragic events in Copenhagen during the Second World War. Bob Kirkpatrick would follow a flight of Mosquitos mistakenly attacking the site of the crash. He carried only incendiary bombs and was instructed to drop them a few blocks past the aiming point to create a diversion in the event that prisoners were attempting to escape. He would fly right through the smoke at Frederiksberg and release his incendiaries a kilometre from the intended target to the east. Photo: Danish Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196154587-AJBS0HTAFBNXFJJTP5LN/ShellHouse41.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out A memorial at the entrance to the modern building that was built on the site of Shell House after the war lists the eight Danish resistance men who were killed in the attack. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196224691-Z6QLUVU94HF92P73L0S2/PerArdua19.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The year after I first met Bob, we met at the Mosquito Memories event at the Hamilton International Air Show. For the amazing story of how Bob managed, in his 91st year, to get there, click here. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196299837-O1V0Z0YY5OH81V977AS7/ShellHouse19.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Moments before Dave takes Bob on his last ride, the family offers up a toast (with Dave quaffing his Merlot only when he returned from the flight). Left to right: Deb Dodgen, Dave Dodgen, John Kirkpatrick (Bob’s son), Klayton Kirkpatrick (grandson), Ginny, Andrew Schatz (grandson-in-law), Krystal Schatz (granddaughter), and Barb Kirkpatrick (daughter). Absent that day but there in spirit were Mary and Gail Wetzel (daughter and husband). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196360597-TY9A26W4ZCEZFJEJ678O/ShellHouse21.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out On his way to spread Bob Kirkpatrick’s ashes, Dave Dodgen taxies his Beech Bonanza out to Runway 12/30 at Humboldt Municipal Airport, a runway used many times by Bob Kirkpatrick. Photo via Dave and Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196408632-BSATSIMLURXY2XXAFI6E/ShellHouse25.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out While Bob’s son John takes the controls, Dave sends Bob’s last mortal remains down the funnel, though the hose and out into the slipstream, that place where Bob spent so much of his beautiful life. Photo via Deb and Dave Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196464601-OEHQNYNO216JCTCQLBVI/ShellHouse26.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out The cloud of ashes would disappear on the wind and settle much later across the Midwestern plain, working their way into the soil that Bob loved so much. Some would land in the slow moving water of the West Fork of the Des Moines River, where it would travel to the fork, join with the main Des Moines River 5 miles south, then south to the mighty Mississippi. There is no doubt that some of Bob lies in the Gulf of Mexico, a place where he loved so much to visit and fish. We can just make out the threshold of the Humboldt runway at centre left. Photo via Deb and Dave Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196504208-IOVHF6U9SXYY4P5DE2YD/ShellHouse28.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out At 5,000 feet Dave Dodgen circles the beautiful Midwestern farming community of Humboldt, Iowa on the great, green plain of America—and the final home (of more than 26 separate homes) in their married lives for Ginny and Bob. Humboldt, as any American town, is hometown to many notable citizens, perhaps the most famous of which is 60 Minutes’ Harry Reasoner. The airport can be seen at centre left along the banks of the West Fork of the Des Moines River. The little town of Humboldt was named after Alexander von Humboldt, Prussian naturalist, geographer and explorer, the namesake of the Humboldt Current, Humboldt Penguin and the Humboldt Squid and for whom eight towns are named in the USA alone—in Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, Kansas, Minnesota and Arizona—and one in Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo via Dave and Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196545437-6PXS5ER51O4PP7UVBI6H/ShellHouse22.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Members of the family release balloons for Bob. Signifying his love of flight, they float skyward as his ashes settle to the earth he loved equally well. Photo via Dave and Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196582834-LB2ZFA3IV0011C95X52P/ShellHouse24.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out Down by the North Fork of the Des Moines River, Bob’s wife Ginny and Deb Dodgen raise a glass on the occasion of Bob’s last flight—more than 20,000 hours since he first soloed at St. Eugène airfield in the dead of a Canadian winter in 1942. Photo via Dave and Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196620705-VWMRW7WYEGQWLWFQ6Z8N/ShellHouse29.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out For pilot Dave Dodgen, Bob and Ginny’s neighbour, it was an honour to fly Flight Lieutenant Robert “Kirk” Kirkpatrick, RCAF on his final flight, but it was emotionally draining. Here he rests in his hangar with his dog after the flight, with the late evening light streaming in. In honour of the last flight of a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Dave wears his RCAF t-shirt and a Vintage Wings of Canada ball cap. Though he was an American, he was very proud of the fact that he was born in Manitoba whilst his family was visiting there, and prouder still, much prouder, of his service with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo via Deb and Dave Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628196663183-1WTQB7QBDL36XK5BQL2R/PerArdua20.jpeg The Stories - THE LAST CARTHAGINIAN - Make it stand out This is how I want to remember Bob—looking skyward, pain gone from his face, remembering his comrades, proud, living life to the last drop, free. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/icon monthly 0.5 2021-12-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624470186564-0YR5WYZSHSIUD9MBH81J/MariusFlash.jpg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620222881-MTKF1HQLHJB05B08FX9P/56611CBF-FB87-4040-A436-347579E347F3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Eric Kennington's dramatic pastel-chalk portrait of 19-year old Spitfire pilot Marius Eriksen is perhaps his most striking in a stunning oeuvre of wartime portraits. The Imperial War Museum, on their Collections website states: “This portrait of Norwegian pilot Marius Eriksen perhaps typifies both Kennington's approach and the Air Ministry's preferred imagery of its personnel. ... Kennington depicts him as if ready to fly at any moment, wearing a life jacket and a polka-dotted cravat. Kennington emphasizes Eriksen's artfully arranged blonde hair, Hollywood-like looks and film star pose, creating the epitome of the wartime fighter pilot. Eriksen was a talented youth skier in peacetime, became a bold fighter pilot and after the war appeared in films, so his personality tallied with the imagery.” For more on Erik Kennignton's and Cuthbert Orde's superb portraits of airmen of the Second World War, click here. Portrait: Erik Kennington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620269148-JG86F9SSQZ727I94Y3FX/17F7219F-61E1-4B03-BD4F-22632FA62B0C.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen Sr. clowns around with his wife Bitten. Bitten was a ski racer in the early twentieth century when not many women were involved in the sport. She co-founded the Norwegian Ladies Ski Club (Damenes Skiklubb) in 1931 but is best known for what she is doing in this photo—knitting. An avid knitter and pattern designer, she began creating a series of knitting patterns in the late 1920s for the famous Norwegian sweater manufacturer, Dale of Norway (back then it was called Dale Garn og Trikotasje). Later, she created a sweater design for her husband Marius and knit the another one in 1943 as a gift for his son Marius Jr. who was in a PoW camp in Germany and presented it to him upon his triumphant return. That design, as we will see, went on to become an Norwegian cultural icon and a controversial one at that. Photo: archive.li https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620308046-HI8IYHUOU6AGNCXV6ORD/478CBC0E-ED28-43F7-9DDB-D42F2C0C1FFD.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The Eriksens enjoyed skiing throughout Europe and made many strong business connections in the process. Here at St. Anton, Austria in 1932, Marius Sr. and Bitten (second and third from left) hang out with other famed ski industry people — (Left to Right). Willy Bogner Sr. (German ski clothing designer), Marius, Bitten, Otto Lang (Bosnian ski-instructor and film-maker), Mary Bird (later a member of the first American women's ski team), Hannes Schneider (respected St. Anton ski instructor) and Lother Rübelt (world-famous Olympic and sport photographer). Both Schnieder and Lang subsequently moved to the United States and, during the war, helped train the Nordic soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division. It was precisely this connection with the German and Austrian skiing community that put the Eriksen family under suspicion following the 1940 invasion of Norway. Photo: Skiing Heritage Journal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620348349-E1LYSKBMR5TZSHDECHNZ/B83FC47C-6FAF-46A5-AB79-224DC4623ACA.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Fourteen raw Norwegian student pilots “listen up good” to an instructor at Little Norway. Wearing freshly issued flight suits, gloves, helmets and turtleneck sweaters, and standing with their parachutes, these young men seem to be getting an orientation briefing. To the right, the tail of a Fairchild PT-19 Cornell peeks in. In the background, we see the hulking outfield wall and lights of Maple Leaf Stadium at left and Canadian Malting's grain elevators at right. It was here that Marius Eriksen would begin a flying career that would ultimately make him one of the greatest Norwegian aces of the war. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620381287-NJ10SAOPEKQ0ZW5LWKDE/AC02410C-5AF8-49E4-B143-D16810F80373.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out While in Canada for flight training at Little Norway, 18-year old Marius Eriksen (second from left in front row) took time for a little downhill skiing pleasure. The above photograph appeared in the ski-page of the sports section of Montreal's La Presse French language daily newspaper on February 14 (St. Valentine's Day), 1941. It shows Eriksen and fellow skiers at Montreal's Bonaventure train station switching trains enroute to Hanover, New Hampshire and Ivy League's Dartmouth College winter carnival. All of the men were training at the Little Norway air base in Toronto. The men are: Front row (left to right): Tim Heiberg (Norwegian Downhill Champion), Marius Eriksen (Scandinavian Slalom Champion), Ulf Wormoal, Bjorn Bjornstad, Back row (Left to right): Finn Jespersen (Later killed in action), Hans Platou, Eirik Rolfssøn Malm (Killed in action over Belgium in 1942), Ottar Malm (Laurentian Slalom Champion). Photo: Canadian National Railway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620422155-NKLNWPJI9N6NXL2U47HE/573CFE70-813F-4E92-BDB4-77AC6DDB9297.png The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Though they flew in squadrons within the Royal Air Force command structure, Norwegian pilots had Norwegian ranks and wore their own national insignia—shoulder flashes, hat badges and pilot's brevets. Norwegians wore their elegant wings (above) over the right breast as opposed to RAF aircrew who wore them over their left breast. Photo: emedals.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620451846-1FQT6C9TLTCPQ9IG0AYE/4BB91BC2-65EE-4458-B5A1-3E9EA9FFDBB9.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A photo of extraordinary loss, courage and sacrifice — Norwegian pilots in Great Britain in the summer of 1941, after they were trained at Toronto's Little Norway. It is not known where this image was taken, but perhaps after the group had arrived from Canada since there are both fighter and bomber pilots in the group, indicating this was not at a fighter OTU. Everyone but six were shot down, killed or captured. These men represent combat pilots in both fighter role and in bombers. Front Row (L-R): Bjørn Bjørnstad (Survived), Bjørn Raeder (Killed in combat Dec 29. 1944), Thorvald Johnsen (Killed by German flak in August, 1944), Jan Jørgensen (fate unknown), John Ryg (Survived), Erik Bertil Palm (Killed ferrying a B-25 Mitchell between Greenland and Iceland), Rolf Engelsen (shot down and captured in May, 1943), Eirik Malm (Killed in Action in Belgium in 1942). Second (L to R): Hans Petter Gramnæs (Shot down May, 1943 and captured), Svein Nygaard (Shot down and killed in July, 1942), Guy Owren (Killed in Action in 1943), Sigurd Jenssen (Killed on operations August, 1942), Marius Eriksen (shot down and captured in May 1943 (on the same day as Rolf Engelsen)), Per Bersgland (Shot down near Dieppe, August 1942 and captured—one of only three men who managed to get to freedom during the Great Escape), Erik Leif Westlye (Likely survived). Back Row: John Gilhuus (shot down and killed in December 1944), Yves de Castro Henrichsen (killed in a blackout car accident at North Weald on October, 1942), Erling Drangsholt (Survived), Finn Varde Jespersen (Shot down and killed on D-Day while flying a Lancaster), Jan Løfsgaard (Shot down and killed in 1943), Gunnar Fosse (Shot down and killed in October 1944), Helner Grundt Spang (Survived). Photo: Wikiwand.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620482818-OJ4SKOBIYG87QFCZF7YK/1B45F26B-297E-4215-A905-4C892EF18E52.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out 19-year old Marius Eriksen (right) relaxes with other pilots of 332 Squadron at their mess at RAF Catterick in the spring of 1942. On the walls are photos of Norwegian landscapes and the Royal Family as well as the red and gold Norwegian Coat of Arms on the brick wall. The pilots are all wearing heavy flight boots (fairly new in the case of Eriksen), suggesting this was taken early in 1942 after the squadron was formed in January. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620514955-IVDSKVAIS3II6RNVAYR6/8D587C73-851F-41F4-A0C4-EEB955F0A073.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The youth of Marius Eriksen when he joined 332 Squadron is undeniable in this photograph of five Norwegian pilots at RAF Catterick. He looks to be 15 to 16-years old at the most, especially next to the pilot on his right. Despite his age (19), Eriksen would shoot down the first enemy aircraft of the squadron. The pilot second from the left is Egil Hagen, who survived the war and six forced landings and a broken back. Note the famous Someone Talked! poster behind them, one of the iconic propaganda images (Inset) of the entire Second World War. Photo: db.wingstovictory.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620568812-3LY9UTYQA9HFPH3ZXR06/69110F1F-ED4D-4BB5-978D-81DD94050685.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out When Sergeant Marius Eriksen, fresh from Little Norway in Ontario, joined 332 Squadron at RAF Catterick where it was formed up in 1942, he was the youngest pilot on the squadron. Here he poses on the wing of Spitfire AH-P which carries a red, white and blue Norwegian Air Force pennant beneath the canopy rail. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620620562-DQ8L260W06O1E7N3CJ29/DAAD215B-BAAE-4A1B-B1AB-78B81AA40289.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out As Norwegian pilot Erik Haabjørn buckles on his parachute, a 332 Squadron mechanic warms up the Rolls Royce Merlin on his Spitfire at RAF Catterick on April 21, 1942. This particular Spitfire (L1031, AH-S) was a Mk Va, but was originally built as a Mk I and flew for the first time in June of 1939 a couple of months before the war started. It was re-engined and modified to Mk V standard a full year before this photo was taken. This old warhorse nearly lasted the entire war, being written off after a wheels-up landing at RAF Kidlington in January of 1945 where it belonged to the No. 1 Ferry Pilots Pool, likely as a training or currency ship. Erik Haabjørn was training to be a civilian pilot starting in 1939, and following the invasion by the Germans he was evacuated along with King Haakon 7 aboard HMS Devonshire. He completed his training at Little Norway in Ontario and returned to Great Britain where he joined 615 Squadron and then 332 Squadron. Photo: Norwegian Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620655137-ZKCOE4N8EQBD3J26PSJQ/D9AAEC3F-0BAB-42F3-97FA-D0A7B04FA8A3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out 332 Squadron Spitfire Mk Va R7335 (AH-J) is buttoned up against the cold and wet at RAF Catterick in 1942. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620682393-PQ2M52AOK7BGF0XWW2R8/3BF31090-BACB-45EA-B4D4-2DC3CF4C3513.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen, with his signature pompadour, deals himself a round of solitaire while awaiting a call to scramble at RAF Catterick in North Yorkshire in the summer of 1942. Fellow Spitfire pilots Nils Ringdal (left) and Bjørn Ræder, looking bored, while away the hours in the same pursuit. All three men received their flying training in Canada at the Norwegian Air Force training facilities in Ontario known as Little Norway. Ringdal went on to command 331 (Norwegian) Squadron. After the war, he joined Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and then went on to the Norwegian airline, Braathens SAFE, where he was a Captain until his retirement in 1980. He died in 1986. Johan Kristoffer Bjørn Ræder, from Oslo, was shot down in May, 1943, but managed to evade capture and to return to his squadron after a harrowing eight-week journey through the Pyrenees and Gibraltar. He was back on squadron by end of summer, 1943. He was shot down and killed in combat in December, 1944. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620720492-8FV32C4TTJWHX0MIOY1P/FBD312CF-A857-4509-B346-A722114A4270.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out In July of 1942, Marius Eriksen scored the first victory for 332 Squadron, shooting down a Luftwaffe Focke Wulf Fw 190 while flying Spitfire Vb LB314 (AH-M). The word LITAGO was painted on the side, a common name for a cow in Norway, in the way “Daisey” is in North America. Image via Jens-Ole at sim-outhouse.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620751050-6HSD4VT1UDS9TQM7GGTW/E45BFA7B-8019-40D8-9D83-64003D527B82.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out For a Norwegian, perhaps Essex, England was almost the tropics. Here, Marius Eriksen (left) poses in almost tropical kit at RAF North Weald in the summer of 1942. With him is Jan Erik Løfsgaard, one of his best friends. Løfsgaard was shot down and killed in 1943. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620788796-MNN7ESLP8LHYYZKVRFUS/5ECE0D42-AF06-40CC-9E32-ED0124CE9274.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Members of the RAF's 332 (Norwegian) Squadron pose with a Spitfire at RAF North Weald during the winter of 1942-43. Marius Eriksen sits on the wing holding “Spit”, the squadron's Jack Russell terrier mascot. This photo was taken just a few months before Eriksen was shot down off the coast of the Netherlands and captured. A typical RAF squadron had either an English or Latin motto, but some squadrons, whose pilots for the most part came from one Commonwealth or European country, often had mottos in their own language. 332 Squadron's motto was Samhold i strid (Together in battle). Another example of this RAF practice was the motto for 75 (New Zealand) Squadron—Ake ake kia kaha (Maori for For ever and ever be strong). Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620821279-DNWCQLJ45JPZLMPWZLHM/82F71B2F-54EC-4275-8724-22CE41BD0D4A.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen, in his monogrammed Mae West vest, strikes a typical fighter pilot pose against the 20mm cannon barrel on his 332 Squadron Spitfire at RAF North Weald. The heavy gloves, scarf and woolen turtleneck tell us this was sometime during the winter of 1942-43. On his collar, he wears the single white star of a “Fenrik”, a Royal Norwegian Air Force rank roughly equivalent to a Pilot Officer. Photo: NorwegianSpitfire.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620853342-VX1QQCZUXAQVJ6DT9BXM/CE11BCE4-DE33-4B27-9CAD-B38D05FE8DE2.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Another shot from the same photo session as the previous image shows a wider view with Eriksen and Marius' 332 Squadron mate John Bernhard Gilhuus who died near Raesfeld, Germany on December 17, 1944 while flying a Hawker Tempest with 80 Squadron. Gilhuus was the only Norwegian pilot to be killed while flying a Tempest. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626620972595-3D8FZSJ5F4T6U23OIBCE/7251F306-16C5-43C3-A5A0-1FC8C11C1AAC.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A digital rendering of 332 Squadron Spitfire Mk IX EN177, which Fenrik Marius Eriksen flew on April 20, 1943 when he shot down Bäumer's Junkers Ju 88 at 35,000 feet over England. It was a great gift to the Luftwaffe on Adolph Hitler's 54th birthday! Image via Jens-Ole at sim-outhouse.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621029312-JCLR4Y363VE18JM564BH/1C335394-EE79-49C6-9202-66D2271A5A08.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Leutnant Hans-Joachim Bäumer (inset) was the only surviving member of the three-man crew of Junkers Ju 88T Werk Nummer 0678 T9+FH shot down by Eriksen on Hitler's 54th birthday. Photo: airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621070516-5T65TLFSY5PILDKIOZMP/013DC9C9-D1AD-49DD-814B-ADC7C2D2E37E.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A model of Spitfire Mk IX BS255 (AH-T), the Spitfire Mk IX that Marius Eriksen flew when he shot down a Bf 109 in April and when he was himself shot down in on May 2, 1943. It is interesting to note that it wears the nickname Troll, a mythical Scandinavian cave-dwelling creature. After the war, Eriksen would star in a Norwegian film called Troll i ord. Model Built by Tormod Sørvang https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621110035-XJVA850TMI62AYSHRH8P/B5393147-657A-437B-BD41-AC21A20C8CD2.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out At around 7:30 pm on May 2, 1943 Marius Eriksen was shot down of the coast of Noord-Beveland in the southwestern province of the Netherlands known as Zeeland. At the time, he was making a head-on attack on a Focke Wulf Fw 190 flown by Hauptmann Deitrich Wickop of Jagdgeschwader 1. According to Wickop's after-action report, he and his fellow pilots engaged 40 Spitfires at 23,000 feet. Wickop and Eriksen exchanged head-on machine gun fire simultaneously with Wickop getting hits on the Eriksen's left wing and cockpit area. Eriksen's aircraft rolled over and went into a spin—he bailed out and was soon captured. Map: db.wingstovictory.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621136940-XO12HXYTB9HOI2S1GO09/0AE1516F-FE93-42C9-BD22-56CEEE16974F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Following recuperation from injuries sustained when he was shot down, Eriksen was transferred to Stalag Luft III in Poland. It was from this camp and during Eriksen's time there that 76 airmen managed to escape through a tunnel in what has since been popularized as The Great Escape. Photo: therealgreatescape.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621163286-JXWS61DDEVZUSZOZYECS/53F2F78E-25D9-47BF-BAC9-7FD549F9D8A4.png The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The Great Escape resulted in the murders of 50 of the 76 escapees by the Gestapo. Hollywood would have you believe they were all mowed down together in a forest by machine guns mounted in the back of trucks. In fact, after lengthy interrogation, they were taken out in ones and twos over a few days and simply shot in the back—an unspeakable crime that took the lives of 50 brave young men, four of which were North Weald-based Norwegian Spitfire pilots and close friends of Marius Eriksen. In the photo at left, Per Bergsland (left), Halldor Espelid and Jens Müller (right) are photographed at Stalag Luft III. Bergsland and Müller made good their escape, but Espelid and Nils Fuglesang (far right) were murdered. The two photos at right of Fuglesang and Espelid in their escape disguises were taken by the Gestapo shortly before they were taken outside and shot. Photos: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621228171-I2Z911X5699YSKVUG029/33195891-3F29-404E-8C8C-4730D868E416.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A very informative photo of Marius Eriksen, at least if you know what to look for. The obvious thing is that Marius, at the time of the photo, was an ace, having shot down nine enemy aircraft. Strangely, there are ten swastika victory marks on his Spitfire. Perhaps it was the aircraft of someone else, or his accumulated shared victories accounted for the tenth kill. On his shoulder, he wears a Norway flash, while on his lapel, he sports the two stars of a Norwegian Air Force Løytnant (a promotion awarded for his successes in the air after he was shot down and captured), which makes this a post-war photo of Eriksen. Norwegian air force pilots in RAF Squadrons wore Norwegian insignia and had Norwegian ranks, whereas other nations with nationally-salted squadrons like the Poles and Czechs had standard RAF insignia and ranks. As well, Norwegian pilots wore their Norwegian-style pilot's wings over the right-side pocket of their tunics and battle dress jackets as seen here. Marius is also sporting a number of ribbons which were awarded him postwar including The Norwegian War Cross with Sword, St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch, Distinguished Flying Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. It's possible that this photograph was taken in Norway in September, 1945 after 332 Squadron had been stood down as an RAF Squadron in Norway and handed over to the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621259947-U7S614MY5SA86SO53D1T/91273BDA-CD07-41D2-BF72-4A914FFC824E.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out While searching the Internet for images, stories and facts that would inform the saga of Marius Eriksen, I came across this solid silver cup on eBay by the iconic Danish silversmith Georg Jensen. On one side is a set of Norwegian pilot's wings from the Second World War and the other is engraved with the names of five Norwegian Spitfire pilots: Rolf Engelsen, Thorvald Johnsen, Jan Löfsgaard, Björn Raeder and Marius Eriksen and the date 1942. It is not known what this cup represents—perhaps to be drunk from by the last living pilot or perhaps all five each had one made. What is clear is that these five men were close in some way. One of Eriksen's best friends on squadron was Jan Löfsgaard who was killed in combat in 1943. Björn Raeder was also killed a year later, as was Thorvald Johnsen. Both Engelsen and Eriksen were shot down on the same day in May, 1943, and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III. Photos: Slake25, eBay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621301701-T5E9RB1IOLX8ZVZQN95T/4F584EB2-9FAB-4DE2-8D94-220439CD56FB.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Eriksen relaxing in the Norwegian sun, wearing his signature Marius sweater. TheNorwegianAmerican.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621331941-IUPH0P9JKZX8HPY40HDH/69E1AF68-B8C0-4C72-85F0-D275E0E1EA30.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out An image from a promotional brochure for Marius sweaters shows Marius Eriksen in his 40s shouldering a pair of Stein Eriksen signature downhill skis and wearing the sweater that was named after his father and him. The Marius sweater pattern includes a horizontal band of “X”s and diamonds crossing from shoulder to shoulder. The classic colours include the red white and blue of the Norwegian flag in any combination. TheNorwegianAmerican.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621363442-O4NJALMNQTL2AI32GEIT/C41B3C5B-3E99-4BC4-87D7-0925A3328E88.png The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The Marius sweater design is far more than an iconic pattern, it is a Norwegian state-of-mind, as much a part of their cultural heritage as Viking ships, herring and Edvard Munch's The Scream. Marius Inspirasjon is a book dedicated to the many ways the Marius knitting design can be used—from banjo strap to G-string. Photos: mylittlenorway.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621394994-4Y8U2NTKH6NUF43QSLOE/5888B031-8C49-42C1-BA2C-24E5B3EE0092.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen was a popular cultural figure in the 1950s, gracing numerous covers such as the Norwegian women's magazine Alle Kvinners Blad in 1955 with his wife Bente Ording Eriksen after the release of Troll i ord or, later, the cover (right) of Strikk-ess, a Norwegian knitting publication. Image: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621421709-KEH378KWTDLDK74YAK80/3C55DA3D-04F3-40D4-B7F3-1526A8A5E972.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621452432-Q6RCQFZO23NP1OD711NE/E0320EE8-15B3-470F-984C-1D304B0395E6.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Top photo: On the set of Troll i ord, a Norwegian musical comedy released in September, 1954, Marius Eriksen (right) hams it up with great Norwegian actor Henki Kolstad (left) and Danish Jytte Ibsen. Truthfully, I have no idea what the film was about, except that Marius Eriksen plays a minor part as Ola Bervik, a charming ski instructor. Bottom photo: In a wider view, we see the full winter scene and the two male actors lifting Ibsen, possibly the victim of a skiing accident in the movie. Photo: Norwegian Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621484072-UTDPZT8ZN77JBESFUJWB/506BA8E0-2CF8-4D8A-8475-63C43E42769F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen, as ski instructor Ola Bervik, kicks back with Danish actress Jytte Ibsen in the film Troll i ord. He is wearing his signature Marius sweater—an early product placement if there ever was one. Ibsen wears another design called “Eskimo”. Photo: Cinemaneuf.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621512322-VLC0Z7SCPVHPYYQABZZJ/3CE43606-12E3-4B22-B211-D6D16A8266C6.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A still from the movie Troll i ord. I have no idea what is going on here, but everyone is wearing a Marius Norwegian knit sweater including actor Henki Kolstad as Knute Bakke (center), and Marius Eriksen as Ola Bervik, seen sprawled on the couch in the background. Photo: IMDb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621550465-T36XHB9IURJ25YOISWTY/EBAC046F-1851-4BE5-B0E1-6BB091547A63.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out If there is one thing I have learned over the years of research on the internet, it is to never give up the search and where possible, search in the language of the subject—in this case Norwegian. After a month of Eriksen research, I came across this absolutely wonderful video clip from the Norwegian film Troll i ord that has Spitfire ace Marius Eriksen, as ski instructor Ola Bervik skiing like a stylish demon in his Marius sweater while, on the soundtrack, the “Monn Keys” sing a swinging song called Vinter i Eventyreland (Winter in Wonderland). Eriksen proves he is no ordinary actor, but a man with real skills and a real deep personal experience—the “real deal” as we would now say. To watch this really great period clip, click here. The “Monn Keys” were a peppy Norwegian vocal group popular in that country from 1948 to 1964. I had to stop myself from going down that rabbit hole. Photo: YouTube.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621623546-JE01OEIMFTDNGWCRR47V/AB463777-1E53-48DF-B34E-D1432CAD19C9.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Perhaps this photo has little to do with the story line of a young fighter pilot from Norway, but as with many of my stories, I like to make this a repository of all things related to Marius Eriksen so that future researchers will have an easier time than I did finding imagery related to this unique story. Here we see a 1954 promotional billboard for Troll i ord during a movie festival in Norway. The white text at left translates to “The Norwegian Pleasure Game”. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621647176-0UDKZI7XWRJ97J3G1TV4/E4FB378B-E099-4299-9B61-49AA30990128.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Also in 1954, young Marius Eriksen played an unnamed reporter from the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet in the film Kasserer Jensen (The Cashier Jensen—released in October), a comedy about a simple bank employee named Jensen who is mistakenly confused with a notorious escaped convict. His appearance is very brief and his helium-inflected voice seems strange, but his good looks, big hair and Spitfire ace background got him higher on the billing than the role may have warranted. Photo via YouTube His 2 minute appearance starts at about 17:40 minutes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621683402-ZVNEZ57KTJJZH7W9EHHQ/0191AC48-E357-4A59-8F6D-FD6FFA11D0B0.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out In 1957, Marius had his first starring role as Oberstløytnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Eriksen (second from left) in the motion picture Slalåm under Himmelen. In this still from the movie, Eriksen walks the requisite fighter pilot ramp walk (used in all good flying movies!) with his young and newly minted fighter pilots—Fenrik (1st Lt) Sigurd Bakke (left, played by Per Christensen), Fenrik Thor Granli (played by Jan Halvorsen) and Fenrik Arbe Riesing (played by Wilfred Werner). Eriksen played the part of the unit's Commanding Officer, a Spitfire veteran from the Second World War. Definitely not a stretch for Marius Eriksen. The film is available in DVD, but I have not seen it. Image via rushpoint.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621705325-4XIXQMFMFYX13TKBIDHD/8CB136E5-BB6F-48A1-A9A7-4F8E4F0F24FA.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A lobby poster for the Norwegian feature film Slalåm under Himmelen (Slalom Beneath the Sky) features a pilot trying to escape from a burning Royal Norwegian Air Force F-84 Thunderjet, down in the Norwegian boreal forest. Marius' fame as a fighter pilot and actor is leveraged with a top billing. The film was the story of three young fledgling pilots about to begin their careers as jet fighter pilots with the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Unfortunately, the mother of one of the pilots saw only the demise of her son and pressures one of them to quit. By all accounts, the flying and pilot-related sequences were very well received by pilots who saw the film. It is also interesting to note that the flying in this film was done by 332 and 331 Squadrons of the Royal Norwegian Air Force—Marius Eriksen's old RAF squadrons, not with the RNAF. Image via rushpoint.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621743131-7IJJLMPL365JB6JA2XAP/264156DD-6589-4968-A67F-F7BC6D20C64B.png The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Method actor. At left, a photo of 19-year old Eriksen, likely taken in 1942 at the time of his commissioning as a “fenrik”, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Norwgian Air Forces. The photo at right is likely from ten years later when he starred Slålam under Himmelen (The canopy arc behind him does not look like a Spitfire but rather an F-84 Thunderjet). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621779491-ZJ56B659BBWR6WUHHQES/0CCA69B8-09FB-48CF-9672-B7662A3EB1DC.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A great photo of 38-year old Marius Eriksen from later in his career in the early 1960s, no longer the baby-faced fighter pilot but appearing as charming and mischievous as ever. Photo: DigitalMuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621822225-LTJ4ZFO6C6E72X7EB2C2/1D33BB17-5767-44B6-AE74-AFA0D32C36DB.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius' younger and helmetless brother Stein Eriksen in perfect Giant Slalom form at FIS World Cup at Aspen, Colorado in 1950. Stein, the skiing world's first superstar, was also the first Olympic gold medalist in Alpine skiing from outside the Alps, winning at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. In addition, he won three gold medals at the 1954 World Championships. Stein moved to the United States not long after his Olympic win and took a job as a ski instructor at Sun Valley, Idaho, Boyne Mountain, Michigan, Sugarbush, Vermont, Park City, Utah and my personal favourite ski haunt, Heavenly Valley, California. Though he lived in the US, he skied for Norway and was knighted by the King of Norway. He lived in the US until his death in 2015 at Park City at the age of 88. Photo: nbl.snl.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621851735-2W38ANUM3BRFYB3NUYKV/3ED5B5F4-AD9D-4C15-95C4-61E1BF25A6A6.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Stein Eriksen tearing up the slopes at Park City in the 1960s with bamboo poles, leather boots and stretchy pants, still wearing the signature Marius sweater. If you skied like this today, you'd be branded a throwback, or perhaps a “Yeti”, a skier who has no idea what he is doing. Back in the day though, this was the height of style and grace—knees and heels locked as one leg, hops swing all over the place. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621897281-IJSS99AWSBI3WQRF7IH7/88AE27BE-9EF3-45C5-99D2-6162FD62FBFA.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius' and Stein's father, Marius Eriksen Sr. built skis for his racing sons and sold them to other racers. Here we see a pair of pre-war Marius Eriksen slalom skis, stamped with his marque. Photo via Portland Press Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621931712-0OMCA0AH3U7GDEWHO935/52544591-42A7-4D5C-B032-EDC89BA97EEA.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Post Second World War Streamlines skis. The names Marius and Eriksen became the equivalent of brands in Norway and Scandinavia before and after the war. Marius' Spitfire ace status and pre-war ski championships (not to mention his movie star reputation) made him a household name in Norway. His younger brother Stein's World Championships and Olympic Gold Medal made him an international star. Their father, Marius Sr. built their skis for them and in Skiing Heritage Journal (June 2004), writer Nicholas Howe wrote: “Eriksen Streamlines were the ski of choice for many top racers before WWII consumed the hardwood forests of Europe.” Photo via Portland Press Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626621983220-BM8H4IKA65MYQ4P1HAUJ/C7BBF009-CC86-44A6-BBCA-C54395A68517.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Marius Eriksen — jagerpilot (fighter pilot), ace, PoW, ski champion, fashion model, and motion picture actor in his 80s and still looking handsome and still with the perfect hair and the Marius sweater. This is the only photograph in all the ones I found where Eriksen is smoking. Photo: vg.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622015223-2Y5VFGFL6DU2PCG0S9OH/E13563C0-8C6C-437E-AF28-6EDC13E27801.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622045369-NIZRX43U2XKNN71QA8P5/20A51544-3A51-45A2-B664-C229F37A17BA.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out While the Norwegians were in the process of acquisition of new Curtiss Hawk fighters for the Norwegian Army Air Services at the time of the German invasion, their main front line fighters were the nine Gloster Gladiators based at Fornebu (top photo), biplane fighters that were no match for the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitts. However, the seven serviceable Gladiators available on April 9, 1940, the first day of the invasion managed to shoot down four Luftwaffe aircraft including two Messerschmitt Bf 110s. The bottom photo shows one of the Fornebu Gladiators lost in the first week of the invasion. It was flown by Sergeant Kristian Schye who had just shot down a Bf 110 when he was attacked by another. Damage caused him to crash land at Kolsås on April 14. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622084972-IWNK8347IDP1X95A4JA6/AA985507-3411-4489-B3EC-FFF8C647507B.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The City of Toronto, for those who do not know, sits along the north shore of Lake Ontario. Centre Island, the largest of the Toronto Islands and home to the Little Norway airfield, lies only a few meters south of this north shoreline. The islands held the airfield and hangars while administration, barracks, and classrooms were on the north shore side of the gap. Airmen, staff and automobiles had to take a 90-second, 121-meter ferry ride to the island. This ferry continues to operate to this day bringing passengers to Billy Bishop Airport, but is supplemented by a pedestrian tunnel that opened in 2015. In this aerial photo from, we see the north shore side of the Little Norway base and at top Maple Leaf Stadium, at the foot of Toronto's Bathurst Street. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622122236-LKIO3GQDM00RGIP4EBIX/4D96E6EA-D1AC-4EA0-84A1-097368EBF4A7.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A Norwegian guard, bayonet affixed, patrols the main gate at the Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp known as Little Norway (Lille Norge in Norwegian) in the first winter of its time on Toronto's Lake Ontario shore. The high tower in the distance just below the barbed wire is one of the light towers at Maple Leaf Stadium. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622151556-SWN7ND1NDWXTM4FAOKWO/731116D4-82F0-4CD2-BCF9-9866599AE646.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A photo of the airport at Centre Island in 1939 (prior to it being taken over by the Norwegian Air Force) taken from the roof of the Canada Malting grain elevators on the mainland to the north. The silos remain to this day, a designated heritage structure. The airport, in a much busier form, still operates from these runways and the large maintenance hangar still exists today, home to Trans Capital Air, a charter airline business that supplies air transport services to the United Nations for peace keeping and relief missions using a fleet of de Havilland Dash-7s. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622234083-PDQ38QEHFXZ19DTPX1HO/E1A976B0-6A90-4B2E-B519-7FA0C0CE1663.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A wonderful shot looking west along the Toronto waterfront from a roost atop the Canadian Malting silos on Queens Quay towards the parade square and administration and classroom buildings. To the right stands the outfield of Maple Leaf Stadium (note the old-school football goal posts), while beyond, the anchorage of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622281015-K0ZUQRG93YGGOVBNYQUM/9425D1AC-5936-4240-A820-CEF6C16A27D0.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out This terrific aerial photograph of Little Norway during one of the winters of its operation gives us an excellent view of the entire facility and its relationship to Toronto's waterfront. The Royal Canadian Yacht Club's basin is frozen solid, but the rest of Lake Ontario's waters are open. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622319101-8460J8DM4STCMAGRLYFX/FD3A6BD0-537F-4107-A79D-CFFBCA225FD9.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out An early shot of Little Norway at Toronto's Centre Island from the roof of the Canadian Malting silos. The parking lot for the ferry is filling up as it leaves its berth for the 90-second crossing bringing Norwegian Air Force Students and hangar staff to work. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622347254-GTAFKWS10GG7HGFAMYM0/0FFA6210-3091-4804-9A01-221E0A9AB881.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Another photo, taken at the same time and place as the previous image, shows additional facilities at Little Norway—including maintenance and storage sheds and the old airport terminal building. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622375903-UTZ01KSGTM5ZK9N4SXS0/6EB2C985-2759-4975-B5A2-050D7270AF07.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The same airfield today. Only the main hangar and Canadian Malting silos remain. The Toronto City Airport is now named the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (after the WWI Canadian ace and Victoria Cross recipient) and is the headquarters for Porter Airlines, one of Canada's largest, fastest growing and respected airlines. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622407258-2ZDX9LYK6ZSEE4GFEWZ9/6A83E05C-B22D-42C0-8E5B-2CE5F75C896D.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Norwegian air force recruits march into Little Norway's parade ground, against the backdrop of the Canadian Malting silos on the Toronto waterfront. The sign on the guardhouse building reads R.N.A.F. Training Camp Little Norway, Lille Norge. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622434657-CFSTZO4V4835QIPC8A9V/32899D5D-D82B-49D5-A0CC-23FA21D9009F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Looking more like a summer camp than a Norwegian Air Training Centre, a former children's home on Centre Island doubles as a school where recruits are trained in the care and operation of service rifles, something that most pilots would never be required to use. Little Norway trained more than just pilots, offering instruction and certification for mechanics and navigators to both air force and navy recruits. A close look at the young men in this image shows that half are wearing air force wedge caps and half are wearing navy caps. Photo: Norwegian Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622463053-AI43L53MNEA0T7Q20SG1/ED7E7818-53AA-47FA-AC3F-B40794816B72.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Young Norwegian student pilots sit shoulder to shoulder in a classroom at Little Norway in Toronto. This photo was first published in 1943 in the great book about the Norwegians in Canada called Little Norway in Pictures. At left sits Norwegian Alf Richard Bjercke, who, until just a few months previously was studying chemical technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bjercke went on to become a wealthy businessman, investor and politician after the war and a short period serving with the new Royal Norwegian Air Force. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622494912-65ZU6NEL0DZ10UT8B80Z/BA144DB3-D371-4708-B211-89EB16D60E09.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Following the Second World War, the Royal Norwegian Air Force took their Spitfires, their RAF Squadron numbers and even their RAF “AH” (332) and “FN” (331) squadron codes and returned to Norway. Both 331 and 332 Squadron remain as fighter squadrons today, not with the Royal Air Force, but rather the Luftforsvaret, Royal Norwegian Air Force. Here a pair of 332 Squadron F-16A/B Fighting Falcons fly off the wing of an American tanker in Exercise Northern Viking in 2011, exemplifying the squadron's motto: Samhold i strid—Together in battle. Photo: wikimedia commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622519780-PVQLZSKMWQFNF7M7CXC3/CA39D4C4-5B7B-47CF-A4B4-425745BE5EF2.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The mess and barracks at Vesla Skaugum in Muskoka, with their log-cabin structures, were more summer camp than military camp. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626622550155-WBGQBU3JMR0ETG8PTIJ8/F5D1B4C7-7D90-41F4-AC1E-DDE7F00700F5.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Vesla Skaugum was both a military and physical training centre to ready young men for service in the Royal Norwegian Air Force and a recreation center where the outdoor-loving Norwegians could enjoy a respite from the stresses of flying. Photo: scramble.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693636532-JCKB9BRJEAD5WTZ8UR0B/E9861951-F575-4B58-A2EC-D97E33629B22.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A large flock of Fairchild PT-19s flies down the north shore of Lake Ontario near Toronto. In the early months of flight training at Toronto Island, the Norwegians were using open cockpit PT-19 Cornells, built in the United States—probably a blast to fly, but terribly unsuited for pilot training in a miserable and frigid Canadian winter. The first 10 PT-19s arrived at Toronto Island in November of 1940, ferried in by American pilots. Another batch of 26 Cornells, this time Ranger-powered PT-19As, arrived shortly thereafter. These 36 aircraft were used through the winter but in 1941, a conversion program began to modify them to PT-26 standard with the addition of much-needed canopies. This narrow time frame for open-cockpit PT-19 operations puts this photo likely in the late winter or early spring of 1941, as there is no snow on the ground. Judging by the warm clothing however, it looks cold up there! Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693666588-UOPWRIX549AI7N58HL33/4B31CED6-9B6B-45A9-8812-46B7E3A0CB7E.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out An instructor goes over lessons standing in the front cockpit in what appears to be a brand-new Fairchild PT-19 Cornell. Given the perfection of the paint scheme, this may have been a promotional photograph taken at the time of the arrival of the first batch of PT-19s in November of 1940. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693689707-ZUGRF8K07A56WEZZUTX0/2BC4D028-DD09-4E4D-B726-DDAF72E483F5.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Little Norway training base at Toronto Island at the height of its operation during the Second World War. A Fairchild PT-26 Cornell flies low over the ramp outside the maintenance hangar. In the foreground is parked one of 36 Wright Cyclone-powered Curtiss Hawk 75-A8s acquired by the Norwegians for advanced service flying training. The Hawk 75 was an export variant of the P-36. Norway had ordered 24 Hawk 75-A6 Twin-Wasp-powered aircraft prior to the Second World War, but by the time the Germans had invaded only 19 had been delivered and only 7 of those had been assembled. (13 were sold off to the Finns). Just prior to the German occupation, Norwegian air force brass ordered 36 Hawk 75-A8s—six were delivered as advanced trainers for their Canadian bases while the remaining 30 were requisitioned by the USAAF and called P-36Gs. The aircraft with the more reliable Cyclone engine was a pretty good performer with excellent turning and climbing abilities. However, the lack of a supercharger limited performance at higher altitudes. By the height of the Second World War, it was not a combat contender, but was certainly an excellent advanced transition-to-fighter aircraft. In the background is parked another of the three types employed by the Norwegians—a Douglas Model 8A-5. In the far distance stands the silos of Maple Leaf Mills, demolished in the 1980s. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693716865-EH9PMT531URWK85IPU5B/CCA2F13D-3E96-47A4-8740-2A2332AE8D6B.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out At Toronto's Centre Island, pilots in a Fairchild Cornell practice grass field take-offs and landings at Little Norway. The airfield had paved runways, but we can see a fabric “T” pinned to the close-cropped grass. This symbol seen from the air communicated two things to the pilots in the circuit. The shaft of the “T” denoted the direction of landing, while the cross bar represented the beginning of the “runway”. The pilot standing on the grass carries signal flags with which to communicate with the crews of approaching aircraft. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693739671-37VD7263UOSIFWF3M8AI/1D7FE0DF-AB84-4C3B-9371-CC61A568239E.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A Norwegian Douglas Model 8A-5 warms up in the sun on a snowy Toronto Island ramp in the winter of 1940-41. In the background are the grain elevators of Canada Malting, which still stand today to the north of the field across the Western Passage, the channel that separates the island from the shore. When Norway was invaded by German forces in April of 1940 as part of Operation Weserübung, the 35 Douglas A8s on order had not yet been delivered. Instead, they were delivered to Little Norway starting in the autumn of 1940 and ending in early 1941. Originally designated the A-17 and designed by Northrop Gamma as a ground attack fighter, the Model 8A-5 variant was built in El Segundo, California by the Douglas Aircraft Company. These aircraft served at Toronto Island for a short time with the loss of two airframes. The remaining 35 were soon sold off to Peru, but when the US entered the war following Pearl Harbor, 31 of the Peru-destined airframes were commandeered by the United States Army as target-towing aircraft. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693766408-CR096M9KD1Y9EKHNZKRI/40C4F57A-F7BE-43D2-A287-B4F72CB558D1.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out At Little Norway in the winter of 1940-41, a pilot looks on as a Norwegian mechanic fusses with the Wright Cyclone engine of his Douglas Model 8A-5 fighter-bomber trainer. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693797369-7QKEUXLC107NMPOOM6ZY/F0ACA0F5-BBBB-4654-959B-8456DA700D33.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A gorgeous colour photograph from 1941 shows a Norwegian pilot running up his Douglas Model 8A-5 at Little Norway in Toronto. Behind, another Model 8A-5 rests shrouded in black canvas. There is no mistaking Norwegian aircraft of this period, with their distinctive red white and blue wrap-around wing stripes. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693828805-KGUGRHMHTZZBWQMZ8532/5F4A0A5B-2768-4021-88EE-5528858BCF82.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out At Toronto's Centre Island in 1941, it looks like a mass formation of Douglas Model 8A-5s and Curtiss Hawk 75-8As gathering for take-off, perhaps for a public relations event. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693853784-0TV5SLX092ZJBNKJ39VX/4151DDDD-8C2C-4EA9-8BAE-A3AA65EC4DA3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Black-shrouded Douglas Model 8A-5s flank a squad of Norwegian mechanics turned out for inspection at Little Norway on Centre Island. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693878294-798ZMGDCCCZ33JPWSMAA/AAC0F03E-6B63-4581-8DC0-8A722793DC1F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out On a cloudy day in 1941, the flight line at Little Norway is a busy place indeed with a long line of Curtiss Hawk 75-8As (right), bare metal Douglas Model 8A-5s and in the far distance, Cornells. The heavy training schedule and constant aircraft in the air over Toronto's waterfront led to safety concerns and the eventual move to a more isolated facility north of Toronto. Photo: digitalmuseum.no https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693921113-COBVE2ORPVZ3PJWHQATI/45886075-CB10-457A-83CC-3CF46DF05BAD.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Four Curtiss Hawk 75-8As warm up on the Little Norway flight line at Centre Island, Toronto (possibly the same scene as the previous one). Most of the Hawk 75s used at Little Norway were painted an overall “apple green”, a paint colour similar to the corrosion-preventing zinc chromate used on the interiors of most Second World War aircraft. I believe the two bare metal aircraft at the end of this line are Douglas Model 8A-5s. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693960188-W9UZBJWEHLTXN9FMJUA8/0D445ADB-E689-4C0F-8968-A09BF0D07C35.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A busy scene with a Hawk 75-A at Little Norway on Centre Island in the winter of 1941-42. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626693989837-NJCOKI04P0W2H6U2DHLC/43C1B061-A9E5-40C1-8235-6E9B864F28BC.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The Norwegian Air Force used the single-seat Curtiss Hawk 75-8A as an advanced transition-to-fighter training aircraft for pilots selected to move on to fighters. Around 35 Hawk aircraft operated from both Toronto and Muskoka Little Norway airfields. Here we see Hawk 453 warming up in the cold at the edge of a snowy ramp at Little Norway on Toronto's Centre Island, while the pilot of a second Hawk 75-8A snaps a photo on a sunny Toronto day in winter. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694015317-NLXGOYHJIBS8G25DER80/ADAA92ED-C19A-4143-84D7-79BABC53D8F3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out As two Norwegian pilots walk the flight line at Little Norway on Centre island to their Curtiss Hawk 75-8As, ground crew fire up the Cyclone engines of other Hawks on the line. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694049364-ZFH6FT45IGNK030VKTWX/62E788C1-FA6F-4C08-BCA6-0F292FC3936D.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out The concrete hard stand and open-cockpit Fairchild PT-19 Cornell tell us immediately that this is Little Norway at Toronto's Centre Island airport. This gives is a great look at the distinctive and very attractive wing and tail stripes that sufficed for national markings over a roundel. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694079290-78E0NZXYUVRW3DMSY35H/66CF8B67-D96B-484F-9B67-0538FEBEDCCB.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Norwegian student pilots, in the advanced stages of their training, line up in front of a Curtiss Hawk 75-8A. It is not known whether this was at Centre Island, Toronto or Muskoka. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694103557-47A81NRUMLBE8YH48A6W/E9A78864-FDA0-4993-9586-89B7A4714FF0.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Another type used by the Norwegian Air Force for training purposes at Little Norway was the Northrop N-3PB float plane — two of which are seen here at the float plane ramp at Centre Island. It had a crew of three including a pilot, navigator/bomb aimer and radio operator/gunner. The N-3PB was used exclusively by the Norwegians and no other operator—for training and ultimately for coastal patrol and anti-submarine work from Iceland. In all, 24 N-3PBs were built by Northrop, all of which flew for the Norwegians. The six aircraft that were retained for training purposes at Little Norway flew from Centre Island, Toronto in the summer of 1941 but from bases along the West Coast of British Columbia during winter months when the harbour at Toronto froze over. Of the six training aircraft, three were lost in accidents—two on the West Coast and one at Toronto. In June of 1941, an N-3PB, taking off from the channel, struck the Sam McBride, one of a small fleet of ferries that serviced the other side of the island, killing both pilots. The remaining three N-3PBs were shipped to Iceland in early 1942 and the advanced training carried out by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: airsoc.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694131178-0B0A426WVUAYSWGYZIR1/13A3C8DB-80C8-4A0B-8BC6-11067622050F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A Norwegian Northrop N-3PB of 330 Squadron taxies along the water at Akureyri, Iceland. A mechanic rides the float to check the engine. Of the 21 N-3PBs that eventually made it to Iceland (all aboard ship), 11 were lost to accidents and on operations. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694152532-J73326F3Z4FZGPBL3Q2G/7CB7F3AB-B07C-4302-BC1F-86F88FB0EB2B.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Opening ceremonies in May of 1942 at the Muskoka Airport. After operating for a couple of years from the Little Norway airfield on Toronto Island, the Norwegians opened a second larger training base in the lake district north of Toronto known as Muskoka. With its 1,600 lakes and forest hills, it must have felt like home to the Norwegians. A year later, the Norwegians handed over the Toronto Island facility to the RCAF. The three-pointed pennant flying at left is the official flag of the Norwegian Air Force, not the Norwegian national flag. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694177054-U1780BT1JXS6BE60KO23/7040C711-59B3-4CEF-AE4D-B25362EF7DD4.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694205355-5O7AWAGWNHWTE2XLA2C7/EEF626EF-02DD-48A0-9E72-6DDD6E87C97D.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Little Norway in Muskoka was a decidedly less urban and quieter spot to carry out pilot training. These aerial shots show us the isolation of the airfield and its lack of paved runways. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694245982-705C5HQ8JIWNC6HMI8GJ/3AE01800-7609-406D-84C3-AE79687A3E66.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694265037-C9FXJIM6M2JTSXH4BQ55/9E60AAB0-331D-4501-B46E-1388DC0A590C.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A large number of Fairchild PT-26 Cornells in Norwegian colours form a powerful flight line at Little Norway in Muskoka on a cloudless summer day in 1944. This was either for the photographer or perhaps a wings parade as the aircraft are carefully lined up and their propellers are in perfect alignment. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694293532-DF6US3CIWISH93V0T2XC/F4DE86A2-574D-475B-ABC1-FE1E4BC8698C.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Halcyon Days far from the war. Blue skies, warm summers, boundless lakes, peace and Canadian hospitality... it's no wonder that Little Norway in Muskoka is such a warm and happy part of Norwegian Air Force history. Here a flight of Cornells rumbles across the lake district. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694318098-GUZQZ6QPXNLHA9Z9IM0K/555544FF-E514-4927-B3B8-A45CE79215F3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out This beautiful little Interstate S-1A Cadet “505” looks right at home in Norwegian colours and on grass. The two-seat aircraft was used for liaison flights between the Little Norway airfields at Muskoka and Toronto (a distance of about 150 km). Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694339240-PVCGHIPIJ7BT6QIM9FUQ/9E81D7DB-F376-4235-B456-849E895819A7.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out In the winter, when the windsock was limp and the sky cloudless, the flying at Little Norway was as fine as it gets. Imagine taking the airfield's little Interstate Cadet on a cross-country flight over the beautiful lake district of Muskoka, en route to the sprawl of Toronto—the sun shining warm in the cockpit as you head south, the thick cold air with barely a burble, the little 65-horsepower Continental chattering away happily. It might even be hard to imagine that there was a war on and that your homeland was under the heel of the Nazis. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694359596-4ECZEQUXKF1IV3DE1ORP/484A22B5-7AA2-4A4F-B201-ED78921CD9F5.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Today, Interstate Cadet 505 lives on at the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection in Gardermoen, Norway, north of Oslo. The Cadet was brought to Norway in 1945 by ship, and utilized by the air force. The deteriorated airframe was donated to the Norwegian Aviation Historical Society in 1970 and restored by its members. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694377421-9MYKETAOBRRGRKYWFK9P/FF5CFD72-9D45-41BE-BAF7-9AF453C34D27.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A fuel bowser visits a Fairchild PT-26 Cornell on the field at Little Norway in Muskoka on a cloudless summer day— perfect weather for flying instruction. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694399845-2OA1D56FYFNPUOEJAPEU/9B5D0465-9420-4B1E-B186-8AB638D81E14.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A Norwegian Curtiss Hawk 75 lies in a Muskoka hay field while a couple of small farm boys check out the rudder. It appears the pilot has made a perfect wheels-up landing, with the only damage to the propeller and cowling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694422271-FV086P1LHC4ZJPTM30N7/B149D9C5-3774-4042-9218-435151EC53AB.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A flight of Fairchild PT-26 Cornell trainers from Little Norway bounces through hazy winter weather near their base in the beautiful Muskoka region north of Toronto. Many of the aircraft used at Little Norway were paid for by private funds under the Wings for Norway program including two PT-26s that were paid for by Danish Americans, hence the Denmark I nose art. Unlike the all-yellow Cornells of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, Little Norway Cornells were deep blue in the fuselage with yellow wings. The wings were wrapped in red, white and blue stripes while the fin flash occupied the entire rudder. Yellow numerals and titles emblazoned the sides. As well, the logo aft of the canopy is a depiction of a map of North America with a banner across the top that says Wings for Norway. A Cornell now hanging from the ceiling of Denmark's Flyvemuseum (a former Norwegian Cornell) is painted to represent this particular Cornell 179 Denmark I. Denmark I was originally RAF serial FH714 before it was supplied to the Norwegians and became Cornell 179 (L-BI). It was acquired in August, 1942 and continued in the service in Norway until 1949. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694451367-6QFGTELBJTTTH99C4EA0/E9D29E74-3260-4B83-8B3E-2C2AE6A2E004.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694472878-PAFHSWMZR0L19255FYPS/A2490EB7-1171-40EA-ADBB-9B1B3564DA50.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Bottom: A Norwegian strikes a determined Viking pose with his Canadian-built Fairchild PT-26 Cornell, Spirit of Little Norway II, a second Cornell to carry the moniker. Above a nice period colour photograph of a Norwegian mechanic checking out Spirit of Little Norway as she runs up in Muskoka, Ontario. Photos: top: Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum; bottom: Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694497543-L3LE0H7RNQCXJR7NRB7A/3C044415-A7BC-4C15-8471-1FFDAA85E17D.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A mechanic winds the inertial starter on another presentation Cornell funded under the Wings for Norway program by the Norwegians of the State of Minnesota, which had a large Norwegian and Scandinavian population. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694520156-CDF0YHXVZWHQS6YT9JCD/D4F183D4-A47A-4B22-BCF2-4E76A2F93585.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Happy Birthday Your Majesty! A great colour photograph from Little Norway, Muskoka that allows us to see the exact blue and yellow of their distinctive Fairchild Cornells. As with many other “presentation” Cornells used at Little Norway and funded by the wings for Norway program, this one is painted with a presentation plaque—from the Norwegian citizens of Argentina and Uruguay, stating that this aircraft was a gift to the beloved Norwegian King Haakon 7. Haakon 7, the elected monarch of Norway from 1905 to 1957, led resistance against the Quisling-led pro-Nazi government in Norway from exile in Great Britain. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694550749-72ZWXY9J5LQYS39S8TVE/4AEB7FDF-8ACB-4416-B4F8-81F70BBE358C.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Another angle on the same aircraft depicted in the previous photo shows us that it carried the moniker El Goucho IV, indicating that there were at least four Cornells funded by the wealthy cattle ranchers of Argentina and Uruguay. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694575296-WPO2EYZZBPAK06LIERR7/B58FE3A2-DD63-4366-AB82-033B591182F7.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out I love this shot of two chisel-jawed Norwegian student pilots at Little Norway wearing Royal Norwegian Air Force at Little Norway sweatshirts. Photo: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694605135-R7OT9K1UMVXHF6IR8I8H/8FE460E8-D7C3-49DF-8072-6A86D578B705.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Probably my favourite shot of a Norwegian Cornell and a colour one to boot!. An instructor in heavy winter gear and parachute walks toward an awaiting Cornell 145 as the student settles into the front seat. In the distance, the swirl of snow from a taxiing aircraft obscures the forest around the Little Norway airport at Muskoka. Note the ski where the tail wheel should be. To Norwegian pilots, this weather and landscape must have made them feel right at home in Canada. Photo: Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694660677-U465GV1V4ZJQVTIVIADI/70F0095F-C7F3-49AB-A756-F60DA68BDF54.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out A gorgeous colour photograph of a Little Norway Cornell in all its colourful glory at the Muskoka airfield facility. This paint scheme had long been a favourite of Cornell restorers in North America. Photos: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694715864-GH63XSQIIG25J3U8TK9D/16949DDC-9964-4743-B20A-A3E7BB8797D3.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694741073-3YA79Q43M37O02TKVKRC/AC79531C-5D4D-4EA8-936A-B89A67448978.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Two great photos of Cornell operations at Little Norway in Muskoka depict perfectly the weather extremes that faced student pilots. Photos: europeana.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626694766118-V9YI0FZZ126UAV818RZ1/A9AC859F-8AA5-4221-B4D5-3A9283153B5F.jpeg The Stories - ICON - THE MARIUS ERICKSON STORY - Make it stand out Unlike Little Norway at Centre Island with its concrete aprons and paved runways, Muskoka was a true old-school landing field with dusty flight lines and dry grass landing areas. Photo: europeana.eu https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/baby-flattops-of-the-royal-navys-ruler-class monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050358949-B8W32KL9UWU9K2CY2C1E/BabyFlattop.jpg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617389421-7H0HHDD9WDPVOTFA0237/Flattops01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The big fleet carriers and their titanic battles in the South Pacific are surrounded by legend and drama. Images of USS Franklin’s struggle to live have set the tone for our emotional understanding of carrier warfare. Here, hundreds of sailors wait on the high side of Franklin’s list to be taken off by the cruiser USS Santa Fe. Though “Big Ben”, as she was known, survived the attack by Japanese bombers off the coast of Japan and made it back to New York, she lost more than 800 of her 2,600-man crew. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617499764-75Q3M9NATJ2CFHRKMIF8/Flattops03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out This lineup of Third Fleet Essex-class carriers at Ulithi Atoll during the Second World War, sometimes called Murderer’s Row (named after the name given the six big hitters of the 1920s New York Yankees—Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri), demonstrates the ascendency of American naval aviation near the end of the Second World War. From front to back, we have USS Wasp (CV-18), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Hancock (CV-19) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). To the far left is the escort carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30), above that USS Lexington (CV-16) and the older USS Langley (CVL-27). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617682564-WWEBC2GJ5AAPF6FY7G3I/RulerClass01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Arbiter moored at Greenock at the Tail o’ the Bank anchorage in the Upper Firth of Clyde, Scotland. The Tail o’ the Bank was an anchorage for the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet in the Second World War as well as a major assembly point for westbound Atlantic convoys. She appears to have been given a fresh coat of paint with an uncomplicated dazzle scheme—possibly after refit for Pacific duties. Note the seaman on a bosun’s chair scraping rust from the anchor chain. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617795396-GP4LLBW53Z7BHUU0VAC4/Arbiter9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Arbiter dockside with a deck full of Corsairs. The large cranes lead this author to believe this was possibly the offloading of her cargo of Corsairs at Glasgow. In the foreground floats a white painted Short Sunderland of Coastal Command, also suggesting Glasgow. Anyone knowing for sure is encouraged to write me. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617847073-Z83ILXI40JYDQ9ZJ1DUQ/Arbiter6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Arbiter gets underway on the choppy windswept waters of Greenock without her complement of aircraft. Note that the simple camouflage paint scheme offers the profile of a much smaller ship. This was intended to give a U-boat captain, under certain sun and cloud conditions, the idea that the target was not a carrier. There is no proof this camouflage device ever worked. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617947716-1I9OGFM0XWGAT0D89N7H/Arbiter7.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A nice photograph of HMS Arbiter underway at speed with her decks cleared, followed by an escort ship—standard practice for defence and for rescuing downed pilots. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621617986099-C6610VYRPGUA9RQ1L6XN/Arbiter8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Arbiter tied up at Greenock in a photograph likely taken at the same time as the first image in this section on Arbiter. The date was 29 July 1944. The dazzle paint camouflage on her starboard side was more fluid that that on her port side. With many of the Ruler-class escort carriers painted in similar fashion, the ship’s number (31) is the best way to identify her. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618029937-NK83620DUVEASFQO8AFO/RulerClass16.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Corsair (KD578) of No. 1843 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm rests pointed the wrong way after crashing on board HMS Arbiter on 13 March 1945, en route to Port Said from Gibraltar. The pilot, Sub-Lieutenant W. Noble, struck the round-down on landing, ripping off the tail wheel oleo and then crashing through two barriers, finally coming to rest pointing in the direction from which he came. Photo: Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618094574-LGSQRI3NK6SF2BG0QS98/RulerClass15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In the last months of the war, HMS Arbiter served with the British Pacific Fleet as a replenishment carrier, standing by with a selection of Fleet Air Arm aircraft ready to supply fleet carriers to freshen stocks after damage or loss. In the foreground, mechanics fasten a cowling to a Grumman Hellcat with South East Asia Command Type C roundels, while behind can be seen a Corsair. Sailors can be seen hauling on a line to bring aboard cables to facilitate a replenishment at sea. The destroyer doing the replenishment can be seen just over the port side rear quarter. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618145617-G13AT7RWOH9W8VVG4MSF/RulerClass20.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Many of the first escort carriers were built on the hulls intended for cargo or actually from old cargo ships. The Ruler-class ships were all purpose-built as aircraft carriers, but following their military careers, many were converted to civilian transport use. After the end of the Second World War, HMS Arbiter was stuck off charge and sold to Argentinean shipping line Lineas Dodero. Following a rebuild at Newport News she became a passenger/cargo ship known as Coracero. Coracero was the second to bear that name, the first having been sunk by U-384 during the Second World War. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618209891-5UO8PJLVPKSFYVDPBGLS/RulerClass19.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In 1965, following seven years with Lineas Dodero, she was sold to Philippine President Shipping Lines (PPSL) and was renamed President Macapagal and was the largest ship to fly the Philippine flag at the time. Her namesake, President Macapagal, was the Philippine president prior to Ferdinand Marcos. Under his name, she laboured on for another seven years. Here we see her tied up in Vancouver in November 1966. After serving with PPSL, she was sold and renamed Lucky Two for her last journey to the scrapyard in Taiwan. Photo: Walter E. Frost via seaarchives.vancouver.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618261921-KUMNKLEK0RYSY23Q9OXV/RulerClass02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Ameer, with a deck loaded with Lend-Lease Hellcats and Avengers, is seen anchored at Greenock, Scotland on 10 January 1944 after her first Atlantic crossing. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618316572-KXEO6H5VKJF7IUA4QR5G/Ameer2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A fine view of the stern quarter of HMS Ameer (at the same anchorage as the previous photo) with her twin gun tubs, the starboard one with a 5 inch gun and the other a 40 mm anti-aircraft piece. Her deck edge is lined with Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Grumman Hellcats. Initially, the FAA had proposed that the Hellcat be called the Gannet after its penchant for renaming ship-borne aircraft from the USA. The Grumman Wildcat became the Martlet (a heraldic symbol of a bird, not actually a bird) and that stuck, but the name Gannet did not. The FAA took to calling them Hellcats for simplicity, but really… it was a far cooler name. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618371881-SEP41W1UTS4OOAQKYBX5/Ameer5.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger is “squirted off” the flight deck of Ameer while she lays at anchor in Trincomalee harbour in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the home to the East Indies Station and the Eastern Fleet of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Flying off while in a crowded harbour was not a normal practice, with squadrons usually transferring to a land station from deep water before any long stay. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618424927-BDJBWEDXE9FBZZMXD0HO/Ameer6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A fantastic shot of a gaggle of HMS Ameer-bound 804 Squadron Hellcats making a practice attack/close quarter fly-by off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa on 6 December 1944 before landing on her deck for the first time. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618460088-NSYOLA31S93LEL86CFAL/Ameer7.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Caught at the moment of impact, a Royal Navy Grumman Hellcat (JW723) of 804 Squadron pitches hard up onto its nose after tangling with the barrier aboard HMS Ameer on 12 December 1944. The lucky pilot, Lieutenant W.M. Barr, can be seen holding onto the canopy rail to avoid head injuries. This aircraft will likely be a writeoff—the crumpled fuselage skin suggests severe structural damage. The South East Asia Command (SEAC) roundels without the normal red centres found in northern theatres of war can clearly be seen. The red centres were removed so that there would be no confusion with the red Hinomaru roundel of the Japanese Army and Navy. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618532331-7N952FER7HBT76XYMVDK/Ameer9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Four Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Grumman Hellcat fighter pilots of 804 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm beam with victory immediately after landing aboard Ameer in 1945 and having just shot down a Japanese twin-engine Mitsubishi Ki-46 “Dinah”. Left to right: Sub-Lieutenant (A) Peter William Talbot, RNVR, of North Harrow, Middlesex; Sub-Lieutenant (A) Clive Donald Mortimer Barnett, RNVR, of Hereford; Lieutenant (A) Oscar Frank Wheatley, RNVR, the sub-flight leader, of Kenilworth; Sub-Lieutenant (A) James Scott, RNVR, of Stroud. Wheatley was killed in action in June, at which time he was Commanding Officer of 808 Squadron aboard HMS Khedive. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618580271-JXCZEUHTIC0GWS3YQEQQ/Ameer3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A very busy scene aboard HMS Ameer in January of 1945 as the Hellcats of No. 804 Squadron begin an operation in support of the amphibious landings by British and Indian forces against the Japanese on the Burmese islands of Ramree and Cheduba—known as the Third Battle of Arakan. The Hellcats of 804 have no centreline fuel tanks or bombs, as they were used to spot artillery fall from the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth. One Hellcat is in its takeoff roll (note propeller tip spiral contrail), while another is ranged and ready to follow and half a dozen others warm their engines on the starboard deck edge. Being a short escort carrier of 500 feet, Ameer and other Ruler-class ships required that the takeoff run begin at the round-down on days of little wind. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618611460-HF4ZYLVMUW2ODV91OKNW/Ameer4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out During the Third Battle of Arakan, an 804 Squadron Hellcat comes to a stop over the deck edge and into the catwalk of HMS Ameer. Armourers on both wings extract the aircraft’s ammunition while white-capped officers decide the best way to salvage the aircraft and get the deck back in operation. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621618659176-SU0CR6OQLJTGO6524JIT/Ameer11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An 804 Squadron Hellcat (B8-W), which had been seriously damaged when it spun around and went over the edge of the flight deck on the port, getting tangled in Ameer’s Oerlikon gun sponsons. Before she was sent into the water, her ammo compartments were opened and emptied. Photo via Mission4today.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050728322-U9LA0HTA4UQSYGK3COXU/Ameer8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Not all sailors were aboard Ameer for the care and feeding of aircraft. Some, like these anti-aircraft gunners, were there to bring down aircraft—of the Japanese variety of course. Every gunnery rating in this photograph was from Newfoundland, which was its own country during the Second World War—one with a deep maritime tradition. Front row, left to right: A. Blundon, Musgrave Town; Leading Seaman N. Hodder, Gander Bay; P. Downey, White Bay. Second row: P. Dinn, St John’s West; R. Davis, Grand Falls; F. Philpot, White Bay; N. Rideout, Conception Bay. Third row: M. Tucker, Thornburn Road, St John’s; C. Connors, Grand Falls; J. Murphy, Kilbride, St John’s West; M. power, New Gower Street, St John’s; W. Morgan, Port de Grave; F. Puddester, Northern Bay. Back row: W. Russell, Bonavista; J. Barry, St John’s West; N. Webster, Popes, Higher Trinity Bay; H. White, Godroy Valley; M. Wright, Deer Lake; K. Janes, Deer Lake. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050774512-TU6BHHRZ0P33S0JNLEPB/Ameer10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out After her decommissioning, the hull that once went to war as HMS Ameer was rebuilt in 1948 as SS Robin Kirk of the Robin Line. She was stripped down to the bilges and built up again as a passenger/cargo ship. She went to war four more times as Robin Kirk between 20 August and 27 December 1950—bringing supplies in support of the Inchon Landing and the Hungnam redeployment in the Korean War. The Robin Line was later purchased by the Moore McCormack Line in 1957 and she ended her days on general cargo routes from the East Coast of the United States. She was broken up for scrap in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1969. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050823770-3F9ZV0TSVNLS754CCABW/Atheling02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Atheling anchored in the Firth of Clyde after her first crossing of the Atlantic. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050877755-NG9YL62HBZ5KJJ0VZSC9/Atheling09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Atheling underway with a deck load of Lend-Lease aircraft en route from Norfolk, Virginia to New York City to join a convoy for the first crossing. Her deck holds 17 Grumman Avengers (already in South East Asia Command roundels), 8 Hellcats at her stern and 10 North American Harvards forward, while in her hangar deck spaces she carries the 18 Corsairs of 1836 Squadron—all bound for Great Britain. Photo: US Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050914986-O1F4PLSNR3M0RO681RS5/Atheling01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Atheling moored at Greenock on a sunny day on the Clyde. This would have been after 10 January, when having disposed of her cargo of Lend-Lease aircraft in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she dropped anchor in the Clyde for the first and only time. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622050965000-26DW1TRM2CPNDU31RTLZ/Atheling13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Fairey Barracuda (from either 822 or 833 Squadron) leaps from the very end of Atheling’s flight deck, recently painted with her new “A” deck code. With its odd Fairey–Youngman flaps/dive brakes and high T-tail, the Barracuda was unique among British-designed naval aircraft. However, like all British carrier aircraft, the Barracuda was not capable of being catapulted from Atheling’s accelerator. After the war, Barracudas saw service with the Royal Canadian Navy aboard HMCS Warrior. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051021817-SSJ4M07ZKMT4UY0OU306/Atheling12.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out On June 29 1944, a Seafire piloted by New Zealander Sub-Lieutenant John D. Chittenden struck and broke through Atheling’s wire barrier and collided with another parked Seafire, taking both over the side. The accident also killed another pilot, New Zealander, Sub-Lieutenant Royden T. Bisman, and three other maintenance men (Norman Brechin, Ronald Milton and Herbert Patrick) who were working on aircraft forward of the barrier. Here, Atheling’s commander, Captain Agnew oversees the burial at sea of two of the dead later that day. Photo: Charles Kelly via RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051045073-42D5HP3NXHBZMR3TJM3T/Atheling08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Grumman Wildcat (JV508) of 890 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, misses the arrestor wires aboard HMS Atheling and strikes the wire barrier, pitching hard up on its nose. The carrier was operating as part of the East Indies Fleet at the time—15 May 1944—working up as a fighter carrier. The Wildcat had arrived on board just two days before from RNAS Puttalam near Colombo, Ceylon. Photo: John Vallely Collection via RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051095651-B9OWQJNX1RZAFAZWRNKG/Atheling03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A superb shot of HMS Atheling steaming along somewhere in the Far East, with a Corsair just coming up on the aft elevator. This is the last of a series of images taken from an orbiting Fairey Swordfish aircraft. In all of them the aft elevator shaft is open, with the sailor in the whites standing by the forward elevator. Note her Deck Code “A”. Photo: Charles Kelly via RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051130748-DWA8I7C8NT2U4MD8SPDC/Atheling14.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Sailors cheer on crew mates in a potato sack race during a sports day aboard HMS Atheling, obviously in southern climes. Not sure which is the finish line, but the fellow at the back has tripped and looks to be heading for some sort of physical punishment and hilarity for the spectators. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051178728-DY1DLR194F4JKQJZ1687/Atheling11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out From January to August of 1945, Atheling was detached from the Royal Navy to the US Navy for ferrying duties, carrying aircraft from the United States to the South Pacific via Pearl Harbor. This photo from that time period shows her deck packed with Corsairs, most of which do not appear factory-fresh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051215231-I7C6EFU7IY91IVF74OF4/Atheling05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Atheling at anchor in December of 1945 in the harbour of Melbourne, Australia on a blustery day during her first trooping voyage. We can see the addition of life rafts on angled slides lining flight deck aft of the island. As well, we can see rafts along the edge of the forward flight deck round-down. Photo: Allan C. Green via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051264455-SPIZJ5RK5NSWS8Z9LARL/Atheling15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Atheling slides gracefully out of Valetta Harbour in Malta. On certain websites, this is attributed to her voyage from the United Kingdom to Ceylon via the Suez Canal in March of 1944. The problem here is that her paint scheme lacks the dazzle paint camouflage she had in 1944. The fact that she shows no aircraft on her decks and has extra life rafts tied along her flight deck clearly indicates that this image is postwar when she was committed to trooping duties, bringing service personnel and civilians back to the United Kingdom. Given that there are few sailors or passengers on the deck (there seems to be a group of sailors on parade just forward of the open elevator), this is possibly an outbound voyage from Plymouth to the Far East to collect passengers, after getting a fresh coat of paint. The previous photo shows that on her first trooping voyage, she was in rough shape in the paint department in December, so this image was likely taken in 1946. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051294756-CFJZNFNNMEC1I9UHY9V4/Atheling04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A nice shot of Atheling after the war with her camouflage paint removed and in her trooping configuration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051329270-Z2PMIFJA55ARO90BG2H1/Atheling07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Following her hand-off to the United States Navy, HMS Atheling (the former USS Glacier Bay) was added to the Reserve Fleet in Jacksonville, Florida, tied up and languishing until sold off in 1950 to the Italian Lauro Line along with the former HMS Fencer. Instead of being converted to mercantile use as a freighter, Atheling was converted to the beautiful luxury liner SS Roma (with Fencer becoming the identical SS Sydney). Roma (ex-Atheling) was broken up in Italy in 1967. Her sister ship Sydney was renamed Roma and served Lauro as a cruise ship for another two years, then sold off to various cruise lines until she met her end at the hands of Italian breakers in 1975. Photo: ssmaritime.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051377854-1LB8UD7X3KGOZ5LI0AWD/Begum00.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Begum at Greenock on the Clyde on 6 February 1944, shortly after her first crossing of the Atlantic from New York City where she had taken on board 24 Corsair aircraft for use by 1837 and 1838 Squadrons. Following her arrival at Greenock, she had some conversion work done on the Clyde. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051456304-W0MXN4CEY3FIDYA6ARDB/Begum02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Inter-ship sports and rivalry were keys to keeping up morale in faraway places and under the stress of war. Hockey, boxing and football were favourites of the more sporting crew members like these young men from Begum’s soccer team, photographed in May of 1944, likely at Colombo, Ceylon. Photo: https://sites.google.com/site/leselevettcjx131840/indian-ocean https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051509466-IAUOPXI10AHJ38KZ0RCM/Begum03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger of 832 Squadron, flown by Sub-Lieutenant J.E. Randall, misses the trap and strikes the first cables of the wire barrier aboard HMS Begum. This was one of three flying accidents that occurred with 832 Squadron on 1 June 1944. 832 Squadron, a composite squadron flying both Avengers and Wildcats and previously assigned to Illustrious for attacks on Surabaya, joined Begum in Colombo in late spring of 1944. Photo via MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622051633702-D2GMFEWOCGCYUK6EVRCZ/Begum04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Begum’s deck crew work quickly to disentangle Sub-Lieutenant Randall’s Grumman Avenger (serial number JZ231) from the barrier wires on 1 June 1944. A second Avenger can be seen making an approach from the port beam in the background. Crews needed to clear away the snagged aircraft and reset or repair the barrier wires before attempting to take on another aircraft. Photo: MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052285261-XIDFQ7ODHI2TX2NWAAR0/Begum06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Scanning this photo, we see an identical weather situation and similarly dressed deck crew as in the previous image depicting Randall’s crash. It is likely that this was the same day (1 June 1944) and that this is possibly the Avenger piloted by Lieutenant F.L. Low, which had struck Begum’s round-down and broken its back—clearly the situation that befell this Avenger. Photo: MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052364381-EU0WWOPV8PH4BT8C1UTA/Begum01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An 832 Squadron Grumman Avenger warms up on Begum’s flight deck, while another executes a high speed flypast for the photographer. 832 Squadron, first formed in 1941 at Lee-on-Solent, was a Wildcat/Avenger composite squadron that joined Begum in 1944 and served aboard her until its disbandment in February 1945 in the United Kingdom. Photo: MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052423492-CCEAUVPKO8VCQKYQBTAQ/Begum05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Begum with two Grumman Avengers from 832 Squadron ranged on her flight deck. Photo: NavalHistory.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052493954-LOS61NGR3E3UUR39IDS2/Begum07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In the summer of 1946, the carrier that had once been HMS Begum was sold off for conversion to mercantile service. The work was done and she was sold to the Netherlands Steamship Company and worked the cargo circuit as SS Raki (above, fully loaded) until 1966 when she was sold and renamed SS I Yung until 1974 when she met the breaker’s torch in Taiwan. Photo: home.knp.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052573158-SJDZ7VMU89Q6Z3TLTER1/RulerClass03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor lies in stately repose on the Clyde River with her long-range radio mast raised and safety rails up. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052620528-PFZZ16QZ9MXWESVL8Y1K/Emperor9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out After USS Pybus was decommissioned and entered service with the Royal Navy as HMS Emperor, she left New York bound for Greenock, Scotland with a deck cargo of Grumman Hellcats. Forced to take a much more northerly route to avoid submarines, she ran into a blizzard, fog and pack ice off the coast of Newfoundland. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052666229-S66YCTKVYQ20JWFGT39I/Emperor7.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor rests at anchor at Greenock, Scotland in the Upper Firth of Clyde in January 1944. She had arrived in Great Britain and the Clyde in September 1943, whereupon she was then moved to Belfast for further modifications for Royal Navy Service. This photo was taken upon her return to the Clyde where and when she began workup for operational service as an escort carrier in the Western Approaches to Great Britain. I’ve always tried to see the purpose in what sometimes may seem random and abstract dazzle painting on ships of the Second World War. The darker silhouette shape on Emperor’s starboard side definitely brings to mind a freighter angled away from the viewer, possibly intentionally done this way to confuse U-boat captains in dodgy weather. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052719242-EDVK4XOTI8TTAGQAYKMZ/Emperor2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor rolls heavily in nasty North Atlantic Weather. Four Hellcats are lashed securely with their engines and cockpits covered in tarpaulins to avoid sea water getting into the important bits. This looks to be a right miserable scenario when no one in their right mind should be out on this slippery deck, yet a sailor can be seen checking tie downs on the Hellcat on the left, with possibly a second man at the tail of the fighter. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052825067-KMEHFLXY08GMV8SNYCYD/Emperor14.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor’s destroyer escort, HMS Javelin, pitches heavily in frigid Norwegian waters as a blizzard descends on the task group. A fuelling hose can be seen draped over from her forecastle as she takes on oil from Emperor. The sailors tasked with getting this line aboard Javelin were surely at great risk. The date was 14 May 1944 and Emperor was in the company of 6 Home Fleet destroyers as well as the escort carrier HMS Striker, and the Royal Navy cruisers Sheffield and Royalist for attacks on shipping near the port of Rorvik, halfway up the coast of Norway. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622052873239-0N44T5EFFEF9QIH73PF6/Emperor10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor (left) and HMS Striker, seen from the hangar deck of HMS Puncher, plough though heavy seas off the northern coast of Norway and above the Arctic Circle during Operation TUNGSTEN in April of 1944. Life aboard a top-heavy, rolling escort carrier in freezing temperatures could be a misery. Within six months however, Emperor would be in the Mediterranean Sea and then the Indian Ocean. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053171060-YRAB5JT7RXHUHWL6VAJT/Emperor6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out During her short military career, HMS Emperor saw action in some seriously varied climates, from sweltering Ceylon to Arctic waters off the Norwegian and Barents Seas. She was deployed in March of 1944 along with sister carriers HMS Searcher, Pursuer and Fencer to defend a Russian convoy and to attack the German battleship Tirpitz holed up deep in a Norwegian fjord well above the Arctic Circle (Operation TUNGSTEN). Here we see Hellcats warmed up and ready to launch in some very inhospitable weather. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053219033-OK7VV9U0TTHUHBSA8MNH/Emperor8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A tradition since aerial bombing began, ground crews love to chalk a message for the enemy on bombs to be delivered on the next mission. It was a way for ordnance men and ground crews to feel part of the fight. Here, an armourer aboard HMS Emperor, possibly a Londoner, sends an ironic “An Instalment [sic] from London” message on an 800 Squadron Hellcat to the Germans who would soon be on the receiving end during Operation NEPTUNE, the D-Day invasions. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053259206-JQJ5CNRZSAEQ6MB3J6MM/Emperor5.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Hellcats from HMS Emperor ready for launch off the coast of France during the Normandy invasions as part of Operation NEPTUNE (D-Day invasions). In the middle-ground, a deck hand chocks the next in line, while in the background, deck handling crews wrestle a Hellcat forward with its propeller turning. With so many sailors attending the Hellcat, one wonders if there is some sort of issue with the wing folding. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053306278-VH8XELXOJ7V6QHWO4KEC/Emperor3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Hellcats from HMS Tracker and Emperor fly across the Emperor’s wake to take up combat air patrol duties over convoys in the Southwestern Approaches (Bristol Channel, Celtic Sea and open water off southwest Ireland) in order to counter any U-boat attacks that may be launched from there against the Normandy invasion fleet (some of the aircraft have D-Day stripes). On deck, a second wave of “wasp-winged” Hellcats prepares for launch. On 18 June, 800 Squadron absorbed the Hellcats of 804 Squadron and shortly thereafter set sail for the Mediterranean Sea aboard Emperor. 804 Squadron would eventually reform in South Africa in September and board HMS Ameer. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053352506-PK7LRZK4CN8HXYC7U1PU/Emperor4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Emperor steams slowly over the Bitter Lakes entry to the Suez Canal en route to Trincomalee, Ceylon in February of 1945 to join the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the Eastern Fleet. She is seen here beautifully framed by two twin 4.5 pound gun turrets on HMS Indomitable, a Royal Navy Illustrious-class fleet carrier. The 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron would include His Majesty’s escort carriers Emperor, Begum, Empress, Shah, Ameer, Khedive, Slinger and Speaker. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053408875-069XY8TEGDW52A8EA0WS/Emperor15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A United States Navy Hellcat takes off from the Royal Navy’s HMS Emperor during Operation DRAGOON, the Allied invasion of the South of France, two months after D-Day. The reason that the aircraft was even on Emperor is not known. It is possible the pilot was aboard for a conference or possibly had landed on Emperor mistakenly or in an emergency. The Hellcat was from VGF-1 assigned to USS Tulagi, an American escort carrier. Emperor was operating during DRAGOON with the escort carriers Attacker, Hunter, Khedive, Pursuer, Searcher, and Stalker as well as the American escort carriers Tulagi and Kasaan Bay. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622053456181-IWII7NY21GMFWP2D1HFW/Emperor11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out At the end of the war, HMS Emperor enters Singapore harbour in style for the surrender of the Japanese with a neat row of 800 Squadron Hellcats, with propellers aligned to perfection, and flanked by a turnout of all hands in tropical whites. Emperor was part of Operation ZIPPER with her sister carriers Ameer, Empress, Hunter, Khedive and Stalker, tasked to reoccupy Singapore. The task force left the British Eastern Fleet home base at Trincomalee, Ceylon on 4 September 1945 and sailed into Singapore harbour two days later. After leaving Singapore, she sailed for India where she bid farewell to her 800 Squadron aircraft and pilots. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129304891-SQNKDG866AAM45ETFZZL/RulerClass05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Empress lies quietly at anchor at the Firth of Forth, with the Kincardine Bridge possibly in the right distance. She was here for nearly half a year, starting in May of 1944, undergoing repairs and modifications. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129402402-J3YJQRN1KVMX8O48G1GJ/Empress18.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out On her first transatlantic crossing from New York to the Clyde, Empress carried Avenger aircraft on her hangar deck, but a more precious cargo on the mess decks. At the outset of the war, many mothers and children were evacuated to America with Britain facing invasion. By 1944, many wanted to return. On her crossing, Empress brought home more than 50 women and children. Here, “foster father” officers aboard Empress check in on a cabin used by young boys going home to their parents. One can only imagine the excitement for these young lads crossing the ocean on a carrier. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129475686-DO4RWGP6QUN3M0QOENIQ/Empress4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In November of 1944, off the west coast of Scotland, newly arrived Empress played host to several naval air squadrons looking for a deck to train on—Swordfish, Fireflys and Seafires. Here, a Seafire snags a wire and bounces high. As a carrier based fighter, the Seafire’s design was a compromise and suffered many losses through structural damage caused by heavy landings on carrier decks: a problem that continued even after strengthening introduced by the Mk II. The Seafire had a narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not well suited to deck operations. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129534046-FHC51SRRFI1SE2OGB3BP/Empress3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Two days after O’Driscoll’s mishap (next photo), Sub-Lieutenant Bounce (appropriate name) ended up in the port catwalk when his Fairey Swordfish veered violently to the left on landing, coming to rest before hitting the barrier (wires in middle ground). In the foreground, deck crews scramble to run hoses out to the damaged Swordfish in case of fire. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129602578-LOGB9P9RL1PX53J0J4HM/Empress5.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Aboard HMS Empress, a Fairey Firefly has been seriously damaged in a landing accident during a training period. The Fleet Air Arm squadrons that were officially attached to Empress were either Hellcat squadrons (888, 804, and 896 Squadrons) or Avenger squadrons (850 and 845 Squadrons). In November of 1944, the flight deck of Empress was used to train the Firefly crews of 1772 Naval Air Squadron. On 25 November, Sub-Lieutenant I.T. O’Driscoll landed aboard, but his tail hook bounced over all the arrestor wires and his Firefly (Z2022) struck the barrier heavily. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129667512-QYPSUH47ODLBAKZDHXDN/Empress7.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Standing on the bridge of the HMS Empress, Lieutenant John Myerscough, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, waves to the photographer. He had just reported to Empress’ captain with the details of how he had shot down a Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar whilst leading his section of Hellcat fighters giving air protection to a Task Force of the East Indies Fleet. It was the first Japanese aircraft shot down by an Empress-based fighter and the ship’s artist wasted no time in recording the event by painting the Japanese Navy flag and an Oscar aircraft silhouette alongside. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129735920-WKTC55I0IA4H5X3YLOLD/Empress17.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A nice shot of rocket projectile-equipped Grumman F6F Hellcat JX688 of 896 Squadron attached to the catapult aboard Empress in 1945. The catapult “bridle” was the cable that attached the aircraft to the catapult shuttle. When the shuttle reached the end of its travel, the aircraft and bridle (sometimes called a “strop”) continued on and parted ways. The bridle was sent flying overboard and was considered expendable. One can imagine the world’s ocean floors littered with hundreds of thousands of these heavy cable strops. Below the aircraft we see two angled rails (known as guide cleats) bolted to the deck for launch, which helped guide the aircraft to the exact centred position over the shuttle rail. In the summer of 1945, 896 Squadron embarked on Empress and worked with the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129852479-EPLWC7ZM1EYLJC7DPD6K/Empress6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Outward bound across the Indian Ocean from Trincomalee, Ceylon to attack enemy targets in Malaya as part of Operation LIVERY, Captain J.R.S. Brown, RN, Empress’ commander, explains the operation to his ship’s company with the aid of a chalked map under the island structure on the flight deck. Writers from the Royal Navy Research Archive explain: “Empress was deployed with Force 63 for Operation LIVERY on 19 July; the force comprised of battleship Nelson, cruiser Sussex, and CVEs Empress and Ameer with destroyers Paladin, Rotherham, Racehorse and Raider to cover minesweeping operations… and conduct strikes on targets in northern Malaya. The operation began on the 24th and was to last for three days. This was an intense flying period for the two CVEs, over a 3-day period. Hellcats from both carriers flew over 150 sorties and destroyed more than 30 Japanese aircraft on the ground, together with trains and road transport in attacks on Kra Isthmus. On 26 July, HMS Ameer was attacked by a kamikaze; a single “Sonia” [Mitsubishi Ki-51] attempted to dive onto Ameer, it was hit and successfully deflected by fire from the ship’s defensive armament, splashing into the sea some 500 yards out.” Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622129982272-9RYRNBEGXV16NBTS2WN4/Empress8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Norma Tulee, a young Walthamstow actress touring units and ships of the Southeast Asian Command with the ENSA show ‘Variety Express’, made a great hit with Empress’ company at Colombo, Ceylon. Sailors and possibly a pilot (right) enjoy chalking her name on a Seafire. One sailor in the gob hat at the back seems interested in more than the chalk. ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) was an organization set up in 1939 to provide entertainment for British servicemen and women during the Second World War. While ENSA’s list of luminaries included Terry Thomas, Josephine Baker, Gracie Fields, Noël Coward, John Gielgud, Stewart Granger, Jack Hawkins, Vivian Leigh, Vera Lynn, Spike Milligan and Alastair Sim, I could not find a single reference to a woman named Norma Tulee anywhere on the web. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130079087-NWF71843ZQ70J99H55GX/Empress2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out How wonderful would it have been to be aboard one of His Majesty’s Ships in Trincomalee harbour when news that the Japanese had surrendered was received? The night sky is alive and aflame with flares and star shells, and no doubt the ships’ horns are blasting away while the men cheer from every rail. The elation of knowing that they had survived the war and did not have to fight the Japanese on their home islands must have been euphoric for the sailors. VJ-Day is a term that refers to the day that the Japanese signed the “instruments of surrender” aboard the battleship USS Missouri (2 September 1945), but it is also used to define the day that the Japanese initially surrendered and stopped fighting (15 August 1945). This particular photograph, taken from the deck of HMS Empress in Trincomalee harbour, was shot on the latter day. Empress was in Trincomalee until 15 August, getting ready to sail to support a planned British landing (Operation ZIPPER) on the Malayan Peninsula. Despite the news of the surrender, Empress and her task force sailed for Penang in Malaya, where she was when the Japanese signed the surrender documents in Tokyo Harbour. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130139932-2DIHSTV2098MZAIELUO4/Empress12.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A terrific shot of HMS Empress at Wellington, New Zealand in November of 1945 with a large turnout of her crew and perhaps passengers being brought home at the port edge of the flight deck. From here, she sailed back to Colombo and thence to the Clyde in December. In January, she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia and was handed over to the United States Navy. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130225576-KR7NN2INSJGDJ1HCVNAO/RulerClass06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The caption accompanying this photo of HMS Khedive in the Imperial War Museum archive simply states “Underway, coastal waters”, but the sloping land form in the distance tells us that this was on the Clyde near Greenock, Scotland. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130295337-L1425BNAKNIVIGUQ3LZP/Khedive1.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Like nearly all the Ruler-class escort carriers, HMS Khedive (her pennant number 62 is not yet applied to her sides) would be photographed in late March 1944 at anchor at Greenock after her arrival there, following Royal Navy modifications at His Majesty’s Dockyard Rosyth near Liverpool. En route to the Clyde from Rosyth, she sustained structural damage following a collision with the cargo ship SS Stuart Queen, requiring repairs that kept her on the Clyde until May. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130391636-6HGEQX3132PSQ6JVT8FN/Khedive7.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An 808 Squadron Seafire III with a centreline 500-pound bomb flies off HMS Khedive in August 1944 during invasion operations on the French coast. Throughout the middle of August, 808 Squadron completed dive bombing attacks on targets on the coast of France and the Rhone Valley during Operation DRAGOON, the Allied invasion of the South of France. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130488011-FSYMKOBG45DBV3MLL9MX/Khedive4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In September of 1944, HMS Khedive operated in the Aegean Sea in consort with a number of escort carriers, carrying out air attacks on shipping and shore targets in Crete and the Dodecanese Islands of Rhodes and Scarpanto. Here she leads Stalker, Emperor, Hunter, Searcher and Pursuer in line astern. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130564582-X48ECUY93S6XXKEYDYCV/Khedive9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Pilots of 808 Squadron aboard HMS Khedive pose one after another with one of their Hellcats. Top row, left to right: Sub-Lieutenant (A) Joseph Eric Jackson, RNVR; Sub-Lieutenant (A) Donald William Barraclough; Lieutenant (A) Sanford James Kingsley Edwards, RNR. Middle row: Sub-Lieutenant (A) Charles Ford, RNVR; Chief Petty Officer Samuel Mason; Sub-Lieutenant Roger Joseph Foxley, RNZNVR. Bottom row: Sub-Lieutenant (A) Glyn Games Elger, RNVR; Sub-Lieutenant Bernard Curtis White, RNZNVR; Chief Petty Officer (A) John Trevor Lloyd. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130632006-WG57AU6PPZO570WLSD4A/Khedive2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The crew of a carrier at sea was always looking for some sort of entertainment, so when HMS Khedive needed to test her catapult equipment, her sailors turned out en masse to watch “Flying Flossie”, the catapult test cart, fly off and crash into the waters off Ceylon in April 1945. The cart was a steel box wagon that contained compartments that could be filled with water to simulate the weight and balance of various aircraft types. A strop connected her to the catapult which shot her off the deck. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130690847-K5X35LSULWTQDYG2U3CW/Khedive3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Weeeeee! “Flying Flossie” is fired off in another test shot. HMS Khedive had one catapult and seven arrestor wires. The car is recovered by divers and hoisted aboard after each shot. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130750178-DN23L9SLM7BCOJQGTZ39/RulerClass100.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In order that every member of the ship’s company, whether their duties are on deck, where they can see, or below decks where they can’t, understands the operation on which the ship is engaged, it is the custom in the Royal Navy for the Commanding Officer to tell them about it before the ship reaches the scene of operation. Here, with large maps to illustrate his remarks, Captain G.M. Magnay is telling Khedive’s company that they are about to take part in the seaborne assault on Rangoon, known as Operation DRACULA. Subsequently, as the operation develops, the ship’s company are kept informed as to progress made by announcements over the system of loudspeakers which can be heard all over the ship. Note the large letter “K” painted on the elevator—Khedive’s deck code—which gave pilots an additional clue as the ship’s identity. Often, there would be two and as many as four Ruler-class carriers operating in the same task force and in the same area, and it was not uncommon for aircraft to line up for a landing on the wrong carrier. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130819069-CIYIW61VC622TCWF8UWI/Khedive10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In the first few days of May 1945, HMS Khedive operated with three other escort carriers (Emperor, Hunter and Stalker) of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron in support of Operation DRACULA, the assault on Burma to take back Rangoon from the Japanese. During this time, Khedive’s aircraft worked in concert with Auster spotting aircraft of the Royal Artillery to hit targets on land. During this time, the ship was visited by pilot Captain R.J. Hutt of Stratford-upon-Avon for discussions to coordinate attacks. While the Auster could easily land unarrested aboard Khedive, the ship’s deck crew and officers scramble to give assistance. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622130947583-6F9SCZHCBVEHKU2IXTVH/Khedive5.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In advance of Operation DRACULA, HMS Khedive embarked a Supermarine Walrus flying boat for rescue duties. Here we see her Walrus flying off to rescue the crew of a ditched bomber that had been spotted by aircraft some 30 miles away. The white recognition panels on her wings were meant to prevent friendly fire incidents from both below when flying and above when on the water rescuing downed crews. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131007741-MTX1LKDFL2FKWNC6QLL3/Khedive6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In order to save deck space for operations, the smaller escort carriers like HMS Khedive used outriggers. The tail wheel is first affixed and locked to the rigger trolley and then the aircraft is pushed outwards and the wheels heavily chocked fore and aft of the wheels. Here one of Khedive’s Corsairs demonstrates the concept perfectly. Note that the Corsair has Type C roundels, indicating it is in the European theatre of operations. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131052561-W8MJFQZZAM6ZZB9JEE1M/Khedive8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out One of Khedive’s 808 Squadron Hellcats is positioned at the catapult. In mid-April of 1945, HMS Khedive was part of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron which was comprised of escort carriers Khedive, Hunter, Stalker and Emperor as well as the Dido-class cruiser HMS Royalist acting as flagship, the cruiser HMS Phoebe as fighter director and the destroyers Saumarez, Vigilant, Virago and Venus. The squadron took passage with the company of the French battleship Richelieu which can be seen in the background as well as a number of British capital ships. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131162698-53J0QQL6AWUTG9LF7UZG/Khedive15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Following her Royal Navy service, HMS Khedive was decommissioned on the Clyde and then sailed for America where she was prepared for trooping duties, bringing home American servicemen and women, a duty she carried out until 1947. Following discharge from the US Navy, she was sold and converted to mercantile service as the Dutchman SS Rempang (above). Rempang was sold and became Daphne in 1968. She was sold for scrap in 1975. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624559180405-ENOK1263GX6ZS7H1QV19/RulerClass07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Down at the stern, the doughty HMS Nabob and her largely Canadian crew make their long way home from the Arctic after being torpedoed during Operation GOODWOOD. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624559273206-A03BEPFJ3C0ELFDOCET5/Nabob.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Nabob may have been a Royal Navy escort carrier, but Canadians like to think of her as Canada’s first carrier in that more than half of her ship’s complement of sailors, officers and aircrew were Canadians. Of the 750 men aboard, 450 were Canadians. With a name like Captain Horatio Nelson Lay, RCN, her first operational commander seemed destined since birth to command such a ship. Photo: Canadian War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624559360601-FLRWECNTDCO3BWEHKHJ1/Nabob1.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A fine view of HMS Nabob with her elevator down on the hangar deck preparing to bring up another Avenger. Photo: HazeGrey.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560452256-TB4ATEVLAHRGWO8UZP07/Nabob3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out While practicing the recovery of aircraft during sea trials near Vancouver Island on 25 January 1944, HMS Nabob struck a hidden sand bar at the mouth of the Fraser River, known as Roberts Bank, at high speed and stuck fast. She is seen here fetched up with HMS Ranee in the background lending assistance. She was in the act of taking on Sea Island-based Avengers from 850 Squadron at the time of the accident—one of 850 Squadron’s Grumman Avengers flies slowly past in landing configuration. In this photograph, the censor has expunged the radar arrays on both ships. Ranee made two attempts to tow her off at two high tides, but to no avail. Nabob was finally refloated three days later with the assistance of two salvage tugs and without serious damage. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560548675-GIDAMOI5FD680GHJCDI5/Nabob18.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Aboard Nabob, an 852 Squadron Avenger misses the wires and strikes the barrier cables, pitching up onto its nose. A superb action shot with deck crew scrambling to get out of the way while a propeller blade on the Avenger strikes the steel deck with a shriek and a puff of smoke. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560614060-8RN4M3CMZW03AZD8LBXJ/Nabob4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A photograph of HMS Nabob taken on 22 August 1944, minutes after she was struck by a torpedo fired from U-354 in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea during Operation GOODWOOD, an attempt to take out the German battleship Tirpitz once and for all in her Norwegian Altenfjord hideaway. Behind her, the escort carrier HMS Trumpeter stands by to offer assistance, while the Canadian “V”-class destroyer HMCS Algonquin comes alongside to take off crew. U-354 fired a second torpedo which was meant to be the coup de grace, but it struck the Royal Navy Frigate HMS Bickerton. Bickerton’s surviving crew were taken off and she was scuttled by three torpedoes fired from HMS Vigilant. U-354, a Type VIIC submarine under the command of Kapitänleutnant Karl-Heinz Herbschleb, suffered a far worse fate than her two targets—just two days later she was hounded by Royal Navy frigates and destroyers and sunk with the loss of her entire crew. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560654826-2EZ700NS87VY4SCEKLTB/Nabob10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A superb shot of HMS Nabob just minutes after she was hit by the torpedo from U-354. She’s beginning to list heavily and she’s down at the stern. Her flight deck is crowded with sailors with no critical job to execute and she has already lowered scramble nets on her port side. Inside the ship however, damage repair crews, engine room crew and the bridge crew are not yet ready to abandon ship. Somewhere below the surface a few miles off, the crew of U-354 is celebrating and perhaps watching through their periscope, but their joy will be short-lived indeed. I like this photo for we can truly see how broad of beam the Ruler-class escort carriers were. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560722189-Q1DT773ZOWTAMFHJPT04/Nabob14.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The caption with this photograph of HMS Nabob on the Imperial War Museum website states: “HMS NABOB down by the stern with a skeleton crew making her own way to base after she had been torpedoed.” Sometimes even the IWM can get things wrong. First of all, the photo was reversed on their site, an obvious mistake when one knows that the island superstructure should be on the starboard side of the ship. As well, the hundreds of sailors lining the port side of the flight deck tell us this ain’t no skeleton crew, but rather the full complement awaiting transfer to HMCS Algonquin. Meanwhile, the engine room crew and damage control parties struggle to get the situation in hand. Given the angle of this photograph, it is likely that is was taken from an aircraft. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560766964-M8QSCXVHE0FOMBCTT9OM/TheBestofIWM57.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Hoping for the best, planning for the worst. Nabob’s crew lashed pre-inflated life rafts and wooden rafts to the flight deck for quick release should Nabob’s situation worsen or she be attacked by a submarine. In the background, she is escorted by HMS Trumpeter, which likely had aircraft in the air patrolling for submarines during the journey. U-354’s euphoria for nearly sinking an Allied carrier did not last long—she was hunted down and sunk with all hands just two days after torpedoing Nabob. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624560974846-L7OJYFIGXE8BCIGWY84A/Nabob6.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Nabob, in the distance and down in the stern, limps the 1,070 miles home to Scapa Flow and eventually Rosyth for repairs at a steady 10 knots. In the foreground on the deck of HMS Trumpeter we see a pair of 848 Squadron Grumman Avengers and a Martlet. Despite her list, Nabob managed to launch two Avengers for a night patrol on 23 August. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561044228-YCKRYDK4F5VQH47W03G0/Nabob11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Though HMS Nabob was torpedoed on 22 August, she did not make Rosyth dockyards on the east coast of Scotland until 18 September, nearly a month later, having stopped at Scapa Flow for emergency repairs on 27 August. Here we see her tying up at a dry dock at Rosyth, with her balance having been restored at Scapa Flow. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561161627-CQWFQ2FKVZTQBIE6XRH1/Nabob8.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out On a sunny late summer day, an honorary firing party from Rosyth’s shore establishment known as HMS Cochrane marches through Douglas Bank Cemetery for the burial of 21 of the 30 sailors who were killed in the torpedo attack on HMS Nabob. The other nine fatalities were likely shipped home to their families, but those Canadians and other non British killed could not go home. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561204689-B7EPBAP155WHIZSF8T1M/Nabob9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Nabob sits high and dry in a Rosyth dry dock with her massive wound exposed. It demonstrates how resilient the design of these escort carriers is, and how large they were. We often think of these ships as “baby flattops”, but this image shows us just how large they were. After assessing the damage, the Royal Navy decided that it would be uneconomical to repair her. She was decommissioned and handed back to the US Navy which sold the hulk for scrap. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561315962-3P08JUXFCWS4YJF3GYBR/Nabob15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out At the end of the war, the hulk of Nabob, now struck off charge but still wearing her pennant number (77) was sailed to Rotterdam for breaking. In this photo, citizens of Rotterdam come down to the waterfront to see her as she makes her way up the Maas River to the scrappers. She did not get scrapped, instead was sold to a German shipyard for conversion to a mercantile. Photo: Wim Grund, via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561369019-VAMO7JWLG2VIO6HPJYJI/Nabob16.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The hulk that was HMS Nabob was sold to Holland for scrap after the war but, in an ironic twist, was resold and converted to a general cargo training ship for the German merchant marine service. She kept her historic name however—MV (Motor Vessel) Nabob. Later, she was resold in 1968 and renamed Gloria, finally being scrapped in 1977. Photo: ShipSpotting.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561433461-ZWJQAXBR0H26IUPBAM9M/Nabob17.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A rare colour photograph of the bow of MV Nabob, taken in 1959. The key on the crest on the prow is part of the logo of the North German Lloyd Line, the owner of Nabob. Though Nabob spent time in Vancouver harbour for modification at the outset of her wartime career, she also called at there many times during her mercantile career . Since 1896, "Nabob" was a major Vancouver-based brand of tea and coffee, and the Nabob company would host the Captain and officers whenever the freighter was in port. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561656215-CO3VFRADUVVQECDOIPI1/RulerClass08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier moored to a buoy on the Clyde after her first crossing of the Atlantic. The first arrival of each escort carrier on the Clyde was sure to bring forth a launch with a Royal Navy assigned photographer to capture a portrait of the latest ship-of-the-line for historical purposes. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561719258-6J93V801YFBGKHKB2VP2/Premier4.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier steaming with a load of 42 Lend-Lease Corsairs on her deck for Great Britain, likely during her first crossing as her paint is fresh and her pennant number is not yet applied. Likely there are more aircraft in her hangar deck. When these carriers made their first transit of the Atlantic, they would carry a load of aircraft to Great Britain (often Liverpool) before being assigned to duties. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561780019-D27AT6FHY07TE6LIVBBE/Premier1.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier, like most of the Royal Navy escort carriers of the Ruler Class, transited the Atlantic from the American East Coast ferrying a deck full of aircraft for the war effort, then moved on to Greenock on the Clyde for work up to operational status. Here we see Premier moored at the Tail o’ the Bank anchorage on the Firth of Clyde, where she worked up with Grumman Avengers from 856 Squadron. It is likely that this photograph was taken at around the same time as the previous photo. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561825772-JIMIN249IBVQXG1MVDKJ/Premier20.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger of 856 Squadron from the period when the squadron operated from the deck of HMS Premier. Photo: Britmodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561892391-YWW1KECN7RSLZ5MKZZ5R/Premier19.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier (foreground) operating with HMS Trumpeter in January 1945 as part of Operation SPELLBINDER, protecting the Norwegian coast minelaying force with their combined Wildcats and Avengers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561932007-66FXLFPHILUORCQINLQW/Premier2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier steams at high speed on a sunny day in 1944, likely shortly after arriving at Greenock as she does not yet wear her pennant number (D23) on her sides. Her forward elevator is open and the Royal Navy ensign snaps crisply in the breeze. When these carriers arrived at Greenock, they were all visited by a Royal Navy photographer who shot them in repose at a moorage in the Firth of Clyde as well as from the air during sea trials. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624561974578-HJBJTFL8E8NQWD8G0YJ0/Premier5.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Premier in port somewhere during her military career. She is busy taking on stores from a lighter using an A-frame hoist near her stern. A couple of her whale boats are at the ready for shore parties and she has hoisted her long-range radio mast. Photo: NavSource.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562031508-WZTGRNXFNZZAYIPVKTI4/Premier3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out With the war over, HMS Premier would be refit at the Clyde for continued Royal Navy service, but the navy had a change of mind in April 1946. She was reactivated after 6 months of inactivity and sailed for Norfolk, Virginia where she was handed over to the US Navy. This photograph was taken in the spring of 1946, shortly after her arrival at Norfolk. Photo: Dale Magnus via NavSource https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562100892-WPDTL7MU6ESQ7EF4HF53/Premier10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out SS Rhodesia Star moving up the Weser River in Bremen, Germany in 1966. After her Royal Navy service, Premier was returned to the US Navy in April of 1946 and then discharged and sold to the Blue Star Line for conversion to a cargo liner in Mobile, Alabama. However, following her rebuild, she went to work as Rhodesia Star for the Lampart and Holt Line from 1948 to 1959, when finally she was purchased again by the Blue Star Line. In 1967, she was sold to International Export Line and became Hong Kong Knight. She was broken up in Taiwan in 1974. Photo: NavSource.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562172948-3KZ218BNO6J51F8VFUFK/RulerClass09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Queen is photographed at her mooring at Scapa Flow in 1945. She first arrived at the well-secured Royal Navy anchorage of the Home Fleet in early March and continued operating from here on minelaying operations with her Avengers, shipping strikes and liberation operations until the end of the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562245728-6F3U3E68HAPN5SY4C047/Queen05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An 853 Naval Air Squadron Grumman Avenger traps aboard HMS Queen as deck crew duck under her wing. 853 Squadron operated both Grumman Avengers and Wildcats simultaneously from Queen’s flight deck. They flew aboard for the first time on 27 January 1945 and remained with the ship until the end of the war. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562298959-UYWL4BHUSQ48TPZMPB24/Queen07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In May of 1945, while moored at Scapa Flow, Queen was visited by a Royal Navy photographer who captured some of the shipboard life, including this image of cooks serving up dinner cafeteria-style. Judging by the looks on the sailors’ faces, the dining was not particularly fine. Also obvious in this photograph is the youth of the sailors aboard the ship with the two at right looking like teenagers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562342753-V7VHE5340EBXATZ23MB2/Queen09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A mess full of sailors share a big laugh during a comedy and variety show put on for their entertainment when they were at Scapa Flow in May of 1945. The crowded mess likely challenged the capacity of the air movement system as most of the sailors are down to their undershirts. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562427491-8UTRIST8JR3RHPL71DAG/Queen02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Queen at flank speed on a blustery sunny day in 1945. She has her long-range radio mast up near the forward edge of the flight deck, so does not expect to land or launch aircraft. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562495044-N78KXD3EL39W8K9HJWGJ/Queen04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In early May of 1945, HMS Queen and the Avengers and Wildcats of 853 Squadron participated in Operation JUDGEMENT, a Norwegian Coast shipping strike, along with aircraft from the escort carriers Trumpeter and Searcher. Here we see explosions from bombs dropped by the Avengers on the U-Boat base at Kilbotn Harbour in the Norwegian Lofoten Islands. Each Avenger carried four 500-pound bombs. The German U-Boat supply ship Black Watch, the Norwegian supply ship Senja and U-711 were all sunk. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562574953-1Z97JGAKWPPR55NUM84M/Queen01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Queen seen at Sydney Harbour in January of 1946. Following the war in Europe, Queen was deployed to Australia on a single return voyage as a troopship carrying New Zealanders home to the antipodes as well as some sailors from the Royal Australian Navy. The Sydney Harbour Bridge can just be seen in the right distance. On her return from Australia, she visited Freemantle in Western Australia and then Colombo, Ceylon. In Colombo, she was loaded, according to the Royal Navy Research Archive [one of the finest resources on the internet] “with boxed torpedoes, unwanted aircraft, aircraft engines and other spares for ditching at sea off the Ceylonese Coast.” Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562623810-7QXBJCCQ2WB92X4GXXMI/Queen03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The cannibalized fuselage of a Fairey Barracuda is lifted on the stern A-frame hoist aboard HMS Queen in Colombo harbour in late January of 1946. This airframe along with many more, as well as engines, parts and armaments were pushed overside along on the journey back to Great Britain and rests today at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562672336-W8UQE77PGPPF3SAB175B/Queen11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Following her service with the Royal Navy, Queen returned to Norfolk, Virginia in late 1946 where she was struck off charge with the USN and added to the Sale List. She was sold and converted like so many of her sister ships to cargo and passenger configuration and then relaunched as SS Roebiah. She sailed as Roebiah until 1967 and then was sold to the Philippine President Shipping Line and became President Marcos. In 1972, she was sold for scrap and renamed Lucky One for her last voyage to a Taiwanese ship breaker. Photo: Maritiemdigitaal.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562746578-QWM92ZQTCK6BV2XVTOEO/RulerClass10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Rajah looking lean, clean and purposeful, steams at speed along a coastline that is quite possibly the Firth of Forth. This photograph was likely taken at the same time as the following photograph. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624562814497-69IIJTQ1UWM5W2H7AUDM/Rajah07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Rajah in fresh paint and looking marvelous gets up to speed for the Royal Navy photographer in a launch along a coastline that is likely the Clyde. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624629608119-SEIV0F4J3QA88XVIOXXM/Rajah03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In July 1944, during a training period, a Fairey Barracuda slams hard onto Rajah’s flight deck round-down and bounces into the air with its tail wheel flying off and the arrestor hook leaping over wires. The pilot elected to throttle up and go around, but when told his tail wheel had come off and with his rudder jammed, he could not land. The pilot executed a successful ditching and was picked up unhurt. In the background we can see another Barracuda carving a final approach less than a minute behind. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624630610507-TE5KR5213H28X3AH03R8/Rajah12.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out There is any number of ways to hurt an airplane or oneself in aircraft carrier operations. In August 1944, this Barracuda landed safely on HMS Rajah but when taxiing forward of the barrier, the pilot lost control and his aircraft rolled over the edge of the flight deck and crashed down onto the forepeak, striking the windlass. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624632537586-BOU1427TWW5YTSK0D7SH/Rajah15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Fleet Air Arm Corsair, with its propeller tip forming a spiral contrail, begins its takeoff roll aboard HMS Rajah during Deck Landing Training in July of 1944. Rajah’s tour on the west coast of Great Britain as a Deck Landing Training Carrier saw her recovering a wide variety of aircraft from Royal Naval Air Station Ayr. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624632746937-ZK0BPM9EH9YH89DAC72D/Rajah08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Allied for Victory. In January of 1945, Rajah passed through the Panama Canal en route to San Diego, where she took on a deck load of Grumman Hellcats for Pearl Harbor. At this time, she was loaned to the US Navy and commenced a period of ferrying aircraft and personnel to and from the Pacific—fresh aircraft to the war and wounded back home. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624632814288-W4UJLSWXLHY7F37BCA0W/Rajah05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out At the end of the war, many of the escort carriers of the Royal Navy were employed in repatriating servicemen and women or moving others to new garrisons recently vacated by the Japanese. Rajah was converted into a troopship in Glasgow in November of 1945 and in February of 1946, she was used to deliver Royal Marines and all their equipment to Colombo, Ceylon where they were disembarked and sent on to reinforce the garrison at Hong Kong. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624632886202-2ITXVN2YGDH7KH0FWBU2/Rajah06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The flight deck of HMS Rajah is covered in lorries, jeeps, trailers and fuel tankers of the 45th Commando of the Royal Marines on their way to reinforce the garrison at Hong Kong. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624632958691-W2U12AXZNDB3G6HPH4NY/Rajah10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Sport was an important form of entertainment aboard ship—for morale and for physical fitness. Here, a serious boxing ring has been set up on top of Rajah’s forward elevator in Colombo harbour. The match is watched by many of the ship’s complement as well as Royal Navy dignitaries and the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Andrew Caldecott (in the light suit and hat). If a boxer was knocked out in this ring, he wouldn’t have the luxury of bouncing off a sprung canvas mat, but would hit the steel deck hard. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624633069305-OX54UBZP88WQLODSHT85/Rajah13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Rajah was returned to Norfolk, Virginia and the United States Navy, where she was sold for mercantile service in 1948. Following her conversion, she sailed as SS Drente, a passenger cargo ship with the Dutch shipping company Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd. She would be sold in 1965 to a Panamanian company and renamed Lambros. In 1969, she was sold again and named SS Ulisse. She laboured there until 1975 when she was sold for scrap and broken up at Savona, Italy. Photo: Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624633400844-VZHATCRMDYRTBHRU7JJX/Ranee13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In June of 1943, USS Niantic is prepared for launch. Though there is much to be done still to her hangar and flight decks, Niantic needs to vacate the dry dock for the next escort carrier in the sequence. The ship will be finished quayside and then handed over to the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Ranee. Niantic was named for the Niantic River and Niantic Bay near the USN submarine bases at Groton and New London. Photo: National Archives via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624634579517-Y8XTB1YE4WHHVX24HE40/Ranee14.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out While shipyard workers and naval officers watch, USS Niantic slides down the ways and is supported by water for the first time. She rides high as she is still missing the weight of her flight deck, superstructure and other fit-up elements, not to mention fuel and aircraft. By the time she is fully kitted out, she will have become HMS Ranee. Photo: National Archives via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624634691191-P8LVB7KRTRQL15S8A530/Ranee10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out On a bright but windy day in September of 1944, Ranee steams across the southern Atlantic from Norfolk with a deck full of Fleet Air Arm Grumman Hellcats (60 in all) bound for the Royal Navy Aircraft Repair Yard at the Wingfield Aerodrome in Cape Town. From RNARY Wingfield, the aircraft will be dispensed to FAA Hellcat squadrons in the South East Asia Command. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624634788140-P2JEACZ7OZR566V3O6TT/Ranee04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Ranee steams at high speed with a deck load of Corsairs and Avengers during a ferrying voyage. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624634910292-E3E9C9RZMACUED9ZMCN5/Ranee02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Black and white photography does not do justice to a display of cakes prepared by the chief cook aboard HMS Ranee in preparation for celebrations for Christmas and New Year’s Eve 1944. Having a good cook on your carrier most certainly helped to allay homesickness. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624634985668-ZFJTNLRDY5CTKY2ZVQJW/Ranee03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Cooks aboard Ranee decorate festive cakes while young crew members crowd the passageway to have a look at the delicious concoctions that they will soon enjoy at Christmas dinner 1944. At the time (November 1944 to January 1945), Ranee was acting as a deck landing training carrier from Greenock, Scotland. Shortly after these cakes were served at Christmas, Ranee tied up at Rosyth for a short period of maintenance. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635090352-K6WTBQO61NHUQZBRBALV/RulerClass11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A lovely bright photo of HMS Ranee being positioned by harbour tugs, after her conversion to trooping duty Tyneside. The photographers are listed on the Imperial War Museum site as Frank and Sons, South Shields, which is located near Newcastle-on-Tyne in the north of England. Ranee seems to have made just one visit to the Tyneside shipyard and that was after the war in September 1945 where she underwent refit as a troop carrier. Her hangar deck area was modified to provide accommodation to passengers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635137280-QBDY72D22SZ5AONQ182R/Ranee06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Ranee’s engines belch heavy black smoke as she gets underway from Portsmouth harbour during her postwar trooping duties. Her flight deck is lined with life rafts to supplement the boats as she carries them home from the war. Ruler-class escort carriers (American Bogue Class) had two exhaust stacks—one on each side of the flight deck that were below the level of the flight deck. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635177385-LGHW3AXBH652ZXV7Y4W0/Ranee05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Ranee, with her crew turned out along the edges of her flight deck, slides majestically into Valetta Harbour in December of 1945 en route to Southeast Asia for trooping duties—her first voyage in this new role. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635443075-C8J620X1Z3KZ2YLEKIKJ/Ranee15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A photographer stands at the bottom of a dry dock in Portsmouth, England to capture this unique view of Ranee’s flight deck, sponsons and gun tubs. The ship was in for repairs and modification for trooping duties from 27 February to 27 March 1946 and in-between her first and second trooping voyage. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635501841-PTJC306PKGJ1EY31P25G/Ranee08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The elevators that brought up aircraft from the hangar deck to the flight deck were not just the focal point of flight operations, but it seems social activity as well. Here Ranee’s crew members keep active with an indoor volleyball game on the forward elevator floor at the hangar deck level. This would prevent the loss of precious volleyballs overboard. The sign “Beware of Propellers” is there to remind plane handlers about the dangers topside as they ascend to Ranee’s flight deck. Just visible at the edge of the elevator shaft above, we can see crewmen (or Royal Marines?) marching with rifles shouldered. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635550960-STA92B1ED0ITQD0N36FN/Ranee09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Officers and sailors line the edge of Ranee’s forward elevator shaft during Sunday Divisions somewhere in the warm Pacific. The elevator is lowered and the shaft wide open to cool off the hangar deck and the opening is ringed with a removable rail. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.u https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635605663-J23B4VLZ7LYZF37U92QU/Ranee11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635628495-7VOGTTWYM8R7N27UUU84/RANEE18.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624635737877-P9OFOZERI0772QRFUGRH/Ruler15.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An unfortunately-cropped photo of Ruler on one of her ferry runs with a deck load of Corsairs, Avengers and Hellcats (at stern). It is very likely that this was taken at Norfolk or New York before she crossed the Atlantic the first time for her paint seems very fresh. Photo: FleetAirArmArchive.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624636292430-FO46DJ199BVUEK4UDGQF/Ruler01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In a cold and numbing scene, HMS Ruler’s flight deck is crowded with snow-covered Grumman Avengers and Fairey Fireflys. The caption with this posting on the Imperial War Museum’s Collection site says little, but it does give the date as 21 January 1945. In late January, according to Naval-History.net, Ruler had embarked the Fireflys of 1772 Squadron at Royal Navy Aircraft Replenishment Yard Belfast and then was making ready on the Clyde to sail for Sydney to join the Pacific Fleet as a replenishment carrier. In her hangar decks she also had Hellcats from 885 Squadron which had been working up with the carrier since December. This photograph was likely taken on the Clyde with her taking on additional aircraft for the Far East. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624636342099-XVC696GV5PFU5D6O1ORP/Ruler04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Another angle on the previous wintry view of HMS Ruler dockside with a full deck of aircraft. With her deck crowded from stem to stern, it’s clear that Ruler is ferrying aircraft. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624636414194-2A9PZ3E7CQJJ61MCMCW6/Ruler06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Four Grumman Wildcats of 885 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, execute a tight formation as they overfly HMS Ruler. Three of the Hellcats wear South East Asia Command camouflage while one is painted in the shipyard blue used in the Pacific theatre. All four carry the SEAC roundels with the red central circle removed. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624636476043-YLY6I359Q568OP8XPLYI/Ruler07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A photographer aboard HMAS Nepal captures the choreography as the destroyer closes in on HMS Ruler, underway in Japanese waters in mid-July of 1945 and acting as a replenishment ship. Watching the refuelling of escort ships was an interesting diversion for sailors and airmen lining the flight deck. In this photo, we see how the island superstructure is cantilevered over the water and does not obstruct deck operations. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624636750202-E3SE8E2BEJC1CHWIQ469/Ruler09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A lifeboat and its crew are hoisted aboard the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Nepal, one of HMS Ruler’s picket ships during operations with the Pacific Fleet in July of 1945 in Japanese waters. Also aboard the boat is a pilot from Ruler, who had ditched during operations. The destroyer escorts that accompanied aircraft carriers of any size had dual responsibilities—providing a defensive perimeter and standing by to rescue pilots and aircrew that were forced to ditch or bail out or who went overside during takeoffs or landings. So as not to come to a stop and risk being torpedoed, the boat and crew were lowered and hauled aboard underway. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644284398-IHSIMYSEQO0EGA4D3XLT/Ruler03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out At the end of the war, HMS Ruler was present in Tokyo Bay when the unconditional surrender of the Japanese was signed aboard USS Missouri. She then took on 450 civilian and military POWs at Yokohama (also on Tokyo Bay) for transport back to Sydney, Australia. This grouping of POWs, posing with one of Ruler’s 885 Squadron Grumman Avengers en route to Australia, look in fair condition. These men, who were members of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force, came from the Innoshima POW Camp which was located on an island in the Japanese Inland Sea. They had been at the camp since January 1943. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644345712-T61DSCCPIQI5Z8KQUIKA/Ruler02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out When Ruler brought prisoners of war home to Sydney, Australia, there were children among them, many of them born as prisoners. The ship’s carpenters made wooden toys for the kids to make the trip home more fun, but for some of these kids it must have been a very exciting voyage regardless, with the big aircraft carrier and her hangar deck full of aircraft as playgrounds. The carpenters also made swings and seesaws for the children to play with on deck. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644502502-PV98CQO587DG362FDJQQ/Ruler08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out 27 September 1945—officers and ratings on a dock watch as Sydney Harbour tugs manœuvre HMS Ruler to a berth in the Pyrmont area of the city. Lining her flight deck edges are members of her crew as well as 450 former prisoners of war, including 52 Australians (the rest were British). One can only imagine how happy they were to see iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the sunny skyline of that magnificent city. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644583283-6XP8BI8ZWVESJVE0809B/Ruler05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Ruler at rest in Sydney Harbour after the war, while a sailing yacht motors past in peaceful times. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644735931-SKST72W3PX0EP0DPNMRI/RulerClass13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Nearly all of the Royal Navy’s escort carriers began their careers sailing from Vancouver, through the Panama Canal and on to an eastern American port where they took on aircraft to ferry to Great Britain. Shah was one of the few exceptions, sailing to San Francisco, where she took on the Avengers of 851 Squadron as well as 32 Wildcats and 22 P-40 Warhawks for service in the Southeast Asian Theatre of Operations. This photo was taken after she left San Francisco, en route to Melbourne, Australia. Photo via RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644822456-0X3M8KE1XUE58TRI22DK/Shah08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out After leaving Melbourne on her maiden voyage, Shah sailed for Cochin (also known as Kochi) on the Southwest coast of India via Freemantle, Australia. At Cochin (above), she offloaded her cargo. Here we see some of the 22 P-40s on the dock with two of the Wildcats still on her deck waiting to be pushed aft to the A-frame hoist by deck aircraft handlers. Photo: NavSource.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624644922362-JQ8GVA8TSJ8JZRE2KBXR/Shah05.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out In February of 1945, the crew of HMS Shah conducted a “fancy dress parade” with members of her crew dressed as The Ancient Mariners (possibly the hatted and bearded men) and some lovely ladies being drawn on a bomb cart by sailors in black face and body. One wonders where the sailors got the white gowns and how they chose the men who would become women—they seem to be enjoying the role. At first I thought that this was the “Crossing the Line” drama that happens when a ship of the Royal Navy crosses the equator (with virgin equatorians called polliwogs and experienced ones called shellbacks) but other photos in this sequence show that Shah is anchored in a harbour. The Imperial War Museum entry for this photograph indicates the date as February 1945. I question this as the sign in the photograph says “Shah and Begum”. If it was indeed February as the caption states, Begum was well on her way back to the United Kingdom. I suspect this is perhaps around the time they were operating together off the East African coast—possibly Mombasa—for that is the area of the Equator, Ceylon and India being much farther north. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624645062810-MMRAGMNXKOAMV3HMKVRA/Shah06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A calm scene aboard HMS Shah in the Indian Ocean. Two Grumman Avengers (which appear factory fresh) are being refuelled from hoses brought from the catwalk. The Avenger at right is “stropped” to the starboard hydraulic catapult. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624645123143-5G240RZKKUEU6AFN2MYK/Shah09.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An armourer aboard HMS Shah works on the starboard machine guns of a Grumman Wildcat in February of 1945 while Shah makes her way to Durban, South Africa from Trincomalee, Ceylon. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624645824731-XBE4ZHTP1R9CD9YYTK2D/Shah04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger drops down on the flight deck of HMS Shah in February of 1945 in Indian Ocean waters while the batsman bats him down. In the foreground, the wires of the barrier await the mass of the Avenger should it fail to catch a wire with its arrestor hook. The Avenger is possibly returning from an anti-submarine patrol during a passage to Durban, something done to reduce the risk of being torpedoed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624645956962-70UIDGJ4D7VNS6JOBSH8/Shah03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out One of the additional duties of an escort carrier was fuel replenishment. HMS Shah carried additional fuel to top up her escort ships. Here, a buoyant hose is paid out behind a steaming Shah as a frigate moves up to collect it and take on fuel. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646071773-2HXJQU23N87DVM5B34WD/Shah07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Sub-Lieutenant Murray Gordon White, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, one of the batsmen aboard HMS Shah, eyes an incoming aircraft from his position on the port side. White, a qualified Fairey Swordfish pilot, bats on a landing Grumman Avenger after strikes in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal in August 1945. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646207672-FKGEKIAVUHSYUMA6JE2O/Shah10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Sailors, marines and officers bow their heads in prayer during Shah’s Sunday Divisions whilst in harbour—possibly at Trincomalee or Colombo, Ceylon. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646284752-JWY5ZEY0J76RBDOT0XDK/Shah11.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A lovely artistic shot from beneath a Grumman Avenger of HMS Shah at sea in the Indian Ocean at the time of the Japanese surrender. Crew members celebrate with a day of sports and relaxation. Here, they play a game of deck hockey (with what appears to be ice hockey sticks vs. field hockey). On the distance, a destroyer escort keeps vigil off her port beam. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646387473-EVATF87F9MXZQ4DUKLVF/Empress13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Shah looking a little worse for wear—date and place unknown. Photo: histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646512155-CGKDZLO9NGAN9WZYOJEZ/Shah12.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out After her return to the United States Navy, Shah was sold for conversion to mercantile use and became the passenger liner S.S. Salta with the Compañia Argentina de Navegación Dodero S.A. (known more succinctly as the Dodero Line). As Salta, she was the sister ship to S.S. Corrientes which was a similar conversion from HMS Tracker, and other Royal Navy escort carrier, but of the Attacker Class. Photo via ssmaritime.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646620280-7HBKZI75XE1TGRUW3JJI/Thane9.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An informative photograph of HMS Thane (background) and HMS Patroller in the Burrard Dry Dock Company’s docks getting the standard lengthening of their flight decks (among 150 different modifications) by the addition of a round-down at the stern. The size of the yard worker crouching on Patroller’s new round-down tells us just how large these “baby flattops” really were. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624646780449-IRYQQ3WZTJBF3XG1JIF9/Thane01.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Her Majesty’s Ship Thane steams, well… majestically… into Vancouver Harbour after passing under Lions Gate Bridge on 28 June 1944 with her Royal Navy crew lining the flight deck edges. She was returning from a round trip to Bremerton, Washington where she took on ammunition and conducted sea trials. After Thane tied up in Burrard Inlet, a Blackburn Shark was delivered to the ship on a barge and hoisted aboard. This obsolete RCAF aircraft would give deck handling crews an airframe to push around the deck and train with. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647361013-DUT6WW1UGZ6N2K0LJ6LR/Thane14.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647387821-3CMCS8KMT98I38TLWMKJ/Thane12.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647506032-FGQR66W71W1MYH7E9LON/Thane13.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out An ex-Royal Canadian Air Force Blackburn Shark biplane torpedo bomber is manhandled by crews from HMS Thane as they learn the new trade of moving heavy aircraft on deck while at sea. The aircraft was deemed obsolete by the RCAF and the crew was told to ditch the Shark when no longer needed. The RCAF purchased seven Blackburn Shark IIs in 1936 for service with No. 6 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron, later operating as No. 6 (Bombing and Reconnaissance) Squadron on shipping patrols off the Canadian west coast. Two Blackburn Shark IIIs were supplied to the RCAF by Blackburn in 1939 as forerunners/templates for 17 similar aircraft built by Boeing Aircraft of Canada at Vancouver, with 840 hp (630 kW) Pegasus IX and used by Nos. 6 and 4 (BR) Squadrons. RCAF Blackburn Sharks, some of which operated as floatplanes, were withdrawn from service in August 1944 and five were then transferred to the RN Air Observers’ School in Trinidad. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647559018-4ILORUDG63OB51T05YG8/Thane10.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out En route to Panama, the crew pushed their old Blackburn Shark overboard, and then used it for gunnery practice for the aft Oerlikon tubs at the stern as they left it in their wake. A sad end to an aircraft that filled the gap between the wars. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647633125-HJMETCFNPSU3I4X202A5/Thane08.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out While on her way to Great Britain where she would operate with heavier-than-air aircraft, HMS Thane was met by a lighter-than-air K-class blimp of the United States Navy which practiced approaches to her flight deck. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines, each mounted on twin-strut outriggers, one per side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 134 K-class blimps were built, configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647678608-QXYZATA8S7OHXX185DLL/Thane06.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out While Thane’s officers and men watch, a multi-engine patrol bomber of the Panama defence force makes a simulated attack run on the ship—on the West Coast of the United States. The photo, from the excellent Royal Navy Research Archive, comes with a caption that states this is a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, but the profile and tail form hint at a Consolidated PB2Y Coronado flying boat. On the flight deck we see Blackburn Shark 548 with her undercart removed to simulate a crashed aircraft on the deck. Photo: RoyalNavyResearchArchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647773317-HQDGASAXCFADUYJ3AWGJ/Thane03.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Thane with her flight deck covered in Hellcat aircraft, increases speed in convoy on Chesapeake Bay, setting course for the Clyde to deliver her load of Lend-Lease aircraft. It was her second crossing of the Atlantic, her first being in August on another ferry trip to Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624647914715-XXUUCD68XV4JLYKQM7ZQ/Thane02.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A particularly interesting aerial photograph of HMS Thane, shortly after she was torpedoed near the Clyde Light Ship/Casualty buoy, which can be seen in the distance. She is dead in the water and oil is leaking from damage near the stern. We can see the light-coloured scar left by the loss of the aft starboard sponson. While she suffered the loss of ten men, she was taken under tow by the Royal Navy frigate HMS Loring and taken to Greenock to offload her large cargo of aircraft and assess the damage. While she did not sink, the U-boat’s captain Jürgen Kuhlmann was credited with the loss of the ship because it was written off. It was the only loss he was credited with. He and the entire crew of U-1172 were lost just twelve days after the Thane torpedoing, sunk by the Royal Navy frigates Tyler, Keats and Bligh. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624649658698-C85KH9VD9SOJ1MCSZCN3/Thane07.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A revealing photo of heavy damage sustained by HMS Thane when she was struck by a German torpedo on 15 January 1944. She was operating unescorted in sight of the Clyde Light Ship/Casualty buoy when she was struck in the starboard flank by a single torpedo from U-1172 under the command of 25-year-old Oberleutnant zur See Jürgen Kuhlmann. The explosion blew the starboard sponson clear off the hull, buckled the flight deck and killed 10 members of the ship’s crew. It was Kuhlmann’s first and only war patrol. He had been in command of U-1172 since the previous April, overseeing its construction and fitting up—a practice that allowed U-boat commanders and key crew members to become familiar with every component of the boat. The carrier was ferrying aircraft at the time of the attack, approaching Greenoch after disembarking some of her aircraft at Belfast and was likely feeling home free. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624649715835-8MYZ3TIA7VIO5JLY4MD5/Thane04.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out HMS Thane, looking a tad forlorn and tied up at a dock at the Royal Navy base at Faslane. Most, if not all of the Ruler-class Lend-Lease escort carriers of the Royal Navy were handed back to the United States Navy in America (Norfolk), but Thane was retired early in 1945 due to her extensive damage after the torpedo attack in home waters. Deemed not worth repairing, she lingered at Faslane with her armaments removed. She was handed back to the USN there in early December of 1945 and sold for salvage. Photo: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624649849522-B5IXT8BS5XP5F85E5QLZ/Patroller.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624649811629-R7UP393VEG62B16QGE9K/Patroller2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624650289209-5B3P9OOEALAO6ZGRE8DO/Puncher.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624650846077-7T3CMRGBUSDOI5AVY0L9/Puncher2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651038719-MLGCUW32LDXVELNFPTCO/Ravasher.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651064739-2CIRYJNAZUQTG0NOQPON/Ravasher2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651171496-9FJR1RNPYM4LQCQDIPAU/Reaper.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651206138-NDJ3WFSQWAJP5DCBQ7M9/Reaper2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651664847-UNYEY6OY8UQ17337EPST/Searcher.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651721135-HTBL81ENTGJ3S8NYJ3VJ/Searcher2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624651843371-82N2INIW1779YEL9ZHWY/Searcher3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The Ruler-class aircraft carrier so dramatically portrayed in the opening image of this story is HMS Searcher. No other image so powerfully demonstrates the ruggedness and determination of these baby flattops and their doughty crews during the Battle of the Atlantic. She is captured here during rough weather in the North Atlantic Ocean. We see that a censor has crudely attempted to erase the long range radio mast in front of the island superstructure. In the opening image, through the use of Photoshop, I made it look right after 75 years. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624652148874-N9Q3PTA9G083IY1TMF50/Slinger.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624652038101-04ZA15CULSYRGU82VU58/Slinger2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625084383631-2E1AY2T08BAV4DA04H07/Smiter.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625084440838-LVZDGCDFOAF6FM0NU5A3/Smiter2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085135924-UULKN7LK6KMH7I28E94X/Smiter3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out A wonderful shot of the once-proud HMS Smiter, upon the rocks at Saints Bay, Guernsey in 1967. The cargo vessel struck the rocks at 12 knots on the night of the 13th of July and though she looks intact in this photo, she suffered serious internal structural damage. President Garcia was pulled from the rocks by three Dutch salvage tugs (the Dutch are the best in the world at this) a week after she fetched up. She was towed eventually (stern first) to Rotterdam to discharge her cargo of copra (dried coconut meat) and to determine her fate. She was scrapped. Photo: Emma196789 on Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085237922-Q74HTA77ZVONB6TTEMOB/Speaker.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085325637-TBCKTHRJL7S6FUDG62B3/Speaker2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085790812-46BLI6FNEWCD9OPC6VII/Trouncer2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085768027-5XBG4E0R8OEX11ZFB10T/Trouncer.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625085980384-0HBPR05YMTUDYQ788U53/Trouncer3.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out The famous and dramatic photo of HMS Trouncer attempting to take terrified Greek refugee passengers directly from the aft deck of SS Empire Patrol near Port Said, Egypt in September 1945. With sailors and officers crowding the forecastle of Trouncer, the Captain edges close to the stern of the burning ship. This proved to be almost fatal to both ships, and Trouncer was forced to back off and lower boats and boarding nets. Of the 510 survivors of the sinking, Trouncer rescued 420. Photo: EmpirePatrol.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625086043156-XFVRVS17Y8E9OSA8FBTB/Trumpeter.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625086186582-RFGTYJMV1H97A7U86E7O/Trumpeter2.jpeg The Stories - Baby Flattops of the Royal Navy’s Ruler Class - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/coupable monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621625275046-YAY6MT7EV6JXNN7PMZKH/Coupable.jpg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131305458-S2TZMI7QJGGKU47Z9Y6Y/Bombing43.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out An overhead shot of the airfield at L'Ancienne-Lorette during the Second World War. In September 1949, many of the ancillary buildings had been sold and moved off site. Photo: Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131347826-8UPD1CVAVM6VQQ8BO3F5/Bombing01.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out A good shot of CF-CUA taken at Bagotville, Québec in August of 1947. Two years later, the DC-3 crashed on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, killing all 19 passengers and four crew on board. According to the superb website 1000aircraftphotos.com, "This Douglas Model DC-3A-360 was ordered by the USAAF as C-47-DL s/n 41-18456 and delivered on July 13, 1942. By October 1942, it was assigned to the 4th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62rd Troop Carrier Group at Keevil, Wiltshire, England. The group had been designated as one of the units participating in the invasion of Northwest Africa in November 1942. On November 15, 1942, the group moved to Algeria and then to Tunisia in July 1943. The group then operated from bases in Sicily and Italy between September 1943 and November 1945 when it was inactivated. During this period, the group dropped British paratroopers to attack German airdromes in Tunisia in November 1942, towed gliders and dropped paratroopers during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, dropped paratroopers in northern Italy in June 1944 to harass the retreating Germans, towed gliders and dropped paratroopers during the invasion of southern France in August 1944 and during the Allied assault on Greece in October 1944. Declared surplus, it was transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corp. for disposal and was sold to Canadian Pacific Airlines of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 31, 1946. After conversion to a civil DC-3C, the aircraft was registered CF-CUA on February 6, 1947 and assigned fleet number 280.” Photo: Guy Allard photo, Jacques Trempe Collection via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131401463-GSL4OV0FVR34GRUPXD5X/Bombing02.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Another angle by Québec photographer Guy Allard of CF-CUA at Bagotville, Québec in 1947. Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPAL) purchased 17 war surplus C-47s (military designation for DC-3—from this point forward, I will refer to CF-CUA as a DC-3) immediately after the war and operated them until the late 1950s when service on the type was discontinued. CPAL lost two of their fleet of DC-3s during that period, the other being lost when it struck a mountain side in British Columbia in 1950 with the deaths of two of the 18 on board. Photo: Guy Allard photo, Jacques Trempe Collection via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131456404-APRDQFGEWNV8C9J54DVB/Bombing03.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out In the background, ground crew load baggage aboard CF-CUA through the forward access door. This door was sometimes employed in DC-3s, allowing access to the cockpit for pilots when the cabin was blocked by cargo. The door also allowed access to a forward baggage compartment. Passengers always entered the cabin via the larger aft door which was also much closer to the ground. Photo via Canadashistory.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131500229-U22YKV21UP7RZ3TAFIK7/Bombing04.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Passengers line up to board CF-CUA during a happier time. It was at this door that Trudy McKay greeted the passengers of Flight 108 half an hour before their deaths. Photo via baaa-acro.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131564004-CT09MD4L532XBO8XP4IT/Bombing14.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out The top echelon of the massive American-owned Kennecott Copper Corporation was wiped out in the crash of CF-CUA. The men were on a tour of their Québec holdings and were to visit a titanium mine near Baie Comeau. Earl Stannard, the company's president was just weeks away from retiring. Uncertain about the future of post-Second World War copper demand, Stannard had guided Kennecott Copper towards diversification, and Parker (Vice-president of Exploration) had found a large titanium project in Québec that might serve as the flagship of the newly-diversified company. Stannard had recently been recognized with an honorary doctorate by the Michigan School of Mines at Houghton. Image via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131590521-P9JXGQ8HK3X3PGMJZJ35/Bombing12.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Some of the faces of the tragedy. Clockwise from upper left: Stewardess Trudy MacKay, 24; A, R. Keller, Bank of Montréal inspector, 46; Cecil Humphries, Bank of Montréal inspector, 29; Madame Beatrice Firlotte, 47, a widow whose husband was killed at the Battle of Hong Kong; and Flight Engineer Emile Therrien, 22, with his wife Reine and his two sons, Michel (left) and Pierre. Photos via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131664594-IOY4KPPC71VQKZ046LZN/Bombing38.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out The Mile-40 marker on the Canadian National Railway line along the St. Lawrence River marks the distance from Québec City along the rail line. It was just above this spot, high in the forested and steep bluffs that Flight 108 met its end. For those of our readers who ski in Québec, this is just eight kilometres upriver from Le Massive de Charlevoix, one of the most popular ski resorts in Eastern Canada and 20 kilometers downriver from the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area. Photo: jpfil/mywhc.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131737494-NLBGT7JU7ZZ0WBRVRAXP/Bombing05.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Rescuers comb through the twisted wreckage of CF-CUA to remove the remains of crew and passengers. Photo: baaa-acro.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131792462-EIEOWDRW4I6ZCBZUH3SN/Bombing07.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out A drawing from photo reference made by investigators of the arrangement of the wreckage. The six black crosses indicate where some victims were found while the other open circles (A-R) indicate location and direction of the investigators photographs taken at the site. Most of the victims were found sandwiched between rows of seats at the center. At the bottom, between the tires, an inscription reading Cabane des pilotes indicates the position of the cockpit. This where Laurin and Gordon were found. Port and starboard wings are also labelled (Aile gauche, Aile droit). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131845432-E02J6EJUOQLNNVQE0ESJ/Bombing34.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out A section of the fuselage stands in the forest high above Sault-au-Cochon. The straight edge of the upper boundary of this piece and the painted lettering tells us it's the port fuselage wall just to the left of the passenger door. Photo: baaa-acro.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131910322-ME0Y83DFFOR69BPXB7TW/Bombing33.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Photos of the wreckage of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 108 in the deep forested area near the tiny Québec hamlet of Sault-au-Cochon (literally “Pig Falls” in French). Photo: baaa-acro.com. Photo: pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622131984329-LAX0BIATZ5N9GRV4CY1V/Bombing11.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out The Montreal Gazette headlines a few days after the downing of CF-CUA carried no indication as to the diabolical reason for the crash. That news would soon rock Québec and indeed the world and turn the accident scene into a murder scene. The main photo used for this front page is actually an airline promotional shot taken in British Columbia. The aircraft's registration (CF-CRW) has been partially and crudely obscured so as not to confuse readers. CF-CRW would itself would be damaged beyond repair in a crash in 1978 in what is now Nunavut Territory — luckily with no fatalities. The inset photo depicts the pilot of CF-CUA, Captain Pierre Laurin of Montréal, a Second World War RCAF veteran. Image via newspapers.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132042561-0G3MNNEXN6B888LGY8RL/Bombing13.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out On September 12, three days after the crash, the Montreal Gazette reported that: “Before the bodies of the 23 victims of the third worst air crash in Canada's history, at Sault au Cochon, were removed Rev. Rosaire Veilleux, parish priest of St. Joachim, offered prayers for the dead. A special crew of workers then carried the bodies down the steep mountain to a special train bound for Quebec City.” Here we see the men loading one of the bodies onto the train that waited on the tracks below the crash site. Image via Montreal Gazette/newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132096308-N684QH51C5ZC2I4YDBLT/Bombing15.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Canadian Pacific Airlines executives examine a piece of the wreckage of Flight 108 on September 26 at the Chateau Frontenac. Left to right: Chief Pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon (early aviation pioneer and member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame), Director of Maintenance Engineering Albert Hutt (also a member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame) and Frank Melville Francis, an aeronautical engineer with Canadian Pacific (who would go on to become Vice -President of Canadair). Photo via Pressreader.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132157801-FD3J8V4T32LQHW9FKD59/Bombing46.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out In the words of Pete Mitchell, a.k.a. Maverick, the munitions factory where Guay worked was a “target-rich environment”. It was here that he met and courted a shy woman by the name of Rita Morel. The hundreds of women and their male managers were employed in the assembly of small-calibre ammunition for Allied use overseas. Photo: Archives de la Ville de Québec -Fonds Commissariat de l'industrie; 21572. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132191946-2XNY2JN5KNKP4SXVP0L4/Bombing18.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Albert Guay in happier times with his bride Rita Morel. Photo: via Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132246518-M9BSDBFM9K89VFU4AD1U/Bombing36.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Guay, seen here with his one-year old baby daughter Lise in 1946, thought nothing of killing three other innocent children to get what he wanted. Photo via The Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132298309-YDMSAYZ1K157MF0ZGYW2/Bombing31.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Albert Guay had been having an illicit affair with teenage cocktail waitress Marie-Ange Robitaille (above) of Québec City and wanted to divorce his wife to marry the Lolita-esque girl. In decidedly Catholic Québec in the 1940s, this was never going to happen. In lieu of a legal divorce, Guay opted for the killing of 23 innocent people to rid himself of his wife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132339918-LQKJACB3XRINYESE0XNL/Bombing41.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Albert Guay and teenager Marie-Ange Robitaille taking in a cabaret during their tempestuous affair, while Guay's wife was at home with their four-year old daughter Lise. Photo via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132450682-KIEE6GDSCAQ6OCHK9NXO/Bombing22.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Typically, when the story was written about long after the events, the writer would embellish or simply guess at the facts. Take for example this gem from the writer Frederick Dannay whose nom-de-plume, Ellery Queen, is perhaps the greatest crime writer of all time. This salacious-looking double-truck story Murder over Mt. Torment published in The American Weekly was designed to titillate. Dannay's purple text describing Marie-Ange, the femme fatale was enough to make me laugh out loud: “What Guay saw was a tall teen-ager with a healthy figure and a broad face topped by school girl hair, with plucked brows above a child's clear eyes, an ample if turned-up nose... and a mouth. The upper lip was thin, almost prudish, but the lower was as full to bursting as a bud straining at the sun. Perhaps it was her mouth. Whatever it was, from that moment 23 innocent souls were doomed to a tearing, fiery death and three others were to choke their lives away at the end of a rope.” Queen also writes: “... all of Flight 108, Mrs. J. Albert Guay, the other passengers, the crew,—23 people in all—and the DC-3, exploded in midair, and crashed in flaming fragments...” which of course is simply fabricated. Photo: Corpus Christi Caller-Times via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132523722-NGLECXW13KHC6FF1XLXQ/Bombing08.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out On September 24th, two weeks after the bombing, Joseph-Albert Guay is brought into the provincial courthouse in Québec City for questioning, escorted by police detectives. He hides his face—but soon that face would be known and reviled by everyone in Canada. Photo: cdnhistorybits.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132650795-HXQWI26TCO78FOG2BD6K/Bombing32.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Investigators, escorted by police, enter the courthouse carrying cardboard boxes full of physical evidence as the trial begins in late February, 1950. Note the chains on the car in the background, indicating it was during a heavy winter blizzard in progress. Image : Archives National du Québec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132730669-2UDRVILRCK5PDRM0AHMF/Bombing23.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out A mug shot of the deflated sociopath and mass murderer Joseph-Albert Guay. Photo: Random-times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132773747-1KXIMQ82QWIL5SL8SLFY/Bombing29.png The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out To help him build the delicate time bomb, Guay asked one of his employees, a handi-capped (note crutches in photo) watch and clock repairman named Généreux Ruest to build the device. Ruest claimed he thought the bomb with its delayed timing device was for land-clearing, namely the removal of tree stumps. The jury did not buy it however and Ruest followed Guay to the gallows. Ruest's motivation for participating in the plot is not certain, but he was in financial difficulties and had himself been spurned by Guay's wife Rita at one point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622132892251-X4JZJSAXPOCEPGMUT5RW/Bombing24.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Guay's second accomplice was his long-time associate Marguerite Pitre, the sister of Généreux Ruest, the bomb-maker. Around Québec's seedy Lower Town, she was a well-known and somewhat shady character that neighbours took to calling Le Corbeau (The Raven) because she always wore black. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133115602-YUGF0HCPNH9233ETJWRF/Bombing16.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Albert Guay, with police constables on either side in the dock at the courthouse in Québec City, is caught in a moment that makes him appear to be ashamed and repentant. According to Gazette reporter William Stewart, “The position of the prisoner's box in an alcove on the side of the big courtroom permitted him to keep his face averted from the crowd of spectators by turning his head a bit to one side.” Truthfully, the sociopath had no remorse or feelings about what he had done other than selfish ones. Photo: Public Domain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133206004-YEFMCZX1M60NBGJWXM3B/Bombing39.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Guay had two accomplices in the plan to blow up Flight 108—the bomb builder, Généreux Ruest and his sister, the bomb deliverer—Marguerite (Ruest) Pitre. Photo: Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133277287-DI1ZYO9RYMYAE4WXZYGO/Bombing25.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Marguerite Pitre arrives, escorted by prison officials and nuns, at the Fullum Street Women's Jail in Montréal on January 8, 1953 to await her execution the following day at the men's prison at Bordeaux. Bordeaux Prison Chaplain Roger Jeannote said in 1975 "She arrived at 5 p.m. from the women's prison. She insulted the nuns that were with her. She had been drinking. She sang a little ditty "Prendre un coup c'est agreable." (Take a shot, It's nice). I talked a little with her in her cell She talked about her two children. We said the rosary dozens of times. She finally joined in, enthusiastically. 'I never thought you'd get me.'" I was curious about the “ditty” that an inebriated Pitre was singing as she was led to the gallows. I found a YouTube video/recording of La Famille Soucy (Soucy Family) singing this fun little drinking song and further research indicated that the song originated in France and was found in the folklore of both Québec and Louisana. Photo via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133366575-5BNM3UU7PIDNNNXF0T82/Bombing27.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Today, the wreckage of CF-CUA still litters the forest floor above Sault-au-Cochon — some of it taken by souvenir hunters, all of it disturbed somewhat in the 70 years since the tragedy. To see more images by Jean Pierre Filion of the crash site and surrounding area, visit jpfl/mywhc.ca Photo: Jean Pierre Filion at jpfil/mywhc.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133404783-6OLU4HLLG4BLHMQ2FPYH/Bombing28.jpeg The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out The elegant post-war livery of Canadian Pacific Airlines can still be seen clearly on torn bits of fuselage skin. To see more images by Jean Pierre Filion of the crash site and surrounding area, visit jpfl/mywhc.ca Photo: Jean Pierre Filion at jpfil/mywhc.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622133468817-MHMGWIHKXNPY06TPDNOY/Bombing30.png The Stories - Coupable! (Guilty) - Make it stand out Guay's unthinkable crime of passion inspired Québec's most famous fiction author, Roger Lemelin (and an acquaintance of Guay's) to write the novel Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe based on the true facts but with a fictional group of characters, which was turned into a feature film. Instead of Guay, an obsessed man named Ovide Plouffe was the mastermind. The name Plouffe may have been inspired by the fake Baie Comeau addressee of the package that contained Guay's bomb—Alfred Plouffe. The film was directed by Denys Arcand, Québec's most famous film director, known for his critically acclaimed, sexually charged and thought provoking films like The Barbarian Invasions (Academy Award), Jesus of Montreal (Academy Award nominated) and The Decline of the American Empire (Academy Award nominated). https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lost-in-the-wild monthly 0.5 2021-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625841778422-CMH8L8ZMI8V3CSBX37ZZ/LostintheWildFlash2.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843043357-SVLLVN0X1I0AQKTN0WOV/Delta03.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out A fine photograph of an RCAF Northrop Delta (RCAF serial No. 667) on floats demonstrates the size and attractive lines of the type. Delta 667 is the first of twenty Canadian Vickers-built Northrop Deltas taken on strength by the RCAF. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843125584-S344FH9TN695ZX9RENFG/Delta04.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Judging from the mountainous background, this photo was taken at Vancouver’s RCAF Station Sea Island, where Delta 675 first served with No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron as a transitional trainer when the squadron converted from the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin to the Hawker Hurricane. Both the Hawker Hurricane and Northrop Delta were manufactured under licence in Canada for the Royal Canadian Air Force—the former by Canadian Vickers in Montréal, Québec and the latter by Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) in Port Arthur, Ontario (today’s Thunder Bay). Both would define the early Home Establishment presence of the RCAF during the war. The Hurricane in this photo is not a CCF-built Mk XII, but rather an early Mk I, shipped from Great Britain to equip two coastal fighter squadrons. Close examination of the photo (in its original size) revealed that the RCAF serial number on the Hurricane might be 317. This aircraft was lost near Mission, British Columbia en route to Calgary on 8 June 1939. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843172746-WTPAV7CMVZL702PBSAQD/Delta30.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out A lovely photograph of two RCAF Northrop Deltas (676 and 677) along with a Noorduyn Norseman (678), very likely at Sydney. It is interesting to note that all three were Canadian-built (Montréal, Québec) and that their RCAF serials are perfectly sequential. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843233701-83EZUSEVF01A8BF7UWXC/Delta07.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out The RCAF chose the Northrop Delta for aerial survey work for its robust structure and capacity of work on floats, wheels or skis. The Deltas had only been in service for a few years when the RCAF pressed them into service as coastal patrol aircraft. Here we see Northrop Delta 673 (the same aircraft flown by Doan and Rennie on their last flight) in the winter of 1938–39 at Rockcliffe, being tested with bomb racks under the centre and outer wing sections. A Lewis gun was also fitted firing downward through a camera port in the rear fuselage. How this would worry a submarine on the surface is not known. The Deltas would prove poor coastal and anti-submarine aircraft as they were prone to salt corrosion and were easily damaged by ocean swells. Two months after entering service at Sydney as float planes, they were withdrawn to the shore and operated from wheels. Two years later, the type was withdrawn from service entirely and relegated to instructional airframe status at British Commonwealth Air Training Plan schools. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843285717-T6V01W0D6208W80TAL7T/Delta02.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Two of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s pre-war members would lose their lives in a mysterious crash shrouded from view for nearly two decades. The pilot of Northrop Delta 673 was Warrant Officer James Edgerton “Ted” Doan (left) of Ottawa and aircraft mechanic Corporal David Alexander Rennie of Ottawa. In their attempt to get to Sydney, Nova Scotia for anti-submarine duties, these two would be the first of many Canadian casualties of the war to die on Canadian soil. Photos via Mystery Plane Found in New Brunswick by James Cougle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843345227-253UK5ACL7520F2996TE/Delta06.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Northrop Delta 676 of No. 8 Squadron is serviced by an RCAF launch at a mooring on the Ottawa River near RCAF Station Rockcliffe in Ottawa prior to departing for Sydney, Nova Scotia. This was the same place from which Delta 673 began its arduous and ultimately fatal attempt to get to Sydney. The date stamp on this photograph indicates 26 August 1939, the day before Doan and Rennie departed with five other Northrop Deltas from Rockcliffe, bound ultimately for Cape Breton. The six Delta floatplanes of No. 8 Squadron RCAF were to be employed as submarine hunters and as such would have nominal bomb racks attached underwing. Originally designated a General Purpose (GP) squadron, the unit was by this time called a General Reconnaissance (GR) squadron. Following their arrival at Sydney, they then became a Bomber Reconnaissance squadron. Though their Deltas were hardly bombers, the unit was also equipped with the much better Bristol Bolingbroke. In the distance in this photograph can be seen another Delta (673?) and a Supermarine Stranraer flying boat, possibly from No. 7 Squadron RCAF which operated them at Rockcliffe during this period. Delta 676 would crash while in Nova Scotia. It was repaired at Canadian Vickers and modified with a larger tail. It would spend the rest of its short service life with similar squadrons on Canada’s West Coast. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843393245-GR9UDZFEFG9IRJDZQCML/Delta24.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Another photograph taken at Rockcliffe on 26 August during the preparations for the departure of 8 Squadron’s six Northrop Deltas. Here we see Delta 671 (lowered by cable) on the seaplane ramp at Rockcliffe that leads down to the Ottawa River. 671 was one of the six Deltas that left the next day for Nova Scotia. Piled wheel sets at the ramp’s edge indicates that other Deltas have already been brought down from the airfield and put in the water. Delta 671, flown by Flight Sergeant W.C. Pate, would come to the rescue of 673 the very next day at Salmon Stream Lake, Maine. This ramp is still in use today. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843455877-QY4MPLCR1KGMQT6SZHT6/Delta09.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out At Lac Mégantic, 8 (GR) Squadron Delta 671 arrives from RCAF Station Rockcliffe with a new engine, while in the background, Rennie and Doan prepare 673 to receive the Wright Cyclone. Photo via Mystery Plane Found in New Brunswick by James Cougle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843505220-XDJ5O1SYR41YQN1TH2SJ/Delta08.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Northrop Delta 673 gets a new Wright Cyclone engine on the rugged shores of Lac Mégantic. Photo via Mystery Plane Found in New Brunswick by James Cougle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843543634-4A6LAUTN43GZXF2AIEQX/Delta10.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Warrant Officer James Doan (left) and Corporal David Rennie are photographed with the engine change rig at the RCAF seaplane base at Lac Mégantic near the Québec–Maine border. The trolley below them would be run down the rails to the beached and engineless Delta. Flying over such rugged territory, the RCAF was wise to have a mechanic accompany the pilot. In fact, both Doan and Rennie were experienced aircraft engine fitters. This is likely the last photograph taken of the two airmen alive. Photo via Mystery Plane Found in New Brunswick by James Cougle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843625726-AUTYCCCDXRHPFBH3AK7J/Delta31.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out A map showing the attempted and actual route of Doan and Rennie in Northrop Delta 673. Clearly evident is the massive deviation from the plan caused by the fact that Canada was now in a war in which America had remained neutral. Had they been able to continue as planned, there is no doubt they would have made it safely to Shediac. Map by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843699945-FG5UEIBRAVDRXDW5OOZD/Delta26.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out A screen capture from Google Maps of the area of New Brunswick with Beaverbrook Lake at the centre. It was just northeast of the lake where Doan and Rennie met their deaths. Other than a small cottage or rest area at the eastern end of the lake and a small forestry barracks facility a couple of kilometres down the road, there are no other places of human habitation for many kilometres in every direction. Today, the area is veined with logging roads and patched with clear-cuts and tree planting and to the southeast there is now a single paved runway called Clearwater Aerodrome. The strip, owned by J.D. Irving Woodlands, services the forestry industry and can be used for fire fighting aircraft. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843771967-BFQ7VRH7MWE7HURABE0A/Delta01.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out On 14 July 1958, four days after the discovery of the wreck, the Royal Canadian Air Force sent a ground party to investigate the site. They were flown from RCAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia in a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter of the famous No. 103 Rescue Unit piloted by Flying Officer Pat Donaghy (at left in this period photo). Squatting next to him on the Otter’s float are members of the ground party, all members of the RCAF. Left to right: Flying Officer M.G. Cloutier, Corporal J.R. Lemieux, Sergeant Robert Crebo and Corporal William Armstrong. The photo was taken at Third Loch Lomond Lake, on 16 July 1958. In an eerie coincidence, the RCAF serial number for the Otter was 3673. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843835158-24AIZA1IFEGCCCVM05RE/Delta34.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out First of a series of photographs taken at the crash site by the RCAF search team after its discovery in July of 1958. One can see why it took so long to find the remains of the aircraft. The densely forested and remote location had shrouded the wreck for nearly 19 years. In this photograph, the propeller blade is bent backward. This gives us information about the last seconds of the flight. During a crash of a propeller-driven aircraft, the blades will bend backwards if the engine is at idle or has failed. If they are bent forward, this would indicate the aircraft was under power. It appears that Doan had either a dying engine or had cut the power moments before impact. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625843886356-SD78J46IY6YSCT2PV8IQ/Delta33.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out This photo of 673 shows the compact grouping of wreckage, suggesting a near vertical impact with minimal damage to the tree canopy—a scenario that would keep the site from the eyes of search planes and other flyers for almost 19 years. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844008242-HHGLHPOA73BOYE8BBHNU/Delta13.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out The upside down cockpit of Delta 673 with control wheel and rudder/brake pedals visible as well as instruments and throttle, mixture, prop, and cabin heat quadrant at bottom (this was affixed to the top of the control panel between the two cockpit seats). It is sad to think that Doan’s and Rennie’s bodies had lain here undetected for so long. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844069309-WSNXLWZ7JU8THKXLBZIZ/Delta14.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out The rear fuselage and empennage, not severely damaged, but collapsed following impact. The all metal aircraft had very little in the way of markings, just roundels and the three-digit RCAF serials (underwing and on aft fuselage). Despite 19 years in the elements, these remained largely intact. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844109441-PPRR5UGT5FQ4GGIOUNQO/Delta32.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out The port side of the fuselage with wing centre section at top. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844152697-82S9MYN3A70TO7A0M4TR/Delta35.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out The remains of the main fuselage section of Delta 673. In the foreground lies a crumpled wing section with underside upwards showing the improvised bomb racks that were added to the Delta in preparation for its new role as anti-submarine aircraft. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844212116-SLL93ZWK54YI3M5CW9LU/Delta25.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out A close-up of the underside of Delta 673’s wing showing her modified bomb racks which can be seen in the wreckage at the bottom centre-right of the previous photograph. There are a number of images of 673 on the web showing her on skis at Rockcliffe with these bomb rack modifications. Perhaps she was the test aircraft for the concept. What damage these small bombs were expected to do to a submarine is not known. Photo via Pat Donaghy, RCAF retired https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625844286539-KFKBX5ITVR896ITJEH47/Delta50.jpg The Stories - LOST IN THE WILD - Make it stand out Two photographs of the rear fuselage of Delta 673 after its airlift from the New Brunswick bush in 1969, stored outside at the National Aviation Museum (now the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM)). The aircraft was deemed an important relic at the time as it represented the first RCAF aircraft lost during the war, and the only “surviving” airframe of a Northrop Delta, the first all metal, stressed-skin aircraft type built in Canada. All of the wreckage had been brought out with the fuselage, but only the fuselage made it to Rockcliffe, with the rest being inexplicably lost. Now, the CASM has categorized the wreckage unrestorable due to the missing components and quite possibly because it is, in effect, a war grave. Photos via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/piper-cubs-of-the-luftwaffe monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626781004104-GLNW3D635C5JF2S4NSBD/PiperCubs.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743079724-OUOCRX2VJGAF19T8LIL3/PiperCubs25.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out There are but a few photographs of the Piper Cubs that had been commandeered by the Nazis. Only two airframes can be identified using images. The top photo was taken at a US Army-occupied airfield in Germany during the Second World War. One of the units housed at the airfield was an L-4 Grasshopper (J-3 Cub) Observation unit. The picture shows a civilian Piper J-2 Cub that had been used by the Luftwaffe, then re-captured by American forces. One of the L-4 pilots, Lieutenant George Morris was tasked with flying the Piper home to their base. There are a series of fairly good resolution photos taken of this aircraft—good enough to read a construction number on its tail (included in the Germans’ markings). This construction number (1319) tells the Piper enthusiast that this aircraft had been constructed from a kit at the Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd. near Copenhagen, Denmark before the war. It had been grounded after the occupation and eventually purloined by the Luftwaffe. There were several other airframes that were also taken from the Danes at this time, but nothing is known of their fate. The bottom photo depicts another Luftwaffe Cub, this one built by Taylor Aircraft before the company name changed to Piper. It once belonged to the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, a quasi-military organization in Lithuania that had acquired it as a gift from Lithuanian–Americans. Its history is part of that feisty little country’s cherished aviation history… as we shall see. Photos: Top: from the collection of Brandon Miller (grandson of George Morris); Bottom: via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743211283-FSMP68EKAT0E2I8OG1LL/PiperCubs08.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out A photo of the Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd. assembly facilities at Lundtofte Airfield taken in August of 1938 at a large sailplane demonstration and air show event. Parked immediately in front of the hangar are a pair of Danish-built Piper Cubs (OY-DOM and OY-DUL, two of the first off the new line), while the lineup at right appears to have biplanes and low-wing monoplanes wingtip to wingtip. The horseshoe-shaped outline just below the Cubs in this shot is a stone walk around the fuel pump, which can be clearly seen in the following image. Photo via Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd. in Lundtofte 1937–1940 by Ole Nikolajsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743188153-MFXOG2R031726PY9HB9G/PiperCubs30.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Two of Cub Aircraft’s Piper Cubs (OY-DOM and OY-DUL) are shown on display outside the company hangar—very likely at the August aviation event and air show held in 1938 at Lundtofte. OY-DOM was an American-built Taylor J-3 Cub initially registered in the USA as NC15674 and then shipped to Cub Aircraft, assembled and sold to the Sportsflyveklubben København (Copenhagen “Pegasus” Flying Club). It was destroyed by a ground fire on 6 June 1943 at the Islands Brygge, the Copenhagen waterfront. OY-DUL, a Taylor J-2, was the first Cub that Jack Hedegaard had brought from America to use as a model in 1937. It was put in storage when the Germans invaded in 1940 and then confiscated by them in 1943. The fate of either aircraft is not known. Photo: oy-reg.dk and Steen Hartov https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743324421-LF11LJOZBK2FX8N5G9W9/PiperCubs09.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out The interior of one of the assembly buildings at Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd.’s Lundtofte factory showing Piper Cubs in various states of completion and one (OY-DYR) fully completed and ready for delivery to its new owner, Magnus Christiansen of Alborg. Cub Aircraft had a licence to build Cubs from kits supplied by the Piper Aircraft Company of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Photo via Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd. in Lundtofte 1937–1940 by Ole Nikolajsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743392740-LNU9FLMAI11WZ4RVRUR5/PiperCubs28.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Danish-built Taylor J-2C Cub OY-DEP flies over Lundtofte in November of 1938. OY-DEP, which was operated by the Avid Cub Flying Club, was one of the Cubs seized by the Germans—its fate is not known. Photo: OY-reg.dk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743431412-TJH6SL9K428HR3VEH4B5/PiperCubs29.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Constructed at Cub Aircraft’s Lundtofte facility, OY-DUM was also one of the J-3 Cubs seized by the German occupation authorities. Its fate is also not known. It seems possible that this photo was also taken during the August 1938 aviation event held at Lundtofte. Photo: oy-reg.dk and Erik Holm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743497267-YDBIJNKRGSRGJ03CT6I5/PiperCubs02.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out At an American-held airfield in Germany, the former Danish-owned Piper J-2 Cub (originally registered as OY-DUP) displays its multiple identities along with other J-3 Cubs of the US Army. First of all, a quick glance tells us that this is a former civilian Cub, not a military one. In the military version, known as the L-4 Grasshopper, Piper added a Plexiglas greenhouse skylight and rear windows for improved visibility. This Cub has neither. Standard aircraft markings in the Luftwaffe came in two types—the “Stammkennzeichen” factory radio code or the “Truppenkennzeichen” unit code. The latter required a letter/number combination before the cross that signified the Geschwader (Wing) with another two-letter pair after the cross. This was known as the “Truppenkennzeichen” code—the first letter of the second pair referred to the aircraft itself, while the second letter signified the Staffel (Squadron). This Cub is marked GP+QG, which was in the former category, a Stammkennzeichen—a double pair of letters (the first pair (GP) can be seen on the port side, while the second pair (QG) is all that remains on the starboard side, partially obliterated overpainting). When a German military aircraft emerged from its production plant, it was given a four-letter Stammkennzeichen code, which was an individual aircraft’s radio code before it entered service and stayed with the aircraft throughout its entire existence. The entire Stammkennzeichen was usually on the fuselage sides, and also often repeated on the undersides of both wings, with the four letters spread out along the entire wing’s undersurface. There is a lot going on the fuselage of this aircraft, but it seems that the lighter painted area represents a repair. The Balkenkreuz has been crudely painted in again over this area (not likely done by Morris or his unit). The Letters V-3, painted on roughly by brush in the same hand as the words on her nose, signify something, but what is anybody’s guess. We can see that the Balkenkreuz markings have also been painted over on top of the wings. A real fixer-upper as they say. Photo from the collection of Brandon Miller (grandson of George Morris), via HyperScale Forums https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743559981-PZ9S4CRTX8ISFAPQ7H4A/PiperCubs01.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Army Lieutenant George Reed Morris sits in the cockpit of the former Danish-owned, Luftwaffe-operated Piper J-2 Cub that he liberated from a German airfield, surrounded by members of his unit’s ground crew. The ground crewmen have roughly painted American stars on one side the fuselage and under both wings and the name Morris’ Car, perhaps a double-entendre reflecting his name and the British car manufacturer of the same name. The second pair in the aircraft’s Stammkennzeichen code, “QG” can be seen behind the cockpit. Someone has tried to make a joke perhaps from the letters by erasing the foot of the letter “Q” and adding letters to come up with O-GEE! Photo from the collection of Brandon Miller (grandson of George Morris), via warbirdsforum.yuku.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743614041-2HOW317FSAYDOTJMAD8Z/PiperCubs04.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Lieutenant George Reed Morris, leaning against the propeller hub, poses with his reclaimed war booty and a group of US Army officers, presumably from his unit. Following Morris’ brush with an American bomber while flying it to his base, someone has added the words “Don’t Shoot—U.S.A.” George Morris continued to serve with the United States Air Force after the Second World War, flying the North American F-86D “Dog Sabre” as the last commander of the 469th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at McGhee Tyson Air force Base, Tennessee. The unit was stood down on 8 January 1958 (it returned to service four years later as the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron). Morris retired after a stellar 22-year career in the air force. He died in Tennessee in August of 2009 at the age of 87. If it wasn’t for his proud grandson Brandon Miller, these photos may never have made it to the Internet. Photo from the collection of Brandon Miller (grandson of George Morris), via HyperScale Forums https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743653516-MRMN7KRLHEFMRN5Y9IOT/PiperCubs05.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Another very poor photograph of the Danish–German–American Piper Cub (originally registered as OY-DUP). Note the painted over Balkenkreuz under wing as well as a hastily painted USAAF star and components of its Stammkennzeichen code. Photographs of the Luftwaffe Cubs are very hard to unearth on the Internet, I have to say. If anyone has access to others, please contact the author. Photo via PiperCubForum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743700652-79J3HWYTQWJ4Z2QTDQG2/PiperCubs11.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out A starboard side profile of the former Danish civilian J-2 Cub in what is believed to be its Luftwaffe scheme and Stammkennzeichen markings. Image via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743775144-Y0XICKQ7XE4O393W6IUN/PiperCubs26.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Of the 20,000 or so Cubs that were manufactured worldwide, only a few dozen were built in Denmark for export to Scandinavian countries. These were built at a time of violent upheaval in Europe, so for any to have survived the Second World War is extraordinary. Piper J-3 Cub OY-ABT was built from components salvaged from the fire at Bohnstedt–Petersen’s Copenhagen factory fire set by Danish resistance fighters. Still in flying condition, it is on display at the Danmarks Flymuseum near the small town of Stauning on the coast of the Ringkøbing Fjord in northwest Denmark. Photo via Vimeo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743811741-D1VUMCHSV5ZODTA20VTY/PiperCubs18.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out One other Danish-built, Swedish-registered J-3 Cub known to be still flying long after the war was SE-AIC, which had been assembled and shipped prior to hostilities. She is seen here at Stauning, Denmark in 1992. Photo by Morgens Wahl via oy-reg.dk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743858431-8NMFX7TTZE1A99ARWMOI/PiperCubs32.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out LN-HAD was one of three Norwegian Piper J-4 Cub Coupes completed and delivered to Norwegian clients by Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd. before restrictions placed by the Nazis. Two went to a Norwegian flight school called Den Frie Militærtjenestes Flyveskole, and all three eventually served with the world famous Norwegian airline Wideroe. LN-FAR was written off in a Wideroe accident at Oslo, Norway in September of 1947, LN-HAB in February of 1960 while owned by the SAS Flying Club. LN-HAD was damaged beyond repair in 1967 while owned by the Drammen Flying Club. Photo via historieboka.no, Ragnar Kjos, information via airhistory.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743947394-1MKKHYITLRPDMO7XZPMP/PiperCubs16.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626743982938-T77RH7H9BEM53Z5YXYQ3/PiperCubs20.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Stephen Darius (left, top photo) and Stanley Girenas pose for a publicity shot before their flight in front of their bright orange Bellanca Pacemaker nicknamed Lituanica. The flight ended with the crash and deaths of the pilots on 17 July 1933 in northeastern Germany just 380 miles short of their goal. In honour of their heroism, The Darius–Girenas Aero Club raised money to purchase Lithuania’s first Taylor (later Piper) Cub as a gift for the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union. The second photo is a colour shot of a Lituanica replica flying over Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania in 1993 on the 60th anniversary of their famous attempt. The aircraft is now on display at the Lithuanian Aviation Museum in Kaunas. These two men remain legendary Lithuanian heroes to this day, featured in stamps and the Lithuanian 10 Litas banknote (along with an image of Lituanica). Photos: Top: crash-aerien.news; Bottom: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744038353-8GR9J268M776RQ24M4CS/PiperCubs33.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out The wreckage of the beautiful orange Bellanca Pacemaker known as Lituanica litters the forest floor in northern Germany. Darius and Girenas were both killed instantly. The cause of the crash has never been fully explained. Some even theorized that is was shot down by the Germans. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744148114-LU1GCC0VRD9NA8Q703K5/PiperCubs12.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out A bright yellow and red Taylor Cub arrives at Kaunas airfield on 12 August 1938, flown in by Lithuanian–American pilot Paulius Šaltenis (who went by Paul Salten in America). Šaltenis was delivering the Cub which was purchased through donations collected by the Darius–Girenas Aero Club of Brooklyn, New York. The aircraft was a gift from Lithuanian–Americans to the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (Lietuvos Šaulių Sąjunga), a militarized, non-profit organization supported by the state. It was the first aircraft of the LRU, which conducted activities in military training, sport and culture. It was disbanded by the Russians after their invasion in 1940, but was reconstituted in 1989 following the departure of Soviet influence. The tiny Cub was nicknamed “Sakala” which means “Falcon” in Lithuanian. Šaltenis was accompanied on the flight from Klaipėda on the Lithuanian coast to the city of Kaunas by LRU aviation platoon commander Captain Krasnicki. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744123352-RWRLGIJJMBI5NP3L11L8/PiperCubs42.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out After his flight from Klaipėda. Lithuania, Paulius Šaltenis dismounts from the little yellow Taylor Cub as press photographers rush in to get photos. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744232818-3XW5WA9X85OHXP1QG4J0/PiperCubs13.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Paulius Šaltenis, the pilot of the Falcon, was an American born in 1912 in Treveskyn, Pennsylvania, a small town southwest of Pittsburgh. Like many Lithuanian–Americans of his day, he was immensely proud of his cultural roots (a seemingly dangerous quality to have these days). When he was two years old, he moved back to Lithuania with his parents but in 1929, at the age of 17, he returned to America to study, work, and learn to fly. He joined the Darius–Girenas Aero Club as a founding member. The Darius–Girenas Aero Club was started in 1934 in the names of Lithuanian–American aviation legends Stephen Darius and Stanley Girenas following their fatal attempt at a transatlantic non-stop flight from New York to Lithuania. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744273432-KSV81TFQOIMUMJLU2WEI/PiperCubs15.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out 26-year-old American Paulius Šaltenis, wearing the dashing airline-style club uniform of the Darius–Girenas Aero Club (of which he was then the General Manager) delivers a speech in front of the thousands of Lithuanian citizens and members of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union who turned out for the arrival of the little Taylor Cub. His white airline cap is embroidered with the name of the club, a set of gold wings and the word “Pilot”. Later he was awarded the Order of the Star of the Riflemen. In the background sits the immaculate Cub called “Falcon”. The cost of the Cub, raised by Šaltenis and Lithuanian–Americans, was $1,650. It cost an additional $285 to ship the Cub from America to the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda. Ten years later, a DC-3 piloted by Šaltenis crashed near Washington, DC in bad weather, killing the Lithuanian–American pilot and 36 of the 40 on board. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744340873-5JH1TY1JIPFMVPVUEQR1/PiperCubs41.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Surrounded by Lithuanian pulchritude and overwhelmed with flowers, Šaltenis was the toast of Kaunas and indeed all of Lithuania. After ceremonies and much joy at the airport, he was driven by automobile amidst a hail of flowers and garlands to a series of official events and dinners. It is likely that the next day he was out at the Kaunas airport instructing the excited pilots of the LRU on the joys of Cub flying. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744379222-EIOSCO52XSW0WD3TOM3A/PiperCubs14.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out The gift of the Taylor Cub Falcon set in motion considerable interest in aviation at the LRU. Over the next couple of years there was considerable LRU flying activity at the Kaunas and Nida airports. The Falcon played a large part in training future Lithuanian military pilots. In September of 1938, just two months after its arrival from the USA, the Falcon (seen here sporting Lithuanian national markings—the Saint Vytis Cross), was involved in a mid-air collision with a Lithuanian-designed ANBO-51 parasol trainer over Aleksotas Airfield, south of Kaunas. The Falcon was repaired in a couple of months, and went back to work. In 1940 the Falcon was taken over by the Lithuanian Aero Club as a glider tug, training air force pilots in a period of time when they were occupied by the hated Russians. When the Germans invaded and took over the country in 1941, they commandeered all Lithuanian aircraft including the little gift Cub from the Americans. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744478300-393K6C0KX7ROLXPGTMXT/PiperCubs17.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Only a single photograph of the much-loved Sakala or Falcon in Luftwaffe markings seems to exist and is shown here. The aircraft, according to the profile drawing that follows, was painted in arctic white with a single yellow band around the aft fuselage (perhaps a remnant of her previous paint) and no Stammkennzeichen markings or identification whatsoever. This certainly matches with this photo. The only thing that appears different is that in the photograph, the nose appears to be painted a darker colour, but that could be because the engine cowling may be off. It’s hard to tell. The overall white scheme makes sense given that it may have done observation and liaison missions on the German–Russian front. According to one FlightSim site I have visited, the Cub was flown by Lithuanian pilots for liaison, counter-insurgency, and rescue operations against the Soviets, whose earlier occupation had enraged the small but fiercely independent Baltic state. In 1944, the retreating Germans destroyed the hangars at Kaunas’ airfield, which they had built to house Heinkel He 111s and Junkers Ju 88s. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744515452-BI9TSULCM0CQ6H370ZBR/PiperCubs40.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out We know that the previous photograph was taken in Kaunas, Lithuania by looking at this image of a hangar at the Kaunas Airport during the war. It is identical to the one in the previous image. Photo via plienosparnai.lt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744576812-HDC176KDN4TF3WKUUQE6/PiperCubs10.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out A port side profile of the former Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union Cub, which had been taken by the Luftwaffe. The aircraft, according to Lithuanian records, had belonged to the Lithuanian Aero Club (Lietuvos Aero Klubas) at the Kaunas Airport in central Lithuania at the time it was commandeered. Illustration by Arvo L. Vercamer via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744676946-LDZOGI96MW474FVC72G2/PiperCubs19.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out NC1776, the first of 49 Flitfire aircraft, was donated by Piper Aircraft and differed from the others in that it was powered by a 65 horsepower Franklin engine (donated by Air Cooled Motors Corporation) and its fuselage carried the words Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund on its port side, whereas the others simply had R.A.F. Benevolent Fund. Its registration number (NC1776) paid tribute to the year America became independent of Great Britain. It is seen here photographed in 1941 at the Piper factory in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Photo: eaavintage.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744739827-Q44W7K1F2FWOSG95W9Z5/PiperCubs21.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out The 49 Piper Cub aircraft of the Flitfire Brigade lined up at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania in April, 1941. The 49 identical aircraft were completed at the Lock Haven factory in just twelve days and were flown en masse to New York City for promotional and fundraising events. Photo: eaavintage.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626744801114-BSYAKQNGMJJCUZIN027N/Flitfire25.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out “Pilots must maintain same altitude as commander and must not wander” states the formation card handed to the pilots of the mass formation of Flitfires (known as the Flitfire Brigade) flying to New York City. There were 49 in the formation but only 42 are shown here—seven flights of six aircraft. It would seem logical that a balanced formation would have an additional aircraft on the right wing of each flight. The aircraft were flown by Piper factory pilots, who called themselves the Cub Fliers. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780110327-X1Y4JV1K59S74QU13EEA/PiperCubs31.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out All 49 of the Flitfire Brigade Piper Cubs landed at Allentown airport in just 12 minutes. More than 5,000 people came out to see them arrive, refuel and leave. Although the whole entourage was there to raise money and awareness for the RAFBF, William Piper knew a great marketing opportunity when he saw one… or rather created one. Photo: Hans Groenhoff Collection, Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780313893-ZS3PB497F7DS4QFYL6GL/PiperCubs22.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Flitfire NC1776 overflies the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in April of 1941 for a publicity shot after the mass balbo. Following promotional events in New York, NC1776 and the 48 other Flitfires left the Big Apple and flew to their respective states to be sold by the local dealers. In 1943, NC1776 was utilized by none other than Orville Wright as part of a nationwide war bond tour. Photo: airandspace.si.edu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780386983-XGO4GS76RXNK1SB3U4QO/PiperCubs35.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Flitfires lined up at LaGuardia Airport on 29 April 1941 as a DC-3 takes off. Photo: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780431384-N7QTBS501O4DG8WSC2KT/PiperCubs36.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Flitfire California at Burdett Airfield, Los Angeles in 1941. Photo San Diego Air and Space Museum, Albert Hobart Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780493557-OCD2SW1ST4AK3UBVA6EH/PiperCubs38.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Very few Piper Cubs actually did fly for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War—a lot fewer than the 49 RAF-marked Flitfires. A small group of nine Cub L-4Bs were taken in Lend-Lease by the RAF for evaluation, but they had a perfectly good light liaison aircraft in the Taylorcraft Auster, a much modified Taylorcraft developed for the RAF. The RAF operated the bulk of the 1,630 Austers built. They did, however, impress into service a few mixed aircraft at the beginning of the war such as this Piper J-4 Coupe, the side-by-side seating variant of the J-3 Cub. Here we see ground crew tying down Piper Cub DG667 of 651 Squadron, an Auster Air Observation Post Squadron at RAF Larkhill… while the pilot gazes upon their work. We can see one of their Austers in the distance. The Cub was formerly registered as G-AFXS. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780526939-6IR9VEZ9G0801T0NJ6NW/PiperCubs23.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out Only a dozen of the original 49 Flitfires are known to exist today, some of them in their original RAF livery and Benevolent Fund markings, such as Flitfire Wisconsin seen at the Rickenbaker Airport in Columbus, Ohio in 1991. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780569191-PYEY7VJBJ5DXWEXD25Z3/PiperCubs24.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out The first Flitfire, NC1776, has been fully and meticulously restored and is now on display at the North Carolina Aviation Museum in Asheboro. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626780643468-RJHOUQ2HJD4P2L3IB1HI/PiperCubs07.jpg The Stories - PIPER CUBS OF THE LUFTWAFFE - Make it stand out After the Second World War, the Allies knew that a strong Luftwaffe was in their best interest, and so the historic air force was allowed to reconstitute itself along modern lines—an important NATO partner. They re-equipped with modern Western aircraft as their aviation industry had been destroyed and much of its advanced technology taken by the Allies—some going east, some going west. Piper Cubs would in the 1950s and 60s play a legitimate role in the new Luftwaffe in the form of the Piper Pa-18 Super Cub. Photo: Wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/blinded-by-the-light monthly 0.5 2021-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86fcf48f-b3f1-489d-924d-a5dd67d4ca71/blinded-by-the-light.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626215009532-WCTG2D34WFI9SWNLPZD1/Turbinlite05.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A factory fresh Douglas Boston III (W8254) sits on the neat grass at RAF Boscombe Down before its conversion to Turbinlite standard. Boston W8245 was the prototype Turbinlite aircraft. When completed, it flew with 1422 (Night Fighter) Flight which was flying trials on the new system. Note that the exhaust has no flame suppressor as seen in later photos in this story. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626215074410-YMADW18MH9KCIOIE9PSI/Turbinlite03.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Following the first flight of the prototype Turbinlite Boston III (W8254), four of the “boffins” or scientists involved in the development of the Turbinlite pose with their creation: (left to right) Richard W. “Dick” Becker, Dennis Roberts, aeronautical engineer Leslie Everett “Baron” Baynes and Bruce Benson. All of these men worked for the Alan Muntz Co. which designed and built the searchlight. Photo: Paul Becker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626215120250-DZAOGNRUCP7RPF17WHGZ/Turbinlite04.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out The working end of the Turbinlite Boston (possibly the same prototype from the previous photo)—the awesome 2,700 million candela Helmore searchlight, while bright, was decidedly not the best for aerodynamic design, with a large flat glass surface. The outer metal ring, known in aerodynamics as a Townend Ring, was designed to smooth out air flow, reduce drag and increase cooling to the massively hot lamp. On the right, we see the “arrowhead” aerials for the Radio Direction Finding (RDF) equipment (as well as dipole antennae mounted on the starboard fuselage. The vent which extracted the heat and fumes from the burning carbon rods can be seen on the starboard side aft of the fairing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626215216949-09CZPE2H5RNPT4WLOHWG/Turbinlite20.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Many of the Douglas A-20 Havocs employed in Turbinlite service were already on strength with the Royal Air Force. Here, an intruder Havoc I (BJ496) flies off the Irish coast very early in the war, during trials to assess various camouflage paint schemes for night fighters. The aircraft was serving with the Royal Aircraft Establishment and flying from RAF Aldergrove in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The previous February (1940), the aircraft had been operated by 23 Squadron as a night intruder. Following these camouflage trials, BJ496 was modified as a Turbinlite Havoc (one of the first) and operated by 1422, 1451, and 1454 Flights, RAF. On the night of 23 October 1941, whilst on a Turbinlite searchlight exercise at RAF Colerne, it crashed and was destroyed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626215268335-TOBHK0QMNSKE5DUAM9MT/Turbinlite06.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A Douglas Havoc fresh out of the conversion hangars at RAF Burtonwood’s repair and modification depot. There appears to be a cover over the searchlight’s lens. This Havoc operated as a Turbinlite aircraft with 1422 Flight and then 1457 Flight, which became 536 Squadron. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626216593017-2TANUEC6DRGW9Z1DFS48/Turbinlite24.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out It has been suggested that this photo of a Douglas Boston of the RAF shows it being lit up by two Turbinlite aircraft–in what could be an aerial test. Photo: Imperial War Museum via Clark Reid https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262617658-757XD63KINKGVL3UZC1F/Turbinlite16.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Royal Air Force “erks” take a break from servicing a Turbinlite Havoc’s port Wright Cyclone engine. Photo via Snapper @ TheAviationForum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262655447-FMMR6V7UANMMO80ABOR4/Turbinlite01.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A Douglas A-20 Havoc II Turbinlite of the RAF’s 1459 (Fighter) Flight sits on a foggy RAF Hibaldstow aerodrome in England in 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262722205-8LYI08Z1DX795L7QZNFM/Turbinlite02.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A-20 I Havoc Turbinlite (RAF Serial AW400) parked on the ground at the RAF Burtonwood Repair Depot in Lancashire. It was here that the standard Havocs were converted to the Turbinlite standard. Burtonwood was established in 1940 to service and modify aircraft for the RAF. Here we can see the lack of forward and rear firing defensive capability. Havoc AW400 served with Turbinlite flights Nos. 1422 and 1454 and then 1459, which became 538 Squadron. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262751299-QIUWRGN8VTUJYGPXMSE6/Turbinlite14.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A Turbinlite “satellite” Hurricane warms up at RAF Wittering. Photo: H.N. Sweetman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262789632-U81AG01PU3EDWSRBFYYX/Turbinlite10.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Hurricane Mk IIB fighters of 253 Squadron, which supplied night fighters for Turbinlite operations with 1459 Flight at RAF Hibaldstow. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262830500-11MV15S6PI9JQQO04UPM/Turbinlite13.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A Douglas Havoc NF.II Turbinlite (Serial No. Z2184) at RAF Boscombe Down. In this photograph we can see clearly the flame suppressor on the port exhaust stack as well as the double pair of arrowhead antenna arrays for the RDF equipment. Looking closer still, we can see the white formation light strip at the trailing edge of the wing. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262868005-JKQ2F0CHJ0GIKDILGUIN/Turbinlite18.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Pilots and aircrew of 1456 Flight (later 535 Squadron) pose proudly at RAF High Ercall, Shropshire, with one of their top secret Turbinlite Havoc/Boston aircraft. Note that the nose is draped with a shroud keeping the searchlight and RDF antenna arrays away from prying eyes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262907816-T84L14EMP1UP0LHWPSQ9/Turbinlite19.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Pilots and other aircrew from 535 Squadron (1456 Flight) pose with one of their Hurricanes at RAF High Ercall. Photo Robert Harris via 23SquadronWordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262976771-TFNFQSI7PKDFBTTS9JNB/Turbinlite17.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A photograph of the Havoc and Hurricane pilots and aircrew of 538 Squadron (formerly 1459 Flight RAF) pose with one of their re-camouflaged Turbinlite Havocs in the autumn of 1942. This photo came from a site dedicated to the career of night fighter navigator E.G. White, OBE (standing at far right). I could not figure out how to contact him to ask for permission. Hope he is OK with it. Photo via nightfighternavigator.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626262954599-1DCBIPQ470J6IBRSJHNS/Turbinlite15.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out A rare photograph of a No. 1458 Flight Havoc II Turbinlite (W8346 - J) in flight. No. 1458 (Fighter) Flight became 537 Squadron, formed at RAF Middle Wallop in September of 1942. The aircraft’s red letter “J” code is just barely visible on the matte black fuselage, beneath the cockpit. The unit, one of ten similar squadrons, flew the Turbinlite variant of the Havoc and Boston twin-engine fighters along with its own “parasite” or “satellite” Hawker Hurricanes from the time it was stood up in September 1942 to the end of January 1943. By the end of January, the Turbinlite and 537 Squadron were taken out of service due to lack of success and the development of better radars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626263035218-1I2MP58TJ95FTR2PXIY0/Turbinlite07.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Polish airmen in the RAF march on the ramp at RAF Exeter during the Second World War. While they are not part of this story, the Turbinlite Havoc in the background most certainly is. It wears a later night fighter camouflage scheme found on the last of the Turbinlite Havocs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626263076657-KZ6WWJQF6L61DC5O27C1/Turbinlite12.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out Likely another photo taken during the same Polish RAF ceremony as the previous image. Photo: militaria.forum-xl.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626263114779-IXDEUGUEKE8XFE6BUJSR/Turbinlite09.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out The one and only de Havilland Mosquito Turbinlite conversion. The Havoc was, in my opinion, made more attractive with the Turbinlite, but the beautiful lines of the Mosquito were utterly destroyed by the modification. One wag on a web forum likened it to a lamprey. Here we can see the Townend Ring around the lens, the venting door just barely visible on the starboard side and the reflections of the double arrowhead array for the airborne intercept radar. Unlike the unarmed Havoc, the Turbinlite Mosquito kept its machine guns, which can be seen on the underside of the aircraft. Photo: militaria.forum-xl.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626263160545-IZFCSM6BPWLK2IUSHH5U/Turbinlite21.jpg The Stories - BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Make it stand out The Turbinlite Mosquito was tested at RAF Wettering in February 1943 but by then all the Turbinlite squadrons had been disbanded. Photo: the People’s Mosquito on Twitter https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/warbird-u-2012 monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244128140-XRFPGE4ZKK6V1QLI1QYQ/WarbirdTitle.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244239320-10YHTRNBA373B7VQ87ON/WarbirdU22.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Warbird University graduates are history makers - note WU sports department t-shirts in above photo. The material you will learn at a Warbird University technical ground school will prepare you should your country call upon you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244384293-ZOOWFS1BW3VLIIMX4PO1/WarbirdU21.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out The 1938 graduating class of Warbird U - the Eight Cylinders of Power. Of these eight, six would become aces during World War Two including Flying Officer Harold Mortimer Balls, DSO, DSC, DFC and Bar (second from left) and Wing Commander Tristan de Longauy “Wiggy” Beecham, DFM, GC, DFC and six Bars (far right), both of whom were aces, fashion models, classical musicians, Olympic athletes, Nobel prize winners, multi-linguists, architects and post war air racers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244446254-4HZK8RNCYKL71891XPIB/Warbird2.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out The first day and a half is held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum’s state-of-the-art auditorium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244480691-77YX67YS9KN4Z8A2P60V/Warbird3.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out We begin with presentations on aircraft systems, normal and abnormal/emergency procedures. Photo: Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244516498-LEFRW9UUQRVLP4P0HUTK/WarbirdU22-1.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out In attendance will be guest Second World War or Cold War veterans who can offer personal insights and often poignant vignettes and remembrances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244552668-KMR87KS3D5Y2C1XRS4V1/Warbird4.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out On the afternoon of the second day, we head over to the Vintage Wings hangar for a tour of the collection – and special demonstrations. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244598665-6FVCZ4AOUOMZTZLVPC50/Warbird5.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out On the afternoon of the second day, we head over to the Vintage Wings hangar for a tour of the collection – and special demonstrations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244627887-FJK2GD20R1BDAAOZD116/Warbird6.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out A special feature of the tour is the opportunity to sit in your warbird for a personal tour conducted by a VWC pilot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244663588-ZHGVQZHXOUN1DBTOJPVD/Warbird8.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Each course participant receives a “Hero Shot” in the cockpit of their warbird. In this case, your fellow students could be experienced pilots like Sabre pilot BGen Paul Hayes (left) or Harvard Pilot Edward Soye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244759946-AYEBDT8GRHX6T74SF6Z5/Warbird9.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244848770-I7D28L72R1Z5U4PG3W8Y/Warbird16.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634244949376-NEZEQT2Q7ZOQ2GK27EVD/Warbird11.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245004064-1WCA8K99OAIIK5JLOFUT/Warbird17.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245079612-W29X9HEB6JU1DHTCG8I1/Warbird13.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245117530-M7UQ2XTB82DFDHCAHJ8X/Warbird18.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245197503-NN6M52X8QWE6H30H7HPW/Warbird15.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245243456-BYO6LHXE8L47PXEZQ099/Warbird19.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245318979-96ZDFU1STWOPVLPL2QD9/Warbird12.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634245353423-ZA6IVYI7LGNWDPK9A8W0/Warbird20.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U - 2012 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-banner-night monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241482273-TS583QA9RCMXX8K4PYCH/BannerNightTitle.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241647771-2QYD7VK2HCT4J6GV63LS/BannerNight6.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Rob Fleck draws the audience's attention to the Vintage Wings projects that surrounded the dinner tables. His high-energy presentation ranged from Great Britain to Comox to Oshkosh to Prince Edward Island. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241724846-PROX9KZCMH6985PCIX5E/BannerNight2.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out RCAF Association stalwart, Vintage Wings member and all-pro piper Graham Batty brings the evening to order. Graham's enthusiAstic participation in the event made for a memorable evening. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241763696-ADN9MNZCIIK352IA9EBX/BannerNight3.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out The emcee for the evening was none other than CBC reporter and producer Jacquie Perrin. Here she delights the crowd with a sumptuous and theatrical description of the dinner. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241796039-A0XTGSY5PJ515P9CRE13/BannerNight4.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings staff and volunteers under the direction of Carolyn Leslie transformed the hangar into a vintage wartime party venue - including flags, bunting, lamps and dramatic lighting highlighting key aircraft. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241905773-JQB8YHAEP3T0OOU0P1DL/BannerNight5.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Many Gala attendees wore vintage period clothing. Here former Snowbird Lead Al "Scratch" Capone (left), Dragon Lady Laurie Graham, Nick Danger, Private Eye (Formerly Gavin Lee) and The Black Dahlia (Public Affairs Officer for Vintage Wings), pause for a photo... after which Scratch had the photographer killed. Photo: the late Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634241989550-BIKFWVYQNQFVXJ8FTZIS/BannerNight7.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Bill McRae shows his emotion as his banner begins its piped journey to the rafters of the hangar in the background. His daughter Marilyn (beside him) beams with pride for her dad. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634242023995-E9CO8MXPOMFMI7YAG2R5/BannerNight8.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Bill McRae takes in the moment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634242055646-LAJWKQ06BTU4S1OF30X8/BannerNight9.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Bill McRae is presented with a miniature of the banner by Vintage Wings Founder Mike Potter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634242085528-UFATBZ1DC8L5P2UOGM3R/BannerNight14.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out The Tribute banner to Bill McRae will now hang next to that of the late Charlie Fox who, sadly, was commemorated after his death. We hope this will begin a lasting tradition of commemorating flying veterans who have made a difference for Vintage Wings of Canada. Design: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634242115406-USZ4X6U54J5FTLBHW0SQ/BannerNight10.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out Two Spitfire pilots from two generations share a moment while all in attendance applaud McRae's tribute. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634242174411-DI97VQT9XIKO5EMP2UBA/BannerNight11.jpg The Stories - A BANNER NIGHT - Make it stand out To complete the the evening's vintage theme, Carolyn Leslie arranged for professional swing dance lessons under the bunting. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/battle-of-britain-warbird-u monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727088057-BTFJEZU6GDD50YJSLHL4/WARBIRD00.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727229144-VCSRYXF6SOUHMXGJJHGE/Warbird8.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out With its beautiful lines and excellent performance, the Spitfire became the symbol of the Battle of Britain, the attractive poster girl for a last ditch effort to ward off invasion. As such, the Spitfire’s place in British history is unrivalled. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727195402-N0NU8P5QG1BALTHWO98V/Warbird7.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out The Hurricane was the true workhorse of the Battle of Britain. Warbird U students will get up close and personal with a cockpit seat check in the Mk IV and a technical introduction to the Mk XII. Here, a group of Canadian pilots of No. 1 Squadron RCAF gather round one of their Hawker Hurricane Mark Is at Prestwick, Scotland. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727332727-G0LAV96IWUV4ICWWEHGO/warbird13.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out A legendary Battle of Britain dog fighter, the Hurricane was also a stable ground attack and bombing platform. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727440595-YABWDN0PJ8ZE5LH4U6IK/OVERLORD20.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Mike Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, is the highest-time current Spitfire pilot in Canada, if not North America. With over 10 years experience flying the Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI and other classic fighters like the Corsair and the Mustang, Mike has many valuable insights to share. Mike has flown both the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727471657-QMVNTAY09LZKALCZJO8L/warbird12.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Rob Erdos, the “Dean” of Warbird U and a graduate of the Empire Test Pilot School at RAF Boscombe Down, is one of the most experienced aviators in the country—flying, testing and demonstrating everything from his own homebuilt to helicopters to fixed wing fighters of the Second World War. He is presently engaged in the flight test program for the Bombardier CS300 mid-sized airliner. Rob has flown both the Spitfire and the Hurricane, but brings to the course something very rare and very special—he has also flown the Messerschmitt Bf-109. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727514526-1S1KDYGRAL45QKPRKZ4I/Warbird11.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Rob “Spock” Erdos is one of the very few pilots in the world to have flown and evaluated all three of the major fighter aircraft of the Battle of Britain, including the legendary Messerschmitt Bf-109. During the Battle of Britain Ground School, Rob will share with students his intimate knowledge of the unique air and ground handling characteristics of this most important of Luftwaffe front line fighters. Photo via Rob Erdos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727555974-9N69E1S7T99BLN5U0K6Z/WTF-160.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out During the Battle of Britain, RAF fighter pilots did not have first-hand knowledge of the enemy aircraft they were up against. Later in the war however, captured fighters including the Messerschmitt Bf-109 were painted in RAF markings and toured around RAF fighter and bomber bases. With Rob Erdos’ experiences flying the 109, time will be devoted on the second day to sharing his knowledge—something The Few were not able to take advantage of. Photo via usaircraft.proboards.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727617594-L87PNRN56U0CMGLRPXFD/WARBIRD01.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Your Hawker Hurricane instructor is Joe “Salty Dawg” Cosmano. Like his fellow Americans who joined the RAF Eagle Squadrons during the Battle of Britain, Joe joins us from across the border. A native of Buffalo, New York, Joe is an airline captain and warbird pilot. He owns a Boeing Stearman and a Christian Eagle, both of which he flies for the pure joy of flight. Cosmano is the ultimate entertainer, communicator and consummate professional warbird pilot. His knowledge, great communication skills and sense of humour make him one of the finest instructors anywhere. Photo: Jonathan Edwards https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727653547-Z231675Q66IKPCL5LZ2X/WARBIRD02.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Joe Cosmano touches down on grass in the Vintage Wings of Canada Hawker Hurricane IV, the only flying example in the world today. As part of the Battle of Britain Fighters Ground School, Cosmano will take you through a cockpit checkout and share with you his experiences flying this historic warhorse. At the end of the course and weather permitting, there will be an engine start of either the Hurricane’s or Spitfire’s Merlin engine. Photo: Jonathan Edwards https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727708946-L38SL5JMKPAK6QMRW5B2/SeatCheck09.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out The Hawker Hurricane shouldered 75% of the work during the Battle of Britain. More utilitarian, less pretty than her sister the Spitfire, the Hurry was a very capable and formidable flying and fighting machine. From her cramped, hot and claustrophobic cockpit, Canadians flew in the Home Defense Squadrons on both coasts of Canada as well as with Royal Air Force squadrons in the Battle of Britain, North Africa, Malta and the Far East. Tough, ubiquitous and a legend, the Hawker Hurricane has earned its place in RAF history. Photo: Gus Corujo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633727750682-13TTH2NZFCPUQNUP9255/WARBIRD03.jpg The Stories - WARBIRD U — BATTLE OF BRITAIN FIGHTERS - 2015 - Make it stand out Rob Erdos taxies the Spitfire Mk XVI at Geneseo. Photo: Jonathan Edwards https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/canada-day-greetings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695383679-EYNOQGT37W7FZX3EY90B/CanadaDay2012.jpg The Stories - VWC CANADA DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695155885-2M3F04NIF4YWKGFZS0U2/Canada-day-1.jpg The Stories - VWC CANADA DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695296128-WOODPSEK2KASFB1BH636/Canada-Day-2010.jpg The Stories - VWC CANADA DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695320128-Y51ZLA4ADAJ5L5QJLVSV/Canada-Day.jpg The Stories - VWC CANADA DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695343398-550DHU7L769EEGY80N9T/CanadaDay2009.jpg The Stories - VWC CANADA DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/special-day-greetings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696067292-7XT6H21L5EHKDICMM09T/FightinIrish.png The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696252396-S8798D2O8FTS11J3N232/Image%5B150%5D.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696371832-FZFJIK8822IQOCTVDDRV/Inspiration.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696326622-P84TQSWXWMLEJUP2VJ6I/HawkOne-Arrival-Flash.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696440950-M5JW4GMRIEPFEV408BB0/Valentine2012.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696476211-H4I2N8A1EZEY5EIA50B6/RCAF-Birthday.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696559981-KNPOLO4BTRLJDKC190UO/VolunteerFlash.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696579149-W2MGOJIMLX11M46VXWCG/Rest2.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696784188-ZH0JRBW6Z4ENOJXZVR1A/YellowWingsFlashFlat.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696873654-Y4EMKH1AGSVL1NQ9UD3F/Inspire.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696095291-S67PWBPHJ5IXJC8SGSOE/StPatrick%27s2011Page.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696125821-XAVOOPXBEO68AVOOU6X9/SaintPaticksDay2010.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696299569-N92OD0SEJEZ5UH62TDRP/2009-Sched-Flash.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696348928-AR50TLM1JUQBA5RYDYA3/July4_ENotice.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696413939-G7DL8KH5CZX6JD7DBI07/JetlinerFlash.png The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696669184-JE3QD5D0KWZV98A4SLA0/WWIIFLASH.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696695366-GPGNC39G1UDB7B9Y5E27/Valentine2010.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696759526-BZLWFEE3HZXTO2ZVML29/Cinema.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633696823215-V4W67KAZYX9G3M2W3J38/GrayGhostFlash.jpg The Stories - VWC SPECIAL DAY GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/pearl-harbor-day-greetings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633695064063-9M0JLH5939DT0U25CD0D/Pearl-Harbor-2008.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694572271-9M9UVEI092XFQJT2K8R9/Pearl.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694601490-1BTL4BW9G8QI3CF2PIJ6/Pearl2013FlashHigh.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694630212-5VF80H1FIRSN6O2YPCCH/PearlHarbor.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694658310-JTV1MT6RZAKE446H29FC/PearlHarbor2010.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694686191-LHQLSXIIYPKNUQOR63BO/PearlHarbor2012Large.jpg The Stories - VWC PEARL HARBOR DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/remembrance-day-greetings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693655127-ZK0ZLI41ZBNUOW6YPY1Y/Remember.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693695937-1B4NOSX1ODR48ZRC6E7D/Remembrance-Day-2008.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693738184-G78N74KR87CBHHCYHUT7/Remembrance-Day-2013.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693765225-8O9ZW042ND15BC156HAD/Remembrance-Day-Sunset.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693792658-YWSRYC4Q40B9ICP9ZNPU/Remembrance-Day2013Large.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694239483-QCLVE4Y6K2XVOQTGYPH1/Remember2010Flash.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633694284346-F2PLQWY1TDQ7XXTEIJDC/Remembrance-Day-2009.jpg The Stories - VWC REMEMBRANCE DAY GREETINGS THROUGH THE YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/christmas-greetings-over-the-years monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633644535378-9HO9112G7P5R5GS6LMZV/Christmas-card.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633644578437-49270UXQHDRJ6OCS6008/Christmas2010Flash.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633644616921-8TYRNH1OMTXHNBDBPJ8U/Christmas2011.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693016248-R9LUMB3AHIFFVLEFY3SY/Christmas2012.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693040225-WDC3JD8SFSFPQRWUHFJZ/HawkOneChristmas_1.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693070209-KUQ35NJWYLLUWQM6XXFG/New-year.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693099988-Q79M0HZYKGYHOXDNCTER/POPPA-CORKfinal.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633693300339-N2YMJCEYW8AKTN65MF4S/Christmas-Card-1.jpg The Stories - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/kiwis-canucks-and-the-kittyhawk monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642352729-O3Q9Z7VYK4QTFU3TTTK0/canucks_kiwis_banner.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642417573-ZZHH1UGFU5B4ZIGMNI0Y/news_12022007_1.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out View of the VWC Curtiss P-40N-1 Kittyhawk, looking out the door of Pioneer’s hangar. The fuselage is mostly complete and the engine is hung on. The P-40 in front is owned by Pioneer CEO Garth Hogan, and the engine has been removed for maintenance. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642483224-BJ03NHY6PPK40LMFG6NQ/news_12022007_2.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out The Allison V-1710-81 has been beautifully prepared by Bud Wheeler of Allison Competitive Engines. Below are the placements for the 2 coolant radiators. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642547602-9GJ456B9SI20OLZ6PS4B/news_12022007_3.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Happy workers make better aeroplanes! Pictured is Chris Evans, who is more often inside our P-40 cockpit assembling the instruments and controls. In view behind is one of the wing-building jigs.. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642584555-RIC57V4L1TNPW6A0BN82/news_12022007_3b.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Excellence in this line of business starts with the experience and work ethic of the people putting the airplanes together. Pioneer's staff are among the finest in the world. Clockwise from the upper left are Brent Mealing working on the RH wing, Will Lowen working on the LH wing ammo bay doors, Steve Cox working on the LH wing fuel bay match angle and Les Marshall working on the undercarriage doors. Photos: Pioneer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642625644-M57QG3WRM7DGNVPE7XP8/news_12022007_4.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Another view of the engine installation. One of the radiators is placed below the engine. These are brass – the original aluminum rads built for use in the lightened P-40N-model aircraft have not stood the test of time. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633642662641-H44WKYIUB5MUON5ZWIPK/news_12022007_5.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Lavochkin 9 - hot and for sale -- John Lamont, of Warbirds over Wanaka, says the performance of this late WWII Soviet fighter exceeds that of a Bearcat or Sea Fury. And no wonder - the radial engine delivers 1850 hp, and the aircraft only weighs 5800 lb empty (A P-47 weighs 10,000 lb!). This airframe was traded by a Chinese museum to Ray Hanna, and rebuilt (though it was largely intact) by Pioneer. (That’s me just before climbing inside!). Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643173673-72IC3E0J1YQWU5SOGBEZ/news_12022007_6.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Owned and beautifully restored by Rob McNair (one of the men building the VWC P-40), this DH 82A Tiger Moth operates in its original configuration of no brakes and a tailskid. (Obviously taxying on pavement is done with great care!) Rob won a Tiger aerobatic contest in this aeroplane, and was kind enough to take my wife Robin and myself up for a flight to show us how. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643228751-M6VVQMQU5UYS1C7S6KQR/news_12022007_7.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out It’s amazing what these Kiwis have in their back sheds. You drive up a long country laneway to this building amongst sheep and cattle, and expect to see a Massey Ferguson through the open door. But this is the location of Glyn Powell’s DH Mosquito “factory”. Surprise! Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643397064-AKMJWVQ87HS4EELFLMLJ/news_12022007_8.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Pictured is a half-fuselage solid mold. The supporting members of the fuselage are bent into recesses cut into the plug, then the wood veneers are bonded on top. There are 2 molds: one for each fuselage half. Hanging up to the right is an actual Mosquito wing recovered from a remote location in Canada, and used for reference. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643476131-CBUVSI33HI0H50MJIKO8/news_12022007_9.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out This monumental piece of superb wood craftsmanship is a DH Mosquito wing. It’s built as one unit, and as shown is mostly complete. Both the materials and manufacturing technique are of the highest quality. (The table it was built on (in the next room) is nearly 60 ft long, true in flatness and twist to within a millimeter.) Stunning piece of work. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643517952-Y0DBGOWHR5DK3X21FJ84/news_12022007_10.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out RAAF maintenance crews pose with P-40 Kittyhawk "Come in Suckers" somewhere in Papua New Guinea during the Second World war. This is the airframe that was recovered and is presently under restoration for Vintage Wings of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643711487-E1FYFXE2YEE6EVAW25N7/news_12022007_11.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out DH Comet at Croydon – This project started in Alberta, but the builder passed away, and Colin Smith, the de Havilland guru at Mandeville, acquired it. He has the Gipsy Queens to power it, and thus intends to re-create the aircraft that won the MacRobertson England-to-Australia Air Race of 1934. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643765799-5WKCZYMSUQMOZR4V8FUB/news_12022007_12.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out The final product in the Dragon/Rapide line was the Dragonfly, a smaller executive-transport aeroplane of the late 1930s, using the simpler Gipsy Major. (This, plus the Staggerwing in the USA, was the Lear Jet of its day.) Pictured in the Croydon flight museum, this one, at Mandeville, still flies. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643800830-Q6R9V1PIJPEYM4R2L2EC/news_12022007_13.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out DH 84 Dragon for sale – This is the aircraft that came after the Fox Moth in DH lineage. It’s a small airliner designed to carry 6-8 people out of grass strips on the power of 2 Gipsy IIIs of 130 hp. It did very well -- and still does! On the day of the photo it was busy giving lucky young people their first rides in a vintage aeroplane. And when it was finished, the wings were folded by one man in :05 minutes, and it was pushed into a small hangar. (This design was later upgraded with stronger engines and slimmer wings to become the Dragon Rapide/Dominie.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643838122-0NPOFSZOSSW892KT2YFV/news_12022007_14.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out This odd aircraft surprised its pilots by flying quite well. It’s a Transavia Airtruck, a crop-duster first produced in New Zealand. (It was tied-down at Ardmore and begged to be photographed!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633643888091-W3LW02BA6THYU9067DGA/news_12022007_15.jpg The Stories - KIWIS, CANUCKS AND THE KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Robin and I dropped into Loburn, near Christchurch, which is where Campbell Classic Headsets are built. (Last summer she bought me one – not pictured – for my birthday. Wonderful piece of kit! ) They also build 80% scale Mustangs and Spitfires there, so we climbed aboard for a portrait, borrowing Ivan and Sandy Campbell’s own headgear. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-malton-lizzies monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640732303-U7HLIC0E9SFOG1OTUUZ9/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+5.02.20+PM.png The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640797431-INQLNXODTLSVJQJKKNNE/news_05052008_1.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out National Steel Car technicians, engineers and assembly workers take a lunch break out on the ramp at the Malton factory to get a good look at the newly completed Westland Lysander II, the first to be completed by NSC. At the time of construction, the aircraft was given a 3 digit RCAF serial number - 416. It was a different era, when factory workers wore dress pants and long sleeve shirts, engineers wore suits and ties and even a fedora. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640841930-KTXW9I4LN282J0WDIUNV/news_05052008_2.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out In an area next to the assembly hangar, the test pilot of Lizzie 416 runs up the Lysander’s Bristol Perseus engine. In most of the photos from this period, there was always a number of National Steel Car employees out to watch the show - such was the novelty of the first completed aircraft to come off the assembly line. It was however not the first Lizzie to fly in Malton’s skies - Westland Aircraft of Yeovil, Somerset in England sent one across the pond as a “pattern” for the licence construction of a further 75 Perseus XII powered Lysander IIs. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640873657-1YNZ4JE9LIZ8HSCZAG6R/news_05052008_3.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out 416, the first Canadian-built Lysander looks splendid in her factory test finish - all-over aluminum paint with wing tip and fuselage roundels and prominent serials. As you will see throughout these photos, the metallic aluminum paint reflects so much light from that massive tail that it seems to disappear into the sky. If by chance this is a photo from her first flight on August 16th, then the pilot in the white shirt is Lee Capreol. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640905656-7XHDIZC7UY1ICNKSM30N/news_05052008_4.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Taken at the same time, I believe, as the previous photo, the elegant (some say ugly) lines of this quirky aircraft are evident, as is the once bucolic setting of the Malton Airport. The Lysander had a magnificent spread of quite oddly shaped wings. These photos are believed to have been taken in August of 1939, just as the Second World War was heating up to the point of ignition. The RCAF took delivery of 416 in the all aluminum finish on September 1st 1939, the day Hitler invaded Poland. So, you could say she was in it from the start! Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641015000-QDHK8GM9TSI8XTM08CFT/news_05052008_5.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Boys indeed. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641042483-ULMQGDINCSOYK0G0GIFE/news_05052008_6.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out National Steel Car Lysander II 416 rumbles along a taxi strip at Malton in the summer of 1939, kicking up a cloud of dust as she does. She was soon delivered to No. 110 and 112 Squadrons at Rockcliffe Air Station in Ottawa. In January of 1940, she was flown across the country to Patricia Bay, British Columbia where she was taken on strength with No. 111 Squadron and painted overall camouflage with squadron code TM-A. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641079826-5V6WDDBX0FOWF5ZRF7CE/news_05052008_7.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out 416 taxies past admiring NSC workers on her way to a test flight. The life of many an aircraft in the employ of the RCAF, as 416 was to experience, could be short lived. After four years of steady employment at both Rockcliffe and Patricia Bay, she was deemed surplus and struck off the RCAF list in December of 1944. She spent her final year as a target tug with 122 squadron at Patricia Bay Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641245291-5ZIZ1WKMW2Q8KT3UYG4C/news_05052008_9.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out This photo was not from Tucker Harris’s collection but shows her in elegant repose with all her access panels attached. Photo: Canada Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641279670-HTB6I6FRASSVDA5R2FGG/news_05052008_10.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out This is either Billy Barty trying to get a glimpse into the aft cockpit of 416, or it’s a NSC employee reefing on something trying to “fix” it. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641199747-HD5S902ZN0HXRI2FNBW3/news_05052008_8.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Triple-chocked and lashed to the tarmac at the tail, 416 is just about ready for some full power engine tests. Her wheel pants and many panels are off and lying in front of her. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641329545-M2EB2JRYLUTNNFF1SAQ7/news_05052008_11.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out A view from the side shows the tail lashed firmly to the ground and the heavy chocks - this must be for engine run-ups We wonder what the stairs with the large box on top (and hose running out?) would be used for. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641401165-7L1AR1T4TI3ZSA1YJ3IB/news_05052008_12.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641430782-MIZHZQ8K8Y3Q389TCD2F/news_05052008_13.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641463281-SSDUSA7K0QCNQHQC0843/news_05052008_14.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641528742-93597Y7N3MB916NOMSAF/news_05052008_15.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641556479-X14FNVMYLH05D9RWQC04/news_05052008_16.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641633151-76MYOA86BHWU2RZ0XTRI/news_05052008_17.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641673983-NQK6AW01QJ3CIQHIH4Q2/news_05052008_18.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641702609-OYISK6SOKLQJ5YW01LYF/news_05052008_19.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641745089-EJFA5FLE3S9TNGX9ACSL/news_05052008_20.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641778279-8ZVVE7PM3ZE8USFLQF4C/news_05052008_21.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641819695-HRO6B099QFUMG5S75NMB/news_05052008_22.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633641869086-CRYWJFUUJG4FS9K3WMQD/news_05052008_23.jpg The Stories - THE MALTON LIZZIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/supermarine-superstar monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633633483834-O57H8XPGQKWI3W1PGCB0/SL72101.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633633599005-Q9ZVEJ0EZCXWEQ3EFSAL/SL72134.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Other than the markings she received when she exited the Spitfire assembly line, this can be considered the first paint scheme that SL721 wore. She wore this paint scheme after her refit at Vickers to the specifications he required. The paint scheme is called Scheme “D” PRU Light Blue. In July of the same year she suffered a landing accident at the hands of another great British aviator, John Boothman. She was shipped back for repair. We can tell that this photo was taken between February when Robb took delivery of her and when she was damaged for there are just three stars on his rank pennant. At the time he was Air Vice Marshal, but during the repair the pennant was given two more stars, for “Robbo”, as he was known by friends, was given command of all the allied air forces in Europe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633633640278-YKBP485OVJA237Q8J15X/SL72135.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out This photo was taken after her repair for she is now wearing a five-star pennant. The letters do not follow the standard letter code layout with two-letter squadron code to the left of the roundel and the single letter aircraft code to the right. All three letters are aft. The paint scheme is now a darker shade of blue - the scheme was called Scheme “D” PRU Dark Blue. She was attached to the Metropolitan Communications Squadron and the Central Flying School while wearing this scheme. We'd like to think that is “Robbo” at the controls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633638812038-THJK8U4STDTTOSQUAVLD/SL72102.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb, First World War pilot and Commander-in-Chief, Airforces Europe in the years following the Second World War, stands before his personal aircraft - Spitfire XVI SL721 in conversation with another officer. The location is Hendon and this, for the purposes of our little chronology, we will place at the end of 1948 or perhaps 1949. Inset: A painting of Robb in a similar flight suit wearing a crest from the Central Flying School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633638861672-UP8XBCYPCD40JQKKSWD8/SL72103.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Spitfire SL721 first moved into the spotlight when she was selected to become the personal aircraft of Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb, then head of Fighter Command. When selected, it was transferred back to the Vickers facility at South Marston to be refitted for RAF royalty. The guns were removed and the gun bays modified to take luggage. The aircraft was painted an overall shade of light blue and letter-coded with his initials - J-MR. Robb received his newly refurbished aircraft in February of 1948 utilizing SL721 to travel to bases around Great Britain. It was stationed at RAF Hendon/RAF Northolt for just 4 months when it was damaged in June 1948 in a landing accident by Air Vice Marshal John Boothman. While it was being repaired, Robb was promoted to Commander-in- Chief, Airforces Europe and the three star rank pennant on the fuselage was upgraded to five stars. In the photo above we see SL721 at rest in a corner of a busy hangar as “erks” push back a Percival Proctor training aircraft - perhaps to pull Robb’s Spit out to the ramp. The Proctor was a 3 or 4 seat radio communications training aircraft of the RAF that saw service throughout and after the war. The VS letter codes on the sides of these Proctors tells us this was No. 31 Squadron and they were reformed in July of 1948 to take over the training duties of the Metropolitan Communications Squadron at Hendon. This would place this photograph sometime after their arrival and after SL721 was repaired at Vickers. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633638914054-KR6ZEB6QEBG07QYPC2O2/SL72104.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In 1951, when Robb was due to retire, he flew Spitfire SL721 one last time - to RAF Little Rissington, home of the Royal Air Force’s Central Flying School (and later, the Red Arrows). There he handed it over with great ceremony and some sadness and the Spit became the personal aircraft of the CFS’s commanding officer. The number of stars on the red pennant she wore on her fuselage was reduced from five to one to reflect his rank. At CFS, SL721 remained operational for a few years and then was sent to storage and eventual scrapping at RAF Lyneham. It was here that, in 1954, she attracted the attention of an automotive garage owner by the name of Michael Wilcock. Wilcock figured if the oddly painted blue Spitfire could attract his attention from a group of 20 Spits up for disposal, it could attract customers to his Swandean Garage in Worthing. He purchased it for its scrap value - a mere £140, disassembled it and moved it by truck to a concrete pad in front of his garage. Here we see SL721 sitting on that pad for passersby to enjoy and marvel at. Wilcock would occasionally fire up the Merlin to the delight of assembled admirers, thus keeping the engine in working order despite some deterioration of the aircraft itself. The rank pennant was increased to 5 stars to reflect Robb’s connection, but was altered to a shade of blue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633638954136-W4GJ2KXG6YG8XIX10MNP/SL72133.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out A later photo of SL721 at rest outside Michael Wilcock's Swandean motor garage sporting the same paint scheme she wore when she flew with Robb. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639021344-UYS3MPA1293IO8YDNFSR/Superstar50.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out A postcard featuring the display outside Michael Wilcock's Swandean motor garage- as we can see, the Merlin is alive and possibly this is Wilcock at the controls. Photo courtesy of Norman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639061606-IET9TK9SXZ2TUB1391TI/SL72105-1.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out SL721 at Beaulieu. In 1958, the RAF persuaded Wilcock to lend the Spitfire back to them and it was trucked to RAF Thorney Island and put on display for Battle of Britain Day. Afterwards it was overhauled by RAF maintenance crews flown briefly and then delivered to Lord Montagu’s Motor Museum in Beaulieu. There SL721 languished (though loved) uncovered in the adjacent garden for seven years where it became known as “The Rose Garden Spitfire. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/671d0808-5a02-4d14-a2cd-ce899bc8b4f0/SL721+at+Beaulieu+-+circ+1959+-+1961+%28front%29.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Another view of SL721 from the opposite direction at Beaulieu somewhere between 1959 and 1961. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639095940-3FHNFFDQBYXDAA7XWANF/SL72106.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Spitfire SL721 at Beaulieu in 1962 - seems like the canopy and the exhaust manifolds are covered over. While at Beaulieu and still owned by Michael Wilcock, it was exchanged outright for a vintage Bentley automobile owned by Monty Thackray. Both the Spitfire and the Bentley were valued at £2,000 for the purposes of the trade. Thackray then had a heart attack and a change of heart, promptly selling SL721 to the Marquis of Headfort for £3,000. Then he had another change of heart, or rather pocketbook, when he realized the true value of the Mk. XVI Spitfire in the nascent US warbird market. Monty then bought SL721 right back from the Marquis for £4,000 and offered it for sale in the USA. Photo: Dick Bateman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639235031-XMO669A2P0X13RLGR4W4/SL72107.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out SL721 was sold in 1967 to William “Bill” Ross, a Chicago businessman and warbird collector. Before moving it to his home airport near Chicago, Ross had it crated and shipped across the Atlantic to Atlanta, Georgia to a warbird repair facility called Mustangs Unlimited. Here it underwent a makeover with an all new paint scheme - no longer did she have the light blue colour she was so well known for in England. Here we see her in pieces at Mustangs Unlimited. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639270321-Q5OQWN979CEC7JEL8PYH/SL72108.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out SL721 in colour. The paint scheme given to her in Atlanta was a brown-green camouflage but with the JM-R letter codes of ACM Sir James Robb. This photo was taken at Oshkosh in 1970. Photo: Steve Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639305618-4K5203CFIC1CFIKEZM01/SL72109.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In the early 1970’s , SL721 (now US registered as N8R) was making appearances in public in her new paint scheme - still sporting the Robb letter codes and the odd green-brown camouflage scheme. In the background sits a Hawker Sea Fury in Canadian markings belonging to Ormond Haydon-Baillie. This photo was taken in June of 1971 at East Alton, Illinois. Photo via Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639343831-UA427ZMNLJFQ3DDM5O8J/SL72110.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Superstar Spitfire meets warbird legends. Here, at Washington in 1972, we see Ross (centre) leaning against SL721 with two of the great superstars in the warbird world - Jerry Billing (left) and Don Plumb. Jerry Billing is still considered one of the greatest Spitfire demonstration pilots to fly in the North American air show circuit, gaining acclaim for his appearances in actor Cliff Robertson’s Spitfire. He would accumulate many hours in SL721 as well - ferrying her about the country and displaying her for Ross and future owner Woodson K. Woods. Canadian Don Plumb was also a legendary figure in the warbird world, in particular in Canada. Sadly Plumb was killed in 1975 while flying his P-51D. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639376034-GO218GTZ5PYGUDWTPTHI/SL72111.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Bill Ross brought SL721 to an event called The United States Transportation Exposition (Transpo 72) at Washington’s Dulles Airport. Ross, like Plumb, would himself die in an airplane crash. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639416990-G267Q2D73H7HS0O3UZ9Y/SL72112.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out SL721 was then sold to charismatic/controversial warbird collector and entrepreneur, Englishman Doug Arnold and then shipped once again across the Atlantic. Arnold was a larger-than-life character whose connection with SL721 simply added to her pedigree. This time her home would be Arnold’s base at Blackbushe Airport where Robin Walker photographed her in 1973 not long after she arrived there and was re-assembled. Photo: Robin A. Walker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639452548-CWDXTK0E0183D74B6PVV/SL72113.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In 1974 when this photograph was taken, SL721 (G-BAUP) was still in the collection of Doug Arnold at Blackbushe. Also operating at the time from this field, formerly a Second World War RAF base known as Hartford Bridge, was a Heinkel HE-111, a Junkers Ju-52 and a couple of Sea Furies. Photo: Ian Howat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639483558-DA576A2HMEHZ9FADBR6G/SL72114.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Later Arnold would succumb to the same vanity that befell Robb - painting letter codes on her sides that were his own initials. Here we see SL721 in 1975 in Doug Arnold’s hangar at Blackbushe sporting newly applied D-A letter codes. Behind her we see one of two Hawker Sea Fury aircraft that operated from Arnold’s facility during that time. Photo: National Archive of Transport, Travel and Trade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639517672-V35X8026TSCAZC3K2E50/SL72115.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In 1976, Arnold’s vanity-plated SL721 was seen and photographed by Trevor Davies on April 19th at a Blackbushe event. In the background stands a Harvard painted in similar and perhaps spurious colours. Being the same colour as SL721, it most likely also belonged to Doug Arnold. Photo: Trevor Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639554687-WRZU5CEF6VS9ADPWLJH0/SL72116.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out After a lot of research on the web, it was a delight to finally come across a photo of SL721 flying during her early years as a private warbird. Trevor Davies, the photographer, notes that the flypast was impromptu and brief. Luckily, he was there. Photo; Trevor Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639617619-Y7WRXQN07GKDS5M6AWB9/SL72117.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out 1978 - two years later, SL721 was back in the USA, having been sold to another well known American warbird collector Woodson K. Woods. Here is a fairly early photo taken at Chino, California in July of 1978 showing her new markings with the owner’s initials emblazoned yet again (Her new registration was N8WK). Though colour photography is sometimes hard to interpret, SL721 appears to still be wearing her brown-green paint from Bill Ross’ paint scheme of 1967. Photo Verne Geddes via Glen E. Chatfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639660875-JKX8YJ8DVK6FKR67FFS3/SL72118.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Woodson K. Woods, or “Woodie” as he asked his friends to call him, would display the Spitfire in its WK-W paint scheme for many years, though it appears he repainted it in a more accurate grey-green paint scheme. This photo from ground crew member Bob Swaddling was taken in 1981 at the Reno Air Races. To avoid having to put oil sponsor Pennzoil’s stickers on her, it was agreed that she could be strung with lines carrying Pennzoil pennants - hence the ignominy of the laundry. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639707755-IRMRY7L3JY9FL8TJWZ87/SL72119.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out This was the first time in the history of the Reno Air Races that a Spitfire made an appearance and the great Jerry Billing was asked by Woods to fly SL721 from his base in Carefree, Arizona to Reno and perform his much respected aerobatic display each day of the races. During one of the race days, Bob Swaddling introduced Tennessean Bubba Beale, who owned a Merlin-powered Buchon (a post-war Spanish-built variant of the Me 109) to Jerry Billing and suggested that maybe Jerry could get permission to do a couple of fly-bys with the "109" before his aerobatic display. It was organized for the next day and Jerry flew SL721 in formation with the "109". Bubba must have been distracted because Jerry had to remind him over the radio to retract his landing gear as they were well over the safe speed limit for the extended undercart. Jerry couldn’t say for certain whether this damaged the gear on the "109", but when Bubba landed the gear collapsed and the "109" skidded off the runway in a cloud of dust while Jerry and SL721 continued on with their aerobatic display that included a “Victory Roll” over the damaged Buchon. Bubba was not hurt but nor was he in good humour . When Jerry taxied SL721 in and switched her off, Swaddling jumped up on the wing and stuck a duct tape swastika kill marking on her fuel tank. All in fun. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639753649-GN2B95WUC7VFFUE03XSY/SL72120.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Though built too late in 1945 to see combat, SL721 finally managed her first “kill” at the Reno Air Races in 1981. Here she is in hot pursuit of “Bubba” Beale’s Buchon (a version of the Messerschmitt 109 built in Spain with a Rolls Royce Merlin). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639790218-UXOU0K4Y4881K6N11YYS/SL72121.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In 1981, at the Reno Air Races with Jerry Billing at the controls, SL721 executes a low, high speed pass past one of the pylons. This would be the first time a Spitfire made an appearance at this world famous warbird and racing event. A superstar pilot at the controls of a superstar Spitfire at a superstar event. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639831477-6BIENAW70HTD48JWA3QX/SL72122.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out “Woodie” Woods spends a few moments with Jerry Billing before he sets out for the Reno Air Races of 1981 from his base in Carefree, Arizona. Woods was also a superb pilot and warbird expert. The two pilots along with SL721 constituted Spitfire royalty. Photo via Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639872112-QXZKGKHWDT32V8ZWUJNK/SL72123.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out After 1982, SL721 (in the middle above) was registered as N721 and then loaned to the San Diego Aerospace Museum for nearly 7 years. Woodson K. Woods then had the Spitfire trucked to Colorado for a complete restoration. Chris, Woodie's son would own and care for her for the next 8 years. Here SL721 is piloted by Chris Woods as he formates on a 2-seat Spitfire flown by Elliot Cross. Photo by Air2Air https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639905833-D6UCWEYB5R9YNL48K8ZH/SL72124.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In late 1998 or perhaps early 1999, Chris Woods had SL721 repainted - and he chose as his paint scheme the original ACM Robb all-light blue scheme and even J-MR letter codes. She was given her five star status back and was flown by Woods across the southwest. Here he is seen in May of 1999 in Nut Tree, California taxiing for take-off. In addition to once being known as the Rose Garden Spitfire, she was also known for obvious reasons as “The Five Star Spitfire”. Photo: Jorge A. Dietsch, Wings Photo Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639940912-I093XYQVLF4KUIWKG049/SL72125.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out In the hot sunny skies of America’s Southwest, SL721 forms on a camera ship. Judging by the mountains and sage landscape, this could easily be at Reno during the air races. Photographer: Unknown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633639973279-WWPC56J320N1OCP4T0FZ/SL72126.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out One last winter in the sun. SL721 is seen here in Reno in September of 2000, prior to coming to Ottawa. The Robb paint scheme is a real head-turner, unless of course two F/A-18 Hornets from the Blue Angels are messing about in the sky. Ian J Berry / TZ Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640021717-JZEF7JG52RXNUU7IE1ZV/SL72127.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada founder Michael Potter brings Spitfire SL721 in on final at YOW - MacDonald-Cartier International Airport. The much-admired, much-travelled beauty would bring with her the beginnings of a new idea - Vintage Wings of Canada. If any one aircraft in the early Potter collection could be said to have inspired awe, fathered an idea, or tipped the balance, it was and is the achingly beautiful Supermarine Spitfire XVI s/n SL721. Photo: John Davies, CYOW Airport watch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640058364-AS8YWXLA9GI7CSW6MEF4/SL72128.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Spitfire SL721 brought with her not only a phenomenal pedigree, but a history of visually representing the aristocracy of aviation history - the Robbs, Rosses, Billingses, Arnolds and Woodses of the world. Though the idea of a foundation that might give fuller meaning to his collection was still vague and unformed in Potter’s mind, he knew that he should paint SL721 in a truly authentic paint scheme that would communicate a Canadian story. Mike knew he would be flying SL721 at events to commemorate our aviation heroes of the Second World War and he knew that if she wore the war paint of a Canadian, the commemoration would be all the more poignant and powerful. In order to be authentic, it had to relate to a real Canadian Spitfire of the same exact mark and canopy configuration. This would mean that only a few could possibly be considered. Bob Swaddling suggested a Spitfire XVI with blown canopy flown by Niagara Falls native William Harper. After much careful and detailed research, decisions were made and the Spit was flown to Sky Harbour aircraft in Goderich, Ontario. Here we see her fully stripped of paint and tail feathers and covered in a slight Lake Huron frosting. Soon she will be wearing her new colours - for the first time, it would be those of an ordinary combat squadron and a frontline fighter pilot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640098524-JMV6WZVI6JJUMFA5C1TE/SL72129.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Now, SL721 wears the markings of an ordinary Canadian man who fought and flew the Spitfire during the Second World War. Vintage Wings of Canada truly understands the aristocratic heritage of Robb’s Spitfire, but we know he would agree that the best uniform to be worn by his old mount is one that celebrates and commemorates a frontline fighter pilot from the country that SL721 now calls home. Photo: Bob Swaddling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640138901-ZG64CNJJU2C6TEN3Z3ND/SL72130.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out F/L William Harper, 421 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force sits in his original AU-J in Europe during the Second World War. In these rough forward airfields, and indeed in regular service, there was not much requirement to keep these aircraft clean - only serviceable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640169638-ZDLMDBAP2DOGFTCGBWY3/SL72131.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Rob Erdos overflies the Ottawa River en route to Geneseo, New York in the summer of 2007. The incredible heritage of this magnificent machine rides with her as we tell her story to all who will listen. Photo: Marty Periard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633640205735-J56K7OY9ITNW7SN8QTZ3/SL72132.jpg The Stories - SUPERMARINE SUPERSTAR - Make it stand out Photo of William Harper via Stephen Fochuck. Photo of Spitfire Marty Periard https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/return-of-the-hawk monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632401773-BCXSDDS979SQAO6UT0X8/hawk_one.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632542448-0C7P6WA5PFKH8OZ8JYC9/news_11072007_1.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Air show spectators stare slack-jawed as the Golden Hawks perform above them. Not one person looks anywhere but skyward - a tribute to the awesome sight of six blinged-out Sabre aircraft that appear to be welded together. Photo: MWO (Ret'd) Bill Briggs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632590416-TD26U7Y5MD4NLYEEO86N/news_11072007_2.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Trailing their patented red, white and blue smoke, six members of the Golden Hawks streak in low over the back-up aircraft parked on the ramp. The sheer gorgeousness of the Golden Hawks paint scheme is clearly evident in this photo. (RCAF Photo via Terry Leversedge) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632630359-AF9MYGY69Y4MM076Z618/news_11072007_3.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out With the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia as their backdrop, four Golden Hawk Sabres seem welded together in this diamond formation. Photo: DND PCN 7035 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632661578-L8SOGZ0X8885CS0WFIRT/news_11072007_4.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Definitely not on the show program for the Vintage Wings Sabre in 2009. The 60s were all together a different era for the RCAF when hot dogging 20 feet off the deck between the flight line and the control tower might have got the pilot a few pats on the back and a free beer at the mess. Today, it would mean an abrupt end to a flying career. (DND Photo PMR 76-65) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632806721-P8DOZ7A21PT82T4IBZMF/news_11072007_5.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Veteran Sabre pilot Ron Iberg arrives in style shooting a high speed pass to announce his arrival and show Vintage Wings personnel the classic lines of this historic fighter. Many Canadian World War Two veterans flew the Sabre including Stocky Edwards, whose exploits in the P-40 will be honoured next year when we finish our Kittyhawk rebuild. However, there are many Canadian pilots who made their indelible mark on Canadian aviation history while flying the venerable "Sword" - men like Bob Middlemiss, Omer Levesque (from Gatineau-Aylmer), and of course, the well respected R.J. “Chick” Childerhose, father of Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Bob Childerhose. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632847013-WV96KE0EILR6FO5EIG4D/news_11072007_6.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Ferry pilot Ron Iberg chats with Vintage Wings founder Mike Potter shortly after shut down. Iberg is well known and respected on the warbird and air show circuits and was returning to the Ottawa area after a 15 year absence. Ron and his flying partner Dave Van Leer were featured aerobatic performers at the 1992 National Capital Air Show in their Spanish-built Saeta jets. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632931151-QB1V3RKJ0A3UK66IATQB/news_11072007_7.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Getting to know you. Three members of the Vintage Wings maintenance crew inspect the air intake and tunnel of the Sabre after arrival. Left to right: Andrej Janik (Manager), John Brennan and Marty Periard. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633632965824-7WKJUEJNXD4GVO7YJMY3/news_11072007_8.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out Though presently painted in the markings of a Korean-war era USAF squadron, and destined for Golden Hawks colours, the airframe was originally a Canadair Sabre 5 in the markings and bare metal of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Above is an air force photo of our aircraft (RCAF s/n 23314) when she flew for the RCAF. It was an honour in 1959 for any airframe to be painted in the stunning Golden Hawks livery and now 50 years after her birth, this Sword will have that honour bestowed. DND Photo courtesy Steve MacKenzie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633633013402-LC13Y2ERW8498R57KJCA/news_11072007_9.jpg The Stories - RETURN OF THE HAWK - Make it stand out A new home. Back on Canadian soil, Hawk One is pushed into the immaculately kept Vintage Wings of Canada facilities where she will spend the winter. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/water-wings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633631200086-K3RN9DY1DOLH8FRC4LRM/WaterWings_News_1.jpg The Stories - WATER WINGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633631279360-5OKJ0R4SEQ9C2F7V68K8/WaterWings_News_2.jpg The Stories - WATER WINGS - Make it stand out In addition to building relationships with two veterans of the RCAF, Harris was assigned two veterans of the Canadian Army. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/foxy-lady monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630444209-0ZZIYEM3AELUT2DF78BY/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.12.58+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630630009-MAT7I0JSGGR5WFSQF9CU/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.14.44+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630661475-3HHFRZBLSMZN9SJ8SIXW/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.14.55+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630681986-B3H9WWRCV7MY806LLY9X/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.15.05+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630705464-QGQ7VZFL8BSSSC6U3A52/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.15.25+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630731172-YV9RPJMOYR91PGHLLH2Y/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.15.33+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630754308-B9ADGHSQCO4K4R9J6ZEZ/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.15.41+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630778757-FLDCZ7YWHG57P61TX6E6/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.15.51+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633630804974-3YP7JSDC8A4O9VM5YGKU/Screen+Shot+2021-10-07+at+2.16.10+PM.png The Stories - FOXY LADY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/mighty-blue-comes-home monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633629376294-8SHXWQPDMPTYN8UFVK7J/Corsair_News_1.jpg The Stories - MIGHTY BLUE COMES HOME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633629507927-5HIB1A7T5HKFW6LA1LK8/Corsair_News_2.jpg The Stories - MIGHTY BLUE COMES HOME - Make it stand out In addition to building relationships with two veterans of the RCAF, Harris was assigned two veterans of the Canadian Army. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/kittyhawk-a2a monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633628765417-WFB8ZPOLONABYWH7KLGF/KittyhawkTitle.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK AIR 2 AIR IN NEW ZEALAND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633628870301-8JJJTBFFGM8NY9AOWAJA/Kittyhawk2.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK AIR 2 AIR IN NEW ZEALAND - Make it stand out Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633628921598-NV16F38H717A117PVQXP/Kittyhawk3.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK AIR 2 AIR IN NEW ZEALAND - Make it stand out Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633628965779-BVARF4XYUWAW4Y67XDVV/Kittyhawk4.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK AIR 2 AIR IN NEW ZEALAND - Make it stand out Photo: Gavin Conroy https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-like-arch monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609120479-SOSJEFFGYOBP87Z928DJ/DearArchTitleE.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609272837-20KRHHEII55R57S6QJYL/DearArch2.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out The dark curve of the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar frames the sky on Monday, 20 July. Seeing the blue sky, warm sun and popcorn cumulus just adds to the excitement. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609303347-P215KYJKQZ2JW1QOR4C3/DearArch4.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out No one at Vintage Wings of Canada knows more about the P-40 Kittyhawk than AME Angela Gagnon. Angela installed the belly tank for today's flight and with the help of Martin Hedley from Pioneer Aero, assembled the Kittyhawk after its arrival and changed out a damaged Allison in time to get her ready for Oshkosh. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609345749-VN2LZBX4EKWVKKGF80XX/DearArch3.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Tim Leslie (right), Chief Pilot at Vintage Wings of Canada shows author Dave O'Malley how to climb into the back seat - a feat managed by tilting the forward seat and clipping it to the canopy rail. The back-seater's basic flight instruments are mounted on the back of the seat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609394984-RQKYI8WO2UXFGIDWYZ8W/DearArch5.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out The back seat of the Kittyhawk affords considerable room, even for a giant like O'Malley, and even greater visibility. Twenty minutes in the confined space where air does not move will, however, cause one to sweat like a Finnish sauna. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609481103-VCNMFHCX2ZID69ZXKF6C/DearArch6.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield taxies out to the run-up for a second time. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609545780-PWPVNX07PMWVWFIHLYNG/DearArch7.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield lifts the Kittyhawk from the runway streaming heated exhaust. In the background rises the heavily wooded escarpment running parallel to the single runway. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609618397-AD18V4UGFSG4C1ZQ1L5J/DearArch8.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out The sky this afternoon was calling us. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609646500-ROJ8PL2XWFMP8SEL3H5I/DearArch9.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Shadows cross the back of Dave Hadfield as he banks the Kittyhawk over a wooded and cultivated Quebec landscape. Heavy rains throughout the summer have made everything below Papuan green and lush as jungle. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609708872-O35FBDEM4SFDOGNDQAQO/DearArch10.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Dave skirts around tall popcorn cumulus. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609747517-9QKK7COYCLQXLTS93WVK/DearArch11.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Desert camouflage, Type "B" Roundels, magnificent skies - what more could be asked? Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609862590-ZXD8L0GUJA8N51UPSC3I/DearArch13.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield and Dave O'Malley fly past towering cumulus en route to a beat-up of the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633609916795-W8VQ8EZFLPM6H70BSMRQ/DearArch12.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out With the Allison thundering, Dave Hadfield takes the Kittyhawk down the runway at 200 feet. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633610042292-CHFP8KVD7U0WLQQ887DC/DearArch14.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield rolls out after a most enjoyable test flight with the new belly tank installation. Something about the towering forested hills beyond remind the author of the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633610133850-EQZXV9A3YCAASJIAQL9V/DearArch15.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Here's to you Arch! One hour in the greenhouse of the Kittyhawk's back seat leaves an indelible smile on the author's face. Upon landing Tim Leslie and Angela Gagnon bring ice cold beers for the relaxed debrief at the picnic table. There is no better beer than a post-flight beer. Right Arch? Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633610172652-YEAUO8MKROV9VHJFY4AE/DearArch16.jpg The Stories - FLYING LIKE ARCH - Make it stand out Former RAAF Kittyhawk fighter pilot Arch Simpson. Though he was at the antipodes, the connection to this wonderful man was visceral for the author throughout the flight. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/saving-the-wild-mustangs monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633573068394-VZZPQ5JL7BEJ0QVUI8XN/MustangRecoveryTitle2.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633573222618-R9LCPNW5GAYFRTYFE8R4/MustangRecovery12.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Mustang IV (Bottom, Ex RCAF 9575) is painted in the markings of a 442 Squadron Mustang (top) operating in Europe at the end of the Second WoRLd War. This aircraft took part in the last combat mission of the war for the RCAF - supporting the taking back of the Channel Islands from their German occupiers just days after the cessation of hostilities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633573404139-23EN5T9QBDN0KFRZLOF2/MustangRecovery2.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out In most images of veterans of the Second World War, mustaches, tired eyes, and hard faces lead us to believe that these were older men, but every once in a while we run across photos that clearly tell us these men were boys. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607184524-LOE6DLUSM5I7MHAG08FM/MustangRecovery3.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out F/O Dave Huddleston sitting on top of the canopy of Mustang 9598 (in the remains of 443 (Aux) Squadron. markings). Aircraft behind are RCAF 9560 (no engine)(later CF-PIO and now N3333E) and RCAF 9567(with engine)(N6337T and later N167MD #2/N51N/ C-FBAU #1) (destroyed in a crash when owned by Dennis Bradley of Canadian Warplane Heritage). Photo via Dave Huddleston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607237760-3W5NYKYHSW274A7T15QZ/9567.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out After Carberry, 9567 flew as the famous Tangerine and then it went to Hamilton, Ontario and was was repainted in 424 "City of Hamilton" squadron RCAF markings, with the codes BA-U applied. This was reflected in the Canadian registration it then wore, CF-BAU. The Mustang was virtually destroyed in a landing accident on a small country road after suffering an engine failure in 1984. Bradley and his passenger survived, but the Mustang was consumed by a post crash fire. Photo: Alex Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607273780-EOTMVQFNCMD3MKUBE6BR/MustangRecovery4.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Flight Cadet Bob Hill, now a retired Air Canada pilot living in Penticton, BC. is sitting in the cockpit of RCAF 9563 (N6344T, later C-FBAU #2, now N51YS) and the next aircraft is RCAF 9564. Photo via Dave Huddleston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607316825-8A3Z3PW8CYLDV046QF0N/N6344T.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out A great photo of 9563 as she and other Carberry Mustangs are ferried through Winnipeg on 29 July, 1962. Photo: Norm Malayney via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607354544-W6JI6ARRYTIRGPUPYZLL/N6344T2.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Ex RCAF 9563 as Old Boy - the markings she wore in the early 90s. Photo: The Great Caz Caswell via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607399500-IG6S57G4Y6S4POA9YTRY/N51YS.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Ex RCAF 9563 in her present day scheme as Scat VI - N51YS. Photo: Curtis Fowles via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607460967-K4V4DZJBYZTA8FO6SSXP/MustangRecovery25.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Then-cadet pilot Bob Reid leans on a Mustang’s wingtip at Carberry in 1962. Bob is a retired Transport Canada pilot and also lives in the Vancouver area. He and Jerry Vernon are both Directors and Past Presidents of the Air Force Officers’ Association. The next aircraft behind is RCAF 9564 (Which would become N335 - the famous air racer from Reno - She still flies today.). Photo via Dave Huddleston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607501455-3JNUNE45IPUFF91QWQG3/N335.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Ex RCAF 9564 also in the photo with Bob Reid (above) became a famous Reno air racer N335 and enjoyed many freaky paint schemes over the years - checkers being the favourite. Photo: Gerald Liang via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607535966-5AZ58KG6ZLGG78R2ATO4/N3352.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Did we say freaky? You bet! - N335 with matching power cart on the ramp at Reno. Photo: Ron Olson via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607564011-OGYC0A4ZU982EJPR1R77/N3353.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out RCAF 9564 ended her racing career with a much nicer scheme and a hot little coupé top. Photo: Emil Strasser via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607617092-SJX52LN5K6UN13HCJK5Q/MustangRecovery10.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out The stocky individual standing in front of the fuselage above is Chuck Mitchell. Chuck was the AME from Aero Enterprises who worked with the late Ed Fleming, from Calgary, and some locals, to ready the Mustangs for ferrying or trucking out of Carberry. In addition to 9575, the other aircraft on this trailer is RCAF 9568 (N6340T), which has been restored and since 1980 is flying at Duxford with The Fighter Collection as "Candyman"/"Moose". It appears that there is a wing between the two fuselages on this trailer, so it may have been either the wing from 9268 or 9575!! Vernon suspects that loose wings and fuselages were simply “mixed and matched” at Elkhart, with no regard to which Mustang they belonged to!! RCAF 9568 was soon sold to Dr. Ernest M. Beehler, West Covina, CA, on 30 July 1962, so it was soon on its way to flying again. This aircraft has been in UK since 1980. Jerry reports having several photos of a second wing, quite possibly the other wing belonging to the two Mustangs on the flatbed, being loaded, with some difficulty, inside a semi-trailer for the trip South. The salvage crew had rigged up a block and tackle inside the front of the semi-trailer and winched the wings inside. Photo via Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607651597-7WAQ2LGFG1BKRLYS0RL6/9568-4.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Early on, RCAF 9568 was Candy Man, a Reno Air Racer in the 1970s - her first identity and purpose, post-RCAF. Photo: Sid Roberts Collection via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607691235-ZLWLT8Q1RVHJG948EBHU/9568.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out RCAF 9568 has had many lives since resting beside our Mustang on the frozen ramp of Carberry, Manitoba back in 1962. She has spent the last 30 years in the UK with one of her identities being Candyman. Photo: Fergal Goodman, via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607727662-ON94KCJPUQF5J5RFRFUS/9568-2.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out RCAF 9568 also wore the well-known Moose identity for several years. Photo: Peter Liander, via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607764143-G3NB3TUIM9556PW233TO/9568-5.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Today, Ex RCAF 9568 is Ferocious Frankie and flies in the UK. Photo: Jenny Coffey via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607829504-06EEKZJIVELQ6YOL7AOF/MustangRecovery11.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Chuck Mitchell, of Aero Enterprises with 9575 and 9568 – Smiling with satisfaction at the job done!. Four decades later, his work that day would result two of the finest Mustangs still flying. Photo via Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607903498-UV31MU7RW9YYD56X16H1/9580.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out RCAF 9580, once a derelict fuselage, flew for years as Million Dollar Baby, but now she flies as Speedball Alice. Sadly, long time owner and pilot of Speedball Alice, Art Vance was killed when the Grumman F6F Hellcat he was flying hit power lines in Tennessee. Vance, 64 from Sonoma Ca, was ferrying the Planes of Fame aircraft to a show in Arkansas. Vance was the unlimited check pilot for the Reno Air Races and will be greatly missed. Now his son Dan Vance does the flying. Photo: Curtis Fowles via www.mustangsmustangs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633607988087-SNT582DXCJFUW20MFV53/MustangRecovery6.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out The fuselage was stripped by Ransopher right down to the longerons and stringers and it is assumed that the entire aircraft was completely re-skinned. Photo via Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608025703-BE4KOQ89NU9Z5CHTGAFQ/MustangRecovery5.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out The upside down fuselage of 9575 is being stripped of its outer skin in Richard Ransopher's back yard in Grapevine, Texas. Photo: Frank Strickler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608056216-DQTBRURVT4IMYO006N9P/MustangRecovery8.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out A close-up of one of the fuselage skin panels after removal from the hulk of 9575 in Ransopher's back yard showing the 403 City of Calgary Squadron red wolf's head crest crudely painted over by Carberry maintenance people after the aircraft was struck from the RCAF list. This surplus panel was promised to Jerry Vernon by Richard Ransopher, but the gift never materialized. Photo: Frank Strickler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608125047-9HMIRCS8XEMTP54VPTOZ/MustangRecovery9.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out For just $3,000, Ransopher purchased the fuselage of 9576 plus an assortment of damaged wings from from N1335 (ex-RCAF 9597), N6175C and N5478V. Poor Mrs. Ransopher! Photo: Frank Strickler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608188723-STG8YHEXAC2GEN9GD4MY/MustangRecovery14.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Oklahoma Miss meets the extended family - the members of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team. Photo: John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608218276-T9Q9M9E3V5ASMQXBBR36/MustangRecovery15.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Oklahoma Miss (Ex RCAF 9575) looking very sexy on the ramp of her new home at the Gatineau Airport - the hangar VWC rented as our new facility was being built. Photo: John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608266901-FP5J3FTEWJNRJISWO1WF/9575.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Starting to get comfortable in her new home, RCAF 9575 in the markings of Oklahoma Miss participates in Air Show Ottawa at the Carp, Ontario airport. Sitting in the cockpit is former Vintage Wings of Canada AME Earl Chapman. Photo: Alain Rioux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608307812-OPTL7JG7B11O2OK0BTNP/MustangRecovery16.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of Mike Potter flying Oklahoma Miss over Ottawa just before she left to be painted in her new and final paint scheme - one that tells a Canadian story. Oklahoma Miss was voted best Mustang at Oshkosh a couple of years before, and some folks were shocked that the beautiful polished aluminum (some say it was the best in the Mustang world) was to be covered in drab camouflage. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608355359-CXQFHJ185TV39U155HYP/MustangRecovery17.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Ex RCAF 9575 thunders down a valley near her new home at Gatineau, Quebec. Once again she is performing a valuable mission, telling the story of Canada's flying heroes of the Second World War as a 442 Squadron Mustang IV. Photo John McQuarrie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608383629-LTIT3NY4AFDXU04VSUYY/MustangRecovery18.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out Another beautiful shot of 9575 in the markings of 442 Squadron Y2-C over Southern Ontario. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633608580391-XKLND9UYR71VXXIPGM0G/MustangRecovery13.jpg The Stories - SAVING THE WILD MUSTANGS - Make it stand out The original Y2-C Mustang, second in line, sits with her 442 squadron mates at RAF Hunsdon prior to VE Day https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-difficult-decision monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558041576-BHCWR1JKCBTPD0DTBU3B/TaperwingFoxMothTitle.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558372004-8XFPKUHLHN7921JPWQN3/TaperwingFoxMoth2.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Mike Potter, wearing a ball cap and a grin, demonstrates the beauty of flying the open cockpit Taperwing - the wind in the wires, the whiff of hot oil and the absolute freedom of flight at its purest. The lovely art deco masterpiece that is the WACO Taperwing has often been compared to the Bugatti racer - though the lesser Bugatti can only operate in two dimensions. Photo by Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558406380-9WD6LR2GOGAK05N4LYKE/TaperwingFoxMoth3.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out In her earlier life, the Vintage Wings of Canada WACO Taperwing A.T.O. was registered NC-8531 and owned by famous air racer Johnny Livingston, perhaps as well known in his day as Mario Andretti was in the 1970s and Michael Schumacher is today. Here we see NC-8531 (the Vintage Wings Taperwing at lower left lined up next to a couple of other Taperwings) at what appears to be an air race, perhaps in the late 1920s, as she was returned to the WACO factory in 1931 to be outfitted with standard wings (A.S.O.). Looking at Livingston's log book, he was flying NC-8531 as late as 1932, so possibly we are looking at an air race where she was flown by him. Livingston would later be the inspiration and indeed namesake behind Richard Bach's strange but best selling novel of the 1970s called Jonathan Livingston Seagull. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558462954-648KWCWA6U9SD2MDUCDR/TaperwingFoxMoth37.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The dashing Johnny Livingston was the first owner of the Vintage Wings of Canada Taperwing. Photo: Davis Monthan Aviation Field Register https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558512391-FAI0IXNH7UNQIWD8BXTD/TaperwingFoxMoth38.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out If a future owner of the Taperwing ever wanted proof of her racing heritage, these pages from Livingston's log book (these are back page entries recording his races and earnings and not his standard log book pages) show clearly that in 1929 he was still the owner of NC-8531 and had used her in races across America including Sioux City, Bloomington and Danville. He earned a total of $3,755.00 prize money in our Taperwing in 1929. The entry above the NC-8531 items shows he flew NC-7527 (his most photographed mount) to a first place win of the cross-country New York to Los Angeles Derby where he collected his great reputation and $2,910.00 Livingston's log book is a stunning piece of aviation history, but his log book entries are inconsistent - sometimes he records the aircraft registration and other times not. By the end he was very cryptic and barely recorded anything but date and hours. There are perhaps 77 entries (with clear a indication of the registration) in his log book for NC-8531, the Vintage Wings Taperwing. His third last flight was on the 12th of May 1931 and he did not fly it again until the 22nd of April 1932 and one last time on the 7th of June, 1932 where his aircraft type entry states for the first time that it was a WACO S.W.. Perhaps this means that it was now a Straight or Standard Wing. This would mesh nicely with our history that states its wings were changed to standard continuous chord type in 1931 - clearly initiated by him. Photo: Davis Monthan Aviation Field Register https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558559458-EVJQSAODI175R7MOFVSO/TaperwingFoxMoth4.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out In her next life, she was painted bright blue and served as a float-equipped joyride aircraft out of Peoria, Illinois. Here we see her, still regsitered as NC-8531, taxiing up to be loaded with excited passengers - quite possibly on Peoria Lake, an expansion of the meandering Illinois River. If this is Peoria, then it is interesting to note that she operated near Ottawa in those days too! - Ottawa, Illinois that is. It is also known that she operated tours from Boston, so perhaps this is Boston Harbor - can't say for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558591823-Z2EZA5PR4F891ZWBE442/TaperwingFoxMoth5.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Every passenger who flew aboard the Peoria-based WACO was given a small card as a memento. For her work as a float-equipped passenger aircraft, NC-8531 needed all the lift she could get. To this end, her beautiful tapered wings were replaced in 1931 by a standard continuous chord type which generated more lift. Later, she would run tours from Boston and would do so with these less elegant wings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558644734-S0F5UHH5QW0N01MDMN84/TaperwingFoxMoth6.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Again, I am not sure if this is Boston or Peoria. Regardless, the two white helmeted passengers are about to have the thrill of a life time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558684996-1PQ85AFMYBBKY0DVKR4T/TaperwingFoxMoth43.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Taperwing continues to be part of popular culture. In 2008, it was the aircraft that Amelia Earhart (played by the Hollywood superstar Hilary Swank) "flew" in an air race called the "Powder Puff Derby". Mike Potter taught Swank how to start the Taperwing so that her scene in it would look more authentic and he flew (with a white avitrix helmet and flying suit) the plane across the finish line at the race with contenders almost catching him/her at the line. A tight race indeed given it was a cross country rally. Photo of Swank in other aircraft via Campbell Harrod https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558720535-C7R814MGZGLYLTIZJ6SV/TaperwingFoxMoth44.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out A good shot that tells why it is called a Taperwing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558764060-PTVSWUT1G0DQ7O66998W/TaperwingFoxMoth7.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out There is no better way to fly. You can fly faster, higher and farther in other types, but none can compare to the feel of the slipstream in your hair, the thrum of the WACO's wires, the distinctive whistle and thunder of the Wright Whirlwind and the knowledge that you are flying a living piece of history. Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558807312-AQ4XSO3Y8X7YPE10KAKP/TaperwingFoxMoth8.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The WACO Taperwing A.T.O. is a true pilot's airplane, one which delivers breath-taking and glorious fun to those pilots whose skill and experience are up to the challenge. One of Vintage Wings of Canada's pilots, Rob Erdos (a test pilot by day) beams from the racy and surprisingly roomy cockpit of the Taperwing. Inset: Her first pilot was Johnny Livingston, air racer, business man and WACO dealer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558841885-EBC6H4Z4E5V172SJ3O11/TaperwingFoxMoth9.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The elegant, tailored and smart lines of the Art Deco masterpiece called the WACO Taperwing are clearly evident in this quartering shot from the stern. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558879912-8NDL5DZQZZBDUA5Y2MTC/TaperwingFoxMoth10.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The Taperwing is is known for her speed and history, but her biggest appeal to the general public, (and believe me, owners will inherit an adoring public) is her style. One can imagine how she captivated the Air Race audiences of the 1920s with her rakish and modern lines. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558923583-O9GXBQNHLLKJQ3R96QKV/TaperwingFoxMoth35.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Everything seems to meet at her nose - the gear struts, wing struts, pistons, exhaust stack and propeller all scream speed - and delivered it too. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633558949616-2ARVU60TR4LM9RHC17PU/TaperwingFoxMoth11.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Flying the WACO Taperwing, or being squired around in her passenger seat (accommodating two) is an experience for all the senses - the sound of the Whirlwind, the smell of warm oil, the feel of the wind in your hair, the view all around you and the unmistakable good taste shown by the very airplane you own. Photo by Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559036556-C9PVH7RG9VD3NTX5I4IM/TaperwingFoxMoth12.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada de Havilland Fox Moth is arguably the finest example still flying and has without question the richest history of all Fox Moths ever built. Here Dave Hadfield (soon to be the saddest pilot at Vintage Wings after the sale of the Fox Moth and Taperwing) floats in lovely and delicate style over the lush green hills of the Adirondacks. Photo by Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559068240-Q29TOLCXCTEWSEVSGDD2/TaperwingFoxMoth13.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out You won't need and frankly, won't want a paved air strip for Fox Moth operations. While perfectly at home on macadam, this baby was meant for grass. From her chrome wheel spats to her silver cheatlines and that lovely fish-like tail, she is the epitome of British style and design - perhaps that is why The Prince of Wales (Edward XIII) selected her to be one of the first aircraft to squire the Royal Family about from castle to estate to hunting grounds. Photo J.P Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559112297-R29BWLTA40PAVZPQLB8P/TaperwingFoxMoth14.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out In earlier service, the Fox Moth sported a highly polished aluminium engine cowling. Originally built for the Prince of Wales by the de Havilland Aircraft Co. at Stag Lane, England she was assigned construction number 4033. The aircraft was registered as G-ACAJ by Flt. Lt. E. H. Fieldon for HRH the Prince of Wales in November. This was altered to G-ACDD a month later. The aircraft was operated by the Royal Flight until June 1933. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559142829-REK7DFFK4LE6EQO92GLC/TaperwingFoxMoth15.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The VWC Fox Moth was a prefect specimin of one of the great de Havilland designs. Her beauty and elegant paint made her the poster child for de Havilland advertisements of the day. Posssibly, de Havilland was going through some difficulties in 1934 as witnessed by the reduction in price meant to move Fox Moth aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559171482-RGV9P9G2QBQ6X8S1W7JI/TaperwingFoxMoth16.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out After her brief but regal employment with the British Royal Family, G-ACDD was purchased by Belgian national Mr. Guy Hansez-Fester and re-registered as OO-ENC. Later in March and April of 1934, Hansez-Fester flew her from Antwerp to the Belgian Congo in only 5 days and returned in 8 days. Photo: Antwerp Avaition Society Coll. Dirk Buyaert (L'Aviation Illustrée, 05, 1934) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559212370-SPWDA8G7BJ0N2Z4M2KAH/TaperwingFoxMoth17.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out When Vintage Wings of Canada took receipt of the Fox Moth, we found in her cabin an album of photographs chronicaling her accident and operations in New Zealand. The following images were part of that album. After her newsworthy flight to the Belgian Congo, she continued to fly with Hansez-Fester until 1935 when she was sold back to de Havilland and then on to Air Travel of New Zealand where she made her way by ship. In New Zealand she was re-registered as ZK-AEK and immediately embarked on her new career on the first scheduled airline service in that country. Her paint looks somewhat the same but with the tail painted a light colour - possibly silver. Her wheel spats have been removed by this time, perhaps to better deal with the rough airfields she would operate from. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559243279-R4GYN9JT2WC3NP88FXPZ/TaperwingFoxMoth18.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out In the rough New Zealand geography, ZK-AEK would utilize what ever landing facilities she could find including beaches and sand bars. Here children make sand castles (perhaps for her Royal Family roots) with the beautiful Fox Moth as a back drop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559278972-J1X1GHFODGTMNSKEEOAB/TaperwingFoxMoth19.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Contrasting the new and old. ZK-AEK overflies a frontier postman and his pack horse, demonstrating the new way in which mail could be delivered. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559314433-O76DDLHKOOV529KJ4578/TaperwingFoxMoth20.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out A lovely photograph of ZK-AEK in front of her home at Air Travel, in Hokitika. Air Travel (NZ) Ltd was the first airline in New Zealand to fly scheduled air services. Founded by Bert Mercer in 1934, and based in Hokitika, the company flew a number of De Havilland biplane aircraft, servicing areas on the West Coast. Mercer saw the potential for a commercial air service in this region because with no roads south of Ross residents relied on steamers and bullock tracks for access to the outside world. Such was her importance in the early days, that the company used her silhouette as their logo. This can be seen on the hangar above the doors. The company also operated Dragonfly, Dragon and Dragon Rapide aircraft - one of which can just be seen to the left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559349321-Q3CJDM6CCE4CLYZT0OAV/TaperwingFoxMoth21.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out ZK-AEK had a major setback in 1943 when it crashed on the Franz Josef Glacier in October of 1943. There were no serious injuries to pilot and passengers. Here we see a photo of ZK-AEK (clearly identified by the letters on the wing) and this is where I begin to get confused. The aircraft appears to have the dark fuselage and light silver wings of her first paint scheme. Now on to the next photo... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559395373-FTOJUM5TZHUPXZ0SY0ZC/TaperwingFoxMoth22.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Now, we see a photo of ZK-AEK being taken down the glacier by a salvage crew and her paint seems to have miraculously turned to a light colour with dark lettering. Perhaps it is that weird effect that ortho-chromatic film had on prints making certain colours darker than they would normally be. But this different? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559424245-9GS7D0N8MZM85NIO59AR/TaperwingFoxMoth23.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The salvage crew rests on the way down and now the paint looks dark again without evidence at all of her large registration on the side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559461109-X534Y5PX9ZHR0ZPVQWZD/TaperwingFoxMoth24.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Attached to a sledge, ZK-AEK is man-handled down some pretty precipitous slopes. Again, the aircraft seems to be in the dark paint with just a faint, faint indication of a registration. Strange. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559495476-26HYM9A3Q77ERI7BQP4A/TaperwingFoxMoth25.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out It is impossible to tell the actual sequence the above photographs were taken in, but this one seems lower down with the trees and bush on the hills in the background. The weird thing is that now it seems to be a silver aircraft with dark markings. Perhaps it is an extreme case of ortho-chromatic colour shift but I would think the photographer would have used the same film all the way down the slope. Perhaps there were two shooters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559531653-GUV8G1TVF0Q53TAGLYHT/TaperwingFoxMoth26.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Now down in the moraine field below Franz Josef Glacier, the salvage crew cannot use a sledge and the fuselage had to be carried by hand. If this is an ortho-chromatic shift, then I believe that the Fox Moth was, by 1943, a light coloured aircraft with dark markings as the images that seem to show a dark fuselage do not bear contrasting white registration letters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559559472-X01LTSVLW94437HSWQ2W/TaperwingFoxMoth27.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out At the bottom of the moraine field, ZK-AEK was floated on two skiffs/canoes for a paddle across the glacial lake. If the man at the right is carrying a camera , then indeed there was more than two cameras with this fellow likely having the ortho-graphic film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559611144-OGA3OODUPF5Z7S5CQGVP/TaperwingFoxMoth28.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out A smaller group of salvors paddle the unlikely raft across the glacial waters of the fijord which empties into the Tasman Sea. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559639532-YGRIY8G8CCP5VJ7GI35F/TaperwingFoxMoth29.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out At the bottom of Franz Josef Glacier, the fuselage is lifted onto an awaiting lorry for transport to the Hokitika maintenance facility. It is a testament to the importance of ZK-AEK to the continuing air operations at Air Travel that such an effort was made to retrieve her. Getting a new Fox Moth would have meant many more months of delay. She was returned to service in May of 1944 - only 7 months after her crash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559687774-2YNQXPYV6JSYKA30W149/TaperwingFoxMoth36.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out ZK-AEK many years after her difficult salvage warming up in 1952. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559716678-F4XCR15HDRPYKAIXVUZH/TaperwingFoxMoth30.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield brings the Fox Moth in for a close-up. The fine finish, exquisite detailing and enclosed passenger cabin are all very evident in this shot. Photo by Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559749789-QK4A9PRY2RVPW1HR2DNE/TaperwingFoxMoth31.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The Stagg Lane-built de Havilland Fox Moth's heritage cannot be connected to Canada. Her history lies somewhere between Great Britain, Belgium and New Zealand. It is rich and storied and colourful... unfortunately it is not Canadian. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559812551-5QMC21QC2MYG1J60SFJ7/TaperwingFoxMoth32.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out Your passengers will fly like kings - literally! The rich maroon leather interior and wood inlay speak to the quality of the original aircraft and the restoration work. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559851362-HJNA5Z0CHXB423YWNQAQ/TaperwingFoxMoth33.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The elegantly simple cockpit of the Fox Moth. By using the speaking tunnel (the mirror like glass door at top), the Prince's pilot could speak directly to him and perhaps be passed a cup of tea. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633559889011-BQGXDSCLI0DZ6JM2WYNZ/TaperwingFoxMoth34.jpg The Stories - A DIFFICULT DECISION - Make it stand out The Stagg Lane-built de Havilland Fox Moth's heritage may not be connected to Canada, but it is as rich as any vintage aircraft in the world today. Her history lies somewhere between Great Britain, Belgium, Congo, New Zealand and her future. It is rich and storied and colourful... unfortunately it is not Canadian. Whoever is lucky enough to be her next owner will delight in her continuing story, her wonderful handling characteristics and flying experiences that will bring memories and joy for the rest of their lives. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-right-stuff monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553579491-GGRGBH8F443ZZAYFWLKL/Right+Title.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553684623-NGQTOKMCJAQ41Q5KVTWB/Right+2.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Alberta bound. Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Paul Kissmann arrives overhead Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in the failing light of day. Below, the full misery of a Northern Alberta winter has not yet descended upon the hardy folks of this most northern of Canadian fighter bases. After crossing Canada at an average 500 kts plus speed, the "temporary" decals of the roll out scheme are still in place. Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553715602-0JTRD5BMD478ND5BL7ZD/Right+3.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Photographer Corporal Jennifer Chiasson of the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, shooting from from the back seat of the AETE CF-18, captures Hawk One as Kissmann slides away to the south beginning his descent to his old "hunting grounds". Kissmann has spent many years at Cold Lake as AETE's senior test pilot, amassing more than 2,400 hours in the Hornet. Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553747479-UJXEY7QA866XV7PXF8G2/Right+4.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann leads the AETE Hornet into Cold Lake. Checking over his shoulder, he offers Jennifer Chiasson in the Hornet a happy thumbs up for his triumphant return home. Hawk One wears a temporary scheme depicting elements from the Centennial of Flight logo designed by Vintage Wings of Canada. On her sides she also wears the logos of Vintage Wings of Canada and major partners, the Canadian Forces and Discovery Air. Photo: Cpl Jennifer Chiasson, AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553786356-LY1DPTLBF1RD58N0Y1RL/Right+5.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out The AETE Hornet driver Major Wayne Karperien slides beneath Hawk One, allowing Chiasson a shot up to the Sabre's belly where her old USAF markings meet her temporary Centennial markings. Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553828159-VQM5CDL08FLO9R6W0MLL/Right+6.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Kissmann drops down to the Alberta landscape in the feeble light of early winter. Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553877342-EPTX0MGDJIDJNHJZ8NR3/Right+8.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out At around 500 feet, Kissmann crosses over the sun burnished but icy waters of Cold Lake, Alberta. There are a few great aviation photographers in Canada - names like Mike Reno, Rick Raddell, Eric Dumigan, Peter Handley and John McQuarrie come to mind. But if there was any doubt that the Canadian Air Force has talent, this tack sharp and dramatic photo by Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson should put a stop to that! One of the best Air to Air shots we have seen in years. Nice work Jennifer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553911301-AJR6CB5BR6AEBQJSCOF1/Right+7.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Now down to just a few hundred feet, Kissmann reefs Hawk One into a 90º bank over the iconic wilderness of Northern Alberta. Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553950318-R5U7Y6BP7BE7SGTFG9VT/Right+21.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Next time Hawk One flies over the Alberta woodlands, she will have her fresh Golden Hawks livery - no hotter Sabre scheme anywhere! Photo montage - Vintage Wings of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553986840-7ZL5107OHG8DWF79LZEU/Right+9.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out "Follow me grandpa, let's show them how it's done". "We'll son, you should relax, take it easy... Have I ever told you the story about the old ram and the young ram standing at the top of a hill?. You see, the young ram says "See those nice... " The AETE CF-18 Hornet flown by Major Wayne Karperien - leads the venerable frontline fighter of the Cold war across the infield at CFB Cold Lake. This Hornet (188907) was the last CF-18 in Kissmann's log book. Photo: AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554032601-FKIQVJGWI1YQ6JISVFHQ/Right+10.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Flaps, Slats and Boards out, Hawk One crosses the threshold of the Cold Lake runway, just a few feet from making it back home to a working Canadian fighter base for the first time in 40 years. On the ground, the pilot of an AETE CT-114 Tutor, awaits Kissmann to clear the runway. Photo: AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554084982-XV1RZPE84TZZTTPMW9PN/Right+23.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Not gone and certainly not forgotten, Sam Reid (right), keyboardist for Canadian 80s rock legends Glass Tiger has joined the Hawk One team to write, arrange and record an original musical score for the Hawk One tour. The Juno Award-winning, Grammy-nominated Glass Tiger, who rocked the house in the 80s with such mega-hits as "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" and "Someday", will be featured on "Where You at Baby?" a new television reality/documentary program about rock stars of the past and what they are up to today. Photo courtesy of Glass Tiger, Background: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554172877-40V5PPP2I4XQZID4L2X1/Right+12.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Probably the only model that will ever be made of Hawk One in her temporary Centennial of Flight markings. Scale modeler Wayne Foy, himself an experienced pilot, recreates the scene of Hawk One's roll out on September 20th, 2008 at Gatineau. Here in 1/72nd scale, Paul Kissmann (back to camera) appears to be lining Dan Dempsey up for a left haymaker as they argue over who will take the beautiful bird aloft. Photo: Wayne Foy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554249253-AUAQ8A3YI5MU1Q4IBWXH/Right+13.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Wayne Foy's models have long graced the entrance to Vintage Wings of Canada's hangar. With over 900 1/72 scale models in his collection, Foy has every model he has ever made since childhood. This example is true to the real thing in every way - including her authentic CoF markings, Mike Underwood's hand-made naugahyde Golden Hawk head rest (made from 6 Naugas he killed and skinned himself in the wilderness of Northern Ontario), the unpainted zinc-chromate flaps, rudder and skin panels, former USAF checkers (nicely distressed), all the proper remove-before-flight flags and finally - if you look close enough - the little spring-action hula doll that graced the top of the control panel - now that's detail. Photo: Wayne Foy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554354702-CNSZ5D39NUEBI1NWZ99V/Right+17.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out From a Hawk to a dog. The one-time Golden Hawks try-out aircraft, Sabre 23314 wears a rust and yellow paint scheme that some have likened to a 1950s woodie station wagon. Underneath that low-rent paint, she's still all predator though. Photo: Doug Fisher, www.warbirddepot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554319449-Z27DNT9N4OS18CSEZNQG/Right+14.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out One of the many lives of Hawk One. After she left the Royal Canadian Air Force as s/n 23314, the Hawk was registered in the US as N8687D. Here she is in egregious yellow and rust markings at the Reno Air Races in 1972. Her pilot, none other than air show and air force superstar Bob Hoover, shoulder checks while waiting in the blistering Nevada heat. Photo Doug Fisher, www.warbirddepot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554389804-R3NH3USC2NLU4CSQ2UUY/Right+15.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Bob Hoover rolls N8687D out to the runway more than 35 years ago. Photo Doug Fisher, www.warbirddepot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554420111-YDC11P9O4LISDIK5ED9H/Right+16.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out Bob Hoover, air show royalty if there ever was, chats from the cockpit of the Sabre that is now Hawk One. In the foreground behind the wing and in the RCAF flying suit and boots stands Ormond Hayden-Baillie another legend of the air show biz back in the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554459609-NPDZUBAKSO53QEYO6BE7/Right+19.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out And now for something completely different! As Hawk One was only days from her touch down at Cold Lake, the paint crew under the direction of Jim Belliveau gets ready by Shootin' Some Sheffield's. Master Corporal Craig Harris, the Hawk One Paint Crew Chief brought two samples outside in the early dawn light so Belliveau could photograph the samples and check out its chromatic properties in normal light. Here Craig holds up an aluminum panel that has been primed with yellow primer, coated on the left side with a gloss white. Then the entire square was air brushed with 3 thin coats of Sheffield's Pale Gold. It's obvious that the white makes a brighter base. Outside of the normal considerations for applying metallics, the Temp Polyurethane behaves well, according to Belliveau. Photo: Jim Belliveau https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633554492354-W4MW7I8L8RHL4CPPRI93/Right+20.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT STUFF - Make it stand out The Hawk One paint team also painted a 'Racal' paint hood, the shell for the paint helmet worn by Air Component & Structures (ACS) Technicians. It's a displacement hood which dumps breathing air at high volume around the face. It's a lot cooler than a tight fitting mask and yes, it looks damn fine in gold. The paint team and the entire shop are caught up in excitement of what will be the most exciting project in years. "My fellow team members have dubbed themselves the 'Hawk One Paint Team', and we all eagerly await the project. They are even preparing special helmets to wear in the paint booth as well. This is why I like to come to work in the morning." says Belliveau. Photo: Jim Belliveau https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/inspire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552221978-ZZ9984U6769X1LQDJLCG/InspireTitle.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552362034-7ADKK3IZDD6WR252WHV1/Inspire2.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Tim Leslie moves in to inspect Hawk One for leaks, hang ups and any problems with the Sabre that cannot be seen or determined by Paul Kissmann in the cockpit. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552389637-CWCN173DD9W134UV1Z4X/Inspire3.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Sliding beneath Hawk One to her starboard side, Tim Leslie looks her over as Kissmann "drops trou", throwing out the speed brakes and hanging out the dirty laundry. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552425204-BJ5DYAORVQ0KV6LF3H5G/Inspire4.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Sliding back, Leslie watches over Kissmann in the Sabre. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552517172-M9KIWKOVBBE28BQ78YZU/Inspire5.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Gear up and brakes coming in, Kissmann slides away to the north to run the Sabre through a series of tests designed to increase his confidence in the myriad systems of the Sabre. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552644415-Z4HV3NTKULU25X31LG5R/Inspire6.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Mike Potter, vintage fighter aircraft pilot and Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, hangs his much-loved Spitfire off the port wing of Leslie in the Mustang. The master inspirer, Potter has built both a legendary enterprise in the software field and a legacy for all Canadians in the form of Vintage Wings. From the cockpit, he can see his Mustang and Sabre fly into history. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552701401-BQSR8FP39V5LNBDFGZL2/Inspire7.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out On his way home after a totally successful test regime, Kissmann throws out the boards to allow Potter and Leslie to catch up. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552765903-G7GIDNO7KRPKP5Y22M4D/Inspire11.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out There may be three pilots aloft, but like an iceberg, the bulk of the endeavour lies beneath. The Hawk One team and Vintage Wings volunteers watch and wait. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633552923489-M1TXJO2CAS351W4YIW19/Inspire9.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Mike Potter slides away to watch history being celebrated and history being made. Photo: DND Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553088071-91LASPVU4207KP1TKQVP/Inspire13.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Gerald Haddon, grandson of Douglas McCurdy and friend of Vintage Wings of Canada speaks at the roll-out of Hawk One in September. Reflected in the skin of Hawk One behind him stands Tim Leslie - listening intently to the direct descendant of the man whose accomplishment and whose legacy we celebrate. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553158177-YFD65GIJXZQR2X3UM0P1/Inspire14.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Chris Hadfield, test pilot, astronaut and just about the best spokesman possible for the Centennial of Flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553244891-R4ZFOY794RTJ0RYMN3SA/Inspire12.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out Fire up your imaginations! - that's the message we want to deliver in the year ahead. The dragon that is Hawk One's Orenda engine lets loose a lick of inspiration expiration. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633553298444-GVBIBDCRUSCAUP06PDKT/Inspire10.jpg The Stories - INSPIRE - Make it stand out The Journey begins right here, right now. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/520-knots-babyc4t9w monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633549795931-4MHHZAS6Z8PSUZPUOZ4E/First+Flight.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550002235-GRH6VUN05S1BRTM3XVCN/Phoenix2.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann, test pilot for the Hawk One Sabre program took our baby into the skies this past weekend - one year after she landed back on Canadian soil. Read his own words as he reports back to the team with the details of this milestone event in our "Journey of Inspiration". https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550089851-DS0ZDVBCIADG8IRPYL1X/Phoenix3.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out "The fast moving hot air... which we Sabre pilots call thrust comes out of this end". Paul Hayes shares his knowledge with test pilot Kissmann prior to the first flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550138606-E9LZZRT5WOJ55JJ56K8P/Phoenix4.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out The founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, Mike Potter stands watching the proceedings from the wing of his beloved Spitfire. Today he would be Chase 2, watching over Paul Kissmann with Tim Leslie in the Mustang. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550242217-LRKC7BKQ6TW6XU5VK9TT/Phoenix5.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Let's get the show on the road. Paul Kissmann and Hawk One are towed by ground crew out to the edge of the Gatineau runway where he can commence start-up without the distractions of photographers and friends. Photo: Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550279928-E8MZJDTBWNFG8OAI04K7/Phoenix6.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the Supermarine Spitfire XVI taxies by Kissmann en route to the start of Runway 27. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550319102-SQO69NX6C6VXOHPGV22S/Phoenix7.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Tim Leslie was able to get the Mustang into the air despite some problems with a cold-soaked Merlin. In the Mustang's rear seat sits a Discovery Channel cameraman to record the event aloft. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550355525-S95KNQMSR21G4A2S6CYG/Phoenix8.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out The tires have been kicked and the fires lit. The Sabre barfs a flicker of flame and some superheated gas as Kissmann kicks the Orenda into life. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550505414-OCRR9538S5LV8MLZVI5R/Phoenix9.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Fire and ice. Some residual snow from last week's early snowfall contrasts with the heat of Kissmann's exhaust. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550552055-YLHGFEL0DRXCWPQSVS1Y/Phoenix10.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Proud of her man, but worried none-the-less Laura Kissmann points out the Sabre to one of their children as Dad walks the throttle up the quadrant. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550588405-OSYAURVKSJ15OMKIFSER/Phoenix11.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out All eyes are glued to the Sabre off in the distance. The roar of the Orenda is barely audible at first until full Mil power is attained. Left to right: Paul Hayes, André Laviolette, Andrej Janik and Angela Gagnon. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550634050-J9I0UBVN07FYWDCQCTVD/Phoenix12.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out One small step for Hawk One, one giant leap for the Centennial of Flight. Hawk One, with Paul Kissmann at the controls lifts from Canadian soil for the first time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550683567-6LQD3L93WMCQGMUHGTLF/Phoenix13.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out With stunning acceleration and Kissmann's reluctance to pull off the power, the only thing to do is let her climb hard to keep the speed down while the gear cycle up. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550756356-E7WG6LPRDOR9MSQGH78Y/Phoenix14.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out The relief, pride and joy are evident on Laura Kissmann's face as she and other family members watch the successful take off. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550900206-ANR51L0LEAPHNLTZGRHE/Phoenix15.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out After a 40+ minute test regime, Paul Kissmann brings the Sabre in for a full stop on Runway 27 . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633550936907-EAW2UNO76KWFWFRP6GM4/Phoenix17.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Kissmann is shoved hard against the straps and the Sabre kneels deep into her front oleo as she is brought to a full stop with the binders hard on seconds after touchdown. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551052271-VFO6E040DWMGLL4QNIAH/Phoenix16.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out As Kissmann rolls out with brakes smoking, photographer Handley manages to swing round and capture Mike Potter in Chase 2 thundering down the left side of Runway 27. Photo: Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551151015-N73F6AJABOAMODBOJQ4B/Phoenix18.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out After Hawk One's touchdown, Mike Potter pulls a big tiger break to position Chase 2 for the downwind, offering up a beautiful view of her finest feature - her beautiful elliptical wing form. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551205469-DHDICY1FMHESAYM0TPHG/Phoenix19.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Hawk One is towed towards the hangar and the setting sun. A great day. Paul Kissmann is all smiles and thumbs up. When asked what speed he reached he offered up a huge grin and "520 knots, baby!" Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551243964-EOTX2AR68LFNKQGQJL77/Phoenix20.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Mike Potter brings his Spitfire home in the failing light of day - the end of the first day of a year of days of celebration of flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551521615-V3DPKLS5FF4DUSDWKAP0/Phoenix21.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Mike Potter congratulates Paul Kissmann after the Sabre and her pilot have been pushed back into the hangar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551613434-EP5PFJDD3N29BWM5VX0O/Phoenix22.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out Every pilot at Vintage Wings making his first solo on type has to face a dousing of cold water. There's no avoiding it. There's no doubt that Kissmann was looking for where the water was going to come from, but he was totally surprised when his sons pulled a "Tony Montana" and whipped their super-soakers out from underneath their jackets - nailing him right in the bread basket. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551656412-5OEH0V20KJJXUYJNT1NC/Phoenix23.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out No point using super-soakers unless you can super-soak. Only when their "clips" were empty, was dad spared. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633551689363-O9UF2UFWFEX1AJ83O5IU/Phoenix24.jpg The Stories - 520 KNOTS BABY! - Make it stand out The man who put it all together, the man who took it into the air and the man who dreamed it all up share their collective joy and experience. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/loud-and-proud monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633479963612-U17ZW5YBZE9VTDQXLBXI/LoudTitle.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481254816-VKME71YGQL3EJS4GAU7Y/Loud1.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Test pilot Paul Kissmann goes over last minute checks and procedures with Tim Leslie (hidden) and Hawk One technicians. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481583255-T4GEZ5OPTLQU6VQ40A7E/Loud2.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada technician André Laviolette walks a wing as Hawk One is pushed out of the hangar prior to her first engine run. Access panels are wide open to allow ground crew instant access to critical components and systems during the test. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481700642-CJWMRNABZP0UXYIU3BWI/Loud3.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Andrej Janik, Manager of aircraft maintenance at Vintage Wings confers with an Air Force counterpart prior to start-up. This shot reveals just how much of Hawk One is open for quick access. André Laviolette mans the power cart. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481746389-H1L1VR7LLRP5OC798Q5G/Loud4.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Hawk One test pilot Paul Kissmann goes over last minute details with Vintage Wings technician André Laviolette. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481782227-2SF1975RY6QLYLL9JYPH/Loud5.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out The Hawk takes a bite out of a technician. There is not quite enough left of the ingested mechanic to tell exactly who it is.. but perhaps it is Paul Tremblay sliding down her gullet to make a few adjustments. No doubt AMEs taste terrible, for she spit out the greasy morsel in short order. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481817882-7GOEOINH9QXHELQXZDBY/Loud6.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Alright folks... let's kick the tires and light the fires. Paul KissmanN signals for start-up. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481854311-MAKCSO671NI7774A61OD/Loud7.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out With the Orenda engine shrieking like a banshee, Andrej Janik leans in with ear protection on to watch the dials with Paul Kissmann. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481883937-PAIMVCCB3X88EKS6PHM8/Loud8.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out If you have never heard a turbo-jet howl, you know there is no way normal conversation can be carried out. Here Vintage Wings mechanic Angela Gagnon shouts into the unprotected ear of Andre Laviolette while the Sabre shrieks . Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481915967-0P92SD5RXDLM0JID4S9J/Loud9.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out To demonstrate the sound of a runaway Orenda is nigh on impossible in a photograph, but perhaps the tormented shimmer of heated exhaust streaming behind Andrej will give a sense that the engine runs as advertised. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633481944170-RPY4B3FB60746JSFRQJN/Loud10.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out With the engine running, Paul Kissmann deploys the air brakes. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633482037629-TJTQA9TEMN3AKST07SW7/Loud11.jpg The Stories - LOUD AND PROUD - Make it stand out Tim Leslie, Chief of Operations at Vintage Wings of Canada and the man who first dreamed of Hawk One, listens with protected (preferring the more stylish and less visible soft ear plugs) and happy ears as his idea takes her first breath of superheated air. Photo Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-royal-treatment monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471741999-ZJIFR72B0HYVOI79GXD2/news_06112008_title.gif The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471866924-X8GZAO6L1LT9SQE7GBDJ/news_06212008_1.gif The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Lt. Ron Hayter, Lt. Don "Pappy" McLeod and Lt. Don J. Sheppard stand before one of their camouflaged Corsair aircraft aboard HMS Victorious. The best known aircraft flown by Sheppard was one of these tropic sea camo painted Corsairs. Unfortunately our all-blue Goodyear Corsair is more easily transformed into Gray’s aircraft. Photo: www.acesofww2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471922233-U4WGKDYQ80MU3K1BD184/news_06212008_2.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Goodyear-built Corsair flies in formation with another Corsair. The Corsair in the foreground is painted to represent VF-17, The Jolly Rogers, a US Navy unit from the Second World War. The VWC Corsair is painted in “as delivered” condition - the way it came from the Goodyear factory and before it was assigned to an American Navy or Marine unit. This no name scheme, while historically correct in every way, certainly misses the opportunity to tell a story about the men who risked their lives flying fighters from carriers in the Pacific. It was now time to alter this paint scheme through the use of large scale “decals” and turn her into the most famous Corsair to have been flown by a Canadian in the war. Photo: Doug Fisher, www.warbirddepot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471997648-KYBOQ34P30QE8PWG500T/news_06212008_3.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Pilots of the Fleet Air Arm squadrons aboard His Majesty’s Ship Formidable beam with pride and youthful elan in front of their Corsair F4U-1s. Inset above: Lt. Robert Hampton Gray of Nelson, British Columbia in his formal Royal Navy photograph. Inset below: A souvenir pennant from Formidable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472052581-MT7DMNYSQHSA1Q4TX6A8/news_06212008_4.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out In 2006, officers of the Canadian Navy and Air Force place a wreath at the memorial to Robert Hampton Gray on the shores of Onagawa Bay in Japan. Gray’s marker is the only memorial dedicated to a member of any Allied armed force on the Japanese main islands. Gray’s aircraft crashed into the waters in the background, killing him in the final days of the war. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472112595-XCU3FTTE5DCDYEBKDXD7/news_06212008_5.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The only photo yet to be found that shows the original Corsair number 115 of the Royal Navy’s 1841 Squadron. It is generally accepted that No. 115 was not “Hammie” Gray’s usual aircraft, as his was unserviceable at the time that he launched from Formidable on that fateful day. Here we see 115 chained and battened down for inclement weather enroute to some action - with engine cowl and canopy covered in canvas to protect them from the effects of salt spray. Inset - the squadron crest for 1841 shows an eagle preying on a dragon above the waves - a heraldic depiction of Robert Hampton Gray’s final action when he pressed home his attack on the Japanese destroyer Amakusa, sinking her in Onagawa Bay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472147871-GYL3EAB8DAU0J5A5RMY7/news_06212008_6.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out This photo showing the aftermath of a Kamikaze strike on HMS Formidable two months before Gray’s final flight. It also shows our team the placement of the ship deck code code (the letter “X” was worn by all aircraft aboard Formidable) and that there seems to be no set position for the Royal Navy titles aft of the roundel. In other RN photos in the Pacific Theatre, these titles are in varying positions. The ship deck code was also painted on the deck of RN carriers to prevent returning aircraft from landing on the wrong carrier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472183558-S0Q6A4W6UT0SW0VMD9V1/news_06212008_7.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out A dramatic photograph from the forward deck of HMS Formidable shows her crew dealing with the chaos of the Kamikaze strike. Forward of the island, stands a Corsair that might be Corsair 115 safe from the fires and destruction on the after deck. If this is No. 115, it would still not be the airframe flown by Gray as that aircraft (KD658) was delivered from baby flattop HMS Arbiter the next month. Perhaps this one was lost or damaged after the date of the Kamikaze strike and before delivery of KD658 or received a new number later. RN photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472242111-J6L2DW2Q84M4A3DNQ5CW/news_06212008_8.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out A good view of another RN Corsair from HMS Colossus gives us an idea that we are on the right track when it comes to creating an accurate depiction of Robert Hampton Gray’s Fleet Air Arm Corsair. The vertical white line between the two “2”s is to show the pilot when dismounting where the foot step is - out of view from the cockpit because of the curvature of the fuselage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472271242-MLG6TDTQ894EAKYXAJUF/news_06212008_9.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The first stage of the transformation was to place Royal Navy roundels over the US stars allowing the bars to protrude beyond. The Royal Navy allowed the bars to be combined with the traditional roundel to reduce any confusion for US flyers not familiar with the roundel. In addition the red centre normally found at the heart of the roundel was eliminated as it might have been confused for the Hino Maru - the Japanese Rising Sun symbol (known to Navy flyers as a Meatball) found on Imperial Navy aircraft. Here Rodney Groulx heats the roundel vinyl to allow it to adhere better. High-tech Control-Tac vinyl with a microscopic grid of cuts allows the decal to be laid over compound curves and complex shapes without distortion or crimping. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472315577-ARUXUD4NF7TZQGN584CW/news_06212008_10.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Standing back for a look, the roundels on the fuselage are very effective in creating an immediate transformation from US Navy to Royal Navy. The two fuselage roundels were laid down first to test the colour and the concept of simply covering the US markings to make them into RN ones. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472345288-S94POXO6U6H4NCAXHYFL/news_06212008_11.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out For nearly a week, while the other livery components were being cut, the Vintage Wings Corsair wore a dual identity - perhaps the only Royal United States Navy Corsair ever! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472376156-51M0GUJIOH8Z1BDN8I6J/news_06212008_12.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Barefoot and belt buckle-less, Ottawa Police Constable Frank Perron lays carefully across the leading edge of the Corsair’s wing to lay down the second half of the roundel. Great care had to be taken to avoid cutting or stepping on the thin-skinned fabric panels that make up the aft half of the Corsair’s wing. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472415281-GTIQ8EOYRNJT5NFM9U8G/news_06212008_13.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out When Mike Potter, President of the Vintage Wings of Canada Foundation, saw the Corsair for the first time with her four new roundels, he stared at her for a long time and then quietly, almost reverently, said “She’s one of ours now.” In this unique angle, we can see that it was not just a matter of laying down a simple vinyl sticker. The larger 5 foot diameter wing roundels had to be placed down in two overlapping halves on both metal and fabric, over access panels, hinges and warning placards. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472476024-HC360G93OXWQ57H8YCD2/news_06212008_14.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The final touches begin. Dave O’Malley and Albert Prisner lay down Hampton Gray’s famous 115 numerals late on a Friday night. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472511370-MGK02NOG0TJN5PMNHHUN/news_06212008_15.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out On May 22nd, 2008 at around 2200 hours at Gatineau, Quebec, Robert Hampton Gray’s spirit was released into the light of the overhead vapour lamps at Vintage Wings - nearly 63 years after winning the Victoria Cross. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472550888-U37VL4K1179WN6I2BIAQ/news_06212008_16.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The final touch. The words “Royal Navy KD658“ - the Royal Navy serial of Gray’s last aircraft are placed reverently on the fuselage aft of the roundels. To Canadians, a Corsair is not a fighting Corsair until it wears roundels and the words “Royal Navy” on her flanks. Here Prisner and O’Malley position this last element of Gray’s identity. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472587598-JVVL8KSDPB9H6K68NOH9/news_06212008_17.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out Et voilà! Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray is honoured in a very special way. As Gray cranked engine on the fateful last day of his life, he could never have guessed that more than six decades later men twice his age would gather together to tell the story of that day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633472622997-VMB0S3M8R3OR35NGO8AH/news_06212008_18.jpg The Stories - THE ROYAL TREATMENT - Make it stand out The story can now be told in living colour. Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Paul Kissmann (facing camera), fresh from his first solo in the Corsair at our June Open House event, stands before a crowd of Canadians and tells the story of Robert Hampton Gray - one of ours. Mission Accomplished! Photo: Pierre Lapprand, Vintage Wings of Canada, Photo of Gray: Library and Archives Canada https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/cold-gold monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470595322-F9GL76N7F6SMOH3UH4XB/Cold+Gold.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470728040-ABTZTHJYSA93SLGTVQ2F/Cold+Gold2.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann lays down a dirty pass with all the laundry showing and sneaks a happy peek at the assembled members of the Vintage Wings of Canada family. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470770183-F3QP560M3XH4MC267KB6/Cold+Gold3.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out After the dirty pass, Paul lifts the laundry into the hamper and accelerates westward against an almost unreal sky. The boys at Cold Lake's Hawk One Paint Team have done a marvellous job and Vintage Wings thanks the Canadian Armed Forces for their strong and willing support. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470802585-3DJGQWNPAYOXF4VVCIF8/Cold+Gold13.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Kissmann touches down in an Arctic scene after a long journey from Sault Ste Marie. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470880759-STFVAC1FYJZ5UMZF8ANQ/Cold+Gold7.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Rolling out on the landing run, Kissmann and Hawk One are obscured from view by several feet of snow lying over the airport. In the background, the first small rollers of the Gatineau Hills rise to the north. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470923360-WIAZJ2FX25AVQUCT7Y6Q/Cold+Gold4.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Crossing the taxiway on the rollout, Hawk One comes into photographer Peter Handley's view finder. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471011367-WPM5NF50XPT4LJEYJA4F/Cold+Gold5.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Back-tracking down the runway and on to the taxi strip, Hawk One's Orenda spews clouds of kerosene blue and gouts of super heated air - so much more obvious in the minus 27 degree temperature. The Orenda engines still do the job perfectly - a testament to their original design. The folks at Orenda are an important sponsor and continue to support us with overhaul, test and technical help. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471058656-OVM1LZNZCWH180H2AFXW/Cold+Gold14.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Kissmann gives groundcrew two hearty victory fist pumps as he comes to a halt outside the Vintage Wings Hangar. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471094708-ASOW8QE1B46C5QO43GWE/Cold+Gold19.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Kissmann wasn't alone during the trip - he was accompanied by the hula-dancing mascot on the "dashboard" - there throughout the Hawk One rebuild and test flying. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471134312-STGGCZSJI84FUJISY7JP/Cold+Gold6.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Vintage Wings Founder and President takes Kissmann's helmet as he greets him at the ramp. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471168937-LZQ3SVMZRAV4BEL2G6HN/Cold+Gold8.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Vintage Wings mechanics dressed in Canadian Winter Battle Dress hook up Hawk One to manoeuvre her for a photo opportunity. All other mechanics are wimps compared to the Canadian variety. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471203431-679CD261DARX2TXDV7AU/Cold+Gold9.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out One look at her magnificent paint and one has to marvel at the guys who originally designed this paint scheme way back in 1958 - there has never been a better aerobatic team livery anywhere in the world. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471273393-PUKHSWF741TNMGJP2573/Cold+Gold20.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Another view of Hawk One against the steel doors of the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471307221-HW1DZF236TEA7EO48NB8/Cold+Gold15.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out In Canada, we have a saying for days like today - they are "colder than a well-digger's ass". But today was warm in every other respect - burning blue skies, warm handshakes, hot aircraft and blazing speed. Vintage Wings AMEs get the mule out and prepare to give Hawk One some respite from the cold. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471343719-PAUJJ05XHKMV70B4AZA5/Cold+Gold18.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Half in her home and half in the cold heart of a Canadian winter day - you have to love it!! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471369765-6V6C3QIF8SAV40ZJFZZ9/Cold+Gold10.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out One look says it all - happiness, pride, accomplishment, excitement and friendship - Mike Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada shares his emotions with the gang at the hangar. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471412373-FIXAJAO8WRW8YAUQNSOB/Cold+Gold11.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Wasting no time, VWoC crew chiefs are all over Hawk One. Once the big doors are opened on a -27 day, the hangar becomes -27 too. It takes hours to reheat the hangar and the team must wear outdoor protective gear until the temperature rises. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471451608-32DJ0W5QA8X4B9GA8JSX/Cold+Gold12.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Kissmann and Potter talk shop on the wings of the newly arrived Hawk. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633471491667-9CVZ2KBZYYS3QS2RNYGU/Cold+Gold16.jpg The Stories - COLD GOLD - Make it stand out Thanks guys - your work is magnificent!!! Under the drop-down leading edge slat could be found the signature to their masterpiece. Photo Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/born-again-kittyhawk monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469484837-KOV607IZQ3R4AY7Q237F/KittyTitle.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469580814-5VMLIYPLG4LCS9GZA6S3/Kitty6.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out A few months ago, the work was really coming together. Here we saw her for the first time with her camouflage paint. The brass 3-cylinder cooler array can be clearly seen. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469612644-VJF3V8LBQC5N52MGTOIF/Kitty7.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out A close up of the cooler array housing shows us the excellence of the workmanship and quality of the finish. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469653673-B9FWCYAXBT1RB5ZTFAF8/Kitty9.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Stocky's office. The instrument panel shows an early mock-up of the cover for the radio panel (false oxygen panel - shown in black cardboard at very centre of panel. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469729817-7L0QEYE5S613MYLGG0JU/Kitty2.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Pilot Frank Parker turns over the Allison prior to her first flight while Pioneer Aero staff stand by with fire extinguishers. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469762342-0ZBS32ERCN99D2OBMAE4/Kitty3.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Parker taxies the Kittyhawk out to the Ardmore runway. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469992947-WDCQCCGFCTYUB37IVCGW/Kitty4.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Just a milli-second before leaving the earth behind for the first time in 65 years. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470038253-AWE5BBG34B9S04K185W1/Kitty11.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out A view of the same moment taken from the other side. With the Allison roaring, Parker lifts off the runway into history. Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470075757-9R3A9Y4CFF6766ZNUCK2/Kitty5.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out First take-off in 65 years. Frank Parker climbs out into the New Zealand sky. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470106066-FRIZA0IE58K0B8SQBDTE/Kitty8.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Frank Parker takes her down the runway line with gear down. Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470136387-KXYKNF43MJN8TO5O073H/Kitty10.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Her first landing. The flight was a total success in every respect with all temperatures and pressures in the green. Parker noted that it's the sweetest Allison he ever sat behind. The prop governed well and all systems worked the way they should. Bravo Pioneer! Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470193604-LN6SAFC1AHK4UIVGG5Z8/Kitty14.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out After a touch and go, Parker starts collecting the gear while the sun glints from the engine cowling. Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470222470-YE37ORXSWNB9LM8E0LZF/Kitty15.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Approaching to land, we see the impressive and iconic nose of this beautiful aircraft. Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470253583-BEDRGQBK0T1WNAXHX0ZH/Kitty16.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out A perfect side view as Parker accelerates after a low pass with gear down. Photo: Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470288484-5ZJF4IYO99S4FXT5TIF8/Kitty17.jpg The Stories - BORN AGAIN KITTYHAWK - Make it stand out Touchdown to full stop. Photo: Colin Hunter https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/postcards-from-comox monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002957794-35YONDYFLAHY9XY0G1LF/ComoxTitle.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003047624-IVG22GV41TPTH48UK232/Comox2.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Tim Leslie smokes a perfect landing at 19 Wing Comox on a beautiful sunny day after crossing a whole country's worth of clag. His touchdown signalled the start of Hawk One Team work-ups for the Centennial of Flight show - opening for the Snowbirds. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003081838-2QSNW2B009BBMXBZQ72Y/Comox3.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Leslie taxies up the ramp trailing a plume of super-heated air mixed with the sweet, sweet smell of jet fuel. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003119867-EA1WP3AL0TTCQTK855QF/Comox4.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Hawk One team mechanics were standing by as Tim shuts down. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003155416-8B82FAAYNISGTUEDFGTA/Comox5.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Tim Leslie, the man who dreamed up the whole idea for Hawk One, stretches his legs after a few hours sitting strapped to a legend. His pride and joy are evident in that big Huntsville smile. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003194423-70YPVDLEWLGORHSVXTAB/Comox30.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Hawk One Hand Off - Symbolic of the project itself, Leslie hands the reins of the Sabre over to Team Lead Steve Will who will be doing the lion's share of the workups along with Paul Kissmann of Vintage Wings of Canada. It is one thing to have dreams, but it is another to pull them through. Steve Will and Paul Kissmann... and their group of professionals are responsible for turning this dream into reality. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003303115-YC0XCVUSEB9M7MWO0B3O/Comox6-1.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Hawk One crew members prepare to hook the Sabre to a tow vehicle. The Hawk One look is authentic right down to the white coveralls that were also worn by the original Golden Hawks maintainers. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003339085-OA4UCM024A54ZP3E5G7L/Comox7.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Some of the Hawk One Team on hand for Leslie's arrival pose for an impromptu group shot. Back row L-R: Team Coordinator Dominic Taillon, Public Affairs Officer Mary Lee, Team Coordinator Réal Turgeon, Lead Coordinator Jeff Hill, Team Lead Steve Will, Pilot Tim Leslie. Front Row L-R: AME Tony Forster, and Crew Chief: Dave Scharf . Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633003424324-WIF0VS19TB341F27MA9T/Comox8.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Dave Scharf tops her up. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633007269404-KF30X2KH96UARIJCDFR8/Comox9.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Steve Will fires up Hawk One during a training session the following day. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130703010-I64R0OU2JTMJ9CNGD2AT/Comox10.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Young red-suited Snowbirds listen intently as two former Snowbird leads (Steve Will and Dan Dempsey - now Hawk One pilots) discuss details of the upcoming training flight where Hawk One will join with the Snowbirds for the first time. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130749705-9LNCI8S0LYCA81LJ31YQ/Comox11.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Steve Will anxiously awaits the start of a training flight. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130779236-FH9PYCNFBTNSQ53QNUHE/Comox12.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Steve Will brings Hawk One in for a solo pass. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130809707-ZL2W2C3AK1V10R3JU1TC/Comox13.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out The striking gold of the Golden Hawks paint scheme shows beautifully against the blue sky of Vancouver Island. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130849529-6VNX72SV33M51XN7P5XK/Comox14.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Sucking air in through the front and blowing history out the back, Hawk One screams overhead. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130899224-7WW6VP1CW3E02QQR6SJP/Comox15.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Photographer Derek Heyes captures a few birds with one well placed camera lens - Hawk One, 9 Snowbirds and a bald eagle - wondering what all the fuss is about. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633130936559-IIY1TYPYBP62H5W3C26V/Comox16.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Each combined Hawk One/Snowbirds show will begin with the Snowbirds escorting Hawk One to centre stage. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633131322564-JVXNCFH71PSTA4Q5SQU9/Comox17.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Celebrating 100 years of flight in Canada this year is going to be a lot of fun for spectators lucky enough to catch the full show. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633131263998-SQQ6ZBL4C2V5Q5SE9LTS/Comox18.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out From a Snowbird chase aircraft, a Canadian Forces Combat Cameraman snags a shot across the pilot's seat of Hawk One over the Strait of Georgia. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468694374-L3EW4UP7OMTV0WGAYRW2/Comox19.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Throughout the week, Hawk One practised with the Snowbirds. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468758187-5O0P5V5WOP77I6LB053B/Comox20.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468784942-K998YS6JM4TA2AA21RJJ/Comox21.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out In tight to the formation, we can see that the Snowbirds are also sporting a new logo on their tails - the Centennial of Flight logo designed for all of Canada by Vintage Wings. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468826904-DDPT8PCSYVKDVGQ9AAIW/Comox22.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out The Snowbirds and Hawk One were not the only game in town this week. The CF-18 Hornet demo bird known as the "Century Hornet" was there for work-ups as well. She also wears the Centennial logo on her tails along with the spectacular paint scheme designed by Jim Beliveau. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468856429-M9N3RTT48UY32SNEYNB4/Comox23.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out The top surfaces of the Hornet's wings evoke images of snow and ice and even migrating birds - the best ever Hornet paint scheme many believe. Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468897186-C3499Z35RJ9GVVQVATOO/Comox24.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468926786-5DXKSOC4EY36ILXAQNV1/Comox25.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Photo: Derek Heyes. www.hazersflightline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468955433-0DH1WQZ3DFB0GF1CIJZX/Comox27.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out A beautiful sun-drenched photo of Hawk One shows that she too is sporting a tail emblazoned with the 100th Anniversary logo. Beyond her lay the Coastal Range of mountains. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633468984670-JHF5QCTXXHLCBNPCWDJT/Comox26.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Streaking across the mountainous interior of Vancouver Island, the team shows the perfect precision that is the hallmark of the Snowbirds. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469013511-1MH8V7CD5DJ1QZTQVTX9/Comox28.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Dancing where the wild blue yonder meets the wide open sea. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633469077935-SQPXD8XHUHLEO237FDUZ/Comox29.jpg The Stories - ONE HAWK, NINE BIRDS — Postcards From Comox - Make it stand out Enough said. Photo: Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/born-to-lead-hrhbe monthly 0.5 2021-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625833690673-WTXL8DDRR335IY3BAELJ/VirtuesFlash.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788195498-O6GTFVR96BDQB74IAGC0/Values00.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788316474-D097E6APNWVOG9IIDWSP/Values001.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788441618-1PJR7GT3BGEAMJQTSQ4C/Values009.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788508699-E3YHVVVPSF3MYSWN21FO/Values004.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788584731-2E6ZXWVSBCKRI6Y9NAIS/Values005.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788646071-KRJIOWEEU8I8KXEJX9K5/Values002.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625788792056-X93OZP0L8LI2RV85K0ZJ/VALUES14.jpg The Stories - In Search of Lost Values - Make it stand out Portrait of his mentor. Wing Commander Adrian Warburton, DSO and bar, DFC and Two Bars, Bill Carr’s commanding officer at 683 Squadron. The son of a naval officer, Warburton was born in England, and christened on board a submarine in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta. Below his decorations (DSO, DFC and 2 bars), on his left breast pocket, Warburton wears “The Order of the Winged Boot”, an unofficial award given to airmen who had been shot down and forced to return to their base on foot or by other means. Warburton became one of the most successful and best-known aerial-reconnaissance pilots of the Second World War while flying sorties from Malta and North Africa in 1941–1943. Photo via the Imperial War Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wild-man monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625834921875-RJP1AQJTD77B3XJC2E20/WildmanFlash2.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776014865-9KATUYOH4GK5XG4ETDAJ/Wildman58.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out John (left) and Chris Magee, fighter pilot cousins—both American, both trained by the Royal Canadian Air Force, both poets and writers fighting at opposite ends of the earth. One died, one lived, but both would become legends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776087804-YTPQ1R7X5G0U46WXY82T/Wildman53.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The two cousins could trace their lineage to Christopher Lyman Magee, a prominent Pittsburgh businessman and an influential member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for Allegheny County, his brother Frederick McNichol Magee, a Pittsburgh lawyer and his half-brother Edward Simpson Magee. Frederick McNichol Magee was the father of John Gillespie Magee Sr., the highly-educated Christian missionary whose son was John Gillespie Magee Jr. of High Flight fame. Among Frederick McNichol Magee’s seven children was another Christopher Lyman Magee (a boy who died at the age of 7 years in 1878) and James McDevitt Magee, an early American aviator and perhaps the avuncular inspiration that led to the cousins Chris and John Magee becoming flyers. To make things even more confusing, Frederick McNichol Magee’s half-brother Edward Simpson Magee was the father of another Frederick McNichol Magee—the father of the future Marine ace Christopher Lyman Magee. Clearly the family selected names from a very short list and had a tradition of second names being derived from surnames of friends and business associates (McNichol, Simpson, McDevitt etc.). Confused? So was I. Photo: legis.state.pa.us https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776230289-EQ4P4UGL430LOOJGHBYD/Wildman29.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Two photos of Chris Magee taken during his training—one in Canada, one in the United States. On the right, Magee is photographed in front of a Fairchild PT-19 in full leathers at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa Oklahoma. Magee started his flight training as a member of the United States Army in April 1941 but felt that since the US was not in the war he would build the minimum of 35 hours flying time required to join the RCAF through the Clayton Knight Committee route. Once he made his 35 hours, he feigned incompetence and washed out, making his way to Canada. At left, in January of 1942, a young Magee strikes a confident pose while flight training on Fleet Finch open cockpit biplanes at No. 21 Elementary Flying Training School at Chatham, New Brunswick. Photos: Lost Black Sheep—The Search of WWII Ace Chris Magee by Robert T. Reed via Google book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776301133-HCUTJY0604FDBENR93A1/Wildman25.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Two photographs of the Magee cousins taken as they began their pilot training as Leading Aircraftmen (LACs) of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The confident and challenging face of Chris Magee (left) contrasts with the boyish innocence and open face of his cousin John. Chris would do his Elementary Flying Training at No. 21 EFTS in Chatham, New Brunswick, while John completed his at No. 9 EFTS in St. Catharines, Ontario. Photos: Left: Google books; Right: From the Magee Family Archive/Yale divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776359981-CCKMQ7KA3P1WLYYJV9WD/Wildman28.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out In these photos of the young Magees during the Service Flying phase of their pilot training, Chris (left) at No. 9 SFTS Summerside, Prince Edward Island, and John (right) at No. 2 SFTS, Uplands in Ottawa pose with the Harvard II training aircraft in which they would earn their wings. Chris is already demonstrating his sartorial independence wearing two non-regulation sweaters and light coloured footwear. In his wedge cap, Chris Magee wears the white ribbon flash an aircrew student in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. This was worn by student pilots, navigators, flight engineers, gunners, radio operators and bomb aimers. Photos: Left: Google books; Right: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776501541-STE26OR72SROMB1M3KI6/Wildman59.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out One of seven such training facilities across Canada, No. 3 Initial Training Facility was housed in Collège du Sacré-Coeur, a former seminary in Victoriaville, Québec. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776631427-PDGOKXD2FLQ431CWU3MQ/Wildman61.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The stubby, barrel-chested Grumman wildcat was the mainstay fighter for the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the South Pacific in the opening months of the Second World War. Outclassed in terms of performance and manœuvrability by its arch enemy the Mitsubishi Zero, the aircraft nonetheless was able to serve with distinction due to its ruggedness and the creation of defensive tactics like the Thach Weave. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776699420-2R24HVXTMBNANPUK6SBX/Wildman64.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A US Navy Grumman Wildcat banks over the starboard side of the USS Wolverine (IX-64) lying at anchor on Lake Michigan in 1943, while another Wildcat rips down the port side. The two were likely putting on a display for some event as witnessed by the ship’s crew formed up in dress whites on her deck. For the full story on Lake Michigan’s land-locked paddle-wheeler carriers click here. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776787291-8J7KX3LIT8P4WNFRBRYY/Wildman56.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee left for the South Pacific in June of 1943 aboard the former French liner Maréchal Joffre. This armed US Navy troopship had been taken by the US in the Philippines after the fall of France, modified and renamed Rochambeau after Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the French nobleman who had led the French troops in George Washington’s revolutionary army. Photo via eBay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776886119-2389907QFM8PP7BQNLUO/Wildman38.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A squadron photo of VMF-214 personnel, taken at the Turtle Bay fighter airstrip on Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, where they formed up. On the day Frank Walton reported for duty as the squadron’s Intelligence Officer, he found them busy getting ready to pose for a squadron photograph. The men are not wearing any flying equipment or even flight suits, and because Frank Walton is not in this photo, I think that this photo was the one from Walton’s first day—7 September 1943. Chris Magee is fourth from the left in the front row. Photo: USMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625776973071-74QLEGOHXM9BQR8B65LL/Wildman39.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A close-up from the previous photo shows Chris Magee (centre in front row) looking confident and ready to fight the Japanese. Among other things, Magee was known for carrying a set of weights with him wherever he moved in the South Pacific and, in this photo, this is evidenced by his broad shoulders. Photo: USMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777060497-ORYCCVUG9LKUUFBX1UX5/Wildman23.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out While they were assembling and getting to know each other on Espiritu Santo, the squadron was visited by public relations teams, photographing and filming “operations” by the squadron. This was likely because of the celebrity of Boyington, their new commander, who had been a Flying Tigers ace. Above, a well-circulated and staged photo of the Black Sheep shows them scrambling to their Corsairs on Espiritu Santo, even before they got into actual combat with the Japanese. Photo: USMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777129131-W7BQBBENV2ZZVCZGZYUF/Wildman42.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Shortly after the visit from the film crews, Chris Magee (left) and Bob McClurg haul a trunk to a stack of gear on Espiritu Santo, getting ready for the move to a forward operating base in the Russell Island group. It is evident from the more permanent summer camp-like qualities of the hooches, known as “Dallas Huts” and white coral streets that Espiritu Santo was not too close to the front lines. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777176200-535E8K8MDAX3DZKKGQB4/Wildman83.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The Turtle Bay fighter airfield on Espiritu Santo island where VMF-214 began their legendary ascent to become the most successful Marine fighter squadron of the war. There were a number of bomber and fighter strips on Espiritu Santo—the Turtle Bay strip, built in just 20 days in July 1942, was the first. Within a relatively short period of time “Santo” was developed to host five fighter and bomber airfields, a seaplane base, three hospitals, 10 small camps and 32 miles of paved road. The protected waters of Segond Canal (channel) provided anchorage for close to 100 ships and just across the channel, Aore Island was developed into a central military recreation facility featuring, among other things, more than 30 cinemas! Photo and information via SantoTravel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777246460-YTVMWKLU9JECTL3UUZ4N/Wildman45.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The new pilots of VMF-214 hanging out at the beach on Espiritu Santo, or perhaps at the Aore Island Fleet Recreation Center a few kilometres from Turtle Bay. Chris Magee stands at left. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777334919-URS00IL7R7MIP6BM7XGZ/Wildman78.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Munda airfield on New Georgia—looking to the east. This photo was taken in 1944, after the Marines and others had moved on, largely abandoning the airfield. Photo: asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777440899-K5RG5JOPFG133L1MUSI3/Wildman44.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee poses with the sign for the open-air chapel at Vella Lavella. Maravari is a spot on the southeast coast of Vella Lavella Island in the Solomons where, on 19 December 1943, Americans and New Zealanders dedicated a war cemetery for those who died taking the island from the Japanese. Perhaps this photo dates to this event, which was during the second combat tour for the Black Sheep. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777550594-YOFYTJPBNDNR2LHMF04C/Wildman48.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out When compiling this story about Magee, it took many weeks of searching the web for images of him and his activities. As with many of these stories, I make a point of including every photo that I come across, even though it may not reveal that much about his story. I do this so that others who, in the future, are searching for images and information about my subject (in this case Magee) may have a much easier time. This photo of Chris Magee standing next to the blade of a Corsair’s Hamilton Standard propeller does not tell us much, but it adds to the total picture. I believe it to be possibly from his first combat tour as the condition of his clothing looks better. He is wearing, as always, his blue bandana knotted around his neck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777637396-D7Y6YXYXF45WW7H7FRY8/Wildman80.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A rare original colour photograph of a VMF-214 Corsair being serviced at Vella Lavella’s Barakoma Airfield. Note the condition of the paint on this aircraft which really can’t be much older than six months, maybe less. The extreme heat, unrelenting ultraviolet rays and coral dust played havoc with paint, fabric coverings and mechanical systems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777698933-5I2T9RCLOW2NEON72I84/Wildman54.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A powerful portrait of Chris Magee, from December 1943, dramatically posed against the white star on his Corsair, possibly at the time of the award of his Navy Cross. The mimeographed caption (designed to help newspapers in Chicago and elsewhere by having the caption ready to go) on the back of this photo reads: “Dashing through a heavy barrage of ack-ack fire, First Lieutenant Christopher L. Magee, a former Royal Canadian Air Force flier and now a Marine fighter pilot, shot down two Japanese dive bombers on September 18 over Vella Lavella in the Northern Solomon Islands. Lieutenant Magee ignored the heavy firing which was slashing through his wings, and continued his dive to knock down the two enemy planes. Lieutenant Magee, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Magee, 919 East 50th Street, Chicago, Illinois, enlisted in the Navy after being transferred from the R.C.A.F. on May 8, 1942 and won his Marine wings December 15 of the same year. A graduate of Mount Carmel High School in June 1935, he later attended the University of Chicago where he played freshman year varsity football”. It is interesting to note that Magee is not wearing his otherwise constant blue bandana/kerchief, perhaps at the request of the Marine Corps photographer or public relations specialist. Photo: USMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777785343-UCZOGWFAL350XIRSY1D4/Wildman22.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out In late September of 1943, George Weller, a war correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, landed at Munda when bad weather prevented his transport aircraft from its intended destination at General McArthur’s headquarters in Australia. On finding out from Frank Walton, the squadron’s Intelligence Officer that there were several Corsair pilots from the Windy City on squadron, he asked Walton if he might interview them. The three (left to right), Lieutenants Bruce Matheson, Jim Hill and Chris Magee pose happily with one of the squadron’s Corsairs. It is possible that this photo was taken at the time of Weller’s stories. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777830372-OHD8Q3157O2VCCPTR38S/Wildman14.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Taken around the beginning of October 1943, this photo shows a very tired and war weary Black Sheep squadron in the Russell Island group. They have just lost one fellow pilot, while four others are MIA or recovering from wounds in hospital. Back Row, from left: John Begert, Bob Bragdon, Don Fisher, Bruce Matheson, Jim Hill, and George Ashmun. Third Row, from left: Chris Magee, Don Moore, Hank Bourgeois, Burney Tucker, Warren Emrich, and John Bolt. Second Row, from left: Paul Mullen, Bill Heier, Virgil Ray, Ed Harper, Bob McClurg, and Sandy Sims. Front row, from left: Bill Case, Frank Walton, Stan Bailey, Greg Boyington, Jim Reames (the flight surgeon), and Ed Olander. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777902681-10F43FAUOYF5SYNDB4EX/Wildman15.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the men in the previous photo shows no real smiles among the men, and even a look of frustration for having to pose yet again for another PR photo. Magee at left in third row, Frank Walton, the future author of Once They Were Eagles in front with ball cap. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625777943895-3T1N6NOLPBDUHO39XW3R/Wildman16.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625781747238-G24C9OXOKYCYK29WDDOQ/Wildman17.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out During their first combat tour, while on the island of Vella Lavella, the Black Sheep’s Intelligence Officer Frank Walton wrote to the Commissioner of Baseball with a proposition. The Black Sheep, said Walton, were in dire need of sun-shading ball caps due to the humid weather which quickly destroyed their military-issue caps. He promised that his squadron’s pilots would shoot down a Japanese aircraft for each cap sent to them. Only the St. Louis Cardinal organization of the National League responded, sending dozens of caps, and getting lots of PR points in return. Here, Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington (right) pretends to take a stack of Cardinals caps from Chris Magee who accepts a fan of Imperial Japanese Navy “kill marking” decals in return—a staged photo if there ever was one. Both pilots are slick with sweat in the super-heated and humid weather of a Solomon Islands summer. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625781801138-6ET62Z1SPPVB9EB5IQ29/Wildman02.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625781845638-NZCH2HQUWBG4FOCM8JLI/Wildman01.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out On the palm-covered island of Vella Lavella, pilots and officers of VMF-214 Black Sheep pose for a public relations photograph, each wearing a newly-acquired ball cap from the St. Louis Cardinals. In the front row of the lower photo, each of the squadron’s aces or “sluggers” also holds a baseball bat. Front row with bats (Left to right): Chris “Wildman” Magee, Bob McClurg, Bob “Moon” Mullen, Greg “Pappy” Boyington, John “Blot” Bolt and Don “Mo” Fisher. On the wings: (Left to right): Sanders “Sandy” Sims, George Ashmun, Bruce “Mat” Matheson, Jim Hill, Ed “Oli” Olander, Bob Bragdon, Frank “Waldo” Walton, Ed “Harpo” Harper, Warren Emrich, Bill “Junior” Heier, Burney Tucker, Don Moore, Jim Reames, and Denmark “Quill Skull” Groover. I believe this was taken just before or immediately after their R&R at Sydney, Australia at the end of October 1943, for none of the 21 new pilots who joined them on Espiritu Santo on 19 November are in the photograph, nor are the two aces Bill Case and Hank McCartney, who left the squadron after the first tour. There are websites that claim that this photo was taken in late December of 1943, but I doubt they would have excluded so many pilots from the photograph. Photos: Top: donholloway.com; Bottom: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625781904201-G6HGRT3OCTX61LIZBZI3/Wildman46.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Following their first 6-week combat tour in the Solomons, pilots of the Black Sheep squadron were given a much-needed and much-anticipated week of R&R in Sydney, Australia (“exclusive of travel time”). Here, Lieutenants Chris Magee (top) and Bill Case try to rest above stowed cargo aboard a US Navy Douglas RD4 (C-47 Dakota), likely en route to Sydney as the two are wearing ties and pressed shirts in anticipation of their holiday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625781989883-CS4FJPWDR4FH840N9MG7/Wildman30.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out At the start of their Second Tour in mid-November 1943, the 21 remaining Black Sheep pilots and officers of VMF-214 from the first tour were joined by 21 new pilots on Espiritu Santo and then moved to Vella Lavella where they were based for the entirety of the second tour. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782055058-KSOJBIZ46T4TH20Z815Z/Wildman13.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee with his omnipresent blue bandana tied around his neck is centre of the middle row. Boyington is third from right in front. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782110253-OPMGWD939BQUSY8MLBGD/Wildman40.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out In a quiet spell during their second combat tour, a small group of pilots and officers outside the operations tent at Vella Lavella offer no hint of the stresses of continuous combat flying. Chris Magee stands second from right. His upper body shows the effects of his weight-lifting and body-building. Squatting (left to right): Bruce Matheson, Burney Tucker and Harry Johnson. Sitting at left: Perry Lane. Standing: Denmark Groover, Ed Olander, Bob McClurg, Jim Reames (ducking), Glen Bowers, Fred Losch, Ned Corman, Jim Hill, Bill Hobbs, Magee and Ed Harper. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782165408-AQTWC3QACCYOE1VITBFB/Wildman81.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Vella Lavella airfield, 10 December 1943. Visible are U.S. Marine Corps Vought F4U-1 Corsairs, Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats, a Douglas SBD Dauntless, and RNZAF Curtiss Kittyhawks on the primitive runway which was seized in the summer of 1943 and served as a base of operations to support landings by Allied forces in the Treasury Islands and at Cape Torokina, Bougainville. The swift advance of Allied forces in the South Pacific soon bypassed Vella Lavella and the airfield ceased operations in September 1944, less than a year after the first aircraft arrived. Photo/caption: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782287496-I7SZO59YHZGVMP8NEXVJ/Wildman08.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A poor photo of a wary, Nosferatu-like Chris Magee in the cockpit of a Chance Vought Corsair (833) in one of the South Pacific bases VMF-214 operated from—Vella Lavella, Mundi or perhaps Espiritu Santo. A Corsair, painted in the same markings as 833 now hangs from the ceiling of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: acesofww2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782352323-JHP36KC7CU832QFIAP9U/Wildman09.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Thanks to historic photo colourist Craig Kelsay of We, the People Restoration and Colorization, we have a more revealing look at a series of public relations photos taken of Black Sheep pilots, many from the second combat tour. Here, a number of Black Sheep aces are grouped together, likely later in VMF-214’s combat history and possibly after their commander Greg Boyington’s capture (it seems likely that he would have been in this shot with the other aces had he been there). As the photographer snaps the picture, the six pilots turn toward someone off camera and laugh. Left to right: Back row: Lieutenant Pail “Moon” Mullen (6.5 victories), Lieutenant John Bolt (6 victories), Lieutenant Bob McClurg (7 victories). Front: Lieutenant Edwin Olander (5 victories), Chris “Wildman” Magee (9 victories), Lieutenant Donald H. “Mo” Fisher (6 victories). Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782401550-F6EOI14ID50LN5VWCAIA/Wildman21.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo provides us an intimate look at the man known as “Wildman” to his squadron mates. We see Chris’ signature blue bandana tied around his neck, a fashion accessory he was never seen without—often tied around his head in do-rag fashion. Photo: Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782463643-DHH48PJYT6W44VXOWHA4/Wildman05.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Magee’s third and final South Pacific combat tour was with VMF-211, the Wake Island Avengers, on Green Island between Bougainville and New Ireland. This and the following photograph may depict Magee and three of his former Black Sheep squadron mates there in early 1944 hamming it up with “pilot hands”. Magee, at right wears his signature blue bandana and now, a non-regulation goatee and mustache. Judging by the laughing facial expressions and the focus on Magee, he is the instigator of this set-up. Left to right: Lieutenant Robert W. “Bob” McClurg (7 victories), Lieutenant Jim Hill (1 victory), Lieutenant Junior Heier (4 victories) and Chris Magee. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782529473-YXK8FC5DKB81SWN5ESGA/Wildman43.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Another photo, taken at the same time and in front of the same VMF-211 aircraft as the previous shot, includes only Magee, Junior Heier and Jim Hill. Not sure what the connection is between these three that interested the public relations photographer, except that they were all former Black Sheep. Magee shows his non-conformist ways with his goatee, blue bandana and bowling shoes. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782587218-ZAOI0JUSVQYDAHRSJRHE/Wildman41.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee hams it up with a fellow pilot (possibly Jim Hill or Warren T. Emrich) in the chow line somewhere in the Solomons. It is clear from most of the photos of Magee that he was somehow different—the way he looked, the way he carried himself and the way he acted displayed a certain confidence and self-determination. It appears that in this photo, Magee is sporting the same goatee as seen in the previous image, leading me to believe that this photo also dates to his final tour with VMF-211. Photo via 214squadron.tumblr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782678862-R1TCNWS12RP8OJMQ02PO/Wildman24.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out When Magee returned to the United States after his third and last combat tour (with VMF-211), he found himself at Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he met and married his wife—a Navy nurse by the name of Mary Victoria “Molly” Cleary. Prior to Magee’s return to Miramar, California and eventual transport back to the Pacific with VMF-911, his first child was born—Christopher Lyman Magee Jr., who one day would become his father’s biographer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782727368-UK5JW9TCLKAHG7PUVBPX/Wildman03.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Following his three combat tours in the South Pacific (two with VMF-214 and one with VMF-211), he was sent stateside to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in South Carolina, there to join the Devilcats of VMF-911, the second Marine fighter squadron to be equipped with twin-engine fighters after VMF(N)-531, a night fighter unit. Here we see newly-promoted Captain Chris Magee standing in front of the starboard engine of a VMF-911 Grumman Tigercat on 1 June 1945 at Kinston Auxiliary Airfield. Photo: navypilotoverseas.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782809565-W73S0JW827Z385BUDQLR/Wildman60.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A photo of VMF-911 pilots waiting to take delivery of their new Grumman F7F Tigercats in February of 1945. I am not 100% certain, but the pilot standing at left in the stained flight suit looks like very much Chris Magee. If you look at the profile of Magee in the next photograph, you might agree with me. Regardless, he carries himself with a loose kind of composure befitting a pilot and ace of his experience. Photo: navypilotoverseas.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782861314-6CW0HPT3Q2UFUFL5UW54/Wildman76.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out In this photo, Magee (second from left), at head of line of VMF-911 pilots, looks rather bemused by the set-up. I’m not exactly certain what this photograph was supposed to convey, but it’s clear Magee thinks it was all a little awkward. Photo: navypilotoverseas.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782915724-C0TCB5DOOQEQ8353UBH2/Wildman63.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A photo of sailors and VMF-214 pilots overwhelmed with joy and hoisting Boyington to their shoulders after he got off the airplane at NAS Alameda. Chris Magee, now a Captain, can be seen at left. Photo: LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625782971535-XEZPALUMEYPXVU55IPDK/Wildman07.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out When Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington returned to San Francisco from a Japanese POW camp in late 1945, he was given a promotion and was welcomed by both the media and any former Black Sheep that were still serving in California, which turned out to be many. Here, after being greeted at the airfield, Boyington holds court in the bar at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel, regaling his adoring pilots, including Chris Magee at far left. Boyington was universally admired by his pilots, though, as a Black Sheep Pilot said, “His behaviour on the ground was not always exemplary”. In Frank Walton’s Once they Were Eagles, Black Sheep pilots said, almost to a man, that Boyington was “a tremendous combat leader”, “a dynamic leader” and that the unit was a “free-thinking, free-speaking” unit. With fellow Black Sheep aces Magee, Paul Mullen, Ed Olander and Bill Case with him at the bar, this seems a staged photo for the LIFE Magazine photographer. Photo: LIFE Magazine via Frank Walton Collection, Colourization by We, the People Restoration and Colorization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783033645-6RXJQHF2QB65QYYUD31A/Wildman75.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee (top left corner) looks on as fellow Black Sheep ace Bill Case entertains the boys at the bar of the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Photo: LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783079992-6OIQLAV2NL22VGI6TFE5/Wildman49.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out During his welcome home party at the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco in September of 1945, Greg “Pappy” Boyington hears a funny story from the squadron’s Chaplin, Padre Paetznick, of the tearful ceremony he conducted at Vella Lavella for their leader, who they thought might have been dead at the time. Between them in the background, Captain Chris Magee looks introspective and strangely subdued. Photo: LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783159063-HCVLG2GLKGQPLEGU0UUY/MaltaAces02.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Frederick George Beurling was in his career alternately called “Buzz” and “Screwball” by his colleagues, whose business it was to kill German airmen using the most sophisticated weapon of the time—the Supermarine Spitfire. Of all the Canadians who engaged in this grim business, Beurling was the most accomplished of all. There would be no one better at war’s end. Beurling was then, and is today, a figure that inspires conflicting impressions, opinions and feelings and the subject of legend, hero worship, bureaucratic manipulation and conspiracy theory. There is no denying the power of those ice-blue eyes that could spot the enemy long before he was spotted. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783235147-YZXSFI6784L46SQ11UST/Wildman50.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Leaving his recent bride and family behind, Chris Magee joined the Israeli Ai Force, hoping to relive his combat experiences from the South Pacific. First, he and a group of future Israeli fighter pilots were sent to Czechoslovakia to train on the Czech-built variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 known as the Avia S-199. This photo, taken in June 1948 during training at the Czech base at České Budějovice, shows Magee (left), with Jewish American fighter pilots George Lichter, Dave Etchells and Rudy Augarten. Etchells was a Canadian fighter pilot with 438 Squadron at the end of the war, flying Hawker Typhoons. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy after the Israeli war, flying many different types of aircraft but he was never allowed to wear the decorations he received from Israel on his Navy uniform as it was mercenary work. His bio in the definitive Canada's Naval Aviators does not include his time with the Haganah. Photo via conservativlib.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783276851-OMYGSZ6VMOF9FQAEJBBR/Wildman35.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Another important but low-resolution photo of Magee (standing at left) with volunteer pilots training in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia on the Avia S-199 variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Once trained on these aircraft, some of the pilots helped deliver them to Israel. Many of these men are legendary figures in the early history of the Israeli air Force. Photo: 101squadron.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783805607-CSQ8LFJYNIZZ51Y8CAVB/Wildman36.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783840641-NSQ43NFOAH3B9IGK7BBO/Wildman26.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783867615-8Y5BXAPIZG7LBZR90E3H/Wildman33.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee (standing second from left in bottom photo), wearing his signature bandana do-rag and a deep tan, cuts a swashbuckling figure in this casual group photo of pilots of the nascent Israeli Air Force’s 101 Squadron in early August of 1948. They pose with one of 23 Czech-built Avia S-199s used by the Israeli Air Force—a poor and underpowered development of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 that used the same Junkers Jumo 211 engine and distinctive, almost cartoonish, propeller found on the Heinkel He 111 bomber. The pilots are: Left to right, standing: Syd Cohen, Chris Magee, Giddy Lichtman (shirtless), Leon Frankel and Leo Nomis. Left to right on aircraft: Maury Mann, Ezer Weisman (reaching down), Red Finkel. On Wings: Bill Pomerantz, Sandy Jacobs and Syd Antin. Photos: 101squadron.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625783967345-XOETVPUFGF6AUM016MZQ/Wildman34.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out An Israeli Avia fighter. Israeli agents negotiated the purchase of Avia S-199s from the Czechoslovak government in defiance of an arms embargo that Israel faced at the time. 25 aircraft were obtained and all but two were eventually delivered. The first examples arrived on 20 May 1948, six days after Israel’s declaration of independence and five days after the commencement of hostilities by Egypt. Forming Israel’s first fighter squadron, they were assembled and sent into combat for the first time on 29 May, attacking the Egyptian army between Isdud and the Ad Halom bridge, south of Tel Aviv. A few days later, on 3 June, taking off from Herzliya Airport, the type scored the Israeli Air Force’s first aerial victories when Modi Alon shot down a pair of Royal Egyptian Air Force C-47s which had just bombed Tel Aviv. The type proved unreliable and performed poorly in combat. However, the maintenance and flying difficulties may have been exacerbated by inexperience and the lack of training in type for both flying and maintenance. One Avia pilot remarked “she tried to kill us on every takeoff and landing.” Furthermore, maintenance problems meant that no more than five were typically airworthy at any one time. The type, however, scored victories over its opponents, including the Spitfire. The Avias were mostly withheld from service by the end of October, at which time only six remained operational. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625784073914-LNJFRLSIT98Q0MR6JSW4/Wildman52.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out On 17 August 1948, David Ben Gurion visited 101 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force at Herzliya airfield, arriving in a de Havilland Dragon Rapide (background). Here his poses with Chris Magee and the heavily bearded Canadian Sol “Sonny” Wosk, who was an army volunteer. Photo: 101squadron.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625784111119-J3KLV4D8MDBZ45HDMR5X/Wildman31.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Another and larger group photograph likely taken at the same time as the previous photo—the summer of 1948. Since it includes former bomber pilots, it’s likely that these were not all 101 Squadron flyers. Chris Magee is kneeling at left behind the first row of sitting pilots. The group includes (standing from left to right) Coleman Goldstein (former B-17 pilot from Philadelphia, who went on to fly for El Al for 35 years); Maurice Mann (a British S-199 pilot and squadron Executive Officer); Lou Lenart (another former Marine Corsair pilot who went on to a variety of jobs including general manager of the NBA’s Dan Diego Clippers and a co-producer of the movie Iron Eagles); Sid Antin (a former USAAF P-47 pilot in the Second World War, who returned to the USAF after his time in Israel); Ezer Weizman (born in Tel Aviv in the British Mandate of Palestine, he became the future commander of the Israeli Air Force, and of course, the President of Israel in 1993); Modi Alon (born in the British Mandate of Palestine, flew Spitfires and Mustangs in the Second World War from Italy and Palestine, died in a landing accident in 1948); Stanly Andrews (Ankenstein) (from the Bronx, New York was a USAAF B-25 pilot in the Pacific. He flew Bristol Beaufighters with the Israeli Air Force, was shot down in late October 1943, crash-landed and survived but was executed and mutilated by Egyptian soldiers along with his two crewmates. He also designed the famed 101 Squadron Angel of Death badge); Leslie E. Shagam (a wartime South African pilot and managing director of a small airline—Comair (Natal) which today is part of British Airways); Rudy Augarten (a Second World War USAAF P-47 pilot who bailed out of his P-47 over Normandy in 1944 and was captured, managed to escape and evade. He went on to Harvard University and a career in real estate); Bill Pomerantz (American); Leo Stratton Nomis (an American wartime Spitfire pilot from Los Angeles with Sioux ancestry. He flew with 71 Squadron, an RAF “Eagle” squadron and then flew in Malta and North Africa, finishing the war as an instructor with the USAAF. His father was a First World War pilot and post-war stunt pilot with credits in Dawn Patrol and Sky Bride. He was killed while performing a stunt during the filming for the latter); 101 Squadron doctor (unknown) and Intelligence Officer (unknown, but likely the American Dave Croll). Front row left to right: George Lichter (born in Brooklyn, New York, he flew P-51 Mustangs and P-47s in 88 combat missions over German-occupied Europe. Lichter returned to the U.S. where he built a textile manufacturing business); Chris Magee (still wearing his signature bandana head cover); Gideon “Giddy” Lichtman (born in Newark, New Jersey, Lichtman was a USAAF pilot in the South Pacific Theatre of Operations. He returned to the U.S. and eventually retired to Florida); Alexander “Sandy” Jacobs (remained in Israel); Aaron “Red” Finkel (also from Brooklyn. He flew C-47s in China and Burma. He returned to America following the War of Independence, Later he became close to Chris in the last years of Magee’s life); Amos Kahlman Turin (from Palestine, he went on the be Vice President of El Al); an unknown squadron security officer and finally Arnie Ruch (a South African and a spitfire pilot in the Second World War). Photo: 101squadron.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625784194858-9U3U5VFQ6MS83MXNGPLU/Wildman66.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625784225456-KFY68RSORNFOCWQXBRPK/Wildman62.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The massive yet secret construction (top photo) of the Thule Air Base was taken on by Omaha, Nebraska construction giant, Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. While Magee was born in Omaha, it is unlikely that he had a connection with the company. Kiewit was responsible for recruiting and training 5,000 civilian workers for the project. The original group of non-union men was assembled at a Kiewit-run camp in Minnesota for training and skill sorting. Most of the men came from the American Northwest, so possibly Magee was home in Chicago when he learned of the opportunity. Following a period of training in construction techniques and cold weather survival, the men took trains to Norfolk, there to board Navy ships for North Star Bay, Greenland where the Thule base was to be constructed. The bottom photo shows civilian construction workers lining the rail of a US Navy ship about to leave Norfolk for Thule. If Magee worked in the early 50s in Thule, then it is likely this was the route he took as there was no other means of getting there. For a great 30-minute documentary on Operation Blue Jay (nominated for an Academy Award), click here. Photos: National Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625784336422-WWIQ07SK73IO833S7ZE4/Wildman86.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A news clipping from the Chicago Daily Tribune from 18 October 1957 shows a police photo of Chris Magee looking much older. Fourteen years before, the Tribune would likely have carried the photo of Chris with Bruce Matheson and Jim Hill, the other two Chicagoans from the Black Sheep. Clipping: Chicago Daily Tribune https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625786856621-GT91QR2KXC8PJDYRYJMJ/Wildman68.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The United States Penitentiary at Atlanta where Magee began his years of incarceration and where he met and befriended Rudolf Abel. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625786894776-523IK551A5ZJHYS7YOXO/Wildman70.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out “Wish You Were Here”— A postcard from the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas where Chris would do the bulk of his eight+ years of prison time before being released on parole. Photo: CardCow.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625786952847-GGDP4XTIG0J8OUSC1ICQ/Wildman71.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Rudolph Joseph Lorenz Steiner (1861–1925). Magee was first exposed to the transformative thinking of Austrian intellectual Rudolf Steiner in Aspen, Colorado when he visited there in 1949 with Ed Smart to record the keynote speeches of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. There is no doubt that Christopher Lyman Magee was not your average ex-con. Photo: Eurythmyonline.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787008941-7F5UA0RPBZMA1BGPNO4U/Wildman19.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee had a deep emotional and metaphysical connection with the memories he made and the men he served with in both the Black Sheep and later in the nascent Israeli Air Force, but he was not a keeper of the physical trappings of his past. A neighbour of his who had helped him many times was surprised when Magee gave him his entire Marine uniform including his Navy wings of gold and his Second World War decorations: Top row (left to right): Navy Cross, Bronze Star (with V for Valour) and Air Medal (the three stars indicate that he received the award an additional three times); Bottom Row: Purple Heart (star indicates he was wounded twice), American Campaign Medal (for his service during training and in forming VMF-911), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 4 Battle Stars). The man he gave it to was a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War. He said this about Chris, the enigmatic neighbour that just handed the uniform to him: “I picked this up way back in late 1968 or early 1969 after I came home from Vietnam. It’s a long and involved story and I won’t go into it in detail here but suffice it to say that this gentleman moved onto my parents block in Chicago while I was in Nam and I met him after I came home. He and I shared several Saturday afternoon beers at his kitchen table over the fall of 1968 and winter/spring of 1969. It took several sessions for him to start talking about his own experiences and, during one beer & bull session, he told me he had been a Corsair pilot in WW-II and showed me his uniform. The next Saturday, he had it boxed up and gave it to me just as you see it here.” When another member on the forum where I found this post (USMilitariaForum.com) inquired: “Who was he??? With the Navy Cross, Bronze Star, 4 Air Medals and 2 Purple Hearts, he had to have been a household name during WW2!”, the man answered: “I don’t know how much of a household name he was… he didn’t crave or even enjoy the publicity like most fighter pilots did. He was a really nice gentleman, quiet and reserved and I very much enjoyed his company at those Saturday afternoon B&B sessions. His name was Christopher Magee and I am proud to have called him my friend.” Photo: USMilitariaForum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787088339-TO5601PKUHDF40ET9IAH/Wildman74.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Chris Magee is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia—an American hero, independent thinker, poet, philosopher and gentleman. John Magee is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Scopwick, Lincolnshire, England—an Anglo-American hero, independent thinker, poet and loss to his world. Photos: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787139358-9CZWPQ3AOYULJ27UPH27/Wildman72.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out At the National WWII Museum in New Orleans (top), a Corsair painted to resemble Chance Vought F4U-1A Corsair BuNo.17833 hangs from the ceiling. This aircraft was flown by a number of pilots of the Black Sheep including Chris “Wildman” Magee and Greg “Pappy” Boyington. Interestingly, 1,600 miles to the north of New Orleans, in Canada, a North American Harvard (Texan) is painted in the markings of an aircraft once flown by Magee’s cousin John. Photos: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787165699-WARZMGCUL2ZPS2T6VMZ6/Wildman82.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A painting by aviation artist Wade Meyers depicts Chris Magee in Corsair 833 with three other Black Sheep turning into the sun on an early morning patrol in the Solomons. Photo: WadeMeyersStudios.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787211738-GMHMGCBEEMEZVKXDUV5J/MyOld4316.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787243412-VPQAFQKOA6LPSUZ3LYS3/MyOld4301.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out A Canadian Car and Foundry-built Harvard IV (top) of the Michael U. Potter Collection of Historic Canadian Aircraft flies in formation over Ottawa with a similarly marked, but modern, Raytheon Harvard II turboprop trainer of the RCAF. Both aircraft are painted to resemble a Second World War Harvard II (bottom photo) known to have been flown by John Gillespie Magee Jr. Photos: Top: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada; Bottom: via Benno Goethals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787293676-X5UN0TVPGP02S2YREP6K/Wildman20.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out King and Country, a toy manufacturer that makes scaled figurines for dioramas, offers a Chris Magee character among others in its collection. They have captured his swagger, muscular physique and have included his goatee, but have painted his signature blue bandana red. I must admit, I never saw him in any photograph wearing shorts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787345652-SDWF0ADBHW38VHE94UTA/Wildman84.jpg The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out During Marine Week in St. Louis, Missouri in 2011, a group of AV-8B Harrier pilots of VMA-214 Black Sheep (now an attack squadron) re-enact the famous baseball photo from Vella Lavella in 1943—each man wearing a St. Louis Cardinals ball cap. Photo: US Marine Corps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625787393946-PYZDHA1TRATG172BW68M/Wildman85.png The Stories - WILDMAN - Make it stand out The story of 101 Squadron and the Haganah of the Israeli Air Force has been written in Angels in the Sky by Robert Gandt. There is a proposal in the works to make this into a feature film. No doubt, given his eccentricities and attire, there will be a character in it that is modelled after Chris Magee, seen with his blue bandana in this colourized cover. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/polkadotwarriors monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624478719430-OEL20GUBNBHDWIYMTDJA/PolkaDotWarriors.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179401706-KIC7TE1FCCH875NAQCTV/PolkaDorWarriors79.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out While the descriptions of You Can’t Take It With You’s last mission are written as a word painting to set the scene, certain things are true—she was lost on a bombing mission to Munich’s marshalling yards on 20 July 1944. Photo via Mark Neilans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179662185-71FXIPX1L73NTFXWUYJT/PolkaDotWarriors06.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Spotted Ass Ape leads Liberators of the 458th Bombardment Group. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179742045-04NZP7PSR3FURAPKSM0H/PolkaDotWarriors04.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The first Lead Assembly Ship of the 458th Bombardment Group was a clapped out B-24D Liberator (USAAC Serial No. 42-40127) by the name of First Sergeant. Here we see First Sergeant on the apron at the group’s base at RAF Horsham St Faith. Originally, this old warhorse was nicknamed Thar She Blows Again and was a veteran of operations from Algeria against the Romanian oil refineries at Ploesti, operated by the 93rd Bombardment Group, 329th Bombardment Squadron. On this, perhaps the most famous raid using Liberators, Thar She Blows Again was damaged by flak. Her crew, led by pilot Lieutenant Charles Merrill, returned safely. She was re-crewed and renamed as Bucket of Bolts when she was first transferred to the 458th in England. Later, as the Group’s first Lead Assembly Ship, she would get another name—First Sergeant, and a garish new paint scheme of red, blue and yellow polka dots. First Sergeant’s job would be to take off before the other combat aircraft, and then lead them into a combat formation which would provide maximum coverage for each ship. She was crewed in rotation, normally with pilots or aircrew who had suffered combat fatigue or were in need of flight time. On 27 May 1944, First Sergeant was the victim of a misfired flare. During the loading of the aircraft’s Very signal pistol, the gun discharged and lit other stored flares, resulting in the old warhorse burning to the ground. The crew was not hurt. Retouched photo via ar15.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179778511-0GNVS3LZANWLO761EDUO/PolkaDotWarriors66.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24D Bucket of Bolts (formerly Thar She Blows Again) undergoes repair, removal of her guns and painting to become First Sergeant at RAF Horsham St Faith. Photo via b24bestweb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179839806-QC79KTI3EBRP88S0YGAD/PolkaDotWarriors05.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out First Sergeant sits on a dispersal stand at RAF Horsham St Faith. It appears that this photograph was likely taken within minutes of the previous colour-tinted photo. Only the front half of First Sergeant was white, with the polka dots changing from red and blue on white at the front to red and yellow on army green aft. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179874593-LUUGODCWFKL0UMZ53EA3/PolkaDotWarriors02.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out An Army photographer aboard First Sergeant snaps a photo of a B-24J Liberator of the 458th Bombardment Group climbing out of England and crossing the coast of the English Channel. One look at the dirt and soot on the wing of First Sergeant, and you know she has done her part in the war against the Nazis. Note the waist gunner in the side of Liberator “V”. David Stubblebine of WWII Database, has written to identify this aircraft—actually Liberator 7V-B Wolfgang of the 752nd Bomb Squadron. She was shot down over Belgium by anti-aircraft fire on 12 July, 1944. All crew managed to bail out—four became PoWs and five managed to evade capture. Photo: USAAC via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626179983082-WN41MTBV4EDQW06Y2DSQ/PolkaDotWarriors06-1.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out One of the best known of the assembly ships, a B-24H (USAAC Serial No. 41-28697) named Spotted Ass Ape, leads a formation of B-24J Liberators from the 458th Bombardment Group. Spotted Ass Ape was actually the replacement ship for the Group’s former assembly ship First Sergeant. We can also see that her defensive guns have been removed, as she would return after assembly, still well beyond the reach of enemy fighters. The J-model “Libs” in this photograph are all AZON aircraft—bombers equipped with a remotely controlled 1,000 pound dumb bomb. The AZON bomb was a general purpose munition with a special controllable tailfin assembly that allowed some degree of directional control. The AZON was the grandfather of the modern “smart” munition. The term “spotted ass ape” was a colloquialism of the time, referring to a fictitious animal used as a descriptor of comparison to relate the speed or velocity of another object—as in “That Liberator was faster than a spotted ass ape.” Photo: USAAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180040071-970NE9ACHOIUIPYZ3G10/PolkaDotWarriors07.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out One of Spotted Ass Ape’s pilots, Major John A. Hensler, a squadron commander in the Group, walks past the nose of the wildly painted aircraft. Prior to it being selected as the group’s replacement assembly ship, it carried a different name—Dixie Bell II. As Dixie Bell II, she flew eight combat missions with the 754th Bombardment Squadron, three of them to Berlin. Her early missions were noted as “troublesome”, possibly due to mechanical issues or gremlins. As an assembly ship, Spotted Ass Ape flew more than 60 missions, assembling her group’s aircraft. On 6 December 1944, she even flew a combat mission with her group to Bielefeld, Germany. On some of the assembly missions she also doubled as the group weather ship. Photo: USAAC via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180082969-KP4XM2YKGAKEDMO4AGO0/PolkaDotWarriors49.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A profile of Spotted Ass Ape (sometimes called simply Spotted Ape) shows the formation lights in the letter “I” on her flanks and the red circle rimmed with lights—used for formation assembly when the weather or lighting conditions were poor. Profile by M. David Howley via Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine and Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180126916-8WY1AS048AO4IR2RB295/PolkaDotWarriors08.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Spotted Ass Ape on the ground in England, and looking pretty freshly painted with guns removed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180247038-8W1AQ3IJP0T9MOHAA2RA/PolkaDotWarriors09.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out One of the other nicknames for B-24H Liberator 41-28697 was Wonderbread, no doubt because of the similarity of her paint scheme to the packaging of a loaf of Wonderbread. Photo via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180182267-N9N0VMHGQDV5G1AG699O/PolkaDotWarriors14.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out With her freshly painted polka dots and her new name, Spotted Ass Ape assembled her group’s aircraft on 12 July 1944 for a raid on the big Luftwaffe fighter base at Évreux–Fauville—one of her first assembly missions. By mid-July, the airfield was essentially put out of commission by the Mighty Eighth. Photo via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180296308-93O223Y7CN374Q828WOH/PolkaDotWarriors10.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Liberator Spotted Ass Ape leads her group over the English countryside. Spotted Ass Ape had a large red circle on her fuselage with the letter “I” in black, edged in white. Here we can also see that her tail guns and dorsal turret guns are removed. Photo: George Reynolds via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180331426-ORGLV27VY9KZQHLTDXLY/PolkaDotWarriors11.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out On 9 March 1945, after more than 60 missions wrangling her Group for raids over France and Germany, Spotted Ass Ape packed it in when her landing gear collapsed after a rough landing upon return to their home base at RAF Horsham St Faith. She skidded off the runway and was damaged beyond repair. One look at this photograph and we can see how war weary she really was after 60+ missions with dirty and tired paint. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180418421-8VMCIUEF4OKKC5LS26LP/PolkaDotWarriors13.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A photo taken at a different time during the salvage as her starboard wing is high in this photograph, but low in the previous shot. At the time of the gear collapse, Spotted Ass Ape was in the command of Lieutenant William B. Cheney. His post-incident report, as reported in the 458th Group website is worth a read: “I returned to the field in the assembly ship on 9th March 1945 and entered a normal traffic pattern at 1400 feet, airspeed 150. Turned on approach and started descent. Touched down near end of runway and ballooned slightly. Last airspeed that I heard engineer call out was 125. When the plane settled to the ground there was about 5 degrees crab to the left. The plane was edging near the side of the R/W. I tried to kick out crab with rudder without success. I applied right brake and the brake pedal snapped off. My right foot slipped up and over the pedal. I yelled to Lt. Gilbert to get on the brake because mine was broken. At first he did not understand what was wrong. By the time he applied brakes we were well off the R/W headed about 10 degrees from R/W 05. Marks in the dirt show that right brake was applied about 100 feet before the left brake. Marks showed that both wheels were locked and sliding on damp grass. The track of the nose wheel was in the center of the [main] wheels when the plane left R/W, but as the plane moved on the nose wheel track came closer to left wheel track. The course of the plane was in a straight line from the R/W to an old dispersal area 150 feet from where the airplane came to rest. When the plane’s left wheel hit the pavement of the dispersal area the course of the plane was altered due to the increased friction on the left side. The plane turned sideways and both main gear snapped off.” Photo: Mike Bailey via 458bg.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180477327-OPUAF5OH7RWV95TZN7E1/PolkaDotWarriors12.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A nice colour photo of the partially salvaged fuselage of Spotted Ass Ape. Photo via Brenden Wood at b24bestweb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180572325-I3U2NQD89S5RQ5Y85DUI/PolkaDotWarriors58.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A nice colour shot (possibly tinted in Photoshop) of a worn B-24D (USAAC Serial No. 41-24109) by the name of Silver Streak, the assembly ship for the Liberator crews of the 466th Bombardment Group, based at RAF Attlebridge. The 466th Bombardment Group was first formed at Alamogordo, New Mexico in September 1943 and flew its first European combat mission in March of 1944, just six months later. The Group was nicknamed “The Flying Deck”, with each of its four constituent squadrons called after suits in a deck of playing cards—Clubs (784 BS), Diamonds (785 BS), Hearts (786 BS) and Spades (787 BS). Silver Streak was also known as simply “109” after the last three digits of her serial number. Photo via aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180667729-0SZORZ0QZ7Y98XBB0B35/PolkaDotWarriors19.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A close-up of the side of Silver Streak demonstrates that though these paint schemes may look crisp from a distance and in die-cast model recreations, they were indeed crudely applied—with a brush and no masking! It is also interesting to note that the letters WW, appearing after Silver Streak’s serial number mean that she is “War Weary”, and not meant for combat. The letters WW appear on other assembly ships like Rage in Heaven. On 18 August 1944, Silver Streak led a flight of B-24 Liberators which collected American big band leader Glenn Miller and his orchestra from RAF Twinwood Farm and flew them to RAF Steeple Morden near Royston, Cambridgeshire. There, Glenn gave a concert for the members of the 8th Air Force based nearby. Afterwards the band loaded their instruments, music stands, etc. on board the B-24s which flew back to their home base at RAF Attlebridge. Many of Miller’s hits would be the names of 8th Air Force bombers such as In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, and Chattanooga Choo Choo. Photo via Warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180716779-JTD0UR2R9KZ0XXZWCJIM/PolkaDotWarriors20.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Despite the mass of the B-24 Liberator, pilots did not benefit from large windows. Markings on the port side indicate 45 combat missions completed, whereas the previous photograph shows not much more than half that number. The combat missions were with her first unit, the 93rd Bombardment Group, including the Ploesti raid known as Operation Tidalwave. The mission markings on the starboard side are not as numerous, and possibly these are for her assembly missions. Photo via Warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180805643-J7B7ZODCVLAZAKTIWRR4/PolkaDotWarriors21.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Consolidated B-24D Liberator wears a red, blue and white striped paint scheme that likely resulted in its second nickname—Barber Bob. Barber Bob, more commonly referred to by its combat name, Ball of Fire, was the assembly ship for the 93rd Bombardment Group, 328th Bombardment Squadron, based at RAF Hardwick in Norfolk County. The 328th BS initially was deployed to England, but then, 2 months later, was sent to Libya to support attacks on Italy and the oil fields of Ploesti, Romania. She returned to England to resume long-range strategic bombing raids on Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking enemy military and industrial targets as part of the United States’ air offensive. The squadron was one of the most highly decorated units in the Eighth Air Force, continuing offensive attacks until the German capitulation in May 1945. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180872598-ZUWPJML7BFUVMPETFZQP/PolkaDotWarriors23.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24D Barber Bob (USAAC Serial No. 41-23667) was originally called Ball of Fire while in service with the 328th in North Africa. She participated in the famous raids on the Romanian oil refinery facilities at Ploesti. Ball of Fire, AKA Barber Bob, had alternating red, white and pale blue stripes. Photo via aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180922715-2G54PXI1BOXVKU3AXYAF/PolkaDotWarriors73.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A digital skin for a flight-sim game does a fair rendition of Ball of Fire’s dramatic full-body paint scheme. The sim only supports a J-Model Liberator, so the nose turret is incorrect, but the work shows us how she would have looked. JaRink, the skin maker, has done an amazing job of creating digital versions of many of the B-24 and B-17 assembly ships. Click here to see his superb work in capturing these historic aircraft. Illustration via JaRink at forums.ubi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626180990704-58AAM2APFVFPKAEH7X5R/PolkaDot_d.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The 489th Bomb Group's lead assembly ship was Li'l Cookie, a B-24H-1-FO Liberator painted overall in 12-inch diameter yellow polka dots over her army green. She is seen here getting a tire change at her home base at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk, England. Previous to her work as an assembly aircraft, her combat career was with the 44th Bomb Group. Photo via WorldWarPhotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181055706-SIUHSPOCKJY0ZT3G057Y/PolkaDot_e.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Li'l Cookie carried an array of signalling lights for low light conditions, including five lights in the form of a cross in the faired-over tail where the tail gunner once sat. These lights would likely have flashed on and off for better visibility and give new meaning to the 489th's moto—“Out of Darkness, the Light of Truth”! Photo via WorldWarPhotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181114697-HE793FDQPP37QZN5TVLW/PolkaDotWarriors24.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Perhaps the most artistic of all the assembly ships was the B-24D of 392nd Bombardment Group, 579th Bombardment Squadron, known as Minerva (USAAC Serial No. 41-23689). A veteran of the Ploesti oil refinery raids, she originally served with the 44th Bombardment Group. Minerva’s assembly ship paint scheme may not have been as garish as others, but surrealist artist René Magritte, whose work is known for challenging observers’ preconditioned perceptions of reality, would have been proud of Minerva’s optical illusion. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181176866-OQF8CUBE97UD5RI6J1E2/PolkaDotWarriors24a.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Minerva is seen parked, likely at RAF Wending, the home field of the 579th Bombardment Squadron. Someone at the 392nd Bombardment Group was definitely more creative than your average guy. Minerva certainly had the best executed scheme of all the assembly ships. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181215181-TCWIAXIPPMVCO3230Y74/PolkaDotWarriors54.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Most assembly ships divested themselves of their defensive weapons, but Minerva (41-23689) was one of the early examples and retained machine guns in its upper and tail turrets. Minerva was badly damaged in 1944, but was salvaged by the 93rd Bombardment Group in October of 1944. At the end of the war Minerva, a long-standing veteran, was part of one final experiment to test the viability of carrying troops back home in bombers. She successfully jammed an astonishing 52 soldiers on board and flew them... but the idea was dropped. Perhaps this was foreshadowing of today’s low cost airlines. Photo via forum.armyairforces.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181253523-ZQ0FROCJBSQ8P3AIKLJU/PolkaDotWarriors53.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A die-cast model of assembly ship Minerva by Hong Kong–based Hobbymaster depicts accurately the unique paint scheme and shows how the white topside would be a strong visual for assembly... if you were above. Photo: Hobbymaster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181294835-595TDG5UV50XC8JMDOUU/PolkaDotWarriors55.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The idea for Minerva’s paint scheme likely came from the USAAC’s experiments with “disruptive” paint schemes such as this experimental scheme featuring three additional B-24s on the fuselage and even extra engines painted on the nacelles. This photo originally appeared in Popular Mechanics in 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626181391062-9ZCAXP8CT6LM4NK3JEUO/PolkaDot_f.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The Little Gramper, a B-24D, was the first Lead Assembly Ship of 491st Bombardment Group. She wore one of the brightest and most visible schemes of all the assembly ships. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189319738-CK8YC20HBFD5F3R09NWL/PolkaDotWarriors71.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A fabulously-lit painting of The Little Gramper, leading aircraft of the 491st “Ringmasters” over England, adorns the box cover of Hasegawa’s fine plastic model kit of the ship. The Little Gramper is also available as a die-cast model from the Franklin Mint as well as a paper cut-out model. Image via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189377809-OC1CUEVA9VXWQ1RKLF80/PolkaDotWarriors40.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The Little Gramper had a stellar combat career with 49 combat missions with the 8th, 9th and the 12th Air Forces. She was transferred to the 491st and flew her first mission as their assembly ship on 12 June 1944. She flew in her new yellow paint only for a few months however, as she was truly worn out. She failed inspection, was replaced as Lead Assembly Ship in September and finally struck off charge and scrapped. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189442572-PO0QRY1URLWDZQC70PQE/PolkaDotWarriors25.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Rage in Heaven (USAAC Serial No. 44-40165), a later model B-24J Liberator, was Lead Assembly Ship for 491st Bombardment Group, operated by the 852nd Bombardment Squadron, and replacing The Little Gramper. It crashed, exploded and burned on 5 January 1945 after taking off in a blinding snowstorm to lead the assembly of the group. A second B-24 crashed minutes later because of the icy conditions and the mission was cancelled. Note the letters “WW” for “War Weary” which follow her serial number on the inside of her starboard tail. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189548659-EEQTH4GI80A4U6P1F224/PolkaDotWarriors26.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Rage in Heaven was a combat veteran aircraft with the 852nd Bombardment Squadron of the 491st Bombardment Group, but she is best known for her bright green and yellow stripes as an assembly aircraft. In her original scheme above, it appears she had dark green stripes over bare metal, but in this later photograph she sports her better known yellow and green stripes (and more stripes too!) Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189605821-R6QFM0LDTW5GRYITFQQ9/PolkaDotWarriors62.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The unique paint schemes of assembly ships have long been of great interest to markings aficionados, collectors and model makers. Here, an MPC plastic kit pays homage to Rage in Heaven. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189695475-YPPBC12H08QA7OGQQOUM/PolkaDot_b.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A B-24J Liberator Tubarao (USAAC Serial No. 44-40101) was the third Lead Assembly Ship of the 491st Bombardment Group but with the 855th Bombardment Squadron and based at RAF North Pickenham. Her name is the Portuguese word for “Shark”, derived no doubt from her original nose art. Many assembly ships would get a new name (Silver Flash, Striped Ape, Barber Bob, etc.) derived from their new paint schemes, but it seems the two 491 BG assembly ships, Rage in Heaven and Tubarao, retained their original combat names. Tubarao also retained her nose turret guns. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189744988-1H5EV3QY2QJGRKCA53KB/PolkaDot_a.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A terrific close-up of Tubarao on the grass at North Pickenham, Norfolk with the follow-me jeep parked next to her for extra crazy markings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189783410-RC9HNI1PF592IY059ZV4/PolkaDotWarriors70.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Click here for a great computer animation of Tubarao taxiing, taking off and flying from RAF Pickenham. It gives you a good sense of the visibility of these assembly ships. Video by gamingallsorts on YouTub https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189858503-0GKIU393FTW66CHVMSI5/PolkaDotWarriors27.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out An airman poses with Consolidated B-24D Liberator Lemon Drop (USAAC Serial No. 41-23699), an assembly ship of 44th Bombardment Group, 68th Squadron at RAF Shipdham, Norfolk, England. Photo: D.B. Miller via intscalemodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189903008-JPC486UU7IHJAXHYXXFA/PolkaDotWarriors28.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Lemon Drop was one of nine aircraft flown to England by the 68th BS. She was a veteran of Operation Tidalwave, the August 1943 low-level mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. After returning to England, she was declared “War Weary” and converted for use as the Group’s formation assembly ship until scrapped in June 1945. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189945227-USJG6XUCPX7R1JROUOF5/PolkaDotWarriors74.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Websites for model builders are often one of the best resources for finding esoteric and contemporary photos of Second World War aircraft. The site of International Scale Modeller had this photograph of Lemon Drop posted by D. B. Miller. It shows Lemon Drop sitting in uncut grass, likely at RAF Shipdham. In this view we can see clearly the haphazard application of paint for the black stripes. While one of the simplest of paint schemes, not much care was taken in its application... something about a war going on! In most of the photos of these Liberators sitting on the ground, we note that their bomb doors are opened. This was to prevent a buildup of explosive gas vapour. Photo: D.B. Miller via intscalemodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626189982300-46S9Q61MYZL25WTVU82O/PlokaDotWarriors56.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Lemon Drop’s paint scheme was simple but effective, as any pilot of a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan target tug will tell you. Target tugs in Canada, whether Lysanders or Fairey Battles, wore a similar scheme which was dubbed the “Oxydol” scheme for its resemblance to the packaging of that brand of laundry soap. Illustration: © M. David Howley, Source: SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 6, August 1999; Published by Guideline Publications and printed by Regal Litho Ltd. ISSN 0956-1420, via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626190072586-IR6VS24LQPQPQRQYJVM1/PolkaDotWarriors29.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Another simple yet effective scheme was the yellow and black checkerboard colours of B-24D Liberator You Cawn’t Miss It (USAAC Serial No. 41-23809) Lead Assembly Ship of 448th Bombardment Group, operated by the 712th Bombardment Squadron at RAF Seething, Norfolk in 1944. Like most wildly coloured assembly ships, You Cawn’t Miss It started her combat career with another unit and under another name—in this case she was called Hellsadroppin’ II). Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626190127972-I1SXU8VEJNVGRETMBVPF/PolkaDotWarriors30.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The new nickname for Hellsadroppin’ II clearly stemmed from her assembly ship paint scheme as well as some squadron joke relating the getting directions from an Englishman. You Cawn’t Miss It was quite literally something you could not miss. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626190193010-1FLV4IRNFK07PGNQ12YR/PolkaDot_i.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Another great shot of You Cawn't Miss It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626190240454-MD8OCWXRUR73Z0XT0I4W/PolkaDotWarriors.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A colour profile by the prolific illustrator M. David Howley for an issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine back in 1999. The magazine has excellent detailed information on esoteric paint schemes for modellers. Source: SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 6, August 1999; Published by Guideline Publications and printed by Regal Litho Ltd. ISSN 0956-1420, via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192682820-1FTDG3KTLTBWHZ5OL5X4/PolkaDotWarriors31.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out By the standards set by assembly ships like Minerva and Spotted Ass Ape, the big-stripe scheme of B-24D Liberator Lucky Gordon (USAAC Serial no. 41-24215) was rather tame. Lucky Gordon, with the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, helped to assemble formations for the 445th Bombardment Group, flying from RAF Tibenham in Norfolk. The large letter “F” on her fuselage, the Group’s call letter, contained bright navigation lights for dim lighting conditions. When Lucky Gordon’s 703rd first began training on the B-24 at Utah’s Wendover Army Air Field, their commander was none other than actor Jimmy Stewart. Lucky Gordon, sometimes called just Lucky, was originally an aircraft of the 93rd Bombardment Group. Finnish model maker Yrjo Knuuttila has done a magnificent job of depicting Lucky Gordon in 1/48th scale—click here to view. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192757937-FU31QP328N7RXZGXJNDX/PolkaDotWarriors63.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Although the gamer who built this digital skin of Lucky Gordon was forced to use a later J-model Lib for the underlying structure and not a D-model like the real Lucky Gordon, this image gives one a sense of the colours of the 445 BG assembly ship. JaRink, the skin maker, has done an amazing job of creating digital versions of many of the B-24 and B-17 assembly ships. Click here to see his superb work in capturing these historic aircraft. Illustration via JaRink at forums.ubi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192797915-2DOGDBVJ60RQB90RAZFF/PolkaDotWarriors32.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Black and white photographs can never really do justice to the impact of assembly ship paint schemes. Here, a B-24D Liberator by the name of Wham Bam sits on the grass in England, likely at RAF Old Buckenham, the home base of the 453rd Bombardment Group. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192873060-W4KQH54UZ9DGQM0NWBZL/PolkaDotWarriors44.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Wham Bam (USAAC Serial No. 41-23738) was originally assigned to the 93rd BG /330th BS. But early in 1944, she was transferred to 453rd Bombardment Group to become an assembly ship for her new unit. Worn out, she was scrapped on 11 May 1945. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192944721-0KGHQYWIVLO1443J8M3Y/PolkaDotWarriors78.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Even if you headed for home before the shooting started, that didn’t mean the job of an assembly ship was not dangerous. Despite her outrageously obvious paint scheme, Wham Bam was hit by another Liberator who didn’t see her and got too close. Photo via worldwarphotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626192979265-XETF6QRO8Z1JQF533ZYY/PolkaDotWarriors57.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A colour profile of Wham Bam shows that, unlike You Cawn’t Miss It (above), she was not yellow and black, but rather was yellow over the original base dark green camouflage. Photographs also show that she had two different tail markings during her career—one with a diagonal white band and then later a white circle, displaying the Group’s code letter “J”. Illustration: © M. David Howley, Source: SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 6, August 1999; Published by Guideline Publications and printed by Regal Litho Ltd. ISSN 0956-1420, via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193012665-DTG12MTLOWLO6DHV4CSJ/PolkaDotWarriors42.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A topside view of Wham Bam shows that pains were taken by units to make the aircraft visible from all angles. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193074614-9ABNR9K5P5HXUUNFL4RZ/PlokaDotWarriors60.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out One of the more creative names for a Liberator of the 8th Air Force was Pete the Pom Inspector, a B-24D (USAAC Serial No. 42-40370) that once belonged to the 44th Bombardment Group and flew under the name Heaven Can Wait. Heaven Can Wait was supposed to take part in the 1 August 1943 Ploesti mission with the 44th, flying with the 506th Bombardment Squadron. She aborted before getting to the target and made an emergency landing on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It was abandoned by the 44th at Deversoir, Egypt in October. The Liberator was then transferred to the 389th Bombardment Group (566th Bombardment Squadron) in November 1943, and flew regular combat operations through to 26 March 1944 and then was transferred to the 467th Bombardment Group and became the first assembly aircraft of the Group—known after that as Pete The Pom Inspector. The aircraft was damaged at RAF Rackheath following a landing rollout accident when the nose wheel retracted. It was subsequently scrapped at Rackheath. In this photo we can see the “W” after the serial number on her tail, denoting that she is “War Weary”. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193112596-6MHB6QOGCP3630894ZHL/PolkaDotWarriors76.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A close-up of Pete the Pom Inspector’s nose art combined with its assembly ship polka dots. The term Pom, as used by the Allies in the Second World War, is an abbreviation of the full term “Passed for Overseas Movement”, which was stamped on the aeroplane’s final inspection documents. The character of a pilot with a telescope is part of the unit crest of the 791st Bombardment Squadron of the Group. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193168327-5ZBG36TXYEGEEPQDPKA7/PolkaDotWarriors34.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A rare colour photograph shows off the giant red-outlined orange polka dots of the striking paint scheme of Pete The Pom Inspector. Photo via b24bestweb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193225715-K2BLMZCX1YFBL35RN4HB/PolkaDotWarriors33.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A later version of Pete The Pom Inspector’s scheme included massive letter “P” on her tails. The 467th Bombardment Group set unsurpassed records for bombing skill on 15 April 1945, holding the record for bombing accuracy in the Eighth Air Force. They destroyed a German battery at Pointe de Grave, on the west coast of France and scored a 100 per cent strike. The group commander, Colonel Albert J. Shower, was the only group commander to stay with the same group from beginning to the end of the war. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193274696-09WKFYDR7ZP84TXR29OR/PolkaDotWarriors59.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out After the demise of Pete The Pom Inspector at Rackheath, the group acquired Shoo Shoo Baby, another clapped out Liberator, a B-24H (USAAC Serial No. 41-29393), and renamed her Pete the Pom Inspector 2nd and gave her an identical paint scheme and nose art. After minor battle damage during combat, the nose of Shoo Shoo Baby was modified to resemble a “D” model and it became the Group’s second assembly ship. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193320242-VEV70S496UXFM9A3C6BC/PolkaDotWarriors35.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A close-up of the nose art of Pete the Pom Inspector 2nd. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193395344-9ZNB14CDPL7Z9UA6OB56/PolkaDotWarriors67.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24D Liberator Green Dragon (USAAC Serial No. 41-23683) was the first Lead Assembly Ship of the 389th Bombardment Group. She was lost when she was heavily damaged in a taxiing accident at RAF Manston on 25 July 1944. Her paint scheme was decidedly simpler and easier to apply than that of her successor, Green Dragon II. Illustration: © M. David Howley, Source: SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 6, August 1999; Published by Guideline Publications and printed by Regal Litho Ltd. ISSN 0956-1420, via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193427472-GI87VVMKY5T7HD6BEVD4/PolkaDotWarriors68.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24D Liberator Green Dragon in the sun at RAF Hethel, shortly after her new paint scheme was applied. Like a number of the 8th Air Force’s assembly ships, she started her career with the 93rd Bombardment Group and was involved in the Ploesti Raids. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193473670-FJLJAWDDSKDTF0SKJ4SO/PlokaDotWarriors75.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Green Dragon in flight over England, leading the 389th Bombardment Group. Photo via Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193502423-C5G363B6HQCCR98Z48O2/PolkaDotWarriors38.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Green Dragon in flight over England, leading the 389th Bombardment Group. Photo via Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193576326-DGT7HSSEOWUXYXQZ9GXM/PolkaDotWarriors41.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24 Liberator Striped Ape (USAAC Serial No. 42-63981) first arrived in England with the 448th Bombardment Group; she was transferred to the 93rd for 7 missions, and then returned. She was first used as an assembly ship in June or July 1944 and was scrapped as war weary at RAF Seething in February 1945. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193620859-9YIXDIUKKSWX2HCSANC0/PolkaDotWarriors69.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-24H Liberator Striped Ape II (USAAC Serial No. 41-29489), Lead Assembly Ship for the 448th Bombardment Group, 712th Bombardment Squadron, was based at RAF Seething, Norfolk. Her paint scheme was wide burgundy stripes with black trim over bare metal fuselage. We see her in the snow in the winter of 1944–45, shortly after her predecessor Striped Ape was scrapped. Photo via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193688755-9NV0JIKXWH9RW6G16TCA/PolkaDotWarriors46.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out The red and white stripes of Boeing B-17E (USAAC Serial No. 41-9100) Birmingham Blitzkrieg were horizontal, and somehow gave her the look of someone wearing pyjamas. She was the Lead Assembly Ship of the 379th Bombardment Group, flying with the 525th Bombardment Squadron from that group. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193739317-7Z4A2A484IO4S9S16U8H/PolkaDotWarriors64.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A great shot of the tail of Birmingham Blitzkrieg showing her turrets and tail guns removed. This aircraft was flown by the 379th Bombardment Group as an assembly ship and did double duty as a target tug. It was originally used by the 97th Bombardment Group during some of the first Eighth Air Force bombing missions in 1942. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193783919-B6RGQTMPQ14P299RBNW7/PolkaDotWarriors36.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out A nicely Photoshopped rendering of the previous photo shows us her true colours. Birmingham Blitzkrieg flew in the 97th Bombardment Group’s first operational combat mission over Europe. The lead aircraft on that mission was a B-17 called Butcher Shop, flown by Major Paul W. Tibbets, who later became the pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Photo: USAAF, colourization unknown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193812881-YYVVY65TYYMPYF03TUGZ/PolkaDotWarriors77.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out I found this exquisitely illustrated profile of Birmingham Blitzkrieg on the Swiss modellers’ site called ScaleMates. As far as colour profiles go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Illustration via ScaleMates.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193848679-PO5FFSF9HHFMCIBI1OF3/PolkaDotWarriors47.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out B-17F Flying Fortress aircraft Spotted Cow, was the Lead Assembly Ship of 384th Bombardment Group, flying with the 547th Bombardment Squadron, and based at RAF Grafton Underwood, in Northamptonshire. This particular ship flew 61 combat missions as Patches II before being retired. Though Patches may have been a good name for her with these polka dots, she soon earned two new names—Spotted Cow and Speckled Hen. Photo via mission4today.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626193881883-D1PU38AV8PDF6DWAVGLO/PolkaDotWarriors01.jpg The Stories - Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth - Make it stand out Spotted Cow lifts off from RAF Grafton Underwood. Photo: USAAF https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/paddle-wheel-flattops-of-the-great-lakes monthly 0.5 2022-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628856717853-57AWY6I2HZOUB0RYQIF2/The-Lakers01.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The US Navy training carrier USS Wolverine (IX-64) running her official trials off Buffalo, New York, 11 August 1942. Here we see clearly how close the flight deck was to the water, compared to contemporary Fleet carriers like Lexington. Photo: US Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857405080-B56R57OBJ9H3H4M6I3EW/The-Lakers02.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The USS Wolverine (hull number IX-64) was one of two refitted coal-fired, steam driven, paddlewheel passenger ships that were converted into training aircraft carriers and operated from Lake Michigan. Here we see Wolverine at anchor shortly after her conversion from a Great Lakes passenger liner known as S.S. Seeandbee. When at anchor, she would raise her radio masts, as witnessed by the two masts on her bow rounddown. Two thirds of the way down her side we can see the paddlewheel boxes. The new fresh water flattops were referred to as “training carriers” and were sometimes informally given the designations “T-CV”, but they were actually listed on the navy rolls as “unclassified vessels” with the designation IX-64 (Wolverine) and IX-81 (Sable) respectively. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. NH 45092 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857451581-64VHQN6CE7F1OW9GNF19/The-Lakers03.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Wolverine was not always a United States Navy training carrier. Wolverine began her life nearly thirty years before in the age of steam-driven passenger liners as S.S. Seeandbee, a Great Lakes passenger liner offering overnight service between Cleveland, Ohio and Buffalo, New York. S.S. Seeandbee was an “excursion” steamer, taking tourists to see Niagara Falls. In this photo of the four-stacker, we can see the portside paddlewheel, lifeboats and cabin decks as she churns her way on Lake Erie. The elegant steamer was built by the American Ship Building Company of Wyandotte, Michigan, a city known in the mid-20th century for its toy production. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b666ada-ceb0-4ea5-bd50-5a12cf3891ad/SHORPY-4a26745a.preview.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The steel hull of the side paddlewheeler S.S. Seeandbee nears completion at the American Shipbuilding Company's yard in Wyandotte, Michigan, November 12, 1912. Photo: Library of Congress via Shorpy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6be1adb6-3a2c-471c-8f59-938155ffa343/SHORPY_4a16221a.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photograph from 1912 showing the hull of C&B's new steamer Seeandbee with the Stars and Stripes waving proudly from her fantail, minutes away from her sideways launch into the Detroit River. Seeandbee was constructed in Wyandotte, Michigan south of Detroit on the Detroit River. Photo: Library of Congress via Shorpy.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857595517-86X2H6SPU5S7DAA3159P/The-Lakers08.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Looking more like the flattop she would someday become, S.S. Seeandbee slides dramatically from the ways on 9 November 1912 while citizens of Wyandotte watch the spectacle. We can see the paddlewheel housings on either side of the hull. Construction would continue into 1913 when she was completed. Photo: Library of Congress via Shorpy.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857623603-670EDOAIVU4Y5RANQHVH/The-Lakers74.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The elegant stern of S.S. Seeandbee as she is being fitted out at Wyandotte. Photo via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857708475-GKPOWHXAJYJS9HGCFDEB/The-Lakers09.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The lovely Cleveland and Buffalo Line S.S. Seeandbee makes coal smoke from her stacks in August of 1919. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857773462-V8C83BFMBOXUIC47RMOZ/The-Lakers10.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A postcard from the early 20th century, touts Seeandbee as the largest and most costly steamship operating on fresh water at the time. It also shows us that her hull was painted green. Image via RubyLane.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857833934-AMIRHPFQA0BWHS4M4B3Q/The-Lakers82.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Another postcard showing S.S. Seeandbee approaching the Cleveland and Buffalo Line's pier in Cleveland at what appears to be a disturbing rate of speed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857879394-OG1L7HO0IL1Q9BS6TR3B/The-Lakers83.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of S.S. Seeandbee about to get underway and making steam from her paddle boxes. Clearly, there is something very interesting on the port side of the ship, as all of her passengers are lining that rail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857921091-0TGA6I29SBCEPVOBTOTJ/The-Lakers14.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The former grand dame of the Great Lakes, S.S. Seeandbee, looking terribly forlorn, as wrecking crews begin to strip her bare to the gunwales in Cleveland, Ohio in the summer of 1942. The four smoke stacks, which were situated on the centre line of the passenger ship, would now have to be moved to the starboard side of the carrier-to-be to allow room for an unobstructed flight deck. The hull was then towed to Buffalo for the conversion. Scan from period magazine via subsim.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857959889-BK45OR2FBVF6V9GTNRTE/The-Lakers13.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out S.S. Seeandbee tied up at Cleveland, Ohio in 1942, being stripped of her elegant upper decks and equipment during the time of her conversion to a flattop. Scan from period magazine via subsim.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628857992262-BQ6P82FYZM036I83NEXY/The-Lakers77.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Shipyard executives and a US Navy officer view the gutting of the once-gloriously appointed S.S. Seeandbee, as she begins her conversion to USS Wolverine. Her uppermost deck has been removed, exposing the interior gallery of cabins and balconies. Scan from period magazine via subsim.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858023789-7GFQXDYZY10M7A5MCEDI/The-Lakers73.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photograph of Seeandbee undergoing conversion to USS Wolverine (IX-64) at Buffalo, New York, in early 1942. The massive wooden superstructure, with its former elegant staterooms, stately dining halls and promenades, has been removed and all that is left about at the forecastle deck level is the four boiler uptakes, a structure over the engine room, and the housings for the paddlewheels known as the “paddle boxes”. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. NH 81057 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858059515-ER1H8JZDY4DQJ36HQM1J/The-Lakers75.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photo, taken on 2 June 1942 in Buffalo, shows Seeandbee almost disappearing into the conversion to Wolverine. Once the old Seeandbee upper decks had been removed, shipyard work crews moved quickly to add bracing to accommodate the massive flight deck above. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. NH 81058 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858093031-K9664B7BP0CR89V7GDSI/The-Lakers22.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The old gal went to Buffalo as Seeandbee and emerged as a ship unique in the world—the only paddlewheel aircraft carrier in existence—USS Wolverine. Soon, though, she would be joined by another—the USS Sable. Here she is photographed in August 1942 by the Buffalo, N.Y., Police Department, leaving refit as IX-64 or USS Wolverine. Photo: U.S. National Archives, RG-80-G, No. 80-G-14907 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858132059-26U0WKH8Z6KXU5K5OHK7/The-Lakers78.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Wolverine making revolutions and lots of sooty smoke on choppy Lake Erie while leaving Buffalo after her conversion from S.S. Seeandbee. She left Buffalo, steaming for the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River, Lake Huron and finally Chicago at the bottom of Lake Michigan. In this image, also taken by the Buffalo Police Department, we are looking from her stern's port quarter. Wolverine had four coal-fired boilers (hence the four dirt-belching stacks) and generated over 8,000 horsepower to her two side-mounted paddlewheels, allowing her to make 18 knots. A little more than three years later, she would be decommissioned on 2 November 1945, struck from the Navy list three weeks later, and scrapped in 1947. Photo by BPD, U.S. National Archives, RG-80-G, No. RG-80-14909 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858161997-ED71U71V25LWAD3WW7HI/The-Lakers76.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A fabulous shot of the starboard side of USS Wolverine as she churns over Great Lake waters, with her paddlewheel foaming the surface, taken from a following boat. Her island is barely wide enough to contain the new exhaust stacks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858203267-1HQ4CBRTS9BB4XT9CJDS/The-Lakers06.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Wolverine shortly after completion with her new ship's complement on parade on deck and one boiler making power to run equipment. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858233721-KZ731G7LBAYEWKFMDUDV/The-Lakers23.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The USS Wolverine (IX-64) lies at anchor on Lake Michigan in 1943 with the Chicago skyline in background. During the war, Wolverine would remain ported at Chicago until she was decommissioned. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858268529-ZBPN74P5B7NS003Z0DSJ/The-Lakers21.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Wolverine at anchor on Lake Michigan on 6 April 1943, from an orbiting Navy aircraft. The tall black structure on her port side is not part of Wolverine, but a tender of some sort alongside. You can just make out a wisp of smoke coming from the tender's black stack. Wolverine, as evidenced by this aerial photograph, had a fairly large flight deck for a land-locked aircraft carrier—500 feet long and 98 feet wide at the waist. Wolverine would be operating on a fresh water lake, with little need for a hangar deck or a large complement of sailors and she drew only 15.5 feet to the bottom of her keel—less than half the draft of a blue-water fleet carrier like her contemporary, USS Lexington (32.4 feet). In comparison, Lexington had ten times the complement of sailors and airmen (2,791 in all)—Wolverine had but 270. Photo: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation, No. 1996.488.019.009 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858295649-X2OBGYQ9CKDRVCUSCKJ8/The-Lakers25.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A US Navy Grumman Wildcat banks over the starboard side of the USS Wolverine (IX-64) lying at anchor on Lake Michigan in 1943, while another Wildcat rips down the port side. The two were likely putting on a display for some event as witnessed by the ship's crew formed up in dress whites on her deck. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858466641-ZYHGHIL3FA2Z41AOZ410/The-Lakers04.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Overhead view of the training aircraft carrier USS Sable (IX-81) underway on Lake Michigan with a Grumman Wildcat making a deck launch in 1945. Sable was slightly larger than Wolverine at 8,000 tons with a 535' 5" x 92' flight deck and a hull width of 58 feet and the same shallow draft as her sister ship. She was also equipped with four coal-fired boilers generating about 10,500 hp and 18 knots maximum. As S.S. Greater Buffalo, Sable's four boilers exhausted through three centreline stacks but, after conversion, this was changed to a pair of stacks on the starboard side. Sable's flight deck was made of steel, the first such deck in the US Navy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858510936-QBDSJVU6ZSNIUKH8SDUX/The-Lakers94.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Sable began her floating life as the side paddlewheel steamer S.S. Greater Buffalo, of Detroit and Cleveland Lake Lines (D&C). Her name was carried wrapped around the wheelhouse, while her bow announced she works the Detroit to Buffalo Division service. In this dramatic photo, she pours black smoke from her funnels as her paddlewheel churns Lake Erie into a froth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858539056-I9Q6BJ82UPAYWID6VFKE/The-Lakers95.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A period brochure, from the 1920–30s, brags they were the two largest paddlewheel steamers in the world. The buffalo head icon makes sense for Greater Buffalo, but the frog representing Greater Detroit must refer to Detroiters’ fascination and demand for frog’s legs as a delicacy in the early part of the 20th Century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858895476-E0ZOB9GD57EXOKT3MGEX/The-Lakers12.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A vintage postcard of S.S. Greater Buffalo. The flip side of the card states: “New Steamers Greater Detroit–Greater Buffalo: The two largest steamers of their type in the world, each having 26 parlors with bath; 130 staterooms with toilets; automobile capacity, 125; 650 staterooms; crew of 300 including officers. The cost of these leviathans of the Great Lakes is approximately $7,000,000.” Image via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858837132-3OJRRO1XELWAYRK3MOCO/The-Lakers80.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Another vintage postcard for S.S. Greater Buffalo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858954157-6916CTRD5CU7BQ7ZXJKQ/The-Lakers98.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628858986824-TWMKWFET0JMPQ774PHKS/The-Lakers92.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out In 1924, a decade after the launch of B&C's S.S. Seeandbee, the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) Navigation Company launched the two largest Great Lakes side-wheeled excursion steamers ever, the Greater Buffalo and the Greater Detroit. Both were designed by renowned marine architect Frank Kirby and were put into service to provide overnight liner service, transporting up to 1,500 passengers the length of Lake Erie between Buffalo and Detroit. The Great Depression all but wiped out demand for luxury excursions on the Great Lakes and Greater Buffalo was taken out of service and lay idle along with her sister ship Greater Detroit. S.S. Greater Buffalo was 535 feet long and 58 feet wide and as such would be given a second life—to be selected for conversion to USS Sable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628859092885-5U16Q26DPEIIVVNUPOQJ/The-Lakers93.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Looking still grand and elegant, S.S. Greater Buffalo is photographed arriving at Buffalo, New York, on 6 August 1942, ready for her transformation to USS Sable (IX-81). This would require removing all of her structure down to the hull. It is sad that there no longer exists such an elegant old lady on the Great Lakes. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. NH 81066 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628859123882-0CVUWUVSCQQSLC9M5JX5/The-Lakers27.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Sable (IX-81) photographed belching her signature black coal smoke and surrounded by broken, early spring ice, around the time of her commissioning in 1943. The location appears to be the conversion yard at Buffalo. USS Sable was acquired as S.S. Greater Buffalo in August 1942, just as USS Wolverine was being commissioned in Chicago. Both carriers were converted at a shipyard in Buffalo. Along with Wolverine, she was decommissioned on 7 November 1945, struck off charge on the 28th and sold for scrap three years later. Photo: U.S. National Archives, RG-80-G, No. 80-G-41716 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628859158051-O0SFCKXHL2038H5N5YXM/The-Lakers64.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photograph of USS Sable taken in similar icy conditions in 1945. Slightly bigger than Wolverine, Sable had similar speed, a narrower beam and a greater length. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628859210234-CY5OAT28G2J43K010HJG/The-Lakers16.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Newly completed training aircraft carrier USS Sable (IX-81) moored alongside a Chicago pier on the shore of Lake Michigan during a break in training operations. The image is also telling in terms of the smog created by coal furnaces in a mid-western city in winter. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628860437755-FVI12NJ0VXOAW2MBM9K0/The-Lakers20.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A sailor on board the Great Lakes grain freighter Joseph Wood heading towards Lake Erie in 1942 takes a photograph of the newly completed USS Sable on her delivery voyage to Chicago. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628860483441-IPQWBVZ0T3I3JUMG316L/The-Lakers44.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Sable, possibly tied up at Port Colborne, at the mouth of the Welland Canal as it enters Lake Erie. The ship appears to still be under conversion. Port Colborne lies about 20 miles from Buffalo on the Canadian side. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875533928-1SE74WCPOITEBI9DCARB/The-Lakers19.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A strange scene on the Great Lakes today, but not in 1943—USS Wolverine steaming past a pair of sailboats in the summer of 1943. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875576681-KGB37HMLJOOA7BXS43X0/The-Lakers17.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out This and the following photo were taken of USS Sable in 1944. In both shots we can see the unique wake signature of a paddlewheel carrier with white turbulent water halfway down the hull's side where the wheel boxes were. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. NH 43716, also 80-G-354766 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875633985-04VHO1ERW4CJXP159O0G/The-Lakers18.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Sable's deck was originally planned to be made of Douglas fir, as was USS Wolverine's. The United States Navy instead opted for a steel flight deck and to use it as a test bed. The patchy surface of the deck in this photograph is due to the testing program by the Navy of different non-skid materials (like those paint test strips areas you sometimes come across on highways). On the flight deck forward of the island, a USN Grumman Wildcat seems to be in trouble, having pitched up onto its nose after striking the wire barrier. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875675131-XOW2UZL7NG3XOL61X6ZD/The-Lakers65.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Most of our imagery of United States Navy carriers in the Second World War centres around the South Pacific. This image taken from USS Sable in 1944 looks out over an endless expanse of broken ice under a brilliant sun, a scene so common to Lake Michigan in winter, but far from the image we have of Fleet carriers operating off Okinawa or Iwo Jima. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875724720-OGWHJG7VKJVTKKE2MXJT/The-Lakers15.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photograph of USS Sable at anchor off Traverse City, Michigan on 10 August 1943, while conducting test flights of the United States Navy's then-secret TDN-1 drone aircraft. Two of these large twin-engine drones can be seen on Sable's flight deck. The Naval Aircraft Factory TDN was an early unmanned combat aerial vehicle—referred to at the time as an "assault drone"—developed by the United States Navy's Naval Aircraft Factory during the Second World War. Developed and tested during 1942 and 1943, the design proved moderately successful, but development of improved drones saw the TDN-1 relegated to second-line duties, and none were used in operational service. Photo: U.S. National Archives, RG-80-G, No. 80-G-38715 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875825260-SUPHNGFNAZWHBY5DAE2K/The-Lakers85.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out In mid-1941, in anticipation of looming ‘global conflict, the United States Navy rebuilt the old First World War Navy Pier, which jutted deep into Lake Michigan on the Chicago waterfront, into a Naval Training School (NTS), constructing major facilities including not only classrooms and laboratories, but also gymnasiums, aircraft maintenance facilities, and a drill hall. The technology training school, the largest of its kind in the United States, if not the world, gave instruction to recruits in diesel engine and aircraft engine maintenance and repair, radio technology, and advanced electronics. The facility had sleeping quarters for 12,000 student sailors. Throughout its existence, the Naval Training School provided instruction to nearly 60,000 US Navy ratings. The NTS was also tasked to support operations for the two paddlewheel carriers, Sable and Wolverine. Aircraft operating on the lake-bound carriers took off from nearby Glenview Naval Air Station and flew out to rendezvous with the carriers to conduct launch and recovery training. The NTS operated until the end of the war and was then turned over to the City of Chicago and the University of Illinois. Today, it is an entertainment, commercial and cultural centre for Chicago. Photo via chuckmanchicagonostalgia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875872728-Y2DTB64HY9XAS5N3WIE6/The-Lakers28.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The Great Lakes paddlewheel carriers of the 9th Naval District Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at rest and tied up to the Navy Pier on the Chicago waterfront in the 1940s. Though moored at the pier, both USS Wolverine (right) and USS Sable were attached to Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake Michigan during the Second World War. Later during the war, NAS Glenview also hosted advanced training in Fleet combat aircraft, primarily for carrier qualification in Lake Michigan aboard the Chicago home ported Sable and Wolverine. Today, the Navy Pier (the long structure in the foreground), is a tourist and entertainment destination with still intact lake terminal (lower left). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875911759-4VKAGB014SDX67A09ZWD/The-Lakers29.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A photo of shallow draft USS Sable (right) and USS Wolverine in their home port of Chicago during the war. Parked together we can see the additional length of Sable over Wolverine. The first few hundred feet of the Navy Pier can be seen to the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628875977015-JU4VMS49XPFEV65G2YUT/The-Lakers89.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out The gymnasium at the Naval Training School on the Chicago Navy Pier was where physical training (PT) was carried out and graduation parades were held for the school. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876007714-GRIGNEB6QKOZSVXTZU69/The-Lakers86.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A postwar photograph of the Navy Pier after the Naval Training School was turned over to the University of Illinois as a technical training centre. The curved roof of the gymnasium can be seen at the far end of the middle yard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876058300-CCJVELSSXVNHXKTAA5FN/The-Lakers87.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Today, much of the original central training buildings and gymnasium are gone, but the historic buildings at either end are fully restored, a key part of the atmosphere in this historic part of Chicago. Photo via Wikipedia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876129759-SG0E4EA9VS9QUSFAPPKU/The-Lakers88.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Navy ratings undergoing aircraft structure training at the Navy Training School on the Navy Pier during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876168426-DWZ4NXWTONZKBSZT7W9Z/The-Lakers90.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Some artifacts from the short life of the Naval Training School at Chicago's Navy Pier. From upper left: matchbook from the school, postcard and instructor's name badge. Not all the classrooms attached to the school were on the pier. The Theodore Herzl School in Chicago, a former elementary school and then a junior college, rose to the wartime effort by becoming a naval training school attached to the NTS from April 1944 to December 1945. Matchbook image: chuckmanchicagonostalgia, Badge via Flying Tiger Antiques https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876261363-NA7F0CZGMGCV65RT3O2L/The-Lakers97.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out An aerial photo of Naval Air Station Glenview during the 1940s with H-Hut barracks in the foreground. Aircraft operating from Wolverine and Sable were never based aboard the carriers as they did not have hangar space or an elevator. Aircraft, from SNJ Texans to F4U Corsairs would launch from NAS Glenview and fly out to meet one of the carriers cruising on Lake Michigan to make practice approaches, landings and takeoffs, learning to hit a short, moving landing area on a featureless expanse of water and learning to respond to Landing Signals Officers. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876520693-Y2J2H55N8IV3Q4LDVD5L/The-Lakers30.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out While aircraft were never based aboard USS Sable, sometimes they travelled with the carrier in transit to another operating area or for delivery. Here 13 FM2 Wildcats and a North American SNJ trainer are lashed to the deck en route to somewhere unknown. In many of the shots of these carriers operating on Lake Michigan, we can see an escorting plane guard in company with the ship, ready to rescue a hapless pilot in training... they were never short of work. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876558919-2W1VY59U9O30SP2NX27K/The-Lakers31.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat finishes its approach to the rounddown of USS Sable as a landing signal gives the pilot the “cut” signal. The pilot flies through the smoky exhaust plume coming from Sable's stacks, cuts the power and more than likely snags a good wire. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876594955-YW5X0ZV63TV57ANSNJEP/The-Lakers32.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Landing accidents were par for the course when training on Sable and Wolverine. Some aviators were lost, more than 130 aircraft as well. Here, deck crews scramble around an FM-2 Wildcat flown by Ensign John E. Hood in 1945. If the bent prop tips tell us anything at all, it appears that Hood has just pitched onto his nose, striking the propeller on Sable's steel deck—a relative fender-bender compared to many. A quick search of the internet revealed an obituary for Hood, who survived the war. It reads: John E. Hood, 90, passed away Sunday, 15 May 2011, at his home in Springfield with his loving family by his side. John was born on 22 January 1921, the son of John and Hazel (Rees) Hood... John served proudly in the United States Navy as a Naval Aviator during WWII. He later worked at the Sangamo Electric Company as the Manager of Employee Relations. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876638074-I1XKQM0PVKRBLU2DGLSQ/The-Lakers33.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Looking pretty operational in this shot in 1943, USS Sable accommodates a quartet of combat aircraft—Vought F4U-1 Corsair, a Grumman F4F Wildcat, and two Grumman TBF-1 Avengers. The three at the back are spotted and chocked while they warm up, but the Corsair is on the roll as witnessed by the vapour spiral coming off her propeller tips. In the background the plane guard boat splashes steadily though Sable's wake. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876678677-TWVXVVXV0GBHECA6YHRU/The-Lakers34.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out An F4U Corsair on flight deck of USS Sable. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876718365-NC6X57FIRS2T7TMQMFPD/The-Lakers35.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out On a beautiful late afternoon in 1943 on the lake, flight deck crewmen disengage a Vought SB2U Vindicator from the arresting wires following its recovery on board the training aircraft carrier Sable. The Vought SB2U Vindicator was a carrier-based dive bomber developed for the United States Navy in the 1930s, the first monoplane in this role. Obsolete at the outbreak of the Second World War, Vindicators still remained in service at the time of the Battle of Midway but, by 1943, all had been withdrawn to training units like NAS Glenview. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876815888-YRJKLR7XJFBDZDWD95X1/The-Lakers36.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out In 1945, a Flight Deck Officer aboard USS Sable signals the pilot of a General Motors F2M Wildcat to begin his takeoff role. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876773922-TMV08QKKZCLBYNYL93E4/The-Lakers37.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A group of Landing Signal Officers aboard USS Sable find shelter behind the wind break while one LSO brings in a Navy fighter over Lake Michigan in 1945. Sable and Wolverine were not only used to teach landing skills to aviators, but also to teach LSOs the trade of controlling a fighter pilot, who cannot see forward, and bringing him safely on to the deck. It is possible that this is one of those classes. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876857118-2LTCW573Q8YUEII2OHYE/The-Lakers38.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out One SNJ Texan trainer takes a wave-off just after another has trapped on board the training aircraft carrier USS Sable. Low sun angles in this image show up the unique paddlewheel wake signature, with churned up water rolling down each side of the hull. We can clearly make out the various non-skid surface material test sections on the flight deck as well. The ubiquitous plane guard boat cruises in the distance. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876912991-ZNV8LEACNVSUZS9WNSV0/The-Lakers39.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out USS Sable steams along on a bright sunny day, while deck crews struggle to free a Grumman Wildcat from the wire barrier after an arrested landing. Once again, we can see that there are rope lines with sailors ready to keep the aircraft in check and break its fall—a line of sailors off each wing and one line with a rope to the nose or tail. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628876958771-WG10NYY7CGFQZ49UEVTN/The-Lakers40.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Navy flight deck officer standing on the steel deck of USS Sable gives the launch signal to a North American SNJ-5C Texan pilot in 1945. The North American SNJ was a naval-ized version of the T-6 Texan/Harvard with tail hook (just visible in front of tail wheel) for carrier landing training. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877000467-T8UV9FS17KFB3DUS9J81/The-Lakers96.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out If anything, Sable and Wolverine were smoky vessels. A North American SNJ-3 trainer is photographed taking off from USS Sable in May 1945 during training operations on the Great Lakes. There is no doubt that this airman learning to make carrier landings would not make it to the Pacific War which was to end just three months later. The massive amount of black smoke created by the antiquated coal-fired boilers of the old paddlewheeler, while not affecting this midship takeoff roll, would have certainly affected some landings with aircraft flying up the stern of the ship. I guess that if you kept the smoke to your right, you would be OK for recovery. Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, No. 80-G-354751 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877051175-KVDUV26YIVIPKGRHCL9G/The-Lakers41.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A late model General Motors-built Grumman FM-2 Wildcat in flight over USS Sable which, with no wake evident, appears to be floating dead in the water. General Motors/Eastern Aircraft produced more than 5,000 copies of the FM variant. Grumman's Wildcat production line closed in early 1943 to make way for the newer and more powerful F6F Hellcat but, under license, General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both US Navy and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolete as a front line fighter compared to the faster F6F Hellcat or F4U Corsair. However, they were adequate for small escort carriers against submarine and shore threats and for advanced flying training on Sable and Wolverine. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877201657-QCKQKROOX05QJMBU50IA/The-Lakers43.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Making smoke on Lake Michigan with the shore of Michigan in the distance, USS Sable seems to be standing still, as her smoke is blowing forward in this shot. Two Naval Aircraft Factory TDN unmanned combat aerial vehicles—referred to at the time as “assault drones”—were test flown with pilots at the controls from the deck of USS Sable. We can see one drone appearing to be taxiing into position down the deck to the fantail and the second drone on the parking area forward of the island. I say “appearing” because, in fact, the drone is taking off from the stern of the carrier as witnessed by this very interesting video on YouTube which shows tests and crashes of the TDN. I suspect that it was far easier for the TDN to be recovered from a stationary carrier, but why it was flying from the stern I am not sure. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877245825-7TAZUAX084K6OV2VOTYJ/The-Lakers42.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A TDN-1 “manned” drone aircraft gets ready to launch from the USS Sable on Lake Michigan in 1943. The aircraft appears to be on the port side, without takeoff flaps, with ailerons set to a right turn and forward of the island, so is perhaps just warming up. One hundred production TDN-1 aircraft were ordered in March 1942. Despite being specifically designed to be a simple, low-performance aircraft, and despite proving promising in testing, the type was considered to be too complicated and expensive for use operationally. The majority of TDN-1s were used in the test, liaison and training roles, with some being expended as aerial targets. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877283605-Z257BPCMWE4A80K416Q7/The-Lakers45.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Grumman TBF Avenger hangs by a thread over the side of aircraft carrier USS Sable while curious sailors look on. The “Turkey” appears to have struck its propeller as well. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877376817-T41KJ7TEKWYPEW88H86W/The-Lakers46.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Grumman F6F Hellcat hangs over the starboard side near the paddle box, after it ran off the deck and over the edge of USS Sable. Luckily for the pilot, the aircraft hung up on the catwalk. With the paddlewheel churning below, it's clear that operations were not going to stop because of the pilot's plight—that's the job of the plane guard boat off the starboard quarter. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877423430-OYNMCZAHSC6J59S6LM3E/The-Lakers54.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Grumman Hellcat clings precariously to the starboard catwalk running the length of USS Sable's flight deck after the pilot lost control of his aircraft on landing. Given the position of the cockpit, it must have been a big task to extricate the pilot. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877477092-9TH0K2NP2PONFTOSX6JB/The-Lakers47.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Bending an airplane was just part of the training when pilots practiced landings aboard Sable or Wolverine. If it was not for the barrier, many more pilots would have been killed and their aircraft lost. This Wildcat has snagged the barrier, bent its propeller tips and broken its left gear leg in the process. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877524169-I5XQXCJIR913EL5PC3FK/The-Lakers48.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out On a rainy and cold day in 1945, deck crew scramble from the starboard catwalk to come to the aid of a pilot of an F6F Hellcat (F-30) after it ran off to the right and rolled partially off the deck, dropping its right wheel into the catwalk and shock-stopping the propeller. Given the novice pilots landing aboard, it paid to have your head on a swivel as a deck crew member and be watching all landing aircraft. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877620936-OSCFTSLSEQ1FX9YEVWRT/The-Lakers99.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Another view of the same incident presented in the previous photograph shows the damage caused when the aircraft veered right and into the catwalk just before the island of USS Sable. It could have been a lot worse. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877690804-JAR3KXPDRG4T1FEGR2EB/The-Lakers57.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Ducking reflexively, a photographer and deck crew waiting on the catwalk clear their heads out of the way of a careening Grumman Wildcat on USS Sable in 1944. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877726983-C8OBNIL9WO2R0B0WL501/The-Lakers49.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Heave-ho boys. Men pulling on lines have been a staple of the navy since the days of sail. Here an FM-2 Wildcat (M-21) is pulled to the ground after losing control and impacting Sable's island structure. It appears that the tail hook was snagged then the hook at the end sheared off as well as the tail wheel. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877822699-PCB7O297L176JUBG93PK/The-Lakers50.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out All hands gather at the forward flight deck to extricate an FM-2 Wildcat after it crashed and took out Sable's barrier. On this side of the ship, we can see two cantilevered troughs projecting from the flight deck out over the lake. These allowed a taildragger aircraft (or two with folded wings) to be pushed, tail first out over the water and out of the way of the operation on deck. This was a great way to store damaged aircraft like this Wildcat and keep training operations moving. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628877862893-MPIY8XSF0E6JD00U4Y9P/The-Lakers51.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Personnel surround a damaged General Motors-built FM-2 Wildcat on the flight deck of USS Sable to detach it from the cable barrier and assess the damage. All flying would have to stop while the aircraft was removed and eventually craned onto awaiting barges. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878149193-UMDXZZSGRFWH4EADKXN9/The-Lakers52.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Sailors aboard USS Sable gawk at the damage done to her steel deck after a propeller strike from a Grumman Hellcat pitching up on its nose. Wooden flight decks, while more susceptible to fire, could be repaired very easily after such a strike, but the damage here will require some serious work. Surprisingly the aluminum propeller blade seemed to have relatively little damage. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878182252-U00UYKP7RSQV6QNTOCHY/The-Lakers53.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out After viewing hundreds of photographs from Sable and Wolverine, it became clear that muscle power was often employed to deal with damaged aircraft. Fleet carriers had a crane to assist recovery of similarly situated aircraft, but the two paddlewheel carriers lacked a crane, elevators, hangar decks or any sort of maintenance facilities. Here, sailors on board the USS Sable man three lines and pull an FM Wildcat over onto its wheels after it crashed on the flattop. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878229696-CRK0T5WSU27QLAEL4UH7/The-Lakers55.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out While many may look upon this as a sad moment, it in fact becomes the reason why, today, we have many former United States Navy aircraft being recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan. TBM Avenger ditches alongside USS Sable and it appears that the crew would survive. The aircraft will sink in relatively shallow, cold water, within sight of land and its location will likely be recorded. It may be a loss for the Navy, but it is a win for the yet-to-be-created warbird industry. The United States Navy still keeps total claim on the wrecks of any former Navy aircraft, anywhere in the world. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878334485-C6VIPUCP190T06ZOWK49/The-Lakers56.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Firehose and extinguishers at the ready, deck crew of USS Sable scramble to extricate the crew of a Grumman TBF-1 Avenger after a mishap while underway on Lake Michigan in 1945. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878516556-P6OSO5AE7LGMNSBEUPAB/The-Lakers58.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger in the foreground, an F4F Wildcat and an SNJ Texan are tied down on the flight deck of Wolverine, awaiting the signal to fly off. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878552874-7BHHD9SUM8SAGV3DY1J0/The-Lakers72.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Douglas Dauntless takes off from USS Wolverine over an ice-covered Lake Michigan. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878583914-R55JIJ88MBMLP3ZFTFQ9/The-Lakers59.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Underway on a rainy day with a flight of SNJ-3 Texans on her flight deck, USS Wolverine (IX-64) steams across Lake Michigan. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878617579-41P9ZEOA4A3YCUWE7KQI/The-Lakers60.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out An SNJ-3 Texan on the takeoff roll aboard USS Wolverine raises its tail as it thunders down the deck. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878648480-WY1I0ANV1ELID9IXVJKE/The-Lakers61.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Not all landings were successful. An F4F-4 Wildcat claws for altitude while trying to avoid the island on USS Wolverine in 1943. Each of the two Great Lakes carriers had 8 arresting wires and a wire barrier to catch careering aircraft. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878700757-2HU96Z7U85C752JIYWMK/The-Lakers62.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A mishap with a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat is captured aboard the USS Wolverine in 1943. The pilot has full left deflection on his ailerons, but the result of this roll to the right is almost certain impact with the water. The two Great Lake carriers had flight decks which were considerably closer to the lake surface than those of fleet carriers. Pilots had little time to correct a bad takeoff before striking the water in situations like this, but launches from Sable and Wolverine taught naval aviators to make perfect takeoffs, with little “sink” after clearing the bows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878765829-L8V17ZIJ7VY3S6A1IKDL/The-Lakers63.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Crewmen and naval aviators aboard USS Sable gather on the deck and climb aboard a Grumman Wildcat to be photographed from the ship's island in celebration of VJ Day. With Victory over Japan now secured, the young men can now go home to their peaceful lives, some disappointed no doubt that they could not test their metal in combat, others grateful for the chance of a life. At this very moment, Sable and Wolverine were no longer needed and, no doubt, training operations ceased immediately. In a matter of days they were taken out of service. In a matter of less than three months, they both would be decommissioned and shortly struck from service... both would rust, tied up to the Chicago pier until sold for scrap a few years later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878805282-1MVRY2XT3X7GWEJ0L3BD/The-Lakers66.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out LT C.V. Timberlake, a landing signal officer on board the training aircraft carrier Sable (IX-81), pictured in the cockpit of an SNJ Texan. Claude Timberlake flew fighters and dive bombers off the aircraft carrier Ranger and the escort carrier Santee in the Pacific during the Second World war. After transferring to the Navy's pharmacy section in 1948, he was stationed in Brooklyn and then was deputy director of a Navy medical research lab at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1953 to 1958 and was head of the Navy's Pharmacy Service for five years before retiring in 1966. I may not be the best judge, but this Timberlake bears a remarkable likeness to pop singing idol Justin Timberlake... related? Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628878926825-6C0F2T39QOKJJRXFTZ9K/The-Lakers68.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out An F4U-1 Corsair, perhaps the most advanced naval fighter aircraft of its day, is recovered aboard the USS Wolverine on Lake Michigan. The anachronistic paddlewheelers, pumping out great gouts of black greasy coal smoke were from another age compared to this thoroughbred. The horsepower of the Corsair was almost a quarter of that of the old excursion boat that it was landing on. The power output of USS Lexington, a contemporary fleet carrier, was 180,000 shaft horsepower, nearly 23 times the power of Wolverine. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628879056326-D5DGIZT6FAQ3DWGX1KQ3/The-Lakers69.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A NAS Glenview SNJ pilot climbs out of his cockpit following a barrier strike while attempting a landing on the USS Wolverine. Photo via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628879095431-JU4ON7RLYTVWH7K93JCW/The-Lakers67.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Douglas SBD Dauntless sinks inverted into Lake Michigan after attempting a landing on the USS Wolverine. We can see the flaps and tail hook were down ready for a good recovery. It's unknown whether the two-man crew survived this accident, but the aircraft that went to the bottom from Sable and Wolverine are now one of the greatest treasure troves of warbird wrecks extant. Many of the aircraft that ended up in this type of situation were largely intact when they went under. Most went to the bottom in relatively shallow water compared to open ocean operations, and nearly all their coordinates were recorded in ships logs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628879152854-P4DFHI84FDM433PJEIRM/The-Lakers70.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out A Douglas SBD Dauntless sinks inverted into Lake Michigan after attempting a landing on the USS Wolverine. We can see the flaps and tail hook were down ready for a good recovery. It's unknown whether the two-man crew survived this accident, but the aircraft that went to the bottom from Sable and Wolverine are now one of the greatest treasure troves of warbird wrecks extant. Many of the aircraft that ended up in this type of situation were largely intact when they went under. Most went to the bottom in relatively shallow water compared to open ocean operations, and nearly all their coordinates were recorded in ships logs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628879184381-R8B3JT2ULFH1IOICLE1Y/The-Lakers71.jpg The Stories - PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES - Make it stand out Elcock's aircraft came to rest on the bottom of Lake Michigan, nose down in 250 feet of water, about 50 miles from Chicago. A salvage team recovered the wreck on 21 November 2009 to be restored and displayed in non-flying condition. Here, Elcock's training Hellcat is hoisted onto the dock in Waukegan. Walter Benjamin Elcock Jr., aged 90, died on Wednesday, 2 February 2011 in Atlanta. He saw action in the Pacific theatre and received two Distinguished Flying Cross Medals. Photo: EPA/TANNEN MAURY, No. 01950298 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/screwball monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625848237388-PLGWE5OJVMCCZ1KJJYU0/ScrewballFlash.jpg The Stories - SCREWBALL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625848411605-LEKQLO9EWMDK3P5LL9VC/Screwball02.jpg The Stories - SCREWBALL - Make it stand out Then Squadron Leader Percy Belgrave Laddie Lucas looking sharp in his custom zippered battle dress as commander of 616 Squadron in the summer of 1943 at RAF Ibsley, Hampshire. A former international golfer and journalist, Lucas opened his victory score with No. 249 Squadron RAF in Malta, a unit which he later commanded. He commanded 616 Squadron from April to July 1943, following which he led the Coltishall Wing. After a further rest from operations he commanded No. 613 Squadron RAF, flying night-intruder sorties until the end of the war. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625848481520-TYINMWU6XPOXRNLFAHFQ/Screwball05.jpg The Stories - SCREWBALL - Make it stand out The cover of the program for the 1949 Walker Cup Match at Mamaroneck, New York. Following the tournament, Lucas travelled north to Toronto to play a round at the Toronto Golf Club. Photo: TheGolfAuction.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625848572073-DS35CHKO0805KI5S51MO/Screwball01.jpg The Stories - SCREWBALL - Make it stand out The brilliant air fighter George Beurling, DSO, DFC, DFM and Bar was known for ice blue eyes and extraordinary eyesight. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625848631422-TS4OQJVYOKORFZXYDNED/Screwball03.jpg The Stories - SCREWBALL - Make it stand out A massive turnout at his home town arena in Verdun. After being wounded at Malta and returning to Great Britain, Beurling was then sent to Canada to join a Victory Loan Drive, selling war bonds, being the guest of honour at a parade in Verdun and meeting Prime Minister Mackenzie King. He did not enjoy the war bond campaign. Also, he often said things that embarrassed the RCAF, such as that he enjoyed killing people. The leg wound Beurling had received over Malta, combined with his poor general health, returned him to hospital for several weeks. He completed his promotional work in mid-1943 and also met his future wife, Diana Whittall in Vancouver. Photo: RCAF https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/in-the-wings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955201837-HN2LZK28TZMI3CR1AWM2/NewWingsTitle.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955328490-NUQAW9Y6RK05QLF4FZMX/NewWings40.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada's Most wanted list is getting shorter with the capture of two BCATP classics and a red-blooded Canadian combat veteran. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955404623-RB6W3UQIB5EDBKE05ZCQ/NewWings38.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out RCAF airman Ronald Seyfert poses with Spitfire XIV RM873 possibly in Germany shortly after VE Day. As Seyfert has no pilot wings on his jacket, we believe that perhaps he was ground crew. The YO-W code is interesting to us at Vintage Wings of Canada for a couple of reasons - first and foremost, it identifies our aircraft as a Canadian combat veteran and secondly it is coincidently the three letter airport code for Ottawa - YOW! If anyone knows the Seyfert family or a better source for these photos, please let us know. Photo via Ronald Potter through RCAF.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955442539-XEL2WW07LYKYXWK2P3SV/NewWings39.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Given that this is the only photo of RM873 that we have seen to date, it makes it the logical choice as reference for a future livery for this Canadian warhorse. However, it flew with 401 after war's end, so perhaps it will be her 402 Squadron combat history that we will honour. We have 401, 402, and 411 squadrons in her bloodline - a unique opportunity for us to tell yet another Canadian story. Photo by Ron Seyfert via Rob Potter at www.RCAF.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955499207-UYNM2PUPH2PLNNAT87NZ/NewWings42.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out In 1950, the Royal Thai Air Force purchased thirty Supermarine Spitfire Mark XIVs among other marks from the United Kingdom - this is the manner in which our Spitfire would have been painted for the final phase of its operational life. The Royal Thai Air Force Museum mistakenly refers to this airframe in their collection as RM873, but as other photos have shown, RM873 was a high back Spitfire. Photo by Peter Lewis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955533051-SXHJ0V2BFIQIKD5Q4PHN/NewWings28.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Slippery aluminum, searing to the touch in tropical Thailand; jagged edges ready to lacerate and no hand holds - in 1989 the Thais sure had a different take on children's playground safety. Ravaged by time and weather, cannibalized for other restoration projects (the restoration of Spitfire RR232), RM873 was a ghost of its martial past when this photo was taken on April 30, 1989. Photo by Peter Arnold - Mark 12 of Flypast Historic Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955573522-Y9W6W5NQR1ERLZGHRRNX/NewWings41.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The aircraft was recovered from the clutches of Thai children and removed by Tango Squadron - a foundation for the preservation and development of Thai aircraft to outside storage at the Royal Thai Air Force bas at Takhli. Photo via Steve Darke of Flypast Historic Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955615173-JXI5O3FJQG4K8YH40UCJ/NewWings26.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out In April of 1999, Peter Arnold took this photo of RM873 in storage in New Zealand from whence it would eventually find its way to Duxford, England the gravitational centre of the known warbird universe. Photo by Peter Arnold - Mark 12 of Flypast Historic Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955650487-9EH08T7MZX3ELX3QGYTT/NewWings27.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out In September of 2009, the world class historic aviation magazine, Aeroplane wrote: "Combat-veteran Supermarine Spitfire XIV RM873 arrived at Duxford Airfield in early September for restoration to flight on behalf of a collector in North America. The former Thai Air Force machine, RThaiAF serial Kh.14/5-93, first came to the attention of Western enthusiasts in 1981 when it was located in a children's play area in the township of Sawankalok in Northern Thailand. It had been one of several Mk XIVs and XIXs that the Thai Government had distributed around the country when the type left service in the 1950s. Initially donating its wings to an Australian project, Spitfire IX RR232, the fuselage was moved back into Thai Air Force care with 41 Wing's Tango Squadron museum at Chiang Mai Airport. Parts from the firewall forward were then used in the static restoration of two Mk XIXs, PS836 and PM630, at Don Muang, Bangkok, both also having been recovered from the provinces." Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632955838488-LKCK6R6JVON84Y8GI2PP/NewWings2.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Rob Fleck (Left), Chief Operating Officer of Vintage Wings of Canada and test pilot Rob Erdos inspect the recently arrived former BCATP Cornell while it still sits in its shipping container. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956129215-GGNFMJVPBF6YL6O3HI8T/NewWings3.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The Cornell's centre section awaits Vintage Wings muscle to bring it into our hangar. Photo via Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956175219-NWGZ95EM4O9V3MGDAPMC/NewWings4.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The Cornell's centre section awaits Vintage Wings muscle to bring it into our hangar. Photo via Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956218238-T8GPAZ2BH4T1Y9AYQMAR/NewWings5.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A nice close-up of one of the Cornell's rudder pedals embossed with the Fairchild logo. While Fairchild designed the Cornell and manufactured them in New York for the US market, Canadian Cornells such as this example, were manufactured under license in Canada by Fleet Aircraft Company of Fort Erie, Ontario. The initials of the logo could represent either. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956264500-0EGMH7V1HWXGK42OWW54/NewWings6.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Prior to coming to Vintage Wings of Canada, the former Canuck trainer, one of 1,642 built in Canada, was restored to flight status by the Vintage Aircraft Group of Albion, New York. Here she is warmed up at the Pine Hill Airport west of Rochester. Photo via Vintage Aircraft Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956307748-0PVOQ2JG409YC3BC7MLD/NewWings7.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A nice photo of the work that was done on the Cornell's centre section by the Vintage Aircraft Group. The Cornell had a fabric-covered and welded steel tube fuselage, but the rest of the design used plywood construction, with a plywood-sheathed center section, outer wing panels and tail assembly. The landing gear was fixed with the large wheel span giving good ground handling. In this photo we can see the gear legs attached right at the extremity of the centre section. In late 1943 a series of wing failures occurred, requiring reinforcement of the main spar. After the war many Cornells were sold for civilian use, but the wing spar problem continued and required stringent annual inspections. This weakness greatly reduced their popularity. Obviously, VAG took great pains to get this major component perfect! Photo via Vintage Aircraft Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956373719-DQMLMIQJL637GF5G6WZT/NewWings8.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A beautiful blank canvas for Vintage Wings of Canada to paint a story of our history. The Cornell was awaiting the painting of Canadian markings when we bought her. Unfortunately, all fabric surfaces were stripped away at VWC to enable full inspection and repaint. While we could easily just paint her the way she was marked in her service with the BCATP, we are still researching Cornell paint schemes that may give us a more compelling paint scheme and story. Photo via Vintage Aircraft Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632956427995-UBDXRNAFOXI9307ZKYN9/NewWings9.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A view of the front cockpit of our new Cornell. Within a few days, this would be all stripped out for inspection and for a new outer skin. Photo via Vintage Aircraft Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633000938892-IX1PM5145INVBCSXVAD9/NewWings10.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A Vintage Aircraft Group pilot taxies the Cornell at the Pine Hill Airport outside of Albion, New York. We look forward to the day we can demonstrate this important aircraft for Canadian audiences. Photo via Vintage Aircraft Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633000966155-04YFE3FEPXCGKXAF0EI3/NewWings11.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada, under the supervision of Restorations Coordinator Deryck Hickox, remove the from seat of the Cornell shortly after her arrival. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633000994842-7I1IM0YZVUP38BWZQFXB/NewWings12.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Down to her skeleton, our new Cornell is prepared for inspection and a new coat of fabric and paint. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001089569-IKF2WQDYIJO3GBMSXVLE/NewWings15.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Here she awaits pre-buy inspection in her well insulated hangar near the small town of Wetaskiwin. After inspection, everyone agreed that this particular Tiger Moth was perhaps the finest example of a restoration of the type they had seen anywhere. If de Havilland Canada had a sales centre back in the day, this baby would be what we would call "showroom condition." Photo by Stephen Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001177883-3TS4WMXWTKQG5UD6AE93/NewWings16.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Another photo of our new Tiger Moth taken during the pre-buy inspection. It took thousands of hours of precise and gifted work to make a Tiger Moth this perfect. The beauty was owned and restored by Albertan Bill Neelan. Photo by Stephen Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001208366-2ZENNY0J0OBRDBCX6ZHI/NewWings17.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out In this photo taken prior to our interest in the Wetaskiwin Tiger Moth, the spectacular paint and finish is obvious. Our former Tiger Moth, written off last August, had a matte finish which was not so pleasing. Though the matte finish was more like that of a working BCATP trainer, the juicy gloss finish just sings the song of the Tiger Moth better, don't you think? Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001238777-XUXFRO6II9K9PZTNBFO1/NewWings18.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out From the fabric to the sheet metal, the Tiger Moth's finish is first class. Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001270385-V6HFTMP06W4BKR4IM06Y/NewWings19.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Nothing says "let's go flying" than the delicate and lovely lines of a cadmium yellow Tiger Moth under a summer's sky on a grass field. Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001302568-CQHW2A8AXJHB2CQ06WTX/NewWings21.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The skeletal framework of the Tiger Moth before her yellow party dress was installed. The superior quality of the workmanship of Neelan's team is evident. Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001332665-DVNV8D5DN54E2G96DSVP/NewWings22.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out One of the most noticeable differences between our old Tiger and our new one was the brand new condition of the Canadian winter canopy. Our old one had suffered from a few years of use and one final smack-down, but this one looks like it just arrived from the Canopies-R-Us aftermarket factory - not a scratch, a dent or even a fingerprint. Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001364871-0UBBNZP8IX6C2RG9209O/NewWings23.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out I've owned luxury cars that were not as finely finished as this Tiger Moth - rebuilt to perfection. Students back on the early 1940s would have had a cold, uncomfortable seat and the bare minimum of instrumentation. This baby has cabin heat, map lights and plenty of first class "wood" finishing. Photo via Bill Neelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001403432-32QQRVULGM68SR9902DA/NewWings25.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Passing her inspection with flying colours, the Tiger Moth is broken down into major components, secured in a shipping container and packaged for shipment to Gatineau. Photo by Stephen Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001433591-VM25NV22Q1WN0PJQUINB/NewWings24.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Outside her Wetaskiwin home, the Tiger Moth is craned onto a flatbed and made ready for the cross-Canada journey. Photo by Stephen Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001469276-91Z8LZOEELY18HP7BL1B/NewWings14.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Shortly after a long winter's journey by truck from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, the beautiful de-limbed Tiger Moth rests comfortably and snug in the warm embrace of the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar at Gatineau, Quebec. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001541567-Q3T16UR6NKFFGV76IE5B/NewWings37.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out After years languishing in the back corner of our crowded hangar, the National Steel Car-built Westland Lysander nears completion. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001576071-XPHOWMHQ2GF6KZSRUBZ7/news_05052008_3.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Our new Lysander will wear the distinctive markings of 416, the first Lysander to come off the assembly line at National Steel Car in Malton Ontario. This Lizzie was featured in a story that appeared on our site a couple of years ago. After her initial flight tests, 416 was flown to RCAF Station Rockcliffe where she was evaluated for service. Having a 416 commemorative Lysander ready to fly back to Rockcliffe this summer is something we are all looking forward to. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001633978-9GIP5VOQD05HGNOU4YYC/NewWings29.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Way back in the 1970s, the Lysander is seen in the hangar of legendary Harry Whereatt—the Obi-Wan Kenobe of Canadian aircraft restoration. Harry was personally responsible for saving some of our most cherished aviation artifacts. Whereatt (and his family) would work tirelessly for decades to build the Lysander from the remains of three Lysanders. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001700583-FWABP79YSIYVR2BU2B6D/NewWings30.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out In Harry Whereatt's hangar in Assinaboia, the Lysander nears completion in 1993. Whereatt chose to paint the Lysander as a Target Tug for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001732610-25E7SSQLCXI13RIFVYNL/NewWings31.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The first engine run in July of 1996. With Harry at the controls, her Bristol Mercury engine coughs into life with a farm pick-up truck providing the power to crank. Despite a successful engine start, the Lysander never flew - qualified Lysander pilots being in short supply. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001772633-ROXV48PFBSIEDOB36NBZ/NewWings51.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Don't worry Harry, we'll take good care of her. A somewhat wistful Whereatt plays along for a photo-op at the time (May, 2007) that we picked his Lysander up in Saskatchewan. Photo by John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001805039-ATSJ8VSA7NYHIK2OATIY/NewWings52.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Loaded and Rollin' - The Whereatt Lysander begins her cross Canada trek back in the spring of 2007. Photo by John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001835986-HN43OOCG5M80XNGJ82E0/NewWings32.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Our new Lizzie arrives in Gatineau, May 28th, 2007. Upon her arrival she was put into storage for more than two years with her engine going to England for overhaul. Photo by Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001864658-QDDHXFS1JEWH6U7MHCC6/NewWings43.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out It was a big occasion indeed when her Bristol Mercury was finally re-attached - Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001899182-HWHB4LOCQS9XLULGP2W8/NewWings44.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Volunteer power was critical to the speedy restoration of the Lysander - here VWC pilot Blake Reid (foreground) and Ted Devey prepare the Lysander's access panels to receive a new fabric covering. The airframe on the left is our Hawker Hurricane XII project. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001933252-FQEJJEJLGX2MQPL5LCI8/NewWings46.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Tall and quirky beyond description, the Lysander was not an easy aircraft to work in and around. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633001971051-MLOGWVI8OKUGZ9OFKPHE/NewWings49.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The wings are hoisted in place. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002001977-CHBMIZG7X6DGQAH93701/NewWings47.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The Lysander restoration team poses with their project prior to recovering. Front Row: Allan Macmillan, Jim Ashby, Jim McGregor, Ted Devey, Renaud Gagne, Steve McKenzie, Deryck Hickox, Rob Fleck Back Row: Jim Luffman, Nelson Smith, John Aitken, Bob Boyer, Wayne Giles, Terry Cooper Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002053639-4LHQOHNTBSC557KCEHTY/NewWings48.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The Lysander is a complex blend of steel tubing and wood cabinetry - requiring skills in every restoration science. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002083647-4S4L2O6N456RXW59RGIC/NewWings45.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Purists might pale at the thought, but markings were put on the Lysander using a decal product called Control-Tac. This product is about the same thickness as a coat of paint and it's so sensitive to its substrate that even the linen weave is picked up through the surface as well as every stitch, pinked edge and even imperfections in the paint. This technique allows us to position markings exactly and avoid masking and underspray. The material is easy to remove should the markings need to be changed. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002131516-3P31PYSBPVJZDOJ7YUIX/NewWings35.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out There's no ham like an old ham. Restorations Coordinator Deryck Hickox plays to the cameras of Kailuna Enterprises, a film production company working on a documentary about the Lysander's restoration. The documentary is being made for a TV series entitled "Ultimate Restorations". Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633002527826-7PAS8EYG63KV0ESAYV77/NewWings36.jpg The Stories - IN THE WINGS - Four New aircraft For Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-second-coming monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954186638-1485Q5523IWI2CQJ0AVS/LizzieLifeTitle.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954280241-G1492SHX47D6YE76K9WJ/416Lizzie2.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Steve MacKenzie, the heart and soul of Vintage Wings of Canada's volunteer brigade, stands ready at the fire extinguisher should it be needed. After thousands of hours of breaking down and reassembling the complex parts of the Lizzie, there was no guarantee that she would start and that she would run fault free.... but she damn well did! Huge stacks of gratitude and 44 gallon drums of kudos go out to the men who, under Deryck Hickox's tutelage, created a masterpiece and a resource of skills at the same time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954316950-59XG3C9ZB8N9UWMSJVPE/416Lizzie3.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out 71 years ago the original 416 underwent her first engine test while engineers and mechanics stood by with excitement at the Malton factory of National Steel Car. On April 13th, 2010... nothing had changed (except the original 416 had a Bristol Perseus engine while the new 416 thunders to the beat of a Bristol Mercury). Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954359381-FKJIIJVNX27UYVLYUHB3/LizzieLife16.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out The sign on the hangar wall over the area where all our restorations take shape. The only difference is that Hickox usually has a smile on his face. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954410468-5ERGA542VVAD5Z6I9PH6/416Lizzie4.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Pilots and staff at VWC chat with Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's pilot Rick Rickards about the Lizzie's still warm engine at the side of her landing gear - while back in 1939 National Steel Car staff discuss problem's with 416's gear. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954445480-0UN1VDL29LBDYV1AWUIG/LizzieLife5.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Some people thought it couldn't be done - take a vintage warbird down to parts and then rebuild and refinish her inside of a year... all with so-called inexperienced volunteers. Well, they were wrong indeed. Under the direction of the rascallion Deryck 'Waldorf" Hickox (4th from right), the second Lysander in a year has come to life in Canada. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954502605-6LJDQB15F9T8LNK6Z699/LizzieLife6.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out The two pilots, Rick Rickards and John Aitken chat with ground crew from the heights of the Lysander's wing. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954535537-VB8OHVEZKXI8PTL9B5S5/LizzieLife7.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Pilot to pilot, Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lysander pilot Rick Rickards shares his knowledge with Vintage Wings of Canada's John Aitken, who will be taking the aircraft down to Prince Edward Island this summer. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954565758-8WV8Q8I8L7E1SWYDO0QI/LizzieLife8.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Mike Potter (No. 08 in your program, No. 1 in our hearts) chats with Rick Rickards (facing), John Aitken and Deryck Hickox immediately after shutting down the big Merc. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954598824-MC7H6BJZYG36O0J8XKTM/LizzieLife9.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out The Big Merc thunders in the bright sunlight. Nearly everything about the first engine start was satisfactory, with only a few tweaks needed and noted. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954628728-2IMCE5MVTUR5VDXIGVTE/LizzieLife10.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out The long and lanky John Aitken, a highly experienced test pilot, strides up Lysander Mountain. Aitken has thousands of hours on exotic aircraft like the YF-17 and CF-18. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954666960-OX84HIHASNIK3T7KPCJ9/LizzieLife11.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Shouting over the thunder of the Mercury, Rick Rickards tells ground crew what's going on from the cockpit point of view. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954700782-FLNNPDCWUK346T34WA28/LizzieLife12.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out Top, the press was on hand in 1939 to capture the excitement of an early engine test on 416 with this photo appearing in the Toronto Star Weekly. 71 years later, a film crew was on hand to capture the Second Coming of Lysander 416. History repeats itself. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632954746444-QIDJNW1N2XYOFFUWW5IX/LizzieLife15.jpg The Stories - THE SECOND COMING - Make it stand out All gussied up for her debut at the VWC 2010 Flying Season Kickoff Gala at the hangar - WOW! Photo by Steve MacKenzie https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/triumph-on-the-ottawa monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944714870-9TAEUF5C0YIOIA4CIS80/LizzieFlightTitle.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944828193-XN7O6DR8B76GUCS77RWH/LizzieFlight2.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada had originally planned to conduct the Lysander first flight earlier, but by the time all the snags were rectified, paper work filled out properly and the stars and planets were aligned it did not happen until last week. Here, in mid April during our 2010 Flying Season kick-off gala, Mike Potter shows off the now complete, but not yet ready to fly Lysander to the Honourable Peter MacKay, Canadian Minister of National Defense. Minister MacKay spent considerable time out of his busy schedule to get a complete tour of the national treasure that is Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944863419-MT86NIS4FNP7OZ3WNGUP/LizzieFlight3.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Rob Erdos, Vintage Wings' "poet-scientist" test pilot from the National Research Council's Flight Research Laboratory was to make the first flight having been the pilot entrusted by Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum to fly the first flight in their Lysander last year. Here Rob bones up on his flying knowledge and the basics of aerodynamics.... you can never be TOO prepared. Photo: Debbie Wall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944894030-1LMH1E26G2PJ4U3JSEB2/LizzieFlight4.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Study behind him, it was now time to take Lizzie for a dance. Photo: Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944951464-2D13PHHI3EANJDXFUUNK/LizzieFlight5.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Before Erdos cranks over the Bristol Mercury engine, he does a thorough walk around and communes with the strange beast. Clearly, everyone who had turned out to watch the historic event gave him the space to do so as he gets in the zone. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944986649-U2Z8KU5CL8JDHCMOH3TR/LizzieFlight6.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Erdos and the Lysander move out from the Vintage Wings Ramp. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632945026243-MJ4GYZDM86ICSKWSTABE/LizzieFlight7.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Steering the Lysander on the ground is extremely difficult due to the poor capabilities of the weak pneumatic braking system. There is an old saying in warbird circles that applies here... "It's not broken, it's British". Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950408452-S3PWOI1ID0PVL3CHBG2Q/LizzieFlight8.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Erdos runs up the Bristol Mercury one last time prior to the Lizzie's first flight... all systems were a go. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950441298-SGWFE4LIN43S0VHJF9UC/LizzieFlight9.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out The Lysander, normally a dominant mass in our hangar, looked small indeed as Erdos taxies away to the foot of the single Gatineau runway. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950478429-GGGYQI1XWIJC4XCW8PPL/LizzieFlight10.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out We have lift-off!!!!!! The Vintage wings of Canada Lysander with Erdos at the controls, lifts off the runway in not much more than a few airplane lengths. Later Erdos said that it was not so much of a climb out as a release of an imaginary bungee that was holding her to the runway and preventing her from taking off vertically. Photo: Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950599412-G07J5C9YX1S1RR67S7R1/LizzieFlight11.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the Vintage Wings Harvard, pulls up beneath the Lysander's starboard quarter and photographer Peter Handley begins one of the happiest tasks he has ever had to perform. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950558854-0YZ3QC3PSKAAJZ3DU3PU/LizzieFlight12.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Potter slides beneath and comes up on Erdos' port side. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950622075-QUT8ORBSIY8LBIFBE98A/LizzieFlight13.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out A first look at the Lizzie from the side. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950650350-KY3PWB0EKAX0YZNZ6ZOM/LizzieFlight14.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Potter and Erdos move a little closer for Handley - revealing all the details of the complex aircraft in the bright light at altitude. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950680440-X9Z7KUXWMRGP7BWD1GZH/LizzieFlight16.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out With the sun above and behind the Lizzie, we start to get the feel of what the type might have looked like on a full moon night heading into France. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950711976-49A7ULHJNQLABOK3CXZB/LizzieFlight17.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Another nice backlit shot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950751342-URHHMNWD4G6K7JFFC9K6/LizzieFlight18.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Potter moves up the right side of the Lysander allowing Handley to capture every aspect of her beauty. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950784640-Y4LKPN71E26EJD9H45WG/LizzieFlight19.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out The Money Shot!! Now it's time for Erdos to slide in close and smile for the camera. Prior to the photoshoot, Erdos had spent forty minutes aloft getting to know his dance partner. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950847837-T74YIS4KYS55VCLPC88Z/LizzieFlight22.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out I'm out of here! Erdos banks gently away from Potter to set up for the approach to Gatineau. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950814555-YFC7R09LA8XJ9B0O1ERE/LizzieFlight21.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out The strange design of the Lysander's wings always creates an optical illusion when in a bank - that the upside wing in the bank always seems much longer than the downside wing when viewed from below. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950882071-NBQGT0P6MMWVVO1B9OC5/LizzieFlight23.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Erdos turns base with the Ottawa River below. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950909367-TBYN69PA9MRIIQRHMCOC/LizzieFlight24.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Erdos settles nicely on the Gatineau runway for a three point landing. Mission accomplished. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950941314-Y6S6Q37DOAUIBVH9JJME/LizzieFlight25.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out A delighted Deryck Hickox, Coordinator of Restorations, shakes hands with the pilot that brought her safely home after her first flight. In the background stand two of Vintage Wings key staff and also members of the Lysander team Steve McKenzie (left) and André Laviolette . Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632950981111-F5WL491882IL1OPQSEL5/LizzieFlight26.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out It's not like they don't know this tradition is coming, so Erdos and Hickox take five gallons of icy water like the men they are. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951135876-74F82PDGZLF9JU7YHLMJ/LizzieFlight28.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Some of the key members of the team pose with the Lysander (some damper than others) . Left to right: Rob Fleck, COO; Mike Potter Founder and Photoship pilot; Rob Erdos, test pilot; John Aitken, Lysander build team and test pilot (John would fly the Lysander later that day) and Deryck Hickox, Coordinator of Restorations. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951171840-XHGSGO09O7DJI7UVTNLD/LizzieFlight30.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Later in the evening, after both Erdos and Aitken's flights, the full Lysander team was honoured with a gourmet dinner in the hangar and plenty of heart felt speechifying. Here, Chief Operating Officer, Rob Fleck, tells the team about the importance of their accomplishment on the world stage while Lizzie, the girl of the hour, cools off behind the podium. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951210251-D4YQ2TI6807RPNIU5NWY/LizzieFlight31.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Mike Potter addresses the team and the importance of their work could not be overstated. In the background sits the new VWC Fleet Finch, and Harvard - two key aircraft in next year's tribute to the BCATP. Many members of the team expressed their delight and eagerness to get at the next big restoration challenge - the complete rebuild of our Fairchild Cornell trainer which also needs to be ready and flyable for 2011's celebration of the BCATP. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951246314-H691BBKDNRV0KHXE9B1E/LizzieFlight32.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Who could forget that old saying: The Family the Restores Airplanes together, stays together. Jacques Brunelle (second from right) and his two sons Casey (second from Left) and Christan (right) pose with Hickox and Potter after receiving their commemorative plaques. All team members were honoured with this memento of their work with the team. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951309808-KBI5VZR70331KCOUDIC9/LizzieFlight33.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out They built it and he flew it. Rob Erdos, perhaps one of the best presenters on the planet on the subject of flight and aerodynamics, takes the team through every phase of the flight - from start up to shut down. His exquisite and highly intelligible explanations allowed the build team to experience almost first hand the flight characteristics of their airplane. The team was delighted to learn that she flew just as she should. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951277243-APCRB51VE5P05CMM1I33/LizzieFlight34.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Two Lysander pilots, Bernie Lapointe (right - over 100 hours) and John Aitken (1 hour) hoist a commemorative banner to the rafters - a gift to Mike Potter from the members of the Lysander build team. The banner carried the names of all 28 people who made this triumph a reality. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951341070-HTQTJ8X94ZFL7JAJCMBG/LizzieFlight35.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Mike Potter thanks the team for the banner tribute. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632951382981-97MX7LU1B9MWNLX0IO7N/LizzieFlight36.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH ON THE OTTAWA - Make it stand out Relief, emotion, pride, camaraderie, gratitude, three glasses of wine - you can read it all on Deryck Hickox's face as he receives a standing ovation from all present. Bravo Waldorf! Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-silver-dart-the-blue-hornet-and-the-golden-hawk monthly 0.5 2023-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942447815-AIUNI1P8VPSF27TLZXYG/SBG.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Intro photo - a composite courtesy of Tom Podolec (Hornet), Andy Cline (Silver Dart) and Canadian Forces (Sabre). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942606415-0D9Q4024HKAW19XVICO8/SBD2.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The speed of sound meets the light of day. The shiny, brand spanking new CF-18 demo bird or “colour bird” is pulled from the CFB Cold Lake paint bay in February to let the true colours be captured by Canadian Forces photographers. And what a beauty she is – perhaps the finest design that her creator Jim Belliveau has done… and he has done many such CF-18 demo-birds. Photo: Canadian Forces https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942636702-57Y1UQ5R0P7HZAN9GZ7D/SBD3.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Stone cold beautiful. The CF-18 100th Anniversary of Flight colour-bird warms in the sun on the frozen ramp at Cold Lake, Alberta. The design, by Jim Belliveau, features the same “Sheffields Pale Gold” metallic paint from the Hawk One aircraft – once worn by the Golden Hawks on the 50th or Golden anniversary of flight in 1959. The red and white swooshes are reminiscent of the old RCAF lightning bolt “cheatlines” and from above the paint scheme flows like a magnificent bird. The tail features the Centennial of Flight logo designed by Vintage Wings of Canada designer Dave O'Malley. Photo: Canadian Forces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942675726-RLTZE1GO89DGS4QCFZAL/SBD4.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The beautiful flowing lines and high polish of the 100th Anniversary Hornet. Photo: Canadian Forces https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942722354-4TS07ERY3UTN7U21W9NX/SBD5.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The first public appearance of the 100th Anniversary Hornet was in the skies over Ottawa as part of a cavalcade of 24 aircraft that flew over Dow’s Lake and then on up the Rideau Canal. The last group was the fastest – three CF-18s – the Belliveau Hornet and two frontline Hornets from CFB Bagotville. Here, photographer Tom Podolec captures the sleek form while standing with thousands of skaters on the frozen surface of Dow’s Lake during Winterlude – Ottawa’s three week-long winter festival. Note the full colour logo on the outboard sides of the tails and the single colour logo inboard. Photo: Tom Podolec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632942757261-UQZGK5PTPAI5HXHB30XU/SBD7.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Down to the wire. Just two weeks before her planned appearance at Baddeck to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Flight, the newly finished Silver Dart replica is exposed to the Canadian winter for the first time as she is pushed outside for her first flight. The flight took place at Hamilton’s John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. While the Silver Dart replica was largely finished at the Russell Group's hangar in Niagara Falls, the final roll out and test flight was conducted at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's world-class facility in nearby Hamilton. The Museum also assisted with logistical and media support (not to mention the heating costs to reheat the hangar/museum after the Silver Dart was rolled out and rolled back!) - a valuable partner in this stunning achievement. Photo: Andy Cline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943374568-MI0SI0DGB84X6VN23ML2/SBD8.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The first milestone on a journey 100 years back in time. The test pilot for the Silver Dart, former Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason, taxies his fragile aircraft out to do speed tests and eventually to take to the air. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943560293-MK2X4ZWFZ5DMQP0J7MI7/SBD9.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Through the long lens of Andy Cline, we see the Silver Dart flying for the first time. She didn't get too high, but everyone was delighted with the results. Photo Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943615086-V9YTRGNGSJY0S7H9MQHQ/SBG24.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Through the long lens of Andy Cline, we see the Silver Dart flying for the first time. She didn't get too high, but everyone was delighted with the results. Photo Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943933946-64FBS6TW42BF8OZLSAM6/SBD11.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Former Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason wears a more earthly suit for his test flight in the Silver Dart. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943963713-8AIJXDPGHC2ML1FAMF88/SBD12.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Fast forward to a sunny day nearly 100 years after the first flight of the Silver Dart. Gerald Haddon, the grandson of J.A.D. McCurdy, the pilot of the historic first Canadian flight poses with the replica. McCurdy along with Casey Baldwin (the first Canadian to fly a heavier-than-air, powered aircraft), Glenn Curtiss (the great motorcycle designer and racer and entrepreneur), Thomas Selfridge (who, the previous summer had earned the dubious honour of being the first person to die in a powered aircraft crash) and Alexander Graham Bell made up the five members of the AEA – the Aerial Experiment Association. The Silver Dart was the AEA’s fourth powered aircraft – after the White Wing, The Red Wing and the June Bug (all tested in the United States). Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632943992478-SR6ZTDAIMPI6P0R1RWJI/SBD13.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Gerald Haddon (Back to camera) assists the builders of the Silver Dart replica as they get set for the historic flight from the ice at Baddeck. One hundred years previous, his grandfather sat in an identical Silver Dart - ready to make history and a future he could barely have imagined. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944031739-R95GO0TQ0ULJQ7R2HH9F/SBD14.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Former astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason gets his rear wheels off the ice during one of his flight tests on the 22nd. The Silver Dart replica does lift off by the rear wheels first, but this day, the nose wheel had a hard time jettisoning the earth. Thousands were on hand for this historic re-enactment in this consecrated ground... er, ice. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944061860-NO7XCC46ZZJFRRQRWMIP/SBD15.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out McCurdy could never have imagined it. One hundred years after he lifted off from the frozen surface of Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia, two pilots would fly tribute aircraft in his honour - both would be space travellers or as we call them - astronauts. Left to right - Astronaut/Group Captain (Ret'd) Chris Hadfield (flying the Hawk One Sabre), Test Pilot/Wing (Ret'd) Commander Paul Kissmann, former Snowbird Lead Pilot/Wing Commander (Ret'd) Steve Will, Grandson of Douglas McCurdy Gerald Haddon, Astronaut and Test/Silver Dart pilot Bjarni Tryggvason, former Snowbird Lead pilot/Wing Commander (Ret'd) Dan Dempsey, former Snowbird pilot/Flight Lieutenant (Ret'd) Jeff Hill, former Snowbird pilot/Squadron Leader (Ret'd) Réal Turgeon, Maintenance Officer/Warbird Pilot Andrej Janik, Warrant Officer (Ret'd)/Aero Engine Technician Joe Maillet and Public Affairs Officer/Squadron Leader (Ret'd) Mary Lee. --- Of course these ranks are the ones they would have had back in the days of the original Golden Hawks and not their army-style ranks of today - they were granted permission to wear these ranks for the purposes of this project. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944093708-EPAUYZ4XTYRDQDIBAYRU/SBD16.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield suits up for his trial flight over Baddeck. The flight was done on the day before the actual anniversary day of February 23rd as the weather was perfect on the 22nd and the outlook for the 23rd poor. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944121086-05USZ0NWQILNPR46CAWB/SBD17.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Hadfield focuses on the tasks of engine start-up beneath his newly painted Sheffield's Pale Gold helmet. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944149575-SO8KIGED8J4TY7R5LYE2/SBD18.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Hawk One thunders past onlookers at the Sydney, Nova Scotia airport on February 22nd. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944176019-IHRYOHCL3M96DZ5ALA8U/SBD19.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Hadfield waves to ground crew on the ramp at the Sydney, Nova Scotia airport - the jump-off point for the Centennial fly-bys. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944205449-GTYRPNQYGN05SZ4QUV0O/SBD20.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out A gathering of Hawks. Standing L-R Andrej Janik, Mary Lee, Dan Dempsey, Jeff Hill, Real Turgeon and Joe Maillet L-R on wing Paul Kissmann, Steve Will, Tim Leslie. In cockpit - Chris Hadfield. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944232305-7JOR0X9OONJAKKE8RKYE/SBD21.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The time honoured "Walk of Heroes" shot, made famous in a hundred motion pictures from The Right Stuff to Armageddon to Memphis Belle. Photo: Janet Trost, Hawk One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944302431-GNSAX66KED6TP4TEBOTR/SBD22.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Time for some formation practise. Steve Will slides Hawk One in on the left wing of a Snowbird Tutor over the Gatineau Hills on the way home from Baddeck. Photo: Canadian Forces https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632944330177-ZBRZULWH1VWZT8ICSFGV/SBD23.jpg The Stories - THE SILVER DART, THE BLUE HORNET AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Steve Will, flying from the co-pilot's seat of a Canadian Forces Snowbirds CT-114 Tutor, trails Paul Kissmann through some aeros over the Gatineau Hills on the same day. Photo: Canadian Forces https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/box-of-joy monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940769541-GAJ2VAWAJ75FO5N0QZUJ/BoxTitle.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940905886-9FYCC37DHXC9L8SGK03K/Box12.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Too big to shake to see if it actually does contain an engine, Vintage Wings staff remove the long awaited Pegasus radial for the Swordfish ... or is it just a Pegasus-jar? Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940996250-9J6IW1P1BY5HWJH33JRX/Box2.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Director of Maintenance and Restoration, Andrej Janik (in container) directs the off loading. Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941041556-XZ2DG99R5Z9K7UY5DFU3/Box3.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Oscar Verdugo removes some of her tie-downs prior to lifting her into her new home. Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941077802-YE481VJ0HO5OZQ36G3XV/Box4.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out A bit of good olde British humour or an insurance necessity, we found this note written on the fuselage of the Spit. Dang, and we were right ready to fire her up and see what she'll do! Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941112264-2U7OLF7Q976LHGOI7MTK/Box5.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Andrej Janik inspects the remains of the empennage. Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941143326-SKSIRMLLDWJ5S55064XL/Box6.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Looking more like we had dredged her up from the bottom of the ocean, the hardly recognizable chunks will indeed become a perfectly flying and beautifully Canadian Spitfire XIV in the years ahead. Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941179958-D5CY7KCFYX96NZUE2M4G/Box9.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out The Spit is forked on to a pallet for moving into the hangar. Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941219935-GNCSGS518JWJK2XRBS3N/Box7.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out Not sure why this serial (PM631) is written on the wreckage, for the main fuselage is well known to be from RM873. Perhaps it is another bit of British humour as PM631 is a fully restored Rolls-Royce Griffon-powered Spitfire XIX of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Cheeky Limeys! Photo by Rob Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632941249835-QCN5S76JDMGM1Y2CE9TH/Box8.jpg The Stories - A BOX OF JOY - Christmas in April - Make it stand out The beauty of the high-backed Spitfire can clearly be seen here despite the rough condition. Photo by Rob Fleck https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/mellow-yellow monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939625622-EIAB7CQ31GFEN6B4Z8EO/MellowYellowTitle.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939723616-HZV3TM5FBE7YLGGHGWIY/NewWings12.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out Just one year ago, the Cornell was down to her skeleton, and the volunteers happily set to work. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939868081-8MRPV19ICI396AYVKNM9/MellowYellow8.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out AME extraordinaire, Paul Tremblay, was in at 730 a.m. last Saturday to secure the cowling panels so that our “Aircraft Decorator” can install the remaining 712 numerals. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939756861-A3IFF37F451K6LX4YUUR/MellowYellow9.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out As the days counted down to an on-time completion, every AME, mechanic and experienced volunteer at Vintage Wings lent a hand to finish multiple tasks, installations and tests simultaneously. Months of man hours were put to the task in a matter of weeks - no complaints, no frustrations, nothing but can-do. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939934548-PMIW2AQXWCGPTBWX7JBB/MellowYellow11.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out The finishing touch. While working in and around the mechanics, while they toiled to ready the Cornell in time for the Yellow Wings launch, the aircraft decorator transformed a Cornell into THE Cornell. Now she wears the markings (albeit not as crude as back in the day) she once wore when in the employ of No. 15 Elementary Flying Training School, Regina, Saskatchewan. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939974840-JAA62NIA9O6SQNB3FFCP/MellowYellow10.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out On the last day, volunteers swarmed the beautiful yellow aircraft, finishing details, clearing snags and laughing all the while. Here Steve Skelly finishes cutting away a new under-wing access panel and closes the hole with a plate. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940020600-5SBJLBV41B2IPB2VOKHD/MellowYellow7.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out On Tuesday May 17th, the canopy is attached and scratch proofing removed and she is ready to be rolled out to the ramp for her first engine test. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940059850-C9R61NR9DUQMUSE7GSR0/MellowYellow3.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out You don't have to be an expert to see the quality of the restoration work completed by the large team of volunteers, metal workers and mechanics. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940087245-4K77DUHR9TAHGDRZ2IGY/MellowYellow4.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out Out on the ramp under threatening skies, mechanic and pilot Paul Tremblay lights up the Cornell. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940114957-R4B7VIFLLJKI2F6434LO/MellowYellow5.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out Out on the ramp, Yellow Wings Fairchild Cornell from No.15 EFTS, Regina comes to life after nearly 70 years. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940143647-463RSR75AT3YPZF7C2R6/MellowYellow6.jpg The Stories - MELLOW YELLOW - Cornell's First Start - Make it stand out Manager of Maintenance, the affable Guy Richard, leans in to check for leaks or problems as the Cornell's Ranger engine coughs, barks and roars to life. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fairchild monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938501302-PSWIHTCXUE83EET1GGY7/FairChildTitle.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938638208-HAOELCMTM8DG88K1R8XJ/FairChild2.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out AME Paul Tremblay goes over last minute technical details with veteran test pilot John Aitken. Both men will share the duties of the first test flight - Aitken, the flying and Tremblay, also a pilot, the monitoring of instruments and other functions. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938681653-I9GHHO8CLB5VYHU8EETG/FairChild5.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Paul Tremblay is a man who really gets into his work. Part of the job of an aircraft maintenance engineer is to work in confined and difficult to reach places. Here he makes last minute adjustments prior to the first flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938724627-0D5LLF1AYK06O3XNRKIL/FairChild3.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Fairchild Cornell 10712 waits patiently for her rebirth at the hangar door while a film crew goes over her and technicians and volunteers discuss the upcoming flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938751840-QPL7HB1GZISJRE7X2UD3/FairChild4.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out One look at the front end of this baby, and you immediately see the quality of the restoration work - perfect paint by Korrey Foisy and exceptional metalwork by Oscar Verdugo's team. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938808042-QWN3M76AS2QA647CQ106/FairChild6.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Mechanic Andre Laviolette (L), F-86 Sabre pilot Rob Fleck and Swordfish pilot Bob Childerhose (R) inspect a large scale RC model of a Cornell built by Ed Durand - whose family once owned Cornell 10712. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938872443-2NYB5MU0SBA6QYEJ7QAA/FairChild23.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Durand's model next to the real thing. The model is painted in the markings of another Cornell purchased by the Durand family after the war and restored by Ed's brother Bob. Photo: Wanda Kowalski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938890357-NKHFAYYGQ4HZ5VUEE1AI/FairChild7.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Prior to rolling the Cornell out to the ramp, Aitken completes his walk around. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938929414-U8CFZPSU882BPDF7XIT5/FairChild8.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out While Tremblay (right) watches, Aitken fires up the Ranger engine. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938954402-HP52K5RE0XAB3PF24NEY/FairChild16.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out In the air at last... Ulrich Bollinger in the Harvard chase aircraft slides beneath the Cornell so that photographer Handley can start shooting. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632938984957-2Q469NCFDPGLO1T7CUP9/FairChild14.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Wearing the markings she would have worn at No. 15 EFTS, Regina, Saskatchewan during the war, Cornell 10712 looks every inch the warbird she once was. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939014316-QVYLDM190XW9YIIUQVIC/FairChild17.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Aitken, a highly experienced test and formation pilot, moves up the port side of the Harvard photoship. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939048229-71C17CRQ65RZAX7HEW1H/FairChild9.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Aitken and Tremblay come alongside while Handley fires away. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939077093-XQIWSJ201U55S49V8P06/FairChild10.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Aitken slides the Cornell beneath the photoship and Tremblay clearly enjoys the view. Looking down in the cockpit of the Cornell, one can clearly see the checklists in both pilots' hands. Once again, the workmanship of the Vintage Wings team is easy to see. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939106175-S78ORX01XYTPH7V1IWSA/FairChild11.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Coming up on the other side, Aitken holds formation in tight through a left turn. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939133414-3386JDYQ68R06VFPE1Y9/FairChild12.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Over the lakes dotting the Gatineau Hills, the Cornell looks as she would have nearly 70 years ago. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939165935-RU07Y2EB955VBWIVRVKN/FairChild13.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Time to come home. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939193225-P8T05F5MH3YC639ZO9IL/FairChild18.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out These days, it's pretty well impossible to surprise a Vintage Wings pilot or mechanic with a bucket of post-solo or post-first-flight ice water, so instead, a drive-up dousing station was set up. Tremblay was forced to stand while Lilli Potter, assisted by her always helpful father, tipped four gallons of Ottawa River water over his head. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939235296-091H5H1AIASX3DMS76R6/FairChild19.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out “Why, I ought to . . ." Tremblay accepts congratulatory handshakes, but not before promising Lilli revenge. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939258905-QJEG5UB3EMKU8F9MX42V/FairChild20.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Mission accomplished, Lilli scampers away. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939294499-KOYHLHBCQ9OPEFM5MRH8/FairChild21.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Afterwards, Aitken debriefs volunteers - including Ed Durand (in Yellow t-shirt) whose family purchased a number of Cornells (including 10712) from surplus stores at Windsor Mills, Quebec after the war. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632939322135-FBWMJXF8CWQNNJVN4388/FairChild15.jpg The Stories - FAIR CHILD — Our newest baby is airborne - Make it stand out Soon, Cornell 10712 will vanish over the western horizon on her way to the West Coast. We will not see her until her return from Yellow Wings Tour duties in August. Godspeed baby. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/stringbag-a-first-flight monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632935264619-T98MHGCBUHJSLG2OMNMK/StringbagTitle.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632935474035-MRWMHOIH8DWWNS9UOJ1C/Stringbag2.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Out on the ramp the “Stringbag” is fueled for her debut. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632935915996-QX2JNBBQ7GKIBRA68JDK/Stringbag3.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out With electric starter issues still hounding the team, it was the Twin Armstrong Starter Mk II to the rescue. Here Austin Childerhose and Angela Gagnon disengage the start crank after winding the reluctant flywheel. For a video of just how hard this is to do, take a look at this video of the moment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632936127066-XE8VW1O0H9KF1OIVSXB9/Stringbag5.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Warming her up and getting all the needles to settle down. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632936176513-Z41X649OKK0N2U4LVJNB/Stringbag4.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out In most images of veterans of the Second World War, mustaches, tired eyes, and hard faces lead us to believe that these were older men, but every once in a while we run across photos that clearly tell us these men were boys. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632936289404-4ISZ5MO4HDWGHPKMUTH1/Stringbag6.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out With a darkening sky and thunderstorm looming in the background, Aitken brings the Swordfish back to the hangar after the compass swing to wait out the rain. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937194745-FDW9OCCQ4OFS3C04XYVH/Stringbag7.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Inside the hangar Aitken chats to Andrej Janik and key support crew as the summer rain falls. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937230831-KVGADOW26SS82TW3E7OW/Stringbag8.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out With the heat of the ramp already evaporating the rain, the Swordfish is pushed back outside. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937276865-5TG8BIBIKL560DBXRHUY/Stringbag9.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Manager of Maintenance, Guy Richard takes over the start crank and the engine comes to life again. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937320089-Y2DWIJ1WM9YJ5DVE6ZOS/Stringbag10.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Manager of Maintenance, Guy Richard takes over the start crank and the engine comes to life again. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937352960-5KUSE4LTFK4E8CHGZUSW/Stringbag11.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Aitken trundles off for his rendezvous with history. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937402608-0C6BR7ZPWOZSW5IO4YAU/Stringbag12.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Backtracking down the single Gatineau runway. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937435180-11P4MZPXEBK7OKSF8RVA/Stringbag13.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out With Sabiston and party, trying to catch up in the Beaver, the Swordfish clatters away into the spectacular cloudscape. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937487283-KBA7RDTTZ9G2TFOYDXKH/Stringbag15.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Catching up with the world's second flying Swordfish. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937519526-RJVGEBVPOVUOFZGN4WDU/Stringbag16.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out From this photo, one gets a sense of the skill of pilots and crews who navigated hundreds of miles of weather over the oceans to find their targets and get back home. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937571689-I4NZVUKN61ISV7AZL0XY/Stringbag17.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Alone. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937599353-KOIZTEY5K14DL21PLHX3/Stringbag19.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Finally, the Beaver manages to pull alongside. Kudos to the Beaver chase team, for it was a bumpy grind to even get near the big biplane, slow as it was. Clearly visible on the rudder is the dedication graphic panel honouring Commander Terry Goddard, a Canadian who participated in the sinking of the Bismarck. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937628376-WKULK5DGWOGYBXZ1EAU0/Stringbag21.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Timeless. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937656757-D09FY9NRI6PBI5247SDZ/Stringbag18.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Homeward bound. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937684272-TV30UQ4MLWB5KOPLWNHP/Stringbag20.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937712752-0WMQDQJH9885EXFIP203/Stringbag22.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Back on the ground, Aitken fills in Janik and Gagnon on what he learned from the hour-long flight. After landing, post flight briefing with maintenance revealed a few more tweaks were necessary. If they are resolved, then we will prepare for a cross country adventure to Oshkosh and an appointment with some very important and excited aviators. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937746045-D3NNDBR2EOYRS8TNLPOM/Stringbag23.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out After many "first flights", Aitken knows the drill. Pose for your photo, while behind you, Vintage Wingers attack with buckets of cold Ottawa river water. And its best to take it like a man. Vintage Wings pilot, Doug Fleck (background), advances at a gallop with five gallons of torment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937783246-YEGEMQGP81JANDWSFIII/Stringbag24.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out And Austin Childerhose offers up the Coup de Grace. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632937811603-753SXHW8QU69VUPI7L3L/Stringbag25.jpg The Stories - STRINGBAG — A First Flight - Make it stand out Clearly this is the result of a lifetime of bad parenting. Doug Fleck, son of VWC President Rob Fleck, and Austin Childerhose, son of Swordfish pilot Bob Childerhose, attack a senior citizen in broad daylight and laugh at his predicament. What is this world coming to?? Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/just-wingin-it monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932653586-K3UTUQGI8P8CJILQ8BUI/WingsFlash2.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932965989-T9H27JD4BT4JH7R60IA4/Wings2.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The Flying Officer William Lidstone McKnight Hawker Hurricane XII up on jacks with wheels and wings attached for the first time in five years. The restoration team, lead by Andrej Janik and Paul Tremblay was checking fit and alignment on the wings which had been repaired by Steve Martin of Hamilton, Ontario. These wings were delivered a year ago and had yet to be attached. The fit was perfect, the mechanics happy. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933008709-3MQJP3A2T2HSYWM4VDDS/Wings4.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The complexity of the Hurricane's structure can be clearly seen in this shot – a web of tubes and tension connections combined with cabinet work, beneath an outer skin that for most people looks similar to the Spitfire, but is truly a structure from another era. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933046055-4T5NXZL78VVA3L8V428P/Wings5.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A close-up of the wing showing the fabric covering of the four machine gun ports on the starboard wing. This is a permanent installation, but during the Second World War, these ports would have been covered over after each mission with red tape, prior to the next mission. In With Wings like Eagles, author Michael Korda explains why gun tape was used, “In order to prevent moisture (rain or fog) from entering the open gun ports in the wing and freezing on the gun breeches as the plane took off and climbed rapidly into the colder air, Dowding [Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, commander of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain} had the ground crews cover the gun ports with “sticky tape”, very much like what is now called duct tape. That used by the RAF was bright red, hence the bright red patches on the leading edge of the wings of British fighters. The first bullet simply cut a hole in the tape. Armorers usually left taping over the gun ports to the last, after they had cleaned and reloaded the guns, so the intact red patches were a sign that the fighter was ready for action again.” Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933169140-CA47ED55DF0IU7DZA8CT/Wings6.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Smooth on the outside, complicated and bumpy on the inside. With our view up inside the fuselage structure of the Hurricane, we see the head-scratching complexity of the tubular structure and attendant cross-bracing. The wing centre section box spar of the Hurricane's wing can be seen at the bottom of the fuselage running horizontally. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933209490-61IHH0MUYJL2GMU7JQNA/Wings8.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A close-up of the wing centre section where it attaches to the fuselage and the firewall. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933263757-RPSWO737NQ39CJ9PATTN/Wings43.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Part of the team working on the Hawker Hurricane XII project: Back row (L-R) Terry Cooper, Jim Luffman, and Ron Johnson. Front: (L-R) Eden Peruzovic and Paul Tremblay. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933304322-HUSDS34PGH35T4C89CCP/Wings19.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A look at what the Flying Officer William Lidstone McKnight Hurricane XII will look like when it is done. McKnight's famous Grim Reaper fuselage artwork will make this aircraft a much photographed subject in the years to come. Digital image by Shado at airwarfare.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933335513-A9J6QJ1VG3OEV18NH82W/Wings20.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A close-up view of the unique and famous Grim Reaper fuselage art of the Hurricane that was flown by Canada's Flying Officer Willie McKnight. When this aircraft is in the air again, it will tell the remarkable story of one of Canada's greatest, yet long forgotten heroes. Digital image by Shado at airwarfare.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933490283-1PCB25N8EOPJNT4134LP/Wings10.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A close up look at the Arnold Roseland Spitfire IX “D-Box”, the leading edge structure forward of the main spar. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933532683-P3LV1EEILS7SZ4H85B42/Wings11.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Another look at the “D-Box” of the Spitfire wing. Some components for this complex wing shape were salvaged from Hull Aero's botched work, while others completely rebuilt to connect with the new spars which were ordered when we saw the mess that was delivered. When we took receipt of these wings, one wing was perhaps 75% completed (though not using spars drilled for Mark IX specs) and the other wing was approximately 25% complete (and wrong also). As it turns out, it is easier to repair the wing that was less complete as we could do most of the work ourselves. The wing that was more complete required far more attention to undo the damage, construct new components where necessary and rebuild. If only we had known! Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933662237-Y631IAARAKVB2T0VOCB6/Wings12.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The landing gear attachment points of the port wing. When the wings arrived from Hull Aero, the holes drilled for the pintle (angled component at right) were in the wrong location, appropriate for a Mk I wing and not the Mk IX wing ordered. Drilling new holes would have weakened the structure, so this meant rebuilding the whole assembly. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933719553-LV3OP53L1I2AGRG87269/Wings44.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A week later, we see the landing gear pintle and the up-down locking mechanism attached to the wing structure. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933748589-2BUPDT31S9GWB9HOI09F/Wings14.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out In order to have access to all sides of both wings at the same time Vintage Wings contracted to build a walk-in self-lit master jig, to which we could attached components as required. Here, apprentice Ian McKenzie stops his work to humour the photographer. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933781921-IXFEH5AMI9ANND77S6X8/Wings15.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out It takes a lot of sophisticated tools, jigs and experience to build a Spitfire wing. It also takes a lot of simple tools like a ball peen “persuader” and a load of time. Here we see a close up of the area where the landing gear and up- and down-lock is attached. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933813234-HGZ2CTYYVRLLKMNAOBDQ/Wings16.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Apprentice AME Ian McKenzie works on access ports for the D-Box structure. Ian is lucky to be working under the tutelage of Ken Wood, a highly experienced metals and structures man... a rock star in the world of metal fabrication in Canada. Unlike Hull Aero, Wood, McKenzie and the others working on this project care about the quality of the work that they do. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933842923-GF051XAB0I9K9XF8SONS/Wings45.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Standing in the wing jig, Ian McKenzie (L) and master metal fabricator Ken Wood take a moment from their labours to pose for the writer next to a D-Box bristling with “cleco” fasteners holding the wing's skin temporarily to the frame. Clecos are small clamps that replace rivets for temporary alignment and fastening. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933881772-5NIJ0JF53KR9861P8V4D/Wings17.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out When the wings are finished in Gatineau, they will travel to Comox where they will be attached to the finished fuselage of the 442 Squadron Spitfire IX, which is dedicated to the memory of Flight Lieutenant Arnold “Rosey” Roseland, a gifted flight leader who lost his life over France in 1944. Roseland's logbook indicates he flew a similar Spitfire IX with the Y2-K letter code on the side more than 65 times. Photo is an altered image by Gavin Conroy, with additions of the 442 Squadron markings and image of Roseland in the cockpit by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933927344-B3NAE6MS1US1VGFZ0JDH/Wings18.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out A close up of the altered Gavin Conroy photo shows Arnold Roseland in the cockpit. Photo is an altered image by Gavin Conroy, with additions of the 442 Squadron markings and image of Roseland in the cockpit by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632933973267-GPWDQRWXIKRPW1Q6OU62/Wings21.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out For nearly a year, the Vintage Wings of Canada DH-83 Fox Moth has been displayed along with VWC information banners near the baggage claim carousels at the Ottawa International Airport courtesy of Ottawa International Airport Authority CEO Paul Benoit. Arriving passengers and waiting families could get a good look at a piece of British and New Zealand history. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934059473-CPJ3GRV5I6TBM4VSUOQC/Wings22.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The Fox Moth's elegant wing pairings can fold backward to allow for storage in some pretty tight spaces, but this was not, unfortunately, compact enough to allow us to roll it through the large doors of the Ottawa International Airport without first removing the wing sets. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934085233-WDO7ROAVX8VQUYUSXGHQ/Wings24.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Ian McKenzie starts the removal of the port wing pairing. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934113634-4N1MUQFU7ISU2J5BE1O9/Wings23.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out With the port wings removed and attached to their rolling transport jig, the team addresses the starboard set. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934141276-DAHW4TR079JKYT16RQW4/Wings25.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out From high above, Alan Shafto captures the nearly disassembled Fox Moth. All that is left to do is collapse the gear and remove the empennage or tail assembly. The airport kindly supplied security staff to guard against the overly-curious. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934174115-EA2YP5K2WJYGKEHZUD3M/Wings26.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The crew walks the wingless and tailless fuselage of the Fox Moth towards the east side doors of the terminal. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934210952-ESJ2NC1MESII25NP9NDU/Wings27.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Out the doors and right up onto the tilting flat bed trailer. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934279711-J32TXCFPER63L3ZW8IYW/Wings30.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out With the fuselage and the two wing sets lashed down well, the tractor and float make their way slowly and carefully through downtown Ottawa and across the river to Gatineau. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934240640-AIHTEF73TYMTFMZRPQL9/Wings28.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The rig carrying the disassembled Fox Moth rounds the corner of Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934318308-K8H7BNJB5CVWMKISH58O/Wings29.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Home again after a year long stay at the Ottawa Airport, the Fox Moth enters the ramp outside of the Vintage Wings hangar. Photo Alan Shafto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934348480-283BSCY61JXJLZZ87HAT/Wings31.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Guy Richard, head of maintenance at Vintage Wings, stands on the float as the large components are readied for off-load. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934384183-OQ5NT5ZY9M28LGTFSS6C/Wings32.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out The engineers, apprentices and technicians at Vintage Wings of Canada all work for a separate entity known as Vintech Aero. Vintech is a group of Canada's finest aircraft maintainers and restorers, known for their skill and their attitude, as displayed by this shirt, worn by metal fabricating rock star Ken Wood. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934416813-KX2F6R1H6HH7TAWBA6EI/Wings34.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Off comes the first wing set, lowered with great caution down the ramp of the tilting flat bed. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934446624-GI2VHOC9RA5JOCLO4BMO/Wings35.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Australian volunteer, pilot, mechanic, and aviation management student, Alan Shafto has taken a month off from his studies at the University of Western Ontario's Commercial Aviation Management Program to provide enthusiastic and knowledgeable support leading up to our Wings over Gatineau en vol air show (on the weekend of September 15-16th). Here Shafto anchors the starboard wing set as the team gets set to lower it to the hangar floor. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934494213-WT6JDK5JG8OJHSMYRWVO/Wings36.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Looking more like a strange road vehicle than an elegant flying machine, the fuselage is readied to be lowered. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934528500-UNDKCGHDTCUFDNX0RY0M/Wings37.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Technician Eden Peruzovic strains to hold back a too-rapid off-loading of the fuselage. The rare aircraft was handled with extreme car throughout the move. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934558390-7TJTGDE6QEQRYV00ORO3/Wings39.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Home at last... and safe. The fuselage of the little de Havilland Fox Moth sits under the wing of its younger and much bigger bush plane brother, the de Havilland Canada DCH-2 Beaver. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934610320-KFHVNKJAB0S1ZB6YFWNJ/Wings40.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Though the wings on the Sergeant Cliff Stewart Westland Lysander are working just fine (WE restored them), the brakes are definitely not. The touchy and anemic pneumatic braking system has been a source of frustration and consternation since the first flight. Last week, test pilot Rob Erdos was brought in to test the recently inspected Bristol Mercury engine and while he was running it up, he also taxied for a bit to test the brakes. They did not fail to disappoint. So weak is the system, that mechanics Angela Gagnon and André Laviolette (you can just make out their legs under the fuselage) had to push the tail round the bend of the taxiway as the “Lizzie” couldn't even make the corners. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934639937-GLFQ9UBCG97PZMQIHAY5/Wings41.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out Having pushed the “Lizzie's” tail round the bend, Laviolette was in front of the tail plane when the aircraft began taxiing. As a result, he had three options to keep himself from being hit... jump out of the way, roll underneath, or simply sit on the tail and go along for the ride. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632934672454-PFSZUR45W7HHZWESUH8U/Wings42.jpg The Stories - JUST WINGIN’ IT - Make it stand out “Engine's fine,” says Erdos, “ just a couple of tweaks, but the brakes... not so great”. Situation normal. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/identity-crisis monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632867305045-PN9LOBEFDXYDT77BB1BE/RM87301.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632867399686-6W3AJHSWMPYFIEPCVE00/RM87319.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out The beautiful WACO Taperwing A.T.O. was one of the most beautiful aircraft in the Vintage Wings of Canada collection and one of the first acquired. In the end, it was sold however, because it did not tell a uniquely Canadian story. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930466189-9VCMIX0J9FQ7XE6TG90G/RM87318.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A wartime photo of 401 Squadron RCAF’s Spitfire Mk XIV RM873. RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930526971-YG78BLOR8UFDBV6RUMC9/RM87308.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out List of Thai Spitfires This is a photocopy document that was given to Peter Arnold in the early 1970s. Peter Arnold states: “It lists all the Thai Spitfires in Thai Air Force serial order including a brief history. It includes all the cockpit plate construction numbers but uses the prefix ‘65’ rather than the correct ‘6S’ which is the Supermarine prefix—easy mistake. It was compiled post the Spitfires going out of service and also includes the Ground Instructional survivor PM630 at Trad/Trat. The word cannibalized is spelt with a ‘Z’ rather than an ‘S’ which may indicate the compiler was not a UK citizen. This really is inside information at that time and probably came from a diplomatic source, Air Attaché enthusiast and or a resident service engineer from Vickers or Rolls Royce. Note no former RAF serials are included for the XIV’s but some ‘pencilled in’ serials have been nominated post compilation.” This document will provide clues combined with later discoveries. The first column, Numbers 1 to 34, lists the numbers worn on the fuselages of the Thai Spitfires. The third column, entitled Serial No., is in fact the Vickers Factory Construction Numbers found on data plates, while the fifth column (RTAF Reg. No.) lists the Royal Thai Air Force serial numbers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930591284-DV6LZWI0Q5KZXJ3R0I8Y/RM87309.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out This partial page is from an appendix to Eric Morgan’s book on Supermarine Aircraft published in 1981. If we refer back and forth between this and the previous table, we can see that author Morgan, who was the official Vickers archive librarian, has drawn information from the previous chart, lending credibility to the data contained in that list. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930629752-3Y6QAF4X1KEN4CMBJ3WR/RM87302.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out The Spitfire Mk XIV of the Royal Thai Air Force found at Sawankhalok, Thailand was heavily damaged, but it did have wings, engine mounts, engine, cowlings and propeller. Throughout the 1970s, Australian Peter Sledge had been building a static display Spitfire IX from the South African Air Force (RR232). He was short of parts and material to build his wings, so sought and received permission to “obtain” the wings from the Sawankhalok Spitfire seen in this photo taken in 1980 before the wings were removed. Sawankhalok is a district in the northern part of Sukhothai Province, northern Thailand. Photo: Peter Sledge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930680160-T66S2H2RV8MJ8KTUOYUX/RM87303.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out At the request of Peter Arnold, Sledge searched for clues to the identity of the Sawankhalok Spitfire, which at one time was attached to Sledge’s wings. Upon opening the starboard wing, Sledge found the numerals 873 and the letters STB scribbled in pencil on the underside of the wing skin. These marks were made by factory workers during the assembly of the wings in England during the war. Many wings were worked on simultaneously and each wing was crafted individually and wing skins measured for one particular wing fit that wing best of all. It was a simple thing to write down which aircraft the skin and wing belonged to, to avoid mixing them up. In this photo taken in 1984 in Sydney, New South Wales, Sledge has marked with grease pencil a clearer indication of what the pencilled marks said ( barely visible in the centre of the above photo). Upon seeing this image, Peter Arnold considered that RM873 was a POSSIBLE identity for the Sawankhalok Spitfire since RM873 was a known RAF Spitfire sold to the Royal Thai Air Force. Photo: Peter Sledge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930721212-O54KQWAT4V183REWKO4X/RM87304.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A photograph of the now wingless Sawankhalok Spitfire, taken by Peter Arnold on his second trip to Thailand in 1989. Arnold was returning from Burma and flew into the Northern Thai city of Phitsanulok, and then paid a driver to take him to the resting site of the former Royal Thai Air Force Mk XIV Spitfire. Looking closely at the fuselage, Arnold could detect no evident Thai markings that would lead him to identify the specific airframe. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930765398-BT6BF6XVDGH0XVYN4NVK/RM87305.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out The Sawankhalok Spitfire had lost some of its component pieces by 1989—the wings, rudder and other empennage parts. Though there were no exterior markings on the fuselage of the Spitfire, Peter Arnold was prepared to look for an interior data plate, bringing tools and cleaning gear to take the information from the plate. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930801776-4VI4X3BUQ31H3I43W2XZ/RM87306.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Arnold was able to retrieve a steel data plate from the interior of the cockpit in the Sawankhalok Spitfire. “The cockpit data plate was the steel type rather than the aluminium type and very corroded. Although I had emery strip and wire wool with me, I was concerned that I might damage the plate and loose the data. I decided to ‘ping’ the plate and bring it back to the UK for careful bead blasting. It revealed the cockpit c/n as 6S–432296.” If a researcher looks closely at the data in the document above entitled List of Thai Spitfires, the construction number 6S–432296 matched perfectly the entry for Thai serial U14–5/93, Spitfire number ‘5’ of the Royal Thai Air Force. Though the cockpit construction number was now known, there was yet no record of what RAF serial that particular Construction number was connected to. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930874885-55ZL5EJXVNGFRAPSHSJ1/RM87307.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A close-up of the corroded data plate clearly reveals the Vickers Identity: 6S–432296. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930910802-A80PAJDK72PFR6EFCN1A/RM87310.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Shortly after Arnold’s visit to the Sawankhalok Spitfire, the husband of the Thai King’s daughter, a Group Captain in the Royal Thai Air Force, heard about the continued interest in the Spitfire as well as the “missing” wings then in Australia and had the remaining fuselage with its engine moved to the Thai Air Force Museum store at Don Muang, Bangkok, with the hopes of someday restoring it. Four years later, in 1993, Peter Arnold was able to visit the storage area that held the remaining fuselage and engine in Bangkok. The engine and bearers had been removed from the rest of the fuselage and the engine cowlings were available for inspection. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632930966163-5FE1HS86ETE3L2MMCN0K/RM87311.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out The major shaped parts like the engine cowlings were almost bespoke—custom adjusted in the factory to fit best to one particular Spitfire. To avoid difficulties fitting the wrong cowlings to a Spitfire coming out of service, squadron ground crews often painted the serial numbers of the Spitfire it came from inside the cowlings so that ease of fit could be guaranteed. In both the previous photo and this image, the RAF serial RM873 was painted by hand underneath the cowlings. Arnold says this of the practice of marking the cowlings: “As the Spitfire is a ‘File & Fit’ type aircraft, like the Aston Martin car, things like cowlings and fillets are not readily interchangeable with out some work. That is why maintenance staff daub the RAF serial or last three digits on the inside of these detachables, so that they go back on the same aircraft.” Since Arnold had no written record which connected the construction number found on the fuselage four years before (6S–432296), the only information he or anyone else could rely on was the ground crew applied markings, found under the cowlings, which indicated clearly that the cowlings, engine hangers and engine came from RM873 and the factory worker-applied markings found on the underside of the starboard wing skin, which indicated that the wings were also from RM873. This led Arnold, as it would anyone, to declare that the Sawankhalok Spitfire was RM873, a former Royal Canadian Air Force operated Mk XIV Spitfire of the Second World War. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931007145-5N40305UEYRUP165V32X/RM87312.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A photo of the fuselage without its engine hangers and engine taken in Bangkok in April 1993. Based on the VERY compelling clues found with the engine cowlings and the wing skins, the Sawankhalok Spitfire was now accepted worldwide as RM873. Based on the table entitled List of Thai Spitfires above, and the construction number c/n 6S–432296, it was clear that the newly identified Spitfire RM873 should have been U14–5/93 in Royal Thai Air Force serial—a Spitfire F.Mk XIV. After it was struck from service with the RAF/RCAF and bought back by Vickers, the Spitfire with c/n 6S–432296 took on a short identity with a British civil registration as G.15.115 before it was sold and delivered to Thailand. Flying in Royal Thai colours, Spitfire c/n 6S–432296 (now also identified by the RAF serial number RM873) wore the numeral “5” on its fuselage aft of the Thai roundel. Save the RAF serial, this was the correct identity thanks to the data plate recovered by Arnold. Photo: Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931338916-O9JSUQ3MVQIQDVTAS0JX/RM87313.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A black and white photograph supplied by Peter Arnold shows Spitfire RM797 after its arrival at Darwin, Australia in August of 1973. This was to show me how the style and position of aircraft numerals when searching for clues later on. The Spitfire with c/n 6S–432296 would definitely have had similarly styled numeral “5” and later I would look for faint telltale signs of the numeral “5” on the fuselage in the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar. Photo via Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931393206-EHKTL5C2DTMWO3AL7Y76/RM87314.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out A colour photograph of the derelict Royal Thai Air Force Spitfire Mk XIV, RAF serial NH698 (RTAF serial U14–10/93) taken around 1968 in Phrae, Thailand also shows me where to look for hints of the former markings. Photo: Tom Whitaker via Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931433641-CV4C8LYD3I47KRBHDX21/RM87315.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Though it is truly impossible to tell, nearly 60 years after the numeral was applied, if I had to make just one choice to save my life, it would be a “5” that had been painted on the fuselage aft of the Thai roundel and not a “6”. I sprayed the surface with water and a cleaner to try to highlight any faint traces of a numeral that might have been applied in the early 1950s. I prayed that I would find evidence of a “6”. I found a curving mark about the thickness of the numerals in the previous two photos, which I thought could have been part of a “5” or a “6”, but the only other trace was a small 90º corner that seem to indicate the numeral “5”. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931532158-GSLJU99U2IUY7HFKDH6F/RM87316.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out In this photo of the fuselage, you can just make out the possible curving stroke of the numeral “5” that had once been painted on the side. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931568713-CJXFM5T6BXJOZ18KS7TV/RM87320.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931599319-I1M235WDQI9D8YROWG1E/RM87321.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632931738844-W8R2X59PTACSWN34PBF3/RM87322.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932010750-FJVUJ8GYGW6U9SP2YGFN/RM87323.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932046266-6T0WXNE9IXZS5REN9LOV/RM87328.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932085949-AAR3S7SBMKUR4BV12V8O/RM87324.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932120655-HJ7XG4P88IBZL7IAZASR/RM87325.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932150201-TSJEKVBVOGL46YY5IFOK/RM87327.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632932182399-SGO1UJKHY7EFRUQJ85UF/RM87326.jpg The Stories - IDENTITY CRISIS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hangar-queen monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632865960789-2V5QUFWGQTDHDE2OLCRZ/HangarQueenTitle.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866046541-XDG8FU9N0HL5RD6V1Y47/HangarQueen2.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out The Hangar Queen pauses at the edge of shadow to survey the early morning quiet of the Vintage Wings ramp. Taking a deep breath, she “ramps” up the activity level setting in motion an army of volunteers to spread out the complex welcome mat for our visitors. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866142344-PXS0EWG9TTYNLNH2IXGB/HangarQueen3.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out It takes months of planning and plenty of training to put on an event like the Vintage Wings of Canada open houses and make them look easy. Every year, Carolyn Leslie hosts a Volunteer Day in May for training in the various arts of running tours and events. Here Leslie conducts part of a seminar for a group of tour guides to discuss not only best practices but to find new and more engaging ways to teach visitors about the history behind the great aircraft of the collection such as the Fairey Swordfish beneath which they chat. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866175302-DX3FS3P5FQUW19929YFX/HangarQueen4.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out It’s show time! Carolyn Leslie, roster in hand, instructs the troops in the early morning. Volunteers must be connected with tasks for which they have trained including aircraft marshalling, security, aircraft guarding, manning information booths, giving tours, selling swag and flippin’ burgs (OK - there actually isn‘t a training seminar for flipping burgers but we always find the most cheerful to do the task). Everyone has caught the Hangar Queen’s early morning brightness and soon the well-oiled machine will be set in motion. Photo Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866206234-1RMC195AH6CTGAS87UIC/HangarQueen5.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Ladies in Red. Taking a break from the sun, Carolyn cracks a cold one while she checks in on the ladies who volunteer in the BBQ tent behind the hangar serving up dogs and ‘burgs for the other volunteers and visiting pilots. Volunteers are the backbone of Vintage Wings of Canada and Carolyn knows it very well. While the airplanes and the pilots enjoy the attention of the crowds, people like Laura Rance (left), Anthea MacNeil and Susan Kirkpatrick (right) cheerfully and efficiently serve ‘em up - literally behind the scenes. Photo Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866263056-T6OB67QRLEWLGFQI6T2R/HangarQueen6.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out A whirlwind in flip-flops, Carolyn Leslie never stops from the first light of day until the last aircraft has departed, the last bag of trash sealed up, the last visitor gently pushed out the gate and the last volunteer thanked and even then, Carolyn will often be found with a broom in hand sweeping up the debris of a flight ops room recently full of excited and perhaps not-so-careful pilots. To say that Carolyn Leslie is the hardest-working person in the Vintage Wings of Canada family is to state the obvious. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866306772-CZYHRH808X5VBQT6L4J1/HangarQueen7.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out In one day, Carolyn Leslie will supply, direct, feed, and inspire volunteers and still find the time to help them out when needed. Here she stands at right on security detail along the taxiway as a Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft is started and moved out to the showline. Carolyn multi-tasks as Vintage Wings ambassador at every opportunity, engaging spectators with lively banter and solid knowledge of our operation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866337165-PUNERAROMYD7U6BGTNHQ/HangarQueen8.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Along with her team of volunteers, Leslie pulls guard and ambassador duty along the rope line. Carolyn is a total team player lending a helping hand wherever needed. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866364832-659GDFWE90KDU6ER312X/HangarQueen9.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Leslie goes over tasks with volunteers manning the Vintage Wings booth at one of our Open Houses. Katy Longair (front) and Natalie Quirt listen intently as Carolyn goes over details of the souvenir sales, information, volunteer recruitment and donations aspects of running the booth. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866391646-R9YL63UOWMBLPW5Y5EXM/HangarQueen10.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out It doesn’t matter who you are or when you visit Vintage Wings of Canada, you will be welcomed warmly by Carolyn Leslie. Whether you arrive by CF-18 Hornet on a frigid February morning or a motorized sidewalk scooter in June, Carolyn puts out a welcome mat. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866420189-HDK3DKZKBD99VK2S6UGB/HangarQueen11.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Carolyn Leslie is not only charged with the successful operation of our on-field presence at events like the Classic Air Rallye, she is also a dedicated mother with a powerful sense of family. Here, she takes some time to herself behind the Staggerwing to check in with her teenage son and daughter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866448384-U9XT9DN1K2UQ4IHP95O6/HangarQueen12.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Carolyn takes a moment at Classic Air Rallye to share her knowledge of Vintage Wings with anyone with a question. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866478676-E2KC29JOLSD7OHRSRHG9/HangarQueen15.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Ask Carolyn Leslie what she enjoys the most about her job at Vintage Wings of Canada and she will surely tell you it is meeting the veteran airmen and women of the Second World War. Ask any veteran what they enjoyed the most about his tour or relationship with Vintage Wings of Canada, and he will tell you that second to seeing his old aircraft again, it is meeting Carolyn. One of our best friends is former RAF Hurricane pilot Alan Griffin, a true gentleman if there ever was one. At the Battle of Britain Flypast Griffin plants a smooch on the cheek of a delighted Carolyn Leslie. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866510274-YKBX0RF2JQOCFGFNLAMC/HangarQueen14.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Carolyn Leslie is the glue that links and holds together the diversity of our people. Her heart and warmth make it possible for our variety of skill sets, personalities and experiences to work in concert and harmony. As the 2008 Classic Air Rallye winds to a safe and successful close last Sunday, Carolyn links together our ground crew represented by Sean Martin (right) and pilots represented Rob Kostecka. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632866568154-L3E9VBDBUHBT8H4JMGAZ/HangarQueen13.jpg The Stories - HANGAR QUEEN - Make it stand out Carolyn Leslie was introduced to Vintage Wings through her husband and childhood sweetheart Tim Leslie, Pilot and Chief of Operations. Carolyn however, brings to the table deep experience in special events and organizational management. For Carolyn and Tim, it is family first and foremost. Then surely comes the new family which they have helped Mike Potter create - Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/glider-spitfire-and-golf monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632865607278-4I922XW27Q63YPKT2YYT/Potter_News_1.jpg The Stories - GLIDERS, SPITFIRES AND GOLF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632865699143-5TD3R94OGIRTD2RCWK07/Potter_News_3.jpg The Stories - GLIDERS, SPITFIRES AND GOLF - Make it stand out At Classic Air Rallye 2007, Mike Potter shares the feeling with the thousands on hand for the festivities as he slices past at 300+ knots. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/johnny-spitfire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864809436-1QJ10AOWXE2S9W0P2ZUA/JohnAitken_News_1.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864894404-2PU238Q4OC2F14JZLTW7/JohnAitken_News_2.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632865185572-J2V0QAIIZC47KNYII32X/JohnAitken_News_4.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632865357455-MLE1K97FL7RLY6T1VTXK/JohnAitken_News_3.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/remember-when monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864090248-KZHM187R2O5ENCZ6ZEW0/By+GeorgeTitle2.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864169895-L3JNN79Z1M4KTB4KZQ8W/By+George2.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out Arriving at the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar, George (left) finds Bob Fassold and Kate Speer taking in a little un-seasonal sun outside - a good chance to discuss details of his anniversary flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864272710-6JMHWRZFLHC388SFYLGM/By+George3.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out Inside, George and Bob Fassold chat about the old days flying in the Royal Canadian Air Force over a coffee and the wing of 074. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864320996-OLFIILD0CO82S4NR70Z5/By+George4.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out The Chipmunk was pushed outside and Kate got George comfortable and wired for sound. George, as anyone who knows him, is a piece of work, and no doubt the smile on Kate's face is the result of one of his repertoire of jokes, quips and insights told with a twinkle in the eye. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864356943-SHKH4DBPYT58MWE2W8JD/By+George5.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out George gives us the thumbs up. More likely he is thinking “Take the picture Peter, and let's get this prop spinning!” Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864388220-R5HM3UE0VFJNV1B8Y6E4/By+George10.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out George looks every bit as trepid and excited as he was 50 years ago when he took 074 out onto the blue dance floor for their first date. Half a century later, she's even more beautiful than he remembered. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864416802-OV20JLAHJWX1XB24BH0M/By+George6.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out Kate Speer, taxies Chipmunk 074 through the high snow banks at the Gatineau airport - truly Canadian scene acted out many times in George's past. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864456894-704RFP7LS6VJVT3IKRPH/By+George7.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out Kate lifts George and his date into the sky once again. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864488073-M9G2MYI0X9YUSA6CF43K/By+George8.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out “I have control”. Kate passes over control of the de Havilland Chipmunk to George as they climb into the blue skies of Quebec. While George and the Yellow Lady did all the dancing from this point, Kate stood by as a chaperone only. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632864521230-PB6A23IWKQSYRSY0G8OQ/By+George9.jpg The Stories - REMEMBER WHEN - Make it stand out George stands with 074 after the flight (bottom) striking a similar pose to one he took long ago with Chipmunk 079 - a ramp-mate of 074 at Centralia back in the day. Since the first photo was taken, George has logged over 10,500 hours of flying time. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-volunteer monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632862795540-CI7AWEZF6770VF6FO6G5/MayerTitle.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out George Mayer at the controls of a DC-3, Inset: George making a presentation in his inimitable manner. Photo: Mayer Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863100196-TENXLPY1NN49BMKWWAPI/Mayer8.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out George ended his varied 37 year flying career with Department of Transport flying the Cessna Citation business jet. Photo: Mayer Family Archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863191453-7T6T34CV6LPQLN3T1R98/Mayer2.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out George had a varied career in the Canadian Air Force - flying everything from Beech Musketeers to helicopters to the massive Canadair Argus patrol bomber. Here George, an instructor pilot at Portage La Prairie, poses for an official DND photographer as he steps onto the wing of a Musketeer basic trainer. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863229911-RURRD99D7G0TF2NTDTN0/Mayer4.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out Perhaps taken the same day as the shot on the wing of the Musketeer, George pulls the pitot cover from a Bell Kiowa helicopter in 1972. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863318852-WXD5AHSOT0XF9TCUPXSD/Mayer9.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out They may be young, but they are a tough audience. George Mayer, in full tour guide battle dress (Weejuns, Flannels and Blazer) talks to a class of elementary school children at the Vintage Wings hangar. George's friendly and open manner makes him the perfect guide for all ages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863372413-S3FWCECI8A4OUTGMWA6U/Mayer6.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out Even early in his career, George showed a natural inclination to guide and explain. Here George and UN (United Nations Emergency Force - UNEF) brass plan a flight from the hood of a jeep in Gaza. In the background stands Mayer's de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter - a Canadian Air Force utility aircraft in the livery of the United Nations. UNEF was created to supervise and provide security for the disentanglement of British, Egyptian, French and Israeli forces in Gaza. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863412130-1GTI0LJR0UZZTDB0XPQT/Mayer3.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out George pilots an Canadian Air Force de Havilland Canada Otter over the desert hills of Gaza in the early 60s as part of the United Nations Emergency Force. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863618989-3NPGW029PQ081ZHZ17OU/Mayer11.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out At a recent volunteer training day, Mike Potter presented George with an award for his distinguished service as both an educator and an ambassador for Vintage Wings of Canada. His citation reads: "George’s great gift to Vintage Wings of Canada has been his indomitable spirit and his willingness to share a lifetime in aviation with our visitors and friends. As a tour guide, George displays the same delight and excitement for aviation as he did before his 10,500 hours in the cockpit - and it’s contagious!" Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863659739-JIRHRX3RGDEN0ZCWRT01/Mayer12.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out A beaming Mayer holds up his Distinguished Service Award for Vintage News. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863729367-6G4NCDIS3ZUC49Z5YA5O/Mayer5.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out Looking like a true bush pilot, George relaxes at the open cockpit door of a Transport Canada Twin Otter during his flying days. Photo: Mayer Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632863763297-SHDOCR6BJ02TKACJP9VF/Mayer10.jpg The Stories - THE VOLUNTEER - Make it stand out One of George's delights is meeting the Second World War aviators who had such a key role in inspiring him to join the air force. Here he shares a moment with former RCAF Spitfire pilot Chris Preston. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/recovery0underway monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827416556-7T6BQY4WMFUI8JZOAF9T/TigerHowardTitleE2.jpg The Stories - RECOVERY UNDERWAY - Make it stand out Howard Cook with the Vintage Wings of Canada Hurricane IV. In the outpouring of support for Howard and his wife Peta, the kudos have a common theme - Howard's friendly and welcoming attitude towards those that come out to see him and his compatriots demonstrate historic aircraft. Typical of the kudos is this note from "Danni" - "Howard's a lovely bloke, very friendly and will always stop and chat about flying etc. He's happy to explain different flight manoeuvres/techniques without making you feel stupid for asking the question. Peta is also a lovely lady so our thoughts are also with her whilst Howard starts his recuperation". Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827453552-Y70M5LF6S75CLG9L58EA/TigerHoward2.jpg The Stories - RECOVERY UNDERWAY - Make it stand out Following the accident, the Tiger Moth was collected from the field with TSB's permission and brought to the hangar where it was secured. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-hive monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789009218-XE1WY81S1BFV2441CJFK/HiveTitle.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789083812-EIP8Q0G6MXQZJLE7X72G/Hive3.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out This spring has seen plenty of activity in, around, under and over the Vintage Wings of Canada Westland Lysander. With the arrival of Deryck Hickox, our new coordinator of Restorations, the work has accelerated and things were happening where the Lizzie had languished. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789117670-P7EJ1NF44VKEMZU925RM/Hive4.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Here Hickox (at left) supervises the temporary re-attachment of the Lysander's skinless wings. This would allow him and his team to properly measure and size control cables and other through-wing components. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789148766-CEAUE8TXVSM1Q8VTJSEG/Hive5.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Photographer Tawn shoots through the box spar jig for the Hurricane XII in order to stay out of the way of the restoration team as they hoist the left wing to its attachment point. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789191581-WAANNCX0CV1ZYKCKN5FY/Hive7.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Inside the metalwork shop, a volunteer rivets new skin panels on the Lysander's stabilizer. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789219502-UGD3WXL4FVFRZSHT03R9/Hive8.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Later, when the wings were removed, a volunteer cleans and preps the Lysander's wing, getting it ready for re-skinning. Many of the volunteers on Hickox's team are learning these skills under his patient tutelage while others bring decades of experience - together they are making remarkable progress each Saturday. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789247414-AIMQNJCUWFX00AFLMCEW/Hive9.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out One of the hardest working volunteers at Vintage Wings is Taff Williams. Volunteering his time throughout each week for years, Taff is now volunteering his aircraft. His Peitenpol parasol winged home-built, which has been stored in pieces at the back of the hangar, is now an instructional airframe, teaching volunteers and air cadets the fine art of fabric covering and doping. Under the guidance of Deryck Hickox, his aircraft teaches while it comes together. Here Taff prepares the newly covered wing. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632789279335-JS5SSJ0CQ7T6NELCHL4I/Hive10.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Hawk One, the Vintage Wings of Canada F-86 Sabre tribute to 100 years of flight in Canada underwent a week of maintenance in her home hangar prior to Tim Leslie taking her across Canada for her work-ups with the Snowbirds. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826607467-M7D7A1SE0UTD99VFCP7T/Hive11.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Before her trip to Comox, Janik and the Hawk One mechanics like Kelvin Eastwood (above) conduct a long list of fixes - wing inspection, UHF installation, hydraulic leak repair, nitrogen leak repair, avionics repair, flight control rigging, control stick modification and installation and fuel sending unit replacement. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826639918-2R42GS05VFEHLPG0Z8VX/Hive12.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Our Hawker Hurricane IV awaits the return of its newly refurbished propeller from Italy. In the meantime Andrej Janik's team undertook a long list of mechanical work - 100 hour inspection, header tank repair, exhaust stacks repaired, panels in wheel wells repaired, transponder alt encoder re-certification, oil and air filters changed. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826693292-BDNK2P99DEFBORI38XSB/Hive13.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out A heartless de Havilland Beaver awaits the arrival of her refurbished Pratt and Whitney engine - recently completed in Maniwaki, Quebec - a community about 120 miles north of Ottawa/Gatineau. The work was done to complete an airworthiness directive and to investigate and remedy a stubborn oil leak. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826730386-SST27DZ932YKU1S7ZF00/Hive24.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out A heartless de Havilland Beaver awaits the arrival of her refurbished Pratt and Whitney engine - recently completed in Maniwaki, Quebec - a community about 120 miles north of Ottawa/Gatineau. The work was done to complete an airworthiness directive and to investigate and remedy a stubborn oil leak. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826761513-1QK1HAT5B3R372F9TQ7A/Hive14.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Not going anywhere soon. The Spitfire awaits her propeller from Italy (along with the Hurricane). The irony of Italy and Germany being the only places for Spitfire propeller refurbishment was not lost on the maintainers. In the background, our Swordfish patiently awaits the arrival from Britain of her restored Bristol Pegasus engine. In the meantime plans are afoot to haul her outside for a wash, and discussions are underway for her new paint scheme. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826793241-VWWCSFGVT2SZ4AKQOJSP/Hive15.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Volunteers surround the oil bleeding Corsair every time she lands to make sure no dirt and oil accumulate - every Saturday it seems, there are several enthusiastic volunteers wiping her down like a thoroughbred racehorse after a race. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826827990-TKWF8MI6ICPL0AYXIN0V/Hive16.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Dang... it's... in... here... some... where. Angela Gagnon, one of Vintage Wings highly skilled AMEs, finds herself up to her shoulder in the Corsair's Twin Wasp engine. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826860952-NOPPZLR2SELT7UEPI11Q/Hive17.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Gagnon completes the Corsair's 30 hour inspection. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826890283-2CQOAYREL6VSBIDM0LQ5/Hive18.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out AME and aircraft refurbisher extraordinaire Harley Melnick (centre) chats with Hawk One mechanic Kelvin Eastwood and MGen (ret'd) Bob Fassold about Bob's beautiful de Havilland Chipmunk which nears completion of a year-long refurbishment. She will fly in the exact markings she once wore when she trained pilots for the RCAF back in the1950s. Bob and Dave O'Malley have been conducting detailed research into these markings and will be producing what will undoubtedly be the most authentic Chipmunk extant. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826922162-MHPQXWBLQ293TUWRMK2Z/Hive19.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Project for this particular Saturday? - installation of control panel wiring and cockpit components. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826950222-VPN4L4I457XBT7NBSE46/Hive21.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Even the hangar mule needed some attention this particular day. Here Alan MacMillan (Right) and Jim Luffman, two of our most dedicated volunteers, take a break after repairing the engine. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632826978944-CTZ4LE6JHCZ4TIXCTI9T/Hive22.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out The Tiger Moth sat idle this particular Saturday, but it was awaiting its Annual Inspection. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827020140-1O3RX533575K939GW04J/Hive23.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out A rudderless Mustang awaits repair of its tail actuator. In addition, maintainers were conducting a 30 hour inspection, changing coolant, oil and filters. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827060630-7MY99GWCIS6N2W7QGJIY/Hive25.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Amidst all the maintenance activity several tours were being conducted throughout the day. Here Jay Hunt explains the history of the WACO Taperwing to a group. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827093721-BPB4QXAVUY83FNE2ZGI4/Hive26.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out When all the birds are in the nest, it's pretty interesting to visitors, but it takes a few minutes to cross the floor zig-zagging around airplanes. Photo: John Tawn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632827135948-LGQA62UNPZH7F9X7RML0/Hive28.jpg The Stories - THE HIVE - Make it stand out Dirty work. AME Angela Gagnon pulls her arm out from deep in the Twin Wasp's guts. Seeing our maintainers working on the aircraft while getting a tour is what makes Vintage Wings so special on Saturdays. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/tails-of-glory monthly 0.5 2022-04-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627418689595-027PX96JQLVHHUN5QNXJ/TellTails36.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627418800476-NC70W7D5LUI64WJ7356C/TellTails34.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Unless you are Taliban or living in a cave in Arkansas, you know that Georg Brandes, at the age of just 30, formulated the principles of a new realism and naturalism, condemning hyper-aesthetic writing and fantasy in literature. I mean who doesn't know that? And who among us can't sing from memory the hilarious and naughty lyrics of Povel Ramel's Måste vägen till Curaçao gynga så (Why must the Boat to Curaçao sway like this?) The NAS had so many world famous names to choose from, it had a hard time choosing recipients. The list is a who's who of household names that everyone is familiar with, iconic giants of the international arts and culture scene such as Amalie Skram, John Bauer, Evert Taube, Georg Brandes, Jorn Utzon, Asta Nielson, Povel Ramel, Axsel Sandemose, Minna Canth, Erik Bye, Gunnar Sonsteby, and of course Oda Krohg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627418868982-AVW1VGUZBLRYT0YJ6TX0/TellTails3.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Québec's legendary strongman Louis Cyr is perhaps the most fitting of all the Celebritail honourees. The massive CC-177 (177702) that bears his likeness and Cyr himself share much in common – strength, lifting power, capacity, fame and broad shoulders. Louis Cyr (born Cyprien-Noé Cyr, 1863-1912) was a famous French Canadian strongman with a career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His recorded feats, including lifting 500 pounds (227 kg) with three fingers and carrying 4,337 pounds (1967 kg) on his back, show Cyr to be, according to former International Federation of Body Building & Fitness chairman, the late Ben Weider, the strongest man ever to have lived. To crews who fly the Louis Cyr Globemaster, it is known as Big Lou. Photo Robert Taylor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627418924156-H235FKA2ZU3U0UJRLZ9S/TellTails2.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The Air Force was careful to recognize Canadians of both founding cultures. Two of the four C-17s of the RCAF fleet are dedicated to Québécois legends Louis Cyr and folksinger La Bolduc, while the other two are dedicated to Canadians born outside the country – Czech-born Lotta Hitschmanova and NHL Hockey legend Stan Makita. Here CC-177 (177701) towers over the flight line at the Inuvik, Northwest Territories airport while delivering supplies and equipment to a Forward Operating Location. Mary Rose-Anna Travers (4 June 1894 – 20 February 1941) was a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Québec's first singer/songwriter. Her style combined the traditional folk music of Ireland and Québec, usually in upbeat, comedic songs. CF Photo by Corporal Jean-François Lauzé https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419002625-NBSC06V1YYFRR9SUYDTL/TellTails4.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out While some of the Celebritail icon subjects were wellsprings for controversy, one design in particular received widespread praise from every side. The tail of CC-177 Globemaster III 177703 was painted in the likeness, not of some heavyweight strongman like Louis Cyr, or over-sized folk singer like La Bolduc, but rather a four foot-nothing wisp of a woman born in Czechoslovakia and destined to be a Canadian television icon. Lotta Hitschmanova, dubbed the “Atomic Mosquito” by the press, whom she browbeat into offering radio and TV time for her public service announcements, helped to found USC Canada as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada. USC Canada is an international development organization that started as a small group of aid workers sending supplies to war-torn Europe for relief and reconstruction. Attired in an army nurse's uniform and military-style hat, she travelled yearly to strife-torn and poverty-stricken parts of the world, searching out towns and villages in need of Canadian assistance to recover from drought, war, disease and poverty. Throughout the years, Dr. Hitschmanova received many awards, including the Gold Medal from the Red Cross of France (1950) and the Medal of St. Paul from Greece (1952). In 1968 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1979. Dr. Lotta, as she was known, became a symbol of personal dedication, and made the Unitarian Service Committee at its well-publicized address of 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario, a household name through her numerous radio and television ads. In 1982 she retired from her position as Executive Director due to ill health. Although she spent the final years of her life suffering from Alzheimer's disease, she succumbed to cancer. She died 1 August 1990. Given the nature of the work that Hitschmanova did in war-torn and disaster-ravaged countries, the choice of the C-17 for her image is fitting, as the big lifter will continue to bring relief supplied to the same hotspots around the world. Photo by: Master Corporal Shilo Adamson, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419054899-GPGCSC9E2N5E1YZ8ZDXB/TellTails35.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The CC-177 is such a large aircraft, that each individual airframe seems to warrant a nickname, like American aircraft carriers. While the Globemaster III (177702) dedicated to Louis Cyr goes be the name of Big Lou, the CC-177 (177703), dedicated to the memory of Lotta Hitschmanova, is lovingly called Little Lotta, after the chubby 1950s cartoon character of the same name. The image and title of Little Lotta is carried beside the starboard crew door. CF Photo by master-corporal Marc Gauvin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419088889-0Z1ZYXURUH9A6RSJY39U/TellTails18.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Not even 431 Squadron, the Snowbirds, were immune from the Celebritail concept, but most people agree about who should be honoured on their tails. All aircraft of the squadron, except the Snowbird 1, carry the girl-next-door image of Canadian chanteuse Anne Murray, whose 1970 song “Snowbird” was an international hit which had been released just the year before the formation of the team. Though the team name was the result of a contest it was likely inspired by Murray's song. When President Ronald Reagan was asked who his favourite singer was, he answered without hesitation “Anne Murray”. Snowbird 1 carries the image of famed Canadian music producer and songwriter David Foster. Though Foster wrote the modern musical theme music of the Snowbirds, many folksingers across the country were angry that Gene MacLellan, who penned the legendary song that Anne Murray made famous, should have been given the honour. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419161746-LNNV0DKI3PCUYUB1OKO7/TellTails33.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Count Floyd Blood Services. Here, CC-138 Count Floyd departs from the Forward Operating Location in Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory carrying pallets of blood from the Canadian Blood Services to remote northern communities. One of the smallest units of the Royal Canadian Air Force is the northern detachment of 440 Transport Squadron at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The nickname of 440, since the Second World War, has been the Vampires, so when it came to selecting an appropriate subject for the tail of one of their CC-138 Twin Otters, they selected the Dracula-attired Count Floyd from the legendary Canadian Second City TV (SCTV) comedy show. In keeping with that SCTV Monster Horror Theatre theme, the squadron mess is called “Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Pancakes” and the aircraft operate under the call sign “Scary”. Besides having big balls for operating in some of the most difficult weather and terrain on the planet, the 440 Vampires have shown us that they have a sense of humour. The long Arctic winters and the tough job have always made for eclectic and somewhat unorthodox pilots and aircrew. 440 Squadron operates the famous CC-138 Twin Otter to carry out its wide range of tasks. The Squadron operates these rugged aircraft, nicknamed the Twotter, in some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet and is the only Canadian Forces unit that is based full-time in the North. CF photo by Sgt Eileen Redding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419195912-ZW5BN1T6BYOA37P72J43/TellTails5.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Perhaps the most controversial of all the Celebritail designs, the one that had tree huggers crying foul, was the image of legendary Canadian environmentalist and pacifist David Suzuki on the tail of a 409 Squadron CF-18 Hornet. Canadian environmental groups accused the RCAF “warlords” of deliberately provoking the green movement by mockingly emblazoning the fuel guzzling fighter with his visage. “We are insulted beyond words,” said Friends of the People's Planet (FPP) spokesperson and activist Neda Kolonik. The Celebritail Program Public Affairs Officer, Captain Ima Tarrgette, explained to an eager crowd of reporters that Suzuki was chosen, not as a provocation, but rather for the very fact that he is a recognized fighter, a fighter for justice and for our planet. “The RCAF,” she said, “is sorry if anyone took it that way, but Suzuki is being honoured for the simple reason that he is respected as a Canadian legend... end of story. The RCAF,” she said, “is using the Suzuki Hornet as a test platform for biofuels such as recycled cooking oil from the Cold Lake messes.” While Kolonic was said to be delighted with the positive move forward in green war fighting, the airmen at Cold Lake say they no longer fit into their flight suits trying to keep up with the green fuel demand and have dubbed the flying test bed the French Fry Fighter. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419256137-PT5W8ET17EFS0MZ6N8H9/TellTails13.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Two Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18 Hornets from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Bagotville, Québec, get refuelled by an RCAF CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refuelling aircraft from 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario, over the Pacific Ocean near Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, in Honolulu, Hawaii, on 24 July 2012. The pilots and mechanics of Francophone 425 Squadron Les Alouetteswear their hockey allegiance on the tails of their aircraft with images and jersey numbers of the two greatest French Canadian hockey players of all time – Maurice “The Rocket” Richard (No. 9) and Guy “The Flower” Lafleur (No. 10) [arguably the most elegant player of all time and my hero. Ed], both forwards for the Montréal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. The squadron also has Hornets with tails dedicated to famous CFL Montréal Alouette football players Sam Etcheverry, George Dixon and Peter Dalla Riva. Canadian Forces photo by : MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419306612-35KXFOKOVCI9SDIB5YU9/TellTails14.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The 425 Squadron Hornets were the first RCAF fighter aircraft to sport the Celebritail concept, making their first appearance in January of 2012. Just a few months after the first images were made public, Russian MiG-31 fighter aircraft of the 6979th Aviation Base at Kansk Air Base in Krasnoyarsk Krai have painted their aircraft with images of Valeri Kharmalov and Vladislav Tretiak of the 1972 Canada Russia Hockey Series fame. This led Canadians to institute a new Tiger Meet style gunnery invitational event called NATO Hockey Shootout Fighter Meet, combining flying, gunnery, bombing and hockey. In the NATO Tiger Meet, all units with felines (Lions, Tigers, Cougars, etc.) are invited to participate and encouraged to paint their aircraft in outrageous Tiger stripes. The requirement for the Shoot Out is that participating aircraft must be painted in a hockey theme. The first shootout happens at CFB Bagotville in June of 2013. So far units promising to attend include USAF A-10s from the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania ANG, and Michigan ANG, Swedish Gripens painted with the images of Borje Salming and Daniel Alfredsson and the Russian MiGs. Like NHL shootouts during the All Star Game, the gunnery is judged on style as well as accuracy. Doing a Lomcevak while delivering a bomb is considered a high degree of difficulty. Teams are also required to bring enough men to make a hockey team and the results of a hockey tournament are also factored into the results of the meet. Canadian Forces photo by: MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419368082-OD77W5KTENFC7LHMEUF8/TellTails21.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Of all the nominees for depiction on the tail of an RCAF fighter aircraft, hockey coach and flamboyant broadcaster Don “Grapes” Cherry was first on the list. He is known for his outspoken combative manner, flamboyant dress, and staunch Canadian nationalism – old, scrappy and dangerous... just like the CF-18. Canadians adore their sartorial bad boy and pilots, many of them aggressive hockey players themselves, are always delighted to sign out the Don Cherry Hornet for some Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Air Combat Manoeuvring in Canadian skies. Here Don Cherry is photographed doing a max performance takeoff at the Wings Over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show in 2012. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419425573-56GJWJ8AUWR02AUANZ7U/TellTails23.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Over the years, there have been many celebrities who have gone for a flight in a CF-18. Canadian rock legend, Geddy Lee of the group Rush, whose soaring and astoundingly high tenor voice carries RUSH to the stratosphere, went for a ride in 2001. The band's next album, Vapor Trails, and the song Ceiling Unlimited was the result of Lee's experience. Here, the Geddy Lee Hornet catches the wire at Inuvik, Northwest Territories. CF Photo by Corporal Jean-François Lauzé https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419462374-GKL3N580VCABVS7KNX31/TellTails22.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The production of the RUSH album Vapor Trails has been criticized by critics and fans alike because of the album's “loud” sound quality. Albums such as this have been mastered so loud that additional digital distortion is generated during the production of the CD. The trend, known as the Loudness War, has become very common on modern rock CDs. When asked why the album was mastered so loud, Lee shouted and answered: “What? I can't hear you. Ever since my Hornet ride, I've had hearing troubles.” CF Photo by Corporal Jean-François Lauzé https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419510063-NZP6JPHF9B9J2023BRG4/TellTails12.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out While the two-seat CF-18 Hornet dedicated to teen sensation Justin Bieber, unaffectionately known as the Bieber Bomber, seems to be a hit with girls under 13, pilots shy away from it like the plague. In the 3 Wing ready room, straws are drawn to fly the Bieber Bomber, with the loser getting the stick of the “teenybopper special”. Embarrassed to be seen in the fighter, pilots have claimed an abnormally high percentage of dubious technical aborts while flying the Bieber Bomber. Mechanics scratch their heads and say there is never anything wrong with the Bieber Hornet, while in response, the pilots say “Never say Never.” This photo was taken at an air show in Gatineau in 2012 just two weeks before 3 Wing stripped the design from the aircraft and, miraculously, the serviceability rate went up nearly 20%. The editors have lost track of who gave us this photo, so if you see this, give us a heads up and we will credit it properly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419547582-RRCMY5MYL1CCQS3A5TEJ/TellTails16.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out While boxing is known as the Sweet Science, Mixed Marshal Arts (MMA) is the fastest growing fight sport in the world, and the greatest of all MMA fighters on the planet, Georges St. Pierre is from the same Canadian province as these two Bagotville-based CF-18 Hornets and therefore a logical choice to grace the tail of one of them. The two CF-18A Hornet aircraft from the 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at 3 Wing Bagotville, fly over the Saguenay river near La Baie, Ville de Saguenay. Photo by 3 Wing Imaging, Private Pierre Thériault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627419588763-MLFUEFVW56MD2YFLJ6US/TellTails17.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Every living Celebritail honoree gets a ride in the aircraft type dedicated to that person and, if possible, the actual aircraft itself. Because the St. Pierre Hornet was a single seater, the MMA star St. Pierre had to do his ride in the much reviled Bieber Bomber.The flight with St. Pierre was nearly called off when the aircraft he was scheduled to fly was the Bieber Bomber, which he out and out refused to fly in, citing he had a reputation to protect. At the last minute, the aircraft was switched for the David Suzuki. After his flight he refused to have his photo taken with the Bieber Bomber, citing possible damage to his reputation as a tough guy. After his ride, he was asked if he found it physically demanding. He smiled politely and said, “I can take 26 consecutive rabbit punches to my face from that steroidal monster, Brock Lesnar, so do you think a few barrel rolls and Gs bother me? Hell, 7.5 Gs is what I earn every day! But it was fun.” He also called the Hornet a true MMA fighter – fighting with bombs, guns and missiles. Photo by 3 Wing Imaging, Private Pierre Thériault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429129271-5N15B2S7X9JEQVSHCIUJ/TellTails38.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Hobo 917 goes to burners. The only non-human recipient of the Celebritail honour is a dog by the name of London, the four-legged, silent star of the worldwide soft-hit TV series The Littlest Hobo. The 6-season, low-production value series revolved around a stray German shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need. Although the concept (of a dog saving the day) was perhaps similar to that of Lassie, the Littlest Hobo's destiny was to befriend those who apparently needed help. Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he appeared to prefer to be on his own, and would head off by himself at the end of each episode. Never actually named on-screen, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. Hobo's background is also unexplained on-screen; his origins, motivation and ultimate destination are never explained. There were four separate shepherds used in the filming of the series –London, and his relatives Litlon, Thorn, Toro, but London was the longest playing star and hence the honouree for the Hornet. Photo: Corporal Pierre Habib, 3 Wing Bagotville https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429183789-Y45YH15EX3FZD0IUAAQ3/TellTails19.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Along with Suzuki, the Pamela Anderson Hornet was one of the most controversial Celebritail designs. Feminists, the Christian right and the Order of the Sisters of Unhappiness decried the image of the silicon inflated breasts of a Canadian soft porn star on the tail of one of Canada's fighting jets. The nations of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan also lodged vociferous complaints, yet photos of the aircraft were the most downloaded images on Iranian Google in 2013, whose filters had not been able to block the image. Canadian fighter pilots from 425 Squadron feel that the image of the busty Canadian confection is no more sexist than the image of Betty Grable on the fuselage of a Second World War bomber. Major Thomas “Motley” Leigh, 425 Squadron commander also indicated that pilots from his “Crûe” flying the Anderson Hornet (Hornette) have had a higher success rate in combat exercises, attributed to the mammerizing effect of the image on adversaries who seem to hesitate when in close... it takes only .05 of a second to spell the difference between victory and defeat. Worthy of note is the barbed wire motif on the inside of the tails... referencing Anderson's title role in the 1996 sci-fi action pic, Barb Wire. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429282568-EHDBJAB6OG82SX64QUL2/TellTails32.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The Anderson Hornette. While the Bieber Bomber is the last choice of fighter pilots in the RCAF, fights have been known to break out in ready rooms over who gets to fly the Hornette with the “Double D” tail configuration. Photo credit: Cpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429328254-B5OH75WTQZYL1KTQUEL7/TellTails8.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out When the RCAF and Canadian Heritage looked at candidates for the Airbus A310/CC-150 Celebritails, they felt that the choices should reflect the astronomical namesake of the airliner/refueller, known by the name of the North Star – Polaris. The first on that list was Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Commanding Officer of USS Enterprise as played by Canadian super-icon William Shatner. Polaris crews are apparently tired of the Dilithium crystal joke made by seemingly every refuelling CF-18 pilot. CF Photo by Corporal Dany Michaud https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429381788-FC572OXABLG5OLU1ERR7/TellTails9.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out A close-up of the Shatner Polaris flying in formation with an escorting Pamela Anderson CF-18. CF Photo by Corporal Dany Michaud https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429433240-7QBO892X1S8DSW1CZJVN/TellTails40.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Mary Pickford, perhaps the world's first female Hollywood superstar and known as “America's Sweetheart”, was, in fact, a Canadian and as such was chosen to grace the tail of a CT-142 Dash-8 “Gonzo” navigation trainer. Pickford was also the co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Known as “America's Sweetheart,” “Little Mary” and “The girl with the curls,” she was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. The Dash-8 navigation trainer is operated by 402 “City of Winnipeg” Squadron in support of the Canadian Forces Air Navigation School (CFANS) at 17 Wing Winnipeg. CF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429464579-OSZR0YSQTB4CY73XSVW1/TellTails15.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Many of the Celebritail design subjects were chosen after polling pilots and aircrew from the bases where the aircraft were based. Greenwood, Nova Scotia airmen and women voted almost unanimously for the lovable character known as “Bubbles” from the hit Nova Scotia mockumentary series called Trailerpark Boys. The character known as Bubbles, played by Mike Smith, sports excruciatingly massive Coke-bottle lenses, drives around the trailer park on a go-cart, has a predilection for “kitty cats”, lives in a tool shed and repairs abandoned shopping carts for cash. The choice of Bubbles, while wildly supported by the young airmen and women of 14 Wing Greenwood, was seen by the religious right and evangelical Christians as delivering the wrong message to Nova Scotia youth. The Trailerpark Boys series focuses on a group of ex-convict layabouts living in fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park, bent on growing weed, getting rich without effort, stealing cars, swearing and drinking – which, as everyone knows, is practically the definition of Nova Scotia Youth. Photo: Sgt Pete Nicholson, 14 Wing Greenwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429508693-DKN71N16EA2L22TODLSS/TellTails30.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Bubbles has long been a strong supporter of Canada's armed forces and as such, he is much loved by our men and women in uniform, especially the Royal Canadian Air Force. Bubbles made the trip to Cold Lake, Alberta to experience the thrill and stresses of flight in a Hornet. The footage was part of a comedy piece on the CBC comedy show called “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” and was broadcast to our troops in Afghanistan. Video Capture from CBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429542702-Y2HF71D12Z4D370GVWXD/TellTails24.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Cheech & Chong were a Grammy Award–winning comedy duo consisting of Richard “Cheech” Marin and Canadian Tommy Chong, who found a wide audience in the 1970s and 1980s for their films and stand-up routines, which were based on the hippie and free love era, and especially drug and counterculture movements, most notably their love for cannabis. The Tommy Chong CC-130J Hercules (130612) has met with some degree of controversy from the Military Police, who have questioned the sense of honouring a Canadian who championed laziness, marijuana and portrayed himself as a stoned dimwit. At air shows, crews have been referring to the Herc as a “Jay” Model, and use the Call Sign “Dave”. One humorous exchange between the tower at 8 Wing Trenton and the Chong Herc reportedly went like this: “Dave 612, Tower Control. You are cleared for takeoff.” This was followed by, “Tower, ...Dave's not here.” True story. Photo credit: Cpl Darcy Lefebvre, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429599902-3P53ASFDQJOVZB53FTZ1/TellTails25.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out Long may she run. The highest time E-Model CC-130 Hercules known as Crazy Horse to its crews, wears the youthful face of legendary Canadian rock star Neil Young. Like Young, the Hercules transport type is a legendary veteran which is still in production nearly 60 years after its production line commenced in 1956. Photo by Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429675994-CB76WOJ3AFO4ZM3HBRCH/TellTails37.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out When people look upon the friendly face of the C-130 Hercules heavy lift transport, they cannot but smile at the soft, non-threatening and chubby lines of this classic from the 1950s, so what better man to dedicate one to than The Friendly Giant, an iconic children's TV character from the 1950s to the 1980s. The Friendly Giant aired on CBC Television from September 1958 through to March 1985. It featured three main characters: a giant named Friendly (played by Bob Homme), who lived in a huge castle, along with his puppet animal friends Rusty (a rooster who played a harp and lived in a book bag hung by the castle window) and Jerome (a giraffe). Trust me, I am not making this up! As you enter the short flight of stairs to the cockpit of the Friendly Herc, there is a small sign which reads: “One little chair for one of you, and a bigger chair for two more to curl up in, and for someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair in the middle.” DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429730315-6I0K8ZEUH8N3SITUXYTY/TellTails26.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out According to Wikipedia, the lifting and storing capacity of the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King is 159 “Squares” of Molson Canadian beer (a square being Hoser parlance for a case of 24 beer bottles.) This particular Sea King carries the only Celebritail design to be of more than one person – the famous McKenzie Brothers, Bob (Rick Moranis) and Doug (Dave Thomas), of SCTV. In addition, the sides of the fuselage of the helo were used as the tail boom did not offer a good place to display the design. There is a link between the McKenzie Brothers Sea King and the Geddy Lee Hornet. Bob and Doug the crest of a fad, peaking in 1982–83, that produced one comedy album, The Great White North and a movie, Strange Brew. The album, released by Anthem Records in Canada and Mercury Records in the US, went platinum in sales, won a Grammy nomination and broke the top ten on Billboard'sTop LPs and Tapes list in March 1982. It is noted for the song “Take Off” which featured fellow Canadian Geddy Lee of the rock group Rush chorusing between the McKenzies' banter. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429838440-GVXH9SOUBWU7MXQE63L7/TellTails29.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The honouree for the Sea King ship borne ASW helicopter attached to HMCS Fredericton (FFH337) was chosen by her Captain's mother, a big fan of the 1950s to 60s East Coast musical show called Don Messer's Jubilee, which featured the homely, boozy-looking duo of Marg Osborne and Charlie Chamberlain. Photo credit: DND Photo, MCpl Randy Burnside https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429889795-E3V5B3R6CY5P6ONNMDNX/TellTails10.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out At Vintage Wings of Canada, we applaud the choice of a REAL spaceman to grace another CC-150 Polaris tail. RCAF Colonel Chris Hadfield is the present commander of the International Space Station, a Vintage Wings board member, one of our pilots and the sole RCAF member past or present to grace the tail of an RCAF aircraft. Photo: Corporal Pierre Habib, 3 Wing Bagotville. © 2011 DND-MDN Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429935571-EPKGT5OYCNG6B864X7AW/TellTails11.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out A close-up of the Canadian Forces Chris Hadfield Airbus CC-150 Polaris showing it gassing up the Geddy Lee CF-18. Hadfield, a rock star of space travel and an accomplished musician himself is no doubt pleased to see his airplane giving sustenance to the Rush star's fighter. Photo: Corporal Pierre Habib, 3 Wing Bagotville. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627429987654-V72VFJU2EDY1P7JMS0AG/TellTails39.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The spy who came in from the cold. Canadian Heritage felt that politics were a key component of Canadian culture and so proposed two remarkable Celebritail ideas that have had people talking about the sanity of the entire program. The first, a bizarre portrait of defected Russian spy Igor Gouzenko, appeared in the tail of a CC-130 Hercules (130335) and was thought by most Canadians who did not know their history to be the portrait of a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It's strange indeed, for most Canadians who remember Gouzenko, that the face of the cold war had no face at all. Igor Gouzenko would always wear a white hood over his face during appearances in order to maintain anonymity for his new identity and life in Toronto. Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (13 January 1919 – 28 June 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on 5 September 1945 with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West. This forced Prime Minister Mackenzie King to call a Royal Commission to investigate espionage in Canada. Gouzenko exposed Joseph Stalin's efforts to steal nuclear secrets and the technique of planting sleeper agents. The “Gouzenko Affair” is often credited as a triggering event of the Cold War, with historian Jack Granatstein stating: “Gouzenko was the beginning of the Cold War for Public Opinion.” The New York Times described Gouzenko's actions as having “awakened the people of North America to the magnitude and the danger of Soviet espionage.” CF Photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627430051963-G3F8Y7RBVGIXPLN3MN2K/TellTails27.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out The only known photograph of the 412 Squadron CC-144 Challenger with the Celebritail image of Gerda Munsinger, whose autobiography, My Life Under the Tories was a Canadian non-fiction best seller in the 1960s. Gerda Munsinger (10 September 1929 – 24 November 1998) was an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy (ultimately unproven) who was the centre of the Munsinger Affair political scandal in Canada. Born in Germany and married for a short period to American soldier Michael Munsinger, she emigrated to Canada in 1955. Gerda Munsinger lived in Montréal where she worked as a maid, a waitress and as a hostess at the “Chez Parée” nightclub. While in Canada, she became involved in relationships with a number of high government officials, most notably cabinet ministers George Hees and Pierre Sévigny. She was deported to East Germany in 1961 as the matter was dealt with privately. Sévigny resigned quietly from the cabinet of John Diefenbaker in 1963. Some believe that it was approved by the Prime Minister's Office and placed on the airplane to remind Cabinet Ministers of the tremendous height a fall from grace might bring. Regardless, the artwork was removed after only two weeks. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627430106935-E7PTBS7ZMTWN5VYDJ0H9/TellTails28.jpg The Stories - TAILS OF GLORY - Make it stand out When 442 Squadron of 19 Wing, Comox, British Columbia, the last operator of the venerable CC-115 de Havilland Buffalo in Canada, was given the chance to select an honouree for their Celebritail Buffalo, the pilots wanted to chose a person who represented what they did for a living. Since the squadron is a long-time Search and Rescue unit, they selected a man who also made “saves” for a living – the legendary Ukrainian-born, Canadian raised professional hockey goalie – Terry Sawchuk. They chose for the portrait a copy of the famous photograph of the Detroit Red Wing net minder which showed a shirtless Sawchuk sporting scars and stitches applied by a make-up artist and depicting the many horrendous injuries he suffered after years as an NHL goal tender BEFORE the use of goalie masks. Like so many of the tail designs, this too brought the ire of certain community groups. Meddling Parents of the Comox Valley (MPCV) petitioned to have the portrait removed on the grounds that it scared children at air shows. The RCAF, recognizing that Sawchuk was a true Canadian hero, would not back down. DND Photo by 9 Wing Imaging, Corporal Miranda Langguth https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/band-of-brothers monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632486750445-RLZWINMF6KR4M1DHPNSO/BandOfBrothers_News_1.jpg The Stories - BAND OF BROTHERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632486856260-8M516S3B42M0J9F1VBGQ/BandOfBrothers_News_2.jpg The Stories - BAND OF BROTHERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632486959343-3K202WY2P7JPTKI93OW9/BandOfBrothers_News_Bottom.jpg The Stories - BAND OF BROTHERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/build-it-and-they-will-come monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632486419840-FMNUWS6R5EXCEARGPS02/news_05102007.jpg The Stories - BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/great-clarity monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485349462-1CC5AIZKE5IBC9ZS7SN3/PotterLetterTitle.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485422099-Y2N7X3UMWWFWF5HN7D5B/PotterLetter12.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out The power of the Supermarine Spitfire to tell stories of great Canadians became evident to Potter the first time he demonstrated it in public. Today it remains his favourite flying machine because of its beauty and the stories it can tell. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485463171-02P03ZT7X87GZEOQ24VU/PotterLetter4.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out When veterans like former Second World War Corsair ace Lieutenant Don Sheppard climb into the cockpit of one of our fighters, they are transported back in time - remembering old friends, lost comrades and events of global importance. These are the greatest of all moments for Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485516055-HRW04IFNYG90O776E41A/PotterLetter9.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out The stunning success of the Hawk One venture proves the concept that individuals, corporations and the public sector will step up to support similar creative and commemorative endeavours. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485577515-5RDY4PI9MYAK2PVDC0SB/PotterLetter8.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out This summer Vintage Wings of Canada will reunite Wing Commander James "Stocky" Edwards with the P-40 Kittyhawk he once flew. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485620198-KDE608H1SQBTUX1BPDVG/PotterLetter6.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out Eager volunteers line up to register at the Vintage Wings Volunteer Training Day in May. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485674723-K430AXN5CX05ZIPPTTEV/PotterLetter13.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out Don MacNeil, Vintage Wings historian (standing centre) talks to a group of experienced and novice tour guides during a training session. The quality of the program put together by MacNeil and his team ensures that visitors understand the importance of each aircraft to Canadian history. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485748961-QAI8NMSCNWQHUQQ5CE7W/PotterLetter14.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out Of the thousands of visitors to our first Open House of 2009, no two were more important to us than Squadron Leader Trevor Southgate and Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae, both veteran pilots of the Second World War who saw action on D-Day. Southgate flew Dakotas dropping paratroopers and towing gliders for the airborne assault behind the beachhead while McRae flew Spitfires over the D-Day landings. They were given a place of honour at the Open House and their stories were then presented by Vintage Wings pilot Rob Kostecka. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632485825328-QFZ4S07WZS565VBIOKQ9/PotterLetter11.jpg The Stories - FROM A MOMENT OF GREAT CLARITY - Make it stand out At our Open House, Potter and Vintage Wings of Canada were awarded the President's Award from the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association for their contribution to Canadian aviation heritage. Here Potter accepts the award on behalf of all the volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada from president Kevin Psutka and two young boys whose futures have no limits. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/2007-vwc-squadron-photo monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632484783467-GOPQ6D5ZEBKAMZ1BZPWN/vintage_wings.jpg The Stories - 2007 Vintage Wings of Canada Squadron Photo - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/2008-vwc-squadron-photo monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483905648-I52L3Q20DYIEZ9213JNH/squadphoto2008.jpg The Stories - 2008 Vintage Wings of Canada Squadron Photo - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-big-dump monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449367031-B6ZCZ68G178GLH3I18UA/BigDumpTitle.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449491639-XWKLNB7NQB2PHIOSANYS/BigDump1.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out In order to visualize how the aircraft would be laid out for the Squadron Photo, Handley and O'Malley called modeller Wayne Foy for help. Using models from his collection in 1/48 Scale, and a large piece of brown paper with the dimensions of the ramp also marked in 1/48 scale, the team was able to map out the ramp layout well in advance and provide prints to the team of Vintage Wings maintenance staff who were tasked with dumping the hangar and arranging the aircraft in the desired order. This technique no doubt saved much time and reduced the amount of eye-rolling from the mechanics. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449530032-NHDZR4LYBX2AHB2CAHIW/BigDump2.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out In order to be of use to me, a photo was taken to simulate the view from the hangar roof where much of the directing and positioning would be carried out. Despite having a house filled with over 800 scale models, modeller Wayne Foy did not have a model of the Taperwing and Fox Moth, so substituted a Gypsy Moth and a Boeing Biplane. Even the i-phone is in the shot for a reason - to represent the big green shipping container that lives on our ramp. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449585646-LHEEPMA1XSB70CJGE076/BigDump3.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out On the morning of the Volunteer Training Day, old and new members of the Vintage Wings family register. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449616065-YVMBJTKFPUH9872SX668/BigDump4.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out By the time the art director and the photographer had arrived, the hangar had for the most part, been entirely dumped and the maintenance staff had moved the aircraft out of the way, making a clean slate of the ramp. Time for the first positioning of aircraft. Maintainers and art directors alike (though I don't look like I am giving much effort), push the Fairey Swordfish into her spot. The "Stringbag" had been patiently and patiently and patiently awaiting her engine overhaul in Britain for nearly three years. She would have to pose engine-less for the family photo. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449652281-B3SRR7AVR55DBNJR3KNU/BigDump5.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out The maintainers swing the Swordfish's wings open, before fine-tuning her spot on the ramp. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449686364-LWD781RIB0ARAEC8EPX1/BigDump6.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Handley and O'Malley directed the positioning from the roof - lying down because standing made us nervous. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449724963-N8RBWOTQA5JD2BKIY07G/BigDump7.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out You want it where? @#%@#*! After man-handling the Corsair into position, O'Malley thinks it should go 12 inches to the right and angled 1 degree more to the north. Despite repeated fine-tuning of aircraft positions, the maintenance staff never once complained, making our job so much easier. Without their patience and skill, this would have been a nightmare. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482773665-4VMUXW1HIGB6RALL4M5A/BigDump8.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Chris Adams and Paul Tremblay in the mule push the Hawk One Sabre into position under the wing of the Beaver. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482819732-QGFR7ZTV6ZQMBE8LJDU0/BigDump21.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out This view between the floats of the Beaver give an indication of the close proximity of aircraft to each other. Photo by George Mayer, Clown Prince of Vintage Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482856633-6W70BEWIIFGRWJIHF74Z/BigDump9.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Once the aircraft on the sides were positioned, the high-winged and recently completed Lysander was pulled out of the hangar on the centreline. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482890911-MEAIJ8Z8UC3FEU9KOVGS/BigDump10.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Members of the Lysander team watch closely to make sure nobody scratches their charge, while Steve MacKenzie entreats O'Malley and Handley to jump - but not on the Lizzie. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482925630-YXJFFRTXE873GOKCF70L/BigDump11.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out With the photo of the models in hand, O'Malley positions the Taperwing. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482960183-MP6ODTUWCYA7NZ8ZQP2Y/BigDump12.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out It's lonely at the top. Looks like a jumble of aircraft on the ground, but from up on the roof, O'Malley is happy with the final result. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632482995821-FGMEQ5MTIL9INO37KKKR/BigDump22.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Unfortunately the Spitfire XVI was undergoing overhaul and plans to put her at the centre of the shot were changed. Instead the Kittyhawk would take her place, and to match colours, the Hurricane IV was placed opposite to her. Photo by George Mayer, Argus-Man https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483030096-OJ4LIELGI46000VL606J/BigDump24.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out A fine shot of the beautiful 442 Squadron Mustang IV sitting out on the edge of the arrangement. Photo by George Mayer, Clown Prince of Vintage Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483064617-2EH8JN89FA8G36491CKD/BigDump23.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Starting to look like an airforce! Photo by George Mayer, Clown Prince of Vintage Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483095903-PA6Z9CCIG1471EPN4VZM/BigDump25.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out The larger and taller the aircraft, the farther back in the display it would sit. Photo by George Mayer, Clown Prince of Vintage Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483126024-47XLGC1FBXLXOOPSY0BZ/BigDump13.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out After everything was dumped from the hangar, there was a lot of clear space indeed. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483166133-JWCWQQLF8N0Y7YC2DOJ6/BigDump14.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Though from the air and from the vantage point of the scissor lift, there was an obvious order to the aircraft, from most places on the ground, it looked like a jumble. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483201264-QEB39O5L6XQN1TPNYDO3/BigDump15.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Just as the aircraft were in their final positions, the sun broke through the clouds and the day held great promise for an excellent result. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483262074-EPN3UKBUQHOD206TOQHM/BigDump16.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out New and veteran volunteers listen up as Carolyn Leslie (aka The Hangar Queen) explains how the day will work. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483299036-T62ZQSDNR71X7XVSB5LY/BigDump17.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Volunteers broke up into smaller groups dedicated to the variety of tasks required. here a small group trains at the BBQ deck at the back of the hangar. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483327751-8QMSNIXQCR4DOBJTDLKK/BigDump18.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out The Volunteer Training day is all about our huge family of volunteers and quite frankly, no one represents the selfless and joyful commitment of the true volunteer than Pierre Lapprand and his wife Joanne Martel. Pierre contributes in almost every area where a volunteer can contribute and he does it with Gallic charm and gentle good humour. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483363649-G8TQZ486YY17GMQVGJ1N/BigDump19.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out The volunteer cadre at Vintage Wings is truly a family. In fact there are people who's children and spouses also volunteer. And age is clearly no barrier. Here Christian Ouimet and his dad Richard help set up the food for the family luncheon, after which the family photo would take place. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483407755-5TJO84U1M6LH66AH6D2L/BigDump20.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Hey... where'd all the airplanes go? Young Christian Ouimet chats with volunteers BBQing out back. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483449451-7UTYKDK41YB8WAWP1WM2/BigDump35.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Out on the ramp after lunch and atop the scissor lift, O'Malley requests that the new volunteers wait their turn behind the camera as veteran volunteers get their shot first. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483487022-QN4XEMVNWFYTLGW015JA/BigDump38.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Comfortable in the backseat of any aircraft in any situation, Handley looks and was decidedly uncomfortable on the scissor lift which teetered, bucked and swayed precariously in the wind. This only encouraged O'Malley to higher altitudes. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483522225-S3T5GS9YWRV6SN01XN3A/BigDump39.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out "Top floor.. Men's Wear and Children's Fashions, next floor photographic supplies". If I had seen that we were this top heavy, I may not have been so cavalier about jerking the scissor lift around and even driving it in this full extension. The results, however, were more than satisfactory as you will see in the next photo. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632483563921-NME4XIPAS9X264V7VC5V/BigDumpFinal.jpg The Stories - THE BIG DUMP - Make it stand out Et voila... the Big Dump nets the Big Shot. The Vintage Wings of Canada family of volunteers including new members pose for the first time with a nearly complete grouping of our aircraft. Not in this photo: The Roseland Spitfire IX (still being built in Comox), The Hurricane XII (nearing completion in a jig in the hangar), The Fairchild Cornell (In pieces in the hangar), The Fleet Finch (not yet arrived at the time), Spitfire XIV (just chunks in a box in Britain right now). The only change from the original modelled plan, was to angle the front row out instead of in. Peter Handley and Dave O'Malley would like to thank the members of the Vintage Wings maintenance team whose hard work and easy going nature made this complex shoot a reality. When everyone else was finished, it was the maintenance crew who stayed to put it all back... they must have been "cream-crackered" (To quote Pat Hall) after the long day. Photo by Peter Handley who is NEVER in any VWC family photo. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/just-plane-fun monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430360871-QV25DKEF2JKQTTQ0QX9T/news_06192008_title.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out New Recruit! Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Rob Erdos advances the throttle and moves out to the runway in the beautiful Ryan PT-22 Recruit used by the United States Army Air Force for primary flight training during the Second World War. When asked what it was like to fly this remarkable beast for the first time, Rob smiled and said - “She’s a veritable time machine”. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430461191-FOZAF8LO4X7KI3N73MJ4/news_06192008_1.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Mike Potter leads members of Victory Flight through a hangar floor walk-through of the day’s formation flying training before leading them in the air. Today they will be training in four Harvards, but later this month at the Ottawa Air Show they will be flying in the Victory Flight fighters. Left to right: Paul Kissmann flying the Corsair, Tim Leslie in the Mustang IV, Kent Beckham (a highly experienced Harvard pilot who flies with the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team) who will evaluate the day’s training, Mike Potter flying the Spitfire XVI and Rob Erdos in the Hurricane IV. The walk-through helps everyone to visualize the hand signals and the aircraft movements and positions prior to taking to the air. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430503874-J29MU3DPSXW3E9K6T2B8/news_06192008_2.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada pilots Kate Speer and Bob Fassold bring in a bright yellow RCAF de Havilland Chipmunk for the day. This Chipmunk is being temporarily flown by Fassold while the Vintage Wings of Canada Chipmunk which is owned by Bob, is repainted in the same bright yellow training scheme. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430538348-4MVBCNCISPVOXFVC3ZYW/news_06192008_3.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Out on the ramp, four Harvards crank engines as Mike Potter prepares to lead them in a formation training flight north of the Gatineau airport. Three of the four trainers belong to the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team from southern Ontario. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430573725-3ZQ1TUBI6CWYK4R6347Y/news_06192008_4.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Mike Potter, leading the formation of Harvards, breaks right, soon to be followed in succession by his fellow pilots. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430620975-6BKDD7JSYAUHJB2792RI/news_06192008_5.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out After a sweat-ringing 40 minute training flight, Potter rolls out on landing with CHAT pilot Kent Beckham snapping photos behind him. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430656180-MRIUN1401OXL40657U4S/news_06192008_6.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Natalie Quirt and Katy Longair, members of the Vintage Wings team man an information and recruitment booth during the open house. The booth was flanked by two display cases featuring the prolific and beautiful model work of Wayne Foy - always an attention getter. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430683232-M6G9TTQFBJFK0N8LQ5JI/news_06192008_7.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Tim Leslie welcomes visitors and friends, inviting them to feel at home. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430719992-WYK9E2W36CY6C4QMK2VM/news_06192008_8.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out A rare and welcome visitor was the Australian-built North-American Harvard-like Wirraway (an Aborigine word for “challenge”). Built by CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation), the Wirraway was the first aircraft mass produced in Australia, some 755 copies being built. They were used as fighter-bombers against the Japanese. The Wirraway traces its roots to an early development of the Harvard - the NA-16. The Wirraway along with the PT-22 Ryan arrived from nearby Smiths Falls where they are owned by Bobby Hanson. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632430766618-SCQ6ZYKUP0AAAPMMY6AW/news_06192008_9.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out The Wirraway is a considerably different aircraft from its North American Harvard cousin. Among the many features that differ from the Harvard are its geared radial engine, three bladed propeller and racy exhaust pipes. Many original Wirraways had two fixed forward firing machine guns and a rear gunner, bomb racks, and dive brakes. Wirraways were converted to training configuration after the war and employed by both the RAAF and the Royal Australian Navy. The Hanson Wirraway was painted in RAN markings. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632438621033-RY3LWAI0E2LDQX0EB9KM/news_06192008_10.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Another of Bobby Hanson’s flying oddities (at least in these parts) was the 1930s classic known as the Ryan PT-22 Recruit. This little beauty, flown in by Andrew Boyd, took the prize in the flying time machine category. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632438657545-KT766FXLUV6MHW8ME559/news_06192008_11.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out It certainly was a day for rare and beautiful visitors from afar. Here Keith Houston taxies in after landing the Fairey Firefly of Canadian Warplane Heritage in Hamilton, Ontario. This massive single engine naval fighter-bomber was a development of the Fairey Fulmar, the naval variant of the reliable, if less than stellar, Fairey Battle. The Firefly came into its own at the end of the Second World War and was used extensively by the Royal Canadian Navy until the 1950s. Due to a maintenance problem, she graced the Vintage Wings hangar for the following week, offering our crew a lingering look at this remarkable aircraft. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448147227-D3YJNOGBKBD7NFPBKY2N/news_06192008_12.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Time to go flying! Tim Leslie signals wingman Rob Erdos prior to turning over their powerful Merlin engines. The Mustang IV and Spitfire XVI went aloft for some practice in formation flying and in particular position changes during flight. Our Open House events are just that - open doors for friends and visitors to watch as we go about our normal routines of practice and familiarization. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448180788-CWEMPRGVGZ50JBF756BR/news_06192008_13.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Ready when you are Lead! Rob Erdos returns the signal and soon they are taxiing. Hand signals are an important part of communication between pilots when flying close formation. Radios are sometimes unreliable and since you are staring straight at the formation Lead the whole time, hand signalling is the preferred method of clear communication. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448217246-Z0FANHOHKYZIX3GR5MZT/news_06192008_14.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out It’s “wheels in the wells” as Tim Leslie climbs into the hot and humid air of June 7th. The radiator exit door below the roundel is wide open to maximize cooling air flow over the radiators. Photo: Tony Tapp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448256325-PR0OMXFMDN4N88U1MV2X/news_06192008_15.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Tim and Rob return after 30 minutes of practice over less built-up areas to the north and treat the crowd to a thundering flypast. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448289648-P5QIKW8TPXLNEKMIBQUF/news_06192008_16.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out It’s hard work in the trenches. Here volunteers Susan Kirkpatrick and Laura Rance dish up burgers and dogs to volunteers, visiting pilots and members of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society who were in town for their Annual National Conference. They were a good group of eager and knowledgeable fans. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448325007-TGIYYI8Z7W9IHYNJHTLD/news_06192008_17.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out It would be a day of many firsts for our FG-1D Corsair. The first public viewing of her in her new Royal Navy markings. The first time she was flown by a Vintage Wings pilot. The first Corsair flight for pilot Paul Kissmann. The first flight in a dash-one Corsair by Corsair pilot Mike Potter. Here Mike (left) and Paul pull through the massive thirteen foot diameter propeller to circulate some oil prior to turning the big Pratt and Whitney R2800 over. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448358563-9G3ZGAI6VYXRDFN8YDEA/news_06192008_18.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann seems to be stroking the Corsair as a rodeo cowboy might stroke and whisper to his quarterhorse. There’s always some of that, but he is also going through a series of pre-flight visual checks as part of his walkaround - the mark of a serious professional test pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448394685-1G3H83FD2HOK3FGJ0STE/news_06192008_19.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out At Vintage Wings of Canada, we were profoundly humbled when the markings of Robert Hampton Gray’s famous Corsair were added to the fuselage and wings of the former United States Navy paint scheme she wore for the first half year. After they were applied the Corsair took on a persona that we all could feel. To see her rolling out to the runway under her own power in the light of day was very emotional for our team. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448425917-JST6G20L79MOEQICO1KL/news_06192008_20.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out As Paul Kissmann lifts off the runway in the Corsair, managers at Vintage Wings walk out to the infield for a better view. Left to right: Mike Potter, President and Founder, Dave O’Malley, Manager of Marketing and Communications, Rob Erdos, Manager of British Types, and Tim Leslie, Vice President and Chief of Operations. This excitement and pride was felt right through the ranks. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448471414-VC63W3AXOZ449DLDLZT7/news_06192008_21.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out After nearly 40 minutes of test, evaluation and familiarization north of the airfield, Paul Kissmann takes the Corsair down the runway for all our visitors to see. With the bold numerals and roundels, we all could clearly see the phantom of Robert Hampton Gray flying once more. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448503762-UDOLAMMKWDD5GMW1CZU3/news_06192008_22.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out This photo is from much the same angle and distance as the view that Japanese gunners aboard Amakusa would have had as Gray passed over them after dropping the bomb that sank their ship. In 1945, Gray’s Corsair was seen to be smoking at this point and just seconds later he crashed into the waters of Onagawa Bay. His last moments on earth earned him the Victoria Cross. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448536443-9V6Q5Z05VX8REVNHTX8E/news_06192008_23.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out In another view of the same pass, the now-famous markings of the Victoria Cross Corsair bring a truly tragic tale to life for all Canadians - it was a powerful moment for us all. Photo: Tony Tapp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448576824-9T6EGGSLOBFD3RGFGOSB/news_06192008_24.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Members of Vintage Wings of Canada’s Victory Flight formation demonstration team pose for a group photograph as a means of distracting Paul Kissmann while mechanic Paul Tremblay sneaks under the Corsair with a rather large bucket of icy water - the standard ritual at Vintage Wings of Canada for pilots making their first solo on type. Kissmann is well aware this will happen, but does a great job of feigning ignorance of the inevitable. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448617048-IBLP5VCSFNK376321BGV/news_06192008_25.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Like the good buddies they are, Mike, Rob and Tim bail on the newest member of Victory Flight as he gets his well earned dousing by Paul Tremblay in front of a large crowd of spectators - a rare treat indeed. In addition to the Full Monty executed by Tremblay, fellow mechanic Andre Laviolette fired a volley from the front - unfortunately the handle broke off and the water missed its mark. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448650602-PVEVM6PVHZQ9ZNZRB47U/news_06192008_26.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out As it turned out, the flood of cold water did not dampen his spirits at all - simply cooled him down after a long hot flight on a long hot day. Immediately afterward he took the microphone and related his feelings about the flight and the story of Robert Hampton Gray. It was a touching and emotional moment for all who were there. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448681344-Z5EFEQGILI136V35F8KL/news_06192008_27.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out The de Havilland triplets. Tiger Moth pilots Kate Speer (right) and Rob Kostecka (left) chat about their upcoming flights in the Vintage Wings biplane. Their mentor and Manager of Biplanes, Dave Hadfield stands on the wing and shares his considerable common sense knowledge - at the end of the day both pilots soloed in the Tiger Moth. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448715966-IWVT9OVHL4VZP1PAA0WA/news_06192008_28.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Open house co-ordinators Michel Coté (left) and John Longair (right) welcome Fairey Firefly pilot Keith Houston. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448748061-XFZ5SVDHMCI5J6GAEDLF/news_06192008_29.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out The Beech Expeditor belonging to Canadian Warplane Heritage climbs out after a great day at Vintage Wings of Canada’s Open House. After the visit from CWH’s Firefly and Expeditor, we returned the favour with an exchange visit to Hamilton in our Spitfire and Hurricane the following week. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448803715-FR4VWSB8279WCKLNMLV6/news_06192008_30.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Contact! With Kate Speer at the controls, Dave Hadfield heaves mightily on the Tiger Moth’s wooden propeller. The hand start is standard on the simple, yet elegant machine. Photo: Bob Fassold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448841399-QJF40OVAXN9UT1E289LN/news_06192008_31.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Marty McFly (Tim Leslie) inspects the Ryan Flying Time Machine prior to some time travelling in the afternoon. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448871863-OHSIQMEQDJKBW6PBR2TL/news_06192008_32.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out While real pilots fly real aircraft outside the hangar, virtual pilots fly virtual aircraft inside the hangar - a modern interpretation of “hangar flying”. Flight Ontario, a highly skilled and very creative group of simulator experts have created digital copies of all Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft as well as the Gatineau Airport and surrounding area. This enabled anyone to take aloft one of our warbirds and fly a few circuits - a wonderful and exciting teaching tool as well as just plane fun. Here a young visitor cranks a 90 degree turn over the field in the Vintage Wings Mustang IV. Move over Tim Leslie! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448904929-3T0W0MHJYHTJLWCEQKIM/news_06192008_33.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Bert Joss, former RCAF Swordfish pilot engages the crowd with stories of flying the Swordfish during the Second World War in Nova Scotia. Having veterans like Joss share their stories with our guests is the perfect way to bring to life these remarkable flying artifacts. Joss sustained leg injuries from a forced landing in a Swordfish in 1945 that today requires him to use a cane for walking and a chair for sustained presentations. At Vintage Wings of Canada we are honoured by men like Joss who still bear the scars of those years but who take the time to help us teach our fellow Canadians about this complex and tumultuous time in our history. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632448952078-6WAEMI0IFD65BLFXR1GC/news_06192008_34.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out Is no one immune from the antics of our maintenance crew? Apparently not. Mike Potter, already an experienced Corsair pilot, nevertheless was soloing this particular model of Corsair for the first time - any excuse for a public dousing! Mechanic André Laviolette lets loose with a bucket of honour at the boss. Laviolette earlier in the day botched a Level 2 Dousing with Paul Kissmann and earlier this year lost control on another Level 2 for a Harvard solo. Why someone entrusted him with a Full Level One is beyond understanding. Once again he lost control of the Solo Honour Liquid Containment System (SHLCS) causing it to go into a flat spin, spewing di-hydrogen oxide and striking the recipient. At Vintage Wings of Canada we have a no-tolerance 3-strike system. Pending results of an investigation, Laviolette will now undergo counselling and have to take the Bucket Control and Dispensing Course (BCDC) refresher at Portage Laprairie. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632449022261-EBHCY3Z9ZYHWVGI72CSJ/news_06192008_35.jpg The Stories - JUST PLANE FUN — Vintage wings Open House 2008 - Make it stand out All in all Rose, that was a great day. Mike Potter and Paul Kissmann share their happy experiences of the day. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/canucks-unlimited monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429678574-FCLKIC7ROQYA4BZF5UXL/CanadaDay_News_1.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out The grand children and the great grand children of our service men and women of World War Two line up for a tour of Canadian Warplane Heritage’s DC-3 Dakota “Canucks Unlimited” at Canada Aviation Museum on Canada Day, 2007. The “Dak” is painted in the famous markings of 436 Squadron RCAF which operated in the China Burma India theatre (CBI) during the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429794500-1979B8OPOAD0ZPGTH5UE/CanadaDay_News_2.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429821395-ZZSNXM9MSUW01B98KENZ/CanadaDay_News_3.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out Resident historian and Vintage Wings volunteer Don MacNeil tells a veteran and his wife the story of our Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI at the Canada Day event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429866165-S75ISHWUBHWGWQSM3JTP/CanadaDay_News_4.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429949530-7T2BN9TDU8E1IYD7YIAK/CanadaDay_News_5.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out Canadian Vickers manufactured Canadian Warplane Heritage's PBY-5A Canso” in 1944. It served with the RCAF until 1961 when it was sold as surplus. The Canso is restored in the colours and markings of 162 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron and dedicated to the memory of Flight Lieutenant David Hornell, VC, who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. On 24 June 1944 he and his crew bombed and sank U-1225. Sadly, the Germans shot down the Canso A, and Hornell and his crew spent more than twenty hours afloat on the ocean before being rescued. Hornell died shortly afterward. Here Peter Handley captures the effectiveness of the Canso’s white-grey camouflage as she sails across the sky at the Canada Aviation Museum - the scheme was designed to make it hard to spot against the constant cloudy grey skies of the North Atlantic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632429975091-ATOXYYY3E263735EM4YK/CanadaDay_News_6.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS UNLIMITED — Canada Day 2007 - Make it stand out Moment of Ignition: As with all the pilots, managers and volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada, there comes a moment in a young child’s life that will forever be burned in memory - a moment that sparks a life-long love affair with aviation. Long may you fly young man. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/beaver-trails monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632426581484-W6C5S0Y449IK378XLTHN/Beaver-Trails_News_1.jpg The Stories - BEAVER TRAILS — Grassroots Aviation at Its Best - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632426844880-WF0WPHIOYYDNMIWBBK28/Beaver-Trails_News_2.jpg The Stories - BEAVER TRAILS — Grassroots Aviation at Its Best - Make it stand out Local families enjoy talking to the Leslies and learning about Vintage Wings of Canada — are we looking at future airline pilots having their moment of ignition? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632426870535-4R3W1YNM90VRVM82MFQF/Beaver-Trails_News_3.jpg The Stories - BEAVER TRAILS — Grassroots Aviation at Its Best - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/calling-all-volunteers- monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632424878157-NEFKLJ0NZVVX6PQSKDDN/VolunteersTitle.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632425060181-MOKENWHM9JHPU20X89M9/Volunteers5.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Our volunteers help out in ground handling and aircraft security - both important jobs for which you will be properly trained or supervised. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632425096217-4QOV0IZ6QI4MQ23W5R8C/Volunteers4.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Our volunteers look cool at all times - a new personal benefit you will enjoy too! Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632425163211-Q5MHSCV9G7NWLGE753GK/HangarQueen4.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Never done anything like this before? Don't worry, we'll train you. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632425240656-1NC78OQS0YTZPQZFG8TH/Volunteers3.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Make new friends. The people you will meet are all friendly, committed and pretty darn smart too. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632425273728-68QHGK2LI59Y0X9IANMO/Volunteers2.jpg The Stories - CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS - Make it stand out Orange - it's the new black! You can't help but look like you know what you are doing when you don the orange and rust of Vintage Wings. Of course we will train you so that you actually DO know what you are doing too. Photo Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/one-last-dance-george monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359807606-P6OCQEUOWE5NWHODSWYO/GeorgeTitle.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359920542-B5E7CKRJTOKM77YV1ZOB/George10.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out A twenty-something George Mayer in civvies outside barrack buildings at RCAF Station Penhold, Alberta in 1960. The thing about George that becomes apparent when meeting him is that he has never lost the zest for life and the excitement of that fresh-faced kid in the RCAF tartan tie. George would go onto fly the massive Canadair Argus patrol bomber - the biggest fistful of throttles in the RCAF. Photo via George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359950222-QPNCNZWH1APWV52EP8M8/George11.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out A Harvard at Penhold back when George was completing his basic flying training. Photo: George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359994985-JYE1UX04EOH70FXO5LNF/By+George9.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out George gets a Chipmunk ride on his 50th Anniversary last year courtesy of Chipmunk Guru and Elder Statesman Major General Bob Fassold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360068642-4HWHHFN32A9BL10U1GFY/George9.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings High Flight Harvard in poetic flight above the Gatineau Airport. Photo via George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360159662-VDQSC90CIS6VRKLGK37M/George8.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360192223-VVE8BBW8CPCHPFOIXPB5/George7.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out George and Vintage Wings Harvard pilot John Aitken do a pre-flight and talk over the landing gear sequence. The small red-framed window in the wing, around which they are talking, allows the pilot to look down from the cockpit to visually verify that the gear locking pins are securely in place. Photo Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360223055-CL67WYXAQVCK1YMI2UK9/George4.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Aitken and Mayer go over cockpit egress procedures. Mayer would have had this drilled into his thick skull 50 years ago, and probably was just humouring Aitken. Photo: Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360259836-VM7CUX2ZN02INF27CF6H/George6.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out George is ready to rumble. Photo Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360282720-CLJUBXCERJJ1F4ISI2LM/George3.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out As John Aitken in the front works his way through the preflight checklist, Mayer in the back maintains a steady thumbs-up situation (TUS). Photo: Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360309912-VDC7EFWO2NCA5RJCKR46/George12.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Photographer Richard Lawrence gets Mayer to recreate a photo from George's past. What at first appears to be blue skies in the background, is, in fact, a mountain of styrofoam from the adjacent factory at Vintage Wings. Photo: Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360337185-Z8OC5YXL0ADJ397B7WJN/George15.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Fifty years ago, George posed for a camera prior to his first “famil” flight in a Harvard. On the right, he recreates the same pose half a century later. Photos: Left via George Mayer , Right : Richard Lawrence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360421879-K8V6BYPD7TJ4AE8IS201/George13.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out Mayer and Aitken jettison the earth. Photo: Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632360451011-982K5ZOPVTSANVE8QZRD/George14.jpg The Stories - ONE LAST DANCE - Make it stand out George Mayer, The Duke of Penhold, is transported 50 years into the past. Photo: Wayne Giles https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-impressions monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632358922922-PYL3B7D10HMAZ17FNRJT/RookieTitle.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359013950-4V3U43NFPR7ASIWJ2OXL/Rookie3.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out For new volunteers like author Branson, arriving amidst the flow and chatter of veteran volunteers was not unlike arriving at a new high school for the first time... a bit intimidating. But Vintage Wings is a welcoming family if anything. Photo: Clive Branson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359069874-3G5B7K52TD780VLYBNL3/Rookie2.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Prior to old and new volunteers breaking into groups for specific task training, they were addressed by Vintage Wings President Rob Fleck and Business Operations Manger and Air Show Director Carolyn Leslie (in background). Photo: Clive Branson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359101027-2Y005J3HKBKCSTBLTGEP/Rookie12.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out For many volunteers, this would be the first get-together since last year's air show. For newbies like author Branson, this would be a first introduction to the hallowed halls of the Vintage Wings hangar and its priceless contents. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359148342-TLIVXB6N1BEHDQFQNYVV/Rookie5.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Michel Côté, in charge of aircraft ground movements during air show events, addresses volunteers including Branson and goes over the basic rules, pitfalls, and concepts needed to understand the role of an aircraft marshaller. Photo: Clive Branson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359186195-PEY72824JAYCG4JM073D/Rookie7.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Guest of honour at the ground marshall course was none other than André Laviolette, the winner of the 2010 "So You Think You Can Marshall" reality TV series. Laviolette insists that “it's all in the hips”. Here he combines a critical "engine fire" signal with a cha cha - the same move that won him the top spot on TV series. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359225526-QZ555F38WUKS3WY7UHGP/Rookie8.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out "We have to have sexy lines, people" shouts Laviolette, the Buckingham Baryshnikov as he is known in these parts. Seems everyone is looking at his hips in this shot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359262833-KO4HJLGTN6QWVH4K5MF9/Rookie9.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Laviolette demonstrates even basic hand directions such as "The Mechanics' Toilette is this Way". Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359327550-D37S1N52I9BW49GPRCPY/Rookie6.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out After a couple of hours of instruction, everyone got to know each other a little better over lunch. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359369888-3IPIB94LBRQRR86CIELL/Rookie10.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out After lunch came the now-traditional Vintage Wings of Canada Squadron Photo. The rain outside required everyone to line up on and around the Corsair. Here Branson seeks the money shot and gets a dramatic shot of the Buckingham Baryshnikov as he leads other mechanics and pilots up on to the wings of the big bird. Photo: Clive Branson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359398634-PRN5P38PGJEL3OVFFUNB/Rookie11.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out Though being hunted down to join the family out front, the author grabbed a few last shots of the group assembling for the photo shoot. Photo: Clive Branson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632359430520-KHVOO3JS9BQS41H0LJPM/Rookie13.jpg The Stories - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Make it stand out While Branson shot from the reverse side, Peter Handley was on the other side shooting the Vintage Wings of Canada 2011 Squadron photo. Photo by Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-gentle-aviator monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234736009-N4MCGN581WERGOD8NS4B/John00.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234844099-DBRT699XB8IKHS44C38E/John01.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out Three aviators (left to right): Dave Hadfield, senior Boeing 777 Captain with Air Canada and veteran warbird pilot; Mike Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada and high time warbird and aerobatic pilot; John Davies, ground control marshaller, veteran aviation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234910714-RRTAV6I41W4LP2W2GZK0/John03.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out This past year, John Davies was accorded honours from the volunteer group known as Ottawa Airport Watch for more than 10,000 hours of volunteering for the organization. That is the equivalent of working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for five years. That is an incredible commitment, offered by John Davies quietly and without demands. He was a man of exceptional generosity. Here we see him standing on a snow bank (the fence top is 10 feet high) this year during one of Ottawa’s most difficult and cold winters on record. John was there almost daily, rain or shine, -30ºC or +30ºC to photograph the comings and goings of one of the world’s best run airports. Photo: Rod Digney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632235038155-SZ9TA2QI2Q5DULIMX89H/John31.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out One day, a number of years back, John Davies and pilot Rob Kostecka took the Vintage Wings Tiger Moth for a summer’s flight to visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, where they shared their enthusiasm for flight with dozens of children, no doubt igniting a spark in some of them. On the way there, John took this picture of himself and a moment of sublime joy. This is my favourite image of him. A “selfie” before the dawn of the “selfie.” Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632235070451-SKD2UBYTOY7W8RBEUAOF/John32.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out As Kostecka banks the yellow winged Tiger Moth over the still Ottawa River, Davies captures an iconic image for us. Just a few miles upstream from here, the Rideau River empties it waters into the bigger Ottawa in a roaring waterfall. This shot inspired the words “Yellow Wings”, the name of Vintage Wings’ program which, over the past three years, brought the story of Canada’s aviation heritage to the youth of Canada. Last year alone, we flew 500 of these young people and many of them took “selfies” like John’s. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632235102242-0IGF3W9S2TWB9MOS48QF/John34.jpg The Stories - THE GENTLE AVIATOR - Make it stand out There is an old saying: “When God shuts the door, he opens a little window.” One thing I know for certain—something that comforts me a little—is that, for every aviator lost, another is born. Photo: Yellow Wings https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/beaver-fever monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632233951828-KQL3BF05X5O8B4CEUF2U/BeaverFeverTitle.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234065800-FA5I535LTYDDV86F7WZB/BeaverFever1.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Doug DeVries taxies his beautifully restored Beaver up to the Rockcliffe dock. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234095480-18CQWA36DA79STEO8OMC/BeaverFever2.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out The weary aviators unload. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234198297-8KJ636SNZ8PSGHI7PVBK/BeaverFever3.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out The two Beavers rest while crews head downtown for a cold beer. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234240753-28N2KQXH7IYHIFKYDSLZ/BeaverFever4.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Team members Norma Ward (left), Dan Noble, Robbi Devries, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Eric Thiermann and team leaders Mark Schoening and Doug Devries inspect the Vintage Wings of Canada de Havilland Beaver. The six adventurers visited the Gatineau hangar after a private tour of the presently closed Canada Aviation Museum. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234275886-73RFTTHKERKEIDPMNQRD/BeaverFever5.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out The spectacularly beautiful Beaver N67DN belonging to Doug Devries of Kenmore, Washington. The recently restored Beaver was purposely crashed during the filming of the less-than-stellar film Six Days, Seven Nights (starring Harrison Ford - a dyed in the wool Beaver Believer) and was left to rust on a scrapheap near Denver. Doug Devries, an inventor and aircraft restorer, set to work rebuilding N67DN and turned her into an immaculately finished, spectacularly appointed Beaver - as good as they get. Photo: Neil Aird / www.dhc-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234306788-AA52QEUXH0AJ978SPZPV/BeaverFever6.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Time to say goodbye yet again. Throughout their circumnavigation of the Beaver’s native land, the adventurers ran into helpful and friendly people - a reflection perhaps of their own friendly natures as much as the unique story they brought to these remote Arctic towns. Photo: Neil Aird / www.dhc-2.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234356556-YQ9D99RVNHBD0MQDM812/BeaverFever7.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Beaver adventurers meet a true Beaver legend. Neil Aird, centre, is on an epic Beaver adventure of his own - one spanning at least 22 years so far. Neil has set out to record the history and fate of every single de Havilland Canada Beaver ever made at the Downsview factory - that’s 1,692 airframes. So far he has amassed a photographic and historic record of 1,152 individual Beavers. Neil’s amazing website (www.dhc-2.com) is an incredible visual and historic documentary of a remarkable aircraft. You can't say you know Beavers and never have visited his site. Photo: via Neil Aird https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234392307-DPUF36OGNBK5DLAIZW2N/BeaverFever8.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Throughout the Great Arctic Air Adventure, there have been many team members coming and going at different points along the route. But the two men who dreamed up the Adventure, Doug Devries (left) and Mark Schoening, have been at the controls of their two beautiful and well loved de Havilland Beaver float planes every nautical mile of the journey. Photo: Neil Aird / www.dhc-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632234425644-QYYXJR6A0IW2GPUR3V45/BeaverFever9.jpg The Stories - BEAVER FEVER — The Great Arctic Adventure - Make it stand out Early on Monday morning with commuters making their way to work in downtown Ottawa, Great Arctic Air Adventurer Mark Schoening lifts off the Ottawa River. The leaves are starting to turn on Kettle Island in the background - time for our adventurers to make their way back home. Photo: Neil Aird / www.dhc-2.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/enter-the-dragon monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190525818-AROIZSDILCGCGUROEGF4/EnterTheDragon_News_1.jpg The Stories - ENTER THE DRAGON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632233423741-N6HXRXLHCNEUQENVCRY5/EnterTheDragon_News_2.jpg The Stories - ENTER THE DRAGON - Make it stand out The Nanchang CJ6A, a Chinese design development based on the Soviet Yak-18, is a beautiful airplane. The previous owner had a thing for speed and had it painted red to exactly match his Dodge Viper. The design does not reflect an actual Chinese Air Force unit or aircraft but rather to look like the People's Republic flag. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632233633464-9PO7Q47T558I3ES92UHT/EnterTheDragon_News_3.jpg The Stories - ENTER THE DRAGON - Make it stand out Some of the unique features of the Nanchang are visible in this shot - its tricycle landing gear, large tail surface, bent wings and radial louvres used to control engine temperature. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632233703349-YMRQNN3UKLWSPLQFQA1K/EnterTheDragon_News_4.jpg The Stories - ENTER THE DRAGON - Make it stand out Trailing smoke and gaining speed, Dan Fortin keeps the CJ low along the runway before one of his signature pitch ups. Photo Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632233734623-E2EKT7DTU5G1DQ1QYDW0/EnterTheDragon_News_5.jpg The Stories - ENTER THE DRAGON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/canuck-storkmeister monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189112629-FZRVZW80S9I2QNBI1GTC/Kot01.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189628579-NOQP2SDS0AEO2WRK44NT/Kot02.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Kot’s flying career is staggering in its length and its variety - Murray having flown everything from a Boeing 747 to a Piper Cub. The list of commercial type ratings still held in Canada is long - DC-3, DC-4, DC-8, DC-10, B707, B737-2-3-400, B-747-1,-2,-300, B747-400-400F, Convair 440, A-310, Lear-60, -35 and HS25. But it is his accumulated hours that are mind-boggling - now over 20,000 and climbing - the equivalent of being in the air for two years and three months and never coming down. And during all that time, Murray rates the Storch as one of the most challenging and fun aircraft to fly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189667892-120P51CYXPQZP8E2TYUX/Kot03.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189744416-SEYHQWRAEZU10HW81NMJ/Kot05.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out The Storch could climb like a homesick angel and come down like Lucifer. It was hard on the landing gear, but Kot could pretty well descend vertically with the right headwind and stop in 50 feet. Take-offs of under 150 feet were standard in light wind conditions. Photo: Den Pascoe via Murray Kot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189859685-MQWX51ZLI7PC82VONQ38/Kot06.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out This nice shot of C-FIWG by aviation photographer Den Pascoe reveals the inverted V-8 Argus engine, the under-chin oil cooler. The super wide stance of the Storch’s landing gear allows for much better ground control over rough fields. Photo by Den Pascoe via Murray Kot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189946522-J2R4CEQSPHEKT792VS29/Kot07.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Though the Storch is long gone (at last report in private hands in Greece), Murray Kot continued to acquire and fly aircraft of all types. Here Murray flies over farmland in Ontario in an OV-2 Sky Master, roughly the Vietnam War equivalent to the Storch in terms of observation and liaison duties, but far different from it in flying capabilities. The twin-engined aircraft is now in North Bay, Ontario. Photo: Eric Dumigan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632189986397-W3M99LFJEM0PA48J426G/Kot08.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Kot has flown many types of aircraft in those 20,000 hours in the air. One of the best ways to add aircraft types to your life list is to own them, and Murray has owned and operated quite a few. Here he climbs out in a North American Yale, a Harvard look-alike but with fixed gear and a few other differences. Murray operated the rare beauty from his backyard grass strip called Kot Field in Orangeville, Ontario. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190024513-DXCTL8UOWUU0SMOOTG9Z/Kot09.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Murray’s Yale carried the title The Spirit of Camp Borden, where undoubtedly he got his initial flying training with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He no longer owns the Yale, but it still flies with another southern Ontario group in Dunnville. It now wears the proud name The Spirit of Dunnville. Dunnville was the location of N0. 6 Service Flying Trainig School during the Second World War. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190054086-5UCFAG85B3EH1KZUSUTU/Kot10.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Murray’s Yale wasn’t always in such immaculate condition. Here’s what the Spirit of Camp Borden/Dunnville looked like under the apple trees of Ernie Symonds orchard back in the 1960s. Photo via Murray Kot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190080474-2HTQWM9J0Z66LQM3VPXS/Kot11.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Murray’s words attached to this picture when he sent it say it all. “This is my good old Stearman.” I’m detecting a little affection in those words. Photo by Michael Fast https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190123191-7Q0ZG4I11ASYX86B2TNL/Kot12.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out “Kot Field” (CPV2) in Orangeville, Ontario is described fondly by Murray as “2,300 feet of duck crap and grass.” This idyllic setting is the perfect canvas upon which Murray works his art - rebuilding, maintaining and flying vintage aircraft. The passion is obvious. Photo via Murray Kot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190148948-35CZF6X92T6KH9WHRQFV/Kot13.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out From 747 to J-3 Cub, Murray has flown the gamut. Murray lists the Cub as the second finest aircraft ever built. Kot recently sold the 65 hp powered Piper to a buyer in Washington State. It took him two weeks to ferry the aircraft to its new owner and by all accounts it was a “hoot”. That being said, Murray admits the J-3 was not enough airplane for a transit of the Rocky Mountains. Photo via Murray Kot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190183124-XYHB8WPYOTFOP323TZKM/Kot14.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out During the ferry flight from Ontario to Washington State, this qualified as the easy part. Here Murray drills a hole in the Wyoming sky westward to the granite heights of the Rocky Mountains. Upon entering the high mountain passes of the Rockies, Kot had a few sphincter-tightening moments, but arrived safely two weeks after leaving Orangeville. Photo via Murray Kot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632190212454-QUC3PX61S6UBWD3MFEGK/Kot15.jpg The Stories - CANUCK STORKMEISTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fly-it-like-beckham monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188130485-27ZVO5MEZ0YP1SJQFMXM/LivingTheDream_News_1.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188357431-1LU5YK7JH43COBGY5C9X/chathistory4.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out Members of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team at the time of writing this story. Left to right: Dave Hewitt, Pete Spence and N. Kent Beckham. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188454516-H88IZURWIT4D1A80MS52/chathistory5.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out In 2014, the team added a new member — Marco Rusconi (right), but as of 2021, the team has disbanded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188730960-F991L3OTZFTWXY163NFV/LivingTheDream_News_3.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188771545-K0RAKZPU0GZUPOTY3M0I/LivingTheDream_News_4.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632188812828-71NYDWO1SOPZYZ6A8S54/LivingTheDream_News_5.jpg The Stories - LIVING THE DREAM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/commie-thunder monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632157809332-XAAR47SPBTKF75H9R7T1/CommieTitle.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632186584900-4KIE6RVYJHSBETMYG0IA/Commie2.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Smoke on! Rob “Soprano” Mortara is ready to lead another flight. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187120912-AHFYCJ7UAYWRMD9XGPMZ/Commie7.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Patrick Cloutier leads Dave Marsh over the beautiful Quebec country side. In this photo you can compare the different lines of the CJ-6A (lead aircraft) and the Yak-52. Photo Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187277537-BS9E5ZHBQAB319A7OFBF/Commie9.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Phil ShortBus Cogan tucked in tight in the number 4 position. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187306194-SIBSI2QJVXW37LKC7E2G/Commie3.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Dan Fortin brings the CJ-6A for a closer look. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187385376-KD7VNSC6KH9OCK23XUEZ/Commie4.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Patrick Cloutier leads a flight of three over Dorval Airport en route to St-Hyacinthe airport. In front of them, Dan Fortin in the red Nanchang leads a diamond formation. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187413706-JGO27E6YS015ZCCX5P16/Commie6.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Patrick Cloutier leading a flight of three toward St-Hyacinthe airport. Photo: Michel Côte https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187456686-973BFJV1HCCFSBLLI50C/Commie11.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out Dave “Swampy” Marsh shows off his Yak-52 which will be repainted in the near future. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632187517008-CV5U38VCSBLMWYNST13O/Commie8.jpg The Stories - COMMIE THUNDER - Make it stand out After a hard day's work, it's group photo time. Photo: Michel Côté https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/on-being-three monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141192520-RUVSS5JPTJQ0GKIRJ0Z3/BeckhamTitle.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141364981-5U0QH9W78IJK13RXAM3T/Beckham8.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out When we were 2. Father, mentor, friend, Norm Beckham poses with his son Kent on the set of Iron Eagle II, a Hollywood aviation fantasy film for which they flew their "Americanized" Harvards. [Now I finally know what the N in N. Kent Beckham stands for - Ed] Photo via Kent Beckham https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141404267-3L3VTXNBGGSUTA2YR6S6/Beckham9.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out Norm and son Kent lay down a trail of smoke together when they flew aerobatic formations as a two-ship. Photo via Kent Beckham https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141435714-MK1PFJZOP8M3Y0VG8YD5/Beckham3.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out Now there is three. N. Kent Beckham in Harvard 53 sticks like glue to Dave Hewitt in the No.2 position in the Echelon Left formation. This photo shows us just how close they get and how perfect their show can be. Photo: Camera Clicker, Ron Dowdellca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141488594-25EAMUTULJLTLI6YN6CD/Beckham2.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out The three pilots of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team - L-R Dave Hewitt (No.2), Peter Spence (Lead) and N. Kent Beckham (No. 3). All three pilots are valuable partners of Vintage Wings of Canada, sharing their considerable knowledge of Harvard operations and formation flying. Photo: Dave Blais https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141547605-OB18HXRUXC02I8USGVAN/Beckham5.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out The members of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team perform the Vic Loop together on a clear day. Photo: Dani Cela https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141587184-LLYZ931VHO7X6XOMA4PY/Beckham10.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out One gets the desire to shout "Tora Tora Tora" when looking at this fabulous image of Peter leading Dave leading Kent at the Red Bull Air Races in Detroit this past summer. Photo: Tom Podolec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141614831-Z352TB7R91V7T8DIS1FA/Beckham11.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out Nearly 70 years after its first flight, the Harvard still thrills a crowd. Kent, Pete and Dave rip up the futuristic waterfront of Detroit this past summer at the Red Bull Air Races. Photo: Tom Podolec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632141658909-BNNSYF1C4O1KL7E9V01Z/Beckham4.jpg The Stories - ON BEING THREE - Make it stand out When he's not in his CHAT uniform, or his airline uniform, Beckham can sometimes be seen in his Vintage Wings get-up at the controls of our Supermarine Spitfire - a dream of Kent's since he was a boy. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/montebello monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139964653-5KBX764AOT6PW2XDLAEB/MontbelloTitle.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140140627-8Q7K1FKRBISDU4SPJ7ZR/Montbello35.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out A little hot coffee to warm the innards before taking off for flight on the perfect flying day. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140207648-5DZNS3VC1DDXWBCWM570/Montbello2.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Winter Weekend Rendezvous organizer Claude Roy (Right) shares a laugh with fellow organizer and ultra-light pilot Maurice Prud'homme as they walk the path from the frozen Ottawa River to the warmth of the magnificent Chateau Montebello. Claude, president of the Canadian Challenger Owners Association was at the first Ski-plane Fly-in event, started by another Challenger Ultra-light luminary, Ian Coristine, on a Québec lake nearly two decades ago. A big time flying adventurer, Claude has led ultra-light floatplane expeditions to James Bay, Oshkosh, Gaspé and the North Shore almost to Labrador. Claude is very active in the ultra-light (micro-light) community, lobbying for change in legislation governing ultra-light operations. With thousands of hours of flight time, Claude is the quintessential Canadian aviator. In addition to the Winter Rendezvous, Claude also organizes a summer event at his home field at Carleton Place, Ontario. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140251599-H0RFKDHJGFR8QANZL7S3/Montbello3.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Flying operations down on the surface of the Ottawa River can be downright Kelvin. Here a Bellanca Citabria lets loose with a blast of ice crystal-laden air at a compatriot who was assisting the pilot to free its skis from the deep snow. When you have to go... you have to go. Here in Canada, everyone knows that minus 20 degree temperatures can be doubly miserable with just a 5 knot wind. Here the ground crewman takes 60 knots and a blast of exfoliating ice to the face. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140294204-SK1JA4ZF3W6APFWKFCR8/Montbello4.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out The one and only Fairmont Chateau Montebello on the banks of the mighty Ottawa River from 1,000 feet. Montebello is the world's largest log structure with 4 spectacular wings of luxurious rooms. The Winter Weekend Rendezvous has become such a success, that one full wing of the hotel is booked for the entire weekend. Aircraft occupy slips in the marina to the right. The prepared runway runs parallel to the shore. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140327186-R77K1BETPRJYD344PUZV/Montbello5.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Montebello is the quintessential Canadian hotel experience that must be seen to be believed. It is a true 4-season hotel, but there is something special about this magnificent property in the dead of a Canadian winter that can keep you warm no matter what you choose to do. Photo Pierre Langlois https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140387802-LRVYCLTD2LF2P3OOSRY0/Montbello27.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Though the weather outside is frightful, the fire inside is delightful - the stunningly beautiful and traditionally comfortable lobby of the Chateau Montebello. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140425017-6G1KSCMU04FU4QMXIZKL/Montbello7.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out An Ultravia Pelican sits at a marina slip with the Chateau Montebello above. The Pelican ultra-light was manufactured just down the Ottawa River at Gatineau. The Pelican factory, now closed down, was just down the street from Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140466714-5N6515XADCZ04OPSPNYD/Montbello8.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out A Quad-City Challenger ultra-light taxies through deep snow. When it's this deep, it's best to keep moving forward. Originally, the Rendezvous was created for Challenger owners to share the aviation experience and their knowledge in the winter environment, but today, all comers are welcome including helicopters, classic general aviation and other types of ultra-lights. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140498888-C0HJKH3WA60KSCJ56DPP/Montbello9.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Three Quad-City Challengers and a yellow Kitfox lay buried in fresh snow in front of the Montebello boathouse. In the lee of the marina, it's quite comfortable, but out on the wind-swept river, it's like a frozen blow torch of ice. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140522195-MW1DCWOQ4XB3JL2040DF/Montbello32.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out If you don't have skis, the going is a hard slog. Piper, the author's Border collie, struggles through deep snow out on the Ottawa River. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140545152-2L4T5GCKG6GSEUYPAEIM/Montbello29.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. If you want to go ultra-light flying in the winter in these parts, it's best to dress for it. And it helps to have an airplane one can spot in the snow, should a rescue be required. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140569028-1RO4SUUP0VCR3FCNNUDW/Montbello10.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out A Fleet 80 Canuck pounds through belly-high snow as she gets moving out to the runway. Despite the deep snow and the weight, ski-equipped aircraft move surprisingly well in dry snow - it's another matter all together if the skis get wet running through slush. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140609673-DYA8AY8DL8LEK7M3WINO/Montbello11.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Captured at the moment of touchdown on the frozen river, a Fleet 80 Canuck floats just an inch from landing. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140646160-804K3Z0DCAX8F4J6SOH8/Montbello12.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out A Canadian Ultralight Chinook Plus 2 lands, not on the prepared runway parallel to the shore, but into the wind and in the deeper snow. This Chinook operates on water (both the solid and the liquid types) on its Full Lotus inflatable float kit. The pilot keeps the power on high to overcome the drag caused by the floats on the deep snow. Landing on snow is possible, like we see in the picture, but the airplane is extremely difficult to steer around on the ground. Only brute force will get you to turn in a general direction. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140680942-1OL5N68GEWX74ZKENVZH/Montbello14.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Oh-Oh. A beautiful 1946 Stinson arrives from nearby Pendleton (a former British Commonwealth Air Training Plan base) with a problem - a very serious problem. Her left ski has broken one of its restraint cables and the ski has flipped inverted in the slipstream. The pilot informs the welcoming committee and sets up for a tricky landing. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140711064-Y63LCMSWGDI624JEWMB8/Montbello15.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Touching down on just the right ski, the pilot deftly holds the wounded leg out of the snow until the last possible second. A superb display of airmanship. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140739167-7S8WY9IX3X4EH2LVD1SH/Montbello16.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out As the left ski boot drops into the snow, all onlookers hold their breath. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140770999-T9KWB5M4TZO1J932TQYL/Montbello30.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Once the wounded ski cuts into the snow, the aircraft slews to the left, goes off the runway and comes to a quick and surprisingly gentle stop. The passenger seems somewhat unconcerned in the right seat - all in a day's flying. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140800975-1A53VO8PHSQF6IDUZF0A/Montbello31.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Friends and onlookers rush to the aid of the pilot pulling down on the right wing so that the ski can be flipped around for taxi. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140842531-ZJNTWAXF2TK97ZFTJ0CA/Montbello18.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out In last year's event, a gorgeous little Denny Kitfox overflies the crowd of photographers waiting on the snow below. The Kitfox has a basic two-stroke Rotax motor like most ultra-lights, but the little black bulges on the engine cowl purposely give the impression that it has a miniature radial for power. The "wheel-skis" with tires protruding through skis, allow the Kitfox to land on cleared runways and snow. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140867296-GXQ4NRK95N2YZTPB6ZQG/Montbello20.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Some pilots in the background walk to the hotel, but If flying is not their thing, guests at Montebello can always use the oldest form of Canadian transport - the dog sled. Photo: JP. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140891080-QA6O2ZLTTDUP5UJCM910/Montbello21.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out Even fling-wings are welcome. In this photo from last year's event, a helicopter stirs up a hurricane of swirling snow. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140915574-5HHU6PYQCJR17BJ5VEBR/Montbello33.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out When it's time to go flying, just get out the car brush and give those wings a sweep, kick the ice and slush from the skis and you are set to go. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632140953588-S3Q01EVDM85YQJPMWZ5H/Montbello24.jpg The Stories - MONTEBELLO — SKI-PLANE HEAVEN - Make it stand out A Challenger en route to Montebello. Photographers like J. P. Bonin have been attending major aviation events for decades, covering the aircraft for a hobby and for posterity. It shows that the Rendezvous has become a major flying event during a season when they are few and far between, that Bonin and other photographers make the journey from Montreal and even farther - to freeze on the ice. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-lovely-stork monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139106021-NX9TRICN5JQXQ3T28BVT/lovely_stork_01.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139183122-HAXBNPCF14DB53NVLFNE/lovely_stork_02.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out The Lysander - visually so different , yet very similar to the Storch in performance. This period photo of a Canadian-built Lizzie shows her in reflective repose dressed in the same bright yellow and black “Oxydol” paint scheme that presently adorns the Vintage Wings Lysander. Photo: Tucker Harris collection via Paul Huether https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139308268-E26T31T8RO80YBW573X1/lovely_stork_03.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out The cockpit of the Fieseler Storch offers pilots exceptional forward visibility. Photo: via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139382512-VET8XP0A0MYC1NYTC239/lovely_stork_04.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out Storch on (very) short take off. Hotel-Zulu's Argus engine was replaced with a Jacobs "Shaky Jake" during L'Armée de l'air service. The scheme is JG54 Grunherz ("Green Hearts"). The Green heart on Hotel Zulu is signed by 60-victory Luftwaffe Experten Hans-Ekkehard Bob who has flown in this aeroplane in recent years. Photo; Jason Phelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139450633-2B6GW5YR92RJ6F417SEC/lovely_stork_05.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out The Storch cruises by showing her spindly undercart. Photo: Jason Phelan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632139520557-R43JS8URJWFSS3OVYIWE/lovely_stork_06.jpg The Stories - DER SCHONE STORCH — The Lovely Stork - Make it stand out Howard Cook tells us the Storch’s view forward is exceptional, but a picture is worth a 1,000 words! Here a Luftwaffe pilot cruises a length of road - possibly on the Russian Steppe as a long line of Russian POWs trudges toward Germany https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/epervier-the-sparrowhawk monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138007311-LDP2ZWS0YX0Q8Z886DHT/eperviertitle.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138073098-1D51WCA6ZEPL1X8APQB1/epervier5.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Computers played a huge part in the completion of this project on time. Drawings, tests, simulations and calculations via the computer enabled cost effective and rapid proofing of concept. Here, a gorgeous computer-modelled image of Épervier shows her beautiful lines. Image via Team Épervier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138107931-HXS5LA53KYPTVGVYKME8/epervier2.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Members of the Team Épervier discuss construction at l'Université de Sherbrooke last summer. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138158058-7S6GXJUHHQJLV15L92II/epervier8.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Last summer, the main fuselage and wing components were carried outdoors so that students could get a good look at the entire aircraft as it neared completion. Like every home-builder before them, getting the aircraft out of the workshop was a problem in itself. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138212468-GWJ8H3JASI2NA6PE8QNW/epervier3.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out The fuselage and empennage are wheeled to the assembly area. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138246135-57JTRMA72RB5O3JQFI4M/epervier4.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out The aircraft takes shape. Putting it together in the sunlight provided not only proof of fit, but renewed energy at a time when school work was heavy. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138285671-6H9I57BLIBVTCRLDKITV/epervier6.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Equipe Épervier. The team pose with Épervier at a student engineering awards event. Front Left to right : Gabriel Arsenault (Engine), David Rancourt (Aerodynamics/test pilot), Nicolas Vincent (Fabrication and empennage), David Barabé (Fabrication and Purchasing), Maya Caron (Fuselage and finance). Back row: Francis Beaucaire (Instrumentation), Miguel Costa (Landing gear), Guy Bilodeau (Controls), Mathieu Lavoie (Coordinator), Jasmin McFadden (Wings), François Bérubé (Structure and finishing), Mathieu Lessard (Canopy). Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138324738-T61UMVCRAUFWUILO1Z68/epervier7.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out The aircraft is prepared for its maiden flight with some members of the media in attendance. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138373702-UGMCO67P50PV0DN4O2BX/epervier9.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out In late 2008, David Rancourt starts Épervier's Rotax engine for a test in the cold weather. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138405986-1WNGY2SYYC06KAJY0484/epervier10.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Épervier taxies out to the runway for its first test flight on December 16th, 2008 at the Sherbrooke Airport. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138436833-8SI3ZV6TF4CDNARO1NXJ/epervier14.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out On the first test flight, pilot Rancourt kept the flying to some basic manoeuvring over the Eastern townships landscape. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138467050-DB7P8XT39IMH5IOO7Y3Z/epervier15.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Rancourt slows the slippery speedster down so that photographer Bonin can snag some air-to-air shots on her maiden flight. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138507769-28T02LFJNWQ5T2899QKB/epervier17.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out The team celebrates after Épervier's first flight. All that was left was some fine tuning and an inaugural flight for the media - timed for the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138565566-YZYAB56EGILCZ4IIGIC8/epervier12.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out On the 24th of February, 100 years and a day after Canada's first successful powered heavier than air flight, Rancourt taxies Épervier out to the runway for her media debut. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138600485-RLC3GBDWSL78J5FDMD5Y/epervier11.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out With members of the team and media in attendance, Rancourt lifts Épervier off carrying the dreams of 12 young students. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138640484-C1LH0FFV9Y51AWS371FO/epervier13.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out The beautiful lines of Épervier are evident in this head on shot during her inaugural flight. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138671825-163OQOSNM8YQ1PXCN8B0/epervier16.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Members of the Épervier team face the media during a post-inaugural flight press conference. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632138703360-MV77VA4O9GQY3BVQMI7F/epervier18.jpg The Stories - DREAM BIG OR GO HOME — L’EPERVIER - Make it stand out Épervier at rest. Now thoughts are to take the design to market and see how it flies there. Of course there are many important business, legal and organizational issues to learn about with that. Judging by the accomplishments of these 12 young designers, they will conquer that too. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-beat-goes-on monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631903863084-TKDLT71ND2KSWZFFNSRW/DicksonTitle2.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631903961977-G28ERB7LCAWDHPIT12DR/Dickson2.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out For almost 70 years, young pilots have begun their flying training at Portage La Prairie. A quick search on the web uncovered this remarkable image of 15 young pilot students from Portage La Prairie's No. 14 Elementary Flying School back in June of 1941 posed in front of their primary trainer - the Tiger Moth. What is remarkable is that the modern image of Dickson's 0804 course mates is also 15 young pilots (men and women), posed equally casually in front of their primary trainer - the Grob 120A. The BCATP photo courtesy of Brian Adams, whose father, Lawrence John Adams was in the group. In 1942, No. 14 EFTS was disbanded & the base there became solely an Air Observer School. Modern photo via Barry John Dickson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631903999690-GT36OTEH99SFG41JU3NR/Dickson4.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out Basic trainers look considerably different than they did back in the legendary and romantic days of Tiger Moths. The Grob 120A PFT trainer. Photo: Barry John Dickson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631904046621-6720CVUV6WB7QK61MAMP/Dickson11.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out Nowhere near as busy as it was in the 1940s but the beginning of something wonderful none the less. The Flightline - Grob 120A for Primary Flight Training, King Air C90B for Multi-engine training and Bell 206 Jet Ranger for Rotary training pictured under the enduring prairie sky. Photo: Barry John Dickson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631904103696-G9K56Q362YNW9NKNID60/Dickson7.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out Oh the joy of a cold water bath after your first solo! - part of what makes this day so memorable for each of us. Here 2Lt. barry John Dickson relaxes in the tub of honour surrounded by the members of his training course. The school has put the tub on wheels with a push bar - testament to its continuous use. Photo via Barry John Dickson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631904184269-S7BIVE40PJ9CV1H44GVN/Dickson3.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out A perennial entertainment in air force training centres for the better part of a century. Students of PFT courses 0803, 0804 and 0805 participate in a Welcome "Beer Call" at Portage La Prairie. Photo via Barry John Dickson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631904254054-J27F5L8O2TNIQUHQWN4H/Dickson8.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out A promise of greateness to come - 2LTs David Bennett, John Landry, Bertram Cronshaw, Barry Dickson and Dan Ennis fresh from their training course. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631904289927-8EMQRMAJHHY2CRLKOTIW/Dickson9.jpg The Stories - THE BEAT GOES ON - Make it stand out Now onto more advanced training on the high performance Harvard II at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/feeding-the-lions monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631893846072-MEHT9LYS5M3ZRBKQQ7ZL/LionsTigersTitleE.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE TIGERS AND FEEDING THE LIONS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631893998381-WMIACVYAW8SVEVV6FZG5/LionsTigers2.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE TIGERS AND FEEDING THE LIONS - Make it stand out While our winters in Canada do plummet to minus 40ºC, our Tiger Moths were equipped with a canopy to keep the slipstream from flash freezing the Tiger's occupants. And while the rare -15º C winter days in England might be thought balmy by Canadian standards, British pilots must don cold weather gear to fly in the open cockpit of a British Tiger Moth, Here Howard (right) and Dave Kirkham look determined to face the challenge. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631894046034-VHA3JWGYAUP8598MFHY6/LionsTigers3.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE TIGERS AND FEEDING THE LIONS - Make it stand out The Diamond Nines perform at RAF Halton's Tiger Moth Charity Day. Some members of this team would come together with Howard Cook to form a four-ship formation team known as Little Diamond. Photo: Lauren Richardson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631894086047-EFWUOATBQYHDRLR7D1Q6/LionsTigers4.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE TIGERS AND FEEDING THE LIONS - Make it stand out The nine Tiger Moths of the Diamond Nines sit on the grass at Woburn in 1999. Photo: Geoff Collins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631894150572-HXWFBDFNA8KHMUV877OU/LionsTigers5.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE TIGERS AND FEEDING THE LIONS - Make it stand out Howard Cook leads the Little Diamond Tiger Moths in across show centre at Little Warden. Photo via Howard Cook https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/keep-calm-and-carry-on monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631887196643-BI5MRDS10863OTC166OH/AngusWatt.jpg The Stories - KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631892193709-VI5V4HXD9SVYWUFEQP4M/AngusWatt2.jpg The Stories - KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON - Make it stand out The new Chief of the Air Staff, LGen André Deschamps. Photo Credit: MCpl Roy MacLellan https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/angel-of-mercy monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826468390-639Y4HOH0H282Z3IDA5C/HaitiTitle.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826689796-V0NKKG22GSDR7J93D59L/Haiti2.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out The Grumman HU-16C Albatross (cn G-409) Built in 1955, U.S. Navy# 141262. It was retired from service in 1968. The Albatross was designed to operate unassisted in seas with up to four foot waves. However, with the aid of JATO bottles, it could actually operate in seas of 8-10 feet and occasionally higher. The Albatross is perfect for the role it has taken on in Haiti... bring hope and supplies directly to the coastal cities of the island nation that had endured so much. Photo Kat Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826733341-GM0AKVL3HR7O8NN86PAM/Haiti3.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out A fine photo of DaSilva's HU-16C Alabtross doing "water work" near Isla Guadalupe, off the Baja Coast of Mexico. The DaSilva family has donated the use of their Albatross for these relief efforts. Bill, a Captain with Delta Airlines, and his wife Gina, a speech pathologist and educator, have spent many hours piloting the Albatross to some of the most exotic places on the planet–including several trips north of the Arctic Circle, to Alaska, and Europe across the North Atlantic. Photo Kat Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631836943850-FF2E3CP1QI2M4M4OD1G7/Haiti4.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out The broad-shouldered power of DaSilva's beautiful Albatross is evident in this near head-on photograph. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837057277-7LYYPJS45X26CDUVDXPY/Haiti5.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Members of the Marquette medical team unload their gear at the Opa-Locka executive airport near Miami and begin the task of preparing the Albatross for her first mission of mercy to Haiti. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837100755-JE7GD8SAENXTRDUPBE6Q/Haiti6.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Pilot and aircraft owner Bill DaSilva (at door) not only supplied the aircraft and his flying skills, but a lot of sweat equity as he helps the Marquette team load medical supplies aboard his beloved Albatross. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837193888-FGRQNDJ6C9AQ95Q1U0FL/Haiti7.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Ray Wolfe inspects the port engine of the HU-16C while maintainers begin filling the oil tanks 2.5 gallons at a time after fuelling the flying boat with over 1000 US gallons of high octane avgas. The Grumman Albatross is the only aircraft that can make the return trip from Florida to Les Cayes, Haiti with a payload of 4,000 pounds of much-needed supplies. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837153863-JSL2GWVALE67UEUF7TL8/Haiti8.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out The medical team from Marquette, Michigan gather with excitement before the first mission to Les Cayes. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837229384-AJ8R8270UBEY25V8WHV0/Haiti22.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Members of the flight crew and medical team take a moment to pose for a pre-mission photo. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837300497-CKOETJ9KZOO5G5NRPK04/Haiti9.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out En route to Haiti, the doctors and nurses of the Marquette team settle in for the long flight over the Caribbean Sea. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837337824-Y57761LKKMR3LTRD60ZK/Haiti10.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Owner and chief pilot, Bill DaSilva at the controls of his Albatross. DaSilva has put his family's classic flying boat, his time and his heart into the missions to Haiti. But the costs to operate the large warbird at such long ranges are prohibitive and in order to continue these important mercy missions, DaSilva and LeVeque need your help to keep fuel and oil flowing so that the mighty Albatross can continue. If you wish to donate to this worthwhile cause visit the Albatross Haiti Relief Mission website. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837374589-1H16T0SUDTZZDP01UHMS/Haiti11.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Copilot Paul LeVeque enroute to Haiti. Paul is a Captain with the San Rafael, CA, Fire Department, long-time Albatross mechanic, restorer and pilot. Paul has restored some of the most significant Albatrosses still flying, including the Red Bull Albatross and Dr. Richard Sugden’s N3HU. Paul also instructs USAF and US Navy Test Pilot School Students in Albatross flying. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837414489-GLVNM8VZTDYJVLWSD2OY/Haiti12.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out DaSilva and LeVeque make their approach to the coast of Haiti. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837466874-K0Q00ZA2XSVIY2C7ZUKO/Haiti13.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out A look over DaSilva's shoulder at the bleak landscape of Haiti. Prior to the devastation brought to the island by the 7+ magnitude earthquake, the landscape of Haiti was scraped clean of its tropical forests by concessionaires logging its precious trees to supply the Haitian demand for charcoal (most Haitians are too poor for electric or gas cooking). In 1954, Haiti was raked by Hurricane Hazel, downing much of the already diminished forests. The following year, concessionaire loggers stepped up the denuding of their paradise... cutting down any hope that they could take part in the tourist boom of the 1980s and 90s. In 1923, 60% of Haiti was shaded by palms and forest. Today, less than 2% of their once-beautiful island is forested. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837522027-DFPRKXGMWFMTXELZZ9E7/Haiti14.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out En route to Les Cayes, DaSilva and LeVesque overfly the wasteland that was once a tropical paradise. The deforestation and subsequent erosion are just two in the endless line-up of plagues that have befallen this, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631837552514-ICJ7JL24OMXCK9P8Y569/Haiti15.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Local residents crowd a pier at Les Cayes to welcome and watch as the massive flying boat prepares to leave after dispatching its supplies and people... right where they were needed. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631839544213-2UDNU5L938H2LL8T7OSQ/Haiti16.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Children in a wooden dugout watch as a small zodiac inflatable ferries people and supplies to shore at Les Cayes. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631839591519-DHBT8PG099ICYP1Q4QE2/Haiti17.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Bill DaSilva overflies Les Cayes, Haiti obscured by smoky fires and haze. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631839619249-JDUDJKKYO18MEPCALNLV/Haiti19.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Joe Duke and Ray Wolfe load wheelchairs, crutches and other orthopaedic supplies for the people of Les Cayes before the second mission. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631839648085-DEFXNYBSHQ3TY5D881BQ/Haiti20.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Unloading supplies and meeting in-country contacts at the Les Cayes airport due to heavy seas that prevented a water landing. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631886418608-L5CYZHXBHHSC293B7G9B/Haiti23.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out Linda LeVeque, wife of copilot Paul LeVeque distributes some goodies to children at the fence line of Les Cayes Airport. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631886481042-ZUQCXRZ63FYNJDKDRAZM/Haiti21.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out The Albatross casts a distinctive and identifiable shadow as she flies over one of the many tent cities set up amidst the devastation of Haiti - symbol of the need and the hope that is the Haiti Albatross Relief Mission. Photos via SeaPlane Operations, LLC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631886520958-AVB7H2N7ATHKKNKK9T6I/Haiti24.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out And now for the Canadian angle. In the 60s the Royal Canadian Air Force operated ten Grumman Albatross aircraft in the rescue role, some of which they had configured in a uniquely Canadian manner - as "tri-phibians" - usable on water, runways and snow. This consisted of two removable, outrigger skis and large 2-part fuselage ski, of which, the rear portion could be removed in summer and replaced by a flat insert. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631886786027-66ESOVJ530NLJ3VNUSKI/Haiti25.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out A nice photograph of an RCAF Albatross with long range tanks. The life history of 9303 according to R.W.R Walker's excellent Canadian Military Aircraft Serials is as follows: Served with 102 Composite Unit (KU), RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario, as well as with 103 KU, RCAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and finally with No. 413 (Rescue) Squadron out of CFB Summerside, Prince Edward Island. In storage by 1 December 1970. Sold to Grumman on 19 August 1971, refurbished and re-sold. Registered as N9427. Delivered to Chilean Navy on 1971. Transferred to FACH, their serial number 573, later 273. Retired in 1979, sold to Malaysia as M35-01. Currently on display at Kuala Lumpur in the RMAF Museum. Also reported on US register as N8487H, dates not known. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631886881928-8C1Z9VN9MDD0QCA8OW1D/Haiti26.jpg The Stories - ANGEL of MERCY - Make it stand out A trio of RCAF Albatross aircraft practice a little extreme low-level formation flying. The aircraft in the foreground is Albatross 9304. On his birthday in 1966, MGen (Ret'd) Bob Fassold, had a birthday ride in this particular Albatross. Bob remembers that the mid-lake swells were over well over 6 feet and the landing was done in a very peculiar way. The Albatross was flown in for a landing at wave-top level skimming the crests and at the right moment, the engines were reversed (or rather the props were feathered and then brought to reverse pitch) and the aircraft seem to stop dead in the air and fall the final few feet into the trough. The captain was F/L Durrant and the copilot was F/O Manley. The rough water landings were in Picton Bay, near the Albatross's home base at Trenton on Lake Ontario. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/double-the-pleasure monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824014657-H7FJQKB1HP040Q58JQ7N/RodentsTitle3.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824144060-4O0J8T1AKF03YBYLMFDX/Rodents2.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Chipmunk 18025 is photographed over snowy Downsview at the time of delivery to the Royal Canadian Air Force in February of 1956. She spent her operational life training pilots like Vintage Wings’ George Mayer at RCAF Station Centralia. She served with the RCAF until October 22, 1964 when she was struck from the lists and sold by Crown Assets Disposal Corporation. Her registration became CF-RRI and she has worn that identity since then. Photo via de Havilland Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824196140-ANLTQL98OV1HRR00J4FE/Rodents3.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Still in white, as refinished for former owner the well known and much-loved Elvie Smith (Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame), and with the Canadian Soaring Association crest in gold leaf on the waistband, CF-RRI flies over the autumn leaves in the Gatineau Hills. RRI was operated from Pendleton airport (former WWII primary flying base just east of Ottawa), where it became a loved 'mascot' for 31 years before being acquired by MGen (Ret’d) Bob Fassold. Here she is being flown by Fassold who has operated this beautiful aircraft under his company – The Classic Aircraft Co. Ltd of Ottawa. For years she could be seen flying over Ottawa in this livery – giving rides to tourists and doing tail-dragger training and refresher courses. Photo: Classic Aircraft Co. Ltd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824243095-RQQSSLJ1XLVPY7NCOXJ1/Rodents4.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out CF-RRI in her early white and teal markings drifts elegantly over Gatineau – just above her tail in this photograph one can see Rockcliffe Airport along the Ottawa River from which she operated nearly every day just a couple of years ago. Photo: Classic Aircraft Co. Ltd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824295152-Q6SRP4RFRQ87UJMQZ0TD/Rodents20.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Back in the late summer of 2008, following a flight from Toronto, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk 18074, now registered as CF-BXG taxies to a stop before the fabric hangar of Bob Fassold's Classic Air Craft Co. at the Ottawa Airport. At the controls was owner Paul Soles and his son Jonathan Soles - both experienced pilots. BXG, was ferried by the Soleses to Ottawa to be handed over to Bob Fassold who was acting as the representative of its new owner, John McIntosh of California. The aircraft was to have some upgrading work done on it over the winter and then would be ferried to California the following summer. As it turned out, BXG remained in the Ottawa area and is still here awaiting a combination of good weather, serviceability and a confluence of its two ferry pilots' busy schedules. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824328658-4KJ0284J1B5P42RWFGWL/Rodents21.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Chipmunk Royalty - 2008. After the paperwork was exchanged to transfer to take ownership of BXG, Bob Fassold (centre) takes a moment to pose for a photo with Jonathon and Paul Soles, the former owner of BXG. Bob is by all accounts one of the most prominent Chipmunk owners and historians in Canada and Paul Soles is (was) one of Canada's most storied Chipmunk operators. Many Canadians of my generation will remember Soles for his broadcasting work with Take 30 - a seminal news magazine program in Canada... but millions more grew up with Soles and never realized it - his was the voice of Spiderman in the 60s cartoon series. From Shakespeare to The Incredible Hulk, Soles has and continues to do it all. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824366610-AC9T1U8H9R2WEYMM796U/Rodent36.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Boys indeed. Photo DNDAfter her lengthy refurbishment, CF-RRI sports her new markings (those that she wore when she was training pilots at RCAF Station Centralia) sitting outside the Classic Aircraft Co.'s hangar where she was wintered with CF-BXG. After much research and discussion, Bob Fassold and Dave O’Malley created the markings using RCAF marking and painting drawings from the period, cross referencing them with post disposal photographs made available by David Smith, Elvie Smith's son, and Eric Wimberley, the sole surviving member of Elvie's original small group of owner's. NO detail was left unsatisfied – official RCAF drawings and orders of the day indicated that she was to be painted with the Canadian Red Ensign of the day – which at the time of the orders should have been the post 1957 ensign with three RED maple leaves at the bottom of the coat of arms. HOWEVER, close inspection of a photo taken of CF-RRI immediately after her disposal shows us that she still wore her pre-1957 ensign with GREEN leaves. So clearly she was given her green-leafed ensign upon her arrival at Centralia and never did get an up-to-date red-leafed replacement. The markings at the time were applied using decals and perhaps they needed to use up all of the old flag decals first. Despite this detail being incorrect for official markings it’s what Fassold and O’Malley agreed to mark her with, as the oversight was part of her history. You might say they were thorough with a capital “A”. Photo: Bob Fassold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824399552-D902BZOFC8JS0S4S4E82/Rodent30.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out At the time of her purchase from Crown Assets Disposal, CF-RRI warms in the weak winter light of 1965 prior to a flight to get her new white paint scheme with Eric Wimberley at the controls. She still wears her original single coat of yellow paint and the markings that were applied at Centralia. We can see that her large fuselage numerals and roundels as well as her underwing numerals have been painted out with black. In addition, we can see that the placement of the "Last Three" digits (025) on the nose was done by hand. This was most likely done as an afterthought as the numbers on the nose were not part of the RCAF Chipmunk marking drawing which was acquired by Fassold. These nose numbers were likely put on to help students and instructors walking down the flight line to find the correct aircraft they had signed out that day. Many a pilot has made the mistake of getting into, starting and taking off in the wrong aircraft only to be recalled and chewed out. Replicating this crude treatment on RRI was something we could not bring ourselves to do, opting instead to do what we felt was intended. What you can't really see on this photo, but can in a higher resolution, is the green of the maple leaf cluster at the bottom of the coat of arms on the Canadian ensign. While this was "wrong" according to the date of the RCAF drawings, it was considered "right" by Fassold and O'Malley because that was what 18025 wore on her tail regardless of the regs. A trivial, insignificant detail you might say... but it's what makes these markings perfect! Photo via: Eric Wimberley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824434652-17SRWY7Y8IBB90QWBEXH/Rodent24.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The Photoship driver. Kevin Psutka, the President of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), is always happy when he is in the air. He jumped at the chance to fly his Cessna 182 as the photo ship for the historic Chipmunk formation. Here he grins happily for the camera duing another formation flight - of Nanchangs in the United States Photo: Kevin Psutka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824469397-LXB8JWH1A3HGYHDJQMRZ/Rodent25.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The photo ship. Kevin Psutka's beautifully painted Cessna 182 CF-FZQ in a photo quite obviously taken at another time. Photo via Kevin Psutka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824498844-525DFO9LBVWOBWSOZNEM/Rodent33.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The Shooter. Peter Handley is one of the best aviation shooters in the business and we are lucky to have him as our official lead photographer at Vintage Wings of Canada - Peter not only can shoot beautiful images of aircraft, but, unlike many aviation photographers, he is able to tell a complete story - the people, the friendships, the artistry, the colour, the emotion and the passion of aviation. Quite simply - he is a gift. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824527672-TSTRQD76OXFDHCFY1Z7W/Rodent34.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The Lead. Kate Speer poses with RRI late in the winter of 2009-2010. Speer is a highly experienced geophysical survey Captain with Fugro Photo: Bob Fassold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824559778-SB0X7I0YAJAXH8SRXK29/Rodent35.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The Obiwan Kanobe of Chipmunks and No.2 for the flight. Bob is a retired Major General and former Surgeon General of the Air Force. Higly experienced on many types from de Havilland Comet to DC-3 to B-25 Mitchell, Bob's passion is his beautiful RRI. Photo: Kate Speer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824587067-5JM2WLN66ZDB0OWERO5R/Rodent37.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out For much of the winter, RRI and BXG huddled close together - so close that getting one out caused enough headaches that it was best to leave them there until the weather improved. Photo: Bob Fassold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631824676848-3P9LIU2URLOYEYTGCOO9/Rodent27.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Formation lead Kate Speer refuels CF-BXG at the Rockcliffe Flying Club for a post-annual inspection flight which also gave her and Fassold an opportunity to get both Chipmunks up together before the Victoria Day photo flight. CF-RRI awaits fuel in the background. Photo: David Maertens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825650460-4LYFG12VTEVUBJE027SY/Rodents6.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Fassold holds perfect line astern formation as Psutka and Handley slide in behind. The Chipmunk is a lean little aircraft with a design very reminiscent of the Second World War fighter. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825697765-S4JTRH7R48HNBNREVIN3/Rodents18.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The second Chipmunk in the formation, CF-BXG, is marked in those colours she wore when she too operated from RCAF Centralia. As Chipmunk 18074, she was taken on strength on July 18, 1956 and used by the Primary Flying Training School at Centralia for Course 5904 in the summer of 1959. This course included Canadian and Dutch pilots. After this she was with the Primary Flying Training School at nearby RCAF Camp Borden. She was still with the CAF at the beginning of the 1970s. For more on the history of this Chipmunk read the story of one of our volunteers, George Mayer, who flew this very airframe during his training days. At the controls of BXG was Kate Speer, veteran pilot and Captain for Fugro – the international geo-survey operator. In the back seat was Kate’s colleague David Maertens – also from Fugro. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825731186-GR1ARD8563FH3OLQPXJZ/Rodents7.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The beautiful and born-to-fly lines of the deHavilland Canada Chipmunk (sometimes known as the “Poor Man's Spitfire” - an unfortunate sobriquet that belies the true costs of operating the type and that seems to suggest that is is second best - which it is not) are wonderfully portrayed by this wonderful Handley photograph. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825758169-DCTPGDW39P6PIWGWR9CE/Rodents8.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Psutka slides back to allow Handley a wider shot as the two Chippies soar over the lush greenery along the edge of the Gatineau River - one glorious view on a glorious Victoria Day. Truth be told, Fassold never took his eyes off BXG the whole time or once saw the photo ship, such was his concentration. I guess what you learn in the RCAF sticks with you forever. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825786483-RSNL70AXY6OZ4HO1Y550/Rodents9.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The pair drift lazily down the Gatineau River - too bad that Fassold saw none of it, such was his concentration in keeping perfect form. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825817846-U9CVA6TC27RPSICQ48CE/Rodents10.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Canadian pilots of three generations, fly two Canadian-designed and built Chipmunk aircraft over Canada’s Parliament Buildings on a beautiful Canadian Monday morning on the Victoria Day long weekend. Below the lead aircraft flown by Kate Speer, lies the site of the Canadian Tulip Festival celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland by Canadians at the end of the Second World War. On top of that, Kevin Psutka, the President of the Canadian Owners and Pilot’s Association (COPA) flies the photoship for Peter Handley. The scene doesn’t get more Canuck than that! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825861964-UBYZHRXB2VOHFB4R75PY/Rodents11.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out The two Chipmunks travel east over the historic Byward Market area of Ottawa. Below the second Chipmunk we can see the National Gallery of Canada. For those of you who do not know Ottawa, this area also houses the editorial offices of Vintage News where presently I am typing these words. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825897420-MQBUKDO7SR7R35MCH3MR/Rodents12.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Kate Speer glides CF-BXG across the Byward Market blocking out your otherwise perfect view of our Vintage News office. Kevin Psutka did a perfect job of flying his Cessna 182 in and around the formation so that Handley could shoot from all angles. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825956792-UM0U7ECRPMD9VQRZS7F3/Rodents13.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Another beautiful view of the two Centralia Chippies as they glide across Parliament Hill with the Ottawa River in the background. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631825988277-PCHXQJFJW2E7N5IGZFC4/Rodents15.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Getting permission from Ottawa Tower on a quiet Sunday morning, Speer leads Fassold and a trailing Psutka over the perimeter fence surrounding the North Field at the Macdonald Cartier Ottawa International Airport where both Speer (Fugro) and Fassold (Classic Aircraft Co.) are based. Photo: Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826014939-FYL06HNJ8FYUQU6AZNEY/Rodents16.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Sweeping across the YOW infield, the pair run down Runway 14 across the button of the North Field's Runway 04 where 83 years ago Charles Lindbergh landed on a grassy field just a few weeks after his historic crossing of the Atlantic. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826057806-PZ203QKVV7UKJSWKSWOT/Rodents19.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Continuing on with their “sweep” down Runway 14, the two wingmen do a little showing off for the Navcan boys in the YOW tower. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631826086487-ZUMDPAAII38FIKPGU6DE/Rodents17.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE THE PLEASURE - Make it stand out Speer and Fassold set up for a final stop at YOW. Bob is not too happy with this photo as it shows the formation when they drifted apart a bit, but we love it because of the vast sweep of YOW and the little yellow airplanes. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-flying-hadfields monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814233821-PG20ZARAW1CENG3CH8MK/HadfieldsTitle.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814322063-OI0JLALIOZ1ZQBESVXA2/Hadfields37.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out In addition to building relationships with two veterans of the RCAF, Harris was assigned two veterans of the Canadian Army. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814436685-MKR7BB9DNRO82A97CS34/Hadfields2.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield (left) briefs Peter Handley and brother Chris prior to the photo flight. The briefing also included Mike Potter, Vintage Wings of Canada founder, who was to launch in the Mustang IV for some aero work followed by formation training with Chris in the F-86. Photo Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814507362-AZYYDS8HB2P73DXKPLPW/Hadfields3.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Ulrich Bollinger, a former Canadian Air Force CF-104 Starfighter pilot and Harvard aircraft manager for Vintage Wings of Canada, would be the photoship pilot for the adventure. Here he and Peter Handley await the Hadfields as they strap into their respective fighters. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814550997-2RFWLW9645LXHKSIJ5GX/Hadfields4.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield signals Bollinger in the Harvard that he is about to crank over his Allison. Roger waits patiently in the stifling heat of the rear cockpit. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814575633-7S3QSVC3P3L72WK8S1OB/Hadfields5.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out The Kittyhawk is ready to rumble. Dave signals one more time that all systems are a go. In the background, Chris spools up the Sabre's Orenda engine. Needless to say, there was plenty of noise and stench on that ramp... sensory inputs quite valued by warbird lovers. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814637193-VXKTDVFRM767C9YZ1KQ4/Hadfields19.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Aircraft at Vintage Wings of Canada always do their run-ups on the larger ramp outside the Gatineau terminal. Here Chris does a shoulder check as Mike Potter in the Mustang IV rolls to a stop behind him. Time to get these birds in the air. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814673074-XJAFTXJJTUQ9CATMTV8V/Hadfields11.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Ulrich Bollinger and Peter Handley taxi out. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814702152-FO77T9MD96HOMBSSWM40/Hadfields21.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Bollinger climbs out and Handley gives us the thumbs up as the mission begins. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814728969-STOAWVMGFK7HS3MWB0G2/Hadfields8.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Chris holds short of the runway as Dave and Roger climb out against brisk cross winds. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814755488-JGSJTGQHSGWRRWZLVUVO/Hadfields9.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Chris takes to the air in the Disvovery Air Hawk One Sabre five minutes behind brother Dave. With his tremendous speed advantage, he caught them up in just a couple of minutes. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814787467-2KUC3AGO5R5TW4HNT387/Hadfields20.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Potter does his run-up on the terminal ramp. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814815299-PH7GJFTNLP3Q874E1JJO/Hadfields10.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Potter climbs out to practice aerobatics with the additional plan to catch up to the Sabre and do some formation training in anticipation of the July 4th air show at Vintage Wings. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814849825-ARV66UP39HE49L1OQ890/Hadfields29.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out In the first run down the Ottawa River heading east, Dave Hadfield slides in snug to Bollinger awaiting the arrival of his brother Chris. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814878287-VZ699VBI4B99CSTOVP4O/Hadfields28.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Chris Hadfield blows by heading east. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815110434-YEA5J25PK9PLM7YCJKWD/Hadfields13.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Now heading into the setting sun, the Sabre forms up nicely on the Kittyhawk's wing with Roger enjoying the view. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814942585-LYW8BZKFE5PZL2ADWCA6/Hadfields33.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Roger turns to snap a photo of his son Chris in the Discovery Air Hawk One Sabre. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631814972695-WI1REVZP8BMMNQKCWVQR/Hadfields14.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Handley zooms in on the formation. The golden quality of the late afternoon sun makes the desert camouflage of the Kittyhawk seem as bright and burnished as the Sheffield's Pale Gold of the Sabre. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815012489-UIOLKJRPZ0GQID3E22TJ/Hadfields17.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out On this pass, Chris executes a tiger break after pulling ahead of his brother. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815038102-EJJHU8OVI5JWKOPT91E7/Hadfields31.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Awaiting the next high speed pass from Chris in the Sabre, Dave dawdles along below the Harvard creating a wonderful photo opportunity against the lush green of Ottawa Valley farmland. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815068705-EGFJDPIR2H4F38KMREX7/Hadfields32.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out On this pass Chris cracks the canopy back to enjoy the evening even more. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815141742-E8MOVJNDTBSL8IJUNS2A/Hadfields34.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out And then one more gorgeous "big ole tiger break" for the camera... the Golden Hawk paint scheme is outstanding on a grim grey day, but on an evening like this... it is magical. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815209460-NKA7ZVIXPQT43R02CGPO/Hadfields35.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Dave executes his own Kitty break. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815179699-8J3QJMYG5W9Z47Q04VLA/Hadfields36.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Hadfield pulls hard and the beautiful Curtiss P-40 planform comes into view - surely one of this classic aircraft's most elegant angles. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815392385-NGF49TH9RBXI9G0ZL746/Hadfields12.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out All hail Hadfield, son of Roger. As Chris whoops it up over the Gatineau airfield, the mechanics who worked the Canada Day holiday to ensure the P-40, Sabre and Harvard were working, enjoy an impromptu air show. Left to right COO Rob Fleck, pilot Bob Childerhose, Chief of Maintenance Andrej Janik and AME Angela Gagnon crane their necks and shield their eyes from the sun. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631815449826-4NE535MKV7IK2BRVZSUM/Hadfields18.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Chris made several passes low and down the runway. It was clear that the beautiful evening and the wonderful day he had (he also met the Queen on Parliament Hill) had combined to cause him to lighten the fuel load before attempting a landing. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823273355-JK7AYBANSH9825W285D9/Hadfields16.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Bollinger and Handley taxi at speed past Allnutt, with the shooter giving a clear indication of how he felt the photoshoot had gone. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823319915-5EWKR7QOUVGJ2VPVJRCU/Hadfields15.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out After practicing aerobatics in the Mustang, Potter returned to Gatineau with possible engine trouble, scrubbing the practice session with Chris. Here he shares a light moment with Rob Fleck (reflected in the fuselage). Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823348843-UW0CE0MOCQMIK4TF8DEP/Hadfields22.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out A proud Roger Hadfield with two of his sons pose with the discovery Air Hawk One Sabre. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823384066-M4TLHX2WQJ4OI0YV5I6Y/Hadfields23.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out The three men beam before they launch the air-to-air photo session. Son Chris (left) had just returned from Star City, Russia where he was training and preparing for his future journey to the International Space Station where he will spend nearly a half of a year. Prior to that, he spent much of the month of May submerged below the surface of the sea in an underwater research facility. Also, on this vary day he had just come from meeting Queen Elizabeth II on Parliament Hill. But best of all, he got to share the same air space with his brother and father. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823413956-ZHWOSIMGWAVQUPPI6F1F/Hadfields24.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out No pride is more intense that a father's pride in his sons. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823446489-6D8LVQSV5P42AO417JDP/Hadfields25.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631823484577-MV8Q0DHKXF256I2Z9NH9/Hadfields26.jpg The Stories - THE FLYING HADFIELDS - Make it stand out Photo: Richard Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/western-swing monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806095826-XNOG8VRKFFWH9MCGTBY4/WestjetTitle.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806311769-ZV7VH4AT03HDFTMJQJOZ/Westjet21.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Early morning setup of one of the WestJet hangar bays. The bay, big enough for two 737NGs, easily accommodated The Silver Dart glider contest, the BBQ picnic lunch and hundreds of visitors in shady comfort. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806348775-TMAACVL05ALSDULTDHE2/Westjet20.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Mark Eberl rolls in in his 1950s vintage and beautiful RCAF Beech Expediter. The "Bug Smasher" type served with the RCAF through four decades. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806386861-DP7H4APBWH4RGZZ0DMZB/Westjet23.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out A Beech Staggerwing in factory “speedbird” markings very similar to those of the Vintage Wings Staggerwing, roars to life on the WestJet ramp. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806732995-NXVZ1WD06G9LWXNNYKCI/Westjet3.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out The crowd, estimated between 1,300 and 1,500, assembles outside as the Snowbirds make their spectacular approach. In the foreground stands Bruce Evans' 1954 T-28 Trojan in US Navy markings. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806773702-KFK258FD4OUY7DYXRQXF/Westjet22.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out After their flyby, the Snowbirds park their Tutor jets smartly in front of the WestJet hangar. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806230233-8W4A213M7Y69XU34URCJ/Westjet5.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Bélanger is greeted with a time-honoured tradition for honoured guests in Calgary - a white stetson. Now, if we can only get it miked, he could wear it while flying. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806947457-KRFZYMDIMJ887BCFAP7B/Westjet4.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out The event is held on one of Canada's busiest international airports. Here's one of WestJet's 737-600s taxiing past for the enjoyment of the WestJet family while in the distance we see the Calgary skyline. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631806978528-9O8UA2O00FHHD2PFJ908/Westjet24.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Two great symbols of Canadian aviation - the Snowbirds and two WestJet 737s. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807067781-PU8CEFU2XCUY34DU9PYC/Westjet6.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Vintage Wings' Western Coordinator, Todd Lemieux (Left) , supervises as WestJetter Louis Bourbonnais (Orange vest) hooks up a tow strap for the Gray Ghost Corsair. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807107465-J7HVHIKFKXXJI9RFOCU2/Westjet7.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Forget the Gray Ghost... check out that hot rod tug. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807135090-AHBDUH2F5JRNA4XRCH1K/Westjet8.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Gray Ghost sports the Centennial identifier for the Canadian Navy on her rudder. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807161924-Z8VS323X28EZJLISLTZW/Westjet9.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Even in land-locked Calgary, WestJet found a couple of Canadian Navy officers. Gray Ghost might be about the only way the Navy can make an appearance on the Prairie. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807197207-H50DFLBL27RYRJXQ1RVZ/Westjet10.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Many people wanted their picture taken with the Corsair, including WestJetter Rob Bowerman. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807232919-ES485PRJAQSC9YVYAEBK/Westjet11.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Snowbird pilots in red flightsuits help push the Corsair inside the WestJet hangar at the end of the day. Without a proper towbar, moving the Corsair was done entirely by hand. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807265621-59GFX0GHUIEORLOEOFU4/Westjet12.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Because the Corsair's Hamilton Standard propeller is about two feet taller than a 737NG's wing, WestJet couldn't slide it under and had to do like the Navy - fold a wing and tuck it into a corner! Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807300072-64M7U8MFC6HKMX35NBUX/Westjet13.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Mike Compston, a WestJetter with radial engine experience, assists Vintage Wings' Chris Adams(right) in replacing the hydraulic pump. Also assisting were Mike Pull and Rob Ballantyne of WestJet. If you are going to break down, perhaps there is no better place to do so than at the WestJet maintenance facility! Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807335197-GV6GC1LP1OXZMLMN81N9/Westjet14.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Have Wrench, Will Travel. Chris Adams travelled with a fly-away set of tools from Gatineau to affect the pump swap. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807361439-SAPDGMFHNRP8973LQY8T/Westjet15.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out On Sunday, the second day of the Vintage Wings Warbird U ground school for the Corsair, pilot Francis Bélanger poses in front of his bird. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807393386-KZ8X57FXV47ZOECF78YD/Westjet16.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out The thunderstorm that passed over Calgary on Monday, bringing lightning, strong winds and golf-ball sized hail. This photo, aimed due south shows the storm as it soaks visitors at the Calgary Stampede. This storm ended any attempt to get the Corsair over to Skyservice's facility at the Calgary International Airport. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807419885-0QJGH16TYSQYX4ZJDEDD/Westjet17.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out On Tuesday, it was still inclement, but Bélanger fired up the Corsair for a taxi over to Skyservice. The Corsair has never looked so "Navy" as she did on the rain soaked ramp at WestJet. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631807448251-CG583MY4MU2A1QTD5KPA/Westjet18.jpg The Stories - WESTERN SWING — Westjet Employees welcome The Gray Ghost - Make it stand out Six days after arriving for the WestJet picnic and with a new hydraulic pump installed, Bélanger moves on to her next stop on her Western Swing. Photo: Trevor McTavish https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/down-and-back monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751134479-RTBVC9MK8Z1CUV082J4N/DownandBackTitle.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751272260-WBURV01LNQI1IM819B9N/DownandBack26.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out After departing Gatineau, the team made its first pit stop in North Bay, Ontario. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751313576-8XY25YHUUWR2XX8OL8ST/DownandBack30.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Somewhere near Sudbury, Austin Childerhose poses for Fleck in the RV-8 as the young lad flies the leg to Sault Ste Marie. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751351592-G4TB6PSDH6Z97SVK7LJE/DownandBack22.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out The weather is beginning to look a lot like the kind Swordfish pilots encountered in the North Atlantic. Doug Fleck in the RV-8 holds position behind the torpedo bomber as they skirt north of Lake Nippissing near Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. With young Austin Childerhose on the stick of the RV-8, Fleck took the photos on this leg. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751393427-ZPHW3B4R5MHREWMZ5ERD/DownandBack19.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Doug and Austin edge in close to grab a photo in the poor light. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751435296-KXJ5TY8TH6TI2UL7C7MZ/DownandBack23.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Stick your head out for long and you will enjoy a fine coating of high-grade engine oil. The amount of oil burned by the Pegasus is legendary and evidence can be seen on the lower wing struts, which were cleaned before the beginning of the trip. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751479708-BI761XOVCYY2IWAVZ7Y9/DownandBack25.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Another fine view, this time nearing Sudbury. Engineer Janik has crawled back into his hole for comfort while Bob Childerhose, who is used to all day rips on a snow sled in the dead of a Canadian winter, grits his teeth and thunders on. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751516623-T60T2MU97QVWOZ8RRHKM/DownandBack33.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Day Two. Early morning on the ramp in KANJ (American Sault Ste. Marie). The team was hoping to get an early morning start, however there was a slight snag. The Swordfish had a hydraulic lock and engineer Andrej Janik had to take a couple plugs out. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751552081-4B9VLLP6LFWG1IBTDQRM/DownandBack31.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out As Janik pulls the plugs from the Pegasus, pilot Childerhose gives them a good cleaning and a filing. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751578716-0AR29CB5ZYYKOVUZBT8L/DownandBack24.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out On day two, Childerhose skirts the control zone for Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The course was going to take the team through it so, Fleck had to guide the NORDO Swordfish to the south a little. Photo Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751615457-EVK2A3REC9QUSBKZ9FTF/DownandBack21.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out On day two, the team got airborne close to noon out of Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, travelling south with Lake Michigan to the left. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751647631-FGH5J6FWU124QN45WTII/DownandBack28.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out “The searchers all say, they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put 15 more miles behind 'er”. Unlike the November day the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost, it was a beautiful day in Northern Michigan with Whitefish Bay in the distance. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751680136-ZOQGX77CABNNOP7WJQUR/DownandBack27.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Austin fuels the thirsty Swordfish at Minominee Marinette, Michigan, after it has already devoured several litres of oil, as evidenced by the containers on the ramp. This was the last fuel stop before the historic dash to Airventure 2011 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Photo Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631751710787-VWUONEHG0LLAF2OUIVZI/DownandBack20.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out A Beech Bonanza photo plane working for Warbird Digest meets up with the pair about 10nm north of Oshkosh, over Lake Winnebago. Fleck in the RV-8 flew loose formation with them while they got the required shots for a nine-page spread in the upcoming issue of the magazine. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631791791560-BI7TDNT9FMM5IRMEUPUS/DownandBack35.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out With AirVenture celebrating 100 years of naval aviation, the Fairey Swordfish was a huge hit with the spectators, who lined up at Warbirds in Review to hear the story and see the legend. Photo by Stephen Skelly, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631791858398-5Z1B3FHCCIFMMEHH8DOT/DownandBack36.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out An EAA man interviews members of the Vintage Wings Swordfish team. Holding the mike is Vintage Wings President Rob Fleck, who spoke about the career of Royal Canadian Navy Commander Terry Goddard, an aviator to whom the Swordfish is dedicated. Goddard, 91, was to be on hand to speak, however, the extreme heat of the week made it difficult to be there. It was in a Swordfish that Goddard participated in the now-famous, crippling attack on the German battleship Bismarck. Next to Fleck is Andrej Janik who spoke about the Swordfish's unique maintenance issues and Bob “Sledhead” Childerhose who spoke about what it is like to fly the historic aircraft. Photo by Stephen Skelly, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631791891469-8W51Z96WFISLWJSE2WLJ/DownandBack34.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Clearly, the Terry Goddard Swordfish was a smash hit at the show. Vintage Wings volunteers (in orange) are thronged by aviation enthusiasts from all over the world. Photo by Stephen Skelly, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792085509-XDDG1L2E86QFT6AOJLCW/DownandBack12.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Somewhere north of Oshkosh, and homeward bound, Janet Davidson slides her Cessna 180 under the belly of the Swordfish to allow Smith to get the perfect silhouette shot of the plan form. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792109193-ANMDFBD0J57FU2P734OS/DownandBack13.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out The Swordfish shows her vintage lines from below. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792162585-B8LR4W29VAJYE6GC9P83/DownandBack5.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Though the Swordfish looks somewhat ungainly (and I mean that in the best way possible) from the side, from behind she looks pretty elegant and even delicate. Nice work by the photo team. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792222720-SRO55AHBVZHDXMMIOX8P/DownandBack2.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792260890-YJ9NDT21T5LQC68B77R4/DownandBack50.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out The photo ship: Davidson and Smith's immaculate Cessna 180 lands in a Midwestern cornfield. Photo via Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792292981-5ACWRMLB4CGBOM6R7LCG/DownandBack51.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out What the crew of the Swordfish saw: the Davidson-Smith Cessna 180 photo ship. Photo by Jim Koepnick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792323546-LC2Y6BBATLN9A3W9RSH8/DownandBack6.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Somewhere over Michigan or Wisconsin, the Swordfish lumbers over a winding river. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792370506-SW8X96AIHH9FQZZR0PVY/DownandBack14.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out A beautiful sunset shot on the ramp at Canadian Sault Ste Marie, where the team spent the night. Photo by Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792401934-GI6RN3OBM0BNB0VIJG7S/DownandBack15.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out On the ramp at Sault Ste Marie, Jenny Davidson-Smith stretches her short legs. Jenny is used to travelling in aircraft as she accompanies EAA members Adam Smith and Janet Davidson on all their aerial adventures. Photo by Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792449442-QVH51XUM6CPW9NS20CXE/DownandBack40.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Jenny, the flying guard dog and a seasoned aerial traveller, sports doggie sound attenuators during a flight with Janet Davidson and Adam Smith. The three were needed to accompany the Swordfish on the way back as the RV-8 had gone back alone. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792514544-ZYKYTL0JT42M42CP4GHX/DownandBack16.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out In Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, the mechanics prepare to start the "fish". Photo by Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792478055-LY2CZ2SDWHPM7WMKFOLW/DownandBack17.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Mechanics Paul Tremblay (facing) and Ken Wood lay on the muscle. The heavy flywheel starter requires a minimum of 25 full turns of the crank and the effort is evident on Tremblay's face. Photo by Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792543512-0ZLX3CI9DEX2H72CILZH/DownandBack4.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out The mechanics are holed up from the slipstream and racket of the Pegasus and it looks like they are considering coming out. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792574084-KWKBGOHM0VHA9VXHNPDQ/DownandBack3.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Mechanic Ken Wood (in blue shirt) rises from his hole to wave to the incoming photoship. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792611520-F2PBPV3AW2XUW86BWQKC/DownandBack10.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Seriously... is there a more spectacular vantage point from which to view the passing world? Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792641687-XLD68S6H1PPWRSJFPS4L/DownandBack11.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Tremblay and Wood seem unfazed by the spectacular perspective they enjoy. What a remarkable and privileged view. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792683113-QBXRCCL1WMLVFNW85D73/DownandBack7.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792718134-6018ZV0QT95OXGJF0R07/DownandBack8.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Tremblay and Wood shout to be heard over the Pegasus while pilot Aitken carries on. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidso https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792745313-3BTS2KJ4S0X8HJPDNVNX/DownandBack18.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out This shot pretty well tells you everything about the experience - the slipstream, the noise, the oil, the view and the spectacle of three friends sharing a lifetime memory. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792795302-JZ4S7HGD58ECVHFIX1JM/DownandBack9.jpg The Stories - DOWN AND BACK - Make it stand out Lucky boys. Photo by Adam Smith, Photoship pilot: Janet Davidson https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/mustang-on-ice monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736931506-0Q01NZOQLMS57QI5C06I/WinterStartTitle.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out The 442 Squadron Mustang delivers an icy and granular blast to the face of photographer Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737033332-LPMQ23ADSNX1GRSTGSPE/WinterStart5.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out As the winter front drives snow, sleet and ice pellets mixed with rain across the Vintage Wings ramp, Vintech Aero AMEs Angela Gagnon and André Laviolette position the Mustang so that its wake will not blow snow and ice over cars in the parking lot. Photo: Blake Reid https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737353059-G6NV5G8MXOZA18O5FY5Q/WinterStart4.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out Angela Gagnon is “dressed for success” as she backs the mule away from the Mustang. Note the patio/deck in the background where pilots and mechanics sit with their cold beers on a summer evening to watch the sun set and the last warbird doing circuits. Not a particularly inviting spot this day. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737401652-UVZ2PHCZNAH13XS2XHNI/WinterStart6.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out “Calisse, she's cold, mon chum!” Having grown up in Buckingham, Quebec, not ten kilometers from the Vintage Wings ramp, AME André Laviolette is used to bone-numbing weather, blinding snow and ice pellets - but that was just walking to kindergarten, not starting a Mustang on the ramp. On the side of the fuselage we see the newly installed dedication panel for "Les Frères Robillard (The Robillard Bros.). The Robillard brothers grew up in this region and knew full well the awesome nastiness of an Ottawa Valley winter storm blowing down from Pembroke. Rocky Robillard, the younger of the two actually flew Mustang Y2-C (marked as ours is) for 442 Squadron on days like this. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737456241-ICMNHWXB9FFHP9SVOW5Z/WinterStart7.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out Laviolette readies the Mustang for a winter start as the photographer positions himself behind – not a wise idea it turned out. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737505892-1W1PNSAQBNZE5XVK0GCY/WinterStart2.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out Unfortunately the point and shoot camera freezes the propeller instead showing the full disc, making this shot seems sort of peacefully quiet and not as extreme as it actually was. Photo: Blake Reid https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737565523-XQJJ9KWB3PHP6LJI93Y7/WinterStart3.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out Add 100 knots of prop wash to 20 knots of icy winter wind and you have a wind chill factor approaching absolute zero and skin abrasion approximating sand blasting. Gagnon shines a flashlight into the guts of the engine bay to check for oil leaks while Laviolette powers up. With the prop wash blowing back, it's good to have boots with a deep tread and a firm grip on the aircraft. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631737595657-CURWCZ6DGXT5D6TEJ6T7/WinterStart8.jpg The Stories - MUSTANG ON ICE - Make it stand out Just so you don't think the photographers Reid and O'Malley are as tough as our AME's – after five minutes in the wind, cold and snow, they retired to the relative comfort of the hangar and shot through the window as Gagnon and Guy Richard discuss the success of the run up. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/attawapiskat-annie monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735436083-21AXZHO0TSJ1FMMRAL95/AttawapiskatTitle.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735511881-GJM7BE2T7NCVYJOXW9HI/Attawapiskat6.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out The remote Canadian Aboriginal community of Attawapiskat lies at the mouth of the Attawapiskat River where it flows into James Bay in what is known as the Kenora District of Ontario. The Kenora district is roughly the size of California and is administered from the city of Kenora which lies more than 500 miles to the south west. Like many Northern communities, Attawapiskat is only reached by air. Its remote location is perhaps one of the many reasons that its situation had deteriorated so dramatically - out of sight, out of mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735580938-9JHQMZ3LA4SWVI0M85XK/Attawapiskat9.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Pilot/owner Lee Barker warms up the 1,000 hp Shvetsov radial as passengers board at the Vintage Wings of Canada Open House at Gatineau, 2008. The Shvetsov radial is still in production under license in Poland, so spares are not as big a problem in North America as one would think. This view shows off the extremely wide stance of the An-2's undercart. Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735624020-YFB1LYYCR4IRXMV8SVRS/Attawapiskat10.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Still the world's largest operating biplane, the Antonov An-2 (NATO-code named Colt) sports a voluminous body and a massive tail and rudder. The Shvetsov radial looks rather underpowered compared to the size of the aircraft, but with the tremendous lift afforded by the biplane configuration, it is perfectly adequate. Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735662911-4FZBSBP4X0CMCONEIVGK/Attawapiskat8.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out The anachronistic yet versatile and efficient Antonov An-2 was code named “Colt” by NATO, but she was honoured with a couple of nicknames by the Soviet-era military and Aeroflot crews that flew her. One nickname for her spoke of her utilitarian and hard-working nature - Kukuruznik, or literally "Corn farmworker". The other more flattering and endearing name was Annushka or Annie. The first flight of the Antonov An-2 was in 1947 and she remained in production until 2002 – 55 years on the assembly line, perhaps the longest production run of any aircraft in history. Only this year did the Lockheed C-130 Hercules (1957-2012) exceed that production run. Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735700215-LZPETC2TM2BTE9244WPP/Attawapiskat11.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out With more than 21,000 copies built in many locations including China and North Korea, the Antonov An-2 came in many variants. Barker's C-GFBR is an An-2 PD5 indicating that it was an executive version with 6 reclining passenger seats a card table, mini-bar, toilet and a small flight attendant seat. Barker's is one of those manufactured at Poland's PZL, Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze - or State Aviation Works. It is based in Barker's backyard - Oshawa, Ontario Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735764754-OH4ZILGKL091M66KXE07/Attawapiskat15.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out The Antonov crew left out of Oshawa, Ontario (On the shores of Lake Ontario) at half past midnight on January 8, 2012 and faced a steady 40 knot headwind all the way to Timmins, Ontario, arriving there at 0540 hrs in darkness. Here, copilot Andrew Farr checks his maps and GPS while navigating north in the moonlit landscape. Ontario native Farr is a Twin Otter Captain with Trans Maldivian Airways but has a lot of northern cold weather experience having flown Beavers and other bush planes for 10 years in Northern Manitoba and Ontario. Photo: Lee Barker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735795380-7Q45PCEIOBFXGMHNBDB3/Attawapiskat18.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Preparing for a 0030 start means a very long day. Mechanic Cody King gets a little shut-eye/open-mouth en route to Timmins. Copilot Farr could not resist the opportunity to snap an embarrassing photo. The noise level in the Colt is about the same as a de Havilland Otter or Beaver, with good sound proofing and luxury of luxuries - a toilet. Barker notes that “It's a good thing the Antonov has a toilet – the yellow ice block I removed after we got back was about 6 inches thick! And I didn't dare use the cockpit funnel with the OAT's (Outside air temperatures) running -30º- to -35º C as it would have backed up almost immediately! ” Photo: Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735851900-X92ARVUQL791CKHIZW1C/Attawapiskat17.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Farr (left) and King do a little flight planning and e-mailing at Timmins. With the Timmins Airport restaurant closed on weekends (whaaa?), the crew resorted to a Canadian standard - Timbits for breakfast. Photo: Lee Barker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735892166-OSJP9G6BB730KO3W8FC3/Attawapiskat12.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out En route to Attawapiskat, first class service was broken out for the crew. At first, the crew was offered beef wellington, sautéed asparagus and sweetbreads in a fennel sauce and foie gras on china plates, but opted instead for the premium Canadian package - Tim Horton's donuts and Jack Link's beef jerky in a cardboard box. Photo: Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735921120-TQR9WTUDGJ4IE3HUDR1J/Attawapiskat13.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Copilot Andrew Farr shows how to prepare world-famous “Jerky Antonov”, the favourite dish of pilots in the north. Instructions: Rip open package with teeth, maintain level flight, reach into bag with throttle hand and extract the deliciousness – pairs well with a Tim Horton's Double Double and spearmint Rolaids for dessert. Photo: Cody King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631735960785-EC0NSMAIFB30FIOOXV12/Attawapiskat14.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out The crew (Andrew Farr, Cody King and Lee Barker) takes their own photo during the flight to Attawapiskat. Photo: Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736006728-NT5G4JET9XWB01NN6AI7/Attawapiskat4.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Mechanic Cody King gives two thumbs up from his cramped space behind the cabin bulkhead en route from Timmins to Attawapiskat. Above him we can see a couple of pairs of snowshoes – critical survival equipment in the far North should the Antonov be forced down into the barrens. Photo Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736046615-QL6M3P51MTD0T62H17ZE/Attawapiskat2.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out After a long day of flying in sketchy weather, pilot Lee Barker checks out the community of Attawapiskat through the big side windows of his Antonov An-2. Coming in from the east, we see the small town situated between the frozen Attawapiskat River on the left and the single runway of their airport on the right. Photo by Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736078412-FXXF4ADDNQ1OHSW929WK/Attawapiskat16.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out From the right side of the Antonov, Farr checks out the seemingly ordered community from 1,000 feet. The visual order belies a community in heart-breaking turmoil. Photo: Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736111494-0OA88GH85NEBWD0J09DS/Attawapiskat19.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Looking every inch the backwoods Soviet aviator in an oil-stained insulated coverall, rodeo gloves and knitted woolens, pilot and owner Lee Barker gives Farr a thumbs up from his command seat in the An-2. What better device to chase away all the nasty avgas, Aeroshell 15W50 and beef jerky stench than a 98 cent Canadian Tire Pine tree-scented air freshener. Photo: Andrew Farr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736135632-5DL0968HJ7YFSXZ468IM/Attawapiskat5.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out In the poor winter light, Barker taxies on to the Attawapiskat ramp at 11 AM local time. Behind him, the boreal forest stretches uninterrupted across the breadth of Canada. Photo: OVERT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736175666-166NWQ0CV0TP4TNVNYTQ/Attawapiskat3.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out The crew members (Mechanic Cody King (Left), copilot Andrew Farr (centre) and pilot Lee Barker) pose by the Antonov An-2 Colt on the Attawapiskat ramp after their cargo has been removed by OVERT. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631736224514-8S64R0NHVITIQ79OIW3Y/Attawapiskat7.jpg The Stories - ATTAWASPIKAT ANNIE - Make it stand out Through this gateway at the Attawapiskat airport, travel all visitors and citizens coming to or leaving the community, save for snowmobiles and small boats. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/so-green-it-hurts monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712662903-KHXFITRGJP0QX04TKDYK/HeatherTitle2.jpg The Stories - SO GREEN IT HURTS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712927660-XGF89W2TYY4R4G08UXTZ/Heather2.jpg The Stories - SO GREEN IT HURTS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/going-home monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667217951-WTMCDRSMR930E3O7MFBG/GoingHomeTitle.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667359780-51VRYEXTVDTFDSYUNHZS/GoingHome14.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey taxis in to AETE at 4 Wing Cold Lake in preparation for a static display for the annual summer training camp for Cadets. DND Photo by Cpl David Tomes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667394328-K48WTNG91LEYKCIKKXGP/GoingHome15.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey, Hawk One Team Lead shuts down the Fern Villeneuve Sabre 5 in front of the big hangar doors at Cold Lake's AETE Canadian Flight Test Centre (CFTC). DND Photo by Cpl David Tomes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667449142-G8EIKOK065BTTLYPUMNB/GoingHome8.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Rob Fleck, Vintage Wings of Canada pilot and President tells assembled Canadian Cadets about Vintage Wings of Canada, the Mustang IV and the story of the Robillard Brothers, Larry and Rocky, two Second World War fighter pilots to whom the aircraft is dedicated. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667509357-9BYGJCV89FB66E43SU2N/GoingHome10.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out The entire cadet camp turns out for a group photo with the Vintage Wings of Canada Mustang and Sabre. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667579814-KC7FGH8X0Q5Y2JPF1SY2/GoingHome11.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Royal Canadian Air Cadets listen intently to an explanation of the history of the Sabre from Sgt Bob Schwindt, one of two RCAF (AETE) techs seconded to our team on a part-time basis. Being near to and able to actually touch the vintage aircraft meant much to the youth assembled at the camp. These determined and motivated young Canadians listen to every word offered up at the camp. These are truly the leaders of tomorrow. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667613784-EFLUK3X9032SUDCCC881/GoingHome17.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Hawk One Lead Dan Dempsey removes the pitot cover and explains the function of the pitot tube, a device found on every aircraft. A pitot tube is a pressure measurement instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 18th century and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by French scientist Henry Darcy. It is widely used to determine the airspeed of an aircraft. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631667643443-VS3EXIVM6PW669E7FLWL/GoingHome19.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Aboriginal, European or Asian, the make-up of Canadian society is diverse and strong and is no better represented than these young boys relaxing on the wing of the Mustang while Rob Fleck gives a cockpit check-out to another cadet. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631708331767-W759F127IGUP575CXIH9/GoingHome20.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Cadets pose along with Sgt Bob Schwindt and a piece of the history that made Canada and its air force great. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631708358133-ZB2H5SB3FTG07Q1TLGOP/GoingHome21.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out It's clear that Canada's future is in great hands, thanks to inspirational men like Dan Dempsey and Rob Fleck. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631708389772-IDS00333U2AFX38YJ8QN/GoingHome12.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey and Rob Fleck frame the entrance to the sound studio of radio station "CLTC - The Hawk" named by the students of The Art Smith Aviation Academy located at 4 Wing Cold Lake in tribute to the inspiration provided by the Hawk One team. Photo by LCol Ferguson Mobbs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631708439497-3YO0VL11Z3ES5AS4W74J/GoingHome2.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out In a bog sweeping left turn, Rob Fleck in the Robillard Brothers Mustang IV leads a very unique formation – a CF-18 from Cold Lake-based 409 “Nighthawk” Squadron, a CT-114 Tutor from AETE (Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment) and the Vintage Wings of Canada Fern Villeneuve Hawk One Sabre 5. DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712116278-7V3PK3HBJ226JX0C9JMW/GoingHome3.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada President Rob Fleck leads the formation through a series of racetrack turns holding for the formal flypast for the change of command of the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment at 4 Wing, Cold Lake. The ever-increasing size of front line fighter aircraft can be seen in this photo despite the perspective. The Mustang from the 1940s leads the 1950s era Sabre on the right and the 1980s era Hornet on his left. DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712170515-292R1WSR04OFLVFA20XE/GoingHome4.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Rob Fleck, in the 442 Squadron Mustang IV leads a group of very dissimilar aircraft that have one thing in common – Fleck has flown them all! DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712199071-RSXBIOEF9DYDFPHDLMXZ/GoingHome5.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada President Rob Fleck leads Hawk One team leader Dan Dempsey and friends from the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment based at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta on a rare photo shoot. Collectively, the P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre, CF-18 Hornet and CT-114 Tutor represent almost 100 years of service to the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Forces. DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712240148-MXT9BD3JM28VVN7PRLL6/GoingHome6.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Fleck begins another gentle turn to the right with the formation, the jet-powered aircraft flying at the lower end of their envelope of performance. DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712269085-BP1Y3ZAGK1IGB228OZ3C/GoingHome7.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Fleck brings the formation around to the left in a 45 degree bank back to the heading for the flypast. DND-MDN Canada 2012; Photo by Cpl Arthur Ark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631712299658-2VHRYDU22SWD8SA089XD/GoingHome16.jpg The Stories - GOING HOME - Make it stand out Rob Fleck leads Dan Dempsey in a flying salute to the personnel of the RCAF's Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) during the commanding officer's change-of-command parade. DND Photo by Cpl David Tomes https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/jubilation monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666286112-X5I7GI4E4KY5ZAZANQ1T/JubileeTitle.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666415617-BJIT3RFB3PG3FFQZZKMA/Jubilee6.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out The Calgary Mosquito, a British-built example (S/N RS700, civil registration CF-HMS), arrives and is craned from a flatbed on its custom dolly. The Calgary Mosquito Society states: “Our plan is to preserve this important piece of Canadian peacetime aviation history, owned by the City of Calgary, restore it to static condition as it was when operated by Spartan Air Services in the 1950s and to create materials that will educate the public on the Mosquito aircraft and the role aviation has played on the exploration of Canada.” Photo by Karl Kjarsgaard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666459149-PF70EKEHY6VAXNC4TI8K/Jubilee7.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out The wings are carefully hoisted from the flatbed. Photo by Karl Kjarsgaard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666580283-WJHH2P76XDGXN6G66MEX/Jubilee2.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out In front of the Calgary Mosquito, Senator Anne C. Cools (right) stands and delivers a worthy tribute to five gentlemen whose efforts stand for the excellence that is widely embraced at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. Photo by Doug Bowman via BCMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666526304-RZY7QFAHO7VH4MTFZCEH/Jubilee4.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out The five honourees are, from left to right, Karl Kjarsgaard, David Birrell, John Phillips, Dan Fox and Bob Evans Photo by Doug Bowman via BCMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666689643-MGNUCEM3AFNUY7TYH6XR/Jubilee8.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out Awards and medals are, in many ways, like battle honours, worthy of adorning the crew's Lanc. Photo John Chalmers, Photoshop work, Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631666767331-XBKZVCDPS6ZS265630G7/Jubilee5.jpg The Stories - JUBILATION - Make it stand out Our founder, Mike Potter. Photo by Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/harvard-heritage-flight monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657286320-PEANWO138S16TMXCR63O/HarvardHeritageTitle.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657392714-QD8HAVMJ7N7RY91ZVNI7/HarvardHeritage3.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Author Edward Soye’s usual mount in the Harvard Formation Team, CHAA Harvard Mk. II , AJ 583 (C-FHWX). The Harvard Mk. II was the single-engine mainstay of BCATP Service Flying Training during the Second World War. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657473605-G22WI48QM3HV3MX0R6IX/HarvardHeritage2.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Hawker Beechcraft Texan II Demonstration pilot, Michael “Gameshow” Rambo is seen during a right-hand bank over Toronto. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657544405-2WBOHWWBNCT9NJFW49C7/HarvardHeritage30.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out In 2011, Vintage Wings of Canada's John Gillespie Magee Harvard 4 visited Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan as part of the Yellow Wings Western Tour. This was one of the first times a Canadian-marked Harvard from the Second World War flew with a modern Beechcraft Harvard II of Moose Jaw's “Big 2” (2CFFTS). Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657596258-QQUWHT8N1885RV08PYW0/HarvardHeritage4.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Hawker Beechcraft Texan II Demonstration pilot, Michael Rambo poses on the wing of the Texan II. Mike is an ex-USAF Texan II demonstration pilot who has performed in many Heritage Flights. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657659460-OLTQ23MPFCTRM44ZKNXB/HarvardHeritage5.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out In between landing airliners, the impressive seven-ship Harvard formation arrives over YYZ after participating in the Canadian International Air Show. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657688231-DZ06A8AD4GEGKV1CRYC0/HarvardHeritage6.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Taken from Harvard # 4, CHAA Service Crew Chief Shane Clayton captures the shadow cast by the 7-ship, as we circled the tower at Pearson and gave the controllers their own private show. (Two weeks later, while sitting in the Maple Leaf Lounge on my way to help at the VWC Air Show, I realized what a spectacular view we must have given to those lucky souls who were waiting for a flight on the Sunday afternoon of Labour Day weekend). Photo: Shane Clayton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657717184-H95MK1QGGN5L444E3TN5/HarvardHeritage8.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The seven plane formation leaves a pall of smoke over the Lester B. Pearson International Airport. Photo: Shane Clayton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657741846-S5GCVN8J4W3NN0YK0BGP/HarvardHeritage9.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Harvard lead, Pete Spence, leads the seven-ship Harvard formation in a 360 orbit around Toronto International Airport’s Control Tower. Photo: Bernadette Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657766502-T2O1Y8NZ10HAKP53AQ98/HarvardHeritage10.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings Harvard pilot Edward Soye is seen at the helm of a CHAA aircraft over a busy Toronto International Airport after taking off on runway 15L. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657812926-L9TJXQGCWOIKU8WCHR88/HarvardHeritage13.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Ed Soye leads the Harvard Heritage Flight over the Scarborough Bluffs during the photo shoot. Michael “Gameshow” Rambo holds formation in the Hawker Beechcraft Texan II. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657857215-96CWFKJ0JD6D0JBE4EXR/HarvardHeritage14.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Photo plane pilot and Harvard Formation Lead, Greg Burnard, did a great job leading the Harvard Heritage Flight through the busy Toronto airspace. The Flight is seen in a tight orbit over Scarborough. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657890754-Q5DXWCOOXK0PZQ6MNQX4/HarvardHeritage16.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The Harvard Heritage Flight is seen heading back to YYZ for recovery on runway 23. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657948224-RND54P37YKRRDN112B0U/HarvardHeritageq17.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out After joining up over the Island Airport, the new and old Harvards run in for their first pass. Photo: Sane Clayton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631657976181-J9JP1L7NBZ0X06SUWES2/HarvardHeritage18.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Edward Soye leads the Harvard Heritage Flight on the opening pass at the Canadian International Air Show. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631658060713-3LHKUDZG7Y2LQKCKTJJ6/HarvardHeritage19.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Ed and Mike performing the crossover break. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631658140359-8JCQQGKM3V7RJQ0FRNN7/HarvardHeritage20.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The Harvard Formation team comes around the corner of Ontario place on their first pass down the 500’ line. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631658175958-VH6041SW2K8B4V6N9K8F/HarvardHeritage21.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Ed is seen setting the spacing in the #2 position as the Harvard Formation Team turns away from the crowd after the line-astern pass. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664112110-08ERFVXROV2HGYMOWKAH/HarvardHeritage22.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The seven-ship Harvard fly-past turns in toward centre-stage, roaring over Lake Ontario close to High Park. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664140657-3S8L6ESRWAGPBKZHFKPF/HarvardHeritage23.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The seven-ship Harvard flight at centre-stage, seconds before the Harvard Aerobatic Team break from the formation. The pass left the airspace covered in smoke that eventually settled onto the water. It was an impressive sight to see. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664222072-GQHGNUFSL4KDT9SVLUIE/HarvardHeritage24.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The 3-ship Harvard Aerobatic Team pulls up and away from the 4-ship Harvard Formation team and creates an image reminiscent of a break performed by The Goldilocks. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664247702-HWI745F2E0U9L4KJJPFU/HarvardHeritage25.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The Goldilocks in 1963 performing a break that looks remarkably similar to the one at the CNE, some 60 years later. The Goldilocks team was formed of seven Harvards flown by instructor pilots performing a parody of the Golden Hawks [Hence the irreverent name- Ed] aerobatic displays which the instructors purported was their view of how their students flew. The team was disbanded when the Harvard was replaced by the Tutor. Photo: Andrew Henwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664311190-6K31JURV6EQKFWZNU643/HarvardHeritage15.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out The Harvard Heritage pilots after a successful first flight together and A2A (air to air) photo shoot. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664339753-RWXEOVDWN5UE8ZMFWGBG/HarvardHeritage26.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Michael poses the Texan II to show off the rugged design. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664369730-KPLNV6I18MLVIGYU2X55/HarvardHeritage27.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out With plenty of power Michael had no problem manoeuvering around the Harvard photo ship. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664401949-PY9KTW7992BLEYZDYQ08/HarvardHeritage28.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Michael hanging the Texan II off our right wing during the photo shoot on the Thursday before the show. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664436895-JYHY2DX2ML7EF1UFKREO/HarvardHeritage12.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out Hawker Beechcraft’s Texan II crew, Michael Rambo and crew chief Bill Parker. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631664505003-SY7RONY8TGF72IRX1VGV/HarvardHeritage29.jpg The Stories - HARVARD HERITAGE FLIGHT - Make it stand out 1962 Goldilocks Photo (L to R): Moe Campbell, Bernie McComiskey, Jerry Davidson, Murray Neilson, Mike Matthews, Bernie LaPointe and Denny Lambert 2012 CHAA Photo (L to R): Marc Thompson, Percy Contractor, Shane Clayton, Jack MacKenzie, Shawn Newman, Shawn Wylie and Jarod Smith https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-high-arctic monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631650654345-S91ED46B6RCRSIXDTZPH/FirstAir2.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631650866928-YRCS4EI34TZ0E4VRNKE3/FirstAir3.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A Rankin Inlet, Nunavut First Air ramp attendant walks out to a waiting Aerospatiale ATR-42, one of today's workhorse aircraft operating with First Air throughout the Canadian Arctic. Working at remote northern communities like Rankin Inlet (Kangiqliniq in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit), First Air employees face one of the many challenges of the North – formidable weather. Minus 50º F, howling winds, and 24 hours of darkness are the norm in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Jay Giachino https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631650905316-CZGP82AFWPH0WGQUGELS/FirstAir4.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A First Air ATR-42-300 thunders down Runway 06 at Pangnirtung, Nunavut (CYXP), bound for another remote community. Known by First Air hands as “Pang”, Pangnirtung is one of the High Arctic's most challenging airports to operate aircraft in and out of. The runway hugs the south wall of Pangnirtung Fjord, almost ten miles up the throat of the high-walled arm. Landings (which are all Visual Flight Rules (VFR)) from the southwest require dropping below the cloud cover and acquiring the topography visually. Pilots make a 5.5º Steep Slope Approach into the wind when it races out of the fjord, but if the winds come from the west across the massive Cumberland Sound and into the maw of the fjord, pilots are required to fly up the broad channel and make a 180 within the confines of Pangnirtung Fjord. On either side of this 2 mile-wide chasm are steep rising cliffs, bluffs and very hard mountains. These challenges speak to the training and professionalism of the First Air pilot cadre. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Landon Sexsmith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631650954373-A99A1GO0O3V6MN8TC08Y/FirstAir9.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A First Air crew flares and drops an ATR-42, after a steep slope approach, onto Runway 24 at Pangnirtung, Nunavut on Pangnirtung Fjord. On bright sunny days like this, the approach is a challenge, but on a night approach with weather coming in, only the best trained and most experienced pilots, like those of First Air, can make this a routine and safe field to land at. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Matt McCullagh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631650992451-F4T3VEPJALFR81J6FB6I/FirstAir5.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out First Air is one of only a handful of civilian operators of the venerable Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The highly capable heavy-lifter is a constant workhorse for First Air, flying all over the Arctic and on international cargo flights. Here, the “Herc” is seen on the ground, loading on a D-6 Caterpillar bulldozer on the island archipelago known as Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway. Svalbard is located about 400 miles north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Stephen Hull https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631651027411-740JJ2NFEBFOOUBF0IE3/FirstAir46.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A First Air Boeing 737-200 thunders off Runway 17 at Iqaluit, the largest community in Nunavut and the centre of the Nunavut Government. First Air has operated big Boeings in the North for many years, having first used B727s (retired from service in 2009) and now with seven B737s (In All-cargo, Combi, and All-passenger configurations) and a cargo B767. The graphic on the tail of this B737 displays an Inukshuk, the stone landmark and navigation cairn found throughout the Inuit North. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Jason Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631651066623-7RVNQ33NMYVQ7FKEPWV7/FirstAir7.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out An Aerospatiale ATR-42 parked on the ramp at Iqaluit, the seat of Nunavut territorial government formerly known as Frobisher Bay. With wet tarmac, this is definitely shot in the summer. The ATR-42 is one of the most successful short-haul regional airliners in history. The rugged landing gear, super-reliable Pratt and Whitney PW 120 turboprop engines and 42-52 passenger capacity of the type endear it to airlines around the world. This particular aircraft (C-GSRR) started its flying career with the US-based Trans World Express and then, after ten years, was operated by Danish airline, Muk Air. Before coming to First Air in 2004, it was operated by Danish Air Transport. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Corey Kreamer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631651100085-GSMM3GF4U3JPT2AOR5F5/FirstAir10.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Though today we know the service as First Air, the name of the operating company is still Bradley Air Services Limited, the legendary bush plane operation first started by Russ Bradley in 1946. Back in the day, Bradley flew classic bush aircraft such as the de Havilland Beaver, Otter and Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Times have indeed changed in the North. Where single engine ski-planes opened up the routes without navigation aids, now massive cargo ships like this Boeing B767 (C-GKLY), seen taxiing at Iqaluit, can operate safely in marginal conditions like this rain-soaked and foggy day on Baffin Island. This big all-cargo heavy-lifter (C-GKLY) first came into airline service with American Airlines in 1983. Put into long-term storage in Roswell, New Mexico, it was acquired in 2007 by ABX Air and converted to the all-cargo configuration for their cargo fleet. It came to First Air in 2009. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Jason Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631651199823-FA6LNUSOZQ6U5KHDTNKK/FirstAir12.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out In the depth of winter, some locations in the High Arctic, which would not normally have an airport, can utilize the frozen sea ice for a temporary landing field. Frederick E. Hyde Fjord, a 150 kilometre deep cut from the Arctic Ocean into the northernmost peninsula of Greenland (sometimes called Peary Land) is inaccessible by air in the summer. Here, a First Air C-130 Hercules sits heavily on the frozen surface of Hyde Fjord – just about the farthest from civilization an airplane can get. Photo from the First Air Bradley Children's Charity Calendar by Burt Freitag https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631651237110-2A1JG5FKQ970V9GWXTA8/FirstAir28.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Awaiting departure at Repulse Bay, Nunavut, First Officer Douglas Fleck (left), Flight Attendant Nadia Clyke and Captain Brad Mazurski beneath the Arctic Circle Arch monument. The monument and indeed the entire town of Repulse Bay sit on the Arctic Circle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653235721-DX6F2D93U9S1ZH7FINXO/FirstAir27.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Despite having the benefit of a GPS and modern instruments, First Air pilots are required to be able navigate the old fashioned way. Here Captain Ryan Ducharme takes a sun shot through the windshield of a First Air ATR-42 to determine true direction, made easier with the sun in winter months being on or near the horizon. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653267667-O6QCCT4ALFC89BQ65XJ9/FirstAir35.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Blake Reid, another of Vintage Wings of Canada's experienced biplane pilots, was also a First Air ATR-42 Captain. Today, Reid is training in Taiwan to fly as a First Officer on Boeing B747s with Eva Air. Here, he is on the approach onto runway 31 at Arctic Bay. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653304332-XZ52EVVA19HPIBFMJP4I/FirstAir50.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Flying in the Arctic means flying in darkness during the winter months, when the sun barely and briefly comes above the horizon. This means that, for much of the year, aircrews are flying in darkness on many VFR flights to some of the most challenging airfields in the world. Here, C-GHPW, one of two C-130 Hercules heavy lift transports in the service of First Air, takes on cargo at Cambridge Bay Airport. In civilian service, the legendary C-130 is known as the L-382G. One can read the history of this aircraft in the Canadian registration C-GHPW. With the last three letters being HPW, we can tell it was a Hercules that once belonged to the now-defunct Pacific Western Airlines. The isolated community of 1,500 souls at Cambridge Bay is on the south shore of Victoria Island in Nunavut. Photo by CambridgeBayWeather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653376460-S2IVLWLWMQQKBTJ1ES99/FirstAir19.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Baffin Island is the fifth largest island on the planet at 500,000 square kilometres. It is situated adjacent to Greenland, the world's largest island. Bare and craggy in the summer, the northwest coast of Baffin Island takes on softer countenance in winter with a deep covering of snow. Despite the beauty and golden sunlight, being forced down in this unforgiving environment is not an option. Despite their age, the Hawker Siddeley HS-748 aircraft, recently taken out of First Air service, enjoyed long service in the North. This was because First Air maintenance employees took the safety of their passengers and aircrews very seriously. The trust that the First Air crews have in their equipment is borne by years of continuous operation and excellent maintenance of these older aircraft. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653332876-B699MUFJR8OP3ZL6Y232/FirstAir16.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Heading northeast towards Pangnirtung at 14,000 feet on a clear day, Douglas Fleck, in the right seat of the Hawker Siddeley HS-748, photographs the islands that cling to the western shore of mighty Cumberland Sound, a massive bite into the flanks of Baffin Island from the Arctic Ocean. Just off the tip of the propeller hub is Nimigen Island, about 110 kilometres from “Pang”. The scene is framed by the starboard Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop. On days like this, when you can see for hundreds of kilometres, being a First Air pilot is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653422264-47ENMFCNGVCNL45KXNVQ/FirstAir13.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Douglas Fleck, now a First Air ATR-42 Captain, took this photo (looking south down the famous Pangnirtung Pass) from the right seat as his aircraft transits eastbound across the valley at 14,000 feet. About 150 kilometres down this remote, yet well hiked pass, lies the town of Pangnirtung. In summer, First Air flies adventurous trekkers into Pangnirtung to take advantage of some of the world's most challenging, yet rewarding, hiking in nearby Auyuittuk National Park. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653446393-ZH35H4H6YYW9XI63USMW/FirstAir14.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A view from the cockpit of a First Air ATR-42 as it begins its descent into Pangnirtung Fjord at 8,000 feet above the frigid Arctic Ocean waters and the unforgiving rocks. All approaches to “Pang” are Visual Flight Rules (VFR) at all times and crews must get below the overcast to begin their final letdown. Though it cannot be seen here, the Arctic community of Pangnirtung clings to the edge of the Fjord right where it disappears to the right in this shot. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653495763-C2WS13VAD8XNT7E8WJ7U/FirstAir22.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out To line up for Runway 24 at Pangnirtung, pilots flying eastbound are required to make a 180º turn within the throat of the fjord. At night, the landing lights of this ATR-42 would light up the granite cliffs of Mount Duval above “Pang” as the airliner rounds onto final. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653523832-X217CUOLMB7DMS5W2FQL/FirstAir23.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Flying into “Pang” in the depth of an Arctic winter is more challenging than in summer, when sunlight reflecting from the water helps pilots discern the difference between land and Arctic Ocean. Luckily, the winter sun remains low on the horizon and offers up some seriously deep shadows. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653571581-HPK4OBZ3620ZHPXN3BW4/FirstAir24.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Clinging to the southern edge of Pangnirtung Fjord, the village of Pangnirtung sits in the shadow of a 2,000-foot wall of granite known as Mount Duval. The single gravel Runway (17-24) of CYXP runs smack dab through the middle of the townsite, with homes a few hundred feet from the centreline. The consequences of losing spatial awareness in this environment are clearly evident. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653610141-5RMNPWUYDOE0LGGBYX7H/FirstAir17.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A First Air ATR-42 approaches the remote community of Pangnirtung by flying down Pangnirtung Fjord, well below the surrounding mountain tops. One look out the windshield and it is clear that, should the conditions be marginal and at night, pilots have serious challenges ahead as they begin their Steep Slope Approach. Training, experience and familiarity with the terrain give the professional pilots of First Air what they need to get passengers safely to their families in “Pang” without navigational aids or an Instrument Landing System (ILS). Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653649022-HCSFUUWWIB5N4NPYE7QT/FirstAir18.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Scooching down the western face of Pangnirtung Fjord and heading nearly due south at about 5,000 feet, First Officer Douglas Fleck and his Captain settle down into the chasm to set up for the straight-in approach for Runway 24 at “Pang”. The point of land in the middle ground is known as Kunguk Pen and the Peninsula beyond that is Aulatsivik Point. The small town can just be made out at the edge of the western cliff face as the fjord turns west-southwest. Though this water is many kilometres deep into Baffin Island, it is indeed the Arctic Ocean. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653681033-SQ77FPSB9R132VL1OIMY/FirstAir26.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out First Officer Douglas Fleck snaps a photo of Pangnirtung's Runway 24 cutting through the middle of town. In the far distance we see where Pangnirtung Fjord opens to Cumberland Sound and the headland known as Nasauya Hill. The surrounding hills, mountains and granite bluffs make a night time approach in deteriorating weather a difficult task, undertaken only by experienced pilots such as those of First Air. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653727207-9JGLBW6VKZWYA951R7GH/FirstAir15.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The venerable, rugged, reliable, simple, and long-serving Hawker Siddeley HS-748-2A on the ramp at Pangnirtung airport in early winter, sometime prior to 2011 when the last remaining First Air airframe was retired. For decades, First Air employed this true workhorse on short-haul routes throughout the Territories. Young pilots, hoping to rise over the years to the left seat of the company's larger aircraft, would start their careers as First Officers on this type. The “Hawker” is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed by the British firm Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for DC-3s, then in widespread service as feederliners. The Rolls-Royce Dart engines power large black and white striped propellers which, when turning at low RPM on the ramp, would create a visual pulsing effect that made them more visible. If you look at the propeller blades, you will see that two of them are black-white-black, while the other two are white-black-white. This offset striping results in the higher visibility pulsing effect. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653777896-U9891MWX0R34KTR41UZF/FirstAir20.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out In spring, the landscape around Runway 17 in Iqaluit begins to show the land beneath, but in winter, in whiteout conditions at ground level, having an ILS makes landing at this airfield an achievable goal. The ILS at Iqaluit is on Runway 35, from the opposite direction. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653809742-MI5MSC41XHVNAKQMS30Q/FirstAir25.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The landscape from 22,000 feet near Clyde River on Baffin Island looks beautiful and non-threatening, but beneath the soft mantle of winter snow lies one of the most rugged and remote mountain ranges on the planet. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653843626-SADZLBL0KHOECR9KIHYO/FirstAir38.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out About 40 kilometres from the village of Arctic Bay, an ATR-42 crew begins its descent into Adams Sound. Following the right side of the sound, the ATR-42 will soon settle into a final straight-in approach to Runway 31 at the Arctic Bay airport – a single gravel strip some eight kilometres from the townsite and around the last promontory in this photograph. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653874132-DUBGY5B3X2IPQC5IP557/FirstAir39.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Running down the northern flank of Adams Sound, Fleck and crew prepare for a landing at Arctic Bay, Nunavut. The Arctic Bay area has been occupied for nearly 5,000 years by Inuit nomads migrating from the west. In 1872, a European whaling ship, the Arctic, captained by Willie Adams, passed through and gave the area its English name. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653910975-3PO6FKOOI2E3ZJSF651C/FirstAir29.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A shot from a First Air ATR-42 at 3,000 feet on approach to Runway 31 at Arctic Bay. The village of Arctic Bay lies at the very top of Baffin Island. It sits facing south on a deep bay near the mouth of Adams Sound, which slashes deep into Baffin Island from Admiralty Inlet, itself a gigantic fjord. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653945120-QWSPS0I8N5RJE91M4XYB/FirstAir30.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Douglas Fleck and the crew of a First Air ATR-42 fly 8,000 feet overhead Beechey Island in the Queen Elizabeth Archipelago. Beechey Island is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington Channel, Erebus Harbour, and Terror Bay. It is the site of several very significant events in the history of Arctic exploration. In 1845, the British explorer Sir John Franklin, commanding a new, but ill-fated, search for the Northwest Passage aboard HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, chose the protected harbour of Beechey Island for his first winter encampment. There are memorials to Franklin and other polar explorers and sailors on the island. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631653990125-FMJTLUAHOE3HKADZAOSK/FirstAir31.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out On the return journey, Fleck captures Beechey looking east at 15,000 feet. The first European to visit Beechey Island was Captain William Edward Parry, in 1819. Parry named the bleak, but sheltered, island for Frederick William Beechey, who was then serving as his lieutenant. Beechey Island sits attached to the southwest corner of Devon Island on the Northwest Passage by a thin thread of granite. Devon is the largest uninhabited island on the planet and Canada's sixth largest in area. Beechey Island is perhaps the most famous of the Arctic islands. In 1903, paying respect to Franklin, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen stopped at the island at the beginning of his successful voyage in search for the Northwest Passage. In popular fiction, the explorers in Jules Verne's novel, Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras, visit Beechey Island. In addition, Clive Cussler's 2008 novel, Arctic Drift, featured characters that would visit this island in the quest for Franklin's ships. Beechy is also mentioned in Dan Simmons' novel, Terror. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654029379-DIM9KGCFMTV4RKLQVJWV/FirstAir56.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out In summertime, Beechey can be tolerable to curious visitors, but imagine trying to shelter here in the winter of 1845 with 24 hours of darkness, howling gales, driving snow and temperatures falling to minus 65ºF and lower. It is a tribute to the determination of Franklin's expedition members that only these graves were found on the Island. Their winter campsite was not discovered until 1851 when British and American search vessels anchored nearby. They found a large stone cairn, along with the graves of three of Franklin's crew – Petty Officer John Torrington, Royal Marine Private William Braine, and Able Seaman John Hartnell – but no written record or indication of where Franklin planned to sail the next season. The three men did not die of exposure, though this certainly weakened their health. Autopsies determined that lung disease and lead poisoning were among the probable causes of death. The lead probably came from lead-soldered tins of provisions with which the Franklin expedition had been supplied the water distillation system used by the ships. Photo by Ansgar Walk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654063248-XUFM9S7VZSMBPQVN0WXR/FirstAir32.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Flying at 10,000 feet along Barrow Strait en route perhaps to Resolute Bay, we see old ice “growlers” and “bergy bits” from the previous winter coming down from the north in late summer and collecting in the Northwest Passage between Devon Island and Somerset Island. Soon temperatures will plummet, new ice will form around the old ice and the Northwest Passage will become unnavigable once again. Barrow Strait is a shipping waterway in Northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. Forming part of the Parry Channel, the strait separates several large islands including Cornwallis Island and Devon Island to the north, from Prince of Wales Island, Somerset Island, and Prince Leopold Island to the south. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654101997-79CBGWU7MQV5PNKIO306/FirstAir33.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Also over Barrow Strait, Douglas Fleck shoots a large ice pan floating in the shipping lane, surrounded by growlers. Considering that this First Air ATR-42 is at 10,000 feet, this ice pan is enormous, covering a few square miles. Barrow Strait is a shipping waterway in Northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654145824-IN9S7OBXC8CZH2GOFK1B/FirstAir34.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out On approach to Rankin Inlet (CYRT) on the northwestern coast of Hudson Bay. First visited by Europeans in the early 1600s, the Inlet was named for Lt. John Rankin of the British Royal Navy, but a town was not incorporated here until the 1950s. In 1721, explorer Captain James Knight and his crew were marooned on Marble Island, about 32 kilometres from Rankin Inlet. Knight was exploring, searching for valuable minerals and the Northwest Passage. His two ships were wrecked in the shallows, and he and his crew of 50 were stranded on the island. The town of Rankin Inlet was created to house workers for a nickel mine in the 1950s. During the Korean War, the price of nickel rose sharply, and the North Rankin Nickel Mine was opened. The mine operated from 1957 to 1962 when a combination of declining prices and depletion of the ore body forced closure of the mine. Today, the town serves as the gateway to Nunavut, and economic hub of the Kivallig region. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654181531-5XW0BLT25V7CSY6LK1ON/FirstAir41.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The view from First Officer's seat of an ATR-42 at 4,000 feet on final for Runway 31 at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Rankin Inlet is a relatively larger community, found on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, below the Arctic Circle. In this more western area of Nunavut territory, the land becomes flatter and more like the tundra of the Western Arctic. The colour of the water makes this appear to be somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. This photo was taken in late spring, when the ice begins to sink and water flows over the ice. The refractive qualities of ice produce the rich turquoise colour. The dense sea ice, like glacial ice absorbs all light except blue and the crystalline structure of the ice beneath the snow, exposed by the water, scatters blue light. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654211236-VGCKTFWGVDC18IH2FC67/FirstAir36.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Bylot Island lies fast to the northern flank of Baffin Island. Ranked as the 71st largest island in the world, Bylot is totally uninhabited – a testament to the extreme difficulties of living on a frozen island creased with glaciers and devoid of vegetation. The island is named for the early Arctic explorer Robert Bylot, who was the first European to sight it in 1616. The whaling captain William Adams (the namesake for Adams Sound) was the first to determine the island's insular nature in 1872. The ATR-42 from which this photo was taken was making an approach to the community of Pond Inlet (on Baffin Island) on a heading east to west along Eclipse Sound which separates Bylot from Baffin. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654251951-G51988RDYK07QJ2VPP5L/FirstAir37.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out From the right seat of his ATR-42, First Officer Fleck shoots a photo of Kaparoqtalik Glacier on Bylot Island, just across Eclipse Sound from the remote community of Pond Inlet. The shrinking glaciers of Bylot Island have been a bellwether for the effects of global warming on the Arctic. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654280554-7G0VWDIGM02OS99ZU0TT/FirstAir51.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The previous shot by Douglas Fleck brought to mind a famous painting by Canadian Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris. In 2010, a painting of Bylot Island, Mount Thule and Kaparoqtalik Glacier titled "Bylot Island I" by Harris, was sold at auction for $2.8 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a work by a Canadian artist. In the summer of 1930, Harris and another famous Group of Seven painter, A.Y. Jackson, were invited to accompany the Canadian government supply ship Beothic on its annual voyage to the Arctic. They embarked at Sydney, Nova Scotia on 1 August, with the ship laden with supplies for the northern communities. Their first stop was Greenland before heading west to Ellesmere Island. I highly recommend you look at other paintings by Harris from his trip to the Arctic and in particular Bylot Island. (Type in Lawren Harris and Bylot in the Google search window). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654329551-6XBQ9SU01GSSVBC8PY4G/FirstAir40.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Perhaps there is no more geologically interesting island in the High Arctic than the bizarre Prince Leopold Island which lies to the west of Resolute in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Lancaster Sound at the junction of Prince Regent Inlet and Barrow Strait and is located just off the northeastern tip of Somerset Island. Prince Leopold is known as the 'Island of Freedom,' the vertical cliffs of Prince Leopold Island rise about 250 meters. The island was first sighted in 1819 by European explorer William Parry, and named in honour of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold Saxe Coburg, a German prince and cousin to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654373233-6B3DA4CTBRGHBWVGP6CD/FirstAir49.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out A summertime shot of Prince Leopold Island reveals one of the most geologically interesting, yet bleak, spots on the planet. The entire 14 kilometre by 8 kilometre island rises vertically out of Lancaster Sound with sheer cliffs of 1,000 feet on all sides. The island is a massive bird sanctuary and is noted for its extraordinary bird cliffs that house Thick-billed Murres, Northern Fulmars, and Black-legged Kittiwakes, who care for their young chicks on nests glued to the rocks with guano. The colony is estimated at a quarter of a million birds. Other species known to breed on the island include Atlantic Brant, Common Raven, Common Eider, Parasitic Jaeger, Glaucous Gull, and Snow Bunting. The seabirds generally occupy the site from early May to the end of August. The entire island is included within the Prince Leopold Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary (Federal Crown Land). It encompasses 311 square kilometres, which includes a 5 kilometre marine buffer around the island. An ungraded landing field is marked with sandbags on the flat surface at the southern end. The threshold of the “runway” begins at the edge of the cliff face, making landing short very problematic. Here is an amazing video of a landing by a Kenn Borek Twin Otter aircraft on Prince Leopold that shows us the challenges of the island field. Photo by TimothyK at Panoramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654508266-PXENCUBNKDZDXGTOIDRY/FirstAir43.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The remote village of Qikiqtarjuaq (meaning “Big Island” in Inuktitut), lies on the northeastern flank of Baffin Island on Davis Strait, the massive run of Arctic water that separates Baffin Island from Greenland. At about 2,000 feet, heading south, and six miles from touchdown, First Officer Fleck photographs a breathtaking winter environment. Davis Strait is several hundred kilometres wide at this point and frozen solid, with late autumn icebergs caught in the ice for the winter. Qikiqtarjuaq bills itself as the Iceberg Capital of the World, with the headland near the town capturing many bergs as they slide down Davis Strait from Greenland. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654537718-SOXAHB83O27C1RF1A2Z2/FirstAir44.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out The town of Qikiqtarjuaq (formerly Broughton Island) appears as the dark smudge to the right in this photo taken from the right seat of a First Air ATR-42 on short final over Davis Strait inbound for “Qik”. Winter days are normally very short and the area lies in total darkness for many weeks in the winter. This photo was taken during the best flying season in the High Arctic – March and April, when everything is still frozen hard and the low angled sun of a slightly longer day provides excellent visibility. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654563522-YJVJ6S3NYEPSZK838DIL/FirstAir45.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out About one mile from touchdown at “Qik”, we see random tracks from locals enjoying a rip in their snowmobiles. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631654644426-QYKES2G9S7CVCA7TXV9L/FirstAir42.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HIGH ARCTIC - Make it stand out Seconds from touchdown, the ATR-42 flies past the new Qikiqtarjuaq Airport Terminal building and another unserviceable First Air ATR-42 awaiting rescue. The flight in, with Fleck in the right seat, was a rescue mission for the stranded crew. Qikiqtarjuaq is a relatively popular stop for pilots who fly smaller aircraft to and from Europe. The airport has a 3,800 foot by 100 foot gravel runway that is well compacted, well cared for, cleared of snow daily, and well lit. Photo by Douglas Fleck https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/royal-canadian-inspiration monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631647915204-PGFLFO8RC6VLN9EA7Q5W/NeimaCadet1.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631647969723-ZHE857BNBYW772EO7L1I/NeimaCadet7.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out The Halifax Flying Club around the time of Jack Neima's early flying experiences with his father and uncle. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648063281-E8MNVLSLS26IKCWTZE5N/NeimaCadet6.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Young Jack Neima hung around the Halifax Flying Club, soaking up aviation in all its surrounding culture... waiting for his 13th birthday and the chance to join the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Here he attempts to look cool standing on the wheel of a 1943 Aeronca L-3/O-53B Grasshopper. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648097991-M9NOI7YRWUDHDYCESS60/NeimaCadet20.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out The Aeronca L-3 (C-FYYS) from the previous photograph still exists today, restored and repainted as a USAAC warbird – the L-3 Defender. C-FYYS is presently owned by Adam Wagstaffe in Oshawa, Ontario. Photo via Adam Wagstaffe/Airport-Data.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648148178-6VLLPC42XPRMZ5VKU72W/NeimaCadet5.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Father Jack MacGillivray had a passion for flying and obtained his private pilot’s license in March 1956 while stationed with the RCAF in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He had logged very little flying time in a Cessna 140 when he acquired Tiger Moth CF-IVO. Regardless of experience, he set about to explore his immediate surroundings in Canada’s Maritime Provinces with short cross-country hops to places like Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and New Glasgow. By the summer of 1959, MacGillivray was ready to spread his wings. With a fresh membership in a new organization called the Experimental Aircraft Association, he decided to venture off to the annual EAA convention and fly-in at Rockford, Illinois. This was a serious undertaking for a low-time pilot on his first long trip in an aircraft that by today’s standards was very under-equipped. Navigation was by dead reckoning and compass and the trip was made without radio communications. He departed Moncton, New Brunswick on 3 August and arrived at Rockford on 8 August with stops at fourteen towns in Canada and the U.S. While at Rockford, he had the opportunity to meet a number of EAA pioneers who were to become close friends in the decades that followed. These included Marty and Ruth Haedtler, Paul Poberezny, Steve Wittman, and, as he said at the time, “more swell people than I can remember.” After a two-day visit to the Rockford Fly-In, Fr. John reversed his route and returned to Nova Scotia arriving there on 13 August. The trip lasted 10 days and he logged 39 hours and 40 minutes, but it was the start of a lifelong love affair with EAA. Apart from a two-year posting to Germany, he never missed an EAA convention until his death in 1995. Father Jack MacGillivray’s account of that first trip to Rockford appeared in the October 1959 edition of Sport Aviation and it describes vividly the experience and the emotions he felt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648200359-KZI2EOQBXHVMNHOBYN7X/NeimaCadet2.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Father Jack's beautiful de Havilland Tiger Moth was painted navy blue overall with white striping and bright red wing struts. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648240469-BVFIWIOX0ISDZHOAPTYG/NeimaCadet3.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Prior to Father Jack owning Tiger Moth CF-IVO, it was part of the build-up to establish technical training for air mechanics of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The Tiger Moth was acquired along with two other ex-Royal Canadian Air Force D.H.82C Tiger Moths from civilian sources. The first Tiger Moth served with Fleet Requirements Unit 743 providing support to the fleet, while the remaining two were maintenance trainers. In 1949, two Tiger Moths were retired from the RCN and the third was dismantled and placed in storage. In the summer of 1954 it was reassembled and used as a general utility aircraft until finally being struck off RCN strength in November 1957. This aircraft was acquired in mid-1958 by Father John MacGillivray, a Roman Catholic Chaplain based with the RCAF at Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The Moth was registered as CF-IVO and was painted navy blue with white wings and accent trim and red wing struts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648287118-9PABBE7GOC01H3N7HHKW/NeimaCadet4.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out EAA’s de Havilland D.H.82C Tiger Moth is one of the earliest aircraft in its collection, having been donated by Royal Canadian Air Force Chaplain Father John MacGillivray (EAA 3974) following the 1964 EAA Convention and Fly-In at Rockford. Photo by Dave Richardson via Air-Britain photographic Images collection and the EAA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648320093-KAKK0LP2G8K99MOGJO5Y/Neima33.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out A close-up of the dedication panel on the side of the EAA Tiger Moth in honour of Father John “Jack” MacGillivray. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648422079-YW5T0OGFC6312730FP0I/NeimaCadet9.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Young Jack Neima (right) steps into the front cockpit of his uncle's, Father Jack McGillivray, magnificent Miles Hawk Major (C-FNXT) at the Halifax Flying Club. The Miles Hawk had been imported to Canada from England by the RCAF Chaplain and early member of the EAA during his two-year deployment in Germany. Having such a rare and exotic aircraft as the Hawk air racer in Halifax must have been very exciting for young Neima. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648460225-K78HKPB0OLQPX2FWU3JK/NeimaCadet23.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Father McGillivray's C-FNXT was originally an air racer in England – a Miles M.2W Hawk Major (G-ADWT), entered by Cartwright Hamilton Aviation Ltd (the name can just be made out on the fuselage) and piloted by R Dunster. It was entered in the Kelmsley trophy division for aircraft exceeding 130 mph and under 160. Records seem to indicate that it did not complete the race it was entered in. This image was taken in 1954. Photo from Tony Clarke Collection via David Whitworth Collection/Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648490646-8YVKJYBEHUO33I8PVGFN/NeimaCadet27.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Miles M.2W Hawk Major Trainer G-ADWT racing at Leeds (Yeadon) Airport. It is believed that Father Jack purchased the Hawk while on a two-year deployment with the RCAF in Germany. The company that owned G-ADWT, Cartwright Hamilton Aviation, was a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation. The little trainer is famous for having made the last known fixed wing landing at RAF Heston... some year after the base was shutdown. Photo via Ruth A. Scholefield, via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648513852-LCSSRRYMY85NFCA5JRFD/NeimaCadet22.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Later, in 1964, the Miles Hawk Major G-ADWT wore a different pain scheme altogether. Photo from Tony Clarke Collection via David Whitworth Collection/Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648548960-KMNXRMXVQP7407O02UTI/NeimaCadet26.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out After its ownership under Father Jack McGillivray, the Miles Hawk C-GNXT was repatriated to England where today she still flies with her original registration G-ADWT. She is owned by B. Morris and R. Earl and operated from The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England. Photo by John Allan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648584646-6CLBN5VRAR96VKMPTFEZ/NeimaCadet24.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out The beautiful Miles Hawk Major taxies on the manicured grass of Old Warden, the home of the Shuttleworth Collection. Photo: Robert Beaver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648617658-W1TF04Z1UGX8317LED13/NeimaCadet25.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Complete and total restoration of G-AWDT was completed in 2003 by the Newbury Aeroplane Company, UK. It is presently for sale. The beautiful Hawk is one of only 12 manufactured and the only one flying worldwide today. Originally, the trainer was delivered new to Phillip and Powis (the original name for Miles Aircraft) and then to No.8 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School at RAF Woodley. Photo by John Myers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648679173-GDHKM0GIV0A3FKQD4KL7/NeimaCadet15.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack Neima's father helped him reach his goal of flying by directing him into the Air Cadet program, where he learned the benefits of hard work, discipline and focusing on his ultimate goal. Here, dad poses beside Jack's Piper J-3 Cub at the Stanley, Nova Scotia airport. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648729049-MWSST9QVVB1C9ULJR84W/NeimaCadet11.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Air cadet Flight Sergeant Jack Neima is awarded his flying scholarship by an RCAF officer and pilot in May of 1973. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648803391-D7DDYH6CADNWA4XOVT8E/NeimaCadet30.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out HMCS Fraser (DDH 233), Neima's home in the summer of 1973, was a St. Laurent-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from 1957–1994. Fraser was the last survivor of the St. Laurent-class destroyers which were the first Canadian designed and built warships. RCN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648830801-9YKRF45GJTLVBJMM3HJY/NeimaCadet28.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Sadly, HMCS Fraser, the last remaining St. Laurent-class destroyer rotted on a Bridgewater, Nova Scotia pier for years as authorities decided her fate. Would she be a museum ship? Would she be a sunken reef? Was she a historic site? Unfortunately, as time went by, her restoration costs would grow and, eventually, she was towed to Ontario and broken up. The editor's brother served aboard Fraser in the late 1970s as a young signals rating. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648918653-OJP85109NL4XAE2VOVHI/NeimaCadet12.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack Neima's mother pins his new wings on him at a ceremony in September of 1973. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631648957101-JYT1I03W6GGJL3VAFITY/NeimaCadet8.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Young Jack in civvies and beaming with pride in his cadet uniform on the occasion of his wings ceremony. Photos via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649066596-S6VBQXCCB1C6XTTP6FOS/NeimaCadet10.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack and his son Peter pose with his first airplane – a sleek Piper Tomahawk (C-GRZW), seen here on the frozen surface of a Nova Scotia lake. Photo: via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649113772-TA99PBHZZB2340KC3I4F/NeimaCadet16.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack's daughter Nadine at the controls of an Air Cadet glider in Nova Scotia. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649146549-4Y1BDWNSS81WI4YY0DF8/NeimaCadet17.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out What goes around comes around. Jack Neima (left) and his father on the occasion of his daughter Nadine's wings parade. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649182849-X0573IPZSTIWD6K9017P/NeimaCadet18.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack's three children all were accomplished air cadets. Left, daughter Keri in 2004, right: children Peter and Nadine of 693 Squadron. Photos via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649240460-HUDHX8S8QA0657LHT5VR/NeimaCadet14.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack and his daughter Keri enjoy the joys of flying in all four seasons with their Piper Cub on floats, wheels and skis. Photo via Jack Neima https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631649272381-HQ3SP5L3R0Z4ZCD5APR4/NeimaCadet19.jpg The Stories - ROYAL CANADIAN INSPIRATION - Make it stand out Jack Neima has enjoyed a lifelong flying career thanks to the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Photo via Jack Neima https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/todd-lemieux monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623157811-B5F9M8RX00BP72FJS7V6/FarmBoy1.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623268826-TFJZCFAT5UFR9MA35C2M/FarmBoy2.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Todd Lemieux receives his pilot wings in a ceremony at Gimli, Manitoba. Gaze upon his serious face, for this will be the only time you will see him without a smile. Winning those coveted Air Cadet wings was something he had devoted every waking hour to for years as a cadet, so he can be excused the momentary lapse in his smile. Todd looks back on his cadet experience as formative – the finest youth developmental and leadership training program anywhere in Canada. Taking on the task of running the Raytheon Canada Yellow Wings 2013 Cross Canada Air Cadet Tribute Tour was the chance for him to give back to the program that made him successful in the air and under the ground. Photo via Lemieux family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623316979-9P8MH37NK3U5KY6LFTKW/FarmBoy3.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out A newspaper clipping from the Moose Jaw Times Herald tells the south Saskatchewan community about a teenaged Todd Lemieux's success as a glider pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Image via Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623387623-K0SVS3DHYT64NL6KJEWU/FarmBoy4.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon in physics and geology, Todd Lemieux soon found himself in the middle of the Alberta Oil Patch employing his scientific acumen, but still learning to do everything from drill the “oreo” at 1500 meters to resuscitating unprofitable oil patch companies and making them winners. While we may never have to drill for oil in the Bakken, Todd's chutzpa and can-do attitude may just help us frack a few wallets of Canada's philanthropists and there is no doubt he will lead the board and the enterprise to self-sustainability, if not profitability. Image via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623411636-9EMR65LRYM9E8PGQN4F5/FarmBoy5.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out While he may be Chairman of the Board of one of Canada's most dynamic not-for-profit charities, he is no stuffed shirt... no Western pilot is. Todd can quote freely and appropriately from cultural bibles such as The Simpsons, SCTV, The Farmers Almanac as well as CARs. He drinks coffee in the morning and beer in the evening. He drinks in your story all day. Todd is a personal friend of Dr. Evil. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623454635-AXIVD2G6IQ47C16WJ464/FarmBoy6.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out When Todd began getting some traction in the Oil Patch, he translated his gains into his dream – a beautiful Citabria Decathalon (C-GAUR). For Lemieux, flying his Citabria up into a remote Alberta or Montana airfield and sleeping in a tent under the wing, is what aviation is all about. It is this poetic approach combined with making the hard decisions, doing the hard work and putting in the hard hours that has been a recipe for success in his career. Lemieux has brought the same work ethic to his volunteer mission here at Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623484227-0XWL9KIC6YVBTTHIBCHJ/FarmBoy7.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Todd is no big city, dude ranch, urban cowboy/weekend lasso artist. He is just at home on horseback, in the cockpit of his newly acquired T-28 Trojan, aptly named “Just Doer” or in the open and hard seat of his father's old Cockshutt combine. Dogs love him, women follow him around, men envy his ease. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623513761-TYCTUXOV4AN0J5TG9X4W/FarmBoy8.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux and the Bill McRae Tiger Moth. When you run an organization like Vintage Wings of Canada, you want at the head of the Board someone who “gets it”, someone who understands not just how we do things, but why we do things. Since he was a young boy, living, flying and farming in rural Saskatchewan, he was virtually inside the Moose Jaw airfield circuit, with pilot trainees in their Tutor aircraft buzzing the farm. Stories of the young men who went through No. 32 Service Flying Training School during the Second World War permeated legend and everyday conversation in the small community. Artifacts from those days could still be found by a young boy with an imagination and a determination. Todd and his friends would often venture out onto the dry lake bed of Old Wives Lake, a shallow saline lake in south central Saskatchewan, about 30 km southwest of Moose Jaw. Old Wives was used for gunnery practice during the war, but in the dry season, it was a vast salty mudflat holding the detritus of years of aviation overhead. Out there, amidst the cracked and dried mud, they found remnants of a long ago crashed Fairey Battle and salvaged a fuselage roundel which, today, still graces the wall of his family's implement and equipment shed. Todd's imagination and respect allows him to imagine a line, uninterrupted by the veil of history, from his shed wall to the spirits of the young men who led us to victory and salvation so long ago. Todd shows intense empathy with men like Harry Hannah, Archie Pennie and Bill McRae, whose names grace the aircraft he flies for Vintage Wings. Their stories he has taken the time to know and embrace, so that he can pass them on to Canadians, especially the young people who are presently following in his footsteps – the blue uniformed and starry-eyed young boys and girls of the Royal Canadian Air Cadet program. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623546583-M2NO6KKEQHCZFLE0E49Z/FarmBoy9.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Todd's love of flying has taken him inexorably down the road to warbird Nirvana, and all, save his initial licenses, at his own expense. Today he flies his brutish T-28 Trojan, Just Doer at air shows and with his friend and like-minded T-28 owner Bruce Evans. He absorbs, relishes and out-and-out enjoys formation flying, maintenance, aerobatics, friendships, and all aspects of the passionate aviation life he has created. The United States Navy training squadron VT-2 had a crow/oriole cartoon bird, the Doer Bird, as its mascot, and every one of their aircraft was known as a “Doer Bird.” The engine cowling of Todd's Trojan sports an image of the Doer Bird, with the motto “Just Doer” beneath. Perhaps this motto describes Lemieux's idea of how to run an enterprise or business better than any mission statement crafted by a communications “expert” – stop talking, stop thinking someone else should execute your wonderful ideas, stop writing reports, stop commanding from on high, ... and JUST DOER!!!! Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623580010-0HY5MHACS515GLC2ABO3/FarmBoy10.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Old school Lemieux. Todd, while an adopter of all forms of modern communication and convenience, still loves the thrill and personal hands-on achievement of flight planning and route following, the old fashioned way – with maps – big, unwieldy, folding, confusing and beautiful maps with inked routes and way points, flapping in the slipstream. A GPS makes a terrible sun shade. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623622095-VOIF4MRA7H9VS5RXM9XB/FarmBoy12.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out Lemieux is a rock star oil patch fracker and company builder. In many ways he is like the Most Interesting Man in the World. He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels. The police often question him just because they find him interesting. He's a lover, not a fighter. But he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas. If he dreams of you, your life will change forever. If you dream of him, he knows. When it is raining, it is because he is thinking of something sad. He lives vicariously through himself. His shirts never wrinkle. On every continent in the world, there is a sandwich named after him. His hands feel like rich brown suede. Cuba imports cigars from him. Mosquitoes refuse to bite him purely out of respect. In museums, he is allowed to touch the art. His business card simply says “I’ll call you.” He has won the lifetime achievement award, twice. Once while sailing around the world, he discovered a short cut. When he drives a new car off the lot, it increases in value. His passport requires no photograph. Even his enemies list HIM as their emergency contact. His mother has a tattoo that says "Son." The star on his Christmas tree is tracked by NASA. When he is in Rome, the Romans do as he does. He once knew his call was the wrong number even though the person on the other end wouldn't admit it. His reputation is expanding faster than the universe. You can see his charisma from space. With apologies to Dos Equis XX Beer. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631623654724-JO0KXOJRGM5DGLQOAHJ3/FarmBoy13.jpg The Stories - THE FARM BOY FACTOR - Make it stand out While Hollywood aviators have ridiculously sounding, self-indulgent call signs like Viper, Maverick, Iceman, Stinger, and Cougar, Todd Lemieux goes by the name of Pepé, after that amourous French skunk cartoon character of Looney Tunes fame, one Pepé Le Pew. Unlike his animated weasel namesake, Pepé Lemieux's love and affection is requited – for the simple reason that he, unlike the storied skunk of Paris, whose malodorous personality causes others to be repelled, wears the heady cologne of joy, the aftershave of happiness, the nasal clearing whiff of avgas. This comes from the fact that he wakes each day to find himself doing what he loves. Lead on Mr. Chairman. Photo via Lemieux's Facebook page https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/inspiration-machine monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582497308-B129WLQ6QPQ0J9R8IVAU/21DB7684-9C0A-48BD-8B50-BBA13E3C8164.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582526497-XRIVTCF6EQPA6RCGGVHB/B6B3A2DB-B356-4DA2-A32C-019618D5ADDA.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Some of the members of the Yellow Wings Stearman team at Netook, Alberta. Left to right: Todd Lemieux, Yellow Wings Team Lead; Gord Simmons, pilot; Fiona Stevensen; Derek Blatchford, pilot; and Krusti Whelan. There are many folks who make this program possible on the ground, including the Air Cadet League of Canada and the Department of National Defence. There are other key Yellow Wings pilots from coast to coast, but out in Victoria and Penhold, this included Ron Dujohn, Bruce Evans, Larry Brown, Norm Swayze and Jeff Bell. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582553465-8BOT75E48F3YQEHURMFT/3169101C-D7CB-4984-BC4F-8ADAF9A45D96.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out The Warrant Officer Harry Hannah Boeing PT-27 Stearman (Kaydet)—the Inspiration Machine. Of all the elementary flying training aircraft on the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), Kaydet, though a larger, more powerful biplane than the more delicate Tiger Moths and Fleet Finches also in use at the time, was in service for only a few months. The Kaydets were delivered for use in Royal Air Force (RAF)-run schools in Alberta only, but without many of the options requested by the RAF for instruction in the extreme cold of the Canadian climate—the most important shortcoming being the lack of an enclosed cockpit. Pilots were issued leather face masks to prevent frostbite in the slipstream of the open Stearman cockpit. Despite these problems, they were employed until much better equipped Fairchild Cornell trainers could be supplied. After 18 months, they were returned to the United Sates, where they served as USAAF trainers. RAF student pilots, who trained on the Stearman, look back fondly on the memory of this superb handling trainer and consider themselves amongst an elite group in the BCATP. The Vintage Wings Stearman, a rare BCATP veteran, wears the markings it once wore (FJ875) when in the service of the BCATP at No. 32 EFTS, Bowden, Alberta. Photo: Todd Lemieux, Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582589233-WJGF5WSVFNC7ZK07QOAV/E7686EA1-C7D8-451E-9747-1B1B0CE9E057.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out During the Second World War, the small community of Penhold was host to a large and very active base of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In 1940, the base opened as an RCAF Manning Depot with only one building. Five hangars and 31 other buildings (barracks, service and administrative structures) were still under construction well into 1941. Six hard surfaced runways ranging from 900 to 1,075 metres long made up the airfield. Two additional hangars were built for a total of seven. In August 1941, the base was handed over to the RAF and No. 36 Service Flying Training School was transferred from Britain, along with Airspeed Oxford aircraft. Relief fields were set up at Innisfail and Blackfalds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582617930-9LWI1O6YTOZSXQ9DY1KP/0EFFBDF3-DC4A-4218-B2A1-EA628615F173.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out The Penhold airfield still functions today, more than most former BCATP bases in the West, but many of the hangars are now demolished or destroyed by fire and only 2 of the original six runways still accept aircraft. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582664171-C8QV7WX854ZO0V4Z89YC/E0DCE798-8A53-4BB4-9CE2-936BCE613306.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out During the Second World War, the service flying students at No. 36 SFTS were instructed on the Airspeed Oxford twin-engined trainer. The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War. They were all built in Great Britain and were shipped to Canada for the use of RAF students. This and the following vintage photographs were taken by Royal Australian Air Force pilot F/O Ray Morgan in 1944. In this shot, Morgan, in the co-pilot’s seat, photographs another Oxford over the engine nacelle of his, with the Alberta prairie below. Photo: F/O Ray Morgan, via Nektonic at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582712496-7KXXYGSN01U9DQ9B0SP4/89C5FD0D-3051-4D3E-82BC-1C4D669C79D2.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Thousands of students went through No. 36 SFTS at Penhold. Each course sat for their group photograph. Here we see the students (with white cap flashes) of Course No. 105 sitting for the station photographer in June 1944. Photo: F/O Ray Morgan, via Nektonic at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582739911-VBV3GZKB3Q84BSYS68AU/BDB2F831-5B61-44C1-B4D2-ED78BFEA688E.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Out on the Alberta prairie in 1944, the flying was exceptional. Here we see a couple of young RAF or RAAF pilots from No. 36 SFTS inching their way up under another Airspeed Oxford. Photo: F/O Ray Morgan, via Nektonic at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582762669-HD4JWPUSPXEKTVRN4XG9/4BA27EFC-C4F7-4D69-B3E9-F5BA6CE57CEF.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Student pilots from No. 36 SFTS, Penhold, Alberta form up echelon left over the prairie. Here we see the exceptional visibility provided by the cockpit glazing of the Airspeed Oxford. Photo: F/O Ray Morgan, via Nektonic at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582784455-NAN3D2YXBUDQPJLDE120/4D01A633-A7E1-4CED-B136-69226A7EF0D4.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Training is always a dangerous game. Photo records such as those of Australian Ray Morgan show a breathtaking array of Oxford accidents at Penhold, but no more than any other flying training base. This Oxford crash at Penhold shows that the aircraft may have struck small trees. The resulting damage appears to be such that grievous injury or even the death of the pilot was the result. Photo: F/O Ray Morgan, via Nektonic at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582804011-6VL7X330OVQR68U9YVWD/BAE2D9A3-DC6F-4D39-BB49-221850E439F2.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Post war, Penhold became a major training base for RCAF pilots. After initial training on the de Havilland Chipmunk, fledging pilots would advance to the more challenging Harvard 4, before going on to the T-33 Silver Star to earn their wings. Here is a great photograph of the Penhold flight line in the early 1960s with scores of Harvards awaiting their students and instructors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582824586-6GU5153RKMDBXQ3TL32D/FB98EC17-63DC-4845-8F54-6ED3304D249D.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Fertile young minds, eager for inspiration and direction. More than 700 Air, Navy and Army cadets listen intently in a Penhold hangar as Yellow Wings pilot Ron Dujohn, himself a former air cadet and now a Westjet Captain, briefs them on the Yellow Wings program and the mission of Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582844467-RXUX23CKC0W289U2V6YL/44B0D33D-78DF-4EF9-ADE7-D95429A0548F.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Belted in and ready for flight—16-year-old Maria Higuerey, originally from Venezuela but now an air cadet in Fort McMurray, Alberta gives us the thumbs up before her flight back in time. Afterward, Higuerey had an even bigger smile, saying, “My experience with Vintage Wings was amazing and inspiring. I am really glad to have the opportunity to fly in one of the aircraft with such an interesting and amazing history. The best part of my experience was flying the aircraft myself. Being chosen was a privilege and I am truly happy to have been part of the ride. The Canadian Air Cadet Program sparked a personal passion for flying. After finishing High School and Cadets, I am planning to go to University to study aerospace engineering and I would also like to join the military. I thank Vintage Wings for making my summer the best summer I have ever had so far and also for giving me a memory that I will definitely preserve forever. I would also like to thank the Canadian Cadet program for giving me this and many other opportunities and making my dreams come true.” You’re welcome Corporal Higuerey! Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582867452-NBAL55YUIUZDPXZ6NLXZ/938B151A-C3B8-44E8-B7CD-8BA906392E1B.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Cadet Taran Nasedkin and pilot Krusti Whelan share a moment of humour as “instructor” 16-year-old Taran jokingly berates his “student” Whelan for not knowing all the items on the Stearman checklist. All the cadets at Penhold were invited to pose for a unique post-flight photograph—and this one takes the cake. Nasedkin is a Sergeant at 577 “Dragonriders” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Grande Prairie, Alberta. He was attending the Military Band – Advanced Musician Course at Penhold Cadet Summer Training Centre. Of his flight, Nasedkin said, “I was given the opportunity to participate in the Vintage Wings program and fly a Boeing Stearman, open-cockpit biplane. This was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Being able to not only fly in, but to take control of and actually fly the plane was absolutely unreal. There is absolutely nothing like flying in an open-cockpit plane. I’ve flown in gliders and in Cessnas and this is a completely different experience. There are no words that can truly describe it. When I graduate high school, I plan on becoming a Paramedic. I would also like to obtain my private pilot’s licence. I would like to thank the Canadian Cadet Movement, Vintage Wings of Canada, and everyone else who made this incredible experience possible.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582889291-IVOPOX90U57F75EBA29T/0BEFDB9B-6137-4C0E-9C47-F3B3A950AD39.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Yellow Wings pilot Derek Blatchford, himself a long time cadet instructor and tow pilot, shakes hands with his next passenger, 14-year-old Amanda Loeffen, a Flight Corporal at 38 “Anavets” Squadron in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. “I thank Vintage Wings and their generous sponsors and donors for reassuring me that flying is what I want to do with my life, I will remember that moment forever,” said Loeffen after her first flight in an open-cockpit aircraft. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582910852-81M1Q0MTQG1X3RZZF2P3/D89101C0-E6BE-4F22-B86E-7A0124F00B65.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Matthew Taylor, a 16-year-old Flight Sergeant at 702 “Lynx” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan holds his boarding pass, confirming he is good to go aloft for a trip back in time over the Penhold gliding base near Red Deer. Matthew said, “The fact that I was chosen for such a unique opportunity was a great honour, and I hope that this once-in-a-lifetime chance will be available to many more Cadets in the future. Upon completion of high school, I want to go to university and eventually become an Aerospace Engineer with the Canadian Forces. I would like to thank all the generous sponsors and donors for the amazing opportunity they have provided. That thanks would be on behalf of all cadets who got to take part of the great opportunity.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582934730-X5IO016BGUPMMV4MYULX/1D6EBFF0-4121-4BFC-AFCC-C6E87A14AAD8.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Pilot Krusti Whelan and his “student” Gregory Esman pose with the Harry Hannah Stearman after their flight. Esman is currently a Flight Sergeant at 872 “Kiwanis Kanata” Air Cadet Squadron, and he had this to say about his experience: “My flight with Vintage Wings was absolutely fantastic. One of my favourite parts was actually flying the Stearman. That was an exciting, rare, and an extremely fun experience. The fact that I was even given the opportunity to fly in a Vintage Wings aircraft is a gift in itself, but actually being picked as one of the lucky cadets to fly in one is amazing. If I were to get the chance to meet one of the generous donors, I would definitely give them all my gratitude for their ongoing efforts to keeping this amazing program going.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583018797-MACX477BQDZ9X6ENLGXN/7EB05A2A-9D94-4BEB-AC25-F6CD70A135D4.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Darcy Wong of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a 16-year-old from 107 “Spitfire” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron has some mighty grand plans for his future, and if he accomplishes even half of them, the world will indeed be a better place. “My experience from Vintage Wings is definitely one of the best things I’ve done in cadets, if not the best. When I was up in the air, it felt like a second home. The best part was everything from the takeoff to the landing, it was simply majestic. In five years, I plan to be finishing my mechanical engineering degree and going to achieve a degree in Business and Administration as well as going into commerce. After cadets, I plan to pursue my interest in business. After I have completely finished with school, I plan to invent a car that does not pollute and sell it worldwide, then moving onto other projects in infrastructure and other means of transportation. After that, I plan to completely revolutionize the energy industry into a 100% renewable grid and change the world. I would like to thank those who made this experience possible for me and to say please keep helping this program because the change starts small and it will only get bigger. This program is small in terms of a world scale but I have every belief that it will only get bigger.” 40 years from now, we would like to think that the world was saved by Darcy because of the inspirational spark we gave him. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583044207-JU03NOSD6MFX1OUUA4PL/0A333E8F-DF81-444E-815E-BCFAD3266CB3.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Air cadet Barbara Young, a 17-year-old Flight Sergeant at 107 “Spitfire” Squadron in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is reluctant to let go of the Stearman after her flight back in time over Penhold. Barbara tells us, “I was super excited when I heard that Vintage Wings was coming to Penhold. This was an amazing experience for me. I have always been interested in aircraft ever since I was little; aircraft and flying have been a passion of mine for a very long time now. I thank Vintage Wings and everyone who have made this opportunity amazing for me. This has honestly been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life... They have inspired me to do what I can do, always keeping your goals high, never doubting yourself and always keeping your head held high. You can only achieve what you put your mind to. I would like to thank Vintage Wings once again for everything and for making one of my dreams come true.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583074160-Z5EGGZN16PEME1VQ3PYE/D1F27961-D37C-4D6D-95B4-8B8201741357.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Young Kim Gosbjorn from Bon Accord, Alberta, a 15-year-old cadet from 524 “Sturgeon” RCACS poses straddling the cowlings of the Stearman in which he just went for a ride at Penhold summer camp. Kim tells us, “I am on a six-week Air Rifle Marksmanship Instructor course at Penhold Air Cadet Summer Training Centre and I am having an amazing time. I get to have lots of time on the range and all of the flight staff and other cadets are really awesome. Flying with Vintage Wings was easily the coolest thing I’ve ever done through Cadets. I know that it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I will remember it for the rest of my life. The best part was definitely when I was able to control the plane for a little bit. I hope to get my own pilot’s licence through cadets and in five years, I hope to be in university preparing to join the RCAF and becoming a pilot in the military. To all the sponsors and generous donors, you have given a lot of cadets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you have helped make dreams come true for a lot of cadets.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583095012-AQK8U6WF1KQ3MRUMD5LU/31287BFC-1966-4D97-BAE0-1B5F259FF810.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Logan Praznik, a third-year Air Cadet with the rank of Flight Corporal, from 82 “Brandon” RCACS, offers us and our sponsors a unique perspective on his experience: “If I was approached by one of Vintage Wings’ sponsors, I would tell them, ‘Aviation, in many ways, is the cutting edge of many fields in one final product. Thank you, not only for letting me see what the cutting edge was 70 years ago, but also how we’ve improved now, and where we might go in the future.’ ” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583116819-YMKLJ6JXYLR4QY5V9RBX/9366C6B6-219B-4F64-926F-621B2972976B.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Sergeant Jessen Liang, 16 years old, from Calgary, Alberta, is from 604 “Moose” Squadron and was flown in the Stearman by Vintage Wings pilot Jeff Bell. Of his surprise flight in the Stearman, he had this to say, “Not knowing what to expect, we marched over to the airport to receive a small pre-flight briefing. Shortly thereafter, I was led by my pilot out onto the apron, where a Boeing Stearman Trainer was waiting for us. I was belted in, and after a bit, the radial engine was cranking and getting us into the air. We flew a circuit, air blasting through the open cockpit. The best feeling was that of the raw exhilaration from having a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have a flight in a piece of Canadian history. The experiences I have gained here are unforgettable, and will definitely help me in my career and education, both in Cadets and out. In 5 years, I will be in my third year of University, where I want to be studying Aviation Technology and Mechanical Engineering or other Technological-related courses. Cadets and especially the matchless opportunities that I have gotten from the program such as this one, will irrefutably help me in my future career. Thank you to Vintage Wings and their sponsors, Raytheon, for a great experience, a great program, and a great flight! The experience has definitely inspired a track for me to continue on into an Aviation-related career.” Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583137359-Q5EZIILXPEB67R85JFHD/58D56C0B-EDA3-4A21-8178-32D798791B19.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Wherever you go in life, if you are lucky, you will run into enthusiastic, creative, and driven people; people who go beyond what is asked and turn a simple job into a great job; people who don’t just give you what you ask for, but people who give you much more; people like Sergeant Tim Wun of the Penhold cadet staff. Tim organized much of the behind the scenes administration, creatively photographed each flying cadet, interviewed them and turned their responses into posts on our 500 Dream Take Wing Facebook site. He has enabled us to show the true benefit to Canadians of the Raytheon Canada Yellow Wings Youth Leadership Initiative. Now, if only we could clone Tim and take him across Canada. Photo: Fiona Stevensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583162413-ICOMHYXWZSNXF1E0NW2D/F5E815B8-58E1-413B-A350-F311A440BE6A.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Throughout the flying day, Wun was always on hand to create a record of every flight, and every emotion expressed by the cadets who got to fly in the Stearman. Then, after the flying, Tim got to work processing the photos and collecting and editing the comments from the young girls and boys. Photo: Fiona Stevensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583188216-5J57BQKGSZZYTNNW1JMY/02CD3023-8474-4C3B-8EF7-00EB590CB823.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out A satellite view of Netook today. Netook, the municipal airport for the small Alberta farming community of Olds, is located 4 miles north of the town. The airport is owned and operated by the Air Cadet League of Canada – Alberta Provincial Committee. It is home to the Netook Gliding Centre, one of five Air Cadet Gliding Program locations in Alberta. During the Second World War, Netook was a Relief Landing Field for No. 32 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Bowden, outside Calgary. As such, it was designed to take aircraft practising circuits and forced landings and thereby relieve the traffic at Bowden on busy days. It features two intersecting grass strips of good length—Runway 01–19 (3,700 ft) and Runway 14–32 (4,400 ft). Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583209122-ODSL8B9TVTK5J1XV34QM/1B84DFE0-1B62-41ED-82A0-E639B41E8E9F.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out A couple of women staff at No. 32 EFTS Bowden pose on the flight line with a line-up of immaculate Boeing PT-27 Stearmen “Kaydet” aircraft. When the 300 PT-27 trainers were returned to the USA over a period of many months, some of them, like FJ875 were re-engined and rebuilt to the PT-17 Standard of the USAAC. Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583228226-AN1KXRTV70GUK733NL5N/625690B2-F15D-4630-B654-B871D55DB0D0.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Another shot taken from a taxiing Stearman at Bowden shows a number of the beefy looking trainers awaiting their instructors and students. One can imagine the bright yellow aircraft, the green prairie grass and the cloudless blue sky. Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583252504-4QIPGQYQBNJ704Q3UW9V/FEDA8E93-0309-4B04-B68B-286C358F1F01.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Another great photo on the flight line at Bowden shows both Stearman and de Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft awaiting students and instructors. It was on this flight line in these Stearmen that Archie Pennie learned to fly—so well in fact that he was made a flying instructor at Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583279300-25B5XGO19RR7TFQI21HL/278D7407-0EE0-4ED1-A1F0-17C25889BA01.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out RAF flying students (the white cap flash indicates their un-winged status) pose with a Boeing Stearman on the flight line at No. 32 EFTS Bowden. Though the aircraft were eventually deemed inadequate for open-cockpit flying training in Canada, due entirely to their lack of cold weather capabilities, all the young RAF flyers who learned their initial flying skills on the big, beefy and yet nimble Stearman considered themselves to be part of an elite. Looking at the number on the underside of this Stearman’s wing, it appears like it could be FJ87_. The last number is obscured, but we could be looking at our aircraft! Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583298027-56GJTUBUTVHB6JO9451M/320C4288-5A62-40E8-85AB-1CDF02C40DCA.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out The Warrant Officer Harry Hannah Boeing PT-27 Stearman is in fact one of the original group of 300 Stearman aircraft acquired for the British Commonwealth Air Training plan and assigned specifically to elementary flying training of only RAF student pilots and only in Alberta. Today, she is in pristine condition, having been returned to Boeing in the United States after several months along with all 300 Stearmen BCATP aircraft, which were deemed inadequate for flight training in an Alberta winter. During its training career at No. 32 EFTS, our Stearman (RCAF s/n FJ875) was involved in a ground taxiing accident with another PT-27 Kaydet at Netook Relief Field, with both aircraft suffering serious damage to their wings. Here we see mechanics from Bowden, sent to bring back the damaged airframes, removing the upper port wing of FJ875 on the grass at Netook. Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583329360-30SN6XMNGMCTKXUYVKZN/2D4E25B0-A5A9-4489-8716-982E4574131A.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out After its accident at Netook, and with its wings and empennage removed, the Stearman’s tail was lifted and tied to the bed of a farm truck and towed back the few miles to Bowden. Here we see FJ875 with what appear to be locals (the man in the military style cap is not an officer in the RAF or RCAF—possibly the truck driver). Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583345522-AD5F5R21IYANBKRKG0VW/BC8DA764-7000-4A49-BFB9-61BDFD3C910B.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Boeing Stearman FJ875, which is today the Warrant Officer Harry Hannah Stearman, is seen at Netook in 1943, shortly after it collided on the ground with another Stearman while taxiing on the grass. Riggers from Bowden arrived soon after and removed the wings and empennage from the damaged aircraft. While mechanics work at the tail, one, in aviator sunglasses, relaxes in the cockpit, perhaps toeing the brakes and poses for the RAF photographer sent out to take photographs of the incident’s aftermath. It was this photograph that the Stearman pilots and the Netook cadets of today would recreate when the Yellow Wings team paid a visit last week. Photo via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583363860-34TQ98Z3EIR8MOLGFRA4/30344592-7719-44C6-B682-876D8753EA14.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Cadet gliding instructor Emily McConnell re-enacts the scene at Netook 70 years ago. The only differences are that we kept the wings and empennage on the aircraft and, more importantly, there are women pilots and mechanics in the air force. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583382046-TMJ09RJ2QMSCO0KSTO6A/3021D82E-2341-428D-A837-7E5F0712F931.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Cadet Officer Becca Howard plays the part of the young Bowden rigger who sat in FJ875, 70 years ago. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583398930-3HVZO6VK4SJWVNHFMPU4/E1E0BE34-04A4-4A43-8ECF-6DD8E791DACC.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Just the day before, glider flight instructor Emily McConnell was taking the controls of the Harry Hannah Stearman in Penhold with Krusti Whelan as pilot in command. Today, the roles were reversed, and Emily got a chance to return the favour, taking Whelan aloft for some quiet time over the Netook glider field. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631583415807-O0FMP7OK727TCFQCHCGY/9F2715A6-B2DE-4233-A267-9204B7EBDF1A.jpeg The Stories - INSPIRATION MACHINE - Make it stand out Back in the barn for a little down time, the Harry Hannah Boeing Stearman has done yeoman service at flying through the Rockies to Victoria on Vancouver Island and then back again to Red Deer and the former BCATP base at Penhold. Photo: Yellow Wings Stearman Team https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-roar-of-four monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581874238-3WB0GAEYEWLPNXA3HW09/5E4C7F65-3BC3-4694-92AB-C79FD3692C20.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581908833-QMLTMSIT7A80LU5PNEZ7/648CDCC1-73B1-4779-BBDF-0B23A36F806E.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out The port outer Merlin engine joins the chorus for the first time and the Bomber Command Museum of Canada’s Lancaster is firing on all 48 cylinders!! Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581945779-7H2IS6OX2HUIG0QWGOBF/61ED1D36-7567-4553-996B-146C4AC268EF.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Eighty-five-year-old John Phillips (I know, it’s hard to believe) revels in the glorious sound of all four engines in harmony. Phillips led the team that restored and brought to life all four engines over a seven year period. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581974125-8OGT3ZKI2B2554FCLD1Y/E88F3427-373F-4014-82DA-D835E7F9FF07.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out After the fact. One of Canada's premier aviation photographers is Parr Yonemoto. The man is everywhere. He was at Wings over Gatineau-Ottawa one day and then across the country in Nanton the next weekend for the Running of the Merlins. Here we see exactly why this event and in fact all night runs are favourites with professional photographers. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582072963-PQHOAXPZBFPKU1T7V3ZT/C3B477E9-A156-479F-BC01-9ECFBE9FE3C4.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Yonemoto shoots another from an elevated position. Note the blast of blue exhaust flame from each engine. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582123063-LVYSYNVTH8YJKY749DSO/0E380E45-05AD-4AEB-AD2F-118D282BB5D8.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Before the start-up, a few re-enactors pose for photos. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582149517-5ZUOLKEA0MZEEQDQXI6B/2C65AD9B-9785-4F29-9B9D-499ECB8A498C.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Close up of the two port engines belching blue flames. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582168531-WO4V2UGXV66YPFED7N6F/ECA3CCF6-D2BE-4C0E-B08B-709D927CB163.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out Lancaster FM159 (left) at the time of her purchase by the Nanton group and a photo of her being towed across the Little Bow River after harvest time. Photos via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582189151-LTPSTHFG1M14YG89EYMR/EA6794DD-8204-473C-9FA2-86873E8F1CB5.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out At Nanton, the Merlin engine crew work on the Lanc’s port inner engine to get her ready for the big debut. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582215744-4LJSNG1TIBQRJ8HREOM3/474D9F2D-6534-41C5-A643-220EF865C0C0.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out The last engine in the symphony gets some TLC. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582255692-2ZPNLBDC5HQV0UOWF6D9/35BA5F78-11F0-43F5-9A3F-8D3153CBBB7E.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out This will be your chance to photographically recreate a scene similar to this one of a Lancaster. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631582286688-ZK1DGN2DDJCBJZ5MDQ2O/5DBC73E0-825F-49E3-B1DA-ACF8DF07D52A.jpeg The Stories - THE ROAR OF FOUR - Make it stand out The end result will be a photo that everyone will comment on... a full colour “painting” of a Lancaster warming up for a night mission over Germany. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/postcards-from-penhold monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581056003-SAAQSMMLW1EM0VN6VZHU/2045590F-4DBF-4197-BAB8-0CC19AF05155.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581104886-HNZWX145E2ML7JX8YLSF/7649597E-D26B-4162-8C1C-DD8F7BA5B923.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out This is right after our wings parade at the Regional Gliding School in 1993, in Penhold, Alberta. I walked across that ramp during the VWC Red Deer deployment and stood where Lt. Col. Bob Patrick pinned on my gliding wings! I kind of always liked the tow planes better, so I think I wanted my picture taken in front of this Scout. This was the last summer that we wore the green uniforms. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581140353-DFCNO23HUK6P2INKCH54/2A565936-54CD-4A39-9F75-FEBF6A70679F.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out My fellow staff cadets at Penhold in 1995, standing in front of a former RCAF Harvard with our supervising officer. Left to right: Captain Lloyd Olson, Todd Katay, me, Bill Stock, John Gruber, Richard Kzasiak, and Sarah Tufts. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581165783-6KP5I107P6H59KZW4188/80A773EF-E4A1-4574-8CFC-D5627C714D6A.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out This is a blurry picture of the first flight I ever had in a Boeing Stearman – in 1995, when I was a staff cadet at Penhold. I worked that summer as a staff cadet instructor for the air studies course. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581221785-S5B6V2PTLL82UI8L6XV7/C89CC93B-6285-47F0-AA67-42EC8A440758.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out This is taken on my cadet flying scholarship course with Great Bear Aviation at Yellowknife, NWT in 1994. I am standing on our “apron” where we would park and tie down overnight. This school closed down afterwards, and this is now part of the Buffalo Airways parking area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581274712-SA0OG97O9Q3BCMXTVMJY/0B910EB4-4D2D-4838-B5C9-98D42000C3FC.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out Today, one of my favourite aircraft to fly is the highly capable Piper Pawnee. Built as a crop duster, it now serves the Winnipeg Gliding Club as a tow plane. Here I am diving for the field after a tow. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581313834-E8O59FYR6G7FMQJAEIMR/F4929C03-6BDC-4220-A550-79016CC60C2B.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out A postcard from my first solo flight in the Warrant Officer Harry Hannah Boeing PT-27 Stearman. Photo by Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581419097-XWCAYH6MCHKHAZ638TX8/18C4E292-C173-4782-BDB5-311C6F12574E.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out Some of the guys in my new family—the Yellow Wings Stearman team. Left to right: Derek Blatchford, a highly experienced military, commercial and cadet pilot, Fiona Stevenson (who actually ran everything,) myself, and the legendary Krusti Whelan, one of the most inspirational pilots in the country. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581438764-IUSPEFLC4QRZKLRSPZDV/A7834FA1-2FF4-4E9C-A315-612C297533E2.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out Being a role model, making a difference and setting an example for the next generation of Canadian aviators and leaders made my week at Penhold one of the finest aviation experiences of my life. Photo via Jeff Bell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581466020-V27VRDP3IZXCXB2W4WD0/2D762AFA-66A2-4E8C-8EA7-1BFA27FEC741.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out After her flight in the Stearman with me, 14-year-old Air Cadet Inalie Portades, of Saskatoon, SK had this to say about her flight: “Flying in the Stearman, I felt like I was the happiest person in the world at that time. The best part was when Jeff, my pilot, let me steer and step on the pedals and make an awesome turn to the left. I felt like I was really lucky to be chosen. If I get the chance, I will apply for both a glider and a power pilot license. Then, I will go step by step to become a pilot. Of course I would thank the sponsors and donors a million times for giving me this experience to fly with this one of a kind vintage aircraft. Also, I would share this experience with other people and tell to them that without the donors and sponsors, I wouldn’t have a chance to fly a Stearman.” Photo by Tim Wun https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581488940-DTHJLPBQNG4ZK95P393A/06956270-E295-4780-9EA1-AB3127FC2D6E.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out The Stearman Spirit is infectious – me and the Warrant Officer Harry Hannah Boeing PT-27 Stearman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631581510372-J499MUNP0LORFA93LXDC/20E41B23-3101-44B1-B490-9109700D951B.jpeg The Stories - POSTCARDS FROM PENHOLD - Make it stand out Inspiring the young people at Penhold gives me some perspective on my own experience and the future of my daughter. Photo via Jeff Bell https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/checking-out-the-vintage-single-seaters monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631569254593-XFSP7A4B2GJ0AMYNL9XI/ErdosTitle.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631618779299-0FH5M5QHPYHAN92QPLN8/Erdos3.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Last summer, Erdos flew the Vintage Wings of Canada Hurricane IV to Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - a like-minded organization with lots of experience in warbird operation. They too have a fully restored Westland Lysander built nearby in Toronto at National Steel Car. This Lizzie has not yet flown either, but Rob was invited to do a little cockpit work and even taxi the aircraft. Here he climbs up to what may very well be the highest cockpit in the single-seat category (Single pilot in this case) followed by one of CWHM's aero engineers. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631618823130-0PZ95P41ESU1QTWHD59K/Erdos5.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Rob Erdos learns the intricacies of the Lysander control panel and some tips on engine start from one of Canadian Warplane Heritage's highly experienced aero engineers. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631618899551-15VKWLIZ7E281INZ6T9R/Erdos6.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Erdos starts the Bristol Mercury engine and does a little tarmac flying to get a feel for ground handling. The guys at CWHM have been very generous with their expertise and time, allowing Vintage Wings to learn some valuable gen prior to our own engine start-up. The CWH Lysander is scheduled to fly this summer, and Rob has been invited to conduct the first flight and post-restoration test flight program. It is a good example of the cooperation and sharing of knowledge that exists between CWH and VWC. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631618937537-A7STO0U53FFBWF9NVQD6/Erdos2.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Even when you've already checked out and had dozens of hours on type, the experiences of other pilots will only add to the body of information a pilot should collect and share. Here Erdos chats with former Hurricane and Spitfire pilot Chris Preston back in 2007. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631618994541-D2TE3OKAXFPUPICS02O1/Erdos7.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Pilots love to share experience. The community is a close-knit one and willing to share information that can lead to safer and more efficient operation of these valuable warbirds. Here Erdos flies his hands around demonstrating a technique to fellow VWoC Spitfire pilot N. Kent Beckham and Lancaster pilot Andy Dobson of CWHM. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619033527-IDHAP42THCN1Y3M9XVIH/Erdos4.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Once checked out, a good pilot never stops learning and adding to his knowledge base. Erdos pilots the Hawker Hurricane in close formation with the Lancaster of CWHM. Each flight is followed by a thorough debriefing to ensure that VWC pilots continue to share their experiences. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619071340-FRFUE0775S64XW5SQY6D/Erdos10.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Erdos taxies after another perfect landing at a Vintage Wings Open House event. Rob's experience and skill at flying this historic airplane has allowed him to create tools, build checklists and collect information that in turn can be shared with other Hurricane pilot- in-the-making. Recently, this experience helped get Dave Hewitt of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team checked out on type. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619095465-RMJOICJYJTR8KT5U7L5D/Erdos9.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out A dream come true. Erdos sits at the controls of a Messerschmitt Bf-109 of the Russell Group - once the most ubiquitous of all single seat fighters, now only this sole aircraft of the type still flies (at the time of the photo). An aircraft of this pedigree and singular rarity deserves a cautious and well worked through training regime before anyone is allowed to take her into the skies. Photo: Via Rob Erdos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619151674-XN5I7EV6YM5BHC3NTGAN/Erdos8.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Erdos goes through cockpit drills long before he takes an opportunity to fly the 109. Photo: Via Rob Erdos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619227482-JIBE9DMAON5PIRA8U5WG/Erdos11.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Second World War Spitfire pilot Louis Geffrion and present day Spit man Erdos talk about the flying qualities of this legendary airplane. It's in quiet moments like this that tiny bits of information are uncovered from someone who has been there which add to the knowledge base that Vintage Wings is committed to building and maintaining through people like Rob Erdos. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619260750-MA7846R89E69SSEMEBS1/Erdos12.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out And then it's time to share this knowledge with our friends - the Canadian public. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631619287344-9KXV6MW6L6CSHQS1B7E4/Erdos13.jpg The Stories - CHECKING OUT - Make it stand out Erdos is the Manager of British Types at Vintage Wings. The old saying "It's not broken, it's British" says a lot about the quirkiness and sometimes counter-intuitive operation of the Hurricane, Lysander and other Anglo-designs. Erdos knows that the only way to fly these aircraft for all to enjoy is to understand them as completely and as intimately as possible. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/boy-in-a-hurricane monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568571011-V2044QZUUFNWQUGTT1H0/HewittTitle.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568687688-LG2QQ43STP9XPI9TQB52/Hewitt3.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Dave Hewitt, as a member of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team is one of the most experienced of current Harvard pilots. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568721510-DP7ZHAM93F4WGAW0CZFC/Hewitt2.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Dave Hewitt and the Hurricane IV just before his first flight. The wide stance and hefty wing form of the Hawker's centre section are evident. Photo: Via Dave Hewitt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568857072-MCI7XFN38HIAZ8RG3UR8/Hewitt4.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Dave Hewitt in his Vintage Wings of Canada uniform proudly and joyfully poses with the Hurricane IV after his first flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568891147-IUDEXQP0M9TQ4YHGR3RA/Hewitt5.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada's founder Mike Potter pretends to congratulate Dave Hewitt, while Dave Hewitt pretends not to know that he is about to get nailed in the great tradition of first flights - the dousing. Perhaps the clue was a line of so-called friends with buckets, and the fact that everyone else is backing out of the immediate area. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568933348-FPM0FC2JOYRB0OX5ON31/Hewitt7.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out The dousing. While fellow Hurricane pilot Rob Erdos restrains Hewitt, Tim Leslie slowly and deliberately pours a bucket of icy water over his head. Dave, as any pilot who has just flown a type for the first time or last time, will tell you; this is a joyful if unpleasant experience. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568967872-N5ER2SESH3OHNHES3GVP/Hewitt6.jpg The Stories - BOY IN A HURRICANE - Make it stand out Of course, the most joy goes to the ones heaving the water. Team member N. Kent Beckham seems to be enjoying this a bit too much. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wartime-route monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567094210-H9QKPPY8DPQA6I8K9FHG/MovingUp.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567280361-OONDLCCXNTOOPOWXDRD7/MovingUq.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Happily, Howard chases his shadow across the Cambridge grass during a formation take-off in the de Havilland Tiger Moth. Photo: Brian Cordell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567317900-NYKTJBOWZ069TADH2CM0/MovingUr.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard at the controls of the Bf 109 Black 6 for an engine run-up at Duxford. Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567367259-PGPASL9AUDTLRNZXFGJ1/MovingUs.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard poses with "Uncle" Jack Kehoe and the SNJ-5 at Kissimmee, Florida. Photo Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567426465-R3657LTYHYNGWWWHN8PA/MovingUt.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out One step closer now. Howard Cook gets set to take off in the T-6G Harvard at Duxford - on his way up by the wartime route! Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567565777-6BT36S5Y0FFXCYF9JAX1/MovingUu.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard fires up Crazy Horse, one of two P-51 Mustang two seaters owned by Stallion 51 for dual training and "once in a lifetime" flying experiences. Instructor Lee Lauderback sits in the back seat. Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567644720-XSMMKKYWP0FU38R453KZ/MovingUv.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard snugs in close the camera ship in the de Havilland Chipmunk - with wife Peta in the rear seat. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567740732-2JS7C6AI768P6Z2PAVNI/MovingUw.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Last minute instructions. Mustachioed Charlie Brown offers some final tips and instructions to Howard Cook prior to take-off. Photo Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631567880493-2SIL5D1HYKWR1QXJM2DP/MovingUx.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out The cockpit of Spitfire BM597. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568000977-8LM5E1613FPGNVHH3BJM/MovingUy.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out BM597 in flight, though not with Howard at the controls. The beautiful lines of the Mk V Spitfire can make a grown man cry and a pilot's heart race. BM597 is painted in the markings it wore during the Second World War with a Polish squadron in the RAF - hence the Polish checkers on its nose. Photo Uwe Glaser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568068754-PG7BJ73R58FRFNXOQ30F/MovingUz.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out BM597 during the Second World War. Here Polish armourers from 315 Squadron, RAF tinker with her Browning machine guns while another airman gets the "Warsaw Cut" by the tail. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568184737-19FI2VLJJPJBGXUSSIFD/MovingV0.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard Cook flying the Hawker Hurricane near Valleta, Malta during the Merlins Over Malta. Many well known and even unknown Canadians fought in the skies of Malta - including George Beurling, Bob Middlemiss, Wally McLeod, Buck McNair, and David Rouleau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568217147-9ZFSIO3I8UENI3PNXLN8/MovingV1.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard Cook has gone on to fly vintage aircraft of all types - a testament to his ability and thoroughness is his being invited to fly the Hawker Nimrod. Here he pauses for the camera before climbing into the cockpit. Photo Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568245645-VR05DW7MRKPGUAFWD92Y/MovingV2.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard Cook flying the Hawker Nimrod at Duxford this fall. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568273636-29ZNAMAGPKTHMXWX7LNW/MovingV3.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Howard readies himself to fly the Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard at Classic Air Rallye 2008. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631568303776-FXZF9FHZV49PCSHV0XCB/MovingV4.jpg The Stories - MOVING UP BY THE WARTIME ROUTE - Make it stand out Cook rips it up at Classic Air Rallye. Photo: George Mayer https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/glorious-fun-taperwing monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631564797807-SCCOTJ5ZNW4V9EHSR3RQ/Taperwin.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631564929695-2J1S4B58RHEJOFJH4K7R/Taperwio.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out The heart of the WACO is its hearty Wright Whirlwind J-6 engine and polished Hamilton Standard propeller. The robust landing gear shock absorbers complete a tough look. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565103577-G6PK4VUEZFA46F6JAK0A/Taperwip.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out With her polished blades flashing in the sunlight, Dave Hadfield taxies the WACO out to the runway. Since she was built in 1929, the Vintage Wings WACO has been flown by many including NBA basketballer Rob Lock, who went on to become a vintage aircraft collector and restorer. But none was more famous in their day than Johnny Livingston (Inset) the WACO's first owner and pilot. Livingston was a household name in the 1920s and 30s as a high-flying air racer. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565189863-I4OXXT0AQEPKHOJE32E8/Taperwiq.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out Back in the day, the Vintage Wings of Canada WACO was flown on floats in the USA where it was registered as NC8531. During this period, the Tapered wings were exchanged for Standard chord wings turning the WACO ATO. into a WACO ASO - the extra wing area being required for float operations. Today, she's back on her sleek ATO wings. Photo of NC8531 via National WACO Club https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565261020-EJDOA5LXMKRAYR87TCXM/Taperwir.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out The Taperwing in flight over the Ottawa River Valley - green farmland and glorious fun. Photo Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565308976-SRW5FUL1ZL7YXPK5KR16/Taperwis.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield (Inset), manager of biplanes at Vintage Wings of Canada cavorts in the blue skies over the Ottawa River Valley. Photos by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565364910-46MGF005Z5ZSAWZAACGW/Taperwit.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield crosses the grass infield to check the field conditions prior to landing at the Gatineau Airport. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631565433352-YCZIY5WT4EEI67YTZ18J/Taperwiu.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS FUN — flying the WACO Taperwing - Make it stand out A look of satisfaction crosses the face of Dave Hadfield as he taxies back after a joyful and exhilarating flight in the Taperwing. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hurricane-season monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631562326494-CCI6CJ3NDBSHFFD0JRCA/hurricane_season.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Above, Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Howard Cook flies in close formation as lead John Romain takes the two Hurricanes down the Duxford runway. The 402 Canadian marked Hurricane (AE-C) in this photo was tragically lost at the Shoreham Air Display held on Battle of Britain Day. Vintage Wings of Canada send their sincere condolences to the family of pilot Brian Brown who was at the controls that day. Photo by Simon Fenwick. Photo of Howard Cook by Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631563752815-GV7F7SR6DZMYFY8KFO9Q/news_10242007_1.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Douglas Bader (centre) poses with members of his 242 (Canadian) Squadron with Alberta ace Willy McKnight sitting on the wing root behind him. The Hurricane flown by Cook is based at the same base that housed Bader's unit. Vintage Wings of Canada's second Hurricane, a Mk. XII, will fly in the markings of McKnight's famous Grim Reaper Hurri once restoration is complete.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631563899719-54QV20S8V7O8A7PF9CM1/news_10242007_2.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Howard brings in the Historic Aircraft Collection Hurricane - dropping to the field with English houses in the distance - the scene, at Shoreham on the South Coast - scene of many Hurricane combats in the Battle of Britain, cannot be much different than 65 years ago. Photo by Simon Fenwick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631563932262-6CVDZ1XH1K2NX6YTGLET/news_10242007_3.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Engine chopped back, canopy open, floating just inches from the green grass of Shoreham, Cook brings the Historic Aircraft Collection Hurri in to land during his Hurricane Summer of 2007. Photo: Simon Fenwick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631564016289-MSNAJEX8ZHIFTTA3WUAZ/news_10242007_5.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Howard Cook runs up the Vintage Wings of Canada Hurricane IV at the Gatineau facility prior to flying it for the first time. Photo: Peta Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631564081468-I58OTIXHDOW64SGJEP1O/news_10242007_6.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE SEASON - Make it stand out Howard Cook and Hawker Hurricane Mk.IV CF-TPM at Vintage Wings of Canada's Gatineau hangar in September 2007. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bouncing-clouds monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631562005353-S7VBAMY8DFNKQC7WZ8BB/109Title.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561397165-UTQXUYVGIQ4G29MSEWA3/1092.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Luftwaffe ground crew swarm a Messerschmitt Bf-109 on the ground in Europe during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561441583-2AGSEC4A7W8RG3SX55F7/1093.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Russell Group ground crew swarm a Messerschmitt Bf-109 on the ground in Ontario during the Friendly Foes Above the Falls Air Show. Photo: Unkown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561521087-I5OJGB5GWMRKA99KVXHR/10911.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out The beautifully ugly working end of the Bf-109E, the only flying “Emil” in the world. Noise and stink were not the only things to come out of the Daimler-Benz DB601 engine - it also spewed a thumping heavy stream of 20 mm cannon rounds. The single high-performance cannon (or 'shell-gun', as sometimes referred in the 1930s) fired through the cylinder banks via a blast tube, with the engine buffering the recoil. The brutally simple design concept dealt with protruding bits by letting them hang in the slipstream and just fairing over them. Photo: John Latimer, Velocity Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561623690-LVJH5444P6DGDDM5ETYW/1095.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Another advantage of main gear design was that because landing gear, retracting through roughly an 85º angle, was attached to the fuselage, it was possible to completely remove the wings of the aircraft for major servicing without the need for additional equipment to support the fuselage. It also meant that the wing structure was able to be simplified through not having to carry the weight of the aircraft and not having to bear the loads imposed during takeoff or landing. However, this had one major drawback - the wheels had to be splayed outwards and this created an extreme tendency to ground loop and/or collapse. Photo via Rob Erdos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561722292-DHADIPGQCJSZINABQG4I/1099.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out On a sunny day in the Niagara region, the Russell Group Bf-109 awaits her pilot. Photo: John Latimer, Velocity Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561802653-4HBP1ZM04HP7TY0UX06I/10910.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out The Russell Group Bf-109E climbs out. Photo: John Latimer, Velocity Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561836235-L3VC1CGF18WRVMLL9VHX/1094.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out The Messerschmitt is a rare bird indeed in a world of rare vintage fighters. Photo: Martin Galloway - Photosports.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561927647-2RJT7NZN292F3YCXAK90/1097.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Rob and Emil after landing. Photo via Rob Erdos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631561960506-XEH6DS8I38MHRPO9JNAJ/1096.jpg The Stories - BOUNCING CLOUDS — Flying with the Spirit of Erich Hartmann - Make it stand out Enemies no more. The Russell Group Spitfire closes in on the right wing of their Bf-109E. In a story coming out this winter, Rob relates his impressions after flying both the Spitfire and the Messerschmitt back to back, hopping from one cockpit right into the next - something which has been rarely done if at all. Photo: Martin Galloway - Photosports.ca https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hawk-one-the-choreography monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631559720717-A7AH47MGVZ6FTFYUH10M/DanceTitle.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out The pilots of Hawk One - Left to Right Chris Hadfield, Tim Midas Leslie, Dan Dempsey; Paul Rose Kissmann, Steve Swill Will. Photo: Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560065181-KYK8ALITS7N0A9QP1GIB/Dance11.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631559976371-YZ3RITHL892LE9NOCW45/Dance2.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560103225-PIK8QWBM9V5DKTG8AJ7E/Dance3.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560303128-NT83UOB1ITGW60UCDD4K/Dance10.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560441950-ARKRGDEK5TYKIXQVAXYJ/Dance4.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560395292-SXABFBF70J522LC110QO/Dance6.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560561359-VKLCTT3EDR4CVQIW2CCF/Dance7.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560616639-Q83RONBMQGZ4I1NSDBV8/Dance8.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631560676877-F9QG3ED0FU7PWOV16FHJ/Dance9.jpg The Stories - HAWK ONE — The Choreography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ground-loop monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631556206993-XRK5F2YPZCBFKF47L7AU/Ground+LoopTitle.jpg The Stories - GROUND LOOP — How not to fly a Harvard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631559080629-23L9KTVGDLEUEXZYEVE2/Ground+Loop1.jpg The Stories - GROUND LOOP — How not to fly a Harvard - Make it stand out In addition to building relationships with two veterans of the RCAF, Harris was assigned two veterans of the Canadian Army. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-spitfire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631552597307-7DLI6ZRBNKSMQB9TWTNY/FlyingSpitfire.png The Stories - FLYING THE SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631555181621-3TAJM0Y23MBLN7UQOXRZ/GoingDown46.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631555258881-05XILYP55V3PH4OEINSD/Oh-Canada36.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631555286669-2NIX73EW0SNIUJL9X0I5/GoingDown35.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631555329260-P9QURHT9W8Y85GVBLGWY/GoingDown10.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-hurricane monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631543443777-RPTRCHF7I4Z8CNQKRLRU/ErdosFlash2.png The Stories - FLYING THE HURRICANE IV - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631543679920-G33SKWR2ABMOYZ85M7A5/Erdos4.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HURRICANE IV - Make it stand out Once checked out, a good pilot never stops learning and adding to his knowledge base. Each flight is followed by a thorough debriefing to ensure that VWC pilots continue to share their experiences. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631543581178-T3ZC21OMPJ35PFG51TLQ/Erdos10.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HURRICANE IV - Make it stand out Erdos taxies after another perfect landing at a Vintage Wings Open House event. Rob's experience and skill at flying this historic airplane has allowed him to create tools, build checklists and collect information that in turn can be shared with other Hurricane pilot- in-the-making. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631543729620-LIAVDCKI3U48VJ583YJE/Erdos13.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE HURRICANE IV - Make it stand out Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-fox-moth monthly 0.5 2021-09-13 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-corsair monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/magnificent-failure monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532426747-W4X47481ZR023XW04CN2/Arrow01.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532515830-SA9J53QZGQOD1BAEJKOA/Arrow02.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out The Avro Arrow, to be known in the Royal Canadian Air Force as the CF-105, is rolled out to much fanfare and pride at the company’s factory in Malton, Ontario near Toronto. People were stunned at the massive size of this interceptor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532553730-CT90DWC8JX3MNWLHWY17/Arrow03.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out A Royal Canadian Air Force Sabre fighter gives chase as the beautiful Arrow RL-201, the first prototype, flies over Ontario farmland. The interceptor would have a crew of two with the weapons systems operator riding behind the pilot in an almost fully enclosed compartment - the small window behind the pilot being his only view out. The most spectacular feature of the Arrow, its massive blade-like tail gave it such a futuristic appearance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532597108-R7JADRWRZZBEBEKS668S/Arrow04.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out All Canadians connected viscerally with the Arrow - it simple, graceful lines made it an obvious winner - it simply looked to even the most uninformed layman, like it was born to fly in Canada’s skies, like it was going to live up to its billing as the hottest aerial interceptor on the planet. For a young country whose airmen had made such history flying the aircraft of Great Britain or the United States, this was a matter of extreme pride. Inset: A plastic “airplane coin” of the Avro Arrow - part of a set of 200 different coins of the greatest aircraft of all time. This coin was the holy grail of young boys who collected them from Jello packages and Hostess Potato Chip bags in the early 1960s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532637058-RZ5J8EEOZ9G37KULEJ2V/Arrow05.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out Boys indeed. Photo DNDNow, that’s a boarding ladder! Avro technicians attend to Avro Arrow 204’s (the fourth off the line) test pilot prior to a winter test flight. The Arrow’s spindly undercart can be seen with its very distinctive two wheel tandem main bogies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532735103-ST2WQZAXTVXIRMWOGQBV/Arrow06.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out Of course, they were not all boys. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532756733-I9RNVOE6LAQRZRQZGFG6/Arrow07.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out Arrow RL 201 lands after another successful test hop. Speed brakes and delicate gear are out and down as she comes in over the threshold at Malton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631532783189-UXFJW5MW04PI0EGWJIUU/Arrow08.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT FAILURE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/love-and-kisses monthly 0.5 2021-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298925457-G60964T3L6Y9737LX3XC/LoveandKissesTitle.jpg The Stories - LOVE AND KISSES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298971617-OQHURF4WU1Y3O8HTFZ50/LoveandKisses2.jpg The Stories - LOVE AND KISSES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/eye-of-the-beholder monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296147205-SMT5T1Z297C2OCR5HG6H/EyeTitle.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296285453-CNMR6OOLJFHPDRBJ4CG5/Eye1.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out One of the first photographs to come to our attention was this bucolic scene as our new Harvard awaits Tim Leslie beneath a broad maple tree. Yellow dandelions, blue sky and the green green grass of home. Many people have remarked that this photo is the quintessential Harvard image - it's not about the machine, but about the experience. Photo: Tim Leslie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296348713-OWGNR64QQADD92P77BSH/Eye42.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out A young boy spreads his wings and swoops over the rain-soaked grass at Geneseo 2008 feeling the rain on his face and the joy in his heart - like the airmail pilots of old. An inspired child is just the sort of inspiration us old farts need. Great shot Pierre! Photo Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296381134-G7XCRGEKDLFVLKZG073B/Eye2.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Inside every aircraft's sleek, faired, filleted, and streamlined surface beats a complex and explosive heart of valves, chains, rods, pipes, hoses, pumps and cylinders all held together by clamps, welds, wires, bolts and cotter pins. Beneath the lovely brutality of the Hawker Hurricane's form envisioned by Sydney Camm, the systemic complexities of her guts are sometimes revealed when her access panels are removed. One look at her bowels and you know why mechanics are so revered. Photo: Blair Olson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296469476-1I64CKSE7ULKUK2R7ZZR/Eye4.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out One of the best air to air shooters this side of Duxford is Vintage Wings volunteer Eric Dumigan from Southern Ontario. Eric knows the many planning issues involved in getting superb A2A shots. Sometimes though, all the planning in the world can simply vanish when weather closes in like a Hurricane on your six. While waiting for the action to begin in the waist gun position on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's B-25 "Grumpy", a nasty spot of weather threatened to close Toronto's airport causing diversions to Hamilton. The formation commander did some quick thinking and scrubbed the mission before it even started. This was based on the need to get the valuable warbirds safely on the ground in Hamilton before the inevitable congestion began. There was barely enough time to snag a few shots of Rob Erdos swinging into echelon position, but enough to give us this unique view of the Hurricane and the Mitchell. Photo: Eric Dumigan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296500086-VC0V5GK1GDKXQHXY4USF/Eye5.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Sometimes, a quick scan of popular photo and social networking sites like Flickr.com can net you some very beautiful shots. This one caught our attention earlier in the year when the Vintage Wings of Canada Taperwing overnighted in a hangar at Downsview's Toronto Aerospace Museum. With barely any colour, this image is simply rectangles and flat planes of reflected light, yet the unmistakable racing heritage of this classic beauty is obvious. Photo: Ken Mist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296537975-DY7GGCUTKZBF44KEWWLF/Eye6.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out In this photo, early-rising mechanic Marty Periard works his way across the hangar floor before the lights go up. With his entirely unprofessional Sony point'n'shoot, he captures this truly professional shot of the warming rays of a winter's sun streaming across the beautiful body of our Supermarine Spitfire XVI. No need for a massive camera, just the opportunity - the most effective component of great photography. Photo: Marty Periard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296576566-PELHXY6IFT7PU1LGUSQ4/Eye7.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Like a spotter-shooter sniper team, great air-to-air photos are only as good as the person flying the "photoship". Here, veteran pilot John Aitken in the front climbs high over the Battle of Britain Flypast formation and reefs it over so that Eric Dumigan in the back can look-down, shoot-down at the eight Merlin engines thundering over the Québec countryside. If there was ever any doubt that camouflage works, one look at the two Spitfires and the top Hurricane should help convince you. The Vintage Wings Hurricane at bottom is having a harder time blending in with its desert camouflage. Photo: Eric Dumigan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296620461-0TNT2E0Y1ZBTS8WPGHEM/Eye8.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Every Vintage Wings of Canada team member is familiar with this "Fire up Your Imagination" photo taken by our own Peter Handley. Vintage Wings Chief of Operations Tim Leslie cranks up a somewhat reluctant Merlin burning off a bit of accumulated fuel and pleasing everyone but the mechanics at Classic Air Rallye 2007. In our opinion, one of the best photos of the past few years and winner of "The Spirit of Vintage Wings Award" for its metaphoric and inspirational beauty. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296662083-AUFTRSGR01Q9SIQ1UFBK/Eye36.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out As the Battle of Britain Flight forms up over Gatineau airport, the tight formation moves across the face of a daylight moon. The day was crystal clear and the memorial flypast a superb and fitting end to the Vintage Wings 2008 flying schedule. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631296690644-QUP10CGYO27QSFZATYOF/Eye9.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out A well groomed warbird reflects well on our enterprise. Well before this bare metal P-51D became the camouflaged Mustang IV of Vintage Wings of Canada, it sported one of the finest and best-buffed bare-metal finishes in the warbird world. It also required a lot of elbow grease to keep it that way. Here Anna Ragogna, our aircraft groomer, attacks the mirror finish offering a reflective image of the work required. Wax On, Wax Off. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297774871-ZW78N9PCVK9666GXHOWS/Eye10.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Despite deep experience, state-of-the-art gyroscopic equipment and cameras and a perfect background, a well choreographed photoshoot can be a bust. But if one great photo emerges from it then all is well. John McQuarrie, one of Canada's top photographers sitting in the tail of a B-25 thundering over the autumn-painted hills of Western Quebec was not prepared for the bucking and frisking that came from a hot afternoon low over the hills and lakes. He spent most of his time with a hand on the upper fuselage trying the prevent a concussion and most of the images were "soft" as we say. Despite the expensive gyro-stabilizer mount, the constant and unpredictable sharp movements caused all but a couple of shots to be blurred. But one is enough! Here Tim Leslie follows hard on the Mitchell's tail with the near-full arc of the propeller disc - a very desirable photo effect afforded by the gyro-stabilizer which allows for slightly longer exposures. Photo: John McQuarrie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297818016-LG487NF55DWKWHBU2DHL/Eye11.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Seems this image was caught by more than one photographer at one of our open house events in 2007. It shows what lengths our maintainers will go to to keep our aircraft flyable. Pilots and maintainers alike will shake their heads at some of the odd, seemingly counter-intuitive and just plain hard-to-get-to systems and engineering of the British types. Here Andrej Janik (we think) goes head first into his work. Photo: Simon Nadler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297851847-L3E6DIL2NWDEX3GDGEHB/Eye12.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Achtung Spitfire! Just about the last thing a rear gunner on a German Heinkel 111 bomber would want to see over the Thames is now a great opportunity for a unique backlit image of Britain's most famous aircraft of all time - flying not over the Thames, but the Ottawa River. What better man to fly it than Vintage Wings founder and London-born Mike Potter? And what better man to photograph it than English photographer Richard Allnutt? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297885115-LMIVODNZPKAHASO5CHVC/Eye13.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out While many inexperienced viewers of aviation photographs often marvel at how the photographer was able to "stop" the propeller in its arc, it is pretty well an aviation photographer's biggest no-no. A stopped prop says "dead engine" to a photographer, taking out of the picture the feeling of power, motion and any sense that there is noise associated with the aircraft. Above all, aircraft warming up and taxiing need the full arc to make them appear to be the powerful beasts that they are. The full arc of our Spitfire's propeller exudes power and noise as she warms her engine at Hamilton's Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297913963-NMYNNWHNM6BCFHGAXZG0/Eye37.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out The joy of flying can be read all over the smiling face of Dave Hadfield as he slides the de Havilland Fox Moth in on the wing of our Harvard on the way back to Gatineau after Classic Air Rallye, 2008. The photoship was piloted by Howard Cook while Vintage Wings of Canada videographer shot stills in the back seat. The photo was so tack sharp, that we could crop in tight to see Dave's face. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297959676-5MG2KW5X0Q5FJH4NWCIL/Eye14.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Guns, Guns, Guns. Vintage Wings of Canada's staff photographer, Peter Handley, captures John Longair (left) and Dave O'Malley as they muscle the Hurricane IV out of the Canada Aviation Museum hangar at Classic Air Rallye, 2008. While our aircraft run on avgas, our entire endeavour runs on volunteer power as exemplified by the huge "guns" on these two fine specimens. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631297998475-I0D6PPLEDNZ72F65AV3Q/Eye15.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out J.P. Bonin photographed Dave Hadfield at Geneseo on 2007 as he climbed out after a passing cloudburst. The silhouetted elegance of the de Havilland Fox Moth against the sunlit cumulus speaks volumes about the golden age of biplane aviation. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298063880-HO5P9G9FXKN5HWPUBHNW/Eye3.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out The great photographers are early risers or late afternoon loiterers. They do this specifically for the golden light afforded by the low sun angles. In 2007, Vintage Wings volunteer Michel Côté managed to wait out the sun as it set in the west over the green valley of the Geneseo air show known as the "Greatest Show on Turf". Here the sun sets on another wonderful day for Vintage Wings, our crews and our aircraft - like our Supermarine Spitfire XVI - buttoned down for the night. Photo Michel Côté. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298096738-BJDNNWME4DCPI32VJX87/Eye16.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Wheels in the wells boys! The three highly-skilled and easy-going pilots of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team lift off in unison at Vintage Wings of Canada's Fall open house. Together, these three aviators have proven to be one of the best things about the Vintage Wings of Canada experience. They have offered their considerable knowledge on Harvard care and feeding as well as acted as great teachers - passing on their wealth of knowledge and experience in formation flying to our entire team. Nearest the camera, Kent Beckham keeps his eye on the Dave Hewitt who in turn is fixated on Lead, Pete Spence. All three have become vital members of our family - Kent as one of our pilots in the Spitfire, and Dave and Pete flying our Hurricane and Spit from time to time. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298128936-BXJJIHG3E6062M7ZEN4Z/Eye17.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out If there's any doubt we take our jobs at Vintage Wings seriously, this image by Colin Huggard shows the earnest look on Tiger Moth pilot Howard Cook's face as he checks aileron movement at one of our Open House events. Howard's commitment to the team is obvious - he lives outside of Duxford, England yet still finds the time to come cross-pond three times a year to help out - from flying Tigers, Hurricanes and Harvards to announcing at Classic Air Rallye - a role much suited to someone with his fine English accent. Photo: Colin Huggard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298162857-6QVL786AJXQTSIVQP73E/Eye18.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out There are literally dozens of photos that come into Vintage News editorial office every year that portray the details of a Rolls Royce Merlin's nostrils. They are all beautiful, and only one can be chosen for this "genre" of photography. Eric Dumigan gets the nod in a packed field of quality shooters for his "Study in Exhaust" close up of the Spitfire's stacks. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298198385-5Y9UQO9D5IIEFJ8TKH15/Eye19.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out One of our favourite images from the phenomenal body work of Peter Handley and perhaps only a few of us know why. For the past two years, Peter has been invited aboard the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Mynarski Lancaster to capture the essence of the annual Battle of Britain Memorial Flypast. Peter is a true story-telling photographer in that he has the presence of mind to tear himself away from shooting yet another photo of the Lanc's Merlins to shoot an image, that for Vintage Wingers, should be as important as a flypast of the RAF memorial in England. Through the unmistakable slit port on the starboard side of the Lancaster, Peter captured this otherwise unremarkable office building and carpark. For those who do not know, this was the world headquarters of the Ottawa-based software giant Cognos, the hugely successful company started and built by our founder Mike Potter. Mike's successes in the corporate sector not only put Ottawa on the technology map of the world, but led to its powerful beacon flashing on the warbird map as well. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298224389-0VMT4F8M8LP4JIVLUN40/Eye20.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Leave it to Peter Handley to tell a story that is as compelling as the real thing. This year, a jacket that was once worn by an Ottawa-born Spitfire pilot was gifted to Vintage Wings of Canada. The original owner was Pilot Officer David Rouleau who was killed when he was shot down near the island fortress of Malta during the Second World War. He returned his winter flying jacket to stores before he left for the heat of a Maltese summer and it was sold at a surplus store immediately after the war. Jim Cobley (on the TV screen) wore the jacket for nearly six decades after the war - especially to football matches in his home county of Oxfordshire where he became "The Fan in the Flying Jacket". Jim spent more than 20 years trying to track down the family of Rouleau, resulting, this year, in a dedication of the jacket which is to be on permanent display in the Vintage Wings of Canada Library. Jim's battle with kidney disease and his all-important dialysis meant that he could not attend the ceremony where Rouleau's newly discovered relatives were in attendance. Thanks to the foresight of his friend Pat Hall, Jim was able to record his thoughts for everyone to enjoy at the dedication. A toast was given to his efforts to bring closure to the jacket story. All who chose to be there were party to a remarkable afternoon with Jim, Rouleau and Mike Potter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298257053-R9XHKW2UMPW9NIWT2DME/Eye40.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out There are two ways to look at this photo by Pierre Lapprand. One could interpret it as the eve of D-Day with the sun setting on a Wasp-winged DC-3 Dakota waiting for its compliment of airborne troopers or glider tow. There is such a sense of impending drama. OR you could simply look at it as a beautiful sunset in the gentle valley of the Geneseo Air Show - signalling the sublime end to a perfect day at the Greatest Show on Turf. What awaits tomorrow? Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298296695-HX42S6W2KFL5NCVNF18C/Eye41.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Another perfect day at Geneseo dawns on the dewy grass as a squadron of Harvards and Texans await their crews. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298326310-LCRTQO2L7VJ22VF7D47F/Eye21.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out It was difficult for Vintage News to choose between this image and the similar one by Peter Handley above since they were both taken from the starboard window of the CWH Lancaster on the same flight, but this one deserves a mention for its storytelling. No matter where it goes, the Lanc draws people out to learn her remarkable story. Here staff at the Transport Canada hangar at YOW watch in awe as she taxies by. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298358093-VRLOTSIMG835BB79CXXI/Eye22.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out All the bravado, machismo and balls-to-the-wall attitude of an experienced fighter pilot are out the window when it come to a man and his daughter. Here, high time Hornet pilot, former Snowbird Lead and Hawk One pilot Wing Commander (LCol) Steve Will shares a chip and a moment with his daughter. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298390053-CLBZZK0N55J9LEP0CLT5/Eye24.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Soft hands, hard banks. Vintage Wings pilot Kent Beckham plays follow the Harvard with Dave Hewitt as part of their breathtaking Canadian Harvard Aerobatic team show. The lumbering, 60 year-old trainers in the hands of these gifted pilots are as awe-inspiring to watch as the USAF Thunderbirds of the Snowbirds. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298423545-14U0F6FEET388YWVBRK7/Eye39.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out The latest and best air-to-air of our newly marked FG-1D Corsair is provided by our own Mike Henniger enroute to Gatineau from Rockcliffe. The special Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm markings celebrate one of Canada's best known fighter pilots of the Second World War - Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, VC Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298456503-PCN5MIPDXJ0PURNFBNUF/Eye25.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out From every angle, the Spitfire is a beautiful creature. With the cerulean sky of a Québec autumn reflected in her satin camouflage, our Spitfire belches streams of heated air. Mike Potter is caught taxiing out to join the Battle of Britain Memorial flypast, September 21st, 2008. The image is perfected by the metallic flash of sunlight from her four-bladed propeller. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298482435-ZADEMZNPRUKHKQOGU2C5/Eye26.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Speaking of beauty from behind... J.P. Bonin captured the Robert Hampton Gray Corsair as she thunders away from his lens. Her inverted gull-winged form is her most remarkable feature and in this shot... You can't miss it. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298515317-G37NH8YYNOENAXYZ5A1J/Eye27.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out There's something for everyone at our Open House events even if you are 4 years old. Here Véronique Dhieux, Citabria pilot, is cruise director aboard the Vintage Wings of Canada tow mule. At the helm is Marty Periard hot footing the heavy tow vehicle at more than 2 kilometers per hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298555176-J0O7UYURNNBXRKID2KRK/Eye30.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Two of Vintage Wings of Canada's 18-aircraft collection came from Harry Whereatt's restoration facility in Assinaboia, Saskatchewan. Whereatt, seen here saying goodbye to his flat-bedded Westland Lysander, was and still is one of the legends of early warbird restoration in Canada. The comic hitch-hiking board and wistful look on his face in this story-telling photograph are just shy of heartbreaking as he bids farewell to his life's work. Photo: John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298582262-6SWIQO3FNIZU1NZDVGWA/Eye32.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Educate, Commemorate and Inspire - these are the three pillars of our mission. Lumbering along the taxiway, Roll Royce rolling over like a Harley, waving to the kids in the crowd of slack-jawed onlookers is sure to inspire - Tim Leslie provides young and old alike a good view of one of the great fighters of all time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298623039-KLAIJTK27EYX0OP8IKXV/Eye35.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out When Englishman Jim Cobley first noticed the name of David Rouleau and his RCAF service number on the lable of his Second World War leather flying jacket, he already had worn it for very nearly forty years. The discovery lead to a 24 year search for Rouleau's family, which culminated this year in the jacket's return to Ottawa. Here at a ceremony at Vintage Wings, relatives of Rouleau, a Spitfire pilot who would have been 90 this year had he not been killed in 1942, reverently inspect the label and the name he wrote on it more than 66 years ago. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298659610-WHS49OW1HTTA45FAE1KW/Eye34.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out Flying Officer William Harper, 421 Squadron RCAF, banks his Spitfire gently over the farmlands of Kent closely followed by a 6 Squadron Hurricane - the year is 1945. Well actually it is in fact just a few weeks ago over Québec with Mike Potter and Rob Erdos of Vintage Wings. Removing colour in some of these images has a way of transporting you back quicker than the beautiful colour that was in this shot originally. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631298690406-3IJ4ZRA3HW7WZJWJA4NC/Eye38.jpg The Stories - EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Make it stand out It's all about the legacy, isn't it? Our founder - veteran warbird and high performance pilot - Michael Potter envisioned a foundation that would acquire, maintain and display flying aircraft of importance to Canada's aviation heritage. No part of a legacy is more important to him than knowing his three daughters grow up with the full knowledge of the sacrifices made by Canadian men and women to ensure their future. Photo: Peter Handley. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/top-ten monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288196297-9W9K00TUSUERGGA3TMSG/TopTenTitle2.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288281431-3HH4X05FN3RW5OMQC1QX/TopTen10.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288365712-9MXH7KR9Q24W0T0VR2MT/TopTen9.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288517119-QDS8BM6NAH946LM5BHA7/TopTen9.5.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288464119-6M2JXAVTCU00JGLE8VHV/TopTen8.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288548887-XMSDN2LOYO9OVTG6IRX9/TopTen7.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288627510-WZO6R8WPRSRD2N8Q6K1A/TopTen6.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288668283-8P6MFVOHJXWHD4UOXUPN/TopTen5.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288714389-R3CYGYD72E8H6TIOQUT1/TopTen4.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288756375-9HI9J6AXFJ1G9IGV8BGF/TopTen3.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288826725-AYKVIETT1CU2QUEPB3ZZ/TopTen2.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631288866316-11IISQH3HWYLZL96F8IG/TopTen1.jpg The Stories - TOP TEN MOMEMTS OF 2010 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/shoot-out-at-geneso monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631286744823-CX7C57QN4EBJP56DT4OX/Geneseo_News_1.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631286835885-LNCJRRUYM7G6XUT26X1Q/Geneseo_News_2.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Considered by many to be one of the finest aviation photographers anywhere, Eric Dumigan is not only an excellent visualizer, he is also an exceptional organizer. It's his skill in arranging appropriate photoships, times, pilots and airspace that give him the professional edge. Eric was given the opportunity to photograph the Fox Moth at Geneseo and he selected a Boeing Stearman for the photoship. You can see the results of this Air-to-Air photo shoot on our website under "Recent Stories - "Foxy Lady"". Here the rigging in the foreground helps you to feel exactly what Eric felt as he cruised the New York skies. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631286869112-5U2PMGUM8122YHLW10UQ/Geneseo_News_3.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Tim Leslie runs wild and free with a herd of Mustangs at Geneseo. Photo: J.P.Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631286903271-SB91QCYZTK3XALT1CT2K/Geneseo_News_4.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out J.P. Bonin captures the true feeling of Geneseo - lush green grass, late afternoon shadows and spectacular skies awaiting intrepid avaitors like Dave Hadfield in the de Havilland Fox Moth. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287178534-UP36Y5YPKZTZM1XEF2LX/Geneseo_News_5.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out The tumult of clouds from the trailing edge of a weather front make the PERFECT backdrop for Dave Hadfield in the Fox Moth. Photo: J.P.Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287230035-K524TYISGJFUSLNSV97F/Geneseo_News_6.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Tim Leslie leads his stablemates back to the corral. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287263424-242KILO0J6F2LYSGXJVG/Geneseo_News_7.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Michel Côté of Classic Air Rallye captures the Vintage Wings of Canada Mustang IV at the end of the day. Photo Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287288703-81BPL04HNNLYT4OF86OD/Geneseo_News_9.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Tim Leslie leads a formation in echelon left in a thundering pass down the showline at Geneseo. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287315565-NODMA2QJ6RWYFF05E0JY/Geneseo_News_10.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out No, mechanic John Brennan isn't playing a practical joke on pilot Rob Erdos, he's simply adding weight to to the tail while Rob runs up the engine . During the Second World War it was common practice for ground crew to ride the tails of Spits, which are notoriously light on the tail wheel, while they taxied across rough airfields. This would help diminish the possibility of a prop strike if the tail was bucked too hard. There is at least one recorded instance of a Spit pilot taking off with the unfortunate tail-sitter still ensconced. Luckily, he realized there was an immediate balance problem and circled to return with a rather cold, but still breathing, still seated, female ground crew. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287355087-CQ8T0QP2A8TALDSQU825/Geneseo_News_14.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Rob Erdos slips the beautiful Vintage Wings Spitfire onto the right wing of Tim in the Mustang.. Photo: Marty Periard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287399515-5GKNZ4LXMZMKSRNBH4HA/Geneseo_News_15.jpg The Stories - SHOOTOUT AT GENESEO - Make it stand out Marty the Arty. Even mechanics are mesmerized by Art Deco lines of the Fox Moth. Photo: Marty Periard https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-bottle-of-britain monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631279671707-9JH02GV22QR503MESX2V/news_07142008_title.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631279805724-1Z1F7SBIDQPWPXQDJ65R/news_07142008_1.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out Nike has Tiger Woods, but Shepherd Neame has Sir Winston Churchill endorsing their product, though I doubt he’s getting royalties. The familiar two fingered Victory sign turned call out to the publican simply nails the message that Shepherd Neame is trying to get across - it’s as British as the Prime Minister, it’s courageous, it’s defiant. The whole ad campaign is a defiant statement against an insidious invasion from the Teutonic Brewing Armies from the Fatherland - these hordes include the 8th Beck Grenadiers, the Bitburger Panzer Division and Schneider Weisse Beerwaffe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631279842228-HO4DMWQWR3G87TGWAQ7G/news_07142008_2.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out This busboard poster is brilliant - perhaps the best of the whole series for a Marketing man. Only the Brits would have no qualms whatsoever about equating beers and ales imported from Teutonic and Nordic Europe with the consummate evil of the Third Reich. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631279878031-2DCG710LQG1HXXIKS5VL/news_07142008_3.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out Nothing like rubbing their noses in it. I guess if you won the Battle of Britain and the entire Second World War it’s OK to mercilessly mock the losers. It has a slight creepy edge in that it uses the needless deaths of many of Germany’s young men as a comic marketing tool. Perhaps if it were anyone but the British, it would be considered tasteless. Not so the beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631279954043-TATFSXFATNBJ3VQK23T2/news_07142008_4.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out Taking a page from a Second World War aircraft identification teaching tool. Simple and not so creepy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631280035317-XDDR0UOW5UQAFTDIH7ZM/news_07142008_6.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out We doubt that there were many Kentish men willing to hoist a stein full of German Pilsner after the Spitfire Bottle of Britain campaign. With many German beers like Bremen’s Beck’s and Munich’s Lowenbrau consumed worldwide, Kentish Spitfire may have won the battle, but the World War is still in doubt. Perhaps this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631280072028-3X3LVBKHXK776EK2N531/news_07142008_7.jpg The Stories - THE BOTTLE OF BRITAIN - Make it stand out The English can put up squadrons and squadrons of cases of Spitfire to fight the fight against the German invaders but they will never make headway in a land that wakes to Tim Horton and quaffs John Labatt at the end of a hard day. Here some RCAF bomber boys long for the taste of Canadian beer in the land of British ale. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/random-beauty-1 monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631219859263-GHXFHLG3LMOMPZTPFENP/news_07032008_title.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220294438-JADC0MMY93NGE2XZ7VOI/news_07032008_2.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton sails across the North Sea bound for home. The silver disc of a full moon illuminates a metallic sea and a meadow of high cloud. I can’t be sure that this isn’t a stopped-down daylight photo, but regardless, its beauty took my breath away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220323592-ZO2PD02WQ7O1B509RMZT/news_07032008_3.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out In the Random Beauty file, there are many photos with similar themes. Here are two images showing the wakes and contrails from a large formation of bombers streaming to the Fatherland. The one above caught my eye because of its simple geometric beauty. A single Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress thunders toward the war through a sky thick with the sun-lit “cons” of other Forts just a few hundred yards deeper into the stream of bombers. German fighters used a technique of flying up these contrails from behind, hiding in the blossoming white wakes of the bomber stream and surprising tail gunners. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220364428-R9MCSSEBDV3E7SDRGMJK/news_07032008_4.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Judging by the dark curve at the bottom of this photograph, it was shot upwards through the perspex blister known as the astro-dome or perhaps a mid-upper gun turret. The lowering light of a setting sun backlights not only the exhaust contrails from these two B-17s, but also the propeller vortices as they churn their way through some pretty moist air at altitude. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220397805-5BNFL5VKP4JEP1M968F0/news_07032008_5.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A formation of A-20 Havoc bombers of the USAAF catch the glint of the sun as they go “feet wet” on their way across the English Channel. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220427485-J749RFO6442V2Z78L87L/news_07032008_6.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A Blackburn Buccaneer jet fighter from 801 Squadron, Royal Navy lines up perfectly with the angled deck centreline of HMS Victorious in 1964. The main screws churn up a frothing wake as Victorious makes full steam into the wind, The photo conveys the feeling of imminent chaos as the whistling jet crashes headlong onto the deck, oleos banging, tailhook smashing and scraping, engines throttling up fast to full afterburn, and the whip slash of steel cable playing out across the steel deck, steam pistons banging. Beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220459757-5RX529E450UMFR7S6CST/news_07032008_7.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out While researching images for our P-40 stories over the past year I came across a massive collection of marvelous wartime photos - mostly of P-40s collected by Steve Reno. This P-40 pilot is risking his life only a little less than the man taking the photo of this ridiculously low level pass across the runway. He’s not much higher than he would be if he was standing on his landing gear! If you trace the invisible line of his prop arc, this skilled numbskull’s tips are only about 4 feet off the ground. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220485562-MSZ4TWWF5GPGT8HSCN8W/news_07032008_8.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Over the past year, we have watched the three Harvards of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team practicing formation flying with the Vintage Wings Harvard in the skies over Ottawa and Gatineau. This was a very common sight in Ottawa skies during the Second World War and even up until the early 60s. Here four Harvards from No.2 Service Flying Training School form a loose group over Ottawa Valley farmland in the 1940s. Nothing has changed, but the formation flying skills of the four pilots. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220521442-PWISIWPTDEXK2HJPWT4K/news_07032008_9.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out In another photo in the flickr.com photo collection of Hawk914, a P-40 flies down the beach at extreme low level as Marines practice an amphibious landing somewhere in the Pacific. In order to get this photo, the photographer standing on the beach would have had to have his back to the oncoming P-40 trusting that pilot would do a “buzz job” of the beach and not his hair. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220547574-L8DZOCUV9NDZRL50ED2W/news_07032008_10.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers thunder towards their target on the Japanese mainland. I like this image for its thrashing and flailing propellers and the closeness of the formation - there seems an air of purpose and determination and certainly hell to pay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220575458-DOFMVJJ19GWJJT2EJRD8/news_07032008_11.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Four Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair fighters set up a nice little photo op in front of the carrier USS Boxer. The Essex Class carrier Boxer far below has two Grumman Panther or Cougar jet aircraft at the catapults and a squadron of Corsairs on her aft deck. This was probably during or around the Korean War years right at the last days of the Corsair’s front line service. Jets like the Grumman “Cats” would soon push the Corsairs out to pasture with reserve units and eventually to the scrap yards. I love the fact that all four Corsairs are tight together but none are overlapping in the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220617070-LWDCMUAHTA4C3K8LIAUN/news_07032008_12.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out While steaming with HMS Formidable during the Second World War, HMS Warspite launches a Walrus from her catapult station.The photographer has caught the launch at the point where the Walrus has just left the rails and though still technically aboard the battleship, is indeed now on her mission to reconnoitre ahead of the task force looking for submarines. There must have been a pretty decent crosswind coming down the side of the big ship at all times. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220643479-KRKS0F03ECW4HCG48LHD/news_07032008_13.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A Douglas C-47 (DC-3) flies low over burnished water along the Italian coastline, silhouetted by the sun. I liked the fact that the sun shines right through the “Dakota” as she picks her way through the islands. Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220939544-BC0J70U5WXRC5KV4HBJS/news_07032008_14.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Nothing is more revealing about the enormous risks undertaken by Allied airmen in the Second World War than images of bombers at the moment of their death. Here an A-20 is turned into a flying blowtorch in her own slipstream after taking a direct hit. Perhaps this is somewhat voyeuristic, but there can be no avoiding images such as this that portray the terrible costs. It is the only way we can fully grasp the enormity of their sacrifice. It would be a stretch to call this photo beautiful, but it is indeed powerful. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220969248-6XNPMVQ4A8LSKORVNAK7/news_07032008_15.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A Consolidated B-24 Liberator chases its own shadow across Europe following an “Iron Compass”. Here we see the skills and comfort level of Allied pilots at the end of the war as they cruise their massive and unwieldy strategic bomber low across the countryside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631220995560-MFZTP281HT0AM10IHXGA/news_07032008_16.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out An Avenger pilot staggers across the deck of a “baby flattop” as she rolls wildly. Naval pilots were known to launch into such weather if the target was important enough. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221024298-A4R7IL6BG46KLAWCKJ4V/news_07032008_17.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out A beautiful silhouette study of a P-40 in the setting sun. Photo via Project 914 Archives, Steve Donacik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221056600-K8VCZZMKJEL970B5UH2E/news_07032008_18.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out My identification skills proved inadequate to identify what this was. Looking more like some sort of space craft than a Second World War Royal Navy torpedo/dive bomber, this is actually a Fairey Barracuda with wings folded for hangar stowage. Photo via Colin Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221088665-U2VI8JK9ZRXVP2SU34R3/news_07032008_19.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out One of the greatest war photographers of all during the Second World War was Luxembourg-born Edward Steichen who headed the Naval Photographic Institute during the war. His portrayal of US naval operations in the South Pacific theatre is stunning in its beauty and power. One of my favourite photos of his is this group of Grumman Hellcat drivers celebrating aboard USS Lexington after a successful fighter sweep in support of the Marine landings at Tarawa. They have reason to smile – they shot down 17 of 20 Japanese aircraft heading for the island. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221113135-HVGHTY0BYY65EX0UQVUL/news_07032008_20.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out The word Kamikaze conjures up images of honour, bushido, desperation and poignancy on the side of the Japanese and unmitigated threat for the Allied warships of the Pacific Theatre in the waning months of the war. No photo I have ever seen demonstrated the slashing violence of these desperate attacks than this famous image of a Japanese fighter in the last millisecond before exploding into USS Sangamon. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221147990-GCVYONI7RVCX6NJHZ45Z/news_07032008_22.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out One last image of a B-24 Liberator, flaming and rolling right, out of formation. It seems that this was caught by a crewmember at the waist gun just as she dies. You can almost hear the cries of “Get out! Get out!” over the radios. It makes one shudder to think of what the members of the crew in the photo ship thought at this time and how they were able to go up again the next day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221174709-53IQCVMYOCKLC5ITO5ZS/news_07032008_23.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out Anti-aircraft tracer rounds create an artistic display in the night sky in this time exposure during an attack on the North African coast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631221200523-9VAEZUBW5MNXJJON773O/news_07032008_24.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 1 - Make it stand out VJ-Day, the formal surrender date with Japan, officially marking the end of the Second World War was September 2nd 1945. Here a lone USAAF officer (George White) photographs himself on a beach in Manila when warships in the harbour let loose with flares in an impromptu display of fireworks. Photo by George White via his daughter Marion (Fizzx) https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bcatp-in-water-colour monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631189817475-EQVD7DP14WKG2NLIVFZK/WatercolourBCATP01.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631189919958-XUSUKV3WZBD639HXKZSX/WatercolourBCATP02.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631189960634-D97CJI4G8DF2B21OA6PZ/WatercolourBCATP03.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out On a cold and gray October day in 1944 at Chatham, New Brunswick, Warner painted this sketch of crews readying for a day’s flying in Avro Ansons of No 10 Air Observers' School. The red flag on the control tower indicates left hand circuits will be flown on this day. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190026455-20R8T7A0RF1OSUPBJK45/WatercolourBCATP04.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out In December of ‘44, Warner had crossed back across half the country to no doubt enjoy the charms of a Manitoba winter. This remarkably simple and moody sketch of BCATP’s No. 3 Wireless School at Winnipeg shows his architectural appreciation, while the depiction of snow on the roof and gables is pure and very well executed for a man who knew no snow growing up. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190117453-YHRZP2PW5BH6ABJIYSMK/WatercolourBCATP05.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out In August of 1944, Warner was at No. 3 Service Flying Training School in Calgary, Alberta. In this sketch he manages to work in the Rocky Mountains which would have made a powerful impact on Royal Australian Air Force pilots who trained there. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190186312-XYIWJD2LGROPRZW5FD6W/WatercolourBCATP06.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Warner was on a visit to the maritime provinces in the fall of 1944. Here in Nova Scotia at No. 8 Operation Training Unit he depicts multi-engine pilots undergoing night flying training with searchlights operated by members of the RAAF. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190323630-WGEGQOOMPDPJ6HDQZEYQ/WatercolourBCATP07.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Warner’s remarkable record in watercolour, ink, pen. charcoal and pencil is outstanding in that it captures the steady work and determination of the BCATP in all its aspects. In Saskatchewan in 1944, he sketched this dramatic depiction of an indoor hemispheric training aid for aerial gunners. The device employed moving pictures of aircraft that were projected onto the concave surface of the hemisphere. The gunner's aim was checked by the projection of a target as the trigger was depressed. This training facility was the No 2 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mossbank, Saskatchewan. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190359788-ZG7HGODXBDCRW7VFS743/WatercolourBCATP08.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Still at Mossbank on the open Saskatchewan prairie in the summer of 1944, a Westland Lysander built in Canada drops a target drogue after aerial gunnery practice at No.2 Bombing and Gunnery School. Judging by the bullet holes the student was successful. Vintage Wings of Canada’s Lysander is presently painted in the same distinctive yellow and black paint scheme - known as the “Oxydol” scheme after the packaging of a well known laundry detergent available in Canada. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190518356-GQTQ5Q8CT68D8XJ6F26K/WatercolourBCATP09.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out In September of 1944, Warner was in Manitoba where he captured these Avro Anson aircraft outrunning an oncoming fog bank (those aren’t mountains, there are no mountains in Manitoba). Warner’s notes accompanying the image indicate that the weather at the time was cold and wet - an indication of how uncomfortable he must have been, flying in the lead Anson. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190608747-7PXBH832SBVX4ZXCT3J8/WatercolourBCATP10.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out This loose watercolour and ink sketch shows Hawker Hurricanes (Canadian-built) flying over the autumn colours of a Quebec landscape along the Saguenay River, 1944. This would have been at the No.1 Operational Training Unit at Bagotville, Québec. Today the facility is still an operational fighter base housing 433 and 425 Squadrons of the Canadian Air Force. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190653466-UAKQKRIWH62N84QYSKJP/WatercolourBCATP11.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Every aspect of the BCATP experience for the Australian aviator was of interest to the RAAF and to Ralph Warner. The dark gray skies over the old “Y” Depot in Halifax, Nova Scotia give this embarkation point for graduates of the BCATP the air of a concentration camp. From this place, RAAF fliers as well others from the Commonwealth awaited the ships that would take them to the war. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190775180-ROBNE6ABBIKL0S1XVDVC/WatercolourBCATP12.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Avro Ansons from No. 2 Air Navigation School at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, climb steadily on a navigation training flight as the sun rises over the island. Warner’s ability to capture the landscapes and make them clearly identifiable makes his work very appealing to Canadians and Australians alike. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190829580-91LGVPD1DZT1XMTQ253I/WatercolourBCATP24.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out The line of hangars at No.8 Operational Training Unit at Greenwood, Nova Scotia. These hangars would have been crammed with Bristol Bolingbrokes, North American Harvards, Lockheed Hudsons, de Havilland Mosquitos, and Airspeed Oxfords. Image from The Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190859641-99ZIFLJPLF39E639GTE6/WatercolourBCATP13.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Once again in the fall of 1944, Warner paints an image of Anson aircraft overflying the Laurentians in fall. Remove the airplanes and the painting becomes very much like landscapes of the Group of Seven. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631190897766-64ZO05GK9VQP49IRXUJ3/WatercolourBCATP14.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out In an almost postcard-like framing, Warner finds two RAAF flyers on leave and playing golf at the beautiful course at the world famous railroad hotel at Banff Springs. Required to capture the full extent of the Australian experience on the Canadian landscape Warner “had” to paint these moments. While certainly important, one could hardly call this war. This grand hotel set in the rugged wilderness of one of Canada’s Premier National Parks must have had a profound effect on the boys from the outback. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191173574-A1NS7FQQSVQ9XBVN41LI/WatercolourBCATP15.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Hawker Hurricane XIIs practice a scramble in a training exercise at No. 32 (later No. 8) Operational Training Unit at Greenwood in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. BCATP graduates were sent to OTUs to get advanced training on operational types such as the Hurricane. Many of these OTU’s were overseas in Great Britain, but there were a number of the bases here in Canada. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191208701-E08LJCL7DOYD2HU6QDP6/WatercolourBCATP16.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out An Avro Anson lumbers into the big Manitoba sky from the runways of the Central Navigation School where already graduated navigators were trained to be instructors. The haystacks and barn give viewers a sense of how bucolic were the settings of most of these places - on remote flat plains with big, big sky above - room to fly, to mess up and come home safe and room to hone one’s warcraft. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191253698-YQTLVDIZ1JL65QKR1AY0/WatercolourBCATP17.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out No prolonged stay in Canada would be complete without an attempt at ice hockey, the national passion. Here Warner shows us a group of Australian aviators enjoying their first experience on skates. The fellow in the red and blue toque and scarf seems like he may be a tad more experienced than the other lads who seem to either be on their butts or well on their way to landing on them. It’s a guess he’s Canadian and possibly a Montreal Canadiens fan. Warner gives us no hint of the location in his notes, but as all Canucks know... this can be Anywhere, Canada. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191295622-R2YLCRULUJEUKV5KO6E6/WatercolourBCATP18.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out August 1944. No.2 Wireless School on the Alberta plains was housed in a college building both the Alberta Normal School (teachers college) and a technical college. After the war it returned to these civilian duties. No.2 also employed Fleet Fort and Harvard aircraft for aerial instruction. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191326983-8DDHV9MPWYUIUDQQML04/WatercolourBCATP19.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out September 1944. A pair of Harvards from No. 6 SFTS at Dunnville, Ontario overfly the outskirts of St. Catharine’s while on a cross country training flight in wet weather - possibly after or before the storm depicted in the next painting by Warner. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191355658-KDG036KU0HZH74ZACR40/WatercolourBCATP20.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Not all flying days were good flying days. Here a pair of Harvards wait out a severe autumn storm at Dunnville, Ontario in 1944. Image from the Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191388134-ZH3U09EH5FQJ7F2RLWMB/WatercolourBCATP21.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out Warner’s painting of landscapes usually depicted them as backdrops for the flying of aircraft, but once in a while he simply painted the remarkable view afforded Aussie aviators from their aircraft. Here he paints the New Brunswick coastline from an airplane flying out of No. 8 OTU at Greenwood, Nova Scotia. October, 1944. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191418782-IHPW901BNW9CXASEEQ14/WatercolourBCATP22.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out The AWM caption with this painting is most likely incorrect in that it says it is Saskatchewan in sub-zero weather. Most likely it is of a de Havilland Mosquito diving off the coast of Nova Scotia in October of 1944. No. 8 OTU at Greenwood was the only BCATP training base to operate the Mossie. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631191452911-ZHT2GXZKVMC3OWY370P6/WatercolourBCATP25.jpg The Stories - THE BCATP IN WATERCOLOUR - Make it stand out January 1945 and going home. Royal Australian Air Force graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan board Canadian Pacific Railroad coaches at Calgary for the return trip to Australia. It’s January in Calgary and you can bet these lads just want to get the hell out of there and get back to the sun and warmth of Australia - can’t blame them at all. Image from the Australian War Memorial. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/cue-the-harvards monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631132905105-CK4V3Z0T5PPLJLWV7VC3/captains01.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133010515-RYYU43LHLYBXARYDCYM1/captains02.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out The four bush pilots listen intently as the voice of Churchill with his famous “We will fight on the beaches... ” speech resonates from a radio in “Willie’s” Restaurant. James Cagney (Right) played Brian MacLean, a devil-may-care womanizer who fought over flying contracts with aristocratic “Scrounger” Harris (Left - played by Reginald Gardiner), jovial and rotund “Tiny” Murphy (foreground - played by Alan Hale Sr. - his son was the Captain on Gilligan's Island) and the heart-of-gold “Blimp” Lebec played in blazing stereotype by George Tobias. Photo: Warner Bros. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133039156-1LIH04803POMDQANSSY2/captains03.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out The shooting was a lot more complicated than originally expected. Delays and primitive living conditions in Ottawa and North Bay had the production crew ready to mutiny more than once. Here, gypsy bush pilot Brian MacLean taxies his Norseman to a dock (about to sink under the weight of crew and equipment) on Trout Lake near North Bay, Ontario. In fact, Cagney was never at the controls and he was well known for being terrified of flying - it was Paul Mantz in the cockpit. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133100495-ZR4L43UXPNAPN07SDHLB/captains04.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out The Noorduyn Mark I Norseman, starring as the bush plane of James Cagney’s character MacLean was in fact CF-AYO the prototype airframe seen here at the Noorduyn plant at Cartierville, Quebec being prepared for its first flight in November of 1935. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133146504-LP765TT1W0ZLDD3X2YPV/captains05.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Brenda Marshall, as the no-good Jezebel Emily Foster, out for dinner at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. The RCAF was comforted that Emily was written out of the story by the time the military training sequences started, such was her unsavoury character. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133192189-EN3YHIBYV409ZD1UUO9U/captains06.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Shooting the shooters. At Uplands outside of Ottawa, Brian MacLean (James Cagney) chats up an air gunnery student while cameras roll and the prop winds down. The scenes were shot at Uplands, but they depict No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery school, Jarvis. 739 Rolls Royce Merlin powered Fairey Battles, considered underperformers, were taken from frontline service and like Cagney, relegated to gunnery training platforms in Canada with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. A production still. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133301546-NZOYLTQCP993COSHN2Q2/captains07.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Now, from the point of view of the Warner Bros. camera, Brian McLean (Cagney) walks back along the wing to compliment his gunnery student who has just shacked half a dozen floating targets on Lake Ontario. You can almost read the words “You Dirty Rat” on Cagney’s lips (though it is said he never uttered those words in a film). Screen capture from Captains of the Clouds by Steve Reno. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133339709-32JK5GNOI8NT0GA6Y0HA/captains08.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out One of the best features of Captains of The Clouds is its spectacular Technicolor colour. It gives us an exceptional window through which to view the colours and markings of BCATP aircraft that were almost exclusively shot in black and white at the time. Here, Cagney stands on the wing of a Fairey Battle at Uplands, Ontario in part of a glorious and lengthy visual tribute to the pilots, instructors, students, mechanics and aircraft of the BCATP. There are scenes in which there are literally scores of aircraft taxiing en masse, or flying at the same time - a must see movie for all aero-geeks. Screen capture from Captains of the Clouds by Steve Reno. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133367500-XC8PQKYW5XAJ8BPDUFKL/captains09.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Throughout the film, all the taxiing and ground handling seems choreographed well beyond what probably normally happened. Ground crews are turned out in regulation uniform, all exactly alike and aircraft are all washed and buffed for the cameras - all done I am sure to show film goers that the BCATP is a well-oiled and huge operation and that the enemy has no hope what so ever of conquering the Allies who could muster such a massive training machine as “The Plan”. Screen capture from Captains of the Clouds via Steve Reno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133400565-6DR1HEE4CRQVBSXDC8K8/captains10.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133420542-LETFTCG4J4B9RHW6O6GN/captains11.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133531058-U8XO2P6096XYSWZ8DJP6/captains12.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out In the final scenes of the movie, Cagney, who by now is a cashiered officer and has returned to bush flying, finds a chance to get in the fight and to redeem himself (in true Cagney fashion) when he volunteers to help ferry a large group of Lockheed Hudson bombers to Great Britain. The scene here, shot in Burbank CA at the Lockheed factory, depicts Gander, Newfoundland as the mass take off of the Hudsons is about to take place. Military and civilian pilots and navigators walk to their already running and brand spanking new Hudsons and within seconds the whole shebang taxies en masse stage left and into the foggy Newfoundland night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133570122-6LM157Q385IHSXCFXDTD/captains13.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Johnny Dutton (played by dashing Dennis Morgan), right, a former bush pilot who has always seen Cagney’s character as an opportunist and a threat, finds himself leading the group of Hudsons into the dark Atlantic night. Here he boards his lead aircraft while engines howl. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133600394-YJ8I7LBVUSLAMESEGNMD/captains14.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out After he was done shooting the sequence above, Hurricane/Messerschmitt pilot F/O Dal Russell, a Battle of Britain veteran, couldn't resist a low left rip up Barrington Street in wartime Halifax. Despite warnings to the public, this caused some degree of panic. Russel's commander, S/L Hartland deM. Molson, also a BoB veteran was apparently not amused. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133620212-1OGND54ZPWIMKQI8LW7I/captains15.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out The poster says it all - He’s a Hell Rider of the Heavens now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631133655103-3NQNT2UYYIFXUTE73IE7/captains16.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out Not known for their understatement, Hollywood trailer writers add a dash of purple to the scene above where ten BCATP North American Yales hold formation over the skies of Ontario. The film is exciting enough for aviation enthusiasts, but a few choice words on posters never hurt anyone - “Living recklessly, flying gallantly - the whole RCAF story from training to fighting!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631188318042-76YJH8ECWYQOQ0ZONUK1/captains18.jpg The Stories - CUE THE HARVARDS, LIGHTS, CAMERA… ACTION! - Make it stand out These days, Captains of the Clouds is really only on the radar screen for aviation historians and lovers of Canadiana and is glossed over by fans of James Cagney but the amount of dough and effort spent to bring this film to the market is a clear indication of how Warner Bros. saw it - an epic for the ages. These days you would be damn lucky to catch it on the late, late show, but for anyone interested in a visualization of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan AND early bush plane operations, there is no movie like it. I give it five stars - three for flying and two for time travel. The musical score contains some classic songs and even singing by Scrounger Harris and Cagney's Character MacLean. To this day, the theme song is played by the band of the Canadian Air Force. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sheet-metal-magic monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631117033670-N0NXICKVB1R1EY2VNNJY/Art-MacDonald_News_1.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631117137193-9XU4KB6TKHFPZWJF5T54/Art-MacDonald_News_3.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631117315173-U6SIB7PLZI56NKJK4SQM/Art-MacDonald_News_4.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631117377048-1ZIKQ72EZQ2MAB8OPPDO/Art-MacDonald_News_5.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631118664497-1ZA9T1QSEVM26NT4PYZY/241485780_219770180045018_4763977696482134213_n.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out Art’s work is part of the author’s collection — Here a generic red biplane weather vane. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631118717771-IK8T4IUNEB8V34E3YJIS/241192942_271109348202375_2098131257169414003_n.jpg The Stories - SHEET METAL MAGIC - Make it stand out An unfinished Grumman Duck weather vane by Art MacDonald. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/eric-the-red-hot monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115401608-FUPVUD9I7NSZN3D10PZB/AiricTitleE.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115580141-YR0WX9KV6JN6BS7U4A0J/Airic36.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out One of Eric's Grandfather's photographs of the R-100 dirigible at St. Hubert near Montreal in August of 1930. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115658822-ALFT8YKARB66USKEPHCC/Airic37.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out Eric's father Richard shot this rare image of a US Navy Lockheed C-121 Super Connie in Blue Angels livery in the mid-1960s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115689700-AFYS9TPZO9NWRKR7W8LU/Airic2.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A good aviation photograph should have drama. Geneseo 2009. My long time friend, Glenn Goldman, flying Dave and Larry Tinker's Grumman TBM Avenger. The photo was taken late Friday evening leading up to the airshow. Edward Soye flew me in a Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association Harvard for the shoot. I will often get the pilots to do a 360-degree turn for some backlight shots and was able to capture Glenn against a wonderful evening sun over Upstate New York that reminded me of the South Pacific where many TBMs flew during WWII. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115778461-K3XGPR0FSCWPJRY0OK8A/Airic3.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph should have a unique take on the same old story. Two weeks before Geneseo 2009, Glenn Goldman invited me to fly with him in the TBM from Ed Russell's Niagara South facility to Geneseo, New York to deliver the Avenger for the airshow. I captured our shadows on the TBM wing as we circle for landing at Geneseo. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115844653-V8TVQS52B82Y4H6ZHOTO/Airic4.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo should have dramatic colour. Niagara Falls 2008. Fred Cabanas, a well known warbird and aerobatic pilot, is seen flying a Stearman Junior Speed Mail over Niagara Falls during the 90th anniversary of the first regularly scheduled air mail flight. Photoplane was a Boeing N-75 Stearman owned and flown by Quenton Marty. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115894756-6WW9BA8R9CQMXDOP9XOC/Airic5.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph can be had when all others go home. Geneseo 2008. Although I always hope for sunshine with fair weather clouds I'm not one to pack the gear away and head for home when it rains. During a torrential downpour I ventured out of the aircrew tent with an umbrella and sandals to capture prized warbirds in less than favourable conditions. My game is always on and despite the weather there is always a shot to be had. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115922564-ZVPNYXDW4N9XDHYQ02SA/Airic6.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph is one that lets you know where it was taken. Remembrance Day 2007 fly-past over Toronto. Photographed from Hannu Halminen's Harvard the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association's Harvards are seen in the hold over Lamport Stadium just west of downtown Toronto. The Harvards orbit one minute away from City Hall and await the call in to perform a missing man formation. This flight was very moving for me, as I had just lost my good friend, Maj. Stan J. Miller Retired, who flew Halifax and Lancaster bombers during WWII. During the 1990s I flew with Stan on many barnstorming weekends where he would let me fly the Harvard, Tiger Moth and Waco YMF-5. I learned a lot from him and we had many great times together at the events we attended. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115945431-XI78TEODPC3D9D1DG51J/Airic7.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph allows you to time travel - this shot could have been taken over France in the Second World War. Friendly Foes Above the Falls Airshow 2004. Walter Eichorn is captured diving away from the photoplane in Ed Russell's rare Messerschmitt Bf-109 "Emil". The photo was taken from Kent Beckham's Harvard with Kent at the controls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631115973192-VDMF80OJHPGW9PTWEOZN/Airic8.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph has emotion. Thunder Over Michigan 2005. A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is captured on the ramp at Willow Run, Michigan shortly after sunset. Although a symposium was going on in the Yankee Air Force Museum's hangar I could not help but sneak outside to capture the assembled warbirds during the beautiful late evening light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116000720-3P0D27IV6LRBMNXLG2X5/Airic9.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out Sometimes a great aviation photograph can be deliberately composed. CHAA Formation Weekend 2006. After an impressive nine plane Harvard formation to end the 2006 Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association's formation refresher weekend the planes were lined up on the Tillsonburg Airport ramp for a group shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116025372-WQMBYVZ27BT414QDIPME/Airic11.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo celebrates colour. Edenvale 2007. After a busy airshow season I scheduled a late September air-to-air shoot with the Edenvale Classic Aircraft Foundation`s Fleet Canuck and DH-82A Tiger Moth. Photographed from the Association`s Tiger Moth I captured this shot of Dave Hadfield flying the group`s Fleet Canuck over Georgian Bay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116065293-ONS6PVJU457B0NZJUOGH/Airic12.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph sometimes does not have an airplane in the shot. Gatineau 2007. With the help of Michel Coté I was able to photograph the Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawks Parachute Demonstration Team jumping at the Vintage Wings of Canada`s 2007 fall open house. For this shot I wore a harness and was standing on the ramp of a CC-115 Buffalo as the Skyhawks departed the aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116096559-05DV4ZBM4GSWIALLGP65/Airic13.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph can convey a mood - like the loneliness of a long distance adventure. The ``Triple Crown`` Vickers Vimy replica is seen during a late evening arrival at the Toronto Aerospace Museum in May 2005. The aircraft would stay at TAM for a week while it was prepared for its trans-Atlantic flight to recreate Alcock and Brown`s first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116127903-Z8TGRZNNHSBJX5OTPS2P/Airic14.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo conveys a sense of dimension. In this case the closeness of the trees allows the viewer to see how low the Herc is in its turn. CFB Trenton 2008. Aviation photography is such a passion I often spend any free time I have with my wife at the end of runways. On November 5th, 2008 I captured this shot of a CC-130 Hercules performing a tactical landing at CFB Trenton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116150686-TV6TLI8M59TX7G7YZ0QG/Airic15.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph is intimate. Rhinebeck 2007. One of aviation's most magical places; Cole Palen`s Rhinebeck, New York. A 1910 Hanriot is seen flying during the last flying display of the year at Rhinebeck 2007. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116257075-0V84PU0DWGGMQCXBP63H/Airic16.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo takes you where you normally can't go. CFB Trenton 2003. This photograph was taken on the flight deck of Canadian Armed Forces CC-130 Hercules 130343 during a press ride for the CFB Trenton airshow and open house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116287765-S97FPAP5U0ZG1KY8SW7A/Airic17.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo is deliberately set up - so that luck can have a better chance of working for you. Geneseo 2006. I have had the pleasure of shooting the Great War Flying Museum aircraft on several occasions and always had this idea for a dog fight shot and early one morning at the Geneseo airshow I had the chance to fly in the back of the Museum's Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter flown by Richard Sowden. I instructed the pilots to just mix it up behind me and I will see what I can capture. This is by far one of my favorite A2A images where all the elements came together at once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116315103-CGG6YUQA7LG14TRSH6U9/Airic29.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out More than one great aviation photograph can come from the same shoot and the changing lighting conditions. Geneseo 2006. I fire off a shot from the gunner's position on the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter as the Red Baron in his Fokker Dr.1 Triplane moves in for a shot at Billy Bishop in the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a. Just in time a second S.E.5a flown by James McCudden positions for a shot at the Red Baron. We all survived the encounter to fly another day. Early morning fun with the Great War Flying Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116340909-B0PGVTSOPFP7RH1L5R06/Airic18.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo conveys the power and purpose of its subjects. Geneseo 2008. Curtiss P-40 Warhawks on patrol over Geneseo. Photographed from Scott Slocum's Beechcraft Bonanza set up as a photoship with a large cargo door removed and rearward facing seats. Mike Burke in the Cavanaugh Flight Museum's P-40N leads Dan Dameo in the American Air Power Museum's P-40N with Andy Mackulak in the Fighter Factory's P-40E. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116371040-24QLTTXAQGU6DZAZTWCY/Airic19.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo puts you in the action. Geneseo 2005. Familiar faces at Vintage Wings of Canada. Pete Spence is seen leading the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team as they perform a loop. Dave Hewitt is seen in the #2 position while I shoot from the backseat of Kent Beckham's aircraft in #3 position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116401158-E1YARDN4OEEA7PJEC4R0/Airic20.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo takes advantage of colour. Geneseo 2004. Making noise over Upstate New York. On this flight we had eight Boeing Stearmans in loose formation and the idea was to make some noise over Darion Lake to generate interest in the nearby airshow. Three of the Stearmans are seen in tight formation. Not an easy shot to get through the bracing and struts on the Stearman photoship. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116424263-CF14THWQNJS0O3EAIYG0/Airic21.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo takes advantage of no colour. This particular image is the editor's favourite. Brantford 2003. Despite looking right into the setting sun there are always shots to be had such as this silhouette of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Fairey Firefly and its pilot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116448282-J6LQSYY2LW9113SU5KXU/Airic22.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo is a time machine. Geneseo 2006. The Great War Flying Museum's Sopwith 1 1/2Strutter seen from Quentin Marty's Stearman. The Sopwith had another photographer on board shooting the museum's aircraft while we flew around the outside of the group. For this shot we flew in front of the formation and cut across in front at a 90 degree angle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116474723-7AWLPNTPMGV81Z4LEKY1/Airic23.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo shows us the beauty and richness of aircraft details. Rhineback 2007. A detail shot of a LeRhone rotary engine. This is a working rotary engine attached to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's Caudron G.III. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116502568-CZTG6K58HFF5UJCH4UT0/Airic24.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo eliminates any reference to modern times - this could be in Burma in 1944 - absolutely nothing in this photo tells us that this was shot in 2005. American Air Power Museum's North American B-25 Mitchell "Miss Hap" is seen over Letchworth State Park in New York State from the rear gun position of another Mitchell flown by Duane Carroll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116533736-06QGZ3X0U1YIP7HPOYJ0/Airic25.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo takes advantage of available light. Thunder Over Michigan 2005. The Russell Group's Messerschmitt Bf-109 "Emil" basks in the late evening sun on a hot August night at Willow Run Airport. For this shot I placed the camera right on the ground to get a unique view looking up at the fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116557234-EY36WSZSRNXM9IFGHUED/Airic26.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph gives us a sense of scale. Thunder Over Michigan 2008. I used a tight crop on this image to emphasize the tight formation and size difference of the aircraft flown in the US Air Force's Heritage Flight program. A WWII era P-51 Mustang leads a current frontline F-16 fighter during a photo pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116584724-8QQ3CV50QWAYAVMI9UT1/Airic28.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photograph illustrates a moment. Geneseo 2006. The Great War Flying Museum heads out on a Dawn Patrol from Geneseo's grass runway. This photo was captured from Quentin Marty's Stearman as we position for take-off. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116612334-UHN7NADFFVZZ0L48SVMA/Airic31.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photo can make you do a double take. Geneseo 2008. Canada's only wingwalker, Carol Pilon, gives a big wave to the camera. Carol owns her own Stearman flown here by Rob Holland. Photographed from Francois Bougie's Globe Swift over Conesis Lake in Upstate New York. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116651780-YA4R2TIO2DNXDGANBO4P/Airic32.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out Great aviation photographers stay when others leave. Geneseo 2008. The rain falls on the gun barrels of John Fallis's P-40N Warhawk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631116676216-XLBEVFZOQX19GNJLQPOH/Airic33.jpg The Stories - ERIC THE RED HOT — The Photography of Eric Dumigan - Make it stand out A great aviation photographer leaves you with a memory. Geneseo 2007. Flying over the Finger Lakes I have my first spotting of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's B-25 Mitchell. Andy Dobson just finished his routine at the Geneseo airshow and was on his way to find us for a quick photoflight. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a2a-belgian-style monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631105647305-3DWYC2RXKM887K9MUCBK/EricTitle.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out My favourite photoship, the famous T-6 Texan of Dutch pilot Hanno Wesdorp. Since we can turn the backseat backwards, the photographer gets the ultimate view through open air. In 2009 we plan to convert this aircraft to a unique T-6 'P' (P for photoship), with two radio-guided camera pods under the wing. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631105980091-PPGL7HUG7OKBNV5FWUSN/Eric2.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out This full-scale perfect replica of the Swedish Tummelisa is flown at airshows all over the world by Mikael Carlson. He flies this aircraft with a rotary engine in an aerobatic performance...This picture was taken over the desert in the United Arab Emirates. With the designation Ö-1, 24 of these diminutive biplanes were in air force service until the last was retired in 1935. The name Tummelisa (Pilots shortened it to "Lisa") is very fitting as it comes from the feminine equivalent of "Little Tom Thumb". Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631113515529-F4N7YDNNPJ2N18QKXRPN/Eric3.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out A three-ship of Russian-built Yaks (Yakovlev) in the last rays of sunlight over Belgium: The green aircraft is a Yak-18 - immaculate restoration - flown by Jean Michel Legrand, the two camouflaged aircraft are Yak-52's of Romania's only aerobatic team 'Icarii Acrobati'. Photo Eric Coelkelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631113547665-T9YFKULE4Y73CLWMDYWL/Eric4.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Although this Mustang belongs to the Swedish Historic Flight, she is stationed at the Belgian airport of Deurne, near Antwerp. A popular performer at airshows around Europe, here she is readied for flight. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631113786660-64RLIGMCP0134L3UJ2GF/Eric20.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Michael Potter coming in very close to our photoship (flown by Tim Leslie) during formation practice at one of those incredible 30 degree days in June 2008. Although more than 60 years old these Harvard aircraft look mighty fine! Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631113739172-JLSJGSW8KCC1IU9XX5SC/Eric5.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Once upon a time there were 60 Catalinas flying in the Dutch Airforce; today only one remains airworthy. Needless to say, she is very popular, because paying passengers can take a ride in a flying boat. It is one way to generate revenue to keep her flying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114008921-4TDOYIHKA9TSKSX1HHWS/Eric6.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Once upon a time there were 60 Catalinas flying in the Dutch Airforce; today only one remains airworthy. Needless to say, she is very popular, because paying passengers can take a ride in a flying boat. It is one way to generate revenue to keep her flying. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114034426-25N7GPRS7CBLE6L10XQY/Eric7.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out There is still one Spitfire flying in Holland, in the original colours of the Dutch Airforce... look out with taxiing though! Unfortunately she suffered a gear collapse on landing last year and is now again under restoration to full flying status. This photo was taken during the annual 'Open Days' of the Dutch Airforce. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114200595-6CVNMX67ALJPVW0CSTDM/Eric.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out No, this B-25 it is not executing a loop or a roll, but hey it sure does look like one! Famous airshow pilot Peter Kuypers (a captain on 737s with KLM ) includes this manoeuvre - actually a very high wing over - in every display. Needless to say, the public is thrilled every time. It pays to know the pilot, as Eric can get the info he needs to position his camera for the most dramatic shot. This is the sole flying B-25 Mitchell in Holland and one of only a few in Europe. The aircraft belongs to the 'Royal Historic Flight' and enjoys great support of the Airforce as well. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114251405-OU04VEQRKTWXL23P501U/Eric10.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out One of the better looking Stearmans, 'Old Crow' is flying over the airfield of Schaffen, Belgium, during the annual fly-in. It is truly a magnificent aircraft and she is flown by Hans Nordsiek who is a captain on the Boeing 777 with KLM. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114283265-MFQ9W7MSFNZJK784STCD/Eric11.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out In Europe, there are still many Antonov AN-2 aircraft flying around. This giant biplane is more like a flying tractor, but passengers enjoy her very much. This one is seen landing at the world famous airshow of Sanicole in Belgium, after another pleasure flight from Holland. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114313151-F2N3PBZNVSPEOD788973/Eric12.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out An aerial view on Coekelbergh's homebase; the tiny airfield of the flying club of Sanicole - world famous for its airshows. It is also the birthplace of the European Airshow Council (similar to ICAS in the US and Canada). The aircraft are with the German aerobatic team "Eichhorn Adventures". They fly two Harvards and are clearly sponsored by Red Bull! who sponsor many aviation teams and individuals because of their slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings". Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114345334-WNH18QFN9YALIE6LOCGJ/Eric13.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out If you think that this is low level flying...well we were already climbing out after our low pass over the airfield of Schaffen, Belgium. Many pilots - if not all - enjoy the 'low pass' after their flight or performance and as a photographer I make no objections. The aircraft is one of the few remaining Yak-18s in the world. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114388052-MJMX4LF8LE91QQ4NL32B/Eric15.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out I called this picture 'Buck Danny' named after a famous comic strip character (A European comic book about pilots & planes of course.... Very similar to Dan Cooper or Terry and the Pirates) The pilot in real life is Frederic Vormezeele who performs another low pass over the airfield of Malle, Belgium. The Mustang is painted in the Old Crow colours (commemorating USAAF pilot Bud Anderson) and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114420338-TQ3FJAYNXOB4WXO1T2MR/Eric16.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out A DC-3, C-47, Dakota?? Actually, this is the only flying DC-2 in the world! After a careful restoration of many years, the public in Holland will get a chance to see her fly at only a handful of events a year. She is painted in the legendary colours of the Dutch 'UIVER', the aircraft that won the famous London-Sydney race back in the 1930s. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114446118-MOGSWDJOU4J99DICW940/Eric17.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out A rare two-seat Spitfire in the morning sun at the airport of Deurne, Belgium. She was rebuilt to give the sponsor of the museum of aviation at the airport (with many airworthy aircraft ), Karel Bos, a chance to continue to fly in these magnificent warbirds. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114476253-TBLWX4UVLDJJ3AE7BAMK/Eric18.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Not your everyday photo; Mikael Carlson from Sweden is pushing his replica of the Tummelisa (See above) over the hot tarmac in the desert of the United Arab Emirates. He prefers an authentic performance and that means even the original clothing of the 1920s. Photo Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114525211-MO6B0QOXA7DG69OJL4TY/Eric19.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Flying over the St. Lawrence, one of the world's greatest rivers, two of the world's greatest aircraft move in tight to Eric's photoship. Far below, a Great Lakes bulk carrier passes a Levis-to-Quebec ferry. All in all.. very Canadian. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114556648-6DYOJ7IWRYP7KZ4J1I99/Eric22.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Mike Potter at the controls of one of the three Canadian Harvard Aerobatic team Harvards brings her alongside Eric and Tim Leslie in the Vintage Wings Harvard. Below Mike's right wing tip stands the Canada Aviation Museum along the Ottawa River. Below that at the edge of the river is the exact spot where Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow landed in their float plane in 1931. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114593200-3GWBMTR3GU7OM3BMGP7X/Eric23.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the 442 Squadron Mustang IV, thunders across the St. Lawrence River Valley. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114628444-BU5E72P0FSNREOL26QBG/Eric26.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out At the Vintage Wings of Canada Open House in June, brother warbird collector Bobby Hanson let Rob Erdos (backseat) and Tim Leslie fly his newly acquired Ryan PT-22 Recruit trainer. Not much of a risk considering both pilots are high time test pilots and warbird pilots, but much appreciated by the two. Rob was grinning from ear to ear when he landed calling the Recruit "a time-machine". Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114656363-HLLMYQ6U5JGNR4UEXWBI/Eric27.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out What better place to capture the famous Belgian designed and built SV-4 Stampe than over the city of Antwerp? It was here that Stampes were built in the 1930's. Some aviation enthusiasts do not like this blue and yellow example, as she was modified with a Lycoming engine. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114681792-CDFU3HX744SMK2JG2Z7E/Eric28.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out This beautiful three-ship illustrates what this well known organization in Holland and Belgium is all about....Yaks! They belong to the 'Yakkes Foundation', famous throughout the European airshow scene for their performances over and on the airfield. For PR-services they travel to the airshow as well with a giant red doubledecker VIP-bus, and even serve their own 'Aviator Wodka'... after flying of course! In this three ship you see the green Yak-18 flown by Jean Michel Legrand, the silver Yak-50 flown by Peter Kuypers and the notorious/famous/celebrity 'Red Yak' flown by an equally well known pilot, Jerome Vanderschaar. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114709332-CH77HBC1HKJEHQB0EEG2/Eric29.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out The Boeing Stearman is a popular aircraft with many pilots, so there are still many of them flying around here. This example came from Holland to the Fly-in at Deurne airport in Belgium. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114732608-OGCOSFMZ0ZL11CN9HEL3/Eric30.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out The Mustang and the Corsair complete a nice 360º turn - the classic manoeuvre for air-to-air photography - offering the shooter the subject in all light angles. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114763307-ZEWGFQUL30TBYPC8LPGZ/Eric31.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out Sliding over to the other side, Potter hangs in tight with Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team pilot Dave Hewitt in the back seat. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631114807540-B7VEER1AZ41SOZECLS7K/Eric32.jpg The Stories - A2A — BELGIAN STYLE - Make it stand out At rest, the Vintage Wings of Canada Staggerwing frames the Canadian Warplane Heritage Fairey Firefly, forced to stay over after the June open house due to a mechanical problem. Photo: Eric Coekelberghs https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/air2air monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631048324345-VWV5AVY0673IL9YTT5DI/Screen+Shot+2021-09-07+at+4.58.20+PM.png The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631048431286-P1374ODQPUVHWKV8IPOU/Screen+Shot+2021-09-07+at+4.59.42+PM.png The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066204785-9OUZ5CX0C4GHQ53B3D5W/news_05122008_1.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Joining us for the trip out to Thunder Over Michigan last year were the father-son team of Bob and Chris Baranaskas flying a P-40 Kittyhawk and P-51 Mustang. Here Chris brings his father's Mustang close in to "Panchito" for some air-to-air. Chris is an exceptional pilot, flying formation like a pro. He's also very young, perhaps the youngest active Mustang pilot out there. This shot was pretty tough to get. A full prop arc is every air-to-air photographer's dream, but hard to achieve in sharp focus, since shutter speeds are usually so slow (1/50th to 1/25th sec) that camera shake blurs the image. I was very fortunate on this one. It's not perfect, but still pretty sharp. I wish that the background had been more interesting though, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066267500-GCT9PXYPUT9F3OP07781/news_05122008_2.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out This is Larry Kelley's Cessna UC-78 Bobcat after a heavy rain shower at the 2003 Georgetown Fly In. It is a delightful aircraft that Larry restored himself more than a decade ago. Sadly another pilot wrecked the aircraft at Oshkosh a few years ago. It is now under very slow rebuild at Larry Kelley's base in Georgetown, Delaware. UC-78's were known as Cranes in Canadian service. On a technical note; I often use a circular polarizer filter for shots like these. It really helps pull out the reflections in the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066339182-4BPGXBV1TX1QNDAKNSKN/news_05122008_3.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out I was fortunate to fly out to the 2007 Thunder Over Michigan airshow in a mass formation of five B-25 bombers, two P-47's, a P-40 and a P-51. It was one of those serendipitous moments where pilots decide to make some fun out of a long journey. We all took off from separate airfields, and met up at specific points along the way before arriving en-masse at Ypsilanti. It was quite an adventure, and most of the aircraft took turns coming up behind us in "Panchito" to have their photographs taken. The two P-47D's came in very close. Here you can see Terry Rush flying "No Guts, No Glory" with Dan Dameo in "Jacky's Revenge". They were so close at times that it felt like I could feel the breeze from their propellers! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066633270-PCLUQTQLHI2GU9MWN0VM/news_05122008_4.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066659438-BGM3MA8F7X7MOBHUKCAM/news_05122008_5.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066682261-H2UXK1R2SQNTO5TDX33X/news_05122008_6.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066704978-WBNC8Y0OKK2675TVGVOJ/news_05122008_7.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631066728116-AEWF967WLM27IFMWKFI5/news_05122008_8.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104608176-47TW589H1FAUGU503V6Q/news_05122008_9.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104700801-EQAV6QO8CRODU9DBZUWA/news_05122008_11.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104634357-FAPXYUOC3H1R3F7NIY1S/news_05122008_10.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104761011-U1AQ7WFRO04M940VYCPC/news_05122008_13.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104778177-4FTYCDUJMKW8GP08AY58/news_05122008_12.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104801483-JPL9IS59F3W0GT9NCXYC/news_05122008_14.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104829130-DSVSDQYQAT0KIGBKDOYB/news_05122008_15.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104856157-BZV9HOYFPRC6MXC9YETZ/news_05122008_16.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104885974-KCOO9GA4Y1R8ZPPNZXFD/news_05122008_17.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631104917184-1AFUPPXJP1U5S826G85X/news_05122008_18.jpg The Stories - Air2Air with Richard Mallory Allnutt - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wizards-and-merlins monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631044384395-9GIWNRXTXDO3HPIZR87P/NorthstarTitle.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out After showing the Vintage Wings communications team around their North Star project, President Austin "Tim" Timmins (top), Vice-President Jim Riddoch, Merlin engine restoration expert Ted Devey and Canada Aviation Museum restoration supervisor Mike Irvin (bottom) take a moment to pose with their dream. This pilot project to utilize the manpower of both trained and untrained volunteers under the supervision of professionals will prove to be the future of restoration work at the CAvM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631044536511-4FB8D5IH4YFSG3TXHGHL/Northstar26.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out As beefy, noisy and anachronistic as the Canadair North Star was by the mid 1960s, it had both undeniable utility and a beauty that comes from her broad-shouldered work. Here a sister aircraft (17511) of the Canada Aviation Museum's North Star thunders across the Canadian landscape. Sporting the old Red Ensign on her tail, this photo can be dated to before 1965. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631044572508-XM7WXBP6AUYHWW9RKOKN/Northstar.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Canadair built 71 North Star airframes under various designations - North Star, C54GM, DC4M and C5 (one aircraft with radial angines). Here a "Canadair Four" promo-aircraft in factory sales-tour paint scheme poses for a camera ship. The North Star was in fact first designed and built for Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada) and commercial use. Its commercial airline service was surprisingly lengthy with the last North Star still working in the mid-1970s. North Stars saw first-line service with Canada's two major airlines - TCA and Canadian Pacific, and as the "Argonaut" saw effective service with BOAC. Most commercial North Stars were pressurized, while those in the employ of the RCAF were not - thus compounding the misery of passengers by driving through the more turbulent air at lower altitudes. Trans-Canada Airlines devised a simple fix in their sheet metal shop called the McLeod Crossover which noticeably reduced engine noise in the passenger cabin. This was not adopted by the RCAF. Photo: Canadair via Jean-Francois Mongeau https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046605734-QOKR9ASK0ENUZRY01KU9/Northstar25.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out The Canadair C-54GM North Star, powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines, served Air Transport Command from 1947 into the mid 1960s. The North Star was the first aircraft to fly non-stop across Canada, from Vancouver to Halifax, on January 15, 1949, a distance of 2785 miles. North Stars were notoriously brutal on the ears and a long distance trip was often more of an endurance test for the crew and passengers than the aircraft. Photo: Peter Seemann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046637722-GVV2VYJ3IO08AGPOVH2J/Northstar30.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Here, the Canada Aviation Museum's C-54GM North Star 17515 is photographed taxiing into the terminal at Dusseldorf in 1965. "One Five" and her sister North Stars put the RCAF Air Transport Command on the map. The North Star earned a reputation in the Air Force for reliability and flexibility as it plied the global routes for nearly twenty years. Photo: Peter Seemann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046678940-405CQPOGGW3QPA5WGVD5/Northstar28.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out By 1985, when Pierre Langlois shot this photograph of 17515, she was nearly 20 years awaiting some love and affection in the form of restoration. Back in 1985, the present day collection of the Canada Aviation Museum was housed in vintage Second World War era hangars (in the background) and attendant ramps from the long-gone RCAF Station Rockcliffe. For those of us who visited the collection often when it was thus housed, there exists nostalgia for the accessibility and simplicity of the collection. Though there was some hope back then that she would be saved from total deterioration, for the next 20 years she would remain outside, visited only by starlings, wandering visitors and the occasional photographer. The brand new National Aviation Museum (Now Canada Aviation and Space Museum) being constructed in the background. Any hopes she may have had that this would be her new home were not to be. Towed across the field to be close to the Museum, she would continue to endure the harsh Canadian climate for two more decades - this time with no one to wander around her. Photo: Pierre Langlois https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046754649-5UQKELO2M7T7CPVVLGAL/Northstar31.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out One can only imagine what 40 years of this will do to a complex and fragile system like the Canadair North Star. This photo was taken 20 years after her arrival at the National Aeronautical Collection, and a full 20 years before she was finally brought indoors at the Canada Aviation Museum. At least the mice and starlings were temporarily out of action. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046825473-IXLNSFC85ZC78CFCW8VV/Northstar5.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Today, 17515 no longer languishes on the back lot of the Canada Aviation Museum, but awaits her future in the new CAvM storage facility annex. Almost 40 years of outdoor storage were profoundly destructive in terms of corrosion and deterioration of such things as de-icing boots and fabrics. But today, she patiently awaits her future while a small cadre of dedicated volunteers administer to her sad state - one small component at a time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631046864125-UETO2XY29GYF7B5VKJPJ/Northstar6.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out From atop the central observation deck in the new storage facility at the Canada Aviation Museum, the full size of the Canadair North Star and the deterioration of her paint can be appreciated. Her port outer (No1) has been removed to the restoration wing of the museum where it nears completion of its conservation and restoration. All components being worked on must be removed and brought to the restoration workshops as volunteers must be supervised by CAvM staff. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047194122-AIV4OQ1OEQ3T5NX8UU1O/Northstar29.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out With her tail feathers removed and an engine in overhaul, the North Star is jacked at the tail to keep her balance. Other than the Canadair Argus (background) that she shares the hangar with, no other aircraft in the storage annex or even the museum proper takes up so much room. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047246403-L6OW3GOVB4JK7MGAT6QB/Northstar8.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Two of the senior members of the restoration team known as Project North Star, Ted Devey (left) and Jim Riddoch discuss details of the restoration of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine removed from the port outer position of the North Star. Thousands of hours have gone into the work so far, but much has been accomplished and as Ted says "This is Merlin 101" - the place where they will hone their skills at Merlin restoration. It is expected that lessons learned, tools made and experience gained will shorten the time for restoration of the other three. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047275707-361L3892YGKPPSF15AK7/Northstar9.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Two banks of six massive cylinders present themselves for discussion as Jim Riddoch (right), project North Star Vice-President and Ted Devey explain to visitors some of their trials and fixes along the way. The team had to manufacture their own tools to remove or turn certain components, their own engine cradles and jigs. Their pride is enormous... and warranted. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047317666-NUNVY1PL8QP7RJ65HRAI/Northstar18.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out The exterior of No.1 Engine, like the others, was in dire condition - filthy, broken, disconnected and corroded, but you would never know it looking at its condition today. All systems were broken down into components and all components were removed for high-pressure steam cleaning, glass-bead blasting or hand scrubbing - a daunting task if ever there was one. It was found that the core engine was in fairly good shape even after nearly forty years. The thick oil residues were still semi-fluid and had protected the cylinders and cam shafts from excessive deterioration. All parts that were corroded beyond use were remanufactured by volunteers with machining and metal working skills. The goal is to have the engine in fully original working condition - the pistons, cranks and cams moving in their housings, but with no fuel, glycol or engine oil in the systems to cause leaks or corrosion. They can be turned over but never fired. The workmanship is world class. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047347049-KQTVEU0PXZ2GI02VHQZD/Northstar10.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out The head covers for the port outer, fresh from the paint shop, sit on a workbench ready for installation. Thousands of photographs of each component, removal and replacement have been taken and painstakingly recorded in a master database. With hundreds of thousands of components, parts and fasteners, these recordings are invaluable in putting the Merlins and the North Star back together the same way they came apart. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047377101-CIMYRFBB7SJ2XNV8S0LV/Northstar11.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Senior Project North Star restorer Bruce Gemmill works on the engine mount and radiator housings for No.1 Merlin. Even to the untrained eye, the work is beautiful. All components were restored to original factory condition. This included remanufactured factory labelling of hydraulic, glycol and electrical lines - these being photographed and then replicated by graphics designers with the Canada Aviation Museum. The view here looks forward from the position of the firewall towards the semi-circular oil and glycol radiators. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047415948-PTVEW3U4T2SA9YSMWXEN/Northstar12.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out "The rookie gets the nastiest jobs" jokes Project North Star's Vice-President Jim Riddoch (left). One of the newest members of the team, former diplomat Ron Lemieux got the dirty job of cleaning a radiator assembly while old hands chuckle (Riddoch, Mike Irvin and Bruce Gemmill) at his feigned distress. In fact all volunteers are unafraid to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047441886-IED9Y3ESKQPGJ4CGJJ3T/Northstar13.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out No matter how deep inside the engine nacelle a part may be buried, no matter that a certain component will never see the light of day let alone the starry-eyed gaze of a visitor to the museum, no matter that it will never function as designed again, each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of systems, components, parts, fasteners, wires and labels will be conserved and restored as close to its original factory state as possible - such is the nature of museum-quality restoration. Here, volunteer John Tasseron explains the work being done to remanufacture a rectangular channel housing for a felt anti-abrasion strip - buried somewhere in the air induction system. Corrosion was so extensive on the thin metal channels that it required remanufacture. Not having the original machinery and methods necessitated the making of tools, jigs and another method to make just four. And this was just one small insignificant part! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047472156-YXLGWUF8JEG2M4J3DQ5D/Northstar14.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out For each part requiring more than just a cleaning and a recording, there are drawings to be made to enable measurements and written descriptions of how it will be made - this component is described in the caption in the previous photo. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047501160-3DYWGG7TYLPWCIVRFLKU/Northstar19.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Volunteer John Tasseron experiments with steel scraps to create a small tool to help with the restoration work. Utilizing the high quality presses, lathes and restoration equipment under the supervision of CAvM staff, John and others have learned the skills that enable the restoration to move forward. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047531535-7VWWN68S9BJ69WO1N9SF/Northstar15.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Though No. 1 engine has been removed to the workshop and nears completion, work has still progressed on other components such as cockpit seats and this immaculately restored cherry-red spinner and assembly. In addition, Hope Aero from Mississauga, Ontario has become an invaluable partner and sponsor by overhauling, free of charge, two of the four massive propellers - with the others to be done later. Hope specializes in propeller work and has donated the overhaul of these mighty blades with employees doing the work when schedules allow. Projects of the scale of the North Star rely on sponsors like Hope Aero who not only provide much needed expertise, but understand the importance of maintaining our heritage. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047578780-8B72U4YVG7OF1KE765F3/Northstar16.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Though No. 1 engine has been removed to the workshop and nears completion, work has still progressed on other components such as cockpit seats and this immaculately restored cherry-red spinner and assembly. In addition, Hope Aero from Mississauga, Ontario has become an invaluable partner and sponsor by overhauling, free of charge, two of the four massive propellers - with the others to be done later. Hope specializes in propeller work and has donated the overhaul of these mighty blades with employees doing the work when schedules allow. Projects of the scale of the North Star rely on sponsors like Hope Aero who not only provide much needed expertise, but understand the importance of maintaining our heritage. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047613582-U497NWC8RS598JDDGE7I/Northstar23.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Back in the day, passengers on non-military North Star and Argonaut airliners travelled in some degree of comfort albeit cacophony, with a wide aisle and roomy seats. Safety was less of an issue of course with overhead luggage storage ready to deposit hardcase suitcases on the heads of passengers in the event of severe turbulence. Photo via Jean-Francois Mongeau https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047906517-AIY8R9XCJIXEAPUEQ51M/Northstar17.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Today, the interior of the only remaining Canadair North Star has been stripped bare by time and restorers and has a grim and forlorn appearance. Some day in the distant future, visitors will be able to look inside and see how RCAF military personnel, medical evacuees and cargo were carried around the world. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047938604-ARIG1HB92JJWRK4KRW49/Northstar20.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out Decades in the sun and alternating freezing and burning temperatures have played havoc with the paint, but the skin is in remarkable condition. Old roundels. serials and Canadian flag will eliminate guesswork and research into the North Star's final paint scheme - she will be painted exactly as she was delivered to the museum. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631047970775-XE0D7ME6CUTO6FI68IEV/Northstar21.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out A long-gone RCAF jokester wrote the word "BANG" on the leather holster for the Very signalling pistol. In every restoration, there are little vignettes like this cowboy-style holster and its unknown comedian that reveal themselves on closer examination. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631048004386-VAHDPV1DEHMNZFTN9G2W/Northstar22.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out The cockpit of a commercial North Star reveals a busy dial-filled work environment, typical of the last generation prop-liners. The 4-man crew on trans-oceanic flights consisted of pilot, co-pilot, navigator and engineer. Photo via Jean-Francois Mongeau https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631048036435-UCRLKBYOELGP820QOCX7/Northstar24.jpg The Stories - WIZARDS AND MERLINS - Make it stand out The one-time pristine front office of the North Star has been gutted of her control panels, crew seats and much more. A diagram printed on coroplast reminds restorers where instruments must go when the time comes. The crew seats have already been fully restored and await installation in the years to come. Dark, dingy and looking like a fire had raged through recently, this mess will some day look like the well cared-for control centre of a powerful aircraft in the service of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/saved-from-the-brink monthly 0.5 2022-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043134533-KUFZINFODYGXDXFA89A2/LittleburyTitle.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out A lone float-equipped de Havilland DH 60M Cirrus Moth of 11 (AC) Squadron of the newly formed Royal Canadian Air Force floats past photographer Cyril R. Littlebury while standing on the deck of the marine signal station that was located at Prospect Point in Stanley Park. The photo was taken sometime after 1934, it was well before completion of the Lions Gate Bridge ( November 1938 ), which would be in the photo were it taken today. Littlebury was a great recorder of waterfront life in Vancouver during the early years of the 20th century and Prospect Point was a favourite spot to capture photographic images of one of his preferred subjects - ships. More than likely the arrival of the low flying Moth was a serendipitous event Littlebury was happy to capture, while panning the camera at the perfect speed. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury via www.historicphotos.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043413262-MHV0SFIXF667DH068DTF/Littlebury2.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Littlebury's opening photograph (top) of the 11 Squadron Cirrus Moth at Prospect Point reveals remarkable detail on close inspection. One can see and read the Moth logo on the nose, small aircraft shaped silhouettes painted on the struts and the smile on the face of the pilot as he gazes back at Littlebury. No. 11 Squadron was an Army Co-operation (AC) unit and commenced training when it received 4 Cirrus-powered de Havilland Moth aircraft in October of 1934, allowing us to date this somewhere between late 1934 and 1935, for Littlebury died of Cancer in 1936, and it is unlikely that he was well enough to take photos during the last year of his life. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043473774-SEMFL3K4GQX5T67RSXHM/Littlebury6.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Prospect Point from water level on May 16th, 1923. It was while standing atop this point at the Marine Signal Station more than ten years later that Littlebury captured the image of the 11 Squadron Moth. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043515398-3A7AOI0K123H3NYMNZOH/Littlebury13.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out This photo of one of the four 11 Squadron Cirrus Moths at Sea Island was not taken by Littlebury, but gives us a different angle on the airplane. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043566239-328C5BV7D7O4UL7HFVDF/Littlebury12.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out From Prospect Point, Littlebury had an almost aerial view of passing steamers and ferries. Here a CPR coastal steamer, the Princess Alice lays on the coal as she steams past. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043633190-R4VEY97NQ02WVATJZ5FL/Littlebury3.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out A brand spanking new Coastal Airways Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker taxies slowly under the power of her 300 HP Wright Whirlwind engine circa 1931. This aircraft was built in 1930 and would be destroyed by fire in Nakina, Ontario while Austin Airways mechanics were heating her engine in February of 1944. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043665909-YHFD34WU8FX5SZCPB1WP/Littlebury4.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out A Curtiss H2SL - lovingly referred to by its crews as the Flying Forest for its forest of wooden struts - was one of the most beautiful aircraft to ever fly off water. This particular airplane (G-CYEB) was a former US Navy flying boat (A1985) and served at No.1 (Operations) Squadron at Jericho Beach Flying Boat Station, British Columbia. Littlebury's records indicate that this image was shot circa 1928, but the aircraft's records indicate that it was struck off service in 1925. There were five HS-2L flying boats based at Jericho - all ex-USN. The station was constructed in 1920 by the Federal Air Board and became the first Canadian Air Base. In 1924 it became the first R.C.A.F. base in British Columbia representing an important milestone in Air Force history. During the 1920s and early 30s flight services from this station were used by federal and provincial ministries for patrolling, inspecting and transportation along the rugged coastal waterways to remote communities. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043696338-DRFC03DCUX2SGYVP4W7W/Littlebury5.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Before moving to Vancouver, Littlebury lived and worked in Calgary, Alberta. Just a few miles south of Calgary was the Canadian Air Force airfield at High River. No.2 Operations Squadron DH-4 aircraft were based there and used for forest fire patrols and a considerable amount of aerial photographic survey of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Here we see a de Havilland DH4 (G-CYCW - Ex RAF F2713). These large biplanes were converted in Canada to a single seat configuration. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043728749-L8MJ8MOVT5Z41LLJV8ND/Littlebury.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Zooming in closer we see that ground crew are lifting the tail of the big bi-plane onto a wheeled cart, enabling them to move it about without the drag of the skid in the grass. The pilot is checking the controls in the cockpit. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043793416-KHVM5HC7Y7AJBXELHP1T/Littlebury7.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Though we normally publish only aviation-related stories, we would be remiss if we didn't show you exactly why Littlebury's once-lost collection of nearly a thousand photographs is so important to our understanding of life in the west in the early 20th century. Here we see Littlebury, his wife Ashley, and his mother and father, Helena, and Arthur, standing before the White Café on the Main Street of Cochrane, Alberta. They are driving what was described as a ‘centre’ door, Ford Model T. The photo is revealing in that even though this is Western Canada in the 1920s, there are no longer horses on the dirt main street of this farming town. Most of the buildings in this photo are still standing, in what is now called, the Old Town of Cochrane. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043825331-9R0ES4J8IW2U1QFNYORM/Littlebury9.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Littlebury's photo caption identifies this as the Gillespie farm. Here again we see Littlebury with wife and parents in the photo. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043872880-ISUH00UQA2Z4Q9ZL96FB/Littlebury8.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out Littlebury was obviously fascinated by transport - trains, ships and aircraft. In this shot, the Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. liner Empress of Asia is about to leave from a pier in Vancouver. Passengers have thrown streamers down to their families who have come to see them off. Other than two assignments as a troopship in the First and Second World Wars, the Empress of Asia spent her whole career transporting cargo and passengers between the Orient and British Columbia. On February 5th, 1942 while in convoy approaching Singapore the Empress of Asia was lost by enemy action. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043912354-VYQKX3JEVE6OWSZA0V9K/Littlebury10.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out The coastal steamer S.S. Cardena of Union Steamships - as captured by Littlebury from Stanley Park. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631043961516-S3HPUESDQNK4UYOS1WY3/Littlebury11.jpg The Stories - SAVED FROM THE BRINK - Make it stand out A rare and creative self-portrait of Littlebury - reflected in the mirror of the searchlight that was located at the end of the deck of the Marine Signal Station at Prospect Point, Stanley Park. Elsewhere on the www.historicphotos.ca site, are photos of the signal station, searchlight and its location. The signal station operator hoisted large symbols up a flag pole to tell the ships, the direction of the tidal flow and if another vessel was also entering the narrow channel in the opposite direction. One look at the size of Littlebury's camera and you have a better appreciation of his work and the difficulty he would have panning the opening image of the Cirrus Moth. Not only are we looking at a precise point in time, but right into the eyes of the photographer himself. Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/my-boys monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042131816-DG37BTQD4OCCTFT24O73/MyBoysTitleE.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out When thinking of veterans today, many think of old men, stooped and forgetful. But to us at Vintage Wings, they will always be young men and even boys - handsome, dashing and brave. The Halifax bomber crew of P/O J. Major of 433 Squadron RCAF was typical of this youthful camaraderie. They are shown here following their return from an attack on Berlin on the night of March 24, 1944. The crew L to R: Sgt A. Sumner F/E (RAF), Sgt D.D. Skingle M/UG (RCAF), P/O J. Major Pilot (RCAF), Sgt J. Young B/A (RCAF), F/Sgt B. Mose WAG (RAF), Sgt J. Greening R/G (RCAF) kneeling, F/O R. Bower NAV (RCAF). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042299965-89N7IQKKP1B7IO0ZQHYD/MyBoys2.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out In addition to building relationships with two veterans of the RCAF, Harris was assigned two veterans of the Canadian Army. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042358919-Q3QJPZSH6IXD8Q5BG85D/MyBoys4.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out And two veterans of the Royal Canadian Navy. Here, survivors of the sinking of a Royal Canadian Navy warship are rescued. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042453605-4ZRAU59EKQHX3ZBGO74L/MyBoys3.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out In most images of veterans of the Second World War, mustaches, tired eyes, and hard faces lead us to believe that these were older men, but every once in a while we run across photos that clearly tell us these men were boys. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042504620-BWOJ4GC1NAEGMBO1WCVE/MyBoys5.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out Boys indeed. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042538146-E938IJDGQ79N0CQZRS9D/MyBoys6.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out Of course, they were not all boys. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631042760050-MHX3H4HLREAOW34JWWXP/MyBoys7.jpg The Stories - MY BOYS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/last-word-on-the-first-flight monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041124053-SRE28MYSTHSBR8H385QB/LastWordTitle.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041208188-0FFPJKAT5W7Y7D2W3FTQ/LastWord4.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Gerald Haddon, grandson of McCurdy and B.Gen. Gaston Cloutier, the man who steered Canada through this amazing year at the 2008 press conference announcing the Centennial celebrations. In the background stands an image of the members of first Aerial Experiment Association - JAD McCurdy, Casey Baldwin, Alexander Bell, Glenn Curtiss, and Thomas Selfridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041256269-I3OPMQJTM1ZEEYGNAN7C/LastWord12.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Mr. Geoffrey Languedoc (L), chairman of the Centennial of Flight Board of Directors and Mr. Gerald Haddon, grandson of J.A.D. McCurdy, the man who designed and piloted the Silver Dart, the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft in Canada on February 23, 1909, unveil the Canadian Centennial of Flight logo (designed by Vintage Wings of Canada) at the Vintage Wings of Canada open house on September 20,2008. CF photo by Warrant Officer Serge Peters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041349009-OFZ4TQ1XJVDYIEG3TW5O/LastWord2.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out As part of the lead-up to the Centennial of Flight, Haddon immersed himself in a project that would re-enact his grandfather's first flight - the building of an exact replica of the Silver Dart to be flown on February 2009 - 100 years to the day since his grandfather's famous flight. Via Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041424737-1BQ3G7NRJ2A751CKJ368/LastWord11.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Let the celebrations begin! Haddon helps roll out the replica Silver Dart from a temporary hangar on the frozen surface of Bras d'Or Lake - 100 years to the day after his Grandfather did the very same thing. Photo: Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041459361-LIG8LPFJDXPXHKKW61WO/LastWord3.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out If my grandfather could see me now! Haddon steps back in time to feel what his grandfather felt - the cold, the sunlight, the breathtaking adventure. Photo: Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041490380-22XO3CXC3S7169KXHPJR/LastWord9.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Bjarni and the Dart take to the air in what was, for many, a moment of great emotion. Photo: Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041523365-F51FUXKNT2TQXPX2XGQQ/LastWord6.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Haddon celebrates the triumph of the re-enacted flight with pilot Bjarni Tryggvason and his family - wife Amanda and daughter Emma in front of the Silver Dart replica. Photo: via Emma Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041561936-AVMIG8GKAGZB9O00421C/LastWord5.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Haddon poses with members of the Hawk One Sabre team and Bjarni Tryggvason, the Silver Dart's pilot for the re-enactment. Photo: Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041623017-0SACS3Q3X2XBTIP5RPDX/LastWord7.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Gerald Haddon and his wife Amanda at the renaming ceremony for the Sydney, Nova Scotia Airport. Fifty years in the making and 100 years overdue. It now is called the J.A.D. McCurdy Sydney Airport and is the site of the 2109 Bicentennial celebrations!. Photo: Peter Arsenault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041663002-M3ZVNOR59H669FXBOBGZ/LastWord8.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out The grandson of Canada's first pilot addresses a crowd at Vintage Wings, backed by three men at the very leading edge of air and space - two test pilots (Paul Kissmann, Centre and Tim Leslie Right) and an astronaut - Chris Hadfield. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041693394-PZGJSGGXNDDBTW91L1SN/LastWord13.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out "Daddy... you hang with a pretty cool crowd." Emma and her dad pose with fighter pilot, historian, Snowbird Lead and all round good guy Dan Dempsey and the Hawk One Sabre. Photo: James Sherk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631041744156-GR217LLIZF2I94M5T55P/LastWord15.jpg The Stories - THE LAST WORD ON THE FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out In the middle of the Centennial year, the author visits the grave of his much loved and respected grandfather John Alexander Douglas McCurdy. At McCurdy's request, the gravesite, high on a rising hillside, overlooks the very waters where, 100 years ago, he had lifted into the sky. Photo: Peter Harrison https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bush-baby monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038217058-VBZ4N10JIK0KO09OYVZN/LodestarTitleE.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038306646-BUAPPH91ZHQRTSPYQNZS/Lodestar27.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Though photographed in the summer of 2007 by CF-CPA team member Guy Doiron, this is very much what Patrick Cloutier observed when he was flying overhead in 2004 - the Lodestar looking like a beached whale. One can still make out the gouges in the muskeg created by the fuselage as it ground to a halt in 1960. Photo: Project CF-CPA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038343168-HAHKGEQZP0LEENUED8F0/Lodestar1.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out CF-CPA, resplendent in her post-war Canadian Pacific livery. The team's plan is to restore the aircraft to these beautiful markings. Photo via CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038551945-XC2VSSFRTEU8CBVR01E8/Lodestar2.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Another fine photograph of CF-CPA being serviced in a post war Canadian winter. Photo via Bruce Alexander https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038608953-ZU4COV19ATQVY7AS5AKJ/Lodestar3.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out CF-CPA in much happier times. Two CP pilots including Captain Gordon Oliver Alexander (Left). Photo via Bruce Alexander https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038641382-XCD9WVEPREU5753CZ2K0/Lodestar4.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Captain Gordon Oliver Alexander flew CF-CPA (background) many times during its years with CF-CPA. You certainly do not see this kind of winter weather gear on an airline pilot anywhere but the North of Canada. Photo via Bruce Alexander https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038702560-13ST39WKDEQNPIT5YFQ7/Lodestar7.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out CF-CPA at the Québec airport in the late 1950s in the livery of E.D. Bourque Aerial Photography. Photo by Gilles Boily https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038744313-QGP90047MU0QB8DMSREX/Lodestar8.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The forlorn wreck of the Lockheed Lodestar shortly after her crash landing in a clearing in the stunted boreal forest of Northern Quebec. Her paint is still relatively intact, but 50 years of deadly northern winters have changed all that. Photo: Project CF-CPA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038780284-6MIZFJ1C9GBYOCVO2056/Lodestar9.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out In August 2006, Chief Pilot Patrick Cloutier (standing on her tail) and a crew flew in to a nearby lake and trekked in to visit and inspect the wreck site. After nearly five decades, her paint has faded and she has taken on the pallor of bleached whale bones. Photo: Project CF-CPA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038833816-GW45M7ZOYMWAIDWW1MWG/Lodestar10.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out One of the first photos taken of the wreck upon the team's initial visit in 2006. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038892968-CV2A5YWVIK0VK53D96KD/Lodestar11.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out In 2007, the interior of the Lodestar was in tatters from the vagaries of nearly 50 Canadian winters exposed to the elements. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038928766-EX8RTZVODTRICN7RPKF1/Lodestar24.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Members of the CF-CPA recovery team pose together in front of a de Havilland Otter supply aircraft at the time of their arrival to begin work in August 2007. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631038970854-Z40HKLE04ISEPR28ALJS/Lodestar25.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out In August, 2007, team members inspect the wreck. In this shot the beautiful lines of the Lodestar are evident. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039021738-VCGDYZS9QD7ERKDENSSL/Lodestar26.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out August, 2007 - work is begun. Here the port engine lies half buried in the bog. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039063207-O21DMIXYH2BUDRS5JNRZ/Lodestar28.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The stunted pines of the Boreal forest were cut to make an engine lifting device. Cables were laid out to other trees and the "crane" lifted by winching. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039108036-MXFAMNIXPP0EV2ER9BPE/Lodestar29.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The useless panelling and insulation was stripped from the cabin in order to save weight for the move to the edge of nearby Lake Weeks. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039583438-9WGO8821HD0LCBL5J5RU/Lodestar30.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The camp was re-supplied by a floatplane out of Schefferville, Quebec. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039614006-HRN0CSJVTVGFH5GV5522/Lodestar31.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The Cessna resupply floatplane swoops in low after taking off - for the picture perfect Canadian bush plane shot. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631039942328-KAIU3ETS26SEXRBP61BO/Lodestar13.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out By the end of the August 2007 expedition, the Lodestar was lifted clear of the muskeg, standing on its own extended main gear. The main spar and much of the fuselage were found to be in excellent condition. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040136544-EGYO4WO58C32EYOM06KW/Lodestar14.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Despite cosmetic damage, the team found the main fuselage to be in good condition. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040171443-GOC28GCW2QH0ZXLBG8SY/Lodestar16.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The two Pratt and Whitney radial power plants were upturned onto log cribs to keep them out of the frozen bog we Canadians call Muskeg. The these particular engines will be brought back to St Hyacinthe separately and fully functioning spare engines will be fitted on site. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040206437-BDPZZWB1ICJHNIGAN2YU/Lodestar17.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The good internal condition of the wing centre section is evident. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040243118-WXE05PT0LO4EXNZWY1G1/Lodestar18.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The black muck line on the underside of the fuselage shows us just how deep the Lodestar sat in the boggy muskeg for all these years. There was surprisingly little corrosion, possibly due to low oxygen levels in the water. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040298614-GPR33R4LGE1A0XI46C5Z/Lodestar19.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The port wing outboard of the centre section was heavily damaged in the landing - it will be dragged out of the bush and replaced by a spare wing section from a second cannibalized Lodestar airframe purchased by Marcel Deschamps. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040324789-Z0T6Y6C7LYYBUHHSGCMK/Lodestar37.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out A second set of spare Lodestar wings rest in the Air Marcel hangar in St Hyacinthe, Québec. The spare port wing will be brought to the camp site and installed for her eventual flight home. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040411019-C94S0C8YHDLUXU5HM26G/Lodestar33.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out Guy Doiron, the team's medic and mechanic, takes a break on the wing of CF-CPA during recovery efforts in the summer of 2007. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040446861-POONXJZGRTN0IZNP110L/Lodestar34.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out An exhausted but happy crew lead by Recovery Expedition Manager and mechanic Raymond Cloutier Jr. (Centre) gives the photographer thumbs up after successfully removing the starboard engine. Photo: CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040481781-SR4YU8OI1SCJU9R1R82S/Lodestar36.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out This past winter, the team avoided the black flies and mosquitoes, but had to endure the harsh Canadian winter. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040568693-7VTYILH7PJ67NG19IY73/Lodestar22.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out In March of 2009, teflon skis were fitted under her wheels readying her to be dragged by cables closer to the edge of nearby Weeks Lake where, close to the base camp, she will be readied over the next few years for her own flight of the phoenix. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040646950-VCP8M6AYODU8H1OUQ6YD/Lodestar20.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out A view from behind as the Lodestar is being dragged to the edge of the lake. Photo CF-CPA Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631040678328-SPKYX9Z8K10HHF8SLXF9/Lodestar21.jpg The Stories - BUSH BABY — Recovering a Classic from the Wilds of Quebec - Make it stand out The first of a series of triumphs that will be needed to get her home - members of the team pose with the Lodestar at the shores of Weeks Lake - the first leg of her long journey home. Photo CF-CPA Project https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/dux-unlimited monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630717003075-W8JPJ3YGDKQ14NL02T84/47E0D919-2A25-420D-96F7-96B7CE2F1EC3.jpeg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630717080492-A19T4MRU6TH14EHHMEI5/6671E68A-5C6B-4449-AC25-A879CDB64F33.jpeg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Gates opened at 9 AM at Duxford. This was the scene at 930 AM. The popularity of Duxford events is such that people stream in the gates from the get-go. The "main drag" at Duxford features scores of hobby shops, aviation art galleries, binocular and camera merchants, full motion flight simulators and booths for related aviation restoration groups. Flying displays did not start until 2 PM, so retailers did brisk business all day. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630717142212-0MB13ZQ91U15UFY08M2Q/CBA822FA-05BB-42D6-9F7C-3A3E0B120237.jpeg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Much of what is special about Duxford lies in the intact wooden Belfast truss hangars of First World War vintage. These are listed buildings (meaning that in the UK they have preservation status - wish we could do this for the same vintage hangars at Borden). Vintage warbird operations like Howard's Historic Aircraft Collection, The Fighter Collection and others conduct restoration and maintenance on an eclectic collection of aircraft under the same composite trusses and masonry columns as did the men of the RFC in the First World War and the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630717181341-W6KHSMQG4FZO3WZC9H5S/0078D894-02AD-49B5-9787-E1B58EB9970F.jpeg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Through the modern eye of a digital lens, we can see just how it would have appeared to maintainers as they readied a Spitfire inside the doors on the hangar line. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630717216734-VKR30LV0R8TDQBQC63IP/DF0AC0CB-4D44-492F-BD9C-1465F657A59B.jpeg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Tant Ju - A JU-52 Trimotor in exquisite condition tells us that this is indeed an eclectic collection. This aircraft is a license-built variant manufactured by the French Amiot Company. It served post war with the Portuguese Air Force, but is seen here in Luftwaffe markings for the Imperial War Museum. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034333637-NO7XR3BEAZVZ17ATPKHI/Duxford21.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Beneath the wing of a Fieseler Storch sits the delicate remains of a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero - the outer skin panels attached to a framework so that viewers could see her shape better. One wonders if she will some day be whole again - seeing the incredible work being done at Duxford, it's entirely possible. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034360357-5BLNFC11GHKC5DL9CE98/Duxford17.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The bizarre compaction and counter-rotating propellers of the Fairey Gannet AS-6 Anti-submarine and Patrol aircraft really gets your attention. A post war Royal Navy aircraft, from the tip of its nose to its triple tail, the Gannet was unique in every way. Powered by an Armstrong Siddley "Double Mamba" engine, the Gannet had all the over-water benefits of a twin engine aircraft, but none of the asymmetry problems associated with one engine shut down. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034391078-UZQ9EPTGCTEN70KSIBW0/Duxford4.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out After seeing the Beaufighter at the Canada Aviation Museum languish for decades, it took my breath away to come upon one in the first hangar I visited. Once described as "a fuselage in hot pursuit of two engines", the "Beau" was the bane of shipping and coastal defences. It had a long career and served in almost all theatres of war in the Second World War, first as a night fighter, then as a fighter bomber and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber. The unique layout of the engines gave it a pugilistic appearance - the propeller hubs being slightly ahead of the nose. This beauty belongs to The Fighter Collection. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034432017-02BI29QSFACC7RS6GGP6/Duxford5.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Other than the colour of the Staggerwing, this could be a shot of our own hangar floor. This historic warbird has quite a history. Built as a UC-43B (military version of the Beech 17 Staggerwing) for the US Navy (serial 44-67724). It passed to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease agreement becoming FT475 and operating from Scotland. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034479543-2WB5TYDICB5GUAMDVMFN/Duxford7.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The centre of operations during events at Duxford is the Second World War vintage control tower. With Spitfires and Hurricanes lifting off the green grass in front of the tower, one could get a pretty good idea of what the scene might have been like during the Battle of Britain. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034502352-JD6WJQ4M5Z5X19AHAE0D/Duxford8.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Duxford flight line is bracketed on both sides by the major halls of the Imperial War Museum - the Imperial War Museum Air Space, the Land Warfare Hall and this American Air Museum dedicated to the USAAF and the USAF whose forces were stationed in Great Britain during the Second World War and the Cold War. The broad sweep of the roofline and the sheer wall of glass beckons visitors. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034573967-8GXM8DSJ1CO1LEJ9I2U4/Duxford9.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out I found it compelling to note that the one aircraft that stands forward of them all is the Douglas C-47 Dakota, described by Churchill as one of the most important weapons of the Second World War along with the Atomic Bomb. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034556611-L9W41FHR7EC439149BYA/Duxford10.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The place of honour in the American Air Museum is most clearly given to the Douglas C-42 Skytrain (DC-3 Dakota) where it will forever fly into the sun. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034617585-5ZPHQRR9CSUM8D8PN1JA/Duxford11.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The great hall of the American Air Museum is stuffed with all the major aircraft of the USAAF and USAF over the past seven decades - here we see a B-24 Liberator, the C-47 Skytrain, a T-6 Texan, the tails of a B-52 Stratofortress and B-25 Mitchell, a U-2 and the stub wing of an A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog). Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034674246-LTVNXFGOXGAI5HXTCXMI/Duxford12.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out One aircraft dominates this hall above all others - both for its operational longevity and its immense size - the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Visitors are dwarfed by one of her 4 engine nacelles. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034705608-949KLUOYJGUVQNOQXSDU/Duxford13.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out When you ponder one aircraft in the hall, you have many more in sight - here we see a Bell Huey, B-29 Super Fortress, B-52, B-25, C-47 Skytrain and an SR-71 Blackbird. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034789843-DN8KEYZ7KF8NWA27WM1N/Duxford14.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Spitfire Row - spectators could pay an extra fee to cross the fence line for a stroll along the flightline of participating aircraft - much like paddock passes during F-1 and NASCAR races. A close-up look and unobstructed camera angles of thoroughbreds like Spitfires, Buchons and Mustangs were privileges many were willing to pay for. This will undoubtedly be considered for our own Open House events, where presently we cordon off the "hot zone", limiting access to authorized people only. A short time before flying began, the flightline access wash stopped and the area cleared - a system that seemed to work perfectly. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034830131-3J1HZDAV4HXY8JDQFJ7T/Duxford60.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Dave O'Malley presents Aircraft Restoration Company Spitfire pilot David "Rats" Ratcliffe with a Vintage Wings of Canada Hawk One Challenge Coin - a gift in return for his "spot-on" imitation of Douglas Bader's tin-legged walk. Also presented with a challenge coin was Bryan Simpson one of Historic Aircraft Collection's stalwart ground crew. An ambulance driver by trade, Simpson promised to "nick" an ambulance to meet Howard Cook upon his arrival home. The day started bright and sunny, but by show time the clouds had rolled in making for difficult photography. Photo: Susan Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034873808-9YOVOXJAP1QXTQWA2AA1/Duxford18.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Throughout the entire day up until the 2PM show time, there was a steady turnaround of two Tiger Moths offering rides for paying customers. Judging by the constant flow for five hours prior to the show, many Englishmen will pay for the opportunity to fly back in time. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034904750-K4QRAP93VCZKFQN5TTPS/Duxford22.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The legendary Charlie Brown of the Historic Aircraft Collection. Flt Lt Charlie Brown has been with HAC since 1996. Charlie has displayed many aircraft but is probably best known for his Spitfire and Me 109 displays. When not flying for HAC, Charlie is a flying instructor in the RAF, based at Cranwell. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631034932434-X0II8WDZ1R93F7QS07WQ/Duxford23.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out For decades now, I have witnessed dozens of F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18 and A-10 demos here in Canada and the United States and after the 10th demo, they all seem to blur together. It was a real treat to see the Eurofighter Typhoon ripping through its spectacular routine - a sinister platform, a dark and foreboding sky, and a gut-churning series of turns and passes all combined to create a display like no other. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035163298-M5GR416ADMG07PFN5O1S/Duxford44.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Streaming huge gouts of superheated air, the Typhoon rips through its routine. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035195257-BWTVI7NP79TKQ0E5T69T/Duxford24.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out In addition to the boom 'n zoom jets and thundering warbirds, spectators feast on an eclectic assortment of classic aircraft - some flying in gaggles of dissimilar types - such as these four aerobatic classics - a Pitts Special, Nanchang CJ-4, Bucker Jungmann and a vintage Zlin. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035225076-5W36I16WQV0FTWCUJD3P/Duxford25.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out One of the highlights of the day at Duxford was to spend a half hour chatting with Stephen Grey the founder of The Fighter Collection and one of the most accomplished vintage warbird pilots on the planet. And a charming rake I might add. Photo: Susan Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035363877-MR3N7H04FDZBDTNYHZQ0/Duxford33.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Perhaps warbird perfectionists weep at the non-military bearing of this Hawker Hunter, but being from an air show and graphic design background, I can say I think it's breathtaking. Here, it jettisons the earth and screams for the sky overhead. The Hawker Hunter is one of the most beautiful first generation jet fighters of all time. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035401425-JV2ASBE5X9N9G4PT0H1C/Duxford34.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Hunter Miss Demeanour comes across show centre lolligagging along with the canopy back. The mask must be for radio and fire safety, for there surely is enough oxygen at 50 feet. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035435428-SXYJKWNPN67WBQZAUX5Q/Duxford35.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Hot Rod Hawker shares show centre with its American contemporary - an F-86A Sabre. Typical of many British aircraft designs of the day, the Hawker's fluid lines have an elegant piscine quality. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035468142-QRI78OMGXJW54R8OTYEF/Duxford53.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The stripes on this Sabre are Korean era squadron markings, and not Invasion stripes. This is the only airworthy F-86A in the world; it served in the USAF between Apr 1949 & Feb 1958. It was recovered from a Fresno scrapyard in 1970 by former P-51 pilot Ben Hall & restored, flying again in May 74 registered N68388. He kept it until 1990 when it was acquired by Golden Apple Ltd who did further work & in 1991 it won the Rolls-Royce/Warbirds Worldwide award for best jet restoration. It is based at Duxford with the Aircraft Restoration Company. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035503026-YPE9ZFHBYQZKNIHDS9C9/Duxford46.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster and Hurricane make a dramatic pass against a darkening sky. I had the good fortine of seeing both of the world's only flying Lancs in the same two weeks. The BBMF Lanc at Duxford, the next day at Shuttleworth and then 13 days later, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lanc at our home base in Gatineau. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035845791-X539Q4N5N8HEYT16ZMUN/Duxford45.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Aviation photographer Aaron nails a perfect shot of the BBMF Lanc thundering into a storybook sky. Nice work. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035679495-TNXYYW1Y4922JRAS1Y8L/Duxford37.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The breathtakingly beautiful and one-of a kind Hawker Demon I (G-BTVE / K8203) Following an 18 year restoration, this superb aircraft flew again on July 27th 2009. Only a month afterwards, it was burning up the sky at Duxford. A total of 305 Demons were built, 232 for the RAF. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035737036-FSK5DP5A5Z3C53X6WO6P/Duxford38.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out One of the best things about Duxford and vintage aircraft operation throughout Britain is the plethora of one of a kind aircraft like this Percival P-6 Mew Gull. In all, six Percival P-6 Mew Gull aircraft were produced. Of these, only one - G-AEXF - survives, and that has been rebuilt twice - once in 1978 to its original factory specifications, and more recently, to its Cape Records configuration. The original Mew Gull was the first civil aircraft to exceed a speed of 200 miles per hour. Later versions introduced steady improvements, and the fastest speed recorded by G-AEXF in its 1938 Kings Cup configuration was in excess of 270 mph. At sea level, it was faster than a Hawker Hurricane. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035782380-NXS0JH4EUMQP0L80JXV4/Duxford39.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Miles M.2L Hawk Speed Six, G-ADGP. Built in 1935 by the forerunner of the famous Miles Aircraft Co, this was a single seat racing aircraft and is the only remaining flying example of its type. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035811815-B0JL8GN8X7LIVG3FY2DG/Duxford47.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Speed Hawk and the Mew Gull in a picture perfect pass - two lovely art deco masterpieces. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035879453-W9UQNAN1PZH4VS6TW4I1/Duxford40.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Bucker Jungmann shows off its considerable aerobatic capabilities. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035912628-4G9FKVIIX2FZCL3K66ZL/Duxford41.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Two Folland Gnats (G-TIMM and G-RORI) break against each other. This single seat fighter never saw service with the RAF, but it did serve with the Indian Air Force, and the Finnish Air Force. The RAF did take on the two seat trainer version in 1959. The Gnat became famous for the 'Yellowjacks' Display Team from the Central Flying School, which went on to become the Red Arrows in 1964. The Two-seat Gnat was retired from the RAF in 1974. Photo: Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035943817-TMLLNN5EN561BAH98105/Duxford42.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Aircraft Restoration Company's Canadian-built Harvard 4 in Portuguese Air Force markings. The Harvard was flown by Anna Walker of the Historic Aircraft Collection. Photo: Andy Scrutton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631035981553-Q6C5YIZFVDWJA9U5US7C/Duxford48.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Looking like a painting as much as a photograph, Aaron Scott captures a lovely shot of the famous European B-17 named Sally "B". She also wore on her right side, the markings of the famous Memphis Belle. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036009491-Z53RD7IKT0YCQUTFE3AM/Duxford50.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out A Spanish-built Merlin-powered Buchon, playing the part of the Bf-109 takes off to attack a Hurricane which is in the throes of a flying demonstration. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036038978-4BX0Y4D16R9M7YN7JRVO/Duxford49.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Four Spitfires are "scrambled" to chase off the Messerschmitt-clone Buchon which has harried the lone Hurricane long enough. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036110066-K0EWNSDNT9DQTPNO9CSD/Duxford51.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out Like Canada's Snowbirds, the Red Arrows are a nine-plane formation. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036144092-EN1W34P2P2W52YPOVJL2/Duxford52.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out A full show by the Red Arrows left the Duxford sky looking like an abstract water colour. Photo: Aaron Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036176116-LJ6CTV7N5FWRJ3WLJ6SR/Duxford31.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out The Spitfire Vb of the Historic Aircraft Collection was flown by Charlie Brown at the Duxford Air Show this year. The Mark Vb is considered by most to be the gold standard for Spitfire aficionados. This airframe (BM597) flew in combat with a Polish squadron in the RAF during the Second World War, thus making it one of the most desirable Spitfires extant. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631036212156-K4H4ZXEWLN9RI9QDHX9Q/Duxford32.jpg The Stories - DUX UNLIMITED - Make it stand out When it comes down to it, it is the boots on the ground, the dedicated volunteer ground crew members like Bryan Simpson of the Historic Aircraft collection, that make an organization what it is. An ambulance driver by trade, Bryan dedicates all his spare time to ensure that the aircraft and pilots have all they need to put on a safe and exciting display. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/little-fokker monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630697347587-AJCWLZSB8IPJR1GBP9SZ/ModelersTitle.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631026084473-CU9PX72MWPPH1TEIVLB4/Modelers2.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A close up of Bud White's Newfoundland Flying Corps Fokker Dr-1 Tri-plane (which he lovingly called "April") from the infamous "Cod in the Ring Squadron". Photo by D.H. Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631026107044-ROOP04ADA869O2I1M01R/Modelers3.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out White had only the single side view drawn by Evad Yellamo (see above) for reference when creating the paintwork on his Fokker Tr-plane model, interpreting how the upper wing sources might have looked - a job well done according to Yellamo, Canada's leading expert on the history of this little known aerial fighting force. Photo by D.H. Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631026128925-JUVMU0O2VEUJBX08S556/Modelers4.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A big man builds a small airplane. Bud White, a Vietnam Veteran and member of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (The Blackhorse) of the US Army, shows off his three-dimensional tribute to a mythical fighting force. Photo via Bud White https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031613178-G7AZGBEC8P1SK5DZVSRF/Modelers22.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out White contacted Vintage News to see if he could get the electronic files from Yellamo to create his custom set of decals for his build - the only ones ever in existence. The aircraft sits atop its white upholstery stuffing shipping material which protected it during its journey from Calgary to Oshkosh aboard the Hawk One Sabre, thence to Ottawa via automobile. Photo by D.H. Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031722094-L0ELRI769AL2O3G7C3YF/Modelers18.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The 442 Squadron Mustang IV, one of the most-loved aircraft in our collection, is also the subject of many model projects - most certainly because of her beautiful yellow spinner and upper fuselage. Photo by Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031764848-41ZORYKSLHBMVD106PSL/Modelers5.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A detail from a well-executed model of our Mustang shows the dramatic yellow and camouflage markings. The builder was none other than Sean Martin, one of Vintage Wings most dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers. The decals for this model build and many of Vintage Wings collection aircraft are readily available from CanMilAir Decals. Photo via Sean Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031804130-10WBMGHUXUCHUN6KL8MW/Modelers29.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Not all models are of the plastic type. These days modeling aircraft "skins" for FlightSim-type electronic simulators and games is a growth area for those interested in aircraft detailing. As in plastic modeling, there are many levels of competency with some so perfect, they are difficult to distinguish from the real thing, especially when you combine the aircraft model with a landscape model such as those developed by the freeware software geniuses of Flight Ontario. Image by "Larry" at A2A Simulations forum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031841710-LNB0MI537CRIRODDGL7J/Modelers13.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of Hawk One in her interim "Roll-Out" paint scheme dedicated to the Centennial of Powered Flight in Canada. Roll-Out, Run-ups and initial flight tests were done in this scheme. Once she was fully serviceable, she was flown to CFB Cold Lake for her Golden Hawk paint job in this scheme. Here in a photo taken from the Aerospace and Engineering Test Establishment CF-18 Hornet, we see Paul Kissmann arriving overhead Cold Lake. Photo by Jennifer Chaisson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031870107-SBXDW75L0EJGDZNWG9CM/Modelers12.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Wayne Foy, whose models have continuously graced the hangar at Vintage Wings for three years, asked to build a model of Hawk One for Vintage Wings. I suggested that there would be many models built over the next year or so that celebrated Hawk One in her Centennial Golden Hawk paint scheme but that there would likely be no model done of her interim paint scheme. He took on the challenge and created a diorama showing Hawk One as she was the day she was rolled out - replete with temporary decals, remnants of her previous USAF Korean scheme, remove before flight flags and even unfinished chromate painted panels. He included two Hawk One pilots in this ramp scene. Photo by Wayne Foy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631031936503-JMNRYCF4LVDI194CM0DD/Modelers7.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out This large scale (1:18) model of our Hawk One Sabre (With Centennial of flight logo on tail) was built with CanMilAir decals by Robert Roy in Comox, British Columbia where she made quite a stir in 2009 when she joined the Snowbirds to work up for the 100th Anniversary of flight air demonstration season. The model was used in a display at the formal dinner held at the end of that training session. Photo by Robert Roy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032300993-UPY1J0E0HK1AFG2UI5UL/Modelers32.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out VWC volunteer Wayne Giles built this superb model of Hawk One. It graced our hangar for the Centennial Year allowing folks a glimpse of the aircraft when she was gone from our facility - which was most of the year! Photo by Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032372197-FAAT6IUKR3A98NVLUWXY/Modelers33.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Different lighting can create dramatically different views - as in this nice "ramp" shot with canopy back of Giles' Hawk One model project. Photo by Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032426561-515YVDF2WTE46A196PBD/Modelers9.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Once again, Sean Martin takes on another Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft - the 421 "Red Indian" Squadron William Harper Spitfire XVI (SL721 is the serial of this particular airframe and not the serial of Harper's original AU-J. Here he lines up his model with the real thing out on the VW ramp at Gatineau. Photo by Sean Martin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032606248-9T0OJ86T8AYB1WTT1K06/Modelers36.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A clipped wing Spitfire XVI AU-J built by Wayne Giles. This is not of our own SL721, but rather one known to have actually been flown by William Harper of Niagara Falls. Photo by Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032651112-FFK1QYAYM4PV0B30VCH1/Modelers14.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The real life Gray Ghost Corsair rips up the infield at her Gatineau, Quebec base. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032733090-76ZDERI3YIJGBOCKM65T/Modelers10.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Robert Johnson of Wilmot Station, Nova Scotia built this large 1:18 model of Gray Ghost One (an FG-1D), using a Corsair IV model and decals from CanMilAir. The model was built from a 21st Century Toys Kit and finished as a Royal Navy aircraft. Photo by Robert Johnson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032772698-UB6XUGVLVVN66EH433FD/Modelers21.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Another spectacular model of the Robert Hampton Gray Corsair "115", the aircraft number most people associate with Gray's Victoria Cross mission. Some dispute claims that he flew 115 that day as some records indicate 115 was flown later that day in another operation. Regardless, there is a powerful fascination and a focus of history, art and imagination to be found in every well-executed model like this 1/72nd scale Tamiya kit by Al Sauer which I found during a web search for VWC model projects. Because it does not have the clipped wings of a Royal Navy Corsair, Sauer declared (with a smile) that it was a model of the Vintage Wings Corsair to avoid the barbs of overly knowledgeable folks. One particularly picky guy on this forum even pointed out that there was a thumbprint in the paint on the cowling. Photo by Al Sauer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032811071-0OHWD27SIJ60DXK7NVLA/Modelers23.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Last fall, Jack Lowe requested some detailed photos of the Gray Ghost Corsair from mechanic André Laviolette of Vintage Wings. On August 12th, of this year, he had the opportunity to visit the real Gray Ghost at the Victoria Open House at the Victoria Flying Club and chat with her pilot. On the following weekend he debuted his remarkable hyper-scale flying model of this historic aircraft at the Victoria Largest Little Airshow. Many of the spectators at this show were present the week before and all applauded the detail, workmanship and complexity of Lowe's model. The model is shown here at the time of completion in Jack Lowe's workshop. Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032846488-TWWMIXOLPYGM5DPEV5D6/Modelers25.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The master model builder Jack Lowe runs up the engine of his Gray Ghost Corsair. Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032883442-CX9TY71KY9LTEF6UA9ET/Modelers26.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out While practicing for the Largest Little Airshow, Lowe's Gray Ghost Corsair folds down its wings. It's the little things like this that make this RC aircraft a real crowd pleaser. The air show raised $21,000 dollars for local charities in just two days and considering it conflicts with the Abbotsford Air Show where the real Corsair was performing. Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032916424-26G6FYNWAULF3EQFOLMP/Modelers27.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Lowe's Corsair makes a low and dirty pass with gear and boards a-hangin'. With the dark overcast, this could easily be just another photograph of a real Corsair in action in the Pacific. Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032957403-GEXRW8PM0V6XXX261G4K/Modelers28.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Lowe brings her low and fast down the show line. Most people would be hard-pressed to identify this thing as a model. Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631032992812-9NU0M063SM40JCRRNDBH/Kittyhawk2.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A beautiful photo in low-angled light of our restored P-40 Kittyhawk over water near Ardmore, New Zealand. Photo by Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033075239-X9S9ZB7ICBN45U5CBKW1/Modelers35.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The light and altitude are different, but the view is the same - Wayne Giles' model of Stocky Edwards' 260 Squadron Kittyhawk . Photo via Jack Lowe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033118547-VWV7YLBA9V7YEY8HBNO1/Modelers39.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard 4 in the markings of John Gillespie Magee's Harvard 2 climbs out at Gatineau. Photo by Olivier Lacombe (Flickr) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033191278-LBO6T6PCZXDU4T07P7RN/Modelers11.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A perfectly detailed model of the Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard 4, which is painted and marked as a Harvard 2 known to have been flown by John Gillespie Magee, the ill-fated poet who penned the iconic "High Flight". A search was made for images of any of the 12 different Harvards found in Magee's log book with only a single photo coming to light - that of Harvard 2866. Vintage Wings volunteer Sean Martin built the model which was mounted on a three dimensional plaque dedicated to another volunteer. The image in the background is of the famous Wings Parade scene in Captains of the Clouds - filmed at Uplands where both Magee and 2866 were based at the time. Again, the decals for this build come from CanMilAir. Photo by Sean Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033256031-HK9L1CWLDTZ32V2C0899/Modelers19.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Pilot Rob Erdos gives us an up close and personal view of the 6 Squadron Hurricane IV. Photo by Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033035751-OETXMWRLSYRJUY2T2Z62/Modelers34.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Wayne Giles, a key Vintage wings volunteer, created this model of our 6 Squadron Hurricane IV. Photo by Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033327393-AL7XZNBQ5EX4LG7DTBOJ/Modelers15.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out I am not sure where I got the following three photographs of the Vintage Wings 6 Squadron Hurricane IV. I believe they were sent by Bob Swaddling a couple of years ago. They attest to the extreme level of skill and patience that some modellers can achieve. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033359592-LCHGAIT0NYSCEN6C93N7/Modelers16.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A close up of the canopy of the Hurricane IV - hard to believe it isn't the real deal. I mean.. the mirror is actually a mirror for god's sake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033400673-MZOUDDRU1JZRVBVFIMLT/Modelers20.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A nice full-on side shot of the Vintage Wings Lysander on her maiden flight this past June, 2010. Both Vintage Wings and modeller Wayne Giles utilized available historic photos (see below) to create their models - Giles in 1/48 scale and Vintage Wings in "full scale". Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033484474-SVM87IKL6U4AL3P1DGYN/news_05052008_3.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Commemorated by the Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander, 416, the first Canadian-built Lizzie looks splendid in her factory test finish - all-over aluminum paint with wing tip and fuselage roundels and prominent serials. Photos like this were utilized by Giles to create a model that graced our lobby for months before the real thing was completed. Photo: Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033566310-UJ9IKGC7KY12QFH3DWTJ/Modelers37.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out A little gem of a model Lysander by builder Wayne Giles. It differs slightly from the Lysander in the first flight photo above in that it has a spinner and skirts over the tires. Since that first flight, however, the real aircraft has been fitted with these... to make it like the model! Photo by Wayne Giles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631033650480-6552BOLYQN7QWMOSZZ7R/Modelers30.jpg The Stories - THAT LITTLE FOKKER — Models and Vintage Wings - Make it stand out When I saw this beautiful model on the web, I knew the tables were about to be turned. In preparing the paint and markings for our soon-to-be-finished Willie McKnight Hurricane XII, I knew that modellers could help us determine the right markings. Instead of a modeller building a Hurricane and referencing photographs of one of our aircraft, we would use models like this beauty by Dan MacKay by of the Rocky Mountain Model Club to assist us in getting the paint right. Photo by Duane Wood https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-pink-and-the-black monthly 0.5 2024-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630695653119-O9M9T3CGZBWLLH6Y2QG7/RNAFTitle2.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630695731980-DX6KOJO5AJR2KRD4OH6J/RNAF2.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out The Fokker factory at Schwerin was still in full production at war's end, but with the collapse of the country's economy, its highly skilled workers with nothing to build and no one to pay them, left the facility to it's own devices. Captain Cecil Purdy (inset) would chance upon the factory and its treasures, and see in them the opportunity to build an air force. Photo: Fokker Archives and Purdy Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630695893435-QZMH9KVTI9KQUD05ZEXA/RNAF3.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Ironically, the steamship SS Laconic commanded by Captain Cedric Purdy would be the birth mother of one of the greatest air forces ever. Photo: Chimo Shipping Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696023270-SDB4Z7FQOOAE01G1R1WC/RNAF4.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out The Fokker Cr. 1 Driedecker was an unlikely start for a fighter wing of an Allied air force, but they served the RNAF well until replaced by British-built Derby Dingbats in 1926. The Cod in the Ring squadron had 18 fighters - all named for towns in France where the Blue Puttees had fought. Duncan Kelligrew of No. 2 squadron would go on to command the unit (On Spitfires) in the Second World War. He was killed in action in 1941. Illustration: D.H. Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696105769-BGK3JR6PUA7C637A0R00/RNAF14.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696160571-2PEZKO8C730SSCMU16CJ/RNAF.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696205986-0OJWJC0EOAC18BYUIYV2/RNAF7.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696294744-H1YAD94VLS9N53P2SKP3/RNAF13.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696340566-3XDOD5E2HZP720NN5XQ2/RNAF6.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696432423-XD78TU3YUQ8JORASJF3Z/RNAF17.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696484407-7IAPYFO4L3YJBWAQ2OYO/RNAF8.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696513823-U3H6GLE55UAUS3H51DR7/RNAF9.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696543543-UX5YQ2PM6FTS08YQB2IG/RNAF10.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696589545-KW2SIXWUQGYTXPIII4DK/RNAF11.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696620477-I9XNV0NCZCM0T8JTJADY/RNAF11a.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696692048-ZDWN3CSA37IIYT6AIJ32/RNAF200.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696770589-KP54O4BY6H5ZAZIFOONH/RNAF201.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696804334-9YNR1LVN6DU70ZVQQ64Y/RNAF18.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696889782-HVPJ19LIOAFVWXHLQ7VD/RNAF16.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630696947345-U3AZ8TE0PBNOGF5SY3PZ/RNAF15.jpg The Stories - THE PINK AND THE BLACK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ghost-of-the-north monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692480001-D8OYYJX9G8CQUKGPQ8BR/ChamplainTitle2.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692606472-UE958P6V3X1TR7RO2PCA/Champlain2.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out Samuel de Champlain weathercocks magnificently from her mooring ship HMCS Joseph Mufferaw in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in July of 1929. The Royal Canadian Navy had invested millions of dollars in infrastructure (support ships and bases) to create the RCNRAS (Royal Canadian Navy Rigid Airship Service) as a weapon to both deter and counter submarine threats in the shipping lanes to North America. HMCD Samuel de Champlain along with a planned four more Los Angeles class dirigibles (HMCD Louis Cyr, HMCD Georges Vezina, HMCD Daniel McGrew and HMCD Laura Secord) would be based from two newly built facilities at HMCS North Forchu on Cape Breton Island and HMCS Toutlegang on Anticosti Island. After the loss of the airship, the RCNRAS was disbanded and the Joseph Mufferaw (Big Joe to her crew) was placed back in RCN service as an oil tanker. Ironically, ten years later she would be sunk by a German U-Boat on the Grand Banks. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692637667-EFMRIMSZB1QJ5I4GQ2HW/Champlain4.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out The pride of the Royal Canadian Navy Rigid Airship Service floats majestically over Montreal's harbour en route to an appearance over Ottawa in September of 1929. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692691152-GVIGP83ANU1GR8EIXM06/Champlain16.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out Thankfully they were safe, but sadly 32 men were lost trying to find them. Three Canadian icons of the day were on a goodwill tour of mining sites across Northen Quebec when their aircraft was forced down on a frozen lake due to engine trouble. Left to right: hockey legend Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadians, Guy Lombardo (sans his Royal Canadians) and La Bolduc, the French Canadian folk singing phenom. It was deemed absolutely critical that these three important Canadians be found at all costs. Unfortunately, the cost was indeed high. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692818998-I3EQD0N0IUL7PV0HS9MV/Champlain5.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out Samuel de Champlain was a 2,472,000 cubic foot rigid airship built by the Zeppelin Company at Friedrichshafen, Germany of the same class as the USS Los Angeles. Here she rests at Lakehurst, New Jersey after her delivery to North America. Her RCN facilities were not yet complete in 1926 and Canadian crews would train with their American counterparts at Lakehurst for nearly 8 months before she even made an appearance over Canada. Her construction was partially funded by German World War I reparations. Completed in August 1924 under the builder's number LZ-126, she departed Germany in mid-October 1926 for delivery to the Royal Canadian Navy. After a three day trans-Atlantic flight, the airship arrived at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, where her hydrogen lifting gas was replaced with non-flammable helium. This greatly increased her safety, but also significantly reduced her payload and range. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692861582-9KXQ48S192RHO4Z0VJ4Z/Champlain6.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out When her hangar was finally completed at HMCS North Forchu, thousands came out to gawk. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was on hand to open the facility and go for a ride from North Forchu back to Halifax. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692892615-0G5M8OTX7QD8LX4OGW5J/Champlain7.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out In the late summer of 1929, Samuel de Champlain paid her first and only visit to Ottawa. Ottawa Journal photographer Len S. Canon accompanied the dirigible from Montreal arriving over the Nation's Capital late morning on Labour Day. She made two passes over the city from east to west and then swung south to the site of the new Ottawa airport at Uplands where just two years before Charles Lindbergh had landed. Looking down from Samuel de Champlain we see her shadow crossing the Rideau Canal, Union Station and the Parade Grounds at Cartier Square. Photo: Ottawa Journal Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692944358-3WHF38WJ73ISLPCSIK33/Champlain3.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out HMCD Samuel de Champlain moored to a temporary mast erected at Uplands south of Ottawa. One can just make out the Parliament Buildings in the far distance. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692970669-L7V8402VZQF8Y8EP45G0/Champlain8.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out Samuel de Champlain flying over the mansions of the Village of Rockcliffe in early September, 1929. Even the rich and powerful were out on their lawns to watch her passage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630693019635-HMRK6NJKQBQK6NZJ66UX/Champlain9.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out The members of Samuel de Champlain's crew pose at HMCS North Forchu in 1929. Many of these very men would be lost among the 32 on the ill-fated search mission to Northern Quebec in the Spring of 1930. Photo: RCNRAS Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630693263761-3PVPGNFBGYPFLCFA01CF/Champlain11.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out It is long believed that HMCD Samuel de Champlain went down in the area shown here - an area roughly 30 kilometers square. This particular channel between Fool's Island and the estuary of the Waskaganish River has been open water during winter for more than 50 percent of the years since ice conditions have been recorded and the Hudson's Bay Company outpost at Charlton Depot on Charlton Island recorded open water from late March in 1930. The RCAF conducted search flights across the North for nearly two months after her disappearance - but not one sign was ever found. Last year kayakers paddling around the north shore of Strutton Island came across an old hunting blind used by Innu hunters during Canada goose hunting season. The nearly invisible and much deteriorated blind was made from strange aluminum structural elements and a fabric no one could identify. The kayakers took some photos and when they returned south, showed them to the RCMP. It was determined from the images (we are not allowed to show you them) that they were part of Samuel de Champlain's unique lightweight structure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630693302630-S7FHJBENBE8WKALOA30P/Champlain12.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out A more remote and inhospitable search site cannot be found, but the Vintage Wings of Canada de Havilland Beaver floatplane and a crew will fly north to James Bay in June of this year to begin setting up a base camp for the search. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630693179849-XOG8J1C0G6FVVXVC98ON/Champlain17.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out It is believed that the structural elements found at the old hunting blind were similar to the framework of the ill-fated dirigible - similar to these found in the crew quarters aboard HMCD Samuel de Champlain. Metallurgic tests are being carried out by Vintage Wings of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630693363079-JUT7167JIVB7CTMA4A1C/Champlain14.jpg The Stories - GHOST of the NORTH - Make it stand out The residents of Ottawa's downtown neighbourhood known as the Glebe have lobbied hard to have the Aberdeen Pavillion put to a historic use. We are pleased to announce that this massive building soon to be known as The Gothic Blimpworks will house the rebirth and daily operation of a fully restored Samuel de Champlain. Property values are expected to plummet faster than the original Samuel de Champlain did back in 1930. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/random-beauty monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673643171-1I7ZPP9BPPI8ARNDXQY5/Random3Title.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A six pack of Spitfires (and not the Kentish Ale variety) thunder low across the sea. Judging by their beard air scoops these are Spitfire "Trops", especially kitted out to deal with the dust and heat of the desert and other more southerly climes. Perhaps this is somewhere near North Africa, further evidenced by the open canopies on all the aircraft - to cool the pilots at lower altitudes. The shear thundering determination of this photograph speaks volumes, but one can almost hear the soundtrack in the background - perhaps the Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. One wonders if the "photo-ship" is a B-25 Mitchell, still considered by photographers like Richard Allnutt to be the best platform for head on shots to this day (save perhaps the lowered ramp of a C-130 Hercules). RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681296425-STIOQ305CUB532ZACU6X/Random337.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A couple of years ago while researching Harvard paint schemes for our High Flight Harvard, I came across this marvelous and rare colour image of a busy winter day at No. 14 Service Flying Training School at Aylmer Ontario. Shot for Life magazine, this image thunders with two yellow Harvards moving out together on a miserable day to keep the supply line of new pilots flowing. It is perhaps the best and most telling image of BCATP life I have ever seen. The shot seems to have been taken from perhaps the top of a moving fuel bowser, providing the viewer with a unique image of moving aircraft... From in front! Whenever I see the serials on Canadian aircraft, I rush to the computer and to R. R. Walker's wonderful RCAF Serials website to trace its history. Just so you know, the lead Harvard, No.3066, was built by Noorduyn, taken on strength at Aylmer on August 6th of '41. Four weeks later it suffered Category C damage, but was repaired and put into service. This photo was taken either in the winter of '41 or '42, as 3066 was struck off service in June of '43 and broken up for spares. Photo via Life https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681375743-X2EQM1OWPDJ0XYBXQYS9/Random317.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Another training shot - this time showing a student in the front seat of a T-6 Texan taking off from a sunny airfield in the American coastal South - possibly Pensacola. The clarity of the air, the hot sun shining and the open canopies (in fact, completely removed in the rear) speak loudly of the joys students must have had learning to along the Gulf Coast... Stark contrast to the nasty weather and miseries offered up at Canadian training bases which we saw in the previous photo. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681409059-FGTZZT0JE9ONHFN8PQIA/Random3.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out When scouring the web for supportive images, I run across similar visual themes all the time. One oft-recurring image is that of post-D-Day aircraft tearing over the French countryside either looking for or returning from trouble. Here, a Douglas A-20 Havoc of the US Army Air Force makes her way home. It is not the fact of the mission that grabs me every time, but rather the simple juxtaposition of the striking and symmetrical "Wasp Wings" graphics with the willy-nilly layout of the bucolic farmland below. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681446673-742TYIDCHIIY3RXM438G/Random32.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Nothing says muscle to me more than the Martin B-26 Marauder, the Chevy SS of Second World War aircraft - Small, over-engined, fast and dangerous. And just slightly ugly in the ugly-is-good sort of way (Bf-109, F-4 Phantom and de Havilland Buffalo also fit this category). Close inspection reveals the reality of invasion stripes - they were put on quickly without regard to accuracy or neatness - witness the off-kilter line work on the port wing stripes. In addition, the photographer managed the "complete propeller disc", an effect most real aviation shooters these days strive to capture since this is what the eye would perceive and not stopped blades. This requires shooting at slower shutter speeds, which would normally result in blurred images when shooting from the bucking tail of a photoship. Modern shooters with all their sophisticated cameras still seem to find the "disc effect" elusive. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681478311-Y1KKHXQOIHHLPZ6F5BSQ/Random33.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out At first, I thought "Wow.. I just found an example of ground crew that screwed-up the D-Day invasion stripes order of three white stripes separated by two black ones - all the same width." This Hawker Typhoon clearly had three white stripes, but there are four black ones and they are thinner to boot. But when I visited the fabulous website www.flightglobal.com, where this photo was stored, I realized that this was a presentation Typhoon which was displayed in distinctive markings a full year and more before D-Day. The reason for the markings was to help Allied fighter pilots to tell the Typhoon from the Focke Wulf 190 which had a very similar plan form .This photo was taken at the time of the Typhoon's first public appearance - at the Gloster Aircraft factory field at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire. The website also gave me a piece of information that I found very powerful - of the more than 3,300 Hawker typhoons built in Britain during the war, only 15 were built by the parent company, Hawker. The vast majority, 3,300, were built by Gloster Aircraft! The FlightGlobal archive of images from Flight Magazine is perhpas the finest two hours I have ever spent on the web - a must-visit site for the hardened aerogeek. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681605647-OLI53I02XU0ESH2U514M/Random34.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out In keeping with the "Wasp-Wings" graphic theme, this startling image of a USAAF P-38 lightning best demonstrates the contrasts of painted aluminum and planted field. As a graphic designer, I have not seen a more graphic image than this in all my wanderings round the net - shape and tone only - making a powerful statement of depth and light. Beautiful. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681631202-DO3CG64SSXAW02IO4E6N/Random35.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Same plan view, same aircraft type, completely different intensity. Whereas the previous image of a P-38 Lightning carried with it the sense of being homeward bound, straight and level, this silhouetted Lightning seems bound for trouble - rolling over and down to the fray. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630681665479-JWUSDH9OD5QZWL1QZEZS/Random331.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Six sturdy Hawker typhoons of 56 Squadron form up over their home base at Matlask in April of 1943. The purposeful squadron grouping heading into harm's way is a favourite theme of mine. Photo via Flight Global https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682431109-G2ABXLE1YSTP27ZOZEIB/Random36.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out More squadron groupings. One of the most iconic gaggle photos of Spitfires during the war is this shot of two flights of 611vint Squadron Spitfires making their way to battle over scattered cloud. These boys look like they are ready to wax some Kraut tails and I can't help myself imagining the excitement, trepidation and awe in the hearts of the eight pilots involved. RAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682456740-B5249A1D7OXR4K5D4N7N/Random328.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Another great Flight Global shot - the caption on the site says "A text book 'vic 3' formation of camouflaged Hawker Fury I of 43 Squadron, Sept 1939. Camouflage was added at the time of the 1936 Munich Crisis." Who cares about the camo... look at that beautiful light spilling over the clouds in the distance! Photo via FlightGlobal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682513772-7FUHVFV0FPRPWIXZWSEC/Random363.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Another image of Supermarine fighters, this time Seafires, making a low level pass over their carrier. RN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682548161-EQ5NVX4K27N0L1FN1NM4/Random361.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Helldivers hell bent for hell-raising in the hell of the Pacific. Hellishly good shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682575818-8D121SFQ5UPF2G0KWJ2I/Random359.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out And one last gorgeous squadron formation shot - of Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bombers. Nearly obsolete at the beginning of World War II, the Vindicator was known more often as the "Vibrator" due to the noise and vibrations that one endured while flying in it. While it was used by the Marines in the battle of Midway, it was soon retired from front-line service because it was too vulnerable to Japanese aircraft such as the Zero. USN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682601610-KJU6FKOBUGDTSA2OHOT6/Random37.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Whenever I come across a squadron-sized group photo, I always pause to scan the faces of the men who stand so proudly, all the time wondering if they made it. And if possible, if I can identify anyone in it, it makes the photo all the better. In this image, which I came across while checking out the photo site called Flickr, we see recently graduated Navigators employing a CNR locomotive for a group photo. The man standing on the cow-catcher (with his hands behind his back) is W. F. Wilson, who graduated from No. 31 Air Navigation School at Port Albert, Ontario on Lake Huron. This tiny community and BCATP airfield was just a few miles north of Goderich, where they would have had to go to catch a train to their assignments. Wilson, one of the lucky ones, was about to deploy to the Pacific war when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and he was granted a full and wonderful life. The photo was part of the collection of Wilson's son Phil which can be seen on flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682646290-ARTBIR3KHFFCKWBWCUE9/Random38.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Another wonderful group shot of pilots - this time lining up for hot tea, sweet biscuits and a warm smile from girls in this mobile "Tea Car". Judging by the identical kit worn by all the men, this was shortly after being issued their flight suits - or perhaps they were all asked to turn out in regulation everything just for the propaganda machine. Regardless, this image captures a certain "schoolyard" youth and obedience that belies the oncoming hell in which these boys will find them selves. This shot was taken at No.9 EFTS at Ansty, England in 1939/40 and you have to wonder how many finished out the war alive. Photo: Flight Global Archive - you simple HAVE to visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682698993-Q65YPWBUXAZ6RVB40UEU/Random39.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out I've always considered the Hawker Typhoon one of the broadest-shouldered single-engine aircraft of the Second World War - true Percheron Warhorse among Mustangs and this photo of what seems like an entire squadron sitting in her arms exemplifies that strength. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682726683-D10RMULJTIRUQ70OR45C/Random310.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out It's not often that we get to see true glorious colour of Allied airmen - and never have I seen such a relaxed bunch as these lads and their Typhoon. photo via WW2incolor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682754711-AEA95MKZYB995THOPSJT/Random311.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Moving on from "Wasp Wings" to "Dazzle Paint", I found this wonderful site dedicated to the colourization of First and Second World War (and before) images of ships and a wonderful image of HMS Argus, Great Britain's first flush deck Air Craft Carrier. Being a graphic artist, I have long been dazzled by dazzle (or razzle dazzle) paint and even considered painting my house this way long ago - common sense and resale value saved me. Dazzle paint was meant simply to confuse the snooping and predatory eyes of a U-Boat captain. Captains would always carry with them books of enemy and friendly ship silhouettes so that they could make a determination about the type of ship they had encountered. The dazzle paint would break the lines of the ship and in many cases could be designed to imply a different direction of travel, a certain speed (by the painting of a bow wave) and to confuse snooping eyes as to the distance from the shooter's periscope. The theory was that even a few second's worth of indecision or the incorrect calculation of speed and distance would cause a "fish" to miss the target. While the jury is out whether the dazzle paint idea worked at all, the idea lingers on today - with Canadian CF-18 Hornets still wearing "false" canopies on their undersides - an idea first put forward by American aviation artist Keith Ferris. Regardless of effectiveness, the complexities of early dazzle paint on First World War warships and troopships was surely the result of artistic flare as much as military science. RN Photo colourized by Orootoko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630682790260-EXGC9QZQQ6PKRCTV2H4M/Random312.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out In another shot from the website dedicated to colourization of old monochromatic images, we see the quirky and somewhat unattractive lines of HMS Eagle. Eagle's strange high sighting tower, massive island structure and open sides made her a one-off design. I show you Eagle here largely because of a story we ran sometime back about the last flight of Ottawa native David Rouleau, who launched from Eagle on June 3rd 1942 bound for Malta in a Spitfire - never to be seen again. Seeing these ships in their "natural" blue gray paint gives the viewer a new perspective on stories like Rouleau's. Photo colourized by Orootoko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683390453-AZSPZIISCBE7XVHYN85S/Random313.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out And we think shoveling our driveways is a huge pain in the ass. This image of the flight deck of USS Philippine Sea off the coast of Korea in 1950 shows us that it's just not fog and gales that can shut down operations. At least they don't have to worry about the city snowplow dumping a bank of snow bank onto the deck just as soon as they are finished. If you look closely, you can see that two of the sailors on deck are tossing snowballs amidst the Corsairs and Skyraiders and there seems to be the remains of a toppled snowman just forward of the midships elevator. Photo: USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683420400-HAMPL3YJFEZFUHGCT3EK/Random314.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out And we think shoveling our driveways is a huge pain in the ass. This image of the flight deck of USS Philippine Sea off the coast of Korea in 1950 shows us that it's just not fog and gales that can shut down operations. At least they don't have to worry about the city snowplow dumping a bank of snow bank onto the deck just as soon as they are finished. If you look closely, you can see that two of the sailors on deck are tossing snowballs amidst the Corsairs and Skyraiders and there seems to be the remains of a toppled snowman just forward of the midships elevator. Photo: USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683479846-ZE0NZZN9E4X5YNMD08X0/Random315.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Many of the most graphic and powerful images I have come across capture a split second moment of terror for the pilots and aircrews of Second World War aircraft. On December 31st, 1943, a Spitfire Vb (P8537) of 761 Squadron has lost its tail wheel and has bent the rear fuselage (at the roundel) possibly from a particularly hard landing aboard HMS Ravager. The RAF pilot, Squadron leader G.C.Morris is just striking the deck for a second time bending the starboard wing tip. The barrier wires directly in front saved him from going overboard or into forward aircraft park. You can read the body language in Morris' shoulders as he senses the oncoming barrier. Despite having no motor drives on their cameras many military photographers seem to nail the moment perfectly. Photo: RN via Flight Global site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683520129-SU56F6CYSFOBSBG0FIIH/Random316.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Grand harbour, Valetta, Malta has been the site of much naval history and host to some of the greatest aircraft carriers in the world. When viewing this image of USS John F. Kennedy I was reminded of images of HMS Illustrious being bombed by the Luftwaffe right here back in January of 1941. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Joshua Karsten (#040626-N-8704K-004). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683553024-9MRT03RJDFFET353236T/Random319.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out You might have figured it out by now, but I love the Martin B-2 Marauder. Its compact size, muscular character and hard-to-fly legend, make it a fighter among bombers. These 20 Marauders are Hell bent for trouble and this unique perspective really emphasizes their determination. USAAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683590372-2UVBUS8PAF3NXOF3H9AS/Random321.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Testosterone fired, speed addicted, and happy-to-still-be-alive youth were the primamry source of pilots of the Second World War. At 6 foot, 4 inches, I would want to be standing up on the runway for this beat-up by a Mosquito. The HT Squadron code is a bit of a mystery to me. the only reference (albeit a quick search) brought up 601 Squadron - a Spitfire Unit. This photo, with the shooter following the Mossie, creates the true sense of the speed of these remarkable twins.This just in from Cameron Fraser, Martin King, Percy Contractor and Peter Arnold (talk about good references!) : This aircraft had the military serial number RR299 and was built as an unarmed, dual control trainer at Leavesden in 1945. It served in the Middle East until 1949, when it returned to the United Kingdom. It then served with a variety of RAF units, this service being interspersed with periods in storage. The aircraft was retired from the RAF in 1963 and was acquired by Hawker Siddeley Aviation (now British Aerospace) at Chester. The first Permit to Fly was issued on 9 September 1963. The aircraft continued to be based and maintained at Chester and typically flew around 50 hours per year. Photo RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683624159-A7GJ9DISOJCOLI1IJFI9/Random318.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Things haven't changed all that much - here, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Lancaster does a super low fly-by with the photographer being above in the control tower at the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan airport. The only difference is that the pilots are not young - still glad-to-be-alive and perhaps a tad less testosterone-fired, but infinitely more experience. These photos have been all over the warbird universe this past year so I hope the photographer won't mind one more appearance - this time in blue to match the Mosquito shot before. Photo by Pat Gould https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683654271-JKQVQS7QBNIS10YSBPU0/Random322.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out We ran this photo earlier this past year, but for new subscribers, it warrants a second look. Back in the early 60s, former BCATP instructor Moe Fraser ran into a lone Golden Hawk Sabre at his local airport. He grabbed is son Cameron and posed him with the Sabre - complete with his tiny flight suit and toy helmet. Cameron has been a life-long pilot and now volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada. Moe's grandson 'Zander worked the Vintage Wings of Canada air show this year as an Air Cadet volunteer. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683683052-YYZ100QOC39Z6NDA8UIV/Random323.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Affectionately known as the Hawker Hurricat, the ship-based, catapult-launched Hurricane was boosted into the sky by a cluster of 13 solid fuel rockets. Given that this launch would take place far out at sea, there was no chance of landing safely - only ditching. This was a job for volunteers only and seeing this firey launch (a test flight) we can see why - clearly the crow's nest was no place to be during a launch either. The Hurricat was created to counter the long range Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor anti-shipping bomber. The first successful encounter between a Hurricat and a Condor on August 3rd, 1941 ended with the demise of the German bomber and the successful recovery of the RAF pilot, Lt. Robert Everett . Photo via the excellent site WW2 in Color https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630683713455-T97E6M7FA3WRNKZAFNRI/Random324.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out American 8th Air Force bomber crews we subjected to a constant onslaught of flack and fighters from the moment they crossed the French coast all the way to their targets and back again. The proximity of German fighters is well illustrated in this shot of a Messerschmitt Me 410 narrowly missing the wingtip of a B-17 of the 388th Bomb Group en route to Germany. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630684539932-YF764R48MO95A1Q9HYNW/Random325.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A great shot of a group pf aviation photographers looking for the perfect shot of a Fox Moth from the back of a Skyvan. The shooter of the shooters is a friend of Vintage wings - Eric Coeckelberghs of Belgium. This photo was taken at a de Havilland Canada Chipmunk event called Chipmeet 2009 in Zoersel, Belgium. Eric's site: http://www.ericcoeckelberghs.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630684591107-TSMDCYQX9Y4FW9BD13XN/Random326.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out This is something you don't see every day - A quartet of thirsty Grumman Cougars suckle at the mother ship - in this case a Convair R3Y Tradewind (Thanks Tim) flying boat. Crowding four aircraft behind the turbulent wake of the giant Tradewind was surely dangerous and unnecessary. Photo USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691512409-KJVUOBD8KQI5HN8QDWY4/Random327.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Grim Determination... that's what I see here. The pilot of this Vickers Wellington was clearly trying to get as close to the photographer as possible. The dramatic image of these four "Wimpey's" was taken in 1940, and shows a very different view of this much-admired medium bomber. Because of the Wellington's unique "geodesic" structure designed by Barnes Wallis, almost every shot I have come across tries to feature it - not so here. Photo: National Archives of Canada PA 128144 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691541146-JR6JXMQ4A6I3LQT2OO9U/Random329.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Although this photo makes us smile today, these men in their Curtiss flying machine were at the leading edge of aerospace technology and naval aviation in 1912. The man on the left is USN Commodore J.C. Gillmore and Lt. Milling on the right. If you want to spend a lovely hour poring over vintage photos, visit shorpy.com, an amazing image bank of period photography. Photo via Shorpy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691569517-Z7EH1UFOOWDD7ERAQ0UN/Random330.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out One of the most important photographs of the Second World War along side the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima image. This photo of St. Paul's in London amidst the destruction and chaos of the Blitz, has the distinction of being used for propaganda purposes by both sides. The Germans used the image to show their citizens the terrible beating they were inflicting on the British, while the British employed it to show the resolve and stiff back of Londoners - implying that the greatest structure of all stood proudly, resolutely and largely untouched throughout the bombings as a symbol of determination and strength. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691601951-H43QF6QCOGPVJJHGE0DY/Random333.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Westland Whirlwind I, P7110 flown by Westland Chief Test Pilot Harald Penrose, climbs steeply past the cameraman riding the back of a Westland Lysander - a dramatic shot. Photo via FlightGlobal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691628553-L2ENY77F7QUR80JQJQNR/Random335.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out OK... I'm still on my Marauder jag - this spectacular image of a French B-26 pounding a pinpoint target gives us a vivid sense of the altitude as we look straight down past an attacking B-26 to the the dust and smoke of her bombs striking the target. Flying with the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces under the tri-color of France, the French split the vital rail bridge, 600 feet long and 15 feet wide, at the Piteccio viaduct in central Italy. Stare at this image long enough and you start to get vertigo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691655857-LLQ6O6KGOGH7QFJEJJWH/Random336.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A striking short-time lapse image of searchlights feeling for RAF bombers - as seen from an RAF bomber - very spooky and yet beautiful. The circular glows are the bomb strikes on the target below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691680364-D3QP6OKO7FYWXLI4RXLR/Random338.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Another amazing time-lapse image of anti-aircraft fire coming up from below (the left in this orientation) shows us clearly the intensity of fire faced by RAF crews. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691713961-1QEH32AGPUOJL3O708Y8/Random362.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Tracers fired by the 5th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion — formerly the 5th Defense Battalion — light up the night skies over Yontan Airlield, Okinawa during a Japanese air attack in March of 1945. A Marine fighter squadron's (Hell's Belles) Corsairs are silhouetted against the spectacle. Department of Defense photo (USMC) 08087 by TSgt C.V. Corkran https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691781208-4LPJTGESNUIFRGR4H9JL/Random355.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Turkeys in flight. As a torpedo dive bomber, one does not often see a large gaggle of Grumman Avengers simultaneously dropping bombs from straight and level and at a high altitude - this looks more like a strategic bombing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691819628-3USGLSV2EYCFD3HPTVHR/Random356.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out The first thing that comes to mind when viewing this fivesome of Italian Air Force Avantis is .... get me some bug spray. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691846520-L1L4G3MSQ0QVNWG476XL/Random357.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out When I was a kid, I was smitten by the ugly and martial lines of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and spent many hours drawing them. In particular, I was drawn to the insect-oid looks of the nose turret on later models. This perfect top-down shot shows the "Lib" to be elegant and lean - which it was not. Though many men would swear by the airplanes they flew during the war - especially those that got them through it, but I have not heard many kind words about the Liberator. One, just one, heavy hit to the wing from the outboard engine inwards could easily result in the complete collapse of the spar and the torching of the fuel held there. Photo USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691895196-YS5VXX9I8XCSPUTYUI3Z/Random364.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Quite a different view from the side - gone is any sense of slim and elegant lines - leaving a flying barn with its doors nailed to its ass. There are plenty of dramatic images of B-24 wings burning and collapsing - the B-24 was particularly dangerous if hit in this area. This image is interesting in that all crew got out safely - and one guy can be seen here sitting at the open escape hatch behind the pilot. I can only imagine the scene he beheld and how long that image stayed in his mind - 200 mph winds, the heat of the flames at his back, his airplane sitting and vibrating beneath his ass, the thunder of the still screaming engines and all the others in the formation spread out around him and 20 thousand feet of air below him... my God. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691940259-1K6SXEGJZ13X6O6RN7SO/Random358.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out The vertical white smoke columns in this shot look like they are SAM missiles, but this is well before their day - perhaps they are Me-163 Comet fighters climbing up or some sort of rocket. if you have any idea what these B-24v liberators are facing, let me know - perhaps they are not coming at the Libs, but rather they are fired from them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630691994098-NVNSBYRCB8M4JYMU4BCU/Random360.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out There is no image of a Kamikaze that is not spectacular and spell-binding. Though this scene depicts the death of a Japanese warrior attempting to kill other warriors, I bet all Japanese will admit to the singular almost zen-like beauty of the one flaming stroke that speaks volumes about the manner and dare I say, perfection of the pilot's death. Here the baby flattop USS Kitkun Bay misses a date with destiny. USN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692042979-CL8LL32AWER7L58QH63D/Random366.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A US Navy Helldiver from VA-34 Black Panthers is spun around backwards after hitting the barrier very hard aboard USS Kearsarge in 1948. The thing about carrier operations, they are just as dangerous in peacetime as they are in war. Photo: USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692069043-W9TQAJFIK5ZR9FYYLXU9/Random334.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out A Skyraider pirouettes as it snags the barrier aboard USS Saipan and is caught in mid crash - the pilot survived largely unhurt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692093975-6202G08LSAW75AI7KWPT/Random367.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Yet another spectacular image of a landing gone awry - this time a US Navy Corsair taking the barrier - rather hard I would say. Photo: USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630692130040-TN6PC7BWEAVVKC2VTKRP/Random368.jpg The Stories - RANDOM BEAUTY 3 - Make it stand out Well, after all the chaos and the mishaps, I thought I would leave you with a smile. I have often seen images of carriers ferrying a deck load of aircraft to the battle zone, but this is the first time for a deck load of automobiles. This is the USS Hancock (Hanna to her crew) delivering her crew member's cars to her new base at San Diego from her re-commissioning port in Bremerton, Washington in the 1950s. Seeing this image brings to mind a truly goofy (in the way only the French are goofy) Citroen commercial depicting the launch of a car from a French Carrier. Photo via Hancock Website https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/for-god-and-country monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669502872-5O9WDP9G5LT2IENAVZOS/StClementTitle.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669689058-0KWY50GRKARTA6X5K5H1/StClement34.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out An historic photograph of St. Clement Danes around the turn of the 20th century. The first church on the site was reputedly founded by Danes living nearby in the 9th century. The location, on the river between the City of London and the future site of Westminster, was home to many Danes at a time when half of England was Danish; being a seafaring race, the Danes named the church they built after St Clement, patron saint of mariners. King Harold I "Harefoot" was buried here in March 1040 after his body was disinterred by his briefly usurped brother Hartha-Canute, and thrown into the marshes bordering the Thames. The church was first rebuilt by William the Conqueror, and then again in the Middle Ages. It was in such a bad state by the end of the 17th century that it was demolished and again rebuilt from 1680-1682, this time by Christopher Wren. The steeple was added to the 115 foot tower from 1719-1720 by James Gibbs. Photo via Bishopsgate Institute/London and Middlesex Archeological Institute - LAMAS Glass Slide Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669789310-7AIC73REM2KV0FCD1AF1/StClement32.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out St Clement Danes Church in The Strand ablaze following direct hits by incendiary bombs and near misses from high explosives on the night of 10th/11th May 1941. As a result of the German bombing, the church was completely destroyed with only the four walls and spire remaining standing. Following an appeal from the RAF, the church was re-dedicated in 1956 as the Central Church of the RAF and today remains as a wonderful legacy to Wren's original design and the painstaking rebuilding work of the 1950s. Photo courtesy of Steve Hunnisett of Blitzwalkers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669835521-OD28V3R7EL3XHYJPRTGY/StClement46.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out After the bombing of the church, only the outer walls and the Gibbs spire remained. In addition to the blackened stone we can also see the scars of her shrapnel lashing. For several years it remained thus. Because of its destruction at the conclusion of the London Blitz, the Royal Air Force petitioned to have it consecrated as their Central Church – the symbolism of the choice is hard to miss. In 1953 the church was handed into the keeping of the Air Council and a world-wide appeal was launched to rebuild St Clement Danes. Bequests and donations from organisations and individuals poured in so that the necessary £250,000 (that’s over £4m in current funds) was raised and within two years restoration work could begin. Re-consecrated in 1958 as a perpetual shrine of remembrance to those killed on active service and those of the Allied Air Forces who gave their lives during the Second World War, it is a living church prayed in daily and visited throughout the year by thousands seeking solace and reflection. Photo via the RAF and St. Clement Danes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669903236-9LT2L1XHOSMJJ1PW86XS/StClement45.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of The Strand including both St. Mary Le Strand (top) and St Clement Danes (bottom) shows us clearly that after the damage of the Second World War, the church remained as a gutted shell until the RAF secured it for their Central Church. Following the Strand further past St Mary's one comes to Trafalgar Square. St Clement Danes lies half way between St. Paul's and Trafalgar Square. Photo via the RAF and St. Clement Danes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669948908-0NPBTQEH0JU0FY41K9KF/StClement30.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The damage suffered that terrible night in May of 1941 is still evident to this day. The side and rear of the building is riddled with vicious scars from shrapnel. One can only imagine the terrible danger endured by London's brave firefighters who fought these fires while the bombs were dropping. Photo by Steve Hunnisett of Blitzwalkers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670029638-QGSNKEJBLKQ9LSAA39U6/StClement37.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The author walks across The Strand towards St Clement Danes. In summer, trees obscure much of the Christopher Wren designed church. A couple of blocks away down The Strand, stands the similar St. Mary Le Strand church which many (judging by the erroneous captions on Flickr) take to be St. Clement Danes when sorting through their photos post visit. Photo by Susan Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670067426-0HJNHY0OLVRGV15FDCT1/StClement41.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out In this photo by Iranian photographer Aria Mehr, we have a much better view of St Clement Danes' site and surrounding buildings. The statue at the front right is that of Hugh Dowding, chief of RAF Fighter Command at the time of the Battle of Britain. Photo by Aria Mehr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670096085-XAH1TAVFHTWL1265YKU4/StClement2.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Most Christian churches have statues on their grounds of saints and other religious figures. St Clement Danes is no different - with statues celebrating the canonized "saints" of the Royal Air Force. This statue of Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, the architect of fighter command, stands outside the church. He was Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force from 1936 - 1940. In 1940, Dowding, nicknamed "Stuffy" by his men, proved unwilling to sacrifice aircraft and pilots in the attempt to aid Allied troops during the Battle of France. He, along with his immediate superior Sir Cyril Newall, then Chief of the Air Staff, resisted repeated requests from Winston Churchill to weaken the home defence by sending precious squadrons to France. Beyond the critical importance of the overall system of integrated air defence which he had developed for Fighter Command, his major contribution was to marshal resources behind the scenes (including replacement aircraft and air crew) and to maintain a significant fighter reserve, while leaving his subordinate commanders' hands largely free to run the battle in detail. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670128226-9BXA07N3N9DPY7STRGX6/StClement4.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet GCB OBE AFC (13 April 1892 – 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press, and often within the RAF as "Butcher" Harris, was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of RAF Bomber Command (from early 1943 holding the rank of Air Chief Marshal) during the latter half of World War II. In 1942 the Cabinet agreed to the "area bombing" of German cities. Harris was tasked with implementing Churchill's policy and supported the development of tactics and technology to perform the task more effectively. Harris assisted British Chief of the Air Staff, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Portal, in carrying out the United Kingdom's most devastating attacks against the German infrastructure at a time when Britain was limited in its resources and manpower. The erection of the statue of Harris was controversial due to his responsibility in the firebombing of Dresden and other bombing campaigns targeted at civilians. Despite protests from Germany as well as some in Britain, the Bomber Harris Trust (an RAF veterans' organization) erected a statue of him outside the RAF Church of St. Clement Danes in 1992. It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother who looked surprised when she was jeered by protesters. The line on the statue reads "The Nation owes them all an immense debt". The statue had to be guarded by policemen day and night for some time as it was frequently sprayed with graffiti. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670166973-TP0C55S1PA6IW589AH8K/StClement5.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out This beautiful painted wrought iron cross is mounted next to the church's entrance doors and proclaims for all who visit that this is no ordinary religious edifice. Three details are worthy of note - two small gold flames representing her trial by fire, two small gold wings representing flight and at the bottom (not in this shot), an anchor representing naval fliers. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670214153-ZZ0BUFLHHTWG3ARBG4ZS/StClement28.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Putting St. Clement Danes in perspective. A nice photo by Brazilian photographer Gustavo Alterio shows a view from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral back down The Strand towards Trafalgar Square. Two rectangles highlight two famous churches - St. Brides (closest) and St. Clement Danes - barely visible in the distance. Photo by Gustavo Alterio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670350449-VBLYJBBST4X1KOO3MMUY/StClement43.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The soaring ceiling and altar of St. Clement Danes with unit colours draped from the gallery. Photo by "stiffleaf" on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670389965-S9UF071ODQ20VVI2Q6FT/StClement31.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out High above the altar is this ornately carved coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth II, who opened the church to great fanfare in 1958. The Latin inscription below the crest is translated as "Built by Christopher Wren 1681. Destroyed by the thunderbolts of air warfare 1941. Restored by the Royal Air Force 1958" Photo by "stiffleaf" on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630670431678-J0BB39NCECVB22R6QRJB/StClement40.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out A view looking down the length of the central aisle from the communion rail to the front doors of St. Clement Danes. Above the entrance towers the spectacular pipe organ. The church resonates with rich detail, polished wood and the carved Welsh slate crests of all the squadrons and units of the RAF, RCAF, RNZAF, RAAF and others. On the lit pillars are sconces decorated with the crests of RAF Commands. Walking down this aisle, visitors are acutely aware that they are trodding on history and holy ground. The restoration work was done in the 1950s, but crests in the floor are still being installed and dedicated in ceremonies today. The author's first knowledge of St. Clement Danes came after watching a video of a dedication ceremony for the crest of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Photo by Ian Hadingham https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630671157536-98721FWRDB9CHWESVN8R/StClement7.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out A close up of the elegant inlay of marble and brass for the Royal Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Air Force. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630671187833-OSMQLFP7TDHR74AWGA8V/StClement8.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Another close up - this of the Royal Canadian Air Force crest - in red and blue marble, white Welsh slate and with brass delineation. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630671226101-ESGR81TSE480CK31JI7E/StClement9.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The entire floor is covered with bronze squadron crest and many individual inlaid memorials such as this gorgeous one dedicated to the 16 brave, romantic and highly successful squadrons of the RAF that participated in the Battle of Britain or the Second World War. The symbol found at the right in the top bar of four is that of the very famous 303 “Kościuszko” Squadron - the highest scoring squadron of the Battle of Britain. One of 303's Flight Commanders during the battle was Canadian Johnny Kent, DFC and Bar, who would go on to lead an entire wing of 4 Polish squadrons. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630671258264-1859FPB3CXHTHVTIY5U0/StClement10.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Perhaps the single most striking feature of the church is its floor - covered with nearly 1,000 carved Welsh slate plaques for each of the RAF commands, groups, stations, squadrons (of the Commonwealth air forces) and other formations. The author took the time to capture a few of them - here the very Canadian 434 Bluenose Squadron crest on the left and the crest of 441 Silver Fox Squadron on the right. Vintage Wings of Canada friend and former 441 Squadron pilot tells us: 441 was based in Europe throughout the Cold War, flying Sabres initially, then CF104s and finally the CF18. In the seventies, squadron CF104 pilot Jim Gale came upon St Clement Danes while exploring London and made it his personal project to have the Silver Fox crest added to the collection. So, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the 30th of April 1978, there we were for the dedication ceremony, most of the squadron pilots accompanied by our wives, flown from CFB Baden-Soellingen in an air force Cosmo. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630671290912-O4CTFFEF8KD8DULVVLZ1/StClement11.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Some crest have been worn down over the past 50 years. The author did search for and find the crest of a somewhat forgotten 131 Squadron in which Ottawa native David Francis Gaston Rouleau served for the better part of a year before being killed in action near Malta. For more on the story behind this Canadian and Ottawa hero click here. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672163009-AVL0938IBPLYWLLSQGH3/StClement24.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out A guest book sits at the entrance. Upon leaving, the author wrote a note of remembrance for the fallen Pilot Officer David Rouleau of Ottawa. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672285321-SVJ16BOWUXK65R5Z3LR5/StClement23.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Carved memorial panels line the walls. This largest of the panels describes the beginnings of the Royal Air Force and lists the absolutely incredible battle honours of this storied service. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672353763-3T2DV0QU47CXIZVGW9IY/StClement13.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Elegantly carved and gold-leafed wood panels are found throughout - dedicated to the glories of military fliers. Here we see the panel honouring airmen who were Victoria cross winners of the First World War. This list includes Billy Bishop of Owen Sound, Ontario and William Barker of Dauphin, Manitoba. other panels include the names of Canadians David Hornell, Andrew Mynarski, and Ian Bazalgette Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672487043-4WIXCCW0WYJEJMVJL9P1/StClement12.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Another carved panel includes the name of another Manitoban, Andrew Mynasrki who was awarded his Victoria Cross posthumously in 1946. Mynarski was 27 years old and flew with 419 "Moose" Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War when he gave his life attempting to help rescue a trapped crew member. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672533194-XCSRSZKYJP0U8PBKVG32/StClement33.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Spectacular carvings abound at St. Clement Danes. The back of pews reserved for high ranking officers display intricately carved eagles - a fitting symbol for warriors that rule the skies. Photo by "stiffleaf" on Flickr. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672557590-129QZ8TOVX6ZT7U12HAG/StClement14.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The seemingly endless pantheon of squadron and unit crest speaks to the sheer immensity of the wartime efforts of the RAF and her sister air forces. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672588392-0JBO7J8Q02Y7P2H094PO/StClement36.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The soaring pipe organ of St. Clement Danes was a gift of the United Sates Air Force. The central bass pipes reach upwards from two eagles to be surmounted by yet another eagle. Everywhere, there are details that serve to remind visitors that this is the RAF's church. The organ which stands in the gallery was designed by Ralph Downes and is reputedly one of the best in London. It replaced the organ by Father Smith, destroyed in 1941. Photo by Charles Dastodd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672620044-17D76CSPZTUDUVWZV939/StClement16.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Along both sides of the church are shrines (blue windows) containing the books of remembrance, in which are inscribed the names of those men and women who have died on active service with the Royal Air Force and others. Photo by Treble2309 on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672675489-ZEAFI6IE612D1OW1KZN0/StClement15.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Along the outer walls of the church are alcove shrines featuring books of remembrance that include the names of more than 125,000 men and women who have died in the service of the RAF and other Commonwealth air forces. The first book predates the RAF and has names of balloonists who served with the Royal Engineers, members of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps and RAF personnel up to the outbreak of the Second World War. Books II to IX contain the names of all those died on service during the Second World War including this two-page spread featuring RCAF navigator Donald Elliot, a Swift Current, Saskatchewan native. The pages are turned daily, so it will be many months before Elliot's story can be read by visitors again. There is a tenth book which includes the names from VJ Day to the present - it is updated twice a year. Those who die in service are remembered shortly after their death during a celebration of the Holy Communion and family members are often present. Once a year in November a memorial service is held for all those who have died during the past year and families are invited to attend. This is a most moving occasion and has helped many people in their grief. It is these books and the names within them that people come across the world to see, making St Clement Danes truly a place of pilgrimage and remembrance. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672722038-ECAIUAOKIMXCIZQ8520C/StClement17.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out As with the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, family members feel the need to leave mementos and notes to their lost ones. Here a card is left by the still grieving family of two lost brothers from the Second World War- a poignant and touching reminder that the scars are still fresh 70 year on. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672759392-QOOET4EIQMX9OZCV7PJ8/StClement18.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Everywhere one looks in the church, there are details that sing of the RAF and the business of flying and fighting Britain's wars - even the kneeling pads. Throughout the church are hundreds of custom crocheted knee pads hanging from the pew backs - most with the same palette of colours. The author could not help wondering which "ace" knelt here in prayer, thinking of his fallen friends. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672791242-RWLAJEDPKUF9KSCQAKGB/StClement19.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out In some pews and tables, visitors have left heart wrenching crosses and notes to their loved ones who died in the service - many after the wars. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672869664-ZB6I5NLTF0EOV9TADUEL/StClement27.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Around every corner and in every niche of the church visitors will find commemorations and monuments of sorts to the greatest heroes of the Royal and commonwealth Air Forces. Here we see a chair dedicated to Sir Archibald McIndoe CBE FRCS (4 May 1900 — 11 April 1960) was a pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during World War II. The work done by McIndoe in both physically and psychologically rehabilitating badly burned aircrew earned him an international reputation. McIndoe fought to improve the pay and conditions of badly injured airmen and 'The Guinea Pig Club' of his ex-patients perpetuates his memory. Photo by "mcaballe" on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672960760-E4XYUC3D780PCXGJTLTL/StClement20.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out No matter where you look, you will see tributes hiding behind pews, in corners or as part of the furniture. Here, a cabinet holding knee pads is a tribute to Group Captain "Sailor" Malan, who for obvious reasons did not like going by his given name Adolph. Adolph Gysbert Malan DSO & Bar DFC (24 March 1910 – 17 September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, was a famed South African World War II RAF fighter pilot who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the height of the Battle of Britain. Under his leadership 74 became one of the RAF's best units. Malan scored 27 kills, seven shared destroyed, three probably destroyed and 16 damaged. Malan survived the war - to become involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his country. One wonders what relationship "An Englishwoman" had with the dashing Malan that she would create this memorial. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630672996409-YXO7P79QOZTQQ21RADFO/StClement21.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out It's not just men in uniform who are honoured inside the walls of St. Clement Danes. Reginald Joseph (R.J.). Mitchell, the aeronautical engineer credited with the design of the Supermarine Spitfire is canonized for his incredible contribution. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673025071-HL3I7TVFQAEPZ3W99IDH/StClement22.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The reverse of the Mitchell plaque - a relief in silver of a Spitfire overflying Mitchell's Schneider trophy-winning Supermarine S.6B - considered the progenitor of the greatest aircraft ever designed in Britain - the Spit. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673060745-S6KRX6WDG9SJZDVKA1GT/StClement35.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out An ornate and winding staircase descends into the church's crypt where more tributes are found as well as the relics of older churches that stood on this site. Photo: Chris Bennett, St Albans UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673086192-W7N4YTOFXQ9WBI0MWLKT/StClement50.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out There were two Queen Elizabeths. Queen Elizabeth I died just 6 decades before Wren's masterpiece was completed. The original building was opened in 1682, so this scratching on the wall of the crypt possibly was done by one of the men who worked on the construction. Queen Elizabeth II presided over its reincarnation as the RAF Central Church and her symbols can be seen on the vaulted ceiling of the chancel above the altar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673125753-FL6LMATY085QPH5LKVP9/StClement26.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out Down in the crypt, there are many artifacts of the previous incarnations of the church, but as well there are a number of small and more humble memorials. This simple display on an easel pays honour to Dermot McKavanagh, an RAF padre who risked his life to talk a suicidal airman out of ejecting himself from a fighter inside a hangar. At great risk to themselves, chaplains in the RAF and other services have followed their flock around the world and into battle zones - all without the protection of a personal weapon. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673157030-H019IHMJEGC2A4WD59P7/StClement25.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out The RAF forgets no one. A bronze pays tribute to the men and women from the occupied countries who risked and sometimes suffered imprisonment, torture and death to rescue, harbour and return Allied airmen during the Second World War. The placement of this plaque on the walls of the crypt seems apt, as so many airmen were hidden from the enemy in such places. Photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673186736-2YDQB63AGIU3X4J2ZI1M/StClement47.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out St. Clement Danes is still a target of bombers today. On the 90th anniversary of the formation of the RAF in 2008, a Lancaster bomber flanked by Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (an official unit of the RAF), fly down the Strand and over St. Clement Danes. Photo via the RAF and St. Clement Danes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630673261277-6XRE6YBWY1G1P4DBLX1Q/StClement48.jpg The Stories - FOR GOD AND COUNTRY - Make it stand out On the 90th anniversary of the RAF, the Red Arrows lead four Typhoon II Eurofighters in formation low over the church. Photo via the RAF and St. Clement Danes https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/geneseo2 monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630667563425-2ADZAJHBJR7JGN634XSU/Geneseo-2008.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630667678864-V9MBOXKU3JSLKSYECL8D/Geneseo16.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Rick Volker of the Russell Aviation Group takes off during the "Greatest Show on Turf". Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630667718532-KC3H6L1STFCBX3Y6B34U/Geneseo2.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out The low angle of light offers beautiful effects and golden tones at this early time of the day. There are not many people around so one feels privileged to be able to stand alone with each aircraft. It’s not difficult to imagine a young pilot approaching his machine very early in the morning during the war, mechanics having worked through the night, the aircraft is ready. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630667747163-V0XEJJN6MV6J9KO8JGM6/Geneseo3.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Once sworn enemies, a Chance Vought F-4U Corsair and Val replica. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668573324-TGU4256EFAQICBATKB11/Geneseo4.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out A line up of Harvards includes those from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. For now you hear only the sound of my steps in the wet grass but soon, the characteristic sound of the T-6s/Harvards will fill the air. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668643013-GB17PBCS1B5MH3XPMIFE/Geneseo21.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out A Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter replica from the Great War Flying Museum in Brampton, Ontario. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668671999-T0AL3OXA9ZVQH29X5ZQ0/Geneseo22.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out The Red Baron in his his Fokker DR-1 Triplane flies again - not much more than one hour flying time from Carleton Place, Ontario, the hometown of Roy Brown, the RFC pilot reputed to have shot him down (apologies to our Aussie friends). This little Fokker is a replica belonging to the Great war Flying Museum. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668708107-6P0TLGT704A3O6RVXQAC/Geneseo7.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out For the public, being under the wings of an airplane, protected them from the sun and also any sudden downpour that might occur. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668760922-7CISLV20DHVB8OP27GIY/Geneseo19.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Gimme Shelter. The B-17 Memphis Belle offers shelter to her "little friends". Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668808558-VGIQDK561XYLKT4XKVHA/Geneseo9.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out North American SNJ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668853026-IV4I82VDACA1JFKT1RFX/Geneseo23.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Dan Demeo in Curtiss P-40 M (front) and Mike Burke in the Curtiss P-40N warm up at Geneseo. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668887517-ZV2YAU2UKITW0B1GY5GT/Geneseo12.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Memphis Belle - a movie star B-17G modified to B-17F when used for the movie “Memphis Belle” released in 1990. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668935847-4Y3N9BBUUZRYYN3UKC5I/Geneseo13.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Another peculiarity of the Geneseo air show are the trees near the runway. These give dramatic shots when photographing the arrival of aircraft with a telephoto lens. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630668974779-ALVSGC10M71LHQMZQHQR/Geneseo14.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out The welcome mat is out for aircraft and fans alike. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669003170-5U9QH8FWI9QDS21KAJFW/Geneseo15.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield at the controls of the WACO Taperwing of Vintage Wings Canada leads a parade of biplanes. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669032660-6AOHWTMLIHGPASH97XUV/Geneseo17.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out If you have any doubt as to whether the shark's mouth looks like a shark - witness this fierce and dangerous looking shark-faced P-40 - built in nearby Buffalo - just 70 miles away. Photo Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669085878-SEK3LOFEEGG3AAR6QOLG/Geneseo20.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Hurricane XII and Spitfire IX from the Russell Aviation Group located in Niagara Falls. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669114878-46CHZ87FZY8VWPH6YRPD/Geneseo10.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out In the evening, in a final session of photography, there were moments of pure magic. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669142964-OVXTAREIOFNWO8PG36TM/Geneseo11.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Moonrise over Geneseo. This P-40 settles down for the night the last day. Photo: Piertre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669169265-MHLDYUPSD2W2H623TQIR/Geneseo5.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out Several of these planes belong to history and being allowed to touch them is touching a part of our past. This was very moving for me. I think about the paratroopers who once boarded this very airplane, an authentic C-47 Dakota that participated at D-Day in Normandy - A one-way ticket to the hell of war. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630669207097-XFMOVEXM7FCZZVALS48P/Geneseo8.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — a New York State of Mind - Make it stand out What a delight to see the inspiration passed on to the young. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/geneseo monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630612286506-3DK76W17OVA0Y9TDZCGE/GenTitle.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630612380216-3NSTCORL72FB99LHI2H3/Gen2.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out The beautifully finished Cessna Bobcat belonging to Tom Huf enjoys the last warm rays of the sun. Before the Second World War came to America on December 7th 1941, Cessna teetered at the edge of solvency. If it were not for Canada’s purchase of hundreds of Bobcats (Called Cranes up this way) for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, we would quite possibly not have the ubiquity of the 150 and 172 and the flash of the Citation business jet today. The BCATP and the Bobcat saved Cessna. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630613471590-JO7XXA47J983KTMI97F0/Gen3.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Navy Blue – a colour that exudes competence in the landing component of flight. While there are aces in the Army Air Force and the Navy, it could be said that navy pilots outclassed all pilots in getting a fighter back home. Here a Grumman Hellcat belonging to the Commemorative Air Force (not nearly as evocative and cool a name as the Confederate Air force… but substantially more politically correct) and the Collings Foundation’s Corsair warm in the last light of the day aboard USS Geneseo. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630613533826-TX5V7LN8NCTKHWFE1XT4/Gen4.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Mike Gillian taxies his Grumman Wildcat along the grass flight deck of USS Geneseo. The Wildcat was for the first year of the Pacific war, the only USN or Marine fighter in operation (other than a brief and ignominious appearance by the Brewster Buffalo). It was outclassed by the nimble Japanese Zero in the combat scenario, but its ruggedness allowed it to continue in production until the end of the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630613570656-64CXV99J9IH0JEHQTDFX/Gen5.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out As a friend of Geneseo, author Coté enjoys the freedom to walk the flightline at sunset for those extraordinary images that twilight allows. Here, a tiny Aeronca Champ settles down for the night with the C-47 Skytrain of the Historic Aircraft Group. The name “Skytrain” conjures up images of an endless flying supply line of men and materiel – one of the main reasons the Nazis were defeated on the western front. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630613652233-TGX7E73MXYIFWCUFCOR2/Gen6.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out A Boeing Stearman and Cessna Bobcat/Crane – two of the lesser known BCATP aircraft at sunset. The Stearman, while a great training aircraft and a mainstay of the USAAFs elementary training was woefully inadequate for the British commonwealth’s Air Training Plan – mostly from a winter operations perspective. Delivered to western BCATP bases early in the “Plan”, the Stearman airframes arrived with none of the promised winter modifications such as an enclosed cockpit and snow plow (just joking). Though miserable in the cold Alberta winter where they were employed, none the less, RCAF and RAF pilot trainees (like Ottawa’s Archie Pennie) considered them selves among a sort of elite who learned the basics of flying on the Stearman – a considerably larger aircraft than the Tiger Moth and Finch equivalents. The Stearmans were dropped from service and returned to the USA – probably at the request of instructors who were forced to endure their miseries more than most. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630613730523-TG95LTX11LK1V9MJYB06/Gen7.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out The great Beech C-45 Expeditor – one of the finest general light utility and multi engine training aircraft of the latter part of the Second World War but mostly of the two postwar decades. Its lumbering utility inspired a variety of sobriquets, mostly lovingly unflattering, such as the Bugsmasher, the Wichita Wobbler, The Twin Harvard and the Beech Exploder. The Royal Canadian Air Force had 366 Bugsmashers on strength at one time – far greater a number than the total aircraft strength of today’s Canadian Air Force. Hard to believe. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626225107-K0A9OP6FBS90L402BZ2A/Gen8.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out The 2009 USAF Heritage Flight. The Sound of Freedom 1945-style harmonizes with the Sound of Freedom 2000. A Merlin and two PW Turbofans bring tears to the eyes of “Yankee” spectators at Geneseo. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626272317-J1KLBUCCDWOQ3PA5363I/Gen9.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Three Corsairs await the setting of the sun. We can almost imagine the scene being on Vella La Cava and hear Pappy Boyington, Capt “Jim” Gutterman, and Lt. Don French smashing whiskey bottles and punching up the officer’s bar in the background while Boyington’s little terrier “Meatball” yaps away. Several of the surviving Corsairs today “starred” in Baa Baa Blacksheep, the televsion series of the 1970s – including both owned by Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626302134-EZR5KOTQXNFDYIHIMZHG/Gen10.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out A tribute to the Geneseo’s importance on the warbird circuit, the Commemorative Air Force brought their Grumman Hellcat all the way from the Southern California Wing in Camarillo, CA. Nicknamed “Minsi III” this Hellcat is marked as that of Commander David MacCampbell of VF-19 on USS Essex. Rising sun kill marks on the fuselage indicate 30 aircraft destroyed by the six-time ace. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626329267-4CLR7F091SHFNH85C9PA/Gen11.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out You don’t see these every day – the world’s only flying Curtiss SB2C Helldiver taxies after trapping aboard USS Geneseo. With one of the finest and scariest names given an aircraft of the Second World War (bringing to mind Johnny Weissmuller with flames coming from his trunks), the Helldiver was…well… no hell. The Helldiver was a perfect example of the old adage that an aircraft flies as good as it looks. Lovingly (maybe) called the Son of Bitch Second Class (SB2C), the Helldiver saw service throughout the war with more than 1,000 being manufactured in Canada. Both England and Australia rejected the Helldiver for poor, nay “appalling”, handling. Regardless, the Helldiver owns a deserved place in aviation history with more tonnage of shipping sunk than any other aircraft. This example belongs to the West Texas Wing of the CAF and flies in the markings of CV-13 attached to USS Franklin. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626358675-7M93HUD2TEHFCHJY7M4Z/Gen13.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out A threesome of Navy Blue Corsairs sweep in for a thundering 54-cylinder photo-op reminiscent of the TV show Baa Baa Blacksheep. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626397913-BLO67WZ64HYJESSVEC9Z/Gen14.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Dan Dameo powers down the show line in the American Air Power Museum’s Goodyear FG-1D Corsair. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626431061-WBIBH4JOBVIOWUS11NL8/Gen16.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out The HAG’s slick-looking C-47 Skytrain ploughs through the humid Geneseo air and rolls a wing up for a photo pass. This particular Skytrain took part in D-Day operations and is marked to commemorate her important role on that auspicious day. The HAG volunteers and sponsors are doing their level best to keep this piece of Americana flying for all to see. Photo: Ray Step https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626682711-YHPS0LNER9HRNX3X5YN6/Gen12.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Re-enactment is an important part of the warbird scene in the USA, reminding us that people, not machines are the important ingredient then makes a warbird a warbird. Here airmen in period flying gear lend an air of authenticity to the beautiful C-47 Skytrain. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630626754699-VIHDH3HS5K6G7XU6XB0B/Gen17.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Wildcat, Hellcat, Helldiver… naval aviation had the best names and in most cases some of the best aircraft of the Second World War. Photo John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630627326508-2MAWBVV6E8WPIZ2YKI78/Gen18.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out Olivier Lacombe, one of the authors’s good friends made the trip down from Mascouche, Québec to represent the Luftwaffe. Lacombe is a regular performer at the Classic Air Rallye and Vintage Wings of Canada events. The immaculate detail and finish of his Focke Wulfe FW-149 never fail to draw a crowd. Here, Olivier warms up and readies for his flyby. Photo: Ray Step https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630627377787-WY71TLEAMGTDOPI8KCJC/Gen19.jpg The Stories - GENESEO — The Greatest Show on Turf Turns 30 - Make it stand out The best seat in the house. From the side window of the HAG Beech “Exploder”, author Coté brings his camera to bear on a wonderful sight – the highly-polished and rare Nroth American B-25D Mitchell medium bomber called “Mis-Hap” flown by Jim Vocell and trailed by a Corsair called “Skyboss”– both from the American Air Power Museum in Farmingdale, Long Island. What a wonderful backdrop the Geneseo Valley makes – removing all indications of the 21st century and placing us back in time. The sobriquet “Mis-Hap” and the markings are those of the “personal” Mitchell of USAAF commander General Hap Arnold. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/yellow-wings monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609750150-Z1RD6TJGJWNZ852V3Z3A/TigerTitle.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609818328-HQPC9HS67JLPLLEM43P3/Tiger2.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Heralding the start of another day of sharing the collection; the Tiger Moth sits next to the hangar doors, capturing the early morning light across her yellow wings. Photo: John Davies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609918354-G8J9W8RKSOVV9ZEVRU0W/Tiger6.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The Tiger Moth incorporated significant improvements from its predecessor, the Gipsy Moth. In order to make escape by parachute easier for the instructor, the upper wing of the Tiger Moth was moved forward by 19 inches. The upper wings were then swept back to keep the centre of gravity within limits. To minimize the chance of a wing strike during crosswind operations, the lower wings were tilted upwards (dihedral was applied). Here Rob Kostecka rolls on take off at Classic Air Rallye 2008. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609951848-JNUKXLNW2O84Z66TKQ3X/Tiger7.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The summer of 2008 was filled with glorious days, flying and displaying the Tiger Moth. These were days when I travelled back in time to another era; days when I had the great privilege of sharing this wonderful airplane with people that were eager to learn about Canada’s aviation history. Here I put the Tiger Moth into a gentle dive at Classic Air Rallye 2008, offering a clear view of the lower wing dihedral and the front cockpit accessibility gained by moving the wings forward on the Tiger Moth design. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609994723-9JO0DI9JBKXJOQ0LMQNS/Tiger13.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings Tiger Moth is a Canadian-built DH.82C. Manufactured in Toronto in 1942, the DH.82C has several differences from its British cousin and forerunner. Canadian Tigers have a free-castoring tailwheel – which cannot be locked – instead of a tail skid. Canadian Tigers had canopies installed, to permit training in the harsh North American winters. Canadian Tigers also have brakes. There are scores of other differences – which Tiger Moth aficionados take great pride in reciting. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630610060218-U4GW5H1T4K3OH7492XL4/Tiger3.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out To fly a Tiger Moth, is to travel back in time, to an age when fabric covered biplanes took off and landed in pastures and meadows. Flying a Tiger Moth then – and now - is a feast for all the senses. You smell fresh cut grass and oil on hot exhaust stacks; you feel the cool dampness of nearby clouds; you feel the sun’s warmth on your face and the gentle swirl of the slipstream in your cockpit. Photo by Matt Watson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630610093488-S0WK2GQL7MY0SL394GAO/Tiger4.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield, my mentor, longtime friend and fellow Vintage Wings pilot, taught me the ways of biplanes with fabric covered wings, bracing wires and wooden props. Photo by Robin Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611690006-3WVJT7EMLIH15W8KGK6P/Tiger5.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The British DH.82A does not have brakes. Instead a tail skid drags along the grass, so that gentle braking is always being applied. To accelerate, you use power, to overcome the drag force of the tail skid that is always present. To turn tightly at the end of the runway, you apply a full rudder, slight forward control column and a fairly significant burst of power. The resulting manoeuvre is like a controlled ground loop and definitely takes some getting used to. Photo by Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611759401-FD2K9EPK8PL31BY4Z8RQ/Tiger8.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out John Davies, one of Vintage Wings' key volunteers has devoted much of his personal time to our enterprise as a member of the ground crew, marshaller, photographer and tour guide. One look at John's face and you know it's all worth it. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611821359-D7BRFZNGZ6JXOAY12TPE/Tiger10.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Visits to the Canada Aviation Museum and other display opportunities give the public a chance to see and touch a flying piece of history. Our audience is a mix of young and old, teenagers and veterans, families with young children, serious airplane enthusiasts, and the merely curious; all of them sharing a desire to get close to, and learn about, this Second World War era trainer. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611868912-I3Y8J5Q3HUK3Y8T13I08/Tiger14.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Even when we stop unexpectedly, a crowd of curious onlookers gathers – and we have another opportunity to share this classic aircraft. Earlier this summer, when returning to Gatineau, a localized thunderstorm results in an unscheduled diversion to Rockcliffe. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611917844-QL10ZI7A5EXCKWJ9EAP8/Tiger12.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out There is wonder and joy reflected in children’s faces as they actually sit in the pilot’s seat - while their parents snap endless photos. Here Rob Kostecka demonstrates the Tiger Moth's flight controls as brother and sister start to understand how aircraft are able to fly. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630611972693-R7IZ9LECB4RT1E31TEM3/Tiger9.jpg The Stories - ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As always, the day passes far too quickly. Eventually it is time for us to fly back across the river and return our Tiger Moth back to its home in Gatineau. We reflect on the people that we’ve met and the new friends that we’ve made. I smile when I remember the expressions on the faces of the children that have taken their turn in the cockpit. Photo: John Davies https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/funbag monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606837504-QC81MM8P1AQGXJLNVGPA/FunBagTitle.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607119242-TW7AJF2R4BJO3JAUTV5C/FunBag12.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Balbo leader and Chief Pilot, Paul Kissmann, goes over plans with pilots before the historic flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607365565-OP17XUO6DSV70C01YQH5/Funbag2.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607453566-CZ25FU924ACZ38GTGSSE/Funbag3.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607524386-HHMNLNQJSFPAPG36XSKQ/Funbag4.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607748334-7QS31FXYM0482LA61WU0/Funbag5.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607868283-FYAGJT6DTQ5RXCUG9JAO/FunBag13.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630607950410-TKYBT4OJ03F0V53EXD4B/FunBag14.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608027252-N4YSLNREUFBW5JOW2XLT/FunBag15.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608086160-VULQQ8JR53YH1U6U0DN1/FunBag16.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608600002-3JRY4DNUPVSKHE88GYMR/FunBag19.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608669092-Q9BVS4H73WIPE3KX67KF/FunBag17A.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608738132-80IFOWX61VQEU4VA2O6M/Funbag18.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608847008-LO2NNT5KR12ZJGPALSDU/FunBag11.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608946234-DXP3VQWFFSEINYBN45AE/Funbag6.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630608967813-HPU0ZI8LTALRZML2ZUPD/Funbag7.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609018203-MUX2P4P7XNGT5RO7033M/Funbag8.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630609100635-UZ5IWAETJE4NNA9YEIAT/Funbag9.jpg The Stories - FUNBAG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/yellow-montebello monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630597556775-A2UIFIDTS6KDGP97RILD/MontebelloYelloTitle2.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605153383-5AGR64M5W0M1R0OU13QF/MontebelloYello17.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out One day in the 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605319512-LJ9JQYMFB7RA47H4L64U/MontebelloYello2.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Veteran Quebec aviation photographer and Vintage Winger J.P. Bonin can always be counted on to get the perfect angle to tell the bigger story. Here, from a thousand feet up, he shoots the entire scene down at the Ottawa River's frozen banks where the summer time Montebello marina now plays host to ultralights and Canucks. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605381315-XMY3IS87V2V48XPQUUC8/MontebelloYello32.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Yellow on the outside, yellow on the inside. In the warmth of the hotel, Vintage Wings' President Rob Fleck takes attendees through a Powerpoint presentation on the BCATP. Clearly Mary Lee snapped this photo of Dave Hadfield flying up the Ottawa river in front of Montebello and rushed inside to add it to Rob's presentation. Photo by Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605465612-K70TP1UR7ZH77EIWGDKL/MontebelloYello3.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The Winter weekend Rendezvous has always been first and foremost about the Quad City Challenger ultralight and its big enthusiastic family. Here a bright yellow Challenger II plops down onto the deep snow covering the river. Nowadays everyone in any airplane or copter willing to land on the river - some come on wheels and even the odd one will land on floats - are welcome. While the attending aircraft are painted in many different colours, we are just showing you the yellow ones, because, after all, the title of this article is Yellow in Montebello. Photo by Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605505198-LDG281ZFB923VXYYD88E/MontebelloYello8.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Ben captures another Challenger (C-IGKT) at the moment of touchdown - this one equipped with long range fuel tanks mounted on the wing struts. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605536876-0LBMK69ZO6S8X92XPSNW/MontebelloYello4.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Old and new aircraft alike take part in the annual event - here an older Bellanca Citabria alights. Not having a ski on the tail wheel allows for constant braking - a good thing when you want to come to a stop quickly in snow. This particular Citabria has a connection with the old BCATP base at Pendleton where our fictional Tiger Moth pilot was from. Decades ago it was a tow plane for the Gatineau Gliding Club which still operates from the old airfield today. Photo by Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605570546-RBSJOU0QJZXJHEB0HM9K/MontebelloYello31.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Old indeed - a lovely yellow Fleet Canuck, (First flown in 1944) trundles along the Ottawa. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605601842-JOSXY3NONWB4J0GH15KA/MontebelloYello7.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A quirky looking airplane usually has a quirky sounding name and this Interplane Skyboy (C-IDBX) is no exception. It's yellow though. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605632816-54F1KCUPFNFZSOXJQHMA/MontebelloYello11.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Another yellow Challenger II C-IREM slides low across the flight line. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605668433-GEVR4FXMRMS57MJ1WXP8/MontebelloYello30.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The sun shone warm on yellow airplanes this day - all part of the Vintage Wings Plan... OK, maybe we can't claim that. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605699208-Z6E03U8B4EO5WAVHUHG1/MontebelloYello12.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A Piper J-3 Cub (C-FZIG) settles in with the town of Montebello in the background. Yellow buses qualify for this story. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605726508-J42V8FK9FQ8SFT2FQY1G/MontebelloYello5.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A bright yellow Denny Aerocraft Kit Fox (C-FPVV) demonstrates why it is so popular, climbing like a homesick angel with JATO. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605808282-6WSW4YFAULPSHQN18X09/MontebelloYello13.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out I dunno, but it's yellow. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605847391-PBXW43AIERYA7KJ7AN65/MontebelloYello14.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out With the Vintage wings Tiger Moth entering the circuit everyone misses the beautiful take off by a bright red Kit Fox home-built... Red?... that's not yellow. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605880876-47GPITO1ZSQYJZA4FD76/MontebelloYello25.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Prior to his low passes Dave Hadfield floats high in the kind of blue sky you only get when the temperature drops to minus 20 and there is no moisture. Photo by Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630605916281-96CG18VDVMLYZ5P9KJUN/MontebelloYello24.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Benoit zooms into the same high pass to reveal a classic plan form of the de Havilland Tiger Moth Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606008350-E61NL0GWEYKSVNA7FLK0/MontebelloYello33.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out En route to Montebello, in the high clear sunlight, Hadfield enjoys some solar warmth. This image was taken with an HD video camera mounted in the cockpit for the trip... unfortunately it only captured a still image every 5 seconds. To see clips from the trip visit the Vintage Wings Blog and sign up for late breaking news. Photo arranged by Laurie-Anne Smith and Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606133914-FHWWUW5CIXQO738W9VS3/MontebelloYello27.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Dave sets up for his first pass over the snow covered river. Throughout the 1940s along this stretch of the Ottawa River, this sort of pass was commonplace with the presence of two nearby Elementary Flying Training Schools - No. 10 at Pendleton and No. 13 at St Eugene - both on the Ontario side. Photo by Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606172134-PM6UALN4I2ZCTAPK3BBK/MontebelloYello15.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out With one of Montebello's beautiful out buildings as a backdrop, Hadfield settles her down and steady for a low pass. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606221983-1GH04UEDWXH2NX8WIMPM/MontebelloYello16.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out And we do mean low. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606254721-78S74ZULK0JJIBCVDK84/MontebelloYello18.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out If it wasn't for the helicopter lurking in the background, this shot could easily be from the 1940s. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606293199-L3KLTTA6LINUR59R9B4W/MontebelloYello19.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A different angle on a different pass with a not so elegant hotel in the background. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606328988-S80G0SBZUHEHXNIF1SD0/MontebelloYello21.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Dave sputters down the snowy runway grinning for the cameras. Photo by J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606387940-27L1OMW1LZVU2Z1JB7RI/MontebelloYello22.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out From the other side of the runway, he seems to be going faster - thanks to Benoit's pan with the airplane. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606414592-OTBM1C43EOJS96MKMW5T/MontebelloYello23.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Any lower and he would be staying for lunch. Photo by Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606441780-066LZH9OW3Y8O0ZDLD1X/MontebelloYello26.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Mary Lee shoots Dave Hadfield and the intrepid photographer J.P. Bonin in the same shot. Photo by Mary Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630606496708-KOT17M3XKV17M2IV6ANI/MontebelloYello29.jpg The Stories - YELLOW IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The Tiger Moth heads home on a perfect flying day - low winds, cold thick air, sparkling snow and breathless-blue skies. Lucky Mr. Hadfield. Mary captures the thrill everyone had at this rare winter flypast. Photo by Mary Lee https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/badass-invader monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581576998-IVOUZ3V77WY5JEFGRTIH/BadassTitle.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581691262-T8MHJ66QTWO7VMI6YDRC/Badass4.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out invader Serial Number 44-34778 (Construction Number 28057) was built by Douglas Aircraft at their Tulsa, Oklahoma factory. Number 44-34778 was apparently part of a construction lot (44-34754 to 44-34775) which had its contract canceled, but many were completed and sold on civil market. This aircraft was sold to the Raytheon Manufacturing Co. of Bedford, Massachusetts (Registered N67943). Raytheon operated a number of the type to test radars and missiles in the decades following the war. After her service with Raytheon, she was purchased by Air Spray, a much-respected forest fire fighting enterprise based in Red Deer, Alberta. Rathyeon, at the time of sale to Air Spray, had indicated that it was an ex-US Navy airframe. Today, C-GWLT operated by Manitoban entrepreneur Ross Robinson, wears the impressive but spurious markings of postwar Canadian Sabres of 439 Sabretooth Tiger Squadron. Looks cool, so, if you want it to be authentic, then get your own Invader. Photo by Andy Graf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581757647-7WTAMOULRQEEYCEJ65QA/Badass34.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out The earliest photo of C-GWLT that I can find comes via the Warbird Registry website. In this photo she appears to have a slightly different Air Spray scheme than the following photo with light blue cowling flaps, with different fuselage and nacelle cheatlines. Air Spray purchased and registered C-GWLT on May 13, 1975, so perhaps this dates from that time. If anyone can shed light on the inscription beneath the cockpit glazing, I would appreciate an e-mail - thank you Bill Ewing, who tells is that it says Portage La Prairie beneath the cockpit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581893754-2IFUDWKQP2DCK8XATA9X/Badass35.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out An early shot of "old 98" at Red Deer by Wild Bill Ewing shows a close-up of the Trail of 98 nickname on the nose of C-FWLT - the source of her later tail number. Beneath that is the Territorial badge of the Yukon. Photo by Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581953525-LJTGCX4PCMBLSQZ13QMY/Badass9.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Here we see Air Spray A-26 Invader C-GWLT and a sister ship in an later two-tone blue livery at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory on August 9th, 1992. Later, Air Spray Ltd would paint their large fleet of Invaders a much more visible bright, school bus yellow. Photo Pete Davis British Columbia Aviation Museum at Sidney, BC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630581981866-2BRWURQSE3YRP55UCSF4/Badass33.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Another Canadian operator of the Invader was British Columbia's Conair - Air Spray purchased some of their Invaders when that company switched to Grumman Firecats (A Tracker equipped for firefighting). Here we see an example of a Conair liveried Invader outside at the British Columbia Aviation Museum at Sidney, BC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582047354-E0U4JGFEET4CVF8RTEEY/Badass25.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out From the History section of the Air Spray website comes this lovely photo of C-GWLT (No. 98) warming her engines outside the Air Spray hangar. For more information on this innovative and much-respected forest fire fighting company visit their website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582093151-87BE4FZIQ8HG0AJN5W6P/Badass26.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out You know you have badass airplane when someone chooses to make a model of it. Here, Geoff McDonell executes a superb 1/72nd scale rendition of Air Spray's Invader 98 in her original two-blue scheme. Photo and model by Geoff McDonell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582516369-TETM7YNXKOAXMUXTALFV/Badass27.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Another angle of McDonell's model and we see just how big the Invader's props were. Photo and model by Geoff McDonell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582542926-WQB824P2KLU9PMQW5BH7/Badass30.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Not only do Canadians and model aficionados understand the beauty of the much loved C-GWLT, but the ubiquitous Philippines mahogany aircraft model machine has created one for sale, should you need a desktop model. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582572813-P3X9MW3LSQ7LM5SEEN18/Badass24.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Invader C-GWLT touches down in this rare operational shot from its later life. Photo by Dennis Deagle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582618681-BIAJ9Q2E71V5J99HI8QU/Badass31.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out With such a slim waistline, it's hard to see much of a payload for fire retardant. This ground test of bomb bay doors on one of the other Air spray invader reveals a considerable quantity of water mixed with retardant. - 1,000 gallons to be exact. Also, to see a hilarious video of some visitors getting a surprise dunking from another Air Spray Invader, click here. Photo by Michael Besenthal at http://www.bessential.be/fire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582762633-K3KWGCNM19FPEPLPJ3AT/Badass17.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Wrapped and without her propellers, she is photographed in August 2004. AirNikon Collection, Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582789725-VMUJION43ZFNSMMNJDD6/Badass19.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out C-GWLT is sealed up tight against the tendency of starlings to nest in any available crevice. We can see that at this time she still had her port propeller attached. Photo by Ralph M. Petterson taken on August 21st, 2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582829156-7VNF2DDIPISYNVMRD4QO/Badass21.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out The line up of Invaders at Red Deer was a mandatory stop for warbird enthusiasts and aviation photographers from all over the world. Photographed in August of 2004 by Ralph M. Petterson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582854182-HTJWUBPHK6Z4Q3UJE4OV/Badass22.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out More than a year later on September 18th, 2005, not much had changed in her situation or her condition. Photo by Ralph M. Petterson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582889269-MG130YMAN113CYJ0CY2V/Badass13.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out A superb shot of Invader C-GWLT at Red Deer, Alberta awaiting her future in 2007. The little black starling perched on her starboard propeller seems un-intimidated by the big yellow bird. Photo by Dietmar Schreiber - www.vap-group.at https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582918359-PZHTH56WR805QH3KALCC/Badass14.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Pulling back from the proceeding photo we are given a good view of the Invader's massive 53.5 foot wingspan and mid-body cantilevered wing. The starling still is unperturbed. Dietmar Schreiber - www.vap-group.at https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582947228-VXNI3HIU0RBITJKUH6E5/Badass15.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out It looks like the plastic wrap that once sealed her port engine from starling invasion has been removed and her starboard propeller has been reattached - perhaps in anticipation of her sale to Ross Robinson. Dietmar Schreiber - www.vap-group.at https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630582988238-1BZ6TXVS31Q64RYNG9HS/Badass3.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out A beautiful shot at St. Andrews Airport in Manitoba, north of Winnipeg. Seemingly modeled after the paint scheme found on 439 Squadron Sabres of the 1950s, a closer look tells us more. Instead of the Canadian Red Ensign that was our flag back then, we see that Robinson, a proud Manitoban, has substituted the present day Manitoba ensign. And a nod to her days with Air Spray can be found in her fuselage numerals - 098. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630583021481-J5ELK2A20P3BIM5S0XAV/Badass28.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Another view of C-GWTL sitting outside the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg reminds one of the old description of the Bristol Beaufighter - "a fuselage in hot pursuit of two engines". Photo by Pierre Victor, France https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630583046843-KWG98OGFS8IRPK2R5RIU/Badass6.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out Ross Robinson sent us this photo of his Harvard leading his Invader across a lake. Photo via Ross Robinson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630583090908-DQHN1ZAGZBL22PX3PV81/Badass7.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out A nice shot of Ross Robinson's other warbird. The Harvard is CF-WWO/C-FWWO, c/n CCF4-52, ex-RCAF 20261, owned by Walt & Eva Lannon (hence the EV squadron code) from 1981 to 2006, and sold to Ross Robinson/Air Ross Inc., Calgary, on 19 May 06. Prior to its sale to the other side of the mountains, CF-WWO had been a warbird in B. C. from 1968 - 2006. Photo via Ross Robinson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630583139944-O75EQ3KJC3Y42RIH97JV/Badass2.jpg The Stories - BADASS INVADER FROM MANITOBA - Make it stand out The extremely long wing of the B-26 Invader is evident in this image taken June 6th, 2009 at the Canadian Forces days Air Show, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Photo: Paul Linton, Flickr https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/thunder-over-michigan monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630543925011-6U6AJ5WV5ZU0A78Y6143/ThunderTitle.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544308504-F5VONNZ61FGKLPTU783W/Thunder2.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out There is nothing so magnificent as eight warbird giants in a row all with unique and historic bombardment group markings. the line-up reads left to right The 381st BG, RAF Ridgewell; the 457th BG, RAF Glatton; 303rd BG, RAF Molesworth; 390th BG, RAF Framlingham; 398th BG, RAF Nuthampstead, 91st BG, RAF Bassingbourne, 92nd BG, RAF Podington and lastly another from the 381st BG, RAF Ridgewell. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544377714-FMLIZ06U09SY82AIOAHI/Thunder3.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Fuselage Squadron codes and engine cowling colours will help us tell an even more specific story - that of the squadrons within a group. In the foreground the Fortress "X for X-ray" wears the squadron code “VP” for the 533rd Bombardment Squadron (BS). Behind her, the all-metal Fortress wears the blue fin flashes of the 749th BS. Farther down the line the “GN” code indicates the 427th BS, followed by “DI” for the 570th BS. Then we can just make out the “3O” code (with H aircraft code attached) of the 601st BS. Photo: Pierre Lapprand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544408643-QESOCF4NKCBX8CAO4Z3K/Thunder4.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out The show's name "Thunder over Michigan” is powerfully demonstrated in this tight formation of P-51D Mustangs of The Horsemen aerobatic team. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544434995-Z0LD15T6R42RJLZR1M51/Thunder5.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Les Belles Dames. Like a scene from Memphis Belle, 3 mighty B-17 Flying Fortresses taxi for the active runway led by B-17s Liberty Belle and Memphis Belle. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544481289-KEIN4NL49ECQLDOIWJ8J/Thunder6.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Always looking for unique angle, Lapprand captures a line-up of North American T-6 Texan aircraft reflected in the mirrored glass of a building. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544512535-11RNMXTU27QFL07P0LYA/Thunder7.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Climbing out into an overcast sky, the all aluminum B-17 Liberty Belle reflects the dull sky. This B-17 hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is operated by the Liberty Foundation. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544545743-E15YKWRPZOY6JELBWFOL/Thunder8.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out If you were a lathe operator at a ball bearing factory in Schweinfurt, Germany, it would be about this time you would say "Stellen sie ihre werkzeuge jungen hinunter - Tools Down Boys" and start running for your life. With telephoto lens, Lapprand has captured the majesty of four “Forts” streaming into the target. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544582659-EUHQ56RF6N3G5PIV6RO4/Thunder9.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out If there ever was a “pointy end of the stick”, this is it - the bombardier's seat and position at the front end of the Fortress. Vulnerable to frontal attacks and flack bursts, it would be here that a bomb-aimer would take over “flying” the bomber, keeping it on target using the top secret Norden Bomb Sight until he called “Bombs Away!” Then it was Miller Time. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544608018-S2DFMA3NPDA7P5V1FKOO/Thunder10.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Perhaps the most uncomfortable and least desirable position on any aircraft would be that of the ball turret gunner. So compact was the tiny electrically-operated capsule, that only short and slender young men were able to fit inside - in a semi-fetal position, shooting from between the gunners knees. At the end of the Second World War, a poet by the name of Randall Jarrell penned this grim black, humoured ditty about the ball turret From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. He subsequently described the equipment thus: "A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside down in his little sphere. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose." Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544679869-CFJK6QMHGUK0YSUNY9DY/Thunder11.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out A slab-sided behemoth B-24 named Witchcraft of the 467th BG is accompanied to the target by two "Little Friends" as escort fighters were called by grateful bomber crews. In the heat and haze behind comes a “bomber stream” of B-17 Flying Fortresses. The original Witchcraft was assigned to the 467BG, 790BS and compiled an amazing record of 130 combat missions. Then vulnerability of the ball turret gunner is very evident on this photo. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544704390-JM3NRSVBUVXTK01EQTNW/Thunder12.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out B-17G Yankee Lady labours low through the haze created by pyrotechnics. This aircraft was delivered to the U. S. Army Air Corps as 44-85829, then transferred to the U. S. Coast Guard as PB-1G, BuNo 77255 in September, 1946. It served at NAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina until May 1959. Her later life included stints as a water bomber, but now she flies for the Yankee Air Museum, at the Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, Michigan. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544742599-KI7HQJTJVGTYW1QV1TT6/Thunder13.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Liberty Belle climbs out over a demonstration of American armour on the ground - creating a image that seems rooted in 1944. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544773193-CQPGMOZUW8SL5KOLPEF2/Thunder14.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out The B-24J is a very utilitarian looking bomber but she exudes a certain beauty in her rugged ugliness. The 130 bomb mission flashes on the side tell a story of endurance and bravery not equaled or surpassed by many. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544796482-YWL2JI9KG4W6Q2W0XKN2/Thunder15.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out 3x17 + 24 equals B-75. In this rare view we get a good sense of the comparative shapes of the two bomber types. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544824494-1XT3AF9OXCCMVR4899M8/Thunder16.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out A dramatic, sinister angle on the classic Fortress with the massive wing dominating the shot. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544854420-ZDDMO5EPLP7BSGFZS1UI/Thunder17.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out 12 Texans and Harvards Thunder over Michigan. The Harvard/Texan is the undisputed loudest single-engine warbird around - 12 of them is either heaven or hell, depending on your aural stamina. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544879433-IQO3LT46D6MKA0AHV4T2/Thunder18.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out A beauty out of a past where airlines were bastions of service and elegance, a DC-7B from the Eastern Airlines Historical Foundation lands at Willow Run Airport. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544903240-MWSPD5KQ7KWKV7ZLJRQR/Thunder19.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out “Beware the Hun in the sun” goes the old dog-fighting saying. This two-seat training variant of the venerable North American F-100 Super Sabre, known lovingly by its pilots as the Hun (for Hundred), is a rare bird indeed, but no one need beware, except possibly these frightened birds. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544931233-8KSLHPKC4B0CCYU7F65L/Thunder20.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out The Horsemen gallop past show centre while Lapprand pans with them. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544960359-QHQBM9RA1YUPIUO223UA/Thunder21.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Second world War USAAF fighter ace, Bud Anderson has had his old warhorse immortalized on more than one still-flying P-51. In this instance it is his P-51C “Old Crow” (owned by Jack Rouche) from the 362nd FS, 357th FG, flown by Jimmy Leeward. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630544981817-ASZ5AYNUFW81QG5R506I/Thunder22.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out These five North American Harvards in BCATP yellow seem to follow the line described by the Boeing KC-10 tanker's tail in the foreground. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630545008965-9U8EE3ILIJUVBU7CYMTP/Thunder23.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out A dramatic downward bomb burst manoeuvre with the three mustangs of the Horsemen. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630545035445-CWCLO83QTSPNEZBSI75W/Thunder24.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out Lapprand uses a sepia tint on this photo to make it appear as a vintage shot of close air support during the Second World War. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630545057734-DEETR5FD1PDU18TJUWIB/Thunder25.jpg The Stories - THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN - Make it stand out John Mohr is the undisputed King of the Stearman, able to wring aerobatic excellence from the docile trainer. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-high-war monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630520672884-G3YMT4SF5365N72KYZTL/HighWarTitle.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630526523110-4A3KHZJBG95UYO43M5CW/HighWar2.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out Joining Canadian CF-18 fighter elements each year at Maple Flag are combat aircraft (bombers, fighters, attack and support) from a myriad of NATO nations. F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft would be part of the High War in 1996. Here we see an American Eagle, banking over the Primrose Range at Cold Lake, but this day's war would happen 30 thousand feet higher up. USAF photo by U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630526562141-HM40078XO7Q4UNI5KUH9/HighWar6.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out While the Eagles were with us in Blue Air, other USAF aircraft in the form of the 64th FS Aggressors from Nellis AFB, Nevada would test us in Red Air. U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630526664314-75JQKVSWR4RSLPLAE38T/HighWar4.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out “Sunlight sparkling all around us, God's duvet of white cloud below and our four fighters streaking forward at 600 knots. The cockpit was bathed in clear radiant light and my eyes took in every detail of this incredible sight”. Photo by Dave Robins, djrxxs at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630527006895-3MLERV39WXLL79VZWNYE/HighWar3.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out “At 600 knots, the nimble fighter turns a very crisp roll let me tell you.” Photo by Dave Robins, djrxxs at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630527082081-B6XHKJDY53X8XFA545WN/HighWar5.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out “With all four jets spread across the same altitude, Steve took us into an easy right turn and entered a right hand racetrack pattern. This was the MiG sweep, covering fifty miles of blue turf”. DND Photo: Private (Pte) Laura Brophy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630527153254-597U8BZV7QIP7Y8E7BYQ/HighWar7.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out The 64th Aggressor Squadron's F-16s have a unique paint scheme to match their role as simulated enemy MiG aircraft for the exercises. USDoD photo by Master Sgt. Robert W. Valenca, U.S. Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630527543833-JT3Z5F6TJ0E3KJL8M2PK/HighWar9.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out “The vision was immaculate – a Soviet-style blue-on-blue camouflaged F-16 with great wedges of angry white vapour blasting off his wing roots like steam shrieking from a locomotive.” Photo by Mike Lynaugh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630527643666-4PGL4BXPO2FOI2DL3ISN/HighWar12.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out Despite spilled gyros in my cranium, my stomach still trying to climb back down to where it once lived and a litre of sweat liberally poured down my back, I cannot restrain exhibiting the joy and thrill of the completed mission as I step down from the Hornet. Thanks to Steve Will, 441 Squadron and the Canadian Air Force that day and today. Photo: John (I have no idea what his rank is now) Vincent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630528462143-PLWTY6X63JCIAXY2JEE4/HighWar14.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out After the High War exercise, the author, left and Captain Steve Will mug for the camera. Photo: John (I have no idea what his rank is now) Vincent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630528550607-ZSGRIXSFWPJI3VY8OYXQ/MiGStory23.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out The one part about the April Fool's story that is absolutely true is that fighter pilots when driving south from Cold Lake, will take the time to visit the World's Biggest Perogy in Glendon, Alberta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630543473321-W0D1ELH8KVXEL7WVPRBF/HighWar13.jpg The Stories - THE HIGH WAR - Make it stand out Some years later, LCol. Steve “Swill” Will would command the very same 441 Squadron. DND Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/template-trmwr-rd36f monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627397461379-FLYPW2XJ8DFIRAW4YS38/BiteMe000.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627397513308-1V3O44NDXV56EOCCFN2Q/BiteMe70.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Perhaps the earliest photograph of an aircraft with a fish motif, if not a shark, is this early Swedish-operated flying boat nicknamed Flygfisken or Flying Fish. The type was a 1913 French-built Donnet-Lévêque flying boat, painted overall in fish scales and an interesting piece of typography which acts as the mouth. The photo was taken at Lake Roxen in southeastern Sweden where it was operated at the Carl Cederström flight school, based in Linköping. Cederström was a Swedish aviation pioneer, trained at the Blériot flying school and the first to hold a Swedish pilot’s certification. The aircraft was a two-seater with an 80 hp Gnome rotary pusher engine. Not long after this photo was taken, the aircraft was sold to the Swedish Navy and was designated L II. It was retired in 1918 with just 130 hours on the airframe. It is now on display (without the early Flygfisken paint scheme) at the Swedish Air Force Museum in Malmslätt, Sweden. Photo: DigitaltMuseum.se https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627397642234-1XMOJGPTCMTCMBN3ETMH/BiteMe01.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A Maurice Farman MF.11 (nicknamed the Shorthorn by crews) was far from being piscine in its visual personality, but the gondola, which included two eye-like round glazed portholes in front for the gunner/observer inspired this crew to add a grimacing mouth. The aircraft was designed before the First World War and was used as a light bomber/recce aircraft early in the war. Not a shark mouth per se, but a photo of one of the earlier uses of a mouth motif. Photo: modellismopiu.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627397686929-MRWIZGY908T4U4ID15QH/BiteMe04.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Two of the three-man crew of an A.E.G G.IV show off their shark mouth bomber in 1918. The A.E.G. G.IV, built by the easy-to-say Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft, was a biplane bomber introduced in late 1916 by the German Air Force. It had a relatively short range and was used primarily as a tactical bomber. There is only one example of this aircraft still in existence today—right here in Ottawa at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM)! This CASM aircraft is also the only surviving example in the world of a twin-engine German aircraft from the First World War. Photo via wingsnutwings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627397791619-ZZLEHUX9GJ40GZDXGKDT/BiteMe05.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A real painting challenge for the scale modeller would be this American Nieuport 24 from the First World War, painted from nose to tail as a fish. Since sharks don’t actually have scales, one cannot say for certain whether it was meant to represent a shark or perhaps another predatory fish. It has a fairly nasty looking bite with teeth around the engine cowling, though the Nieuport 24 was not much better than the Nieuport 17 which it was designed to replace. Most were soon relegated to advanced training units like this example at an American training field in France. Photo: LargeScalePlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627398095563-AU17YH7721JPWSAJVD57/BiteMe06.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out It is appropriate that one of the earliest applications of a shark mouth on a military aircraft was on this L.F.G. Roland C.II as the type’s nickname was Walfisch (Whale). Built by Luft Fahrzeug Gezellschaft, the Roland C.II type entered service in 1916 as a general reconnaissance platform. This particular Roland C.II was flown by Leutnant Richard Seibert and his observer/gunner Hauptmann Pfleger of the Bavarian Feldfliegerabteilung 5 on the Western Front in the autumn of 1916. Seibert who, along with Pfleger, is likely one of the men in this photograph, was killed a few months later. Note the homey curtains in the windows of the fuselage (reputedly painted on). Photo via pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402069071-DEAB1GEKX113QEK5GTIQ/BiteMe03.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Another Roland C.II, this time painted in all-white snow camouflage for winter operations and flown by ace Eduard Ritter von Schleich (likely the man in the photo) with Bavarian Feldfliegerabteilung 2b during the winter of 1915–1916. In addition to the mopey-looking whale mouth, von Schleich also had a carved whale or fish attached to his external air speed indicator (above fuselage). The name Roland, of course, is a reference to the mythic Teutonic knight of German legend. Photo: modelersalliance.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402099213-XVW6XV5IILLCUA4M3RTI/BiteMe07.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Two Belgian airmen—Lieutenant Jules Jaumotte (L) and his observer/gunner Second Lieutenant Louis Wouters lean against the lower wing of their French-built Farman F.40 with an effigy of a death’s head on the nose of its crew nacelle. Many early examples of this type of nose art involved grinning skulls and strange faces, all with a gaping and terrifying mouth. The duo of Jaumotte and Wouters were the most successful Belgian aerial photography crew of the First World War, widely recognized as the best in their craft. Though Wouters started off his flying career as an observer, he gained his pilot wings and returned to the front as a fighter pilot with No. 11 Squadron. Perhaps the addition of the grotesque leering skull saved them from being shot down, as the Farman F.40 was far from a fighting ship. Photo: modellismopiu.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402136886-TFNUPSQRYCC876DGJ1PQ/BiteMe11.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out There were many instances of Luftwaffe aircraft of the Second World War sporting shark mouth nose art. In fact, the Germans were likely the first to use the graphic device in the war. This Messerschmitt Bf 110 E fighter is one of the best known cases in point—the yellow noses and shark mouth of the famed “Haifischgruppe (Shark Group)” — II.Gruppe/Zerstörergeschwader 76 in the Greece and Balkans campaign. Though effective, it seems an upward turn of the mouth would give it a much more aggressive visual effect. As such, it looks more like a lamprey than a shark. Photo via britmodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402252556-KIUO3993FZ589CYCR87H/BiteMe12.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Aircraft like the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Hawker Typhoon, with their open mouths to accommodate air flow over radiators and oil coolers, were the perfect aircraft for the shark mouth treatment. This early model Messerschmitt Bf 109 C (with a two-bladed propeller) of the Luftwaffe getting its machine guns re-armed is a case in point. The dark hole only intensifies the concept. Photo via forums.ubi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402288339-ACDY87COXBX9NFOXCYMV/BiteMe55.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402309220-SQLJ233OA6NVMQ6DZYJZ/BiteMe09.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402339542-ZYWFXBSJN4XOS68ZBFS9/BiteMe13.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Desert Sharks of the Royal Air Force’s North African war plough through the dust and heat—the first Allied aircraft to wear the shark mouth and the inspiration for Claire Chennault and the American Volunteer Group later in China. 112 Squadron appears to be the very first to employ the classic shark mouth that we all know and use today. At bottom, a 112 Squadron Kittyhawk Mk III taxies in the dust and scrub at an airfield near Medenine, Tunisia in 1943. 112 Squadron, Royal Air Force, was reputedly the first Allied unit to employ the shark mouth motif—appearing on their Kittyhawks in the summer of 1941. A ground crewman directs the pilot down the narrow taxi path from a perch on the port wing. Photos: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402445726-F9HDM3OEIMKQW2ERNSN0/BiteMe78.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Three Kittyhawks of 112 Squadron Royal Air Force warm their engines before a mission in the North African desert. 112 Squadron’s depiction of the shark mouth has become the iconic form that we all know and love today. Even the Flying Tigers copied them when they saw a story about them in London Illustrated News. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402476895-OEPQC7AT79N2TCEWSEE4/BiteMe36.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out One of the early Curtiss Tomahawks of 112 Squadron Royal Air Force demonstrates the manner in which the open jaw of the shark almost obscures the large chin intake. Photo: WarThunder.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402510142-ITB4QAQ3E2LEIPZWGLHR/BiteMe56.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out This photograph, though very poor, illustrates the way in which the rendering of a shark mouth and eyes can change the character of the aircraft. In this 112 Squadron Royal Air Force Mustang, the slant of the teeth, the aggressive forward placement and downward slant of the eyes and the sneering curl of the mouth all combine to make this Mustang far more aggressive looking than the slightly goofy looking Mustang in the following photo. Photo via raf-112-squadron.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402582593-WJTUXY2NJTRE275F0GHW/BiteMe99.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out 112 Squadron, the first to employ the “classic” shark mouth that remains today an icon, flew into the jet age and never gave up their shark mouth. In June 1944, 112 Squadron gave up their P-40 Kittyhawks and took delivery of N.A. P-51s (known as Mustang IV in RAF service) for the battle through Italy, keeping these till disbandment in 1946. During the war the squadron aces included Battle of Britain Ace, Billy Drake, and Neville Duke, later to be a test pilot and world speed record holder. The squadron reformed at Fassberg as part of RAF Germany in May 1951 with de Havilland Vampire FB5s, and decorated them with their famous “Sharkmouth” insignia. The insignia continued on their F-86 Sabres in 1955. After re-equipping with Hunters in 1956, the squadron was disbanded at the end of May 1957. Photos and info: Ken Cothliffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402667983-5MCDA3P3YVWBR8QN45E5/BiteMe100.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A Hawker Hunter, the last of the 112 Squadron Sharks, ending a 112 shark reign of more than 15 years. Photo: aviadejavu.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402544416-YKN5RAZIYSUVQFPRX1RJ/BiteMe69.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The Mustang remains one of the most beautiful and iconic aircraft of the Second World War and one of the most celebrated canvasses for nose art. This P-51B Virginia (sn 42-106486) of the 382nd Fighter Squadron is likely named for its pilot’s girlfriend or maybe his birthplace, but the real showstopper is this happy, googly-eyed shark mouthed face. The shape of the Mustang’s nose, like the P-40, offers a natural face to dress in the shark motif. In behind Virginia is parked another 382nd shark mouth called Big Mac. Photo via jonbius.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402729583-YEK6YFP090L0G0KLL0SZ/BiteMe21.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While several Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe units had been using the shark mouth motif earlier in the Second World War, it was the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force that became the best known for the style, at least in America. Known as the Flying Tigers, the unit nonetheless utilized an obvious shark mouth on the noses of all their P-40 aircraft. Here P-40s of the 3rd Squadron Hell’s Angels line up in echelon right on a sixth P-40 flown by legendary AVG pilot Robert Tharp Smith. There is no doubt that the shark mouth applied to the shark-like lines and gaping maw of a P-40 Warhawk/Tomahawk/Kittyhawk represents the quintessential application of the motif, one that has inspired cartoonists, tattooists, and artists for more than 75 years. Photo Robert “Tadpole” Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402758234-FQNZ3DKDQWDY0P51GDVH/BiteMe35.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Not all the Curtiss P-40s that fought in China were AVG Flying Tigers, but many emulated the shark’s mouth motif in homage. Here seven pilots of the 75th Fighter Squadron of the 23rd Fighter Group pose with P-40K King Boogie at an airfield in China in 1943. In fact, a number of AVG pilots did join the 75th Fighter Squadron (nicknamed the Tiger Sharks) when America declared war on Japan. King Boogie was assigned to Captain William D. “Beel” Grosvenor, credited with 5 victories over Japanese aircraft. The unit is still active today, flying A-10A Warthogs… with shark mouths of course!! Photo: WorldWarPhotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402872771-7LG1D6EDKV4A4HZ8IKQF/BiteMe22.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out No two shark mouths were the same on aircraft of the Second World War as shown by these two 23rd Fighter Group Warhawks parked on a Chinese airfield—different teeth, eyes and shapes. The Nipponese Nemesis was reportedly flown by Captain Matt Gordon of Pueblo, Colorado. Photo: LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402929310-6ZAYZ95SITJ3VKK7O7OW/BiteMe18.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Five shark-mouthed Curtiss P-40 Warhawks line up on the 16th Fighter Squadron’s flight line in China in October of 1942 while a group of Chinese mechanics work on attaching a new centreline external fuel tank. Looking closely at the painting of the shark mouth on Rose Marie, it shows a certain disdain for neatness. The 16th was part of the 23rd Fighter Group in China, the unit that took over the role of the American Volunteer Group when it was disbanded. They also took the Flying Tigers name and some of its pilots. Photo: WarbirdInformationExchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627402972383-TV27NVGWQ7M689D6GKEQ/BiteMe58.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Pilots of three shark-mouthed A-10A Thunderbolt II Warthogs of the modern 23rd Fighter Group prepare for a training mission. The group can trace it lineage back to the Flying Tigers and P-40 operations in China and retains that name and symbol to this very day. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403190144-O9JYDR8TLHYRL4HENU8D/BiteMe48.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out This bombed-up and shark mouth A-10A of the modern 23rd Fighter Group appears a bit cross-eyed as she looks up at the advancing refuelling probe from a 927 Air Refuelling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker. Photo: gizmodo.com.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403233852-DRE198S8JKZJ7ZPQYPP9/BiteMe94.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Despite the fact that the Germans and the British were using the shark mouth device earlier in the war, it was the American Volunteer Group’s P-40s that first aroused America’s devotion to the shark mouth. The name Flying Tigers and the Hell’s Angels (one of the AVG squadrons) also helped to promote the AVG to heroic status before they had even met the Japanese. Images from the web https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403279467-EXBQ0YRI4TDUQ2P08E0P/BiteMe73.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The radial engine fighter had considerable challenges to overcome to be taken for a shark. With a blunt nose and wide open engine air intake, it’s not what one could say was as sleek as a shark, but when the United States Navy’s VF-27 Fighter Squadron, the Fighting Hellcats, painted their Grumman F6F Hellcats, they put in some compensating attitude with their depiction of a snarling cat from hell. A website dedicated to VF-27 states: “Pilots Carl Brown, Richard Stambrook, and Robert Burnell, designed the cat-mouth markings during VF-27’s training at Kahului Naval Air Station, Maui, Hawaii, in March and April 1944. Each of the squadron’s pilots helped with the painting, but Burnell, the artist of the squadron, did most of the work. All 24 of VF-27’s F6F Hellcats were so marked when the squadron embarked aboard the light carrier USS Princeton on May 29, 1944. Nine VF-27 Hellcats were airborne when the Princeton was hit, all nine landed safely on other carriers in the Task Force. Other commanders were not amused by the funny markings on VF-27’s Hellcats. The “Cat’s Mouth” markings were promptly painted out as per USN regulations. So ended a legend in U.S. Naval Aviation.” Photo: lostworldsinc.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403328110-PX69YQMHQ3PPY9SWNBFF/BiteMe16.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The most effective nose for a shark mouth was that of a fighter aircraft with an in-line and perhaps a chin air intake, but nearly every aircraft type of the Second World War sported the device at some time and compensated in other ways. Clockwise from top left: A— The Republic P-47D Thunderbolt The Bug (serial number 42-76653) of Captain Arlie Blood of the 510th Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force in the summer of 1944. This aircraft is the subject of a Revell 1/48 scale model kit. B—A combat-weary Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A formerly of Jagdgeschwader 26 was given a half comical/half ferocious paint scheme when it was used as a training aircraft by JG 1 in France in the spring of 1942. C—One of the more famous of the wildly painted assembly ships of the Eighth Air Force, Spotted Ass Ape of the 458th Bomb Group combined the gaping maw of a shark with multicoloured polka dots over three quarters of her fuselage and wings. Alternately, it was known as Wonder Bread for its similarity to the packaging for the famous-but-tasteless bread. D—There is some dispute as to whether we can call all these gaping mouths “shark mouths”, especially if they are used on say P-40s of the Flying Tigers or this Boeing B-17 Tiger Girl (42-3555) from the 560th Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group, USAAF. Surely it must be a tiger mouth and not a shark mouth. Whatever, it certainly spits fire! Tiger Girl was lost on a mission to Bremen on 26 November 1943. Photos: ww2incolor.com, forum.largescaleplanes.com, 458bg.com, and pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403633268-2TUP0NKP5ZCF305NVW70/BiteMe17.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out One of the most beloved Spitfire paint schemes of the Second World War was that of 457 Grey Nurse Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force in the South East Asia Command (SEAC). The Aussie squadron was formed in Great Britain in 1941, as were many RCAF squadrons of the new 400-series. After a deployment to the Isle of Man and then RAF Redhill, 457 was moved home for the defense of Australia near Darwin, Northern Territory, eventually fighting the Japanese from airfields in Morotai and Labuan, Dutch East Indies. The shark mouth began to appear on some squadron aircraft (at first smaller and lower on the nose) and then eventually large, gaping, snarling and on every squadron aircraft. The name Grey Nurse started appearing also aft of the engine, a reference to the grey nurse shark that inhabits Australian waters. Photo: Australian War Memorial via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403677861-HWRC2VK3YEM94T0TI9PN/BiteMe102.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out An interesting shark mouth Hawker Hurricane Mk IIb with Vokes filter shows us how good the Hurri looked with a quasi-happy shark face. The Hurricane carries its RAF serial (BP654) on the tail in the style of the United States Army Air Force. This is because it is an American unit hack, having been “acquired” by the 350th Fighter Group in Sardinia and modified to two-seat tanden configuration. It was lost over the sea on August 6, 1943 after the pilot bailed out safekly following engine failure. Photo: AmericanAirMuseum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403787754-NA7WYBIMFP3ECORD7RMN/BiteMe19.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Combine the sleek lines of the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber and a shark mouth and the effect is very aggressive looking. This particular Marauder is USAAC serial number 42-107582 and flew with the 454th Bomb Squadron of the 323rdBomb Group. The unpainted Marauders were not as heavy as the camouflaged versions and as such were slightly faster. The pilot standing in front is possibly the ship’s commander Captain McAndrew. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403817909-9LCVDWGHSYRB5TOJKU3W/BiteMe71.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The nose of the North American B-25H was a fearsome thing as it was—with four 50 cal. machine guns and four additional 50 cals. on the fuselage sides—but the grimacing and clamped-down shark mouth of one called Mortimer added another dimension of fear. Many of 90 Attack Squadron’s heavily-armed Mitchells and Douglas A-20 Havocs sported variations of the shark mouth while fighting in the South Pacific. The shipping-busting Mitchells earned the nickname “commerce destroyers”. During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, every one of 90 Squadron’s commerce destroyers scored a hit on a convoy of 18 Japanese ships. 90 Squadron exists today with the USAF, flying the Lockheed F-22A Raptor. The name Mortimer is a possible reference to Mortimer Snerd, the contemporary ventriloquist dummy of Edgar Bergen. Photo via 90thattacksquadron.yolasite.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403852219-ZX13JLIKIQZJOYPLFMCE/BiteMe72.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Martin Marauder 42-96165 of the 599th Bombardment Squadron of the 397th Bombardment Group had a full set of markings worthy of note (in the bottom photo only). First, she wears the yellow and black fin flash of the 397th Bombardment Group and D-Day stripes on her wings and aft fuselage. She also wears a spectacular shark mouth motif, but it’s difficult to tell if this was meant to be a shark, since the aircraft’s nickname was The Big Hairy Bird and close examination reveals that the artwork includes a pair of horns aft of the cockpit windows (see colour image). Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403887776-XFQVK1QSUUJFIKWWURXD/BiteMe20.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A sexy Italian car. This 71st Fighter Squadron crew chief is having a little fun using a drop tank from a Lockheed P-38 Lightning in Lesina, Italy. It looks like it sits on the chassis and wheels from a bomb cart and there is no indication that this car is a working automobile, but it looks cool with its shark mouth scheme. In the background is a 71st FS P-38L Lightning (sn 44-25734) called Betts II. Photo: worldwarphotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627403943430-YQLJBAPJJMYI4DHH2IJA/BiteMe23.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Like father, like son. While the gaping shark mouth came from the fact that fighter aircraft reminded pilots of predatory fish, not all shark mouths were in fact sharks. Some were dragons, crocodiles, bears, skulls and in the case of this Alaskan campaign Warhawk, a tiger. This bright yellow design of a tiger on the nose of an 11th Fighter Squadron remains today a favourite of modellers and artists for its graphic and abstract qualities. The 11th FS was part of the 343rd Fighter Group, who called themselves the AleutianTigers. The unit was commanded by none other than John S. Chennault (pictured here in cockpit), the son of General Claire Chennault, the legendary commander of the American Volunteer Group. Nearly all of the unit’s Warhawks were painted this way. John S. Chennault was Lt. General Chennault’s son from his first marriage and one of 11 siblings. At the time that he commanded the Aleutian Tigers, he was a lieutenant colonel. He went on to fight in Korea and retired as a full colonel. He died in 1977 and is buried beside his father in Arlington National Cemetery. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404021793-7C3XCU6WDPD2JJK1D6O0/BiteMe87.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404052942-4VLH42VBWDPCG2KXKSDQ/BiteMe91.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The 15,000th P-40 to come off the Curtiss assembly line in Buffalo, New York was painted with the roundels of every air force that was then operating or had operated the type, as well as a shark mouth and Japanese and German kill markings. There is a Hasegawa plastic model kit of this very aircraft with all the requisite roundels. Photo: Central Repository for Aviation Photos on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404095490-A1HWNP4KU9WYCI0AJO7X/BiteMe24.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was less a shark and more of a whale in terms of performance, but it was a favourite aircraft canvas for the shark mouth motif. Hundreds of the boxy bombers were painted with a gaping mouth in every theatre of war. Here, B-24D Liberator Moby Dick (41-24047) of the 320th Bombardment Squadron of the 90th Bombardment Group poses with her little sister, a Piper L-4 Grasshopper Moby Dick Jr. Many of the 320th Jolly Rogers Liberators were painted with a shark/whale mouth device. During the Second World War, the squadron was based in Northern Queensland, Australia and supported campaigns in New Guinea, Borneo, and Formosa before repositioning to Okinawa. Today, the 320th is one of the USAF’s top missile squadrons. Photo: Nebraska State Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404145376-Y3LSEB1KL3EZKM7YN8YM/BiteMe33.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out As threatening as the crew of this Italy-based 15th Air Force B-24 Liberator hoped their artwork would be, it doesn’t seem to frighten this diminutive squadron cur. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404206657-G1LJXJP4SFKFPMEJ86W4/BiteMe25.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The Swiss may have been neutral, but they weren’t about to look like a bunch of sissies either. Here a Swiss Air Force Messerschmitt Bf 109 (J-713) sports a gaping red-lipped shark mouth. The strategic placement of the shark’s eye on the fairing for the machine gun ammo feed adds to the bold effect. Photo: aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404253552-ERPEV3FDZNUFUAUA46EY/BiteMe65.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A pair of Swiss Air Force Messerschmitt Bf 109 Emils of the 21st Fliegerkompanie lurks happily in the long grass at a Swiss airfield near Olten. The eyes of these sharks give them a sort of manic look of surprise. Photo: Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404441061-WP76TC79E87SZE9Q4AGL/BiteMe27.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While the Fairey Battle had a very martial name, it had a distinctly miserable martial career. Powered by the same engine as the Spitfire, it weighed nearly 1,500 pounds more and suffered in performance accordingly. Meant to be a light bomber/heavy fighter, it was immediately outclassed and utterly devastated by Luftwaffe fighters in the Battle of France. It was quickly pulled from front line duty and shipped to Canada where the type served as a gunnery platform with all eleven British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) Bombing and Gunnery Schools from Ontario to Alberta. Most of the Battles, like this example, were painted yellow overall as were most BCATP aircraft. Perhaps to give students and bored staff pilots a sense that they were part of the fighting war and to instill an aggressive spirit, several were painted with bold shark mouth designs. Photo via network54.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404473933-GGJLEYNC7QQSF1UDM2C0/BiteMe28.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Another shark mouth Fairey Battle (RCAF serial 1679, ex RAF L5477) of No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mont-Joli, Québec, offers a voracious image of a shark leaping to the attack. Too bad the Battle had none of the aggressive performance suggested by this nose art. Photo: whatifmodellers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404510026-4JYMQ1AE55PG50S5XSZM/BiteMe29.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out North American B-25 Mitchells, with their massive frontal fire power, were popular canvasses for gaping jaws of all kinds, from dragons and tigers to birds of prey to angry sharks such as this B-25D Runt’s Roost. Runt’s Roost (sn 41-29727) was part of the 90th Bombardment Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group and the assigned aircraft for Lieutenant Joseph “Runt” Helbert. The Mitchell was modified in the South Pacific theatre with an extra 20 mm cannon in the nose along with the usual eight 50 cal. machine guns for offense and defence. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404553415-5I1T0YB4LWNL20GPK27S/BiteMe08.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out For an airplane that was affectionately known as “Dumbo” or the “Gooney Bird” because of its fat and soft lines, this Second World War C-47 looks particularly menacing. Photo via Internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404585477-QNL20SJBL9EKK6RR3FQM/BiteMe30.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out There are not many photographed examples of shark mouth Soviet aircraft of the Second World War, but the device was certainly popular. Here a Yakovlev Yak-9 (possibly flown by famed ace Abrek Arkadevich Barsht or Mikhail Semyonovich Mazan) lies partially hidden in a tree line hiding from predatory German fighters. Photo: sovietwarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404639504-IIWVBT88Z3UECT92ZB1N/BiteMe10.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404665372-S3EN1IW31GWT5UE8AJ7N/BiteMe95.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The bright red Tupolev PS-9 (ANT-9) Krokodil was a Soviet passenger aircraft of the 1930s. It came in two- and three-engine variants. The twin-engine variant had a rather normal looking nose, except for one particular aircraft that was heavily modified into a propaganda ship named after a Soviet satirical magazine called Krokodil. They added a long reptilian proboscis and painted underbitten crocodile teeth on its nose, claws on the wheel pants and even the addition of triangular crocodile plates on the fuselage top. Very strange indeed. The Cyrillic text on the fuselage side says “Krokodil”. Photo via rcgroups.com (top), dishmodels.ru (bottom) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404691782-YYRB1N350T2YAMKMHD5D/BiteMe34.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The Soviets played around with shark mouth motifs as well, but many seemed to be crocodile mouths such as on this crudely painted Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber and recce aircraft. The bulging eye just below the cockpit truly finishes the crocodilian effect. Photo Bichura.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404743466-GDALMAD7GS2JETZA01M6/BiteMe31.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While many “nose artists” were highly skilled and some superbly exuberant in their expression of the shark mouth idiom, some, like the man who painted the mouth on this snaggle-tooth Douglas A-20 Havoc of the 47th Bombardment Group, though lacking in ability, were still able to give their mounts an aggressive persona—the shark equivalent of a junkyard dog. Photo via aviacaemflorips.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404797949-IJ6E74V819GWBTCNQUMK/BiteMe32.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out It’s not known whether this B-17G (42-32012) known as Shark Tooth got its name from its nose art or the other way around. This snarling nose makes maximum use of the twin 50 cal-spitting guns in its chin turret to deliver a lead message. The aircraft was a veteran of 64 bombing missions (mostly to German targets) and was the favoured ride of the Herbert W. James crew who flew her 14 times in the latter part of her career. Photo: 401bg.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404832350-K0LSZNVY130QA9P6PG3E/BiteMe63.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Perhaps the most terrifying and angriest of the shark mouth aircraft of the Second World War was the raging open maw of this Hawker Typhoon (MR-U, RAF serial MP197) of 245 Squadron of the RAF’s 2nd Tactical Air Force. The effect gives one the feeling that one is about to be swallowed. 245 Squadron “Tyffies” sported bright blue noses as well—to have all that colour and snarl at the mouth of an already gaping hole makes this aircraft the author’s favourite shark mouth of all time. Canadian decal manufacturer Aviaeology makes a complete set of decals for this aircraft. Photo: IPMSUSA.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404887840-UL2PRSUEM4GAJ1VVMG0N/BiteMe67.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F8 Mica of the Hungarian Air Force does not have a shark mouth on the aircraft itself, but rather the centreline fuel tank and the underwing bombs which have detonation probes to ensure they explode above ground. Photo via Marek Lakatos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404919750-FV0B20QCMUKFW3IHWRRL/BiteMe38.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A squadron mechanic with artistic ability sketches the outline form of a mouth on this USAAF North American P-51 Apache in the China Burma India theatre of the Second World War. Photo via gndn.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404946789-02UBM1PDFBBYTKWLUWKX/BiteMe39.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out This may be a photograph of the same Apache aircraft from the previous photo, but after the application of its shark mouth and eyes. Photo via gndn.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627404981814-AKPBJPRB3GL7HO5LE6Z3/BiteMe54.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The shark mouth motif was particularly popular in the China Burma India (CBI) theatre of operations during the Second World War, likely because of the early success and fame of the American Volunteer Group in China. This P-51B Mustang Jeanne III (41-37058) of the 51st Fighter Group is shown in a rare colour period photo somewhere in theatre. The text in the white square painted aft of the cockpit says rather strangely “Los Angeles City Limits”. This aircraft is the same aircraft that is depicted in the next photograph. Photo via sovietwarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405016273-OF3LLUWND7DTEPVNUFEC/BiteMe57.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While the North American P-51D Mustang is universally considered the finest model of the type, the turtleback B-Model exudes a toughness and, with the addition of a snarling shark mouth, a nastiness and readiness to get dirty. This P-51D flew with the 26th Fighter Squadron of the 51st Fighter Group. The squadrons of the 51st Fighter Group flew from bases in Karachi, India and Burma, flying Curtiss P-40s. In 1945, the squadron re-equipped with Mustangs to defend the eastern terminus of the Burma Hump and bases in the Kunming, China area. Photo via WorldWarPhotos.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405067385-277CDS4CRCNO9EFASOC9/BiteMe59.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While “shark-mouthing” a P-38 Lightning made for a school of attacking predators, it made for twice the work for squadron artists. This Lightning was operated by the 35th Fighter Group which had many shark-mouthed “Twin-Tailed Devils”. Photo via WarbirdInformationExchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405156692-FRVIH0KEJCSOHH9NJYU0/BiteMe40.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out When you have four Rolls-Royce Merlins with their open mouths screaming for shark mouth motifs, why just do the fuselage? Here a Canadian-built Avro Lancaster (KB772, VR-R) known as Ropey, sits on the ramp at a Canadian base after the war where it was stored briefly before operating with the RCAF’s Maritime Command. The name Ropey was added to the fuselage prior to its return to Canada, but KB772 flew at least 33 ops in the five months it was with 419 Moose Squadron. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario painted its Lanc’s engines in Ropey’s markings for a brief time. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405136408-M4IGD0B8RM2ROHNODBK4/BiteMe77.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out In this author’s humble opinion, the de Havilland Mosquito was one of, if not the best looking aircraft to come out of the Second World War. While a shark mouth made it look more badass, it takes away from the fine and beautiful lines of this French Armée de l’Air Mosquito (“avec une gueule de requin”, as the French say) from the Indochinese War of the mid-1950s. Like putting an angry face on a Jaguar E-type, it was just not necessary. This Mossie FB.4 (RF873) was operated by the French G.C. “Corse” for just a few months after they formed up on Morocco and were sent to Indochina (Vietnam). The wood construction and cellulose glues of the plywood bomber fared very poorly in the extremely humid and tropical climate of Vietnam and the type was soon withdrawn from service. Photo via RCGroups.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405307282-LRK4QH0K2WG8CALKYCK2/BiteMe66.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out When one thinks of the shark mouth vernacular, fire breathing fighters and attack bombers come to mind immediately, but even fat, unarmed combat gliders can have their shark personas, such as this German Gotha Go 242. Perhaps it gave a degree of confidence and a sense of control to the defenceless pilot as he looked for a safe landing spot on the Eastern Front. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405346883-JLEYWLQLB067DY8Y5FH2/BiteMe101.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Not a shark mouth... but a sentiment much appreciated by this author. A P-51D (This appears to be a different Mustang than the original one names Bite Me! 44-13334 G4-U) of the 362nd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, USAAF, flown by Captain Alva C. Murphy of Knoxville, Tennessee (not sure if this is Murphy in this shot). This is the same fighter group that Chuck Yeager flew with in his Galmorous Glenn Mustangs. Photo: Manthos.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405830646-NNX12PY0OKZ3JVMU6SC4/BiteMe41.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Immediately following the war, the first generation of jet fighters continued the shark mouth tradition, likely with veteran Second World War pilots at the controls. Here, a Lockheed F-94B Starfire of the 61st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, USAF (a development of the T-33 Shooting Star (Silver Star in Canada)) sports a massive red shark mouth with a somewhat bemused eye. Just below the cockpit windscreen is a single white star and a name. At first I thought that this indicated that it was the personal aircraft of a one-star general, but the device (a red background) appears on other squadron Starfires as does the same red shark mouth. It is not known where this photograph was taken (though likely Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan), but for a long time (1953 to 1957), the squadron was based in Newfoundland at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base. They operated Starfires at Harmon for at least one year. Photo: media.defense.gov https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405863474-PSZHDWY9AEYXLSA7D366/BiteMe42.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Two French F-100 Super Sabres sporting beautiful shark mouth gashes under their chins. The snout intake of the F-100 “Hun” was problematic for a shark mouth design, but by placing the mouth farther back on the nose and putting the angry eye forward of the mouth, the effect is excellent with the shark-like shape of the fuselage. All 11 “Huns” of 04/011 Jura (Squadron), which operated from a French base in Djibouti, were eventually painted with this same device. One of my favourite of all the shark mouths for its simplicity. Photo: Yves Le Milbeau via SuperSabre.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627405982889-MDYXJNSEJZDTXPXS2DO5/BiteMe43.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The shark mouth concept was not just limited to fixed wing aircraft. Here a UH-1 Iroquois, or Huey as they were universally known in Vietnam, sports a massive shark mouth—the unit identifier of the famed 174th Assault Helicopter Company. Photo: cs.finescale.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406034213-LSU7HCAIFJ5CIMK9TMWB/BiteMe92.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out This shark mouth Mil Mi-24 Hind looks more insectoid than shark-like and the mouth gives it the look of a joker-esque and voracious praying mantis. Photo via wallpapereswa.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406089905-LR2RJP8YDB7YJYI3Z8EV/BiteMe44.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406129610-XZDQVJMR7C01YQQ3WCPZ/BiteMe83.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While the Israelis may know a thing or two about aggressive fighter tactics, they might not be the best at the shark mouth motif. The nose of this French-built Dassault MD-450 Ouragan (French for “Hurricane”) fighter of the 113 Tayeset “Ha’ Tsira’a” (Lions Head Squadron), looks not only ill-proportioned, but more like a tear in the metal than a gaping mouth. The colour image shows a similar aircraft preserved at the Israeli Air Force Museum at Hatzerim. During the Six Day War, 113 Squadron lost eight of its 24 Ouragans. Photos: Top: acig.info, Bottom: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406165881-AFO09ZUPB22HT9XWWHAR/BiteMe84.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out It is possible that these Grumman F-11 Tigers of VF-21 Mach Busters are not depicting sharks, but as the aircraft name suggests, Tigers—with black noses and orange yellow eyes and mouth. Regardless of the animal or creature they represent (tiger, crocodile, dragon, etc.) these all derive from the original shark mouth concept. Photo: Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406197898-YHGQNZZS58VBSFYYC5EM/BiteMe85.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The US Navy’s fighter squadron VF-21 Mach Busters (previous photo) would become, in 1959, a fleet replacement attack squadron called VA-43 and known as the Challengers. Though the name, number and mission would change, they kept the same shark mouth motif for their Douglas A-4D Skyhawks. Here we see a Challenger Skyhawk trapping aboard USS Antietam in 1959. Photo: Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406244980-VRY9VAUDNKR1WOPBH1ID/BiteMe47.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The F-4 Phantom II was one of the meanest and most pugnacious-looking aircraft in the world in its heyday, but by adding a cannon spitting shark mouth, the attitude level of this Turkish Air Force Rhino is right off the charts. With its sloping nose, cranked wings and downward slanting stabilators, some wags say that it’s as if they got the Phantom halfway out of the design hangar when the door slammed shut on it. Photo: Horatiu Goanta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406278622-WZVVOAEDJXCETS8COH2A/BiteMe88.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Captain Dan Cave, the Deputy Commander Carrier Air Group, USS George Washington, launches in his F/A-18E Super Hornet of VFA-27, the Royal Maces. The Super Hornet’s raging shark mouth artwork is the very essence of aggression and anger. Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Charles Oki, US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406350275-BGNZV8EQ3YOM7AREYBYI/BiteMe50.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out As witnessed in previous images, the Soviets seem often to prefer more of a crocodile-style mouth than a shark mouth. Regardless, this Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder at Engels Air Base Museum takes the award for the worst-ever shark mouth paint job. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406381913-77GZLOZBEGMRAVN2GHER/BiteMe49.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The starboard engine air intake of this Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire, a later and more capable development of the Tu-22 Blinder, seems custom designed to accept a shark mouth and indeed an entire shark—teeth, eyes and gills. One of the better Russian shark designs. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406582313-4JZ5YOMIZGX9A6ZLCN34/BiteMe52.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out No story about shark mouth aircraft by a Canadian could be deemed complete without a picture of the all blue Mako Shark CT-133 Silver Star of Waterloo Warbirds, perhaps one of the best shark mouth schemes flying today. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406704615-C98ESIRQIKMGP2MGIX5E/BiteMe53.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Multi-engined aircraft offer the option of painting the motif on the engine nacelles OR the fuselage nose section. This Beech King Air C-90A trainer of Allied Wings, a division of KF Defense (KF Aerospace) provides flying training support at No. 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport in Southport, Manitoba). A number of these aircraft of Allied Wings sport very aggressive looking shark mouths as well as replica nose art from Second World War RCAF bombers such as Ruhr Express. Avro Lancaster KB700, known as Ruhr Express, was the first of the Canadian Lancs to see service in the European theatre. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406860617-ZJE3IWIBWKARZY44U3V7/BiteMe45.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out When ten pilots of the Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group, started a highly-respected cargo airline immediately after the war, they began with everything from a Budd Conestoga to surplus Curtis C-46 Commandos. They soon graduated to larger factory-fresh aircraft like the Canadair CL-44 and, eventually in the 1970s, they were ferrying troops to Vietnam aboard new DC-8s like this one which sports a shark mouth in honour of its historical roots in the Second World War. Photo: via flyingtigerline.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406779294-EFTGZDGPW258SU9ECAYR/BiteMe68.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A whale shark. By the time Flying Tiger Line was operating Boeing 747 freighters, there were few if any old guard Tigers still in the captain’s seat, but that didn’t stop the use of the shark mouth on this Boeing 747-100. Flying Tiger Line was the very first scheduled cargo airline in North America, lasting from 1945 until 1988 when it was bought by Federal Express. Photo via modellersalliance.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406921665-YFUSKAPY0ZW7Y43WNROF/BiteMe61.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out A shark on the DNA. During the Second World War, the 76th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) was a shark-mouthed P-40 Warhawk squadron. Like its predecessor, the P-40, the LTV A-7 Corsair II was a nimble, open jawed, low level, light attack aircraft, much loved by its pilots and as such is a natural for the shark mouth treatment. This “SLUFF” (for Slow Little Ugly Fat F__ker) from the 76th TFS is seen dropping ordnance at a range near Eglin Air Force Base in 1980. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627406961734-N8GZJSNMH0J27KVCJ2M4/BiteMe81.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Shark-nado! Since the days of the P-40s in the North African desert, nothing says Royal Air Force desert campaigning like a shark mouth light bomber in desert camouflage. On the 25th anniversary of the RAF’s operation of the Panavia Tornado GR in 2016, they went with a shark mouth and the desert pink over-wash of Operation GRANDBY from the First Gulf War. Photo: Niall Paterson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407111974-UEBS68XNAGU6SNMFH7FC/BiteMe89.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out It makes no difference what type of aircraft, there is a predator inside waiting to get out, like this Lockheed C-130 Hercules photographed in 2009 at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Photo: Herbert Welmers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407152405-RTNFYMV4WN9EOTWJKC8K/BiteMe62.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out When Airbus recently introduced its new generation A320s with winglets (also as an upgrade to older models), they called the devices “Sharklets”. The corporate test and promo aircraft also featured a happy shark mouth motif to go along with the wing tips. The company said: “Airbus has launched the Sharklet retrofit programme for in-service A320 Family aircraft. This option will be available in 2015. Operators of older in-service A320 Family aircraft will thus be able to benefit from the significant cost savings and performance improvements which the Sharklets are already delivering on new-build aircraft. This retrofit includes reinforcing the wing structure and adding the Sharklet wingtip device. As part of the upgrade, the retrofit will lengthen the aircraft’s service life and thus maximise the operators’ return on investment for the Sharklet retrofit.” Photo: Airbus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407194216-6HYMVLDVIN0TWHK3WYSQ/BiteMe93.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While the point of a snarling shark mouth is to intimidate or at least demonstrate aggressive resolve, some aircraft, like this wide-body Lockheed L-1011 Tristar from Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) were never meant to display a frightening countenance. That being said, it seems difficult for operators to stop themselves from personifying or animating their aircraft. This beaming and slightly goofy smiley-face grin gives the big beast a decidedly happy and helpful character. PSA, which called itself “The World’s Friendliest Airline” painted a similar smile on all of their aircraft (737s, 757s, Airbus 320s, BAe-146s, L-1011s) as a way to express their happy attitude. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407458992-5NQMNT6JDD2YW6F3Y9JE/BiteMe98.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Perhaps the least aggressive aircraft type is the sleek modern sailplane, but still, pilots can’t help adding a little attitude with the shark mouth device. This particular glider, a Schleicher ASW 20, seen here tearing up the beach front at Sidmouth, was lost in 2013 when the pilot was unable to reach a field for a forced landing. It ditched into the Bristol Channel just off shore and the pilot escaped. Perhaps it was the shark wanting to return to its natural habitat. Photo: via YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407506157-HMY7TL5SSETTIXUQ4EU8/BiteMe46.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out While the air forces of the world may be the services everyone thinks of when picturing the aggressive shark mouth idiom, the navies and the armies also got into the game. Here the US Navy’s PT-196 shows its extremely aggressive shark design at full speed (41 knots). At 80 feet long and with a crew of 17, Elco-built PT-196 was an effective water-based shark indeed. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407541278-W1YZJ48AK96V9CUF1HO2/BiteMe80.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out Here a shark mouth (or is it a tiger mouth?) has been painted on the muzzle flash suppressor of this German SS King Tiger tank near the end of the Second World War. While the mouth may have been small, the bite was most certainly very, very painful. Photo via Pinteres https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627407591469-RYMALXOK3U9PJLXC549G/BiteMe90.jpg The Stories - BITE ME! The Story of the Shark Mouth, the World’s Most Enduring Nose Art - Make it stand out The shark mouth motif remains today a most enduring symbol of the aggressive spirit, a statement of attitude and pugnacity like no other. It has wormed itself into popular culture and is embraced by western society as a cultural icon. Clockwise from upper left: The helmet worn by the 2016 United States Air Force Academy football team (2 photos), a pair of Air Jordan V P90 Warhawk shoes, a Glock 19 pistol, a snarling Kitchen Aid mixer, a “Kawa-Sharky” street bike and a Nissan GT-R with Flying Tiger attitude. Images via the internet https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-other-one monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630515532785-3UNZBV6G98SNRFRRAY0P/TheOtherTitle3.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out Photo: Henning Henningsen, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630515684037-86Q30FVTH9WPMHMYXALW/TheOther3.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out From this photo we can see that 10618, the Other Archie Pennie Cornell is every bit as beautiful and well restored as 10712, its Vintage Wings of Canada sister. This Cornell will be forever dedicated to the late Colonel Bill Paul, a Cornell pilot who was instrumental in getting 10618 assigned the Wisconsin Wing of the CAF. They are very proud of this Cornell as well and have won four awards over the past three years at Oshkosh from EAA Warbirds Of America. Photo: Henning Henningsen, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630515728984-MRED1MT80IMCUIMMBH8C/TheOther4.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out The men behind the Bill Paul Cornell. CAF WI Wing Leader, Stan Goran; fellow WI Wing PT-26 Pilot, Jeff Morris; Mark Shilobrit (in the flight suit) and WI Wing Finance Officer, John Kmet. Photo: Chris McGraw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630517725208-XHTRBUHLG2RSVQH3JJNJ/TheOther2.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out Archie's Cornell slides through the cool late afternoon air in the company of another trainer over Lake Country near Waukesha, in a scene reminiscent of the days when Archie flew at Assiniboia. The wing in the foreground is that of another Canadian-built aircraft - the de Havilland Canada Chipmunk. Photo: Henning Henningsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630517795063-1Q5W79T08JKVFK12XQ9I/Other11.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out This photo taken at Assiniboia is of 10606 a Cornell that appears in Archie's log book a number of times in 1943. The photo, labeled “Unauthorized Formation” is from the wartime Memories Project page for Assiniboia. It is very much the same photo as the previous one taken recently in Wisconsin. The wing tip in this shot is that of another Cornell. Photo taken by Dave Russell-Smith's father. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630517844372-2R1ZHXOTKCCV5B98NCNW/TheOther5.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER ONE - Make it stand out Considering Archie Pennie's 252 hours as a Night flying Instructor on Cornells at Assiniboia, this photo is very special indeed. This no doubt, plus some Saskatchwan winter weather, is what Archie would have seen striding from the flight planning station with his student in tow, parachutes banging off the back of their legs, the cold winter winds driving hard across the prairie, the hard rolled snow squeaking under boot. This time lapse photo was taken in 2008 and the larger blurred light above the prop is the planet Jupiter. Photo: Ross Otto https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/be-an-airman monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508367013-XT1Q8Q9DLWER0VIRF7MF/BeAnAirmanTitle.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508538937-B14IRSJFBYL8I186A2SZ/BeAnAirman2.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out The game box which contained the Be An Airman game showed an eager recruitment officer cajoling the viewer to "Be an Airman!" and join the ranks of the heroic men in blue that were surely going to win the war for the Commonwealth. Featured prominently on the box was the image of First World War fighter ace, Canadian Air Marshal W. A. “Billy” Bishop, who “approved” of the game. It was not unlike having Sydney Crosby's image and endorsement on a box of Wheaties. Image of box courtesy boardgamegeek.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508568915-Z09LVIVJK2DHF1MILWVT/BeAnAirman11.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out A hand tinted, blue-eyed and autographed image of Air Marshall Billy Bishop, looking perhaps a bit like a corpse, adorned the outside of the game board box, lending the name of Canada's greatest living aviation hero to the effort of raising money for the Benevolent Fund. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508606915-ZM3TP450O5897G74SIO8/BeAnAirman4.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out The board itself featured a typical pursuit style layout with colourful graphics by Owen Cathcart-Jones. Game courtesy of AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508641118-9NR237OLLVXX9FS26KV8/BeAnAirman6.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out We have yet to play the game, but it seems that players either chose to become a pilot, navigator or air gunner and then followed that specific track. If anyone has a set of instructions for the game, Vintage Wings would love to see them. Game courtesy of AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508674728-YKK0WX81XYQYH2H0X2OF/BeAnAirman5.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out The track for pilots is on the left and bottom with one for observer/navigators on the right. Game courtesy of AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508704548-V3YQI1H0IRU61EWEBMVP/BeAnAirman3.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out The designer spared no detail with plenty of combat action and flames to satisfy any child or trainee. Game courtesy of AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630508845514-G4JAUC1AHDQFO2WXJHME/BeAnAirman8.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Owen Cathcart-Jones was a man of many talents and great courage. Here, in 1928, serving as a Fleet Air Arm pilot and a Royal Marine, and flying a Fairey Flycatcher, he makes the first ever deck landing of an aircraft aboard HMS Courageous. He did so without the aid of arrester wires. Cathcart-Jones holds the high distinction of making the first successful landing of a fighter aircraft on an aircraft carrier at night, on 25th November 1929. His airplane, also a Fairey Flycatcher took off from Hal Far RAF base on Malta and landed on Courageous which was moored in Grand Harbour. The Fairey Flycatcher holds the honor of being the first designed-for-the purpose single-seat carrier-borne fighter to be designed and enter production. Cathcart-Jones was literally everywhere during the period leading up to the Second World War, even ferrying aircraft to the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630509003436-CODODW8NJ638TP61S079/BeAnAirman16.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out The De Havilland Comet (G-ACSR) flown by Cathcart-Jones and Ken Waller refueling in Darwin while competing in the MacRobertson Centennial Air Race. Cathcart-Jones is standing on the wing. Inset: A close up of the handsome and sartorial Cathcart-Jones taken during the same race by the look of the jacket, sweater and hat. He seems to have had a thing for checks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630509464420-WMEAUBO3W48420JK9YQN/BeAnAirman7.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Cathcart-Jones was a household name in the 1920s and 30s and his face was on everything from newspapers to cigarette cards (No.15 of the Famous Airmen and Airwomen Series). This photo shows him and the somewhat less photogenic and pugnacious Ken Waller during the MacRobertson Centennial Air Race. After arriving in Melbourne, they had a quick turn round and flew photos and film footage of the Australian stages and finish of the MacRobertson Air Race back to Britain, setting a new 'there and back again' record of 13 days 6 hours and 43 minutes. Cathcart-Jones would die in California in February 1986 at the age of 85 after a long retirement as a polo pony breeder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630509504627-HT7JP2Y767GM5XE4U25O/BeanAirman18.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Owen Cathcart-Jones as Chief Flying Instructor in the film Captains of the Clouds. Typical of all graphic designers... he's a handsome fellow - Ed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630509854366-ZJZCDEKE1T78J9C7P3E9/BeAnAirman14.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out I have rarely met a good graphic designer who wasn't an aviation fan, but I have rarely come across an aviator who was a gifted graphic designer and artist. Here is a watercolour by Owen Cathcart-Jones painted while on location during the shooting of the Warner Bros. classic wartime film "Captains of the Clouds". Cathcart-Jones was both a technical advisor on the film as well as a bit-actor, playing the part of the Chief Flying Instructor. The painting shows the Hudson's Bay Co. trading post where part of the movie was filmed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630509890423-MMQWKSVK8S6IWP4WDV0F/BeAnAirman17.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Movie posters for Desperate Journey and Captains of the Clouds, for which Cathcart-Jones was technical advisor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630510683346-PJGSBHH5VBJF164A300C/Cathcart-Jones-1.jpg The Stories - BE AN AIRMAN - Make it stand out Cathcart-Jones in RCAF uniform https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sabines-first-flight monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630499871382-SOGQIW7172K0TOXT9I6A/SabineTitle2.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630499931518-E737R5JKJW3R5317KE0B/Sabine7.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out On earlier flights, Rudin-Brown introduced his older daughters Lene (left) and Sidney to flying and to Australia from the air. Photo Missy Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630499994405-0E23AL46FG2SDLFH5XQQ/Sabine12.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out On an earlier flight Rudin-Brown took this late afternoon photo of the Cathedral Range – hills just north of Melbourne. Rudin-Brown tells us “It was a lovely day and we were at 7,500 feet, just to the east (right in photo) the hills were 4 to 6 thousand feet high.” Photo: Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630500342285-62G7A58KQZ1D57LVS7XZ/Sabine14.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Kissmann, in the Corsair, leads the formation across the Ottawa Valley. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630500395403-9PUC5L062DS2RKQTHRR7/Sabine11.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out The Flying Rudin-Browns: Sabine (L), Sidney and Lene, seen here in their new Australian school uniforms. Airplanes have been part of their lives since birth. Photo via Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630500436339-GFM151A5OX2OMN2P7HG7/Sabine2.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Buckled in with her headset on, Sabine (with Teddy) calmly awaits start-up. Photo: Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630501366306-X8LATARL8ST6Y2B520U8/Sabine5.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Though never having been in the air above Melbourne before, Sabine found it easy to identify landmarks from above. This is the "MCG", the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It's the Australian equivalent of Maple Leaf Gardens. The Australian Football League plays all its most important matches here, as well as the Grand Final. Photo Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630501418187-PM24E3ZXH74B8MJVAXNX/Sabine10.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Yahoos in economy class. Young Sabine had the comfort of sharing her first flying experience with Sidney and Lene, her two older sisters. Rudin-Brown says that they were “... being total goofs while I was trying to have a "special moment" with Sabine!! Luckily, the audio panel had an "isolate" switch, so I could turn them off and let them be yack away in the back, while Sabine and I chatted up front. Photo: Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630501483864-L18KNICPQ2KDB4TD0R11/Sabine3.jpg The Stories - SABINE’S FIRST FLIGHT - Make it stand out Sabine and Teddy pose contentedly for Dad after her first flight. Photo Peter Rudin-Brown https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/night-and-day monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460825717-CW6RMYZ9WJ6PQUFFORQM/BAE89447-8737-4A93-A632-2360435B2763.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460897544-DTAZ7O8DD786DMW8BBWT/62D46424-44E3-48C8-B48D-09605B7FFB9C.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Balbo leader and Chief Pilot, Paul Kissmann, goes over plans with pilots before the historic flight. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460849376-WBAO8L2AY9ZTF1APAEOD/FFAA4A7C-6E1A-486E-BFAF-4DEDFDE2E69C.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Kissmann tells Doug Fleck, the photoship pilot, what the formation will be doing and how best to position the Van's RV-8 and photographer Handley for top results. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460923043-KVMLJONO2VUAO9Y70O7F/BF321A05-53CD-4406-9DFD-86243814704F.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings Victory Flight balbo pilots pose with Snowbird 1, Team lead Major Chris "Homer" Hope at left. Left to right - Dan Dempsey (Hawk One Sabre); Dave Hadfield (Stocky Edwards P-40 Kittyhawk); Paul Kissmann (Robert Hampton Gray Corsair); Mike Potter (William Harper Spitfire XVI); Rob Erdos (Bunny McLarty Hurricane IV); and, John Aitken (Les Frères Robillard Mustang IV). Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460967637-8B6FFDZXBS7DMQP5XPYB/7305E326-CDC5-444D-AA7D-AC0830782128.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Kissmann, in the Corsair, leads the formation across the Ottawa Valley. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630460987157-0GRH8PO1LS7WHP03NQL3/CA32EDA1-F9AC-420F-BC14-6C14A821DECE.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Seconds later. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461006852-K0CS7EAVEWJBX35JCACA/C9A22724-CD48-4CF8-938C-154D817C672F.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Doug Fleck sweeps the RV-8 across and beneath the formation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461035856-TB2GDTKKD2PNBRWCA17H/B1496316-4C19-41CA-AD6D-1B6BF8234B13.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out From below we see six of the most distinctive and famous shapes of the aerial battles of the second World War and Korean War. The curved canopy glass of the RV-8 created many problems for Handley with reflections as seen here with rainbow lines sweeping through the shot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461055954-KI5OHWJ8OJS60THEYE4S/14198E44-6FC3-4FBB-9056-DB9B1F3DCA5C.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Anyone walking the streets of Ottawa this day had a spectacular view.. but not as good as that of Handley and Fleck. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461073910-QTNWTHEHOUD5FRJW4FL3/04676D7F-FDD6-4D66-8ADC-F5F2C5980BBF.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out To demonstrate the difficulties for photography through the blown canopy of the RV-8, witness the distorted reflection of pilot Doug Fleck in this shot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461095397-98RGQ6UM6GH3UIUN0O0S/0ACB2834-83C2-41E6-95F3-936FF53185EA.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Sweeping in from Gatineau, Paul Kissmann leads the others over the National Gallery of Canada and the Byward Market. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461125143-HCM5UD03XJG5TG1YQSPZ/4207C14D-068F-4E24-BAD4-5D4816AD1365.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Indeed, there are six vintage fighter aircraft hidden in the buildings, trees and streets of Ottawa's Sandy Hill neighbourhood. See if you can find them. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461145701-HFKKVZLXPJTRX4ADGLOB/9045263E-EF8E-417F-9735-3CD166F1B3DD.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Firefighters of La Ville de Gatineau were essential in giving the photo shoot some depth. The city generously provided a pumper truck and crew to spread a thin reflective pool of water on the ramp surface. Organizer Allnutt had predicted that the pool would evaporate rapidly, so haste was made to start the shoot immediately after the dousing. However, the cool late-summer evening prevented the prediction form coming to pass and the pool of water stayed right where it was needed during the shooting. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461169890-KIYPU8VGADI649LL8V5B/EFDB0FFF-899F-44B5-848B-8295DE7F4EDA.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The Gatineau boys hosing the ramp down... part of the show for sure. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461191023-PAQURK0C5EF1A0A96OAC/688C273D-E223-4F51-81CA-9AB0C397C416.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461211441-XS6WCLZIQC1LOGAPIYX4/E7C500A8-8CF2-4142-9C6C-26CE6B97DC50.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out With freshly laid water coursing down the barely perceptible slope of the ramp, Paul Kissmann, Chief Pilot of Vintage Wings of Canada, turns over the massively powered Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp radial with a quickly dissipated cloud of oil smoke. For maximum visual effect, all doors, flaps, and cowls are wide open. One now understands why the night photo shoot excited member photographers so much. The opportunity to see a full prop disc illuminated against the black sky was extremely exciting. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461231069-822LXXJ1SR8YCUW9NUO7/2F1284FC-B796-4977-946B-CB6FFC55847B.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out “Why water the ramp?” one might ask. Within seconds, the drama of reflection was obvious. Note the vortex of water leaping from the tarmac at the very bottom of the prop's arc. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461249125-XT2DT9M1DQ2WZJJ79EIL/65C8ADCE-F5DF-491E-9B64-89EA2BC4FC41.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Half way through the Corsair shoot, Kissmann pushes the throttle all the way to the wall and the Corsair bucked and shook in her chocks. Blue flame can be seen torching from the stacks and the tornado/vortex of ramp water leaps to its death in the prop's arc. Behind, the ramp has become bone dry due to the hurricane of heated “Cors”-air. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461271917-E1S20A5B8D4Y1YOC06JN/E7E1161F-5847-45D6-971D-0F026BC184CD.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The crowd was very pleased when Kissmann folded the wings to give yet another rare view of the Corsair at night. The Vintage Wings Corsair wears the Gray Ghost One badge on her cowling. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461313800-VM4BBKIT308UNQ9WCN4V/F1AE61B6-715C-4599-A9A8-ACB19C6F1937.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The stunning effect of a wet ramp is evident in this shot, with a perfect reflection of the 442 Squadron Mustang just minutes before start-up. In a similar fashion, often model aircraft builders will arrange their scale aircraft on a mirror so that viewers can see the work they have done on the underside of the model. Thanks again go to the firefighters of the City of Gatineau. Photo: Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461351310-MMC0GUKCL5ZBVDR1YSIX/26B1C15B-0E20-4A2A-990E-D6B6A66DB4DB.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Mustang is painted in the markings of 442 Squadron. As part of the “In His Name” dedication program, it will soon to be dedicated to Les Frères Robillard - Larry and Rocky. Actually born Laurent et Rolland, these two native-of-Ottawa brothers would make their mark on RCAF history. Larry was a Spitfire pilot and ace, while Rocky was a Mustang pilot who often flew Mustang Y2-C (KH66 - the same markngs as the VWC Mustang). Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461375853-K2QONIQKNNGHG3KNDP0A/6EC88499-86CC-4B51-89CC-01438BF8D7B4.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Depending on the exposure, one gets different results. Here, a shorter exposure still gets a prop blur, less contrast and a more natural effect. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461439427-EESSK1SIVL74NS5VFUYC/E6671D6A-E26F-45F8-875C-3C493E96F108.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out A close up of the same. Despite the Mustang shaking under the power of a Merlin at full-pin, the image is tack-sharp. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461465626-UE4BXP75Q7077MI67BEO/B6981826-33C4-4C86-A507-78B56DB22BCA.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Again, we see the formation of a vortex near the base of the prop's arc.The stunning liquid reflection of the underside of the Mustang is perfect. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461516617-9T0WFJ6EV0TUUY0DQLHD/6B69DD87-6618-422A-AE73-95FAC7778590.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out Pilot John Aitken, closes the gear doors and retracts the flaps. Photo: Parr Yonemoto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630461541796-UNPDMMZX96UZQW8ZYYPY/B0B29E4B-5EE1-48E2-8E6B-895F20DC7EC8.jpeg The Stories - NIGHT AND DAY - Make it stand out The organizers of the photo shoot, Richard Allnutt and Peter Handley, owe much to the cooperation of the City of Gatineau and its fire department, and the VWC maintenance crews and pilots for making the shoot the success that it was. Here we see pilot John Aitken and his Mustang posing with VWC maintainers (left) and Gatineau fire fighters... and the one, the only Heather Fleck (in orange). Photo Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/my-weekend-with-paulie monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630443378647-CR9OWA9C9XNXRJMI0CYI/PaulieTitle.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630495588105-O2R0HG8AL55YPCIQLPCV/Paulie2.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out At 0645, the warm light of a perfect new day floods the Vintage Wings hangar, lighting up two of Paulie's favourite mounts - the Stocky Edwards P-40 Kittyhawk and the Robert Hampton Gray Goodyear FG-1D Corsair. Behind the Corsair, is the new star of the collection, the Terry Goddard Fairey Swordfish. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630495775403-Y6SMMEWKC2QTFURQ9HEU/Paulie3.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The George Neal/Russ Bannock de Havilland Beaver is dragged from the hangar first. Mike Potter, Vintage Wings Founder, would fly her to the Kitchener/Waterloo Air Show bringing the team's support staff. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630495832361-Q81PSEAT58HWEFZN3GDP/Paulie4.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Out on the main ramp, Paulie works through a run-up. Temps and pressures all good. Time to roll baby. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630495938809-1B0DYYBJRNWHV3RGNP51/Paulie50.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Consummate pilot an professional, Kissmann is still a wide-eyed kid around airplanes. Here he test flies the Hawk One Sabre for the first time in 2008. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630495984919-TQ50MS3J64T4DZP7HY4U/Paulie5.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Backtracking Runway 27 at sunrise and time for one photo before we launch. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496143907-SV83MXKBVSZ87GYG03JO/Paulie6.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out I have lived in Ottawa for more than 65 years and I think it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world - on the ground and in the air. This morning, she glowed in the nascent light of a new day and looked as pretty as ever. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496219250-RG9O54A9PX0DE1GBYKPG/Paulie7.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Paulie slides the P-40 toward the Beaver en route, slipping beneath and leaving her to work her way to Kitchener Waterloo at her own pace. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496277735-9KOF1NR4UMFP3JW6ZLID/Paulie8.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Stately Kissmann Manor (second from right at top right) on the shores of Duff Bay, Mississippi Lake. Any of Paulie's neighbours that had harboured hopes of sleeping in are presently leaping from their beds and screaming “WTF!”. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496306455-F4WYHFNDDLU935CVIDVS/Paulie11.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Sitting strapped to the back seat pf the Kittyhawk while Paulie fuelled, I grabbed a shot of Betty, the Kittyhawk's mascot and namesake. Though not a superstitious person, I have to admit that removing an airplane's good luck symbol is playing with fire. Since our Sabre's Hula Girl mascot was removed from her dash out west this summer, she has suffered one mechanical after another that kept her from some of our scheduled appearances. Just sayin'. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496433685-85LFNETGKWHFJYHQFMZW/Paulie12.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out We wait at the edge of the ramp as Captain Eric "Hom” O'Connor powers forward to the runway. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496469877-UFXCWIGZ87N11TVM0089/Paulie23.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Paulie chugs down the taxi way just as Eric O'Connor in the Hornet in the background starts his take off to a dirty roll. I had the best seat in the house for much of "Hom's" superbly aggressive routine. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496501034-0CTDTC0SBTF34RWTPGE6/Paulie24.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Twenty seconds after we lifted off, Rob Mitchell climbs hard in the Sabre to catch up to us in the P-40 Kittyhawk. Looking back over my shoulder, I watched as the golden jet climbed swiftly up to us as we headed for free space to await Hom O'Connor to finish his routine. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496595369-FBN7PDN9E53R16QGV4TV/Paulie13.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Captain Eric O'Connor pulls up after his show and parks the Demo Hornet off our left wing. Unfortunately, I am no photographer and had a camera I was not familiar with, so the results are far from Handley-esque. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496624035-A9OS5IA1GVMCXOJW5LTB/Paulie14.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out O'Connor locks his eyes on a point on the Kittyhawk and trusts that Paulie won't fly him into the ground. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496727896-IMW4HCLV34EYM394G3IH/Paulie15.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496767075-5NE4XBXQMXOK08LOTDUV/Paulie16.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out During the three passes, I swivelled my head from left to right and back to left again not wanting to miss a single moment of the flight. Luckily, at this point, my camera crapped out entirely and I stowed it. This allowed me to really live the experience in the moment instead of being focused on taking photographs to remember it by later. Photo: Dave O"Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496802551-8UUO11INNK2T82X74J8B/Paulie29.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Paulie leads Rob “Scratch” Mitchell in the Discovery Air Hawk One Sabre and Captain Eric “Hom” O'Connor in the CF-18 Hornet from east to west in the first pass of the first-ever RCAF Heritage Flight. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496843911-UMCF2HTA9FOPITNKAG5P/Paulie25.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out From the ground, it was a beautiful sight indeed as Paulie brings the RCAF Heritage Flight across the field for the second of three passes. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496869327-DS24ZFCHG4N49GBH8TJX/Paulie26.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The Heritage Flight commemorates the rich heritage of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630496907548-1ZYOHMTG5Z5OK6KV9HOT/Paulie20.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The line up of Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft on the static line at the Kitchener-Waterloo Air Show. Despite the heavy iron present in the form of a CF-18 and F-16 demo, people repeatedly told me that the Russ Bannock and George Neal Beaver was their favourite. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497014218-ULUCAHDKG67FHPVLBYA7/Paulie33.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The Beaver on “amphibs” has an imposing presence. I am proud of the fact that I designed the “Arrowhead” paint scheme for this particular Beaver, a former Kenyan Air Force Beaver that never saw floats or skis before returning to the country of its birth. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497055878-I09XQ6527XUMRHUWKDRK/Paulie30.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The Archie Pennie Fairchild Cornell 10712 sits resting on the static line after crossing Canada from Ottawa to Vancouver and back to Kitchener as part of the Yellow Wings tribute to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497122559-Q72BI602CU3E8TZRRJ85/Paulie31.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The newly acquired Boeing Stearman FJ875 wears the markings it once wore when flying for the RAF and the BCATP in Bowden, Alberta outside of Calgary. After this summer, the Stearman was dedicated to RAF Warrant Officer Harry Hannah of Oakville, Ontario who trained on the type in Arizona in 1941. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497170691-8QH6BNMD9G6OBJJLQPB7/Paulie35.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Multi-thousand hour airline pilot Hebb Russell (in yellow hat) talks with spectators next to Fleet Finch 4462, which his father actually flew while training at Windsor Mills, Quebec during the Second World War. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497205490-J4BWHTTWFK4HZ7AJP3YJ/Paulie35.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The John Glliespie Magee North American Harvard 4 in the markings of an earlier Harvard 2 know to have been flown by the poet who penned High Flight. The Yellow Wings aircraft all sported their new and informative prop-hanger banners. These banners outline the details of the Harvard and the accomplishments of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: Reinhard Zinabold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497250849-8Z7UDUA176VCXRK1YXND/Paulie21.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out As the Sunday show wound down, the weather wound up, as a line of massive thunderstorms shouldered it way into Southern Ontario from Lake Huron. With a couple of hours left in the day's show, the clouds darkened, carrying with them plenty of concern for pilots wishing to get home ahead of the front. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497293985-TSFXNXPCRG5NCD5V53YQ/Paulie27.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out With a brewing storm threatening on the Sunday, Kissmann finished up and taxies back to the hot zone. Photo: Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497323019-WFCCH2D7BAQHULW2V0C2/Paulie36.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Before the Heritage Flight each day, the Hornet flew its show and then hooked up with the Sabre and the Kittyhawk. When the flypast were done, the Sabre remained in the sky for its own solo show. Mitchell just got his aircraft on the ground ahead of the storm, taxiing past the crowd as the skies opened up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497348957-EMA0K1VBU7X4MHGC1ZT1/Paulie22.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out The attraction for me at Vintage Wings of Canada is not the airplanes. It is the people – the incredibly accomplished, hard working and friendly people. Here, Robin Hadfield, Honorary Colonel Gerald Haddon and Amanda Haddon pose for my camera. Robin manned the Vintage Wings swag tent both days, while the Haddons helped strike the tent when the weather went bad. Gerald is the grandson of Canada's first pilot, J.A.D. McCurdy. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497423672-IOLAV3GRRMS43EG7A731/Paulie38.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Paulie grabs a photo of the old-man-turned-18 as we tool along on a beautiful Monday morning bound for Kingston, and the very same air field where many Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots earned their wings in the Second World War. One of those pilots was Canada's last Victoria Cross recipient Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC of trail British Columbia. Photo: Paul Kissmann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497461625-ECMVP58OSVZXBD7UQ11O/Paulie37.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Our route home took us on a more southerly track, past the P-40 Kittyhawk's first point of entry into Canada - CFB Trenton which can be seen here in the distance. Photo Paul Kissmann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630497494058-QPTNJKOVC2END8IT0ZMV/Paulie40.jpg The Stories - MY WEEKEND WITH PAULIE - Make it stand out Pilot Paul Kissmann called his brother-in-law, Chris Barr, once we arrived at Kingston, to invite him out to Norman Rogers Airport to view the Kittyhawk. Nephew Dawson Barr tagged along. For Kissmann, it is always family first, but when he can combine airplanes with family, it's a win-win situation. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/yellow-wings-at-montebello monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630440941409-2NI65A1XHRQJXLFJS33K/SunSnowTitle.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441125688-SEGXS77EMOS30DFC4PGT/SunSnow17.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Québec photographer extraordinaire J.P. Bonin, himself a vintage Wings volunteer, hitched a ride in a Zlin Savage (C-IZLN), to get us a photo of the Chateau Montebello and the set-up for the ski-plane fly-in. One can see more than 40 aircraft in this shot - lining the the frozen banks and occupying boat slips in the Chateau Montebello, cozy boat harbour. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441149722-NKC227903X0RF4FTZKHD/SunSnow18.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Another view looking north east along the Ottawa River from the back seat of the Zlin Savage. Careful searching of this photo will reveal a long line of aircraft wing-tip-to-wing-tip along the shore in front of the hotel as well a highway created by snowmobile and ATV traffic. It was this highway that would become the runway for the fly-in - shared by the sled-heads as well as the air-heads. Photo: J. P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441189711-47756EAI8VSIESI77M2R/SunSnow2.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Inside the Archie Pennie Cornell, passenger and Vintage Wings volunteer, Michel Côté, photographs pilot John Aitken sliding beneath Blake Reid and Doug Zahody in the William McRae Tiger Moth as they fly east towards Montebello to check runway conditions. Despite the heater not being installed the conditions were quite comfortable inside the greenhouse-like canopy. Photo Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441236346-HU80EUH1A9YHT8CK9H3R/SunSnow3.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A beautiful view of the William McRae Tiger Moth hanging in the perfect glassy air just outside the Cornell's cozy cockpit. Photo Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441331257-7GSOUMAX7WJY0QYX54AW/SunSnow4.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A high midday sun reflects joyfully off the aluminum canopy rail as the William McRae Tiger Moth soars in the “burning blue” - a scene that was no doubt a daily occurrence in these parts back in the days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as No.10 EFTS Pendleton was literally a few kilometers away. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441369817-O3KY9N2HGVYM9E3NJXJT/SunSnow5.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Blake Reid leads the two elementary flying trainers of the Second World War down low over the Ottawa River as he completes his base leg of the circuit for Montebello's “Claude Roy International Ice Airport” Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441400282-S75DCOTO05DOH0C4QKEJ/SunSnow6.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Michel Côté slips up river past the snowmobile highway come airfield in front of the grand Chateau Montebello. During the Second World War, another BCATP base stood 15 kilometers downstream on the Ontario side. No.13 EFTS St Eugene operated Cornell trainers toward the end of the war, training Royal Navy pilots. Photo Michel Côté. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441417723-3A28MQM1T6VW7Y724CG0/SunSnow7.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out John Aitken, in the Archie Pennie Cornell clings close on the wing of Tiger Moth as they fly one of three passes over the frozen airfield. Photo: Doug Zahody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441466445-CHUD1ZOHK3A213PLZY7M/SunSnow21.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The bright yellow trainers flying against the azure blue sky made for a thrilling visual and aural display for attendees at the Montebello event. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441491723-7RG7WNL485A4DDTIK85D/SunSnow37.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Our William McRae Tiger Moth never looked better with her wooden prop glowing in the sunlight. Photo Bill Fawcett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441682784-J7E7N5DJULPFP8FO946P/SunSnow22.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out On the second pass, the colours seemed even bluer and yellower than before. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441712217-GOO16POPDRM4R8XXZ8P9/SunSnow14.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out J.P. Bonin, one of Quebec's best aviation photographers, captures the perfect moment as the two elementary flying trainers clatter overhead and turn into the warming sun. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441751906-9C39EO9IDV8B1YAHTIKW/SunSnow9.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A group of Vintage Wings volunteers (L-R Dave O'Malley, Richard Allnutt, Albert Prisner and Peter Handley) watch as an Aeronca Champion takes off from the deeper snow.Between appearances of the Vintage Wings aircraft, and indeed from sunrise to sunset, aircraft of every type were taking off, landing, taxiing and enjoying the day. All in all, this is perhaps the greatest aviation event in Canada in the winter. Peter Handley machine guns his camera and the results are in the next photo. Photo: Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441822050-H02CF9GLKUG04IG9MEYZ/SunSnow23.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The ultimate Canadian aviation scene – a general aviation classic on skis with the Laurentian Hills in the background. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441859259-3HPDYNSQCH4VVCXB1JD5/SunSnow10.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A much anticipated participant this year was the first production Helio H-391 Courier, C-GOOI. Certainly the largest of all the ski planes to make an appearance, this magnificent and highly capable STOL aircraft was the first off the assembly line in 1954. Here it takes off in a cloud of ice crystals while three snowmobiles approach in the distance. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraft Company. During the early 1980s, new owners (Helio Aircraft Ltd.) made an attempt to build new aircraft with direct-drive Lycoming engines, to replace troublesome and expensive geared engines. In a further effort to reduce weight, a new composite landing gear was featured. The new models also featured modest winglets. Two models were produced, the H-800 and H-700. A total of 18 aircraft were built. The rights to the Helio Stallion and Helio Courier were acquired by Helio Aircraft of Prescott, Arizona, and will soon be returned to production. Photo: Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441887110-N51HXEYNFTV3MTRVRDIS/SunSnow38.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Dave O'Malley poses with his best friend for 45 years, lapsed hang glider pilot Albert Prisner next to the Helio Courier. The photo was taken by In Coristine, one of the three founders of the Challenger Winter Weekend Rendezvous nearly 22 years ago. Ian Coristine is one of Canada's highest time ultralight pilots, and one of the world's best photographers. He is presently working on his 6th book - this one, his first e-book, chronicling his life and 25 year love affair with the Thousand Islands. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441922399-HTYY3XA5XPR3PTEATR06/SunSnow11.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Half an hour after the appearance of the Cornell and Tiger Moth, Mike Potter brought the John Gillespie Magee Harvard in to check out the river and the snow conditions. Photo Benoit Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441957328-DL9SQAJPGFT4DJASLXNZ/SunSnow13.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings Management Flight. Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, leads a flight of three past the assembled aircraft and aviation enthusiasts on the ice. On his right wing is an RV8 belonging to and flown Rob Fleck, President of Vintage Wings. Off his left wing flies Paul Kissmann, Chief Pilot of Vintage Wings of Canada in his snappy new RV6. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630441981360-4HVLWO3QJ7ZXEC5EGP3B/SunSnow12.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Mike Potter, in the John Gillespie Magee Harvard, flies low over the Ottawa River leading elements of the world famous “Management Flight”. Photo Ben Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442018496-2SXXTF9GQ46XE5PQQZH2/SunSnow8.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out After the first pass down the ice runway, Potter leads the VWC "Management Flight” through another circuit to double check the field for obstructions, snowmobiles, photographers and open water. It was decided that a river landing was not in the cards and after a thorough field check, the threesome headed home. Photo: Ben Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442066363-Y34KP6N55WG7OJMFD3I2/SunSnow16.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The Skywagon achieves take off speed with snow and ice blasting in its wake. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442091359-IFN4PC55JVYEP2JOF63J/SunSnow20.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The two tracks of the Skywagon's skis stop abruptly as the aircraft took off, leaving a mysterious looking trail to nowhere, - J.P. Bonin quips that it sort of looks like a wintry depiction of the flaming departure of the DeLorean time machine in Back to the Future . Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442113401-ZRR4DY4HWJSN1UPS3GN9/SunSnow19.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Photographer Bonin, in a Zlin, flies overhead a group of Vintage Wings photographers and volunteers (Allnutt, Handley, Prisner, O'Malley and an unidentified shooter. awaiting the arrival of the Yellow Wings flights. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442709822-YYOJ8Z9D5LWH5JGAKZL3/SunSnow39.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out In the proceeding photo we saw Bonin shooting some photographers on the ice from a Zlin. In that photo we could see Peter Handley shooting up at the Zlin... Unfortunately all the shots were directly into the sun, but one second later he snapped this one of J.P. waving to his friends on the ice. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442742482-RU3AA3S9T45F25Y4VBFE/SunSnow24.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out There was no shortage of “sporty” take offs including this vintage Taylorcraft F-19, part of a four plane mass take-off we on the ground dubbed "The Flying Circus”. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442773554-7FF4FHI6NG57VGW3IQE0/SunSnow36.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The light on Saturday's fly-in was nothing short of spectacular. The sky was diamond hard. The air was as clean and void of moisture as possible. The snow blasted brilliant sunlight upwards like a photographer's reflector. Every image captured looking to the sky, including this Kitfox (part of the Flying Circus), seemed to reflect this year's poster for the event, designed by Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442801867-90953X66XKS34OWYZ86Y/SunSnow26.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Top prize for cahones goes to a threesome of pilots flying powered weight-shift ultralights, capable of 100+ miles per hour. The topless QuikR from England's P&M Aviation is the fastest and most advanced weightshift today with a 100MPH cruise and slow 40MPH stall. Can't imagine sitting in open air doing 100 MPH in -20ºC air, but the pilots were dressed for the occasion. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442830448-DPDIER0XDV3V4ND6CGI4/SunSnow27.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out An RV8 on skis flown by Patrick Gilligan, Vice President of Operations for the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) looks like a pretty hot little snow-machine. Patrick seemed to be everywhere this day. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442869131-KNKDO8UR98MV6TYANUQM/SunSnow28.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out A beautiful all-aluminum Luscombe Silvaire takes to the skies. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442903835-PVI6QCGECH35GL77Z7ZS/SunSnow31.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Land skidoos shared the runway with air-skidoos. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442930623-HB0ZVOI64ITHGLJBUX2E/SunSnow32.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out The Montebello event is primarily a Challenger owners fly-in. It behooves us to show you at least one of the dozens in attendance! A bright yellow Challenger makes a bold statement against the blue of the Ottawa Valley sky. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442961884-JV40ZU47LDX692VZQ15B/SunSnow34.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out This pilot appears equally well equipped for a space walk as a flight on a nice sunny day. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630442990755-ZFF182Y07GEUMU9G2QE0/SunSnow35.jpg The Stories - YELLOW WINGS IN MONTEBELLO - Make it stand out Big or small, everyone had a howl of a good time out on the ice. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/seeing-double monthly 0.5 2025-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434404773-ONDGPTJKF7FVITUPO22C/TwinBeaverTitle2.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434598523-T7U008I0QBPDRH9QBOSQ/TwinBeaver7.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Heinkel 111 Z-1 Zwilling was one of the strangest aircraft to come out of the Second World War. Conceived by Dieter and Martin Zwillingsbiber, the five engined behemoth saw limited service as a glider tug. Photo: Luftwaffe, Bieber Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434579735-L3UCRM4SH7JFIMUNEG1O/TwinBeaver19.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out This rare topside photo of the Shitbird. The aircraft was designed to fly even if the three central engines quit. Like Zwillingers later Beaver design, capabilities were simply on paper and had no relation to the aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434685726-R7OZ1QVYKGYC0EPXIFJH/TwinBeaver10.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out A very rare shot taken by a French civilian as a Zwilling flies over French countryside during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434740872-JE83RTD3HK1WW3YZXKWN/TwinBeaver8.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out A photograph showing Martin Zwillingsbiber standing behind the pilot of a Heinkel 111 Z-1 during test flights in 1941. As the photo seems to show, the introspective and kind Martin would always remain in the shadows behind the bluster of his brother Dieter, seemingly under some Svengali-like control. Photo Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434798149-ILZZ6PZ8LTGA3ZHGAL6Z/TwinBeaver9.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Another photo taken on a 1941 test flight - this one showing a serious Dieter in the left fuselage monitoring performance of the three central Jumo engines of the massive Heinkel 111 Z-1. Photo Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630434938375-ZAPOP9NJIS5VTXCO1HLQ/TwinBeaver25.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The immediately obsolete, oddly configured Antonov An2+2, never got farther than the drawing board. In a world of jet aircraft, it was a military aircraft of questionable value. Zwillingsbiber simply could not let go of the Twin Technology concept. Drawing: Antonov OKB Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435060903-ER2S01VWKWDILN0SNTMG/TwinBeaver30.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Not nearly as ambitious nor as delusional as his brother Dieter, Martin enjoyed nearly a decade of peace after the war as a mechanic for “Stinky” Fowler's famous Fowl-Aire Airways in Ontario's north. Here he is seen doing an engine change in the bush in the winter of 1951. Martin would have preferred to remain anonymous for the rest of his life, but Dieter would make sure that the Zwillingsbiber name would become synonymous with failure for Canadian aviators. Photo: Sioux Lookout Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435138349-4V1NWICOP3R7INMDF15V/TwinBeaver24.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Dieter (left) and Martin pose with the DuM Airways Luscombe in the winter of 1957. Despite the limited capacity of the little airplane, the brothers eeked out a decent living. Photo: Sioux Lookout Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435288180-3VWON2B9DNN4OIXFXNCD/TwinBeaver11.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out CF-FKD, one of the first two Zwillingsbiber airframes after the big storm of 1958. Photo: Sioux Lookout Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435398585-78DRU88BAX2AUY6C8XBW/TwinBeaver50.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out A 1973 photo of the old Zwillingsbiber hangar at Sioux Lookout, Ontario showing it age. It was here that Martin “The Beaver Cleaver” Zwillingsbiber transformed 12 de Havilland Beavers into the six Twin Beavers. The hangar was demolished in 1977. Photo: Sioux Lookout Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435589065-4R4BQNKZLLFER2Q7QOX0/TwinBeaver5b.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The prototype DHC-2ZB Twin Beaver (CF-ZWI), fresh out of the shop, sits on the grass outside the Zwillingsbiber Aero factory in May, 1959, looking not bad in fresh paint and company livery. Photo: Sioux Lookout Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630435906503-62NSEGT1I7LEVQOJ4WRB/TwinBeaver2.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The US Army test flew the Zwillingsbiber U-6AX2 Twin Beaver in 1960. Despite promises, it never lived up to expectations. Photo: US Army Aviation Centre Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436288765-VWRS8VNV638ID414D96L/TwinBeaver3.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The United States Air Force studied the limited capabilities of the U-6AX2 at Edwards Air Force Base in latter part of 1960. Photo: United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436344449-U9XKGV4ZZG2LZT7X1YK3/TwinBeaver32.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out If Dieter's design skills might be considered suspect, his marketing skills were sharp. I found this match book and a set of naughty playing cards in an antique store in Kirkland Lake. Dieter understood the power of sex when it came to selling to miners, lumbermen, soldiers and men in remote places. If the owners did not line up to buy his airplane, their employees most definitely gathered round to get some of his swag, like this “Flying Saucy” match book. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436390018-JR203KGZIPKNMLDBTRMG/TwinBeaver33.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out One can only smile when we look at what, in 1959 and 60, would have been considered porn. Dieter Zwillingsbiber would hand out his set of sexy “Let's Play!” playing cards to mechanics, pilots, lumbermen and miners alike and one can only imagine the games played round the campfire, tent or cabin. Great swag however does not make great products or sales and Dieter went away empty handed, while the guys most certainly did not. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436423685-XDVRHEIJ26QFJRPK3K9W/TwinBeaver17.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out On a sales and promotion tour of the north, Dieter Zwillingsbiber arrives at a remote Canadian mining camp on Stripmine Lake near Chibougamau, Quebec in 1961. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436466478-4Y1ET86H5GRM00PXXWN1/TwinBeaver6.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Zwillingsbiber “production line” showing the tails of at least two of the final three Twin Beavers being joined together. Photo: DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436559688-PHP8Z22UPKEMBB0LW14H/TwinBeaver29.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out A somewhat forlorn Dieter Zwillingsbiber stands on the ice next to his all red RAF Twin Beaver and CCGS Tabernack having navigated with Twatt over 750 miles from southern James Bay to Prince Charles Island. Though proud of his accomplishment, he did not get the response from the RAF he had hoped for. Photo S/L B. F. Twatt, RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630436835160-FW11CAEVEAJ747W5UMVH/TwinBeaver15.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The RAF Twin Beaver sits in shambles on the ice south of Prince Charles Island in a poor image from that day. The RAF had brought a small dozer from their weather station and offered to tow the wreck to shore where Zwillingsbiber could salvage it. Instead, a despondent Dieter ask them to push it to the the edge of the ice and dump it into Foxe Basin. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437027845-4HFJK9D4O5ANC1MVVS58/TwinBeaver31.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out By 1967, Martin had managed to sell off all three of the remaining Twin Beavers. Of the six, the US military was still disposing of theirs and the RAF airframes were at the bottom of Foxe Basin. The last to go was the original prototype which Dieter had flown for a total of 622 hours. Before the last three could be sold, the “interwing” (the small section of wing between the fuselages) was strengthened to eliminate the vibration. Oddly enough, this improved its flying characteristics and made it a much more pleasant aircraft to fly. It still required two pilots or at least an occupant with good vision in the right fuselage. After the upgrade mods, CF-ZWI received a newer gray paint. It was the last to go. Here it is seen moored at Lac Beegfishinapan, Quebec in 1969, still with its Zwillingsbiber markings. Photo: DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437068716-M3JNVHZ4LHNYW9Z4Z7NC/TwinBeaver48.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out CF-ZWI still flies today registered as N930AJ, with a colourful paint scheme and, strangely enough, for a Swiss company called Beav-Air, promoting, of all things, de Havilland watches. Here we see her taking off from Lake Geneva. Photo: Neil Aird, DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437116198-Q5AYLE8ULT8IV3N5245F/TwinBeaver14.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out A photo of the former prototype Twin Beaver CF-ZWI, now N930AJ . There is no doubt that the Twin Beaver from certain angles is an impressive sight. From below, the triple floats, double fuselages and broad wing span look powerful from and, dare I say, elegant. Photo Neil Aird DHC-2.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437168465-RMBE5RKUBY0N3WJN3W9K/TwinBeaver37.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The cockpit of a Zwillingsbiber Twin Beaver is much the same as any single Beaver, save for the dual throttle, propeller pitch and mixture controls in the centre of the control panel. This is the cockpit of N930AJ, the former CF-ZWI prototype hand built by Martin Zwillingsbiber. Photo by Neil Aird, DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437191556-1UMGKQHCT6IUMN1MWCDX/TwinBeaver22.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out After its time at Edwards AFB, the former USAF Twin Beaver was stored at Davis Monthan Air Force Base for a number of years and was eventually sold to a private owner in 1970 and registered as N23SWB. Today, N23SWB operates out of Van Nuys, California, and is owned by Hugh Hefner, who has a thing for twins. Photo: DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437229443-0AJFO8TP3EJEJG4V6L4H/TwinBeaver18.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The final two Twin Beavers to come out the door at Sioux Lookout were painted in the new “Factory Scheme” designed by Martin. He was keeping it as a surprise for Dieter upon his return from the Foxe Basin demonstration. Dieter would never see them. Martin had registered them as CF-MKZ (for Martin Kaspar Zwillingbiber) and CF-DHZ for his brother. Martin was always trying to please his twin, but in the end was relieved by the final outcome and not sorry that Dieter never came home. Here we see CF-DHZ flying on a delivery flight to its new home in Saskatoon in the late 1960s. CF-DHZ was abandoned in the Northwest territories in the 1980s. It was rescued and rebuilt in 1997. CF-MKZ went through a number of owners, finally finding a home in New Zealand where she flies toady as ZK-BVR. Photo Bieber Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437267323-MMU8IW2NWTTXDVZZGTBF/TwinBeaver38.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out One of the two last Twin Beavers built, CF-DHZ languished for nearly a decade at S'tukinnamuk, Northwest Territories. Today she has a new lease on life as C-FOCV and operates out of Lac Ladouche for Armstrong Outposts and Air. Photo via Armstrong Outposts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437319924-4L0HBXAY1OKUEGQMP9XV/TwinBeaver34.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Privately owned Zwillingsbiber Twin Beaver CF-MKZ lands at Vancouver in 1989. When, millionaire owner Buck Castor wanted first hand information on the care and feeding of the Twin Beaver, he tracked down Martin in Guelph (as Martin Bieber) and invited him to the West Coast. Martin was honoured by the consideration and he and Justina spent six days with Castor sharing inside information and insights. It was the only time Martin would ever work on the Twin Beaver after the demise of the company. Photo: DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437353513-ST0RG2W3UWRQF5M8X9CP/TwinBeaver4.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The memory of Martin Kaspar Zwillingsbiber and his obsessed brother lives on in New Zealand with the former CF-MKZ now for sale in New Zealand. Registered as ZK-BVR in New Zealand, the Twin Beaver (c/n 567793) looks to be in beautiful shape. Photo: DHC-2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630437393682-RRMAZZJO6FBRN4GV8MB5/TwinBeaver35.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out One very successful commercial operator of the de Havilland Beaver is Kenmore Air of Washington State. In business since 1946 and highly regarded for their expertise worldwide, Kenmore was the only company to operate the Twin Beaver with success and safety. The company, which has extensive overhaul and restoration facilities, made many modifications to the aircraft to make it safe and in fact make it profitable. They operate the aircraft on regular scheduled service up and down the North West Coast and are the world's only qualified instructors on the rare aircraft. They are the only company certified by the FAA to fly the Twin Beaver with only one pilot. Well known West Coast aviation photographer Franz Loew captured Twin Beaver N6781L, the former US Army single test airframe, in this stunning air to air shot of four (some say five) Kenmore Beavers in the air over Puget Sound. In all my searching on the web, this Airliners.net image is the only shot I could find of a Twin Beaver in the company of other Beavers. Taken from a helicopter, this is one of the finest shots of Beavers you might ever see. Photo By Franz Loew at airliners.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438128880-8VWSXRORI3H07S0FQI9Y/TwinBeaver70.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438129499-N1L03OVD4O7R6PSOCMDK/TwinBeaver75.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438129554-7HVMN9CJIR3W9WXS5AZP/TwinBeaver76.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438130280-E48VYY5QFPLKLHON6EFL/TwinBeaver78.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438131052-YD4WQCARFLAQZHX0LAAG/TwinBeaver79.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438131101-UBNYWGZNXG66G7C49X89/TwinBeaver80.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438131656-PK9UYEXCD7XPFQ397S3U/TwinBeaver82.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438131837-N7TGSOEQMWDZBC2TXVG4/TwinBeaver83.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438132086-UIFKWCEZM62V03ZYSP8H/TwinBeaver84.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438132346-GAJL1US7D9ZB26344X4L/TwinBeaver86.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438132496-1NEYG7P17K7R19VIE2J0/TwinBeaver87.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438132987-31Z498IE9MMWO1E8LXMR/TwinBeaver200.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438386470-8YMZUXXM66504VFRKBZG/TwinBeaver21.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Part of the reason that the United States Air Force even considered the Twin Beaver, let alone tested it, is the remarkable success they had with the North American F-82 Twin Mustang, arguably the only truly successful attempt to bolt together two identical air frames. The F-82 was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in the Second World War; however, the war ended well before the first production units were operational, so its postwar role changed to that of night-fighting. The Twin Mustang, however, was dropped from service in 1953, more than seven years before the USAF took a look at the Twin Beaver. USAF Photo USGOV-PD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438411262-4J34AGHLDOO221MNYYU5/TwinBeaver20.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out One imagines that Dieter Zwillingsbiber envisioned a production output like that of the Twin Mustang with a breataking 270 being built at the North Amwrican plant at Inglewood, California. USGOV-PD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438441135-823K45LGLTQODBBEOMZZ/TwinBeaver39.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Thomas-Morse MB-4 was a prototype American mailplane of the 1920s. It was of unusual design, being a biplane with twin fuselages housing the crew of two and a central nacelle which carried the aircraft's twin engines in a push-pull configuration. he MB-4 was a failure, having extremely poor flying characteristics and being described as the "worst thing on wings", and saw no service other than the trials by the manufacturer, US Army and the US Post Office. Only 2 were built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438471607-O7P8W2WMHQZOZI685V33/TwinBeaver47.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Wight Twins. The Wight twin-fuselage landplane was ordered by the French government in August 1914 but crashed on test at Eastchurch. It was a twin-engine, two-seat, five-bay (structure) biplane, twin-float torpedo-carrying seaplane with twin fuselages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438511037-BA77W2FCYE17NJ01IJ0K/TwinBeaver40.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Aeroflot Savoia-Marchetti S.55P The S.55 featured many innovative design features. All the passengers or cargo were placed in the twin hulls, but the pilot and crew captained the plane from a cockpit in the thicker section of the wing between the two hulls. The S.55 had two inline counter-rotating propellers, achieved by mounting the twin engines back to back. The engines were canted sharply at an upward angle. Two wire-braced booms connected the triple-finned tail structure to the twin hulls and wing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438545396-7PA22AZV4LI12JV2L31B/TwinBeaver42.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Known as the T.B. or Twin Blackburn, this machine was a large biplane of unusual design having two wire-braced, fabric-covered, box girder fuselages, each with its own rotary engine, joined by a 10 ft centre section forward and a common tailplane at the rear. The fuselages were supported on the water by separate and unconnected bungee-sprung, stepped pontoons, and small tail floats were attached at the rear by short steel struts. Nine were built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438568260-4EVIACUEP5DAP6NI98LL/TwinBeaver43.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Fouga CM.88 Gemeaux was a 1950s French engine test-bed aircraft produced by Fouga. An unusual aircraft as it was two aircraft joined by a common wing. To meet a requirement to use as an engined testbed for Turbomeca turbojets, Fouga combined two CM.8 fuselages. It used the port and starboard outerwings with a new wing centre section to join the two fuselages. The V-tails fitted to each fuselage were joined at the top in a W configuration. The type was designated the Fouga CM.88-R Gemeuax I and first flew 6 March 1951, it was fitted with two Turbomeca Piméné turbojet, one on top of each fuselage. Further variants were produced as the engine fit was changed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438604979-CCF4QYG56JGU8KNZ6PDG/TwinBeaver44.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out The Twin Cub was the brainchild of Mr. Harold Wagner of the Wagner Aircraft Co. at Troh's Skyport, Portland, Oregon. He wanted to create a simple and cheap twin engine SUV type aircraft and started experimenting with a PA18 Super Cub which he equipped with a second engine on top of the fuselage. The sports utility aircraft made its first flight on May 29, 1952 but tail flutter caused by the down thrust of the extra power plant meant that the Twin Super Cub project had to be ended prematurely after only 8 hrs of flight time, after which the Super Cub was returned to stock configuration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438648559-9GRD47CIN3E68NLT6OLC/TwinBeaver45.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Mr. Wagner's second attempt produced an even uglier machine, called the Twin Cub. It consisted of a J-3 Cub and a PA-11 Cub Coupe fuselage mounted side-by-side using a small wing center section and central tail plane. The outer wing panels and tail plane were standard components. The resulting aircraft looked so odd that even Mr.Wagner called it "The Thing". Because of the close proximity of the fuselages, only the right hand one could be occupied by a pilot and passenger, the left hand fuselage serving only the purpose of engine mounting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438675732-0DLX9M507G9AQ8S0WN0K/TwinBeaver46.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Even though the purchase price was said to be about half of a regular twin engine aircraft, the Twin Cub remained a one-off and Mr. Wagner turned his attention to the Twin Tri-Pacer, where he bolted two engines to the nose of an otherwise standard Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer. None of the Wagner conversions achieved commercial success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630438731511-G0TVSPM6G4ZQIGX0ZT3M/TwinBeaver41.jpg The Stories - DOUBLE DOUBLE - Make it stand out Dear old Dieter and his reluctant brother Martin may have been on to something all along. It seems the world's most innovative, celebrated and respected aircraft designer today, Burt Rutan, took a page from Dieter's book for the design of his spaceship launch vehicle White Knight Two. Perhaps after all, the Zwillinsbibers deserve to be in that pantheon - Messerschmitt–Tank–Rutan–Zwillingsbiber–Vogt. Why not? https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/spiders-on-a-plane monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630426342470-38RJ4YH1R1ZIW7RYIW22/SpidersTitle.jpg The Stories - SPIDERS ON A PLANE - Make it stand out Poster: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630426465003-CQ5JH87ILZJ1NJJ0CA5J/Spiders3.jpg The Stories - SPIDERS ON A PLANE - Make it stand out Then Major Rob Scratch Mitchell, Snowbirds Team Lead works through the fear by facing his nemesis down in the grassy infield at Tucumcari, New Mexico. Photo via Rob Scratch Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630426553302-K6A1DD8PFVHMZNAI1BGN/Spiders4c.jpg The Stories - SPIDERS ON A PLANE - Make it stand out “I noticed movement above my head and slightly in front of me. I gave a fleeting glance at the canopy bow in front of me and to my horror I saw a rather large spider perched on the rear-view mirror.” Photo montage: Dave O'Malley. Thanks to Snowbirds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630426696148-GJCF7H209QPI85NY1PXH/Spiders2.jpg The Stories - SPIDERS ON A PLANE - Make it stand out Fighter pilots-actors, giant spiders and the desert of America's southwest have been the subjects of another story–the Universal International Studios' hokey science fiction movie Tarantula of 1957. Shot in Arizona and with a small budget and a short appearance by Clint Eastwood (his first movie - 2 years before his appearances on TV's Rawhide), the movie featured an atomic mutant arachnid on the loose and, according to the film's many posters, devouring large breasted women in scanty outfits though no such scenes are in the film. Eastwood played the part of a fighter pilot sent to deal with the troublesome octo-pod. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-mighty-mighty-machine monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630424769020-1SZBT8DKBRYJJ4DX4B07/DiscoveryTitle3.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425113001-W3A33ZQ1Q8XAJ2XNBW4U/Discovery8.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out On the evening of April 16th, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with space shuttle Discovery secured to its back is parked on the tarmac awaiting departure from Kennedy tomorrow morning. Photo: NASA/Tim Jacobs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425139009-WLL94GGZXO3PUR9X7JV1/Discovery4.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transporting space shuttle Discovery to its new home prepares to take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early morning darkness in Florida. Photo: NASA/Jim Grossmann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425172436-A634Q5K50TURSF8R3NPD/Discovery10.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transporting space shuttle Discovery to its new home takes off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 7 a.m. EDT, April 17th, 2012. In the background is the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building and NASA’s new mobile launcher. The aircraft, known as an SCA, is a Boeing 747 which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Photo: NASA/Glenn Benson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425216948-LSQFBZWE2SQLVFNSL2MO/Discovery9.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transporting space shuttle Discovery is seen heading south to fly over Brevard County’s beach communities for residents to get a look at the shuttle before it leaves the Space Coast for the last time. Photo credit: (NASA/Glenn Benson) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425272203-VO3QY8UI4P2FV2AIG0FG/Discovery5.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Having come up the coast in the early morning the SCA and Discovery overfly the Potomac River bound for a fly past of the Capitol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425308123-FQ7ZTXGBBUEDSSHDPJHA/Discovery2.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Space shuttle Discovery and the SCA fly near the U.S. Capitol while workers atop the dome look on. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. Photo: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Harold Dorwin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425360829-VND3CN72JBF03OCZB3GD/Discovery3.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Discovery flew low over the suburbs of Washington giving the ordinary citizen a chance to see history in the making. The NASA T-38 Talon training aircraft accompanying Discovery carried a NASA photographer to record the moment for history. Photo Credit: (NASA/Robert Markowitz) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425390544-BUEJIX1M9CUSAFN4Z2QG/Discovery19.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out NASA had photographers on the ground as well as in the air. Once on the ground, NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo: NASA/Rebecca Roth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425425638-MFT1UN6NDX6D87RW2NHN/Discovery14.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out On the ground at Dulles where Discovery was scheduled to land, Vintage Wings photographer Allnutt captures the growing crowd. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425451670-SZSO6ZNRHBFXDRTQ3BSQ/Discovery11.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Discovery, looking rough and work worn rest on the outstretched arms of her SCA angel as the pair make a low level pass over the crowd. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425499735-GCF3QA2PSQOMWP0015UF/Discovery12.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out From beneath the SCA, Discovery is barely visible, looking more like a flap mod. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425533453-38SE3HA06Z922WJSVPB1/Discovery13.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Hanging low over the airfield, the SCA/Shuttle combo displays a one-of-a-kind stern profile. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425616147-IIKUS5SF40UJESIL4A7H/Discovery16.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out On final and reluctantly ready to end her flying career. The space shuttle itself is set an angle of attack that allows it to fly and take the weight from the back of the SCA. Only when taking off or solidly on the ground does the shuttle's weight come down on the back of the carrier. A NASA chase plane follows with a photographer. Like a mud spattered Jeep or a dirt-encrusted dump truck, Discovery wears her grunge patina with pride and indeed, that is the way the National Air and Space Museum requested her. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425659059-C39GKTDQ8JWS5MY5PV4Q/Discovery17.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Just seconds from the end of her career, space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) approaches the runway at Washington Dulles International Airport, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, Photo: NASA/Paul E. Alers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425694070-I1CGW971WLXRJ5VEHC5M/Discovery18.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) taxis past the terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Virginia. Photo: NASA/Sean Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425727443-UIH7F1C56C2O6W81VTDW/Discovery15.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out A NASA T-38 with photographer Robert Markowitz in the back, is dirtied up and ready to touch down at Dulles. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425763079-FUP01Z6WL8JAVVSWFFY7/Discovery6.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, fourth from right, stands with the crew of 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) along with other officials from the Smithsonian Institution, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, fourth from left, in front of Space Shuttle Discovery following its landing at Washington Dulles International Airport. Photo: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Mark Avino https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425799620-COU5J9SR9DLPWVAY9KXX/Discovery20.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out The faces of the ordinary Americans on the ground tell the whole story of the achievement that was the Shuttle Program. A young woman and her daughter are awed and delighted by the site of Space shuttle Discovery flying over NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland during its final voyage to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia The flight path included Goddard as a nod to the many support and communications specialists working with the Shuttle program here at Goddard during Discovery’s 39 missions. Photo: NASA/GSFC/Virginia Robinson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630425839379-10YLAL3ZP7WIR0WTZNE7/Discovery21.jpg The Stories - A MIGHTY, MIGHTY MACHINE - Make it stand out Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is seen a few hours before being demated at Washington Dulles International Airport, Wednesday, April 18, 2012, in Sterling, VA. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/just-doer monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423094032-LTJL0JJLB74EII12D9VC/DoerTitle.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423241356-H9YI3KDY4V0BF788LK6J/Doer13.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Todd Lemieux shakes hands with the legendary Bob Hoover after absorbing some of Hoover's extensive knowledge of the T-28 Trojan. Photo Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423266919-6098IL10X6KAZDFTRCGC/Doer14.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out A much younger Bob Hoover, North American Aviation test pilot on the T-28 program, poses with a Trojan in 1949. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423423550-XS3BU5D6QSVZA85KHYQC/Doer15.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out A route planning session took place each morning over coffee and breakfast, taking into consideration, terrain, altitudes and weather en route and at the destination. Photo: Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423500503-NN83GBPKHOGZ00WWJI1H/Doer10.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Lemieux's T-28 served with VT-2, the Doerbirds and sports a large painted nose art of the Doerbird on its engine cowl. Training Squadron TWO (VT-2), the Navy's oldest primary training squadron, was born from Basic Training Group TWO and commissioned on May 1, 1960, at NAS Whiting Field. VT-2's mission is to provide primary and intermediate stage flight training to selected student aviators of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and several allied nations. Training Squadron TWO graduates approximately 210 students each year. Logging nearly 2,000 flight hours each month VT-2 has flown in excess of 1,800,000 flight hours and trained more than 19,000 students since its commissioning. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423559913-R76WYIZ7SASRMVT4CYTA/Doer16.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Todd takes ownership of his new T-28 Trojan from previous owner, Tim McGee, which Bruce Evans checks out his seat selection in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423631650-GGCUU5G6LE8RNM1CMWR7/Doer17.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Tootling along in bright sunshine past Mount Shasta in Northern California, Todd enjoys the sight. Soon, however, his Good Weather Gauge would register empty as he moved north into Oregon. Photo: Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423678847-4STCKIH6S1E1SE3PAM8Y/Doer18.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out A Star Wars Storm Trooper (who appears to wearing white rubber boots and some components from his eavestrough) and a Darth Vader impersonator, confront Lemieux and Evans... “If you two are supposed to be X-plane fighter pilots, you got the costume all wrong”. One funny detail here is that the Storm Trooper is sporting his RadCon Convention ID tag on his cod-piece. RadCon is a not-for-profit organization that promotes education in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Every February during President's Day weekend, RadCon hosts a weekend long convention at the Red Lion Hotel in Pasco, Washington. Reports in the internet show that many of the attendees suffered from a virus similar to food poisoning... clearly the empire is striking back! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423720108-91YNWP7S7100X5R6E0KX/Doer3.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out At Pasco Tri-Cities airport, just west of Walla Walla Washington, the adventurers ran into a Canadian Connection working at Bergstrom Aircraft - a former Canadian Forces Snowbirds tech by the name of Michel Pelletier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423824105-QP38AK3RPCARLC0IENTM/Doer2.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out On the ramp in Spokane with typical West Coast in February weather overhead. Photo Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423892102-RM6D3MXMQP6QGT9FXNSP/Doer4.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Map reading his way through Montana. Photo Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423939537-KXD7YIGL1XANVY0JVWA3/Doer6.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out “Welcome to Kalispell, Montana gentlemen, please try some of our complimentary kibble over there. Are you checking in any balls, frisbees, bones or squirrels?” You meet all types when on a flying adventure through the wilds of America's West. But a dog, behind the front desk of the hotel? Perhaps Lemieux and Evans had flown too long that day. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630423976241-HYYTYE802J66JTK93HX8/Doer5.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Lemiuex and Evans were not going any farther on this day. As ground crew push the T-28 into a hangar for the night, the snow and sleet begins. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630424031871-J8OTNQ1GZP9PLJLBF24F/Doer19.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out Taxiing his new T-28 at his home airport, Springbank, Alberta, Lemieux exhibits the hallmarks of swagger in a confident warbird pilot – hand on canopy rail, Nomex gauntlets, cool-ass Pepe le Pew graphic on his Gentex, cuffs rolled back... stylin' all the way. Photo Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630424079485-RPON8UBJZIFTMYLZZGFP/Doer8.jpg The Stories - JUST DOER - Make it stand out After the long journey, Lemieux's T-28 Trojan, now nicknamed Just Doer, sits happily and safely in Bruce Evans' hangar at the Springbank Airport, just outside of Calgary. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-privileged-view monthly 0.5 2022-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414149317-6ARMMG7R0F0N4GV8D4BZ/CoristineTitle.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414252858-A5GSAAETVLQIPE4ICP1Z/Coristine4.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out When Coristine left the world of open wheel Formula auto racing behind, he needed a replacement fix for the thrills, precision and personal challenge. He found that in high performance gliding, a sport that was alive and well in his native Quebec . Here we see him in the cockpit of his club's sailplane at a meet. Photo via Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414315789-H6FEN8FUBJWF0GDULDJ0/Coristine3.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The young and clearly delighted flyer soon moved on to powered flight in the form of the first generation ultralight known as the Lazair - powered by two six-horsepower chainsaw engines. Photo via Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414338609-GPHLMFNM0AHTQ5MGCIUL/Coristine5.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The eventual positive progress of ultralight design lead to the ubiquitous and beautifully flying Quad City Challenger II ultralight. Like no other aircraft in the past 25 years, the Challenger was the saviour of recreational flying in Canada - providing an easy to purchase, easy to build, easy to maintain and easy to fly substitute for the increasingly expensive and increasingly regulated world of Cessnas and Pipers. C-IBPP, Coristine's personal Challenger became the symbol of that paradigm shift to ultralight fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414388780-8HJK5RSPS2PFRV1KPDT7/Coristine9.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Created by nature during the last ice age with float planes in mind, Raleigh Island has it all - pine stands, exposed Cambrian Shield, delightful anchorage, and excellent views up and down the river. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414422230-VFZCXWDWVU3GCYK9HD62/Coristine6.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Coristine's Raleigh Island was truly “One in a thousand” - with a protected aircraft harbour and enough space to make every day on the island a unique experience. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414458489-WD2TKKDNXGB6Z6DTFIIF/Coristine7.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Raleigh Island was and remains today a paradise for Coristine, a front row seat at the ever changing drama that is the Thousands Islands, and a source of pride, satisfaction and creativity. Gone today is Coristine's airplane, replaced by quite pedal-kayaks and swift power boats that carry him to his future. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414488219-GWP7G2XT7F2WHEIB68FE/Coristine8.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out There is room for visiting pilots in the protective harbour of Raleigh Island. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414620971-351R8KBN559P8T7QTI8C/Coristine2.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The electronic “Cover” of One in a Thousand - Ian Coristine's spectacular new e-book memoir. One in a Thousand, available only for the i-Pad, cannot be found in the e-books section of the i-Tunes Store. It is so full of innovative technology, interactivity, videos, and slide shows that it is in fact an “App”, available by going to your Apple App Store. One part Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux, one part A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle and one part Canada – A Year of the Land, One in a Thousand is a deal, nay, a steal, at only $8.99 from the App Store. From the moment you “open” this book, you, like Coristine was, are going to be transported to a world you couldn't even imagine. The book contains, more than 300 pages written by Corsitine and edited by American novelist Donna Walsh Inglehart, supplemented by over 450 of his finest images, slideshows, more than 20 minutes of breathtaking aerial videos, two music videos by Canada's meteoric new indy band, Great Lake Swimmers, plus 18 never before released instrumental tracks written by Great Lake Swimmers especially for the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414662814-KJKS6V7MTZG8MHSR0SDY/Coristine21.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out After his wife Louise died in 1904, George Boldt abandoned his castle and the residence began a seventy-year decline to wrack and ruin. thanks to the vision of the Thousand Island Bridge Authority, it was rescued from the fate the claimed many of the other mansions of the gilded age scattered through the islands. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414691280-WFTEX0BU9UM0W9DBUAML/Coristine17.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out At the turn-of-the-century, George C. Boldt, millionaire proprietor of the world famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full size Rhineland-style castle in Alexandria Bay, on picturesque Heart Island. The grandiose structure was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise. Back in the day, there was very little electrical power available to the millionaires who built their castles on the St. Lawrence, so Boldt Castle had its own power generating station, seen here at the extreme left of the island. Coristine, able to launch on the lake in early morning light, captures a freighter churning downstream past a stunning apparition. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414723243-6ZLS7YIMYUDYVW5445MJ/Coristine22.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Predawn takeoffs make it impossible to know if the light or mood will cooperate, but mist on this particular morning offered promise. As daylight grew, Coristine was dismayed to find most of the River smothered in fog. He persisted and eventually the sun burned through at exactly the right place - Heart Island. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414755937-5AWWIMYP5OO9S2OGHYPE/Coristine23.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Bathed in golden morning light, Boldt's castle emerges form the island's trees with the massive Boldt Castle Boat House in the background. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630414780948-AS7P9VXDHAM6RTSQXSRK/Coristine32.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The millionaires who constructed their lavish castles on the islands of the St. Lawrence have all vanished and with them most of the great residences they built. Only a few still exist and are now operated by foundations or private companies as tourist destinations. The original builders lived in a world before income tax and the great depression when businessmen kept every cent of a dollar they made. Most castles were abandoned to the elements or demolished when descendent family members could not keep them up. Here we see, from a unique perspective, the restored power station that supplied electricity to Boldt's magnificent summer home when it was not readily available to the community at large. The tower to the left held a carillon with fifteen bells ranging in size from twelve to fourteen feet and was intended to be played from a keyboard inside the main residence. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421471638-FP78FGR9ZOS54E2Q7CRL/Coristine13.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The two crown jewels in the Thousand Islands are Boldt castle and Singer Castle seen here on Dark Island. The magnificent residence was built by Frederick Gilbert Bourne. Bourne was Director and President of the Singer Sewing Machine Company at the young age of 38. He was the man who oversaw the innovative idea of financing a purchase of a Singer machine through multiple payments of a dollar a week and this put Singer ahead of the competition and made Bourne very wealthy. Perhaps Bourne's greatest contribution to the growth and impact of the Singer Company was his commitment to advertising, creating a stand-alone advertising department in 1889 which was extremely creative and effective, setting the standard for the companies that followed. But Bourne was too ambitious to stay Singer president very long. He leveraged his position to become one of the wealthiest and best-connected men in America, a neighbour of the Vanderbilts and a close friend of Teddy Roosevelt. Bourne also held the position of Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421498637-W7VDF50HKVKN606ZLWZD/Coristine14.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Coristine is as good on the water as he is in the air. Half of the photographs in his previous 5 print books and this e-book are taken from the perspective of a man who lives on the water even more than he lives in the air. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421558327-0R8U5KCEY2RFOTC2LLDD/Coristine10.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out A Canada Steamships laker gently plows past Three Sisters Island midstream in the St. Lawrence River. Recognizing from the air the opportunity to capture this technology-mimicking-nature shot, Coristine landed on the river and waited for MV Atlantic Erie, a Canada Steamships “self-unloader” laker, to come further down the channel. Then he took off and circled until they were aligned. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421604451-QVMEAM2O6SURQYZAAES4/Coristine11.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Photos sometimes just happen. While circling in his aircraft for a better angle on Singer Castle on Dark Island, he found this heavenly image waiting for him at his six o'clock position. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421632611-7I3CWKPHRPHZO5WPXHCU/Coristine12.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Coristine was flying in formation with a photoship, filming material for The History Channel's Things That Move series, when these light rays broke through heavy cloud over the Lake Fleet Islands. The frustrated cameraman in the second Challenger could not understand why Coristine broke formation and bolted west. Afterwards, when he saw the shot Coristine had captured, he understood. The Lake Fleet Islands are named for Great Lakes Fleet ships of the Royal Navy of Revolutionary War era, and have decidedly different names- Bloodletter, Deathdealer, Dumbfounder, Astounder, Scorpion and Axeman Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421660039-3XKWYYFZ7YKNIFGLF266/Coristine15.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Not every perspective is from down low. Here Ian climbs high in the morning light to capture a wide shot of Wolfe Island the largest of the more than one thousand of the Thousand Islands. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421809342-SXU3O9PAP4RYX7X1FOT4/Coristine16.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out On August 14,1760, England's HMS Onondaga was lured into labyrinth of islands and channels by French attackers. A small boat with 14 men was lowered to warn sister ship HMS Mohawk away, but was never seen again. The place became known as the Lost Channel ever since. Brigantine Fair Jeanne in this photo has the benefit of an experienced captain and charts to help them navigate the still-endless maze. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421846058-FMMDF1PV6H9K858OJ7B8/Coristine18.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out A cold river running to the sea is a living breathing animal, filtering and percolating through an archipelago of pre-cambrian islands and awakening almost daily beneath dissipating veils of sea smoke, fog, and mystic flows. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421894528-J4SK6POHQYUP8AQ7MYBZ/Coristine19.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The quiet town of Clayton, New York, home of the Antique Boat Museum wakes as a big grain carrier laker churns upstream in the morning sunlight on a windy morning. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630421928802-GWHOIZQFB64N6PJJ9LCQ/Coristine20.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out At the southwestern end of the Thousand Island region lies the Empire Loyalist city of Kingston. Once shortlisted for the capital of Canada, Kingston, nicknamed the Limestone City, is the home of the Royal Military College of Canada, Canada's university for the Armed Forces... sort of Annapolis, West Point and the Air Force Academy all rolled into one. Here Coristine flies over Old Fort Henry in the foreground with Navy Bay and the college peninsula in the mid-ground and Kingston beyond. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422013669-JO1BFPM192HRYH46LPDM/Coristine24.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out There's a reason they call it The Thousand Islands. Through this region, the massive outflow of the great Lakes is filtered on its way down the mighty St. Lawrence River, Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422049415-NLVGMZF4RR6DP55G7247/Coristine25.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The first deep freeze of the season turns the surface of the River into a boiling cauldron of sea smoke as the first skim of ice solidifies over the water. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422076896-RJRWAZU35ZBOJ17G290B/Coristine27.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out To qualify as an island, a rock or shoal supposedly has to be home to at least one native tree and be above water all year round. Lone Pine Island, looking like some Civil War era ironclad, has had extensive cosmetic work done to increase the livable space. Ever since viewing this image I have been tempted to Photoshop a wake behind the island. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422110740-53Y4OO9XKYPE2W0LBXCE/Coristine33.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Large or small, every island in the 60 mile archipelago has its charm. Here, perched out over a jutting rock is a guest house worthy of some great memories. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422148603-191KJ1JIELDBR8KUOK3Q/Coristine28.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out It is well known that the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands region offer the finest fresh water wreck diving in the world – dotted with wrecks as they are from as far back as the War of 1812. Here, beneath the shallow waters of a Grenadier Island bay, lie the conjoined wrecks of two wooden cargo boats, the Pentland and the F.A. Georger. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422186366-AE9LN6EEFLMLSX8JRSNE/Coristine30.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out The Canadian Span of the Thousand Island Bridge leaps and bounds through the leafy islands of the archipelago on a suspension bridge followed by a steel arch bridge and a truss bridge. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422214251-4YKHVA998O5S1SKBKK88/Coristine26.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out As this photo and the proceeding one attest, the morning and late evening provide the best opportunity to find that elusive magic light that makes a photographer's heart rate go up. Here, as the sun dips below the horizon, Coristine finds one such moment near the Canadian Span. Better get home Mr. Coristine, it's getting late. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422258164-PRW8DI549JXB7XN1AKA8/Coristine31.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out With a road deck 150 feet above the surface of the river, the US Span of the Thousand Islands Bridge was designed to allow high masted military ships to transit to the Great Lakes. The St. Lawrence Seaway, the water highway that would allow this was merely a concept at the time. The US Span lies well into American territory and Coristine would have to be flying low, slow and a mile inside US territory. Today, thanks to Al Queda, this would be inconceivable. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422285802-4MX4A6OPNSLX8FUGTQ6W/Coristine34.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Coristine says, “If this image came with a sound track, you'd be listening to the deafening bellow of this ship's foghorn waking the river, which the helmsman in the centre window of the bridge is blowing aggressively"... at Coristine's low flying and on-coming ultralight. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422322364-7GKGVQDAI4RJ84U3X04P/Coristine36.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out Daybreak in the late fall occasionally finds the River cloaked in “sea smoke” as the water releases summer's accumulated warmth into suddenly colder air as though preparing these Chippewa Bay Islands for Halloween. Photo: Ian Coristine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630422357891-RDIYPYGZT2M2WZ06IYBG/Coristine37.jpg The Stories - THE PRIVILEGED VIEW - Make it stand out A restful spot for an overnight anchorage in the Thousand Islands is disturbed by the Challenger's Rotax engine as Coristine circles at sunrise. The Canadian Empress, out of Kingston, is the only ship that offers this overnight service in the Thousand islands. She is often occupied by folks who have done the trip many times - a testament to the service and the appeal of the region. Photo: Ian Coristine https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-tweet monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630411849507-IFF8H3UAF3830FOEGB0E/TweetTitle.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630411967721-3DX5YID9NFOO6Z5WTLJB/Tweet4.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out William Shatner opens the Twitter conversation with a query as to whether Hadfield is Tweeting from space or whether he has someone doing it from down on Earth. Shatner usually signs off his Tweets with “MBB” for My Best Bill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412002481-58NZQ1F21RP75ORKAQI4/Tweet5.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Hadfield responds immediately with a brilliant comeback, jokingly reporting to Captain Kirk, speaking in the lingo of the show, as if he was a crew member on the Starship Enterprise. This is what started all the buzz, with online news agencies picking it up all over Canada and internationally. It is clear that, though Shatner is an actor who played a starship Captain on television and is not a real astronaut, his influence is cultural, inspirational, real and massive. Chris Hadfield grew up as a young boy influenced greatly, as young people are, by the cultural environment in which he was raised. For a space-mad boy, growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Shatner and his character Captain James Tiberius Kirk were nothing short of formative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412052248-AFJFNJ1FA3NJMOPX4LIS/Tweet6.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Hadfield Tweets back linking to an image provided earlier by Shatner for an online photo challenge that required people to send in pictures of themselves with a cut-out of Canadian astronaut Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412086038-0YQTZR0DI6SFG89X4MFR/Tweet7.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Shatner replies, with a tinge of shyness in his Twitter voice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412137635-EHQNEPN2BAD6MREEC3YP/Tweet8.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Upon seeing the conversation brewing, and recognizing a wonderful opportunity, the Canadian Space Agency Twitter voice chimes in with an invitation to come to Montréal (Shatner's hometown) for a tour of the facility and a real-time live link to the International Space Station to chat with Chris, Commander to Commander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412165850-YR9584FF5VW3DO9ZR860/Tweet9.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Shatner asks how long he has to make the visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412249760-IC9O10N3EGJIXJSQLG17/Tweet10.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out The Canadian Space Agency gives him a time frame – Hadfield is scheduled to take command of the ISS in March and months later, in May, to return to Earth aboard a Soyuz capsule. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412287926-87P4NO5CBZIWJLWBAMYU/Tweet11.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out A busy man, Shatner makes no promises... but we know he would love to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412322561-H1NL92KK77IP0SCZX7QA/Tweet13.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out The following day, Hadfield makes another Star Trek reference floating in front of the windows of the ISS Cupola. Red, of course, is the imperative colour of Canada, but it is also the colour worn by ordinary crew members of the Starship Enterprise – many of which seemed to meet their ends on unfriendly planets while all the gold-shirted officers were safe. It seemed to be a mark of someone on the “Away Team” who wasn't going to make it home. The Cupola is a seven-window observatory, used to view Earth and docking spacecraft. Its name derives from the Italian word cupola, which means "dome." The Cupola project was started by NASA and Boeing but was cancelled due to budget cuts. A barter agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) resulted in the Cupola's development being resumed in 1998 by the ESA. The module comes equipped with robotic workstations for operating the station's main robotic arm and shutters to protect its windows from damage caused by micrometeorites. It features 7 windows, with an 80-centimetre (31 in) round window, the largest window on the station. Referring to yet another iconic sci-fi franchise, the distinctive design has been compared to the "turret" of the fictitious Millennium Falcon in the motion picture Star Wars; the original prop lightsabre, used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film, was flown to the station in 2007, and the Falcon rockets commercial cargo ships that come to the station use, are named after the Millennium Falcon itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412341772-IVSYKWF13NL51GMC66TH/Tweet21.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Wikipedia explains the concept of the red-shirted Starfleet crew member: “A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates with fans of the Star Trek television series (1966–69), from the red shirts worn by Starfleet security personnel who frequently die during episodes. Redshirt deaths are often used to dramatize the potential peril that the main characters face.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630412365395-XOJ68D2QIOW1VJ7D8Y24/Tweet14.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out At the time of the first Tweet, actor, activist and legend George Takei, who played Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman on the Enterprise, and was likely “following” Shatner on Twitter, chimes in, posting Hadfield's and Shatner's conversation on his Facebook page. Shatner has 1,300,000 “followers” (people who receive copies of his Tweets), while Takei has 540,000 followers. Between them, much of the Twitterverse is covered... and within minutes close to 2 million people became aware of Hadfield's humorous repartee. Here, Hadfield laughingly mentions Leonard Nimoy by adding in his Twitter ID – @TheRealNimoy. This assures that Nimoy will get his message. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413214465-5N8PTO4YCSAVMK7XMREI/Tweet15.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Sulu comments on Hadfield's previous red shirt Tweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413252920-75F3UMBLDDN5NIAMJF56/Tweet16.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Lo and behold, the enigmatic and oft-inscrutable Leonard Nimoy responds with a simple LLAP... which, of course, is an acronym for Live Long and Prosper, the traditional greeting of the Vulcan race. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413299914-JKBIE8YU0WYSRHZP9A7N/Tweet17.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Demonstrating a hard-won and encyclopedic knowledge of all things Star Trek, Hadfield bounces back with a reference to Nimoy's 1975 autobiography (his first of two), I am not Spock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413337342-LWIVDLPY1O4NPHGYV9RG/Tweet18.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out Spacemen have always loved Star Trek and so it is no surprise that all are connected through Twitter. Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step onto the surface of the Moon, joins the hailing frequency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413366779-KHPBJCJIK1TF5DRFPGDE/Tweet19.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out And finally, Wil Wheaton joins the conversation. Wheaton was a child actor, and played the part of Wesley Crusher, son of Dr. Beverly Crusher, the Chief Medical Officer aboard the Starship USS Enterprise-D on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Memory Alpha Star Trek Wiki explains that a nanite “is built by manipulating atoms and contains gigabytes of computer memory. It is small enough to enter living cells and can be programmed to do numerous tasks. Nanites are used by the Federation for medical purposes and are designed to work inside nuclei during cellular surgery. When they are not used, nanites are stored in a non-functional state. When necessary, nanites can be destroyed with a burst of high-level gamma radiation.” I'm not making this up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630413410319-3SEZ3S8KBX9FIJVYWJD8/Tweet20.jpg The Stories - THE TWEET - Make it stand out In the voice of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of USS Enterprise-D, Hadfield delivers an all-too frequent and familiar admonition to Wheaton's character Wesley Crusher. In the earliest appearances of the youngster on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard was often annoyed by Crusher's presence on the bridge, as he was uncomfortable around all children, but he comes to realize that Crusher understands many things beyond his age and has inherited his mother's high level of intelligence. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/call-me-argonaut monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630377407879-OMQ179PMKM5QNHZWRC7L/4D71FCA5-AB86-4305-8901-F33AB3C38098.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630377434953-XHKTN8371MI7Y6T6XOI7/77673058-DA2C-4DF4-8F83-2A3DA0E759CA.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630377464514-1C5Y6UYE8GXYPJ7TC6UF/A46F67F6-2F87-49A1-856A-9DC1F191332D.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out An aircraft with a name becomes a racer with an attitude and a personality, as witnessed by this photo of Rare Bear, a highly-modified Grumman F8F Bearcat that dominated the Reno Air Races for decades. Rare Bear has set many performance records for piston-driven aircraft, including the 3 km World Speed Record of 528.33 mph (850.26 km/h), set on 21 August 1989, and a new time-to-climb record (3,000 meters in 91.9 seconds set in 1972 (9842.4 ft – 6,426 fpm), breaking a 1946 record set in a stock Bearcat). Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630377491390-KPP0GJSGYU1GYYZIISB7/9748F177-22F2-495F-B2AF-F60F9BF0074D.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out According to Warbird Depot: “Miss America is one of the fastest, most beautiful and certainly most recognizable airplanes in the world. Since 1966, Miss America has travelled all over the United States, serving as a symbol of freedom and liberty.” Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378102485-48QFYHCWZR0M9XUCDJZQ/6B5377C8-1D3C-4DC1-A48D-7F8CB6B8839E.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out After many years as a nameless ex-RCN Sea Fury, she entered the racing world as Argonaut and quickly earned a reputation as a hard charger. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378129694-2CH700IQGX6YG1MWS10V/7AE43EA3-2B9D-448D-BAEA-7DAEB49A7D44.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Argonaut wears a Royal Canadian Navy set of markings from 803 Squadron, as Sea Fury TG-114 (aircraft code BC-L). Here we see the original TG114 aboard HMS Magnificent in the 1950s. Photo via the Argonaut website and the Doug Fisher Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378153812-64PP6MR2INLZRU6GRNU9/EB8394F1-0307-4736-BFE2-2E29B73D01C2.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Hawker Sea Fury TG114, originally powered by a Bristol Centaurus, warms up on the ground with long-range fuel tanks. Photo via the Argonaut website and the Doug Fisher Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378183924-P8T6ERHYRNSMF8EMMQFR/81AB29F7-8997-4C33-AB85-F8CEC3296BCC.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Between jobs. A photo of Royal Canadian Navy Sea Fury TG114, now known as Argonaut, before her refurbishment by the Sanders family and her air racing career. The aircraft carried a Canadian registration – CF-OYF and was registered to Brian Baird of Toronto. The image was taken at Ottawa's Uplands base in 1963. Photo: Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378334194-MP6KKT61OUPYZ8F7XYFB/3EE0AF86-BB3D-4416-AE6A-7F35949617D8.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Another view of the Sea Fury TG114 that was eventually to become Argonaut (CF-OYF), seen at Uplands in 1963. Photo: Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378351907-PVO7D3T8NWQ6FFXJBZDL/88835CF6-291B-4007-8C18-ADA9AFCAF7DB.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Argonaut coming together at the Sanders hangar in the early 1990s. We can clearly see the tight fit with the original engine. Photo via Sanders Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378376460-S4L73X0LUGJK4V4Z94T1/05DAC66B-AB3A-466F-8C26-9B610F31083D.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Argonaut's first engine start was a smoky one. Without the massive nose spinner, the Sea Fury looks like an altogether different aircraft. Photo via Sanders Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378429687-MAKZLF88L3A5FXUQ2AT3/79D91E3A-ECA3-49D1-AF5A-AAD3AF9CF2E5.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Argonaut takes to the skies for the first time after its restoration. Photo via Sanders Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378453293-46G0VCZJUULLHKVLYKPO/755E79BC-F21A-4AEA-92E8-1A330C72FE78.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Korey Wells at the controls of Sea Fury Argonaut Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378486504-VZEFJ07Q70ADLXUDVHG0/7107F898-11A2-4F5D-B188-97C4817277E4.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out In the pits, the access panels gape open on Argonaut to reveal the snug fitting Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine. Also, the Sea Fury may just have the largest nose spinner in the warbird universe. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378527774-QVV4VZG4UT2TGGBURMGV/62B9F3E4-54B6-4390-9E0F-F28FD330403C.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Argonaut's ground crew check that everything is perfect before the qualification heat. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378685842-0VI6CYDJP155S33FVI3Z/49523CD1-FCF4-4F14-84EB-1366B19FFA28.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out The high side pass. The advantage in this case, when the aircraft performance envelopes are closely matched, is that the racer with the altitude advantage can dive on a post-turn straightaway in an attempt to complete the pass. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378713037-J3SJ05ZJZL8P9035RAA2/EF568C99-B1BA-43FF-85CA-3FB39378D063.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out As you can see here, using the vehicles in the background for scale, the R in RENO is not far off the ground – perhaps about 50 ft. An aircraft going wide and likely banking steeply may only leave a 25 ft clearance from the low wing tip to the desert floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378740980-UV6U0M6T448INBKX4LA8/55FD95FB-2EFF-42F3-9F65-4714D71F9486.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Steve-O is Steven Hinton who has won the 2009, 2010 and 2012 Unlimited Gold Reno Races in Strega, a highly modified P-51 which had originally served in the Royal Australian Air Force. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378764911-RO40TXEI5897KUHB2U6U/5ABAE4F6-0CC0-48D1-954A-A97D4EB7C859.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Korey and Argonaut complete the turn at Pylon 8 during qualifying. Two consecutive laps must be completed without passing over the deadlines or cutting a pylon for a valid qualifying run. Argonaut qualified at 356.411 mph. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378784132-5WX83EV9AUDWKHGXDT4P/6AF7DED6-F9AC-4830-9D9D-C60D53B05D6F.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Race No. 924 is a Sea Fury T.20 with an original Bristol Centaurus. Notice the five prop blades compared to Argonaut’s four. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378810896-LNN5LFUIG8YND5IXDMC0/AF4C4FB0-E3BA-4D1D-B425-8AD50734424C.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Korey Wells in Argonaut and Dennis Saunders in Race No. 924 come out of the chute on a direct line to Pylon 4 during the first race on the Thursday. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378833589-NCYA1OR4M9K3FVSASRZU/74D7CF64-B5D1-400F-890A-FB81EEFDE621.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out There were times when Race No. 924 appeared to be leading Argonaut and at other times it was the reverse. As it turned out it was just the two holding formation. They were not going to overtake or be overtaken so Korey and Dennis put on a good show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378869706-MGB1VJOVUETS2WO5ND3N/CBE5B776-FD74-47A3-A23C-390861062FF6.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Steve Hinton, the CT-133 Silver Star (T-33) pace aircraft pilot, calls out over the radio those famous words: “Looking good. Gentlemen you have a race!” Race No. 924 started on the outside (left in this picture). Then Argonaut and the P-51 Miss America. Miss America pulled away quite soon and went on to win the race. This left Argonaut and Steadfast fighting for third place for most of the race. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378905763-P5E943WKNOO0UZQM8VAV/6EACB318-D64B-4E22-82B8-4EA75E50DF24.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Will Whiteside and Steadfast pass by Pylon 2 during the Friday Unlimited Silver race. Steadfast is a Russian Yak-3 modified with a Pratt and Whitney R-2000, the same engine found on the old Canadian-built de Havilland Canada Caribous and Douglas DC-4s. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378933762-OISX8FKPR3CGBHNTN7Y8/ACF20006-1252-4435-95AC-5BD8645832D5.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out This race course map was provided by the Reno Air Racing Association and gives you an understanding of how the various courses are shaped. The Unlimited Course (larger outside yellow line) is 8.4 miles. The race on the Sunday is eight laps which means the Unlimiteds travel 64 miles in eight minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378972515-1B51PEYMP1DB1I89C7IE/5490D158-7BCF-43BE-9661-7E650682864D.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out The unlimited and jet class racers follow a course which, on the first lap, takes them to the first turn at Pylon 4. Here we see a full-on jet race approaching Pylon 4, which is mounted up on a ridge. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630378998727-IKZ1L9BZV8DZOUBRXG8O/AB7ECA3E-32CE-4C5E-8EF7-3790E700FAFD.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Pylon 4 is mounted at the highest ground point on the course, making it easily visible. Here an L-39 zips past the pylon at over 500 mph. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379046953-7BHQO2BGDO25RA7G7TLA/E8EA7ECE-5431-43D4-942A-1A7AEE18BC63.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Steadfast, in first place, leads Argonaut and Race No.924 past Pylon 7 and onto Pylon 8 during the Sunday Silver Final race. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379083072-RZPUH227KFTDVIHQZ8VV/7D98087A-B9D0-4F49-B203-AF136989AE47.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Two other Sea Furies, Dreadnaught (also owned by the Sanders Family) and Race No. 232 battle it out at Reno. Sea Furies are back with a vengeance. Photo: Michael Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379131988-A3G9JMBJYYCBG3V1HS8P/5EC37E38-38B1-43DE-9E6A-2EEB5A799C5A.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Photo via Argonaut website and Roger Cain Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379175136-JZ9W737J79XGDOWFKWTZ/E1C23C56-2069-4DB9-AADE-3B0C5DE1E197.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Photo via Argonaut website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379220493-JENVZIA4J03A2T7ZA68X/9D72557A-C1A6-4354-B4C5-B96B1F68E00C.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out Photo via Argonaut website by Scott Germain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630379245937-P35EGNLZB4T89A5D1OJJ/0E2F84D0-3079-4F4F-B0FA-3E5D07433E64.jpeg The Stories - CALL ME ARGONAUT - Make it stand out The biggest nose spinner in the business. Photo: Michael Henniger https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sky-surfer monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370448157-AV6KO6KADYJYTUYH8425/SkysurferTitle2.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370654467-7V8V1KU7ZE9X4EANX9H6/Skysurfer05.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On many of The Sky Surfer’s weekend “fun flights”, he is, like all of us, loath to wake and get to the hangar before the sun comes up. Sometimes the weather does not look promising either, but as he says: “The act of rolling the plane from the hangar completely changes my outlook. Like Clark Kent donning the Superman suit, I mental-morph into The Sky Surfer and quickly transition into Flight Mode. I decide to at least get airborne and see what type of headway into the wind is possible.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370687484-SB8FPS1UJGRRJ5A0N3KL/SkySurfer64.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Brian FitzGerald, The Sky Surfer, operates from Selby Aerodrome near Haysville, which is about 6 miles south and west of Wichita’s McConnell Air Force Base. The Selby grass strip runs left to right in the relative centre of this photo. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370727691-0HB3HL24JX1PFVARET7A/Skysurfer46.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer, Brian FitzGerald, shoots a photo of himself at about 1,000 feet. He sports goggles for want of a windshield and sound attenuators because the Quicksilver’s two-stroke engine sits just behind his head. Clearly, there is always the possibility that he might drop his camera and since there is no cockpit floor to speak of, he ropes the camera around his neck. Other than the goggles and ear protection, The Sky Surfer enjoys the total open cockpit feeling on a cool summer’s morning wearing just a t-shirt and board shorts. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370808160-CDS120LCR9F2MAHTIS98/Skysurfer17.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Not every flight in Kansas can be enjoyed wearing a T-shirt and shorts. In winter months, the open cockpit can be pretty darn cold, warranting a snowsuit and a full-face helmet. Photo: Rick Gerrard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370838246-I763KUQN2JZASE9SLWPJ/Skysurfer11.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer has rolled his Quicksilver from his hangar at the Selby, Kansas Aerodrome prior to another of his Fun Flights. Ground fog, a rarity in Kansas, is just burning off in the background. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370883309-21X2VOYIGMPQFT5LBY46/Skysurfer12.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out With ground fog all but gone, The Sky Surfer leaves the Selby Aerodrome pattern, climbing through 700 ft AGL (above ground level). The golden early morning light and the green of a strong early summer growing season make for a verdant image of Kansas... one many of us non-Kansans imagine when we think of that prairie state. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370911021-QZK18Z14BYL0Y60PGQ9Z/Skysurfer02.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Brian FitzGerald, aka The Sky Surfer, sets out on yet another of his “Fun Flights”, radiating outwards from his home aerodrome, and not always in fine weather. Turning to the east with the Ninnescah River and the pass between Derby and Mulvane, Kansas ahead, visibility seemed to be threatening to end this particular flight to Beaumont, Kansas. “I like to start a Fun Flight early in the morning heading into the wind so I can fly home with a tailwind. If I start early enough, most of the time the wind near the surface is nil. This general operating principle makes for the best ending to a Fun Flight—a tailwind home. Of course, the best of all flights is a tailwind in both directions. I have had that happen three times so far but obviously it is an exceedingly rare event.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370936990-LOHJAQJIMSR7VZ5SEMDQ/Skysurfer04.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On the same flight as the previous photograph, The Sky Surfer’s persistence pays off with a short break in the weather over the Flint Hills, but the misty conditions would persist through much of The Sky Surfer’s trip that day. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370963249-HEQIBEVEEA819KHMNYK1/SkySurfer78.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Arriving overhead the Beaumont, Kansas airport, and his final destination... breakfast at the historic Beaumont Hotel and Restaurant (centre). Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630370989927-1G6CH5MCWAC7OQ0MJRTY/SkySurfer77.jpg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The interior of the Beaumont is classic diner, with a welcoming nod to aviators. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371510717-M4CS50HVPS6QBHHF6LV9/06E0EEC0-B309-4ED0-9885-1A54C1185038.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out In Beaumont, The Sky Surfer landed and paid a visit to the historic Beaumont Hotel. While there may no longer be horses tied up in front of the old hotel, the Texas-plated pickup out in front had a bed full of tack for a cowboy. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371530634-1TI2NCNRYC45LCRH7FVF/303EF61D-9E1D-45D0-BC9E-E2BF067EE3B0.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Beaumont Hotel and Restaurant has a direct connection with the hamlet of Beaumont’s airfield, and in the park adjacent to the hotel, The Sky Surfer found a 1949 Beech D-18S formerly owned by McClung Aerial Spraying Inc. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371551571-GD77UYI4PIKEPPINZNPU/2532D2F9-4925-4F73-8517-3EE7FECB5120.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Suddenly Some Action! In the early morning light, on his way to Perry, Oklahoma, The Sky Surfer spooks a group of deer out of a tree line and into the open. “Inexplicably, but not uncommonly”, says FitzGerald “they head toward my line of travel.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371569885-USGXGIPJ0J2NFLXQQQAM/497EF2C7-3542-4B68-A963-31E7EEC005CB.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out A small herd of deer stampede in all directions through a field of newly sown corn, panicked by the large and noisy bird of prey. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371587804-VCKMPV7VJW48GAHGOFZV/6AE38DE6-98FD-4215-B09E-61021B504C4A.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Downtown Tonkawa, Oklahoma, looking east. One of the great pleasures enjoyed by The Sky Surfer is to set out for a distant and yet unvisited town and to land there and do a little exploring on foot. So many of the small towns, like Tonkawa (seen here) are centred around massive white grain elevators, towering over the city like a lone apartment building. During the Second World War, Tonkawa was home to Camp Tonkawa, a German Prisoner of War camp. Tonkawa is about as far from the Vaterland as one could imagine. Camp Tonkawa remained in operation from 30 August 1943 to 1 September 1945. Built between October and December 1942, the 160-acre site contained more than 180 wooden structures for 3,000 German POWs as well as 500 U.S. Army guard troops, service personnel and civilian employees. The first prisoners, consisting of German troops from the Afrika Corps, arrived in August 1943. During their internment, prisoners laboured at local farms and ranches. In November 1943, a prison riot caused the death of a German soldier, Johannes Kunze. Eight prisoners briefly escaped, only to be recaptured. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371651255-IZ12DKTFQIC6JZGUP5QA/301B32E4-57A2-45B9-AFC7-F4B3621F298D.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Out on the Oklahoma prairie, oil and gas share the landscape with crops and cattle. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371679663-M2GH9SJDDW35HAWSNOQ0/FEB13C5D-B5E9-48B3-9236-D4D9787110AA.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Who says there aren’t any tree huggers in America’s heartland? Near Tonkawa, Oklahoma, a farmer has long ago decided that the tree stays, the farm goes around it. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371731260-3NP2IDS4AOTOZIPEXJUC/90AAC2D4-725D-42E3-AC04-41154B46FE70.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On a lake in Kansas, in what looks like pretty windy conditions, The Sky Surfer captures a lone fisherman casting a seine net into Cheney Lake, Kansas. Cheney Reservoir was constructed in 1965 and its contained lake consists of 9,600 surface acres of water. Cheney Lake State Park consists of 1,913 acres in three counties on the south end of the lake. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371784960-UOR3VXJ8Z3ERL2VBYF79/5DF63507-EC72-46AC-8AEF-4DFBC5AC25D6.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Here’s something you don’t see every day in America's Heartland. On the outskirts of Wichita, The Sky Surfer comes across a cricket pitch and club! “At first I thought they were out doing some type of model airplane competition. I have seen guys years ago set up on a similar strip and try to cut ribbons off the other guy’s tail. But, the closer I got, I realized it was a cricket match. I didn’t want to get too close as that is not ‘cricket’ but they waved and I shot these pix. All of them had on proper uniforms and I was able to see a couple of pitches before I left the area.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371818792-Q6LYSK2N8KRZL2Q9PCMF/BC9B6D47-B484-439D-A952-EA627FFC08A4.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Near Haysville, Kansas, The Sky Surfer finds a collection of 1970s gas-guzzling cars and trucks, protected from prying eyes and thieves by a high fence. The Sky Surfer has found that this type of collection is quite common throughout his flying range and is only viewable from above. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371836868-4SZWYMS7UQXB6VP4DTGW/E490DB8B-1253-4EF2-AE26-043797DB3B7E.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The water is low on the Ninnescah River, an important stream of southern Kansas composed of two branches. The main stream flows southeast and empties its waters into the Arkansas River near the town of Oxford, Sumner county. The Sky Surfer says: “Every few years the Ninnescah River fills up to the limit of its banks. As seen in the photo above, though, it is about as low as it gets. Things have been dry around here for the last two years and the river reflects that situation.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371858215-H0PXJGYVBMCN1ZUEF6XB/F00A9331-03D9-4DE0-9E4E-764AF2811A7C.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Flying over Frog Holler Paintball Field near Derby, Kansas, about a mile from his home aerodrome. Down below, three groups of players gather to plan or debrief. The Sky Surfer tells us: “I rarely have flown over ‘The Holler’ when it isn’t Rockin’ and Rollin’. These guys are dedicated! I have seen teams hustling, manoeuvring and crawling through the grass in 105 degree heat during the summer. They have a little town, wooded areas, big tire areas, fortified positions, all that stuff. It is a major facility. I NEED to try this.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371884147-706LVBV01NY3T14VH3ZS/9D5B3FDB-BF0C-4C67-BE98-357F9D4C679E.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer loves to set out on flights to visit old friends, like Lawrence Alley, seen here at the door of his new hangar at the end of Alley Field, Kansas. The Sky Surfer’s Quicksilver MXL cools down on the background. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371907281-5NHUKK9UFPNY1BDRYOF9/B4B1C688-BAF4-4016-AEE6-A00D4132CD12.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Wherever you go in the United States, or Canada for that matter, buildings that look simple and even ordinary from above often contain remarkable collections that speak to the passion for automotive and aviation history embraced by so many. “After I deplaned,” said The Sky Surfer “I learned that Lawrence had just finished showing his brother’s Chevy to a prospective buyer who had driven out from Kansas City to look at it. I believe he told me it only has 44,000 miles. The engine starts right up and there is no rust on it. If you are looking for a classic like this, give him a call. I think it is a 1953.” FitzGerald’s ability with the camera captures many simple, yet telling, portraits of all that is great about America. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371937854-LID9U63H3QHJRJVC4JS7/5DFEC890-0241-418F-A645-07F81A300CD6.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out After a flight to Doug Moler’s High Point, Kansas airfield fly-in, The Sky Surfer decorated his Quicksilver MXL with some celebratory streamers, reminiscent of the days of the First World War when flight leaders streamed banners behind them in order to be clearly identified. Photo: Doug Moler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371962327-QCDGE21N69JJYVEBQ1K1/C8D50D8F-A6EA-4B78-BEA0-7B8E8BF8A0D7.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Another beautiful shot from the High Point Aerodrome. Photo: Doug Moler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630371981686-WD2SN3CZRFU271LW4CNB/15FD7FAD-1999-45F8-9BB0-D297163207D0.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer in all his glory and pageantry. Photo: Doug Moler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630372004885-YTBHPS7V3D9DRSSFBM2I/88A38E56-7BD2-4226-B463-33224C614342.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Flying high over the airfield at High Point where Doug and Sabrina Moler host a fly-in, The Sky Surfer shoots Breezy owner Dave Blanton giving rides. “The first time I saw a Breezy was at a Fly-In at Woodland, California back in the 1960s. I thought they were cool then and they still are. Like the flying I do, ‘aviating’ in a Breezy puts you out in the air where you can really feel it.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630372033634-13TNLO0QEZIGETHQTQML/4FD3173F-9284-4536-8AD3-F1E8B8623EEB.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The High Point Airpark, where the Molers hold their annual fly-in, is part of Valley Center, Kansas, a pleasant, small town on the north side of Wichita. Overflying downtown Valley Center during another visit to High Point a year later, The Sky Surfer arrived overhead during a parade, part of the 51st Annual Fall Festival. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630372099087-FGJOTV3LFDOP9UHQKYWU/E835D183-83C1-4698-93A1-D0979F9D012A.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Not all the sights below bring joy, but they all bring a new perspective. Here, a fire has destroyed someone’s dreams. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630373454923-VTP4S6KUMEIGEMZ41HE7/7D526E48-EEFA-48B5-ADE7-900EC5D6E60D.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The patterns seen from the air offer constant wonder to The Sky Surfer. Here, he takes a photo of cattle which, to him, seemed like “fleas on a rhino’s back”. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630373482418-P54Q6IDRQNU738DPZ4YL/0915AAB3-3952-48F2-A227-9D37B411BBE7.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On one particular flight, The Sky Surfer headed south to seek out the famed Oklahoma Salt Flats, just below the Kansas-Oklahoma border. In this stunning shot, the verdant green plain gives way to the toxic uplifting of an ancient sea bed and its salt residue. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630373537810-QFYM60YRG3PG35EPKYXK/C19AF654-D90F-4737-B8E5-8F80CA3C6893.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Coming home from the same outing as the previous salt flat photo, The Sky Surfer overflies an entirely different scene, one with greenery, life-giving soil, and the man-made Anthony Municipal Lake, outside of Anthony, Kansas. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375830181-VZ0H1L8E0EOHKB53TL2X/EE0DA546-25E8-44FC-80DC-C55598B16F95.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Large homes on the outskirts of Wichita provide a more urban pattern. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375852152-R23FSAD9FR6DMRADP192/1E671FB1-B774-4016-81B3-35B6FDD5B0BD.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Flying all over the area near Wichita, The Sky Surfer has a good handle on development and new construction. Here he flies over a new retail development with plenty of parking space near Mulvane, Kansas. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375873543-9RABZEE0ID1R0GEKRO9J/6B25AF19-3F85-4C0F-BAC3-AC58E23E2728.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer’s home base at Selby Aerodrome is near this sand pit, one of his favourite aerial subjects. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375909528-062CD4XYFU2JVDUXRVV6/A22DF25B-47B9-4D98-95E4-721ED833CDDA.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out A traditional round milk house caught in the late afternoon sun makes an historic subject. With mechanized dairy farming the norm, sights like this classic architectural icon are mostly a thing of the past. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375928093-1TLXZPQ1HFXBD5UC3HDW/5F662179-2440-4EF0-834D-A56DA3EB2338.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Many of the small towns of the American Midwest are built around massive grain elevators and a rail line. This is Waldron, Kansas, where Tammy Faye Bakker, of streaming mascara fame, is buried. Tammy was born Tammy Faye LaValley in International Falls, Minnesota, but divorced and remarried after the fall and imprisonment of Jim Bakker. Her second husband, a Kansan from Waldron, Roe Messner, fared about as well as Bakker, filing for bankruptcy, being convicted of bankruptcy fraud and then imprisoned. Tammy Faye is laid to rest in the Messner family plot in Waldron. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375960827-AMKPBP2V6H547VKQX2LO/B596A759-57EC-428B-AA5D-09A10760A2BE.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Bound for either Harper or Anthony, Kansas from his home field at Selby, The Sky Surfer got a little disoriented and put down in Wakita, Kansas to take some bearings. The town beckoned and he made his usual reconnaissance on foot. “I stepped out on Main Street and there was no one around except the town greeter ‘Buddy’ (in street above). He introduced himself by coming up silently from behind me and nudging my right leg as he swung past me wagging his tail. He really caught me by surprise.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630375979271-TFO9YI5YKX37TD0RNZ0C/326171F2-94E8-4A0B-A7FC-EA4A77FC9891.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Though I love the photographs The Sky Surfer takes from the air, I have to admit it is the images of ordinary Americans on the ground in small-town Kansas and Oklahoma that I love the most. They exude a simple, wry and welcome image of a country I love very much. The Sky Surfer relates the background behind this shot: “Inside Farmers Grain Company (in non-bustling downtown Wakita) I met Jerry Reese and Herman Conrady. Jerry had seen me fly over and asked me if I was flying a Quicksilver to which I replied in the affirmative. He knew quite a bit about ultralights and asked about the motor and such. I invited him to come over and look at it but he was too busy working and obliged not. Both were intrigued that I had flown all the way from Wichita.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376000918-T1WS1R84K02W10QIRFUV/D608EF8C-FC76-4AFF-B6E9-0DAD5A0FD482.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Sometimes, The Sky Surfer has a less than ideal field to take off from. This one at Wakita, Kansas with long grass is not uncommon. Of this takeoff, he says: “The view from my sparse cockpit just before popping full power. NOTE: In case you ‘Sharp Observer Types’ are looking at my altimeter and thinking I must have landed below sea level—not quite. I always set my altimeter to be at 0 feet at my home field. I am only interested in AGL (Above Ground Level) altitude. Thus from the picture above we deduce that Wakita is approximately 90 feet lower than Selby Aerodrome. Takeoff was uneventful. The big wings of my MXL allow for excellent soft field takeoffs. Within moments I had cleared the field and was climbing like a banshee.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376018805-FKYNSSLOXDWGLQKFKJKE/EB521C5F-2E68-4C16-8544-9FA485C806FB.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out A large holding pond on a farm near Anthony, Kansas. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376039383-AOK7IY40W2O9T8GF4KCG/22F43BDC-F9F8-4D78-9514-3B9DC49846E8.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Near Harper, Kansas, The Sky Surfer grabs a photo of an auto wrecking yard, something one rarely sees from the ground as they are usually “bylawed” into having a high fence surrounding to lessen the visual pollution. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376055975-4785B5PIJ41IPOM9Y01M/0FE5A871-7306-4EE8-8C26-8D29AD21E817.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Sometimes, like many NORDO sport aviators, The Sky Surfer navigates using the highway version of the old “iron compass” trick of following rail lines to an eventual destination. Here he navigates along Kansas Highway K-15 heading to Udall, Kansas. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376072159-6HKB48H5CN21F5FMYGRT/C21327A2-5637-4E32-BB41-BC766BB39E90.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Low and slow over new wheat doing well in the sun en route to Caldwell, Kansas, the Border Queen, southwest of The Sky Surfer’s home base at Selby, a suburb of Wichita. With his pusher prop behind him, The Sky Surfer can draw in only the smells of dew-laden wheat and the morning sun. The uniformity of the wheat can give great joy to a man out looking for simple pleasures. Of that morning, FitzGerald said: “Not just acres of wheat—MILES of Wheat!” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376105023-QHI8OEY1KKTWQJQW2XL5/623E2853-7F72-4348-B04E-E56E1FE0933C.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Bales of feed hay pepper fields next to the Chikaskia River with the white grain elevators of Caldwell, Kansas on the horizon in the distance. Known as the Border Queen, Caldwell is but a few kilometres from the Oklahoma border. The Chikaskia River is a 159-mile-long tributary of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma in the United States. Via the Salt Fork and Arkansas rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The water The Sky Surfer is crossing here will eventually make it all the way to New Orleans—the Big Easy. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376145337-CZB9823FGCF0GXF8FD23/E495DE6E-33EF-41A0-BB32-82165A38CA6D.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Flying low over an endless stretch of newly sprouted wheat, The Sky Surfer approaches Caldwell, Kansas. Typical of almost every Kansas town, nothing is evident on the horizon save the white grain elevators, looking like a condo tower rising above the prairie. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376194264-A585HY6BSH282NVEECJ6/19E9747C-C9A3-4F40-B63E-EA9D927F7CBE.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer circles Caldwell, Kansas, flying at 400 feet north to south and looking west over the big grain elevators on North Arapaho Street, next to the rail line. Like many of the towns that The Sky Surfer visits in his Quicksilver, Caldwell beckoned to be walked at ground level. “One thing I like about many of the small town airports”, says FitzGerald “is that they are close enough to town that I can walk to downtown from the airport. That is a real plus. Caldwell Municipal [airport] is only a mile from town. Besides being close, Caldwell Municipal features a perfect tree line/wind belt at the south end of the field. There were excellent tie-downs for my ultralight as well!” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376213459-YVWPFC1HAV24F9DSFOPZ/AFDB8DC3-2309-4D30-BEE8-AAAC29C28E5B.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The corner of Main Street and Central is looking pretty deserted, but then, it’s still early in the morning. The gift of flight extends to the streets of the towns The Sky Surfer explores. The website for Caldwell shows us that it is very proud of its Wild West heritage: “Caldwell was founded in 1871 astride the then new Chisholm Trail as an economic adventure of a group of Wichita entrepreneurs. The trail, running from Texas to the Intercontinental Railroad in northern Kansas, guided over a million longhorn steers and their guardian cowboys through Caldwell. This vintage cowtown—a place of cowboys, saloons, gambling, and violence—boasted a longer cowtown period (1880–1885), a higher murder rate, and loss of more law enforcement officers than other more famous cowtowns. Being the first town north of Indian Territory, cowboys went wild in this untamed ‘Border Queen City’ after months on the dusty and treacherous trail. Gunfights, showdowns, hangings and general hellraising were commonplace. From these true stories came the romanticized American cowboy and the love of the Wild West. In 1893, Caldwell was also a starting point for the famous Cherokee Strip Land Run, when Oklahoma Territory was opened for homesteaders to stake land claims.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376231548-82XQ59V4RLOO4V43ZWTT/ECC33D08-1410-453B-9CF8-F8EFAD0727D8.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out FitzGerald’s abilities in the air and with a camera are equalled by his innate ability to make friends in a short time. His photographs of the men and women of the small towns of rural Kansas make his website far more and far better than just an aviation site. Feeling hungry and in need of a coffee, he stopped in to the 1-Stop Café...“Pretty soon I was in conversation with the group of gentlemen pictured here—Bob Burns, Richard White, Don Schmitz, Gary Ginn and Jack Hajek. Most of them were farmers—retired or active—in this area. I told them how wonderful the wheat looked from the air and how I appreciated their town. They informed me I had every right to be impressed with the wheat crop as this county (Sumner County) is known as ‘The Wheat Capital of the World’. I don’t know if my observation makes me really smart or really dumb. Mostly I liked the fact that ‘Wheat Capital’ would be another great hook for this story already replete with Chisholm Trail and Cowboy references. As I learned about wheat from The Masters, Richard White cautioned me that beautiful fields of wheat can be turned to junk this time of year if the hail falls. This brought to mind the plight of the folks of Norman, Oklahoma who had been devastated by a tornado a few days earlier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376260334-R7OF3OF660P98938Z7L7/FF283FAF-D49D-45E1-BBE3-3F7A1AC96C23.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer’s hangar mate, an Air Bike owned by Wayne Clevenger, sits out on the grass of the Selby Aerodrome with the Quicksilver. The weather seemed OK for some ultralight flying, though stormy looking clouds were gathering on the horizon. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376282608-8FCCUO22B9FIQTENTYHS/14393677-D681-4BA8-85C3-B070FE4C0577.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Hailstorms and ultralights should never mix... under any circumstances. With this nasty looking Wizard-of-Ozian storm approaching, the men worked to get their fragile aircraft to the relative safety of their hangar. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376305940-R85Z6PRR5UAIVT77D3XI/2A9D7370-E4F6-4925-98D0-147B64C1A7B7.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out The Sky Surfer, Brian FitzGerald (right), and his pal Don Force, hold the evidence in their hands of a true Kansan hailstorm, something we would never see in these Canadian parts—hail stones the size of squash balls... only heavier and travelling at terminal velocity. The damage these could do to a fabric covered ultralight like a Quicksilver or an Air Bike would pretty well be total on the ground and deadly in the air. Photos via each other https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376348875-QUGXOXA38WH6Y5AYRN7S/64210125-C6FF-4334-956D-5A0CC054E1EF.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Following the rail line through the towns of Caldwell, Corbin and Perth, Kansas en route to Wellington, The Sky Surfer comes upon some railroad work. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376423197-PD9W1WFC11GDQLCQKVI3/BF4BBF29-BBA3-4E4E-ACF1-49866CEE9AF6.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Wheat is still carried out America’s breadbasket in rail cars, so the road beds have to be maintained. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376468600-6BD2I1F6AXQ9C6PVWH0S/BD0F7585-F645-4EA3-8D11-EADBA50340C6.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376502440-P9KW05S9IVBEOFX38BC2/E737B193-DD95-4EFE-BFAB-9B5078883BA9.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376524520-8T329FWVJIHT8IOA3XFQ/6A75DC3F-C6C6-44C0-B616-E85E35F27F68.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376549700-69NH6IP1MC0IVXNFUELM/B81E5D00-37FB-499A-A7A0-AC1BB32FE625.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376570778-YP6W0T3XWMFUXQSU4209/351DCDB6-D977-4424-A26E-242EFBF88A4D.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Another paintball park on the outskirts of Wichita with Highway 400 in the background. It seems that paintball is a sport much embraced in the Midwest. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376587520-YEZSCYRNXVYYIR6XRUFM/6FCE8C25-E2EF-4ED9-B1A1-A0AA91A86368.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Sometimes, I think it is a wonder that The Sky Surfer gets anywhere at all, given the amount of time he spends circling landmarks and points of interest en route. From the air, ordinary things like paintball parks, ponds, field patterns, railways and more take on a new perspective and a new life, one that is worthy of a few minutes of contemplation. Here, he simply liked the way these hay bales cast shadows at the end of the day... I do too. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376617958-SCZYI4U4RNZEYDS9KNIG/571D6FF9-AD6F-4A33-B152-339C0C687799.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Fun Flights involve getting up early, but the payoff is seeing the world and the weather in all its beauty when most folks (at least the city folks) are still warmly tucked into bed. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376634831-X8KED7VZNTPOKB6ONGBS/B883EB00-A852-4947-91DD-FD855CB47142.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out En route to Bartlesville, The Sky Surfer encounters the rolling hills of the Oklahoma Badlands and more trees than one would find in Kansas. Of the Badlands and their increasingly poor choices for landing possibilities, The Sky Surfer says: “It is important when flying an ultralight powered by a two-stroke motor to be on the constant lookout for landing spots. As I came closer to the Oklahoma Badlands, this became more challenging. Not only were forested areas increasing but the ground surface was becoming much rockier.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376680033-VKG9IOJDJNAMYUPTQAX8/4BDC75A0-C7EB-4F8F-8814-F7A7E713676B.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Out in the Oklahoma Badlands, The Sky Surfer comes across an abandoned homestead, slipping quietly into ruin. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376699577-E5SE6CJNHAQHB74AHKAQ/FB810A9D-1C66-45F8-92A3-7FEFB98AF6D8.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out En route to Bartlesville, The Sky Surfer follows one of the symbols of America’s untamed West: “I popped over a ridge and saw the rising dust of a commotion ahead. Upon further examination it was a herd of wild horses—mustangs—running wild in the Badlands. Very picturesque, even if I was the only one to see this. I took a few shots so you could witness them, too. While viewing this, the thought occurred to me: Is something beautiful if no one is there to see it? (I know my answer to that question).” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376720143-7Y7O8ZRY96K33AZREUJ0/8FA08500-CD4E-49A6-8EF7-320B23E6C710.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Constantly on the hunt for emergency landing areas, The Sky Surfer always tries to have a plan. “At first, I meandered in order to cross over meadows. Then I stayed over any of the pickup/4 wheeler trails I saw below. I figured they would be possibly smoother should I need to land in a hurry.” Later in his flight to Bartlesville, The Sky Surfer decided to “drop down for a minute and look at the map to get a more accurate fix of my position. Whenever I decide to purposely land out in the country my technique is to make at least 2 and as many as 4 passes over an intended landing spot to get a close look at the ground. If you examine any pictures of my MXL you can see there is very little ground clearance to the axle. The Quicksilver has no suspension either. The only ‘give’ in the system is from the softness of the tires. I can land on a fairly bumpy grass surface but surface rocks that are other than mostly flat (like near Sedan, Kansas) must be avoided. My candidate landing zone for that morning is shown below. After making 3 passes over the grass part of it I did not have high confidence there were no rocks hiding within. I decided to put ’er down on the service road. In my flying I have always avoided landing on County Roads because they have ditches on either side and usually feature barb wire fences next to them. As low as my plane sits on the ground, these are hazards I don’t need to invite. Mowed hay fields work just fine as landing fields so that’s what I use. Since there weren’t any around here the service road looked like a good alternative. From now on I will always use these service roads. This one was ideal.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376741234-9NXS5FBIQNS2I5J4OJB4/FBBEF8C6-4B72-4FCE-91A5-9144E722FEF2.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On another flight, this time to Hominy, Oklahoma, The Sky Surfer puts his Quicksilver down on an oil access road in order to consult a map, before pressing on. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376761687-RI3CCJBZ6X4G9EDZROC3/C9E752AF-3825-44E4-818E-A2EABB553670.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out En route to Hominy, The Sky Surfer comes across a spooked herd of wild mustangs and follows it for a while. Nothing speaks to the image of the Wild West better than running wild horses—an image of independence, freedom and open land. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376782621-A0KUDQOX097J6WFC7AYN/DAECB672-3F2D-40F9-AF39-1F2167898B9D.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out On most of his visits to distant communities in Oklahoma and Kansas, The Sky Surfer lands at small municipal airports and it is here that he runs into like-minded Americans with a love of aviation and all the independence it brings. In nearly every airfield, there exists a wonderful vintage aircraft find and the man or woman whose passion it is to keep it flying. Here, Hominy resident and former professional pilot in the petroleum sector, Jerry Jackson takes the tarp of his prized possession, a well-loved 1946 Ercoupe. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376799973-CES4UH1D3DPO2D3FMCVT/12F5A266-4606-4399-AB05-37923CC61D04.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Power lines, the bane of an ultralight pilot’s existence, make for a beautiful shot at the end of a long day of flying to and from Hominy, Oklahoma. Of his visit to the small Oklahoma community, Sky Surfer says: “Even though Hominy, Oklahoma is not the ‘Home of Grits’, it has an interesting heritage. I discovered a pleasant town where people appreciate ‘the small town life’. I liked it a lot and will return!” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376820576-TU1GOOPBEWXKJX5MQHSB/4D344F34-6560-4298-8F4B-9D562E2FDC3C.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out “About 5 miles northwest of Bartlesville’s Frank Phillips Field, I saw these striking, dramatic patterns of rock interwoven with grass. There are quite a few of them out that way. I can’t remember having ever seen anything like them before. From the air it appears that a huge stone set at the surface has been fractured over time by exposure to cycles of hot and cold. It is interesting that the fractures are very evenly spaced and mostly parallel. They give me the impression of Scottish Tartans.” Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376844595-FC0TWZRHQ1F24PSJUFKE/14618702-31A4-4C6E-89FE-E05784572AF4.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out If there is one thing that can be drawn from all these collected photos, it is that Kansans and Oklahomans are independent people, willing to conduct free and strong lives far from the consumerism that besets urban life. Here, out on the vast Kansan plain, a lone white trailer hides as far from the grid as possible. Perhaps it houses a budding Unabomber, but more likely a welcoming person who talks slow, never badmouths anyone, speaks only to the facts, gets by without government and loves to hunt. Here’s to The Sky Surfer and his fellow Americans. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376893440-CEY4PLZYBGF7H20OOK9R/3A38F0C8-25C9-4743-8FD9-55219B70AAE4.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out Not every moment on The Sky Surfer’s day is rich with the joys of free flight, open space and clean country air. Here, at a place called Cherokee Strip, The Sky Surfer thought he would make a shortcut across a dry field. After getting about halfway across the field, the ultralight Quicksilver came to a slow and heavy stop so, thinking it was simply the grade that caused the slowdown, he gave her more power... lots more power. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376911367-NRMV5LE9UMJDTWXWW8KO/4E8DD709-E56A-4547-BAAE-6420F2CDDC8A.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out After rolling through the heavy mud, the wheels and tires then collected an outer skin of gravel. We call this aggregate concrete where I come from. Photo: Brian FitzGerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630376933788-CSS2TS5CUJ0D1GVNVNCA/A45B4D6F-EFF7-44FE-992E-04442A6E2E28.jpeg The Stories - SKY SURFER — A Kansan’s Journey’s of Discovery - Make it stand out No worries though... The Sky Surfer had his friend and sidekick Brian FitzGerald scrape the whole mess off. Photo: Tommy Randall https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/kids-these-days monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369253720-A478WELH6AI8R4MPOX7X/KidsTheseDays1.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369701391-W3ARC7K6HIJJ3L7A2ORJ/KidsTheseDays6.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out It doesn't take a clairvoyant to see the strong future in the eyes of young Warrant Officer First Class Chris Ducas, seen here leading his class of recently promoted cadets in a march past at the Trenton Air Cadet Summer Training Centre (TACSTC 2009). The Vintage Wings of Canada Yellow Wings 2013 tour will find and inspire young men and women like Chris to reach their full and awesome potential. Photo: Dean Ducas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369861204-CXYVYWVZPQKJW1Z94KJ1/KidsTheseDays9.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out Volunteer pilots like Nova Scotia's George King will take leading cadets on a flight into history to share with them the stories of men like 95-year-old Archie Pennie, who, during the Second World War, taught a squadron's worth of young pilots to fly, fight and survive the coming ordeal. Archie's story is one of a hundred thousand that together tell the story of a country that found the leaders it needed in a time of peril. To fly back in time and experience the same sights, smells, sounds and feelings as these heroes, will inspire young people like this cadet to look deep inside themselves to find the same degree of worthiness. King and his fellow pilots donate their time and expenses to the program. Photo: Yellow Wings Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369889532-HABPF4B8ZD289TUNAKWN/KidsTheseDays12.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out How do we know that the cadet program works? Witness the story of Cadet Jeremy Hansen (left) who, as a young cadet meeting fighter pilots of the Canadian Forces, set his sights on being just that. Captain Jeremy Hansen (middle), a CF-18 Hornet fighter pilot just a few short years later, asked Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (himself a former Cadet) for advice on how to achieve a similar goal. It was Chris' inspiration and advice that turned Cadet Hansen into Astronaut Hansen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369913358-SIAQEPGHRY3RVSZWELS0/GoingHome8.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out Rob Fleck, Vintage Wings of Canada pilot and President, tells assembled Canadian Cadets about Vintage Wings of Canada, the Mustang IV and the story of the Robillard Brothers, Larry and Rocky, two Second World War fighter pilots to whom the aircraft is dedicated. These young people will go on to careers in every field possible, but they will do so understanding their place in our remarkable history. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369945717-IQW0LWGTBEV926G0SG3R/KidsTheseDays8.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out Tomorrow's leaders, like Warrant Officer First Class Chris Ducas, are on the right track. Let's let them know it. Photo: Dean Ducas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630369984308-SUE1H0U9H8A2HV11NAIH/KidsTheseDays10.jpg The Stories - KIDS THESE DAYS - Make it stand out It takes a trip back in time to see the way forward. He'll lead the way, you just have to back him. Photo: Yellow Wings Tour https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/spitbits monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366490506-CPHYHVHK5797UVVKRG8Q/SpitBits15.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366518853-2XWW1DIAD0I8VBHDVX9H/SpitBits04.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out The rotted remains of Spitfire TE 294 as recovered from Snake Valley, South Africa in 1988. All that remained of the fuselage were corroded components, but there in lay the DNA of a Spitfire built in 1945 to chase the enemy from the skies of Europe. While nothing of significance could be utilized for the rebirth of a Spitfire that will become The Roseland Spitfire, all of TE 294's earthly remains were packaged up and shipped to the volunteers at the Comox Air Force Museum. Some of the aluminum from the original wing skins is now part of these unique medallions. This particular Spitfire was originally built by Vickers Armstrong, at their Castle Bromwich factory and on completion was delivered to 39MU at RAF Colerne in the Cotswalds on June 9th, 1945. Fitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin 70 engine, it was originally intended for service use as a high altitude interceptor fighter, but never actually saw wartime service. Later, it was delivered to 122 Squadron RAF in 1946, until being sold to the South African Air Force (SAAF) on August 7th. 1947. TE 294 was flown out to South Africa (in stages) and on arrival in South Africa it was allocated the Serial number 5519 on the 13th of December 1947. It then was flown at Waterkloof Air Station, and suffered minor damage in accidents but these were repaired. Eventually it suffered major damage when the undercarriage collapsed on landing January 4th 1951. On the 22nd of January 1951, TE 294 was struck off charge, and sold to the South African Metal Company, who in turn sold it to the SAAF Museum. Mr. Mark DeVries acquired the remains of TE 294 in South Africa and brought them to Vancouver, BC, Canada with the intention of eventually restoring the aircraft. Mr. DeVries agreed to sell the aircraft and surplus parts to the Comox Air Force Museum in late 1999 and TE 294 was to be under restoration at Comox Air Force Museum to be restored as Y2K - a 442 Squadron wartime Mk IX Spitfire. Photo via Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366575066-LIJHEO746QFWXEX5Q6J2/SpitBits10.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out In order to make a reasonable likeness of a Spitfire from hardened 70 year old aluminum, the die had to be struck four or five times. The stamped effigy is seen at the top left. Experiments with finishing, including sandblasting and polishing showed us that the best result was to stamp, sandblast, and polish (lower right). Photos: Landsharkz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366615154-GUJ0E0TJCBIRBYZVV8S9/SpitBits06.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out There were only 300 of these historic medallions made, and each one is sequentially numbered starting at Number 300 and ending at 600. This was done so that the numbering sequence would encompass the numbers of the RCAF squadrons (400 to 449), the Royal Australian Air Force (450 to 479) and the Royal New Zealand Air Force (485 to 499). Anyone wishing to have a specific serial number relating to their favourite or father's squadron may ask for it specifically. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366659706-LK6I25CNGJFZA6VS0U1Y/SpitBits11.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out Your Roseland Spitfire Medallion can be purchased displayed in a wooden display box, hand crafted personally by the President of the Air Force Association of Canada, Colonel Terry Chester, a former RCAF Navigator and Pilot on the CP-107 Argus patrol bomber and then as a pilot on the CP-140 Aurora and E-3 Sentry AWACS with over 10,000 hours flight time. The wooden boxes are made from select eastern black walnut and feature finger joints with matched walnut panels, rebated hinges, a green flocked foam insert and an imbedded magnetic catch. Each hand-made wooden box required twelve hours to make and finish, and there are only one hundred of them available. Each box comes with a certificate of authenticity printed onto metal and affixed to the underside of the lid–each one signed personally by the legendary fighter ace and Spitfire pilot, Wing Commander James Francis “Stocky” Edwards. Edwards has followed the project from its inception in Comox many years ago and will be on hand when she flies in just a couple of short years. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366692721-DDK28OGGT077GQAKMYA7/SpitBits03.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out The Roseland Spitfire Medallion can be acquired on its own or packaged in two very appropriate manners. For just $149.00, you can acquire the medallion packaged in an aluminum watchmaker's case, mounted in green flocked foam. The case itself is hand-painted in a “Royal Air Force Spitfire” camouflage design with a see-through glass cap so that you can admire your Roseland Spitfire Medallion and your tiny piece of aviation history for years to come. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366810891-PHWD3XATZ5S8ECXM3B40/SpitBits02-1.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out A view of the watchmaker's camouflaged cases. The reverse side of the medallion depicts the Vintage Wings squadron patch and carried serial number, while the obverse presents the contours of the Spitfire, made from the actual aluminum from Spitfire TE 294. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366786739-UPW55L9VUQSRPBTVCFVZ/SpitBits05.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out The underside of the watchmaker's cases carry the Vintage Wings of Canada logo and Roseland Spitfire name. Each watchmaker case with medallion purchased comes with a certificate of authenticity. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366929374-VROXCNSHZDDNP4KD66E9/SpitBits09.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Arnold “Rosey” Roseland was a gifted and much loved flight leader with 442 Squadron. He began his Second World War combat career flying P-40 Kittyhawks on the West Coast of British Columbia and then went on to Spitfires, flying out of Great Britain and France. He was shot down and killed during a dog fight with Luftwaffe Messerschmitts overt the small French farming town of St. Martin de Mailloc. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366956968-18Q2H5QNLSEHKNDBU1C1/SpitBits12.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out In Comox, the team has made huge strides. Here, Second World war Spitfire ace, Stocky Edwards and Vintage wings Founder, Honorary Colonel of the Snowbirds, Mike Potter, himself a current Spitfire pilot review the progress of the restoration of TE 294 at the Comox Air Force Museum facility where the Spitfire work is being done. Photo: Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630366990649-7UCAVUBA4ZXQ051MUALV/Spitbits13.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out A close up view of the Roseland Spitfire's cockpit reveals the exceptional quality of the workmanship and the close-to-completion finish. Photo: Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630367026775-C60DW6OSRYD2H1QAQGNS/SpitBits14.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out At the Vintage Wings hangar in Gatineau Québec,aircraft structures expert Ken Wood makes steady progress on the Roseland Spitfire's wings. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630367124603-N8CGY35YZ35SK1O2WQCB/GoingDown15.jpg The Stories - SPITBITS — A Legend in You Pocket - Make it stand out The completed Roseland Spitfire Mk IX https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sweet-dreams-and-nightmares monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275234682-NQUPAO9SEC21KBGVQ4PC/6CD4A070-0452-4E13-A8B9-0C81CEDCAE42.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275286920-LOWD2IDJXKNDROIJPW1P/86A3C447-74FF-498E-8E3B-556C2959A09B.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out While fighter aircraft and bombers would have no future use after the global conflict of the Second World War, surely the plethora of the versatile, but now-silent Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Cansos could be put to some alternate use. Here, an aerial view of the seaplane base and ramps at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida in October 1945, shows nearly 75 of the dependable but surplus flying boats tied up and awaiting their fates. Photo via The Flying Boat Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275366220-A2I1U45ETWKITU0TDXGM/D2BF73A2-0534-43EB-8C53-A9A165145CF0.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out This photograph appears to be taken on the ground of the same group of Catalinas from the previous photograph. Both were taken at Jacksonville in 1945. A quick check back and forth shows me that the second Cat on the right row is dark and the third Cat in the left row is also dark in both images, leading me to believe the two images are of the same line-up of surplus Catalinas. Photo via The Flying Boat Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275394643-3GPTAXEOO98X3HZI0HEY/293F9C95-D119-45FD-A44D-EF655BFE14F8.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275455961-DS48Q3JDCH3GYY47WBR7/886E601B-12A0-4BBA-9F7E-ECEA7F7B38BD.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A newly fitted-out PBY-5A Catalina “Landseaire” (N69043) flying yacht awaits the arrival of her guests at the Convair (former Consolidated) factory in San Diego, California in February 1950. This particular Catalina was made at Consolidated’s San Diego Plant as Bu34045 (US Navy). The photographs of this part of the story all come from Time Life’s archive and are meant to demonstrate how the rich and famous lived at that time—private airplane, pretty girls and booze. Some Landseaire conversions had retractable stairs fitted just aft of the planing bottom, but this version has a simple ladder. According to brochures, when the amphibian is afloat, the steps or ladder make useful diving platforms. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275488735-H6FGVC6TESYTKP37PBZ3/F5BBBD6C-FC72-43F6-8497-5AD4A408AFB8.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Here, Glenn Odekirk (centre) chats with pilots and mechanics prior to the day’s outing and photo shoot. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275525993-JLR11YLZ9FJGO2RZ80IU/4C419D37-1053-4BE2-93B9-1849D71C28A0.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Convair mechanics and Southern California Aircraft Corp.’s passengers discuss the coming flight, which was likely pitched and arranged by Convair PR guys to publicize the new Landseaire luxury flying yacht conversion. The title on the white lab coat says “Aeronautics”. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275585002-VX78FZAJUICXL0AQQGYZ/D83CA78C-0825-4EE9-86E2-C98E2033DCC6.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out One of the young blonde models in a sundress watches a mechanic working on the wing as preparations are made to get underway. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275649554-6N3P6T4A99LXM2FL5LE9/81FF73CD-A9AF-4E54-B5EC-0D7F240CB54C.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Here, we see possibly four models posing for another LIFE photographer while the Landseaire is still on the ramp. The starboard observation blister of this aircraft was a single moulded piece of Perspex, while the port blister was the standard variety with opening panel. Photographer Loomis Dean had at least two assistants this day—one with him in the Landseaire and one in the accompanying photo ship, so this may be Dean in the photo. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275679463-4EPMVH7WIW3UQ589D7MT/29C734C2-6776-4840-959A-65C0A9A66449.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out This Convair PBY Landseaire had a small rowboat tender slung beneath the starboard wing, allowing passengers and crew to reach the shore after landing. One wonders if Diane was one of the ladies in attendance this day. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275717372-GPL2RQB59E9SHE2VFVP0/2F7CC0A9-34DC-4508-A980-BE4E3392F57F.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Another shot, either at dawn or at the end of the day, shows the Landseaire’s dinghy attached to the bottom of the starboard wing. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275737938-ZOQU29YD7M8746QQRRWI/9836DA26-24A0-4E9D-B1A2-30C43AD26B83.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The “executives” seem like they have no idea what they are doing, paddling the Landseaire’s boat with oars instead of rowing. In the background, the models lounge on the PBY’s wing while crew members seem to be very interested in their condition. The man on the left in the row boat is Glenn E. Odekirk, then president of Southern California Aircraft Corp. The Oregon State University (OSU) alumni website says this of Odekirk: “Odekirk during the 1930s and through the Second World War was the assistant to the president of Hughes Aircraft and had a very close, professional relationship with the man who was president—millionaire eccentric Howard Hughes. For several years, the two flew around the country together, testing the young OSU engineer’s ideas and arguing constantly over the most trivial matters of airplane construction. It was Odekirk who carefully examined airplane after airplane during the 1930s to find the one Hughes eventually used to set his record-breaking round-the-globe flight of 91 hours.” “A plane Odekirk helped design during 1935, known to historians as the H-1, set a world speed record of 352.39 miles per hour in September of that year, beating Raymond Delmotte’s (of France) record of 314.32 miles per hour. The plane was revolutionary for its time and was one of the first planes in history to sport retractable landing gear and special counterstruck screws and flat rivets to reduce wind resistance.” “Odekirk’s most famous project was the work he contributed to the legendary Spruce Goose and was aboard when Hughes piloted the plane on its one and only flight on 2 September 1947.” Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275828760-TSZK05NOCMZPONPXAM0R/1C26EB4B-AEEC-4585-9EB9-A82BA31D9716.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out To back up my claim that the executive in the rowboat and in many of these LIFE magazine images is indeed Glenn Oderkirk, I searched the web for images of him. There were very few, and only one that clearly backs up the claim. This image of Odekirk was found on Flickr on Tairemartyn’s photostream. There is no doubt that the man in all these images, who seems to be in charge and having a great time, is indeed the President of the company that built the Landseaire. With Odekirk’s connection with Howard Hughes and nearby Hollywood, it’s no surprise that he was able to round up a couple of beautiful, young and aspiring actresses to play the role of executive’s privilege. Photo: Tairemartyn on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275850360-TPSU7JLF6EC16OG4Q7Z2/4481226C-F52E-4B55-9593-8B26A9B52A0C.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Odekirk’s Hughes pedigree was definitely strong, working on many of Hughes’ most advanced projects including the Spruce Goose and Hughes D-2. The Hughes D-2 was an American fighter and bomber project begun by Howard Hughes as a private venture. It never proceeded past the flight testing phase but was the predecessor of the Hughes XF-11. The only D-2 was completed in 1942–3. Here, Glenn Odekirk (left) and Howard Hughes inspect the left engine mounts of the big prototype. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275883011-SF2WZMSP07NQ524HC7E6/B514B469-AF39-401B-81F7-57179937DA73.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Glenn Odekirk, left, plays the part of a tycoon on a fishing trip with a flying boat full of Hollywood starlets waiting for him to catch dinner. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630355099434-CDZRA923TU21ZGCP3KJR/Landseaire91.jpg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In the motion picture, The Aviator, about Howard Hughes and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Glenn Odekirk plays an important role as Hughes’ friend and engineer. The part of Glenn “Odie” Odekirk is played by actor Matt Ross. This image shows Odie smiling at the engineer’s position on the Spruce Goose as Hughes (in background) lifts the giant H-4 Hercules off of Los Angeles Harbor, Long Beach. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630355146253-4MO9YRVZ1F53C3X0Y746/Lanseaire10.jpg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Landseaire looks gorgeous with the coast of Southern California in the background. This was the scene that was imagined by the creators of the Landseaire concept—sky, sea and land all together in one experience… and bikinis. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275918537-W4IX0MUNWW25PMD9IJ4P/07A4FE43-071C-4316-A91B-2D042A5A4F06.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photographer Loomis Dean (in the rowboat) approaches the quietly rocking Landseaire, as guests await on the wing top and posing (rather coyly, I might add) on the wing strut. Family members, including children, peer from the port side blister. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275941135-7BSTHXUEMNXVJ3L80VLE/F4781C0F-9434-4581-81C9-48F70C062E44.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The family peers out from the port side blister. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630275966818-E1KPGPLEOF359XZVL8E1/A8E1B6DD-2682-499B-BE27-592395507792.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A crew member prepares to drop from the wing onto the fuselage as Loomis Dean in the rowboat takes this image from the bow. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276011604-1Q9VCLXW3AMITL327A2Y/47B67152-293F-4ED2-83DF-8F1F0F8C3A52.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Reflected in the port side blister glass, we see the photographer Loomis Dean (or his assistant) steadying the rowboat “Diane” as Glenn Odekirk and his pal chat with daughter and mother in the Landseaire. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276059101-CB3OUGJL4G5U70US8DBV/62711C6A-B13E-4EBB-B08E-D600CEBF03C2.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out From the open hatch of the port side blister, a young child watches as the two models do a little wing walking. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276115713-3453TCA50UGE9O8JDYL1/C9A328E0-5DF6-4102-8BDF-94904D3F1C4C.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out From the co-pilot’s hatch, a bathing-suited model looking very Marilyn Monroe-like gets the attention of some local Southern California fishermen. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276145010-5RCG3OK6ANYHT4395QMJ/0A7454DC-1D2D-45C6-97DB-1EED434F6A73.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Up on the upper wing, one has to think that on a hot day the surface would be unbearable. This, however, appears to be a fine mid-winter day in Southern California and the ladies pose seductively for the photographer. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276172891-UXBKAP8R98K7EB8583DP/C8AF2601-924A-442A-A78C-0BFC7DB46D75.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out One of the models is assisted down from the wing after the entire group posed for photographs. The women appear to be in two separate groups, the Blonde Bathing Suit Models and the Older Business Suited Ladies, who actually may be the wives of Southern California Aircraft Corp.’s executives. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276197461-LM5TX53V9MQPXOVUSNY5/24179340-9EA7-42BB-A4B6-AEC9C5F25258.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out There seems to be quite a few people used in this photo shoot. The mustachioed bald guy appears only in these images of the ladies being lowered to the fuselage and later having drinks in the Landseaire. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276220071-F9AK40208B31KG2USKZD/D512D9A0-8133-4FA9-B191-12638A75EB69.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Perhaps I have the sequence all wrong, but let’s just say that the Landseaire and its model passengers did an air-to-air AFTER the water photography. Here, the camera ship, a Vultee SNV Valiant sneaks in close as Glenn Odekirk (left) chats up a blonde model while viewing the world around them. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276249644-B3Z8EBCYOA72IHBLVYL0/B7AF21B3-A30F-4B1B-B412-85E602C70372.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out One of the finest selling features of the Convair PBY Landseaire was no doubt the observation blisters. Not since the airship Hindenburg did passengers enjoy such a remarkable view of the world around them. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630355444006-WX5RYEN0TQN8OST9WW5O/Lanseaire22.jpg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The passengers gaze out over the California Coast and the Vultee SNV Valiant camera ship. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630355547430-I0WBZMFG88E5UZDBISGY/Lanseaire23.jpg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Another great angle on the same scene shows us the wonderful viewing platform with a high wing offering unobstructed view down from the blisters and the large square windows along her sides. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276277591-XOA2WMI7GZ3TPS5U1OIK/B0C8AEB7-53C4-4BE9-838A-72C49C875AFC.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Sliding astern, we see the clean lines of the Landseaire. The small dinghy named Diane is no longer slung beneath the starboard wing. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276312498-32Q4Y3K7W69C5ADQWMDQ/409E1A6B-E014-4B8F-9748-B28700A57361.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Landseaire churns into a setting sun on the California coastline. Note the difference between the port observation blister and the starboard one which has a hatch. Sadly, this particular Catalina Landseaire would survive only three more years when it was lost in a crash at São Paulo, Brazil under a Brazilian registration. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276334506-YOV2AKYDK0W6DV47B91M/B861C13E-A448-49EE-A35A-3E9592386AB5.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out At the end of a long day of photographing the Southern California Aircraft Corp. Landseaire, the pilot banks the flying boat away from the Vultee Valiant camera ship and heads toward the California coastline in the distance. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276354218-VD1J2QLGEB20HRKZLJRC/4B4BFB00-1023-4DD0-BCF4-B1D348D524CA.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Here, an “executive” and his daughter sit at the starboard side observation blister and enjoy the scenery. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630276399708-LO5G1QJBJU3VYP9VXC9O/6A6D3FD7-704F-4A9B-906F-3C337133976C.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out With afternoon sun streaming in the smoke filled cabin, one of the models poses languidly with a cigarette on one of the interior couches. Like airliners today, each place was equipped with an air vent and an overhead reading lamp. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277718730-Q06P76P01UZEKAYVKEIY/98B1985B-7F5E-42A3-AE8C-6D4CAE682947.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out One has to realize that this is 1950, when a woman’s place was in the kitchen. Part of the dream presented to the potential wealthy industrialists, who were the demographic for the sale of the Landseaire, was that a successful man could fly anywhere and still have a pretty girl prepare his meals for him or serve him drinks. While today this would be considered downright sexist, in 1950 it was considered the dream of every man. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277760971-QO3VSFHN2PCJUAW6KT1Q/8C7077D7-A3A3-4655-9A8E-568F1A987AE5.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Executives smoke and drink while pretty models read magazines. The idea here was to show that the Landseaire was a home away from home. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277800701-1S7P8QMHF0Q5I76O2VI9/95BE8C02-067A-4AD9-8A94-1E5CFCE23057.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Dad and daughter gaze from the port side blister upon the scores of mothballed Second World War destroyers moored at San Diego Navy Base. This appears to be a different “dad” (Odekirk) and the little girl seems to have changed from her bathing suit... probably all part of the photographer trying to get as much out of the shoot as possible. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277827399-4J862OHTK31AP1YSIRN1/A314B563-5319-4750-9A74-7A98295996BA.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A rather pleased and smug looking Glenn Odekirk prepares a drink at the fully stocked bar. This was the age of the High Ball, Tom Collins, Side Car and the Gin Rickey retro cocktails. Odekirk was indeed living his dream. The model who appears to be in the background is actually in the foreground and reflected in a mirror. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277845588-L0UV0BF3JN7HDDNF9IJG/E9DE84A0-C087-4D39-A9A7-28B163BF0240.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Marilyn Monroe-like model peers from the blister. One has to believe that the air inside the Landseaire was stifling, what with the noise, the smell of avgas, cooking and cigarettes, combined with the heat of the sun. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630277868986-UF4BZRO5ZTQ9X4MWOHYR/331C9A2C-DE59-4479-A101-357C0C61F87E.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out One of the models, sporting an “itsy-bitsy polka-dot bikini”, pours a dainty glass of wine down her throat while lounging provocatively on the starboard side blister sofa. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278306758-KPHE9HE6APK1T17CZCAE/32B832E4-B07A-4684-8F93-36ED1B13E557.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The young model plays with the fire extinguisher seen on the bulkhead in the previous photo. This image is the promise of the Landseaire Flying Yacht—sipping High Balls in your own winged world, high above the plebs below and surrounded by extremely beautiful and scantily clad women who laugh at your every word. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278333578-ZGP50446UCY2E80QZ9CY/523A94F0-7C86-4E9E-8273-EB7B2FFC4CC1.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Early on in the flight no doubt, before she slipped into her bathing suit, the beautiful model basks in the sunlight of the port side observation blister while the Landseaire flies north along the California coastline. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278356044-CSCFFC39LNBBIERXW4TA/F2906747-6258-4B6A-886A-1A9386F4837F.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In the world of a Landseaire owner, pretty girls in bikinis laugh at your jokes. That was the idea behind this scene. Since this was long before the advent of the cell phone, the young woman can is enjoying a conversation using the ship-to-shore telephone. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278400516-KHAR9Q9PH8HEM68C7D38/73E8D4A8-20C4-44C0-9A93-2000A3573E42.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out “Did someone here order a blonde?” Even in 1950, the Madmen of advertising knew that sex sells. All the vices are represented in this shot—smoking, drinking and philandering. Like the video screens found in today’s business jets, the instrumentation over the bulkhead doorway in this shot showed passengers the altitude, speed, time and direction. Not much has changed in corporate air travel in the next 60 years! Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278438872-DM2258L5B9ND0W307GPK/02951CF0-C19D-4743-A723-83482155BA36.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A young model smiles coyly as photographer Dean lines up the Vultee Valiant camera ship in the background. Though LIFE magazine archives credit Loomis Dean for both the interior and the air-to-air shots, it is not possible for him to be in both places. Clearly he had an assistant or two, as there are shots that show another photographer in the Landseaire with him. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278472903-T8AZ1F2YNL3JZZVPU80C/A72CD304-21AE-4FB2-9E36-D665012222CE.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Vultee Valiant made a logical choice for the photo ship as Convair, the makers of the Catalina, was an amalgamation of both Consolidated and Vultee. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278504124-XTVHLTTZ7L1HAB2KIR1E/D67A692D-70A9-4280-9980-BC567EB0691A.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The money shot. I debated long about whether to include this particular shot in this story as it may be considered too risqué and possibly too politically incorrect for a serious website. It certainly was one of the photos in the series that got my attention. I did include it because it shows us just how the Landseaire was marketed to the boorish, sexist, powerful, aging executives of the day. This must have created quite a sensation in 1950. The ad men and promoters knew full well that sex sells cars, so it was logical that sex would sell flying yachts. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278555964-4Y4BDIYB5V6TPABY8DFI/B2FE5ED0-9990-4B68-8952-3232699149C5.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out At some point in the photo shoot, the Landseaire hit a little inclement southern California weather. Flying through clouds and rain the pretty actress/models had to snuggle up under some blankets to keep warm. The inside temperature must have been difficult to regulate near the blisters. This may have been the reason the Landseaire had been equipped with blankets in the first place. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278581212-D272UGWLWBMBORQFBBVQ/81701B13-D92C-45E3-9122-219783EB1797.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Landseaire owners could fly the open skies with their friends, partying and enjoying life. It was an intoxicating promise, one which president Glenn Odekirk (centre) thought could make him rich. Not 100% sure, the younger man in the left foreground with the drink may in fact be photographer Loomis Dean. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278622972-0QZPVB1BN8MKDKZ3GVJ1/6680D391-8F42-4C94-8433-1865D1001C49.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The ultimate promise of the Landseaire—to fly wherever an adventurous and wealthy man’s imagination could take him... in a world of peace. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630278653599-L4HO87QIHHC3CMU2H2EG/FE53CAA5-1BC1-4F6C-91ED-A9289A636FA6.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out To this day, a very small number of Catalinas remain in airworthy condition and G-PBYA operated by Plane Sailing Air Displays Ltd in the UK can still attract the ladies! Here she is at the Scalaria Air Challenge on the Wolfgangsee near Salzburg in Austria in 2011. Photo: Copyright David Legg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281522638-USILGPFOF5O5007L58MG/ACE3FFEF-419B-4838-ADEB-9BC1BC9CBB14.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Each of Kendall’s Landseaire’s was uniquely designed and fitted out by renowned interior designer George Erb. Each aircraft was known by its interior palette—this was the Turquoise Ship, which was presumably the dominant colour. The brochure material at the time stated “The Turquoise Ship with beautifully textured upholstery fabric specially designed wall pictures, gay colors, deep luxury carpet and colorful cushions, is truly a home aloft.” Photo via Paradise Leased Blog with Steve Vaught https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281539094-S3FB2CHU8T6YZZP7ZRTL/6647EDF0-2E03-435D-8144-76391A3A68A4.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Tucked and rolled and ready for adventure. Looking just a tad tacky by today’s standards, Kendall’s Gold Ship Landseaire with its padded walls had all the charm of a New Orleans cat house. Photo via Paradise Leased Blog with Steve Vaught https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281558552-6PZCOS5RD25BHQ9NP6DX/519DFF24-1184-4292-ABE1-914088B26C7A.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Red and Black Ship by George Erb, one of Kendall’s three Landseaire conversions, shows the most promise as an elegant and comfortable place for wealthy owners to relax while exploring the world. Photo via Paradise Leased Blog with Steve Vaught https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281735931-M6VQEQ32ZU7U8WKHJ6Y8/45E6F124-0C96-45BA-92E8-7F166D0B1468.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Two of the three Kendall PBY Landseaire conversions on the ground in California. He originally planned to purchase 14 used Catalinas for conversion to the Landseaire idea. Photo via Paradise Leased Blog with Steve Vaught https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281755518-BWB7HH61XXGS88OBX44S/E3A66013-7CD5-4137-BE8F-27F93F84B24D.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Something you don’t see very often—a PBY Catalina, one of Kendall’s Landseaire conversions moored off of Catalina Island off the California coast. Photo via Paradise Leased Blog with Steve Vaught https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281813339-90CR8DEAJ5U2IW0U9H0Z/A61170E3-5CF5-4CDC-BDFC-01D7E6B38298.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Thomas Kendall’s Landseaire N5593V parked at Croydon Airport in 1959. Kendall had acquired this as a stock Consolidated PBY-5A from US Navy surplus at Litchfield Park, Arizona and fitted out as a Landseaire with luxury appointments. The aircraft had flown to Croydon from a film making assignment in Madeira, for the 1959 movie “SOS Pacific”. Kendall was in the process of flying his Catalina (N5593V) on an around-the-world voyage with his family. Photo: Jeremy Hughes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281848528-P38ARAF02EBAHUJYDSP2/6C513767-CD25-4CE2-8BFA-2C236D9CDAEC.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Four cinema “Lobby Cards” for the feature film drama SOS Pacific with one of them showing us Catalina Landseaire N5593V being abandoned in the Pacific as part of the film’s plot. It is interesting to note that this film was in black and white and the cards are in colour. They may have been hand coloured afterward, as the registration here is red, but on the marooned wreck in Saudi Arabia, it is definitely blue. The irony is that the film SOS Pacific, the filming for which the Kendall Landseaire was used, was about a group of passengers forced to ditch their Catalina in the Pacific. This was a foreshadowing of the difficulties in which Kendall would eventually find himself in Saudi Arabia. The film starred only one notable actor—Richard Attenborough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281877755-IO8ODJC3VR2SAIOT5MJF/A9D57DFE-084C-4BB9-8ABF-8C7F7516E3E4.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Another great shot by Jeremy Hughes in 1959 shows the Kendall Landseaire at Croydon still. While on a film location at Madeira, the Portuguese archipelago 500 miles off the coast of Morocco, the aircraft suffered bow damage and was being repaired at Croydon. Photo: Jeremy Hughes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281896631-7Q371WCQ34PGYIIDDT7W/707A5FD0-3B93-4FC3-91B1-2DF5C47D2BC2.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The Kendall Landseaire at Croydon. Photo: Jeremy Hughes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281927631-VIA21R7SB7IUPB1O18FZ/22490D50-A9F7-463B-8A3C-ACC0AB2A7C08.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The beginning of the Kendall family trip had all the flavour and extravagance of a Turkish Pasha travelling throughout his empire. Here, locals in the Middle East gawk as the entourage sets up patio furniture on the broad wing of the Catalina. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281955506-WOGVMBQ1Z830D3SRCVT8/9118075E-C7D7-4D41-B774-998285F3D110.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The number one selling point of the Landseaire was most certainly the waist blisters, which offered passengers an unparalleled view of the world below them. Here, Kendall’s family gather at the starboard blister as dad circles the Great Pyramids at Giza. Peering from the PBY’s plexiglass blister at the pyramids are Mrs. Kendall (left), Mrs. Shearer (right) and the four youngest children. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630281974899-7JH1RLNADKHCQWFTC3R5/2A01712C-8021-4FDC-A5DA-73E4E4ACF5A8.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Kendall, in his signature Hawaiian shirt, smiles benevolently for the hoard of Egyptian gawkers who must be singing, as Mrs. Kendall is holding out a microphone to record on a tape deck. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282031782-BW1CG30QSUMHNJBN90YY/2E15FDC4-841C-4280-90BF-7FE9BEB740F2.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The LIFE magazine website page for this image states that it is in Saudi Arabia. Local citizens crowd around the Kendall’s Landseaire for a closer look. It seems that Kendall has dropped his landing gear to enable him to beach the aircraft higher. This is something he did on the day he was attacked. This looks like a similar crowd and orientation to the beach as the one in the previous photograph. However, the LIFE site claims the previous image was taken in Egypt. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282057695-1HR89G54U84C56YKIGF1/09B76CA5-EF47-4BE5-89DB-9A55F27E640E.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Sightseeing, dining alfresco, and beach walking were very enjoyable pursuits for the Kendall family. Kendall in his signature white hat and colourful shirts in the farthest from the camera in this photograph taken by David Lees on the very morning of the attack by Saudi militiamen—just a few hours later. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282089190-IQO514UA6OR638QH2HUJ/12753AE5-A5B1-4B3F-91C2-F20EC5F730C6.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Held prisoner by Saudi soldiers, the party of Americans waits anxiously in a tent to see what will happen to them. Members of the group are (left to right): Mrs. Kendall, Kathy, Susan, Paul, Mrs. Shearer, Stephen Shearer (standing) and the wounded Thomas Kendall. Two members of the party not in the picture are Bob Kendall and David Lees who took the photo. Soon after this the prisoners were flown to Jiddah and eventually released. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282106053-8Z5O9MBDV8DW6E1OKIVU/AB2089BE-F0F0-4FD7-AA9B-6DF9FD8BDB1B.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In one of Lees’ photographs before the attack, we see Kendall plotting a course from Luxor (the right arm of his dividers is at Luxor) in his aircraft. Here, we can see that there is something odd about the way he holds the pen in his right hand. Because he had injured his hand many years before, he was forced to shake Prince Khalid’s hand with his left, thus causing him great insult. Photo: David Lees, LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282129049-UJQVP3IOPJMWK690PFEM/12211027-D76C-4D91-9A0B-0F37BA301390.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out At 7:30 we landed at Jiddah. Two limousines pulled right up to the airport ramp and whisked us away to the Kandara Palace Hotel nearby. We were held in seclusion at the hotel for five more hours of interrogation. All during that time we were denied the opportunity to make any telephone calls. The major interrogating us threatened to hold us there incommunicado ‘until such time as you have given us all the information we want.’ I finally got so furious that I refused to say another word. Things were at a stalemate when suddenly, about midnight, U.S. Ambassador Donald Heath, his wife and several members of the embassy staff walked into our room accompanied by a high official of the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry, Sayyis Omar Sakkaf. Ambassador Heath routed his excellency out of a big end-of-Ramadan ball in order to force his way in to see us. In the ambassador’s presence we told the full story of what happened to us. Then Mrs. Shearer and I were taken to the hospital for x-rays. The doctor’s report on me was a masterpiece of evasion: ‘One opaque F.B. [Foreign Body] of metallic density is seen in the abdomen at the lower pole of the right kidney at the level of the upper margin of the third lumbar vertebrae. Its shape resembles a bullet.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282153279-MJT2GCC4TWNN9INQYGBE/8CD5BA1A-FD0C-4505-8C67-6A4BE9EA5124.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out When photographer Ken Stanford visited the location of Kendall’s wreck in February 1995, it was still in a recognizable condition, though heartbreaking to look at. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282170978-0JL82C68D86JJNH92GJB/E200A8E5-C541-4AC3-A2DF-42A829031C05.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Ken Stanford brings us a little closer to the decaying hulk. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282186496-45RFMPK9UNLCSRWVIBYN/258AB410-8CE4-428C-AC5B-74CCA528230E.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The sad remains of Kendall’s dream slowly dissolves under the onslaught of vandals and the caustic Arabian Sea elements. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282206725-1SKL9OTRVR7ALNF75W0C/48BFFEE9-3BF2-4C1E-A0A9-738F922952ED.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A haunting image of a dream that came to a sad end where the vast sand desert meets the blue Red Sea. We can see that the gear was deployed before it was lost. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282231022-3HH9V3A8II6PJWADX87S/7870747F-0E01-4201-AD4F-D57B98ECC8AE.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out As Ken Stanford stands beneath the wing, we are given a sense of the large size of the once-beautiful Catalina. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282249706-5OCW9EI6R4AAFOE2RI4X/A611F7D5-C964-47A0-8AE2-C4A121D7EED7.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The weakening structure was still strong enough to walk on in 1996... not so today. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282274687-BTJLPIZMDXRJ5YW0QMAQ/608CCF15-4683-4B8E-801E-096E1CCB1B8D.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The rear structure of the wing was gone by 1995. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282294367-Q0X0TW1M4Q5QWJ21ZN2Q/0C234687-FBBF-454C-AAD2-FB913C862523.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In 1995, the engines looked almost salvageable. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282361674-43JRGGXY0VFOU7BIZTRG/34A7EB00-5780-429B-8B76-075A9C12A8DE.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In 1995, 35 years after the incident that stranded the once elegant Catalina on the shores of the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, all the fabric that covered control surfaces has long since vanished. Though aluminium does not rust, it shows the effects of the corrosive environment. Some of the original paint remains as the clear registration—N5593V. Photo: Ken Stanford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282400624-ISPQ5W72WKJDG7EK7HS7/582497A6-002F-44F5-AE44-6C21EDFAC7E6.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photographer Donald Curtis, who works in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, enjoys taking road trips in order to do some photography. This wonderful image of the remains of Kendall’s dream is strongly reminiscent of the superb work of Edward Burtynski—powerful, colourful and frightening all at the same time. Curtis tells us, “I had seen the Catalina many years ago when she still looked pretty pristine, although at the time I was not into photography so I decided to take a road trip to see how she was holding up. So I loaded up my truck and camera to get reacquainted. Well, as the pictures show, she was not holding up too well when we saw her. You see the elements, being next to the Red Sea, and the visitors were not kind to her as you can see she has been tagged with graffiti from every nationality imaginable. Nevertheless, she still draws attention from the curious and the troves of visitors she receives regularly.” Photo: Donald E. Curtis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282424043-WNG5E2ZNJ40YP5IPQPV1/3D70977F-4944-449C-91A8-F385A661F510.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out A shot of the weathered remains of Kendall’s dream reveals that, despite more than half a century of exposure to a particularly harsh environment, the registration, N5593V, can still be clearly seen. If this was a Spitfire in this condition, it would be instantly retrieved and the process of returning it to the sky begun. Photo: Donald E. Curtis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282450418-D96HDW8RA72FP136BV4F/7504C89F-A6E4-488D-B2A0-9543CD2EA758.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out The wreck of the old luxury flying yacht is far from any civilization, yet many have heard of her and make the trip out to pay her a visit, many with cans of spray paint in their cars to wound her once more. The big wing finally collapsed a few years back as the pylon and struts rotted. Photo: Donald E. Curtis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282486088-EAU5B535RBIH1LQXA39T/D3375D5E-52D2-48F3-BFF4-EEA84A06D04A.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out As late as the 1970s, the Landseaire promise was still alive. Here Horizons Unlimited sold membership in a Landseaire luxury flying yacht for outdoorsmen. This advertisement appeared in 1971 in the Ludington, Michigan Daily News. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282515476-O0GZ7053YZFOW64DCEFY/BE715839-D42D-4B65-9282-095440D37583.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282537705-YBIPSSABYWAAX71XHPSE/D758AFA2-0637-4687-9B4E-EB3A2697E050.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282561751-SKPMN03A7PNJ73J7YIQW/91ED44A8-4721-4EE3-BD94-FAE6D9970E66.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282581488-3GHWPS0WD3GHDE6P9DDS/2F95EDD8-A86F-48A3-9A62-2332BB46FDEF.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282604598-AIMJEMRL9X7JFYV5WQ5G/5156EF1F-4C07-44F0-B3D3-7D1104EE3BEA.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282633092-PC7GIQJ87CV3UJWBZ89G/552CB4DD-5EDB-47FC-A1C6-2F1B06CA65B0.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out In service with the Italian Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282653614-WTN5V7TVBCWBN3Z7ZG5H/AF67FD25-6ED3-4550-9187-191B9939A815.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630282699839-ORJ4OH4ULSJCYYP59RYE/1F53A259-8AB3-4B4C-93B7-EE17C9B9D98A.jpeg The Stories - SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES - Make it stand out Photo: Leonardo Correa Luna https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/nimrod-the-mighty-hunter monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630352482942-HVFOQ0LB03NA9GR0DG6F/News-Nimrod-title.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630352597933-2WC7PRNJUYNWHWB87P6D/News-Nimrod-1.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Louis Geoffrion chats up three members of the Canadian Forces Parachute Demonstration Team, The SkyHawks Though Louis has only jumped from an airplane once, it was one jump that had the respect of troopers with hundreds and even thousands of jumps for it was into the Mediterranean Sea after being shot down while on ops during the Second World War. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353026259-9A736O6KJCCKVT3JLYMN/News-Nimrod-2.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada’s founder Mike Potter with Retrotec’s Guy Black looking at the latest projects - a Hawker Fury and DH9. “It was a great opportunity to meet Guy and see what a wonderful job Retrotec is doing to bring some very historic aircraft back to life” said Potter. Photo Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353118217-X0G9NUUMD5P2UXUUZU3P/News-Nimrod-3.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out A Royal Navy officer in dress uniform runs alongside Hawker Nimrod II K3661 as it makes a very sketchy landing aboard HMS Glorious in 1938. Most likely this is a rare photo capturing one of two landing accidents that ended the service life of this beautiful aircraft. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353337838-SWW67S08SPVRPMSNE9TP/News-Nimrod-4.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out The imposing size of the Nimrod is very evident here as Cook, himself over six feet chats with ground crew from the Historic Aircraft Collection at Duxford, England. It’s not every day one does this sort of thing in 2008, so best stop to experience the moment and take in all the information these experienced and dedicated men can offer. Photo Randall Haskin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353436648-V93FU9YYC3M4HQYYE7SO/News-Nimrod-5.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out The Hawker Nimrod II control panel - with British-type spade-handle control column and two wooden handles for arming the Lewis guns. Photo Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353514942-9LYIR94SXR3AQW2E5Q84/News-Nimrod-6.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out The antique-looking Hucks Starter Vehicle backs quickly away from the Hawker Nimrod as Howard Cook works to keep the 12 cylinders of the Kestrel firing and to get it running smooth and eager. One wonders whether such a jalopy was ever employed aboard His Majesty’s Royal Navy carriers. Photo: Randall Haskin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353653601-1RHN2G0QKGEDKCGU9A0Z/News-Nimrod-7.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Howard Cook puts the Hawker Nimrod II through some basic handling exercises to get a feel for the flying qualities of this historic aircraft. The large two-bladed propeller is as evident in this shot as in the historic shots above. Photo: Peter Green/www.bomberflight.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353703068-UDRLJXKW9W8WJO80DT0H/News-Nimrod-8.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Howard Cook, flying the Hawker Nimrod II, formates on a sister Hawker - the Hawker Hind, a two-seat bomber variant of the Hawker line, at Flying Legends 2008. Photo: Peter Green/www.bomberflight.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353763952-GUMOLW7R74FD395YEJGD/News-Nimrod-9.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Howard Cook arrives back at Duxford after putting the Hawker Nimrod through its paces. The name Nimrod is in fact a Biblical name -- the great-grandson of Noah. He declared himself a "mighty one in the earth," founded the great city of Babylon, and presided over the construction of the mythical Tower of Babel. Nimrod was also a renowned hunter, though some claim his game of choice was not animals but men. Photo: Damien Burke/HandmadeByMachine.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630353830698-24I8KA4XJ0LU8B7RCOM9/News-Nimrod-10.jpg The Stories - NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER - Make it stand out Howard Cook after his flight in the historic Hawker biplane. There’s no doubt that he enjoyed Nimrodding around the Duxford sky though the weather was closing in. Photo: Randall Haskin https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/spittin-image monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274032857-D4W93UR7DOGDNLMJ7VNJ/6C623276-5258-49B5-A400-FE696EAFAB42.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274138792-6ZLF2M93XDNDW1HWWIK1/519AB4B4-98A8-4969-B614-710ECADFE3FC.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Jean Brunette’s father, Roger poses with Mike Potter’s Spitfire Mk XVI at the Ottawa Air Show in Carp, Ontario in September 2005. It is his influence, taking young Jean to events and places that celebrated all things mechanical, that spawned Brunette’s fascination and love of vintage machinery and, in particular, vintage aircraft. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274170484-VP0552X0LEC5ZGIF6WX8/D96A5574-1407-40D5-81FE-10F5E80338D9.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Jean Brunette’s cherished childhood Polaroid photograph of a derelict Bristol Beaufighter, taken several decades ago in 1972 at the then National Aviation Museum, still is in his possession today. Photo: Roger Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274210351-0VAVMJ6RUXO85EM620FS/8E50B4F5-2253-4A0B-A571-2B88C618110F.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out One of the Aviation Museum “quadruplets” — “The Indian-Head Spitty”. The Lancaster that was so menacing to a young boy’s imagination is lurking in the background, bomb bay doors agape, ready to snap up any 7-year-old that dares come too close! Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274233823-6SDOMWAZPGY5DC3MQEN6/E512F3AC-057E-4898-8564-77B52238250C.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out The artist blocks in the shapes and begins the background. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274250804-ULLB0B5W612TPRZC4W5L/71351264-0549-4FA4-82E3-A44DA9C9EC52.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Brunette begins to play with the shapes, building up the tones through underpainting. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274269249-ODE7BNUGMZ52DX1R5IWF/AD36EF7E-55BF-405E-8836-90AE93C21492.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Applying the paint, getting the feel of metal and fabric. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274302685-GOGJ9GL5XEQI5K65QJPS/C477F18B-ECEA-475C-83E4-7CEF3C7F5AC4.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out The Spitfire is not just green and grey as one might describe the camouflage, but a complex palette of colours from lime green to sky blue to cream. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274323003-KTQREK2XJZ5LVX29LLEO/BA6BAF46-9641-4C42-8903-CCC9CB7ECB65.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Working texture into the sky with a painting knife, also called a palette knife, and used for mixing paint. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274344523-D601GSZ05V4VJYSFQX6W/1A08DF04-A9CE-40A2-A1B7-1E4ED5DFB02C.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Using a scale model (not having a 421 Squadron Mk XVI on hand, Jean used a 402 Squadron Spitfire Mk XIV) to check the perspective and understand how the stencilling follows the slow curve of the fuselage. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274366658-RR28XV4K6R9YZQAV37PN/E16736E5-784F-4673-88C5-679DC09B9949.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Mixing paint to make a visual colour match for the McColl–Frontenac Oil Company decal on the cowl. The McColl–Frontenac Oil Company was an oil company based in Canada. It was created in 1927 as a result of a merger between two companies, McColl Brothers and Frontenac Oil Refineries. Shares in the new company were acquired by the Texas Company, and by 1941 it had acquired a majority ownership position of McColl–Frontenac. At that time, the oil company was rebranded as Texaco. McColl–Frontenac was known for its branding of its oil and products as “Red Indian”, something that would be considered politically incorrect today. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274387006-KM4AMQ75A99YIGIUNIRA/559FD09B-F16A-4F2C-9F18-C8029EB8B99D.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out The painting depicts a late afternoon scene with warm sunlight blasting the rudder and flowing along the fuselage. To achieve this “warm glow” effect, all colours needed to be warmed up substantially to make them look just right—including the white of the roundels and fin flash which ended up being a toned-down cream colour three shades darker than pure white. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274403691-O0ZSHLJ0QBSYLJCRP2JU/26D8FFE8-76B5-4334-815B-4BDE13CEF92C.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out Applying the right mixture of white requires a steady hand. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274441097-5005YDH6CUEMV34Y8UPE/DC27F458-6574-4287-A4B3-DA907B4E73CF.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out The final piece. Spitfire Mk XVI taxiing in the warm glow of late afternoon light with the familiar rolling hills of Gatineau as a backdrop. We are looking forward to Brunette’s next work. Photo: Jean Brunette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630274458005-99XMVU1VAON0TA2WT9H5/64B244F1-40E5-4601-8060-CFA4CDDB7A6A.jpeg The Stories - SPITTIN’ IMAGE - Make it stand out The artist, Jean Brunette, sits in his studio next to his just-finished painting of the Vintage Wings of Canada William Harper Supermarine Spitfire XVI. Photo via Jean Brunette https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-zap-heard-round-the-world monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630204929776-0GNHDXV90B9JWBDAE3RF/FFF6AFEC-58EB-4958-8A08-349E10DA85B1.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Photo by computer_saskboy at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630237893599-D9SEPT0ZG5O0BK76L7LO/48DA8D8C-3BA0-4435-8164-42A41FB8203C.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Visiting squadrons delight in zapping another squadron’s aircraft where it will not be noticed until it gets home. Here, 408 Squadron CAF, a helo unit, sticks it to the fighter boys inside the gear door of a CF-18. Photo by WireLizard at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630237917641-PG9U7102F74V7WBY4LUT/07179C9C-10BF-4DBB-B1F7-8B41E854B407.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out In some squadron hooches, the vending machines are victimized by visiting units to the point where one probably cannot see what one is buying. Creative, but with no risk attached, the zapping of vending machines has a degree of difficulty of less than zero. Photo by exostratics at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630237939455-2TM7LTGMV3GKWLFA2GHT/4D12CD84-BF90-4E5F-BC5A-34E5A2FAD4DD.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out A door of a Coupeville, Washington restaurant frequented by military aircrew is festooned with zappers—a great way to mark your territory, but again, a low degree of difficulty. The photographer Robyn notes that there is everything from Grateful Dead (bottom right) to US military squadrons (mostly Navy and Marines.) The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island just down the road would account for the plethora of zappers. Photo by Robyn Hanson at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239198921-PPOL3AU8K8N74CJR191Z/5EA48789-16CE-4303-A73C-4B63BCFEC0A8.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out The Saskatchewan Roughrider fans are, if anything, the most creative costumers in the league. Many sport hollowed out watermelons on their heads as homage to the team’s green helmets. This trio of Rider fans wears homemade John Deere wheat combines—the better, I suppose, to mow down the competition. Photo by gore84 at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239223888-VSODA33KTS8A7S8SA7TC/239B3168-A7F4-4914-BED1-53C6D13E121E.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Rider Pride—at the 2007 Grey Cup, Snowbird technicians could not help but let folks know where their allegiances lay. Photo by Ken Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239244680-D21SF7DURJ9LY4XSMK9H/47DD1782-F620-4CB5-A93A-E89CA989BB6B.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out From above, Snowbirds’ photographer Ken Lin snaps a shot of a CT-114 Tutor trainer in Snowbird markings that was brought to the SkyDome as part of a Canadian Forces appreciation display. Photo by Ken Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239268447-IPOA4NJJZ5VX6K7WUE6X/A3CBFEC9-BE4F-464E-B59D-B3D09946ACD2.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out On Grey Cup Sunday, the Snowbirds line up on the taxiway between outgoing flights as they prepare to make a gorgeous, smoke-trailing flypast of the Grey Cup festivities outside the SkyDome stadium in Toronto. Photo by Rob Piercy a.k.a. Contrails on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239289015-UD2BCXLSVDMQ4UG7BIWT/63476E52-DC74-49AA-A64B-BF2D9A378821.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Earlier in the day, from high atop the CN Tower, Ken Lin captures the Snowbirds as Rob Mitchell leads them across the festivities below. Photo Ken Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239309155-VHZ97N8VCY9TXXOSA94E/5A791FF7-3994-4637-91DE-B30A1B8D2CFB.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out The Snowbirds sweep across the city and head for the airport. The team can now enjoy the game, but Lead Mitchell has one more task to perform. Photo Ken Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239332526-0O7998U2Q1NAZPMOASWE/C6F13C32-D700-4C81-BBD2-0E00E68ECE0E.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Moments before the Zap-to-end-all-Zaps was delivered, the members of the Grey Cup’s military and police escort pose for a picture taken by the Cup’s security guard. Photo via Rob “Scratch” Mitchell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239359319-PPL7E4RARF1FGZVSCBUJ/AD014DDB-1799-4EC7-B527-0753C114AE2A.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Rob Mitchell stands on the podium as the Cup is raised by the team captain. Jolted by the confetti cannons exploding behind him, it was then, and only then, that he thought perhaps this wasn’t a good idea. Photo by sjgardiner at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239385463-8SYV9VYBGPXSTCYGRES6/820AED53-A4A8-4F4F-977A-A6D43A2F4F5C.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out With Green and White Rider confetti raining down around him, Rob fought off thoughts of escape. Photo by sjgardiner at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239425817-85T6KG1FRZ95Q8QYK6CQ/F2BC7919-6DB3-4F51-96BD-03DE3A130D32.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out In this view from above, a dozen or so cameramen focus on the bottom of the cup and Mitchell’s tour de force. Photo by gore84 at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239455471-67KY97575MI9M197QBVV/9CE83CE6-7FDC-425F-8B3B-4E48E11A4D39.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Saskatchewan lineman Mike Abu-Mechrek hoists the cup high with the zapper in plain view—the Snowbirds were cheering equally loud in their Skybox. Photo by Harry How via Rider Nation at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239476606-9TOD45QJK3UJB7QOVX6A/819A9DE6-1CAB-41C6-AD06-E74FC0E1A275.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out A Roughrider lineman lifts the Zapper, supported by the Grey Cup, to the zapper gods. Photo by Lauren Roberts on Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239516309-2YOZHE7I5FZBCIPTPCQ0/44303CFB-C4F7-4E65-AE27-6099FB49F68E.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out The Squad meets The Squadron. The team reluctantly obliges the Roughrider Cheerleader squad by posing with them after their winning performance at the sidelines. Photo via Scratch Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239546922-NRG7HSPKHNZ5XE0CUYS4/EA522BF5-1D0C-46DB-B3AE-684551167F9D.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out After the game was concluded, the same CN Tower that Mitchell had brought his team past earlier in the day is lit with green and white lights in honour of their win. Photo by sjgardiner at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239602378-3WN6JIUQ1D3EW8LP69Y3/DE436847-90DB-4F9F-AB07-61BD5D251690.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out Two days later, the Saskatchewan Roughriders make a Papal-style appearance from the central balcony of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly building in Regina. With happily frozen Rider fans cheering wildly, team members raise the Grey Cup so that fans can see the famous sticker. Photo by computer_saskboy at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630239644420-ETM163RJBDYYTAGO23K7/BB7F284C-B60B-47AD-8551-21F23FB0206D.jpeg The Stories - THE ZAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - Make it stand out The beauty of the Saskatchewan Roughriders is that they are “every man’s team” and they shared it with every man—or at least the ones who came out to hoist the Grey Cup (with the Zap still attached) above their heads. Not sure who this fellow is, but the pride is written all over his face. Photo via Scratch Mitchell https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-forgotten-vc monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203154654-6STWP9AKIC5SBSZIP7SR/BC2F50B8-B74A-4524-8D7F-6A8431F59F04.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203182411-17Z46VFSK9EBQSPQTZJX/5B934AD0-48FB-448C-AE3E-0A333D57018D.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out Unable to sign up for action overseas, McLeod continued service with a militia cavalry unit known as the Fort Garry Horse which he had joined even before the war at the age of 13. No more than a 17 year-old boy in this photo, McLeod looks every inch a man. Photo: National Archives (NA) C-27812 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203219997-K9JOPUD0XM4IT5502U9W/77FE622F-7C46-4B6B-A7F7-8F9257804DB9.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out McLeod peers over the coaming of a JN-4 trainer while taking instruction with the 90th Canadian Training Squadron at Leaside, Ontario. This was the summer of 1917 and the Leaside facility had just been completed for the Royal Flying Corps, but today all traces are gone in this suburb of Toronto. Frank Ellis photographed McLeod sitting in the front cockpit. Photo: Frank Ellis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203262797-SKHD1TF2G28MQYO46CG0/150ACEDC-AA99-4A86-92B8-7688288A4C71.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out The lumbering Armstrong Whitworth F.K. 8 “Big Ack” was designed for the same role as the R.E. 8 (“Harry Tate”). The aircraft, originally designated the F.K.7, was designed by Dutch aircraft designer Frederick Koolhoven as a replacement for the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c and the Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3. The type was unusual in having dual controls, enabling the observer to control the aircraft in the event of the pilot becoming incapacitated by enemy action. The F.K.8 served with several squadrons on operations in France, Macedonia, Palestine and for home defence, proving more popular in service than its better known contemporary the R.E.8 Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203397292-5BJXG5D7LMKZOC3QAUKM/28039FEF-D5E9-42AB-ABE6-EA673342AF88.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out The tall and lanky McLeod (third from the left) stands proudly with his squadron mates sometime before his action. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203334597-DTD0VDW9WGR94JHB1NZC/D43EF70C-DD7A-40DE-A7BD-DD614701456A.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out An AW F.K. 8 reportedly the machine that McLeod was flying the day he was shot down. Destroyed by fire and the crash, it carried them safely to ground in No Man's Land and into history. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203360534-LTWQ63SSFK806YEAZKQE/D757AD0B-1E55-47AC-9C8D-E252897763DC.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out A full colour profile of the AW F.K. 8 flown by McLeod on the day of his last action. Illustration by Bob Pearson For more profiles and great illustrations of Canadian aircraft and ships visit Bob's website: History in Illustration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203441190-9T0DP190FWTAR4QARL6M/E4AEBE6F-9468-4162-9E9A-C69BFA024ABE.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out A marvellous painting by Merv Corning depicts the action for which McLeod was awarded the Victoria Cross. McLeod sideslips the burning "Big Ack" to keep the flames from the rear fuselage while standing on the port wing root. In the rear, Hammond continues the fight. While the painting differs slightly in detail from the author's account, it does indeed capture the drama of the event. Image via CAHS and Leach Heritage of the Air Collection, 1963 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203472369-36LLWFC8V0S3XR1KGFY7/2491C61E-6C01-498C-8CBE-B75333F25CD8.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out What a difference a year makes. On the left, the youthful and soft-featured McLeod at 18 years, and on the right, a thin and weakened McLeod (19 years) after he received the Victoria Cross (ribbon is just below his wings) in London. When McLeod joined, he wore the uniform of a Royal Flying Corps officer and here he wears the uniform of the Royal Air Force (created just four days after his VC action). His continuing weakened state may have played a part in his succumbing to influenza in 1918. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203497375-BYSWRSRDKGRC31ATMTIQ/0105BA53-CB5C-421D-B59F-3FC0E3A2BF25.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630203522489-SJLKW42W2Y7L7BF577SK/081D90E3-87FA-416B-8F90-3A3AE4D9CFDE.jpeg The Stories - THE FORGOTTEN VICTORIA CROSS - Make it stand out The boy hero of Stonewall, Manitoba is laid to rest in Winnipeg. Alan Arnett McLeod, VC died from influenza just four days before the signing of the Armistice. Being a physician, his father was most certainly devastated. Upon his return to Winnipeg in September 1918, he was taken on strength with the RAF staff. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/payback-time monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630195811223-I0S1VR13YRVAZUCVR4RB/0404D79A-0EC2-42FE-B573-639F28C626BD.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196257372-U7T04PBDNMCA8FEV8SQF/C1909F93-F52D-443B-9DCC-8007FD737F06.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada Tiger Moth pilot Blake Reid and flight sponsor O'Malley push the Tiger Moth out into the sun after refuelling. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196282897-TQJETNXSN0RP9V3KDUEO/A5ACB032-4A0C-4EFF-87DA-5DBD2ED7FCD1.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hannah of Oakville, Ontario pose with Harry's Tiger Moth mount for the evening's flight. For veterans and aviators of any stripe, the "trip of a lifetime" can be an exciting and enduring experience. This goes for all members of the family and attendant friends. Though surely Harry's "trip of a lifetime" was the time, in his Spitfire, that he turned back over France to help out a formation of B-25s in trouble and found his cockpit shot to pieces and his aiplane in a death spiral. This evening's flight was to be a pure pleasure. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196308048-QFP0Q4E0MR8OVMF0P4IV/C8E56CE0-9C76-495B-8C71-6F90A089064F.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out The experienced Spitfire pilot gets to know Blake Reid before the flight. Blake Reid, a soft spoken and affable gentleman if there ever was one, is an airline pilot with Ottawa-based First Air. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196345922-MYLOE42QTVTKX78MUHLY/DC8E5BCA-4872-476C-A99B-E6DEFD702E21.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out While the two pilots wait, Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft groomer Anna Ragogna is taken briefly away from her glass of cabernet sauvignon to polish Harry's windscreen. Given the low light of the evening and flying into the setting sun, it was necessary to limit glare. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196374717-BAX0BWNQWZEM46HMVBZV/236D9656-D91A-43A7-A3CC-B69C98A0DA68.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Before O'Malley could assist the 90 year old, he scrambled up the wing, following Blake Reid's instruction about where to hold and what to step on and practically jumped into the cockpit. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196464475-N3R741O1I67SRPOAVBN6/411BED12-4229-47D0-8549-9D08CC2DFCF0.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Nearly 70 years after his first military training flight in Arizona, Hannah still has the aristocratic and bold bearing of a Spitfire pilot. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196487355-PB51GOCKF53XA76VV642/9F340453-64D6-4E18-B2EE-5273B3466F90.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Harry's beautiful wife Yvonne sneaks in to get a photo of her man. Always humble, Harry had to put up with a lot of picture taking this evening, and for that we thank him. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196509274-JOZC8K04R7GTRQ7LGDIC/4EA3087B-3872-4416-8BA2-FC555C15AE00.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Blake Reid instructs Harry on the magneto switches for the Tiger Moth, which are in plain view from in and out of the cockpit - a necessity for an aircraft with an "Armstrong" starter. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196542813-A2ETE3AIX35XQD6BQ3HS/7ECE1BFC-C2FB-4642-9F7C-6E771833A0E4.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out To the cadence of "Clear - Contact!", Steve "Armstrong" MacKenzie whips the Tiger Moth's prop into action. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196570240-WA0J12K8APY1I1ULUIGJ/BAAAE918-25F2-4FC9-AA5B-9DBF7487F170.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out As mentioned before, it's not just the man in the cockpit that receives a memory for life on a sponsored aircraft flight. Here Yvonne Hannah and honourary daughter Susan Kirkpatrick beam with joy and pride - with the yellow Tiger Moth reflected in their sunglasses. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196591437-H396LUJUA0MJZKAJT5BM/56A29FB6-6703-486B-BEA9-907495C1F3A9.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Zooming in close to the joyful face of Yvonne Hannah, we can clearly identify the Vintage Wings of Canada Tiger Moth in her sunglasses. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196623810-8OGSH1PBRIZRD377L5IN/F4709439-8A27-4E2A-907D-2F114CF99B27.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Blake Reid sashays the little biplane down the taxiway while Harry sits up front with his thoughts. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196648413-XJLV9A1LRNQZ79QWGXGB/BED3A089-9DB6-42CA-9725-459DD3BA3E92.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Low golden light, cool evening air, a Yellow bird and no wind what so ever. It promised to be one of the finest flying evenings of the 2010 flying season. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196670102-ROODI5V3HOIGTAGDCJKP/1DE3802F-E2B7-4FA0-A1A0-EAB0D412D0F5.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out There are indeed benefits to hauling around a lens the size of mortar. Despite being three hundred meters from the runway, Richard Allnutt is able to capture the smile on the fighter pilot's face. The look seems to say... 'I am happy to be back." Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196702105-HV8SM1T59MS9SSKZKKH8/A1F1A73B-F11F-4595-A68F-FD3BFF316476.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out The perfect evening. With light wing loading, the Tiger Moth can be a frisky bird in thermals and low level turbulence. But tonight, the Gypsy Major would run like a joyful spirit and the yellow wings would be drawn through the smooth air as if they were not flying at all. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196723971-KW85PBOQ760PRSE2AI0D/06A6CF34-CA5F-4422-BB14-875669CB47D8.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Alas, one hour later with the sun slipping below the horizon, Harry and Blake reluctantly land and taxi back to the ramp. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196750643-WVIDS3WK19TD4BQGGK2K/7FDED4BF-D03B-4223-88DE-FADE78377532.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out While a large gathering of EAA pilots, Vintage Wings volunteers and dignitaries dine in the hangar, some hear the Tiger Moth's return after almost an hour and rush out to great the returning pilots. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196777657-SVB02YFHSNNYNPACXSWX/29D9AD89-9525-4107-BD20-8D82ED163D4E.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out As Harry and Blake taxi off in after a glorious evening, the womenfolk blow him kisses and obviously share his exhileration. In the group, aviation philanthropist and aircraft buff Clint Cawsey photographs the return. Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196801787-9JY4DGKMA5E9PQ79I0LG/C259FA3E-81FB-4E1C-95FC-1F8599C94FC8.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out If you ever wondered why we do this... Harry's smile and thumbs up will give you the answer. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196825724-MJ0FESZPYAXVNCXL6R1N/3B536C4B-84D6-41EE-B9BA-60B64D203C29.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out With the moon running high, historic aviation videographer Jim Blondeau captures Harry's thoughts after the flight... time for drink! Photo by Richard Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196852732-XR14QTYX5E1DGSUVXOVH/71FA210F-8516-489F-93CE-FBD4C9ED8FA3.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out The following evening, 91-year old Kittyhawk pilot Frank Waywell (I know, it's hard to believe), met up with Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Dave Hadfield for a flight in his old warhorse. The last time that Frank flew in a P-40, it was 1943 and its engine packed-in after staffing Italian troops in North Africa. He crash landed, was captured and by various means and stages, found himself in Stalag Luft 4B where he spent the remainder of the war. The strange part of this story is that Harry Hannah also spent the remainder of his war at the same POW camp after being shot down in 1943. Neither met during those two years, but found themselves members at the same golf club in Oakville many decades later. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196872895-37WJ2U4F491BTX3NFSS7/8D24644D-4453-4419-8C27-E2D65227ACF6.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Frank Waywell is in tremendous shape. He does not look a day over 70 and he scrambled up the wing and into the rear seat of the P-40 like it was 1943. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196895262-91QCANEX4XXSNTH4D3VI/D19D5FE7-39AE-4FE8-A62B-CCFE28D777A1.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out No need to say much here... as Frank is about to take a flight back in time. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196934221-1TEIHXF9ECHSPMBYVXA1/E343D4A4-4631-4D73-8370-BC39CC1E4904.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings ground crew worked long into the evening after the Wings Over Gatineau air show to ensure that Frank's mount was primed and ready. Here AME Angela Gagnon and mechanic André Laviolette signal the start with Dave Hadfield. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196957337-WO2DI1D1UTDLTNBMA8Q8/26D06FCB-BDD5-4DC2-9A8D-C1D2A28718AF.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out You have control!... I have control... Frank takes the stick of a P-40 for the first time in 67 years and his joy lights up the rear cockpit. Photo by Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630196979826-CPYWAK2ZC19HI81LI556/ADA02D74-2BB9-4396-9E5B-4C99DF1C63E4.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Frank Waywell beams with a warmth that only a perfect moment like a sunset flight can bring. Here, he poses with pilot Dave Hadfield, Frank's great grandson and his granddaughter Wendy. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630197002405-J3IWDGKA7S1OX4RHYW1N/F51B0C58-DEBB-443E-ABF9-BAA524A79DA2.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out 67 years after the last P-40 entry in his logbook, Frank gets Dave Hadfield to sign off on one more Kittyhawk sortie. To be able to put this entry in his yellowed and long-dormant logbook is a testament to Frank's longevity, relaxed outlook on life and physical fitness. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630197025552-U763OR4QADE4HL343P1P/6136E685-B9F6-4070-B8B8-1DE391893217.jpeg The Stories - PAYBACK TIME - Make it stand out Frank Waywell and Harry and Yvonne Hannah joined us at the EAA - Vintage wings dinner after the air show. The satisfaction at returning to the skies is written on their faces. Photo by Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/burma-stars monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630192885662-5B6BGPVGMIJ87SQNCAJ3/EB998CD3-BFFD-4289-A662-CDD92C45BFC0.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630192938776-Y4813K1IZNNQDLN07TGP/7E20856C-A64A-49BD-B279-7BFFAD8D67F2.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out One of three waves of Burma veterans and their families arrive by bus at the front door of Vintage Wings. To ensure that everyone had enough time to fully appreciate the collection, the large number of visitors was broken into three groups arriving at separate times (9 AM, 10AM and 11 AM). Note the words in the bus's destination board: "Lest We Forget". Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193034659-JO0ZFE9EO5SI78MTK7FA/4AF5C749-994D-44CE-AA15-271E34E4364C.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out The airborne assault begins, timed to coincide with the land-based waves. Certainly, every RCAF veteran in attendance that day would jump at the chance to arrive on their old warhorse. Photographer Pierre Lapprand positions his camera to place as much vegetation between himself and the arriving CWH Dak to create a Burma-esque airfield look to his photograph. Of this photo, Burma veteran Glen Connoly wrote: Among the great photographs of us Burma vets, on your web page, there is one taken by Pierre Lapprand. It showed the 'Dakota' behind a little growth of shrubbery. It reminded me of one supply delivery we made. It was to a Spitfire 'drome. You'll know that a 'Spit' does not need a long take-off run. As a result the big, tall, trees surrounding the 'drome were not very far from the beginning of the earthen take-off strip. To return to base we had to get out of that situation. Our pilot, an RAF chap, as I was attached to an RAF squadron and crew, positioned the 'Dak' so that a good bit of its rear end was in some short shrubbery off the take-off strip. He and the second pilot had the yokes pulled fully back. Both had their feet on the brake pedals. The second pilot was holding the throttles in full power position. You could hear our 'old girl' straining to get going. I, the Wop/Air, was standing behind the pilots, as I usually did during take-off and landing. The pilot said to second 'pilot ,"On three release brakes... 1 - 2 - 3". Away we went, up went the tail and we were quickly airborne. As soon as we got 'unstuck' the second pilot got the undercarriage retracting. We just cleared those trees. I think if the wheels had been fully down they might have clipped the tops of them. Just one of the many little incidents encountered by those delivering needed supplies to the troops in Burma. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193073321-I55ENY2NBKMI97GEWC3H/79787032-B197-4ADB-973E-B3F0599D7238.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Burma veteran Harold Holland, his daughter Leslie and Vintage Wings volunteer Michael Virr pose in front of the Tiger Moth. "Dutch" Holland flew Hurricanes Mk IIc's in 11 Squadron RAF. Holland states that he trusted the beefy fighter very much. Only once, in November of 1944, did his Hurricane suffer a forced landing due to an overheating engine. The only place he could find to make a belly landing was the surface of a river in the Burmese jungle. Unfortunately Harold did not know how to swim. As luck would have it, a Spitfire came up alongside and guided his failing Hurricane him past a mountain and on to the surface of a swamp. When the aircraft was retrieved, mechanics told him a piston was practically welded to its cylinder! Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193111821-3BY0BN0N1I90RWLPJYEJ/01CD1168-8A5E-4810-B316-6969DF275173.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Sean Martin, who was born probably 40 years after the Burma campaign, captures the attention of a group of Burma veterans as he tells them the story of our Fairey Swordfish. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193130479-PL1AV89JF89GGLTDMDPY/8EFBD64A-CD61-4837-8B2A-E6351C92A288.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out John Windish gets a few laughs out of the Burma veterans in his group. Photo by Graeme Goodlet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193170791-MY3RC55LFTIHAIQDEUV4/25EABF7D-BF34-4995-8911-27CD7996AE9B.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Marc Turcotte tells another group about the Spitfire as the CWHM's Dakota taxies in from a landing in the distance. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193199859-DRPZPGWBLTM7R6HDOS5T/74F4A042-9F02-410E-AC8C-29B0E77329DF.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Canadian Warplane Heritage pilot Brandon Zimmerman bends his ear to better hear Vintage Wings ground crew after the long and noisy flight from Hamilton. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193226059-K28V606KK7PTYY2P5DSN/65D8AA2E-F724-4E99-B5CD-CD97FB1AA553.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out You can't get more Canadian than Canucks Unlimited - the 436 Squadron DC-3 Dakota of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario. "Canucks Unlimited" was the slogan of 436 and emblazoned many of their Daks in South Asia. The CWHM sent the immaculately kept warbird up to Ottawa for the enjoyment of the Burma veterans. Photo via Graeme Goodlet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193290794-VBEYIV3JSWOPJVVBAUOD/AB54C71D-1DC3-4732-813D-85C99A28A464.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out The height of the DC-3 cockpit above the ground is very evident in this shot looking over the Vintage wings Elementary Training aircraft - the Tiger Moth and the Fleet Finch. Photo by Graeme Goodlet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193317030-0JGOM5Z8VMVRGXVE92DX/6CEFFD43-3DD6-4B73-823C-B8250C239B26.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out ONUS PORTAMUS - We carry the load. 436 Squadron still shoulders a heavy load for the Canadian Air Force to this day, operating the CC-130 Hercules from their home at CFB Trenton. But it was born in Gujrat, India in 1944 after which it operated from Burma. Being born in India and given a heavy lift mission, it was a natural to choose the Indian Elephant for their mascot and symbol. It is certainly a tribute to the quality of the aircraft this squadron has flown that in nearly 66 years of continuous operation (only one stand down from '46 to '49) they have only flown 3 different types - the DC-3 Dakota, The Fairchild Flying Box Car and finally the Herc. Photo by Graeme Goodlet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193354653-H2PY93P0Z091KMWEJM66/234F8978-46F0-48C7-ABB0-8C5DF78557C0.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of the mighty DC-3 "Canucks Unlimited" - a thundering tribute to the men of the RCAF who fought a forgotten war a world away. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193389977-MY0JRTDOTQGSRKOF0ZL5/06A47D2B-C9C2-461C-82DC-FC4D371743C8.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Michael Virr tells a group of veterans and family members about the work we are doing to get our Spitfire back in the air for Battle of Britain Day. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193416228-KKLNOYJXTNTV5T9UY9B4/6F0D47C8-6AA2-466B-8AA0-3979F40A1757.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Canine meets Equine. A Burma veteran snaps a photo of the Vintage Wings Mustang, while his attendant pooch watches for the hangar cat. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193440254-C61PDI4IB7K2JXQM4JYV/35E82E82-06C1-43EA-B2F7-8D94DF843F5F.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Sean Martin explains the history of our de Havilland Beaver. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193569957-N7BB5R6G91QL4A1TLILV/F9FEF3B1-6FBD-41AD-9575-5469CCDE6726.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Peter Ashwood-Smith taxies up in the Vintage Wings Fleet Finch. No doubt some of the Burma veterans on hand had some experience in the type during the Second World War. The Vintage Wings of Canada flying operation is a very active one indeed with visitors often witnessing historic aircraft coming and going as training proceeds. Constant training by all our pilots is critical for the safe operation at air displays and memorial flypasts. Photo by Graeme Goodlet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193491376-I77BLU930L6LR2H7KFC8/61FB69C9-6B68-42A9-A538-427A844DBECE.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Art Adams, nicknamed the "Brick Bomber", points to his target on the painting by Lance Russwurm in the lobby of Vintage Wings of Canada. He was a "kicker" on C-47/DC-3 Skytrain/Dakotas in the Burma campaign. A "kicker" was a loadmaster on a Dak who often delivered supplies to remote places by literally kicking them out of the cargo door . He was aboard one Dakota transporting 2,000 bricks to be used to build an oven for cooking food when the aircraft flew at low altitude over a Japanese floatplane aircraft pulled up on a beach. By pitching bricks at the enemy aircraft, Art Adams became the only person to have done a "kill" with bricks. This kill has officially been confirmed in a Japanese magazine 12 years ago. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193594123-7B24YWFM9QU4X0DS81X9/6A20939D-EAB0-4CB9-87DB-8BA14AE4D559.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Art Adams pops his head from the front office of the CWH Dakota while ground crew prepare the aircraft for a re-creation of his famous masonry attack on a Japanese warplane. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193627453-CBIB5CIX6MI7DMRUFS69/B0E764E9-56A5-4643-BB11-8EB44F4AB4D0.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Vintage Wings' Chief Operating Officer Rob Fleck (left) lends a hand to help AME Paul Tremblay remove the stairs to the Dakota. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193651730-OEDA4NRRC24P21Q9WHSF/2578B66E-DF32-4CE3-80D6-E55364766F4E.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out A painting by Lance Russwurm depicting another "Canucks Unlimited" Dak from 436 Squadron and the infamous Brick Bomber. A description of the painting from the Spitfire Emporium tells the story: (Burma, 1945) In April of that year, 436 Transport Squadron was ordered to move operations from Akyab Island in the Bay of Bengal, down the Burmese coast to Ramree Island. This move was necessary to maintain supplies to the British 14th Army which was advancing on the Japanese. Ramree had been shelled and extensively damaged. S/L Dick Denison was instructed to fly a load of bricks to Ramree so the cooks could build ovens to serve the squadron's messing needs. A C-47 (KN210) piloted by Denison was transporting the bricks and couldn't gain altitude, due to being overloaded. Just as this became apparent, L.A.C. Art Adams spotted a Japanese seaplane beached on a small island. Someone shouted, "Let's get rid of some bricks!" The paradrop bell and lights came on, the signal to "Do the drop". During a few low passes, Adams pushed out as many bricks as he could. No sign of life was seen around the enemy aircraft and it is doubtful that any damage was done but, it was certainly the only bombing raid in World War 2 done with bricks. Denison later landed the Dak like a feather. It was overloaded by 2000 pounds! Painting by Lance Russwurm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193681997-46U0BIY18KHDJDQKXHYO/3886AF52-D686-4726-B727-7C02F16F86CD.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Art Adams gets ready to chuck some masonry in a reenactment of some creative warfare waged more than 65 years ago and half a world away. Photo by George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193717304-I7CNWISJZE60YCNALXYR/3FB234E6-9550-4FDD-9C10-47B732629476.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out A close up of Art about to show the Japanese who's boss. Adams was very cooperative and good natured to help us stage the photo op. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193744723-W60ZMOJD7M248UWT1Q94/A0340BFF-34E0-4A89-930C-F57FD4189C64.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out One of three groups of Burma veterans, many with bush hats on, pose for an army of shooters. Among the 16 veterans is Art Adams on the right in front, while "Dutch" Holland is at the back far left. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193778247-OEJJSX2M0DLWBTGCL28R/97FEB6DA-13FF-4340-9ABA-5D9AA8E71C83.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out The first group of 16 is joined by their wives, relatives and the crew of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Dakota. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193808660-OV5GGOULS6S246HXCOE6/3631B625-0262-4719-B128-AA97D70D7805.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out A second group of 18 veterans pose for Lapprand. While some required walkers and wheel chairs, their bearing was strong and the pride was evident on their faces - it was a good day. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193844078-4NES8ACPH8QUXAGH52AK/3FC88F4B-5793-4DE8-91D2-B64ADC5FEAD6.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out The second group is joined by family and air force personnel. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630193873550-P3RX71FXAHUFZXQ47GS5/8812F899-649E-47DA-8F80-AC2EBFE18CF1.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out The last group of 20 park their hardware together for their shot. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630195615093-7ZT56G6RJWFIACGHD6IC/8F698D8D-CD73-4F52-8B42-DBB1E4706FC9.jpeg The Stories - BURMA STARS - Make it stand out Group three is joined by their wives and relatives. It was a big and very honourable day at the Vintage Wings hangar. Photo by Pierre Lapprand https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/buffalo-nine monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630155356116-06OGGOTAXDEPH2BO9EBR/67FB4BEF-7DF1-42C7-A078-0C903DF331B4.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630155398176-A72I7PPMWW27MYKQX9VU/F611D755-3F42-4982-8D6F-D47027ED048C.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Canadian Forces de Havilland Buffalo 461 on the ground in the Middle East prior to August, 1974. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630155428975-HOT8QFNEVQO10Q6IR98G/3C3FCFDA-08F9-4419-91F2-6C24F73BE437.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Canadian Forces de Havilland Buffalo 461 (last in line) on the ramp at Beirut Airport on 27 July 1974 just over a week before she was blown out of the sky on a peacekeeping mission. (from left to right Buffalo 452, 460, and 461) Photo by F/L Don Fish via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630155457693-ZEXPJKLA0VOJ5ZF9U17C/77B22238-B9DC-4FEF-B45C-CCBC91C58795.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Canadian Forces Buffalo 461 loads cargo from a United Nations minibus. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171582484-43O0W3IJ2DLGWJMWJFWV/E457205D-7E30-4DFE-B86C-41627B243F65.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The crew and passengers of United Nations Flight 51. Photos via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171631038-U86A8HGG2YHZRU7AQM3W/16EFE88E-EA90-48B7-9E45-6E8BACEEDEA5.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Canadian and UN investigators examine the largest remaining components of the destroyed Buffalo on the desert floor. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171668910-XV6D026AO8UW9FQ993OG/4AE423FA-5D16-4DCF-8AC8-D669F97FB2FA.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Unfriendly Skies - deHavilland Canada Buffalo of the Canadian Armed Forces overflies Damascus, Syria. The white paint of the UN livery is blasted away in the slipstream to reveal her original CAF green. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171691224-OKIWKAKPSAE8E8IHT84N/E23C9079-DF80-4263-B935-DB80524358FD.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out 452, a sister Buffalo to 461 flies over the Prince Edward County, Ontario landscape not far from her home base at CFB Trenton on Lake Ontario. The photograph looks to be a post-paint publicity photograph taken before deployment. The Buffalo is a slab sided, unpressurized, twin engine turbo prop aircraft with a high tail out of proportion to its snub nose. Its long springy oleo legs attached to the single axle dual main wheels combined with a stubby nose gear make a smooth landing a real challenge for all but the virtuosity of only the very best of pilots. In short, it has all the alluring lines and charm of a two-ton cube-van with similar handling characteristics. It wasn’t meant be pretty or easy to land, rather its purpose was similar to what the aforementioned delivery truck was meant to do; move medium loads of cargo or people over relatively short distances into and out of short, unimproved air strips in all weather from the tropics to the arctic. Militarily, it fulfilled the role of a heavy-lift helicopter but better, at more than half the initial price and a quarter of the maintenance costs. Its excellent performance makes it ideal for search and rescue. DND photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171725141-BG7FLATMF1QDV1PPQRCD/EC3874E8-7F3A-4D3D-9D4C-87B7C5DC8B26.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out In December 2002, volunteers from Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Carolinas Aviation Museum, and DAC Aviation International went to Greenville, South Carolina to prepare the ex-Sudanese Air Force Buffalo for shipment to Canada. Effort was slowed by an ice storm which effectively shut down the area for a couple of days. A second effort in early January 2003 was required to complete the effort. Here we see the SuAF Buffalo on the ground in a backlot at Lockheed Martin. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171829723-TNJP19TJN319QH7OJ5TN/30505900-457A-47BB-9E53-A018B0A00302.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out A big rig and flatbed, fresh from the sunny Carolinas, drops off the main components of the former Sudanese Air Force Buffalo ready to begin her transformation to Buffalo 461. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171778928-MTZC9Z8S4YQP6IKA7L9X/A2F2AB3C-1E63-45F7-8A03-A5C585942283.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The fuselage sits on a flatbed trailer outside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, while a crane donated by Aurora Crane sidles up next to it to lift the big pieces to the ground. Here we can see the completely exposed nose section where the wheel well is supposed to be. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171757910-5V0PXI1ZKOC7SD1DHJTU/A2287049-868B-42DB-8995-80F493908E48.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Members of the Buffalo 461 team scavenge a nose section and wheel well from the discarded hulk of Buffalo Number One. It's sad to think that something like the prototype for such an important aircraft as the Buffalo would end up in such an ignominious state. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171887044-Y9SP7JB0C990HFBF9I1F/CC521721-9EF4-4F3A-A6F5-72B930AF9655.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The wheel well section (taken from the junkyard Buffalo found in Newmarket, Ontario) has been joined to the main fuselage prior to final attachment and skinning. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171915091-NETA1H111WD9MWIW71QH/6A9B4F73-1694-42F2-8D29-8753D3FFE009.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out A photo taken shortly after work was completed on the nose section and wheel well sub-project. The well is installed and the outer skin panels now block out the ravages of Canadian winters. The nose gear oleo is seen in the extended position. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171864123-MK0E4G0XQ0SU54GNRHN6/B2A6D5E4-1418-43B9-B95A-B4A5E7CE61A0.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Back out into the light of day, the main wing section is mated to the fuselage main section. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630171980169-FIIDH3KVHSDW0T9939QC/36B438D4-A501-41A2-BAD2-DCA3DECE19AA.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Much of the work on the Buffalo 461 project was carried out while the airframe remained outside on the ramp. In summer this meant for sweltering conditions and blistering metal, while in the winter major components had to be swept of snow and ice before continuing work. Here the aft fuselage containing the ramp doors is mated to the main section. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172004144-2BVXAY2EEP6NLIBWF8XI/E4F5E1F6-B241-4AE6-8986-3669CE72BD20.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The deplorable condition of the cockpit control panel is evident in this image taken before work was begun. All instruments are missing and at the bottom we can see right through the hole in the nose section where work on the wheel well had stopped - leaving the interior of the aircraft wide open to the elements and fauna of South Carolina for years. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172028275-7OWM168WBNTA4CDRFQTU/9DA3882F-4809-45AF-A5CA-C95EF03BD6C0.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out What a difference hard work and respect can do. The old girl looked as fine on the inside as she did on the outside. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172086112-WF44YRU3K3W0OPAFPSIQ/6BACB75D-1A69-4D69-AD1A-AF38FBB85E84.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The distinctive high T-tail ( that so many de Havilland Canada products would carry after the successful Caribou design) is hoisted into place on the aft fuselage. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172113045-L93GENU70TXBFB6YW3EP/B934D00C-F3CC-4E45-91EB-21E64F0BEBCB.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Electrical lines were tested and some exterior lighting was made functional as shown in this night photo below . Photo by Rick Lund via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172133570-JJWK9FO33KEUGOKYFWIU/C11EEE0C-DC6B-40D4-A799-A258A15AD372.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out On the day of the dedication, the Buffalo with two lives drops her ramp in welcome to visitors and families of the fallen. Photo by The One and Only George Mayer via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176469914-F1ZAK6IGNB666BL36EAP/8F04CDEA-7779-44EB-AB93-0610ACE98D10.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Sunday 9, August 2009 was chosen as the dedication date as it was the 35th anniversary of the shoot down of Buffalo 115461 and the 2nd Annual "National Peacekeepers' Day", a national day of commemoration recently enacted by the parliament of Canada. Our restored Buffalo was dedicated in memory of the nine servicemen who perished on August 9, 1974, and to all Canadian peacekeepers. Here the tireless restoration crew poses with the newly dedicated Buffalo 461 and the Lieutenant General of Ontario, David C. Onely. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172193499-MI63EZWBVHHXLGY82YY9/1DEF6BAE-FD0E-421E-8D62-D4B62FD9CAA6.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Buffalo 461 as she was on the day of her dedication. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630172222006-S3N56DPCBOKN647L4O0U/1BA25AA4-D97A-4159-AA05-74937F19526C.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out With the sun streaming in, the cabin of Buffalo 461 looks like a peaceful place, but it does not take too much of an imagination to conjure up the terror and chaos of those last minutes after the 3 missile hits. The Buffalo Nine are enshrined in a gallery of their smiling faces on the bulkhead to the left of the door to the cockpit. A hallowed place indeed. Photo via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176272586-AO3SNF8DJJF6BC7IL75I/EC93E8EF-29C7-4A83-ACF9-8E59A2E79C8A.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Major Lance Steel (could there be a more fitting name?) musters a diverse group of veterans and former peacekeepers in honour of the Buffalo Nine. Photo by Kool Shots via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176307719-QUM5JMVFRQAMQX46T9E6/2583B60D-013F-47A6-91A8-A7404D46ADEB.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out A portable Cenotaph was utilized for the dedication ceremony and almost miraculously, the clouds parted and the sun shone down in almost Syrian heat - a rare occurrence in the summer of 2009. Photo by Kool Shots via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176344861-W3JWKC9DD552PLAMR9BH/C5E74ABC-01A1-46B6-B063-91FF4BCB3F87.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out With the CWH Museum in the background, Buffalo 461 is visited by serving aircrew of the Canadian Air Force. Photo by Howard B. McGann via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176384142-BR49D836J62HSOOT3PE5/19513943-58FC-46F0-9AB3-EE4983D0CEF6.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out The restoration crew combined the experience, talents and enthusiasm of a wide range of individuals - young and old. Here they pose with a photograph of the original 461 in flight. Bravo Zulu. Photo by Kool Shots via www.buffalo461.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630176441271-JEQQ6LU70Y1KZCAMLX6V/2DABE478-E6C1-4630-B4EC-3DE75E1D5A02.jpeg The Stories - THE BUFFALO NINE - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada would like to extend our congratulations and gratitude to the Buffalo Nine team and all the folks at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum who conceived of and completed this remarkable project. Photo by Kool Shots via www.buffalo461.ca https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/black-lux-and-the-golden-hawk monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153287383-4U7BBDHGW8R7WHCMR9N3/00FED74E-5FAE-4A93-944A-631FC74174C3.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153325563-IPXF7TUXEXE6WMTT7E4L/CD28842B-E995-46F2-8A45-6B70A1377B56.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Family, members of the RCMP and Vintage Wings of Canada assembled at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police hangar facility at the Ottawa Airport to honour Al Lilly and dedicate the Discovery Air Hawk One Sabre in his name for the 2010 flying season. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153357838-AU0K2NROC9OKS0RR0FBD/B0E69BA5-E3BD-494C-8C8E-EFFFAC371456.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The VIPs - Author Mary Lee (left ) and Chris Hadfield listen during the dedication ceremonies. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153439777-K0834BUL1CW9RC4DY38Z/EAC9B47E-2700-4930-B59F-B715C420C810.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Superintendent Greg Peters, Director, Strategic Partnerships and Heritage Branch talks about the contributions made to the RCMP flying service by Al Lilly while flanked by a veteran pilot of today's service, Sergeant Major Raymond Huet. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153458858-Y5IGY2ROM1RSRHNWFTAN/EBA26E92-BC09-45F8-8C1A-583E86AA28E4.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out At the dedication ceremony, Chris Hadfield, Hawk One pilot, Vintage Wings of Canada board member and Canadian astronaut gives an impassioned speech about “Al” to Lilly’s family and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Flanking him to his right is the nose of Hawk One and to his left is veteran RCMP pilot Sergeant Major Raymond Huet. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153481693-PC5179Z497JS3IVX8KCQ/C7184609-02C2-40C5-B9D4-D9DE313EBECD.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Despite the 30 C heat, the assembled dignitaries remained relaxed and cool in the shade of the RCMP hangar. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153537695-PG0GKE40X6WYC4E7RK20/6DB02F72-66C3-4DFB-93A8-56C9AA56B671.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Many dignitaries were on hand to pay tribute to the life and accomplishments of Al Lilly. Left to right: RCMP Corporal Craig Kennedy; Assistant Commissioner Bernard F. Corrigan, Commanding Officer, National Headquarters; Michael Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada; Patricia Hassel, daughter of Al Lilly; Chris Hadfield, astronaut and Hawk One pilot; Rob Fleck, COO of Vintage Wings of Canada; Superintendent Greg Peters, Director, Strategic Partnerships and Heritage Branch; RCMP pilot Sergeant Major Raymond Huet. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153559224-F1I4U5CFVN9O3OIJNOE8/A08CDEC3-2B7D-415F-8D42-5F37E5FAAA75.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out A young Alexander Lilly and his beloved companion and partner in crime prevention Black Lux. As Cam McNeil says... Lilly was the ONLY RCMP Dog Master in the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. Photo: from The Quarterly, via Cam McNeil https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153587396-MH05KSMYRRSUP4CVMDQ2/2A23873F-8EE0-4C0C-9C63-73BDA6CA7019.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Al Lilly at the age of 97 - at a memorial to veterans in his home of Dieppe, New Brunswick. Lilly's induction notes at Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame read: The application of his superior skills in Test Flying, leading to vital improvements in many aircraft during war and peace, have been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation." Alexander Lilly had an unblemished career of 35 years as an instructor, test pilot, transport pilot, and aviation executive. In 1932 he joined the RCMP and while on detachment at Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan he advocated the use of ski or float equipped aircraft to replace dog-teams and canoes. The RCMP later transferred Lilly to headquarters in Ottawa but since this would remove him from flying opportunities, he resigned and went to England to join Imperial Airways, the predecessor of British Overseas Airways Corporation. When WWII broke out, he returned to Canada and became Chief Flying Instructor with the BCATP and eventually joined Ferry Command in Montreal. In this position he flew several types aircraft including the Hudson, Ventura, Boston, B-25, C-47 Dakota, B-24 Liberator, Catalina, Boeing B-17, Lancaster, and Mosquito. On August 8, 1950, Lilly flew the first Canadian manufactured F-86 Sabre jet, and gained the distinction of being the first in Canada to break the sound barrier. Photo: Art Cuthbertson, Dieppe Military Veterans' Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153624976-W5WJ1760EM8P4LEH6SBM/1656D0A7-75B6-45BA-BF5B-0318359DB77C.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out The moment of dedication. Chris Hadfield and Patricia Hassel, Lilly's daughter, with their hands just touching the name of Al Lilly emblazoned on the fuselage of Hawk One. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153653994-2SUQY2B0R1CKOQLHV2HK/F7129D5B-823E-4998-94D2-FA08C934BA4B.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Love a pilot in uniform? How about the Red Serge, the greatest, no sexiest, uniform on the planet and the sky blue of a Hawk One pilot? Hadfield and Huet chat at the side of Hawk One. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630153677557-SUHXK9F2PTSTAXJ6PBWN/CE538F20-4B79-452D-99FE-C364AA9B0692.jpeg The Stories - BLACK LUX AND THE GOLDEN HAWK - Make it stand out Two of Al lilly's Great Grand Nieces were on hand for the dedication. Regan Lilly (Inset) gets fitted for her Hawk one helmet while Jorja Lilly plays with her toy airplane. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/blind-faith monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145755986-Y0SLIGUKEWUZKEHCEVJ3/CD810CA5-54CB-4527-A89A-396B5F9B1340.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146038118-GRQXL4ZD2FPHZ0E5K99E/692AF958-601E-417C-B274-652B9E0EDE15.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out HMCS Ontario one of the Royal Canadian Navy's largest ships was a Swiftsure class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy as HMS Minotaur, but transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on completion and renamed Ontario. Ontario's ship's bell is presently on display at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Photo: RCN/DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146057705-UI5FWIBFQQ16P70LWLCX/7D030AAE-2A6D-44A2-888C-26615B2C1D1E.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Author Hayter was lucky to still have his hearing after crossing the Atlantic on a Merlin-powered North Star operated by Trans- Canada Airlines, the progenitor of Air Canada. Photo: Canadair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146151764-IYWUXX1KH5EOANPNVVV9/DC523E00-A70F-43A2-A3BF-B4458065D5FF.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out A Royal Navy Fairey Firefly is refuelled prior to another training mission at RNAS Lossiemouth in Scotland. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146174364-5QYSP2QCSJ7SZQIR1XWI/9998D049-0024-4637-BE2A-53ECD24B3D81.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out The airfield at RNAS Eglington on Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland back in the days of carrier training. Today Eglington is the City of Derry Airport. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146201566-DX08IGBZ5GLB7K4YW5W6/60A36FAC-C96B-4439-81AD-0588BFAADE4E.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out The aircraft carrier HMS Triumph was the ninth of ten Royal Navy warships to carry this name - from a 68-gun galleon in 1561 to a nuclear-powered Trafalgar-class submarine today. She was completed during the Second World War, saw service in Korea and ended her life first as a fleet training carrier and then as a heavy repair ship until the mid 1970s. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146265099-8THTX0Y33URWX6PLWE13/174C5EC1-A3A6-4AC6-AAD9-40AB74F15442.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out USS Bennington - During the fog incident, Magnificent would give shelter to one of Bennington's Skyraiders. Photo: USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146287727-HW41ED0K17SCSEUPJZ0P/D119DEC0-8D5B-4C0F-935A-95E81B644E38.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Re-enactment - A Skyraider attempts a landing on USS Wasp just as the fog lifts enough to recover aircraft. Photo Illustration: manipulated USN image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146310292-IORQFYP9GR4LJIU9XTXA/FA5BC1F8-F62E-41A7-BA1E-22E1FEA42023.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Re-enactment - At last!, with only fumes left in her tanks, the first Skyraider lands successfully aboard Wasp and the end of a terrifying day begins. Photo Illustration: manipulated USN image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146345811-J8H24KUBPFDW8A8EWZVQ/5F53F8C0-30D0-46C4-9F6D-9A2467F51603.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Re-enactment - The first Avenger "Guppy" catches a wire aboard Magnificent. Photo Illustration: manipulated RCN image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146369257-ECLVUJXBSHAJHR8SKZVR/F8CF0754-9398-456C-B9C2-74339EC88838.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Re-enactment - "I closed up on my formation leader tucking in as close as I dared. He signalled a descent and before long we were in dense fog." Photo Illustration: RN image and Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630146387358-EKS6RBCR3RNQRXD8QZ0D/4CC1DA4C-91EF-4137-A5F2-08DF27D61FA9.jpeg The Stories - BLIND FAITH - Make it stand out Days later, the relieved and possibly still-hung-over pilot of the Bennington-based Skyraider gets ready to launch while Hayter and his Avengers warm up on the aft aircraft park. Photo: RCN/DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/magnificent-moments monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630100058630-2WCA1FYTUPJ8JFC7EXPJ/MaggieMomentsTitle.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630100176566-9SFC4K256PETO6C52XLF/MaggieMoments.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Supermarine Seafire (a naval-ized Spitfire with arresting gear and strengthened undercarriage) snags a good wire landing aboard HMCS Warrior, Canada's first aircraft carrier. HMS Warrior (R31) was a Colossus-class light aircraft carrier which served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1946 to 1948, the Royal Navy from 1948 to 1958, and the Argentine Navy from 1959 to 1969. In Canadian service, Warrior was not truly suitable for cold weather operations and she was traded back to the Royal Navy for a carrier of the Majestic Class which became the much-loved HMCS Magnificent. Photo via Cameron Fraser. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630100213744-10UZJTQQNXG74KY5YOR8/MaggieMoments2.jpg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another Seafire, this one not so lucky, is attended to after a prang into the barrier (a heavy duty net across the carrier deck designed to catch any aircraft that does not snag a wire). Rescuers stand on the wing to help the pilot, while deck crew pull the barrier away and at bottom a fireman waits with a foam hose should he be required. The damage is limited to a crushed spinner and a damaged wing tip. Photo via Cameron Fraser. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143122318-7NQLAOGIJ0750CLOEX7C/EF3FB123-3934-4F8D-891F-0707D12B39BF.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another of the navalized features of the Seafire was its folding wings for storage on and below decks. Here we see a Seafire being lowered to the maintenance hangar deck on the forward lift. Here's a little Seafire ditty from the ranks of the RN's Fleet Air Arm and it goes like this: They gave me a Seafire To beat up the fleet I beat up Nelson and Rodney a treat Forgot the big mast that sticks up in "Formid" And the seats in the "goofers" were worth 40 Quid Whacking Show, I'm alive But I still have to render my A-25* "Bats" gives me lower, I always go higher I float float off to Staboard and prang a Seafire The boys in the "goofers" all think I am green But I draw a commission from Supermarine Whacking show etc. Chorus They say in the Air Force, a landing’s OK If the pilot gets out and can still walk away But in the Fleet Air Arm your chances are slim If the landing’s piss-poor, and the pilot can’t swim *Accident report form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143206387-LM6EE53E2OBJJCTKANO3/5B1A9A71-4C0F-43BD-BEA8-3E9EDBD30C9B.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The Royal Canadian Navy mustered a Seafire formation team in the late 1940s. Here we see three of the team's Seafire's warming up at de Havilland Canada's Downsview facility prior to a show there in September of 1949 - the first Canadian International Air Show. DeHavilland employees, in white coveralls, assist Navy ratings. Photo via Ron Beard Collection, www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143155523-5Z6BSBWORUEWJR3M8AGI/9CEBD6D5-7AFA-48C5-B436-8C0488B56FEA.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Sea Fury, the world's fastest piston-engined aircraft at the time, taking off from HMCS Magnificent. The third ship of the Majestic class, Magnificent was built by Harland and Wolff, laid down 29 July 1943 and launched 16 November 1944. Purchased from the Royal Navy (RN) to replace HMCS Warrior, she served in a variety of roles, operating both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. She was generally referred to as the Maggie. Her aircraft complement included Fairey Fireflies and Hawker Sea Furies as well as Seafires and Avengers. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143404833-5I6B7EXK461ZON7VILP9/34E45094-2986-410A-AE6F-AA24074FBA9A.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Float, float, float, float, Barrier Prang! Despite the 695 foot deck of the Maggie, this Sea Fury has landed long and drifted off the centre line, is headed for an abrupt stop at Magnificent's barrier. Aircraft landed with canopies back in case a quick exit was required on deck or in the water. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143432121-ZR0R1LY2RIXVZYIVU3WJ/EC4C01DC-958E-4D42-AB67-8CAC4C0D8A61.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out “I was 40 feet up when “Bats:” gave me CUT”. A Sea Fury grinds to a loud and ignominious halt having collapsed its gear landing too hard. The photographer has captured the moment before even the crew can react to come to the aid of the pilot. Magnificent was given the ship code of CVL 21, hence the numerals at the round down. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143494100-LVPYBW4KTKSK5EZEDFIG/F06EA30B-A7BE-4076-A19F-9557B1CBD365.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Seconds later, Maggie's crew rush to the aid of the Sea Fury's pilot. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143538793-P4CHD1QVYT1Z3OT1IQDE/CE69EF13-D351-4A15-952B-F36D62E7CF23.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A textbook landing! A Sea Fury rounds out its final approach and cuts her engine to drop onto Magnificent's deck. Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143560842-BZELQO6D10ON9UQ8YNWD/49B588EA-B1FB-418F-A209-AC48E0B97A06.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A nice tight formation of Canadian Sea Furies of 803 Squadron. A total of 74 Sea Furies (plus one evaluation aircraft) served in Canadian units. The Sea Furies were given various paint schemes - this early scheme was overall gloss Extra Dark Sea Grey, with underside and spinners in gloss Sky. The farthest aircraft (BC-A) was lost at sea March 12, 1949, BC-J was struck from service August 1952, BC-H saw service only until March of 1949. BC-G (in foreground) went missing during ferry flight on 30 June 1950. Aircraft was returning to Shearwater from overhaul at Avro Canada in Toronto. It left Quebec City, performed brief aerobatic display over airport, and headed east into worsening weather. Wreckage was not found until 1968, near Millinocket, Maine. The Sea Fury had struck trees on a ridge while in a descent. The accident report theorizes pilot Lt. M.C. Hare was attempting a forced landing in a nearby creek, due to low fuel or engine problems, and was probably too low to bail out, because of the low ceilings and high terrain. Wreckage was still there in 1979, when a memorial plaque was placed on the site. Information for this caption came from an invaluable resource: Canadian Military Aircraft Serials by R.W.R. Walker. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143588919-DWJPAI0OFT1CMWEKZS9M/E0D95D71-19D5-4234-9556-0FFCFDB21333.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another "successful" Sea Fury barrier prang aboard Magnificent. Looking over R.W.R. Walker's detailed listing of the 75 Sea Furies that were operated by the RCN, 24 were destroyed in crashes, ditchings, and fires, while many more were damaged in incidents like this - sometimes more than once. This incredible toll speaks to the dangers faced by RCN pilots aswell as to their courage. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143690934-T0WS2FFPB3IVW7TSC0U1/6D522D2F-A6A1-4245-885D-AB5F9AA7ABD2.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out An RCN Sea Fury comes to rest on the port sponson of HMCS Magnificent, probably giving the 40 mm Bofors gunners quite a fright. Given its later paint scheme this was probably Sea Fury TF 993 with 880 Squadron. It had a tough life having survived this prang, it later turned over on a night landing and was written off. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143788817-G7NLMNTWURK22PSE77EV/75A0872F-3B75-4E2C-8673-12041EDBE780.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out 871 Squadron Sea Furies in later Canadian Navy colours. Photo from the Naval Museum of Manitoba archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143824682-AHGEQAS9LX5NVC7TUXKL/96C7363A-13C9-4630-BAB8-BBB2949F12B5.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Crew chiefs, flight deck crew and a Sea Fury on Magnificent pose for a photo to send back home. Canadian sailors aboard RCN carriers were rightfully proud of their job and their ships. Though Canada can no longer float such costly equipment as a fleet carrier, the work these men did will ensure Canada's rightful place in the history of naval aviation. Photo via CPO Pat "Big Murph" Murphy at www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143877678-O2DEDPNI111ZV430O7GF/25A44E72-E211-472D-8061-9C74099EBA5E.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Sea Fury has a sketchy moment during landing, perhaps trying to execute a wave-off by "Bats". You can just about hear the 18-cylinder scream of the Bristol Centaurus engine as the pilot tries to climb and stay in control at the same time. Photo DND/RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143907456-382BR96Y2QCI0N7R6RSM/0F1F0F44-2D09-40F4-B50E-ADF29928492B.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Fairey Firefly captured in a very difficult moment with a negative outcome, just milliseconds from ditching to starboard on Magnificent. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143930385-JYNIFTREERCMTSVC8FBJ/B7F97CB3-B6DD-49AD-9952-37A07EF8DA08.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A US Navy Skyraider (in background) from USS Wasp pays a visit to HMCS Magnificent in September of 1953. The Skyraider came aboard (out of gas) during the "Fog Incident" of Operation Mariner off Greenland, September of 1953. Three carriers, Magnificent, Bennington and Wasp were involved when returning aircraft had difficulties finding their home decks in severe fog. The fast-forming fog caught 42 planes in the air with the nearest landing field (Bluie West One) 450 miles north on the southernmost tip of Greenland, beyond the fuel capacity of the aircraft. Photo DND/RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143974133-X8SZA3N3EBRC2RLIK85J/DF6E81E3-DF09-4672-AA10-0EC9B799254D.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The beefy Skyraider was the centre of attention during its stay with many crewmen coming topside for a squint at the blue monster. Photo DND/RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630143998653-0UTN0Y9R4A09146VKWPU/08B7180B-1A79-4F36-989F-4C3405EDC09A.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out After his short stay aboard Magnificent, the Skyraider pilot Lt. James Elster and his aircraft are provided with mementos by Commander RN (Air) Robin Abrams. The official dispatch from COMSTRIKFLANT for a public press release stated "Vice Admiral Combs sent a "well done" to all ships and pilots concerned in the recovery operation which probably can be classed as one of the most important experiences in training that the involved units will obtain in the current exercise. This release can be detached and mailed home. More copies are available from division officers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144022041-4RPNPOI7IBOA415AEKFF/5B30FFF1-6A32-469C-8098-A818592D1D6B.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out James Elster, in his Skyraider, warms up, ready to lead a flight of 10 Royal Canadian Navy Avengers down Magnificent's flight deck into a much clearer North Atlantic sky. Photo DND/RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144060922-XPEJIH4FEV44J2ZYB26S/D08F3049-BCF7-4055-AE61-10BE67DECA63.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger (85861) from HMCS Magnificent circa 1950-1952 with radar pod under the starboard wing. Photo DND/RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144086382-W6790S45MY8FW0WSCKO2/39B8A4C8-A103-4BDC-B10C-32B49F596D1D.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Taken from a lifeguard helicopter, the 695 foot deck of Magnificent presents a tiny landing area to a fighter flying 120 knots with a big engine up front. "Bats" or "Paddles" as he is sometimes known, is the man in the port sponson next to the numeral 21. It was his job to judge the altitude, sink rate, alignment and speed of the landing aircraft and signal corrections by moving cloth covered paddles in his hands. RCN/DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144111227-0LBZDFQ8AGDHHY10IUPW/A236468E-54C4-46EA-99DD-F93CCD8ACDFE.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out An American Navy blimp lands on HMCS Magnificent during a 1952 cruise in the Caribbean - perhaps the strangest of all aircraft to land on her deck. Note the turn out of crew to watch the landing. It was doubtful that the captain ordered full speed into wind as they would for landing their fighters - the blimp would not be able to keep up. Photo via Commander E.A. Fallen, www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144150507-NO3XJP0PZDSGE640DG2X/250B6B7C-5A50-44AF-ABCC-E2EC617C2699.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Four Grumman TBM-3E Avengers (possibly of RCN 826 Squadron) cruise line-abreast, resplendent in their all blue livery. Under each right wing hangs their ANAPS3 radar pods. 826 Squadron remained as part of the Royal Navy until it was disbanded in February 1946. It was then reformed as part of the RCN in May 1947 and later renumbered to 881 Squadron (RCN) in May 1951 whereupon the 826 designation returned to the Royal Navy. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144220031-XMPR2Q293PUP59OCCTJ7/1002B592-0CEB-45CD-B3F9-839259778E0F.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another nice shot of a pair of Avengers, referred to (lovingly of course) by their crew chiefs as "turkeys". RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144245555-HAHAIA95YDOH1VHV1ZRL/4B2CCC9B-EF7A-441E-8FA1-26C902ABD947.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Fairey Firefly FR-1 (identified by the "beard" radiator inlet) gets a well earned “cut” from "Bats" (Right) coming aboard Maggie. There are three or four wires (sometimes called cross-deck pendants) on a modern American carrier, but aboard Maggie, there were eight - 6 aft of the elevator, 2 forward. There were 29 Firefly FR-Is on strength with the Royal Canadian Navy. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144300934-MQ9L33AZIH8F31I4TYAU/CB7D2113-9614-4B9B-BB03-EA6CBDEF3DCE.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Fairey Firefly FR-1 snaps her right gear leg after a hard wire. You can just make out the puff of smoke on the deck where the propeller blade has struck the steel deck of Magnificent. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144320792-DFFD1E0QVE52RT9MDQSO/DD333971-3BE5-4511-97E4-3C2949E593BB.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Firefly VX 414 snags a good wire on Maggie, but breaks her gear in the process. VX 414 was one of the last two RCN Fairey Firefly AS 5s (VX 414, VX 415) to be struck off strength (1953), marking the official deletion of the type from the Canadian inventory. Replaced in active service by the Avengers in 880 Sqn during the latter half of 1951, the machines were among four Firefly Vs transferred to the Netherlands naval air arm following retirement from the RCN. Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144348254-BBR4FFT5499EA6JW39TQ/87DE530C-BAB4-4F33-AECF-0E7AEA9F542F.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A view of the same Firefly incident as above, but from the "goofers" - the area at the back of Maggie's island where off-duty crew members gathered to critique and place bets (though always pulling for the pilot and his airplane) on landings and the odd take-off. Not only did VX 414 lose her starboard gear but she destroyed her ASW radar transmitter/receiver pod with the collapse. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144439667-DJKTBTZ3CJLSTIXWQ43F/BE939CF7-DB96-4E65-9101-3D2B6D0176ED.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The boys in the "goofers" got a little extra show this day, as Firefly AB-K slams into the crane housing aft of Magnificent's island. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144511096-046PPQRDUF6RKJW56M19/D086BEB1-E0A6-4271-B1AC-EDD85C458E5F.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another view of the same incident shows us that the boys in the gun tubs got an up-close and personal look at Firefly AB-K landing aboard Magnificent. Note all the sailors lining the rail in the goofers. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144478229-9AG6Z0NC0JFWDFZUCLXX/E3267C25-FF10-446F-8E88-AEBE74A46A6D.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another crowded day in the goofers. The crane housing takes another shot. Fairey Firefly PP462 had been embarked on HMCS Magnificent with 826 Squadron only three days when, on 19 November 1949, LCdr. T.J. Roberts caught No. 3 wire on landing but couldn't prevent PP462 from veering to starboard and striking the ship's crane aft of the island. PP462 returned to operation with 826 Squadron in February 1950. PP462 was placed in "Storage and Repair" from April 1950 until March 1954 when it was one of nine RCN Firefly FR 1's sold to the government of Ethiopia. In 1993, a Canadian air attaché to Egypt happened upon the derelict remains of PP462 and the others in Ethiopia. Through diplomatic agreement the Ethiopian government donated to Canada the two best preserved Fireflies, which were airlifted by Canadian Forces C-130 Hercules to Shearwater and Ottawa. Firefly PP462 was given to the Shearwater Aviation Museum since Shearwater was the Firefly's main base of operations and the Shearwater Aviation Museum has earned an excellent reputation for preserving Canada's maritime military aviation heritage. Today, the SAM is restoring PP462 to flying status. The second Firefly was given to the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144563958-WVMP9RHUNB4L08422M3U/2DC6910B-417A-4A94-9495-571C2CF954F0.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Firefly FR-IV (VH 141) snags a wire but drifts over the starboard side. The next Firefly to come off the Fairey Aviation assembly line was VH 142. 142 still flies today (actually a former Royal Australian Navy Firefly painted to pay tribute to VH142) as part of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum collection and sometimes visits Vintage Wings of Canada. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144595605-RMM2GMHVE3V3PTN7DI7G/EB5488C0-F46F-499E-BE63-671078BA6703.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The same incident as above (we hope!) but from the "goofers". This is clearly just seconds from the prang as crew members are rushing across the deck and from the island to offer assistance. RCN photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144618847-ELFEB342GK3L2ZGAFCA4/52AD6D52-BE1F-4277-B880-ED586FF7AC50.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The goofers on Magnificent are crowded with rubbernecking sailors as a Firefly is extracted from the tangle of the barrier. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144758653-LTI28IE55TPWTIZWIM31/4F3867B9-547C-4A6D-840C-984D9FA3E15A.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Fireflys aboard Magnificent are well chocked, but to be on the safe side, deck ratings are employed to sit the chocks to ensure they don't move during operations in a rougher sea state. Photo via CPO Pat "Big Murph" Murphy at www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144682891-V6KXHRSYPYRBDZJQQBCZ/A1D464E1-DF7F-451D-9B20-E2981706DAF4.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Firefly is brought up on the aft lift while two others warm their engines ready for another operation on a beautiful day. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144713336-48VNSTQU1DK0CRANK42A/F692BD76-FC10-4838-907D-301168135946.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A Firefly hooks a clean wire but balloons upwards aboard Magnificent. The runout length of the arresting gear is surely shorter than the distance required to bring the aircraft back down - resulting in a full stop mid-air. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144805798-328SDCOEV3NV6YP2S7Y6/1643A736-70F5-4228-97BA-7D14F1EAC0DC.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Another very dramatic shot from a fearless photographer of an RCN Firefly taking the barrier very hard. Both gear legs are gone and the propeller blades are striking the deck - you can just make out the bent tip of the upper right blade. The RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144836744-E7T3QHPZYBOV3F6TGSW0/89CEC17D-28C6-4BF9-A934-3324DC293E95.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A real action shot of Firefly VH137 striking the deck hard on her port side after snagging a wire. The port oleo and wheel assembly continue on their merry way down the flight deck, and if you look very closely, you can see that the fully spinning prop tips have already started to distort after striking the deck on impact. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144865046-ZNPWZYCNOMLSDUSQAM5A/586834E1-1891-4C8B-93A1-94C339EFC4CA.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Beautiful Bonaventure on a blustery and sunny day. Black and white photos don't show it, but the forward flight deck of Bonnie (except for the angled surface) was painted a gorgeous shade of astro-turf green. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144969940-XW7940034A9RDAO6IJOD/CC1806E5-869B-401B-B76B-CA46F944066F.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A bevy of Grumman Tracker ASW aircraft warm themselves in the sun on Bonaventure's deck while awaiting a turn at the cat. Being a large aircraft on a small carrier, the deck could become crowded pretty quick. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630144995492-BNQN7IFMBOXZBXJI3HKI/257035A7-3745-4A61-AB36-90802416B69B.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A lovely shot of a Grumman Tracker set up perfectly for the trap and recovery aboard Bonnie. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145021948-SBDZGM1K1HNIKS9AOMIN/C522DAD6-60ED-46E1-A24F-C0FBFCE66DC9.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Not the best time to launch this Tracker. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145076607-KHHQATSLD8H3FPJ6KIZU/805126E6-4560-421B-8F19-5BFEA4F6FE3D.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out As big as she was, Bonaventure was small compared to American carriers of the day, and tiny by today's massive USN nuclear-powered supercarrier standard. Life on board could be quite uncomfortable even in moderate seas such as in this shot. It was rough, but not too rough to launch a helicopter to photograph a pair of Grumman Trackers riding the see-saw seas lashed to the forward deck. Photo via Gordon Edwards (RAdm Ret'd), www.underthecat.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145099946-I5XQMQ8QTWXJNZXIT0GB/FB068AAB-971F-45C9-AD93-D127CCAC98C7.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A view forward from Bonaventure's island in heavy seas demonstrates the heavy pounding the carrier could take. The forward deck is cleared of aircraft and everything is battened down for the nasty weather. Not sure if this shot was taken during the now-famous "Big Storm" of 1959, but the next photo will show you, that it got a lot worse than this. Photo via CPO Pat "Big Murph" Murphy at www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145124891-FOOQGGG9G0VLIS0Q6RYS/A74F5767-5829-404F-B997-EC7A66F4C989.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Homeward bound from Portsmouth in December of 1959, Bonaventure and her escorts were pounded for days by a massive hurricane-force storm with winds up to 90 knots. Of all the ships in the group, Bonnie suffered the most damage, as she offered the biggest target. The odd wave came from starboard and right across the flight deck which was some 39 feet above the water line. Hove-to for 24 hours, she joined others in trouble including ships in the English Channel and the liners RMS Queen Elizabeth and the SS United States. The men in the "goofers" (left) would have no landings to critique this day. Info via CAM (Prepared by Commander E.J. L’Heureux CD, RCN (Ret’d)) Photo via CPO Pat "Big Murph" Murphy at www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145210513-4QPT1AGMDETZXIGTI9YC/CCB5A448-E903-42E1-A1D6-EC7BE18B6EB9.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out A very interesting picture indeed. When I asked around why Bonaventure had two Canadian Army spotter aircraft among its Trackers, I got many answers. But the paper prepared by Commander E.J. L’Heureux CD, RCN (Ret’d) for the Canada Aviation Museum makes mention of just this event in 1958 - " Off the coast of the UK, three British Army AUSTER AOP 9 (the UK equivalent of a Piper L 4 light observation aircraft) landed onboard and [their pilots] became became carrier qualified." RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145236899-H1R5WVNJVKN7JX1B67EX/615FBFD6-9695-4F2F-B450-87085BD4C041.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out No story about Canada's naval aviators would be complete without the story of its helicopter operations. Canada was the first nation to deploy helicopters on smaller surface vessels such as destroyers and frigates aswell as carriers for air/sea rescue, supply delivery and ASW work. Here a Sikorsky HO4-3 "Horse" makes the first operational landing of a helo aboard Bonaventure on March 4th, 1957. Photo via www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145261197-MVXFP31X7XJNGNKDJX3G/B27E96FA-3CA9-449B-8537-36B576B8767C.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Transfer by launch in rough weather between Bonnie (or possibly Maggie) and her plane guard Tribal Class destroyer HMCS Haida. Haida still exists today as a floating museum on the Hamilton, Ontario waterfront of Lake Ontario. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145299725-37BWNJDK2JPB9OXMVD4E/0AC4D4C0-33F6-465C-9C94-400A9A871DD4.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out HMCS Bonaventure during listing-tests in St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145325012-XH6ELNRDMDNM9AOETR45/7CFD1563-75E9-45F9-80F6-7F689FB72719.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee s/n 126464 is attended to on the aft flight deck of HMCS Bonaventure. No doubt this Banshee was treated very well during her service (1957-1962), but she was donated to the Canada Aviation Museum in derelict condition in 1965. 126464 was restored for the Canada Aviation Museum by 400 Air Reserve Squadron from 1975 to 1986 and can now be seen in pristine condition. RCN photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145344665-O9RRK4TIRNNFBTVKCWME/348AD1C6-7885-4E16-9192-D57511C3146E.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Banshee 126428 taxis to the cat on Bonaventure during trials. The Banshee was the Royal Canadian Navy's first and, in the end, only jet fighter. 39 Banshees saw service with the RCN aboard Bonaventure from 1955 to 1958. Banshees operated from shore bases and from the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure after 1957. The Banshee was the RCN’s last fighter and was not replaced when retired in 1962. RCN pilots deserve much credit for being able to operate the Banshee successfully from such a small carrier as Bonaventure. RCN photo via Cameron Fraser. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145385449-6UGMQUT7HJCDBEN4QAPL/D13B08FF-388D-40EC-BE64-34B12299DA23.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out Two RCN McDonnell Banshees wail away as they line up for a cat shot on Bonaventure. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145414449-URNSAQN2N4UD0J467XAV/01E7B553-B9BE-4C44-BF56-DE1B7BD794DF.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The Royal Canadian Navy formed the first Banshee air demonstration team with VF 870 at RCNAS Shearwater in 1956 under the command of LCdr Robert Falls to showcase the exceptional flying skills of naval aviators. It was in 1958 that the team adopted the name "Grey Ghosts" under the command of LCdr Wally Walton after he had taken command of the squadron. They flew a five-plane show in 1958 but in 1959 a sixth Banshee joined the team for the Shearwater shows to add an opposing solo routine as Canada celebrated its Golden Anniversary of Flight. Here, the Grey Ghosts overfly HMCS Bonaventure. Number 4 (464) in the slot position is the same aircraft (126464) that we saw earlier and that now resides in the Canada Aviation Museum. Photo via www.underthecat.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145436016-1FY8SNJ5BB6BNODX22U4/A6C837C9-50D1-49AA-AF2E-B51002318FE0.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee s/n 126464 awaits the launch signal from a flight deck officer aboard Bonaventure. This aircraft would end its days as a fully restored tribute to Canada's naval jet aviators at the Canada Aviation Museum. RCN Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630145462690-OA5HPN81EQ6TKFMA8ZI6/992E33C3-CE13-4DC9-918F-600C59F22B0F.jpeg The Stories - MAGNIFICENT MOMENTS - Make it stand out The end of an era. RCN/DND Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hurricane-biplane monthly 0.5 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257879660-KXNOX166GI9QD9OYABNM/20FA6A95-6F1B-4C5F-8532-197D7539DD79.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257917037-SKPA89LLG5YHAN8OEE65/52DDA0C9-1F56-4656-AD33-9851418EA081.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Praga E-114 “Baby” built in Manchester. F. Hills and Son Ltd gained valuable experience building light aircraft when they were licensed to construct the civilian Baby aircraft by Czech aircraft builder ČKD-Praga. The Praga was a high wing, cantilever monoplane seating two in a side-by-side cabin. This Praga (G-AEON) was sold to an Australian and re-registered as VH-UVP and is photographed here likely at Barton Airfield, Manchester. Photographer and copyright Leo Carter. From the RA Scholefield Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257957535-Z3L7JZ68S5WE2MTG54CF/5EC3E6DE-15E0-4C75-A445-E3FDB6F13665.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Praga was a very uncomplicated aircraft. F. Hills and Son produced 28 copies of the little Czech monoplane, but when the war started, they retooled to produce sub-assemblies for the Avro Anson and other projects. Photographer and copyright Leo Carter. From the RA Scholefield Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258063138-DVR46T90E3J8JIJZJF3Z/2C35F95B-ED76-4687-A348-12E922DA32C2.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A clear shot of the diminutive Hillson Bi-Mono test aircraft looking almost fighter like without its jettisonable upper wing and sitting on the grass at an airfield—likely RAF Boscombe Down. Hills and Son was a subcontractor for its Mancunian neighbour, Avro, for Anson sub-assemblies at the beginning of the war, but had been building, under licence, a light aircraft called the Praga before the war. The light colour on the Bi-Mono’s wheel pants and underside of the wing would have been bright yellow as all prototype and test aircraft were. Flight testing of the little aircraft began at Barton Airfield in Manchester in early 1941 in both configurations—as a monoplane and a biplane. A wing jettisoning trial was still called for, but the event was moved to Squires Gate Airport near Blackpool on the west coast of England. This move was done because the jettisoned wing was a danger to the civilian population if dropped over land. Over the Irish Sea was definitely safer. Flown by test pilot P.H. Richmond and shadowed by a Lockheed Hudson full of observers, the first live separation look place on 16 July 1941. During the process the aircraft dropped a couple of hundred feet. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258080058-EOLN50Z9SQE10H5L2Y0C/6E3AE172-F9D1-4E6D-95D3-DBDB300AA690.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Bi-Mono was a very small aircraft indeed—especially for a military one. It was just over 19 feet long with a wingspan of 20 feet. In this image we can see the asymmetrical vertical air intake common to aircraft which are powered by the de Havilland Gipsy engine (Tiger Moth, Fox Moth, Chipmunk, etc.) The Bi-Mono is sometimes described as a mini-Hurricane in appearance, but looked more like a children’s amusement park ride. Image via rcmf.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258100596-MR39V772UA26LRJSHPBB/A149A5D5-42D7-4FAD-B504-28CEFE3E8393.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Bi-Mono’s cockpit and canopy gave an exceptional 360º view for the pilot in the monoplane configuration. Because of the tiny size of the aircraft, the seemingly roomy cockpit was clearly small when a pilot was stuffed inside. In addition to the yellow undersides, the Hillson carried standard military camouflage of the day—Ocean Grey and Dark Green on her top surfaces—plus a large Type A-1 roundel on her sides with a small “P for Prototype” roundel aft of that. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258116372-L6OFXOXFA8VYMJ4HCXLP/FC454DB0-DAFE-4107-8E4A-E4327BBE985E.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Bi-Mono showing her Type B roundels on her upper wing surfaces (just like the big boys!) and the oversized ailerons. This photo seems to have been taken at another time than those above as the propeller is clearly different. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258135475-6999KDFBHSXV0PJDWE46/C14F1A18-FEF2-4EFF-942D-11AD526389F5.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Bi-Mono in its full Bi-glory, sporting the longer of its two jettison-able top wings. The test flights were made both as a monoplane and as a biplane, with the shorter upper wing being chosen over this considerably longer wing. The shorter upper wing was of the same span as the lower one. In this photo, one could claim this was not a biplane, but correctly a sesquiplane—a biplane having one wing of less than half the area of the other. Image via rcmf.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258164721-ZXIDU0BKOUHT9F8XDSV2/8108815A-F903-4852-A8F4-6028B5583E29.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A clear view of the size and depth of the large upper wing and the simple inter-plane strut connections. The upper wing would clearly impede entry and exit of the aircraft. The total height of the aircraft was just 7 feet in the biplane configuration and 6’4” as a monoplane. The structural design and quality of construction of the upper wing was required to be of the same standards of airworthiness as the rest of the aircraft. This made it an expensive component to dispose of in flight. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258185652-ORWRYFEDMHRDG24RF0IU/116F4CE7-3E2D-45A6-98F9-C5C66ACD65F1.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A straight-on photo of the little aircraft shows the larger upper wing, one of two sizes studied in the test phase. Looking at this, it seems quite a risk to consider pressing a button and letting the wing and strut assemblies go flying off while in flight. Given the size of the remaining wing, it was obvious even to the uninitiated, that the aircraft would most certainly drop a great height before gaining control again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258202636-EYFRHQWDYOLA34MST3XP/DCB9A349-7C25-4FBC-9D42-33A90ACA2A64.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out An excellent head-on shot of the Hillson Bi-Mono shows bigger upper wing and the inter-plane struts which were lined up with the wheel pants. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258230537-I6NDASEZ6YJJBTMJF7DF/36FC7E55-884F-4CDA-9DC1-90B8984AB016.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A wonderful shot of the Bi-Mono in flight with her shorter upper wing. No other RAF biplanes wore roundels on the topside of their lower wings or the underside of their upper wings, but because the Bi-Mono would fly without the top wing, it needed roundels. Apparently, the Hillson was “interesting” to fly. Author Tim Mason in “The Secret Years - Flight Testing at Boscombe Down” wrote, “The pilot reported that the maximum level speed as a biplane was less than the stalling speed as a monoplane; in other words, jettisoning the top wing caused an immediate stall. The company pilot had earlier reported a gentle sink of a few hundred feet on jettisoning. The monoplane landing was described as like ‘a high Speed kangaroo.’ ” Photo via aviarmor.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258256933-Q1UV276V7EJXA2CV3F68/CCEF5D99-EAA2-4000-9672-BF11774749FD.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Bi-Mono with its short upper wing attached in flight. From beneath, we see the enlarged ailerons on the lower wing designed specifically for when the upper wing was in place. It was also later determined that the ailerons of the eventual biplane Hurricane would have to be enlarged to provide suitable control. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258276106-GFP53HJUG027T1X13GHR/0A863ACD-57CE-4511-BE07-6B5ED95F10F8.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Bi-Mono in flight. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258300087-4A0BV4GD3V4O13OI4TG6/0BDA66E8-2EF8-4C31-84F1-4AF513312B8B.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Bi-Mono shot from exactly the same angle as the previous image, but without the upper wing. Note the size of the pilot inside. The original idea behind the Bi-Mono was to develop the concept for a new lightweight fighter aircraft capable of operation from a short field. As far as I can tell, only one successful, ‘slip’ was made—on 16 July 1941, at a height of 4,500 ft oversea off Blackpool. After trials, the concept of a brand-new, lightweight, slip-wing fighter was dropped. Instead, it was decided to adapt a Hurricane by adding a second wing to see if Hurricane operations could benefit from such a scheme. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258320371-GO0UZDZFZ5JMTWCGT754/4FA6303C-46DD-45FD-9F3A-89A14568EF70.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The test pilot takes the little biplane out over the Irish Sea west of Blackpool on the coast. It was over the Irish Sea that the one and only wing dropping was successfully carried out. Note what appear to be guide rails on the elevators and rudder, perhaps to prevent the wing from striking the control surfaces, though they look fairly light for that purpose. Photo via aviarmor.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258353100-6PKJHHIUHBGV93PHT45G/C40D0C4E-A713-4FA1-AE4D-81106F93939C.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out An excellent three-view drawing of the Hillson Bi-Mono. Illustration by 2-Ni-Sun https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258382119-G710NXR7PPKS01Y0BGY0/9606C805-ADAB-47C4-ADEB-AB523DB9F010.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The Hillson Bi-Mono was designed as a proof of concept aircraft, with plans to create a unique small fighter with the same wing concept. But before going to the effort and cost of designing and building a new aircraft, Hillson obtained Air Ministry permission to fit a slip wing to a Hawker Hurricane I. The Hurricane aircraft used for this experiment was an early Mk I, one of 20 originally transferred to Canada in 1939 and then returned to UK in 1942 (originally it carried RAF serials (L1884) on the fuselage, but when it returned it kept its newer RCAF serial 321 for slip wing trials). First taxi trials and flights were conducted at RAF Sealand (traditionally a training base), 25–28 May 1943. On 15 September 1943, Hurricane 321 was ferried to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Boscombe Down for further trials with the Performance Testing Squadron. Photo via alternathistory.org.ua https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258403027-NCOVLCPZ83MXL0532TLV/E7BA6F55-1E77-4199-A0E8-5BA7E70D3CF2.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The slip wing Hurricane was an impressive if strange sight. Structurally, the slip wing itself, attached relatively lightly as it was, was not designed to handle the aerodynamic stresses and g-forces of combat. The bi-wing concept was experimented with as a device for ferrying aircraft (with the upper wing possibly functioning as a massive flying gas tank) or to allow the aircraft to take off from shorter fields with heavy payloads. Photo via forum.largescaleplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630351117917-DQO266IU3H4HJ0BOWECX/HurricaneBiplane02.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The slip wing Hurricane was actually designed to enable a Hurricane to lift a greater load or take off from a shorter field, but it was found that later Hurricane variants could achieve the requirements on their own, so the idea was not necessary. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630351192163-OO2OSOBWB1BBLNEOJ9PW/HurricaneBiplane03.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out This underside shot of the Hillson Hurricane biplane looks more like two Hurricanes flying in tight formation than the bi-winged prototype. Unlike most biplanes, the Hurricane had struts close to the fuselage and no wire bracing. The design of the wing had to allow for simplicity of jettisoning. The underside of the wings was likely bright yellow as most test aircraft wearing the yellow Prototype P roundel were painted bright yellow on their undersides. Photo via AviaDejaVu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258426028-RI59W45XGRL681LCTVLU/24E14DE9-1B75-471E-A67A-5AA26447127D.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A nice shot of the Hillson Hurricane with its massive second parasol-like wing. One can only imagine what kind of range the upper wing could offer the Hurricane if it had been used as a flying gas tank, but the inter-plane struts do not look robust enough to carry a considerable load. Once that wing was jettisoned, it was just an ordinary Hawker Hurricane again. The additional wing was designed with the same plan form and airfoil sections as a Hurricane’s but had no ailerons. Image via rcmf.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258441019-96ADA19H5MBBB4SL65UN/57735A38-4BDF-4010-BC59-332B5EA20120.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A clean port side view of the Hillson FH.40 slip wing Hurricane showing her yellow “P” for Prototype roundel, worn on RAF aircraft being tested and evaluated. We can also see her old RCAF serial number—321. This aircraft was a Hawker-built Hurricane I (L1884) which had been shipped overseas to Canada in 1939 and given the serial 321. On 22 May 1939, the aircraft had entered service with the RCAF at Sea Island, British Columbia. A year later, it was in Canada Car and Foundry (Can Car) in Fort William for repairs. Some records indicate that it was used as a pattern aircraft for the builders at Can Car. Following this it was returned to the UK in May of 1940 and assigned to No. 1 Squadron RAF. Later in the war it was used as the Hillson Hurricane test aircraft. Quite a unique history for one Hurricane. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258463399-SJMJDIWQD5SA4YF8AVV1/F3FBDB09-23D1-40CC-B37D-A2A77388CA53.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The simple configuration of the slip wing Hillson FH.40 Hurricane in a three view drawing. Image via airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258478636-Q7Y9QNA4JJHZ670H402S/4D23F1A4-7B32-483E-AD0D-4B1DA458852E.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out The former Royal Canadian Air Force Hawker Hurricane 321 sits in fine sunshine, with the upper slip wing offering cooling shade to the Hurricane’s typically hot cockpit. Of all the Mk I Hurricanes, former RAF L1884/RCAF 321 had a particularly interesting life, including two crossings of the Atlantic in the hold of a cargo ship. Photo via forum.largescaleplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258502814-V23L91EGA0HCCWAHVHQH/2D81B1B1-33E4-44B1-B75C-168F6F13D00B.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A great side shot of the slip wing Hurricane in flight sporting its “P for Prototype” roundel. The super clean upper wing had no control surfaces and acted simply as a lifting device. The basic second wing added nearly 700 pounds to the overall weight of the Hurricane—including the “N” struts and release gear. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258539114-IYDHUSFXY45OFO5NQYBT/7CC5CAE9-B7AA-43A1-9F06-536F3C350C04.jpeg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out A fantastic head-on shot of the slip wing Hurricane shows us clearly its greater lifting capabilities with so much wing area, more than double that of a standard Hurricane. The frailty of the inter-plane struts is also evident, clearly showing that if the wing could not be jettisoned, the Hurricane was in a peck of trouble if it encountered an enemy fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630351499865-9W73XGWJKAAGQWCY3B08/Hillson_Bi-mono_Slipwing_Hurricane_concept_aircraft_1940.jpg The Stories - HURRICANE BIPLANE - Make it stand out For a biplane, the Hillson FH.40 Hurricane has a relatively large space between the lower and upper wings. The wing had to be high enough to allow the Hurricane pilot a view forward and to clear the tail when jettisoned. With this large separation, aerodynamic interference between the two wings was likely reduced. Image via airwar.ru https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/vampires-of-las-vegas monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246699632-L6LJJXXMK62E47KOQ3PQ/C6EA7ABC-E28B-4A4B-B23F-7290220C3AF6.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246727935-APHIA4M3O7NTZGPG57GE/B618A833-05D9-408C-A5B6-EB128618EF4C.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Until the advent of the early business aircraft like the Grumman Gulfstream I in 1958 and the Lockheed Jetstar in 1960 there were few types, if any, that were purpose-designed as business aircraft. After the Second World War, corporate aircraft buyers could buy a surplus Douglas DC-3, get a small piston-engined twin aircraft from Cessna, Beech, or Piper, or a refit surplus bomber. These former bomber conversions had a speed and range advantage over both the DC-3 and smaller piston aircraft, making them the high-end of this new and emerging aircraft sector—the business aircraft. One of the more common executive postwar conversions was the North American B-25 Mitchell—inexpensive to acquire, easy to adapt, and had a reputation as a good handling aircraft (which was why there were so few B-26 executive conversions after the Second World War). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246837616-UM0RO490KC9VSXRZOV81/ACAC6F59-521F-4F8D-8805-1B982DE1ED32.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The On Mark Marksman was an American high-speed civil executive aircraft converted from surplus Douglas A-26 Invader airframes by On Mark Engineering. Its antecedents were the On Mark Executive and the On Mark Marketeer. The On Mark Engineering Company was involved in the maintenance and conversion of Douglas A-26 Invaders for both civil and military customers from 1954 to the mid-1970s. The first conversions mainly involved the removal of military equipment and replacement with fairings and civil avionics, sealing of the bomb bay doors, soundproofing, and additional cabin windows. The original “gunner’s hatch” was replaced with a larger retractable entrance door, room for baggage was provided in the nose section. They had improved brake systems and fuel systems and uprated engines with reversible-pitch propellers. Image and words from Wikipedia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246870278-QEWHCU3GQHSL6B41BTGC/05DF41FC-54AB-4EF2-853B-AADD17EBC3CC.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Brochure for the Marksman from the Van Nuys, California builders On Mark Corporation, used a pretty obvious visual trick to make the Marksman aircraft appear to be more powerful and larger than it was. Also, as many advertisements were in those days, it’s racist, as a black chauffeur carries the bag of his charge as they arrive in a mightily finned Cadillac. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246924760-WA3RD2NR01Y90I46VKLA/FB32AE39-3B0E-4002-B84E-BFF3716CB1DB.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Further development continued into the 1960s into what became the On Mark Marksman. The major difference was the addition of full pressurization. Improvements were also made to the cockpit with the incorporation of Douglas DC-6 flat glass windscreens and cockpit side windows. A replacement fuselage roof structure was added from the new windscreens, tapering back to the original tail section. This image of Marksman N827W, the second of eight A-26s converted to the Marksman, was owned by the Wheaton Glass Company of Millville, New Jersey. The photo was shot by Larry Green in June 1961 at a Reading, Pennsylvania air show. Photo: Larry Green https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246952596-VG9RPT2C54VXGJKAQSWZ/7DBD0538-7208-4001-9116-50880D240874.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The future founder of Jet Craft, John E. Morgan, purchased Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire (17038) seen here (N6876D) and dubbed it the Golden Vampire with Johnny Skyrocket written on its nose. Though there are reports of Johnny Skyrocket appearing in air shows in the Appalachians in the summer of 1958, the RCAF serials registry run by R.R. Walker indicates that Morgan did not take title of this aircraft until December of 1958. He became a flamboyant air show performer and promoter and used his Vampire to entertain huge crowds of jet-crazy Americans. It was while flying this Vampire that Morgan fell in love with the little military jet fighter’s performance. He would forever be convinced that the Vampire was the perfect platform upon which to build a business jet—while others thought he was crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630246974438-HBC5AM4RDZGWGT63H4VV/6CDC10DA-E9F8-4CCA-A6FC-817D8E2977DE.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out In the hands of Johnny Skyrocket, Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire 17038 was painted in flashy metallic gold and called the Golden Vampire. During her operational life, she was all business as seen here on the 402 Reserve Squadron at RCAF Winnipeg, Manitoba. Vintage News contributor Bill Ewing was at Downsiew with VC920 (Navy Reserve Squadron) when he witnessed ex-400/411 RCAF Vampires fired up and flown out to Flightways in Wisconsin. Bill remembers: “What got me was the takeoff. A full-blast run-up, then release the brakes and get off the ground asap. Then the nose would go as close to straight up as possible. When questioned, one of the pilots hired to fly them out remarked that they had to take off that way . . . the Vampire had no ejection seat!!” Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247003270-OH8RPGPP5VHCAAO9IRBZ/23CFA571-5C33-4CA0-A06B-0CCD51A58F9B.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out One of the first generation Mystery Jet concept models from the 1960s’ attempt to make the aircraft viable. Luckily, the Jet Craft company chose bogus N-registrations for their model aircraft that enabled me to identify whether they were from the 1969/early 70s attempt called the Mystery Jet II or the later 1988 failure of the Mystery Jet III. Photo via Jonathan Kirton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247022190-X70V1U9KYP6U0F4IHP5Y/0A06F074-EFBE-4055-9ABE-25A8D7728A32.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Marketing is king. If you add a little sex into the mix, you can often take people’s hard focus away from a weak idea. Here, a Jet Craft executive and four comely long-legged beauties in Miss Mystery Jet competition sashes make a bigger splash at a media event than the actual aircraft. This promotional event is from the first attempts to finance and build the Mystery Jet in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Photo via Key Publishing’s Aviation History Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247056521-R758XEZV7MDACYHJGRBS/6CDB6A12-02B4-45F4-A330-BBFA750E4F27.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out John E. Morgan, the former Johnny Skyrocket, poses with a model of his fantasy—the Jet Craft Mystery Jet I. When Morgan was an air show promoter and Vampire pilot, he wore a blue satin flight suit and silver helmet and boots. He looks all business in this shot, but under that business suit, he was all showman and show-off. Image via Key Publishing’s Aviation History Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247076408-C4W9EFCZXBYFW283BUZU/FB5363A9-4DA0-437E-936A-B845375FC94E.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out In the first iteration of the Vampire-based Mystery Jet in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the well-respected British aircraft structures company Aviation Traders was a partner of the Jet Craft scheme, doing the cabin structural design work and constructing a wooden mock-up of the Mystery Jet cabin with the Goblin engine attached. I think this must be the Aviation Traders’ mock-up. Reader Colin French, remembers this as about 1967 and tells us “I was an apprentice at Aviation Traders at Southend-on-Sea in the UK, and I remember going to see the mock up in the photograph, I believe this was in 1967. At the time there was a programme on our BBC TV, called Tomorrows World. A short documentary film was made about this conversion, showing the mock up. We were told at the time that the project did not get the go ahead due to problems getting the stalling speed low enough for the authorities, but whether this was true or not I do not know.” Image via Key Publishing’s Aviation History Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247103461-XJS17CN1STXYEI74B104/F5ABDCF6-D9F5-4BC5-8782-392167ACA724.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A simple two colour brochure for the Mystery Jet from the late 1960s or early 1970s. John Morgan was handing these out at the Reading Pennsylvania Air Show in 1968. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247139923-2G7MCK4XBLT084MIGLW6/C8FCE5FF-36C9-4364-9C7E-0F0FC5B67E81.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The exteriopr of the Mystery Jet in this brochure drawing was pretty fanciful considering it was Morhan's plan to stuff 17 people inside this tiny fuselage. The artis has taken liberties too... thinning out the booms and over-sizing the tails, giving it some extra-racy wing-tip tanks and two engines at the back... apparently all to one of the more diminutive fighters of the first jet age. One thing modern marketers would caution Morgan about to day–NEVER dwell on the negatives such as engine failure, radical compensation, critical moment, engine out and maximum safety. Smart marketing never scares the buyer away from the market sector. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247187458-D9DKCY5RISZGIX919S6Y/E02CAEBF-9D6B-43D3-BE22-3BB30C955DA5.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Seventeen people jammed into this aircraft was a tall order for the little cockpit. A quick scan of the drawings in these pages from the brochure shows seven people jammed into a semi-circular seat at the back. Even sitting in this arrangement for an hour would be a personal space hell. Passenger in the cabin would be able to access pressurized baggage storage compartments in “the forward delta wings”. Though the Vampire had straight, not delta, wings, the misleading language refers to the small angled section where the leading edge meets the wing root. I strongly doubt that the baggage of 17 people could be stored in these tiny spaces. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247230360-UD914RKZHIY9EZFR0KR0/7283D73E-FA24-4BF3-B601-FFF38A36DED4.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Nothing says modern jet travel for the business executive like a Victorian lamp next to your seat at the bar. In some literature, the Mystery Jet interior is listed as 5 feet. while another article specifies it as 4 feet-7 inches. I suspect that a man of my stature (6'-4") would have to crawl into the cabin. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247253286-8GBIO5VSUZ0E3Y4TBHNW/86AF6800-D394-44FB-9CB9-D9249F756FFA.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out This spec sheet accompanied the first brochure. At 48 inches, the cabin for the 6 seater was only 2 inches wider than the cockpit of the 2-seat Vampire trainer that Jet Craft was billing as the Mystery Jet MJT-1 Trainer. The 6 foot 2 inch height I believe refers to the aircraft's stature and not the interior dimensions, though this seem short. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247298778-SEJNGIFK00SK17B2QUHT/69B08E1A-0837-41B5-8541-3375257BA986.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The wooden mock-up was about as far as the company got in the 1969 attempt to build the Vampire-based aircraft. The Mystery Jet MJ1 leaves the Southend Airport in 1983, after languishing there for more than ten years. The Mystery Jet MJ1 was a biz jet conversion of the de Havilland DH115 Vampire, the cockpit section replaced by a stretched cabin allowing up to eight seats to be fitted. The Mystery Jet mock-up was apparently moved from Southend Airport to Bushey, Hertfordshire with its owner Sandy Topen. It was reported to have been burned during a clearance of derelict aircraft on the airfield, however a report said it went to the USA. Image via Key Publishing’s Aviation History Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630348476246-ANE9X6C5BNO81D33DMN6/MysteryJet100.jpg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A cutaway drawing of the Mystery Jet, likely created by a third party long after the Jet Craft company folded for the second time. Drawing by Renny Rolando Lopez Guerr, Motocar of Venezuela https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247327643-PPME963CLVZAVL96WEFI/1E297DEE-A3FD-4FFE-88F3-E7599C3B3563.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out According to an article I found on Flight Global’s archive, dated May 1969, this is an image of a mock-up for the 17-seat Mystery Jet MJ-III. 17-seats?????? It’s hard to see how they would have used a Vampire for this concept, though you can see some of the de Havilland Vampire lineage in the configuration. This apparently was to be powered by two General Electric CJ-610-6 engines. Just one look at this toad with wings and potential business aircraft buyers would be turned into non-believers. Image via FlightGlobal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247353702-YHFHZH113T9HMSTTO09D/B1E2097D-9BBE-4B8C-8C0B-AA52E2435C39.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247381586-41ZXW0RWVMMZ9AQ0ZSVD/2B063F00-CA6D-4D73-A560-EF6AD3FAF7D2.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out I am no aerodynamicist, but just looking at this layout of the Jet Craft Mystery Jet, I get the feeling that the centre of gravity is far too forward and that the empennage could not handle the pitch, yaw and trim necessary. The engine is at the back of the fuselage to be sure, but it still seems that the cabin is too far ahead. Just sayin’! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247415242-FQ7HVI8FYY5WU3OZPC49/2EE715CF-E73F-438F-837E-4E4E576D5510.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out No longer in the service of the Royal Australian Air Force, de Havilland Vampire (RAAF s/n A79-624) here sports very crudely painted N11925 American registrations on her tail booms. This photograph was taken at Oakland, California, on 6 February 1971 where they were assembled and were to be flown to Colorado. She still wears her RAAF roundels and serials and we are surprised she was allowed to leave the country still wearing her proud Aussie markings. This aircraft would be purchased by Morgan’s Jet Craft Ltd in the 1970s and is reputedly the only one to be converted to the Mystery Jet configuration. Photo: Bill Larkins, via adf-gallery.com.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247434481-9MK1B1XSUH32XGMI6LL5/3064B96D-F2F7-42EE-982E-F73580B64895.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Another fantastic image by Bill Larkins of former RAAF vampire A79-624 after she was purchased by Jet Craft, sitting outside a sales trailer with Jet Craft flags flapping in a stiff Reno, Nevada breeze. Hard to believe that Jet Craft thought that setting up at a strip mall parking lot was the best marketing venue for a business jet. See next photo for more details. Photo: Bill Larkins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247461626-4Z5MU5V1TU33ODDMTL5Y/47409285-C4AD-4835-B147-3988960BAA2F.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out This is a photograph of the former Royal Australian Air Force DH-100 Vampire T.35 (RAAF s/n A79-624), now in the gold, orange and brown paint of N11925. This aircraft was destined to be converted to the 6-seat Mystery Jet and even wears the title “Mystery Jet” on her nose. She is photographed here on Astroturf carpeting outside a sales trailer in a shopping mall in Reno, Nevada in September of 1973. It was one of three ex-RAAF Vampires brought in by boat, given US registrations and assembled at Oakland to be flown to Colorado. It seems from certain posts and items on the internet that N11925 was the only aircraft to be converted to the Mystery Jet business aircraft configuration. Photo: Paul Rued https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247531954-A7UMXT314LOZCOWKF7A2/A2CDFB9F-0B51-4087-92D9-336D697BB1A6.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The colour flyer that John Morgan and Jet Craft handed out before and during the Mystery Jet I's appearance at the Parklane Shopping Center in Reno in 1973. In this flyer, it is clear that Jet Craft was selling the brightly painted Vampire T.35 trainer as the Mystery Jet Two Seat Trainer as if it had been custom designed as a Mystery Jet pilot training aircraft. The idea was to sell potential customers a used military jet for $95,000, train them and then let the owners trade them in for credit on a Mystery Jet II business aircraft. Very slick when you consider they must have purchased the RAAF trainers for considerably less than that. Note that the hourly operating cost for the Mystery Jet was pegged at $150. Operating a Tiger Moth today takes more than that. Flyer scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247563318-WHFDL8R8M9HP9C19CN44/9D00B02B-B9B6-4D1D-85C6-89678C1F57E0.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Everything about the Mystery Jet was suspect... including the bad graphics from the outside of the flyer. For a company trying to appeal to the business executive, they were using graphic design more suitable for selling children's wagons. Flyer scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247627801-1O0CNIY8QRT7Y2E7I0RZ/CE504BCB-6898-4053-AEBF-CC7E6C7B2CD9.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Another good photograph of N11925, the former Royal Australian Air Force Vampire T.35 trainer sitting somewhere that looks a lot like Nevada. When I found this image on the web, it did not have a credited photographer, so if you know who took this photo 40 years ago, let me know. The paint scheme on the nose and wing tanks of this aircraft is very typical for civilian registered Vampires that carried a civilian paint scheme, leading me to believe that they were batch painted in various colour combinations when they entered the country, possibly in Colorado. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247651307-PHLNN1OT1W3SCFBLBJGZ/E734AC5C-639C-46F3-A65A-AFF30ED98074.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out John “Johnny Skyrocket” Morgan sits in former RAAF Vampire T.35 Trainer (N11925) which he was selling as the Mystery Jet MJT-1 Trainer. The aircraft does look in pretty fair condition. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247674961-18C9CEKD021L5JJZDC44/2F40F515-15F7-4413-8448-CCB795A8F404.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A close up of Morgan in the cockpit. I am not certain, but is that plaid upholstery behind his head rest? Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247697638-Y9KCUVA81JUKHV81UTGG/54DFD840-4E25-4BBA-8BE4-015A36EFA612.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out 27 lawsuits? Howard Hughes? Conspiracy? $50 Million counter suits? No engines included in the price? Read the above article and you can see that Morgan was indeed obsessed. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247724833-Y5KNE0LPH23PP8H3P5SC/D502A57B-BAC8-45AA-98C0-5412D6EBF546.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A colour advertisement in Aviation Week and Space Technology of 29 July, 1985. This is Morgan's last kick at the Vampire business jet can. He has even changed the name to the Whisper Jet. Both names seem somehow appropriate. As the Mystery Jet, aerospace writers and investors thought it was a Mystery why Morgan thought third would work, and by the time it became the Whisper Jet, everyone was whispering behind his back, warning investors to not touch this project with a barge pole. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247754671-G856BCAW1MG7O8OQCL1W/56CA912D-C400-4503-BD35-CA2FB48348A5.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Eddie Coates, a well-known and extremely prolific aviation photographer and historian, lived in Las Vegas for a short while. As luck would have it for this author, he lived right next door to a Jet Craft executive. Here’s what Eddie had to say about that fellow and his Mystery Jet parked outside, “A company in Las Vegas (where I resided in the late 1980s) had a scheme to buy up surplus Vampires and convert them into executive jets (in the mode of the MS.760 shall we say [the Morane-Saulnier Paris jet... more on that later—Ed], although even that sleek bird was outdated by that time). Anyway, the owner of this bizarre enterprise lived close to me on the approach road to Horizon Airport, a GA airport south of ’Vegas. On a hard pad next to his driveway was a mock-up (see following photo). This old codger (typical Western gruff old sod) was gracious enough to invite me into his house where he had several table models of converted Vampires in a similar vein. The entrepreneurial old bloke (don’t you wonder, sometimes, how folks like this, with many irons-in-the-fire, make a living?) was also ‘into’ the maglev train idea to provide rapid transport from L.A. to Las Vegas. If you’ve ever travelled on Interstate 15 on a Friday evening you’d know what an excellent idea this is. I did indicate to him that some difficulties might be encountered in the way of land acquisition, particularly as the thing wound its way from San Bernardino to Disneyland, the proposed terminus. He was dead certain it could be done. Interestingly, the idea is not completely dead and is still being talked about, but I doubt I’ll live long enough to ever ride this 300 mph pipe dream. And if it is done, I am uncertain what ‘piece of the action’ my enthusiastic old friend would enjoy!” Photo: Eddie Coates, Aviation Photographer and Historian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247772658-4EXB2P246B2X8Z7ABTA7/D1A858EA-0F15-4479-BA95-6113829528E5.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out There is very little evidence of the existence of the odd-looking, but appropriately-named Mystery Jet on the web today. Here is a shot of what some claim is former Royal Australian Air Force Vampire T-35 (likely A79-624, later N11925) languishing in the hot sun at Las Vegas in the mid-1990s. The RAAF began phasing out the Vampire Trainer in mid-1969, as their replacement (Aermacchi MB.326H) was phased in. This aircraft A79-624 was sold to America as N11925 in August 1970 along with a number of others, and then ended up in the hands of Morgan’s Jet Craft Ltd. Photo: Bob Kennedy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247789671-JP29KIG5ZKF4ZGS27N38/0116C382-0907-43D2-A7C5-9FC2A80D2043.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out When Eddie Coates lived next door to John E. Morgan, he was somewhat of a grumpy fellow, but still dreaming big about the potential for the Mystery Jet and other outlandish projects such as the aforementioned maglev rail line. Still parked on a concrete hard stand outside his house near the Sky Harbor Airport was this Mystery Jet. Eddie was not sure whether this was a concept full-scale model or the nearly completed conversion from RAAF A79-624. This aircraft and the one in the previous photo appear to be the same ship, but it seems that Morgan has had it painted and the rudders enlarged. Or perhaps it is a second mock-up or conversion. I found reports on the internet of this aircraft being sighted at the Sky Harbor Airport in Las Vegas as late as 1997, but dismantled and on a trailer. Photo: Eddie Coates, Aviation Photographer and Historian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247809269-6W38ACEC1OAOMF6IMDVR/5A480636-EAC7-43B2-A1CB-2EB425098585.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A wonderful, if sombre, shot of the former RCAF Vampire 17072, registered by Wisconsin’s Fliteways as N6878D after they purchased 30 surplus Vampires from Canada. Virtually all the surviving RCAF Vampires come from this stock and all their registrations begin with N68___. One of the Vampires purchased by Morgan and Jet Craft in their first go-round was this very Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire Mk III, s/n 17072. Morgan had owned it along with N6876D and had it pained metallic gold as part of his Johnny Skyrocket routine. It was a single-seat Vampire, and not as wide as the two-seat side-by-side trainers which were much better suited for conversion to the 6-seat Mystery Jet. Perhaps it was acquired for spares. Its RCAF career included stints with 410 Squadron at St. Hubert (1948–51), including flying with 410’s famous Blue Devils display team. In the mid-1950s, it operated with the reserve at RCAF Downsview, Toronto (400 and 411 squadrons). It was purchased from surplus by Wisconsin’s Fliteways and registered as N6878D. It was owned by the famous stunt pilots and aviation cinematographers Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz (TallMantz), from whom Morgan would eventually purchase it. Photo via aerovintage.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247829915-TW1PADXUKX6U6OH6JIT3/C5FEB84F-2C27-46B3-A8C7-DD1187507F31.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out N6878D (former RCAF 17072) during its time with Tallmantz at Orange County airport. The date that this photo was taken is probably early to mid-60s. In the early 1970s, Morgan’s Jet Craft Ltd. purchased N6878D for conversion to a Mystery Jet, but he had owned this aircraft at the same time as N6976D. Likely, the gold paint was a hold over from the Johnny Skyrocket’s act. Photo: J.D. Davis, aerovintage.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247848099-3AJKY46WPZZ1NC18QJ86/C8AE9D1D-D7ED-4813-A0FA-6529EB21147D.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Another closeup of the Tallmantz Vampire N6878D in what is believed to be movie markings, though the movie is unknown. The gold paint seems to have been applied to everything, inside or out. This airframe and several other Vampires were purchased by Paul Mantz in the 1950s, and this example remained in his collection until purchased by Jet Craft. Photographed at Orange County in July of 1963. Photo: J.D. Davis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630247882130-6G01IVO73BB7U4W2AWVB/C28E28D5-ED4E-47BD-BED9-D6F61637EA7D.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The ex-RCAF Vampire 17072/N6878D made the rounds of various owners for a number of years, including famed Hollywood stuntmen Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz. In 1970, Morgan bought it from its final owner for his failed Jet Craft Mystery Jet project. When Morgan went bust and was jailed for obstruction of justice, it made its way through many owners, including John Travolta. It was purchased from Travolta by Wings of Flight Inc. on behalf of the Canadian Air Land Sea Museum located at the Markham Airport. It is seen here in Hamilton in 2005. The aircraft was severely damaged in an engine failure due to oil starvation and a wheels up landing shortly after departing Rochester, NY in 2009. Photo: Andy Vanderheyden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257249187-74RY3JEIM57QKEA6W27U/B9C666A3-BA2D-47EA-B9D2-0902F18A7045.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Johnny Skyrocket Morgan's gold foil stramped business card, handed to Jonathan Kirton in 1985. Scan from Jonathan Kirton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257278072-8XKAHOHNXFB8V6SQ82BK/A5FC2304-541D-4DB2-B16C-362A0B8CB273.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Paris jet F-WLKL, the Morane-Saulnier demonstrator aircraft shows the clean lines and relatively capacious cabin for up to six people. I guess Morgan had a reasonable idea. He just picked an aircraft that was not robust enough. Turning a military jet aircraft into a super fast business aircraft was not just the purview of the nutty, deluded and somewhat larcenous John E. Morgan. The Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris was a French four- (or even six-) seat jet trainer and liaison aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier. Based on the earlier side-by-side seating two-seat trainer, the MS.755 Fleuret, but adding an additional row of two seats, the Paris was used by the French military between 1959 and 1997. In 1955, a short-lived venture with Beech Aircraft to market the Paris as an Executive Business Jet in the US market was soon eclipsed by Learjet’s Model 23. Sadly, Morgan could not see the obvious challenge from Lear and Gulfstream and pressed forward with his Mystery Jet... failing twice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257331517-2LBRXXF4V4LNS6IWZDX4/E0E24130-4090-4719-AFF4-3C8D88357BB8.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The Beechcraft/Morane-Saulnier Paris jet attempted to appeal to the executive with a fly-it yourself spirit, with advertising graphics that led buyers to believe that the ease and comfort was automobile like, when in fact, thousands of hours of flying experience was required to master the military-like aircraft. Decades after this Popular Science-style image was used, John Morgan would still be hoping the idea would catch fire. It never did, though there are numerous Paris jets still flying today. Image via Retrothing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257412028-TSEMV5J340EPD5PMEDF2/098B9A5D-4FF8-468D-A38D-9C077C4AA417.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out Even the American aerospace giant Cessna got into the business jet conversion business briefly with their Cessna 407—a twin-engine Cessna T-37 Tweet puffed up to carry 4 people. “Cessna set aside limited engineering and marketing resources to analyze the profitability of developing a civilian version of the T-37, based on the aircraft’s power plant and airframe systems. Designated the Cessna Model 407, only a wooden fuselage mock-up of the proposed aircraft was ever produced. As Beech had encountered with the Morane-Saulnier MS.760, insufficient customer interest hindered its prospects.” From The Cessna Citations, by Donald J. Porter. Though Cessna had determined, by 1959, that this type of aircraft had no market, Morgan would press onward for decades... and get no further than Cessna. Photo: Cessna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257438918-44TDOWY19S1QP48MCZ31/CB460F5F-E08F-4E24-9AD0-45560A4F9B2A.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The concept of the twin-boom central-podded light business jet would eventually come to fruition with the Adam A700, but the concept still proved difficult to sell and the company also went bankrupt in 2008. The Adam A700 AdamJet was a proposed six-seat civil utility aircraft developed by Adam Aircraft Industries starting in 2003. The aircraft was developed in parallel with the generally similar Adam A500 (push/pull twin), although while that aircraft is piston-engined, the A700 is powered by two Williams FJ33 turbofans. The two models have about 80% commonality. The prototype A700 first flew on 28 July 2003. Two conforming prototypes were built. The big swollen belly in this Ben Wang photo taken at San Jose, California, is the external centreline fuel tank. Photo: Ben Wang https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257462328-AYE8OEFD49R5BI2QVE2N/E555719B-0F4B-472B-97B5-154E7BA4B014.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The idea of a military fighter aircraft as the basis of a high-speed business transport is one that will rarely become successful, but which will never really die. Even the Russians, with their new-found capitalistic ways and a desire to spend money in the most flamboyant manner, looked to the Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback as a basis for a high-speed, even supersonic, business aircraft. Hard to believe. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257481409-LUY6U0ORAX59RZIEMHT0/3402ACA6-A409-4B60-A578-3BCC85A8D779.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out A computer-generated illustration of what the Sukhoi-34-based business jet, called the Fanstream would look like. In this design, there are four engines, and a much enlarged size. What’s truly interesting is that there is a refuelling probe on the starboard side... just where the hell would our uber-rich, environmentally insensitive Russian oligarch get fuel at 40,000 feet? Possibly this would spin off a complete civilian air-to-air refuelling business. Dream big or go home. In this case, they went home, as this project failed completely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630257497896-C082FDB1Y3UWO51FHAHH/1019C393-3F07-47D8-B4A8-F9891A6F5685.jpeg The Stories - THE VAMPIRES OF LAS VEGAS - Make it stand out The Sukhoi-based Fanstream business aircraft is depicted climbing out of an airfield, having consumed about as much gas as a Challenger 605 would in a single transatlantic flight. Thank God this concept died like all the rest. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sexy-beast monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630240517636-6GK1AMUGS6IEJDHYQETD/299E9DC8-030B-446A-8E6E-9B93A3592DBC.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630240568184-ZRNOJ82XXLHPYYPB7459/AEB12487-AD0B-4A91-B0C6-7365EB669FC5.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A Royal Canadian Air Force CT-133 Silver Star. While the venerable “T-Bird” looked stolid from the side, it was a true stunner from above, with slender, tapered nose, rocketman-style tip tanks and elegant attachment of the empennage to the fuselage. This early example is configured as a target towing aircraft. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630240625272-WL3B7T7IUQIGAMTM9UR0/4DD939F1-2CEB-451D-AE5E-1DB6AD2C9E0F.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The last of the breed. The RCAF's last operational T-Birds operated with the Aerospace Engineering and Testing Establishment (AETE) in Cold Lake, Alberta. Photo: AETE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241191862-WQUJHN5FWV4T6I2LKAE9/DC07B982-95BA-4A54-9643-3C76F71C2778.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out An early black and white shot of the sleek SkyFox. Photo via Dejavu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241221966-WYOC93CS3SSMCPFPYCEQ/54F09206-0871-41BC-9EFD-E2DD34BD3123.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The single airframe that was destined to become the one and only SkyFox was a T-33 licence-built in Canadair's Montréal plant in 1958, with construction number T33-160. It was built for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a CT-133 and given the RCAF serial number 21160. After twelve years of service with the RCAF, it was struck off charge and sold through Canada's Crown Assets Corporation to Leroy Penhall/Fighter Imports in 1973. I found an article in the Milwaukee Journal, dated 2 December 1974, entitled “Obsolete wartime fighter planes are now playthings for the wealthy.” It talks about Leroy Penhall, stating “Penhall also owns Fighter Imports at Chino, 35 miles east of Los Angeles, the only company in the United States selling war surplus jets. He started in 1971, after Gary Levitz, a scion of a Dallas furniture making family, bought a T-33 Penhall built from surplus parts. In 1972, Penhall concluded a deal with the Canadian government to buy used T-33, a plane in which US pilots trained for the faster F-86 in the early 1950s. He plunked down close to $1 million for 18 T-33s, nine of which have been resold.” It was then sold to and operated by Murray McCormick Aerial Surveys. Here we see it in an attractive green and white paint scheme in the late afternoon sun at Sacramento's Executive Airport in 1976. Photo: Steve Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241245530-5C8CR0YBXQN4O006OIVF/852F81EC-2A01-4779-A7C2-039F779AF301.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Here we see the former RCAF T-Bird now operating for Consolidated Leasing after two years flying with Murray McCormick Aerial Surveys. Photo: Zane Adams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241288726-JPHXG27FOVZHHUV4RWPX/9D95E94C-A4BF-48CA-8000-606D9493E838.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A bold and simple red and black paint scheme adorns RCAF 21160 as Consolidated Leasing's N12414. This photo shows the future SkyFox prototype in 1980 at the Addison, Texas airport. Photo: Zane Adams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241313764-LL1I750JBXRUTOX0GQ5H/522CEF8C-D835-4880-9669-FD1533BD08F3.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out SkyFox test pilots close in on a photo ship for a promo photograph over the California desert. After completion of the conversion to the Skyfox prototype, its maiden flight was on 23 August 1983, more than 35 years after the first flight of the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. Famed test pilot Skip Holm was at the controls for the initial flight test at the Mojave Airport, California. The Skyfox prototype, in its roll-out colours, was white overall, with black cheat lines, and a pale grey blue trim with the SkyFox logo on each side, beneath the canopy. Photo: SkyFox https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241381773-943XOX5J294LX2XIHTXP/257B5245-7B97-4553-A38D-6369A34AFAC1.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Another shot over the Mojave Desert with possibly Skip Holm at the controls. Here we clearly see her new registration N221SF for SkyFox. There are very few good photographs of the SkyFox in flight from this initial period, and none to be found on the web of its construction. We get a good view of the relatively large Garrett engines, which look not so big on a Lear Jet. The removal of the old Rolls-Royce Nene (Allison J33 engines on US-built T-33) turbojet and replacement with the two Garrett turbofans actually saved weight—some 17%! Photo: Boeing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241419012-1ATK8NI8MX8OFMFQ23HY/D6E99BDC-BD54-449B-8E58-EA9AF568E43F.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out “All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.” In these four photographs, the SkyFox sports United States Air Force markings and her SkyFox photo had been crudely painted out. This is because she was starring in a first season episode of the television series AirWolf, starring Jan Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine. The TV series followed the adventures of the young pilot (played by Vincent) of a secret high-tech helicopter of the same name. In the second episode of the entire series, entitled Daddy’s Gone a Huntin’, the SkyFox played itself next to AirWolf (the similarity in the names makes one wonder). The episode depicted SkyFox as a super high-tech military aircraft about to fall into Russian hands and AirWolf and its team prevented the espionage disaster. Photos: AirWolf TV Series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241447800-59SS8HRIADOUHSG2V91I/BBA95090-2669-4F5D-A4BD-581A18FB9512.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Another TV screen grab from the 1984–87 TV series “AirWolf” shows SkyFox touching down on a runway, shot from a photo chase aircraft. Likely, the SkyFox Corporation wanted to showcase their creation and create some buzz that would eventually benefit sales. Sadly this did not come to pass. Photo: AirWolf TV Series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241479393-AURLSK7Y5P7B20YWRWFU/44FCBC3A-9361-4161-B0EF-847B59519432.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The Boeing SkyFox and the venerable Boeing CT-133 Silver Star chase plane pose together in front of a Boeing hangar to demonstrate the classic Lockheed T-33 lineage of the new conversion design. Boeing had little to do with the design of either aircraft but saw potential in the trainer as a cost-effective and fairly capable trainer. There are many differences between a CT-133 Silver Star and the SkyFox, but the addition of two external engines was one of the most evident. The two Garretts weighed less than the single Rolls-Royce engine, but provided 60% more thrust on 45% less fuel. The resulting inboard space from the removal of the centre-line turbojet allowed for considerably more fuel on board, eliminating the requirement for the T-33's traditional wing tip tanks. The designers retained the mountings and fuel lines for the tip tanks in case a customer wanted more range. Photo: Boeing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241516815-WGJJLYCHBL2I7GM5N00J/ED39015F-0624-4675-A0FE-7B0335B21C20.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The SkyFox in a later, more tactical, camouflage paint scheme banks over farmland for a promotional shot with a single test pilot at the controls, and a long centre-line test probe. Photo: Boeing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241544081-KLEEXKMC3I11SK35SUWS/137FBBA5-7DB9-448D-A372-DF195B9207B8.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Through the mid to late 1980s, Boeing made appearances with the SkyFox at numerous air shows throughout the United States, where ordinary citizens could get a look at an exotic-looking jet aircraft with a decidedly vintage inside. Here we see it under the bright California sun at Edwards Air Force Base. The SkyFox employed about 70% of the original Canadair CT-133, but made some pretty dramatic additions with the remaining 30%—two new engines, complete redesign of the nose and tail assemblies plus a whole shopping list of standard features ranging from new aerodynamics to nose wheel steering to new fire control and braking systems. If it were not for the canopy and the basic fuselage cross-section, there was little left externally that was Silver Star. Photo: Steve Tirpak https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241573495-QEMTRDXTY4MLLQMIASCV/2737BE7A-3995-40B1-8C37-50B2B70493A0.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A shot of the SkyFox from the right rear quarter shows some of the aerodynamic upgrades, including down-turned vortex generating winglets where the tip tanks once were, the leading edge root extensions (barely visible) and stabilizing strakes at the tail. This photo was taken at an air show at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City in June 1987. Photo: Darrell Crosby https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241594779-GGWYUNRWQAQHG89SJ6LK/DAA45F63-4C0B-4F53-A3C8-AF9B1B2CB636.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Walking around to the front of the SkyFox at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers Airport, we see a significantly redesigned nose which provided increased forward visibility as compared to the CT-133 Silver Star. Photo: Darrell Crosby https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630241651111-BGT0A132ZLR11HPYCBP2/24260E25-DFAD-4AFC-9ECE-A8F4BB737C4F.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The SkyFox on takeoff at an air show during her Boeing sales tour. There was interest at one time to take her to Farnborough, but the interest waned. Photo via Picstopin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245130645-67Q8JAMZEO56B8HGKT38/3EC37DEA-0419-4A93-88E3-4127C78B6250.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Today, the SkyFox resides on the ramp at Medford, Oregon’s Rogue Valley Airport, stripped of its valuable engines and sadly going nowhere, bleaching slowly in the sun. Likely the engines were sold off to realize some money out of the project. It has been there for many years as this photo was taken in 2007. Photo: Tangobar, Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245155273-DCAPBTDVRE9CI6P57NKZ/D4DBBB91-A0B1-417A-9A5A-5ACA81C0718C.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out I google-mapped Medford, Oregon’s Rogue Valley Airport and it took all of 5 seconds to find the SkyFox, still languishing on the tarmac in the heat beside a T-28 Trojan. From space, we can see the engine attachment points and the leading edge root extensions. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245179763-1Z28Q0I0OZZMML0PCQWM/0CDE9C7B-8D55-4EDD-AFF4-52901B2FFA36.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Looking forlorn and powerless, but more like a T-33 with her engines removed, the SkyFox is seen at Medford, Oregon Photo: Scott Slingsby at Slingsbyimages.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245211551-U82RIXRSW3AQ0SCVFUUL/0760BB07-8433-4F41-A0C9-47271A0E86E8.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Photographer Scott Slingsby is also a NetJets corporate pilot and as such gets around so to speak. One of his flights took him into Medford, Oregon where he saw the one-of-a-kind SkyFox sitting powerless on the ramp. Looking straight in the face of the engine-less SkyFox, we see one of the least pleasant angles. The old intakes from her single Rolls-Royce Nene engine are faired over forward, creating rather dumpy looking “love handles” in her lower cross-section. The altered nose of the SkyFox slopes down from the cockpit windshield, offering much better forward visibility, especially when taxiing. Photo: Scott Slingsby at Slingsbyimages.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245237504-7NDPR08SXM8P7FQ168O9/F8131392-A999-4128-9698-79FFCCE79DFE.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A close-up of the tail shows the rather sinister-looking SkyFox logo and a lot of neglect, having been marred by avian excreta. Photo: Scott Slingsby at Slingsbyimages.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245273972-75FOY0DTM0YC21B3798S/42A7E9DF-7AB1-4707-B1DE-C330180A613B.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The prolonged end of a cool idea that no one wanted. Photo: Scott Slingsby at Slingsbyimages.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245307567-V9UR8EGS8EABP82V0BKF/98D416FC-805A-4660-9060-DFA778E80551.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Boeing test pilots taxi SkyFox’s old stablemate, N109X, at Seattle. Photo: Russell Hill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245329932-PB7XZO903DRDYER2WJ8G/7BCE3CDD-B2D8-4342-8B48-741834DA1EC1.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Rain or shine (and I imagine Seattle has plenty of the latter), N109X still completes her workday some 55 years after she was built in Canadair’s Cartierville, Québec plant. Photo: Rick Schlamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245357641-UIHB4AD6B9VGBGHHEVUG/9688A07C-D3E5-4389-9527-3ABC5859BD23.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Two former RCAF and Canadian-built CT-133 chase planes, N109X and N416X, taking off together at Seattle. Photo: Rick Schlamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245386112-56NQO3YEK9SQ9TZUMGVY/B241EFF6-FE4D-4089-ABCA-E2208736DF45.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The two Boeing chase planes come in for a landing. Photo: Andrew W. Sieber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245413192-D35WAW2A4FONVX4QYUY9/774227E9-9EE3-47BC-B7C2-184DCDCD699D.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out After a full overhaul, Canadair CT-133 taxies at Seattle in a temporary state with bare metal, white and zinc chromate paint patches. Soon it will carry a new, more modern, paint scheme than the classic cheat lines she once wore for the SkyFox tests. Photo: Andrew W. Sieber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245439874-AL6ZI1LAV1QOCH9S2XK5/F00DD5B4-58BB-4C66-8058-0FBA9828A2CA.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out After overhaul and upgrading, Canadair Silver Star N109X lands following a pre-paint test flight. Scanning such photographic social media sites as Flickr, it is evident that ongoing testing of new aircraft types, newly completed assembly line aircraft and short production variants of old classics such as the 747, not only keeps these chase aircraft busy, but attracts some gifted aviation photographers and plane spotters to record the goings on. Boeing employs a fairly large fleet of chase aircraft, including two former RCAF Canadair Silver Stars and former USAF T-38 Talons and F-5 Freedom Fighters. Photo: Brodie Winkler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245513629-VOO11Y6707MZ2UZYIHW3/9CD10D15-AF0C-435D-977C-1C28DBED1FD4.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Clearly, the former RCAF trainer still has considerable value to Boeing as is witnessed by her brand new remake after her overhaul. Photo: Rick Schlamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245539615-GB5GTS3CXWWUIYY6MIWH/67883F4E-449A-43CE-9283-171DC4A71284.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Former RCAF Silver Star N416X collects her gear and roars into the humid Seattle air. Photo: Rick Schlamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245564201-3QR1YS8NHVISK7TH78B1/60BAAE64-80ED-4170-BF16-A7FFFC499EA8.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Another great shot of N416X taking off. She’s looking good for an aircraft manufactured 60 years ago. She is powered by a 12,400 pound thrust Rolls-Royce Nene 10 engine. She is owned and operated officially by Boeing Logistics Spares Inc. Photo: Rick Schlamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245590052-1U8NYZA2MV50CN24Y6RZ/1DB09833-87D7-49D2-B6AC-57BF1BE5DAA7.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out N416X began life in 1954 at Canadair’s Cartierville plant with RCAF serial number 21369. Photo: Andrew W. Sieber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245615655-YE58NQ44QWQRZSFW1PBS/97261A91-F270-4F95-B55A-E53079D74BA7.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A workday for CT-133 Silver Star N416X might include riding shotgun with a new Boeing all-cargo 747 test flight. Photo: Andrew W. Sieber https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245640361-FO3Z8WML28SFG3JBCU1E/AA7BCE6D-B0F6-4406-9FCD-25353D019CE5.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Though the SkyFox never went into production, her chase aircraft is still useful after all these years. Canadair-built CT-133 Silver Star N109X is gainfully employed as a Boeing chase aircraft, 65 years after the type’s first flight. Here we see the former RCAF “T-Bird” flying past the very latest in airliner technology as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner brakes hard after a test flight in the rain. Chase aircraft are employed by Boeing and other aerospace manufacturers to watch, film, advise and accompany new or modified aircraft as they go through their test regimes. Photo: Tedrick Mealy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245666616-R82CA49ZWDI84TFXXOT9/2653A6BA-3A1B-4553-B526-7E58FC96CFD5.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Lockheed T-1A (T2V-1) Seastar N447TV at Salt Lake City International Airport in 1994–the world’s only surviving flyable airframe. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245694232-6ONY8M3V34LYFRNF64NE/CC928EE9-AFD4-4F0F-8046-693301678F4A.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Lockheed T2V-1 (T-1A) Sea Stars flying out of Naval Air Station Pensacola. It’s even harder to see the T-33 roots of the T2V than it is to see them in the SkyFox. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245718781-UNBONAB0H17FR2KISHH9/1FED631E-3FE8-4FFC-9978-3BC7975EA794.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out A Cavalier-built Mustang with a Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop—its single large exhaust exited on the starboard side. One has to admit that, despite being a monstrosity and an abomination to P-51 purists, it was oddly cool looking. This was single manufactured prototype (N6167U). The Turbo Mustang III had radically increased performance, along with an associated increase in payload and decrease in cost of maintenance due to the turbine engine, but alas... had no takers. Photo via WarbirdInformationExchange.org (a fabulous resource and forum everyone should sign up for.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245738044-VUZHRUO2CLIW17CKDAP7/895B0952-EC26-4A18-821B-1545A42F6BAB.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out The Rolls-Royce Dart was an odd choice for a turbine conversion as it utterly destroyed the P-51’s legendary good looks. Photo via WarbirdInformationExchange.org (a fabulous resource and forum everyone should sign up for.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245759088-TVCJZ7A38294T6039Q28/5D640E4A-32D3-4424-8F50-34A46CCA02B9.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Wikipedia explains: Seeking a company with mass production capability, the Turbo Mustang prototype, now called “The Enforcer,” was sold by Cavalier to Piper Aircraft in 1971. Cavalier Aircraft Corp. was closed in 1971 so the founder/owner, David Lindsay, could help develop the Piper PA-48 Enforcer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245782841-EVUNRWPBGGIJ287NIIV3/4F446D02-B34C-4FE5-96A8-A03ED3C0CD09.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Piper heavily modified the Turbo Mustang III prototype, unveiling the new aircraft in early 1970 as the Piper PE-1 Enforcer. Piper also modified a second P-51 airframe, which they also converted into a 2-seat, dual-control version called the PE-2 Enforcer. In this image, we can clearly see the Enforcer was capable of a heavy payload. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630245801587-4EUGR3VJ49IXPZKUJFCH/AFDF132C-1CF4-4BB0-8177-800C043C8DEB.jpeg The Stories - SEXY BEAST - Make it stand out Loaded for bear, and no one to go hunting for. The Enforcer, like the Turbo Mustang III and the SkyFox, joined the Pantheon of great ideas, well executed that no one wanted. Photo: Piper https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-last-vc monthly 0.5 2022-05-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098406660-X0JIVJKJHJFHNQXLMSCF/RHGTitle3.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Photo: Katherine Norenius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098433620-GGD5PA3936FHBT6RWR8Y/RHG14.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Looking from the staircase that descends beneath Ottawa's Sappers' Bridge to the Rideau Canal, we can see the pantheon of great Canadian heroes known as the Valiants. Robert Gray is the bronze bust at the left near the banner. Next to him is the bust of another Canadian airman who was awarded the Victoria Cross - Andrew Mynarski of the RCAF. Beyond stands the famous former-railroad hotel - the Chateau Laurier. This hotel played an important role in the movie Captains of the Clouds about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan - under which, Gray received his Service Flying Training and Naval Aviators wings. Photo: Vincent Alongi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098492013-TLKGGKH1KWGK1G49MZO0/RHG16.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out A close-up of the bronze bust of Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, RCNVR. Photo: The Valiants Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098522155-XLYKF1HO3MMI43EM9ZTV/RHG3.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Robert Hampton Gray, 28 years old at the time of his death, was a courageous and respected leader of men in combat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098778229-EFIEOT31LKB2UIJYFYX7/RHG2.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Gray began his Elementary Flying Training on the Mile Magister basic trainer at Luton's No. 24 EFTS. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098802399-UFL30QDBN3USVWXTPL4G/RHG23.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Hammy (at left in inset photo) crossed back over the Atlantic to do his Service Flying Training at No. 31 SFTS in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. To this day, the former BCATP base is the site of the Kingston Airport, where a memorial to Robert Hampton Gray (bottom centre) stands beneath a Harvard 2 gate guardian. Photo: Will S. at Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098848920-CO84S0ZJNVN5LTV0NKZ0/RHG24.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out HMS Formidable in her North Atlantic dazzle paint scheme. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098883820-5BGZGBUSED7LNDAOP4GC/RHG1.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Corsairs of Formidable's complement arrayed for action during operations in the North Atlantic - note Temperate Sea scheme camouflage. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098905931-SBT63T1KP8GVHT4I24XS/RHG4.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out The only photograph that we have yet seen showing Robert Gray flying - or rather launching from the escort carrier, HMS Rajah, in 1944. With the Corsair painted in camouflage and having a full roundel on her side, this is in the North Atlantic colour scheme. Source: Major A.E. Marsh RM (Ret'd). Fleet Air Arm Negative: CRSR/43. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098957690-6CLWUFR762J1X6GKNNML/RHG6.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out This photo of Corsairs running up on HMS Illustrious' deck shows Pacific theatre markings - all blue paint and white centred roundels with American style bars. Photo RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098990422-IT1BUOE5ULZPSB9QL27F/news_06212008_5.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out The only photo yet to be found that shows the original Corsair number 115 of the Royal Navy’s 1841 Squadron. It is generally accepted that No. 115 was not “Hammie” Gray’s usual aircraft, as his was unserviceable at the time that he launched from Formidable on that fateful day. Here we see 115 chained and battened down for inclement weather enroute to some action - with engine cowl and canopy covered in canvas to protect them from the effects of salt spray. Inset - the squadron crest for 1841 shows an eagle preying on a dragon above the waves - a heraldic depiction of Robert Hampton Gray’s final action when he pressed home his attack on the Japanese escort ship Amakusa, sinking her in Onagawa Bay. There are some who believe that 115 was not the aircraft he flew that day and others that insist that the markings were slightly different (the numeral "1" before the roundel and "15" after). Others insist that the serial number was not KD658. Still others insist that his personal aircraft was 119. This is possible too, but until the day that incontrovertible proof is offered as to different markings, we will fly our own Corsair in these markings - it will be easy to make a change. Regardless of long-lost records which may or may not support these claims, our Corsair will always be a flying tribute to Gray. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099027939-OFOFIB3NRCH1MLC9X0CI/RHG9.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out The immediate aftermath on the deck of Formidable as Hammy and his crewmates battle fires and chaos following a Kamikaze hit. Photo RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099060978-WK92RZX6KNK0Q4IB08QR/RHG10.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out A dramatic photograph from the forward deck of HMS Formidable shows her crew dealing with the chaos of the Kamikaze strike. Forward of the island, stands a Corsair that might be Corsair 115 safe from the fires and destruction on the after deck. If this is No. 115, it would still not be the airframe flown by Gray as that aircraft (KD658) was delivered from baby flattop HMS Arbiter the next month. Perhaps this one was lost or damaged after the date of the Kamikaze strike and before delivery of KD658 or received a new number later. RN photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099092733-FEMF28RWEIE1OAJAN3I1/RHG11.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out This photo showing the aftermath of a Kamikaze strike on HMS Formidable two months before Gray’s final flight. It also shows our team the placement of the ship deck code (the letter “X” was worn by all aircraft aboard Formidable). As well, there seems to be no set position for the Royal Navy titles aft of the roundel. In other RN photos in the Pacific Theatre, these titles are in varying positions. The ship deck code was also painted on the deck of RN carriers to prevent returning aircraft from landing on the wrong carrier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099129620-87WZLJO77JQF57H3KIZE/RHG26.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out For the first time (that we know) we have flying images of the Corsair that our Corsair is replicating - number 115. Frames (actually screen captures from a DVD) from a film crew's "B-roll" taken in the Pacific at the time Robert Hampton Gray was aboard show Corsair 115 lifting off from HMS Formidable's deck. Depending on the date when this photo was taken, this particular Corsair 115 may or may not be serial number KD658. The smoke plume at the edge of the deck is quite possibly a wind indicator. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099161736-BKFDEVXT3MXUUUWB1SNK/RHG27.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out A nice action shot of Corsair 120 just lifting its tail wheel off the deck as her pilot thunders down the flight deck. There were two Corsair-equipped squadrons operating from Formidable at the time - 1841 and 1842. The propeller hubs of 1841 Corsairs were painted a dark colour (blue or possibly red) while 1842 Corsair had white hubs. This would make 120 a Corsair with 1841. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099193667-4STOA59XH5QG1LHYW988/RHG28.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out A shot showing flight deck maintenance in progress on HMS Formidable in the summer of 1945. The aircraft in the background is a Hellcat (119). Corsairs operating from Royal Navy carriers had the tips of their wings clipped to enable hangar deck stowage on the smaller British carriers. The wing of the Corsair in the mid-ground clearly shows this feature. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099224926-8J8C1G3TYIYRXG0FK7VB/RHG30.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out In this shot down the elevator shaft aboard HMS Formidable, an 1842 Squadron Corsair (146) gets plenty of attention from maintainers in the hangar deck. Sitting on the wings are the large flight deck chocks that were used to prevent movement on a heaving deck. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099249691-KQDEKNEDOIO44IVG2E7R/RHG31.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Six of Formidable's complement of Corsairs and an Avenger are seen tied down on the forward deck. The wing on the Corsair at right is being folded by hand . . . the deck crew is providing the manpower. The centre Corsair is under power with the handlers walking alongside with the chocks. As the Corsair wings don't have the safety struts installed, we can only guess that the one Corsair suffered some sort of hydraulic failure which resulted in the wing dropping. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099312404-EVG3CUV0ZIH1RQ9FONB1/RHG32.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Corsairs (mostly 1842 Squadron with white propeller hubs) and Avengers aboard HMS Formidable warm their engines as they get set to launch an operation. Photo: RAFImages via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099339253-X9LUUUDWWR4DRNFAV25W/RHG33.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out A packed deck aboard Formidable shows Avengers, Corsairs, and Hellcats. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099382884-JMLU47EXROVOXBWGP5A3/RHG12.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out IJN Amakusa was an Etorofu Class escort (Seen here in this painting by Takeshi Yuki scanned from "Color Paintings of Japanese Warships" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099422137-8Y1QW3W4IJH0ZK2Z53V8/RHG13.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Also laying heavy anti-aircraft fire on Gray and his men was IJN Ohama an anti-aircraft gun platform. Image via SnowCloudInSummer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099522961-08SMIOSRXT6R03GYQ51W/RHG19.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out IJN Amakusa under attack by Robert Hampton Gray. Much-loved Canadian aviation artist Don Connolly depicts the final moments of Gray's attack. Image: Don Connolly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099560680-TW6DN2RA6BR8SYOU5LP4/news_06212008_4.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out In 2006, officers of the Canadian Navy's HMCS Ottawa placed a wreath at the memorial to Robert Hampton Gray on the shores of Onagawa Bay in Japan. Gray’s marker is the only memorial dedicated to a member of any Allied armed force on the Japanese main islands. Gray’s aircraft crashed into the waters in the background, killing him in the final days of the war. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099620377-7OFDRJOA6NO6Z3HC0CJE/RHG25.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Somewhere beneath the sparkling and now peaceful waters of Onagawa Bay, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan lie the mortal remains of Robert Hampton Gray and the wreckage of his Corsair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099656568-A676YIXIQV3260XOE9XZ/RHG18.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — THE LAST CANADIAN VC - Make it stand out Throughout 2010, Vintage Wings of Canada will take its Gray Ghosts program including the Robert Hampton Gray Corsair across Canada to help the Canadian Navy to celebrate its 100th Anniversary. Stay tuned for a full schedule of events. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/jesse-o-williams monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087860274-MVZXMQZF0AWGNWO7BHUX/JesseOTitle.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630090355666-YX3Q2QQ6ILI58LCW4HY9/JesseO33.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Jesse O's son Ron and fellow Huey crewman await repair for their Huey in Vietnam in 1972. Though he never spoke much of his flying days, Jesse O. surely inspired a love of flying in his two sons. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630090434027-B3LPRLPFE2L4KEZMQ3WN/JesseO3.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Jesse Oscar Williams, poses for his official sweetheart and family photograph after earning his coveted wings in the United States Army Air Force. The quiet professionalism that would mark his entire life is clearly evident in his young face. Photo via Cyndi Bridges Anbuhl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630090471176-B8VS94OUXNQ15UPJ4AX1/JesseO25.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a true handful of airplane to take into the air. Jesse O. and his squadron mates would receive lengthy, progressive and thorough training across the United States for a year before they were ready to be unleashed on the Japanese. The state-of-the-art "Superfort" had advanced autopilot, navigation, bomb-aiming and defensive firepower and pressurization systems that took many months to master. When they were sent over to Guam, they were perhaps the best trained pilots and crews of any aircraft of the war. Photo and manual cover: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630090567158-1IDULX9O921PCPBT0O0T/JesseO5.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The spacious and extremely complex "front office" of the B-29 offered superb views forward. This space could become pretty claustrophobic when crews were forced to endure 17-hour missions - only minutes of which were over the target. Management of fuel, navigation and engine function monitoring occupied much of the time. The Honeywell autopilot systems were crucial during long flights over the ocean, relieving the pilots of extreme fatigue. Herbert Bach, was the Honeywell technical representative attached to the 331st Bomb Group for the duration of their Guam-based operations. They relied heavily on his technical expertise for installing, calibrating and testing these critical components. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630090919745-J15J6AVYL3YV0D0891CM/JesseO31.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Herbert C. Bach, whose memoirs have brought us two exceptional vignettes in a little known aerial war fought over great distances poses in full flying gear stateside at Dyersburg Army Air Base in late 1944 where he qualified bombardiers on the Norden Bomb Sight. Bach stands in front of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, another heavy bomber he worked on while training for the job he did on Guam. Photo via Robert Bach https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091013065-IN9USKQY1WR7F6N8USA3/JesseO9.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The hazards of flying a B-29 were great enough as illustrated by this World War Two image of one meeting its doom at the hands of Japanese fighters or flak. After they were safely out of range of Japanese defenses, these crews still had to battle everything from boredom to engine failure. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091140903-25TIYJ5SMZXHPOWSMI6W/JesseO8.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The Williams Boys pose in front of a B-29 for their official USAAF crew photo. (Back Row Left to right): Capt. Jesse O. Williams - Aircraft Commander, Captain Andrew L. Kaye - Pilot, 1st Lt Donald W. Dudley -Navigator, 2nd Lt. Jack D. Pickett - Radar Bombardier, 1st Lt. Clarence A. Rick - Bombardier, (Front row - Left to right): S/Sgt Howard F. Harper - Radio Operator, Sgt. Franklyn M. Kolber - Right Blister Gunner/Observer, M/Sgt. Herbert R. Hoyt - Flight Engineer, Joseph Karl - Left Blister Gunner/Observer, S/Sgt Thomas P. Hogan - Tail Gunner. Pickett, Hoyt and Hogan are still alive, the status of Kay is unknown and the rest of the crew have passed away. Crew members were identified for Vintage Wings by Clare Dudley, the navigator's wife. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091170273-XFAWFUTGEYLWSRNZFCFN/JesseO34.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Obviously taken at the same time as the previous photo, we see a much enlarged "crew shot" which may include commanding officers like 357 Squadron's Colonel Peyton as well as ground crew. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091203160-TK3I2Q5F61GRX8BT7SZI/JesseO35.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out To relieve the stress of combat flying, Jesee O's crew loved to swim and sleep at the beach on Guam... and quaff the odd beer or Coca Cola. This rare "crew photo" take on Guam's Tuman beach includes: Back row, left to right; Herb Hoyt, Frank Kolber, Clarence Rick, Andrew L. Kaye. and Howard Harper. Front row, left to right; Jesse Williams, Don Dudley, Tom Hogan and Joe Karl. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091244875-V4KOO9QIKIILA1S6AJE2/JesseO36.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A moment of levity in a stressful place. One of the "locals", known for their diminutive stature, joins in the joke. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091583806-WHV6JP8LTTZMX2JYY0MD/JesseO10.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Jesse O. Williams, Andrew L. Kaye and their crew were assigned Boeing B-29B Superfortress serial number 42-63612. They nicknamed her Night Prowler and painted a black panther about to pounce from an 8-ball. We are lucky indeed to find a color photograph which shows us just how she looked. Photo via Bob Kaye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091655592-JR7KEG3MGRW6EAF7L9GT/JesseO65.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Two years after this story was first published, Bob Kaye, son of Captain Andrew L. Kaye, sent us this photo of Night Prowler with here eight long-range bombing mission marks showing on her nose. Photo by Captain Andrew L. Kaye via Bob Kaye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091689846-J25HBND24L7SAMMF7QQZ/JesseO64.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A photo taken by Andrew L. Kaye of Jesse O. Williams and Night Prowler on the ramp at Guam. One can see the eight and last bombing mission mark at the right (the freshest paint). Andy's son Bob Kaye notes: "The last one on the right looks real fresh and the photo was probably taken by my Dad right after they added the eighth one. Jesse had a smile and I think it was my Dad saying 'Smile' before he took the picture. He always would say that when he took pictures. Photo by Captain Andrew L. Kaye via Bob Kaye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091912567-8SKECYDE0MA8Y7E86GWW/JesseO63.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out An amazing photo taken of Night Prowler on her way to Japan on three engines. Here we see Pilot Captain Andrew L. Kaye on the right, and Aircraft Commander Captain Jesse O. Williams on the left framing a relaxed looking navigator Don Dudley enjoying the view from the Bombardier's position. The looks on these three faces belie the extreme stress the crew was facing on the mission for which Williams and Kaye were awarded the DFC. Photo by Flight Engineer Herb Hoyt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630091955666-O20TVJ4MU3C97PO7Y38Z/JesseO24.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out After hours of searching the web for images of a 331st Bomb Group Superfortress, I finally came upon this rare and informative image shot by US Navy Seabee Harold Gronenthal. It was photographed at Guam's Northwest Field at the time that Jesse Williams was flying missions from there. Gronenthal and members of his Seabee (CB-Construction Battalions) team helped build the runways and other facilities like the airfields at Guam - sometimes wading ashore while under fire to start construction. This particular B-29, like many in the 331st, is painted black underneath to make it harder for searchlights to pick out the aircraft. The high reflective qualiity of a polished and bare-metal B-29 made them easy to spot by searchlight crews if they were anywhere near the cone of light. For the first time, I was able to see the exact location and size of the Diamond "L" Group markings on the tail - something I would need to create a profile drawing - read on! Photo by Harold Gronenthal, USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092020397-9GFFAO2WJHWUJLBQH2CJ/JesseO29.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The biggest differences between the B-29A and B-29B variants of the Superfortress were three. First, B-models like those flown by Williams and the 315th BW, had no fuselage gun barbettes (unmanned turrets) and just the tail guns. In addition it lacked the large radome beneath the fuselage, but sported a wing-like radar at 90º to the line of flight (see above beneath the fuselage) mounted between the bomb bays (used for bombing) and a ball-shaped radar trailing the rear gun (used for sighting the defensive machine guns). Photo via Larry Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092048716-A0TZNEBLKZZ66K6PZOLI/JesseO26.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A Guam-based B-29 lands after an exhausting mission in 1945. Photo by Harold Gronenthal, USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092089283-GJYJ19E9TL0LM4ZN9XND/JesseO39.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out As most bomber crews of the USAAF did during the war or shortly thereafter, the members of the Williams Night Prowler crew had their nose art painted on the backs of their flight jackets. Today, some exist in pristine condition like this jacket modelled by Clare Dudley, wife of 1st Lieutenant Donald W. Dudley, Night Prowler's navigator. The front of the jacket carries the 357th Bomb Squadron's humorous crest - a waiter delivering a platter of colourful bombs. Photo: via Kirk Dudley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092125309-TX1AQN09JIMCGXII6X1Z/JesseO40.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Jack Picket, Night Prowler's Radar Bombardier sports his WWII flight jacket - unlike many of us, it seems his old flight jacket still fits him very well. Perhaps we can convince Jack to send us the front view too! Photo: via Jack Pickett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092169122-K1WAX4CS5X33IY51UB4H/JesseO30.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out It took a while, but research paid off and thanks to many people including the Williams Family, Bob Bach, Edward Gronenthal and Larry Miller, I was able to piece together enough information to create an aircraft "profile". Though possibly not perfect, this is what Williams' B-29B Night Prowler might have looked like operating over Japan in the last months of the war. A higher resolution download of this illustration is available upon request. Illustration by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092196642-YF8LMUIPL6CGFFZE0KNC/JesseO23.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Thanks to Larry Miller's excellent and passionate website on the 315th Bomb Wing, and Wikipedia I was able to find images of the crest of the 315 BW Association, the 331st BG, The 357th Bombardment Squadron and Jesse Williams' Night Prowler. The quality of all of these images was very poor, so I took the time to fully rebuild them in higher resolution. The 357th's squadron emblem was described by a herald as "Over and through a light turquoise blue disc, a caricatured waiter attired, proper, stalking toward dexter across a white cloud formation in base, with smug look of satisfaction on face, having a white napkin folded over the left forearm, and holding aloft with the right hand a large metal tray, supporting two, very large, red aerial bombs, banded white, resting on top, of four, varied-size aerial bombs of green, blue, yellow, and red, reading from left to right respectively, emitting wisps of vapor toward rear. (Approved 20 Nov 1945.)". Illustrations by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092266359-CAKYLIJOVEVG2ZWP8PLU/JesseO27.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A line-up of 331st group (Diamond L) B-29s under the hot sun of Guam in 1945. In the foreground is "Slicker 49" (s/n 44-83941 - transferred to the 501st BG after the war), an aircraft of the same squadron as Williams' Night Prowler. The difference between the all-bare-metal and the black undersides is clear in this image. Photo via Larry Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092322193-VO1YP12839XEBO2GGUTA/JesseO28.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A line-up on Guam's Northwest Field - Most likely taken within a few minutes of the preceeding image. In the forground on the right is "Slicker 33" (s/n 44-83907 - also Slicker 05 at one time) nicknamed Jus'One Mo'Time, which was a 355th BS ship. On the left, the black-undersided B-29 is "Slicker 30" (s/n 44-83919). Both ships were eventually transferred to the 501st BG. Photo via Larry Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092359911-6ESL4STGGSPSK0Z8UOIU/JesseO32.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The salacious nose art of B-29 "Jus' One Mo Time". It was in this very bomber that Herbert Bach and crew were "coned" in searchlights over Japan. Only violent manoeuvring on the part of the pilot Colonel Peyton saved them from further flak damage. Bach's gripping account sheds light on the terrible risks taken by crews even thought they still had air superiority. Bach writes: "Suddenly the scanners and tail gunner called, "Search lights at seven o'clock. Search lights at four o'clock moving over fast." "Anti radar rope", the Colonel called. We couldn't see a thing except fires over north and east of us but I began to have a cold sweat right then. "Flak barrage at 6 o'clock - a mile and below us - keep that tape going", the Colonel called. Then it happened - several search lights ahead of us and to our right came on and began moving over and right around us. Waltanski was wheeling us up 60 degree banks - pulling us up on our tail, then driving us down. "Number 2 power setting", Colonel Peyton called. "Let's get the hell out of here", Bouie said. Those ribbons of light were all around and then suddenly one swept in and for a short moment had us. My heart and stomach were up in my mouth. Then it came, KABOONG - KABOONG - KABOONG ! Several right below and a head of us and one right in front of our nose - so bright it blinded us momentarily. Waltanski was throwing that airplane around so that I was constantly aware of being pulled out and forced back into my seat. Then they had us again - two lights - I remember seeing sweat pour down off Waltanski's forehead over his oxygen mask. Mine was terribly gooey inside and I wished I could pull the damn thing off. "KABOONG - KABOONG - KABOONG", one could really feel it. The airplane was jumping all over and then, "PANG - PANG - ZING - ZING - ZING". "We're hit!", the Colonel called. "Cabin pressure decreasing", Captain Knapp called. I could begin to feel the lowering of pressure. "Engines functioning normally. Power setting one", Peyton called. We were doing 300 or better indicated but still those search lights held us. I tried to pull myself into a small ball under that flak helmet and suit - Oh God - I thought - get us out of here - I'd never been so terribly frightened in all my life - my teeth were chattering and I had to take a leak so terribly. It grew terribly cold as the pressure had all gone out of the cabin. "Engines heating", Knapp called. "Power setting three", Peyton called. "Put us in as steep a dive as you can Walt". I could feel the rapid ascension. "Airspeed 375 ." "That's enough", the Colonel called. The tail gunner called, "Search lights moving in from six o'clock." They must have had at least four or five on us then. Flak barrages continued - it seemed like one could walk on it - big terrible round balls of lightning that turned orange red and with streamers flying out in all directions - it was ghastly terrifying. Suddenly we were away from the lights - they were moving in all directions back and forth, then the tail gunner called that they were moving back and away from us. Walt swung us into a steep bank to the right - and began to climb - we'd lost over 12,000 feet altitude and were down to 16,000 but we were apparently out of it for the time being. It had been rough - I just can't describe how terrible it had been. The boys behind us would really be catching hell. We had been flying over Tokyo Bay and from the briefing we'd been informed that there would likely be some of the Japanese flak barrages encountered." Photo via Robert Bach https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092424610-CF622J4P446HGSL06ASQ/JesseO37.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out In the 1970s, members of Night Prowler's crew met to share memories and renew old and powerful friendships. Left to right: Jesse O. Williams (Aircraft Commander/pilot), Andrew L. Kaye (pilot) Donald W. Dudley -(Navigator), Clarence A. Rick (Bombardier), and Jack Pickett (Radar/Bombardier). Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092471681-U9WYQR32UUSMCNACXYWA/JesseO38.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Unlike many airmen of the Pacific war, Jesse's crew had the distinct privilege of returning to the women they loved. Left to right: Jesse Williams, Mrs. Kaye, Andrew Kaye, Don Dudley, Clare Dudley, Clarence Rick, Erika Pickett & Jack Pickett. Photo via Ron Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630092528121-EIY7QY9C8FOO1ET11IK3/JesseO62.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out One of the few wonderful things to come out of the horrible conflict that was the Second World War, was that those that survived went home to fall in love, to raise a family and to contribute to the society they had fought to preserve. Captain Andy Kaye had five sons and a daughter - Andrew Jr., Bon, Dab, Bill, Barry and Bonnie. Kaye's son Bob has a keen interest in the history his father helped make and was instrumental in bringing the remaining crew members back together for a reunion. Here, Bob Kaye stands in front of the famous P-38 Lightning Glacier Girl at Oshkosh's Airventure 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630096596339-Q1994EDTXKUBU6MUG9RA/JesseO60.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Night Prowler Reunion in 2011 - Left to right: Norden Bombsight Technician Robert “Bob” Bach, Tail Gunner Tom Hogan, Bill Kaye (Son of Pilot Andrew L. Kaye), Navigator Jack Pickett and Bob Kaye, Andrew l. Kaye's second oldest and organizer of the reunion which took place at an air show at Fleming Field near the Twin Cities of St.Paul/Minneapolis, MN. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630096621340-7R3MVHP2AR1B1M01FK6I/JesseO61.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The entire group that made the 2011 Night Prowler reunion: Left to right: Bob Kaye, Bill Kaye, Tom Hogan, Jack Pickett's Son, Bob Bach, Jack Pickett, Clare Dudley -(Wife of Don Dudley-Night Prowler Bombardier) and a friend of Clare Dudley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630096700435-U0F84UV9SE09LWB1AVDG/JesseO7.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out A B-29B Superfortress ( tail number 42-63674) overflies Northwest Field, Guam - one of three massive staging grounds (North Field, Northwest Field and Harmon Field), on that island of the Marianas Islands Group from which were launched devastating bombing raids over Japan. Other massive fields dotted the Pacific including Saipan and Tinian. Records indicate this particular bomber was assigned to the 315th Bomb Wing, 501st Bomb Group. Photo via Larry Miller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630096811303-ZVHI4E1XLEE0CL8M9UK5/JesseO11.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out American servicemen in Paris rejoice at the news that Japan has capitulated. Many were dreading reassignment to the Pacific Theatre where they would face the suicidal defence of the Japanese home islands. Now they were going home instead of going to Japan. There is no doubt that the strategic, tactical and atomic bombing of Japanese cities and industry, as unpalatable as it was, brought the Empire to its knees and saved these very lives, before they had to be thrown into the cauldron. These servicemen have men like Jesse Williams to thank. Photo: Unknown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097163833-868CYR8R3YJ30E6QXNXR/JesseO15.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out While the pilots of Jesse Williams' and Andrew Kaye's 357th Bombardment Squadron stoically endured the strain of combat and the dealing of death to the Japanese homeland, they truly relished and delighted in the missions of mercy - delivering food, cigarettes and clothing to the hundreds of smaller and larger Prisoner of War labour and concentration camps that dotted the islands of Japan. At the end of the war, when Allied prisoners realized that hostilities had ended, they marked their camp roofs with huge letters indicating that they were POWs. Low flying reconnaissance aircraft (above) were able to provide coordinates to the B-29 crews thousands of miles away. Williams and his men made a several such trips over a vanquished Japan. Photo US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097203832-64KLMYE8D3EA9EY0KQ44/JesseO16.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Milk, Sugar, Coffee and Salvation. Another POW labour camp on the shattered Tokyo waterfront advertizes their needs, their units and even their thanks. Photo: USAAF/USNavy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097271035-PUBUFVUZRXMFPSF3OU1C/JesseO12.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Research on the internet can bring you to some wonderful places. On the photo management site called Flickr.com, I found this blurry image of B-29s flying in formation over Tokyo Bay on the Second of September, Nineteen Forty-Five. Below the aircraft are just some of the armada of Allied carriers, battlewagons, destroyers, submarines, cruisers and capital ships that crowded the bay for the formal signing of the Instruments of Surrender. The photo was taken by Edward "Ted" D. Carlsen who flew with the 468th Bomb Group of the 58th Bomb Wing. Carlsen's group was stationed on Tinian Island. In his memoirs, Herbert Bach wished that he had had a camera for this momentous day, but luckily, Carlsen's very proud grandson Joshua Carlsen thought enough to post his grandfather's haunting image for all to share. Photo Ted Dave Carlsen, USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097364751-G23D2K8FH8IUI9JK0J48/JesseO13.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Sailors aboard the battleship USS Missouri watch as the Japanese delegation arrives for the formal surrender - two weeks after hostilities ended. Above them, squadron after squadron after squadron of every type of Army, Navy, Marine and Allied aircraft stream overhead in an astounding show of strength, planning and skill. Looking at this image, I can't help wondering if I am looking up at Night Prowler and Jesse O. Williams, Andrew L. Kaye, Herbert Bach or perhaps Ted Carlsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097416219-4STIJDOCKBU5VR2K28NL/JesseO14.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Grim faced military and civilian officials arrive aboard USS Missouri to sign the utter end to their misery. One can't help wonder what might be going through their minds, surrounded by the stunning might and mass of the assembled Allied fleet - below their feet and above their heads. Maybe is was simple relief. Photo: DoD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097467547-VFDINPBNWJJRJNCAIF22/JesseO17.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out The delegation from the Japanese government endures the stares, and emotions of thousands in attendance - while above, men like Jesse Williams make their voices heard through the thunder of a thousand engines. Photo: DoD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097521049-VNRJOSRG9DL5VBUVMZ1W/JesseO19.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out What would be the Japanese words for "What were we thinking?" Thousands of aircraft overflew Tokyo Bay that day in 1945, while hundreds of grim, grey ships of war crowded its confines. Here hundreds of Navy fighters and bombers stream across Missouri's bow and over the mainland. The message, which was so painfully unclear on the 7th of December 1941, sparkles with clarity on this day - there was clearly no way in hell that Japan could have possibly beaten the massive industrial might of the United States. Those Japanese watching from the shore must have despaired at the cost to learn that simple fact. Photo DoD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097605538-8J4RF2KI5LX7C4FYRXZV/JesseO20.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out At the end of the war, hundreds of B-29s line the runways on the island of Saipan In the days, weeks and even months ahead, the crews would ferry their warhorses back to the United States, where, shutting them down, they would walk away, back to their wives and families and begin another life - one which many of their friends would never come home to. Photo USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630097632855-3KR8ULTYBSN9WTRZ4APA/JesseO21.jpg The Stories - THE UNTOLD STORY OF JESSE O. WILLIAMS - Make it stand out Northwest Field, Guam, as it appears today. While there are US military facilities and airfields on Guam today, the once-massive Northwest Field begins its long and leisurely journey back to its natural state. USAF Photo by SSgt Joshua Strang taken in the 2000s https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/till-we-meet-again monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085835512-UUVVEEM3OVP22JEL6EZD/WaywellTitle2.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086154725-5ZXY2WNUON672IE41P10/Waywell8.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Three photos which hint at the fact that young men grow up quickly in war. The left photo is Waywell when he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Conscientious Objector at the outset of hostilities. Frank speaks of his original CO decision and why he changed his mind. "After the horrors of the first war many of my generation were veryinfluenced by the pacifist program. I certainly was one of those who appreciated and greatly admired the many war heroes, but was horrified at the carnage and the stupidity of that war. I appeared before the tribunal for conscientious objectors. My position was that I would do anything to save life, but at that stage I could not in my conscience justify taking somebody else's life. I stated quite clearly that if I ever came to a different belief I would not hesitate to change. This position was accepted and accordingly I went into the Royal Army Medical Corps. My initial training was in Leeds in Yorkshire, followed by a considerable time in Aldershot. It was from there that we could see the fires from the bombing of London but we were not allowed to go to help because they were keeping us in reserve for the anticipated invasion of England. It must have been during this period that I began to realize that it was only force that would stop the mad man Hitler. I was then posted to #4 Field Ambulance Unit in the 2nd Division of the regular army stationed in the countryside of Yorkshire. I spent the night of my 21st birthday on guard duty two hours on duty with 4 hours off. At this time I had decided that I would seek a transfer into the RAF and with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot, and amazingly enough an order came out that certain ranks in the army could apply to transfer to the RAF for service as aircrew. This certainly simplified my application for transfer and on April 26, 1941, reported to Stratford on Avon for transfer into the air force. The next photo is of Frank as a young airman and the final shot is his photograph taken after he was captured and made a POW. It is evident that much of the joy has gone from his face - realizing that he will not see his young bride for a long, long time. Rest assured that it returned after the war! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086386040-Z8JL230KKV4ZSXZZ90EQ/Waywell12.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Frank Waywell (second from right in middle row) stands at attention in his brand new Royal Air Force uniform after transferring from the Royal Army Medical Corps at Stratford-on-Avon. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086423632-7NNIHG7EB0VM8OKT1BOQ/Waywell21.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Waywell's graduating class from Initial Training Wing. Frank is 6th from the right in the third row. Waywell remembers. "After 2 weeks orientation I was in the group sent to St. Andrews to form the first unit through the new Initial Training Wing at St. Andrews University. We were billeted in Roussacs Hotel overlooking the Old Course 18th Green. This was a 6 weeks ground course for pilots. Our CO was Squadron Leader McCauley, the Walker Cup player. He obtained temporary membership for a few of us in the local private tennis club. I only hacked my way around the Old Course once, as there was not too much spare time, and no way could I learn to play in only 6 weeks. The tennis turned out to be amazing, as I found myself playing with 2 Polish Army Officers. Their unit had escaped from Europe and was stationed nearby. It transpired that they had been members of the Polish International Tennis Team. I found a completely elevated game to play. Today, Frank is an avid golfer, playing several times a week at age 89. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086519996-H970E1V6HV4UTBI42IW9/Waywell13.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out There is no doubt why the young Waywell is smiling, for he has just married the breathtakingly beautiful Alice Hughes at the Withington Methodist Church, Withington, Manchester. The Minister (with his hand on Frank's shoulder) was Rev Norman Burns, a Navy Chaplain who had spent 3 years with the Grenfell Mission in Labrador. Small boat in the open season, dog sled in the winter. He was back in England and lived with Waywell's family for a few months. He couldn’t wait for his chaplaincy but joined up for coastal patrol on the East coast of England. A regular commission and his chaplaincy came at the same time months later. One of the best chaplains the navy ever had. At sea he took his turn on watch. Alice worked in an office in the centre of Manchester. She had to take her turn with a steel helmet, a bucket of water and a stirrup pump on the roof of the building during air raids to put out any fires. Behind with his Air Gunner badge is Alice’s brother Frank Hughes, who was originally a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He flew in Blenheims and after raids over Germany the squadron was transferred to Algiers. Tragically, the Squadron Leader of Hughes' squadron pressed on with a mission with a full squadron without meeting up with the fighter escort. Every plane went down. Frank finished up POW in Germany where he met a neighbour from home who had been there a couple of years. The day Alice and her mother had a letter from this friend to say Hughes was safe they had the message that Waywell was missing in action. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086601555-Z24FRX3GTF33C172M07U/Waywell19.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out HMS Nelson ploughing through medium seas. One gets a clear view of her truncated stern where once a heavy gun turret was planned. The shortened stern caused a vicious cork-screw wallowing in ocean swells. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086639393-D57SK8OJSU3J02DQ1MHM/Waywell2.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out HMS Nelson was a formidable-looking gun platform with a rare three turret forward deck. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086758881-JNBACS41UWG6U0U2XPJJ/Waywell20.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out HMS Argus was a British aircraft carrier from 1918 until 1944. She was the world's first example of what is now the standard pattern of aircraft carrier, with a "flush deck" enabling wheeled aircraft to take-off and land. She began the Second World War as a training carrier, but was pressed into ferrying service after the sinking of the carriers HMS Glorious, Courageous and Ark Royal early in the conflict. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086820523-T2A5KWWUM4AD81GL1OS5/Waywell14.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out The market place in Takoradi was a primitive but colourful experience for the young Waywell. Photo: Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630086858585-3XQLNMXOZ02CVKBAW46I/Waywell22.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Waywell and fellow RAF pilots in new shorts and pith helmets do a little haggling in the Takoradi market. Photo: Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087014121-PCDRA5JIWT7CUC9U7YIK/Waywell16.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out No.1 Middle East Training School, where Frank attended a conversion course to the American built P-40. The school was located in the Canal Zone between Cairo and Suez. Photo: Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087040987-IYNUWHRCWTNP4Z35NEJN/Waywell17.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Sergeant Pilot Frank Waywell in the North African Desert and the aircraft that he would eventually fight with - the P-40 Kittyhawk. Judging by the lack of Squadron codes, this was probably at the Middle East Training School (METS) the OTU for Kittyhawk training. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087145713-IPWHJTMDI8307DXV0UOD/Waywell7.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Three 250 Squadron Sergeant Pilots on Christmas Leave in 1942 in the city of Alexandria. L-R A friend named Gus (last name forgotten), Syd Spencer and Waywell. Three days to forget the war, but nothing could be better than getting back home to Alice. Gus was Missing in Action a few weeks later. Frank had to sort his possessions for return to his family. Now he feels horrible that he just cannot recall his surname. With only moderate education he was a great guy, probably the closest to Frank on the squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087074325-8IMZ1VNTZ0HQDHIIA4J4/Waywell10.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Waywell (left) and Spencer (second from Right) en route to Almaza transit camp. Photo via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087214033-OTGTXGIO54ZJYTE813UD/Waywell18.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Random photos from a flying career. Clockwise from top right. With one of Waywell's best friends F/S Syd Spencer, stationed at the 239 Wing Base in October 1942 – waiting for the Alamein burst out. Bottom Right: Prisoner of War in Capua, outside Naples in Italy. I occupied some time helping out with administration of Red Cross supplies and food parcels. I had planned to hide In the roof of the Red Cross hut after the invasion of Sicily, but on the way back to camp from the station we were turned back in a panic and sent up to Milan. There the Germans took us a day late by freight box cars to Germany. Bottom Left: Hurricane Pilot Graduates of 59 OUT. Now qualified to join a Squadron in action – with a grand total of 202 hours flying time! Top Left: Downtown Cairo. Probably dodging the Shoe Shine gangs of boys. Photos via Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087266822-TM00R957HOR8OH0OJETP/Waywell11.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Italian Prisoners of War near a 250 Squadron airfield - looking happy and relaxed to be out of the conflict and alive. Photo Frank Waywell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087313464-N5X8F4ZBTS3IWXX7LHO1/Waywell24.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out The same cannot be said for Frank and his fellow RAF pilots en route to a new posting - awaiting a train on a bleak North African desert siding. Photo Frank Waywell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087349965-4YTZX2C63S0KG0KM7KFQ/Waywell25.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Some of the "Staff" at Stalag Luft IVB. The photo comes from Flight Engineer James Hopkins - 77 Squadron Halifaxes - was incarcerated there from early September 1943 for the duration ( He is still in good health !) As they left the camp that had been deserted by the guards he was able to purloin a photo of the 'domestic staff'. Photo via Derek Hopkins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087398627-UFDIG8IPXJU7BNILRF6B/Waywell9.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Stalag Luft IVB. Here Frank would spend many months awaiting the end of the war. One thing, more than anything else, kept him going. Next photo! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087421767-WK3MA18NX1RPQ63EHAHK/Waywell23.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Waywell left the arms of his bride, the former Alice Hughes, just days after this photo was taken of her during their honeymoon. Thoughts of her kept him company during the years in the desert and in prison. Almost three years to the day of their wedding (May 9th, 1942) VE day (May 8th) was celebrated and Frank was on his way home to her. A lucky man indeed. His beloved wife Alice passed away in 1982. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087458444-H1N6ZOU3G0CZKCRAXJT8/Waywell3.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out For a man of 89 years, Frank Waywell still has his boyish looks. He jumped into the cockpit of the Vintage Wings Kittyhawk (which, other than the 260 Squadron codes, was identical to the last one he was in - on the Tunisian desert floor) and sat there for nearly 20 minutes. He even got to travel in it - about 100 feet as it was towed. The smile on his face put smiles on everyone else's. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087491469-JVPFECMJ8NDUU49WBKHA/Waywell6.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out Once a pilot, always a pilot. Waywell chats with Mike Potter at the Open House in September. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630087518975-VBI59LJMQ079W8ROPMJV/Waywell5.jpg The Stories - ‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Open House in September was a wonderful opportunity for some of our veterans. Frank Waywell (second from right in front) a P-40 Kittyhawk pilot, and Harry Hanna (Right) a Spitfire pilot made new friends from old warriors. Hanna flew with 602 City of Glasgow Squadron and was shot down on the coast of France in 1943. Frank Waywell flew with 250 Squadron in the Western Desert - on some of the same ops as Stocky Edwards (center) in 260 Squadron. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-gauntlet monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084332849-TOGD2XB0Y5SF9WXKM8JQ/TheGauntletTitleE.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084424214-IJJJBVGT8AMNLY7FPC5K/TheGauntlet2A.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out SS Nicoya, the cargo ship that successfully carried young Bill McRae and three compatriots across the Atlantic to a war that ultimately only McRae would survive. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084604034-7HOUI8IHTC8VDVDDUFWF/TheGauntlet3.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out One of the surface ships assigned to protect McRae's convoy was the armed merchant cruiser/passenger vessel RMS Aurania, a former Cunard liner. Later in the war, Aurania would become HMS Artifex, a Royal Navy repair ship. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084753456-X61ATZUK0NR512ZXHRZW/TheGauntlet4.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out HMS Artifex, formerly Aurania of the Cunard Line would end the war as a repair ship of the Royal Navy. Launched as the Cunard liner RMS Aurania she was requisitioned on the outbreak of war to serve as an Armed Merchant Cruiser. Damaged by a U-boat while sailing with an Atlantic convoy, she was purchased outright and converted to a floating workshop, spending the rest of her life as a support ship for the navy. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084802719-3MUPELAOBCCY8I7GK1UO/TheGauntlet5.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out Norman Monarch, the first ship torpedoed as McRae and Nicoya entered the kill zone mid-Atlantic on their way to Great Britain. She was a British Cargo Steamer built in 1937 and of 4,718 tons. She carried a cargo of 8,300 tons of wheat when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-94 and sunk about 200 miles south-southeast of Cape Farewell. Crew of 48 saved. Photo of Norman Monarch at Cape Town, South Africa via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084853598-YDQTOYAW2UVHMTVRZBQ2/TheGauntlet40.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out British Security, a tanker, was torpedoed whilst crossing in Convoy HX 126. She was a British Motor Tanker of 8,470 tons and built in 1937 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Govan, Yard No 974 for the British Tanker Company. Carrying a cargo of 11,200 tons of benzine and kerosene when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-556, she sunk south of Cape Farewell. The master, 48 crew members and four gunners were lost. Photo: National Museums of Northern Ireland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630084962209-KLES8OEXZXMP67G90A0X/TheGauntlet8.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out Darlington Court, 4,974 tons, carrying Hurricane fighters on her decks, was sunk by U-556 with the loss of 25 sailors - 12 survived. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085037123-5N8JV1RS6GZBOLR0OUEU/TheGauntlet9.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out Rothermere was carrying a cargo of 1,998 tons of steel and 4,750 tons of paper when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-98 and sunk 300 miles SE of Cape farewell. 22 crew lost from a total of 56. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085078698-ILDHSYOSH5W649Y8YIXS/TheGauntlet10.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out The tanker Elusa, was a British Motor Tanker of 6,235 tons built in 1936. She carried a full load of gasoline when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-93 and sunk. Photo via www.photoship.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085124091-LTY6SJPNRQKPSDMZ01E2/TheGauntlet7.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out U-556, seen here coming alongside Tirpitz, mauled Bill McRae's convoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085283808-MEG5GH0A71KUGJDOEK6X/TheGauntlet12.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out HMS Tribune, accompanied the convoy while crossing the Atlantic and quite possibly was the submarine which was spotted by Nicoya and Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630085388659-MMM7OF7835W3TMGEVKLU/TheGauntlet11.jpg The Stories - THE GAUNTLET - Make it stand out Bismarck, the Kriegsmarine's massive battleship posed a staggering threat to convoy HX-126 if she wasn't stopped. She would have been able to destroy every ship in the convoy if their paths met. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/those-canadian-fokkers monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630069990576-8GCQ12QREN80H2LS34H5/FokkersTitle.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630070549791-W0RNDH8DJX0UN228YEBC/Fokkers2.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Taken at Hounslow airfield, this CWRO photograph shows Albatros built Fokker D.VIIs 5924/18, 6769/18, 6810/18 and 6822/18 after the RAF presented them to Canada for its collection of war trophies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630070614001-OAV4DA1L2EC82OMMKH06/Fokkers3.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Another view of the same foursome of Fokkers, with a handful of CAF members. The nearest aircraft is identifiable as 6822/18. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630070645873-QC5QDUO27JDX2151GP1B/Fokkers4.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out The third and final photograph in the series depicting the four Canadian D.VIIs in Hounslow. The maple leaf cap badges of the ground crew clearly indicate that they were drawn from the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This image also confirms the identity of the third aircraft in the line-up – 6810/18 (number visible at far left) – as the well-known ‘Knowlton Fokker’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073228637-QN8AQ6Q18TUQZDZ9ZO6I/Fokkers5.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out This often mis-identified photograph is actually Andrew McKeever, the successful Bristol F2 B ace, climbing into Fokker D.VII (Alb) 5924/18 at Hounslow. He flew captured Fokkers extensively while they were in the custody of the CAF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073259388-8YMYN08DUV6435BY1MIF/Fokkers6.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Captain A.E. McKeever stands beside Fokker D.VII (OAW) 8493/18 while it was in the custody of No. 1 Squadron, Canadian Air Force at Upper Heyford. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073331033-ZZE389CABYZ2JJPXZAPB/Fokkers7.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Sopwith Snipe E8102, shortly after William Barker flew it in his VC-winning action of 27 October 1918. Taken in France, this image illustrates the minimal damage incurred after Barker overturned the machine on landing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073358006-O52PCJWIMVUT1HWBK4GT/Fokkers8.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Barker standing next to the fuselage of Snipe E8102 at the Canadian War Memorials Fund exhibition held in Burlington House, London during January and February of 1919. [Note he is still recovering from his injuries - Ed] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073393327-S9RJUC4BFTF2ATS5L23Q/Fokkers9.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out William Barker standing next to another Canadian trophy aircraft, Fokker D.VII F 7728/18, at Hounslow airfield on the 20th of April 1919. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630073494346-21KLDI1PIX664NEFBSP0/Fokkers10.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out This excellent aerial view of Hounslow Airfield was taken on the same day as figure 8 and shows Barker pulling into a loop as he ‘stunts’ in 7728/18 over the field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630074470586-K8CHRD1R9D5N9EZRNAP6/Fokkers11.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out This fascinating photograph was taken in late summer 1919 and shows Barker sitting in E8102 - literally surrounded with German aircraft in a hangar at Leaside Aerodrome in Toronto. Looking through the Snipe’s centre-section is Arthur Doughty, the Director of War Trophies and standing at left is F.G. Ericson, the entrepreneur and engineer who controlled Leaside immediately after the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630074519596-H35OGJ7HXIDA08CW0LTD/Fokkers12.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Fokker D.VII (OAW) 8609/18 sits outside a hangar in Leaside, assembled and ready to be flown by the pilots of Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Limited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075062184-9TCHDXFDOYHR6DEMK9XO/Fokkers13.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Taken at Armour Heights, another airfield built during the war in Toronto, William Barker is running up the Mercedes engine in the Fokker D.VII that he flew during the Toronto-New York Air Race of August 1919. The large ‘50’ painted on the underside of the wings and fuselage was his race number. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075108060-PHM4BHXJGO9ZNBHW0CZP/Fokkers20.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Arthur Doughty displayed a wide range of war trophies in the Hamilton Armouries for several weeks surrounding Armistice Day in 1919. This particularly clear photograph shows an unidentified Fokker D.VII (likely 8474/18), A.E.G. G.IV 574/18, Junkers J.1 [J4] 586/18 and Snipe E8102 – fortunately, the last three survive in Ottawa to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075184625-BLNBNZ4LDS3PYOWM9FGW/Fokkers15.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Unidentified workers sitting on the fuselage of Fokker D.VII (Alb) 5924/18, ‘RK’ while it is being scrapping along with at least five other D.VIIs at the orders of Lt Col Robert Leckie of the Canadian Air Board in late 1921. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075415140-W5FSRCE72V04NOP64N83/Fokkers25.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Author Soye comissioned a painting by Russell Smith depicting Barker (in blue uniform) and employees of the BBAL examining the Fokkers at Armour Heights in Toronto after the war. For more information on the painting and soon-to-be-released giclé prints visit Russell Smith's website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075555945-4JK80ZTLLDKA4PRM74D3/Fokkers17.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Fokker D.VII 6810/18, The Knowlton Fokker, now resides at the Brome County Historical Society's museum in Knowlton, Quebec. Photo J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075592850-VVR8HOHVOAEEX8E1WFFV/Fokkers19.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out The aforementioned Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (A.E.G.) G.IV which was displayed at the Hamilton Armouries in 1919 now resides at the Canada Aviation Museum - the only German twin-engine military aircraft of the First World War still in existence. It was shipped as a war trophy to Canada in 1919; its movements over the next 40 years (two 260 hp Mercedes engines were lost) were not well documented. The aircraft was stored in a warehouse operated by the Canadian War Museum in the 1950s. In 1968-69, it was restored by No. 6 Repair Depot, RCAF, with 160 hp Mercedes engines in place of the correct powerplants. Info via CAM, Photo Tom Podolec https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075629492-20WUPX5QBXOBWVUGCGIT/Fokkers21.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out The Junkers J.1 was the world's first practical all-metal aircraft to enter mass production. Of the 227 built, only one exists today - the same one exhibited by Arthur Doughty at the Hamilton Armouries in 1919 and now on display at the Canada Aviation Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075676941-RL4XIB4SFE6GEMTHSXKV/Fokkers22.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out C.R.W. Nevinson’s “War in the Air” (a painting produced for the CWMF, and displayed in Burlington house during early 1919), presently hangs directly above the fuselage of Snipe E8102 in the Canadian War Museum. Nevinson depicts an air battle involving Canadian air ace, William 'Billy' Bishop. Bishop's plane, with blue, white and red roundel and tail markings, fights at least three German aircraft. Bishop, the second-highest ranking Allied ace of the war, was credited with the destruction of 72 enemy aircraft. Image via Canadian War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075714400-5Y2YM6JOCRPFNEOJFFV9/Fokkers23.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out Arthur Doughty, Dominion Archivist and Director of War Trophies. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630075739616-BS3DDUWE3AHELUT7O4TN/Fokkers24.jpg The Stories - THOSE CANADIAN FOKKERS - Make it stand out An aerial view of Armour Heights airfield, mentioned in Soye's story. Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Limited operated from the airfield immediately after the war. After the collapse of the company in the summer of 1921, the airfield fell into disuse. It is now the site of the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-casual-wave-from-death monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067840928-8Q0HRJ3SMGLIQ2RDMLUQ/HolySmokeTitleE.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out Illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067995961-O0MW4D7HYHRJJPKLX1ZK/HolySmoke2.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out The author, Jim Shilliday (bottom left) poses with members of his flight at 410 Squadron RCAF in the mid 1950s. The photo was taken at RAF Coltishall during Exercise Dividend - the biggest "atomic" war exercise ever held. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630068038216-AN4DZNXRI8G2BMNUOJS0/HolySmoke4.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out Jim Shilliday in a tight formation on a photoship near Marville, France - given there were no two seat Sabres, the pilot of the photoship was in fact the photographer. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630068086237-OBA1XU5ZXO8EZ1T9C5QU/HolySmoke5.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out 410 Squadron Sabres in close formation. Tight formation flying was hard work at the best of times. But doing so at night in the clag was extremely difficult - especially if it was your first night flight in a Sabre. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630068290981-P75VPRN70YU1FAWIY2IT/HolySmoke7.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out The 300 foot high smoke stack of the Ketton cement factory was jokingly referred to as the "Luffenham Beacon". However, if it stood between you and a safe touchdown in the dead of night in zero visibility, it was no laughing matter. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630068317864-UQDQZT2RAEML7PLCGOHP/HolySmoke6.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out An aerial photo of RAF North Luffenham. The 300 foot chimney was a few miles off the end of the main runway - to the left of this photo. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630069257347-7LMAIDIHHR587V5RKK7Y/HolySmoke.jpg The Stories - A CASUAL WAVE FROM DEATH - Make it stand out The front gate at RAF North Luffenham with Canadian Sabres sweeping past on parade. Jim Shilliday is flying one of the aircraft. Photo via Jim Shilliday https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/inside-uplands monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629940886304-TRYJ0PFKUHJ8QHP8ZXIY/NumberTwoTitleE.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941028967-N2RCTJA5AFCODH31H011/NumberTwo2.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The vast open space of a maintenance hangar at No. 2 SFTS. With the doors open and surrounded by windows, there was a tremendous amount of natural light, allowing the DND photographer to capture details a couple of hundred feet away. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941078013-AJLCCDJPB206UYNEYZH3/NumberTwo3.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Mechanics are hard at work on the Pratt and Whitney engine of one of the Uplands Harvards. Given the number of mechanics surrounding the engine, it seems a bit staged, but perhaps there was a bit of consultation going on, or perhaps training. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941110642-SWJAM6A7SIY8A7ZDISZX/NumberTwo4.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Backing off from the same scene as above, we see the massive central steel beam of the hangar design - allowing vast clear spaces beneath. To the right stands the two story tool crib where tools were signed out. In the foreground we see Harvard 3197, which may have been from RCAF Station Rockcliffe across town. According to R.W.R. Walker's spectacular Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers database, 3197 suffered Category B damage on 16 September 1941 while with No. 14 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Aylmer, Ontario. It was also with Air Force Headquarters Practice flight at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941177932-GUOJT79AMZ8VFQ7SA1LG/NumberTwo5.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Mechanics line up to sign out tools from the central tool crib - a building within a building. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941233688-2S7DX50681B2T6JE5T9M/NumberTwo6.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out We're not sure but possibly this was a staged shot of a woman spraying paint on the engine cowling of Harvard. There is no indication of masking off or even cleaning of the cowling. The lack of face mask and even the proximity of paperwork seem slightly haphazard. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941277026-JCS7X9Y65ACP6P1EHBFV/NumberTwo7.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out A place for everything and everything in its place - the tool crib inside a hangar at No. 2 SFTS Uplands. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941318445-OB2AEV8S8PEXSZG8JL3U/NumberTwo8.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The vast space enclosed within a full-sized BCATP maintenance hangar is very impressive indeed. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941352514-WEZ9FK72192BMMEKNG8W/NumberTwo9.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out A little bit of mechanic humour - this thermometer indicates the level of aircraft serviceability- when the mechanics have reached 90% serviceable aircraft, there is a "Sports Parade" and only when aircraft serviceability exceeds 100% do they receive an "Afternoon Off". Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941403922-PATCB2GGAURPNLPSSGJ2/NumberTwo10.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The Aircraft Records Carousel - records keepers sat at three chairs within this circle of files and signed them out or perhaps entered the work done when it was reported by crew chiefs. In the background stands a chalkboard with updated information about the current status of each aircraft going through maintenance - a clear indication of the complexities of running a training facility with more than 100 aircraft on site. Reading the dates on the chalkboard with a magnifying glass puts this photo in March and April of 1941 - at the same time as the poet laureat of flight John Gillespie Magee. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941442203-DBC3GKTNWT9K02K1GEC3/NumberTwo11.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The Senior NCO's mess at Uplands around 1941-42. The men shown are either Sergeants, Flight Sergeants or Warrant Officers. It is probably the noon meal. David Russell's father is in the foreground on the left. He was a W/O at the time. Everyone in this photo looks happy including the waitresses who, judging by the ties underneath their smocks, are air force personnel. Photo via David Russell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941485779-AG9C2UZ8SZN5GQIAGUD9/NumberTwo12.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Not unlike an assembly line, there was great pressure to keep up - overhead next to the tool crib was a large clock face with very visible hands to let mechanics know when they should be finished their respective tasks. Photo via David Russelll https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941561371-COY2BRMWW1LYVZ53XIV4/NumberTwo24.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Instructor and student review the lessons of the day's flight on a sunny July day in 1941 out on the Uplands flightline. Photograph by Nicholas Morant, National Film Board of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629941515463-9W5WVKQCPU7SM65MYE92/NumberTwo13.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The flight line at No.2 SFTS Uplands - a busy place indeed. The Harvard at the very centre of this photo with the bright roundel and pilots on the wing is Harvard 3042, one of 12 different Harvards that were recorded in the log book of John Gillespie Magee, the poet who wrote High Flight. Another, 2866, was selected as the High Flight Harvard - Vintage Wings of Canada's flying tribute to No. 2 SFTS Uplands. Photo: DND, via Bryan Nelson, CAPA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629978071580-V0JR6HUL8ERC8W35LEED/NumberTwo27.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Another shot of the Uplands flight line in 1941 - this a screen capture from the movie Captains of the Clouds. Harvard 2588 continued on in the service of the RCAF until 1952, operating from No. 13 SFTS St Hubert, Quebec, No. 14 SFTS Portage LaPrairie and finally Gimli, Manitoba. Image via Warner Bros. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067153299-JZ1FRGYE2I2I3QWVY05H/NumberTwo21.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out A Harvard with an "erk" (maintainer) walking the wing rolls down the flightline at No. 2 SFTS Uplands. Photo from website dedicated to the memory of Flying Officer Pierre Risso Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067186687-5T7RHYGRHUY1MBMNOWAQ/NumberTwo14.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The ship that launched a thousand tributes. Harvard 2866, known to have been flown by John Gillespie Magee, thunders down the Ottawa River, where this past weekend (September 19th 2009) an identically marked one known as the High Flight Harvard flew for thousands at the Vintage Wings of Canada Open House. This exceptional side-on image allowed us to make accurate measurements for the remarking of our Harvard. Photo via Benno Goethals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067226634-UF1NRY5YDH6QV0TJMYUY/NumberTwo15.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Harvard 2697 overflies the maintenance hangars at No. 2 SFTS - the hangar featured in this article is most likely one of these. Possibly taken at a wings parade as the aircraft (Harvards, Hudsons and others) are parked in precise order around and between the hangars. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067260375-KC7Z4S85KZ8WG68OHNLZ/NumberTwo16.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Once the aircraft were repaired, a test flight was in order. Here, in September of 1941, Leading Aircraftman John Douglas of the Royal Australian Air Force is seen testing a Harvard 9,000 feet above Uplands. He was later killed in 1945 near Munster, Germany whilst attacking the Dortmund Ems Canal. Photo: The Australian War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067290586-6T4EYOB3PPN3SPD900AV/NumberTwo25.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Instructors and students of No. 2 SFTS practice formation flying over farm land near RCAF Station Uplands in July of 1941. Most of the photographs of No. 2 operations found across the net or sent to me by people like David Russell date from the spring and summer of 1941. Perhaps it was the attention brought to Uplands by the filming of Captains of the Clouds, shot on location at No. 2 SFTS in the late spring and summer of that year, that drew photographers from around the world. Photo by Nicholas Morant. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada, PA-140659 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067319187-W2EM069HYNGAD6OUPRYT/NumberTwo18.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out Not every training flight ended in a successful landing back at No. 2 SFTS. Every once in a while there would be a little road trip to retrieve lost property of the RCAF. Here David Russell's father Warrant Officer A.G. Russell (foreground) inspects damage and oversees the recovery of Harvard 2689 based at No.2 SFTS Uplands which made a forced landing in the snow at Navan, just east of Ottawa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067363122-MKQ0Z4IE8C9AP9RS6BJV/NumberTwo28.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out From belly landing to movie star. The same Harvard (2689) as seen ignominiously in the snow at Navan in the photo above, now flies a few months later in the Warner Bros. classic film Captains of the Clouds. According to Rudy Mauro (perhaps the most knowledgeable person on the filming of this movie) Harvard 2689 was sent to Noorduyn for refurbishing and arrived back at Uplands freshly painted just before the filming for the movie started. The fresh paint is probably the reason it was selected for some of the technicolour shots in the movie. Photo: Warner Bros https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067399935-4EO1T2GX96YO27K1DCVZ/NumberTwo20.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out The now-famous image of the filming of Warner Bros' Captains of the Clouds, starring James Cagney - filmed on location at Trenton, North Bay and No.2 Service Flying Training School Uplands in Ottawa. Here they are filming famous Canadian First World War ace Billy Bishop reviewing graduates of the school and giving them their wings. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067431558-I43322VV7HAPQHLEK4JL/NumberTwo26.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out An Uplands wings parade in 1943 shows us that this important day in a pilot's career were grand events, even when a Hollywood film crew was not in attendance. Photo: National Archives of Canada, PA-125993 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630067470858-LMW2LGK7HEG1FGN96BOZ/NumberTwo19.jpg The Stories - INSIDE UPLANDS - Make it stand out For his technical service during the filming of Captains of the Clouds, Flight Sergeant Andrew Russell received this director's chair with his name on the back and Captains of the Clouds on the front. It still resides with his son David. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/back-in-the-saddle monthly 0.5 2023-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927522574-IQ4GUGVLY2ZKWBJJ8AWD/LancVetTitle.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927591881-D1E9B4MYS7ILMFRB3Z2R/LancVet2.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Lancaster arcs past the crowd, the nostalgic rumble of its Merlin engines proudly announcing its arrival and drawing all heads skyward, to catch a glimpse of living history. Spontaneous applause swept over the crowd in recognition of this magnificent icon of Canada’s aviation history. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927666409-7NASXKTLAB6Q96PKX858/LancVet3.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Left: A young Bob MacDonell steps onto the wing of a Fleet Finch at No. 21 Elementary Flying Training School, Chatham, New Brunswick in 1941. Right: Wearing a similar winter flight suit, Bob strikes a determined pose. Photo: MacDonell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927727709-SX9N7QU9PU00JFVMMYPO/LancVet22.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out A Tall Boy on its way to a target in Europe. This powerful and single-purpose weapon was designed by Barnes Wallis, who was made famous by his other invention - the Bouncing Bomb of Dambusters fame. When dropped from a high altitude, the streamlined shape of the Tall Boy caused it to accelerate to a terminal velocity that exceeded the speed of sound. Like the V2 rocket, the sound of the Tall Boy’s fall was heard after the sound of the detonation. The bomb’s fins were given a slight twist so that it would spiral as it fell - the gyroscopic effect improved the aerodynamics and accuracy. The bomb casings of Tall Boy bombs were cast in one piece high tensile steel, so they could penetrate the ground or hardened targets before detonating. When dropped from 20,000 ft the “Tall Boy” made a crater 80 feet deep and 100 feet across and could go through 16 ft of concrete. Photo via Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927777821-KNYTPZFO97SQR3TXKB0Z/LancVet6.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Long after the war in the 1970s, Bob poses alongside a Tall Boy bomb. The bombs were extremely expensive to manufacture and so top secret that crews were instructed to return with their load if the target could not be acquired. Given the power of the Tall Boy, it's no wonder that the crews were not too happy to land while still carrying one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927848014-Q2NDY15URW46P5Y86HUI/LancVet21.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out The nose of Lonesome Lola? was adorned with a luscious blonde figure. Lanacaster L - Lola was a true combat veteran as indicated by her bombing mission marks. Inset, P/O Mike Chorny, MacDonell's navigator and a fellow Canadian, poses with Lonesome Lola?. Photos: MacDonell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927911502-DZ6FN24HDMWP6KFWG5J6/LancVet5.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Bob MacDonell, would not consider a story on his experiences during the war without mention and a photo of his whole crew. Bob is the only living survivor of the seven-man crew. Photos: MacDonell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629927966743-JP9T7WUO09PKQSFNU5AF/LancVet7.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out As his admiring family and friends looked on, Bob jubilantly climbs the ladder to the Lancaster’s crew hatch. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928006192-CHTUOYRX6UI878UP3SXT/LancVet8.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Bob shares Lancaster stories with CWHM's Craig Brookhouse, a member of the CWHM Lancaster crew. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928033585-QF3F4D2UY7P9372QESKS/LancVet9.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Back in the day, Bob's Bomb Aimer, P/O Tony Fricker would have the best seat in the house. Today, a more peaceful scene can be enjoyed by those lucky enough to get a ride. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928081017-HQR7R3JFPM8CPROGXGHB/LancVet10.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out During the war, this is the scene Bob MacDonell would have encountered on his way to a daylight bombing target. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928113247-3APMO9NZEMDAIXYPMFVW/LancVet11.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out The same view today shows the ramp during the Vintage Wings of Canada Open House. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928145521-NFH7GU243LJW2S35MP8T/LancVet12.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Hands go immediately to the yoke, eyes turn steely and at the same time wistful. Bob thinks of all those friends all those years ago. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928170007-D9WN67GTG9O5EWFG878Q/LancVet13.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Looking as though he could start the Lancaster up and get airborne. Photo: Charles Dumaresq https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928198944-8PPLWUR1VD7HGDPYM528/LancVet17.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Bob McDonell beams from the Lancaster’s cockpit. His family and friends cheered and applauded as this veteran pilot once again jauntily leaned out of the cockpit and gave wave - something he would have done countless times to groundcrew as he started each operation during the war. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928228458-X1BCNUNXS407BZI1VSUN/LancVet18.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out With the delight on his face evident, Bob peered from the open hatch at the end of his tour, as the throng of family, friends and admirers applauded, cheered and furiously snapped photos. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928288310-PNFV3O1CPI68QMBDC1EA/LancVet15.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Nine veteran Lancaster crewmen visited the Lancaster during the September Open House. Bob MacDoonell stands fourth from right. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928323951-2C85FJVXW6UOGHEHG70N/LancVet16.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Bob and his family pose for Kostecka's camera with a fellow Lanc pilot and the crew of the CWHM Lancaster. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629928378601-CWQUCELOO8Z2PV608D3F/LancVet20.jpg The Stories - BACK IN THE SADDLE - Make it stand out Rekindling old memories and making new ones… Bob MacDonell and his wife Norma at the RCAF Officers’ Mess. Once again they are guests at a Squadron party! Photo: Rob Kostecka https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/achtung-sabrejetz monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926143779-DJEE9C1T62AYMPD6E0E0/AchtungTitleE.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926312461-OMCC60RBCB5ZZZUMD8N7/Achtung2.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out Members of the Canadian Advisory Group at WS 10 Oldenburg, March 1961, Paul Hayes, the author is fifth ROm the left. Photo via Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926372582-2LVXZYDM77NSK0KP2DVX/Achtung3.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out RCAF 422 (Fighter) Squadron formation at 4 (Fighter) Wing, Baden, The author, Paul Hayes, is flying No.2 . Photo via Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926414035-N18Z3LG0O2QEB2X4TFA2/Achtung4.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out Refurbished ex-RCAF Sabre 5 ready for the author to ferry to WS 10, late in 1957. Photo by Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926453583-YJ78I8279HVJ73O46DB2/Achtung5.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out Paul Hayes (bottom right) poses in the snow with pilots of JG 73 during operational flying training at RCAF 434 (Fighter) Squadron, Zweibrucken. Photo via Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926504157-6GWUNKWDT3015H5K6PK7/Achtung6.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out JG 73 Sabre 6 with special identification drop tanks. Photo via Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926560026-7YX8SOCYXGRPK9QUMCAQ/Achtung7.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out JG 73 Sabre 6s in the pastoral countryside at Pfersfeld. Photo via Paul Hayes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629926603762-2LMLRQ7H4KWVAXNF6CDY/Achtung8.jpg The Stories - ACHTUNG SABREJETZ! - Make it stand out JG 73 Sabre 6s on NATO patrol. Photo via Paul Hayes https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/night-scramble monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925378032-ZFMXBJ8LTG676PMAHPJQ/NightScrambleTitle.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925477194-FM1ER4XR6HTSZOBLZO4Y/NightScramble5.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out 164 Squadron Spitfire at Skeabrae in 1942. The Spitfire was pleasure to fly, even in the remote and cold Orkneys, but night flying was another matter. Photo courtesy Aviation Research Group Orkney Shetland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925510472-5LXVIT7QQ1ZABTAM0IE7/NightScramble2.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out Members of Bill McRae's A Flight of 132 Squadron RAF at Skeabrae. A young Bill McRae stands in back, second from right. Photo via Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925587454-5CNR31X8Q7NGP7JJYCZL/NightScramble3.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out "It was black as ink, so I was on instruments as soon as I selected wheels up, and I was in cloud at about 300 feet." Photo illustration Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925694785-OB3P2VZMVMUQ8OSL1SBV/NightScramble4.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925741149-JX9LDPCO7YTBAR3C1RF0/NightScramble6.jpg The Stories - NIGHT SCRAMBLE - Make it stand out Spitfire dispersal pens at Skeabrae are still visible nearly 70 years later. Perhaps it was from one of these that Bill's Spitfire was towed prior to his night flight. Photo by John Thain, Aviation Research Group Orkney Shetland https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/finding-magee monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629923805976-29GKQSQNIWL15PCVYWM5/MageeTitle.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Photo Vince Chien https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629923887951-5VUJ02ACBBW895DHHHDU/Magee15.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out An inspiration; Oscar Boesch performed a graceful display of sailplane aerobatics – accompanied by a reading of John Gillespie Magee’s High Flight. Boesch’s airshow career spanned three decades; he performed more than 600 airshows and was the subject of an IMAX film: Silent Sky. Photo courtesy Oscar Boesch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629923998842-ETVMPV9DM52UABNLAT09/Magee24.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out With elegance and precision, the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team continues to astound crowds around North America. Team pilots Pete Spence, Kent Beckham and Dave Hewitt also fly with Vintage Wings. Pete and Kent are checked out on the Spitfire while Dave flies the Hurricane. Photo Vince Chien https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924088459-CYTSCP29CT9LZ10U4A9B/Magee3.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Mk 1 Harvard of the Central Flying School undergoing line maintenance at Trenton. Visible in the background is Lockheed 10, No. 1526, one of the Trans Canada Airlines aircraft that was pressed into RCAF service during 1939. Photo via Bryan Nelson, Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924143768-8PMPQB97QFAUDVK6AO1X/Magee2.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out These two Mk 1 Harvards were taken on strength by the RCAF in 1939 and served with the Central Flying School in Trenton. As the war progressed and more modern Mk 2 Harvards became available, the obsolete Mk 1 Harvards were relegated for use as instructional airframes. Photo via Bryan Nelson, Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924194418-CNOA8LWCLEWW9L37I3BP/Magee19.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out A blessing in disguise? Last June, the Harvard was on display at the Canadian Forces Day and Air Show at CFB Borden. Somehow, a large radio-controlled model of the CF-105 Avro Arrow ended up heading towards the crowd and crashed into the tail of the Harvard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924229205-HQORMNISYY9ITDWFRUQ2/Magee20.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Splash one Arrow. The Harvard effectively shielded the crowd – many of whom could have been injured. The damage to the aircraft prompted its refurbishment and also provided an opportunity for new markings to be applied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924286029-PCG7LHX75J3J36MMN24R/Magee4.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Refuelling on a snowy ramp. Several features distinguish this Harvard as a Mk 1: the winter “nose muffs”, the short exhaust stack and the short rudder. Photo via Bryan Nelson, Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924321260-Z2MLPS210A7P8NYF4LN5/Magee6.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out A wartime line up of Mk 2 Harvards at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands in Ottawa. The Harvard at centre left with the two mechanics standing on the left wing is serial No. 3042, another of the 12 Harvards flown by John Magee. Photo via Bryan Nelson, Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924427087-51B7SB1SZM3WPJTUQPYD/Magee8.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out The summer Wings Parade at No, 2 SFTS Uplands in Ottawa. In the foreground is a film crew from Warner Bros. shooting the parade for the movie Captains of the Clouds. Magee wrote to his parents about this movie: “This I think is a film made at Uplands in which I took part. (formation, etc.)” In the lineup of Harvards in the background we found two with Buzz Numbers 42 and 44, so perhaps 43 is also in there in the back rows. One of two fabulous photographs provided to us by Rudy Mauro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924564775-FP1OPPVGR81DYRTRP3KI/Magee16.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out High Flight is one of the most beautiful and enduring poems ever written about flying. This is the original version, written on the back of a letter that Magee sent to his parents. Shortly after his death, Magee’s parents gave the letter to the Library of Congress, where it remains. Photo via Ray Hass https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924611531-Q9JVDOR2XRC75LT81F6E/Magee12.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out The flight that inspired the poem… A page from Magee's log book with an entry that coincides with Magee's note to his parents. In the letter to his parents, Magee wrote: “I am enclosing a verse that I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet and was finished soon after I landed. I thought that it might interest you.” His logbook entry on August 18, 1941, is the official record. Logbook pages via Ray Haas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924668269-060O3104ACNFJN62ZWL4/Magee11.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out John Magee’s logbook chronicles his complete flight history – from elementary training on Fleet Finches in St. Catharines right though to flying Spitfires operationally with 412 Squadron. Here we can see that Magee flew Harvard serial number 2866 on three occasions: May 23, 1941 (2 flights) and May 24, 1941 (1 flight). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924727304-CNWD2EV4I4A79RSF9VJZ/Magee5.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out A wartime image of a No. 2 SFTS Harvard: aircraft serial number 2866 flying over the Ottawa Valley. This exceptional side-on image allowed us to make accurate measurements for the remarking of our Harvard. Photo via Benno Goethals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924761560-NT8895Z94TD012C0AZZR/Magee13.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Harvard aircraft manager Rob Kostecka (R) and Dave O'Malley measure up the High Flight Harvard for her new clothes. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924843439-8UC65KSI3RQ8FGAEHUWE/Magee14.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Referring to a photo of a Wings Parade at No. 2 SFTS in the summer of 1941 where Magee was trained, O'Malley and Kostecka discuss the finer points of roundel placement and type. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924874577-WA1J59DIT8D5L5D7QQ1C/Magee22.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out A week later, after the markings are created and output onto a decal material known as ControlTac, Mike Potter and O'Malley attempt the application of the first decals. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924910095-FDO2U0UCV5MHLQ8QZJKX/Magee23.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Part of the application team, Blair Olson (L) and Rodney Groulx double team an underwing A-Type roundel. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629924940161-V3DP5LVS014QBHOPA89E/Magee10.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out The end of a wonderful day’s flying… The High Flight Harvard sits quietly in the hangar – with her new markings in place. As pilots clean off bug-strikes and wipe off oil, the end of a day’s flying is often a time of quiet reflection. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925000617-L3DOSPUPASEG53UUFZ14/Magee18.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out After soloing in the High Flight Harvard, Rob Kostecka poses with the newly marked beauty. Photo by John Aitken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925037415-5HFQLSZM76V54CR9XH2T/Magee17.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out A wonderful privilege; Rob Kostecka sits where John Magee and thousands of BCATP pilots sat - in the cockpit of a Harvard. Photo by John Aitken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629925075655-J9EP1271CBAUPT3SAAWW/Magee21.jpg The Stories - FINDING MAGEE — The Story Behind the High Flight Harvard - Make it stand out Bringing Magee’s words to life… Rob Erdos performs a flawless aileron roll in the High Flight Harvard over the Vintage Wings of Canada facility at the Gatineau Airport. A spectacular series of images captured by Vintage Wings volunteer, Richard Lawrence https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/tadji monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629920755044-J9LYJ77MIL1S4FKROVSA/TadjiTitle.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out 78 Squadron pilots involved in the last dogfight in the South West Pacific (June 3rd, 1944) pose after their success - shooting down 10 enemy aircraft near Biak for the loss of just one - a pilot flying the author's personal Kittyhawk A29-401. Second from right in the front row is Jim Harvey, whose Kittyhawk Come in Suckers! had been destroyed just a month before. Arch Simpson was down south on leave and missed out on the turkey shoot. The group shot was taken at Hollandia up the coast from Tadji. In the background of this composite shot is the muddy, bomb cratered landing strip at Tadji with an American "Doug" or Gooney Bird set to take off - in June of 1944. Photos via Arch Simpson (also available at the Australian War Memorial) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629920647355-XLTVSRDYUMEV2YF7FYWO/Tadji21.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out Blind faith indeed!. RAAF ground forces who went in with American storm troops began work on the airstrip at Tadji only a few hours after its capture. Here they use heavy equipment to level the field on the day of 78 Squadron's arrival - April 25th. More than likely, the Kittyhawks of 78 Squadron were on their way to Tadji when this photo was taken. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629920900291-DHOFP9RM8CK92M7M5XWC/Tadji2.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Jim Harvey (in cockpit) poses with his beloved P-40 Kittyhawk Come in Suckers! (A29-414 HU-Z) along with maintainers of 78 Squadron. Harvey would fly "Come in Suckers" on 34 ops including its final mission to Tadji. Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629920989722-0TYGSP69TFMG7D4E226Q/Tadji12.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out A close up of the artwork on the fuselage of P-40N A29-414 Come in Suckers! features a swan-diving, bare-breasted angel. James Denman Harvey flew for the Royal Australian Air Force, 78 Squadron and held the rank of Flight Sergeant during his time flying A29-414. The first flight he logged in A29-414 was on the 3rd August 1943 at Richmond, NSW and the first combat flight occurred on the 6th December 1943 from Kiriwina Strip, Kiriwina Island. A29-414 logged 35 flights before crashing at Tadji Strip, New Guinea on the 25th April 1944. James Harvey continued flying with 78 SQN and was discharged on the 22nd August 1945 with the rank of Warrant Officer. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921024661-XCIM14E7TRU39SZBM0XY/Tadji13.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out One of the 78 Squadron maintainers posing with Come in Suckers!. Appears to be the same maintainer standing on the wing in the photo of Jim Harvey and Come in Suckers! above. Photo: Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921075275-DLRL8VWI0JEGONJIQLGY/Tadji4.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out 78 Squadron pilots on a jungle airstrip on Kiriwina Island (the largest island of the Trobriand Island Group, 25 miles long and 6 miles wide. Located 360 miles south of Rabaul) - author Arch Simpson stands at right. Photo was taken before moving on to mainland PNG. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921219944-B3MB8JFJQWWP037BWXTB/Tadji3.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out At one of the dispersal bays at Hollandia airfield up the coast from Tadji, Arch Simpson (in cockpit) gets ready checking start-up settings as ground crew (an airframe specialist and engine specialist) prepare to wind the inertial starter crank (just forward of the wing fillet) on his own Kittyhawk - A29-401 HU-R. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921381551-HNFJPY1KSOPOU7M3P16Z/Tadji14.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out The sad end to the battle veteran Come in Suckers!. Dripping with fire fighting foam and surrounded by rescuers on April 25th, 1944, the Kittyhawk had just been be bulldozed out of the way (with Jim still inside it!) of pilots desperate to land. The entry in Harvey's logbook for that day states "Aircraft crashed and overturned after landing short of strip - pilot OK" Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921458579-HK6GN678BUD67MJXADCP/Tadji6.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out P-38 Lightnings of the USAAF land to inspect the runway days after the boys from 78 Squadron landed - here with VIP commanders to inspect the work of the airfield construction units - still at work widening and lengthening. Photo: via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921509033-6TMS37RTT18YCU4ZB98S/Tadji7.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out One of 78 Squadron's Kittyhawks (HU-B, A29-477) is salvaged for parts at Hollandia. The pilot did not get out of the way in time as the next aircraft landed. This accident illustrates two things... the limited view forward in a tail dragger fighter at touchdown and the rapid pace of landing a squadron of fighters low on gas. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921561199-13U3RTXLAEHIK74LDYYP/Tadji5.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out The author notes about this photo taken at Nadzab prior to moving on to Tadji: "I am far left wearing (as most of us) my 'Mae West', a floatation device. I also have an 18 inch jungle knife strapped to my right leg. We all wore 38 ammunition belts with concentrated food and surgical packs attached. Happy (in front) has a lanyard to his holstered 38 pistol. Bob and Geo also have holstered 38s on their hips I wore my 38 under my left armpit, and was as quick to the draw as any! not being keen on it on the left hip where it hung down amongst the flap and undercart gear in the cockpit. Also under the arm we hold helmet headset and throat mikes. Other bits of survival gear we put where we could." Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921610745-WEGWLEJZAXL79YST06LJ/Tadji8.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out Taken from a low flying Beaufighter reconnaissance aircraft, this view of Hollandia airstrip west of Tadji shows just how muddy, rut covered and cluttered these jungle strips could get. When Arch Simpson and the boys from 78 Squadron arrived, the field was strewn with more than 300 wrecked Japanese aircraft. The 78 Squadron air park was in the upper right of this photo. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921674836-O8K1KOGU6WT9Z0HX9CQY/Tadji9.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out The 78 Squadron parking area at Hollandia showing Japanese aircraft wrecks in the foreground. Arch Simpson's kite, HU-R can be seen at the head of the line up. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921797671-9OJQQX30PD5QYSHQ2EXN/Tadji10.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out After Tadji, the Boys for 78 Squadron moved on to Hollandia. The two photos previous show us what it looked like at time of capture, while this shot taken not that much later shows new taxi ways (left) and an airfield crowded with USAAF "Dougs" bringing in supplies. With only a single strip, operational squadrons were operating from both ends, landing and taking off in both directions. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921835488-XQUML9YKT8QP4DAXCPNH/Tadji11.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out A map including Northern Australia shows it proximity to Papua New Guinea. The battles along the Kokoda Trail (Port Moresby to Buna over the Owen Stanley Range) and the defeat of the Japanese on Papua New Guinea loom large in the military history of the Australia. The 78 Squadron airfields of Nadzab, Tadji and Hollandia line the coast of the heavily jungled, mountainous and dangerous PNG. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921991988-LOTZM3RVZQHONIGGVEVA/Tadji15.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out After crashing at Tadji, Come in Suckers! was pushed ignominiously to the side of the airstrip and eventually to the wreck dump - but not before its RAAF crew chief clipped the 414 serial numbers from A-29-414's skin. This souvenir was handed to Jim Harvey on the event of the squadron's 50th anniversary in 1993. Jim died in 1998 and his family has kept this piece of history. When it was discovered that his beloved Come in Suckers! would begin a second life, the small chunk of aluminium skin panel (in original condition) was mated to a corroded skin panel from the wreck after it was brought to Ardmore, New Zealand near Auckland - 65 years to the day that Come in Suckers! crashed. Photo via Pioneer Aero and Paul McSweeny https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922024425-6UKEUYU4QGOF5QGJTSV1/Tadji16.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out Over the last two and a half years A29-414 (background) has been the subject of a painstaking restoration by Pioneer Aero Restorations and on the 23rd of April 2009 with Frank Parker at the controls it took to the air at Ardmore Airfield for its first flight in almost 65 years. Unfortunately James Harvey passed away in 1998 but on April 25th, 65 years from the day of his accident, his wife Gladys, son Robert and grandchildren Nathan and Travis are in New Zealand to see his aircraft fly. Gladys also bought with her the small piece that was cut from the wreckage and 65 years to the day these pieces are reunited. This restoration of a US-built, Australian-flown aircraft by a small specialist New Zealand company honours all who served and the profile of these flying aircraft will ensure that those who gave the ultimate sacrifice are not forgotten thus allowing the ANZAC tradition to live on. This aircraft is owned now by Vintage Wings of Canada and is finished to represent an aircraft flown by Canadian Ace James "Stocky" Edwards - an aircraft with a dual identity that honours all Commonwealth servicemen. Photo and text via Paul McSween https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922165120-AF9G6PQNIY21LA4N3145/Tadji17.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out The author, Flight Sergeant Arch Simpson, takes shade from the sun at a local air show - at Wangarratta Airport in the Australian state of Victoria. After the war, Arch states "I was "on the land"..., raising beef and fat lambs, but got a bit slow chasing around after sheep and cattle, so now I am a "a gentleman of leisure". We have a son and three daughters and now seven grandchildren; three at university, and four at high schools." Photo Simpson family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922567031-ZSOTPXKSP518BGM9YLRJ/Tadji28.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out And now, 65 years after Come in Suckers! came to rest on her back in the mud and swelter of a jungle airstrip on the other side of the world, the Kittyhawk that once was flown by Jim Harvey and Arch Simpson, will fly again in the skies of Canada and the United States. She will wear Canadian markings to honour our heroes, but she will also fly for the heroes of the Royal Australian Air Force every time she goes aloft. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922737321-83982LD5W5UQ86D7W859/Tadji19.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out A 78 Squadron Kittyhawk shares the ramp at Hollandia with the hulk of a Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar (Hyabusa to the Japanese) fighter. The RAAF moved in where the Japanese moved out. Maintenance has begun immediately on the Kittyhawk even before the RAAF could plow the Japanese aircraft out of the way. Today, a wreck such as the Oscar would be worth its weight in gold, but in 1944 is was simply a great source of Perspex (clearly already raided in this shot) and ringed metal for trench art jewelry known by the RAAF as 'The Foreigner Trade". Photo Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922773795-P5R52VILZNH089M3RA7E/Tadji26.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out An example of the "Foreigner Trade" - A ring of gilded brass topped with a "stone" made from the plastic handle of a toothbrush - made by Leading Aircraftman Raymond Rooke for his sister Maria. Rooke was stationed at Tadji from November 1944 until the end of hostilities. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922908148-QAONG2N7V2I3Y3DN9G19/Tadji20.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out Another fine example of the "Foreigner Trade" held in the collection of the Australian War Memorial - A Heart shaped piece of Perspex with a kangaroo and the word 'AUSTRALIA' embedded in it. These have been cut from an Australian half penny. On either side of the word 'AUSTRALIA' is a red and a blue diamante. There is a hole in the top of the heart, which would have held a hook to hang it on a chain. Souvenir made by 71331 Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Raymond Rooke for his sister Maria. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629923070922-O3R60CRELTPX9IRC42Q4/Tadji18.jpg The Stories - TADJI — and the Boys Down Under - Make it stand out One of Arch Simpson's granddaughters throws a comforting arm over his shoulder as he gets up close to a P-40 Kittyhawk at Wangarratta. Arch lost mates and shared profound life experiences during his time fighting the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. Photo: Arch Simpson Family Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/old-gold monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918551619-2D0EUUAVVHC8GG9P4DFC/OldGoldTitle3.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918674698-8BQYOLS8YYVF7GJQSJ1P/OldGold6.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out RCAF riggers George Carpenter and Bob Fisher work to cover one of the Avro 504K’s four wings in a hangar at Trenton in the summer of 1966. Photo via Bill Ewing, a.k.a. Westwing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918755379-0LLN38F3632HJK2US7Y5/OldGold7.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out Whitey Whiteway and Danny Jones string bracing wire on the 504K’s large fuselage structure. Note the nose section of one of the RCAF’s de Havilland Comets in the background. When asked by the Editor about whether the aircraft were original airframes or replicas, the Author replied: “As I remember from what Harry Tate said at the time (and let us not forget that was 43 years ago), the original plan was to rebuild both purchased airframes. However, on close examination, it was determined that both were not in even reasonable shape, so after much searching by Harry through many stacks of aircraft-grade lumber, enough was found and two new airframes were built. G-CYCK (“Old Gold Two”—my aircraft) was assembled before the drawings were received from Avro of England and so the horizontal stabilizer vernier block was installed incorrectly 1966(directly copied from the George Appleby airframe).” Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918796567-ABVLGYG6160KH57RM2UW/OldGold10.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out WO2 Harry Tate performs the “Armstrong Start” on the newly completed Avro 504K (sans final paint scheme) prior to its first test flight at Trenton in the fall of 1966. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918856724-CLI6540B2EV8ENY78LPB/OldGold16.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out After its first test flight, members of the Avro 504K build and test team pose with their superb accomplishment on the grass field at Trenton—a fully restored vintage aircraft in less than a year. In white are maintenance team: WO2 Harry Tate, Cpl Bill Ewing, Cpl Dave Merrett, FlSgt “Hub” Hubley, Cpl Denny Brooks, Cpl Frank Doherty, Cpl Larry Legault, Cpl “Fitz” Fitzgerald. In dark flying jackets are F/L George Greff and F/L Gord Brown. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918913148-WQHN48LCW645GI1DQ11E/OldGold9.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The Avro 504K is pushed out into the depths of a Manitoba winter prior to its first flight at Portage La Prairie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918991425-NWI4LSRGCUQK2HFC0BHB/OldGold13.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The second Avro 504k was a replica of one of those that were given to Canada by Great Britain after the First World War in what was known as the “Imperial Gift”* The original G-CYEI started life in the Canadian Air Force as an Avro 504K on 27 October 1921 when its certificate of registration was issued, after having been gifted to Canada in 1919 along with 113 other assorted Aircraft by Great Britain. It continued service as a standard trainer with the RCAF when that organization was formed on 1 April 1924 and was converted to a 504N on 29 June 1927 by exchanging its Clerget power plant for an Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV, replacing its undercarriage, and several other minor modifications. It was re-serialled to “4” on 1 January 1928, and struck off strength on 15 August 1928. Photo and text: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919049944-D733HMYLU6SZ542ZUG1Q/OldGold15.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out O.B. Philp and the Golden Centennaires team (the progenitors of the Snowbirds), flying the then new Canadair CT-114 Tutor, were the star attraction across Canada in 1967. But the entire team, including the two Avro 504Ks, one CF-101 Voodoo (flown by F/L Jack Miller, with nav F/L Rod McGimpsey), and one CF-104 Starfighter (flown by F/L Rene Serrao) and their crews were also part of the Golden Centennaires. The stylized maple leaf worn on their fuselages and patches was the iconic logo/symbol for the Centennial year and became the symbol for a newly awakened and energetic Canada. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919082106-20FR1UUXTE2QD2QPO32Q/Old+Gold18.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The Holy Grail for Canadian military patch collectors—the Snoopy Old Gold patch. This is the original design dreamed up and drawn by Bill Ewing, [Renaissance Man – Ed] in February of ’67. Ewing notes: “Over the years in the Air Force, I came up with several crest or cartoon designs. I had the whole thing coloured and ready for production when I submitted it to O.B. Philp for approval. He okayed it and we had a very limited run of the crest made. Only O.B. and the guys on the two Avros got them. And, no, Charles Schultz never gave his approval as I didn’t know about copyright stuff back in those days”. The original sketch and colour concept presented to O.B. Philp plus the final stitched crest are shown. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919176180-V3H7AP634H1OG0F8YLBA/OldGold12.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The long fuselage and large wing area of G-CYEI are evident in this image from Centennial Year. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919204945-WV19K3TMI38OBM3QITVF/OldGold3.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out Bill Ewing’s Avro 504K G-CYCK being held in place (it was breezy at the time) by Cpl Frank Doherty, in front of the original CAF hangars at RCAF Station Camp Borden … an original aircraft in front of the original hangar. At one point, the wind won out over Frank and the one wing lifted, crushing the opposite underwing bow. Luckily the team carried spares. Photo: Via William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919279278-V4HAT0VTIPREA0RRF2VI/OldGold4.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out Air Force officers and men survey the damage of G-CYCK after her nose-over at Rockcliffe. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919352865-J7MDLIPC005750TW6DBQ/OldGold17.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out This shot by the author is the first air-to-air photo taken of Gord Brown with G-CYCK—taken over Vancouver Island (Patricia Bay) in early spring of 1967. The photo was shot from Joe Holroyd’s Luscombe Silveraire, CF-SHE. Note the large shiny black weight blocks at the skid end of the forward vee struts. To attain stable flight, 30 lbs. of lead were added … a 15 lb. block on each side of the undercarriage skid at the forward undercarriage strut attachment point. This wasn’t the primary cause of the Rockcliffe crash, but a contributing factor to the amount of damage suffered. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919712160-83Y3HYYF9LCZQ8MK86KN/OldGold5.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out At Abbotsford, British Columbia, the two Avros enjoy a rare moment together. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919744617-8HQJY7OMN83X2G4X87DV/OldGold2.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The extremely narrow undercart and broad wings of the 504K are evident in this shot of one taking off at Abbotsford. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919809571-G6C3XVY9FHF52PNPB1P4/OldGold11.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The 504K taxies on grass at what appears to be RCAF Station Rockcliffe—possibly being demonstrated at the National Aeronautical Collection (now the Canada Aviation Museum) where it was donated in 1968. Avro G-CYCK was built in England in 1918, used by the fledgling Canadian Air Force and, after passing through the hands of several owners, was purchased and restored by the RCAF, which subsequently flew it in Centennial celebrations during 1966–67. Acquired by the museum in 1968, it has been kept in flying condition and was flown by the museum on special occasions. It is one of several aircraft in the collection powered by rotary engines. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919837529-JJN16P0FD15CZE8XGHLQ/OldGold14.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The second Avro 504K, G-CYEI now resides at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio—repainted in French markings of the First World War. Here is the USAF’s description on their website: “Using original parts, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Aircraft Maintenance & Development Unit built the aircraft on display in 1966–1967 with a 110-hp Le Rhone J rotary engine. It arrived at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in May 2003, and it is painted to represent one of the 52 Avro 504K aerobatic trainers used at the AEF No. 3 Instruction Center, Issoudun, France, in 1918.” Photo: Jim Kershner with thanks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629919884820-BISCBV7A92DDVKK2Z8GW/OldGold8.jpg The Stories - OLD GOLD - Make it stand out The author, Bill Ewing (Left) and Cpl Frank Doherty (my fellow Rigger) pose for DND’s magazine the Sentinel at Comox on 20 April 1967. Doherty is holding the unofficial Log which Ewing kept up through the “Summer of the Avros”. Shortly thereafter, the Avro returned to Trenton for her official NIVO (Night Invisible Varnish Orfordness—Orfordness being a secret coastal RAF station) green paint scheme. Photo: William Ewing https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-hero-behind-the-spitfire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629910720683-34VYCWEROQHKFGZ7RCX6/RoselandTitle.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917333334-E0CN8B1I9OBUHJQOV1NZ/Roseland11.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Pilots of newly formed 442 Squadron in 1944. Arnold Rosey Roseland is at the extreme right. Standing in the middle (with the visible striped T-Shirt) is S/L Blair Dalzell “Dal” Russel. The exact time and location of this photograph is not established, but Russel was commanding this squadron between 1 May to 15 July 1944, which gives a hint about the time frame. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917506318-0LUJ4BKIFS7ZVQ8HP21H/Roseland2.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out A young Leading Aircraftman Arnold Roseland at the time of his training. Arnold enlisted in 1940 and like many before and after him started his RCAF career at No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto. From here he was sent to No. 11 EFTS (Fleet Finches) at Cap de la Madeleine, Québec and then to Ottawa to do his service flying training (Harvards and Yales) at No. 2 SFTS Uplands. Photo: Roseland Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917573941-VMBX2ST7UXD9VB6BBH6M/Roseland3.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out It becomes easy to see that Arnold’s flight training has turned him into a confident young man. He wears the wings of a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, the single stripe of a recently commissioned Pilot Officer and the confident and somewhat bemused smile of a man who knows what he is about. After earning his wings, Arnold was ordered to Central Flying School at RCAF Trenton on Lake Ontario. Here he would become a generalist pilot, taking instruction on many different types—enabling him to take a multitude of aircraft types into the air (Anson, Battle, Bolingbroke, Fawn, Cornell, Crane, Finch, Harvard, Hudson, Hurricane, Oxford, Ventura, Lockheed 10)—a skill needed for station pilots at Navigation and Bombing and Gunnery schools. After Trenton he was posted to the Bombing and Gunnery School in MacDonald, Manitoba. Photo: Roseland Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917642765-T2BXIDFY33N1NHN5FZ8X/Roseland4.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out A proud Arnold stands protectively over his beautiful bride Audrey. Photo: Roseland Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917683412-DZSCPPNEAVXOIZCSEO97/Roseland9.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out After he received his wings, Arnold Roseland did a stint as a station pilot at No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School in MacDonald, Manitoba and then was transferred to 14 Squadron. This P-40 Kittyhawk-equipped fighter squadron was based back in Ottawa at RCAF Station Rockcliffe just on the other side of the river from Vintage Wings of Canada's present site in Gatineau. Here, Roseland (middle) flies with two others for their Christmas card photograph. In the background are the mountains of the British Columbia Coastal Range. This unit was formed at Rockcliffe, Ontario, on 2 January 1942. It was commanded by Squadron Leader B.D. Russell, DFC, until November 1942, when Squadron Leader B.R. Walker, DFC, took over. From March 1942 until February 1943 it was based at Sea Island (Vancouver) but, from 3 March to 15 September 1943, it was based at Umnak in the Aleutians. Detachments at Amchitka were established 17 April to 15 May and again from 9 July to 29 August. In the first of these the squadron took part in 14 missions (88 sorties) and in the second 16 missions (102 sorties), chiefly dive-bombing Japanese positions on Kiska. During this campaign eight members of the squadron were awarded the U.S. Air Medal and two were Mentioned in Dispatches. From 24 September to 23 December 1943, No. 14 was based at Boundary Bay, B.C. It was then sent overseas, renumbered No. 442; and became a Spitfire Squadron. Photo: Roseland Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917735672-C6ZDKB5PG5V3GRRKVBT6/Roseland6.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out The inscription on the back of this photo reads “Canadians just before Kiska Raid, Amchitka 1943”. Arnold Roseland is on the left at the front. Note the steel runway plating required to keep the aircraft out of the mud of an Aleutian runway. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917769835-XJF7KWJYHDJEP2R1CWSG/Roseland7.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out The pilots of 14 Squadron RCAF somewhere in the Aleutians in the summer of 1943. Roseland is second from right. Roseland and his squadron would return to Boundary Bay near Vancouver on 5 October, just missing the birth of his second son Ronald. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917827582-WV0VTXLMWZH8GQKDY09Z/Roseland8.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Possibly taken at Sea Island in 1942, a more formal photo of the NCO and Officer pilots of 14 Squadron—Rosey stands fourth from the right. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917878233-F1H5HC2CH9SYLXL5KFV1/Roseland5.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Arnold and Audrey. Judging by the two solid stripes of a Flight Lieutenant on Arnold’s epaulettes, this photo was taken perhaps in the winter before going overseas with 14 Squadron where they were reformed as 442 Squadron. Discussing this photo with Ron Roseland-Barnes we thought perhaps it was taken in or around Lachine, Québec or Montréal where Roseland and his wife Audrey enjoyed his 3 weeks leave before boarding a troopship for Europe. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917960121-ITLA5A6O7OTTWL591WOG/RoselandA.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out A month after Roseland’s death, the Squadron was still operating from temporary airfields in France. Here is Rosey’s Spit, Y2-K, having an engine changed in the field on 14 August 1944. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918001598-PS7MVDTNT3SIUXQQRV1O/Roseland12.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out There is no doubt that Y2-K was Roseland’s preferred Spitfire—in this typical page from his logbook, we can see that he flew her 16 times in this two-and-half-week period alone. In all he would fly Y2-K on 65 sorties. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918052620-KP2EPH6JZVS9KF3BMZ5Y/Roseland13.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out This logbook page is the facing page of the previous one, outlining in detail the events of each operation. We can see that on 14th of June, he received a “New ‘K’ ”—possibly a replacement aircraft. Also, the two swastikas drawn in the margin on the 30th on his second of 3 ops that day indicate he shot down two enemy aircraft. The detail included in his logbook is far more extensive than most and shows a deep concern for others in his squadron. Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918165945-2K8ZNT6VLXEHRRVP2P2G/Roseland10.jpg The Stories - THE HERO BEHIND THE RESURRECTION OF THE ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Ronald Roseland, Arnold’s second son, would never get to know his father, but the freedoms won by his selfless actions allowed him to grow up in a safe and strong environment. That was his gift to his son. Here the young Ron is dandled by the beautiful Audrey whose photograph was found at the site of Arnold’s crash.Photo: Roseland Family Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fleeting-glory monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629906674836-NYU4FQRQBQD0CHKHIO5K/FreddieTitle.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Low and fast across Calgary Airport on 9 May 1945—the day after VE Day and the day before the crash. Inset: Just after landing at Calgary on 9 May 1945. Maurice Briggs, John Baker and Edward Jack pose in front of Mosquito F-for-Freddie. Members of the public who bought bonds in support of the 8th Victory Loan Drive were allowed to chalk their names on the aircraft. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629908975851-DLAM36EUN1ALJHFMM7C6/Freddie2.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Hundreds of Calgarians came out to welcome Briggs and Baker and to see F-for-Freddie after the spectacular flying display that afternoon—which saw them flying below rooftop level in downtown Calgary. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629909570461-J6ISTMKVFAFENX8SV67U/Freddie3.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Training days: Maurice Briggs (L), Alf Smitz (at the wheel) and their colleague Brighouse, on leave from No. 37 Service Flying Training School in January 1943, en route from Calgary to Banff, Alberta, where Smitz would meet his future wife. That spring, the men would return to England and the war. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629909634531-6UEK9QSP3M229IG2I03P/Freddie4.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Baker (R), Briggs and F-for-Freddie at de Havilland Canada’s Downsview base in Ontario on 6 May 1945. Note the peeling paint on the spinner. DHC did some servicing and retouching work before the boys headed west to Calgary. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629909754924-X2HBTCEHZFUIPBP1541F/Freddie5.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out 9 May 1954: Briggs and Baker perform a victory beat-up of Calgary Airport. It was on an almost identical low pass 24 hours later that their Mosquito, F-for-Freddie, hit the poles visible at the top of the tower, shearing off the aircraft’s port wing. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629909820093-OUK1FI5A8SH0HH4LTZXO/Freddie6.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out The afternoon of 10 May 1945. In this picture, taken overlooking the roof parapet of Calgary’s terminal building (which the Mosquito would later hit), Edward Jack has removed both top cowlings to do some work on the engines. This work delayed the departure of the fatal flight by 90 minutes—Briggs and Baker finally taxied out at 1600 hrs. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629909898980-AC7FI6M0G0WANPEWJVL8/Freddie7.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Also taken on 10 May, this photo shows Edward Jack walking back to the terminal as F-for-Freddie taxies to its fate. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629910045875-0QEVHRLPCY24LWSSJQ42/Freddie8.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out Moment of horror and tragedy. Partly obscured by a telegraph pole in the foreground, this picture shows the Mosquito seconds after it hit the control tower, with the port wing folding upwards and breaking away. Owing to its high speed and trajectory when it hit the building, the aircraft crashed more than a half mile further on. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629910180822-16XLQTSQCMD5YZCSS5PZ/Freddie10.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out The only known remains of Mosquito F-for-Freddie: a 4-inch scrap of plywood and a 6-inch square of fabric. They were brought into the Calgary Aero Space Museum in 1990 by a fireman who salvaged them at the time from the crash. Photo via Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629910220933-H0QANVWYBNBXT12KM5J4/Freddie9.jpg The Stories - FLEETING GLORY - Make it stand out de Havilland Canada engineer Edward Jack at the graveside of Briggs and Baker on Remembrance Day, 1973. Jack had originally been scheduled to go on the fatal flight but felt ill and was told by Maurice Briggs to “sit it out”. Jack witnessed the crash minutes later from the control tower. This was his first visit to the graves in Calgary since the funeral 28 years earlier. Photo via Richard de Boer https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/courage-and-tulips monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892475372-4BH94R82B02CCPXLZQHA/DutchTitle.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out George Langille poses for a photograph in Europe - undoubtedly to send home to his gal Mickey in St. John, New Brunswick. Photo: Langille Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892562092-LL334LHCPIBP9JUTOPME/Dutch12.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out Hundreds of thousands of Ottawans, Canadians and tourists come out to take part in the spectacle of the Canadian Tulip Festival. Only a fraction know why the festival even exists. Photo: Chelsea Smith Via the Canadian Tulip Festival https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892589683-EVISQKEW2SG9JB2K1C6N/Dutch13.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out The entire downtown of the city of Ottawa is resplendent in a spectacular coat of tulips. Everyone of these bulbs is a tribute to those Canadians who welcomed the Royal Family of the House of Orange and then sent their own sons to fight and die for the liberation of the good people of the Netherlands. Photo: Chelsea Smith Via the Canadian Tulip Festival https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892733287-QGKS8CES1809HP0Y0IU9/Dutch2.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out George Eugene Langille poses with his new flying gear beside a Fleet Finch trainer of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In a short while, the young Langille would become a veteran fighter pilot in the skies of Europe. Photo: Langille Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892768528-1LKBJ2ON71TYEV531I93/Dutch4.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out George and his girlfriend Mickey, the namesake of three of his aircraft including the Typhoon pictured in the opening photograph. Photo: Langille family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892801085-GKW2QRKF0R92VGZM1X0N/Dutch3.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out A dashing, square-jawed fighter pilot, Langille poses for his official photo after his commission. In 1943, he was a man of courage and greatness. He was 22 years old at the time of his death - today we would call him just a kid. It was indeed the Greatest Generation. Photo: Langille Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892857032-BPDISEYWAVOARC3AU0KA/Dutch5.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out A Hawker Typhoon of the RAFs 193 Squadron is bombed up and prepared for a mission supporting Allied ground troops in Europe. Photo via Jaap Vermeer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892936335-PUON5WDM36CY3FAT9GLW/Dutch6.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out A photograph of Langille's squadron mate Jim Darling showing Darling leaning against the wing of Typhoon DP-J, which Langille was flying the day he was shot down. Photo: Jim Darling Tribute website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892971865-7L3R8CG6WZE2YTD84QK3/Dutch7.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out Through the modern technology of Google Earth, Jaap Vermeer of the Netherlands can show us the exact spot where, on November 25th, 1944 "Pete" Langille died in the wreck of his Hawker Typhoon - on the farm of the De Keivit family in a place called Putten, Gelderland. A local citizen who witnessed the crash that day still tends Langille's grave to this day in the nearby Putten General Cemetery. Image via Google Earth and Jaap Vermeer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629893198097-Z0W6D5HS6P2CKDQVDQLL/Dutch8.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out "Killy" Kilpatrick, George Langille (centre) and Jimmy Simpson of 193 Squadron "borrow" a jeep and tour the battlefront in France prior to his death in 1944. The massive hole through the tower in the background was caused by an Allied tank putting a round on the church steeple from which troops were receiving sniper fire. Photo via Jaap Vermeer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629893222219-GZVJNJNHG0BY8BNXPYOU/Dutch11.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out A photo of 193 Squadron pilots taken on August 1st of 1944 in St. Croix sur Mer, Normandy. Langille, second from right in the front row, took part in armed Recce missions before, on and after D-Day. Photo via Jim Darling Memorial website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629893264211-QP65HUYE0C7YUD2TNBPH/Dutch9.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out "Pete" Langille (highlighted) in a formal squadron photo taken sometime between September 18 and October 6th, 1944 when the squadron was at Fairwood Common Armaments Practice Camp in Glamorganshire in Wales. The squadron was possibly taken off the front line to rest or train new pilots replacing the attrited ones or to practice with new weapons. Photo via Jim Darling tribute website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629893318210-5TW21QAH5CPLTE6E1QM0/Dutch10.jpg The Stories - COURAGE AND TULIPS - Make it stand out When this squadron photograph was taken on October 16th of 1943, Langille (standing third from left) was a brand new ground attack pilot having made his first flight in a Typhoon just two days before . It has long been regarded that the Typhoon pilots of the RAF and RCAF had one of the most dangerous jobs in military aviation. Strafing and bombing at extreme low altitudes resulted in horrendous attrition of pilots and aircraft to AAA, ground fire, fighter opposition and even friendly fire. For a wonderfully written account of Canadian operation with the Typhoon, we recommend reading Hugh Halliday's Typhoon and Tempest, the Canadian Story. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hugs-not-handshakes monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629852626241-UAJW2CE34GG6B0AXLE9G/Charley.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629853259109-PZHH4CR2WUE7H0UK98RR/CharleyFlight10.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Charley visits with old friends - the cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer where thousands of Canadians are buried including many airmen. Though always meeting and enjoying people, this was a time for Charley to be alone with his old comrades. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629853297686-YJWY0SJTAGQY3EWLLZP0/CharleyFlight11.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Charley was a constant advocate for veterans and youth. He always had time for an interview with the press even if it meant missing a flight over his old hunting grounds - Normandy. Standing on a balcony at Normandy on a foggy morning, Charley is being interviewed by FOX News. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891590810-364JWEN28H536QRCU401/CharleyFlight13.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out The 412 Challenger was decked out with Charley's old aircraft code (VZ-F) and a set of "Wasp Wings" (Invasion Stripes) in honour of the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891626310-98F1JW5Z6O4AQ3Y3X66F/CharleyFlight14.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Charley's name beneath the cockpit window honours their beloved Honourary Colonel Fox. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891671508-40RSNVQLY74PRDEOUIHI/CharleyFlight15.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out On the engine cowlings, the 412 Squadron Challenger 601 wore the same codes as Charley's Spitfire did on the missions he flew on D-Day. Photo: John Davies https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891762466-M6IK8ETM3OVYEYXWABH3/CharleyFlight12.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Standing in front of 412 Squadron Challenger VZ-R after their flight back in time, the crew pose with veteran Barry Needham who flew and was shot down in a Spitfire with the same code letters 60 years ago to the day. From the top - Derrick Holwell, Barry Needham, Nicole Bujold, LCol. (Ret) Marc Robert, Captain Chris Strawson. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891837789-5MTG5PYETTV8JD1H5NP1/CharleyFlight16.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Charley's entourage at the D-Day Memorial. Left to right: Chris Strawson, Nicole Bujold, HCol Charley Fox, Marc Robert, Derrick Holwell. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891875096-MQH4DB3YRWLZ4WD64Z93/CharleyFlight18.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out During the D-Day Anniversary ceremony, aircraft of the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight overflew the site. One can only imagine what Barry Needham and Charley Fox were thinking as two of their beloved Spits thundered overhead. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629891972782-OIP4MKX7O937ZOBGL3FI/CharleyFlight19.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out "See guys.. it's like this..." While the 412 entourage waits for table service in Normandy, Charley Fox teaches. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892007230-OO5BN2GW7BD0K8UL9QWM/CharleyFlight20.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Even after his death, Charley was a teacher - here Ottawa-based Air Cadets read some of the display material that Charley had created and carried with him everywhere. These didactic panels tell the story of the RCAF in the Second World War. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892034694-QRZGHN543XRVS0JG8U7J/CharleyFlight21.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out The author reading his eulogy and tribute to his friend at the Memorial Ceremony. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892066679-QL60C7WQJKF9S1FEZNTI/CharleyFlight22.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Elements of the Air Force band played a tribute and Vintage Wings of Canada supplied a special banner for Charley's memorial (now hanging permanently in the VWoC hangar) as well as two aircraft. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629892100696-JB6QZ8CU8E9YZ5PP6F9O/CharleyFlight23.jpg The Stories - HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox - Make it stand out Need we say more? DND Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/its-a-nice-day-for-flying monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851205756-QYS3Y3V3X0X74QI3LJ3H/LambairTitle.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851330879-FF548LHGHEKZXK8DN819/Lambair20.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Jack Lamb flying a Lambair de Havilland Canada Otter en route to remote Arctic Bay on Baffin Island. Insets: a Lamb Airways luggage sticker and a set of Lambair pilots wings. Photos from Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851398365-GSSCY2UA58AO8MN2DQ4G/Lambair2.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Tom Lamb (left), the pioneering patriarch of the Flying Lambs and his flock - his six sons. Left to right after Tom are Greg, Donald, Dennis, Jack, Doug and Conrad. Photo from Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851435237-COGLNZN3CSGYKON3XFT3/Lambair5.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Not only did it take great effort and fortitude to build an airline like Lamb Airways, it took lots of imagination too. The airline's creative slogan says it all - "Don't Ask Us Where We Fly, Tell Us Where You Want to Go". Here a Lamb Airways Norseman takes the Kowmuk family on a trip from Sandy Point. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851496023-RS9JHZO01CH2I1R64AB7/Lambair3.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851573342-VB4H9VRCG58QWAF2S3EP/Lambair12.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out "Never land on the black ice." So admonishes the Lambair family website several times. In this case a Lamb Air DC-3 (CF-DBJ) has fallen through rotten ice of Tadoule Lake, Manitoba in late May of 1975. Jack's wife Barbara supplied the vacuum cleaner which is blowing air to inflate airbags beneath the wings to lift the Dak above the ice surface. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851601466-YWNYI3A13X1HP8E8692J/Lambair11.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Jack Lamb, at the controls of the DC-3, taxies the beast on a plywood road to clear the rotten ice before taking off for Thompson, Manitoba. In the background on the ice can be seen one of the deflated airbags that lifted the Dakota clear of the ice. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851677792-G7OJRHB6LE6ZFT3KTIHQ/Lambair6.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out A scene from 1962 on the beach at Baker Lake, about 300 kilometers west of Hudson Bay in the great barren lands of what was then Northwest Territories (now Nunavut). Lamb Airways aircraft like de Havilland Otter CF-MEL (seen here) were their only transportation link to the south. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851712114-R7DLO0PRWA8YE9NT41D3/Lambair4.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out To run an airline out into the remotest parts of Northern Canada required ingenuity too. If an aircraft went unserviceable like this Lamb Airways Norseman (CF-BHS), more than likely you were a long way from a hangar and proper tools. Engines, tools and help had to be flown in to the same lake or location. Luckily, all of the Flying Lambs were engineers as well - you pretty well had to be in those days. To lift the engines, an overhead hoist was built from birch logs and a working platform was built across the pontoons using branches. Far from being a rarity, such maintenance and aircraft recovery scenarios were all too common in the North in the early days of bush operations. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851754426-S9IE69KXW38KUOLJ4LIJ/Lambair14.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Sure airline operations in remote locales are difficult around the world, but Northern Canada is by far the toughest of all environments with weather that is trying to kill you and your airplane. Here Jack Lamb stands in front of the ubiquitous Norseman CF-BHS, one of the company's hardest working aircraft - shrouded here to keep the heat in the engine as long as possible while resting overnight on the frozen surface of Island Lake. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851796976-VS87ROCMS8YG582792PM/Lambair15.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Despite the dangerous world of bush flying, Norseman CF-BHS survived many decades in the North to become a spectacular monument to bush flying in general and to the Flying Lambs in particular. Here Jack and Barbara Lamb and family members pose beneath his old bird. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851824422-DGIZRGPJY7RFFQE846E0/Lambair7.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Jack Lamb flew this de Havilland Otter into Arctic Bay in 1965 - note the Hollywood style Arctic Bay letters on the face of the mountain. Today, a quick look on Google Earth indicates the letters have been changed to spell out in syllabics the Inuit name for the community. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851851114-T6ZRLP86BR5OTFBSNP1L/Lambair16.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out Perhaps the most versatile of all of Lamb Airways many aircraft over the years were the five sturdy Bristol Freighters they operated. These heavy haulers could take considerable weight and some oversized items through their clamshell doors. This photo was taken at Cape Dorset, Baffin Island. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851883004-ISF4J1OU1L6U936LGHPO/Lambair17.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out The wide-open doors of a Lamb Airways Bristol Freighter disgorge a tracked vehicle at a remote airstrip. The Freighter enabled the delivery of heavy equipment for mining, prospecting and seismic work. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851914312-ZZCLXW2DWUOD5Q4SQ4CS/Lambair13.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out If you look at the many photographs on the Lamb Family's website, you will surely note the number of mishaps that were considered the price for operating in the extreme north - ice break-ups, flipped airplanes, wrecks and fires were not necessarily common, but 60 years of bush flying saw many reasons to send a recovery team. Here a Lambair Gazelle helicopter lifts a Lambair Cessna 180 up to its struts in Manitoba spring ice. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851951995-EXQA8NFP6VQDC07Q5VT5/Lambair18.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out In the 1970s, a Lamb Airways Beech 18 flipped onto its back at Arctic Bay on Baffin Island. The caption under the photograph simply states "Guess we didn't shovel enough, eh?". A sense of humour came with the territory. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629851980747-K3N6WPC8CBCMA3V1I5LR/Lambair19.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out The Beech 18 (CF-TLA) at Arctic Bay is ignominiously flipped tail over nose and back on to its wheels. With a couple of rolls of "Hundred Mile an Hour Tape" (Duct tape), a pair of new propellers, tails and rudders and some ingenuity, she was readied in five days for a ferry flight back Calgary - but not without incident. The severley damaged aircraft was flown with gear chained in the down position (the gear legs having been further damaged in Rankin Inlet on the first homeward leg) the 2,500 miles to Calgary via Churchill. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629852025194-ASEISOPSTG877HWWM2E4/Lambair8.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out By the end of the Lambair era, they were flying much larger aircraft like this Fokker F-27 Friendship. Lambair ended its run in 1981. In all the mighty little airline operated a total of 80 aircraft from Cessnas to Fokkers to helicopters. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629852060338-XWX50T074SGLNVRZXDLF/Lambair21.jpg The Stories - IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story - Make it stand out 1957. The photo says it all. Jack, in a canoe, paddles up to his mentor, hero, and father Tom Lamb as they pack up a Cessna 180 on a sunny day in Manitoba. Life in the North was not always hard. Photo: Lamb Family Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-arc-of-history monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850299812-Y9WOV264WI31CZ073W4N/SilverDartTitle.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850444271-RVHGWJA69Q5JIPRXSCTW/Silver+Dart7.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out The Silver Dart replica nears completion in Niagara Falls. Considering the amount of labour and skills required to make the replica, one can only marvel even more at the accomplishment of McCurdy and the members of the Aerial Experiment Association who did the same, without modern tools, aerodynamic hindsight and the knowledge learned over 100 years. Photos: Via Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850506748-QUERA93ZYC9OCWTQYIC0/Silver+Dart9.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out "There's almost everything in that engine except the kitchen sink. But I did use parts of an old kitchen chair to build it," said Don Feduck, President, Air Force Association of Canada 434 (Niagara Peninsula) Wing. Feduck volunteered more than 18 months of his time to drill nearly 1,000 holes, in order to reproduce a replica engine to match the original. Feduck’s model is a wood-metal-plastic version of the original American-built Curtiss V-8 engine (1907) that powered the most famous historic aircraft in Canada – the Silver Dart. After the Anniversary Flight on February 23rd, 2009, the Silver Dart will return to Ontario to have Feduck’s engine mounted on it, to prepare the Silver Dart for entering the museum in Baddeck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850535194-H1N5GF2IPI05HK98FHE3/Silver+Dart11.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out The original 6-cylinder Curtiss engine that powered the Silver Dart is on display at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa. The team will use a vintage Lycoming engine for the flight and then substitute Feduck's replica engine when on display. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850597873-5D8FHFBVTNTSJAQFZBWW/Silver+Dart2.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out The Silver Dart comes together on the floor of the Ed Russell's hangar in Niagara Falls, Ontario. To the left is Russell's beautiful Messerschmitt Bf.109. Photo: Via Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850627017-I1452594ATHPB9LL4MXD/Silver+Dart4.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out Some of the many dedicated volunteers who have taken Jack Minor's idea and have made it a reality stand with Don Feduck's beautiful full scale model of the original Silver Dart engine. Left to right: Don Feduck, Gerald Haddon, Doug Jermyn, Ray Larson, Ed Russell and Jaro Petruck. Photo: Via Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850691340-IQM167LW5OAM7COY5211/Silver+Dart6.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out Gerald Haddon is greeted at the Silver Dart assembly hangar by Bjarni Tryggvason one of Canada's astronauts. Tryggvason will pilot the Silver Dart replica at Baddeck on the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. 100 years ago, Haddon's grandfather set in motion a new form of transportation in Canada that would culminate in Canadians reaching space. One wonders if McCurdy could ever have imagined where his flight path would take us. Such is the Arc of History. Photo: Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850716620-ILYFJQLI372NP9M4O2EE/Silver+Dart10.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out The Silver Dart build team - volunteers who have committed themselves to make the project a success. Photo via Silver Dart Centennial project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850759084-7WPNKSJ4Z19LXSHK19HB/Silver+Dart5.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out Jack Minor and Gerald Haddon share a moment with the Silver Dart. For Haddon, the chance to sit in the same spot as his grandfather had 100 years ago, was a powerful moment. Photo: Jaro Petruck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850810459-A42RYS7LF2XHZ3JEDGQ0/Silver+Dart8.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out Sitting in the Silver Dart, looking forward over the canard to the frozen surface of Baddeck Bay, John Douglas Alexander McCurdy could not have imagined this moment. His grandson, Gerald Haddon addresses a crowd of Canadians at Vintage Wings of Canada 's roll-out of Hawk One. In the background stands a 55 year old all-metal jet-powered aircraft soon to be painted in the spectacular markings of an aerobatic team that celebrated the 50th anniversary of his achievement. In the middle ground stand (L-R) Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut who has seen Baddeck from space, Paul Kissmann the Hawk One Sabre test pilot and former commander of a squadron in the Canadian air force - something McCurdy might have imagined in 1909 and Tim Leslie, the man who now tests the outer extremes of the aerodynamic science that McCurdy helped define and who came up with the idea for a powerful way to pay tribute to the men of the Aerial Experiment Association - Hawk One. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629850857037-CYEAWVM9RWK712K7XICA/Silver+Dart13.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY - Make it stand out One hundred years later, the now famous outline of McCurdy sitting in the Silver Dart rises on the surface of the metal skin of a Canadair Sabre Jet - now classified as "vintage". Such is the "Arc of History". Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-last-flight monthly 0.5 2023-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849349207-NDS1VDR8TAW2HL440QX7/Flash.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849450209-GWBGGS20SHE9LX8D6L4L/Last+Flight+02.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out Early aviators were at great risk and many suffered accidents, some fatal, as they learned the rudiments of flying an aircraft that was barely controllable to begin with. Here the McCurdy biplane lies a tangled mess in a field in what is present day Toronto. Men on horseback in the background prefer the safety of a more acceptable (for the time) means of conveyance. Photo via Jack Minor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849559832-CR0O50I4AY4SAGU4MJ31/Last+Flight+03.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out McCurdy’s casket is carried from a Montreal church by uniformed and be-medalled officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Draping his casket is the ensign of the RCAF an entity whose entire history postdates McCurdy’s experimental flights with the Aerial Experiment Association. Photo via Gerald Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849610336-K8CFN8N8A0QJESRQQLMJ/Last+Flight+04.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out Borne on a gun carriage of the Canadian Army, McCurdy’s body leaves the church with much deserved pomp and circumstance. Senior RCAF NCOs flank the carriage, followed by dignitaries and a large ceremonial guard of heavily gonged RCAF members. Photo via Gerald Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849638367-28Y0AY8S2V70LY3IDDR2/Last+Flight+05.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out An RCAF photographer positions himself above the funeral cortege as McCurdy is carried along a Montreal avenue. Passersby seem unaware that they are walking with the father of Canadian aviation. Photo via Gerald Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849667028-UZMV4LHVIKL1SEE9VYFE/Last+Flight+06.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out Days later, members of McCurdy’s family walk solemnly from an RCAF DC-3 Dakota on the ramp at Sydney, Nova Scotia. A high-ranking officer wearing a black armband carries the urn containing McCurdy’s ashes, followed by his wife Margaret, son J.R.D. (Bobby), and his Daughter Dianna. (the wife of Commodore Phillip Haddon, R.C.N. and mother of Gerald Haddon). The pilot of the Dakota was Bob Fassold of Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo via Gerald Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849700023-KB9UDD9NLENMD6OG8FZC/Last+Flight+07.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out It was a short but solemn drive by white Cadillac from Sydney to the small town of Baddeck on the shores of Bras d’Or Lake in the centre of Cape Breton Island. In this poignant photo, McCurdy’s family follows as his ashes, carried by an RCAF officer, are piped up the slope to his final resting place. In the background are the distinctive gently sloping hills that roll down to the lake where, nearly a hundred years ago, McCurdy flew the Silver Dart. Photo via Gerald Haddon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629849734616-0WJFXEOF7A1OE6GBJ1CJ/Last+Flight+08.jpg The Stories - THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/archie-pennie-visit monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629835418540-9SQHAJESIB2PV4VJDKEK/Archie-Penny_News_1.jpg The Stories - A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ARCHIE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629835707075-QXZF4HJJ99P9XCG3NCW8/Archie-Penny_News_2.jpg The Stories - A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ARCHIE - Make it stand out Once an instructor, always an instructor. Former BCATP flying instructor Archie Pennie demonstrates simplicity of the Tiger Moth’s air speed indicator to his grandson during tour of Vintage Wings of Canada hangar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629835746706-SWL7DOT43RMGDF3B8EVI/Archie-Penny_News_3.jpg The Stories - A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ARCHIE - Make it stand out Archie is as proud of his family as he is of those years with the RAF. Here he stands with his grandson Alex Charette (right) and his former son-in-law Frank Charette and Frank’s youngest son Mark. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/two-wings-and-too-late monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629829291212-1PO1T77BVBKTCAVZUTPM/Gregor00.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830445996-6ZC95DSJ9ATBHJS55MDW/Gregor37.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Avro CF-100 Canuck looked pretty respectable straight on and lived up to its billing as a steady, reliable all-weather interceptor. Of the nearly 700 “Clunks” built, 53 were exported to the Belgian Air Force, making the CF-100 the only Canadian designed fighter aircraft ever to be exported and flown by foreign air arm. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830495160-YL3S9QFAM3KXAZ4EAF3Q/Gregor38.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Avro CF-105 Arrow was the “Camelot” of Canadian aircraft design. I can hear Richard Burton intoning "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a dream, for one brief, shining moment, that was known as Arrow". In a spasm of federal vandalism, the Conservative government of the day had all 6 flyable copies cut to pieces and scrapped. It was hoped that the Arrow could and would do many things. In the end it was most successful at spawning controversy, whacko mythologies, and the strange nonsensical idea that it was so good that it would be the world's only fighter aircraft still in production 60 years after its first flight. Photo: Avro Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830678568-78667LOI587FZIHY5ZOZ/Gregor39.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Arrow–she was big and beautiful, and for Canadians wanting to get into the fighter business, one big all-or-nothing try. Aviation basement dwellers still spend countless hours lamenting its loss or searching for a survivor in Ontario barns or ballistic test models at the bottom of Lake Ontario. They photoshop squadrons of them in modern RCAF markings streaking to the defence of the nation some 60 years after the first flight, and obsess about a dream that could never have been instead of dreaming about things that lie ahead. Thankfully, the Canadian aerospace industry got up, dusted itself off and got down to the business of being an aviation powerhouse. Photo: Avro Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830804782-FXG7T80Y5HRNBCJUDWW7/Gregor22.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Russian émigré aircraft designer Mikhail Leontyevich Grigorashvili, known in Canada and the United States simply as Michael Gregor was a Georgian-born, Russian aviator and aircraft designer from Derbent on the Caspian Sea. He was well known in Russian aviation circles at the beginning of flight in that country and we see him here (second from right in the back row) with a group of Russian participants and organizers of the first flight from St. Petersburg to Moscow, July 1911. Inset: Grigorashvili in the cockpit of his Blériot XI, which he did extensive modifications on. In fact, he built this particular aircraft for a Russian nobleman by the name of de Seversky, one of the first two aviators in Russia. I checked with a Russian friend and the text on the side of his Blériot simply states “Aviator Grigorashvili” in the traditional old Imperial Russian script. It would be de Seversky's son, Alexander who would create the massive American company we know today as Republic Aircraft. Grigosashvili was one of several exceptional Russian aircraft designers, including Alexander de Seversky, Igor Sikorsky, and Alexander Kartveli (Kartvellishvili) who left communist Russia and found not just employment but great aerospace business success in Canada and the United States. Photos via linkgeorgia.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830924159-MGX3693SV4ZOAS5D1SC8/Gregor40.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Mount Rushmore of aircraft designers who were born in the former Russian Empire. Left to right: Igor Sikorsky (Kiev, Ukraiine), Alexander Kartvelishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Alexander de Seversky (Tbilisi, Georgia). They built aerospace companies worth billions. Images via Internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629830979515-PBSKOBN08C8BBEXAA54I/Gregor36.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Gregor, one of several accomplished Russian aircraft designers to immigrate to the United States from Russia, designed three aircraft types with his name on them. Photo via nplg.gov.ge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831022355-FVT8POLG1ZEOA8G1WWLJ/Gregor23.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A Georgian by birth, Mikhail Grigorashvili was not happy with the communist takeover of Russia at the end of the First World War. He moved home to the Republic of Georgia in early 1918. But in 1921, facing a Russian occupation of Georgia, Grigorashvili was forced to move again, this time to the United States, working as an engineer and designer for a number of aircraft manufacturing companies including Curtiss-Wright as a senior designer. In 1926, he became a US citizen and then in 1928, he became Chief Designer at the Bird Aircraft Company (formerly Brunner-Winkle) of Glendale, New York. There, he was instrumental in the creation of a fairly successful and much loved aircraft called the Brunner-Winkle Bird, a three seat taxi and joy-riding aircraft. The Brunner-Winkle Bird had some innovative features that made it unique among its peers. It had a particularly thick upper wing which gave it a higher lift and made for easy control at lower speeds and a radiator under the fuselage. Photo via Wikipedia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831067127-3R169GNF0UPOP0X5ZCHC/Gregor24.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Brunner-Winkle Bird, designed by Michael Gregor (an American citizen by this time) was a lovely little aircraft in many respects. The Model A (seen here) was powered by the Curtiss OX-5 in-line engine. The Model A's ease of handling led to its entry into the 1929 Guggenheim Safety Airplane contest, where it was awarded the highest ratings for a standard production aircraft. The model B was powered by the more reliable Kinner K-5 un-cowled radial. Note the Bird winged logo on fuselage. Photo via San Diego Air and Space Museum Flicker page. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831097186-E0T3PU42P88OX4ENN91K/Gregor26.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Brunner-Winkle Bird was considered one of the safest aircraft to fly at the time and so Charles Lindbergh purchased a Kinner radial-powered Model B for his wife Anne Morrow to complete her flying lessons. This would have been a considerable compliment to the design of the young Gregor. Note the Bird logo on the fuselage. Photo via Lindbergh Picture Collection Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831145964-49MC9IDGIM0O654MI3RS/Gregor27.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Between 230 and 240 Brunner-Winkle Birds were manufactured before the company folded. Though the company did not live long, the Bird was considered by all who flew it to be an excellent airplane, the finest ever powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine. Of the 220 plus aircraft built, nearly 70 exist today–a testament to Michael Gregor's exceptional and solid design. Photo via Cradle of Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831179473-R2NKQVUKYJ4N2H19E9XK/Gregor01.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out After a four year stint as Chief Designer at The Bird Aircraft Company on Long Island, Gregor then worked as Deputy chief designer at Seversky Aircraft Corporation which was located at Roosevelt Field, also on Long Island at the small community of Mineola. After his time at Seversky (the future Republic Aircraft), Gregor started up his own aircraft design company–the Gregor Aircraft Corporation. As President and Chief Designer, he designed and built two biplane aircraft–the GR-1 and the GR-2. In this photo, Michael Gregor's Gregor GR-1 biplane is parked outside the Gregor Aircraft hangar (Hangar B-note letter B at upper left) on the main hangar line at Roosevelt. Roosevelt, seemed to attract the very best of Russian aircraft designers including Gregor and Alex Kartveli at Seversky, and Igor Sikorsky. It was from Roosevelt that Charles Lindbergh took off on his successful attempt in the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831215514-JJ0CO80B6A7P7PR7BC7R/Gregor29.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Gregor Aircraft Corporation's home field. An undated aerial view of the main hangar line of Roosevelt Field–looking west along the northern row of hangars at Roosevelt Field. The photo is presumably from late in the life of Roosevelt Field (late 1940s / early 1950s?), as the eastern-most hangar (Hangar A) had already been removed. The Gregor Aircraft Corporation hangar (Hangar B) is the one still standing at right. Photo via http://www.airfields-freeman.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831254486-UQF7AKY7FU49J39GOLAE/Gregor25.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Gregor GR-1, also called the GR-1 Continental and the GR-1 Sportplane, was a biplane with a tail-wheel undercarriage and was intended to be a light, low cost, training aircraft for depression-era customers. Gregor was based at Hangar B at Roosevelt Field in New York. As there was only on GR-1 aircraft built, this is the one seen parked at the Gregor Hangar at Roosevelt Field in a previous photo. While at Gregor Aircraft Corporation, Gregor received US patent #1,747,001 in 1930 for a cockpit-controlled wing-tip aileron device to help overcome stalling, but there is no record of this ever showing up on any wing-tips. Photo via Frank Rezich Collection at Aeroiles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831284043-LW83DHQ48IX4GL7A84RZ/Gregor35.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A Gregor GR-1 at Roosevelt Field with two pretty airwomen providing some much needed marketing power. While the Bird biplane designed for Brunner Winkle was a relative success, his own Gregor GR-1 was a one-off. Gregor also developed another similar biplane called the GR-2, but no photographs were found on the web. Gregor at this time had eliminated much of the traditional biplane wire bracing with use of a large interplane strut. On the FDB-1, Gregor would employ a similarly robust interplane device combined with two other struts and eliminate the use of wire braces completely. Photo via the Long Island Early Fliers Club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831375090-XGQB92T2TUSS15IWKLBM/Gregor30.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Michael Gregor's greatest design triumph was most certainly his elegant, fast and a little too late FDB-1 Gregor fighter/dive bomber. Here we see executives from Canadian Car and Foundry on a clear and cold winter's day at Bishop's Field Fort William (Thunder Bay) at the time of the foist engine run ups. Here, test pilot George Adye (Left), Canadian car and Foundry representative David Boyd (the Fort William Factory Manager) and supposedly 50-year old aircraft designer Michael Gregor (right) pose with the gorgeous little fighter, painted in all over semi-gloss grey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629832274034-GJSMF9G1FYXI9DQENUKZ/Factory.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The best qualities of the Gregor FDB-1 can be seen in this shot in the Canadian Car and Foundry factory at Fort William –the all-metal construction, the retractable undercarriage, flush riveting and gull wing shape of the upper wing. For a biplane, the Gregor was exceptionally sleek, yet robust. It had a modern monocoque shell construction similar to the finest monoplane aircraft of the day such as the Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf-109. Even the Hawker Hurricane, a monoplane fighter, which would shoulder the bulk of the sorties in the Battle of Britain two years later, had a much less sophisticated steel tube construction. Photo via deadlybirds.com.br https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629832296293-FA862MLB61POLVO41CBN/Assembly.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Assembly of the all-metal wings for the FDB-1. Photo: Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831469439-PHMURKUEW4LG7AP7NOFO/Gregor03.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Another shot of the FDB-1 under construction at Fort William with her beautiful wings attached. Likely they wold have been removed in order to be skinned. The FDB-1 was an all metal biplane, but it appears that the wings would have been skinned in fabric. Photo from Johan Visschedijk Collection via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629832982995-0U6K5YGWD6O9FRHBZHAC/CCF+F.D.B.1+4.png The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The only Canadian Car and Foundry-built Gregor FDB-1 is rolled out of the Fort William factory on a cold and clear December day in 1938 for a photo op and engine run. The aircraft is not yet been fitted with its massive bare metal spinner of the final design. Photo from Johan Visschedijk Collection via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629832508204-QQ67SRD15K5TW75CAVXN/Rollout.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The roll-out with Gregor at right in Homburg and coat. Photo: Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831567031-PDPFI2A6IDCA656X0EVI/Gregor05.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out George Adye about to start the FDB-1 for the first time at the roll-out on December 17th, 1948 at Bishop's Field, Fort William. Adye was the Canadian Car and Foundry factory pilot. On this December day he would just run up the engine, but he would be the first to fly the Gregor FDB-1 at Can.Car's factory in St. Hubert near Montreal in February, 1939. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831595726-SE04VH4BW3LGVNKY8ORY/Gregor06.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out George Adye, Canada Car and Foundry test pilot, appearing to still be wearing the jacket and tie from the group photo above, sits in the roomy cockpit of the FDB-1 getting ready to turn over the engine. The cockpit and the control ergonomics were designed around the six foot Adye, and proved to be difficult to use for shorter pilots who flew it — like Victor “Shorty” Hatton, a pilot and sales executive with Canadian Car and Foundry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831643780-MIYK5A6ZLKCN586N0JYN/Gregor07.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The huge perspex canopy of the FDB-1 is clearly shown in this image from the December 1938 roll-out. The canopy gave a tremendous field of vision in all directions... save forward where the high mounted gull-style wing impeded view. Photo via airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831673940-BDAF6OD7BN2JBFOTZ1M2/Gregor10.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The flat distortion of the pilot's face in this shot leads me to believe that this is a photograph of a photograph of the FDB-1 in flight. The internet does not have any in-flight shots of the Gregor other than this. If anyone has images of this beauty in flight, please send them along. Photo via fliegerweb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629832851020-QVNITV2Y1N348M2TKEPV/CCF+F.D.B.2.png The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Another better shot of the FDB-1 in flight. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629831717205-MUPJ3685CSC690WOEAK2/Gregor11.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out I am not sure who was the original artist of this correctly painted aircraft profile which can be found on the Russian website called Wings Palette. They were not able to attribute credit, but if someone knows, let me know. It carries the FDB-1 title on the tail, which was applied after the original roll out photos were taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833711440-IRRZVSUC4R3PIBBM917E/main-gregor.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Not sure where this image was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833278237-LLEFX4JVEC0E6OHTEPLH/Gregor20.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out In the background, two well-dressed men approach the beautiful Gregor FDB-1 sitting at the edge of the hardstand outside a Roosevelt Field, Long Island hangar. The FDB-1 now carries her FDB-1 title on her tail. A Gulf Oil fuel bowser can just be seen forward of the starboard wings and the attendant standing on a step ladder to assist the refuelling. Canadian Car and Foundry had the aircraft flown down to Gregor's old airfield for evaluation and to drum up interest in the hot little biplane. The problem was that is was a biplane, and the aviation world was now enamoured of the sleek monoplane fighters like the spitfire whose first flight happened two years before that of the FDB-1. Gregor, upset that no one was interested in his biplane, had apparently quipped "They'll start this war with monoplanes, but they'll finish it with biplanes." Clearly his prediction was as far from the facts as one could imagine. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833169153-DD35P4LU5KPI38S58VZN/CCF+F.D.B.1+3.png The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A photo possibly take at roosevelt Field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833521338-IDU7T7I5NKYN06XO3VUA/Gregor12.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A great photo showing a Gulf Oil fuel truck attendant assisting the FDB-1 pilot while the dapper man in the light coloured fedora from the previous photos gets a closer look at the little warplane. Photo via deadlybirds.com.br https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833593891-2OY3ICSR505SYB8J0VVD/Gregor08.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A great shot of the Gregor FDB-1, taken at the Roosevelt Field. The factory test pilot's parachute sits on the port wing. The massive three bladed propeller and huge nose spinner gave the FDB-1 a formidable appearance on the ground. The propeller would likely have been an important component for designer Gregor. During the First World War, from 1915 to 1917, Gregor (Grigorashvili) worked as the chief designer at the aviation factory of R.F. Meltzer where managed design, testing and production of propellers of his own design. At the time, he and the Meltzer company were leaders in Russian propeller construction and manufacturing. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629833642172-8JO8QI110CFZ1JO2YGY0/Gregor19.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Aviation executives take a close look at the FDB-1 at Roosevelt field in 1938. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834031865-S41OUP0S5VJS9KY54Q07/CCF+F.D.B.1.png The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Gregor FDB-1 during the sales tour in the US https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834145123-G5QGXCDKJQ14YP4GEXC9/Gregor13.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Gregor's use of all metal fuselage and flush riveting give the Gregor a look of a modern monoplane fighter with the addition of an upper wing. No one will ever know how the aircraft would have performed with the weight of machine guns, ammunition and bombs, as it failed to interest a monoplane world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834206086-PKMMZ1RWJZJZF9YY1GR5/Gregor14.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Canada, though an aviation giant today in medium range airliners, business jets and aircraft engines, has never been a recognize producer of indigenous military fighter aircraft. Though the FDB-1 was in fact the brainchild of an Georgian-born, American citizen, it was embraced as Canada's first fighter. Sadly, like the Avro Arrow some twenty years later, it was a failure for reason's beyond it capabilities. Canada's only successful indigenous fighter aircraft design was the big all weather interceptor known as the Cf-100 Canuck. Here we see some popular culture cards from the day featuring the little “Canadian” biplane fighter. Upper left: An ink blotter give-away with purchase from the Canadian gas/service station chain called Supertest. These were given away at gas stations to customers as one of the many complimentary services they offered. Upper right: a “cigarette card” from the Second World War features a depiction of the FDB-1 in flight, but with a spurious blue white and red paint scheme. The FDB-1 was grey over all, with all other markings in white. Perhaps because it looked similar to black and white photographs of American aircraft with dark blue paint and horizontal red and white stripes on the tail, it was depicted thus and this would remain for decades as the paint scheme it wore, despite being wrong. Bottom: Another spurious image shows the FDB-1 obviously sitting on the snow at Fort William, but now with an RCAF/RAF A-type roundel, which she never wore. The Second World War "Aviation Chewing Gum" card set was issued by World Wide Gum, the Canadian subsidiary the Goudey Gum Company, and featured 210 Allied aircraft. As well, this chewing gum card indicates that the FDB-1 was powered by a 200 HP Maple Leaf engine and was built in Montreal. In fact, the only one built was from Fort William and it was powered by a 700 HP Pratt and Whitney R-1535 engine. Images via the internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834282541-M2VFXOCIGANFEV16AK96/fdb-1.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out Overview production drawing from CCF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834371973-NDHFWJNQC92AB0LC9IJF/Gregor17.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out A mahogany desktop model of the Gregor FDB-1 shows us its most outstanding angle, high on the front quarter with its beautiful gull wings looking oh-so-pretty... and blocking oh-so-much of the pilot's view forward to the left and right. As a private high performance two-seater, it would have been magnificent. Photo via Lloyd Ralston Gelleries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834399459-0FM3E59S3VRAMUT87KYQ/Gregor18.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out I found a photo of a lovely model of the Gregor FDB-1 which shows a colour close to the correct grey colour, but with red and white rudder stripes. Photo and model by Alexandre Bigey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834434387-TGDVT12JEZ49E0FUK0JM/Gregor41.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out After Gregor left Canadian Car and Foundry, he was employed from 1944 to 1953 as Chief Designer at a brand new aerospace company called Chase Aircraft Corporation out of Trenton, New Jersey. In the book “Rearming the Cold War” by Elliot V. Converse III, Stroukoff, the founder of the company is referred to as “Mike, the “Mad Russian” Stroukoff, the company's colorful founder.” Gregor and Stroukoff were responsible for the design development of the C-123 Provider, one of the the early post-war medium lift transports employed by the United States Air Force, Without a doubt, the Provider would have vaulted Gregor and Stroukoff into the pantheon of Russian emigré aircraft designer legends of the US, except a procurement scandal resulted in the building of the subsequent 307 Provider airframes being handed to Fairchild. By 1953, the majority of shares in Chase had been purchased by automotive magnate Henry Kaiser, and he was embroiled in a pricing scandal which led the contract being awarded to Fairchild Engine and Airplane, who assumed production of the former Chase C-123B, a refined version of the XC-123.Before turning production over to Fairchild, Chase originally named their C-123B the AVITRUC but it never stuck. Poor Gregor was that close to being part of a huge success, but never got there. He died in 1953, As the Chase Aircraft Corporation was being dissolved as a useless asset of Kaiser's. Stroukoff would then buy the assets of Chase and open Stroukoff Aircraft Corporation. He stumbled along for another 6 years, experimenting wiht the C-123 modifying one as the fist jet tranmsport in US history and another a C-123B into the YC-123E, fitted with Stroukoff's own Pantobase landing gear system. The Pantobase system (essentially a large extendable skid) allowed the aircraft to land on any reasonably flat surface - land, water, or snow - and proved remarkably successful in testing. Regardless, neither variant found interest with the USAF. Image via Ebay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834595851-FG0UYCC8AP2RVJSWCGID/Gregor31.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The chunky Grumman F3F, was the last American biplane fighter aircraft delivered for service with the United States Navy, serving with Navy and Marine units in the late 1930s. It was never given an official name by the Navy or Grumman, but was lovingly referred to by its pilots as the Flying Barrel. Designed as an improvement on the single-seat F2F, it entered service in 1936. It was retired from front line squadrons at the end of 1941 before it could serve in the Second World War, and was first replaced by the Brewster F2A Buffalo. The F3F which inherited the landing gear configuration first used on the Grumman FF which was similar to that of the Gregor FDB-1. This particular Grumman F3F operated with US Navy Squadron VF-4 aboard USS Ranger. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834632645-QK1GYNUPE55ETE3HLTBB/Gregor32.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane (lower wing less than 50% of the area of the upper wing) fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during the Second World War. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden (seen here) and Hungary. With more than 1,800 built, it was the most widely produced Italian aircraft to take part in the Second World War. The Fiat CR.42 was the last of the Fiat biplane fighters to enter front line service as a fighter, and represented the epitome of the type. Photo via ipmsstockholm.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834699046-KYW73IEL72T7GDGJ8YBG/Gregor34.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The biplane fighter with the most similar DNA to the Gregor FDB was the Russian Polikarpov I-153 Chaika. It first flew in a year before the Gregor (1938) and equipped the air forces of the Soviet Union, Finland (seen here in the Finnish Air Force's blue swastika makings) and China. It too had retractable undercarriage and a top gull-style wing. The name Chaika is a nod to this elegant and distinctive gull wing, as it is Russian for seagull. Unlike the single Gregor built, the Chaika was built in huge numbers–nearly 3,500 in all. It was considerably heavier than the Gregor and its its Shvetsov M-62 radial engine had much less power. One has to wonder how well the Gregor could have performed if it was fully developed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629834717888-2RJDOHK4D1BLHP3TIP0I/Gregor33.jpg The Stories - TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1 - Make it stand out The Gloster SS.37 Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter which first flew in 1937. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Nearly 750 of the rigged fighter were built. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and, like the Gregor, it was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat. Like the Polikarpov Chaika, it too was used by the Finnish Air Force. The Portuguese Air Force was using them until 1953. In the hands of a skilled pilot against lesser pilots, it was effective. The South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle shot down 15 Italian aircraft using the Gladiator, making him the highest scoring ace on the type. Photo via http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/brothers-in-arms monthly 0.5 2023-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629820511410-NOK6D1P8O2Z55YJTTX1P/news_BoB_title.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out John Bennett stands second from left in back row https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629820611116-HR91PSYMHH16ARS1K2DJ/news_BoB1.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out The first group photo is John Bennett's class picture from B Flight, No.1 Squadron, No.9 Initial Training Wing at Stratford-on-Avon. The class was billeted at the sizable hotel which serves as a backdrop to the photo. John, an RAF corporal at the time, is 3rd from the left in the back row. Not long ago, John had the opportunity to visit the same hotel, and remembering the exact room he shared with his mates, had a confused concierge escort him to see the spot. Photo: Thomas Holte, John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629820877052-3UMYDX18M2WW8BG4DX3F/news_BoB2.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out John travels "across the pond" to train in America. John (at right) poses with three members of his training squadron and a civilian flying instructor (centre) at No. 5 British Flying Training School, Riddle Field, Clewiston, Florida. John trained on the Boeing Stearman PT-17 Kaydet and then the North American AT-6 Texan as can be seen here. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827290095-0U1WY4OM3MS0NOWG7T54/news_BoB3.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out While not a group photo per se, this threesome of bare metal US Army Air Forces AT-6 Texans from Clewiston are on a formation training mission over Florida at the time John Bennett was training - a rare glimpse into a little known (at least in Canada) piece of training history involving the RAF. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827323869-VKC7PPAVL7FVPRZKP2J5/news_BoB4.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out A more experienced Flight Lieutenant John Bennett (5th from right in front row) with pilots and ground crew of B Flight, 611 Squadron. A squadron Spitfire and the bleak landscape of RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands make a powerful backdrop. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827368297-OXIQZ9F57FD2CDFYVO53/news_BoB5.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out 611 Squadron pilots and ground crew from B Flight pose for a group photograph at RAF Station Sumburgh, Shetland Islands where they were stationed for a time. John Bennett sits fourth from the right in the middle row. Photo: John Bennett Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827397864-90MJ56NR51670STD2MQQ/news_BoB6.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out Later in the war, John was with 74 (Tiger) Squadron flying in support of Allied troops as they advanced through France and Belgium. 74 Squadron “Tigers” were credited by the Canadian 4th Armoured Brigade as providing the ‘closest air support to date”! Here squadron pilots pose at an airfield in Antwerp, Belgium. John stands third from the right in the back row - sporting a nice air force mustache that he claims was long enough to reach his ears. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827437187-5JHUIA0KX0LTLJPXVCDO/news_BoB7.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out John Bennett (left) with a flying boot full of maps, poses with four friends (L-R John Bennett, Geoff Lambert, Allan Griffin, Hugh Murland, Laurie Turner), prior to a sortie in his Spitfire. The Spit can be seen with a 250 pound bomb under each wing and a 500 pound bomb on the centreline. 74 Squadron operated many close support and interdiction missions in this configuration but also used rockets. John chuckles when he recounts how they were never sure whether the rockets would track on target or simply just blow up on the rails. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827466810-WTC16QTRLFTZP1U3HLT7/news_BoB8.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out In this group photo, 12 men of 74 Squadron, now truly the "Tigers" of their squadron nickname, depart for a sortie in 1944 after forming up over the field. You cannot help but wonder whether all returned safely. John Bennett cannot recall whether he was part of this particular sortie but the inset photograph is definitely John landing in his Spitfire "D" for Day at a forward airfield near Schijndel, Holland in 1944. Photos: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827501969-5VD65UZA4WARF29HID51/news_BoB9.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out A photo of 74 Squadron Tigers at USAAF base at Venlo, Holland, awaiting the arrival of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whom they have been given the task of escorting back to England after he visited the troops. (L-R Tony Reeves (CO), Geoff Lambert, “Taffy” Reese, Des Senneville, Johnnie Johnson (not the more famous one), Paddy Dalziell - the fellow looking away cannot be identified). Churchill and his Tiger escort, including John Bennett flew from Venlo to Northolt Airport, West London where, to their dismay, they made a quick turn around and headed back to the battle. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827533176-FD6ZCBCJ0T2VUWDWSPF5/news_BoB10.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out As the war pushed on into Germany, 74 "Tiger" Squadron was close to the front even in their spare time. Here John and three fellow pilots are inspecting some RAF handiwork - a destroyed bridge across the Weser River in Bremen, Germany. While posing for this photo taken by a mate, sniper bullets started ricocheting from the bridge work. John smiles widely as he recalls the speed at which the four pilots scrambled down from the ruins. But it may not have been that funny at the time. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629827600912-ACVX4A7C6PA801W54QNP/news_BoB13.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out Immediately after the war, 74 Squadron converted to the jet age and the Gloster Meteor Mk 3. Here John Bennett (leaning casually at left) and his fellow Tiger pilots pose like true veterans at RAF Colerne in the southwest of England, near Bath. John recalls post war missions along the south coast of Wales, helping coastal defences calibrate their guns for the new speeds of the jet age. He also remembers breaking right at the end of the last run and heading for his home town 40 miles inland where he would make his presence known so many times, that the Mayor lodged a formal complaint with the RAF. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828217722-T5BR1NPFIB5SBG7KIT9H/news_BoB14.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out Later still at RAF Colerne, John (right) poses with friends - most of whom shared the stress of war with him. There seems to be a casual air of relief in these two pictures - men who know their worth, know they have met the test, know that they have survived the roulette of war and know they are still at the cutting edge of aviation, flying the hottest aircraft of the day. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828281482-D7FUXURDCSHNID323CV3/news_BoB15.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out John (5th from left in back row) admits to being a decent athlete back in the day. Here he poses with other squadron mates from RAF Colerne's rugby team after the 1945-46 season. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828318898-NKDOP7B2GX9HY9C3K4SU/news_BoB16.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out Around 1950, John (seated second from left) is still a committed athlete but he is no longer in the regular RAF. Now at the St. Mary's Hospital, University of London, he continues to fly with the university's auxiliary squadron and play on its soccer team, but John is now at the beginning of a new career - one where he will bring babies into the world, a world made safer by his classmates and squadron mates of the past seven years. Other notables on the team are Dennis Kelleher (seated left) who played for the Irish National Team, Professor Stanley Peart (standing second from right) who was knighted for his contributions to medicine and Graham Sullivan (seated second from the right) who played International Rugby for Wales. Photo: Oliver Gorrod, John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828364379-4FQNT7FFNCY3D6DPNZF7/news_BoB11.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out Towards the end of his RAF career, John (front row, second from the left ) was selected to lead the RAF component of the parade in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Each of the six men in the front row (with Wilkinson swords) represented a different command of the Royal Air Force - Fighter Command, Bomber Command, Coastal Command etc. As John was now at St. Mary's Hospital, University of London Air Squadron, he was chosen to represent Training Command. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828402397-AUXRJW5GWQ6PHVO04N0V/news_BoB12.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out John (second from left - front row) leads hundreds of airmen past the offices of Thomas Cook near Pall Mall, London. John vividly recalls the rainy and humid day of the Coronation parade. The dampness was such that their swords, at first brilliant and polished, became pitted by the end of the long day's march. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629828442422-LBEU4YTDIQX36FCPTU19/news_BoB17.jpg The Stories - BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo - Make it stand out This picture of the St. Mary's Hospital, University of London Air Squadron Summer Camp is perhaps the last image John Bennett has of his flying days - possibly taken as late as 1955. John (4th from right in middle row), a veteran of years of war, seems much older than we remember him in earlier pictures - and much different than the youthful cadets with the white-banded caps in the back row. Full-time regular force RAF instructors sit in the front row, while seasoned veterans turned university students serving as flying mentors to the cadets stand in the second row. Normally the squadron operated Tiger Moths and Chipmunks from RAF Fairoaks, west of London (later moving to RAF Booker near High Wycombe, Northwest of London), but when on two-week summer camps at places like Hawkinge or Shoreham, they made use of RAF Harvards like the one they are posing with. We leave John at this point to meet him again more than sixty years later after a life of medical practice and family building - to share his memories. Photo: R.L. Knight, John Bennett Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/old-warriors monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819607199-CD735OXNMABZXH9IWI5B/news_geoffrion_title.jpg The Stories - OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819931132-T4DWEV3L62DPKFQDUB7M/news_geoffrion_2.jpg The Stories - OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire - Make it stand out Louis Geoffrion chats up three members of the Canadian Forces Parachute Demonstration Team, The SkyHawks Though Louis has only jumped from an airplane once, it was one jump that had the respect of troopers with hundreds and even thousands of jumps for it was into the Mediterranean Sea after being shot down while on ops during the Second World War. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819977177-75P02PUDFM1R5S6RHJOC/news_geoffrion_3.jpg The Stories - OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire - Make it stand out As Louis looks on, Rob Erdos goes inverted during his aerobatic routine which no doubt was dedicated to Louis Geoffrion, Spitfire Pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629820100538-J2GGUTISTPB5LU3GS02E/news_geoffrion_4.jpg The Stories - OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire - Make it stand out Shannon Gray, one of Vintage Wings of Canada’s best loved ambassadors, listens intently as Louis Geoffrion relates a story from his days as a fighter pilot. Shannon’s gift is his deep felt empathy for our veterans, which enables him to draw memories from even the most reluctant veteran. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629820154152-6KBH5D3I46V8NSMOZ5ND/news_geoffrion_5.jpg The Stories - OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/school-of-swordfish monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818579175-FIM8CMZPSMICLJQ0GF5O/news_10172007_1.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Line-up of Swordfish and Ansons for an official visit to Yarmouth in September of 1944. Note the different camouflage schemes and canopies on the Swordfish. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818907906-VP7BADIUVTV1SJDEGU55/news_10172007_2.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Mk.IV Swordfish H/HS268, Fall 1944. Prominent are the Handley-Page slats on the upper wing. They opened automatically at low speeds and high angle of attack and made the Swordfish almost impossible to stall! Also evident is the locally installed coupé top. Photo: Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818950951-JJSOXY16NM7QH7P3Z2GS/news_10172007_3.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Canadian-built (by Canadian Car and Foundry) Hurricane Mk. XII 5698. Two "Hurris" were brought in to do simulated beam attacks on a flight of four Swordfish whose TAGs (Telegraphist/Air Gunner) used camera-guns to "shoot" at the attacker. (It was normal for Mk. XII's to fly without a spinner. - And only the pilots with the most hours got to fly the Hurricanes!) Photo: Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819036005-2PPFDAY2W479DXTMBE5K/news_10172007_4.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Swordfish F3/HS487, as rearranged by Bert Joss, 16 October, 1944. Good picture of the Mk.IV canopy. (Or what a Stringbag with retractable undercarriage would look like!) It was the first of two Stringbag write-offs survived by Joss. In this particular landing, no one was injured. Photo: Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819107177-P4A4PXWVN79UQEL54VI7/news_10172007_5.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out A black day for No.1 Naval Air Gunners School. Just below the left wheel of Swordfish Q/HS325, flown by Harry Allen, can be seen the smoke from two crashed Avro Anson trainers. The two aircraft were in an air-to-air collision that claimed the lives of all six on board the trainers. Photo: Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819165801-B5RUKLGUA2G5M044715C/news_10172007_6.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Another Outerbridge photo of "V3", over Digby Gap, where the ferry Princess Helene, crossing the Bay of Fundy from St. John, N.B., entered into Digby Harbour. Photo Don Outerbridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819201616-YKVWPU9F9EQIFP92QUFG/news_10172007_7.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out A Yarmouth Stringbag seen from the rear cockpit of a sister aircraft in tight formation. Photo by Don Outerbridge of Bermuda, later to become well-known in Boston art circles. The strip of land is Digby Neck and the body of water is St. Mary's Bay. Photo: Don Outerbridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819240561-UQWRLL2UWKZJ103VI0SD/news_10172007_8.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Liberator of Eastern Air Command after ground-loop. The left undercart folded up on landing and the aircraft hulk remained in position for some time. Only the engines and other vital parts were salvaged. (Penalty of the "one-wing-down" approach to a cross-wind landing?) Photo: via Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629819287179-1Y8H8A03375QHR57RG0X/news_10172007_9.jpg The Stories - A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Formation flight of five Mk. IIs taken by a Royal Navy photographer some time in 1943, before the coupe-tops were fitted to make them Mk.IV's. Inset: The least said the better! The "club" was organized by some long-time Swordfish pilots, and it was NOT considered an honour to be a member! Photo: via Bert Joss https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/redtail-eugene-richardson monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629816804803-D4GTXS1PHNLRSHMCCLNY/redtail_title.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629816859042-AG14MM6DS1DEA0QYP7G8/news_10292007_1.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629817891649-PJHAG2XI4MLQQVJ79CET/news_10292007_2.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Tuskegee pilots pose for a pre-mission photograph with one of their Red Tail P-51 Mustangs on a pierced steel planking hardstand somewhere in Europe (possibly Italy) during the Second World War. A long range drop tank can be seen slung under the wing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629817960841-Y09JW02KL1R6D4QEA1OQ/news_10292007_3.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Contact! Leaning from the cockpit of the Vintage Wings Mustang, Eugene Richardson warms up the crowd with a little pilot humour. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818002684-RFZKY4MVVF0004I9EJWJ/news_10292007_4.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Ever the educator, Dr. Eugene Richardson explains the function of the rudimentary air speed indicator on the Vintage Wings Tiger Moth to United States Embassy staffers who escorted him to the hangar. After the war, Richardson went to college and earned a doctorate in education. He became a high school principal and now as a retired educator tours the U.S. (and Canada) speaking about and teaching the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818037195-4KHTRXO8TT25H6D3CBVS/news_10292007_5.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out The look on Dr. Richardson's face says it all. It was his first time in a Sabre and he was as excited about it as the 18-year old Richardson who joined other black aviators in Tuskegee must have been. Though already transitioned to the mighty P-47 "Jug" and the Warhawk, the war ended before Eugene was sent overseas. Happy not to have to kill and to be killed, Eugene was de-mobilized and sent home - he was still just 21 years old. Eugene's experiences inspired a generation of African Americans including his own son, Eugene Richardson III, who became a fighter pilot and an airline executive. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818076398-7APFX80VGG5G18N0O4A0/news_10292007_6.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Eugene Richardson and John Aitken pose for a flurry of picture taking prior to their flight back to the Canada Aviation Museum via the Gatineau Hills. Many thanks to the Embassy of the United States for sponsoring his trip to Ottawa. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629818108872-GQ63YFBGR6B5GP2RX4VV/news_10292007_7.jpg The Stories - RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fishing-for-halibags monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629814724132-B4735Y1HUVGAMABDTGH4/Halifax01.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629814768017-QK9CEG58RXBOU3EF0YB8/Halifax02.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out On August 10th, 1945, the day of the ditching and rescue, the RAF knew exactly where the Halifax was while she remained afloat. Here we see a photograph taken by an RAF aircraft from an altitude of 400 feet. One can see that the Halifax (or Hali-bag as crews were fond of calling them) is in almost perfect condition. The two topside escape hatches can clearly be seen open. RAF Photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629814828027-0D0M9EXK3L25Y0CO2SXH/Halifax03.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out The last people to see Halifax LW170 along with the members of its RAF Met crew, was the crew of the Jamaica Producer, a cargo vessel that spotted the floating and fully intact Halifax. The log books of Jamaican Poducer stored at Lloyds of London indicate her very experienced navigator was able to get an accurate fix on the aircraft’s position at about the time she finally sank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815048918-QN1V4ELBSHF8DSBTY3M9/Halifax04.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Captain Karl Kjarsgaard “rides the aluminum horse”. Karl is a high hour airline pilot with Air Canada and formerly with Canadian Airlines. Photo via Karl Kjarsgaard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815127232-3NPNQ6WG21FX9QRA31D4/Halifax05.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out In 1995, Karl stands triumphantly and jubilantly on the back of Halifax NA337 as she is raised to the surface after 50 years at the bottom of Lake Mjosa in Norway. A Norwegian engineering team designed a custom lifting device affectionately called “Moby Grip” that allowed a balanced lift of the airframe by hooking under her at the wing root where the wing and frame strength are highest. Note the two escape hatches (one behind Karl’s boots and the other just forward of the mid-upper gun turret well) which can also be seen open in the LW170 photo. The camouflage paint was still fairly intact and in fact, the surviving rear gunner’s thermos of coffee was found unbroken and still containing the java. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815576796-QPFNDUTQ8KSZKA1E9OKZ/Halifax06.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Halifax LW170 was not a dedicated Met aircraft from the outset - in fact she is an RCAF veteran of 29 combat sorties to such targets as Hamburg, Stuttgart and Caen. Most of her missions though, were tactical in nature, bombing military targets in France during and after D-Day. In fact, her second combat sortie was on D-Day itself in support of the invasion. Her exemplary combat record makes her a very desirable recovery project. Many crews flew QB-I (as she was coded for 424 Tiger Squadron of the RCAF). 424 Squadron is still in continuous operations and appropriately enough is a Search and Rescue squadron based from Trenton, Ontario, the home of one of the three extant Halifaxes. One of the crews was commanded by pilot Russell Earl seen here with his crew in the summer of 1944 standing in front of QB-I (LW170). Earl flew 11 ops at the controls of this aircraft. After her last combat operation with 424 Squadron on August 4th 1944, LW170 was sent away for major maintenance and engine replacements. From there she was seconded to RAF Met squadron 518 and for the next year flew long distance meteorological patrols. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815669369-7Y0Z1ONYVXNNL43GKP1S/Halifax07.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out In early summer Karl Kjarsgaard, team videographer James Blondeau of Dunrobin Castle Entertainment and Irish supporters will board the Celtic Explorer for an extended scientific expedition in the Irish Sea. Irish officials have been very interested and helpful and have granted Karl and his team a two day window during their research cruise and the use of the Celtic Explorer to find the Halifax. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815701423-GKSW9D0K1Z5UGJVBX3PZ/Halifax08.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815728429-PHO55YTSN55Y2HQ0QEE0/Halifax09.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815762016-DSU96RCB4PQROP1E4YNU/Halifax10.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815796325-41R1H48WUFD1KSUW8I5X/Halifax11.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815833543-TM2I7IBKDEA7TGXZW0NO/Halifax12.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815864485-XUMYMQ9AK4KFHZJ749BO/Halifax13.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815894067-3ASW1YWT2AEB59FQ1ZK2/Halifax14.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815930500-47FQT1ZA2S5QTOKTIKGR/Halifax15.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629815991666-4BW35N954Y719B801TQ4/Halifax16.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629816023923-G979NPZOZTJFYGTE4O6Z/Halifax17.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629816058907-3UTOP7GEZUCZ6Q6WABRH/Halifax18.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629816080897-JSBLQIPS1MXSJ15V98UU/Halifax19.jpg The Stories - FISHING FOR HALIBAGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/high-flight-fred-jones monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812691648-AJWIJI5VOBC4WG4U0KIW/Fred%27sStory_News_1.jpg The Stories - HIGH FLIGHT — A Eulogy for Fred Jones - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812829340-7QFR2K49TC7PGXIT5IVH/FredsStory_News_3New.jpg The Stories - HIGH FLIGHT — A Eulogy for Fred Jones - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/london-calling monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629809143199-9FPWZYPNCGMVP6AKXTMK/Governor1.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629811812437-JQDNLM2YERN5CZUL5UEA/Governor2.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out Operations Manager and pilot for Laurentian, Doug Pickering (left), with H.I. Witney, and the Governor at Lake Nipishish. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629811862053-N38N8PR77Y3UBVSTX2UN/Governor3.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out G.J. Lane, Divisional Manager Quebec North, the Governor, and an unidentified man in front of the Goose at Baie Comeau, Que. on July 28, 1949. Above: Map of Quebec showing tour stops. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629811949083-SDYQKSYXN8Z65NEK2RKA/Governor4.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out Doug Pickering at the Arvida Inn at the end of the Governor’s visit in 1949. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812030444-15II0MAW0DFODRJZF8BS/Governor5.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out In this shot from the early 1950s, the Laurentian Goose still sports the overall bare metal finish, but with altered markings - stripe removed, new tail lettering and logo added. The luggage tag shown here shows us a close up of the Laurentian Air Services logo on the fuselage - featuring a Waco cabin biplane overflying the distinctive hills and lakes of the Laurentian range in Quebec. Photo by Peter Keating, via Eddie Coates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812071767-09HPFIZPU1N9IT3W1UOW/Governor6.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out This photo of CF-BXR apeared in the Canadian Aviation Historical Society’s Journal in 2001. A lovely colour image. it shows her getting ready for take off in Labrador. The photo was taken by Dr. Joe Stayman, a good friend of Doug Pickering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812104043-XV8QB7KAV667LPGKCFF7/Governor7.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out By the early 60s when Michael Ody photographed BXR, she was sporting this more corporate airline livery. The photo was taken at Ottawa’s North Field 42 years ago. Photo: Michael Ody Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812130784-WVDI7YM7FRTR1G3JVYNO/Governor8.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out By 1974 our Goose had been sold to West Coast operator Trans Provincial Airlines out of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. While with TPA, she sank on October 8th, 1979, but was raised and put back into service. In 1988, she was in the service of Pattison Indsutries then back with TPA. She sank one more time while moored at a dock in Ketchikan, Alaska. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812153208-GJUXEZJF35I7D04CGKHY/Governor9.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out In 1990, the one-time Laurentian Air Services Goose was purchased by Devcon Construction out of Tualaton, Oregon and refurbished to the highest of standards. It is clear from her beautiful paint scheme and new moniker - “Summer Wind” that she is appreciated and much loved. This photo was taken at Brown Field Municipal Airport near San Diego, California in April of 2002. Photo by Tony Zeljeznjak https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629812184923-RUOKFSJF1JMVV8TLA4JZ/Governor10.jpg The Stories - LONDON CALLING - Make it stand out Back home on Canadian turf in September, 2005, she still looks in immaculate condition nearly 70 years after she was constructed. Photo at Vancouver International by Richard Sutherland https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/poignant-reminders monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629808328554-8H767BZYGIB43FM5ZPEV/Moffat01.jpg The Stories - POIGNANT REMINDERS — John Moffat and the Bismarck Engagement - Make it stand out Above: A close look at the pages from John Moffat’s log book reveal three powerful lines of simple text. In the simple matter-of-fact brevity of a fliers log, he records three missions against the German battleship Bismarck. Four words only - “Torpedo Attack on Bismarck” - but between the lines lies history, tumult, fear, heroism and sacrifice. Books, movies, games, essays, songs - all were created after the fact, but the man who made this history chose to sum it up in four words. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629808401744-XI2N05JM5C5Y8BENK25D/Moffat02.jpg The Stories - POIGNANT REMINDERS — John Moffat and the Bismarck Engagement - Make it stand out One such Swordfish pilot was Commander John Moffat. Today, like many of his generation, he is a humble but broadly smiling man with the same fire in his eyes. In the hangar display at Vintage Wings you will see a photo of him flying a Swordfish with a torpedo hanging centreline. Photo via John Moffat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629808447426-ZMVBGAAE4ZFF9RBC5QLV/Moffat03.jpg The Stories - POIGNANT REMINDERS — John Moffat and the Bismarck Engagement - Make it stand out Admiral Günther Lütjens’ Worst Nightmare. In this wonderful photo now in the Swordfish display case, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot John Moffat stands before a Blackburn Skua on the deck of a Royal Navy carrier. A simple, proud and youthful Scotsman, he would be instrumental in bringing about the destruction of the pride of the Kriegsmarine. At left we see the stern Teutonic face of Lütjens, the Chief of the German Surface fleet for which Bismarck was flagship. He, along with most of his crew, lasted a short six days on the open Atlantic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629808706190-OQR195NUCZL4G8W8FI3I/Moffat04.jpg The Stories - POIGNANT REMINDERS — John Moffat and the Bismarck Engagement - Make it stand out Swordfish torpedo bombers flying over the King George V on the morning of 27 May 1941, the day that Bismarck went to the bottom. Moffat’s historic torpedo hit was on the 26th, but he also led a flight of Swordfish from Ark Royal against Bismarck on the 27th. Ark Royal had launched twelve Swordfish in order to attack Bismarck but due to the heavy fire from the British warships stayed away. Inset: Another photo from the display of Moffat back on terra firma. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629808851471-VADRRT1K44UE0DZWH6BC/Moffat05.jpg The Stories - POIGNANT REMINDERS — John Moffat and the Bismarck Engagement - Make it stand out The Swordfish awaits her Bristol engine presently on rebuild in Great Britain. To keep her company while she waits are two display cases with artifacts from pilots who flew the type. On the left are the John Moffat memorabilia and on the right a display case with Bert Joss’ logbook. Photos: Rob Kostecka https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/queen-of-the-hurricanes monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629806993628-EOB1UBWAC66NNBMD3NMZ/news_08012008_title.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807092372-XWCWHJG9QAHA9SAGT9SR/news_08012008_1.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807130604-CC72ALU2COFZF19BQBXN/news_08012008_2.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out The prototype Fairchild Super 71, the first aircraft with an all-metal fuselage to be both designed and built in Canada. Built in Quebec, it made its first flight October 31, 1934. This particular aircraft struck a log and sank October 3, 1940. In 1978 it was retrieved by Western Canada Aviation Museum and restoration began in 1987. Powered by a 9 cylinder Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. Photo: The Fairchild Corporation via www.1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807229544-AAFDUYG73C7EZUUXJ143/news_08012008_3.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out The Fairchild Super 71P in Royal Canadian Air Force markings. This aircraft served at Rockcliffe, Borden and then Trenton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807300613-K8KQ77QA9EMKD4A46X45/news_08012008_4.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out This photograph of McAvoy Air Services’ 1938 Fairchild model 82D (CF-MAK) was taken on July 12, 1962, while moored at the Float Base tie-up in the Old Town at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Photo: The Fairchild Corporation via www.1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807331480-57EMTZIQQK1PHMSSO948/news_08012008_5.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out The beautiful if entirely ineffectual Fairchild Sekani was named after a West Coast tribe whose name means “dwellers on the rocks” - a harbinger of the project’s inability to get off the ground. The Sekani’s lines may have been promising, but it was underpowered and difficult to control. Even MacGill was guilty of a little style over substance. Only two were built. Inset: Despite its somewhat less than stellar performance, it was selected as one of 25 bushplanes featured in Jello’s Airplane Coin series of collector medallions from the 1960s. Photo: The Fairchild Corporation via www.1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807393652-JHHRIDAMOGTH2RXDPLO1/news_08012008_6.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807414015-1EOSWZPEWEHTIQZPK2UW/news_08012008_7-1.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807439220-M8A1W8JJFGRGT1OZWTVM/news_08012008_8.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807474005-9F6QDK37UHPP5ULOTW61/news_08012008_9.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807508824-CIHUIOH3RCG1XZ77HI1X/news_08012008_10.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807553166-7618M6OWZXNNW1463JKO/news_08012008_11.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807588373-0PZROI9JHBXCUCNJVCZI/news_08012008_12.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807617585-O3G1JJ63MBPBD9LH8NTV/news_08012008_13.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807678242-0MXRL1LIUQV4IMRA7U9N/news_08012008_14.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807704913-PAA9TNE5XTQOT0J6TZ7Z/news_08012008_15.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807753439-8FPYLFAKDHWF1MIDCOA3/news_08012008_16.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807788094-NH2K9KBXETD51MU96NSO/news_08012008_17.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629807911689-L9DQRP8QJBJ8VFNUL6HX/news_08012008_18.jpg The Stories - QUEEN OF THE HURRICANES — The Elsie MacGill Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/thanks-for-the-memories monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629805787492-VEY2YMP5Z4RBVH48PFOL/John-Bennett_News_1.jpg The Stories - THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629805853168-G2GX94DG8122ALS5SYAR/John-Bennett_News_2.jpg The Stories - THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - Make it stand out A formation of seven 611 Squadron Spits makes an impressive sight during the Second World War. John Bennett joined the RAF in 1939 and completed his flying training in 1941 not at a BCATP base in Canada but rather at No. 5 British Flying Training School, Riddle Field, Clewiston, Florida. Unlike BCATP schools, both Elementary (Stearmans) and Service Flying training (Vultee Valiants and Texans) were both taught to Bennett at the same facility near the shores of Lake Okeechobe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629805907665-I4HC6MF34DJNFZJHEHS1/John-Bennett_News_3.jpg The Stories - THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - Make it stand out 611 Squadron pilots and ground crew from “B” Flight pose for a group photograph at RAF Station Sumburgh, Shetland Islands where they were stationed for a time. John Bennett sits fourth from the right in the middle row. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629805968337-GL26N988S2GWRYE9D74H/John-Bennett_News_4.jpg The Stories - THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - Make it stand out Later in the war, John was with 74 (Tiger) Squadron flying in support of Allied troops as they advanced through France and Belgium. 74 Squadron “Tigers” were credited by the Canadian 4th Armoured Brigade as providing the ‘closest air support to date”! Here squadron pilots pose at an airfield in Antwerp, Belgium. John stands third from the right in the back row - sporting a nice air force moustache. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629806024747-5G4FEU3ZII4E5FHUBA79/John-Bennett_News_5.jpg The Stories - THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - Make it stand out John Bennett (left) with a flying boot full of maps, poses with four friends prior to a sortie in his Spitfire. The Spit can be seen with a 250 pound bomb on each wing and a 500 pound bomb on the centreline. 74 Squadron operated many close support and interdiction missions in this configuration but also used rockets. John chuckles when he recounts how they were never sure whether the rockets would track on target or simply just blow up on the rails. Photo: John Bennett Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-harvard-man-of-drayton-valley monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629804796465-R1IH12NT5L1WG16P0SZY/Bootsma_header.jpg The Stories - THE HARVARD MAN OF DRAYTON VALLEY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629804822476-YN87O7MYQ9KAT7Z5AHPA/news_11292007_1.jpg The Stories - THE HARVARD MAN OF DRAYTON VALLEY - Make it stand out John Bootsma cleans oil from the propeller of Harvard 294 (CF-RUQ) back in October of 1977. Photo: Western Review via Janet Sissons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629804865126-0GUD4U2CAHWBLI8R9CXK/news_11292007_2.jpg The Stories - THE HARVARD MAN OF DRAYTON VALLEY - Make it stand out John, second from top, flies a different Harvard in this 1970s formation of seven aircraft from the Western Warbirds Association with the Canadian Rockies offering a striking backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629804942196-QQLNWTFBNJRY4B1248YU/news_11292007_3.jpg The Stories - THE HARVARD MAN OF DRAYTON VALLEY - Make it stand out Old 294. John's beloved Harvard now resides at the Combat Air Museum in Topeka, Kansas. Though it now has an American registration, it still sports the same markings as it did when it was John's pride and joy. Close inspection reveals that beneath the cockpit window there is still the inscription "F/O John P. Bootsma". Photo: Shaun McGee Inset Photo: John warms the big Pratt and Whitney as he gets set to take a passenger on the ride of a lifetime back in the late 70s. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/one-crazy-spitfire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771630015-BCAMEQE7M16FO0LPS20C/C180D64A-09CB-4801-A49D-DA5541F75F45.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771713955-1P723FM8IXQJ0GNGP2MR/B4698C83-451A-4396-94D8-398A73D78FE8.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out B-4, the forward airfield at Beny-sur Mer in the heat of summer in 1944. 401 Squadron, RCAF operated from here along with other Allied fighter squadrons (412 RCAF of the same Wing is depicted) in the dust and mud. DND photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771732582-3URQI3N4A0P7L7FNTNJ5/B4EAC8FF-8475-4A88-A872-EABF0F9FC9E1.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Canadian W/C George Keefer (in helmet and F/L at the time)) was a much decorated ace of the Second World War. One “skit” for which he gained respect if not a decoration was his rescue of South African Air Force pilot John Lane from the North African desert floor. Lane had been shot down and had fired a flare to gain the attention of passing Hurricanes. Keefer saw the flare, landed and both men squeezed into the cockpit of Keefer’s Hurricane and made their get away. Here the two reenact the event for the photographer. Photo: www.acesofww2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771776907-VPBB25VW09R3VOIWKGV7/99034759-5B97-4DFB-ADA6-12FF6F3E7777.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Squadron Leader (at the time) George Keefer (Right) shows off a pair of German Shepherd pups with fellow Squadron Leader Ian Ormston at RAF Tangmere in the months leading up to the invasion of Normandy. Both men are wearing the distinctive blue and white diagonally striped ribbon of the Distinguished Flying Cross beneath their wings. Photo via Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771796928-HH7QWVEUZ2S3RYKLJQGQ/740E88C8-91AA-427A-8155-7336B22CB071.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out 401 Squadron Spitfire on European soil awaits the scramble call. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771816897-YCVAOVPANPLQ8A63Y3FW/77606424-428A-4B69-87BA-833A5E292DA2.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Lorne “Boss” Cameron cuts a dashing figure standing next to his Spitfire. Photo via Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629771842750-KIBPCRZ1INK2CBR0AAQI/833FECA9-C17D-4922-ACC3-7F15465874CE.jpeg The Stories - ONE CRAZY SPITFIRE - Make it stand out 401 Squadron commander S/L Lorne Cameron (Centre) is flanked by his two Flight Lieutenants - F/L Dick Stayner (left) B Flight and F/L (Later S/L) Jack Sheppard (Right) of A Flight. Photo taken at RAF Tangmere prior to the Normandy Invasion. Photo via Bill McRae https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/youve-got-mail monthly 0.5 2023-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765064219-A6DP8NSSL82IODXROQF3/StinsonTitle.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765173664-LDQQN7RHTZMM0K8FBCAS/Stinson9.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out In 1918, Katherine Stinson, sitting in her Curtiss Special, receives the mail (259 letters) from Calgary postmaster George King, accompanied by the manager of the Calgary Industrial Exhibition, Ernest Richardson, at right. Archive photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765633735-MUUDV90ZHV26AS7G8K38/Stinson8.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out 90 years later, Pilot Audrey Kahovec hands the vintage mailbag with 259 commemorative covers to Canada Post representative Teresa Williams. At centre is Mark Bamford, representing Edmonton Northlands, successor to the Edmonton Exhibition Association. . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765677346-2214WXTPOAPFY11SW4BH/Stinson2.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out The Curtiss Special on the McDowell farm near Calgary, after making a forced landing on the first attempt to deliver the mail to Edmonton. Katherine Stinson is seated in the cockpit. The man with his back to the camera could be J.Q. Lane. The woman holding the upper wing might be Grace McDowell. Photo supplied by Alan Spiller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765730028-SHP9KK5KVEKL9508GCNX/Stinson3.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Well-known Canadian aviation artist, Jim Bruce, painted the Curtiss Special in flight on July 9, 1918 as Katherine Stinson followed the CPR railway tracks to Edmonton to deliver the first air mail in western Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765798092-HNHDVPYHHLX4HSA5FIUB/Stinson5.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Gerry Blacklock works at fitting ignition leads on the Curtiss liquid cooled V-8 engine, an OX model which cranked out 100 horsepower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765823467-2XISF8ZE4RXHMNW7Y7X5/Stinson7.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Left to right, Roy Miller, Jim Fearn and Lindsay Deeprose unpack rare original Curtiss OX engine parts to complete the valve assembly. A search on the internet discovered the components. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765855979-MPJBNS35G8YXRADKGIPL/Stinson12.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out The basic control panel, with magneto switch, oil pressure gauge, tachometer – and a vanity compartment with a mirrored cover so Katherine Stinson could check her appearance before alighting from the aircraft when she made her exhibition flights. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765902317-6008DJDGOJ560R2VVYBR/Stinson4.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Construction stage, showing extensive use of wood in building the aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765937678-0NR2YL9CFN3KNGK9V0KA/Stinson13.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Roll-out at last! On July 9, 2006, names of four volunteers who helped build the world’s only replica of the Curtiss Special were drawn from a hat for the privilege of pushing out the aircraft. Note the spinning propeller, operated by a 24-volt electric motor hidden in the engine block. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629765986949-WPM3AML25ZDY5SBSSHGQ/Stinson10.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out With re-enactment pilot Audrey Kahovec at the controls, the Curtiss Special replica is introduced to a large and appreciative crowd as it makes its official debut at the Alberta Aviation Museum. To see a one-minute movie of the roll-out of the Curtiss Special on July 9, 2006, check the internet at http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WEl6RNFNzco. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629766023461-RSDOOLBTIITY979RR2F8/Stinson14.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Re-enactment pilot Audrey Kahovec tries out the vintage leather coat while historian Tony Cashman visits the project in the museum’s huge shop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629766060553-99HFPZHQNNF8DMVWSN8Y/Stinson11.jpg The Stories - YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special - Make it stand out Adventure was written all over her face in this portrait by aviation artist, Jim Bruce. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/me-and-the-b monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629763949366-H589HX5XHHOPL33ITUJN/me_b_1.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764450225-6X2EYDFNAVA9T55VB4YP/me_b_3.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764490922-3DLOP4HW3NKFJQNQ9MOO/me_b_4.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764545571-UMMJJD0HSBJ4QQF4BLCY/me_b_5.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764605653-I1DJ8LJB9IMP0F3FK9CK/me_b_6.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764674403-UMIVWJK9DDUDZXV8XU3R/me_b_7.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764734112-5JZQQIRFH4FCE9NBDLSP/me_b_8.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629764798823-MDIDMMJI4E9139RFX0A4/me_b_9.jpg The Stories - ME AND THE “B” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-bitter-struggle monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629758338756-VA20U0Y3CN99CUYF5S8U/pappydunn1.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762303565-R4JMPK4D51RQFZNFI9NW/pappydunn2.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Recon fighter pilots constantly risked disaster flying low over enemy-held territory - from flak, small arms fire and of course German fighters. Here “Pappy” Dunn stands next to his Mustang – with a huge, gaping hole in the fin caused by flak - a testament to the dangers. Photo via Tom Dunn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762338041-MIUBOV50CMP8Y9SAZULW/pappydunn3.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Recon fighter pilots constantly risked disaster flying low over enemy-held territory - from flak, small arms fire and of course German fighters. Here “Pappy” Dunn stands next to his Mustang – with a huge, gaping hole in the fin caused by flak - a testament to the dangers. Photo via Tom Dunn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762377099-YBEKKXYOA74YLTBVWMNS/pappydunn4.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762419757-L8G5JRO55BIT2Y0A7IK7/pappydunn5.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Though not a 430 Squadron photo, this image illustrates how, on the eve of D-Day, Allied ground crew hastily applied “Invasion Stripes” to their participating aircraft. The stripes were designed to assist pilots and ground forces alike to quickly identify friend from foe in the chaos of war. This 411 Squadron Spitfire is being painted at Tangmere, Sussex by LAC Ken Applesby at the fuselage and LAC Stan Rivers on the wing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762491551-DKLMWT5YARSAP397EO6U/pappydunn6.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629762551608-PRN8EWHHE7UIKAVA6PR7/pappydunn7.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629763363355-TX5602MV9EOAN5DARD9P/pappydunn8.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629763382965-1FY5VVPNBGI4TRQKVKRA/pappydunn9.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629763503794-4R93F5YO8KM6RFVX0QY4/a318769267126e0c6fe6f1461bd1f755.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629763531281-IEGRPNLHJA1O9NDJ5QSC/pappydunn11.jpg The Stories - A BITTER STRUGGLE — The Pappy Dunn Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bert-houle monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754649584-8Y8N3XW05SCC5N634BT4/news_06262008_title.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754705019-2YCFMWIPI7OCWXB5SKZM/news_06262008_1.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Bert (right) and his brothers Tim (left) and Eloie strike a proud and somewhat intimidating pose at the family’s Massey, Ontario farm in 1935. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754731900-MQ6WAVOZ0OEGD0VCV7QT/news_06262008_2.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out After the Battle of Britain the previous summer, the 1941 Royal Air Force had an aura of the aristocratic elite. Into this milieu of the “Few”, came a man from the far side of the universe - hard handed, hard working and afraid of no one. Here a 17 year old Bert Houle (Left) stands with his brothers (Eloie, Linton and Lionel (Tim)) and a farm hand (second from right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754806016-OV70ZXMBMEXWDI5H4YJ7/news_06262008_3.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out A 55 OTU Hurricane. Bert Houle would become a formidable foe flying the Hawker Hurricane in the North African Campaign. On one day alone, 6 pilots of Bert’s squadron were shot down. Being ready the next day to face these odds is testament to men like Bert who were willing to strap in and go to work. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754843741-JWJCUE1TIWJ0TDI2S7GB/news_06262008_4.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Bert Houle (no need to tell you which pilot he is) stands in the hot North African desert with fellow Canadian pilots of 213 Squadron. Though he is now part of the Royal Air Force’s history, Bert Houle was always a Canuck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757328618-BEJH96B4PY32JQB7MZNN/news_06262008_5.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out A four-plane formation of 417 Squadron “Trops” - Spitfire Vs modified for tropical or desert warfare with the Vokes air intakes under their chins. Designed to filter sand from the airflow, they extended the life of the Merlin engine but in fact decreased airflow and power, not to mention ruined the beautiful lines of the world’s most beautiful fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757368701-VEDKH71K13393V51VHQA/news_06262008_6.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out After the Desert campaign, Houle took his 417 Squadron to fight the Germans in Italy. By this time they would be flying the higher performing Spitfire VIII. This 417 Spit was photographed at 417’s base in Venafro, Italy in April of 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757410349-VPMUQRTXSNCT09H4LDDT/news_06262008_7.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Bert Houle humours an official RCAF photographer posing with his Spitfire after a dogfight in Italy.On close inspection, one notes that there is a 20mm cannon shell hole on his rearview mirror. During the action, Houle narrowly missed death as the bullet passed inches over his head from behind and through the mirror. At that point, there was no need of a mirror to tell Houle there was a German fighter behind him - so no loss. The age showing on the 30 year-old’s face speaks to the stresses of command and fighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757451322-ZZ1FM0CQNSWV3VPK7G4X/news_06262008_8.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out To see film footage of Houle's Massey Ontario homecoming, visit "The Story of a Hero" on Youtube. This wonderful tribute to Bert and his life was created by young Thomas Houle, a grade school boy and a distant cousin of Houle's son Craig. Houl'e inspration continues far beyond his squadron and even his own life-well-led. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757503239-LOFR3XKHLR6A7U66WUKQ/news_06262008_8b.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out 91-year-old Bert Houle at the controls of the Vintage Wings Spitfire - still with the pugnacious set of the jaw. One gets the feeling that he is still humouring the photographer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757543520-HF9SRL5I8YD1WJXFNP8I/news_06262008_9.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757591250-D8XWGQJ2KS3AQ6O9VXFE/news_06262008_10.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757618472-YO6M52WYMGF1N4JW8YMZ/news_06262008_13.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757651084-CVOL3G6Q1IDKZQYKW0B7/news_06262008_14.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757691861-M98FOYM35DRWMCNNKD3D/news_06262008_14b.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757718029-1GWN4PD1RRJH9QVED5BM/news_06262008_15.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757757845-TF09E9PDYM415PO2ZITX/news_06262008_16.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757783847-GXP8MHTCD9QQHZI8YX0J/news_06262008_17.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629757918136-ZF45CUQP9UO5500C834B/news_06262008_18.jpg The Stories - SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-grace-of-god monthly 0.5 2021-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754239736-BJ4TNKIHJV9ZQW1F8QSY/GraceTitle.jpg The Stories - THE GRACE OF GOD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754276331-PQP83NI3DP1LBU9J4PCE/1084680_1.jpg The Stories - THE GRACE OF GOD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629754306438-GXWMRT2726MLWY62AKV7/Grace1.jpg The Stories - THE GRACE OF GOD - Make it stand out Invasion Stripes, or as Bill McRae and his squadron mates liked to call them, “Wasp Wings” are applied to a 126 Wing Spitfire by 411 Squadron erks LAC Ken Applesby and LAC Stan Rivers at RAF Tangmere on exactly June 5th 1942. This, the day before D-Day, is the same day and same place where McRae saw his replacement Spitfire being painted. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/well-give-all-we-know monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752693293-3I5YPNFXQXNL5TOMWS9N/FraserTitle.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752879575-U3LDVNSVP53HMXDR981N/Fraser1.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out When Moe Fraser graduated from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, he received high praise from the commanding officer. Many students figured such praise would make them a shoo-in for fighters and action in Europe. Instead it was a ticket to Flying Instructors School. Throughout Moe’s career as a flying instructor, he always held out hope that he woud be transferred to operational duties - it never happened. Log book entry via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752934519-0LHOU16EG2MUA3BM15QY/Fraser12.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Two of the souvenirs from Moe Fraser’s days as a flight instructor; the well- preserved leather helmet has zippered earpieces for a gosport tube. The gosport was a voice tube which allowed instructors to communicate with their students. The book Dat H’Ampire H’Air Train Plan was a light-hearted explanation of the BCATP that was published during the war. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753022367-FPO5TR74LELTX4PDQ7PA/Fraser13.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Alexander "Zander" Fraser, proudly wears his grandfather's wartime leather flying helmet as he sits in the Tiger Moth. During the war, Moe Fraser, Zander's grandfather spent thousands of hours instructing in Tiger Moths, Harvards and Cornells. Photo: Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753060642-DLEY14K0ZPG9GVFJWHCP/Fraser2.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Freshly created AC2s - Aircraftsmen Second Class (Acey-Deucies) fresh from manning depot in Toronto. A serious Moe Fraser is standing at right. Photo via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753111828-TBE9M196BDOL8B6L35KB/Fraser3.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Moe Fraser’s life long enthusiasm for flying is clearly evident in his smiling face as he taxies his Fleet Finch during his Elementary Flying Training. Starting right here, Moe would go on to amass a stunning 36,000 hours of flying time in a long career - a total that very very few aviators can claim. 36,000 hours equates to more than 4 years aloft - a breathtaking tribute to his skill and luck. Photo: via Cameron Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753155938-1E9UB5UQ4CJJ58U413T6/Fraser4.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Moe’s Initial Training School class at Avenue Road in Toronto. Moe is standing in the back row - 6th from right. One can sense the pride these young boys and men have in wearing their new RCAF uniforms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753191471-ZKCGZ2B8TCO52AER5SNI/Fraser6.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Moe Fraser photographs another Harvard from the front seat during Service Flying Training over the Southern Ontario landscape in winter. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753220713-KKF9QRTSRTAVMRJ9SPTI/Fraser7.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Harvards and Yales festoon the ramp at Camp Borden while families of newly winged graduates take their seats for the Wings Ceremony - taken perhaps from the control tower’s balcony. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753250575-MY3S312IZXUDY0UPEMNX/Fraser8.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Sitting in the cockpit of another Yale, Moe Fraser shot this photograph of Yale X9 3416 at Camp Borden’s No 1 Service Flying Training School. In the background stand maintenance and instructional buildings. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753277723-4VPYM8U5SSWDMXAG4KYV/Fraser9.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Though Moe Fraser may have longed for operational flying against the enemy, there were plenty of ways to get hurt as a student at No 1 Service Flying Training School. Here a student has tipped Yale 3424 over on to her nose on the icy runway at Camp Borden. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753392959-NVAIXE78DHBYQDJ1CTRV/Fraser10.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out In this photo taken by Moe Fraser, North American Yale No. 3360 warms up on a frigid Canadian day at No. 1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden, Ontario. The bare metal finish on this example was employed early on and included a yellow dorsal patch (visible here as black) just behind the cockpit as well as on the wings - this is the result of the use of orth-chromatic film which causes certain colours such as yellow to appear darker than they are. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753460078-YCCD8FQ0ZJ6CE3DPC1G4/Fraser11.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out A colour shot of a Yale of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario for the purpose of understanding just how the Yale in the previous photo looked in service. The Borden Yale would have been bare metal whereas this example is painted silver to simulate the polished aluminum. Photo: Hongyin Huo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753510137-IQ18VX6WUT6USCIX5IDZ/Fraser5.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out The two pages from one of Moe Fraser’s many logbooks where he has transcribed a poem or perhaps a song called Flying Instructors’ Lament. Moe was bitterly disappointed that his exceptional skills were not put to the use he wanted. Instead, they were put to the best use possible - teaching hundreds of pilots. His contribution to the war effort is inestimable and Vintage Wings of Canada humbly thanks Moe and his fellow instructors for what they did - and the very clear sacrifices they made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629753666888-EVIXHMFVQSOTN5QK5K7I/Zander.jpg The Stories - WE’LL GIVE ALL WE KNOW - Make it stand out Postscript. On the same day that this article was published, we received a photograph of Moe Fraser's grandson Alexander "Zander" Fraser who had just joined up and received his new Air Cadet uniform. Moe's son Cameron stated that his son was inspired in part by his visit to Vintage Wings of Canada where the story of his grandfather's career came alive. With a little Photoshop work, we can draw a straight line from Moe to Cameron to Zander. At Vintage Wings we have three goals - to educate, to commemorate and to Inspire. It is indeed a "perfect storm" when we can achieve all three in the course of presenting Moe's story. Photo: Cameron Fraser https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/goodbye-charlie monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751930890-0UR5KVZZO6N1DURMH0KH/CharleyTitle.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE CHARLIE — the Tragic Loss of a Canadian Hero - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752040449-KBID1Q6IR597NAF0YG8C/Charley3.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE CHARLIE — the Tragic Loss of a Canadian Hero - Make it stand out Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Der Wustenfuchs (Desert Fox), was given the task of defending the coast of France against Allied invasion and ultimately to throw them back into the sea when they invaded. His presence on the Normandy front was important to the morale of German fighting men. Then on July 17th 1944, the Desert Fox ran into the Flying Fox . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752075541-4066DKMSPL52TK65NMJV/Charley4.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE CHARLIE — the Tragic Loss of a Canadian Hero - Make it stand out This painting titled "Rommel Under Attack" by Lance Russwurm depicts Charley Fox beginning his straffing run on Erwin Rommel's staff car in France. It is available as a limited edition signed print (co-signed by Charley Fox) at http://www.spitcrazy.com/russwurmart.htm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629752146293-FDG7LZRT0MPWV34JLYQO/Charley2.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE CHARLIE — the Tragic Loss of a Canadian Hero - Make it stand out Charley always took a great picture, but none more poignant or more handsome than this superb portrait by Della Rollins taken just a few weeks ago during the Battle of Britain memorial flypast at the Canada Aviation Museum. Charley watches as Spitfires, Hurricanes and a Lancaster thunder overhead. As a Spitfire pilot, Charley had the good fortune to hear and feel the spirit of a live Spitfire right to the end. Photo Della Rollins https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sons-of-men monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750793736-RW1DWELDBTFUVDH5MKKZ/Sons+of+MenTitle.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750924414-JC4VMG8JUG4V4HQAXKFX/Sons+of+Men2.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751039544-EOTMO6PU6PAF1QJZJ3DK/Sons+of+Men3.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751105640-7NT1OTT4886PQXANCLUG/Sons+of+Men4.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Lieutenant Elmer T. Olson poses for his official squadron photograph sitting in the cockpit of a 12 TRS Mustang somewhere in Europe in the winter of 1944. Elmer’s is the classic story of the American heartland hero of the Second World War. Born to strong Scandanvian roots in Minnesota, he was a working man from a factory town, who, put down his tools, picked up a gun, joined the fight he didn’t start nor want and defeated the Master Race, saving the world from chaos and darkness. His, like his wingman Kenny’s, is the quintessential tale of the Greatest Generation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751130959-49PZ7S431YZVSIB7NTXH/Sons+of+Men5.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Elmer was born and grew up in Grand Meadow, Minnesota out on the windswept and icy plain of the heartland along the Iowa border. When Elmer Olson was born, there were only 1,200 hardy souls in Grand Meadow. Today there are less than 1,000. Back then, a young buck growing up in this small town knew all the beautiful girls in town by name. Elmer knew Virginia from childhood, dated her after high school in 1936 and married her in the hot summer of 1941. Six months later, the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor and their lives changed rapidly. Elmer enlisted in the US Army in the fall of 1942 and was selected for pilot training. He wandered throughout the South during his pilot training - Souther Field in Americus, Georgia; Craig Field in Selma, Alabama; Thompsonville, Georgia and finally Key Field, Mississippi for advanced reconnaissance fighter training. Up until the mid 1990s, Key Field was still the home of a tactical reconnaissance fighter squadron - the 186th TRS of the Mississippi Air National Guard. In the photo above, Elmer squats on the wing of his personal P-51 D Mustang “Ginny” which he named for his wife Virginia. He returned safely to Ginny’s arms in 1945. For a while he continued assembling sewing machines in Rockford, Illinois, then became an insurance salesman. By the late 1950s he was tired of the life of a salesman and took a job as a milkman. He worked from 3 AM in the morning until 2 PM and then went golfing. He was happy. Like so many of the veterans of that period, American and Canadian, Elmer’s fight for the liberation of Europe at the controls of the most exotic fighting machine of the day, lies in stark contrast to the peaceful, loving life he would lead afterwards. From fighter pilot to milkman. From Nurnberg to Rockford. From conquerer to golfer. From life to death and back to life. We all give thanks this Thanksgiving to men like Elmer and his wingman Ed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751167755-1E8KIDFCJEVHGCSTSP1H/Sons+of+Men6.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out “Poor old Ginny-Ann” states Olson’s photo album caption. Elmer’s personal Mustang "Ginny” sits forelornly atop jacks after a belly landing at an Allied airfield. Her distinctive P-51 belly scoop had been sheared off. Landing accidents were common in these dangerous times. His wingman Ed Kenny damaged another Mustang (s/n 42-103358) in a landing accident in St Dizier, France in November, 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751193719-YZKWK2RES8WAWOZJAD3N/Sons+of+Men8.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Elmer Olson, stands atop a hangar in Furth, Germany just after VE day. Employing his best recon skills, honed from months of fighting, he scans the horizon for the greatest friend of American servicemen anywhere - Bob Hope. Along with Bob Hope came comedian and trombone playing Jerry Cologna whose handlebar mustache was almost as iconic as Hope’s nose. Elmer, Ed and the boys of the 12th had a little surprise in store for Hope and Cologna upon their arrival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751462963-VDTT60WU52MJLXI8TN52/Sons+of+Men7.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Bob Hope and Jerry Cologna stand by to do a mock champagne launch of their freshly painted name-sake Mustang (S/N 42-103613) named Shovelnose and Handlebar in honour of the 10th PRG’s superstar guests. The aircraft honoured with this paint scheme was none other than Lt. Edward Kenny’s aircraft. As memorable as this moment was for men like Olson and Kenny, it was also the same for Hope who wrote about it in his 1945 book So This is Peace. In it he wrote: "From Darmstadt we went to Furth, and did an hour or so of stuff for the HQ men of the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, a P-51 Mustang fighter squadron [sic]. The first thing I saw when I landed was a Mustang with me and Shovelsnoot [sic] painted across the nose. My attorneys are still trying to contact the pilot, Lt. E. J. Kenny. I'd have dealt with him myself, but he was a pretty big guy and I wanted to see Berlin with both eyes." The nose art of Shovelnose and Handlebar was so unique, that it is still available as a model-makers decal today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751496124-FNF40X8KLOOYB9TC13WT/Sons+of+Men9.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Olson (right) and Lt Miner of the 12th pose with a USAAF Spitfire IX. During the summer of 1943 the 12th TACR pilots were on Detached Service with the Royal Air Force flying combat missions over Europe. In January 1944, the 12th was attached to the Ninth Air Force and began flying the Spitfire Mark Vs. This photo however, must be from later judging by the snow on the ground and the fact that Olson arrived in theatre after D-Day. Just prior to D-Day the 12th as part of the 67th Tactical Photo Reconnaissance Group received a Presendential Ciation for the reconnaisance photo missions of the Normandy landing sites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751521113-8HHBWOGARPKZKPY4QQG1/Sons+of+Men8.5.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out A 12th TRS, 10 PRG Mustang overflies a captured airfield in Germany after the war. In the foreground, the hulk of a P-38 Lightning rests at the edge of the airfiled with 4 P-51 Mustangs on the flight line in the middle ground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751543464-50KEDVXFRJGONUP6GRZ9/Sons+of+Men10.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Judgement at Nurnberg. One of Elmer’s squadron mates in the 12th, Lt. R. K. Marple, shot this overhead of none other than Nurnberg’s Zepplinfeld Stadium where Hitler, Goebbels, Speer, Himmler and Hess and their army of robots, henchmen, thugs and brainwashed lined up to celebrate the ensuing darkness they would bring down on the world. Now instead of the rows of automatons, there are the rows of Allied ambulances, jeeps and half-tracks while bomb craters show the harvest of misery they reaped. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751577503-21GI032F4HQW39EL8VOH/Sons+of+Men11.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out This was the scene just 6 years before Marple’s photo was taken. The Master Race and its military might, theatrical threats, faux legends, oaths of evil intent - beaten back at great cost, but beaten back none the less - by a sewing machine factory worker from Minnesota - and many thousands like him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751604385-23UFJQ5ZB103QC8DGMGL/Sons+of+Men12.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Pilots and officers of the 12th TRS at the end of the war. Kenny and Olson sit in the middle of the second row. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751636667-0E3P6XNIKLCF05015D46/Sons+of+Men13.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out The milk men, the ticket agents and the shoe salesmen line up proudly in May 1945 after having defeated the so-called Master Race. They came from all across America, learned the craft of war, shared hardship and danger, friendship and loss, and then returned to lives of extraordinary compassion and simplicity. But for a time, they were the most powerful men on earth. Elmer Olson is 6th from the left in the front row. Ed Kenny is second from the left in the back row. The 12th, along with the 15th and 162nd TAC Recon Squadrons made up the 10th Photo Recon Group. This group was critical to Patton's Third Army advances across Europe. As an indication of their value to Patton, part way through the war they were ordered to not attack anything unless they were attacked first. The photos, visual reconnaissance, identifying high value targets, and providing artillary targetting were so important to the Third Army, they didn't want to risk losing any of the pilots or planes. As an example, Edward Kenny received the Distinguished Flying Cross for a mission where he located an enemy railyard near Halle, Germany, and stayed over the target under heavy anti-aircraft fire, while directing allied attacks until the target was completely destroyed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629751716996-W2ADNFD13QNJLRDD7LEQ/Sons+of+Men14.jpg The Stories - SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story - Make it stand out Homeward bound, newly-promoted Captain Elmer Olson (3rd from left) leans against the rusting side of a troopship, anxious to see his beloved Ginny again. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/but-sir monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748103072-T20NJ2T2Z5D4M7ZH1ZV7/ButSirTitle2.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748213672-SFF7MYUUZJ7IHCLUTT3M/But+Sir16.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Just before leaving on a 1954 West Coast tour via the Panama Canal, HMCS Magnificent, her aircraft and her crew turn out for review as she is pushed out from the HMC Dockyard quay in Halifax. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748254754-2GTE5YDKNMTZQ2FFCIJI/ButSir2.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out A Sikorsky H04S "Angel" of HU-21 Squadron, RCN gets ready to lift off the aft flight deck of HMCS Magnificent, while astern, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Micmac stands as plane guard. Inset: The squadron badge of HU-21 and HS-50 which operated the same type helo in the anti-submarine role. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum, Patch: JF Chalifoux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748311071-5D99DNPYGS3K71FM2YZ3/ButSir4.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out A deck rating holds a blade strap on a Sikorsky "Horse" aboard HMCS Magnificent, prior to Bill Ewing's arrival aboard in 1956 when he was asked to paint huge numerals on its nose and flanks. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748384625-NQSUVX6M18I7ZEN3A30I/ButSir14.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Flight deck crews relax, read, smoke and catch some rays outside the shadow of Magnificent's island superstructure. The men in the red shirts are members of the "Rescue" team. Magnificent's crash barrier lies flat on her deck in the foreground. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748441217-N2GW48LN66F3UVHDP2XN/ButSir6.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Grumman Avenger aircraft of VS 880 Squadron, including a "Guppy" radar conversion, run up their engines before a launch. This shot was taken by the author during the Spring Carribean tour of 1956. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748474441-WGI9YDR92FBP2XDOPTRM/Butir12.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out The Magnificent dockside at a US Navy base on Trinidad, the Canadian ensign fluttering on her bow flag-staff and 880 Squadron "Guppies" at the leading edge. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748544599-H15AJMG1RKSKJQA38XDG/ButSir5.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out The elegantly simple shape of HMCS Magnificent's flight deck can be seen clear of all aircraft save for a couple at the bow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748573534-44VYB3XUNEBFXGM7S292/ButSir8.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Royal Canadian Navy ensign snapping in the breeze, 10 Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft run their engines on Magnificent's flight deck in readiness for a launch. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748636762-UBIJL2NJOPLUXBDFASGK/But+Sir15.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Grumman Avengers line up for their turn at the catapult on HMCS Magnificent. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748690249-V6MUIGGHHH6H8NHOZK0E/ButSir13.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Royal Canadian Navy ratings stand at the ready to unhook this warming Sikorsky from its lashings and remove its chocks. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748721142-VXHU47LIHA3DVPYMUCLN/ButSir7.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out A Magnificent Horse lands in a field in the Dominican Republic to do some blade tracking without the floor rolling and pitching beneath them. ID numbers, painted on by Ewing, were at this time black with a yellow outline. Photo: William Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629748754152-JCN0RANKNTD518J2JIHC/ButSir19.jpg The Stories - BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE! - Make it stand out Three "Horses" of HS-50 with their final "Ewing" numerals clatter together across the Shearwater airfield. Photo: Shearwater Aviation Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/now-i-have-vintage-wings monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750293537-AUKQVYOXYUWC1NQ01Z2O/BertTitle.jpg The Stories - “NOW I HAVE VINTAGE WINGS” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750358417-7Q46ASYZ7UI8IDGOIY52/Bert2.jpg The Stories - “NOW I HAVE VINTAGE WINGS” - Make it stand out On 16 October, 1944, Bert Joss suffered a forced landing, Swordfish HS487 being a write-off. Bert and his crew suffered no serious injuries, but the Swordfish was a write-off. Photo: Bert Joss https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750404244-H3FCSSPWDYAG6AM19QJG/Bert3.jpg The Stories - “NOW I HAVE VINTAGE WINGS” - Make it stand out Bert suffered more than one crash landing. On 28 January 1945, HS486, a Swordfish piloted by Bert crash landed in Nova Scotia - the result of an incorrectly assembled fuel-cock. Bert’s own recollection tells how it happened - “When I selected “normal” I was actually running on “gravity” and in due course drained the gravity tank. We were fairly low over trees at the time and I had no choice but to pancake into the forest. Unfortunately, we landed on top of a tall dead tree that I couldn’t see, and the aircraft was rolled up into a ball. I received a broken left ankle and right thigh, the joyrider behind me a cracked hip, but the poor student, who didn’t even know we were crashing, wasn’t injured, perhaps due to his rearward-facing seat. Some loggers from a nearby camp got us out of the aircraft minutes after the crash.” Bert suffered a life long injury that forced him to walk with a cane until the day he died. Here we see the remains of Bert’s Swordfish still visible on the forest floor where it impacted - stripped and vandalized by souvenir hunters, but still a testament to the risks men like Bert took every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629750438800-0GMALFKAU6TQLO4HX0VV/Bert4.jpg The Stories - “NOW I HAVE VINTAGE WINGS” - Make it stand out Bert Joss shared his knowledge and stories at our Open house events, coming all the way from Montreal to attend. His wartime injuries forced him to take a seat in a wheelchair for his presentations - underlining the sacrifices he made but always played down. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/roundel-round-up-bb9n2-se4jw monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629669229531-TKRQY3CW9B946FCX7IAI/56136E2A-9303-41FA-B8DE-A9A6504FB211.jpeg The Stories - “HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629669284934-13H85U1NFHB5BH7AZMDY/C604188F-59FD-4D6A-AA1E-5B99722B068D.jpeg The Stories - “HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS - Make it stand out Hap Kennedy was the epitome of the Second World War fighter pilot. With matinée-star good looks, exceptional shooting and flying skills, good luck and a friendly disposition, Kennedy was much loved by his fellow fighter pilots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629669315080-SFG0AKYE0KEZ37U83L87/C97A01CC-60FD-4F29-B015-FF809F43CF26.jpeg The Stories - “HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629669359614-WOHM4LFMDYCHXKC4PEON/9C52E672-EC1B-4C40-AAC0-FA627A0B95D2.jpeg The Stories - “HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629669395638-KROF814J38634DHJYA50/C5EF9542-7F38-46C3-9875-9727D7A60D33.jpeg The Stories - “HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS - Make it stand out The dashing Hap Kennedy (left) with fellow Spitfire pilot Steve Randall on Malta. For more on Hap's significant contribution to the air war visit Hap Kennedy. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-link-to-victory monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666487692-TC0M9061QJMIF1KF754S/83039E2A-9152-4FA3-B66A-B68F2D91B762.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666537882-IF2HX7TI72BBMJY1ZX5Q/D04C72D3-EB5B-4631-9664-921093DCEDCB.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out A hand-coloured Link Company illustration of the Link Trainer set-up. The same illustration appears in black and white in the Link advertisement below. Illustration from Taylor Family archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666576705-1DIXV4K43OOAVLWEVFNU/E1A81126-168D-43C7-BFC8-560EA042D1B1.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out An advertisement for Link Trainers explains the obvious and far reaching benefit of simulated flight over real flight - economics. The Link Trainer was in fact the first true flight simulator - the progenitor of the super-sophisticated full motion simulators of today. In fact the Link Company still lives on today as a division of the multinational L-3 Communications and continues to manufacture simulators. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666733394-F8G5E4JH3KKQHHGY2O4K/080DEF2D-F7F4-4026-83BD-A69C67D509C0.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out While an operator looks on, a pilot trainee "dives" his Link Trainer. Many Link trainers survive around the world today. In Canada, a fully functioning Link Trainer exists at the Canadian Harvard Association facility at Tilsonburg, Ontario and several examples live on at museums across the country. Of the more than 10,000 Link Trainers built by Link, half were built in Gananoque by the St. Lawrence River. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666789809-K3VLHLXQR6W5WQGVB00J/417DA068-C1C3-4829-86CD-AB5BB412E9A8.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out The "flight" in the Link trainer was handled, directed and analyzed by an operator sitting at a station removed slightly from the "flying" part of the trainer. The course and ability of the pilot trainee to follow instructions was plotted on a chart on the table while the operator communicated with the hooded student via intercom. This lovely Link Trainer Operator guides the pilot at Naval Air Station St. Louis during the war. USAAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666858265-3QJDW8XSVQVY00BSO2PP/520FC039-A2F8-4364-9DE6-711BBA7FCFC0.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Edwin Link, aviator and entrepreneur, and a drawing of his Gananoque factory - courtesy of the Arthur Child Heritage Museum in Gananoque and the Taylor Family Archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666887996-TM7CVM4HNHFJ0D15JZFK/DD34C452-3818-495D-96E8-1D19176F6CE9.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Today, the Link Plant on the banks of the Gananoque River near its confluence with the St. Lawrence lies abandoned, an empty vessel filled with echoes of history. Half of the more than 10,000 Link Trainers built for the Allies were built in this relatively small facility. In the United States alone, more than 500,000 pilots (before and after the war) were trained using simulators created and built by Link, but the end of the war put an end to the Gananoque Link Plant. Photo by Denis Legacey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666980292-T6J7KTX62M2N68MTCTHP/BE36BE6C-603C-4121-82FD-CE685206186E.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Taking his Challenger Ultralight aloft for a photo session, photographer Ian Coristine captured this image of Gananoque about ten years ago. The Link Plant sits on the banks of the smaller Gananoque River just to the right of the bridge. Photo by Ian Coristine 1000islandsphotoart.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629667012939-VX9K1FUQ6OO25UVOH3DY/9BAD711D-D77B-4CCB-93D0-C137B397CE1E.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Looking from the north side of Gananoque out across the breathtaking beauty of the Thousand Islands region to the state of New York in the distance. The Link Plant can be seen below and to the right of the bridge. For more spectacular images of this remarkable region known as the Thousand Islands visit Ian Coristine's website. Photo by Ian Coristine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629667494145-QYYIGI9TI7CJR0YAFBEV/8CD01101-368E-4395-8FE0-7D05F9836753.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out The Link Trainer facility at pilot training schools was an important part of any prospective aviator's schooling. This Link room at No. 19 Elementary Flying Training School, Virden, Manitoba is typical of the many EFTS and SFTS facilities right across the country with four trainers and operator stations. More than likely, these three trainers came off the assembly line in Gananoque. Photo by Nicholas Morant, DND/NAC PA-140658 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629667522088-B1Q12STSAXG033ZLZ23A/6D761A7F-4B6C-48C3-902F-3497083A359E.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Part of the Link display at the Arthur Child Heritage Museum in Gananoque featuring a Pilot Maker trainer. Photo Denis Legace https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629667546812-V2WEE0Z4VI701HQ4JD46/A1FE5620-F2B1-43D0-8342-C866851310DA.jpeg The Stories - A LINK TO VICTORY - Make it stand out Most Link trainers, many of which were manufactured in the Binghampton, New York factory, were blue with yellow wings and empennage, mimicking the standard trainer colour scheme of the United States Army Air Force in the prewar years. Even those delivered from the Gananoque plant had this scheme. This one has a distinctive RAF look to it. Later in the war, and due to shortages in materials, the wings were left off all together as well as the functioning ailerons and empennage. Photo by Grahame Higgs https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-tears-and-the-silence monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665697385-88CREE2PVPWYPJVHJCRG/10E9FCD3-3620-4FC2-B858-FF7487A3890E.jpeg The Stories - THE TEARS AND THE SILENCE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665796310-9Z2RVEFH8YC9285HSNBN/DE8C93CC-31CA-4374-A651-4E9DFDB7351F.jpeg The Stories - THE TEARS AND THE SILENCE - Make it stand out The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lancaster (Honouring Andrew Mynarski) leads the Vintage Wings Kittyhawk (honouring Stocky Edwards), the 6 Squadron Hurricane IV, the Corsair (honouring Robert Hampton Gray) and the 442 Squadron Mustang. The five-ship thunders east over forested Quebec countryside. Photo: Peter Handley, Photoship pilot Ulrich Bollinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665759970-CNHYP0ONAIR7JFD4KOC5/05F71AE6-69F8-47CC-845E-3E4FC1411D7B.jpeg The Stories - THE TEARS AND THE SILENCE - Make it stand out Now over open farmland and heading west, the group continues in the hold. Flying the Kittyhawk was Dave Hadfiled, the Hurricane was piloted by Rob Erdos, the Corsair was flown by Paul Kissmann while the Mustang was flown by John Aitken Photo: Peter Handley, Photoship pilot Ulrich Bollinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665826875-NE6YFY3Y78HUVDZHAHXE/E67DDB6B-595C-4107-BD99-072ADEE94823.jpeg The Stories - THE TEARS AND THE SILENCE - Make it stand out With the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in sight at lower right, the group continues in a holding pattern while, on the ground, speeches are made and veterans stand for inspection. It was the perfect day for the flight and to look around, but the four fighter pilots had eyes for their reference points only. Photo: Peter Handley, Photoship pilot Ulrich Bollinger https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/requiem-for-a-wing-man monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666155439-6ZWI6LH306FWR67K9N5Z/17DD423B-73CD-422A-8679-13937D664C41.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out Bill McRae carried this photo of himself on his person on the day described herein. Called an "escape photo", pilots operating deep over enemy-held territory were required to have a portrait photo in civilian clothing to provide to resistance fighters. This photo would then be used in phony transit documents. Just how Scottish-born and Canadian raised McRae would fool German authorities into believing he was a Frenchman is not known. Photo Bill McRae https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666210099-MPLONVQBK3NPEOO413N3/F8D278CE-4B05-4941-AF6F-36C57F14AA3A.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out Bill McRae (third from right) and six of his Portage La Prairie EFTS buddies are about to board a train at the town of Fort William (Now Thunder Bay), bound for southern Ontario, the war and, for five of the seven, their deaths in combat. It is the winter of 1940-41 and the day is sharp and clear. There is much bravado on the faces of these boys, but Bill's face displays that humility and gentleness he exhibited to the day he died. In Bill's hand, we see a camera with which he would record many of the faces and events of his journey through hell. With his photos and logbooks, Bill would later be able to recall events and friends with great clarity and write vignettes of life among the warriors. Along with Bill, the only other pilot to survive the war was Omer Levesque (far left) who would go on the become a fighter ace and, in Korea, become the first Canadian to shoot down an enemy aircraft in jet-to-jet combat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666229719-IWKVT3PMQCDR6M5EAHN2/B3D4C999-A3AB-44FF-91B2-46BB7903D067.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out A wonderful photo of Bill and a clipped wing Spitfire Vb taken in England in the winter of 1943-44 - possibly RAF Staplehurst or Redhill. None of the stress and hardship that he was going through at the time appears on his fresh, happy and handsome face. Photo via Marilynn Best (née McRae) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666260883-9Q1ZY20JLGXSQ27MZT4N/76C16E40-13C1-4677-8139-7DDB22000CDC.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out 8 for 8. Eight 401 Squadron pilots pose for a celebratory photo on the nose of a Spitfire on July 27th, 1944, the day after Hap Kennedy was shot down. The eight together (including McRae in the "fore and aft" cap - 4th from left) were responsible for eight enemy aircraft being shot down that day - seven Bf-109s and one FW-190. Photo via Marilynn Best (née McRae) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666284830-VPPOLPJ7WFZFCP8KTJ3T/208DE827-A5BA-423B-9854-F3F5D9B23458.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out Wingmen. In 2007, Vintage Wings of Canada hosted an open house event at our hangar and were delighted when Stocky Edwards (Left) and his wingman Thomas Hoare (right) joined Hap Kennedy (with cane) and his wingman - our beloved Bill McRae for a bit of hangar flying. Photo via Carolyn Leslie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666313499-8W2G5WPLQ88D0DYOSQXJ/106EFADC-7CDA-479A-9804-E302448881F4.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out Before he mustered out Bill had one last interesting set of adventures in the RCAF which included the mapping of the Canadian wilderness and later learning that he had a lake named after him - McRae Lake. During his time in the North, he flew the Noordyn Norseman with fellow Spitfire pilot Bill Carr (photo recon Spits). Carr would go on to be one of the most influential airmen of the post war period and is widely considered to be the father of the modern Canadian Air Force. Lieutenant General William Carr was in attendance at McRae's funeral last week and had these thoughts about his old friend: "I, unfortunately, seem to be attending more funerals of old buddies as time marches on. Yesterday's tribute to Bill McRae, however, was one of the most thorough and appropriate I've attended. The obvious respect and love for the man dominated not just the uniquely sincere and positive eulogies but also the whole atmosphere. This impression was reinforced by Padre Hewitt's so well chosen and delivered words. I left the service saddened, but glad also, to have known Bill and have had the opportunity to work closely with him and tell war stories too, so many years ago. In closing, Bill and I each have a lake named after us in the NWT and with a smile, he subtly reminded me a couple of times his lake was bigger than mine! And, along with all of his many other talents, he had a great sense of humor, laced with modesty and taste." In helping to organize this ceremony, your professional skills showed through, but in applying those skills there was much evidence of personal admiration and respect for the honoree. Thanks from we old sweats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629666328283-58I2ZVMNTOS6YO9YSZCP/B47FB056-AA89-4927-BC63-E298909E9D86.jpeg The Stories - REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/gray-ghost monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664793812-QSP9RX3H9XOFJ4IYUA77/2DEC55CA-CB58-48E4-BA32-E4846672D24E.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664854890-ZZXG63O4G26R0VAZ7WZM/07B26B07-8A1F-4897-A8B3-2C0DA86A2536.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out The annual parade and memorial service for the Battle of the Atlantic is organized by the members of the White Ensign Naval Association and local branch of the Canadian Legion, the Canadian equivalent of the American Veterans of Foreign Wars/VFW. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664882515-24MR2095CRIVKUZ4BK1Q/B60FC0B3-B95E-4CE2-8F39-AF7F84215ABB.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Veterans, cadets, serving members, and Legionnaires march each year down Main Street of Almonte Ontario on their way to lay wreathes in the Mississippi River (another one) and at the Almonte memorial to the fallen of both World Wars. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664914741-LUC825OL1H5HSZPBMV3V/97322EA1-0EE8-4AAF-B6FE-E17E0EBA11EC.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Amidst the skirl of the pipes and the rattle of the drums, the parade marches down Main Street. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664933139-JGLU6UM1GHQP7Z2JU1K2/EA36B6DC-7088-4C47-8EEE-05CFE851EFE8.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Veterans needing a lift ride the parade route on the author's Willys Jeep driven by another dedicated volunteer. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664953852-Q6R1CVEVMUTYPP3FTSBA/6CEC71C2-969B-4D15-A4EE-76830D94F904.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Called "The Volunteer", the cenotaph monument was constructed in the memory of the men of Almonte who fell for freedom. The Memorial was requested by the widow of Lt. Alex Rosamond and was a likeness of her late husband, based on photos. The finished work by Dr. R. Tait Mackenzie, looked so much like her late husband that she had it changed. Mrs Rosamond also left $1000.00 for its upkeep. The Memorial was redone in 1967. Lt. Alex Rosamond was killed in action at Courcelette on Sept. 15, 1916. The Volunteer was dedicated on Sept.11, 1923. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629664990742-Y2TP83ZE5J2MFQ7FWAUY/B360A04E-3D7B-436E-9C76-2F589B9A1485.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Wreathes, laid by veterans and dignitaries wrap the spectacular memorial in honour and sadness. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665016456-GJBMU4EZFEIBD27ZNXRH/68E270B5-7C15-442F-A48D-B4615685376C.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Veterans line up for inspection. Each year, the line up becomes shorter. Time is running out to honour these men while they can still attend the ceremony. The small town of Almonte puts together a ceremony of great dignity - one that far outsizes those of communities ten times their size. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665036626-70AJO7886ZJXJJ91EOKN/DD039BCF-598C-4022-B6E2-95A1B22B26FA.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out There is sadness to be read on the faces of the men assembled, each with their own thoughts. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665072915-W28N4U9VKUTYUS0DJX5K/711DECFD-805E-45CE-96CD-415DA599E5FE.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out But there is also the great joy that comes with comrades being together again. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665093664-YO7H4QT8SBGR4E3WR598/1799A08B-D29A-4ECC-8B31-C380A20C76A4.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Veterans salute the fallen. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665125483-11DD4AF1U7RN0IA3391Q/BA5C1B07-AE70-42F5-9E42-BC007688DF72.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out The author, centre, addresses the parade and the hundreds who came out to share the ceremony with our veterans. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665161956-Z2IR99M4MAT7P2PBM8IM/100A8F7E-3DDF-4ED1-8059-CE60DE06F73D.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out A wreath is placed in the fast flowing waters of the Mississippi River which runs through the town and past City Hall - a wreath for each Canadian ship lost during World War Two. A long line of wreathes followed the currents on their way down stream. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665189078-2DPP7XS7KT3INMVJGJVG/0515E172-6F79-437E-B785-C2132D097FC5.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out The author (left) chats respectfully with one of the many naval veterans in attendance. Photo: via Shannon Gray https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665215914-WQQAWKQ3YX8FGCUVNRYG/DACB0698-7892-47C2-BBE8-B3B883C2EBFD.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out As the ceremony came to an end, a sound was heard overhead - Michael Potter and the Robert Hampton Gray Corsair thundering out of the broken clouds while below, the parade still stood in the rain. Photo: via Shannon Gray https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665248721-D6UPLG9DZ50UHV1D4FIR/F7FEB543-020F-4C35-B0EB-16961178342C.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Despite their military training, the veterans could not help but crane their necks to follow the flight of the Corsair in and out of the sun and rain. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665269524-9DDLWN5F8NYTPPQ7IVNP/1D6A7A4B-FF91-4CC1-ACF7-3AF54D63EF6F.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out The look on this veteran's face describes the emotions that welled from the crowd as Potter passed overhead. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629665292461-NBRO99JTFI3OODYHAZ6H/0AF5E8CA-0F9F-4346-99AA-D590E03930CE.jpeg The Stories - THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart - Make it stand out Overhead, Potter makes his second pass. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/red-tails monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659648409-L30RNDQ1LWPOHCEHVIYU/7E7F6FA1-6429-4E86-8024-72C8EA1CD12B.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659698788-F43RWVJKIUODN8RH8AHW/B613C5D1-967C-42FC-8BA2-09945469435C.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out There is no doubt that the author has been intrigued by the Red Tail story for a long time, as witnessed by his collection of artifacts and books on the subject. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659733528-G60BZP4SO8QCFEGOVMTE/717ABF0D-6261-48B4-9206-6E8EAAA0E4FC.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Taken at the 2010 Thunder Over Michigan Airshow, this Alabama National Air Guard F-16C Falcon has it’s tail painted to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659774672-9KXMU2WNCK1NZRCYP6P5/5BB06B7F-1AC2-44E8-915F-DCE9BBB4D4BA.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out This newspaper article of the day extols the skills and readiness of a new kind of warrior. (author's collection) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659839066-7FLZDNVMO3GVZD66D25C/7F64F893-5CA9-41B5-B455-0E96E8FA5D49.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Contact! Leaning from the cockpit of the Vintage Wings Mustang, Eugene Richardson warms up the crowd with a little pilot humour. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659864999-TC6H1CP02C74J0S2M8WO/58E0D171-7E2B-4166-B085-D12377A6A97E.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Ever the educator, Dr. Eugene Richardson explains the function of the rudimentary air speed indicator on the Vintage Wings Tiger Moth to United States Embassy staffers who escorted him to the hangar. After the war, Richardson went to college and earned a doctorate in education. He became a high school principal and now as a retired educator tours the U.S. (and Canada) speaking about and teaching the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659900481-S4JD1W19UHYJFVF0QRVR/BD9F5506-8DC2-4740-A52E-2C91658F0D9A.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out The look on Dr. Richardson's face says it all. It was his first time in a Sabre and he was as excited about it as the 18-year old Richardson who joined other black aviators in Tuskegee must have been. Though already transitioned to the mighty P-47 "Jug" and the Warhawk, the war ended before Eugene was sent overseas. Happy not to have to kill and to be killed, Eugene was de-mobilized and sent home - he was still just 21 years old. Eugene's experiences inspired a generation of African Americans including his own son, Eugene Richardson III, who became a fighter pilot and an airline executive. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659946861-6E6FGX8D6TB0PV7K5U5R/CE34FCA7-8E37-4AE6-8D11-DDCDCA3375B0.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out The CAF’s P-51C has been finished as a Red Tail Mustang to commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659993087-00NMVYV8QCFSSRISK64M/B1CB2ACB-D3D7-4D2B-9155-FD682FD14B2E.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Lead pilot Doug Rozendaal in the Red Tail P-51C makes his slow approach. Photo: Michel Coté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629659969278-VMBELPLAQRU2W6QLUWP7/6050DB52-2714-458E-8BD8-C62CC77E6595.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660030444-MRZG2QXTPJ2HKG4YNZYE/137A9531-EB4A-4822-A465-2088587A8984.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out The CAF Mustangs show their attractive lines in the skies over Geneseo farmland. The P-51C is flown by Doug Rozendaal; The other CAF P-51D Mustang known as Red Nose is piloted by John “Skipper” Hyle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660057933-T06GGBRPL93U3S421PJ0/9860030D-98EB-4650-BDE9-536C8FA6B4D7.jpeg The Stories - REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen - Make it stand out Mustang Ballet! The two CAF Mustangs over Conesus Lake near Geneseo, NY. Photo: Michel Coté https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bravery-in-bronze monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660594369-GASOWYJNQBY4ZECJKT4Z/B9CCD8E0-7B6B-4532-90CC-88CE41717CFA.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660654161-JF9N9R1SW8SI9HGPLSGW/CC3852FE-BFA5-4F2E-9A86-02AA644E1ECF.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out An original architect's sketch from Donald Isnall Associates of the proposed design for the memorial, with the Clock Tower (Big Ben) of the Palace of Westminster in the background. The roundel is made of different tones of paving stone, a subtle feature that was not noticed during my visit. Image via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660689157-LT41NEH7LQCKNXB4TS6K/5B2108FE-9930-45FD-8C76-4D91F2EDF85E.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The site of the Battle of Britain London Monument prior to its construction - along the banks of the Thames close to Whitehall, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge - the very heart of the great city. Image via The Battle of Britain London Monument} https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660740187-7969GZCQEBNGN8TR3YLZ/A564D603-2BDB-47DC-87CB-BC6881858DB2.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out A similar view as the previous architects' sketch shows us the proximity of the monument to the Thames Victoria Embankment. The Monument is surrounded by the names of all 2,936 British and Allied airmen who have been awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp - for flying at least one authorized sortie during the Battle. 544 of these men would die in the Battle and by end of war, a further 795 would perish in other battles. Nearly half would make the supreme sacrifice for freedom. The names are divided by nationality so that one can read those of all 112 Canadian participants. Image via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660772000-Q9FA2967KPXW3HWWO5EX/BA8EBF97-0515-4258-B2D9-54E0FEA869CB.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The central panel of the Battle of Britain London Monument depicts the iconic image of the "Scramble". Paul Day explains: "It is the very symbol of the Battle. In this case, the pilots surge off the wall, out of their picture and onto the pavement, into our world, a reminder to say that these men really did exist and do those incredible things". Photo by Andrew Brent, Over40Something at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660819316-HTXCVF3LAG9QP8RZ07G4/2827A3D7-8317-4E04-A5D0-55227C4CE091.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Zooming a little closer to the action we see the youth and even fear on the faces of the young men rushing to their Hurricanes and Spitfires. The detail, emotion and richness of Day's work bring these bronze figures to life and draw the viewer back in time. Photo by Marnie Reaney, Marz Photography at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660845993-X76GVG1N4TOT88D7PKXR/1A5F5C03-6CEE-492A-8E13-DD6062C41DE8.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Closer still and we can feel the airmen pounding across the grass, hear their heavy breathing, the clinking of their equipment and sense their throats dry with fear. Photo by Paul Jackson, Art Naphro at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660888629-WUP3C4YZDYGA1PA3FO1K/A87D2411-78F8-4901-8305-B5D586DFCD29.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out A side view shows us that the Scramble scene fairly leaps out of the monument onto the street. Photo by John Gaches, superhoopoes at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660943538-IMW5OB619AT8WSMD95YB/28EE292A-E481-4E91-967F-BEC2D97389AB.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out A close up of one of the Scramble figures reveals the bold strokes of Day's work. The gifted sculptor has captured that sharp and handsome cut men under the stress of war always seem to have. Photo by Leo Reynolds at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629660981108-9I7EIW6H9IFN4A907MXF/9C7A4FB3-C746-4E1E-8872-899E9DC04305.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The panel known as "Large Pilot's Head and Plotters" may have a rather un-dramatic name, but it is one of extraordinary power and action - one of the most dramatic in the Monument. Here we see his clay original at the artist's studio in France. The breathtaking depth that Day is able to achieve is remarkable. The lenses of the pilot's goggles even have the reflections of the Spitfire's cockpit canopy rails. Paul Day explains his intent: "Depicting an air battle in painting or sculpture is not easy to do. Aviation painting has adopted the point of view of a fixed lens attached to the wing of an observation aircraft maintained at a safe distance from the action to serve the needs of composition. The image is generally taken at a thousandth of a second and completely freezes the action. I adopted the view that air combat took place above all in the cockpit and in the eye of the combatant, that it was fast and somewhat blurred. It is as much about the psychological intensity etched into the pilot's brow as the superb ellipses described by a Spitfire trying to avoid a pursuing Me109. In this case, with the huge pilot's head, I wanted to put us in touch with the flesh and blood behind the machine, though in some way, the flesh and blood and the machine are one. A young face can look old when enduring excessive physical danger and intense concentration. This I hope is the case with this pilot who is surrounded by speed, smoke and tracer fire. He is not alone, however. His moves are being followed; his frantic speech passes directly from the air into the ears of the young girls at the plotting tables who will him on to victory and home to safety, who may even share his last moments of agony." Photo via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661014322-T7OAQKBD9JKLCMRJJXVN/1B533AC3-28AB-4FF4-8E24-C59E68676C95.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out A close -up of the Mechanics and Riggers panel of the monument. Day has included all aspects of the Battle of Britain - both the combatants and the non-combatants. Day explains "None praise the work of the ground crews more highly than the pilots themselves, whose very lives depended on the vigilance and efficiency of their RAF colleagues. Their tasks were more repetitive, their heroism less glamorous than that of the pilots, but they shared amply in the danger and took as many risks. From bombing raids to machine gun sweeps by enemy fighters, the ground crews faced battle at the sharp end. Here the armourers wrestle with bullet belts whilst arming Hurricanes." Photo by Marnie Reaney, Lens Envy at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661045901-G4QGQX1H1MO6RJ1FX0F9/B727A2D3-ED2B-41C3-B416-A758B2BAED69.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Before the Luftwaffe made landfall over England, they were spotted by a combination of radar technology and the Mark I Eyeball. Paul Day explains "Scattered around the coast and inland, the 30,000 strong Observer Corps ceaselessly scoured the air to intercept, visually and orally, enemy raiders. After RDF (Radio Direction Finder), they were the next line of defence and crucial for the relaying of information back to Uxbridge." Photo by Leo Reynolds at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661623723-BCYT8RTCSNSAZO184DQU/12D17112-8571-43C8-B4E1-491834D3F409.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out After the fight, there was the inevitable flying with hands, the bold and boisterous talk of young men who have fought and returned safe - only to do it all again. This panel was titled "Tales from the Mess" by Paul Day and he explains his intentions: "Young, inexperienced pilots drank in the commentaries of their battle hardy counterparts. Knowledge gained this way was as necessary to their survival as the initial flying course. I imagine that it was camaraderie and a sense of the Squadron spirit that gave those young men the strength to face death and injury on a more or less permanent basis. Having read a great many pilot's memoirs, I am still amazed at how easily death came through accident and inexperience: an uncaged artificial horizon or undercarriage raised during landings, navigational error and unchecked propeller pitch." Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661655352-MLVXJ70V55JF4BMYIB2Q/9DB781B0-E7CE-4E26-ADB2-3CD1B346F2C9.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Rest was hard to find for pilots and ground crew during the battle. "Waiting for the signal to be brought to readiness or to scramble allowed the pilots much needed time to rest. The backdrop of the Channel [and the White Cliffs of Dover] is a reminder as to where many pilots were to end up finding a place of permanent rest." writes Paul Day. Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661702716-ST4A9U79N7AOLWZ9QGMV/62B3F897-E8F4-4FE1-B7DB-F854A71D7D3C.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The second major wall of the the Monument features again the pilots at the very centre of the Battle. Photo by Andrew Brent, Over40Something at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661753271-GSJI9EGE7R5B4A10V4AO/F8100E26-034C-4A3E-9AE4-642CC2408524.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The artist's original clay sculpture of the central panel of the second wall - in his studio on France. The panel, entitled "Dogfight" depicts a pilot under attack by a German fighter pilot. The action is breathtaking! It's best explained by the artist himself: "In my mind, pilots have to be at the centre of this Monument on both sides. Their lives are at its heart. As I wrote earlier, I have chosen to portray a pilot's eye view of air combat and not that of the aviation painter. In any case, skies in relief sculpture are not the easiest of subjects to make work. I have put the head of a Messerschmitt pilot onto the shoulder of an RAF one to try and create the sense of a duel being fought out by two knights of the air, in close proximity and to the death. The "Hun in the Sun" has the advantage but as their aircraft fly past behind them, the Spitfire has managed to slip onto the tail of the Me109 and has caught it with tracer fire. The pilots on both sides had a healthy respect one for the other. Likewise, in this work, I am in admiration of all the young men who took part." Photo via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661814364-K30NTM93ZD9LOQW9LQ4Q/FA8FB25D-EB81-4328-972C-322B12C05841.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The Spitfire pilot with the Messerschmitt pilot on his tail - note the reflection of the Spitfire's canopy in the goggle lenses of the RAF pilot. Photo by Nick Raymond, somadjinn at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661852914-YEMGZVT55JL7DWGPVA07/F36C93E2-B2DB-4184-926F-2FB415823B1D.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out A close-up shot of the fighter pilot's face while under attack reveals the stunning depth, richness and even and "colour" Paul Day manages to wrest from bronze. Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661899272-85B4IHI2MV2TZ4IGGMB1/B22CDC29-D052-4F54-BCB3-C1E8306AF4FA.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out When viewed from close or from afar, this is one powerful story told in bronze. The nearest panel shows a German Dornier dropping a bomb while gunners take action and worried citizens scan the sky, watching the massive battle for their freedom in the bright summer skies. Photo by Andrew Brent, Over40Something at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629661978955-XE9UWG8AFTVJRSD6WC9K/08AC9445-8D58-4338-B7A9-5F49BE1D4CA9.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Women factory workers lend a strong arm to the production of fighter aircraft for the Battle - the artists original clay master at his studio. Photo via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662019474-K8V90AAZERH3FALS6G5O/8D0730C0-DA21-47DE-A702-58AAB891ED1A.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The panel called "The Gunners" (left) meshes seamlessly with "Women Power". Day points out that the war was a liberation for women - "... this War wrote a major chapter in the evolution of Society's attitude to women in the work place. The woman worker's role did not stop at the aircraft and munitions factory gates. Women ferry pilots also flew the aircraft from the factory to the airfield. This is not political correctness, just interesting, historical fact." Note the gunner blowing a cheeky kiss to the "bird" working at the Vickers Supermarine factory assembling the unmistakable form of a Spitfire's wing. At the left of "Women Power", ladies sit at work benches assembling components for the war effort. Photo by John Gaches, superhoopoes at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662071395-KAT4PJIDVBFWY8XDAZQ4/CFAEE7C3-8E80-4829-A9C3-2F6A63BF258F.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The "Kiss" - the beauty of Paul Day' s stunning allegorical work is that there are hidden images and layer upon layer of detail. Looking at these two, I can sense the "cheek" of the young gunner and feel the blush on the cheeks of the factory girl. Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662115950-CQGP5A1BQHBSO8ALVJML/D078CBDD-E049-488C-B982-4A6125869E25.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The famous photograph of St Paul's still standing amid the smoke and flames of London during the Blitz was used by both the English and the Germans for propaganda purposes - the Germans used it to show their people how close London was to total destruction, and the English used it to show resolve. Paul Day explains how he used this iconic image in his monument: St Paul's became the symbol of resistance during the Blitz having remained standing while all around was demolished. The famous photo collage of the Cathedral inspired this sequence. Although, not part of the Battle of Britain as such, the Blitz was the direct result of Dowding's successful strategy to save the RAF and keep fighters in the air at all costs. German attack passed from airfields and factories to almost any other legitimate and less legitimate target. Photo by John Gaches, superhoopoes at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662154385-RYWUVXTDUCZWAGE0WORZ/207E7205-A017-460C-8BC7-438012D97305.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out While below the gunners lay down a box barrage and citizens watch in terror, a Dornier bomber drops a bomb on the City of London. Photo by Nick Raymond, somadjinn at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662190460-E8PCG1A589FW87MKIV4I/7C8B0123-FB56-42A2-A48D-A3B79A6804B0.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The Gunners Panel. With great skill, Day has made us feel the concussion and thunder of the anti-aircraft guns, and the shouts of the sergeant as he directs fire. Day tells us of his vision: The threat appears in the form of aerial bombardment. At first only the RAF installations were targeted. Delusions of a clean war remained intact, that is before civilian casualty statistics started to rocket. The gunners pass shells from one to the other before ultimately being discharged into the sky. Before researching the Monument I had no idea how anti aircraft shells worked, that the art was in choosing the correctly timed fuse as well as in careful aim. In the kiss blown between the gunner and a factory girl I want to remind us that this action did not take place in some sort of heroic bubble but in a world of human feeling and frailty. Time, in removing events and their witnesses from us, seems to filter out most of what is common in human experience, making it seem distant and unreal. Anecdotal humour can perhaps remedy slightly this distortion of time. Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662238495-ZE55U9PJPBPR6QLI6WRT/DAC17F6C-9757-4D1C-8CC5-6B9153B82B56.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Searching the Ruins Panel. Clearly, the Battle of Britain London monument glorifies nothing, but lays down an honest account of what Englanders endured - death, horror, and stress. The sheer depth of perspective of this panel is breathtaking. The artists explains: "I think one of the most troubling aspects of the Battle was the bombing of heavily populated areas using inaccurate means and the subsequent horrors that befell certain cities. The suddenness of loss through bombardment is dramatically portrayed in Guy Weston's film version, "The Battle of Britain" (1968). That people could wake up the morning after a bombardment and find their home blown away is terrifying. Of course some weren't to wake up at all. This scene is in homage to the rescue services and a reminder that, although the British people were tried by fire, the Nation was never to be put through occupation and the trauma that entailed. In any case, had we lost this battle, the war in the West would have been definitively lost, and probably the War. Photo via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662281081-KBOQACVK6ISOIL57HLJW/8AC38658-D2E9-4225-A2C7-087B6415A714.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The shock on the warden's face, the anger and determination in the eyes of the rescue worker over the warden's shoulder, the depth of the perspective - all combine to make this one of my favourite panels in the entire monument. Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662316888-4SZPEUOOJLWS2KAAUIWI/5182ED48-5D7C-471A-876E-D81D63FB1FC2.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Right next to the horrific panel of Londoners picking through the rubble, sits a panel of exceeding peace - almost Madonna and Child-like. Paul Day calls this panel the "Brew Up": Making tea in an Anderson shelter is not an act of great heroism, more one of defiance. I like this as an image of the British spirit of 1940, like the home guard with broom handles and bicycles, the removal of signposts to confound the enemy, the collection of saucepans to make fighters, and so on and so on, a tin dug-out at the bottom of the suburban garden offering shelter to a whole family against 1000 pounders; derisory means on the face of it but cultivating that immensely powerful spirit of resistance so essential to the Nation's survival. Photo via The Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662363453-0JTMLTJ3XMOTIJKK99JB/BDF75B9A-D341-4E5F-B981-88C057455214.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out The Slit Trench Panel as explained by the artist: "There are some superb archive photographs of Kentish hop pickers watching from the shelter of slit trenches the air battle raging overhead. The expression on many faces seems, at this early stage of the War at least, to be one of curiosity and fascination. The real nature of the threat had not yet become apparent. Images of London's children sheltering in the same way reveal their amusement at seeing dots racing around the skies. Not exactly what I imagine when thinking of the frontline of a war and yet this was it in Britain in 1940. The contrast between civilian normality and a pilot's life at angels twenty was very marked." Photo by Victius at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629662398038-E05U8G87GMWXPHNFVQ35/53AA618B-9D71-42EE-BD66-7FFB9D84F99E.jpeg The Stories - BRAVERY IN BRONZE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-thundering-heart monthly 0.5 2022-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647582916-LOPYPVPD95VI54VBBOV3/CC98A9A9-E158-4149-ACCA-009A726635F3.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Hart Finley leans against the port wing of a 403 Squadron Spitfire. Inset: Hart Finley as a fledgling LAC in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. Photos: Finley Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647648072-ZG5MXSF5HB1C47GXSCGZ/14C6DC6A-EABB-4E5B-82D1-549C4BF92803.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Hart Finley (right) and fellow student pilots at No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School, Windsor Mills, Québec pose with Fleet Finch on the day of their first solos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647673508-U0TFM5HP7ZCLMGTVU2L5/66DAB327-6AAE-4B72-A48C-62698160A125.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Pilot Blake Reid inspects the engine of the Vintage Wings of Canada Fleet Finch—RCAF Serial No. 4462. This Finch served at Windsor Mills at the time that Finley was there. A quick scan of Finley’s logbooks revealed that he had flown this very aircraft a number of times. This year, we will be dedicating the Finch in honour of Hart Finley. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647717198-9RGM8510TJ6NRPOE8U0V/0475F3E6-751D-42BD-8D29-4D1A158F6099.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out The VW Fleet Finch has undergone extensive restoration this winter and will emerge shortly with new markings—those she wore when Hart Finley first flew her. Photo: Vanessa Lefaivre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647805700-F37XRXHBQTGA4D101OMX/52CF102A-E691-423B-A6EE-1E558C243B91.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A newly-winged and baby-faced pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Finley’s first assignment, much to his consternation and frustration, was as a flying instructor at the same school he just got his wings at. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647845522-55HUYIGVYZU7PF4X58AW/027A8F4B-B9DA-48FC-8086-7F131535F431.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out During a second assignment as a flying instructor—this time at Ottawa’s No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands—Hart Finley would play football for the Ottawa RCAF, a team that almost made it to the Grey Cup that year. They lost to the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes (seen here) who would go on to beat the Winnipeg RCAF at Varsity Stadium for the 30th Grey Cup in 1942. It is clear that the war had great impact on the makeup of football teams with all the eligible players joining the services. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647870733-LYCIO37YILR0O5FSU51D/1D7DB88C-68D6-44CF-8787-DC712DE13A15.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Hart Finley at his Typhoon OTU standing in front of a Typhoon. Hart Finley was a big man, so one gets an idea of the massive stature of the big attack fighter. Many will think “If this was 1942, how come there are D-Day invasion stripes on this aircraft?” The early Typhoons had a set of stripes that were three black and two white. (An earlier use of black and white bands was on the Hawker Typhoon and early production Hawker Tempest Mark Vs. The aircraft had a similar profile to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and the bands were added to aid identification in combat. The order was promulgated on 5 December 1942. At first they were applied by unit ground crews, but they were soon being painted on at the factory; four 12-inch-wide (300 mm) black stripes separated by three 24-inch (610 mm) white, underwing from the wing roots.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647924401-KEGFLVTEGHPU5TSMBB45/2074FCA5-3859-4509-8A8C-FF23785DF905.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A young Hart Finley (right) with some OTU pilots sitting atop the wing of a Typhoon in the summer of 1943. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647949853-R445OY6EU2E5NHDL29YE/35A26C60-7D02-45F0-8B07-25E01DCF4306.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out In September of 1943, 403 Squadron, including the newly-joined Hart Finley (right, in turtleneck sweater) inspect a Sherman tank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647975741-FDKOGZ6JYCH0FGZJEW39/A75A70E2-546F-489D-B69D-5CF5D8255CA3.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A dashingly casual Hart Finley next to a 403 Wolf Squadron Spitfire in a rare nighttime photo. Compare the height of the Spitfire wing above ground to the photo of Hart with the Typhoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647997138-TUK7278PD30WUK6SLQXT/D16ED7FD-4A24-4B0D-8CB9-45E7C6B7CE1E.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Army and Air Force pilots take instruction on the rudiments of flying the wooden Hotspur glider, which looked like a Mosquito without the engines. 403 and 401 Squadron pilots trained to fly or to tow these aircraft into the battle zone carrying their squadron maintenance personnel. Little can be found on the internet and in writing about this period, save what pilots like Finley and the late Bill McRae have written about. If anyone has an image of a Spitfire towing a Hotspur, we would love to see it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648023563-28PBIU2TP8VK2ZRJ7WOG/06FACEB0-C12E-4B50-B3C1-B730041BFE4D.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A Hotspur pilot lifts off an airfield in England... perhaps towed by a Spitfire? Ground crew on their way to France would sit huddled in the narrow fuselage designed only for personnel transport. Thankfully, they didn't have to experience this “experiment”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648061618-MB3EZPRQ4E7GDHRQD7OQ/3DB6935D-69EC-4B20-8C98-DDDFD64AC490.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A Spitfire XXI similar to those test-flown by Hart Finley during his non-combat tour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648087251-0CJE33YZ90BFLSAUIUVR/6177D23B-5D6F-4688-8919-85EE9CAFD2BF.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A pair of Spitfires of No. 443 Squadron, 127 Wing RCAF, beat up the airfield over the squadron’s flying control unit at Petit-Brogel, Belgium, March 1945. Photo via the fabulous spitfiresite.com website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648113633-F4PSSCH2MTF45WYMLSFX/472969D0-6944-4DB6-891B-EA1933036141.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Prior to a test flight, we see Hart Finley at the controls of an RCAF marked Focke-Wulf Fw 90 at Soltau, Germany at the end of the war. The aircraft bears the JFE markings of James Francis “Stocky” Edwards who was visiting Finley at the time. The size of the German fighter is evident here, being considerably larger than the Spitfire Hart usually flew. Having flown against the type many times in combat, Finley relished the opportunity to understand what he had been up against. Both pilots felt that the Spitfire was superior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648144281-BDQ7SF0ZG85ENU6L6SC0/492F8B20-BDBC-4ADD-B5D1-C6617739845B.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Hart Finley (left) stands with other crew members from the Royal Tour of 1959 in front of the grey and gold Department of Transport Vickers Viscount CF-GXK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648167040-XPWVBL0RT2BJ7HSXPTCY/5C09A37E-299E-4FE3-BC0D-A3E796798BF0.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Finley accumulated many hours on the beautiful Vickers Viscount CF-GXK of Canada’s VIP flight, seen here in August of 1972 at Ottawa International Airport. Photo: Steve Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648200887-QXCRW1HSMFVX2OECJ079/509DBA09-EA78-45BD-866E-2D055C5D7FE6.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out While Finley retired after a life of service to his country, he contributed to his community and remained a vibrant character until the end of his days. Not so, his beautiful Department of Transport Viscount, which became the efficient-sounding Transport Canada Viscount with a much less elegant paint scheme. It languished at Ottawa airport for a while before being stripped, cut up, used and burned as a fire training fuselage in the early 1980s. Photo: David Bland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648229268-1NOJXI62Y2RDMKHPGMTI/97D5F129-D560-4DF8-8025-766336A329D4.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out Finley greets Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker prior to boarding the Department of Transport VIP Vickers Viscount. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648253692-CM6F4ZAZKUDJZ3I0R1BY/40AC7D0F-4720-4930-B60A-217E765CD669.jpeg The Stories - A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story - Make it stand out A career, which started on the little yellow Fleet Finches of Windsor Mills, ended with the Lockheed JetStar, the muscle car of business jets. Photo: Howard Chaloner https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-legendary-swordfish monthly 0.5 2021-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579021383-9RI857GO1H13DJYHJ2FX/191F69D1-9FCC-4FFB-81AA-40BF75DDC5F4.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579051766-0C3QBX2PG8A5EZ516LHT/D63345C4-816A-4ED1-8C9E-05FF048A1BB0.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out A foursome of well-used Royal Navy Fairey Swordfish line up for the camera and for Vintage Wings of Canada's graphic designer – for this photo was the inspiration for the Swordfish Dedication graphic at the beginning of this story. With this image, one gets a real appreciation for the risks and hardships connected with being a Swordfish aviator - sitting in the open cockpit over a rainy and miserable North Atlantic, behind a thundering engine and over a high-explosive torpedo – with nothing between you and a mountain of anti-aircraft guns called the Bismarck except a gas tank, hot engine oil and less than a millimetre of fabric. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579072843-05MQG7U97WOLZBXRZ23T/BAC06D0E-4C6B-4872-AFA0-578849AE5AE7.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out The 'Fish drops a fish. A Royal Navy Swordfish practices dropping a single massive 1,670 lb torpedo at low altitude. The torpedo missions were the most dangerous, for they required the lumbering biplane to fly low and slow, directly at the warship it was attacking and hold that course until the right moment to release the torpedo. Climbing away, the Swordfish would have to show its entire surface to gunners. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579096646-R3HHLNQT2ZPM5G6LXB3C/CDD098F3-A3E9-4195-A083-A2485FAC0092.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out With tail hook extended, a Swordfish on approach to land on a Royal Navy carrier. With a strong headwind, a Swordfish pilot often found himself landing with a ground speed of just 30 knots. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579121211-9W58IY9S8U8XOV2X90XZ/F37751C8-5D2D-4470-8C59-D1ED761A047F.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Taranto harbour, a year before the Royal Navy Swordfish made their now famous attack. It certainly was a target-rich environment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647193476-VOO08QG4BUWZHR5AMONF/89C8D9E9-1427-4623-A5F1-BDE9A92E8839.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out A reconnaissance photo taken prior to the raid revealed a half-dozen battleships and cruisers in the harbour and many destroyers. The stains in the water are silt clouds churned up by the ships as they manoeuvre. RN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579146465-EIH2CPRJWXV7RY60OB4H/CDC809E0-79D7-4B6A-B09E-ED536E8451C5.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out An 820 Naval Air Squadron Swordfish banks to turn across the bow of HMS Ark Royal. On 26 May, 1941, a Swordfish from the Ark Royal located Bismarck and began to shadow her, while the Home Fleet was mobilized to pursue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579178550-W83YUEXHGPOYCGRLRM6R/96DF3223-4A02-48AE-BE2A-54C781E8C786.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out 820 Squadron Swordfish fly past Ark Royal. It was in a looser formation, but in terrible weather and high seas in May, 1941 that fifteen torpedo-bearing Swordfish bombers were sent to delay Bismarck. The cruiser HMS Sheffield, also shadowing Bismarck, was between Ark Royal and her prey. The aircraft mistook the British cruiser for their target and fired torpedoes. The torpedoes were fitted with unreliable magnetic detonators, that caused most to explode on contact with the water, while Sheffield evaded the rest. After realizing his mistake, one of the pilots signalled 'Sorry for the kipper' to Sheffield. On return to the carrier, the Swordfish were re-armed with contact-detonator warheads, and launched at 19:15 for a second attack; locating and attacking Bismarck just before sunset. Three torpedoes hit the battleship: two impacted forward of the engine rooms, while the third struck the port steering room and jammed her rudder in a port turn. Bismarck was forced to sail in circles until a combination of alternating propeller speeds was found which would keep her on a reasonably steady course which, in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state, forced her to sail towards the British warships with almost no manouevring capability. The German battleship suffered heavy attack during 26–27 May, and sank at 10:39 hours on 27 May. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579200918-V8RDT98MTPNKLITZKRBC/58AA3F4B-9B18-4BAE-800E-2EEA5FB5312A.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Let's do launch! A nice shot of Swordfish ranged on the deck of Ark Royal and warming up for a launch. Judging from the paint schemes and the weather, it is possible that this photo and the two previous were taken on or near the same day. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579218961-U98CB3DJFKYPEGH1VQJD/98BCCCFE-44B9-40DA-B3FE-A0DF2150BDB9.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out It doesn't take too much imagination to envisage the destruction the surface raider Bismarck would have wrought should she have broken out into the Atlantic. Here, one of her broadsides creates a massive fireball and certainly a concussive blow - and that is just the delivery system! She was able to dispatch the battleship Hood from miles away, so one can grasp the potential danger to slow moving and basically unarmed convoys like the one Pilot Officer Bill McRae was in at the time Bismarck attempted to break out. One can see that this battleship would simply pick off each and every one of the ships in any convoy. This photo was taken on Prinz Eugen as Bismarck was firing on Prince of Wales, having just dispatched Hood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647256009-6VC9YVLNNDM6O50XCZ6Q/9CCE376A-32DD-431B-A8CD-499D7153BD74.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Gone in a flash. The crew of His Majesty's Ship Hood, good men and true, vanished in minutes when one of Bismarck's shells ripped through her decks to explode in one of her aft magazines during the Battle of Denmark Strait. The battle cruiser split in two and sank in three minutes with only three of her 1,418 crew members surviving. The blow to the pride of the Royal Navy was devastating and Churchill put all available resources to the task of finding and sinking the Bismarck. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579243981-P0EC5D3FPTHW9ZZE6CVE/DEAE1CF6-A823-474A-9E27-FA8237C28FF5.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out German battleships and attendant escorts race up the English Channel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579270966-GQ3GI2JLUKXQALZHJRAB/978FD4D5-8BF0-43F4-B258-F55D5A4FE3CA.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out A nice shot of a Swordfish crewman handing up equipment to a Swordfish Observer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579303716-UFS1J1CTNJ1FLHV56HZS/3712EC6E-7AB2-41F9-BD4D-63C7582FF959.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Deck ratings on a RN carrier arming up a Swordfish prior to a sortie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579321356-6DXEFY4ZLAUV9DWNNCHG/2220D6C7-0E90-45C0-BEAC-FA2D9950E6E3.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out The weapon of choice for attacking battleships was the torpedo. Here we see torpedoes being fitted to land-based Swordfish of the Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579341533-Y2CTV3WTX7MA7RMLP261/7A96EEED-B94D-450E-90A0-F7E03663D931.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Slow and lumbering at the very beginning of the war, the Swordfish's unique abilities as a stable platform for bombs, rockets and torpedoes made her a valuable fighting asset right to the end of the war as witnessed by these “Stringbags” with D-Day invasion stripes and under-wing rockets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629579360137-3Z1EGS0J0COVICGFFQQ2/C3426259-78F1-45B9-A7D4-DEAD2C258823.jpeg The Stories - THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH - Make it stand out Auction of Fairey Swordfish held on Ernie Simmons' field near Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada back on the Labor Day weekend in 1970. Swordfish No. HS554, the Vintage Wings of Canada airframe, flew for a grand total of 362 hours with the Eastern Air Command based in the Canadian Maritimes. It was sold at this auction for the sum of $1,630 to Bob Spence of Muirkirk, Ontario. After a major restoration, this Swordfish took its next maiden flight on the Labor Day weekend, 1991. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-squadron-dog monthly 0.5 2022-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629578118966-NZBBRNY59I4QO9W3MW6L/89AB3E0A-51FE-400C-8F44-C24993FE11AC.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632028354-FRPZHQ7DJZOHVI1DSG62/A65F21D3-417F-44AF-AC3B-F91915E704CA.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out 1903 Wright Flyer on the launching track at Big Kill Devil Hill, prior to the December 14th trial. Four men from the Kill Devil Hill Lifesaving Station helped move it from the shed to the hill, accompanied by two small boys and of course a dog - perhaps the very first squadron/hangar/aviation dog in recorded history. Inset: another Library of Congress collection photo showing Orville Wright's St. Bernard Scipio on the front porch of his Hawthorn Hill home in Dayton, Ohio. Scipio was not born until 15 years after the Wright's first flight, but he was a hangar hound regardless. Photos from the Library of Congress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629578193733-6W99KSJ553S2ZDGRY9CQ/6FD4084E-D9BA-41C8-AFBF-AA1BDDD79E96.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The earliest photographs of the squadron pooch date to before the First World War, but it was conflict itself that created the need for young men to have requited love of the canine variety. These two Royal Flying Corps lads are delighted to show off their almost cartoon-like Jack Russell before setting out on a mission over German lines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632065452-QB62ZCP1IBXFOYKWMPHH/10A49C0D-FEB0-439B-8C9E-12EF107ABAA7.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Two pilots and the squadron dog of 103 Squadron, RAF pose with their massive single-engined de Havilland DH9 bomber at Ronchin, France after the war. The dog was no doubt considerably more reliable than the notorious Liberty engines that powered the aircraft. Squadron hounds have roamed the ramps of military airfields as long as there have been pilots to feed them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632135656-LA7IPDFPEK1IHFRPRG2M/49446268-A23D-4524-B7CB-2D013A5B0F0E.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Though a wild fox, this squadron mascot of an RFC pursuit squadron does have the canine qualifications. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632154586-3XC4PY6Y3HCDVU3PWD9W/784094C3-D3CA-4F39-A02E-46462EA01F2B.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out American officers of the 135 Aero Squadron with Wopsie. Wopsie, a floppy-eared black-and-white terrier type, who lived at the Air Service Headquarters of Second Army (to which the 135th Aero Squadron belonged) was the mascot of the enlisted men, who made fun of the officers by quoting the dog. When “interviewed” by a reporter, Wopsie spoke in Brooklynese: “Youse army guys are all wrong. . .You let these higher-ups around here bluff you into thinking that they are some punkins. They don’t impress me much. I’d just as soon break into a conference of generals and colonels as I would on a crap game in the Message Center. They’re all alike – I’ve got the dope on ‘em all.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632175847-J7S9M3K9QY4Q2AWBRZ0O/0A00409D-4EAB-48AE-8EA4-4792D46BE5CE.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out No. 62 Squadron RAF officers (possibly Nivelles, France) wearing a mixture of RAF and RFC uniforms. Commanding Officer Major Smith is seen at centre with dog. The squadron dog is far more interested in the squadron cat held by the seated officer at the right. Though cats always frequent hangars in wartime, it is the squadron dog who offers love and affection for returning warriors. Photo: Maj. Smith Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632197827-QXRABTL2R46F3J4N1WQP/E94270FC-C834-4BE9-94BD-C80076B3460F.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Squadron dogs go back as far as military aviation. Here we see famed First World War American ace Eddie Rickenbacker with a dog called Spad, the 94th Aero Squadron mascot. Spad was named after a type of fighter aircraft the 94th flew during the war. Many squadron dogs would would find their names from aviation or military life. Photo: Auburn University Libraries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632251954-8YKAMFREN6FW7ENHEMEO/BF5AD175-DB0D-405B-AE75-EF4AEE4EBD34.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The Red Baron, Manfred Von Richthofen and his beloved dog Moritz. This is what he had to say about Moritz in his diary: The most beautiful being in all creation is the genuine Danish hound, my little lap-dog, my Moritz. I bought him in Ostend from a brave Belgian for five marks. His mother was a beautiful animal and one of his fathers also was pure-bred. I am convinced of that. I could select one of the litter and I chose the prettiest... He has a silly peculiarity. He likes to accompany the flying machines at the start. Frequently the normal death of a flying- man's dog is death from the propeller. One day he rushed in front of a flying-machine which had been started. The aeroplane caught him up and a beautiful propeller was smashed to bits. Moritz howled terribly and a measure which I had hitherto omitted was taken. I had always refused to have his ears cut. One of his ears was cut off by the propeller. A long ear and a short ear do not go well together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632364298-SSO8NUFEUDSRKAIEYRF7/FF91F3A7-D342-4CD7-9FD0-0731FDE9AD73.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out RCAF Pilot Officer Hugh Constant Godefroy and the 403 Squadron mascot. Godefroy would go on to score 7 kills and retire as Wing Commander Godefroy, DSO, DFC and Bar, Croix de Guerre with Gold Star. 403 Squadron was known as Wolf Squadron, so they had a particular love of canines, wild or domesticated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632426912-KQJ0NFE7V0E7RPQFVUNN/7CD68BDF-E8BC-4DED-B75C-2CB8A31851E0.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The caption I found with this photograph simply said "Dick with Dog". The is Pilot Officer Willie Lane. Lane died shortly after the photo was taken. Since Lane was shot down on 15 May 1943 (and was reported killed on 8 June 1943) we can assume the photo was taken during the second week of May 1943.The look of gentleness on the young pilot's face tells us how much comfort these dogs were capable of giving these stressed young men. Thanks to Dean Black of Airforce.ca for the identifying Lane. The dog's name was Lucy. Photo via Magnumcharger on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632455070-B39M8EX3QDHYX6G4PUMS/3029EBF6-8E76-4C97-AFE3-751BEB4D9F42.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The same mascot puppy named Lucy charms his way into the heart of pilot Roy Wosniak (R) and fitter Sergeant Delong. Wozniak left the squadron for 55 OTU for a rest, on 3 June 1943. He had been flying with the squadron for one year. It is conceivable, therefore, that the photo was taken about the middle of May 1943. On 24 April 1942, Cpl Delong participated in a mock defence and mock attack of the squadron. He singlehandedly captured 18 “notional enemy” with weapons. He was promoted shortly thereafter. He was posted out of the squadron on 31 August 1943 - thanks to Dean Black of Airforce.ca for the identities of the airmen. Photo via Magnumcharger on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632926209-0D2CEV31PRLSO37HKG7U/CB589663-7D9B-4E43-8F37-E557CC56DCFF.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Royal Air Force ace, Flight Lieutenant Stanley Lock, DSO, DFC and Bar poses with his Spitfire and his dog. Lock's aircraft is marked with 26 kill marks. This photo was taken in July of 1941... days later he would be shot down. Tradition would have the dog taken care of by a surviving pilot. Lock became the RAF's most successful British-born pilot of the Battle of Britain, shooting down 16.5 German aircraft. After the Battle, he went on to bring his overall total to 26.5 victories in 25 weeks of operational sorties over a one-year period - during which time he was hospitalized for six months. During the Battle of Britain he became known to his RAF chums as "Sawn Off Lockie", because of his extremely short stature. Within less than six months of becoming one of the most famous RAF pilots in the country, he went missing in action over Calais. Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629632963283-BTQUABJE8J4QIWNIZLYK/7E5A1835-E708-4A9E-9B51-22E96331EBF6.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out RAF pilots relax with the squadron mascot before the next scramble during the Battle of Britain sends them to an uncertain future. The importance of the squadron dog cannot be overstated. LIFE Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633008100-RPG7Y85PNKC6SGHQ1DU6/32A95DCE-D348-4D11-AD12-2C380AAE907D.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out 19 Squadron Hurricane pilot Flight Sergeant Grumpy Unwin (second from left) is accompanied by Flash the Alsatian as he pays a visit to 616 Squadron pilots and their mutt at RAF Fowlmere during the battle of Britain, Photo: Imperial War Museum, Duxford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633212229-G5007W7UJ1FA923DKDGU/FB8F4C6E-D07B-4288-B60F-14DE7C343946.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Royal Air Force fighter pilots of 16 and 19 Squadron seem to exude relaxed and youthful élan despite the strains of the Battle of Britain which they were presently fighting. Flight Sergeant Grumpy Unwin DFC sits between squadron mascots Flash the Alsation and Rangy the Spaniel. Photo: Imperial War Museum, Duxford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633120808-7BH0X0D9QKOC85WVU7JR/219A0283-A1DC-4002-A5AB-EE2FFA7B3AA3.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out In the summer of 1940, the future of England was uncertain and all Englishmen looked to the skies to find strength and hope. For young Hurricane pilots like John Boulton (L), Gordon Sinclair and Jerrard Jeffries (R), solace could be found in small dogs and a good book. All three men served with 310 (Czech) Squadron at RAF Duxford, the present home of the Imperial War Museum, but only Sinclair and possibly the dog, survived the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum, Duxford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633282220-62ZD1YWR3LBIWZ703O2C/9949D117-E51B-49EB-88E5-DBDA10009627.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Another photo of 310 (Czech) Squadron pilots, probably taken on the same day as the previous photo, shows the same squadron dog and pilots Jeffries (third from left on ground), Boulton (sitting at centre) holding the same book that Jeffries had in the previous photo) and Sinclair (sitting with paper in his hand). Twelve of these pilots are looking down at the dog, lending credence to the importance and love bestowed upon their mascot. Photo: Imperial War Museum, Duxford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633352596-0LZJYZ3GHYZ5EU1BG4XE/79D7E1F6-BB3E-41F3-AE2B-C83959D7768F.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The Squadron Dog was such an important part of the Battle of Britain and all aerial battles of the war, that he/she is honoured at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel Le Ferne, Kent. Photo by PaulHP at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633386120-EK4QQSYDCMTCISDC4Z5B/21DC4E86-55B9-4E2D-AA19-FACD47A5F431.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out A close-up of the plaque of the Squadron Dog statue at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel Le Ferne, Kent. Photo by PaulHP at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633322284-04JMIS8Q6QR8XM0PKDS7/23A6A80D-A9A9-495F-9830-E80709C6164B.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The legendary Wing Commander Johnnie Johnson and his magnificent Labrador Sally on the wing of a post D-Day Spitfire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633473857-IFN4AS9YIHU1TC01NOKN/7B73CC07-EBE4-4ABC-8FC1-AD8CFE57E04D.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out A squadron dog with controversial name. The cream of Bomber Command, a 617 Squadron Dambuster aircrew, with the squadron's mascot prior to the famous raid on the industrial dam system of the Ruhr. N____r was a black Labrador retriever dog belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson, and the mascot of 617 Squadron. Nigger died on 16 May 1943, the day before the famous Dam Busters raid, when he was hit by a car. He was buried at midnight as Gibson was leading the raid. ‘N____r‘ was also the codeword Gibson used to confirm the breach of the Möhne Dam. N____r’s grave is at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. He had often accompanied Gibson on training flights. According to Bruce Barrymore Halpenny in his books Ghost Stations, the ghost of N____r has been seen on numerous occasions around RAF Scampton and also around the Dambusters Memorial at Woodhall Spa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633511979-YTF2NQR39DPJ9IONFYDP/E439EC98-C53D-43A1-9E3D-C7E4ADA3428E.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The pilots and aircrew of 617 Squadron, The Dam Busters, pose with dear old What's-His-Name and Wing commander Guy Gibson (with pipe, next to What's-His-Name). During the shooting of Peter Jackson's remake of the 1955 classic, The Dam Busters, there was much debate as to whether dear old N____r should continue to carry his anachronistic, insensitive and racist moniker. The debate was between those who wish to expunge him from history and those that say he was history. Since shooting has stopped, it's a moot point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633436395-0WYRIP68JYSIODVB5TZQ/12B64478-0BF4-42F3-892C-04C52FB3D3A9.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Old What's-His-Name may have been a Lab, but he was a dinky one for certain. Here the curious little lad comes close to the camera while 617 Squadron crews, by their Lancaster, await a mission. N––––r was portrayed in the 1955 film, The Dam Busters. He was mentioned by name frequently in the film. In 1999, British television network ITV broadcast a censored version of the film, with all instances of the name removed. ITV blamed regional broadcaster London Weekend Television, which in turn alleged that a junior staff member had been responsible for the unauthorized cuts. When ITV again showed a censored version in June 2001, it was criticized by Index on Censorship as “unnecessary and ridiculous” and that the edits introduced continuity errors. In American screening on television, his name has been over-dubbed as Trigger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633631150-HJPAQL241HVI8B8QX9FP/11D6437A-F480-44A5-84A4-9B95EA07FA2F.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out P/O Straddle – 422 Squadron RCAF Mascot, posing by the mid-upper turret of a Mk 11 Sunderland flying boat. Straddle went on a number of ops and his favourite place was the Navigator’s table. Photo via Pembroke Sunderland Trust/Boxbrownie3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633654841-3WHMLZY0C00K56UR8AD5/65888817-EC3A-4260-8FC9-FF0448D5260D.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out 422 Squadron RCAF mascot, Straddle takes the co-pilot's seat in a Short Sunderland flying boat. 422 flew the massive Sunderlands on coastal and submarine patrols and Straddle was known to actually go on these patrols. In the left seat is Flight Lieutenant Lloyd Detwiller. Only once did Straddle “embarrass” himself. John Moyles, a 422 Squadron Sunderland navigator tells us: “I knew LLoyd Detwiller and also Straddle. We took Straddle on patrols and, as he was accustomed, stayed on the Navigator's table during takeoff. Once over the ocean the order, 'test guns' was given. There were four .303 Browning in the tail turret, 4 in the nose turret, and 2 in the mid upper. The gunners liked to position their turrets, tail starboard, nose port, and fire simultaneously. The recoil would throw the ship off course, much to the pilot's annoyance. One flight when we had Straddle on board, the 10 guns going off in unison, caused him to pee all over the navigator's map. Straddle had a sad ending. After VE-Day he was brought to Vancouver, and a year later, was hit and killed by a car.” Photo via Pembroke Sunderland Trust//Boxbrownie3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633680141-F2EIXOLI3JXW2IU3W0YS/BD9F3304-F8CB-429E-AAE6-96822BC58869.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Straddle leads 422 Squadron pilots and ground crew through the centre of a small town - quite possibly Lough Erne in Northern Ireland where they were stationed during much of the Second World War. Note the squadron coat that Straddle is wearing. Photo via Pembroke Sunderland Trust//Boxbrownie3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633809741-FKZBQ0GKXKD7HEFV9911/725B1C70-2B3F-49D5-812F-FFA415B09D1D.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The caption on the back of this photo reads “Douglas Spur, Al Fleming, Officers Mess – McBrien, Brussels.” Group Captain Bill “Iron” MacBrien, otherwise known by the pilots as “Tin Willy” owned this massive Great Dane, reading over the shoulder of McBrien in this set up shot (McBrien's GC stripes seem to be a Wing Commander's but his epaulette is probably folded.) Photo via Dean Black of Airforce.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633835332-6CZWG66VWIMFEFTN8DDV/287C6D36-27F5-4B21-B790-B3DB534AB008.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out GC McBrien would insist that the 403 Squadron duty pilot take this Great Dane dog from one place to the other in the squadron Auster liaison airplane. The enormous dog would not behave at altitude, and the pilots hated the task, some insisting on taking a side arm just in case the dog threw a fit. Seen here is the 413 Squadron Auster being refuelled. Photo via Dean Black at airforce.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633864460-0J8ID2YLI8IDXA9BDETV/DE4D9C4B-208A-4E44-BD8C-3418EEFD240A.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Two members of No. 31 (Beaufighter) Squadron RAAF, Flight Lieutenant G. A. Greenwood (L) and Sergeant B. Agnew hold the squadron mascots, a joey (young kangaroo) and an un-named dog at Coomalie Creek, Northern Territory. Though the 'roo is cute as a button and the Aussie-est of pets, it would have about as much personality as a beaver would when it was fully grown. Plus it would never behave itself in a squadron parade. The dog's the one who will always stay close to home and always return the pilots' affection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629633997783-PCGZLVP62ON9ZKF8A3NH/5426B28A-2640-4FA5-BFA6-FABB3AA2EAFA.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out A group of pilots on a Boulton Paul Defiant Squadron pose with their Squadron Mascot at RAF Driffield. Photo via Adrian Woodall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634042695-RATEMXBDD14NQSO4YSR8/A41582C7-0862-4A14-BAE5-58F7BEB8073E.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Many a young man who sought comfort and friendship with a squadron dog would go on to greatness including Air Chief Marshal Sir Augustus Walker GCB CBE DSO DFC AFC. Here we see “Sir Gus”, as he was known, with his crew of No 50 Squadron in front of a Handley Page Hampden, with Fifty Gus' dog, RAF Lindholme 5 November 1940. Photo: Courtesy of Yorkshire Air Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634129653-QSFMNCUY3IZIIGHOQ4ED/3373CC95-5CF9-44D4-9793-F1E3DFF7EE58.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out This beautiful colour photo of P-51-D "Dragon Wagon" features its pilot Capt. James E. Duffy Jr. from the 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force and the barrel chested squadron mascot named Yank. The 354th pilots were known as the "Bulldogs", so dear old Yank was chosen for his British lineage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634169762-PBRBY99UX3QAOAU93JB7/EAA69F4C-6924-4DD2-9EA8-53A6461CA56F.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out First, Second or the Korean War... it never changes. Lt. J.J. Schneider, of St. Louis, sits on the wing of P-51 with Capt. J.B. Hannon, of Omaha at an airfield in Korea on Jan. 15, 1951. Between them is the oddly named Admiration Dog, mascot of their wing, who, according to the caption I found on a Russian website, flies with the airmen. AP Photo/JJim Pringle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634192969-5RVMO7QR2KPLGAYG8F4B/0963AE81-EF05-4109-A870-D5267226EC54.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Rusty, the cocker spaniel belonged to an American pilot named Lt. Augustus "Gus" Hamilton of the 366th Fighter Squadron, 358th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. He was killed in action near Bérou-la-Mulotière on July 14th, 1944 during a mission he volunteered for after he had completed his required missions. He was last seen diving his P-47 Mrs. Ham - Lil' Ham 3rd on a foursome of enemy aircraft. His bags were already packed to go home. The dog was adopted by the rest of the squadron and his aircraft code letters, IA-Z, were never assigned to a pilot again. Gus was honored with a memorial at his crash site several years ago. Inset: Hamilton (Right) with crew chief Sergeant Starr and Rusty at his feet. Photo via Carol.Lerche at flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634215376-R4VNUBH5VUR1ZLDU9A4V/E82D3A27-9BAA-4404-A2FB-899138B1B065.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out A small aircraft needs a small dog. Somewhere in France little Soupée sits on the nose of a Stinson L-5 Sentinel Army cooperation aircraft nicknamed "Mary". https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634258767-Z38FY72RU0XZ5F5W9HDM/C35D3C50-ED7F-473A-80D2-874A1D655C0C.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Adolph, the mascot for this B-17 crew and one of their gunners, a Sgt Sweeney were featured on the cover of YANK magazine July 7, 1944. Adolph returned to the states with Sweeney. The nickname of the B-17, Bachelors' Delight, speaks to the testosterone-fueled over-confidence of its crew, but they probably found requited and unconditional love with Adolph. Bachelors' Delight may lay claim to the most missions completed at 123. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634292267-HVDTGVFDU279W5OSHYBU/AAB4ED52-25F4-44A2-9C4C-E57213B230FA.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Another B-17 crew in the USAAF's 8th Air Force. Crew 74 from the 390th Bomb Group, 571st squadron and their dog Ground Loop. This crew was shot down December 20, 1943 on bombing mission to Bremen, Germany with all but one surviving as POWs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629634328656-UT3IJNTE3KANVVFKQGZP/F92C9F0C-F48F-4641-B00B-53049A6C81FC.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Bob Bogash sends us this shot of his uncle, Jerome Flohr - seen here in England with the crew (including Squadron Dog) of his B-17F "Tech Supply". Jerome, the aircraft navigator in the back row on the far left. Sadly, he was killed in November of 1943 after completing 17 missions. Photo via Bob Bogash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646387169-GIT732USTCRFNTV2C63M/A3D6D6AC-2447-4633-BEF4-7BB740157A49.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out American Lt. Walter Konantz of 338th Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group cuddles his Scottish terrier Lassie next to his P-51D "Saturday Night". A close read of the inscription reads: Major (Ret) Walter J. Konantz 55th Fighter Group, 8th AF - 60 combat missions without abort, 2 Me-109s, 1-Ju88, 1 Me-262 jet fighter, 21 locomotives, 1 - ammo train. Photo R. Abbey, 55th Fighter Group Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646357077-BMAT17DTDDYG7729Q7EP/26312EA8-07C9-4C98-ADD5-2C097F28D808.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Walt Konantz and brother Harold Konantz were both fighter pilots with the USAAF - here they show off Walter's beloved Lassie. Photo: 55th Fighter Group Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646323411-OXBUGKNH68XRBF2F01YW/DC4ADED2-5268-4AB3-8087-2B532395ACE1.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Lassie sits on the wing of Kanantz's P-51 Mustang Saturday Night. Photo: 55th Fighter Group Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646588092-1YGMIYBACGZ6RME0UFKP/C500DC73-B2F2-4674-A7BD-2A3D450832ED.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Air Force or Fleet Air Arm, a squadron dog is a must in many a group photo. Here RN 886 Naval Air Squadron and their aptly-named mascot Piglet form up for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646613376-6NT10HP4BPFME58PW4FW/7F6EEC3C-E535-4A14-955F-364BBBA0D8DC.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The squadron pooch was and is a universal phenomenon. Here pilots of No.1 Squadron Tigers, Royal Indian Air Force, pose with Bonzo and their commanding officer Squadron Leader Arjan Singh, DFC (seated in driver's seat) at Imphal, India in 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646634484-ZVA6APVDYFLZWD5TFYB1/35B8B04B-2041-48BF-99FA-44C8056767A8.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Canadian, Indian, Polish, American - it's all the same. Misla, the squadron mascot of 303 Kościuszko (Polish) Squadron RAF presides over a display of a fin from a JU-88 - the 178th German aircraft shot down by the unit. The squadron was named after the Polish and American Revolutionary hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the eponymous Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War. Photo: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum London https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646665405-6NYYJQDOZ8AGG5ZL5N3C/D0C38465-B42A-48CB-B705-3A2E5E568527.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Top Left: The German Shepherd Varg joined 331 Squadron (a Norwegian squadron in the RAF) on the Orkney Islands and became their mascot. The dog had many owners over the years, and when one owner was killed on operations, he was passed onto another pilot. Here Varg is taken care of by Captain Ragnar Dogger. Top Middle: S/L Don Andrews, the Commanding Officer of No. 453 Squadron RAAF, pictured with his dog Sprog in England in 1942. Photo via Australian War Memorial. Top Right: 504 Squadron RAF mascot 'Susie' Middle Left: Squadron mascot Ciapek of 305 RAF Polish stands on the barrels of the nose turret of a Vickers Wellington. It didn't matter what the nationality of the squadron was, a small squadron dog was always wandering about. Middle Right: a 59 Squadron RAD, B-17 Flying Fortress crew at Chivenor, Devon, with Stinker. Bottom Left: Foxhole served as squadron mascot for US Marine Bombing Squadron 613 and companion to the men of the squadron. Foxhole's owner, Technical Sergeant Samuel A. Wolfe, found him on Eniwetok and brought him to Kwajalein via a PBJ. Bottom Centre: G C Unwin, DFM and Bar, DSO, with Flash, the 19 Squadron mascot. Unwin became one of the first pilots to fly the brand-new Spitfire in 1938. Bottom Right: An un-named Scottish Terrier was the USAAF 372nd Squadron's Mascot and is pictured here sitting on a sandbag by the bomb shelter on Los Negros. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646691037-6CBC7NXKPUHYPQAZP47T/10C99200-BF6F-4ADF-8DA0-2C59DF3F272B.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Top Left: Can't remember where I found these guys, but they are Canadian (save the American) and their Irish Setter Top Centre: Frank, mascot to a bomb group of the Fifteenth Air Force, stares down the canine visage of a B-24 Liberator called Howling Wolf, Italy, 1944. Top Right The Squadron mascot, Peter - 70 Squadron RAF - a Vickers Wellington unit in North Africa. Bottom Left Flight Sergeant James Hyde of San Juan, Trinidad, a Spitfire pilot who arrived in Britain in 1942 to begin his training, here pictured in 1944 with his Squadron’s mascot, a dog called Dingo. Bottom Right: RCAF officer Ross Hamilton of 407 Squadron with Blackie, the squadron Mascot. As with many bomber squadrons with room aboard their aircraft, Blackie often flew Ops with 407 crews on their Lockheed Hudsons - though one has to think, he had no idea of the risks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646763796-SXTRGSH4HZECPQ5E88B4/8E29BE18-446B-4BBE-9476-D04B4EDF6E53.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Roscoe also has a plaque dedicated to his honor and the 40 KIA F-105 Thud pilots of the Vietnam War at the National Museum of the USAF, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio . Photo via 34 TFS History Website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646733199-341SA91MW23ZWHZE6HJ4/6BD49D2F-FE4C-4E31-BB26-C0A1FECB9EC6.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Anyone who has ever seen Mike Potter with Chilli can attest to her fierce loyalty. She can always be found within 10 feet of her master and has been known to nip pretenders and interlopers (such as the author) who think they can make a similar bond. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646815856-1NTKD1T86RZXGHRCCXRU/F95BD414-DBF8-4ACA-B2BE-51EF1CBA3D42.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Cleo, the English spaniel belonging to Rob Fleck, our president, is the most frequent canine visitor to Vintage Wings these days. Cleo is an old gal and you can usually find her resting near Rob's desk. Photo: Mother Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646840301-W8N2KECLFVL6ANN86G5M/71DB5F56-0EED-49A0-AF84-7DA1316FE259.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Squadron or Hangar Dogs still function today to bring joy and affection to hard working pilots and maintainers like André Laviolette of Vintage Wings of Canada, seen here with Cleo. Photo: Mother Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646874544-O57XNI495HBM59CPBEJF/97E166E8-3415-4449-9835-82D331817605.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out The author's best friend in the world, William Wallace Braveheart Kirkpatrick O'Malley, relaxes with his tennis ball under the wing of our Spitfire at the Vintage Wings of Canada hangar. Wallace has been known to leave gifts for the maintenance staff if he is not walked outside every few hours. Photo: Peter “What's-that-on my shoe” Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629646900466-RWBBAFJ6LGTD3UN38VTS/8792400E-7EEA-4AC2-AFCC-887564B80936.jpeg The Stories - THE SQUADRON DOG - Make it stand out Wallace follows a departing Vintage Wings aircraft last summer. Like the great hangar dogs of the past 100 years, Wallace is vertically oriented – looking to the sky as airplanes and helicopters pass. And maybe squirrels. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-beech-glider monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629464555320-SWD96K09BZBTSPA1VACE/VernTitle2.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629464693247-5MQKS34DG1Z583LBLQSG/Vern3.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out The only photo we could find of the Portage La Prairie Expeditor flight line was this shot taken in 1967. It shows the Golden Centennaires' Avro 504 performing a demonstration flight during Canada's Centennial celebrations. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629464823560-W9PK9T9SA290GMDPQ85X/ca7c72b034c3cc9db75c426c0050cfe9--twin-service.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out In this close-up, we see an Expeditor in all its glory and warts, and the typical prairie landscape. A check of the author's logbook reveals that he flew this particular aircraft (2340) many times. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629472414404-A6BWL86CS0FNSGIG778A/Vern2.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out RCAF Station MacDonald, Manitoba during the BCATP years. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629472559442-QS2RQ4BI9Z50G0H6D9XL/Vern5.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out This excellent photo shows the cockpit of a pristine Expeditor. While there are many variants of Expeditor cockpits, this one, for the most part, is typical. (The author assures us, though, that those that he flew in the RCAF didn't have high-quality leather upholstery, armrests, or cup holders.) In this photo the fuel selectors can be seen in the foreground, at the bottom of the centre console, below the throttle quadrant. At a quick glance, one can see the ambiguity of the design. The fuel selector handles, which on some aircraft point to the tank selected, in this case are only handles, while the tiny stubs of the same colour are the actual pointers. The mirroring is also evident, as in this case both selectors are selected to the nose bladder tank. It then becomes obvious that installing the background indicator plates on the wrong side could create the hazardous situation this story tells. Photo by Mark Carlisle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629472805898-SYVGQME8CKU8ZC38BSLD/Vern6.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out Here the author is in the cockpit of a T-33 Silver Star in 1962, while he was undergoing the advanced jet phase of his training, having completed Primary Flying Training on the Chipmunk and Basic Flying Training on the Harvard. It was here, at RCAF Station Portage La Prairie, that he was awarded his RCAF Pilot Wings. Photo via Vern Vouriot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629472836559-RI8L3L7T2YB6IHNWON06/Vern7.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out In the main photo, taken in 1966, the author stands in the centre, in the lighter grey flying suit, with (most) members of Crew 6 of 407 (MP) Squadron. The photo shows the P2V-7 Neptune in the background and a munitions trolley carrying a Mk 54 Depth Charge on the left, and a Mk 43 Torpedo on the right. Crew 6 was the best crew in 407 Squadron and the best crew in the Commonwealth. Being proudly displayed is the Fincastle Trophy attesting to that. While the author wasn't part of Crew 6 when they achieved the coveted award, he felt very honoured to shortly thereafter be awarded command of such an excellent crew. Crew 6 went on to continually prove their superiority in many operational and exercise instances later. INSET: A 1962 portrait photo taken in Summerside, PEI, of the author, as a freshly minted Flying Officer, in his best dress uniform, displaying his hard-won RCAF Pilot Wings. At the time the author was undergoing operational ASW training on the Neptune at 2(M)OTU. Photos via Vern Vouriot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629472887676-KN8166QNAU33KIE5XPRK/Vern8.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER - Make it stand out At RCAF Station Comox, BC, the author proudly stands in front of his trusty and much loved steed, the P2V-7 Neptune, wearing RCAF Battle Dress uniform, circa 1966. The author is ecstatic over the recently announced decision, after 43 years from the date of events in this story, to revert the Canadian Forces air force element to it's original and rightful designation -- ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE. Per Ardua Ad Astra! Photo via Vern Vouriot https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-wednesday monthly 0.5 2021-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485080955-30JY01QAO903YN838P3G/BlitzTitle.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485158795-OO88F87FSZ8CHY4GKI4Y/Blitz14.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out Albert Allick "Al" Bowlly was a popular Jazz guitarist, singer, and crooner in the United Kingdom and later in the United States of America during the 1930s, making more than 1,000 recordings between 1927 and 1941. Bowlly showcased a diverse range of material unsurpassed by any contemporary other than perhaps Bing Crosby. He was also a truly international recording artist. He was killed by the explosion of a parachute mine outside his flat in Duke's Court, 32 Duke Street, St James, London during the Blitz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485206814-1VLVGCCT6MG7L7LY8U7H/Blitz5.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out A shot of the remains of the Royal Hospital Infirmary after the Parachute Mine explosion with Wynford Vaughan Thomas of the BBC interviewing to a Pensioner and one of the nurses about their experiences. Photo: Steve Hunnisett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485278338-R7DFX2SK44BWXP2H41MI/Blitz15.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out The Memorial Plaque at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which honours the staff and patients who lost their lives on “The Wednesday” including 101-year old Henry Rattray, a veteran of the famous Zulu Wars of the late 1870s. Photo: Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485342071-ZDT0ZZBK87GB0K9CBIMA/Blitz10.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out Outside the hospital, a plaque commemorates the firefighters who lost their lives on “The Wednesday”. Photo: Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485421569-YK3ZTBYZCQ3FI8SLUGWG/Blitz8.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out The large ‘6W’ carved into the wall that marks the former location of the AFS Fire Station in Cheyne Place. Photo: Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485451665-2ALV1GEF3HPUYQFGKP3X/Blitz4.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out A typical Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) team of firefighters with their ‘Fire Tender’ which is a converted London Taxi with a ladder and trailer pump. These lads were from Brockley in Southeast London but the kit would have been the same across London. Photo: Steve Hunnisett Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485532666-XDX2YXNBBC7ASOQRXJ9Z/Blitz9.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out John Carlin – A Chelsea Air Raid Warden. These men and women risked their lives every night working throughout London while fully exposed to the random death from above and the dangers of unexploded ordnance, incendiary bombs and structural fire. Carlin carries the tools of his trade - a hose, axe, extinguisher. Photo: RBK&C archives via Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629485703226-LCD4U6RCJYWNM0ZR4IML/Blitz6.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out A drawing by David Thomas showing what Chelsea Old Church used to look like. Image : Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea archives via Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629486880317-F31M3WLN6DIV4IFJON6H/Blitz7.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out A watercolour by F. Griffen depicts the damaged church after the clean-up. Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea archives via Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629486960261-75Y26Z30A20MQXXAXCV2/Blitz2.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out The immediate aftermath of the explosion that killed Yvonne Green demonstrates the power of the parachute mines dropped by the Luftwaffe on the citizens of London. Photo: RBK&C archives via Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629486992645-57C8POFPM7TLM7T7FWHZ/Blitz3.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out Another shot of the wreckage of Chelsea Old Church. It was the wreckage of the lives of heroes like Yvonne Green which was the most devastating however. Photo: RBK&C archives via Steve Hunnisett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629487032522-TEBQH5817UCLIGLIID5K/Blitz16.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out Left: The only known photo of Yvonne Green. On the right Yvonne's daughter (L) and her granddaughter (holding Yvonne's Great Grandson) at the unveiling of the memorial plaque in 2007. Both photos published with the kind permission of the Firemen Remembered website. Firemen Remembered is an independent charity dedicated to recording and remembering firemen and firewomen who served in the London Region in World War II and commemorating those who died. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629487061800-LSQC5Q7PU6RMSO3KCZH7/Blitz12.jpg The Stories - THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz - Make it stand out The Commemorative Plaque for Yvonne Green as seen in the previous dedication photograph. Photo: Steve Hunnisett https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/archie-pennie-in-his-name monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483946432-LG9J7PDJILQFSL4H33B4/PennieTitle.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484286198-S0RSH1N7H5LJPXWHW50I/Pennie2.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Recently minted Cornell pilots polish up the Vintage Wings of Canada Fairchild Cornell minutes after landing from a training mission and minutes before Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie, RAF and his family arrived for the dedication ceremony. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484346270-EA7TW0ZXZZB54HIA9JUF/Pennie3.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings volunteer Dave O'Malley accompanies Archie for a walk-around of the Cornell. Archie felt the still-warm engine cowling and ran his hand over her fuselage and wings as though he was meeting an old friend. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484374503-KKFT7ZN0PJUVT6EWJDZ9/Pennie5.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Arche Pennie sits in a comfortable chair as his history and that of the Cornell are outlined to assembled friends and family. To put his honour in perspective, the guests were taken on a spoken “tour” of the other aircraft in the collection and the honourees for each - Stocky Edwards (P-40), Alexander Lilly (F-86 Sabre), Robert Hampton Gray (Corsair), Cliff Stewart (Lysander), Hart Finley (Finch), Bill McRae (Tiger Moth), William Harper (Spitfire XVI), Russ Bannock (Beaver), George Neal (Beaver), Arnold Roseland (Spitfire IX), Terry Goddard (Swordfish), Bunny McLarty (Hurricane IV), Willie McKnight (Hurricane XII) and John Gillespie Magee (Harvard). Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484400237-NS6ZJ6SX9HO0U8QKI28J/Pennie6.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out As the Archie Pennie dedication panel is unveiled, an emotional Archie, his wife Barbara, friend, family and Vintage Wingers applaud. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484434134-T8D0BTJBNLLJ4V2JIW9Z/Pennie7.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Archie takes the podium for a few brief thoughts - praising the men he once flew with at No. 34 Elementary Flying Training School (Assiniboia, Saskatchewan) and sharing memories, both sad and humourous. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484462112-7S7CZWZ8AISXXRN9Z5CJ/Pennie8.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Archie and his daughter Sheena enjoy a quiet moment together, contemplating the dedication panel and the beautifully restored Cornell that will carry Archie's story across the country this summer. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484491525-KVBJ3GP1FMCII5MT3NFD/Pennie9.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Archie Pennie, with more than 700 hours in the Fairchild Cornell, stands with the pilots of the Yellow Wings Program. While our highest time pilot has about 3 hours on the type, all are highly experienced warbird or military fighter pilots. Left to right Rob Fleck (VWC President), Dave O'Malley (not a Vintage Wings Pilot, but part of the Yellow Wings Team), Todd Lemieux, Bruce Evans, Paul Kissmann (VWC Director of Flying Operations), Ulrich Bollinger (Yellow Wings Lead Pilot), Francis Bélanger, Archie Pennie and Gord Simmons. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484517136-N9M3FMODZZNJBTGNDCHO/Pennie10.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out After the dedication, the guests were treated to a training flight in honour of Archie Pennie. Moving the Cornell out to the ramp necessitated Archie and his wife ducking as the wing swung over them. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484552455-F85Q2UAA5NU1CA4XTO9N/Pennie11.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Gord Simmons and Francis Bélanger wave to Archie and his guests before climbing into the cockpit, with Bélanger calling to Archie, saying “This one's for you Archie.” Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484584711-I8LXATXNJ0DTPIYZRB5X/Pennie12.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out The newly restored Ranger engine barks to life on the ramp in the lowering sunlight, in seconds smoothing to a gentle and surprisingly quite purr. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484612604-JOY33Z2GY1LXDI3GKSMI/Pennie13.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out Out on the Gatineau ramp, Simmons and Bélanger finish their run-up, bathed in beautiful sunset light. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484639671-NE0DCH5ETM79C25LPFIK/Pennie15.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out The Yellow Wings pilots head out to the active runway. Photo: George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484664344-HIVJ11LFXWS0ZNM7VD7G/Pennie14.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out As the Cornell lifts off, Archie recounts the memories of apprehensively watching his student pilots making their first tentative solo flights - usually after 10 to 12 hours. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484695697-M0LGNJOSZH49OEGIIIWL/Pennie16.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out After a long run, the Cornell finally jettisons the earth. What a beautiful evening to fly with the coupe tops back. Photo George Mayer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629484719784-S5XBOAKCVVOZJC6ZYOBZ/Pennie17.jpg The Stories - IN ARCHIE’S NAME - Make it stand out For the first time, the lovely Cornell (Cornelia Regina Eugenia Fairchild) lifts off carrying the story of Archie Pennie and other Cornell-trained aviators on her yellow wings. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-maj monthly 0.5 2021-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483045672-LWS97TJZ05IXZX6IE4S5/PooleTitle.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483184619-RFX82GAR9D7NRV6LN3BK/Poole8.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out The RCAF equipped 413 Squadron with de Havilland Vampires only as an interim measure. On 1 August 1951, 413 Squadron reformed in Bagotville, Quebec with Ron Poole as one of it's new pilots. Training began on Vampire jets, which were replaced by Sabres a few months later. After a year of training, and a tour of Eastern Canada to show off the new jets, the squadron was posted to Zweibruchen, Germany in April 1953. 413 Squadron remained a part of Canada's European NATO commitment for the next four years. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483238692-90VVGT0UCHVG4238GNNZ/Poole5.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out When 413 Tusker squadron was reforming and fitting up for the F-86 Sabre, each pilot posed for their hero shots beside the first aircraft. There was but one flight suit and one helmet for the whole squadron and each pilot took turns donning the gear. Those of less than kahuna-size were forced to don the one-size-fits-all winter suit and without the eventual cropping looked, well… sort of goofy, but not so goofy that their pride didn’t shine through. When cropped to head and shoulders, a photo from that shoot made the pages of Vancouver, British Columbia’s newspaper when Ron went on a promotional tour of Eastern Canada in the summer of 1952. Images via Jeannine Poole https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483306980-DMGPT0MCQBOKWHXL5WUR/Poole3.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out Ron during his Tusker days with Sabre in background. Inset: Ron's wings from author's collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483361478-5TUR73ROJDX1990T00AS/Poole9.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out At No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit, Ron's commander was none other than Canadian ace Bob Middlemiss (seen here at left with Buzz Beurling) - a much loved and highly respected squadron commander. I only ever heard Ron speak of him in reverent tones and with a smile on his face. Midddlemiss is still very hale and hearty and stands today as Honourary Colonel for 427 Special Operations Squadron at CFB Petawawa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483403082-K6O38AP2TD86OBO9Q0AN/Poole7.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out There is not much visual record available on the web related to the RCAF's Overseas Ferry Unit. This very well known image of Canadair Sabre 757 appears several times with a caption that indicates it belonged to the OFU at St. Hubert - perhaps for pilots to keep up their skills between ferry assignments. The patch is that of the OFU – with humourous “Latin” motto - "Deliverum Non Dunkum” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483464713-9LAPVZ488NPQXEXGLYEF/Poole4.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out Ron flew many types of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft during his career with the Air Force. After arriving at Rivers, Manitoba in the late fifties, Ron learned to fly the Bell 47 training helicopter. Later he would fly the Piasecki H-21 “Flying Banana”, Kiowa and S-51 as well as many other helicopters. Here, Ron strikes a warrior pose at the controls of his “Banana” in the late sixties. Photo via Jeannine Poole, Ron's Rivers CJTAC patch from author's collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483520731-EIOR50MEL2J7I9B5CH13/Poole2.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out Ron flew his first tour on the CF-101 Voodoo in the early seventies. After three years at Colorado Springs, he returned to CFB Bagotville and the Voodoo. Ron’s military career started with jet fighters and ended with them -– a feat rarely matched in today’s Air Force. Here Major Ron Poole leads a formation of Voodoos across the field at “Bag-Town” at the end of his military career. Photo via Jeannine Poole https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629483554074-6YUWU5TAWC2FH15YU3M1/Poole6.jpg The Stories - THE MAJ - Make it stand out This is my favourite photograph of Ron. In one shot you have the two things that Ron loved more than anything – the two J’s – Jeannine and Jets. His look is one of relaxed confidence – a visible pride in his wife and his life as a military pilot. I see Jeannine’s lovely hand draped over the crew ladder and can’t help but see the diamond there. It is a picture of love. It makes me happy. Photo via Jeannine Poole https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/incident-at-thud-ridge monthly 0.5 2021-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629475790453-9GGXWLQC9JWPITMQHIL8/ThudRidgeTitle.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478252942-WJ5HMO1VKPAIPWHOX50Y/ThudRidge6.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out The Sparks-Lombardo Wild Weasel team was a top pairing in the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Their job was to fly in first and light up enemy radars inviting attack. Their first-generation smart bombs and missiles could follow a radar signal to its source. Of the team it was often said (by front seaters no doubt), that all the brains were in the back but all the decisions were made in the front. For a better understanding of the Wild Weasel concept visit Wikipedia. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478334033-EMEW8FKUVQAD8LAC7NX0/ThudRidge3.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out A trio of Takhli-based F105 Thunderchiefs on the roll. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478373879-JB2KEILRZ70BEWI3C2HT/ThudRidge8.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out A two-seat F-105 “Thud” belonging to 357 Tactical Fighter Squadron sits in a revetment at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478429172-85JX37UFSODQQ15IHSJK/ThudRidge9.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out Two 357th Thuds (Tail code RU) sit at the Takhli flight line. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478514466-MYDEGAJMCS52UEEPSHR3/ThudRidge5.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out The author, Captain (at the time) Billy Sparks (seated) explains the days mission for fellow 375th TFS pilots and GIBs (Guys in Back). Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478562405-E4MMCEBWYV40WH2QO7NM/ThudRidge4.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out Phuc Yen air base near Hanoi under attack from USAF fighter bombers in 1967. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478611133-QN1RHDUOM67BADENAKRB/ThudRidge11.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out USAF Thunderchiefs (Of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing) on a strike mission over Hanoi break hard to avoid incoming SAM missiles. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478641198-RC4JGWIQFJAUGJIWMCGK/ThudRidge13.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out A back-seater in an F-105 looks back past his bomb load to capture a Thud being hit by a SAM over North Vietnam. The missile did not have to make a direct hit to cause mortal damage and this Thud is streaking away with flames coming from its dying engine. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629478837619-1IEFGQF7KB51HJLL5OGQ/ThudRidge16.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out A Sandy pulls up hard in the moist Vietnamese air after marking a spot on the jungle floor with a white phosphorous bomb. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629482512631-QE3G3TST6ECB7TTX1IS8/ThudRidge15.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out Hope came in the form of a clattering and slow moving HH-3 Jolly Green Giant helo. Helo pilots had very little defensive capabilities save for a chain gun at the door and their crews risked their lives with every rescue or attempted rescue. For a a wonderful depiction of the rescue process and its hazards, one should watch the film BAT 21. USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629482622980-KO6X67T2VU6BA6R2LK7I/ThudRidge2.jpg The Stories - INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE - Make it stand out Lt Col Bill Sparks stands in front of an A-1 Skyraider similar to the ones that helped save his life 43 years previously. USAF Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-last-of-the-many monthly 0.5 2021-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629473853888-YE9Z2578431VLIO9D7EC/ManyTitle3.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629473925647-71C527QX9H8ZVE53XI87/Many7.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out John Mendes ((left) did his Elementary Flying Training at Pendleton and his Service Flying Training at Hagersville. Since the clothing in this happy group shot seems heavy, we guess that this shot was at Pendleton in the Spring og 1945, rather than the summer when he was at Hagersville, Ontario. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629473977738-OKPWNPGY0RP495T8B81P/Many2.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out The No. 10 EFTS Pendleton Quidditch Team perhaps. Three student pilots from No. 10 EFTS, Pendleton near Ottawa clown for the camera in 1945 wearing top hats made of paint buckets and riding brooms. We're not sure of the reasoning behind the photo, but one has to admit... it's unique! For the greater part of the war, Pendleton operated the de Havilland Tiger Moth, but at war's end, the school converted to Cornell trainers. Photo via Brian Mendes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474014550-LNOMPNWDT8XG1CJAMERL/Many6.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out John Mendes waits in the cockpit of a Cornell at Pendleton while ground personnel top up his fuel tanks. What is EXTREMELY interesting here is the Cornell in the background - number 10835. This Lend Lease funded aircraft was donated by Fleet employees to RCAF 21 October 1943 and named "Spirit of Fleet". First assigned to No. 3 Flying Instructors School at Arnprior, Ontario and then to storage 20 January to 27 June 1944. After that it was assigned to No. 1 Air Command on 15 January 1945, obviously flying from Pendleton. Today, this aircraft has been restored as it was when called “Spirit of Fleet” and is at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474137805-G4JAW89Y8KNM8AD7NVP5/Many11.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out LAC John Mendes poses in the "Biggles" fashion with the “Spirit of Fleet”, the Cornell donated to the RCAF by the employees of Fleet. Mendes' log book indicates he flew this aircraft one time only - on June 11, 1945. This photo appeared in the company's Fleet Industries magazine. The latest version of the markings on the newly restored Cornell seems to have accurately included the large numeral 78 on the fuselage, but none so far seem to have the 10835 on the leading edge of the wing... hmmm. Over to you CWHM! Photo via Brian Mendes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474215665-B5OG9A11VM1ESQXCT4ID/Many10.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out A photo of the now restored "Spirit of Fleet II” Cornell 10835. The PT-26 Cornell was constructed by Fleet in 1943 and served with 3 Flying Instructor School, Arnprior and 10 EFTS, Pendleton. The Cornell's restoration to flying condition was especially challenging because the aircraft was in a "basket case" condition when retirees of Fleet Aerospace (formerly Fleet Aircraft) began the rebuild. The CWH Cornell is called the Spirit of Fleet II and is dedicated in memory of the 1000th PT-26 that was manufactured in 1943 by Fleet; the employees donated the 1000th Cornell to Canada's war effort. Photo: Barry Griffiths https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474278240-HI2XEPIS37A2THWS8JPY/Many9.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out John Mendes in on Parliament Hill Ottawa on a 48 hour pass from Pendleton. Photo via Brian Mendes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474365280-2HBJNARCFLQ8223FE5S1/Many8.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out Some scenes from John's days at Hagersville, Ontario near Hamilton. Clockwise from upper left: The Control Tower, Barracks Blocks, Barracks interior and Administrative Buildings. Photos by John Mendes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474405056-ODWSL979OCBO03UQUJXE/Many3.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out The headline may just as well have read "Your Flying Career is Over". Or perhaps "We've got Good News and Bad News". At No. 16 SFTS, Hagersville, Ontario, John Mendes photographs two classmates poring over a copy of the Hamilton Spectator to read the news of Japan's surrender. One can only imagine the mixed emotions that these three experienced that day. Within a week of this date, Mendes made his last flight. Five decades later, the Hamilton Spectator used this very image as part of their 50th Anniversary of VJ Day Special Commemorative edition. Photo via Brian Mendes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629474467251-EV8X2QLGBVEWU3GYHZUI/Many4.jpg The Stories - THE LAST OF THE MANY - Make it stand out A Thornycroft lorry in the employ of the Royal Air Force. Photo by Ernie Horler https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-last-duke monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629462921459-TKQC1HFWAK3FWLWM58VM/DukeFalsh.jpg The Stories - THE LAST DUKE — Douglas Warren dies at 89 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fidelitas monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629462440206-RDFNOGNXYR098VQSNO6K/MClartyFlash.jpg The Stories - FIDELITAS — Bunny McLarty dies at 89. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/in-his-name monthly 0.5 2021-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413659498-SBMCTF47WGKHVTL4CQRH/Dedications-Titkle.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413756133-2L34BYXCJH2MRX5P0US9/Harper.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413891790-H9JJXUEMFEZ1WD9Z607L/Edwards.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629414004632-N5SC6BJ5Z32RPT9EABBQ/Finley.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629460696816-A8JU850JLAUA3Z2CC2X2/Goddard.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629460876771-R174BD82H6B6L41UP8YS/Gray.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461042701-D56MTI2MJ8N2VH65HVLO/Hannah.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461142094-NWS9E95N9ZWTK7PYQJYP/Lilly.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461265104-SWI04A5C7QMCA78Q5ZIJ/Magee.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada is proud to dedicate its Canadian Car and Foundry-built North American Harvard 4 to the memory of Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, the pilot/poet who wrote High Flight, the finest-ever poem about flight. Born in China to Christian missionary parents (Father American, mother British), Magee went to high school at Rugby in England, where he distinguished himself as an emerging poet. At the outset of the war, Magee was in the United States and had just been awarded a scholarship to Yale University. Instead of going to university, the romantic poet joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and soon began pilot training. Magee completed elementary flying training at St. Catharines, Ontario and then came to Ottawa and No.2 Service Flying Training School to learn to fly the Harvard. After earning his wings and a commission in June of 1941, he went to England to No. 53 Operational Training Unit to learn to fly the magnificent Spitfire. He was then assigned to 412 Squadron RCAF. It was while training with 412 that he had the flying experience that inspired the poem High Flight. Sadly, on December 11, 1941, he was killed in an air-to-air collision with an Airspeed Oxford in Lincolnshire, England. The Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard 4 is painted in the exact markings of a Harvard 2 known to have been flown by Magee in training here in the Ottawa area. It is affectionately known as the High Flight Harvard. Photos: Top, Benoit Foisy; Bottom, Peter Handley; Inset, 19 year-old Magee after receiving his wings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461371961-BCDKR6VU0AA8FLOULR9S/McLarty.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461508949-6YL3S6Y5UDH61N0VPZJ7/McRae.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461616611-F1XQH2UZBJ8VXJD6Z8PE/NealBannock.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461733173-N8LH5HA5N4JIF9OVT74D/Pennie.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461817199-JJUKYNLD00NU5GR9BPGT/Robillard.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629461910701-7FYNYRL8SW1VWAD2DYVJ/Roseland2.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629462017309-V1V86MJL1LJATH0MQGED/McKnight2.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629462086625-CDDG4Z5PWIH7AGK2DY58/Stewart.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629462167392-0Z4N95QG6TRM8CR5NC3Z/InHis-NameTitle.jpg The Stories - IN HIS NAME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-end-of-hopes-and-dreams monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412281185-NR7MC1U5PD5OTAPCWM6Q/HopesandPlansTtle.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out The crew of Wellington HE821, clockwise from upper left: Pilot, WO1 Willis Donald Murdie; Navigator, Pilot Officer Lowell Milton Brehaut (on the left); Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer Walter William Cooper; Bomb Aimer, Sergeant John Joseph Lee; Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Sergeant James Robb Clarke (with little sister Margaret). Photos via respective families. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412488227-923P8DBFT6TWLXYBPJ3F/HopesandPlans16.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out The Vickers Wellington, affectionately known as the "Wimpy," was armed with twin .330 machine guns in the nose and tail turrets. It also had 2 manually-operated .303 guns in the beam positions and could carry a 4,500 lb bomb load. Slow speed, limited ceiling, and a small bomb load soon made the Wellington obsolete, although one significant design advantage was inventor Barnes-Wallace's geodetic lattice-work fuselage construction. This made the Wimpy extremely tough, and it often survived battle damage which would have destroyed other aircraft. DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412590250-1GJNCP7RS0AC7MICE9ZN/HopesandPlans12.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out A hand-tinted photo of Pilot Willis Murdie and his bride Betty Lucille Thurman in 1943. Murdie shipped out for Bournemouth, England and further OTU training immediately after his wedding. Prior to joining the RCAF and becoming a bomber pilot, Murdie was a filling station attendant. Photo via family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412623058-Y00M8IGJQ4IJBP722AQA/HopesandPlans7.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out A joyful photograph of the wedding of Walter Cooper and Edith Crombie in 1940. At 32, Walter was the oldest of the crew members and he hailed from the same small British Columbia town of Trail as did Robert Hampton Gray. Photo via family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412671881-PM7WQMD79HLU6664TX72/HopesandPlans3.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out All five Canadian crew members of Wellington HE821 are carried into Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery in Yorkshire by airmen from RAF Gamston on August 1944. In a personal letter of condolence to John Lee's mother, his 86 OTU CO described the details ot the funeral: “Your son's funeral, at which I was present, took place on Thursday morning, August 10th in Harrogate Regional Cemetery, Yorkshire. After the burial service, conducted by S/L Monahan, R.C. Chaplain, his body was respectfully interred in the plot of ground reserved for R.C.A.F. personnel. Full service honors were accorded, the coffin, covered with a Union Jack, being carried by Canadian Airmen. A firing party at the conclusion of the religious service at the graveside, fired three volleys over the grave. The Last Post and Reveille were then sounded. Wreaths were sent from the Commanding Officer, Officers and N.C.O.'s of this Unit, and the photographs taken of the procession, funeral service and grave (Plot no. E: Grave no. A.4) are enclosed in this letter.” Photo: 86 OTU, RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412701664-XEGAQC35V7FHS043H6PG/HopesandPlans4.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out The Canadians are laid to rest at Harrogate Stonefall. An honour guard rifle party stands by to fire a salute. For more on the findings of the accident investigation after the crash, click here. Photo: 86 OTU, RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412823800-ALTVFSRIAVJWBM0ILMTN/HopesandPlans2.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out During the ceremony at Harrogate Stonefall cemetery, family members of each of the fallen stand behind the tombstones of their beloved airmen. Left to right: Tom Lee, Margaret Graham, Terry Murdie, Blair Brehault and Tom Idle. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412902031-8DZ9WWOZTKQQ3DAZ5WZZ/HopesandPlans6.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out A family representative for each member of the lost crew spoke at the dedication. Here Tom Lee addresses the assembled guests. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412943714-TCBIC0503LKF9N4ZT9NW/HopesandPlans10.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Canadian High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. James Wright, and Blair Brehaut, brother of navigator Lowell Brehaut, unveil the monument. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412972081-XXDF106EZDR3KUI8UUPF/HopesandPlans11.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Wreathes were laid in honour of the crew members. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629412858893-DCC2JDC87XVOF0W12XN5/HopesandPlans5.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Canadian High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. James Wright, address the assembled family members, invitees and Royal Air Force cadets. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413010642-0OTUJGLQ9VJA4SYH38PE/HopesandPlans8.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Blair Brehaut speaks about his beloved brother Lowell, the navigator aboard Wellington HE821. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413039873-SQX6I8V8XEPBHY0H8UI2/HopesandPlans14.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Blair Brehaut speaks about his beloved brother Lowell, the navigator aboard Wellington HE821. Photo via Peter Allam https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629413077216-EHBZUU5X6IFA57WLAANC/HopesandPlans13.jpg The Stories - THE END TO HOPES AND PLANS - Make it stand out Family members of the fallen Wellington crew as well as Herbert Keeton stand with the newly unveiled monument. Left to right: Julie Sollows (for Lowell Brehault), Margaret Graham (for James Clarke), Blair Brehaut, Tom Idle (for Walter Cooper), Terry Murdie (for Willis Murdie), Tom Lee (for John Lee), and Ken Keeton (for Herbert Keeton). Photo via Peter Allam https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-angels-share monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629410267975-YDCI9IHZYFRU4TXZWSG1/AngelTitle5.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629410333182-8F7R8FW9IRO9T3DM5XN4/Angels6.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out Young Alexander “Xander” Kent stands on Bowmore's Main Street with the famous 18th century Round Church in the background. Photo: Roger Kent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629410645590-35OSK3WZVTHG4GTTOUVA/Angels7.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out In the graveyard behind the Round Church, there are many graves of merchant seamen, whose unidentified bodies washed up on the shores of the Inner Hebrides. It was the sinking of merchant shipping by U-boats that brought the sub-hunting, Sunderland-equipped 246 Squadron to RAF Bowmore. Photo Roger Kent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629410823829-LAFW28T7PUVLRQ7DV9EP/Angels2.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out The grave markers of the two Sunderland Wireless Operator/Air Gunners, Ernest Geoffrey Palmer and Roy John Jabour, stand against the ancient stone wall that surrounds the Round Church graveyard. Photo: Roger Kent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629410949659-HAXFWMRO28IO9MODTQCB/Angels9.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Short Sunderland flying boat readies for take-off on the cold grey waters of Loch Indaal during the Second World War. Photo via IslayInfo.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411065281-7Q2DS7YF72T6QVMNMCH9/Angels12.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out An official photo of a very serious and newly winged Wally Johnston with the "R" service number he was given when he signed up. Later he would get a new officer’s service number J17427. RCAF Photo found in Johnston's service file. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411120231-8RL0A14KA4JP5J9TWM0O/Angels13.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out The explosion that destroyed the aircraft is reported to have caused the slight crater visible in this photograph, the aircraft's base of Bowmore is visible in the background. Photo via Peak District Air Accident Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411287685-324JZ6A8ZCJKDTEWGY2J/Angels11.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out Flying Officer Kenneth Thomas had two photos in his service file. Left with an "R" number was taken when he signed up while the other was taken with his new service number and pilot's brevet. RCAF photos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411464535-5BGPBKV4JE4JCRBFBDAT/2457442_3.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out Archibald Neville Book, Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411564369-MCB9GH1LVUYGP1BOTFU7/Angels3.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out In the sunlit Bowmore graveyard, Young Xander draws a modern Canadian flag in a note book. Though the long dead Canadian airmen fought under and for a different Canadian flag, they won the freedom and opportunities that Xander now enjoys under our beloved red maple leaf flag. Photo: Roger Kent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411594472-9FGUG495ABNGRJAO04QO/Angels4.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out Xander Kent plants a hand drawn Canadian flag at the grave of Beaufighter pilot Flying Officer Archibald Book. Photo Roger Kent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629411628396-H2JOVF3VVIAWE2EWL1L7/Angels5.jpg The Stories - THE ANGELS’ SHARE — Tragedy on the Whiskey Trail - Make it stand out The graves of Johnston (far left with the Canadian and Australian flags), Thomas and Book with their new Canadian flags flying proudly. Photo Roger Kent https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/battle-scars monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409225867-PU713DI273XTSGVFNS3N/MoylesTitle2.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409366003-5MAXCHT6571MZZXUC9FW/BattleScars2.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out BCATP mechanics ready a Fairey Battle out on the Canadian prairie. RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409445029-HP1NXQJV2P42XJ6LU49M/BattleScars5.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out A BCATP Fairey Battle Gunnery Trainer inches close to a photo airplane over the Canadian prairies in winter time. RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409590950-EXII9J7M1D46RM80OVVJ/BattleScars8.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out A Fairey Battle (2072) of No.3 Bombing and Gunnery School, MacDonald, Manitoba churns through the cold prairie air. Photo via Wendy Relf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409728887-7EU8W2SZ4QZXJMEFIVV2/BattleScars3.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out Though configured as a Target Tug and not a gunnery training Battle, we can see clearly the belly hatch at the rear of the wing between the tires. This particular Battle, RCAF serial 1649 was involved in a fatal crash at No/ 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario in 1940. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409787208-PD3XPMC6Z4NHRH8DMPZL/BattleScars6.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out Gunner John Moyles (standing at right) poses with his 422 Squadron RCAF Sunderland crew. John Moyles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409823658-ABRW11DDT1GKI31PRMRH/BattleScars10.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out Mark Peapell of the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum sends us this shot of Mossbank's Battle flightline. Though not winter, it demonstrates three different markings used for Battles at Mossbank. In the foreground, Battle 1710 (Ex RAF P6544) wears the European style camo, while immediately behind is most likely in all yellow. In the far distance is a Battle in the black and white “Oxydol” paint scheme of a Target Tug. Battle 1710 was eventually converted to a Target Tug in 1943. Photo via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629409848828-N0XKLMIW5I8W5RNCAXLW/BattleScars11.jpg The Stories - BATTLE SCARS — Blind Landing at Mossbank, Saskatchewan - Make it stand out Another Mossbank Battle, with evidence of Devil artwork on the fuselage that predates a boxing kangaroo with Popeye blasting away from her pouch... clearly the work of Aussie gunners. Photo Mark Peapell https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/revenge-of-the-shang monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628295751294-O2IDCEZN7SIPMLOPLLM5/53D9EA56-C5F8-433F-A332-1E50767A54E5.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628295791656-CFT8CND0Y1FYDRCC6WNY/C3D24706-613E-47D8-B774-02E505D18A9F.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Along with the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, this image from newsreel footage, taken after Japanese dive bomber attacks on USS Franklin (CV-13), was one of the most powerful and provocative images of the Pacific War. It shows Father Joseph O’Callahan giving last rites to a sailor by the name Robert C. Blanchard aboard Franklin moments after the attack. In March of 1945, Franklin was severely damaged by bombs and more than 800 of her crew died in the ensuing explosions and fires. Both Blanchard and Franklin survived their wounds, with the carrier becoming the most heavily damaged carrier to survive the war. She never saw action or service again though. O’Callahan received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that day. Photo: Albert Bullock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628295864100-S6S44Q9C17TAR8WD4HCR/2500B839-65C2-477D-8D69-62A53EE8F612.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Franklin Delano Roosevelt must have been quite taken by James Hilton’s Lost Horizon (1933) or by the subsequent smash hit motion picture adaptation by Frank Capra. He not only inadvertently named the carrier that was to replace Hornet, but he chose the same name for his new Presidential Retreat, the place we know today as Camp David. Originally a camp for federal employees in Maryland known as Hi-Catoctin, it was selected to build a new spot where Roosevelt could rest without security issues. The camp was renamed the USS Shangri-La, to follow up on the nautical connection, since many workers involved with the building of the Presidential Yacht, USS Potomac, worked on the camp. President Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed it Camp David in honour of his grandson during his presidency. It’s too bad the name Shangri-La did not stick as there is far more history, both military and cultural, associated with the name. Photo via Whitehouse website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628295903544-LWFUQC6KTGE17LIOQO1Y/747E2FB5-86F6-46A1-8C30-50D54E012D92.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out 16 B-25 Mitchells, secured to the deck, with Perspex turrets covered in tarps, make the journey towards Japan. The aircraft in the forward positions are having their engines run up to keep them ready for the mission ahead. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628295998251-6KLG0INWFGJ2TXCV64YI/D19459BF-C45D-497E-BA53-83C3F63D3140.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out On 18 April 1942, the fleet carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) launches the first of 16 B-25 Mitchells for the famed Doolittle Raid, the surprise attack on Tokyo that inspired a nation and gave some hope that the Allies could and would strike back. The Hornet was the seventh ship of the United States Navy to carry that name. While it was the first aircraft carrier to launch a medium bomber like the Mitchell, it would be two more years before a Mitchell would land on a carrier... the USS Shangri-La. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628296826819-87L7KXKZ6D8GJ64CGVFC/D2E7F71F-65F7-4E23-AD15-DF0AD670F6D5.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A lobby card poster for the Frank Capra motion picture Lost Horizon depicts the moment that Tibetan citizens and monks find a crashed Douglas DC-2 in a frozen valley near the hidden lamasery known as Shangri-La. Both the book by James Hilton and the film adaptation were massive cultural phenomenons of the late 1930s. In a nutshell, the storyline is explained by the website CultureCourt.com: “Five people are kidnapped when escaping a local revolution in Baskul, China. Instead of being flown to Shanghai, the DC-2 continues east into the mountains beyond Tibet where it runs out of fuel and crashes in the snowy mountain col of an unknown Himalayan range. The mysterious hijacker dies in the cockpit, the passengers survive... but what could their fate be other than a frozen, anonymous death? Out of the deadlight of the endless snow a party of rescuers materialize, led by the enigmatic Chang, who, it appears, has been expecting them. Explanations are left for another time. The five passengers are roped together like slaves and led across the treacherous mountain precipices to a cave, which opens like a dream onto the verdant valley country of Shangri-La.” Poster: Columbia Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628296858848-W7C4YV2JX5ZI1EUIU1BL/E926345E-C135-42E0-B54E-B05D4F0D812F.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The opening title from the motion picture offers the promises of high mountains and powerful vistas. Screen capture: Columbia Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628296898326-1U9OP2ZSDZW6ADXLNYEL/52D3E884-8BD9-4348-8CED-65CED303C486.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out In the book, Lost Horizon, James Hilton tells the story of a crashed passenger aircraft, lost in the Himalayas, with no hope of rescue. That aircraft was portrayed in the ensuing feature film by a Douglas DC-2 rented by the film’s producers from American Airlines. The aircraft had much more than a cameo appearance in the film with lots of great footage of it flying in mountainous territory. Screen capture: Columbia Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628296934527-JYDXP8CED6BTY4I7BMU1/89B1F058-9948-4301-B079-77BC5F68962F.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Throughout the first third of the twentieth century, there was strong western interest in Tibetan Buddhist and Himalayan culture, the Himalayas, Mount Everest and Tibetan lamaseries. The struggles and eventual death of George Leigh Mallory, on the North-East ridge of Mount Everest in 1924, generated a global fascination with the utopian idea of a simple, peaceful life, longevity, and spirituality at the roof of the world. The set imagined by Capra for the movie seems to take more inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright than from any real Tibetan lamasery. Screen capture: Columbia Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297012634-24KYUKVISO88VLYYQ5GC/6012A885-6F96-42FA-AF9F-D16CBA3B4D5A.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out In a scene from the motion picture Lost Horizon, exhausted and near frozen passengers stand in awe as they gaze upon the sight of fictional Shangri-La. The motion picture first opened in 1937 and, by the time of the Doolittle Raid, was well settled into the consciousness and cultural/pop sensibilities of the American and Western publics. Screen Capture: Columbia Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297039568-MGBKT4CBW1JVPPGDTPJR/6A81D4E2-1F67-4B9B-952A-460927A92388.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out “Bomb Tokyo with Your Extra Change!” In 1942, Roosevelt’s Shangri-La witticism was well known and well appreciated in America, enough to inspire the name of the ship and even a war bond and stamp drive to raise funds to build the carrier to avenge the loss of the Hornet. According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times of 31 July 1943, the local community’s goal in the drive was $60,000.00, with the national goal being $131,669,275.00 and Florida’s portion being $1,397,414.00. The article also stated that “War stamps purchased in July all over the nation will go to pay for the carrier, to replace the Hornet from whose deck went Jimmy Doolittle and his men to bomb Tokio [sic]. The Hornet was later sunk. The new carrier’s real name will never be known until after successful action at sea. Until then, it will be the “Shangri’La,” bought and paid for by public contributions.” This is the first and only place I had read that the name Shangri-La was supposed to be a temporary one. One wonders if this was true, or even what people thought was true back then. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297066886-8C0YSS3R8AYTA6Q1YD3Q/756207BF-7332-41B6-AACC-C51583FDC6A4.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out On 24 February 1944, USS Shangri-La was launched at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia, with none other than Jimmy Doolittle’s wife, Josephine, breaking a bottle of champagne against her bow. Radio microphones can be seen, and Rear Admiral Felix X. Gygax grabs one and leans it forward to capture the sound of the bottle crashing against the ship, confirming this was a major publicity event. Photo: US Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297096300-7O2P1RXIQ8T5Y3USU0R9/4D76D77C-D257-4E26-A39D-4D6074DE07C8.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out In addition to shipyard dignitaries, politicians and Mrs. Doolittle, there was one other very symbolic person in attendance. The tall Army Air Corps captain standing beside Mrs. Doolittle was Captain Jacob Earl “Shorty” Manch, co-pilot of crew No. 3 of the 16 Mitchells in Doolittle’s Raiders. Sadly, Manch was killed bailing out of a Lockheed T-33 aircraft near Las Vegas, Nevada on 24 March 1958. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297120185-RDAD76VX1RY1331CIOA1/41D8A5FD-F6D1-4239-BAF4-E3F4E6E2B95A.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Crew No. 3 of the Doolittle Raiders: left to right, Lt. Charles J. Ozuk (Navigator), Lt. Robert M. Gray (Pilot), Sergeant Aden E. Jones (Bombardier), Lieutenant Jacob Manch (Co-pilot) and Corporal Leland D. Faktor (Engineer Gunner). Manch would survive and be able to attend the launch of a brand new carrier named in honour of himself and his fellow Raiders. This image was taken aboard USS Hornet days before the attack. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297159624-5GQG4B8QAS95KJZ4SAWD/46D52798-6822-46F0-A0C9-3BD829FE42AE.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Dragging heavy chains to slow her progress, the seconds old hull of USS Shangri-La slides down the ways at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, while lucky yard workers take the ride at the rails and on the flight deck. One can only imagine what an experience this was for these men and women who had worked so hard to complete her in time to take part in the final victory over Japan. Photo via NavSource (http://www.navsource.org) and Gerd Matthes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297190226-3JYBZ6WKFZO2SMRJR6WN/AED38C98-57AE-446D-955D-4523BCB689A9.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The brand new first crew of USS Shangri-La assembles with the ship’s band at the ship’s commissioning ceremony. Somewhere in this group of sailors is Wade Litzinger, whose photographs of life on the Shang’s first combat cruises and test operations. A few of these photos are included in this story. Photo via NavSource (http://www.navsource.org) and David Anderson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297216736-U84UT3P9JQRUY5EYZPN0/AF3A8AC7-EE27-447D-8F02-D2F44F3C1B3A.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out All members of the Shangri-La’s first commissioning crew were known as Plank Owners, entitled to claim ownership of a plank on her deck at her demise, and were given a certificate which backed this up. It was dated the day of her commissioning on 15 September 1944 and was signed by her first commanding officer, James D. Barner. Sailor Wade Revere Litzinger kept his certificate which is now proudly kept by his grandson Randy Litzinger. Scan via Randy Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297239921-G8LZURRGVSUU3I0MN7T7/5229CF31-946C-4E56-A259-4ED151829266.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out One of the most astonishing coincidences for the Shangri-La was the fact that, during her shakedown cruise, she was employed as a test platform to both launch and recover a US Navy B-25 Mitchell (called a PBJ-1H by the Navy). Given that her name came directly as a result of the carrier-based B-25 Doolittle Raid, it was not lost on naval people of the day that she would be the first to recover one on board. This image looks to have been taken shortly after the Mitchell has trapped and then released her arresting wire. These tests took place in the Chesapeake Bay area, close to the Norfolk yards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297266187-G59GDYDDS8IHQZNTCBCA/F6C2CBA0-2045-485B-8F52-F8CFCBE528C1.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out During carrier trials for the PBJ-1H Mitchell, sailor Wade Litzinger brought his camera on deck, and from the catwalk along her flight deck, took a photograph of one of the Mitchell’s landings aboard Shangri-La. This would be the heaviest aircraft brought to a stop on an American carrier to that point. The pilot was Lieutenant Commander H.S. Bottomly. The tests were for an anticipated need to bring attack bombers like the Mitchell up close to the Japanese homelands in the event of a fight to the end. Photo: Wade Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297289719-6CDQ8ENSUXUYCY5BFWPU/709B7F59-C875-4606-A23B-F9C198E0E2E0.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Lieutenant Commander Bottomly lands the Mitchell aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time in history—17 November 1944. On that very same day, Shangri-La also landed on and launched a P-51 Mustang and a Grumman F7F Tigercat twin-engine fighter. The Mitchell had been fitted with a tail hook and had been strengthened to take the strain of the trap. It also had unique wheels that could be partially rotated to decrease turning radius on the deck. Bottomly actually aborted his first attempt and had returned to Norfolk for repair. In the end, he would make three traps and three launches. Photo via Shangri-La Cruisebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297361248-67XN845L8WE75KWN2WZX/E94A4634-A715-41CA-8CCE-A47CF7E1281E.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out With every available viewing position occupied in the Shangri-La’s island superstructure, the US Navy PBJ-1H Mitchell gets ready for one of her three launches from USS Shangri-La. The aircraft would be launched well forward of where Doolittle started his run two and a half years before—with the aid of a catapult. Photo via Mission4Today.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297388215-9TIFZGDBXZ1T232L2NIK/FCD8DF78-4A48-4A46-A7F3-AEE2C8B0F16D.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out On the very same day that Bottomly flew his PBJ-1H Mitchell out to trap aboard the Shangri-La, North American Aviation also tested another of their famous types—a navalized variant of their P-51D Mustang called the Seahorse. This one-off fighter (USAAC S/N 44-14017), like its stablemate, the Mitchell, was strengthened and equipped with a tail hook. Here we see the world’s only Seahorse trapping aboard Shangri-La. Photo: US Navy via Shangri-La Cruisebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297410547-H5I1HGNLDCE7GDR6OJGZ/763A5A4B-0A38-40C5-8860-8B77869C08A0.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out With the multiple launches and recoveries of the PBJ-IH Mitchell, P-51 Seahorse and F7F Tigercat, this had to be one hell of a day for hanging out on the island superstructure. Here we see Navy Lieutenant Robert Elder taxiing forward after landing aboard the carrier Shangri-La. Photo: Wade Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297450606-V9TPHEM09Q3EBMES6MQI/012A0387-FD3B-4F11-9F1D-4E64B61ABD0C.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out USS Shangri-La’s newly minted deck “airdales” wait to pull the chocks as Lieutenant Elder warms up his P-51 Seahorse before taxiing to position for flying. This is at the back deck of Shangri-La as we can see the arresting wires in this shot. Note the arresting hook at the tail, behind the tailwheel. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297493000-3VNY8FMNR6X45PI70QN4/A7C909CA-A688-420D-96C8-AAD1F73162A1.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The one and only North American P-51 Seahorse is seen from Shangri-La’s island superstructure as she rolls down the deck during one of its launches. We can tell it is in the launch as its tail wheel is just rising off the deck and the arresting wires have all been slackened so that the fighter can roll over them. The waist elevator, see at top right is just abeam the island, putting the Seahorse about halfway down the 888-foot-long deck. Of Elder’s experience with the P-51 Seahorse, aviation writer, artist and historian Gaëtan Marie writes: “During the months of September and October 1944, Lt. Elder made nearly 150 simulated launches and landings with the ETF-51D. Sufficient data concerning the Mustang’s low speed handling had to be gathered before carrier trials could begin. The Mustang’s laminar-flow wing made for little drag and high speed but was relatively inefficient at low speed, resulting in a high stall speed. As the arrestor cables could not be engaged at more than 90 mph, Elder reported that “from the start, it was obvious to everyone that the margin between the stall speed of the aircraft (82 mph) and the speed imposed by the arrestor gear (90 mph) was very limited.” ” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297524570-1WH4EGSLV00PEUFMVZIP/DB6C28D2-0D1D-4BA8-B3D7-6501852F383D.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out For any aviation enthusiast, to be aboard USS Shangri-La on 17 November 1944 on the surface of Chesapeake Bay, would have been the thrill of a lifetime. On that one day, test pilots Lieutenant Commander H. Syd Bottomly in his PJB-1H Mitchell, Lieutenant Robert Elder in his P-51 Seahorse and Lieutenant Charlie Lane in a Grumman F7F-1 Tigercat landed and took off several times each. Lieutenant Lane, from the Ship Experimental Unit of the Naval Aircraft Factory (SEU/NAF), made landings and launches that day that were the first ever for a twin-engine, tricycle landing geared aircraft from the deck of a carrier. Lane made both deck-run and catapult-assisted takeoffs that day. Lane’s Tigercat is photographed by crewman Litzinger in repose after trapping aboard, with its tail hook dropped. Photo: Wade Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297548298-IWVFI9374EB4P349EZLD/8BCD5053-499C-484C-8CCF-CD120A786C33.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Lieutenant Charlie Lane traps aboard USS Shangri-La in his Grumman F7F-1 Tigercat. We can see the tail hook fully engaged with an arrestor wire and that the seemingly delicate nose wheel oleo is compressed, compared to the exposed amount of shaft in the previous photograph. Though the F7F-1 was successfully tested for carrier landings that day, no F7F-1s would ever operate from carriers. Later marks like the F7F-3 would make it back to the carrier deck after the war. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297572745-M7Q7QKHOIESD6KA4PQWV/57AE7424-9173-47DD-9A5F-E3DDC24A06F1.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out USS Shangri-La steams in the Caribbean near Trinidad in the British West Indies—late November or early December 1944. She sports a new coat of camouflage “dazzle paint” designed to break up her lines and confuse submarine commanders as to her identity, speed and direction. On her deck sits what looks to be her complement of Corsairs, Helldivers and possibly Avengers. She would lose this paint scheme when she got to Pearl Harbor. It was during the earlier part of this shakedown cruise, while still in Chesapeake Bay, that Shangri-La had the distinct honour of being the first carrier to launch and recover a B-25 Mitchell, a P-51 Mustang and a Grumman F7F Tigercat. Photo via NavSource (http://www.navsource.org) and Timm Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297598824-MEV2JJZM67H3EHAPF9V5/35BAF850-FD79-4354-B45C-C62B0E4928F0.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A supply and fuel ship comes alongside USS Shangri-La in the Western Pacific in July of 1945. By this time she had been in theatre since April and her 5-month-old paint was starting to look pretty rough. On the aft flight deck was can see Curtiss Helldivers ranged, each with the letter “Z” on their tails matching the Shang’s “Z” deck code or group identification letter. Photo via NavSource (http://www.navsource.org) and Robert Rocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297629638-TKLQA60O9JPVR1O7EVX0/E075F806-219C-4463-85BE-AC935DE25A05.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Two Curtiss Helldiver aircraft of VB-85—Bombing Squadron 85 slide up to a photoship for a beauty shot over the Pacific Ocean in the summer of 1945. The “Z” on the tails of these aircraft indicate that they were part of Carrier Air Group (CVG) 85, the group assigned to Shang. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297661312-DX6O2X19P8MGGREZV465/821FC121-9615-4B51-A8E0-78568F1704F8.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A Curtiss Helldiver of Carrier Air Group (CVG) 85 with its backseater handling a reconnaissance camera. Of the more than 7,000 Helldivers constructed for the US Navy, more than 1,000 were built in Canada by Fairchild and Canadian Car and Foundry. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297699156-PWISIOTTPBZ87Y810TWE/D43EBFBE-C4A5-4F1D-8B96-1452282148A4.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out On 3 February 1945, ten days before Shangri-La was to arrive at Pearl Harbor en route to Okinawa, the ship was still carrying on training daily—a dangerous activity. On that day, this Curtiss SB2C-4E Helldiver crumpled in flames during a terrible crash landing during training. The aircraft (Helldiver 80) attempted a landing without flaps, crashed and caught fire. The gunner, seen here at lower right, was thrown clear, but later died if his injuries. The aircraft was assigned to Bombing Squadron 85 (VB-85), which operated from the carrier during the period from April to September 1945. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297721804-R7EMPM2QO73U3MQVK9KS/D8150C67-BCC2-4ABD-9EB6-904A3328BD4C.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out One of Shangri-La’s armourers, and young ordnanceman by the name of Staples, inspects the twin 30 cal. Browning machine guns in the rear seat of a Curtiss Helldiver. Photo: Wade Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297747318-EKVFDKJZWHZUNV66U4IP/826B3877-FD4C-4652-874A-653B471AF68D.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out According to Wade Litzinger’s journal, there were two Corsair crashes on Shangri-La which resulted in the tails breaking off and the pilots surviving. On 24 July 1945, a Lieutenant Reed attempted to land a badly damaged Corsair. Having a shell hole in his fuselage behind the cockpit, the tail hook and empennage ripped off when they snagged a wire and remained at the end of deck, while the rest of plane raced down the flight deck and a wing struck a 4 inch gun turret. Then, on 8 August, a pilot named Ensign Max “Doc” Snavley attempted a landing without flaps, caught the 11th wire stretched across the deck and snapped the tail from his Corsair. The aircraft slid to a stop with Snavely unhurt. Looking at this image, with the tail showing Shang’s air group code letter “Z” and the aircraft resting below the island superstructure, my guess is that this is Snavely’s incident. The image was just moments after the crash as we can see Snavely being assisted down from his cockpit. The aircraft was a total loss. Photo: US Navy via VBF-85.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297773604-18QDSNCL1UCZ46RZBVHR/AFDC9F17-C55B-49FA-AE0E-3946EE3D19F6.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A photo of Shang’s scoreboard shows 50 Japanese aircraft claimed (left) by her Corsair pilots, torpedo and bombing missions (diagonal lines), ships, boats and trains sunk or attacked. Photo via Shangri-La’s Cruisebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297798157-1FBJ8F6WYPB28A02C6UJ/49B5E60D-246E-423C-8445-5F35F3595161.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out In honour of the surrender of the Japanese just two days before, USS Shangri-La is photographed underway in the Pacific, with her crew paraded and aircraft ranged on the flight deck, on 17 August 1945. She was photographed by her ship’s photographer sitting in the back of a a VB-85 Helldiver. Note use of the Carrier Air Group (CVG) 85 identification letter “Z” on the flight deck instead of her hull number “38” which she would wear for the rest of her career. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297828681-H3NWFDL0UDRS4VN19VY0/23D8960D-9F48-4246-819B-9F1BCBD2E743.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A nice photograph of a VB-85 Helldiver with the ships of her carrier task force arrayed behind. One wonders if this Helldiver was the one that took the previous photograph of Shangri-La as that shot was taken during a mass multi-carrier task force group shot. The carriers and other ships in the background, large format camera and the happy faces of Helldiver crew seem to hint at that. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297858211-9KFJYIIT2UN0BALWT1HQ/4F5E7F23-1D25-4894-87AD-5A03A60B6451.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A month after VJ Day, a weathered and veteran USS Shangri-La comes alongside the escort carrier USS Attu. The Shang’s radio masts are deployed vertically for best transmission and reception, indicating there is no flying planned. Soon she would be on her way home to Bremerton, Washington. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297886446-WG8LSNCJVA6GJ6133DA8/5A68B084-F313-4640-96BA-7D7FCFD30DDD.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out A war weary USS Shangri-La edges into San Pedro Bay to tie up at Los Angeles, California at the end of October 1945. On her deck, her air group’s aircraft are smartly ranged and most of her 1,773 men crew are forming up to spell out the word ALOHA, an appropriate greeting from a ship and her Task Force 38 recently back from the Pacific War. This photo was carried in newspapers across the country. Photo via PicstoPin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628297916947-ZKNC2EX42YII53NK5VAA/084C867B-D11E-49EC-8E54-98DBA885C603.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Of all the images of the days aboard Shangri-La in her deployments during the Second World War, this is my favourite by far, and Shangri-La is nowhere in sight. Here, after the Shang returned to Washington via Puget Sound and docked at Bremerton, a group of sailors from her crew gathered at a ski resort near Snoqualmie Pass for some joyous R&R, happy to be home, to be safe, to be in America. The date is just three days before Christmas 1945. Here the group gathers for a wonderful shot in the snowy landscape with relief and peace written all over their faces. Wade Litzinger is centre in this photograph (7th from left, back row), smiling broadly. Looking at this image one sees a tie-in to the image far above of the survivors of the Lost Horizon crash as they gaze upon Shangri-La for the first time. There is not doubt that, for Litzinger and his mates, they have found the true Shangri-La, a long life and happiness... home in America. Photo via Wade Litzinger and Randy Litzinger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298235574-WJ4BIK562MHIWKP4TAV0/0D05350C-6C3A-4220-A521-389A0FE425DC.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out One of Shangri-La’s postwar missions was to carry aircraft to be guinea pigs for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. Here in 1946, we see her transiting Lake Gatun midway through the Panama Canal system, loaded with war surplus fighters destined for destruction in the tests. Image via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298272822-A0SVCVEV0TWLLQDLK3P8/63789531-B225-49DD-9FB9-C84584BE90EC.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The flight deck of USS Shangri-La after the Second World War (1947—the Western Pacific) with aircraft ranged forward of the barrier and all hands focusing on a Curtiss Helldiver of attack squadron VA-5A. The aft 4-inch gun turrets are trained to starboard, possibly standard operating procedure when recovering and launching aircraft to keep the barrels from damage. Tracing its origins to 1928, VA-5A operated under the designations Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3) and Bombing Squadron Five (VB-5) during the Second World War, participating in the Battle of Eastern Solomons and raids on the Marshall Islands and Truk. Designated VA-5A in 1946, the squadron became VA-54 in 1948. It was the last fleet squadron to operate the SB2C Helldiver. During 1947, the squadron completed a Western Pacific cruise aboard USS Shangri-La (CV-38), being assigned to Carrier Air Group Five (CVAG-5). Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298320970-4QSGH6IKZFHHDHILPYUI/4F7813F3-7719-4275-9296-49B92DC8A240.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out In 1955, just weeks after her massive refit at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard in Washington, USS Shangri-La paid a visit to San Francisco en route to San Diego. While passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, her crew spelled out the words “HELLO BAY AREA” for the assembled photographers. She docked at Naval Air Station Alameda on the Oakland side of the bay. During her refit, she received the first structurally angled flight deck in the US Navy, as well as other improvements, which made her, for the moment, the most modern carrier in the fleet, if not the world. UP Telephoto via Utah Daily Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298359721-DYGWMIPYSD3M7A0BAHUT/DA3C3494-61C3-4678-9CA3-1A705CE0711D.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Within ten years of her launch, USS Shangri-La was fully in the jet age, with a newly acquired angled deck (we can just make it out at the far right bottom) and steam catapults. Here A US Navy McDonnell F3H-2 Demon of Fighter Squadron VF-124 Gunfighters and a Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior are taking part in carrier qualifications in 1956. Behind them are ranged a pair of McDonnell F2H Banshees and a Piasecki HUP-2 of HU-1 twin rotor helicopter. A very close look at the dark blue Skywarrior on the port cat reveals, beneath the cockpit, the famous “Smokin’ Tiger” crest/patch of VAH-1, the first operational Heavy Attack squadron with the A3D, based at the time at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. A close-up of the crest is in the following image. Photo: US Navy from USS Shangri-La Cruisebook 1956–57 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298443437-SGZ6TR51URC5O0XB0B2P/84D171FD-45E7-41FA-8E71-4A385349FE88.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out On the occasion of his promotion, Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Raymond Mueller takes a proud drag on a Smokin’ Tiger cigar in front of the squadron emblem, also displayed on the side of an A3D in the previous photograph aboard USS Shangri-La. That same decal was proudly displayed and preserved on the left rear window of the Mueller family 1960 red Plymouth Valiant until disposed of in 1972. Photo via Michael Mueller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298506135-09431RBEFX78WNZRKSCQ/26982940-9995-4717-AE3B-A247852DC3BD.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Whale watching. An A3D-1 Skywarrior is catapulted from USS Shangri-La in the late 1950s. Nicknamed the “Whale” for its enormous size and weight, the A-3 was the heaviest aircraft to launch from Shangri-La, double the weight of the B-25 Mitchell of Lt. Commander Bottomly. Four A3D-1s were loaded aboard Shangri-La in late August 1956 to promote the airplane’s capability. Two, probably assigned to VAH-2, were launched on 1 September off Mexico for a flyby at the Oklahoma City Air Show and return to NAS North Island. The other two, probably VAH-1’s, were launched off the Oregon coast on 2 September for a flyby at Oklahoma City and a subsequent landing at NAS Jacksonville. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298549683-CM9XND3HR7K3H792MMLA/2A9F95D8-F52F-4D5D-B9BF-37F1278B26DA.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out It’s always nice for us Canucks to bring the story somehow back to Canada, since our espoused goal is to tell the story of Canada’s aviation heritage. Here, if you can get past the beautiful woman in the foreground, USS Shangri-La is towed to dockside on the St. Lawrence River at Québec City in 1963. Shangri-La was visiting with other ships including the heavy cruiser USS Newport News. One of our Vintage Wings members, Daniel Duclos, is the young boy in the arms of his mother, young Mme Duclos. Photo: André Duclos – Courtesy Daniel Duclos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298600865-9HOARQ4CCTXZPZSAI48I/6D5F9B4E-640E-49EF-AF8B-12D6DE7C5CB9.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The Shang’s sailors line the deck and rails as she is brought up to the riverside dock at Québec City in 1963. You can bet these young sailors were keen for shore leave in the lovely French city of Québec, with its beautiful architecture and, well... beautiful women. Photo: André Duclos – Courtesy Daniel Duclos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298633312-KUS8OMVZKCC3F4XBLOWH/7F271072-3D12-4402-826F-D97725CAD5DA.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out As soon as Shangri-La tied up at Québec, her crew unfurled a banner welcoming guests aboard... in French. Now, that’s class. Photo: André Duclos – Courtesy Daniel Duclos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298678193-OCYH0H6HHBK9L2Q6Q0U2/40610BA9-09B5-405A-89E8-AF7FDC034563.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out Two U.S. Navy Douglas A-4B Skyhawk attack aircraft (nicknamed Scooters or Heinemann’s Hotrods for their designer) from Anti-Submarine Fighter Squadron 1 Warhawks in flight with USS Shangri-La steaming off to the right below. VSF-1 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) aboard Shangri-La for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea from 29 September 1966 to 20 May 1967. A carrier-based Skyhawk was the aircraft Senator John McCain was flying when he was shot down over Vietnam. His father, Vice-Admiral John McCain made Shangri-La his flagship in May of 1945. In 1970, Shangri-La returned to the South Pacific to launch attacks against North Vietnam. She was decommissioned in 1971 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and berthed at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. There she remained on reserve for the next 11 years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298710843-JMYT5VRUOMQVJMM8GZUP/1E81FC94-5EEF-4EEE-A7BA-D249CE2089AE.jpeg The Stories - REVENGE OF THE SHANG - Make it stand out The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CVS-38) cruises toward Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, on 11 February 1970. Shangri-La was working up for her last deployment before her decommissioning. Her last cruise, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8), was to Vietnam and the Western Pacific from 5 March to 17 December 1970. Although nominally re-designated as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS) on 30 June 1969, the Shang still operated as an attack carrier (CVA). Text and photo via Wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/just-one-life monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629402793575-XG9UDR98Y40IJ9HN3HYA/TommyWhiteTitle.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403309896-LWHWPL6GRYPG3CUL0PEW/TommyWhite3.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out A photo of 26 year old Tommy White from his US citizenship document taken nearly 10 years before his death. Photo via White Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403396127-QM83480234O2XACTESGD/TommyWhite4.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Four Generations -- in late 1956, Mary-Elizabeth Brymner Gordon — my bride-to-be — sits on the lap of her mother Thelma, who is joined at right by her mother (& Tommy White's sister) Mary, who is joined in the centre by her (& Tommy White's) mother Elizabeth (nee Brymner) White. Second photo: Lizzie & Tom White Sr. during the post-war years in Kingston Ontario; now with more grand- and great-grandchildren than can be counted, but reportedly never free from the grief of the loss of their son. Photos: White Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403466575-SJ5KZN6UNY25BGWMO2Z0/TommyWhite5.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Even though the building and the name of Tommy's local high school have both changed since the early 1920s, the students of Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute (just KCI when Tommy attended the now demolished building nearby) still rush daily past a large bronze plaque in the main stairwell, bearing the names of the many dozens of KCVI students and staff who lost their lives during WWII. Photo by John Bertram https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403500888-M9Y0BNXGJ47MOP3KMFRI/TommyWhite32.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out The White Family in 1916 — Halfway through The Great War of 1914-18— though already in his early 40s and despite initial rejections -- Tommy’s father had finally convinced the Army to let him enlist. In this torn and fading family portrait, seven-year-old Tom Jr. poses "in uniform", flanked by his equally patriotic younger brother Jimmy and their father, as the senior Thomas White prepares to leave his growing family and re-cross the Atlantic. Tommy's father served as a medical support worker in England for about a year and a half, after a previously-sustained foot injury rendered him unfit for active duty. When on leave, he traveled north to visit friends in Greenock Scotland, and sent picture postcards to “Mrs. White” back in Canada, with nostalgic views of their old home town. Photo: White Family Collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403694119-M75G58K4OUKFV7RNUL93/TommyWhite6.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out A Certified Citizen -- For most of his adult life, Tommy White lived on his own in Rochester, New York, yet still not far away from his parents, brothers & sisters, nieces & nephews all just across the lake in Kingston, Ontario. After residing and working there almost nine years, Tommy became an American citizen at age 26 (in 1935) -- the certificate for which now provides us the one and only "professional portrait" we have of him at any age. Certificate via White Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403725841-QTS4ZQ2K5XRXTUFUIA29/TommyWhite31.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Greenock, Scotland. May, 1941 -- What came to be known as "The Greenock Blitz", a two-night attack by German bombers against this major west-coast shipping port north of Glasgow, devastated the Scottish town from which Tommy White's parents had left for Canada many years earlier. (This picture shows the destruction at the intersection of Cathcart & Brymner Streets -- "Brymner" being both my wife's middle name, and Tommy White's mother's maiden name.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403837665-4ZTITRIHPC9GGXFK8B4Z/TommyWhite7.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out A photo of Tommy White after enlistment in 1943... and some of the USAAF recruitment posters from the period which may have inspired his decision to join. Photo via White Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403921760-J4QCFDJ2E6AU1905NZAZ/TommyWhite8.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629403942967-56RUH23M72V39GAE49WU/TommyWhite36.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Sense of Duty (and a Sense of Humour) -- Tommy White as the young home front cadet in 1916 (age 7); as the recently-enlisted trainee attending the U.S. Army's Technical School at Sioux Falls, South Dakota (February 1943; age 34); and as the newly-minted T/Sgt & gunnery school graduate in January 1944 (age 35), now stationed at the Army Air Base in Casper, Wyoming. But the adult Tommy White's playful side can still be seen in the captions he wrote on each of the later pictures, before sending them to his family in Kingston. For the shot from Sioux Falls Technical School, he inscribed: "How do you like that cute little cap. It keeps my ears warm." And for the smartly-turned out pose a year later, he writes: "Ain't I the one!" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407353608-WTGP2IMWJUKF8R2VH2PD/TommyWhite9.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Tommy on his last leave with his family in Kingston in 1944 Photo via White Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407383652-N5IWTBWVGQW2RI20QV3E/TommyWhite33.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Two Wars; One Family -- Encircled by his four sisters, an 8-year-old Tommy White becomes "the man of the house" in 1917 while his father serves overseas in WWI, The War To End All Wars; Twenty-seven years later in 1944, in what is to be their last time together, T/Sgt Tommy White of the US Army Air Force visits his mother and father back in Kingston, before heading overseas himself to fight in the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407450168-N0UCV9EO69BRFCHAYH6C/TommyWhite11-1.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Though presumably taken on an earlier day, this is the only photo we've been able to confirm as showing the specific B-24 Liberator (letter "M", Serial Number 42-50755) in which Tommy flew his final mission on September 24, 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407490264-SR82XE0MX6WL2XWI96XD/TommyWhite14.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out The Collings Foundation's B-24J, at Moffett Field, California in May, 2011 -- the only still-flying original B-24 Liberator in the world, and the same "J" model as Tommy flew for many of his missions, including the final one. Photo: John Bertram https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407547297-W9LLK9V1TGK0R0QQBCU2/TommyWhite13.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out For the Record: June 23 - Sept. 24, 1944 -- Looking more like a re-assembled fragment from a Dead Sea Scroll than a record of service, this one page documents each of Tommy White's 34 combat sorties -- when they happened, where they went, how long each one took, his accumulated air time, and which flights counted as "Double" toward his never-quite-reached 50-mission, tour-ending total. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407627150-XZ1C8VRB0TXEA1USTDBR/TommyWhite15.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Inside a B-24 Liberator -- For T/Sgt Tommy White, these had become very familiar locations: the Radio Operator's table (in the plane's upper front section, just behind the two-man cockpit), and the Waist Gunner's position, fed by long metal belts of 50 calibre -- that's about 4 inches long for each bullet -- ammunition (with one on each side of the plane's midsection, accessed via a narrow catwalk through the middle of the bomb bay area). Photos by John Bertram; special thanks to pilot John Purdy and the Collings Foundation of Stow, Massachusetts. Photos: John Bertram https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629407666244-1F6E70JC9Q02D0SBMFDU/TommyWhite16.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out The First Word -- And the beginning of an eight-month wait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408173847-OU5E5JHD219L5EE5V8K0/TommyWhite17.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out June 18, 1945 -- Almost six weeks after the jubilation of VE Day, came the official confirmation of what Tommy White's family already knew, but perhaps still secretly hoped would somehow turn out not to be true after all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408221106-P0NYI5TW0GEIS32F4SW5/TommyWhite21.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Tommy’s few personal effects eventually made their way back to his parent’s home in Kingston. So did his Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters (an award based on number of completed missions, which he had already earned), and a Purple Heart, presented posthumously to his mother and father https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408271527-UPW30H0C5RSO9GMVBSTH/TommyWhite22.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Scrapbook clippings from local newspapers trace the changing status of Kingston-born Tommy White, in the year that followed his final mission for the U.S. Army Air Force on September 24, 1944 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408379339-ELB3PE7CT1NOGWNG2IZ9/TommyWhite18.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408416941-JPY11TXT0WCXRGFPWQ4X/TommyWhite19.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408482262-OM94ZXFIRW1RZMTDIQ36/TommyWhite20.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408519701-KJV5U1U8JBI1P7PIU0JE/TommyWhite25.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out 1944/45 -- a B-24 Liberator of the 15th Air Force's 485th Bomb Group takes off from its home base at Venosa, Italy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408660691-8X5OQISCTV9JOAKHZJSK/TommyWhite26.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out 1944/45 -- mission photo: planes from the 485th in formation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408691404-20T5JFWXNUQKT4ID371K/TommyWhite27.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out 1944/45 -- every Bomb Group had its own unique tail insignia; the 485th's was a black square on a yellow background, atop a yellow cross on a black background. The close-up crop below shows just how open the Waist Gunner positions were to the elements — especially at around 28,000 feet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408726552-K8PWSLC9CCCEKD5SVVK7/TommyWhite28.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408747657-SHZ095145K9OBBY5UJRB/TommyWhite29.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408778055-NPP7DLFGCEY02PO717TD/TommyWhite30.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408800914-CWWIFPJT13EPG0OWJPNF/TommyWhite34.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629408826227-N6I8W9I1X3BSHZAF388I/TommyWhite35.jpg The Stories - JUST ONE LIFE — The Life and Death of Tommy White - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/metal-of-honour monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397323164-KTFKNPFJ0N3OC9TKLY2Y/Mobiletitle3.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Photo: Ernie Szelepscenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397532234-YNJ0X5EGMPT4N42XXLHP/Mobile11.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Governor General David Johnston addresses the assembly of Canadian Forces personnel in the Senate on Parliament hill. To his left sit Prime Minsiter Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay, both of whom deserve much praise for the days events. To his right sits Chief of the Defence Staff, General Walt Natynczyk. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397575656-W1QZOR23O8CVVTQ7UBT7/Mobile17.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The Red Chamber is normally populated by Senators. But on this day, they were sent to their offices and replaced by Canadian air force, army and navy personnel. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397635457-SWTEEFL8JJWJCKGF2QJK/Mobile10.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Canadian Lieutenant General Bouchard led the NATO air operations over Libya. The RCAF website states, “For his dedication and planning during the Libya campaign, LGen Bouchard was presented with the Meritorious Service Cross by Governor General Johnston. The Cross acknowledges a military deed performed in an outstandingly professional manner, according to a rare high standard that brings considerable benefit or great honour to the Canadian Forces. During his own thank you address, LGen Bouchard turned the spotlight onto to his fellow CF members. “While I appreciate the honour bestowed on me today, in front of you today are the true Canadian heroes,” he said, addressing the Senate Chambers filled with CF personnel who were deployed alongside him.” Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397731324-VXBUMZA61RAK04DT9QOS/Mobile2.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The first over Parliament was the CH-124 Sea King flying out of the Ottawa International Airport. Though much maligned by bad-news hungry reporters, the Sikorsky is in fact still a formidable weapon, still relevant and still in service nearly a half century after the type first went into service with the RCAF. Only the venerable Hercules has been in service longer with our air force. The Sea King operated in the Mediterranean from the aft helo-deck of HMCS Charlottetown, a Halifax-class frigate. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397774866-VLRF2RR10G5X3WFQJVR9/Mobile3.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out When I look at this photo of the Greenwood-based CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft churning with purpose into the target, I can't help seeing and thinking about that magnificent trail of consumed fossils. I think of some stressed and exhausted crew aboard a foundering cargo vessel out on the Grand Banks and how they would see that smoke streaming like salvation up over the horizon, over a terrifying sea and to their rescue. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397811524-WVBCXCWKCR7XY65HJ169/Mobile5.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The J-Model Herc, based out of Trenton, lines up on Parliament while the CC-177 Globemaster III, also based at Trenton, slides into its place 60 seconds behind. The observant will still recognize the faint remainder of the Aurora's smokey wake. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397842752-SSUDME7KEX5USTEUFQVQ/Mobile7.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The new Super Herc roars overhead Szelepcsenyi as he waits in the perfect spot. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397873127-EM1IAX8APB5SFGRX8CXZ/Mobile6.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out With engines howling and landing lights blazing, the Globemaster continues to the target. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397897854-XQQTPJC59M1L732IMNJM/Mobile16.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The incredible lifting power of the CC-117 Globemaster III practically oozes from its broad shoulders and beefy body as it passes over the recently restored and elegant Parliamentary Library. If the CF-18 was a wide receiver, this baby would be a fullback. Photo: MCpl Julie Bélisle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397935903-IS010GRD5EZE62XYYI56/Mobile26.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out An excellent view of the futuristic and grim Globemaster and it yowls and floats down Wellington. The contrast of this behemoth from the 21st century with the Neo-Gothic Victorian spires of the Parliament Buildings was stark indeed. Photo Dean Hoisak, CdnAvSpotterFlickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629397964618-Z5EYWY38CEWX7XISAYPP/Mobile15.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out On its way to Ottawa, a CC-150T Polaris (Airbus A310) from Trenton forms up with and leads a pack of seven Bagotville-based CF-18 Hornets above the overcast. Photo: DND Cpl Pierre Habib. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398002971-SOZNAIGRCHC9UJU1MLS4/Mobile18.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The CF-18 photo ship from the previous image slides into place, snug under the belly of the big CC-150 Polaris as the formation heads into the centre of Ottawa with the Ottawa River below and the Champlain Bridge sliding into view. A closer look reveals the Polaris, its huge elevator, port engine and refueling equipment out at the wing tip. DND Photo: Cpl Pierre Habib. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398033134-63H2C5ITKO0LDV13EMO3/Mobile21.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The perfect formation is framed beautifully by the towers and copper-clad roofs of Canada's magnificent Parliament Buildings. At the staff atop the Peace Tower, the Canadian flag has been struck and replaced by the gold lion and red leaf of the flag of the Governor General of Canada. Photo: MCpl Julie Bélisle Canadian Forces Combat Camera © 2011 DND-MDN Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398063818-A7YX5J7ZGNOXTBIJWNX4/Mobile8.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Ernie captures the final formation heading straight for him. Photo: Ernie Szelepcsenyi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398096057-KZ3R60ZIKHHBIVEB8W37/Mobile25.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Another angle on the final pass shows the perfection of the formation. Photo: Combat Camera, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398154001-7GFHNIS6WU0299EE2FHR/Mobile22.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Captain Barrie Ransome, a CP 140 Pilot from 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron at 14 Wing, Greenwood, N.S., flies over the Libyan coast during the first intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission over Libyan soil. Photo by Coporal Mathieu St-Amour, Image Tech Task Force Libeccio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398194786-SYMNBK72ABGWVVN0HR1V/Mobile23.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out The crew of a CC-130J fly their HUD-equipped state-of-the-art Herc during Operation MOBILE. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629398238996-V7HVGA8SUYJ0X5F85DD3/Mobile24.jpg The Stories - METAL OF HONOUR — Op MOBILE Flying Tribute - Make it stand out Canadian and foreign nationals, evacuated from the chaos in Libya, deplane a Canadian Forces CC-117 aircraft in Malta on Saturday, February 26th, 2011. Forty-six people were evacuated on this flight. DND Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/skip-hit monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629395656413-D4C4PYGOE62NQS0LFG83/Skip-HitTitle2.jpg The Stories - SKIP HIT — Low Level Flying in West Germany - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396286946-J2JYDYQAWKNAH8BJXFTR/Skip-Hit5.jpg The Stories - SKIP HIT — Low Level Flying in West Germany - Make it stand out Flying low level across the Mohne Dam in his CF-104 Starfighter, author Jurkowski inspects the site made famous by 617 Squadron, The Dambusters. Low level flying in Europe was a critical skill, especially for conventional ground attack pilots like the author. Photo: David Jurkowski collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396518297-B0XIAPE6PUVWL01H2N0S/Skip-Hit6.jpg The Stories - SKIP HIT — Low Level Flying in West Germany - Make it stand out Dave Jurkowski photographs Major Bill Fuoco, a fellow 439 Squadron Starfighter pilot as he taxies in after another low level flight in Germany. Photo: David Jurkowski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629396617274-GAZOWEACVIDZ3M5VM2XM/Skip-Hit3.jpg The Stories - SKIP HIT — Low Level Flying in West Germany - Make it stand out Dave Jurkowski in the now-famous 439 Squadron colour bird which was painted for the squadron's participation in the NATO Tiger Meet. Photo: David Jurkowski Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/roundel-round-up-y8bla monthly 0.5 2024-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145561539-4UXVCOI7QYKQ7WMY7V2X/Roundeltitle.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145645006-1EI0U3YOPKJTWGHWUE1L/Roundels84.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Left: A commemorative cockade from the French Revolution. Right: A bicorn hat, once belonging to Napoleon, decorated with a cockade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145755490-KCS89DUBLODAVL2XY1ON/RoundelHistory.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The ancestry of the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force roundel can be traced to the French Revolution and then Napoleonic French soldiers. Counter clockwise from upper right: 1: A typical French Cockade of the 18th and 19th centuries was made from tricoloured ribbon to mimic the French Republic flag; 2: A French soldier's cap from the 19th century, known as a “shako”, sporting a cockade; 3: Next, we see the original Cockade worn by French military aircraft during the early part of the First World War; 4: Finally, the British, who originally used a Union Flag on the fuselages and wings of their military aircraft, decided to copy the French, but reverse the order of the colours. It was thought that the St. George's Cross in the middle of the Union Flag or “Jack”, was being misidentified as a German Iron Cross, then in use as an identifier of the enemy's aircraft. Coming in line with an ally's, and not an opponent's, markings was thought to be wise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145795757-Y5MWLVSTDCNPKG54TR6V/Roundel16b.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Short Admiralty Type 630 reconnaissance/torpedo aircraft is hoisted from a seaplane tender in 1915, wearing the original device for identifying aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service – the tri-coloured Union Flag. It wasn't long before this was replaced by the red, white and blue cockade or roundel. Inset: A profile illustration of a similar radial-engined Short 184 showing how the original RAF and RNAS identification device might have looked. The aircraft depicted here would have operated from Naval Air Station Great Yarmouth in the summer of 1915. Photo via Steven Bradley, illustration via Mikhail Bykov @ Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145829782-1II19L6B981X71QPUAM0/Roundels15.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out There was a short period immediately after the adoption of the French-style cockade to identify Royal Flying Corps aircraft, when both devices were employed – in the case of this recently downed Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c of 12 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, it was roundels on the fuselage and Union Jacks under the wings. This photograph of German officers posing with their trophy was taken near Phalempin, in northern France, 26 September 1915. The aircraft was later made airworthy again and given German markings, thus adding to the confusion. Image via Brett “Drake” Goodman's Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145867584-Z5Z7NQMZ078SUDPOJZY5/Roundels82.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out During the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps adopted and adapted the French Flying Service cockade as an identifier. Obviously, no colour photos of its use exist, but this photo taken by one of the world's best and most well-known air-to-air (A2A) photographers, Gavin Conroy of New Zealand, shows us just how it would have looked on this SE5a from Peter Jackson's The Vintage Aviator Co. The centre red circle is much smaller relative to the other rings compared to later RAF roundels of the Second World War. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145930331-8YSJJXHMAO57A8X2AL36/TypeA.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145962815-RQIWL1Y6RQZLRA7MDGXG/TypeA_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The roundel was not only used on aircraft, though that was its initial purpose. It was used in literature, on the RAF and RCAF ensign and, from time to time, to identify RAF vehicles. In an ironic twist, the roundel, which was first created to mitigate friendly fire on aircraft from ground forces, is now used to help prevent the opposite – to identify RAF support vehicles and structures to marauding RAF fighters and fighter/bombers. Here an RAF lorry, displaying a big Type A roundel on its bonnet, is gassed up somewhere in North Africa. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629145991415-ZNC02Q1WYNE89YNDCBOJ/TypeA_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Type A roundel was widely used on the yellow training aircraft of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan such as this de Havilland Tiger Moth, which first saw service at No.1 Elementary Flying Training School at Malton, Ontario, starting at the beginning of February 1941. By the end of 1942, this Tiger Moth was training pilots at No. 20 Elementary Flying Training School at Oshawa, Ontario. This photograph was taken either at Malton or nearby Oshawa. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146021640-RGGJNQ6M18ZGNZY45VZO/TypeA_4.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Type A roundel, used by the RAF and its progenitor, the Royal Flying Corps from 1915 to 1940, was also approved for use on camouflaged backgrounds in the Second World War, but only from 1939 to 1941. Other than photos of training aircraft of the BCATP, it is more difficult to find colour images dating from that two-year period that show Type A roundels on camouflaged aircraft. This Anson I sports early-war Type As on its fuselage and upper wing surfaces, but has no tri-colour fin flash. Here we can easily see the lack of definition that a Type A roundel offers on a dark camouflage background. At the start of the Second World War, there were 26 RAF squadrons operating the Anson I: 10 with Coastal Command and 16 with Bomber Command. However, by this time, the Anson was obsolete in the roles of bombing and coastal patrol and was being superseded by the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (soon to be obsolete as well) and Lockheed Hudson. This Avro Anson Mk I (ex RAF R3535, RCAF serial 6054) was originally manufactured in England, but was shipped to No. 1 Training Command at Camp Borden, Ontario, in May 1940. Likely, it was there that its original operational camouflage was painted over with the bright yellow training scheme patches. After being prepped for her new, and more appropriate, training role, she flew to No. 2 Air Observers School at Edmonton, Alberta in July 1940 where she became a Navigation Trainer. As this image is over water, we wonder if this was shortly after her new paint scheme at Camp Borden which was near Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. The landing gear, which is normally retractable, is down in this shot but this is understandable. To retract and lower the gear on early model Ansons, the pilot had to make 140 turns on a hand crank. To forgo this laborious process, these Ansons often made short flights with the landing gear extended at the expense of 30 mph (50 km/h) of cruise speed. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146064349-A15NWDA2D6YSDOKOQT86/TypeA_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Near the end of the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps, a division of the British Army, and the Royal Naval Air Service, a division of the Royal Navy, were joined to form the Royal Air Force. Six years later, in 1924, the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) was created as a unit of the Royal Air Force to service Royal Navy requirements. At that time, the Royal Air Force was operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships. The Fleet Air Arm did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm operated both aircraft on ships and land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments and facilities. Royal Navy FAA aircraft, such as this Fairey Swordfish, did triple duties – flying from aircraft carriers, land bases and, in this case, from seaplane bases. Given the Royal Air Force heritage of the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Navy maintained the use of the now very British RAF Roundel, similar to the Type A. The fact that there is a fin flash on this Stringbag indicates that the photo dates after 1940, though many pre-war Swordfish had the Type A. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146093479-C5TVJTSI2ANUCGNX0D87/TypeA_6A.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A National Steel Car–built Lysander, employed as a gunnery target-towing aircraft in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The BCATP, as mentioned, used the Type A roundel widely, as it was well defined against yellow. The strange yellow and black paint scheme employed by most BCATP “Lizzie” and Fairey Battle target tugs was called the “Oxydol scheme” by many, for its resemblance to the box packaging of a common laundry soap of the same name (see insert). Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146126130-GOA26MORYHL079J3VOVL/Roundels67.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Type A roundel was most often used on combat aircraft only on the undersides of the wings, such as on this Canadian Car and Foundry–built Hawker Hurricane XII. The Hurricane XII is usually identified quickly by the lack of nose spinner. Hurricane 5478 flew with 130 Squadron and later with 129 Squadron RCAF, both with the Eastern Air Command. Then it served with the Hurricane OTU at Bagotville, Québec at the end of the war. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146157290-85NXJY42AE1M1MKU6EHP/TypeA_7.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Not all training aircraft of the BCATP were painted all yellow. Some, like this Jarvis, Ontario-based Fairey Battle gunnery trainer, began their careers as operational combat aircraft. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance. However, the Battle was weighed down with a three-man crew and a bomb load. Despite being a great improvement on the aircraft that preceded it, by the time it saw action it was slow, limited in range, and highly vulnerable to both anti-aircraft fire and fighters with its single defensive .303 machine gun. During the "Phoney War", the Fairey Battle recorded the first RAF aerial victory of the Second World War but, by May 1940, it was suffering heavy losses of well over 50 % per mission. By the end of 1940, the Battle had been withdrawn from combat service and relegated to training units overseas. This one still sports the original camouflage, which has been overpainted with a Type A roundel. The Battles normally wore a Type A-1 roundel which had a thick yellow outer band. The remnants of this Royal Air Force Type A-1 roundel can be seen beneath the white fuselage flash. This is Fairey Battle Mk. I (RCAF 1604 and ex RAF N2158), brought on RCAF strength 24 February 1940 and struck off charge 27 October 1942 after a crash on 18 August 1942 while serving with No.1 Bombing & Gunnery School at Jarvis, Ontario. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146209669-PAW12376R5NEPU6OJ3ZD/TypeA_8.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out What appear to be freshly delivered Vultee Vengeance aircraft line a dirt ramp somewhere in the Far East (India, Burma), sporting Type-A roundels. When Type A roundels were employed, the standard for fin flashes was to have red, white and blue bars, all of the same thickness. The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of the Second World War, built by Vultee Aircraft. The Vengeance was not used in combat by the United States. It did see combat, however, with the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146240882-ILD0P69ANWMKQDFZ7VTM/TypeA_9.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Almost all images of Type A roundel usage are from the early part of the war. The problem is, there was very little usage of colour film at that time. Here we see a flight of three Supermarine Spitfire Mk Is of 19 Squadron RAF on a patrol over the English Channel in the summer, wearing early-war Type A roundels on their fuselages, and the ubiquitous Type Bs on the upper surfaces of their wings. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146302663-0IJVNYJH65YJAIQ418MY/TtpeAX.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Prior to the increased hostilities leading up to the Second World War, bomber and fighter aircraft were painted considerably brighter colours, left bare metal or, as in the case of this Hawker Hind owned by the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, a combination of both. The Type A or classic roundel was painted on all six surfaces of such aircraft. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146339799-2UWPT3OGPV1QEJ90B84R/TypeA_10.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out All of our BCATP aircraft are painted in yellow with roundels of the accepted Type A design. Here, Mike Potter and Dave O'Malley work on the new markings scheme for the Harvard IV. Aware that there were no Harvard IVs in use with the BCATP during the Second World War, we still chose to mark her as a Harvard II of No. 2 Service Flying Training School, Uplands. This particular set of markings is identical to that found on a photo of RCAF Harvard 2866, one of 12 Uplands-based Harvards that appear on the log book of John Gillespie Magee, poet of High Flight fame. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146373335-7W4TQBYJAVN9I972ZIX0/TypeA_11.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Harvard, or High Flight Harvard, thunders overhead. She sports Type A roundels on her underwing surfaces and fuselage, but carries roundels of the Type B style on top of her wings. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629146407661-1SHDU6HDXIJW834BSS58/Roundels11.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The roundel was not only used on aircraft, though that was its initial purpose. It was used in literature, on the RAF and RCAF ensign and, from time to time, to identify RAF vehicles. In an ironic twist, the roundel, which was first created to mitigate friendly fire on aircraft from ground forces, is now used to help prevent the opposite – to identify RAF support vehicles and structures to marauding RAF fighters and fighter/bombers. Here an RAF lorry, displaying a big Type A roundel on its bonnet, is gassed up somewhere in North Africa. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147040505-H35LFPSU2TM1DPUM9UL4/TypeA1.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147076692-WWF3AJO71R9CSQNPTS87/TypeA1_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Previously, we showed you a photo of a Fairey Battle gunnery trainer with a Type A roundel applied post-delivery to the BCATP. That aircraft, like this Battle, was delivered with a Type A-1 roundel, fresh from a failed combat career during the “Phoney War”. The roundel's outer yellow ring allowed it to be more easily seen against a dark camouflage paint scheme. We can also see the bright yellow visibility patches on the top of the wings. More important in this image than the roundel or the aircraft that bears it, is the man standing on the wing – he is famous Warner Bros. contract actor James Cagney, who was the lead in the now-famous film called Captains of the Clouds. The film was a concoction of the promoters of the BCATP and Warner Bros. to promote the “Plan” and get support from the US and even pilot and aircrew recruits. Unfortunately for the film, which was Warner Bros.' biggest budget production to date, the Japanese made their attack on Pearl Harbor about the same time as the film premiered in New York. With America in its own world war tailspin, there was little interest in a film about Canadian bush pilots trying to get into the war. Image via Warner Bros. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147108598-O4L43PT6JTHC7P2C6LTC/TypeA1_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Roundels were initially painted on in the factory where the aircraft was constructed. This factory fresh Lockheed Hudson has just been completed in California to the specifications of the Royal Air Force, which asked for the Type A-1 roundel on its camouflaged flanks. Here, it is photographed in the United States before delivery overseas. From Burbank, California, these aircraft made their way to Gander, Newfoundland, flown by civilian Ferry Command pilots. From there, they flew on to Greenland, Iceland and eventually Scotland. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147151529-XOZJ9GWHEYZSTZ7F6UKZ/TypeA1_4.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Ground crew assist a 222 Squadron Spitfire Vb pilot preparing for his next sortie at RAF North Weald. Aft of him is a large Type A-1 roundel, where we can see the proportions are slightly off what was originally intended as the red centre is slightly too large. The original design called for the centre red circle to be one unit wide, the white 3 units, the blue 5 units and the yellow 7 units. The Type A-1 was used on ALL camouflaged surfaces from 1937 to March 1939 and then just on fuselage sides from 1939 to its service-wide replacement by the type C-1 roundel in July 1942. On some night bombers, the white was overpainted with black to reduce visibility. On 5 October 1939, No. 222 Squadron was reformed at RAF Duxford, flying Blenheims in the shipping protection role, but in March of the following year it re-equipped with Spitfires and became a day-fighter unit. It fought during the Battle of Britain, being based at RAF Hornchurch on 15 September 1940, under Squadron Leader "Johnnie" Hill. It later took part in Operation Jubilee, the 1942 Dieppe raid. In December 1944, the squadron converted to Tempests, which it flew till the squadron was called back to the UK to re-equip with Meteors. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147189153-FJHCE87GM3EHQPZ1A2RF/TypeA1_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out This shot of a 135 Squadron, RCAF Hurricane XII shows us a properly-proportioned Type A-1 roundel as well as the squadron's Fighting Bulldog emblem on the nose. Like most fighters and even some training aircraft of the BCATP, the Hurricane in the foreground, and 5405, sport Type B roundels on their upper wing surfaces. The Type B was used ubiquitously on the upper wing surfaces of operational aircraft as it was, with the elimination of the white circle, less visible to marauding enemy aircraft. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147237346-3KCQ1Q08ZKXPJNQRAEK0/Roundels64.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The effect of the large amount of yellow and white in the Type A-1 roundel was an increased visibility to the enemy – particularly at night. Some night bombing units with Type A-1 roundels chose to paint over the white and even the yellow rings to reduce visibility. Painting out the white on this obsolete Armstrong Whitforth Whitley bomber's Type A-1 roundel did not help her 78 Squadron crew very much for, on the night of 16–17 August 1941, it was lost on operations from its base at RAF Middleton St. George in Durham. The Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line, medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War (the others were the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden). As the oldest of the three bombers, the Whitley was obsolete by the start of the war, yet over 1,000 more were produced before a suitable replacement was found. A particular problem with the twin-engine aircraft was that it could not maintain altitude on one engine. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147281135-0F6FQOTE6AJSYBXHQIR4/TypeA1_6.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Of course, the Vintage Wings of Canada aircraft are the best machines on which to view your favourite roundels. Here our 6 Squadron Flight Lieutenant Bunny McLarty Hawker Hurricane IV shows off her perfectly proportioned Type A-1 roundels on her fuselage and Type Bs on the wings. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147318780-QB3ERPOYF7D2TMNPQ7KK/TypeA2_.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147570143-NPLSSQPMTX8U4W50DU7J/TypeA1_7.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Type A-2 roundel is one of hardest to find roundel types used during the Second World War. Finding colour photos of it in use was difficult. Here, an RAF Vickers Wellington bombs up somewhere in England early in the war, wearing a perfect example of the Type A-2 roundel. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147605398-R3ZC1BMO3G2E0N931WXS/TypeA2_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Fairey Swordfish gunner poses with his gas-powered Vickers VGO Gun for a propaganda photographer. On the fuselage of this apparently desert camouflaged “Stringbag” we see a hard-to-find Type A-2 roundel. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147647073-NMZ6RFVTLMIGXPT0TPRT/TypeA2_4.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out This Royal Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat seems to have a Type A-2 roundel, but the proportions are wrong, so it is possible that this is a botched Type C-1 roundel. Likely this is a pre-delivery photograph taken in the United States and the “Cat” is painted in colours that are “factory-close”, but not official RN paints. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629147699644-7DCZD7UBYTD49188CEJH/TypeA2_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Here we see the same squadron with two different roundel types on the fuselages of their Douglas DB-7B Boston III medium bombers. The Boston in the foreground wears a relatively rare Type A-2 roundel while the next on the flight line sports a much more commonly applied C-2 roundel. Both have matching fin flashes for the roundels applied. The third and fourth Bostons also appear to have a Type A-2, but it may just be the resolution of this image that makes it appear so. This is 88 Squadron, as indicated by the two-letter RH squadron code on the fuselages of these aircraft, seen at RAF Attlebridge in Norfolk. Each squadron in the RAF, and its sister Commonwealth squadrons like the RCAF, carried a two-letter (sometimes a letter and a numeral) identification code on the fuselages of their aircraft, accompanied by a single letter assigned to that particular aircraft. This allowed aircraft without functioning communication to identify their squadrons and squadron mates, for aircraft identification in radio-silence situations or as identities used in after-action reporting. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629157826972-PB7OG1SK521QO9Q23T9B/TypeB.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629157885113-98ZQ7XHIFQNA7IKU6EOD/TypeB_7.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Fairey Battle warms up – possibly with No. 3 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill. This one wears the Type B roundel on her fuselage as well as on her upper wing surfaces. The assumption is that the Type B is on all six surfaces as originally specified when the Type B first came into use with the RAF. This Battle was employed to help pilots with the conversion from Gloster Gladiators (seen here in the background) to Hawker Hurricanes in May 1939. The Battle would soon demonstrate its exceptionally inferior fighting capabilities in the Battle of France, and be relegated to training roles in Canada. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629157917606-W6LU3NHTYKA5WFZZ7RZ0/TypeB_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger shows us clearly that the Royal Navy followed the Royal Air Force Standards for roundel ratios and sizes. This Avenger carries large Type B roundels on her upper wing surfaces as well as later war Type C-1 roundels on her sides. We can see here how taking out the white ring on the standard roundel makes it less visible to enemies looking down from above. Over a thousand Avengers flew in the service of the Royal Navy during and after the Second World War. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629157957703-0V2DGFV5DGDDI79LZT3N/TypeB_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out In this pre-war shot of Lysanders from 16 Squadron RAF, we see the use of the Type B roundel on the fuselage sides without the use of a fin flash. I can't be certain, but the top wing surfaces seem to have a rare variant of the Type B roundel called the Type B-1, which included a thick outer band of yellow – rare indeed, as it was used only on “some” aircraft between March and December of 1939. The whole point of the Type B was to get rid of all contrasting colour, so adding the yellow band simply defeated that purpose. Given that 16 Squadron, in 1938, was the first unit of the RAF to equip with the new, and soon to be obsolete, Lysander army cooperation aircraft, and the fact that these ships appear to be brand new, it is likely this shot was taken at RAF Old Sarum, the unit's home base prior to the Second World War. 16 Squadron brought their Lysanders across the English Channel and, following the German invasion of France and the low countries on 10 May 1940, they were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe, even when escorted by Hurricanes. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629157984483-R52ZUI1PBVT0PJXDS432/Roundels9.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Another early example of overall usage of Type B roundels, sans fin flash, on combat aircraft – a pair of 3 Squadron Hawker Hurricane Mk Is in late 1939–1940, possibly at RAF Biggin Hill. These early mark Hurries had two bladed wooden propellers. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158546330-4KD9VZJ22L370GCLAQL8/TypeB_4.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Right to the end of the Second World War, the Type B roundel remained in service on the upper surfaces of many wings. Rarely, by then, was it employed as it was intended at the time of its introduction – that is on all six surfaces of an airplane. One of the few exceptions was its overall application on certain recce aircraft painted overall PRU blue, such as this Supermarine Spitfire P.R. XI, photographed in Pomigliano, Italy on 7 March 1944. Photo: Tailhook Ass. via Mark Aldrich and Etienne du Plessis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158611421-W7ZNB3GHGS4JUGVKIGIC/Roundels10.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out There is often a difference between the upper and lower surface wing roundel types on BCATP aircraft, but very rarely would your see something like this – a Type B roundel on the top of the port wing and a Type A roundel on the starboard wing of the Harvard II parked just outside the hangar door. This is probably because the Harvard had a wing replacement after an accident or major mechanical issue. Both Type A roundels and Type B roundels were common on the upper surfaces of Harvards of the BCATP, but the bottoms always carried the Type A – as witnessed by the Harvard in the distance. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158648003-WCT6BCZ5L71APWQRO4DN/TypeB_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Not everyone got the official RAF roundel application memo. This shot of a Spitfire being attacked from the rear was an image produced by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry to show a hapless RAF pilot about to meet his doom at the hands of a superior Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf-109 pilot. In fact, this was a captured Spitfire repainted by the Nazis and photographed over the town of Mirow near Rechlin, Germany. The Type B roundel on brown green camouflage was incorrect, but the dead giveaway is the tri-colour fin flash. On all RAF aircraft, the colours would be reversed – red at the front, blue at the back. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158681490-PX2YCTLJNY4Z55ER716G/TypeB_6.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out These four Seafire Mk Ibs give you probably one of the best views you could have of a Type B roundel in action. Peeling off in a quick-succession left break from echelon in May of 1943, the four show us how the Type B is visible, yet not overly so, as it would have been with the added white ring. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158718423-O2KCVVTHT8WTZQUXZCR3/TypeB_8.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The exigencies of a fighter squadron on the edge of war – here a 41 Squadron Spitfire (squadron code PN) at RAF Catterick, Yorkshire, sports an improper interpretation of a Type B roundel. This is a perfect example, however, of the improvised toning-down of markings during the period known as the Munich Crisis. Though Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich, after the Nazis had invaded Czechoslovakia, waving a piece of paper signed by Hitler and declaring he had "Peace in our Time", the RAF was taking no chances. RAF roundels were seen in a variety of non-standard proportions at this time, resulting from the hasty painting-out of yellow and white rings to make the roundel less visible. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158755676-DEYRS1L3M04HVO3U9VBG/Roundels61.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Unlike the Type A-1 roundels, the Type B roundel had a resurgence in the 1970s to the 80s with middle generation RAF jet aircraft like the Avro Vulcan. Originally the Vulcan prototypes were overall anti-flash white and early models went into service wearing an overall silver paint. Eventually, in the mid-1970s, Vulcan B.2s received a medium sea grey/olive green matte camouflage with light grey undersides and "low-visibility" roundels. These were no longer called Type B roundels as the proportions were different, there being a larger red disc proportionally with a ratio of 1:2, red to blue. This Vulcan is a gate guard at Goose bay, Labrador. Photo: AHunt at Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158802173-QLCARGUC99MDM3P86Z9P/Roundels62.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Sepecat Jaguar GR3 drinking from a drogue and basket refuelling arrangement. She carries a later generation Type B roundel, which was simply called the Low-Visibility roundel, still in use today, but with toned down colours. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158872787-TA2S579LJ9K2PTPXNANY/TypeC_.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158914617-0VMZRKQ3OZ4LKT9SNTLY/TypeC_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Again, the Type C roundel is hard to find used on the fuselage sides of aircraft. It is normally used on the undersides of wings and combined with a yellow ringed Type C-1 roundel on the fuselage. It is however found on training aircraft as a replacement for the Type A roundel used in earlier aircraft of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). This looks to be an Avro Anson trainer and the foothills and mountains in the background give us a clue that this may be an Alberta BCATP base. It is interesting to note that, when the RAF reduced the amount of white in the roundel by increasing the red and blue areas, they did the same with the tri-colour fin flash on the tail. Whenever a Type C or Type A roundel is used, one always finds a fin flash that matches the roundel's proportions and colours. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158947072-HFX7P0IHRFIEO0YXLFDS/TypeC_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out This all-metal Handley Page Halifax wears massive Type C roundels on her upper wing surfaces (and more than likely under) as well as Type C-1 roundels on her flanks. After the war, many bombers including this Halifax CV II were adapted to carry freight and passengers for the Royal Air Force. The unarmed Mk CV II transport carried an 8,000 lb capacity cargo pannier instead of a bomb bay, and had space for 11 passengers in the fuselage. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629158974721-I23XZXW9XEDM6R2TH0SV/Roundels47.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Though many, and possibly most, PRU blue aircraft utilized the Type B roundel on all surfaces, this recce Mosquito has Type C roundels on her flanks, though the usual Type B roundels on her wings. This photograph of Mosquito PR MM364 was taken at RAF Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, when the aircraft was handed over to the USAAF. RAF Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at RAF Benson. The airfield became associated with the United States Army Air Force when, in February 1943, it was used by the Eighth Air Force as a photo reconnaissance station. Mount Farm was given USAAF designation Station 234. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159011031-PUBM1QFBP6XYDTJXA759/Roundels48.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Most instances of Type C roundels used on the fuselage are cases of a light coloured background – bare metal, training yellow, aluminium paint or photo recce blue. Here a de Havilland Sea Hornet F. Mk20 (TT202), painted in high altitude colours, sports Type C roundels all-over (another photo I ran into shows the underside of the wings with Type Cs). The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet was a piston-engined fighter that further exploited the wooden construction techniques pioneered by de Havilland's classic Mosquito. Entering service at the end of the Second World War, the Hornet equipped postwar RAF Fighter Command day fighter units in the UK and was later used successfully as a strike fighter in Malaya. The Sea Hornet was a carrier-capable version with folding wings. We can just make out the joint between the main wing and the folding outer panel, just inboard of the roundels. Photo via kevsaviationpics.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159038279-X4ZPCPMVHD6KMM7LNC7V/TypeC_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A bold display of Type C roundels on the upper wing surfaces of a massive Blackburn Firebrand, a torpedo-carrying strike fighter which went into Royal Navy service in 1945, with not much impact on the war. Though it had a powerful look and an even more powerful name, many people consider the Firebrand a failure as an effective combat aircraft. The Blackburn Firebrand was born out of a 1939 specification calling for a two-seat, inline-engined fleet fighter. When it finally entered Royal Navy operational service in September 1945, it was in the form of a single seat, radial-engined torpedo-bomber/fighter. The Firebrand was originally designed as a carrier fighter powered by a Napier Sabre engine, but because of engine unreliability and poor handling it was unacceptable. It was then redesigned to become a fast strike aircraft carrying a large torpedo, and powered by a Bristol Centaurus radial. Its powerful Bristol Centaurus engine and thirteen-foot diameter propeller produced extreme torque swing on takeoff, which could only be countered by the abnormally large vertical tail fin and rudder. The Firebrand was also very difficult to deck land, since the pilot sat closer to the tail than the nose, with predictably poor visibility. While many of its pilots appreciated the fact that the aircraft was built like a battleship, particularly during landing accidents, they did not care for its bulky weight. Finally, the Naval Staff's concept of a torpedo-bomber/fighter combination to which the aircraft was designed was just too much of a compromise, with the end result that the Firebrand was never successful in either role. Still, it had a relatively long service life for the times, from 1945 to 1953, when it was replaced by the quirky, but cool-looking Westland Wyvern. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159098051-H9HS5O18I11C9RVH75PD/TypeC_6.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out It was hard to find images of combat or operational aircraft displaying a basic Type C roundel on their fuselages. A rare exception is this Taylorcraft Auster AOP. The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War. The Auster was a twice-removed development of an American Taylorcraft–designed civilian aircraft, the Model A. The Model A had to be redesigned in Britain to meet more stringent Civil Aviation standards and was named the Taylorcraft Plus C. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159126816-JXXX55TIKNFW91B0TMRY/TypeC1.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159159396-M996ZIMS7RZAS0F76NTV/TypeC1_7.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Type C-1 roundel applied to the fuselages of three aircraft of the Empire Central Flying School – a Hawker Hurricane I and two Supermarine Spitfire IIas (note the differences in their propeller spinners). We can also tell in this photo that all the aircraft sport Type B roundels on the upper surfaces of the wings and Type C-1 underneath. Established in April 1942, the Empire Central Flying School (ECFS) was based at RAF Hullavington in the United Kingdom. With flying training taking place on such a vast scale the School worked to maintain and improve flying training standards at the RAF flying schools operating throughout the world. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159196299-613DEIWKXX5O4Q2EIX1C/TypeC1_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Miles Martinet carrying Type C-1 roundels on her sides and Type B roundels on her upper wing surfaces. We can also just make out the yellow and black “Oxydol” striped paint scheme on her undersides – typical of target tugs. The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm that was in service during the Second World War. It was the first British aircraft to be designed specifically for the role of towing targets. At total of 1,724 were produced between 1942 and 1945. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159226467-F0W2W48CFG8RYRQLE7XY/TypeC1_4.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A good photograph of a Royal Canadian Air Force Hurricane XII (RCAF Serial 5625) sporting a large Type C-1 roundel on her fuselage. Fresh out of the Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) factory at Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), Hurricane 5625 was delivered to Number 3 Training Command, and then on to a Home War Establishment squadron. The aircraft survived the war, but languished in a scrapyard in Guelph, Ontario, and was finally sold to Rem Walker of Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1980 to be scavenged. Components of 5625 (as well as two other CCF Hurricanes – 5547 & 5424) were used in the restoration of Hurricane XII 5711. Hurricane 5711, with 5625 DNA, was then sold to B.J.S. Grey of Duxford, UK in December 1982 and shipped from Canada to the Fighter Collection at Duxford, on 9 June 1983. It was registered as G-HURI in Great Britain. This aircraft remains in the Historic Aircraft Collection, though it is presently up for sale. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159313581-KAS7FCOL2WZJH2AULZXQ/Roundels17.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Today, the remnants of the Hurricane in the preceding photo (5625) are contained in Hurricane 5711, displayed by Duxford's Historic Aircraft Collection as HA-C (Z5140) in the colours worn by a Hurricane IIB flown with 126 Squadron during the siege of Malta. This aircraft has been flown by former Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Howard Cook. Recently, the aircraft was put up for auction at Bonhams auction house. The Historic Aircraft Collection hoped that it might fetch £1.7 million – it failed even to make the seller's reserve price. Such is the economy in Europe these days. Photo: HAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159342263-39JGATO2BM3JKML38BRO/TypeC1_5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Royal Navy, the Senior Service, and never one to follow the lead of the Royal Air Force, employed the same identification devices as the younger service – in this case, a Type C-1 roundel on the fuselages of Seafires, the navalized variant of the Spitfire. Here we see Sub Lieutenant H H Salisbury, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, a fighter pilot of the Fleet Air Arm, adjusting his helmet before a flight at Naval Air Station Yeovilton in 1943. Photo: E. A. Zimmerman, RN via Imperial War Museum and Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159377762-AF8UWBC7OMSK2PK2Y5LA/Roundels7.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A clear shot of a Spitfire Mk Vc from 303 Polish Squadron, RAF carrying Type C roundels under her wings and Type C-1 on her fuselage. No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring RAF squadron of the Battle of Britain. The name "Kościuszko" comes from the Polish and American Revolutionary hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko who came to the aid of the Americans. The squadron roots of this name go back to the little known Polish–Russian War of 1919–1921, when pursuit pilots like the legendary Merian Cooper, manned an all-American fighter squadron in the Polish Air Force and helped save Poland (temporarily) from Soviet domination. They were the ones who first chose the name of the famous Pole who took part in the American Revolution for their squadron's title. A Pole helped America, and now Americans were helping Poland – it was a natural fit! Now, in the Second World War, Poles were helping the RAF, which is ironic, since Kościuszko gained fame fighting the British. For a great history of this little known air war, read Kościuszko, We Are Here! by Janusz Cisek. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159415242-AVQ18NKNAUAP58UI9EKX/Roundel37.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Flight Lieutenant William Harper Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI, with Vintage Wings founder Mike Potter at the controls, makes a high speed topside pass to show off the large Type C-1 roundels on her upper wing tips as well as her fuselage. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159453835-ZNX8QYN4TF7Y8NUCSJBH/Roundels40.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Not all Type C-1 roundels can be found on aircraft of Second World War vintage. Here we have two Canadian Forces CF-188B Hornet fighters of 410 Squadron flying over the Utah Test and Training Range (USA) for planned engagements during the "Tiger Meet of the Americas" in 2001. Next to the Type C-1 roundel on her sides is the two-letter squadron code “RA”. RA was the squadron designator for 410 Squadron during the Second World War – found on the sides of its Mosquito fighter/bombers. The closest aircraft is painted in a special scheme commemorating the 60th anniversary of 410 Squadron. 410 Squadron's experience during the war included Bolton Paul Defiants, Bristol Beaufighters, and de Havilland Mosquitos. Photo: SSgt. Greg L. Davis, USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629159485419-9D9F3BQCTXMXOZ82AQX4/Roundels14.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160346999-AKMOPIJYT81BPVS6CBD9/Roundels6.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat comes in for a landing somewhere in the Southeast Asia theatre of operations during the Second World War. On her sides we see a yellow-ringed SEAC Type C-1 roundel as well as simple SEAC Type C roundels on her upper wing surfaces. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160382115-P44HYCQIBJ81Q2SJE6YX/Roundels65.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out An Avro York, a transport adaptation of the legendary Lancaster heavy bomber, awaits VIPs on an Egyptian ramp in 1946. She proudly displays perfect SEAC type roundels and fin flashes. This particular York, nicknamed “Zipper”, was converted to (not built to) VIP standard for use by Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park GCB KBE MC&Bar DFC RAF, as AOC Air Command South East Asia, an appointment he held from February 1945 into 1946. Although “Zipper” was normally based at Singapore which was part of SEAC, this photograph was taken at Almaza, Cairo, Egypt shortly after the war. Sir Keith, a New Zealander by birth, is probably best remembered as Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. A permanent bronze statue to Sir Keith was unveiled at Waterloo Place, London, on Battle of Britain Day, 15 September 2010, to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Battle. Sir Keith retired from the RAF in December 1946 and returned to New Zealand where he remained until his death in 1975 at the age of 82. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160415342-3ARYZ6H5XINDBUGMEATD/Roundels68.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out I find it interesting that the smallest size of roundels in the entire RAF was routinely applied to aircraft in the SEAC or CBI theatre. On the underside of the port wing (and less visibly on the starboard) we can see tiny SEAC roundels on this P-47 Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt also wears a common identifier for the region's RAF fighter aircraft – SEAC white stripes on her wings and elevators. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160449824-5DQIFO3L668L1QSWX4G5/Roundels69.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Obviously a staged photograph of maintenance crews working on a Grumman Avenger of the FAA, while being bombed up, as a group of pilots and aircrew go over plans for an attack on Japanese targets. Forget all that and focus on the large Type SEAC roundel on the top of the folded starboard wing – a SEAC roundel with tiny white aperture. In the field, SEAC roundels were altered to present less visibility when looking down from above over jungle terrain. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160499323-VP197E9QNHUIINOOG2QH/Roundels51.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Bristol Beaufighter Mk Ic of 31 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF Serial A19-17) shows us very typical SEAC Type C roundels on her fuselage. The RAAF simply painted out the red dot in the centre of each roundel, and even the red bar of the fin flash. On 30 August 1943, Beaufighter A19-17 was part of a six-plane strike on Taberfane Seaplane Base and shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi FM1 “Pete” seaplane which had just taken off. This same Beaufighter later crashed into the sea on 19 October 1943, while returning from an 8-Beaufighter raid on Trangan Aru Island – the Pilot Flying Officer F.H. Cridland and Navigator Pilot Officer R.B. De Pierres were both killed. Following the attack, against a newly constructed airfield near the Taberfane Seaplane Base, A19-17 was seen to be lagging behind after leaving the target area. Dropping alongside A19-17, the Squadron CO saw De Pierres leaning over the slumped and obviously wounded Cridland, handling the controls. De Pierres was ordered to bail out immediately, and to await rescue by a Catalina, as it was impossible for him to reach the rudder pedals to stop the Beaufighter from entering a spiral dive. The navigator refused to abandon the unconscious Cridland. Soon afterward A19-17's starboard wing dropped, and with one arm around his pilot, De Pierres waved a final farewell. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160530783-0D36PS9XL91KC7OERBU4/Roundels8.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A group of sailors take five on the wing of a Royal Navy Grumman Hellcat of the Fleet Air Arm on board an aircraft carrier in Southeast Asian waters. Note the blue and white roundel without the usual red centre. This was done to prevent any confusion with the all-red roundel, known as the Hinomaru (literally: circle of the sun) used by Japanese aircraft – nicknamed the “Meatball” by American flyers. This particular roundel has a particularly small central white circle – compare this with the white centre of the roundel on the Beaufighter in the previous photograph. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160579296-RCZPC8FNV23OI0D1C6HT/Roundels81.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A P-40N Kittyhawk displays a typical Royal Australian Air Force SEAC roundel on its fuselage as well as the famous all-white empennage of RAAF P-40 squadrons operating from primitive airfields on Papua New Guinea. Like Vintage Wings of Canada's own P-40N, this aircraft was also rescued from the jungles surrounding the old airfield on the coast of Northern Papua New Guinea called Tadji. The Kittyhawk is painted in the markings of a P-40 of 75 Squadron. If the Flying Tigers were the best-known of the P-40 groups of the entire war, No. 75 Squadron of the RAAF has to be ranked as one of the best individual squadrons. While the American Volunteer Group (AVG) was made up of crack pilots with plenty of experience, 75 was hastily thrown together with untrained and inexperienced pilots and thrust into the breech in New Guinea against superior Japanese pilots and planes. Despite being almost wiped out, they held their ground and wrote a special chapter in aerial history. The aircraft wears the nose art “Currawong” and a stylized image of a bird. The Currawong is a Raven-like bird, native to Australia. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160610370-XN5CNNJC2EI925IVXOYJ/Roundels12.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Here we see a fine example of the SEAC roundel – with red centre removed, but white USN bars painted over the camouflage of this Royal Navy Seafire. While many American-built carrier-based aircraft of the FAA came with the bars from the factory, this Seafire was altered in theatre. It is seen taxiing at an American B-24 Liberator base somewhere in the Far East. Photo via Etienne du Plessis' Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160663816-XG0GWN951IEEU491UYF8/Roundels80.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A nice lineup of aircraft in New Zealand shows us a history of roundels at a glance. In the foreground, the P-40 wears RAAF SEAC roundels, the Spitfire wears Type Bs on her wings and Type C-1s on her waist, while the postwar Mustang in the number three position sports the modern roundel of the RAF – the Type D (diameter ratio of 1:2:3), which is outside of our RCAF history, as we never adopted that roundel. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160732259-4QRF0PSOL61SPU65NHYN/Roundels13.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160772535-YZ7LVPII70TIHPUXBHMP/Roundels63.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The 436 Squadron C-47 Dakota, Canucks Unlimited, of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, makes a low flypast and shows off her SEAC blue on blue roundels and appropriately proportioned fin flash. 436 Transport Squadron was assembled in Gujrat, India (now in Pakistan), on 9 October 1944. Equipped with the C-47 Dakota, 436 Squadron flew its first official mission on 15 January 1945 from Kanglatongbi, Assam, India, when seven Dakotas airlifted 59 tons of supplies for 33 Corps of the Allied 14th Army in Burma. Soon the adopted emblem and quasi-motto of the squadron, "Canucks Unlimited," would be seen far and wide in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre of operations. For more on 436 and 435 Squadrons and the Canucks Unlimited legend, click here. Photo: Gus Carujo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160811335-8ZVBVYFHFXJS36BRB61A/Roundels76.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire PR Mk XI (PS915) displays classic SEAC blue on blue roundels and matching fin flash. As with most SEAC roundel applications, the roundel is considerably smaller than those typically found on European Theatre of Operations (ETO) Spits – less than 50 % ETO size. Today, this aircraft wears PRU blue markings from the end of the war, but it briefly had these SEAC markings commemorating 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron. 152 Squadron moved to Burma on 19 December 1943 and joined the RAF Third Tactical Air Force (TAF). During the Battle of Imphal, the squadron operated from frontline strips and supported the Fourteenth Army during its final conquest of Burma. It was disbanded on 10 March 1946 in Singapore, to where it had moved after the Japanese surrender. Photo: Ian Howat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160930466-9978EOGSUQKO4MM67R2U/Roundels24.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629160977569-1VR1JTCEV6LS467CQMDO/Roundels5.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out I looked long and hard on the web for a colour photograph of an RCAF aircraft wearing the first generation RCAF roundel – a simple blue disc with a red maple leaf in the centre. The only decent image I could find was this shot of Vampire 17030, but it was black and white. The use of this roundel was short-lived as, like the RAF's Type B roundel, it was not visible enough for general usage on all types of aircraft and background colours. I have only seen this roundel used on Vampires, Mustangs and Harvards. Any information of its history or colour photographs would be greatly appreciated. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161015795-A2VZGWO78RKTDZHONFUL/Roundels53.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Three de Havilland Vampires of the Blue Devils display vintage original RCAF roundels. The Blue Devils or the 410 (F) Squadron Aerobatic Team was a Royal Canadian Air Force aerobatic team that flew the de Havilland Vampire jet aircraft from 1949 to 1951. The unit was the RCAF's first postwar aerobatic team, and belonged to the RCAF's first operational jet fighter squadron, No. 410 Squadron. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161043677-LQ0FWG9TX3MRVB00DSZX/Roundels58.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Navy generally used roundels similar to those of the Air Force, but in this case, I believe these roundels were applied when the aircraft was with the RCAF. Here we have a rare photo of a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Harvard II (S/N 2898) wearing the first postwar roundel of the RCAF as it banks over the RCN dockyards at Halifax. The long-serving Harvard 2898 served during the Second World War at No. 9 SFTS Summerside, Prince Edward Island, No. 31 SFTS Kingston, Ontario, and No. 14 SFTS Aylmer, Ontario. Postwar, the RCAF operated it with an auxiliary squadron at London, Ontario, and at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It was loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy in January 1950. It is my guess that she arrived at RCN Shearwater wearing these uniquely RCAF roundels. Photo via the Naval Museum of Manitoba https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161163865-C0CDNVF9D3CROSCQDJ25/Roundels25.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161223047-DLYHKVO9DNNC41L90RVX/Roundels70.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Canadair Sabre, with slats out and nose high, struggles to fly as slow as the aircraft with the photographer, over a Canadian winter landscape. It carries on its side simple new tri-colour roundel of the small leaf variety as well as the old Canadian Red Ensign. Sabre 23757 was one of 390 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk. 6 (the last version, with Avro Orenda 14 engines) that served with the RCAF. This Sabre is carrying the camouflage developed for all RCAF European-based operational aircraft. The photo was taken while the aircraft belonged to No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit (OFU) based at St. Hubert, Québec and formed in 1953 to ferry Sabres and T-33s across the North Atlantic. The motto of the OFU was a humorous bogus Latin one – “Deliverum Non Dunkum.” Photo: RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161258814-LP9FXISMF7KQD1J5Q0MT/Roundels23.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161294749-0TNQBPCMDHQ6YQNK0TQ5/ClassicRCAF.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Three factory-fresh bare metal Canadair Sabres close up formation for the photographer – naked except for their new RCAF classic roundels and a Type C fin flash. The Canadair F-86 Sabre was to become the RCAF's most famous and unanimously well-liked, operational fighter. RCAF Sabre squadrons were a force to be reckoned with in the European skies. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161328173-EZK55UFYEXYOOSANQ5RB/Roundels59.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Unlike the previous photograph of generic Sabres with no markings to help a viewer tell anything about them, save that they are Canadian, this gorgeous image of the Flight Lieutenant Fern Villeneuve Hawk One Canadair Sabre 5 tells an entirely different story. Painted in the outstanding metallic gold paint of the Golden Hawks air demonstration team of 1951 to 1963, there is no doubt what unit this ship flies with. At Vintage Wings of Canada, we have two aircraft that bear the tri-colour postwar roundels of the RCAF – Hawk One and the Flight Lieutenant “Tim” Timmins de Havilland Chipmunk. In this photograph, we see pilot Chris Hadfield, canopy back and enjoying the day, banking away from the camera and showing us a good view of Hawk One's array of roundels. This month, Hadfield, a Vintage Wings of Canada board member and pilot, will launch from Russia aboard a Soyuz capsule to become the first Canadian to command the International Space Station (ISS). He will spend half a year orbiting the planet. Our other astronaut Sabre pilot, Jeremy Hansen, promises to keep his ejection seat warm for him. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161403412-KAFFL0VOUD3P5AAO11JZ/ClassicRCAF_2.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The dream that became a nightmare – the prototype Avro CF-105 Arrow (RL201) sits proudly on the ramp at Avro's Malton, Ontario, factory ramp wearing the symbol of an air force at its zenith – the Royal Canadian Air Force classic roundel and Type C fin flash. This was a time before Canadian military aircraft wore the Red Ensign flag of Canada or, later, the maple leaf flag we so love today. The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft. (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond. Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate. The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production remains today a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. Photo via RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161439380-LB06ZJVK7ACZPC7JK4JG/Roundels32.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Canuck in Canuck markings – classic early RCAF roundels are powerfully displayed on this big Canadian-designed fighter of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Though the CF-105 Arrow (previous photo) brought Avro Canada to its knees, the company was both innovative and successful despite its ultimate demise. The biggest success for the company was the development and manufacture of nearly 700 CF-100 “Canucks” or, as Sabre pilot detractors liked to call them, “Clunks”. The CF-100 Canuck was a Canadian jet interceptor/fighter serving during the Cold War both in NATO bases in Europe and as part of NORAD. The CF-100 was the only Canadian-designed fighter to enter mass production, serving primarily with the RCAF/CAF and in small numbers in the Belgian Air Force. For its day, the CF-100 featured a short takeoff run and high climb rate, making it well suited to its role as an interceptor. This particular CF-100 (18383) was a Mk. IVB Canuck with 423 Squadron at the time this photo was taken over St. Hubert, Québec. Besides the Mk. IVs remarkable squadron service in Canada and Europe, it made headlines in the English newspapers when it became the first military jet aircraft produced outside England to perform at the Farnborough Air Show in 1955. The aircraft was one of three Mk. IVBs that had been sent to England for evaluation at Boscombe Down Test Establishment. Photo: RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161472537-7VLQ8HBRUE0DG94LLXUI/Roundels73.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161548547-GIMM8UK4AKE2OPNBKYPL/RCN.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Grumman Avenger (S/N 85861 – an AS3 Mk1 Early Variant) from HMCS Magnificent (circa 1950–1952) wears Royal Canadian Navy roundels with yellow outer rings. The difference between the RCAF and the RCN roundels was the thickness of the blue outer ring – the RCN roundels had a definite thicker blue ring and a slightly different red maple leaf. The yellow outer ring was employed on RCN roundels up until 1952. Note the AN/APS-4 radar pod fitted to the underside of the starboard wing. The “-3E” aircraft purchased by the RCN was the last Avenger model to be produced in quantity during the Second World War. The Royal Canadian Navy acquired its aircraft carriers after the Second World War – HMCS Warrior, HMCS Magnificent (Maggie) and HMCS Bonaventure (Bonnie). Prior to this, Royal Canadian Navy pilots and aircrew all flew for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. In addition, some RCN aviation units were land-based. Photo: RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161578166-TQSSO5YKZYU0M98ZUL9T/Roundels28.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The only jet fighter aircraft to fly for the Royal Canadian Navy was the McDonnell Douglas F2H-3 Banshee. Here, a Banshee banks hard over Halifax harbour and the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge. She wears Royal Canadian Navy roundels, sans outer yellow rings, which were discontinued in 1952. Even this jet aircraft still had the Type C fin flash, when RCAF aircraft were wearing Red Ensigns. The RCN acquired 39 Banshees from 1955 to 1958. Banshees operated from shore bases and from the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure after 1957. The Banshee was the RCN’s last fighter and was not replaced when retired from service in 1962. When the three services were merged into one entity known as the Canadian Forces, it lost all of its flying units to the former RCAF, by then a Command of the CF. Photo: RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161609953-PZBI85ISPJBLOQ23IPW4/Roundels35.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A clear indication of the RCN's desire to be different is seen on the sides of this Piasecki HUP-3 – the RCN's unique roundel and the Navy ensign instead of the National Red Ensign. Three Vertol (Piasecki) Model PD-18 twin rotor helicopters, known to the RCN as HUP-3s, flew with VU-33 Squadron between May 1954 and January 1964. Early versions of the HUP were called the “hupmobile” or “shoe”, because of their distinctive shape. Number 51-16623, seen here, now resides in Ottawa's Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161663877-7TDVFJH8IBA77ZLZ8S3U/Roundels18.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161696687-E50SIB0QRQ9LXI5VDH3W/RCAFSmallLeaf_3.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A DC-3 Dakota of Air Transport Command of the Canadian Armed Forces displays several aircraft identification elements of the Canadian Air Force of the day – classic RCAF lightning bolt “cheatlines”, white-top upper fuselage, red outer wing panels and new roundels mirroring the new Canadian Flag. The title “Canadian Armed Forces” indicates that this aircraft was newly painted after the unification of the three military services of Canada into one non-cohesive fighting force. Brought into being by then Minister of Defence, Paul Hellyer, unification signalled the death knell of the RCAF and RCN, their service specific uniforms and traditions. After unification, all services were required to use Canadian Army ranks and stripes, new army-style green uniforms and to get along. The move was reviled by everyone... even the Army. Pilots crewed aircraft wearing forest green uniforms like those worn by bakery-delivery men, and the Navy was no longer allowed to wear navy blue. Morale plummeted. Long career airmen and sailors simply quit, rather than wear green. Eventually, the Navy and Air Force got back a reasonable facsimile of their old uniforms, the Navy got their ranks back and just last year, the Air Force got its old name back – the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161732156-8WE2ESPIJHL9FDN4S857/Roundels71.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Despite the fact that the CL-13 Canadair Sabre retired from front line service in 1962, it continued on in specialized roles for years, including the celebrated Golden Hawks (1963) and this Sabre 5, clearly flying over rugged Canadian landscape near No. 1 (F) OTU, Chatham, New Brunswick in 1967. She sports brand new, modern era roundels, but this one is clearly not the standard we know today, as the leaf is too small. Perhaps they were trying to iron out the details when this one was applied early in its development. I believe this Sabre operated with the Sabre Transition Unit at Chatham. Photo: RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161835374-3V3UMNVQ5ZVI1I08S6M1/Roundels31.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out For my taste, this six-foot diameter modern RCAF roundel on the cheek of a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) CC-137 Boeing 707 is the finest display of the old cockade device in existence. Big, bold, and right up front, this roundel certainly lets ground crews wherever she goes know what country this big bird is from. The Boeing CC-137 was the Air Force's main air-to-air refuelling asset. Acquired in 1970, the CC-137 served the Canadian Forces as a strategic airlifter and air-to-air refueller for fighter aircraft. It could carry either 172 passengers, cargo, or a combination of both. The CC-137 fleet was retired in the summer of 1997. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161865000-UYR9IWBYQBM1U8L69DA8/Roundels46.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A BAE Hawk aircraft, from 419 Squadron Cold Lake, flying over Hamilton, Ontario in 2006. She carries classic modern era Canadian roundels ringed in white to separate the blue outer ring from the dark blue surface of the Hawk. The CT-155 Hawk was selected for the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program because of its similarities to frontline fighter aircraft. Student pilots graduate from the turboprop CT-156 Harvard II to this highly advanced jet trainer. Its Rolls-Royce turbofan engine generates more than 6000 lbs of thrust and powers the jet to supersonic speeds. CF Photo: Corporal Jean-François Lauzé https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161898440-IHUQ9O090NY7AIMXZEJI/Roundels50.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A CC-138 Twin Otter Search and Rescue aircraft taxies in just as the Griffon helicopters of 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron arrive at Resolute Bay, Nunavut, to take part in Operation NANOOK 11. This all-yellow Search and Rescue aircraft wears a perfect example of the modern RCAF roundel in traditional red, white and blue. Operation NANOOK 11 is a two-part operation. The first part is a sovereignty and presence patrolling operation employing the Canadian Forces in the air, on land and at sea as well as international partners from the United States and Denmark. The second part of Operation NANOOK 11 is a Canadian whole-of-government exercise that includes a simulated major air disaster and a simulated maritime emergency exercise. Photo: Sgt Norm McLean, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629161981001-LOF1SA554NHGIAQR7LZ6/Roundel19.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162015257-Q2ROMG2HW6F5HQACN5N3/RCAFCentennial_.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A spectacular Canadair Yukon of the Royal Canadian Air Force thunders across a Canadian landscape, wearing a full set of the rarest of all Canadian air force roundels – the all-red Centennial roundel. These roundels appeared only on Canadian VIP transport aircraft in 1967, celebrating 100 years since Canada's Confederation in 1867. The Canadair CL-44 Yukon was a Canadian turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft, based on the Bristol Britannia, that was developed and produced by Canadair in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although innovative, only a small number of the aircraft were produced for the Royal Canadian Air Force as the CC-106 Yukon, and as the CL-44 with commercial operators worldwide. Photo: RCAF website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162059642-ZLCHLZBNR5A79ABP0YTX/Roundels52.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out An RCAF CC-109 Cosmopolitan VIP transport cruises another Canadian landscape, wearing a gorgeous set of all-red Centennial roundels and, on her tail, the relatively new Canadian maple leaf flag (brought into existence just two years before) and a red Centennial Symbol – the national logo employed throughout 1967 – the Centennial year of Canada. Inset: the logo known to Canadians in 1967 as the “Centennial Symbol”. The Cosmopolitan was a turboprop version of the civilian Convairliner. The “Cosmo” was bought to be the standard short-haul VIP aircraft for the RCAF and replaced the Douglas DC-3 Dakota and the North American B-25 Mitchell. The RCAF acquired 13 Cosmopolitans in 1960, 3 of which were leased, to provide VIP transport for members of the military and government, as well as general transportation of personnel and supplies. Between late 1966 through October 1967 the remaining RCAF Cosmos were converted from the British Napier Eland 504A turboprop to the Allison T56 family of engines and continued to serve until 1994; their duties have been taken over by the CC-142 Dash 8 and CC-144 Challenger. My first-ever flight was, as an Air Cadet, in a Cosmopolitan, in which all the seats faced backwards. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162190568-81GOJNRWYIJ63FDAJBI7/Roundels85.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162231226-CGV4GJKKMCD7IGSB3VUH/Roundels36.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A Canadair-built Lockheed CF-104 (S/N 104810 –cn 683A-1110) with LAU-68 launchers on the hardpoints is photographed at Kleine Brogel Air Base (ICAO EBBL) in Belgium in 1978. This “Zipper”, and the similar aircraft behind, both sport the two-colour, “low-viz”, modern Canadian roundels that were only found on dark camouflage Canadian Forces CF-104s operating from Canadian European air bases such as CFB Baden-Soellingen and Zweibrûcken. After her Canadian Air Force service, the nearest aircraft was transferred to Turkey, where it served as 62-810. Photo: Fred Willemsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162269760-VRCASYHHIVS8BI4Y57GQ/Roundels86.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out I originally thought that this roundel was used on CF-104 Starfighters only, but James Bates sent me this shot of a CF-5 Freedom Fighter taxiing and showing off her non-standard low-viz roundels. Photo: James Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162296065-JICVNDSM8UM6D42PTQTL/Roundels21.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The modern Canadian roundel is a thing of beauty, symmetry and balance. In three colours it inspires us, in just one muted colour, it takes on a profound sense of determination and commitment. As a “low viz” device, it can be used as light grey on dark, dark grey on light and black on camouflaged backgrounds such as those found on Chinook and Griffin helicopters used by Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. The Royal Canadian Air Force roundel is a national symbol of great significance to Canada, a country of great understatement. Nothing says who we are like the understated power of this roundel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162403716-E9LEDDAE8J73ZHZSYX32/Roundels74.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Regardless of its reduced visibility, the “low-viz” Canadian roundel still stands out on the side of this CP-140 Aurora anti-submarine aircraft flying over the mountain ranges of West Coast British Columbia. The Aurora also wears a unique identification device known as the “Canada Wordmark”. This simple word, Canada with a flag accenting the last letter, is not just an RCAF device. It appears on everything the Canadian government does, from grain silos, to annual reports, railway rolling stock, to vehicles, to the Canadarm grappling devices found on the International Space Station and the old space shuttles. As Canada’s only strategic maritime surveillance aircraft, the CP-140 Aurora is often used to patrol Canada’s coastlines, safeguarding our waters from foreign threats. Capable of flying more than 9000 km without refuelling, this multi-purpose aircraft goes the distance. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the Aurora is able to detect and destroy the latest generation of stealth submarines. However, its 17-hour endurance and 9266 km range make the aircraft ideal for an evolving variety of operations. The Aurora is frequently used to search out illegal fishing, immigration, drug trafficking and polluting along the coastline, as well as violations of Canadian territorial sovereignty above and below the ocean’s surface. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162510764-TJT1R3G7NVJD5RKJ2UGC/NoseArtHelo35.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Maple Leaf roundel in “low viz” can be applied in black on dark camouflage backgrounds such as on this Chinook in Afghanistan. Photo: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall, OSGG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162540048-M974VIWLYCECD4U2RAR4/Roundels44.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The 2012 Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Demo Hornet has a fantastic snowflake and northern lights paint scheme designed by Jim Belliveau, the creator of every CF-18 demo paint scheme and the man who oversaw the painting of our Canadair Sabre as a Golden Hawk. Jim has utilized here the rarest combination of roundel application – low visibility roundels (light on medium grey) on the upper wing surfaces, low visibility roundels on the underside (but medium grey on light grey) and then red, white and blue roundels on the forward fuselage. Photo: Sgt Robert Bottrill, RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162604877-8M0BVUD04P1LJO1FQD9Z/Roundels43.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A clear view of the 2012 CF-18 Hornet Demo bird's fuselage shows us her full colour modern era roundel beneath the leading edge extension (LEX). The CF-18 Hornet Demonstrator toured some spots in South America for three weeks in May and this snow and aurora-themed paint scheme must have seemed pretty exotic down around the equator. Photo: Sgt Robert Bottrill, RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162635442-Q0QID85LUO4XBL9YA7P6/Roundels45.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out A close-in view of the modern Canadian roundel applied in low visibility colours on the side of the 2011 CF-18 demonstrator. It makes me proud to see it in this form. Demo pilot Eric “Hôm” O'Connor likes it too, and gives it a thumbs-up. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162684890-EG9W7U3VXHCH815536AI/Roundles46.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Taking a cue from the lightning bolt and roundel design of the Canadian Forces CC-137 Boeing 707 seen previously in this story, a CC-150 Polaris (Airbus A310) shows off a low visibility modern roundel and bolt. The Polaris is a multi-purpose, twin-engine, long-range jet aircraft that can be converted for passenger, freight or medical transport, or any combination of these configurations. When configured for VIP passengers, the Polaris is used to transport high-ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries, including the Prime Minister, the Governor General and members of the Royal Family across Canada and around the world. The five Canadian Forces CC-150 Polaris aircraft are principally stationed at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162755108-7VHIW21TE7W1XX3CABIM/Roundels57.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The Kraut Line. The history that was written across the skies of Europe, the South Pacific, Asia, and the training fields of the BCATP by Canadians in the RCAF and RAF forever formed a bond between them and those of us they fought to protect. During the Second World War, every front page of every newspaper from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Victoria, Vancouver Island, rang out with the victories, losses, terrors and triumphs of our men in blue. In a country where ice hockey dominated social culture, as it still does today, nearly all of the young, physically fit, athletic men had signed up with one of the services. Professional and semi-professional hockey languished for want of the talent that was now instructing the pilots, driving the lorries, leading the infantry or manning the ships of a country at war. With the talent in their ranks and the eyes of the nation upon them, the great football teams and hockey teams were now also made from the men of the services. The Grey Cup football games were now between teams of the RCAF. The NHL existed still, other services had squads, but the teams in the RCAF were in the ascendancy. One of the top squads was the Ottawa RCAF Flyers. In 1941–42, they became the first and only Ottawa District team to win the Allan Cup. The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. In winning the Cup, they were helped immensely by the enlistments of NHL stars Bobby Bauer, Woody Dumart, and Milt Schmidt in the RCAF. These three players hit the ice on the same line, and thanks to the two Canadians of German ancestry, they were known affectionately, if not tactfully, as the Kraut Line – it was the war of course. The jerseys of the RCAF Flyers were prescient, replicating the first postwar RCAF roundel – the Small Leaf roundel. The shirts and the team roundels became a national icon, though most saw them only in black and white. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162799997-91YJU9ACQ5EFCI6GO804/Roundels55.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out The greatest accomplishment of a national team called the RCAF Flyers was to win the Gold Medal at the first postwar Olympic Games at St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1948. Their red, white and air force blue uniforms, emblazoned with the RCAF roundel, captured the hearts of Canadians when they beat the Soviet team to win Gold on an outdoor rink. With Canada's best players turning professional as soon as they were able, this was Canada's first ever Gold in hockey in the Winter Games, though, oddly, we won Gold in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp. This photo, taken minutes after their win, became the most published image of the games. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162863217-6ALK2ZIXIKTWAGN361GJ/Roundels39.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out In 1996, the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets left the heartbroken city and were moved by business-wise, but hockey-dumb, people to that hotbed of hockey mania, Phoenix, Arizona. Winnipeg fans languished even more than their former team. By 2011, the city managed to win back a team and the name was to remain the Jets. The team name “Jets” comes from the fact that the RCAF's operational headquarters for Canada and the world is based in Winnipeg. While many Winnipeggers will disagree (and that is their right), the old Jets logo was one of the worst in the league, nostalgically classic possibly, but to a graphic designer such as myself, a dog. This time they got the logo right... oh, so right. The team's owners worked closely with the Royal Canadian Air Force to work a stylized roundel into the new design as well as an aircraft silhouette reminiscent of an F-18 combined with an F-16. The team colours would be those of the RCAF's own identity. The team's management agreed to make very substantial donations to RCAF family charities for the right to use a device like the RCAF roundel. Congratulations to the new Winnipeg Jets and their management. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162893943-W31P46HULUTW3YTPJ53G/Roundels56.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out In the NHL, each team has a home jersey, an away jersey and a “third” jersey. The third jersey for the Winnipeg Jets replicates the jersey worn by the 1948 RCAF Flyers, winners of the Olympic Gold Medal in 1948 (the shirt on the left, from the Hockey Hall of Fame). Roundels Rule Baby! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629162934758-95YV1E99CX3FJZ8SZV44/Roundels54.jpg The Stories - ROUNDEL ROUND-UP - Make it stand out Test your RQ - Roundelligence Quotient. The French may have started it all with the national cockade of the French Air Service, but the whole world followed suit. Today every air force on the planet has an aircraft identifier called a roundel. Many do not have concentric circles and many are not even round – crosses, triangles, squares and polygons abound. But, by far, the traditional concentric circular roundel in the national colours of the air force is the most common. Here is a test of your roundel identification skills. Score 25–30: You are a basement dwelling, aerogeek – shut your computer off and get some exercise! Score 20–25: You are a member of the International Plastic Modellers Society. Score 15–20: You are the Head of NATO. Score 10–15: You subscribe to the History Channel. Score 5–10: Prior to this article you were the guy calling them bullseye thingamajigs. Score less than 5: You are Rob Fleck. Starting with the top line, left to right: Top Line: New Zealand, Argentina, France, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Pakistan; Line 2: Greece, Spain, Finland, Chile, Kenya; Line 3: Italy, Turkey, Australia, Ghana (or Congo, Bolivia), India; Line 4: Jamaica, Egypt, Iran, Slovenia, Japan; Line 5: Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, Sweden; Line 6: Nigeria, Albania, Czech Republic, Libya, Venezuela https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/miracle-of-the-hudson monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629380393138-4OEHYHECD8AIBN3ABUGP/WakefieldTitle2.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629380810576-ZOXHU9ZKYJPIUH7BQPT5/Wakefield6.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Enamoured of its charm, lovely setting, cool flowing waters and tasty “boulangers”, aviation enthusiast and photographer Richard Allnutt frequently visited picturesque Wakefield, Quebec on the banks of the Gatineau River. Dropping in to the local General Store, he spotted this photograph of curious citizens gawking at a wingless Lockheed Hudson bomber in the middle of the community and miles from anywhere to land. It set in motion a quest that went around the world in less than a day and was resolved in less than 48 hours. The photo shows well dressed local citizens posing with the out-of-place Bomber. Photo via Richard Allnutt, and Gatineau Valley Historical Society, CD-019/02150-023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629380994847-EF9025T6QQ06QHE04ZR6/Wakefield5.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out A shot of Captain Eddie De Larm's relatively undamaged Hudson sitting level in a field belonging to farmer Francois Martineau of Saint Cécille de Masham, about four miles west of the community of Wakefield. It was probably very lucky that it had been raining, as the Hudson would have slid easily on the hay. Doug Nesbitt recalled that François Martineau had hoped to get considerable compensation for damages to his oat field, but was disappointed, when DND offered him little after finding out his field was fallow. Nesbitt also pointed out the massive pine tree in the distance, which he says was struck by lightning only a few years ago, setting it on fire and bringing, for the second time in 70 years, emergency crews to the field. Photo via the Gatineau Valley Historical Society, CD-019/02150-022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629382021009-6H1AAULN7LCZWF4ATVUC/Wakefield26.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Linda Bardell interviewed Doug Nesbitt and had him point out the exact spot where the bomber went down in relation to his father's farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629382315674-IJDQGIKENPR78B28H41D/Wakefield27.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Today, Doug Nesbitt is a retired farmer, the fourth generation of his family to inhabit the homestead. Though he no longer raises dairy cattle or crops, he still actively taps the maples on his Québec farm to make one of the finest products of this country.... maple syrup. talking to Doug was one of the best things about researching and writing this story. Photo: Linda Bardell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629382422435-94LZLAPG80KKYFFEACQ6/Wakefield16.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The Ottawa Citizen ran a story about De Larm's forced landing two days after the accident . Image via Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383217769-0HWJ8YJXIKV3XBY4PS4R/Wakefield22.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Left: The article for the Fredericksburg VA, Free Lance Star and another image of De Larm, probably as a New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line pilot. Photo via Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Tribune https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383249364-GIFGP1VDN0OJR2ZR7K6N/Wakefield21.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The aircraft used by De Larm and his passengers to deliver arms and men to Chile for an attempted revolution was in fact the very aircraft that Amelia Earhart had employed when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383328219-F6HS51KPDK56YCH198ZX/Wakefield28.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out A great image of Jerome “Jerry” Fred De Larm taken from the documentary film "Science of Spying" from 1965. De larm is standing in front of a Lockheed 18, possibly from Guatemalan firm Servicios Interamericanos de Aviación or SIDA, owned by none other than Delarm himself. The image certainly demonstrates his swagger and confidence. Image via “Science of Spying” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384082285-J20LRSGAV1I3QFZDPAD9/Wakefield7.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Black and white photos, though dramatic, do not show the true colours of the Lockheed Hudson that De Larm was flying that day. Being a pilot with the Atlantic Ferry Organization (ATFERO), De Larm's aircraft would have looked exactly like these Hudson's being ferried across the Atlantic in the Hollywood movie "Captains of the Clouds”. Image via Warner Bros https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384195478-QUYWF0IT0KX3T9BO9RJV/Wakefield42.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The Hudson sits in the field where it came to rest before the RCAF crews arrive to take her apart. Photo via Linda Bardell of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384235844-2PW65FT74HY0OMUQ9VND/Wakefield24.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out An interesting if blurry shot of the downed bomber (at left) in the Martineau field with attendant salvage truck and spectators. The wings are still attached. Evident in this shot is the massive pine tree that was still there just a few years ago. Photo via Doug Nesbitt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384274720-PBUZWEIZF9DL5CD1BU0Y/Wakefield23.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Still blurry, but much more interesting. The stake truck at the back of the aircraft may be the one which ultimately towed the Hudson from the field and in to Ottawa. Photo via Doug Nesbitt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384319555-04NDRBIEWOOSD0KYQRBH/Wakefield25.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out A nice shot of the bomber in Martineau's field with empennage being removed and still belly to the ground. Photo via Doug Nesbitt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384358915-JS66TJDHKUFCI1BRBS8U/Wakefield41.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out RCAF crews attempt to drag the wide aircraft across a bridge on Route Principale (Highway 366) en route to Wakefield. It appears that a larger 3-ton RCAF recovery truck at the front of the aircraft was used to lift the aircraft high enough to clear the railings. Photo via Linda Bardell of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384432873-FQD5V7DJZ3ABCK2PC21U/Wakefield40.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Crossing the bridge. Photo via Linda Bardell of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384476898-L8ELGDK8C8EUY0F7ZGUF/Wakefield44.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out It seems that the landing gear were too wide to squeeze across this bridge. The photo found in the Wakefield General Store (at beginning of story) shows that the solution they came up with was to turn the gear legs to put the wheels inboard of the oleos, thereby clearing the railings. Photo via Linda Bardell of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384510257-KUGHI2GC5PINYZQC3MOW/Wakefield43.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out RCAF technician in a heavy 3-ton RCAF truck works out a solution for crossing the bridge. Photo via Linda Bardell of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384815542-G0942YTI8R5LM3JUL1NB/Wakefield19.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out A Google Maps screen capture with some geographical locations to help folks from the forums, who were so interested in the story, orient themselves. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384852813-HFW1WHUAYL97HQVOHR62/Wakefield3.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Another photo from the same group shows curious villagers, farmers and cottagers looking on as mechanics inspect the damage and condition of the tow while the aircraft rests outside the Chateau Diotte, a lumberjack's hotel and tavern built on the site in 1928. At this point, the aircraft has made the four mile journey from Masham down the highway which would become Mill Road as it entered Wakefield. Today the road to Masham does not take this route into the village. We can clearly see the rear axle of the RCAF truck dispatched to retrieve the damaged aircraft. The Hudson's wheels have been rotated inboard of the oleos perhaps to allow easier towing down narrow country roads. Photo via the Gatineau Valley Historical Society, CD-019/02150-022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385105344-4R7W5KB25GCXO7HFTOQL/Wakefield17.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out A detail from the Mill Road photo shows the inverted wheel arrangement and what appears to be a jury-rigged cable holding the wheels to the fuselage. The damage seems to be minimal considering the circumstances. Photo via the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385136302-V9JNT39YQ332F1UW3PJC/Wakefield8.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out On a breathtakingly beautiful summer's day in 2011, photographer and aviation forum member Richard Allnutt stands where he thinks the original news photographer had stood in 1941 to take the photo which started this search. If one looks at the old photo and compares it with the modern one, one sees that the exterior of the Black Sheep Inn had changed not at all since the days of the old Chateau Diotte. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385161700-8O4MZATW87UXYCI55JBK/Wakefield15.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Ghosts from the past. Overlaying the 1941 photo of the Chateau Diotte and Hudson over the proceeding image of today's Black Sheep Inn, they match nearly perfectly with windows aligning nicely. The landscape in the distance has not changed at all. Photos by unknown news photographer and Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385363125-1NWLA4J4ZA5GDTTBMFHU/Wakefield20.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The blurry four digit (only three are visible) serial can just be seen in this shot. Aviation Forum members are not 100% sure but speculate that this is Hudson 2932 (AM850). Paul MacMillan of the forum speculates, “If it was indeed AM850, that aircraft didn't fly Gander-Prestwick until June 2/3, 1942, which was late for an AM*** series aircraft - all her sisterships (AM85*) were delivered the previous July. Might indicate she had been under repair”. Photo via the Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385420488-4PJNWFL3DZ8H71X5DT3W/Wakefield18.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out Part of the summertime weekend charm of the village of Wakefield was, until last year, the daily arrival of the Wakefield Steam Train, seen here puffing slowly along the river's edge in Wakefield. One look at the hills in behind the village, you can see how lucky Delorme was to find a flat enough and large enough spot to land the big aircraft. Photo: Anuj Raj https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385482455-PW67QFPR1W7N1GDBAPCC/Wakefield13.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out On a sunny summer's day the village of Wakefield is a lovely destination for those wishing a country walk, some ice cream or cold glass of Sancerre by the flowing waters of the Gatineau. Only a few decades ago the river was choked with logs floating their way downstream to the big CIP pulp mill at Pointe Gatineau. One can surely see the difficulties a recovery team might have had pulling the Hudson through the Gatineau Hills along the narrow dirt roads that connected communities in 1941. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385515415-XRU4KY2B34KO2SIMA9JR/Wakefield4.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The corner of Mill Road and Riverside Road and The Black Sheep Inn, one of Canada's most legendary music emporium. Known across Canada and to musicians around the world the small, intimate venue has a reputation far beyond its size. This is the very spot where the RCAF Hudson recovery team stopped for a break in 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385559523-P517HVFAH6XUHL2H49GH/Wakefield9.jpg The Stories - MIRACLE OF THE HUDSON at Sainte Cécile de Masham - Make it stand out The view looking up modern day Mill Road, whence, in 1941 the Hudson was towed by an RCAF recovery vehicle. Today, Mill Road runs west only as far as the 4-lane Autoroute 5, but, on Google Maps, one can still make out a faded trace of the old road as it continues its winding way through hills toward Masham, some 4 miles distant. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-terrifying-beauty monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316004280-R7HZA5Y9A5GRW3E2AJ6N/TerrifyingBeauty113.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316119155-IMQGU1Q6MXK93DFG55C2/TerrifyingBeauty114.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Until I saw Forkasiewicz’s digital painting called The Last Defender, my visual understanding of what happened in the skies over Europe during Bomber Command night raids came from the minds of traditional artists and rare blurry photographic records. While I applaud the power of traditional art and recognize the immediacy of combat photography such as this shot of an RAF raid on Hamburg, Forkasiewicz’s hyperrealistic images opened a new door to understanding. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316176251-VGUIYHDLONLEMH04MMNY/TerrifyingBeauty116.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Typical of the higher-end of the visual world of flight simulator “skins” is this remarkably beautiful rendition of a Sopwith Pup which I found on the Wings of Honor website. This screen capture was taken during a flight simulation as the gamer flies the Pup skin around in the simulated world. This was the type of images I was collecting for my story on what I thought was “like art”. Screen capture via Wingsofhonor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316253076-GZYD52ZVPXAED8L8Z9ZZ/TerrifyingBeauty82.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out As Lancaster LS-H plummets to its death near the French town of Plaisir, in the digital artwork called The Last Defender, its crew get out of the dying aircraft while they still can. For some reason or another, both of her gunners failed to get out of the aircraft in time to survive, possibly because they were in the direct line of fire from the Junkers. It is likely that her rear gunner died in his turret. Aitken in the mid-upper turret did manage to extricate himself, but it was too late. British Columbia’s Canadian Museum of Flight offered an explanation of the difficulty Aitken would have had to get out: The gunner’s parachute was attached to the fuselage just outside the turret. If he needed to abandon ship, he had to turn the turret to point forwards, open the door, retrieve his parachute, close the door, rotate the turret until it was fully turned to one side, then open the door and fall backwards out of the turret. He then would have to make his way to a hatch and jump. The crew was: Pilot, Squadron Leader Phillip John Lamason DFC RNZAF; Flight Engineer, Flight Lieutenant J. Marpole, RAF; Navigator, Flying Officer K.W. Chapman, RAF; Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer G.A. Musgrove, RCAF; Radio Operator/Gunner, Flying Officer L.H.J. George DFC, RAF; and the two gunners, both killed in the action: Mid-Upper Gunner, Warrant Officer R.B. Aitken, RAF and Rear Gunner, Flying Officer T.W. Dunk, RAF. The others were taken as POWs or evaded capture. The Last Defender by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316306567-M3GO932VN9LRB7QVVZMX/TerrifyingBeauty78.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Robbie Aitken’s last stand. A close-up of the astonishing, and frankly terrifying, detail of The Last Defender reveals the faithful accuracy with which Forkasiewicz anoints his artwork. We see the hard rubber tail wheel of the Lancaster with its worn high sides and centre groove, designed as an anti-shimmy device. We also see the polished steel shaft of the hydraulic wheel oleo and a glossy shine of the glass covering of the HS2 navigation radar system blister. This radar may have in fact been the demise of LS-H, as it could be homed in by Luftwaffe night fighters. Detail from The Last Defender by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316363680-AFBQGWUHWYEGK74906QS/TerrifyingBeauty79.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The flames blow torching from the crippled Number 3 engine are not modelled in the computer, but applied by hand by the artist in the form of layered photographic imagery blended together and representing with frightening sensuality the fuel-fed, slipstream-blown fire that would burn through a Lancaster’s wing in a matter of minutes. The crew of LS-H would have tried to extinguish the fire in the engine, but once it ran away to the wing, it would have been time to bail out of the dying ship. In this image, we see the flaps partially extended, possibly the result of hydraulic failure as well as damage to the right wing from cannon fire from the attacking night fighter. The play of light from the fire on the aircraft’s various surfaces is the most powerful of the artist’s techniques to create his own brand of “hyperrealism”. Detail from The Last Defender by Piotr Forkaziewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316412888-B2STOBSJLIC07D1O75RT/TerrifyingBeauty80.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Pulling back a bit, we see the Mid-Upper Gunner, Warrant Officer R.B. Aitken, in his Fraser Nash turret, blast away with his Twin Browning .303 machine guns, while smoking spent tracer rounds from the attacking night fighter rocket past. Unknown, or perhaps unheeded by Aitken, members of the crew begin to abandon ship, dropping like rag dolls into the night sky. Detail from The Last Defender by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316477425-ZZKC899FWSM9EPPIXHKU/TerrifyingBeauty44.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In his commissioned work called Incoming Threat, Forkasiewicz depicts the moment before the Lamason crew of 15 Squadron’s Lancaster LS-H is attacked by a Junkers Ju88. As they churn through the layers of cloud in the moonlit sky, behind them, the radar-equipped Luftwaffe night fighter closes in out of the clouds using its Lichtenstein radar equipment. Incoming Threat by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316525288-3EEZ2JNTNCDXLXG7XLJL/TerrifyingBeauty45.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz’s thirst for detail is astonishing. Not only is every rivet, aluminium joint and formed component perfect in every way, he takes us closer still, right into the cockpit and crew compartment. Here, we see a depiction of Squadron Leader Lamason, the Pilot, a study in concentration, with his eyes ahead, alert for his squadron mates flying close by in the darkness. We see the sheepskin collars of their Irvin flying jackets. Even the pilot’s pupils are dilated, accustomed now to the darkness. Beside him, Marpole, the Flight Engineer, adjusts the throttles on the quadrant to the right of the pilot. Everything is bathed in the luminous blue light of nightfall, but behind them, we see the green glow of Navigator Chapman’s plotting table, eerily warm in the otherwise almost submarine gloom. Detail from Incoming Threat by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316569505-0A6JXCBJ9GS573Q9VTUY/TerrifyingBeauty46.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Above the fuselage, exposed to the wild and threatening blue night around him, a depiction of Warrant Officer Robbie Aitken scans the darkness for signs of the enemy or the dangerous proximity of other 15 Squadron aircraft. Pupils dilated in the gloom, he looks forward, while as yet unknown to the crew, a threat emerges from the cloud behind them. Detail from Incoming Threat by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316614968-SD9S44KXSZFD8HJ5WOXN/TerrifyingBeauty47.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz’s work enables us to see war machines and their crews as one blended unit and from angles never before imagined. In his work, Incoming Threat, we feel the loneliness and determination of a Bomber Command crew. In this view, we see details that truly set Forkasiewicz apart from other digital artists—moisture streams aft over the nose blister glass; the Bomb Aimer, Canadian G.A. Musgrove, can just be seen in the nose turret; and the rough seal where the wing joins the fuselage. Detail from Incoming Threat by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629380538426-W4F5DXEJOFYZHUB9UMTI/TerrifyingBeauty48.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Like a shark rising from the depths of the abyss, a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju88 night fighter, with Lichtenstein radar array, emerges from the cloud, vectored to its prey by radar. The threat posed by this aircraft is enhanced all the more by the lesser detail given this subject. Forkasiewicz could easily have modelled the Ju88 in similar detail, but the mind in reality would see it as a threat, a blur, a dark evil in the night sky, but not a perfectly detailed object. Mere seconds after this, the night sky erupted into a lurid, running gun battle with gunners hosing each other with deadly cannon fire and the darkness blossoming with fire light and death. Detail from Incoming Threat by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629381156968-TYQ34N8QMI54WPNPRC2J/TerrifyingBeauty115.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A self-portrait sketch and photograph reveals a quiet man not comfortable being portrayed. Even in his studio shot, we see only his back as he works. On the wall he proudly displays the powerful legacy of 303 Kosciuszko Squadron—an RAF fighter squadron that was the darling of England during the Battle of Britain. After the war, one of Churchill’s and the Allies’ saddest legacies was to dishonour the sacrifice of the Poles in order not to rile the Soviet Union, who soon ran roughshod over that great nation. The Polish airmen who had given such incredible service to the RAF were prevented from marching in the victory parade in London after the war—to the lasting shame of the RAF. Kosciuszko was also the name of an American-manned squadron during the 1919–21 war with Russian communists, named in honour of Polish General Tadeusz Kosciuszko who came to the aid of George Washington in the American Revolution. To this day, there are towns and counties all over the USA that bear his name—Mississippi, Texas, and Indiana to name a few. In fact, Oprah Winfrey is from Kosciusko, Mississippi. Image via Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383251001-X44TVDZGYQAHRNPCVANL/TerrifyingBeauty01.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Ake ake kia kaha (“For ever and ever be strong”, the Maori motto of 75 New Zealand Squadron RAF)—Of course, not all of Forkasiewicz’s digital paintings depict moments of desperation and death. In his almost pastoral work, entitled Preparations, the artist tells us volumes about the pre-operation activity and the English weather. Commissioned by members of the families involved, and appearing in Memorial Flight, the journal of Lincolnshire’s Lancaster Association, just this year (2014), Preparations features Lancasters of 75 (New Zealand) Squadron, Royal Air Force “bombing up” at RAF Mepal in Cambridgeshire prior to a daylight raid on Dortmund on 17 November 1944. A winter storm has just blown through, the dark clouds moving off after having dropped heavy rain on the bomber hardstands at Mepal. The crew of Lancaster ND911, the central subject of Preparations, was shot down two days later with the loss of most of the crew: Pilot, Flying Officer P.L. McCarten, RAAF (aged 29); Navigator, Pilot Officer J. Miles, RAF (aged 35); Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer L.A. Martin, RAF (age unknown); Wireless Operator, Flight Sergeant P.F. Smith, RAAF (aged 20); Flight Engineer, Sergeant W.A. Warlow, RAF (aged 30); Mid-Upper Gunner, Sergeant D.G.A. Bryer, RAF (aged 19) and Rear Gunner, Sergeant J. Gray (age unknown and the only survivor). Preparations by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383513471-AWYN06RHNFNLN4QCU9E4/TerrifyingBeauty02.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out What separates artist Piotr Forkasiewicz from mere mortals in the emerging world of digital art is his studied sense of texture and knowledge of the operational effects on a warhorse like the Lancaster; in particular, the effects of engine heat on the exhaust flame covers, industrial paint coatings and exhaust staining. The light coloured exhaust stains depicted in Preparations is caused by pilots and engineers “leaning out” the fuel mixture (and this increasing the exhaust gas temperature) to save fuel on long operations such as this Lancaster was engaged in. The grey colour is caused by the lead additives in the fuel. Preparations by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629383667906-3ICR5HC0RUASAPB1FJM4/TerrifyingBeauty03.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384209719-WGOVCOLECBIG33L2TCY8/TerrifyingBeauty04.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz carefully composes his scene with digitally modelled equipment typical of a bombing up scenario—bomb trolleys, tugs, oxygen cylinders all combine with a wet English landscape to set the scene. Note the purple and white striped Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) bar next to the 70 mission marks on JN-V’s nose. Preparations by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384503295-68TT2HC30B213FRBR3GK/TerrifyingBeauty05.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The artist has faithfully recreated the tarpaulin covers used by the RAF to prevent excessive deterioration of the natural rubber tires through exposure to sunlight as well as protecting the tires from oil drippings. Preparations by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384582404-NLZO4X946SXCWJZ8JN6F/TerrifyingBeauty76.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Through a series of five studies, Forkasiewicz determines the eventual structure and composition of the final artwork, from a simple massing model without texture for positioning to tests for weather in November at Mepal to a close approximation of the final work known as Preparations. The bottom study added a Lancaster in the immediate foreground and a Lanc doing a flyover in the far distance. Once looking at this Forkasiewicz could see the overly cluttered nature of the composition and opted for a more simple depiction. Images by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384629076-PQZIHSR466G1L1P0CAJW/TerrifyingBeauty77.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Through a series of five studies, Forkasiewicz determines the eventual structure and composition of the final artwork, from a simple massing model without texture for positioning to tests for weather in November at Mepal to a close approximation of the final work known as Preparations. The bottom study added a Lancaster in the immediate foreground and a Lanc doing a flyover in the far distance. Once looking at this Forkasiewicz could see the overly cluttered nature of the composition and opted for a more simple depiction. Images by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629384741502-QE8TN1148C9Q9XIX9HU9/TerrifyingBeauty97.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Though perhaps these three images make an oversimplification of the process, it demonstrates the complexities and detailed work employed by Forkasiewicz to create his emotional artwork from an underlying mathematical computation. To view more of the artist’s process visit the CG Society Website. Details of mid-upper gun by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385040796-5H9A5XOVCYDXGBWMZPZO/TerrifyingBeauty32.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The digital artwork entitled Evening Return portrays the same Lancaster (JN-V) as in the previous sequence, but at a happier time, long before her demise in mid-November of 1944. It’s a summer evening and the sun is low in the horizon, casting horizontal shadows from the starboard wing. JN-V sets up for final at RAF Mepal and skims the treetops in a joyous return, while other 75 Squadron Lancs settle in stream. The low and golden light quality transforms the Lancaster into warm tones, compared to the colder hues of the work known as Preparations. Forkasiewicz is always aware of every detail and nuance in lighting that will bring both credibility and mood to his work. Evening Return by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385077976-IM1AKZ8XHVNTRNXYM1NL/TerrifyingBeauty33.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Flaps, doors, oleos... all are made real by weathering, staining and paint wear. This piece was commissioned by a member of one of the families of the crew and appeared along with five other pieces in Memorial Flight, the journal of Lincolnshire’s Lancaster Association. Detail from Evening Return by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385114805-Z0X24V6PVOSB36VC9B3G/TerrifyingBeauty34.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Though the detail in this close-up is flawless, it is the perfect image of the landscape ahead reflected in the nose blister that truly draws one’s breath—with a setting sun in the correct location for the lighting. Detail from Evening Return by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385168998-AH7B73VBYL5CCW98924Q/TerrifyingBeauty35.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Through speed blurring, Forkasiewicz creates a strong sense of motion, which is always more evident at lower altitudes. Detail from Evening Return by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385207608-S0H86HUAHC7LOQZXVUL3/TerrifyingBeauty104.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In the commissioned work Final Route, a large formation of Lancasters from 156 Squadron, Royal Air Force, fly steadfastly through heavy flak as they approach Hamburg, Germany. The scene is late in the war, when the Royal Air Force took on more daylight raids deep into Germany. The scene depicts Lancaster GT-O (PB517) staying the course through the box of flak, while ahead, one of 156 Squadron’s other Lancs takes hit in her Number 1 engine. To the north (in the upper left) we can see the contrails of enemy fighters as they begin to engage the bomber stream. Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385244100-XXLOM4FZ2G9V2HLVQOEK/TerrifyingBeauty07.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The Lancasters of 156 Squadron RAF, a Pathfinder unit, took off from RAF Upwood at 0630 on the morning of 31 March 1944, arriving over Germany in slanting golden morning light—so gorgeously portrayed by Forkasiewicz. Note the extra wear on the crew door behind the RAF serial. Detail from Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385738963-58HTOLC1J6GJ5ZDW7HC2/TerrifyingBeauty08.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz’s obsession for detail in every rivet, inspection panel and correct textures leads to a vision of exceptional clarity and power, in even the most mundane of details within each composition. Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385787549-D3GMPL41WW51SX1NNLF3/TerrifyingBeauty09.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The Flight Engineer of GT-O looks with great concern up and to his right. Intelligence reports from the raid seem to indicate that Messerschmitt Me 262 jets tore through the formation and it is possible that the aircraft, which was lost on this raid, was the victim of the Luftwaffe’s highly capable twin-engined jet fighter. Lancaster GT-O ultimately came down over Stemmen, near the city of Rotenburg. Detail from Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385872613-EQZSEWG03ULAZAU6ZQFC/TerrifyingBeauty10.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The hyperrealistic quality of Forkasiewicz’s vision creates a sense of reality that is both captivating and disturbing... in every detail. Detail from Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385913455-QDN57XO9OSYL0JNAM0S5/TerrifyingBeauty11.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In a detail from Final Route, Forkasiewicz depicts a distant Lancaster beginning a long slide from her place in the bomber stream as her crew battles a fire in her port outer or Number 1 Merlin engine. On this mission to bomb Hamburg, 156 lost two Lancasters, the third and second last losses of the war for the squadron. In addition to the featured Lancaster PB517, the unit lost Lancaster GT-B (PB468). The aircraft came down 4 miles from the Hamburg aerodrome, with all seven aboard killed. Detail from Final Route, by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629385962790-MNVPR8J2V585DN139GZS/TerrifyingBeauty35.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The bulk of Bomber Command’s 392,137 combat sorties were executed in the dark of night. While this, on the surface, may have seemed like a cloak of invisibility, the Command’s losses were higher than any other Allied service of the war. The cloak of invisibility went both ways, with Luftwaffe night fighters closing in unseen through cloud and on moonless nights, and with hundreds of bombers crowding into the same bomb run, collisions were commonplace. In Forkasiewicz’s In God’s Keeping, a commissioned piece, we sense that these young professionals, flying these dangerous missions, have done all they can to prepare, and now are in God’s hands as they press towards the target. In the particular case of this Lancaster, PM-M (LM173) of 103 Squadron RAF, that fate would be delivered during this night raid to the synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade, in Northern Germany on 17 June 1944. LM173 had only seven hours on the airframe when it was lost. The normal weathering and staining which would be evident in a veteran aircraft was reduced to depict a factory fresh Lancaster. In God’s Keeping by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386005670-NOBKNADUGGQF17V0P2OJ/TerrifyingBeauty109.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Soft moonlight plays on the engines and wings of Lancaster PM-M. The aircraft is pictured flying over the North Sea in scattered cloud with starlight twinkling, having left their base at RAF Elsham-Woods near midnight on the 16th. Forkasiewicz’s sense of light and texture elicits a quiet sense of doom and determination as the aircraft joins 320 other Bomber Command aircraft (Lancasters, Mosquitoes and Halifaxes) for the mission. On the night of her death, M-Mother carried in her arms 7 men whose lives were soon extinguished over the North Sea—Pilot, Pilot Officer Maurice Lambert, RNZAF (aged 28); Flight Engineer, Sergeant David Whamond, RAF (aged 22); Navigator, Sergeant Douglas Lawler, RAF (aged 24); Bomb Aimer, Sergeant George Ware, RAFVR (aged 21); Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Sergeant John McGinn, RAFVR (aged 23); Mid-Upper Gunner, Sergeant Frederick Hardy, RAF (age unknown); Tail Gunner, Sergeant Roland Fitchett, RAFVR (aged 21). Whilst scanning the internet for information about the demise of PM-M (LM173), I came across Bomb Aimer Ware’s logbook for sale on Ebay. The seller was asking £320 for the artifact, which did not sell. Detail from In God’s Keeping by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386047302-YFJHYRS734CUSBWXB26F/TerrifyingBeauty107.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out One can only imagine the memories of starlit nights, ghostly clouds and crowded skies that aircrew of Bomber Command aircrew took home with them if they survived. Here, a depiction of Mid-Upper Gunner, Sergeant Frederick Ralph Hardy speaks to the surreality of the experience—the accompanying bomber stream, rising and falling on the air currents, clouds moving off to reveal stars rising, lighting the way to danger. Sadly, this night, gunner Hardy and his entire crew were killed when they were shot down over Holland en route. Detail from In God’s Keeping by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386105343-UJRI7BPI9H8IA7BYU53K/TerrifyingBeauty108.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out One can only imagine the feelings of loneliness, dread and awe coursing through a tail gunner’s mind as he looks back at the trailing bomber stream. The men in the front can speak to each other and have each other for comfort. Both the mid-upper and tail gunner would spend the dangerous hours of their mission in freezing cold solitude, wrapped mostly in their own thoughts of home, loved ones and their own mortality. The Latin motto of 103 Squadron, “Noli me tangere” means “Touch me not.” On 17 July 1944, they were sadly touched by the hand of death, somewhere over the North Sea. Detail from In God’s Keeping by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386153152-JT69FTHVVYO83BLTANGI/TerrifyingBeauty103.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz’s composition entitled Toward the Inferno depicts 166 Squadron RAF Lancaster AS-J2 (LL749), driving through flak and searchlights, having dropped her payload on the German city in the central Ruhr valley. The digital painting depicts the RAF Kirmington-based LL749 on the night she was lost. 166 Squadron lived by their motto: “Tenacity” and in particular, the crews of the hard luck aircraft coded AS-J2. On 27 March 1944, Lancaster AS-J2 (LL749), pictured above, was lost over Essen. One month later, on 27 April 1944, her replacement, Lancaster AS-J2 (ND825), was shot down over Friedrichshafen. On the night of 5 May 1944, Lancaster ME806 was also lost over Pauillac, France. On 2 February 1945, Lancaster AS-J2 (ME648) was lost over Bruchsal, Germany and then a few weeks later, AS-J2 (PB153). In addition, the squadron also operated Lancasters with code AS-J—losing a number with that aircraft code, including ME647 and DV220. Toward the Inferno by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386191665-XY8USNQ0XS99UR90LW7W/TerrifyingBeauty18.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The blue light of searchlights and the yellow fires below combine in an eerie green light, as we gaze downward, past the Number 2 engine of AS-J2. The beams of searchlights and their effects on smoke and cloud present many problems to a digital artist looking to accurately portray a scene over a burning city. Forkasiewicz is careful to allow certain details, such as searchlight beams and other aircraft in the formation, to remain secondary to the central image. Detail from Toward the Inferno by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386228477-X3ZW747RTC9S76Y071S0/TerrifyingBeauty19.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A close-up of the nose of AS-J2 focuses on her Bomb Aimer, Sergeant A.G. Coney, the only survivor from the loss of the aircraft, as, lit by the lights below, he opens the bomb doors and gets set to drop his bomb load. Detail from Toward the Inferno by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386268425-N3ZB1QQN29ML19S6DM5H/TerrifyingBeauty20.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Combining the ghostly blue from searchlights on the left with the raging inferno of Essen below, an apocalyptic hue is created, moving the scene into the realm of the surreal. Under the aircraft code AS-J2, some 35 men lost their lives or became POWs. On this night, the men included Pilot, Flight Sergeant V.L. Perry; Flight Engineer, J.J. McInroy; Bomb Aimer, Sergeant A.G. Coney; Navigator, Flight Sergeant L.V. Woodfield; Wireless operator/Gunner, Flight Sergeant M.D. Williams; Mid-Upper Gunner, Sergeant A.W. Gowland; Rear Gunner, Sergeant W. Harris. Detail from Toward the Inferno by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386309699-BUWRVMKARV2G99K2ALNY/TerrifyingBeauty102.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forcasiewicz created two separate visions of the 166 Squadron attack on the Ruhr city of Essen and Lancaster AS-J2. This one relies mostly on the raging fires below to light the scene, but the Lanc and the Perry crew are still coned by a searchlight from the left as they turn in that direction. Toward the Inferno II by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386346535-NC6RGNHFYXJG9N7NLD9E/TerrifyingBeauty28.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Turning to starboard, immediately following the release of the bomb load (seen falling between the two port engines), Flight Sergeant Perry and his crew are caught in the glare of a German searchlight. Detail from Toward the Inferno II by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386387686-L0J3RBEITMVESN7W0ZJC/TerrifyingBeauty29.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Perry turns to starboard and is immediately blinded by a searchlight beam, while Engineer McInroy shoves the throttles forward to gain speed. It’s details like the streaking of moisture and dirt on the blister glass and the rivet work which really make Forkasiewicz’s efforts come to life. Detail from Toward the Inferno II by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386428618-CKBJ630MCN6I9JZ8CGMZ/TerrifyingBeauty30.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In 1940, following the London Blitz, the commander of Bomber Command, Arthur “Bomber” Harris said: “The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put that rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now, they are going to reap the whirlwind.” In Toward the Inferno II, Forkasiewicz portrays that harvest in frightening detail. Detail from Toward the Inferno II by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386477649-G863PUN10Q2MJ1ASG898/TerrifyingBeauty31.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out As the doomed bomber AS-J2 departs Essen, her Rear Gunner, Sergeant Harris, is afforded a surreal and frightening view of hell unleashed. Detail from Toward the Inferno II by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386514972-62SM5KW1NBTZ006E4P8C/TerrifyingBeauty21.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out One of the most dramatic of Forkasiewicz’s works is Into the Darkness, a powerful depiction of an attack on the largely Canadian crew of Lancaster BH-U “Uncle” (LM178), a 300 Squadron Lanc brought down by a Junkers Ju88 night fighter over the French city of Orléans on the night of 24–25 July 1944. The crew for this mission were Pilot, Pilot Officer William Robinson, RCAF; Flight Engineer, Sergeant Ernest Morter, RAF; Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer James Duguid, RCAF; Navigator, Flying Officer C.M. “Jo” Forman, RCAF; Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Sergeant Leslie Page, RAF; Mid-Upper Gunner, Sergeant James Rheubottom, RCAF and Rear Gunner, Sergeant Samuel Dunseith, RCAF. Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386569990-N6XRCX72DW4X0XYTS91B/TerrifyingBeauty22.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out It doesn’t get any more dramatic than this detail. The starboard wing takes heavy hits from the night fighter’s cannon and bursts into a blowtorch of burning fuel and begins its rapid collapse. We see Flight Engineer Morter, craning his head in disbelief as the wing breaks apart before his very eyes. The light work in this particular piece is nothing short of astonishing. Detail from Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386609462-YYLW63M196M51SPK9XWE/TerrifyingBeauty23.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The magic lies in the details—shot away engine cowl, damaged radiator and a Merlin beginning to lose power. Detail from Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386647876-AB1Q8RX8IF9TQM7H3FCP/TerrifyingBeauty25.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The artist leaves no detail forgotten. The damaged No. 3 Merlin, losing power, begins to slow down as evidenced by the blur of the propeller blades—in sharper view than the undamaged No. 4 engine. The heavy blows from the night fighter have not only ruptured the fuel tanks and set fire to the issuing gas, they have broken the structure of the wing itself and the outer wing and engine begin to fold as the Lancaster rides quickly to her doom. Detail from Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386694952-FK17MCRXQ3982HWT36P0/TerrifyingBeauty26.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Lancaster BH-U, nicknamed Luck of the Irish, took off from RAF Faldingworth at 2037 on the night of 24 July 1944, headed for Stuttgard. There were three survivors of the battle between LM178 and the Ju88 night fighter—Dunseith the Rear Gunner, Forman the Navigator and . They were over Orléans when they were set upon by the Junkers at around 0015 in the morning. One of the crew who had a ringside seat to the gun battle was Rear Gunner Sam Dunseith. In a recent letter to an online forum called ww2f, an acquaintance of Dunseith, with the online name Big Daddy, produced a written account of the last moments from Dunseith’s perspective. In part, it reads: The narrative is mine but all elements are based on firsthand interviews and RAF Loss Reports filed in Aug 44... The Lancaster was raked along the fuselage and right wing with 30mm cannon and machine gun fire, smashing the upper turret and setting the wing ablaze. F/O W. Robinson, the pilot, ordered them to bail out. Sam had managed to briefly return fire before his turret was disabled and he was slightly wounded. Being rotated to starboard and then disabled, the turret doorway was almost impassable but he was just able to squeeze back into the fuselage, activating his Mae West in the process. When he grabbed his parachute and opened the double doors over the rear wing spar, he was met with a frightening sight. The photo-flash had been ignited in the attack and the interior of the aircraft was burning furiously, half of the bomb bay already being burned away. His friend and mid-upper gunner, 17-year-old Jimmy Rheubottom was hanging dead in his turret. Sam pulled open the rear door and jumped out into the burning slipstream, only to have the door slam shut on his foot and leave him hanging by one leg. As he wiggled out of his flying boot and fell away from the aircraft, the starboard wing exploded. In the front of the Lanc, F/O Joe Forman was just handing pilot Robinson his parachute. They were both blown clear of the aircraft as it exploded. Meanwhile, Sam was continuing to have his own problems. As he fell away from the burning bomber, he pulled the handle on his parachute. It came off in his hand. He looked down to discover that the front of his chute was on fire. Beating out the flames with his hands, he reached into the chute pack, found the ripcord string and pulled it. Amazingly, his chute opened. Even more incredibly, Sam and Joe Forman landed only a few feet from each other in the same field. Only they and F/O Robinson escaped the burning aircraft. For more from these remarkable amateur historians on the ww2f.com forum, click here. Detail from Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386737944-UT63BDU4BPZNOPGAPBRF/TerrifyingBeauty109.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out So young. Many young airmen, like Canadian Jimmy Rheubottom, lied about their age to become airmen and test their metal in combat. At the time of his death, Rheubottom, the mid-upper gunner, was just 17. He could not have been older than 16 when he enlisted in the RCAF. Here we see cannon fire from the night fighter striking Rheubottom in his turret and raking the starboard side of the Lancaster. Detail from Into the Darkness by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386821418-9T9U7V4QHM17YK8KQ246/TerrifyingBeauty36.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out From the hopeless to the hopeful, not all of Forkasiewicz’s artworks depict the final and dramatic moments of a Lancaster. In Helping Hand, two Lancasters of 156 Squadron thunder low, past the Dutch coast and on over the North Sea. The lead Lancaster GT-P (ND422) is in trouble with the No. 3 engine smoking and its propeller feathered, while he struggles to get home to RAF Upwood. The crew list for ND422 for the Kleve Raid includes Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Anthony Pope, DFC, RAF; Flight Engineer, Sergeant Gerald Batten, RAF; First Navigator, Flight Lieutenant Lorne Munro, DFC, RCAF; Second Navigator (it was a Pathfinder Squadron), Pilot Officer Edgar Marlow, RAF; Wireless Operator, Sergeant Kenneth Antcliffe, RAF; Mid-Upper Gunner, Pilot Officer Ivan Kelly, RCAF and Rear Gunner, Pilot Officer Robert Fletcher, RCAF. Helping Hand by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386861486-4ALKRC1KV6DSKMF07Y9E/TerrifyingBeauty37.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Black sooty smoke emanates from the damaged and feathered No. 3 engine. The story of a 156 Squadron Lancaster returning on three engines from a raid on Kleve is correct, but information contained on the 156 Squadron history website indicates that, while Pope’s crew was part of this raid, it was the squadron CO, Wing Commander Bingham-Hall’s aircraft (PB507) that was hit in one of its engines and forced to fly home on three engines after completing its Master Bomber duties as a Pathfinder leader. The website also indicates that it was the port inner engine and that the aircraft returned unaccompanied. All this being said, it is still possible that this happened to Pope in the manner it is portrayed and regardless, the image is a masterpiece in my mind. Detail from Helping Hand by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629386962698-0ZID5O5GGB7PCD303Y52/TerrifyingBeauty38.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The Flight Engineer looks back to find the shepherding Lancaster while the pilot anxiously watches the still smoking engine. The Lancaster displays an astonishing 72 completed sortie markings on her fuselage, and commensurate wear on her wings. Detail from Helping Hand by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629387000748-952XILBK2PZ6UB2TY9CZ/TerrifyingBeauty39.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Behind GT-P, another Lanc from the 90 aircraft-strong raid (Lancasters and Halifaxes) holds station on GT-P’s starboard wing lending morale support mostly as there would be little they could do except vector a fast boat to the scene of a ditching should it happen. The squadron code on the fuselage can only be CF, CE, GF or GE. This means that the only squadron that this could be would be 625 Squadron, the only Lancaster unit of the four possible squadrons. Some information I found on the ww2aircrfat.net forum website indicates that on the night of 7 October 1944, 625 Squadron was part of another raid on Emmerich, Germany which is located only a few kilometres from Kleve on the other side of the Rhine River. It all seems to fit. Detail from Helping Hand by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399481145-LXVDWOJXLXMZ4L5GTXPN/TerrifyingBeauty100.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out This work was an unnamed artwork by Forkasiewicz, so the author has given it a working title—Bomber Stream. It depicts Lancaster LE-L (ND335) of 630 Squadron as seen from the cockpit of another 630 Lanc and about to drop its bomb load on targets in the city of Nuremberg. In this image we see the cockpit framework and the hazing of the Perspex canopy. Bomber Stream by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399525725-1GXUYR1BDBEUOJ85DU87/TerrifyingBeauty41.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Looking up into the bomb bay of L-Love, we see she is “loaded for bear”—with an industrial demolition load of 14 1,000-pound MC (medium capacity) high-explosive bombs and a 4,000-pound “cookie” or blockbuster bomb. Given the fact that the load is about to be released, it could be considered that these two Lancs are perhaps uncomfortably close! Detail from Bomber Stream by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399565015-DY3I35AELCLP79XSJHUH/TerrifyingBeauty42.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A close-up of the “cookie” and her 14 little sisters. The 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) cookie was regarded as a particularly dangerous load to carry. Due to the airflow over the detonating pistols fitted in the nose, it would often explode even if dropped, i.e. jettisoned, in a supposedly “safe” unarmed state. Safety height above ground for dropping the 4,000 lb “cookie” was 6,000 ft; any lower and the dropping aircraft risked being damaged by the explosion. Info via Wikipedia; Detail from Bomber Stream by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399601846-866WQ2LIRQVN05S7TUFH/TerrifyingBeauty43.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A nice detail of the staining and streaking aft of the Merlin. Detail from Bomber Stream by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399646009-RB1SCRPKOLPYVJSTPWQH/TerrifyingBeauty105.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out One of Forkasiewicz’s, and in fact any digital artist’s, formidable tools is the ability to put the viewer in any spot to watch the action. In the previous piece, we took the vantage point of the pilot getting uncomfortably close to a bomber as she is about to drop her load. Here, we take the particularly voyeuristic view of the lonely rear gunner watching with dread as seven of his friends struggle to get out of a burning Lancaster over Nuremberg on the night of 30–31 March 1944. No detail is left uninvestigated... even the crazing of the rounded Perspex turret in the upper left corner. The focus is on the middle ground Lancaster, while the dying Lanc seems to drop into the scene. Nuremberg by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399693707-NUWFOIDBJ4GZABNCREUD/TerrifyingBeauty50.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The artist’s technique for and ability with depicting fire is second to none. Most of his paintings have a grim, tragic reality to them, both dreamy and apocalyptic at the same time. This is largely the result of Bomber Command Lancasters being deployed mostly at night. Detail from Nuremberg by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399792046-M1FFFBN7XK8YF1L916Y1/TerrifyingBeauty51.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out One can read a lot from each of Forkasiewicz’s digital paintings. As the Lancaster rolls to port to its death, the Lanc in the lower right banks to the left as well to clear out of its path. Detail from Nuremberg by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399825697-1AV2FMN52TEVXKM5QB9O/TerrifyingBeauty52.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In this dramatic encounter over Mannheim on 23 September 1943, Lancaster OF-P (JA708) of 97 Squadron RAF is set on fire by an attacking Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighter. Flying out of RAF Bourne in Lincolnshire, the aircraft was brought down with three killed. It is interesting to note that it is frequently the case that with a Lancaster brought down by a rear attacking night fighter, the two gunners fail to make it out of the aircraft—either dead or wounded in the gunfight, or unable to extract themselves from their positions. On this fateful night over Mannheim, the crew of OF-P was: Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Robert Fletcher, RAFVR (POW, age unknown); Flight Engineer, Flight Sergeant Joe Nelson, RAFVR (POW, age unknown); Navigator, Squadron Leader Kenneth Foster, DFC and Bar, RAFVR (Killed, aged 26); Bomb Aimer, Flight Sergeant Jack Beesley, RAFVR (POW, age unknown); Wireless Operator/Gunner, Pilot Officer Wally Layne, RAFVR (POW, age unknown); Mid-Upper Gunner, Squadron Leader Robert McKinna, DFC and Bar, RAFVR (Killed, aged 33); and Rear Gunner, Flight Sergeant Henry Page, RAFVR (Killed, aged 20). It is interesting to note that the navigator was a Squadron Leader as well as the mid-upper gunner—both with two DFCs. This makes sense for the nav, as this was a Pathfinder Squadron and the navigators were the most experienced in the RAF. It is rare indeed to find a gunner as a Squadron Leader with two DFC ribbons on his uniform, rare indeed. Detail from The Last Path by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399862798-NLLNCDG440AP2BHQTB8F/TerrifyingBeauty53.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A close-up of the rich colours of the play of light on the cockpit area. Detail from The Last Path by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399899774-WZUO6G4NSVDDOEJMCP6Z/TerrifyingBeauty56.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The digital art community, brought up in the shareware world of social media and web discussion forums, is an open community in many ways and sharing of work is a common occurrence. Here, the attacking Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighter is actually the work of Gareth Hector, a CG colleague of i. In the digital world, a file is simply transferred and the rendering is inserted into the scene, taking on the lighting conditions and attributes determined by the artist Forkasiewicz. To see more of Gareth Hector’s equally amazing work, visit GarethHector.co.uk. Detail from The Last Path by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399942207-N4GR0EY0WR0V1SZDPUBV/TerrifyingBeauty54.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The light of the engine fire illuminates the wear and staining on the tail wheel and HS-R radome. Detail from The Last Path by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629399994166-ZBK0P274869ZIDHCMKCL/TerrifyingBeauty55.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out There is not much one can add to this spectacular image of a dying engine, a dying city below, and searchlights probing the night sky. Detail from The Last Path by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400039627-Y5AFC813W0F34LUWCVIT/TerrifyingBeauty101.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Some of Forkasiewicz’s works have a powerful surreal, even submarine quality to them and they lead one to think about the visions that would burn into the memories of aircrew who witnessed these images. We tend to think of night raids as thundering aircraft in total blackness save for the fires they have started, but a sortie would in fact present a series of very powerful visual stimuli such as flying through a rain of flares over Nuremberg. On this night, the Germans tried a new technique by dropping numerous flares to light the bomber stream as it headed towards the target. This piece is of no specific aircraft and it was published in Memorial Flight, the journal of Lincolnshire’s Lancaster Association in 2014. Flare Rain by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400076076-IO7RQE5CNCJMEY2T5BI7/TerrifyingBeauty60.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Homing in on the Pathfinder flares, the Lancaster crews enter a world of uncertainty marked for them by the RAF’s best navigators. Detail from Flare Rain by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400196804-SGJUXNQI9JQBFZYPJHJS/TerrifyingBeauty58.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Looking for all the world like a U-boat slipping through some aquatic murk, populated by phosphorescent and ancient jellyfish, Forkasiewicz has created a terrifying beauty, perhaps one from an alien world. But on contemplation, one realizes that surreality, alienation, apocalypse, danger, loss and the silence of loneliness in a thundering world were the travelling companions of Bomber Command aircrew on the long and dark nights of the Second World War. The artist has allowed us just a glimpse of the insanity and the beauty. Detail from Flare Rain by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400238830-UVPTFEPTSZT5FUKCQTDW/TerrifyingBeauty59.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Even the distant flares are modelled to perfection. Detail from Flare Rain by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400275976-27J2RQ6GR185XX1SIMYO/TerrifyingBeauty64.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Wheels down, flaps lowered, power coming down, a Lancaster comes home over England. Forkasiewicz uses real photographs of rural settings and urban streets in his works, relighting them and sampling details from other sources to create a reality from constituent parts. Heading - Sunset by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400319779-ISOAXE7L9L6YWABF8ONW/TerrifyingBeauty65.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out This digital artwork was commissioned for the cover of a military magazine. As with all of Forcasiewicz’s works, I love to dive in and look around, searching for new details that amaze. In this case, I was first drawn to the face of the Lanc’s pilot, as he sits up high for a look over the nose towards his home airfield. The wear on the aircraft’s wings and the sunset reflected in the nose blister draw one in. Detail from Heading - Sunset by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400357982-GPKGFWS1KNLWD9UUBBIA/TerrifyingBeauty66.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out 625 Squadron Lancaster CF-H, (LM512) slips through cloud alone over the Rhine River valley on a moonlit night. LM512 and its 8-man crew were lost on a mission to Frankfurt on the night of 12–13 September 1944. It was not clear in after action reports if it had been taken down by flak or in a collision with another Lanc. Various records noted on the internet also claim that its aircraft code was actually CF-M or CF-N. Over the Rhine by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400403710-YIAZL4NJZPFMRJVCKM11/TerrifyingBeauty68.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The crew of LM512 banks left towards an oxbow in the Rhine River, a valley of incredible danger for the crew of a Lancaster bomber. The 8-man crew, one larger than the normal complement was what the RAF called a “Second Dickey” flight. On a “Second Dickey” flight, a rookie pilot arriving on squadron with his new crew, would make his first flight as a Second Pilot with an experienced crew to see how they operate and to get blooded, while his crew stayed behind. LM512 was lost on the Frankfurt raid, the crew was made up of: Pilot, Flying Officer Howard Cornish, RAAF (aged 21); Second Pilot, David Tointon, RCAF (aged 21); Flight Engineer, Sergeant Charles Ross, RAFVR (aged 37); Navigator, Flight Sergeant Richard Askie, RAFVR (aged 20); Bomb Aimer, Sergeant Ronald Evans, RAFVR (aged 21); Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Flight Sergeant James Douglas, RAAF (aged 20); Air Gunner Sergeant Robert Barker, RAFVR (age unknown); Air Gunner, Sergeant Arthur O’Connor, RAFVR (age unknown). Detail from Over the Rhine by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400457689-6GC7GWHENK3EEGH0HPV4/TerrifyingBeauty69.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out A haunting detail from Over the Rhine offers up an image of a ghostly wraith, blue flame and lead streaming from her engines. Detail from Over the Rhine by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400510336-S0OC2P75F4H5UBDY20H5/TerrifyingBeauty70.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out The artist is always challenging himself with new lighting and weather situations. Here, a Lancaster disappears into heavy cloud on a wet day. Through Clouds by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400552488-HNY0MVN31ZD91OACNTS1/TerrifyingBeauty85.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Digitally-based art allows the artist to move his model in space and find perspectives that speak to the scenario. Here, the big bomber slides into the safety of the mists, seemingly glistening with moisture. The compression of space and foreshortening of objects in perspective helps us to see a classic warhorse in new ways. Detail from Through Clouds by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400800689-THJCW07OH6AW675O08XB/TerrifyingBeauty83.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out For now, the mid-upper gunner can relax a bit as he and his fellow crew slip into the protection of the clouds. Still, he appears worried. Detail from Through Clouds by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400874908-IV4BPY1K1LY26OYA20GI/TerrifyingBeauty84.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Note the wear on the anti-shimmy tire and the bead of rivets running round the HS-R blister. Detail from Through Clouds by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400916658-01BYZB1ADHMZFXVB3CHM/TerrifyingBeauty106.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out In this bucolic scene we look over a field of fescue, golden in the sunset at possibly RAF Faldingworth, the last airfield occupied by the Mazowiecki—the men of the Land of Masovia bomber squadron. No other group of aviators symbolized courage more than the romantic Poles. Their country had already been swallowed up by the Nazis, but they fought tooth and nail alongside Great Britain and airmen from the Commonwealth to bring an end to the tyranny they knew so well and to stop it from reaching England. Yet... when the war ended, their massive contribution was swept under the carpet by Churchill and other Allied leaders to appease Stalin who wanted all that Poland had to offer. They were not even allowed to march in the victory parade down the avenues of London after the war for fear of angering the Soviet dictator Stalin. Truly one of the more dishonourable political moves of the postwar era. When Forkasiewicz finished this work, he gave a print of it to the still-living bomb aimer from E for Easy, Major Czeslaw Blicharski. E for Easy by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629400955937-R60AMT2L9606T0SQCV7N/TerrifyingBeauty99.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Light has the power to bring forth emotion. The dark foreboding blues and greens from previous works evoke strong emotions of fear, doom and unease, but the golden light at the end of another day speaks to warmth, hope and a return to normalcy. Detail from E for Easy by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629401013210-KVKUMP116OQRQXTLMV8D/TerrifyingBeauty73.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz’s Lancaster interiors are a tour de force, combining weathering and a clarity that allows us to see and feel the spaces that carried the aviators on their operations in a way that even a photograph cannot do. Here we see the spot where the bomb aimer would lie down to work the bomb sight. Above we see the bottom of the seat where the bomb aimer would sit in to man the forward turret. Interior by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629401066282-591Y5NDLEP2JMOYDUTHG/TerrifyingBeauty111.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Leather, steel, Bakelite and canvas—there is no texture which Piotr does not nail perfectly. Interior by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629401195751-F77XNF42WKRMQKSLSHZ5/TerrifyingBeauty110.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out From the point of view of the flight engineer, whose responsibilities focused on the throttles and dials during takeoff and landing, we can look down into the bomb aimer’s compartment. Interior image by Piotr Forkasiewicz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629401236745-MWWQ9GQ7KM3NBFOWM93O/TerrifyingBeauty93.jpeg The Stories - A TERRIFYING BEAUTY - The Art of Piotr Forkasiewicz - Make it stand out Forkasiewicz is not a one dimensional, one subject artist. This story is focused on his works of Lancasters, but he also visualizes works of naval ships, architecture and conveyances of transportation in general, his particular passion. Here he combines aviation with his love of mighty warships in a depiction of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s aircraft carrier Taiho, with Mitsubishi Zeros forming up to attack the enemy. It was at just such a moment as this that she was caught in the crosshairs of the periscope of USS Albacore, a fleet submarine of the US Navy. Of the six torpedoes launched against her, four missed, one was dived upon by an aircraft from the carrier (it literally crashed into it) and detonated, but the sixth struck her starboard side, leading eventually to her sinking, with 1,650 Japanese sailors going down with her. The underlying CG model used on Taiho was created by Forkasiewicz’s colleague Waldemar Góralski, whose work is stunning in its complexity and hyperreality. Taiho by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donald-lambie-troisime-episode monthly 0.5 2022-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4404301e-42d1-4878-af9e-27977ff1a9b5/Lambie-EP3.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a4de3f9-9d2e-482f-9729-fd9dc2d4ba34/Lambie324.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lorsque Lambie s’est joint au 417e Escadron en mars 1945, celui-ci était dirigé par le chef d’escadron David Goldberg, DFC, de Hamilton, en Ontario. Lorsque la guerre a éclaté en 1939, Goldberg venait d’obtenir un diplôme en administration des affaires de l’Université de Boston. Il est immédiatement rentré au Canada et a tenté de s’engager dans l’armée canadienne, mais a été refusé. Il s’est joint à l’ARC un an plus tard et, après avoir obtenu ses ailes, il a été affecté à une base d’entraînement au Canada. À la fin de décembre 1942, il s’est rendu outre-mer pour suivre un entraînement pour avion de chasse Spitfire et a été affecté au 416e Escadron de l’ARC à l’été 1943, suivi peu après par une affectation au 403e Escadron de l’ARC. Lors de sa 80e mission, son Spitfire a été endommagé par la DCA et il a effectué un atterrissage d’urgence dans le champ d’un fermier. Sachant qu’en tant que juif, son sort serait misérable si les Allemands le capturaient, il a enterré ses plaques d’identité et s’est enfui. Il réussit à éviter la capture et, avec l’aide de la Résistance française, s’échappe en passant par Paris, Toulouse, puis les Pyrénées jusqu’en Espagne. Il retourne en Grande-Bretagne et, après une période de rétablissement, se voit confier le commandement du 417e Escadron en novembre 1944. Après la guerre, M. Goldberg a obtenu son diplôme en droit et, tout en exerçant sa profession à Hamilton, il a continué de piloter des chasseurs Mustang et Vampire avec la réserve de l’ARC jusqu’en 1958. Il est décédé en 2006 à l’âge de 89 ans. Pour en savoir plus sur Goldberg lorsqu’il faisait partie du 416e Escadron, cliquez ici. Photo vie Hamilton Jewish News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41d27308-0e7c-4717-b0a6-de61de37f3e9/Lambie87.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les Spitfires du 417e Escadron décollent à intervalles de cinq minutes à Bellaria, sur la côte Adriatique (entre Rimini et Ravenne). La tour de contrôle se trouve dans la coupole sur le toit du bâtiment à droite. Lambie et ses confrères pilotes faisaient exactement ce qu’on leur avait enseigné au Camp Borden — fournir un appui au sol aux forces alliées qui repoussaient les Allemands plus loin le long de la botte italienne jusqu’en Autriche. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/10dea868-4bc6-4ac6-90eb-344223661a32/Lambie273.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une photo prise depuis l’aérodrome de Bellaria, en Italie, montrant un camion de l’escadron 601 City of London roulant sur la route périphérique. Lambie qualifie le camion de « boîte à biscuits » sous la photo, ce qui devait être leur surnom pour ce type particulier. Au loin, à gauche, nous voyons les tentes de l’escadron. Le bâtiment blanc au centre est identifié comme le mess et les quartiers des officiers de l’aérodrome. Le bâtiment plus sombre (un ancien sanatorium pédiatrique pour tuberculeux) à droite est identifié comme le bureau d’entraînement, qui abritait également le « Windsor Club » pour les officiers. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/131717a6-e55d-4375-8efb-5cb0448f681f/Lambie88.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le Sous-lieutenant d’aviation Vern A. Herron et le Lieutenant d’aviation Douglas A. Love (à l’arrière) et le Capitaine d’aviation Tony Bryan, DFC et le Commandant d’escadrille « A », le Lieutenant d’aviation Karl Linton (à l’avant) au repos près des tentes à l’extérieur du mess à Bellaria Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/044879c3-7c1b-4da8-91c2-7531c00680ef/Lambie241.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie prend en photo une aire de trafic boueuse du 417e Escadron à Bellaria avec le Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII, JF627 au premier plan. Ce Spitfire particulier n’a été piloté par Don Lambie qu’à une seule occasion — lors d’une longue reconnaissance à quatre Spitfire dans la zone située au nord de Venise, de Conegliano à Udine. Ils sont revenus avec le signalement : « Aucun mouvement repéré, rien à signaler, pas de DCA ». Selon airhistory.org.uk, un excellent registre en ligne de la liste complète de production des Spitfire, le Spitfire JF627 portait le code d’escadron AN-M. Cette photo prouve que c’est faux. Le Spitfire connu sous le nom de AN-M portait en fait le numéro de série JF672 (les deux derniers chiffres étant inversés). Pour les amateurs de détails, voici une liste de tous les Spitfire du 417e Escadron pilotés par Lambie (le nombre de fois où il les a pilotés est entre parenthèses) : LZ923 (35), JF423 (6), EN580 (4), MH770 (2), JG242 (2), MK148 (2), MJ366 (2), EN462 (2), MK284 (1), JG197 (1), JF627 (1), JG495 (1), JG337 (1), NH352 (1), et MH554 (1). L’encre du timbre d’adresse personnel de Lambie, au dos, a pénétré le document après 80 ans. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd712aa7-e2cf-452f-988b-bb692c4eefb7/Lambie90.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Bob Latimer, Karl Linton et « un des gars » avec le camion de service Chevrolet sur l’aire de trafic à Bellaria. On peut voir les Spitfires de l’escadron au loin à droite et les avions de liaison Auster à gauche. J’aime tellement cette scène — un jeune canadien en Italie lisant des lettres de ses proches, assis sur un camion canadien avec une feuille d’érable canadienne sur la porte et des Spitfires canadiens au loin. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c43e9eb0-b288-4c03-b9e4-390099ce8da4/Chevrolet-CMP11.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le camion CMP (Canadian Military Pattern) (voir photo précédente) a été fabriqué par centaines de milliers par Ford et Chevrolet à Oshawa, en Ontario, pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il a été configuré de nombreuses façons différentes, allant de citerne à carburant à voiture de commandement en passant par camion de cargo. Photo via Yorkshire Air Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e2490eb-5a11-4756-8bba-64f8641fdc66/Lambie215.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le lieutenant d’aviation Anthony John Adrian « Tony » Bryan, DFC, chef de vol B, se détend sur la plage de Bellaria avec un habillement de vol qui n’a rien à voir avec la plage. Né en 1923 au Mexique de parents britanniques, Tony a étudié en Angleterre à l’école préparatoire de St. Richard, puis au collège Ampleforth. En 1942, il s’engage dans l’Aviation royale du Canada (ARC) et rejoint le 403e escadron dans le sud de l’Angleterre. Il a effectué plus de 250 missions et quelques semaines avant le jour J, il a été abattu par des tirs antiaériens au-dessus de la France occupée par les Allemands. Il fuit les Allemands et finit par retrouver des membres de la Résistance. Après cinq mois passés à aider les combattants français locaux, il retourne en Angleterre, rejoint son escadron et continue à effectuer des sorties depuis Kenley, avant d’être transféré en Italie. Après la guerre, Tony quitte l’ARC et fréquente le Harvard College, puis la Harvard Business School. Ses réussites dans le monde des affaires sont tout simplement spectaculaires — de vice-président de Monsanto à directeur de Federal Express, en passant par président du fonds de pension de Chrysler, Koppers Corporation, AMRO Bank, PNC Financial Group, Imetal (Paris), First City National Bank of Houston et Hospital Corporation of America International. Il était membre de nombreux clubs de golf et clubs sociaux, notamment le Gulfstream Country Club (Floride), le Sunningdale Golf Club (Londres), le Union Club (New York) et le prestigieux Augusta National Golf Club, où se déroule le tournoi des Masters. Il a terminé deuxième du championnat national américain de squash en double en 1957. Il a été un champion de natation, se qualifiant presque pour l’équipe olympique américaine avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il a continué à voler après la guerre, pilotant un Super Decathlon ainsi qu’un SIAI Marchetti. Il aimait faire des démonstrations de ses talents de pilote à tous ses amis jusqu’à huit semaines avant sa mort. Il est décédé en Floride à l’âge de 86 ans. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eb8906c9-271a-4f9d-945c-07b478618f48/Lambie280.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Tony Bryan a été abattu près de Saint-André-de-l’Eure (Batigny) en France en mai 1944 et a passé plusieurs mois comme invité de la Résistance française. Il était inconscient lorsqu’il a été retrouvé dans l’épave de son Spitfire et a été soigné par la famille de Marcel Glanard. On le voit ici, alors qu’il fuyait l’ennemi, avec Marguerite Glanard et sa fille Ginette dans leur ferme. Dans l’écrasement, Tony Bryan avait perdu sa montre que son père lui avait donnée avant la guerre. Marcel est retourné à l’épave et l’a trouvée avant que les Allemands n’aient enlevé l’épave. Photo : Via Micka Perier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9484df5-e0d8-4684-9929-b238dcede9aa/Lambie210.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out L’adjudant Michael James Carroll et le lieutenant d’aviation Alfred Alcide Desormeaux (alias « Des » ou « Bug Eyes ») sur la plage de Bellaria. Mike Carroll de Toronto et Tony Whittingham, le vieil ami de Lambie, ont tous deux quitté l’escadron peu après son arrivée à Bellaria à la mi-mars, ce qui situe ces photos de plage à la fin mars ou au début avril 1945. Whittingham est simplement passé au 241e Escadron à Bellaria et Carroll, selon l’ordre de bataille, était toujours dans l’escadron, mais « en attente d’ordres ». Âgé de 26 ans, « Bug Eyes » Desormeaux était un producteur laitier de Winchester, en Ontario, une petite ville au sud d’Ottawa. Il s’était joint à l’ARC en 1941, s’entraînant aux mêmes (École élémentaire de pilotage ( EFTS ) et École de pilotage militaire (SFTS) que Lambie et rejoint la guerre en février 1945. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41656ad5-d37e-49dd-96d1-534d0a3db86d/Lambie214.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Bottes brillantes ou sales ? Le lieutenant d’aviation George Herb Slack, de la région rurale de Merivale, en Ontario, et Vern Herron, de Toronto, se retrouvent sur une plage ensoleillée de la mer Adriatique — aussi loin de chez eux qu’ils auraient pu l’imaginer quelques années auparavant. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d314338f-be13-41db-8f49-65c157f918ce/Lambie277.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Vern Herron, sur la photo précédente, était originaire de Toronto, en Ontario. De retour au Canada à la fin de la guerre, il s’inscrit à l’école de dentisterie de l’Université de Toronto en 1949. Il attrape une pneumonie et, admis à l’hôpital, il rencontre sa future femme qu’il épouse en 1955. Il a installé son nouveau cabinet dentaire dans la ville d’Orillia, au nord de Toronto, et y a élevé sa famille. Malheureusement, en 1973, à tout juste 51 ans, il meurt d’une crise cardiaque massive et inattendue dans son sommeil. Photo : Dr. Vernon A. Herron Collection via daughter Marci Csumrik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1402503-637f-49a8-ae94-60841062dfd3/Lambie31.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out de61de37f3e9/Lambie87.jpg?format=1000w Le Lieutenant d’aviation George Herb Slack à bord du Spitfire AN-Z à Bellaria en avril 1945. Le 25 avril, alors qu’il décollait avec les lieutenants d’aviation Jack Leach et Tony Bryan pour une mission Rover (vols de reconnaissance armés pour attaquer des cibles d’opportunité), le Spitfire de Slack a crevé un pneu et la bombe de 500 livres qu’il transportait s’est dérochée et a roulé sans exploser. Le Spitfire, numéro de série de la RAF MJ366, est jugé comme une perte totale. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34af1dd8-8fff-4787-895b-5c365d6c98df/Screen+Shot+2022-03-14+at+9.13.14+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out G. Herb Slack a obtenu son brevet de pilote au 1er École de pilotage militaire (SFTS), Camp Borden, le 12 novembre 1943, quelques semaines avant que Lambie n’obtienne le sien à Saint-Hubert. Il était un ami proche de Lambie au sein du 417e Escadron. Il était originaire d’une petite communauté appelée Westboro, près d’Ottawa, qui est aujourd’hui une banlieue centrale de la ville. Certains documents indiquent que son domicile était « Merivale », une communauté encore plus petite située juste au sud de Westboro. Je n’ai trouvé qu’un seul article faisant référence à Herb Slack dans les journaux grand format d’Ottawa dans les années 1940, et c’était le 17 avril 1947. On peut voir Herb à l’extrême gauche dans cette rangée de joueurs de softball de Merivale recevant le trophée Bracken en tant que champions de softball du comté de Carleton. Aujourd’hui, l’une des rues importantes de la ville de Merivale s’appelle Slack Road. Photo via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a3060f36-d662-457b-815c-a52a31bf9c69/Lambie79.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Presque toutes les photos de Bob Latimer dans l’album de Lambie montrent un homme qui aime s’amuser. Peut-être que sa forte personnalité allait de pair avec sa petite taille. Ici, sur la plage de Bellaria, il enfile un casque allemand du style Stahlhelm et fait le clown dans l’épave abandonnée d’une « Kübelwagen » (Jeep) allemande qui a été dépouillée de ses pneus, de ses phares et de sa roue de secours par les habitants. Le panneau allemand pillé signifie quelque chose comme « Pull Up », probablement annonçant un poste de contrôle nazi. Une casquette M42 de l’infanterie allemande est accrochée au cadre vide du pare-brise. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/74e4bd12-af83-4617-b506-0bab271fdb71/Lambie125.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Il semble que le panneau routier de contrôle « Klimmesch » était un accessoire populaire pour les photos. Ici, nous voyons l’ami de Lambie de l’Unité d’entrainement opérationnel (OTU) Spitfire, le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leach, se tenant à côté des attelages pour chevaux et caissons d’artillerie de l’armée allemande abandonnés le long d’une route près de Bellaria. Curieux, nos gars ont fait plusieurs visites sur le front à la recherche de souvenirs et d’informations. L’inscription au verso de cette photo indique : « Tout n’était pas moderne, loin de là ! !! Ces 88 ». Ces attelages étaient peut-être adaptés pour remorquer le redoutable et polyvalent canon allemand de 88 mm. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bb042543-6fa0-4c25-b06e-d15a6e9b7333/Lambie306.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Camarades perdus. Le Lieutenant d’aviation Roy Cotnam (à gauche) de Pembroke a été tué le 8 avril et le Lieutenant d’aviation Jack Rose (au centre) de la ville forestière et ferroviaire de Chapleau, en Ontario, le 16. Le lieutenant d’aviation « Mac » McNair du 241e Escadron, d’Edmonton (Alberta), est mort le 12. Photos : Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/869a416d-960f-45f9-91cc-63a35b5ca385/Lambie91.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les pilotes et le personnel au sol du 417e Escadron participent à un « grand jeu de dés » en attendant que les « Wing-Ops » identifient où se trouve le front « pour que les appareils puissent décoller ». Ce sont des photos personnelles et candides comme celle-ci qui distinguent la collection Lambie des photos d’autres aviateurs alliés. Elles nous permettent de voir comment ils géraient l’ennui entre les missions. Leur tenue vestimentaire nous montre qu’il fait encore frais en mars dans cette partie de la côte Adriatique italienne. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcac5734-d5c4-4b84-b9af-f3ca551fc0a9/Lambie85.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Adjacente à l’aérodrome de Bellaria, l’escadre réquisitionne comme quartier général, et mess des officiers, la Colonia Pavese, un sanatorium italien pour jeunes tuberculeux qu’on rebaptise le « Windsor Club ». C’est là qu’ils se réunissent et visionner des films, comme le 3 avril, lorsqu’ils s’amusaient à regarder la comédie Roughly Speaking, avec Rosalind Russell, Jack Carson et Alan Hale Sr. Le film est réalisé par Michael Curtiz, le réalisateur du film Captains of the Sky, drame sur la formation des pilotes dans le cadre du Programme d’entraînement aérien du Commonwealth britannique (avec également Alan Hale Sr.). L’ORB mentionne fréquemment le Windsor Club, comme cette note sur le soir de la projection de Roughly Speaking : « Le bar est superbement garni de ses nouvelles bouteilles de vin, de cognac, etc., grâce aux récents efforts du responsable du bar, le lieutenant d’aviation L. A. Thomas ». Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2527989-3cc0-486e-9f6f-caefc2360170/Screen+Shot+2022-04-28+at+8.37.01+AM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une carte postale des années 1930 de la Colonia Pavese à Igea Marina Bellaria, connue localement sous le nom de « Pavia ». D’après ce que je peux déterminer, il s’agissait d’une sorte de sanatorium pour les enfants susceptibles de contracter la tuberculose. Avant et après la guerre, les plages de l’Adriatique entre Rimini au sud et Revenna au nord étaient des destinations touristiques très prisées par les Italiens de la classe moyenne. C’était un cadre idyllique pour les enfants et les jeunes qui devaient y passer un séjour forcé, loin de leurs familles, pouvant durer jusqu’à un an. Le bâtiment a été démoli en 1984. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48015509-a7a0-4807-bd64-60731b094914/Lambie86.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Ce n’est pas le bâtiment le plus distingué, mais il abritait les quartiers des officiers de l’escadron 417 à Bellaria, en Italie, pendant le séjour de Lambie. On peut voir l’arrière de la Colonia Pavese à droite. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ae3bcf1-8a5c-4ec5-b578-ab2a77291895/Lambie102.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Tony Whittingham, confrère de Lambie depuis leurs jours ensemble à l’Unité d’entrainement opérationel (OTU) No. 1 à Bagotville au Québec, rend visite à son ami dans les quartiers des officiers du 417e Escadron à Bellaria. Whittingham est affecté au 417e Escadron quelques semaines avant l’arrivée de Lambie, mais il est transféré au 241e Escadron de la RAF, une unité de chasse similaire à celle du 417e Escadron, qui fait partie de la 244e Escadre du 211e Groupe de la Desert Air Force (DAF). Il poursuivra une brillante carrière dans la fonction publique canadienne, prenant sa retraite en tant que sous-ministre adjoint des Affaires étrangères. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b88b5a9-0da8-4cc2-8aee-16fdc6f296ed/Lambie274.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Tout au long de son parcours, Lambie se faisait des amis et charmait les dames… même les Italiennes de Bellaria. Ici, son bon copain d’escadron Jack Leach se tient dans l’entrée de la porte arrière du quartier des officiers avec trois femmes, de gauche à droite : Maria, « Butch » [guillemets de Lambie] et une parente de Maria. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c7e2cd-a322-489d-8526-e46c047e2697/Lambie30.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Quelle équipe disparate ! « Tiny » Lalonde (probablement membre de l’équipe au sol), le lieutenant d’aviation « Bug Eyes » Desormeaux (accroupi), un membre non identifié de l’équipe au sol, le lieutenant d’aviation Larry Thomas, l’officier du mess et un autre membre de l’équipe au sol se dégourdissent les jambes à côté d’un camion CMP du 417e Escadron « lors d’une excursion touristique au front ». Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f313108-24fb-48ea-b82e-79735513f1d2/Lambie83.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie a photographié son ami Jack Leach dans le cockpit de cette épave totalement détruite d’un Caproni Ca-314 avec Jack Leach à bord. Il est difficile de dire où cette photo a été prise, mais l’horodatage la situe en mars. Les deux seuls aérodromes où Lambie a été affecté en mars étaient Gaudo et Bellaria. Comme Gaudo était un aérodrome construit par les Alliés, il était peu probable d’y trouver des épaves italiennes. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f53d962-1306-489b-8ef5-66ccc0f3fdc8/Lambie200.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Voici à quoi devrait ressembler le type d’avion figurant sur la photo précédente de Lambie lorsqu’il n’est pas endommagé. Typique de nombreux modèles d’avions italiens de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Caproni Ca.314 était un bel avion. Son train d’atterrissage escamotable comportait des guêtres de roues distinctifs. Dérivé du Ca.310, ce monoplan de la taille d’un Avro Anson était utilisé à la fois pour l’attaque au sol et comme bombardier torpilleur. C’était le dérivé du Ca.310 le plus construit, et il comprenait des versions bombardier, escorte de convoi et patrouille maritime, bombardier torpilleur et d’attaque au sol. Photo : via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95827964-cb16-4d62-a0c0-1ff3d462dd69/Lambie287.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out À Trévise, les pilotes du mess allaient acquérir une nouvelle mascotte sans nom (ci-dessus) pour remplacer Toughie, premier chien perdu lors du déplacement en convoi de camions de Bellaria à Trévise le 2 mai. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68777f01-5cd9-431c-aa65-be7bca4b7d58/Lambie92.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Jack Leach enlève sa casquette à l’arrière d’un CMP du 417e Escadron après son arrivée à Trévise. Ce CMP a probablement deux ans, mais il en paraît 20. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a483bc75-e5f3-4bdd-ae3a-33563841faa2/Lambie94.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Fraîchement arrivé par convoi à Trévise, Jack Leach plante le fanion de l’unité à côté de leurs tentes et des cordes à linge. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/05f57a68-02c4-4d1e-89ae-9f8d78133254/Lambie318.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Chuck Holdway de Cedars, Québec (maintenant Les Cèdres), sur la rive nord du Saint-Laurent, à l’ouest de Montréal, pose avec sa tente au premier campement de la 417e à Trévise. Les planchers ne sont même pas encore installés. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df3b8f93-be18-4bc1-beb3-ce8daca60f25/Lambie93.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Récemment arrivés à Trévise, quatre pilotes de l’Ontario s’installent dans leur campement temporaire, en attendant des quartiers plus appropriés. Au premier plan, Al White (à gauche), de Toronto, et Jack Leach, de Windsor, se servent d’un pupitre d’école pour écrire des lettres à leur famille, tandis qu’à l’arrière-plan, Vern Herron (de dos), de Toronto, et Pete Helmer, d’Ottawa, font la vaisselle sous le soleil intense italien. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c00cc96-7cb2-4456-a60e-6a3d1a0e5890/Lambie184.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les gars (de gauche à droite G.P. Hope, David Goldberg (C.O.) et Chuck Holdway du 417e Escadron inspectent une partie de leurs exploits — une paire de voitures blindées Autoblindo 41 italiennes endommagées — sur la route entre Conegliano et Vittorio Veneto près de Trévise. On ne sait pas si ces véhicules ont été utilisés par les Allemands, car ils ne portent pas d’insigne allemand, mais la Wehrmacht en a utilisé un grand nombre après la capitulation italienne, les appelant Panzerspähwagen AB41 201s. Je parie que les pneus manquants ont été pris par les Italiens locaux ! Photo : Donal Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/443e32af-b9bd-4966-8210-5d4e4a4860b3/Lambie308.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les amis de Lambie, Jack Leach, Len Dudderidge (au volant) et Bob Latimer, immobilisent leur Willys Jeep devant un canon antiaérien allemand 88 MM abandonné après la cessation des hostilités. Ce devait être un jour de fête pour ces hommes qui ont visité cette zone précédemment occupée par les Allemands. Le printemps tire à sa fin, les arbres sont ombragés, le temps est chaud et la victoire est totale. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d11f016f-13cb-4ed2-86c2-d764bd0f4cff/Lambie310.gif The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le long de l’autoroute au nord de Conegliano, les aviateurs du 417e inspectent d’autres transports motorisés endommagés, se demandant s’il s’agit encore de leur succès. Il y a un petit groupe de photos de ce voyage qui sont de format carré et sur lesquelles le nom « Leslie » est inscrit au dos, ce qui me porte à croire qu’il s’agit d’ajouts à l’album de Lambie par le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leslie, un autre pilote du 417e de Montréal. Ils sont demeurés en contact après la guerre puisqu’ils étaient originaires de la même ville et ont probablement partagé des photos personnelles. Photos : Jack Leslie, Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/94425b92-93d2-475a-a290-83e2a9be2708/Lambie309.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un autobus militaire italien passe avec fracas sur l’autoroute alors que Lambie et ses amis visitent le territoire récemment cédé dans le nord-est de l’Italie. J’ai passé un temps fou sur Internet à essayer d’identifier la marque de ce bus — Alfa ? Macchi ? Lancia ? Opel ? etc... aucune chance, donc si quelqu’un peut m’éclairer sur les autobus italiens de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, merci de me faire signe. Je dois en avoir l’esprit tranquille. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/11495ee3-a999-4102-9967-076bcf4731ad/Lambie268.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Quelques-uns des quelques chars restants de la Wehrmacht en retraite, dont ce char Panther allemand intact avec la tourelle tournée vers l’arrière, ont accompagné les Allemands qui se rendaient. Il semble en relativement bon état, mais ses marquages de l’armée allemande sont absents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6ead1530-f4f1-48d8-a36d-452c5fbcf06e/Lambie118.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Sans doute par curiosité, Lambie et quelques camarades du 417e Escadron sont allés visiter le camp des prisonniers de guerre (plutôt une zone de rassemblement) à Conegliano le 7 mai 1945. Alors que nous célébrons le Jour de la Victoire en Europe le 8 mai, les Allemands ont signé les documents de reddition à Caserta, en Italie, le 29 avril et le cessez-le-feu a pris effet le 2 mai. Quelques semaines auparavant, les hommes avaient bombardé des cibles ennemies à Conegliano, à environ 40 kilomètres au nord du centre de Venise. Lambie note dans sa légende « l’officier boche — Croix de fer — démoralisé ». Il décrit ainsi d’autres personnes présentes sur la photo : « Dans le groupe, dos à l’appareil — le capitaine (artillerie) boche avec Croix de fer jouant le rôle d’adjudant, cheveux roux et très précis — Le grand type — un colonel ». Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c36eb2e-edea-483c-98ea-45af53bd1236/Lambie119.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Il s’agit ici de soldats allemands très expérimentés, bien aguerris. Sous sa photo, Lambie décrit l’officier qui s’avance vers lui : « Un autre gars de la Croix de Fer — se préparant pour un voyage dans le sud. Un capitaine a enlevé ses galons dans le but de se déguiser en simple soldat pour exprimer son dégoût envers ceux qui se sont rendus. » Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bd504a6-c8d4-413c-94fb-10749bf2da96/Lambie120.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une autre photo prise à Conegliano le 7 mai. Après avoir entendu parler pendant des années de la race supérieure et de la puissance de l’armée allemande, Lambie écrit avec dédain : « L’un des Surhommes intimidés, attendant d’être transférés vers le sud… Ils étaient tellement ravis d’être nos prisonniers plutôt que d’être tombés aux mains des Russes. » Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66799ddc-be23-4bb5-8c0d-9113ac5c001e/Lambie121.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Dans un camp dédié au traitement des prisonniers de guerre et blottis à l’ombre d’un bâtiment à Conegliano, des soldats allemands attendent d’être transportés vers le sud. Lambie les décrit comme « très dociles et coopératifs ». Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c3d38ec-85cc-490a-a38e-cd099300e931/Lambie123.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie ne cache pas son manque de sympathie envers les prisonniers allemands rassemblés en déclarant… « Comme nous sommes indulgents ! Ils ont été extrêmement bien traités par rapport au traitement qu’ils méritaient. » Je suppose qu’il est difficile de trouver de l’empathie pour des troupes qui ont récemment été responsables de la mort de trois amis. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6787e4ad-9b02-4912-a5fd-87165ea85f23/Lambie103.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Au cours des grandes préparations, pour que les Spitfire soient prêts pour la grande célébration de l’escadre — un défilé aérien de la DAF à la fin du mois de mai — le sergent de section « Mac » McCloskey, l’un des membres de l’équipe au sol, pinceau à la main, semble retoucher les extrémités jaunes des hélices de ce Spitfire (AN-P) à Trévise. Notez les couvertures sur les pneus pour éviter les dommages causés par le soleil et l’huile et le marquage « P » personnalisé sur l’entrée d’air. Trente-neuf escadrons participeront au défilé aérien et David Goldberg voulait que ses Spitfire soient impeccables. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/51eaaeda-ff10-41ab-a6c0-73f1eee67e32/Lambie99.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Tony Bryan, DFC leads a squad of enlisted airmen through the TLe capitaine d’aviation Tony Bryan, DFC, dirige un groupe d’aviateurs à travers la section de transport motorisé du terrain d’aviation de Trévise, en route vers le service religieux de la messe de la Victoire en Europe, organisé pour le dimanche suivant le jour de la Victoire. Un an avant ce jour, Bryan avait été abattu au-dessus de la France et avait passé plusieurs mois avec la Résistance française avant de rejoindre son unité. Aujourd’hui, le voici qui dirige une formation d’aviateurs victorieux sur un terrain d’aviation italien près de Venise pour célébrer la fin de cette horrible guerre qui a coûté la vie à tant de ses amis. De nombreux souvenirs ont sans doute rafait surface ce jour-là. Photo : Jack Leslie via Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a6f1cd90-aabd-411e-8e33-010bf102785b/Lambie100.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les officiers du 417e Escadron, dans le parc automobile de l’escadron, s’alignent pour un défilé sur le terrain d’aviation en vue de la messe du dimanche suivant le jour de la VE, le 13 mai 1945. Lambie est quatrième au premier rang, Jack Leach à sa droite, Karl Linton à cette extrémité du premier rang, Bob Latimer à l’extrémité du dernier rang. Photo : Jack Leslie via Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e07670a6-4595-436b-9d0d-c9ec404fd0df/Lambie98.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Formant un cadre, les hommes, les sous-officiers et les officiers du 244e Escadre (n° 92, 145, 241 et 601 de la RAF et 417e de l’ARC) se rassemblent sur le terrain d’aviation de Trévise pour la messe du dimanche. Le terrain est encombré par les Spitfire de l’escadre et les transports américains C-47 Skytrain. Photo : Jack Leslie via Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa6775ef-6a7f-44e6-b406-37feed1dace6/Lambie101.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie tourne sa caméra vers la droite pour obtenir une image complète du vaste terrain herbeux de Trévise où se trouvent, entre autres, des Spitfire de la 244e Escadre. Photo : Jack Leslie via Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2546a8ce-11d2-4655-bc93-3f5dcdedf14c/Lambie135.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Il y a un bon nombre de photographies dans l’album de Lambie qui le montrent, en compagnie d’autres personnes, sur une plage de bord de mer au pied de hautes falaises. Je ne suis pas certain de la date de cette visite à la mer Adriatique (ou même si c’était l’Adriatique), mais je suppose que c’était quelque temps après le Jour de la Victoire en Europe, peut-être en juin, quand ils avaient du temps pour s’amuser. À l’arrière-plan, nous voyons des cabines de plage et deux tunnels artificiels, qui descendent probablement du sommet de la falaise. On dirait que Lambie se tient sur le balcon d’une maison, d’un restaurant ou d’un hôtel. Tout indice pour identifier cet endroit serait grandement apprécié. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f92eb8be-6370-4bac-adb2-9e28bc23620e/Lambie227.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les hommes du 417e Escadron au bord de la mer. Notez les traces de bronzage sur le bas des jambes de l’homme de droite et de l’homme assis sur le pont. On pourrait penser qu’un emplacement aussi distinct — plage de sable noir, falaises abruptes et tunnels — serait facile à identifier. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8bcc74f-b8f6-4b90-828f-5e6a2fb110d1/Lambie323.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les pilotes du 417e Escadron s’amusent dans les vagues sur le sable noir d’une plage italienne. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2fbe517-e6e7-45a2-a1df-a6fd03ecc610/Lambie95.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out George « GP » Hope pose avec le pilote vétéran de Spitfire, l’adjudant Leonard John Duddridge, dans le jardin situé derrière ce que Lambie appelle « Notre château ». Duddridge, originaire de Hanley, en Saskatchewan, s’est joint à l’escadron au cours du dernier mois de la guerre. Il était un vétéran du combat avec deux périodes de service précédentes à son actif. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/45e35546-c032-4e18-9965-730807bc6233/Lambie279.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out L’aviateur-chef Leonard Duddridge (à gauche) de la photo précédente pose avec son frère et sa soeur Gladys et l’aviateur-chef Lewis lorsqu’il s’entraînait pour devenir pilote dans l’ARC. La famille Duddridge était originaire de la petite communauté agricole de Hanley, en Saskatchewan. Les deux garçons se sont enrôlés à des moments différents (Lew a commencé un an plus tôt et a suivi des cours de mécanique d’aéronefs), mais ils ont été affectés ensemble à l’école d’entraînementélémentaire no 7, à Saskatoon. Ils ont suivi ensemble leur formation élémentaire au pilotage à l’EFTS no 6, puis ils ont suivi ensemble leur formation au pilotage militaire à l’SFTS no 10, à Dauphin, au Manitoba. Len a piloté des Spitfire à Malte avec le 94e et en Afrique du Nord avec le 238e Escadron de la RAF avant de rejoindre le 417e Escadron, tandis que Lewis a piloté des Lancaster avec le Bomber Command en Europe. Dans un bel exemple des 6 degrés de séparation, Len Duddridge avait volé à partir du HMS Eagle lors de l’opération Style le 2 juin 1942, il s’agit de l’opération même au cours de laquelle le sous-lieutenant David Rouleau a été tué. Ce jour-là, Duddridge et Rouleau faisaient tous deux partie d’une formation de neuf pilotes de Spitfire qui tentaient de se rendre à Malte lorsqu’ils ont été attaqués par des Messerschmitts. Duddridge a survécu, mais pas Rouleau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e789cc1-4dc1-4526-a4ee-e5b6645e64d2/Lambie291.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un a survécu, l’autre a péri. Le 3 juin 1942, neuf Spitfire non armés lancés depuis le HMS Eagle approchaient de Malte après un long vol lorsqu’ils furent pris à partie par des Messerschmitts basés à Pantelleria. Quatre des pilotes ont été abattus et tués, les cinq autres se sont débattus et ont atterri à Malte. David Rouleau d’Ottawa, l’homme à droite, était l’un des quatre qui ont été tués. Il vivait à quelques rues de chez moi. Len Dudderidge, l’homme à gauche, a survécu et a continué à se battre pendant trois autres années avant de terminer sa carrière avec le 417e Escadron. Photos via les familles Dudderidge et Rouleau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c5a557a-c48e-451d-8b3d-2bd8c831dafa/Lambie276.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out C’est ma photo préférée de la collection : les pilotes du 417e participent à une fête bien arrosée au mess du « château » à Trévise, en Italie, à environ 26 kilomètres au nord de Venise. C’est à Trévise que s’est achevée l’histoire mouvementée de la Seconde Guerre mondiale du 417e Escadron. Ils ont rapidement perdu leurs Spitfire et ont été désactivés peu de temps après. C’était l’époque de la victoire en Europe et les gars cherchaient des occasions pour se défouler. De gauche à droite : Le lieutenant d’aviation Bob Latimer, le lieutenant d’aviation George Proud « GP » Hope, le capitaine d’aviation Karl R. Linton, DFC, le lieutenant d’aviation Ted Whitlock regardant vers la droite et Jack Leach à l’arrière. Karl Linton, en chemise blanche, s’était joint au 417e Escadron à la mi-février, après un retour de congé au Canada. Avant cela, il avait volé avec le 416e Escadron en Angleterre, puis 11 mois avec le 421e Escadron, constamment aux commandes d’un Spitfire. Il s’agissait essentiellement de sa troisième période de service. M. Linton, originaire de Plaster Rock, au Nouveau-Brunswick, est décédé en 2010 à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse, à l’âge de 87 ans. Après la guerre, Ted Whitlock a étudié à l’Université de Toronto et a obtenu un diplôme en sciences politiques et en économie. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea5735d4-2f57-484b-9a46-fb5ca9e6bf74/Screen+Shot+2022-03-17+at+3.51.09+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Malheureusement, six ans après que Lambie ait pris la photo de ses camarades faisant la fête à Trévise, George Hope a été tué dans un accident de vol près de sa ville natale de Windsor, en Ontario. En tant que membre de la réserve de l’ARC, il pilotait un de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk lorsqu’il a été désorienté par le mauvais temps. Image via newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c63203c5-9b0d-4abd-b522-8e207b635aa9/Screen+Shot+2022-03-17+at+3.50.49+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Selon les articles de journaux de l’époque, l’avion s’est écrasé dans « une combinaison de météo orageuse et de bruine qui ont réduit la visibilité à néant ». Le Chipmunk CF-CXF était un avion immatriculé dans le civil, acheté par l’ARC et prêté à l’Association des Royal Canadian Flying Clubs. Il effectuait un vol d’entraînement de navigation lorsqu’il s’est écrasé. Hope, en tant que membre de la réserve de l’ARC, était l’un des 36 réservistes participant par l’intermédiaire du Windsor Flying Club, à l’opération Chipmunk. Il s’agit d’un programme visant à donner des cours de remise à niveau aux anciens pilotes de combat. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a6c141fe-5410-404a-ab25-0bb776cb6642/Lambie281.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le lieutenant d’aviation Karl Linton, DFC, qui était chef de vol au sein du 417e Escadron de Lambie et que l’on voit sur la photo au bar ci-dessus, a eu une carrière exceptionnelle. Après son arrivée à l’étranger en mars 1942 et sa participation à l’UEO Spitfire, il a été affecté pendant huit mois au 416e Escadron, puis pendant 11 mois au 421e Escadron, avant d’être affecté pendant sept mois comme pilote d’état-major à l’unité de soutien du 83e Groupe de la RAF. Puis, après un retour bien mérité au Canada, il s’est joint au 417e Escadron en février 1945. En 2003, à l’âge de 80 ans, il a écrit et publié un mémoire sur ses expériences de vol pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, intitulé Lucky Linton-A Second World War Spitfire Pilot’s Memoir, et a récemment été mentionné dans un autre article de Vintage News par Stephen M. Fochuk concernant un événement unique et très peu probable. Karl Linton de Plaster Rock, au Nouveau-Brunswick, est décédé en 2010 à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9edbe12e-5b99-4214-a424-ed587217488a/Lambie286.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Il existe quelques photos de 417 officiers posant pour Lambie en petits groupes à Trévise. Cela correspond au désir de Lambie de se souvenir de ses camarades après la guerre longtemps après qu’ils se soient tous dispersés à travers le Canada. Sans ses photos, certains de ces hommes pourraient sombrer dans l’oubli. Dans ce groupe, « GP » Hope (à gauche) est debout avec deux des officiers non navigants de l’escadron — le capitaine d’aviation Bob Hogg (au centre), l’officier d’éducation de l’escadron, et le capitaine d’aviation Hal « Doc » Smythe, l’officier médical (médecin du personnel navigant). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82bd090c-5209-4a7b-a071-87f0a3f072a2/Lambie131.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out À la fin de la guerre, Lambie et quelques camarades du 417e Escadron entreprennent un voyage de détente dans la vallée de la rivière Piave, en camion de l’escadron en route par camion de l’escadron vers l’hôtel de repos de l’escadre. Ils en profitent pour visiter Belluno et la chaîne des Dolomites, dans les Alpes de l’Italie de l’Est. Là, ils s’arrêtent devant une vue imprenable sur le Lago di Santa Croce. C’était en mai 1945, et l’armée allemande sur place venait de se rendre. On ne peut s’empêcher de deviner ce que pensait ce pilote canadien de Spitfire (peut-être Jack Leach) en contemplant le spectacle de ce paradis alpin italien qui, jusqu’à il y a deux semaines, était aux mains de l’ennemi. La note au dos de la photo se lit comme suit : « Une bonne vue du lac St. Croce à partir de notre camp de repos d’escadron. La maison blanche [à côté de l’épaule gauche du pilote] est l’endroit où nous prenions notre bouffe » Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9fc6c3b2-9035-48f9-bfde-faa1c8f407a3/Lambie201.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Avec l’aide de Streetview de Google, nous pouvons nous rendre au même endroit où Lambie et ses amis se sont arrêtés pour regarder le Lago di Santa Croce (photo précédente) et les pics élevés des Dolomites. Image via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/023f3d88-7384-4fc9-88d3-1ecfc481e716/Lambie288.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une vue composite d’un Lago di Santa Croce très calme, réalisée à partir de deux des photographies de Lambie. Cette photo semble avoir été prise un peu plus loin sur la même route que celle de la photo précédente. Le calme plat du lac est remarquable. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b63d6f68-36a6-4157-9e16-b6fda2e43946/Lambie207.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un camion CMP de l’escadron charge du matériel et d’autres membres du personnel de la 244e Escadre qui viennent de déposer les pilotes et les officiers du 417e Escadron à la Trattoria Bolognese pour une période de repos de 48 heures. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f81fc5a2-cff0-4b75-8c15-c1033a697ded/Lambie202.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Il est vraiment étonnant que près de 80 ans plus tard, la Trattoria Bolognese soit toujours en activité au même endroit, maintenant connue sous le nom de Bar Ristorante Bolognese. Image via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6f7abc6-4802-4de2-89cf-3e12b9294bb5/Lambie133.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le stress des missions quotidiennes étant chose du passé, les pilotes de l’escadron 417 peuvent se détendre au soleil de midi qui les réchauffe après le long hiver de guerre. Les Dolomites se dressent au-dessus du lac et offrent aux officiers qui lisent et écrivent des lettres à leur famille une vue à couper le souffle. Deux des officiers sont mentionnés dans la légende au verso, mais ne sont pas identifiés parmi les quatre hommes de la photo. Il s’agit du capitaine d’aviation Doucet, l’officier d’administration de l’escadron, et du lieutenant d’aviation Chuck Urie. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25f81760-ec71-42c5-87e6-90590d000385/IMG_20210730_105216.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Voici une vue magnifique que Lambie et ses collègues pilotes de 417e ont pu apprécier à partir de la terrasse de la Trattoria Bolognese. Photo : Victoria Popa, 2021 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c3b388b-95fc-4146-81e8-32548583048d/Lambie289.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et quelques amis ont emprunté un bateau et ont ramé au large du Lago de Santa Croce. Ici, nous regardons en arrière vers la Trattoria Bolognese [le bâtiment blanc au centre droit]. Les officiers dormaient la nuit dans une remise à bateaux en béton au pied de la colline sous la trattoria. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63313aec-6bad-478d-918e-00f8ffff96fb/Lambie134.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le lieutenant d’aviation Charles Edward « Chuck » Holdway, de Les Cédres, au Québec, n’arrive pas à cacher son plaisir dans une chaloupe au milieu du Lago de Santa Croce. Holdway fait partie d’un pourcentage relativement faible de pilotes de la Seconde Guerre mondiale qui sont restés dans l’ARC après la guerre. Il a atteint le grade de lieutenant-colonel dans les Forces armées canadiennes après l’unification. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/057c1b19-dbb7-4c50-8862-12cb8cfba74f/Lambie218.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Pendant leur séjour au Lago di Santa Croce, les officiers du 417e ont dormi dans une remise à bateaux en béton moderne et brutaliste au bord de l’eau. Ici, Bill Craig et l’officier médical du 417e Escadron, Hal Smythe, profitent du soleil. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e4c10b48-6832-48ff-9c58-c46db01826d5/Lambie219.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Pour l’une de leurs excursions pendant qu’ils se reposaient au bord du lac, les gars du 417e ont réquisitionné un véhicule utilitaire lourd Fordson WOA2, l’équivalent d’un Hummer moderne de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, fabriqué par la Ford Motor Company britannique. Ici, Lambie (au centre) s’arrête le long de la route côtière du Lago di Santa Croce pour se dégourdir les jambes et admirer le lac alpin turquoise. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0288863-9d49-4f05-956d-c91a38f92f29/fe7966f1e87b1f3ecaa96b9347c1a33b.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une vue similaire d’un Fordson Utility, Car — le grand-père du Hummer et des VUS d’aujourd’hui. Cela devait être « vraiment quelque chose » de parcourir les Alpes en vainqueurs dans un Fordson à six passagers, rugissant entre les montagnes enneigées, les prairies alpines et les lacs turquoise. L’accueil italien et la guerre n’étaient à ce moment-là qu’un souvenir. Photo : Pinterest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63502637-d1ea-465c-8be8-f57ce0588000/Lambie124.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Après une excursion d’une journée à Belluno, la ville la plus grande et la plus importante des Dolomites orientales, un groupe de pilotes du 417e s’arrête le long de la Strada Statale 51 à l’extrémité nord du Lago di Santa Croce pour se dégourdir les jambes et comparer leurs notes et leurs souvenirs. Le Fordson aux insignes de l’escadron 417 a l’air assez abîmé et poussiéreux. Le bâtiment et les installations à droite contrôlent le flux d’eau vers Il Canale Cellina, le court canal qui permet l’accès aux bateaux à l’extrémité moins profonde au nord du lac. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c72a6227-2514-4f69-9d4f-f91965739ea2/Lambie203.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En « parcourant » la route de Santa Croce à l’aide de Google Streetview, il ne restait que quelques kilomètres jusqu’à l’endroit précis où Don Lambie et le groupe de pilotes de Spitfire du 147e se sont arrêtés pour discuter et montrer leurs « trésors ». Ces jeunes hommes n’auraient jamais imaginé que, près de 80 ans plus tard, un homme de 71 ans utiliserait un outil comme Streetview et Internet pour contempler l’endroit exact tout en s’émerveillant de la belle absurdité de tout cela. Photo via Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9ff2a64-169a-4c0d-8f39-565d97b49432/Lambie222.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et ses amis ont réquisitionné ce véhicule utilitaire Ford de la RAF et l’ont emmené plus d’une fois dans les vallées de la région de Veneto et Belluno en Italie du Nord, s’aventurant profondément dans les gorges des rivières alpines dans le sud des Dolomites. L’une de ces vallées suit le cours de la rivière Cismon jusqu’à la ville alpine de Lamon, où Lambie a pris cette photo spectaculaire de l’eau débordant du barrage près du pont de Ponte Serra. On ne peut qu’imaginer la sensation de domination que ces jeunes hommes ont dû ressentir en découvrant la beauté et l’hospitalité d’une région récemment libérée de l’emprise de la tyrannie nazie. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72309885-a8f5-482f-9545-eb171719b403/maxresdefault.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Je pense que la route et les zones d’observation en bas au centre constituent l’endroit précis où Lambie se tenait lorsqu’il a pris la photo précédente. Bien que l’eau ne déborde pas du barrage le jour où cette photo a été prise par un drone, le réservoir libère toujours de l’eau par des déversoirs en aval sur le Cismon. La route en lacets à gauche monte de la gorge jusqu’à la ville alpine de Lamon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c872105-2064-42cf-9b86-2e1adbf44f26/Lambie132.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Après des heures de recherches infructueuses sur Internet et sur Google Earth, je n’ai pas pu trouver l’identité de ce village des Dolomites visité par Lambie et ses amis. L’inscription au dos des photos indique simplement : « Un petit village du nord de l’Italie où quelques Boches ont résisté faiblement. La tour et le sommet du clocher ont été endommagés, ainsi que quelques maisons à proximité. Mai 1945 » Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d85a808-61cd-4ae5-ac1b-15e405809440/Lambie262.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lors d’une excursion touristique à partir du Lago di Santa Croce, Lambie et les gars ont roulé jusqu’à la frontière autrichienne en passant par le col connu en Italie sous le nom de Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico ou comme les Autrichiens l’appellent : le col de Kreuzberg. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50d7b469-06cd-4743-bae0-839020642205/Screen+Shot+2022-03-05+at+11.44.22+AM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Au même passage de la frontière autrichienne dans le col de Kreuzberg, un hôtel Kreuzberg plus récent se dresse au même endroit sur l’autoroute. Image vie Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d0fbc5e-f2a8-4cc2-92e2-692fdbafca9f/Lambie321.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Sur une photo prise par Jack Leslie, nous voyons des bunkers allemands prêts à repousser l’ennemi s’il tentait une attaque par le col montagneux de Kreuzberg. Ils n’ont jamais servi. Photo : Jack Leslie via Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2237761b-e6a6-4fb9-9abd-62a8938b23b2/Screen+Shot+2022-05-15+at+7.39.56+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Taillés dans le granit des Dolomites et renforcés par du béton, les bunkers existent toujours aujourd’hui. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/443cb7ee-a69f-4268-ba01-c97cd3dc1877/Lambie313.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les Mustangs de l’armée de l’air sud-africaine (à gauche) du 5e escadron de la 239e escadre et les Kittyhawks du 450e escadron, commandés par le commandant d’escadron Jack Doyle, participent au défilé aérien de la DAF le 28 mai 1945. Photos : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2ceebfc-4d3b-4dbc-8f09-1ea9838143ae/Lambie312.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Ce jour-là, le maréchal de l’air Sir Guy Garrod, KCB, OBE, MC, DFC, LLD, commandant en chef du Royal Air Force en Méditerranée et au Moyen-Orient (au centre), le vice-maréchal de l’air R M Foster, commandant de l’armée de l’air du désert (à gauche) et le général de brigade Thomas D’Arcy de l’USAAF étaient présents à la tribune. Photo : Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0ea9651-8412-4e46-9dfc-a541f54e8f3d/Lambie311.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out 12 Spitfires passent en trombe devant la tribune d’honneur à Campoformido. On peut se demander s’il s’agit des Spitfires du 417e Escadron qui ont pratiqué une formation de 12 avions en tête de flèche avant ce défilé aérien. Photo : Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a493401-ad5e-418a-b747-304e7ec208b2/Lambie130.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lors de sa visite du terrain d’aviation de Klagenfurt, Lambie a pris cette photo d’un transport léger Siebel Si 204 abandonné. Un camp satellite de Buchenwald a été créé à Halle an der Saale (province de Saxe) pour fournir de la main-d’œuvre à la Siebel Flugzeugwerke GmbH en juillet 1944 et on peut se demander si des esclaves ont contribué à la construction de cet avion. Un Seibel 204 a l’étrange distinction d’être le dernier avion de la Luftwaffe abattu par les Alliés, le 8 mai 1945 en Bavière. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7273b31-a1cc-4f95-a9ad-b44aec2b5c89/Lambie269.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En cherchant des images de la Luftwaffe à Klagenfurt sur Internet, je suis immédiatement tombé sur cette étonnante photographie officielle de la RAF montrant le personnel au sol de la 232e Escadre de la RAF se réfugiant du soleil sous l’aile du MÊME Siebel Si 204 que celui photographié par Lambie. Cela me rappelle la phrase de la vieille chanson de la Seconde Guerre mondiale « We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line ». Rien ne dit mieux la victoire que d’utiliser un avion de guerre ennemi comme corde à linge. À l’arrière-plan, à droite, se trouve un autre avion Siebel — un Siebel Fh 104 Hallore. Image : via the Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum, USA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630a3f7-b0f1-4faa-ad66-965e099ce820/Lambie270.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une autre photo (non pas de Lambie celle-ci) du cimetière de Klagenfurt à l’été 1945. On comprend l’attrait de ce genre de cimetière d’avions pour les aviateurs canadiens curieux. L’une des zones de dispersion regorge de Siebel Fh 104 et Si 204 de la Luftwaffe, de nombreux avions d’entraînement avancés Arado Ar 96, dont plusieurs exemplaires de l’armée de l’air hongroise (croix blanche sur carré noir), une paire de Focke-Wulf 190 et peut-être un avion d’entraînement biplan Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz enterré en plein milieu. Nous oublions que la Hongrie faisait partie des puissances de l’Axe pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale et qu’elle a adopté une politique de revendication semblable à celle d’Hitler et même de Vladimir Poutine aujourd’hui pour justifier l’invasion de ses voisins. Klagenfurt-Annabichl a servi comme base d’attache éphémère pour le 1er escadron de messagerie et de liaison de l’armée de l’air hongroise d’avril à mai 1945, ce qui explique tous les avions hongrois sur place. Il a également abrité une « Flugzeugführerschule » ou école de pilotage de la Luftwaffe pendant la majeure partie de la guerre. La dernière école à occuper ce terrain était la Flugzeugführerschule FFS A 14, ce qui explique la présence de l’entraîneur Steiglitz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f318006-8bd0-4515-a1f3-ccbc61bfa648/Lambie129.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et d’autres pilotes du 417e inspectent un Focke-Wulf Fw 190 sur le Flugfeld de Klagenfurt-Annabichl au cours de l’été 1945. Sous le bout de l’aile du chasseur, à gauche, on peut distinguer une collection d’avions allemands et hongrois réduite en ferraille. La visite à Klagenfurt n’était probablement pas un voyage officiel sanctionné par l’escadron, mais plutôt un groupe d’amis curieux qui voulaient voir une base de la Luftwaffe et tous les avions allemands, selon ce qu’on disait, étaient rassemblés après la fin des hostilités. Klagenfurt se trouvait à environ 100 miles au nord-est du Lago de Santa Croce, dans les Alpes autrichiennes. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/261e03b0-4525-4ac7-9157-1bc1eb52b41c/Klagenfurt_Airport_-_Hangar%2C_General_Aviation%2C_Heliport.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les deux immenses hangars que l’on voit sur la photo précédente de Lambie demeurent en service régulier aujourd’hui, près de 80 ans après la guerre. Le terrain, autrefois appelé Flugfeld Klagenfurt, est aujourd’hui Flughafen Klagenfurt, l’aéroport de la sixième plus grande ville d’Autriche. Photo : Zacke82 via Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ef0ba0f4-1337-4586-8dc2-6165baf2789e/Lambie109.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un Savoia-Marchetti SM. 79 « Sparviero » [Hawk] italien fait le plein à l’aide d’un ravitailleur Bedford QLC du 417e Escadron à Trévise en mai 1945. L’un des plus beaux avions (à mon avis) de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Sparviero n’était pas particulièrement agréable à entendre selon Lambie, qui a écrit : « On dirait un camion défoncé quand il décolle. » Les camions Bedford de la série QL étaient souvent surnommés « Queen Lizzie » en raison de leur suffixe QL, mais je n’ai pas trouvé de référence sur la signification de QL. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0fdc1ed5-fcb2-45da-b1fb-aaefda4105f1/Lambie302.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Sous un autre angle, le SM.79 révèle une cocarde italienne post-fasciste (anneaux extérieurs rouges et verts au centre) et nous indique qu’il appartenait à la Force aérienne co-belligérante italienne. La Force aérienne cobelligérante italienne (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, ou ACI), ou Force aérienne du Sud (Aeronautica del Sud), était la force aérienne royaliste du « gouvernement Badoglio » en Italie du Sud pendant les dernières années de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. L’ACI a été créée en octobre 1943 après l’armistice italien de septembre. Comme les Italiens avaient quitté l’Axe et déclaré la guerre à l’Allemagne, les pilotes de l’ACI ont volé avec les Alliés, mais jamais contre les troupes fascistes italiennes encore au combat. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5569b283-b6ec-44b8-8b60-0c9823c23ea2/Lambie301.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un Liberator C.IX du Royal Air Force subit une inspection d’entretien à Trévise en juin. À l’arrière-plan, nous voyons ce qui semble être le fuselage arrière d’un autre Savoia-Marchetti S.79. Celui de la photo précédente a un camouflage tacheté tandis que celui-ci semble de couleur monotone. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46a04003-7768-4d97-8510-873454704a19/Lambie307.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Sous un angle différent le Liberator précédent révèle qu’il s’agit du KK311. L’armée de l’air sud-africaine en Italie utilisait ses bombardiers Liberator sans les canons montés dans le nez, et la plupart avaient les tourelles d’usage toujours en place, mais sans les canons. Celui-ci, comme on peut le voir sur la photo précédente, a le carénage de nez profilé qui est normal pour la variante de transport du Liberator Express C-87 qui transportait environ 6 000 livres de fret ou jusqu’à 20 passagers. La RAF appelait ces variantes cargo Liberator C.IXs. Je pense qu’il s’agit d’un Liberator C.IX version cargo de la RAF qui était, jusqu’à récemment, un bombardier du 40e escadron. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd89953b-004e-463c-bde2-e578d7cf1536/Lambie111.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En mai, la guerre était terminée, mais il y avait encore de nombreuses façons de mettre fin à ses jours. Je ne trouve rien en ligne sur ce qui a pu arriver à ce RAF Hudson à Trévise en juin, mais il semble que l’équipage ait pu survivre. Comme il n’y a pas de véhicules de secours ou d’ambulances, il semble qu’ils aient décidé de laisser le feu s’éteindre de lui-même. Lambie était sur place pour prendre un certain nombre de photos alors que l’épave brûlait. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fda0b8da-e7f2-4ec1-938f-e40aa20ffffd/Lambie234.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une autre photo prise sous un angle différent nous montre que les hélices sont pliées vers l’avant, ce qui nous indique que le moteur produisait de la puissance lorsque les hélices ont heurté le sol. Pour moi, cela suggère une panne de moteur au décollage ou une tête à queue au sol. D’après les recherches que j’ai effectuées, si les extrémités sont pliées vers l’avant, elles étaient sous tension, si elles sont pliées vers l’arrière, la tension a été réduite. Si quelqu’un connaît les circonstances de la perte de cet Hudson en juin 1945 à Trévise, faites-le-nous savoir. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6572593-fe2e-470d-9913-1a6c8bd4426e/Lambie108.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out « Un petit appareil hongrois, probablement utilisé comme entraîneur élémentaire de la Luftwaffe par la Horthy Miklo Co. acquis par l’un des escadrons » indique l’inscription au dos de cette photo d’un Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann réquisitionné et immatriculé dans le civil. Aucun Jungmann n’a été construit par une société hongroise — il s’agit d’un trait d’humour de Lambie qui se moque de l’amiral Miklos Horthy, président de facto de la Hongrie pendant la guerre, un allié des nazis. En octobre 1944, Horthy a annoncé que la Hongrie avait déclaré un armistice avec les Alliés et s’était retirée de l’Axe. Il est contraint de démissionner, placé en état d’arrestation par les Allemands et emmené en Bavière. À la fin de la guerre, son emprisonnement passe aux mains des troupes américaines. Il est emprisonné à Nuremberg, mais n’est pas inculpé pour crimes de guerre (il aurait dû l’être) puis, la Hongrie étant devenue un État communiste sous le contrôle de Staline, il s’exile au Portugal où il meurt en 1957. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe10ce9a-3db6-437c-aa4a-686a0dec2e66/HA-LDF%281%29.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out J’ai trouvé un site Web hongrois avec une piètre photo de guerre du Jungmann HA-LDF volant en formation en compagnie d’autres. Photo via https://www.avia-info.hu/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dc7b08ee-4a70-466b-bd38-35331d7fd2c1/Lambie96.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En juin 1945, Jack Leach, Chuck Holdway et Don Lambie adoptent une pose détendue entre amis à l’extérieur du mess et des casernes du « château » qu’ils ont « découverts » près de Trévise. Notez la mention « 417 Squadron » inscrite à la craie sur la brique à côté de la fenêtre, revendiquant l’escadron. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4dc4dc39-5169-4b3e-80a0-ea0dd6735ed1/Lambie213.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Aux portes du « château », nos Canadiens prennent un air décontracté et confiant. Notez « 417 Sqn. » inscrit à la craie sur le mur de briques entre Lambie et Latimer. De gauche à droite : le lieutenant d’aviation Charles Edward « Chuck » Holdway, le lieutenant d’aviation Bob Latimer, Lambie, le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Douglas Leach et le lieutenant d’aviation Alfred « Al » White. L’escadron comptait un certain nombre d’hommes originaires de la vallée d’Ottawa et Rideau et de la région du Saint-Laurent — Latimer, Lambie, Holdway, Desormeaux, Slack et d’autres. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95c44a93-5c0a-47b7-930e-99c66f57f280/Lambie305.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out J’ai trouvé d’un grand intérêt l’écusson et la veste que portait Al White sur la photo précédente. La veste de vol ne semble pas provenir de l’ARC et l’écusson est très semblable à celui qui est montré en couleur ici — mais ce n’est PAS le même. Celui de gauche appartient au 145e Escadron du Home War Establishment de l’ARC, une unité Hudson et Ventura opérant à partir de Terre-Neuve pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Celui porté par White montre la même figure de lutin chevauchant une bombe avec un marteau de forgeron (et non un télescope dans ce cas) à la main, mais le texte indique « ATU - SFTS 1 ». Il s’agissait d’un écusson pour une unité d’entraînement avancé de l’école de pilotage militaire n° 1 de Camp Borden. Si vous avez lu Donald Lambie’s War — 1er épisode, Lambie et sa cohorte d’Hurricane de Bagotville ont passé deux semaines à Borden pour un cours de formation tactique avancée. Serait-ce un écusson propre à ce cours ? L’encadré à droite est une mauvaise photo d’une décalcomanie défraîchie, mais identique sur le flanc du Tiger Moth de Havilland CF-TBS de Brad Hieronimus. Détail de Brad Hieronimus, Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f50dd5eb-2b87-4713-892e-90781d3623df/Lambie97.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Bob Latimer et Lambie se concentrent sur une partie d’échecs dans le quartier des officiers de Trévise. On peut voir une moustiquaire sur le mur à l’arrière-plan. La malaria était une menace constante dans les régions avoisinantes la mer Méditerranée. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/12fe4ede-fc72-4c86-a077-0bd359362632/Lambie194.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En juin 1945, alors qu’il attend d’être rapatrié, Donald Lambie, au teint basané du style Hollywood, répare son uniforme dans leur château de Trévise, en Italie. Le dos de cette photo comporte une inscription mignonne qui me laisse penser qu’il a envoyé la photo à sa mère. Elle se lit comme suit : « Je dois quand même faire ces choses-là moi-même maintenant, maman !!! ». Remarquez la moustiquaire au-dessus de chaque lit. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b39787df-6875-4cea-9861-94053bf45b59/Lambie317.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le lieutenant d’aviation Stuart Allan « Al » Marshall de Peterborough, en Ontario, répond à une remarque comique d’un autre pilote du 417e dans le mess des officiers de Trévise. C’est la nature candide des photos de la collection de Lambie qui les rend si spéciales. Bien sûr, la plupart des gens veulent voir des avions, mais il est impossible de connaître les expériences de ces hommes simplement en regardant une autre photo de Spitfire. Né à Yorkton, en Saskatchewan, Al Marshall, à l’âge de 10 ans, déménage à Peterborough avec sa famille en 1931. C’était un athlète doué qui a remporté de nombreux championnats en natation à tous les niveaux : local, provincial, interprovincial et national. Il a été champion canadien du 200 mètres brasse, de 1940 à 1952 ; il a détenu cinq records de l’Ontario et du Québec en brasse ; il a été capitaine et entraîneur de l’équipe senior de water-polo de l’Université de Toronto pendant trois ans et champion du Dominion en 1946. La piscine de l’Université Trent de Peterborough a été dédiée à Marshall en 1978, et les certificats de ses records se trouvent dans des vitrines à Trent. Après avoir obtenu son diplôme à l’Université de Toronto, Marshall s’est joint à nouveau à l’ARC en 1948. Il a été tué le samedi 19 mai 1956 lorsque son CF-100 Canuck Mk 5 s’est écrasé lors d’un spectacle aérien militaire à Sault-Sainte-Marie, au Michigan. Il effectuait un passage à haute vitesse et à basse altitude lors du spectacle aérien de Kinross AFB lorsque l’aile gauche du CF-100 s’est désintégrée. Le lieutenant R. De Genova de l’US Air Force, son passager, s’est éjecté, mais son parachute ne s’est pas ouvert et il a été tué ainsi que Marshall qui est mort dans l’épave de son avion. À l’époque, il faisait partie du 428e Escadron et était stationné à la station Uplands de l’ARC, ici à Ottawa. Il a eu droit à des funérailles militaires complètes, tout comme deux autres aviateurs de l’ARC. Plus tragiquement encore, les deux autres, les lieutenants d’aviation William John Schmitt et Kenneth Dinismore Thomas, âgés de 20 ans, probablement à cause d’hypoxie, ont perdu le contrôle de leur CF-100 dans la nuit du 15 mai et ont plongé des milliers de pieds avant de s’écraser sur un couvent dans la petite ville d’Orléans, maintenant en banlieue d’Ottawa. Treize personnes ont été tuées dans le couvent, toutes des religieuses, à l’exception d’une employée du couvent et d’un prêtre qui avait été un aumônier très respecté de l’ARC pendant la guerre. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8bb8d956-6b47-445b-8f3e-9e81b7a3064d/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+4.59.43+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une coupure de journal tirée de l’Ottawa Citizen deux jours après l’écrasement de Marshall raconte la triste histoire de sa mort. Son navigateur habituel, Hugh Anderson, a cédé son siège au passager arrière de l’USAF, lui sauvant ainsi la vie. Malheureusement, il a été témoin de la mort de son bon ami. L’article précise que, bien que le travail principal du 417e soit l’appui au sol, Marshall avait réussi à abattre deux avions allemands. Lorsqu’il a réintégré l’ARC, il l’a fait en tant qu’agent des relations publiques, toutefois il a réussi à retrouver le chemin du cockpit. Il était considéré comme un bon pilote consciencieux et était « l’un des rares qui, par leur attitude et leur exemple, maintiennent l’unité d’un escadron et rendent le moral réel ». Il était le 54e aviateur canadien à mourir dans un CF-100 depuis leur mise en service cinq ans auparavant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85107206-4450-4b2f-8cc2-2edf3880ea18/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+5.11.11+PM.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En lisant plusieurs articles sur Marshall dans les journaux locaux d’Ottawa après sa mort, il était clair que le 428e Escadron et l’ARC avaient subi une perte importante. Dans l’Ottawa Citizen du 23 mai 1956, Bob Martin, rédacteur du journal, dit de lui : « En tant qu’agent des relations publiques du 428e Escadron Fantôme d’Ottawa, il a volontairement consacré beaucoup de son temps et ses efforts et a patiemment offert des centaines d’explications aux journalistes curieux. » Marshall était toujours autorisé, disposé et prêt à prendre en vol tout journaliste intéressé à faire un reportage sur l’ARC, le 428e Escadron ou le CF-100. Il était un écrivain et un chroniqueur doué. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86776b66-155e-475d-85bf-ae57d0fa0e4e/Lambie113.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et ses amis se trouvent dans les quais de location de gondoles et de chaloupes au pied de la Basilique de San Marco et de la place qui l’entoure. Ils regardent au-delà du canal de la Giudecca vers l’église de Giorgio Maggiore, le célèbre chef-d’œuvre bénédictin de l’île du même nom. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/033e7c99-9d3c-4b37-9bda-8e523204c8ba/Lambie275.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie est assis sur le toit d’un bateau à moteur dans l’embarcadère des gondoles qui circulent sur le canal de la Giudecca. Il semble y avoir une femme dans la cabine en dessous. Photo : Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a81967c2-5767-48c9-bb36-db0a915ec585/Lambie319.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Je n’arrive pas à l’identifier, mais ce pilote du 417e est accompagné dans sa gondole alors qu’ils descendent le Grand Canal avec style. La femme sur cette photo semble être la même que celle de la photo précédente. Il s’agit peut-être d’une infirmière sans uniforme ou d’une jeune fille du coin. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21064a06-0089-4c77-9a53-57c3d4f8a32d/Lambie114.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out De gauche à droite : Les trois Montréalais : Chuck Holdway (Les Cèdres), Bruce Johnston et Donald Lambie naviguent sur leur bateau à moteur sous le célèbre Pont des Soupirs à Venise. Il semble s’agir d’une photographie officielle de la RAF, car elle porte la mention « Crown Copyright Reserved » au verso et une inscription énumère les hommes présents sur la photo. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97a9b6d5-14a6-4b1d-9765-e643cbbe1616/shutterstock_1580018680.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le Pont des Soupirs sur le Rio di Palazzo de Venise tel qu’il se présente aujourd’hui — exactement comme Lambie, Holdway et Johnson l’auraient vu il y a près de 80 ans. Photo : Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/567adbb9-5d8f-4932-b3da-9dbff9c32ed3/Lambie112.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les deux copains de Lambie de la région d’Ottawa, Bob Latimer et Herb Slack, testent l’eau d’une fontaine située sur le parvis du chef-d’œuvre gothique Chiesa de San Zaccaria (Saint Zachary) à Venise. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bb67356-7814-4b7e-82ac-cff9a4230f92/Lambie314.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le parvis ou « Campo di san Zaccaria » tel qu’il est aujourd’hui. Le bassin que nous voyons sur la photo précédente a été comblé, mais la fontaine est restée inchangée, à l’exception de son élévation. Photo via Google Maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c701025-be08-492f-8a5a-e6d92e42a2a0/Lambie116.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lors d’une de ses sorties à Venise, Lambie a rencontré et s’est lié d’amitié avec deux jeunes infirmières de la Croix-Rouge, probablement des volontaires américaines. D’après les photos, il semble avoir passé la journée avec elles. Notre homme semble n’avoir eu aucun mal à rencontrer et à nouer des relations avec les femmes qu’il a rencontrées. Je suis sûr que ses camarades plus timides aimaient être avec lui. Ces dames étaient resplendissantes dans leurs uniformes gris, leurs épaulettes blanches et leurs sourires radieux. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21c2ac83-882c-466e-bc86-8cf9a4d8b1b9/Lambie315.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En ce jour ensoleillé de juin 1945 à Venise, en compagnie du capitaine d’aviation Tony Bryan, DFC, que l’on voit ici en pose avec « Charm », l’une des deux infirmières de la Croix-Rouge qui les accompagnaient lors de cette visite. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6d8e55c-b557-4299-9368-3b7b73f1c0e4/Lambie115.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les deux infirmières de la Croix-Rouge posent pour l’appareil photo de Lambie. Tout le monde a du bien profiter de cette belle journée : la guerre était finie, Venise était à leurs pieds, de beaux pilotes de chasse en compagnie de belles infirmières sous le soleil italien. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1d2e912e-6c2d-4f4e-9bd2-23dfe3e4fa99/Lambie320.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out D’après cette photo de Tony Bryan qui soulève l’une des deux infirmières de la Croix-Rouge, il est clair qu’ils partageaient une certaine complicité avec ces dames. Il faut garder à l’esprit qu’ils étaient tous dans la vingtaine, qu’ils se trouvaient dans une ville romantique et qu’ils venaient de survivre à une guerre, alors ils n’hésitaient pas à s’amuser un peu. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c80c3e58-0cfb-483e-a4f5-dfd56ea74fe6/Lambie104.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out À Trévise, en Italie, le 19 juin 1945, des pilotes se préparent à emmener l’ensemble des Spitfire de l’escadron vers l’unité de stockage des avions du terrain d’aviation de Campoformido, près d’Udine, à proximité de la frontière yougoslave. Tout l’escadron est sorti pour les accompagner. À Campoformido, ils remettent leur avion et c’est tout. Pour un bon nombre des pilotes du 417e, ce serait leur dernier vol aux commandes d’un avion, militaire ou civil. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6f97d1b-68a4-4ce7-8521-871c2e2295db/Lambie105.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les Spitfire Mk IX du 417e Escadron à Trévise en route vers Udine avec des réservoirs ventraux de 90 gallons fixés sous le fuselage. La distance entre Trévise et Udine est d’un peu plus de 100 km, les réservoirs externes étaient donc superflus. Il est possible qu’ils aient été nécessaires pour le retour en Grande-Bretagne après la remise des armes ou qu’ils aient tous voulu avoir un maximum de carburant pour pouvoir rester en l’air avec leurs Spitfire aussi longtemps que possible. Le Spitfire au premier plan ne porte pas le code « AN » du 417e Escadron. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82dc68de-42f5-440f-8982-7ad200e01039/Lambie110.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out L’escadron 417 aligné à Treviso. Ces appareils apparaissent ensemble dans l’album avec les photos du dernier voyage à Udine, mais il est possible qu’elles datent d’une période antérieure, lorsqu’ils s’entraînaient pour le défilé aérien de la DAF en mai. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eeff1b55-21ea-4ae6-ab01-8b455ad418d1/Lambie107.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Spitfire AN-L (MH773), que Lambie a noté comme « l’appareil de Bob ». En effet, Bob Latimer l’a piloté à de nombreuses reprises, tout comme d’autres pilotes de cette histoire, notamment « Bug Eyes », Desormeaux, Vern Herron, Tony Bryan, Chuck Holdway, Ted Whitlock et Al White. Il semble en grande forme. Notez la bande blanche autour du cône d’hélice. Sur la photo précédente, il y a un cône similaire (cinquième en ligne). Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ded5b5d-dfdb-4db9-9d24-6f89510c41f0/Lambie106.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie aurait pu prendre une photo parfaite du Spitfire de Bob Latimer pour la postérité, mais lorsqu’il lui a remis l’appareil photo à l’aérodrome de Campoformido, il a obtenu des résultats plutôt médiocres. Comme c’est la seule photo que Lambie a prise des marques de « son » appareil, il l’a gardée. Lambie a inscrit : « Bob a pris une photo floue de moi juste après l’atterrissage de notre dernier voyage en Spitfire à Udine, juin 1945 ». Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e210a250-3675-4ae1-9943-53fe9a7bbeb4/Lambie128.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Après son atterrissage à Campoformido, à Udine, Lambie et certains de ses hommes ont examiné quelques épaves de la Luftwaffe éparpillées sur le terrain d’aviation. Ici, le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leslie, également de Montréal, examine la carcasse d’un Messerschmitt Bf 109 de la Luftwaffe. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7f41ff4-b885-401f-84bc-2e2fa01c4864/Lambie126.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leslie inspecte les dommages subis par le Messerschmitt. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b4d78d3-5e6f-47bb-9dd8-ef7868192db9/Lambie127.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Une autre photo d’Udine. Ce tas de cendres et de ferraille a peut-être été un Messerschmitt Bf 109 garé dans son abri. Les gars semblent amusés par certains mots prononcés — de gauche à droite : Le lieutenant d’aviation Leslie, Pete (le cuisinier de l’escadron apparemment — je ne sais pas comment il est arrivé à Udine), Chuck Urie et Herb Slack. Le lieutenant d’aviation Charles H. « Chuck » Urie, de Windsor, en Ontario, est décédé en novembre dernier, en 2021. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b562d5d4-147b-43a8-a007-103d448683c7/Lambie233.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie avec son appareil — Spitfire Mk IX LZ923 à Udine le 19 juin 1945 — le tout dernier vol qu’il a effectué avec un Spitfire. Au total, Don Lambie a piloté l’AN-T (LZ923) à 35 reprises. Ce pilote de chasse, maintenant un vétéran, semble prêt à rentrer chez lui et à reprendre sa vie. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c03d9aa1-181c-4c89-ac9a-0b31b98e44a6/Lambie160.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Le HMS Ascania, un ancien paquebot de la compagnie de croisière Cunard, a transporté Lambie de Naples à la Sicile, puis Liverpool. L’Ascania a été approprié par la marine en 1939 et transformé en croiseur marchand armé. Armé de 8 canons de 6 pouces et de 2 canons de 3 pouces, il devient le HMS Ascania et porte le numéro de fanion F68. Il navigue avec la Halifax Escort Force et plus tard avec la North Atlantic Escort Force pour assurer la protection des convois. De novembre 1941 à septembre 1942, il est déployé en Nouvelle-Zélande. En octobre 1942, il est retourné au Royaume-Uni et a été employé comme navire-transporteur de troupes par Ministry of War Transport. L’année suivante, l’Ascania est modifié en Landing Ship Infantry et participe à l’invasion de la Sicile en 1943, aux débarquements d’Anzio et à ceux du sud de la France en 1944. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85ae0705-9bba-4359-b4c6-66ef36d675a7/Lambie155.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Depuis le pont promenade, Lambie prend une photo du panneau d’identification de l’Ascania sur le côté bâbord de son pont ouvert, tandis qu’un de ses officiers descend l’échelle à l’arrière. Avant la guerre, les parties supérieures de l’Ascania étaient peintes d’un blanc éclatant dans le style Cunard, avec une cheminée rouge vif coiffée de noir, mais pendant la durée de son service dans la Royal Navy, Ascania a été peint en gris cuirassé. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ec5a53bd-62a5-4686-8c8f-fd0398fc22e7/Lambie154.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Pendant le voyage vers la Sicile, puis celui du retour au pays, Lambie a beaucoup apprécié la compagnie de deux officiers féminins du Service territorial auxiliaire qu’il identifie comme étant Joan Westwood (à gauche) et un autre lieutenant qui est simplement appelé « Scottie ». Scottie semble porter un type d’épaulette différent de celui des autres membres que j’ai vus de ce service, donc si je me trompe, j’aimerais le savoir. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5eea975-c89c-4067-8bdb-9f8a67338af9/Lambie145.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et son collègue officier Gerry Minnis posent pour l’appareil photo de Joan Westwood. Minnis, sur lequel je ne trouve aucune information, semble être un officier de l’armée britannique ou canadienne. On peut voir appareil photo tellement choyé par Lambie dans sa main. Lambie a dû correspondre avec Joan Westwood après la guerre et échanger des photos du voyage, car j’ai trouvé la photo suivante affichée par Westwood sur un site dédié aux voyages de l’Ascania. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f34d005-0c8e-4395-9a9e-55990d0bfd48/Lambie156.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie prend une photo de Joan (toujours avec un sourire radieux) et Scottie dans la même position que la photo précédente. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/933251c5-7bea-4b0b-ab75-1401e102d849/Lambie158.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lieutenant Joan Westwood et Gerry Minnis affichent un grand sourire devant la caméra alors qu’ils scrutent l’horizon en route vers la Sicile. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e694dd2-eaa5-43f1-8d63-a2716643bb75/Lambie157.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Alors que les sous-gradés sur le pont inférieur sont entassés et privés de la compagnie de femmes, Lambie et Gerry Minnis (au premier plan) trouvent l’ombre d’un canot de sauvetage accompagné d’au moins sept femmes. Lambie était probablement couché dans l’espace vide qu’on aperçoit entre Minnis et Joan Westwood. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ddafba5-a3b6-48f1-ad47-be05d9fd9ac1/Lambie146.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out En regardant vers l’arrière le long du pont principal, nous voyons la cuve du canon antiaérien de l’Ascania et de nombreux militaires qui passent le temps. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1b3ca81e-4cef-4c8c-a38b-56f61d4f5088/Lambie153.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Les soldats, les marins et les aviateurs se pressent sur le pont principal arrière pour écouter un spectacle musical donné par un pianiste et tout probablement d’autres musiciens. Les soldats et les sous-officiers ne disposaient pas du même confort que les officiers sur le pont supérieur. Les derricks, les manches à air du type dorade et le couvert de machinerie sont les mêmes que sur la photo précédente. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f8ef4bd-b25d-46ea-8e4e-2bca983b51c7/Lambie152.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et ses amis Joan Westwood et Scottie ainsi que d’autres officiers féminins profitent du concert depuis le du pont des canots de sauvetage faisant office de « balcon ». Ils portent des vêtements plus chauds, ce qui signifie que cet événement a pu avoir lieu alors que le navire naviguait vers l’ouest et le nord en route vers Liverpool. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/af0501e8-1ca8-4d2d-9ec5-15cafb504930/Lambie159.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Vers la fin de leur voyage, Lambie et Westwood posent ensemble. Lambie est en tenue civile complet. Le temps se rafraîchit manifestement, peut-être se rapprochent-ils de Liverpool. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f601e256-374e-44a5-a851-05501f15adb0/Lambie316.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out De retour à Liverpool. Le HMS Ascania vient de s’amarrer au terminal passager de Liverpool et la passerelle est abaissée. Alors qu’une fanfare de l’armée britannique joue un message de bienvenue, des officiers montent à bord pour coordonner le débarquement avec les officiers du navire. Nous sommes le 14 juillet 1945. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8348797-128f-4329-967e-24dd671c47d1/Lambie149.jpg The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Quai et plage de Bournemouth, juillet 1945. La guerre est terminée et le front de mer de Bournemouth est bondé de militaires canadiens et d’habitants de la région. C’est la mi-juillet en Angleterre, mais tout le monde est habillé pour un temps plus frais. Les gens sont heureux d’être ici, mais ont hâte de rentrer au Canada. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bb3d5b4e-27aa-4e63-8fac-5998326bf768/Lambie325.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Pendant son séjour à Bournemouth, Lambie s’est entretenu avec un couple d’officiers de l’armée canadienne du camp de transit militaire d’Aldershot, situé à proximité. Ici, les gars ont loué des vélos pour se promener sur le front de mer bondé de jeunes gens sortis pour la journée et qui ne savent pas quoi faire d’eux-mêmes. Le soldat à gauche est Frank Dorchester, de Vancouver, bien que je n’aie trouvé aucune mention de lui dans les journaux de Vancouver de cette journée. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf19c533-2be3-4377-8f68-4cc0c154f9d4/Lambie245.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Pour la dernière étape de son voyage de guerre, Lambie monte à bord du HMT Duchess of Richmond pour la traversée de l’Atlantique et le retour au pays. L’ancien navire du Canadien Pacifique a quitté Liverpool le 12 août et est arrivé à Québec le 18 août. Le Duchess of Richmond a été affrété comme navire transporteur de troupes en janvier 1940 jusqu’en 1947, date à laquelle il a été rendu au Canadien Pacifique, réaménagé et rebaptisé Empress of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bba43e2e-3ea8-4e76-b927-7b1e0b6a22f0/Lambie244.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out La vie de Donald Lambie après la guerre est caractérisée par un long service à la communauté. L’Ordre maçonnique est peut-être le meilleur moyen de répondre à son besoin d’appartenance et de contribution. Lambie a occupé plusieurs postes élevés dans cet ordre à Montréal et à Toronto, notamment celui de Grand Maître adjoint du District 2 de Toronto et de membre de l’Ordre de 33 degrés A & ASR (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada). Nous le voyons ici portant les insignes bleus royal et or d’un Grand Maître adjoint. Photo : Collection de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/091e5bfc-d59e-4603-887f-98c4568bc2a6/Lambie243.png The Stories - LA GUERRE SELON DONALD LAMBIE- Troisième Épisode - Make it stand out Un portrait de studio de Lambie, probablement à la fin de la quarantaine ou au début de la cinquantaine. Toujours aussi bien habillé, toujours aussi élégant, mais maintenant muni d’un regard confiant et sage témoignant une vaste expérience. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bulldogs-on-the-coast monthly 0.5 2022-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629375225414-705L5JEDLT38QU410EFK/BullgogTitleNew.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629375513693-Y6WRRFYEA1O0SOK385QP/Bulldog39.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The photo album donated to the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum came from George Lawson. Lawson, who trained at No. 7 EFTS and received his wings at No. 14 SFTS, Aylmer, Ontario, flew with 135 Sqaudron as a Hurricane pilot and with 402 on Spitfires on D-Day. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via flyingforyourlife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629375638157-DSZORK6WLQT92W20Z4ET/Bulldog29.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out On their way to Mossbank? This shot of Hurricane 5403 was taken at No. 8 Repair Depot, Winnipeg, and it came to Jerry Vernon via Norm Malayney in 2006. Vernon says, “I was unable to pin down when the photo was taken, but had some ideas at the time. The question is whether it was taken on or about 20 Jul 42, when 5403 plus several other Hurricanes were being ferried from Fort William to Mossbank or was it taken later, after 135(F) Sqn. had stood down at Terrace, BC in Feb 44? RCAF 5403 is "unaccounted for" between Feb 44 and Aug 44, when it went into Stored Reserve in Eastern Canada. It appears, from the card information, to have been overhauled... somewhere... just before it went into storage, as it shows as "0 hrs TSO". As this Hurricane seems exquisitely new with exhaust stacks looking unbeaten, no grease, oil or exhaust stains, and still shiny tires,one has to think it was the former scenario of a Hurricane being delivered to 135 Squadron right from the Fort William factory of Canadian Car and Foundry -Ed. Photo: Al Hanson via Norm Malayney and Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629375797978-DDBXXXP13KEYTP2SW94D/Bulldog38.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The first commanding officer of 135 squadron was S/L Ed Reyno, but for just over a month (15 Jun - 18 Jul 42). Reno then went to the newly-formed No. 1(F) Hurricane OTU at Bagotville, where he was Chief Instructor. In this photo, Squadron Leader W.C. Connell (seated centre), who took over from Reyno, proudly sits for the camera with the senior NCOs of the newly constituted 135 Squadron at RCAF Station Mossbank, Saskatchewan in the summer or early autumn of 1942. Reyno's whose post war career would see him as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and Deputy Commander of NORAD. Ed Reyno was the uncle of Mike Reyno one of Canada's top aviation photographers and publisher of Canadian Skies, Canada's premier aviation magazine. Reyno would go from here to be the Chief Instructor at the Hurricane OTU at Bagotville as the war progressed. Photo from G. Lawson Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629375841661-4B5OWA1V61TBWTV9XQS2/Bulldog40.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out While searching the web for information on Reyno and Connell, I came across this photo which shows both future leaders of 135 Squadron together in England. Both were from No. 1 Squadron RCAF, (eventually 401), and flew during the Battle of Britain. This image shows them "discussing” tactics in October of 1941, with then Flying Officer Connell (who would also fly Hurricanes with 32 Squadron RAF) on the left and Flight Lieutenant Ed “Pappy” Reyno on the right. In the centre was Flying Officer Ken Boomer of Ottawa, who would not survive the war. Clearly, 135 Squadron began its short career led by experienced, competent and battle ready flight leaders and not simply rank climbers. Both Connell's and Reyno's names are inscribed on the Battle of Britain monument on the Thames Embankment in London. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376028303-0BVQ810IHYC81OTNWL8W/Bulldog8.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Newly arrived and marked Hawker Hurricane Mk XIIs warm in the sun at Mossbank, Saskatchewan in 1942. The Hurricane (RCAF serial 5405) in the foreground is the same as the one shown in the colour photo in the opening title image of this story. Delivered to No. 4 Training Command for No. 135 (F) Squadron at Mossbank, Saskatchewan on 20 July 1942, 5405 remained with this unit when it transferred to Western Air Command. Hurricane 5405 was involved in a Category C crash at Patricia Bay on February 2nd, 1943, with its pilot, Sergeant M. J. Binion, being uninjured. While practicing circuits and landings on his second solo on type, the pilot levelled off slightly high and swung off the runway, the aircraft turning on its nose. 5405 was then repaired and returned to the unit, but was involved in a mid-air with Hurricane 5408 on May 8th, 1943, while practicing section attacks on three other Hurricanes, five miles East of Ladysmith. Luckily, both pilots were uninjured. About 2 feet of starboard wing tip of 5408 was chewed off by the prop of 5405. The prop was bent forward slightly and the underside of the port wing was scraped and dented inward. The pilot was FSgt K. C. Gallinger. The aircraft was sent to stored reserve with No. 3 Training Command on August 7th, 1944 and made available for disposal from September 17, 1945, with No. 1 Air Command. It had 467:15 hours on the airframe time when struck off the RCAF lists at Dunnville, Ontario. Immediately behind Hurricane 5405 sits Hurricane 5418. This Hurricane was involved in a fatal mid-air with Hurricane 5419 on May 30th, 1943, during a formation low flying exercise four miles North of Sydney Island, BC. 5419 was No. 2 in formation, flown by F/O Richard Haviland Pallen. The propeller of the No. 3 aircraft, RCAF 5418, flown by FSgt T. E. Jackson, cut off the tailplane of 5419, causing it to dive straight into the water. The propeller on 5418 was severely damaged, but the pilot managed to return to base safely and was uninjured. The body of F/O Pallen was recovered in the wreckage of his aircraft on June 6th, 1943. Instead of going into storage after deployment to Terrace, BC it became one of the 12 "Prairie Hurricanes" that were dispatched to the BCATP stations on the Prairies to combat the Japanese fire balloons that were being sent up to drift across North America. Most of these aircraft survived and are now in museums and collections in Canada, the US and the UK, having been sold out of Swift Current to Prairie farmers and later being rescued by Harry Whereatt and others. Despite its near destruction in the accident, 5418, survived the war and now is beautifully restored at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum at Wetaskiwin, Alberta – home of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. See below for images. In the far background we can see one Hurricane with nose pointed left that bears the new Bull Dog emblem. This clearly indicates that the emblem was designed, unveiled and applied while aircraft were still at Mossbank. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376074161-TLH93R1I082LRXWBLUAL/Bulldog27.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Another photo taken at Mossbank shows most of the squadron's Hurricanes (5403 in the foreground), many with newly applied bulldog nose art. The logo was adopted prior to their departure for Patricia Bay. Photo via Mark Peapell, Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376199729-D5CWN0MV53XEG2UCA091/Bulldog22.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A photo of Hurricane “T”. Given the low and broad horizon, this is possibly at Mossbank. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376259256-WQ8GOSSBJZ63G7HAWHAN/Bulldog18.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out 135 Squadron Hurricanes taxi out for take-off at Mossbank, in 1942. This is possibly the day they departed en mass for Patricia Bay. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum, via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376298841-ERR2TFGDD4BPQX0BVOES/Bulldog19.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Formation training at Mossbank, 1942. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376367340-GN4SLRKB7CUEN4WJX6AC/Bulldog24.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The 62nd Fighter Squadron, USAAF emblem, shown here hand painted on a patch and designed by Disney Studios was adapted for 135 Squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376433624-SQ39NDM7ZC08NVDZG3KD/Bulldog37.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out As a young puppy, King walks the wing of a 135 Squadron Hurricane at Mossbank. Note the bulldog logo on the nose of the aircraft. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376592817-US5W0UU9RVQHIJVAN0KF/Bulldog4.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out King, one of 135 Squadron's two live British bulldog mascots for 135 Squadron, sniffs out the competition, a colourful recreation of the Bull Dog emblem in plywood. Jerry Vernon quotes the squadron diary which, on August 5th, 1942 read, “The Squadron Mascot, a British bull pup, as purchased today in Regina, Saskatchewan, to be known as Cpl. Picadilly Regina, Regimental No. 166762, nicknamed 'King'. King reported by air from Regina, Sask. at 1200 hrs today, and he is entitled to Rations and Quarters, effective the same date." This was two months before they moved to Patricia bay. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629376625518-QMFLRAJKPUZMIFXTQQSB/Bulldog6.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out An older-looking King sits in the luggage bay of a squadron Harvard at Mossbank. According to documents about aircraft movements, 135 Squadron had two to four North American Harvards at their disposal - no doubt for liaison and other administrative flights. Unfortunately, in October 6th, 1942, the Squadron Diary states that “Our Squadron Mascot(bulldog), Sgt. King, No. 166762, died today in Victoria, B. C., because of an abscessed kidney”. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377127826-3H22CNQ2OQ232DQROC9N/Bulldog13.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The 135 Squadron Commanding Officer Squadron Leader W. C. Connell shows off his Mae West with the unit's new Fighting Bull Dog emblem painted on it. A rare tradition, the emblem was worn on the Mae Wests of all 135 Squadron pilots. Connell was the CO of 135(F) Sqn. from July 19th, 1942 until October 30th, 1943, so he was the CO from the time they were still in Mossbank until after they had moved to Annette Island, Alaska. Later, he became the CO of 133(F) Squadron, RCAF, when 133 was at Tofino and Sea Island. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377169190-LEG5P9VF9BG8UQCXYMWE/Bulldog11.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Squadron pilots stand easy in a Patricia Bay hangar, admiring their newly acquired mascot Queen, another British bull dog acquired, no doubt, to replace the recently deceased King. The photo is captioned "Queen's Arrival”. Each pilot in the squadron sports a Mae West life vest painted with the new “pugilistic pup” emblem. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377211644-4TFLIE2E3OVTM99C2J1N/Bulldog14.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Connell poses with the other unit mascot, Queen, by the nose of a unit Hurricane probably at Patricia Bay. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377245206-2DR3PR1X9OTSMLFTLT4Q/Bulldog12.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Two 135 Squadron pilots, Sergeant Carranger and Flying Officer Wiley (r) model new (hardly covered in oil at all) Mae Wests with the squadron emblem painted colourfully on each. Clearly, some talented maintainer had a lot of work painting the mascot on each pilot’s vest and on the sides of all the Hurricanes on squadron. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377373517-3IOA9XSQ6ONIRUOLQ8E2/Bulldog17.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Squadron Leader W.C. Connell, commanding officer, (Left) stands on a mess chair ready to lower a plaid curtain to reveal to staff photographers, the new 135 Squadron fighting bull dog emblem at their new home in Patricia Bay, Vancouver Island in 1942. This event was more likely the opening of their new mess than the unveiling of their new squadron emblem. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377448872-1Q6SHJOAJT749Z89UUA6/Bulldog3.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Connell (beneath banner) and his mostly Sergeant pilots pose proudly with their Fightin' Bulldog squadron emblem. We are not sure who everyone else is in this photo, but Mark Peapell writes that squadron pilots at this time were listed as Al Harley (the man who adapted the American logo), Jack Roberts, Alexander Wheeler, Mark Beazer, Ross Clarke, ” Pop” Battleson (left, second row), D. Passmore, E. Walcroft, G. Lawson, Tom Adams, Pallen, Jackson, Hopkins, Frey, Carragher, Boileau, Hattie, Wiley, McGill, Cornell, Aucoin, Gallinger, Stewart, and Foster. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377511463-X07VQZ3EMKIBQZOS38KV/Bulldog28.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A photograph of 135 Squadron Hurricanes at RCAF Station Patricia Bay near Victoria, BC around ther time they left for Annette Island. Photo via Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377587709-QJOGODBVWLHB0PNUG7O4/Bulldog44.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A 135 Squadron Hurricane over Annette Island in the Alaskan Panhandle during their deployment there in from August 6th, 1943 – November 16th 1943. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377648363-C4G8DII4EEUE683MLL15/Bulldog41..jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Another photo from a local paper shows 135s arrival at Patricia Bay from Terrace, British Columbia via Sea Island, shows the flight line crowded with different Hurricanes which they picked up in Sea Island, lined wing tip to wing tip. The image was probably taken by a news reporter standing on the control tower balcony or perhaps a hangar roof. Photo via Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377693145-WG6FU81PA4Y0DKZ2IPJL/Bulldog2.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Another photo of a 135 Squadron Hurricane with ground crewman sitting on wing. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629377753560-NWGNQ7S4IVZWDAYMV3VF/Bulldog15.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out 135 Squadron pilot Tom Adams with his Hurricane, the “Arkansas Traveller”. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378044432-EGK37UBFC6F4Q86RXZFV/Bulldog10.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out There was no holding back when it came to racist images of the Japanese, even for Canadian fighter pilots. Here a 135 Squadron Hurricane, flown by “Pop” Battleson sports artwork depicting a Red, White and Blue rope hanging a highly egregious image of General Hideki Tojo, Japan's War Minister, replete with slanted eyes, pointed ears and buck teeth. Judging by the pine trees in the background, and the graphic clear reference to fighting the Japanese, this image most likely was taken on the West Coast - Pat Bay, Terrace or Annette Island. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378186537-RR8RULDESJJHZVVLY6BF/Bulldog16.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A beautiful if somewhat damaged image of a 135 Squadron Hurricane (H) flying off the coast of British Columbia. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378222403-6CBB4AWLMR8XX5CS4MEP/Bulldog5.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out As this is also Hurricane “H”, this photo was quite possibly from the same day as the proceeding image. We can clearly see the recognizable Strait of Georgia behind and below with the vague hint of snow capped mountains in the distance. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378283641-72FJQMIXZQQYIZWD6L8V/Bulldog21.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Hot House Rosie - another personal piece of artwork adorning a 135 Squadron Hurricane. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378314397-CSV5DUWXYXV40CVAUJ1D/Bulldog23.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The weather in Victoria in the summer and indeed all year round made tropical tan uniform derigeur. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378418739-8I4W058ELMWCRZB3K3SL/Bulldog9.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A 135 Squadron Hurricane sits on a ready dispersal pad at Patricia Bay, sporting a bulldog emblem on a rectangular field. The pilot's Mae West hangs on the port wing tip, ready for the scramble in case of attacking Japaneseaircraft. Photo from G. Lawson Collection via Atlantic Aviation Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378380624-URUC95FM1V2F5XW03LMP/Bulldog7.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out George Lawson's personal Hurricane sported additional artwork beneath the starboard cockpit rail - a top-hatted skull with the odd caption – “STOPPAGE’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378494192-HPNA4JHG9JSGS001EUVU/Bulldog31.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out A beautifully sunny day at Terrace after a light snow gives us this lovely shot of a 135 Squadron Hurricane on the ramp. Photo from Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378535658-17Z4CKJF9ONKKX63MEUL/Bulldog42.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Despite the lack of an enemy to tangle with, danger was part of the job. According to Mark Duncan, his father Dave had a “small prang” in Terrace in 1943. This photo was in Duncan's personal album and may indeed be of the incident he was involved with - in Hurricane 5406. Photo: Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378575067-M237KZ0AM434V1PLWPNP/Bulldog43.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Cold weather operations at Terrace and Smithers, BC. Photo from Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378612043-380ILVMTMOKAJO8YSTKV/Bulldog32.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out 135 Squadron returned from Terrace, BC by way of Sea Island, Vancouver, where they picked up a different group of Hurricanes and took them back across Georgia Strait to Patricia Bay with them. Two months, later the squadron re-equipped with theKittyhawk IV. Here we see 135 Squadron Kittyhawks at Patricia Bay. Photo: Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378644062-KZUSQXTQYVESNB4W0RX5/Bulldog33.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Erroll Flynn/Don Ameche-like pilot Dave Duncan at the controls of his “personal” Kittyhawk IV Duncan M.K.I at Patricia Bay. Photo from Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378680095-Y00IQNC3Y81MDM7NMR1K/Bulldog34.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out The pilots of 135 Squadron stand before a Kittyhawk sometime between May 1944 and the end of the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378717159-T22K243PXOU5Y37G5ZLG/Bulldog35.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Dave Duncan in his Kittyhawk, Patricia Bay, British Columbia. Photo from Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378796352-KT6CRS7BQCSDR4ZD64VD/Bulldog36.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Dave Duncan with his “favourite” Kittyhawk at Patricia Bay. This image was certainly taken at the same time as the previous shot. Photo from Dave Duncan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378859019-BMW6UYLCIBKBCID34UWD/Bulldog25.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Hurricane Mk XII (5418) at Reynolds-Alberta Museum at Wetaskiwin, Alberta, home of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629378881903-TFDP9P0B9HQRYZZO2PQY/Bulldog26.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629379453175-8DH3N4U0EILIBXFN0ACH/Hawkb.jpg The Stories - BULLDOGS ON THE COAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wood-for-wood monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629371808554-7MGWMZMCBT86CE7RK12V/WoodForWoodTitle3.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372033617-WCS06XNKT7QTMCFDOYUB/WoodForWood19.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Many of Courable's detractors said that no squadron commander would ever have risked his pilots or his aircraft in such a misadaventure. Derwaerheid and Courable fired back that it was possible that squadron commanders might not have known about the antics of their pilots or may have turned a blind eye if the bombing of dummy airfields was combined with a real mission elsewhere. To demonstrate this, they cite the well-documented instance of the Skyraider Toilet Bomb. In October 1965, Commander Clarence W. Stoddard, Jr., Executive Officer of VA-25 "Fist of the Fleet", flying an A-1H Skyraider, nicknamed "Paper Tiger II" from Carrier Air Wing Two aboard USS Midway carried a special bomb to the North Vietnamese in commemoration of the 6-millionth pound of ordnance dropped. This bomb was unique because of the type... it was a toilet! The toilet was a damaged unit, which was going to be thrown overboard. A squadron plane captain rescued it and the ordnance crew made a rack, tail fins and nose fuse for it. Air Wing Two deck handlers maintained a position to block the view of the air boss and the Captain while the aircraft was taxiing forward. Just as it was being shot off the perpetrators got a message from the bridge, "What the hell was on 572's right wing?" There were many jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare, but the aircraft was allowed to continue, drop its real ordnance as well as its bit of toilet humour. The story of the flight was celebrated over the years in stories, paintings and models. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372214177-J1UXY7RLIPDKNOZ4PPBV/WoodForWood21.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Jean-Antoine Courable (right) and Belgian Jean Dewaerheid stand next to a collection of dummy aerial bombs - some real, some reconstructions. Courable researched the touchy subject over a period of two years and Dewaerheid translated the resulting book in to Dutch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372444694-BZ5DNUZLPG2RBQ5U6CB2/WoodForWood23.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Young Leutnant Werner Thiel (left) around the time he witnessed the legend in the making and a photograph of of him in 2010 holding a mock-up of the bombs he saw lying on the airfield at Luftkriegschule Werder in 1943 after the night's air raid. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372604713-WPJ7FYYB76VUO0YKE2Z0/WoodForWood9.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A group of Luftwaffe ground personnel manhandle the fake wheel leg and pant into place beneath a wooden dummy Junkers Ju-87 Stuka propped up on oil drums somewhere in Western Europe during the war. The Germans, like their Allied opponents, built many dummy airfields across Europe and populated them with wooden and cloth aircraft of various detail, called “Attrappen”. The dummy Stuka in this photo looks like it has been moved many times as witnessed by the damage to the cloth covering of the wheel pant. In the background we see another dummy aircraft making up a bogus flight line of aircraft pressed beneath the cover of perimeter trees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372734155-4S0CFZ10W2UNBGT6KA2F/WoodForWood20.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Given the trees, wheels and clothing (boots), this looks to be another photo of the same repositioning of a dummy Stuka at a dummy airfield as depicted in the previous photograph. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372774644-YJ8SWBV76MW67IABTH4O/WoodforWood40.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This photo of a dummy Stuka seems that it might have been taken at the same time or perhaps the same airfield as the two previous images, but after the canopy and fake propeller were installed. It is clear from shots like these that recce photo interpreters would have their work cut out for them in determining whether they were looking at real or fake aircraft in some airfields. They would be looking them over for other clues - tire tracks, personnel, structures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372853032-7YCQRFY3N675T9LRWMGD/WoodforWood53.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A rather well done dummy Messerschmitt Bf 109 is pushed into the trees surrounding a fake airfield to simulate an attempt to hide the fighter from Allied aircraft. Saplings are even leaned against the wings to create this effect. Allied airmen coming across a neat row of enemy fighter aircraft sitting out in the open would be immediately suspicious of a dummy target. Some dummy airfields had staff to move aircraft around to portray a different operational look each day, thus simulating a real target. Even taxiing aircraft were simulated with towing cables and trolleys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372891230-UBX67PIN4JAM9RT7SP23/WoodforWood41.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Not 100% sure here, but this dummy Messerschmitt sits atop a trolly for towing to simulate a taxiing fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372946991-HI0NYQHCO8ZIFP5D19T2/WoodforWood51.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This really crude interpretation of an ersatz Luftwaffe fighter made is with canvas and wood and supported by trestles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629372988816-JAD8D4XRYZPRO2T4UKCU/WoodForWood5.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Soldiers of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (R.C.A.S.C.), 4th Canadian Armoured Division, examining a dummy German aircraft, Huijbergen, Netherlands, 28 October 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373024714-50F56HMIU4WDFAN3SG8W/WoodforWood35.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out The same group of Canadian soldiers inspect the front end of the bogus aircraft. The Corporal on the right seems to have torn the swastika-adorned fabric from the tail of the aircraft as a war trophy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373071302-81R9M7EWWAHZ3NHYP4X2/WoodForWood24.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Dummy airfields needed dummy structures including a control tower like this one in France. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373136970-QW0FH6WU9XJ8XG54QWLS/WoodforWood36.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Whether this was built to simulate a Dornier Do-17 or a Junkers Ju-88, I am not certain as the tail looks unfinished. A Luftwaffe airman adjusts the support for the engine nacelles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373178164-HY22IZC7HZQGEHIQDY2H/WoodforWood38.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A rather poor quality shot of a very believable dummy Messerschmitt Bf-109 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373210660-3R2IP55II6IBKMOZNGVF/WoodforWood39.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This well proportioned dummy Heinkel 111 looks to be freshly installed - perhaps by the very men photographed with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373249179-OE4CYLOPUVHJOFQ8N5W2/WoodforWood52.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another fine example of a fake Heinkel 111 from a different manufacturer/carpenter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373298605-IS7ZBXPHT6I8PLX764OA/WoodforWood44.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out First set the trap, then wait for someone to notice. A Luftwaffe officer makes a show of looking for Allied bombers and fighters as he hopes to lure them into dropping their payloads on his rather sad dummy Heinkel 111. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373338440-TXEW6O1NJMMPKHE5VXPZ/WoodforWood45.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out An extremely elaborate skeleton for a canvas and frame Messerschmitt 410 prior to getting wrapped in canvas. It appears that highly skilled cabinet makers or carpenters and weeks of time were employed to create this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373370346-GUKRE09UR7L6NVO2DOEG/WoodforWood42.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A pair of phoney Focke Wulf 190 fighters sitting at the edge of this German airfield are caught by a low flying recce aircraft. The fighters were moved to the edge of the field to simulate the practice of pushing real aircraft into the protective camouflage of surrounding woods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373395943-X3T16D3Q3OX91JWLNPFC/WoodforWood49.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another pair of fake Focke Wulf 190s have either done their job and have drawn the fire of Allied aircraft, or are simply smashed when moved by Allied troops after the field was captured. I suspect the latter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373422362-ADI8LS3ZEAPCUBNZ2CXM/WoodforWood43.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out American soldiers ride up on a farmer's field which is the site of another phoney German airfield populated by a squadron of faux Junkers Ju-88s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373481556-SLP4NBTDYV1ABM78UK2I/WoodforWood46.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out In order to fool the most jaded photo interpreter, the Luftwaffe included many lesser types in its faux inventory including this concoction which seems to resemble a Henschel Hs 126 liaison aircraft. It appears as if the ruse was taken all the way to creating the two man crew in their cockpits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373521449-FODYA9AKW46K3S8WXG65/WoodforWood47.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another example of a dummy Junkers Ju-88 medium bomber with a poor interpretation of the glass cockpit and bombardier's position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373544690-AS7YPE9SV8D3DHF9HGXT/WoodforWood48.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out I am not sure what service or country this gentlemen is from, but I suspect it might be a British soldier or paratrooper posing with a derelict dummy fighter - possible meant to be a Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun or Bf 109. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373572409-7GMDXES5Y75T8L025BHS/WoodforWood50.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This Luftwaffe decoy aircraft is at the very low end of the quality and believability spectrum. Basically just a flat surface painted to appear in three dimensions and suitable only for fooling higher flying non recce aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373608160-DVQCNI2YE3UZOGV8LWOG/WoodforWood54.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out The Germans knew full well that Allied recce aircraft would be out in full force ahead of bombers and fighters looking for V-1 “Buzz Bomb” launch sites. The sustained “Doodlebug” campaign saw more than 9,500 V-1s launched at London and surrounding areas, peaking at more 100 attacks per day. Here a pair of RAF airmen inspect a dummy V-1 in its cradle - with a unique shark's mouth paint job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373707360-21BRIHGX5XS7FXFBQHDT/WoodForWood4.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This rather thinly disguised dummy RAF Hurricane was was designed to fool high flying intruders with a basic top plan and shadow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373840109-9S5I2US4TFX2IDNHYC1L/WoodForWood11.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out How to take the world's most beautiful airplane and make it look like a dog. Two canvas over frame Spitfires adorn a bogus airfield in England. It was important that each aircraft have a shadow to convince Nazi photo interpreters that the aircraft were indeed real. To that end, the Spits are elevated on spindly poles. Even the propeller doubles as an elevating device. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373870952-3G9WBVV402JCVAB1XB16/WoodForWood12.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another canvas and frame Spitfire shows the quality of this decoy - including semi-gloss paint, flap, aileron and canopy lines. It appears that this one was manufactured to a standard in a factory and is much like the those in the previous photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373900814-DHB052FLPNJ9PCI3M5WJ/WoodForWood6.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This is a British photograph of Douglas Boston on an airfield in England prior to the D-Day landings. Dummy aircraft were used to populate airfields farther afield from the buildup of equipment near the real jumping off point for the invasion. This was done to keep the Germans guessing as to the whereabouts of the ultimate location of the certain assault. This smaller-than-100% scale Boston sports an additional wheel at the back to support the structure which would have a much more aft centre of gravity without the weight of engines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629373973840-XCC1QTY8DENXQJIW94GG/WoodForWood15.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another well-constructed dummy of a Douglas Boston with what appear to be wooden wheels, is being “serviced” by a camouflaged fuel bowser. This quality dummy appears to have come from a manufacturing facility tasked with the creation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374012429-VJ6XCJ6F09G4221F8X9N/WoodForWood2.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Dummy Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) Hurricane built for a fake airfield in the summer of 1940. The dummy aircraft was constructed from wood, canvas and paint and was designed to look completely realistic from the air. The Soviet Air Force wasted some 80% of their attacks on Ilmavoimat airfields on such dummy targets. There were no reports of Soviets dropping fake wooden bombs on Finnish airfields. The image has been censored by the removal of the Finnish swastika from the fuselage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374107695-7VCWCRA54KG46F7IJEVB/WoodForWood10.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A Curtiss P-40 Warhawk decoy under construction at a base somewhere in China Burma India theatre. This detailed decoy has been constructed of wood; two men can be seen working on the left side of the fuselage. SI 90-13683, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374152891-ZBUWQIGZJZ1ZOB25W7TW/WoodForWood7.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out This dummy US Army Air Force P-51B at Gosselies Airfield, Belgium, in 1945 was made of painted canvas on a wooden frame. Showing invasion stripes, it was clearly made after the D-Day invasions at Normandy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374189484-IY0OQRFJFO58GA28FQCL/WoodForWood8.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A dummy plane, made of lath and burlap or canvas, is parked a good distance from hidden hangers to decoy bombers, fool enemy observation ships. From the air, this is practically indistinguishable from a real plane, but up close, it looks like it was built by children. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374232507-6MQS933GXZXPMWKOS0WB/WoodForWood25.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A dummy Lockheed P-38 Lightning built to sucker Japanese navy fighters in the Aleutians. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374263607-341DJ0TNTUEKOT5YVXY1/WoodForWood27.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out The RAF erected massive tents to act like airfield hangars and maintenance facilities and parked dummy Hurricane aircraft outside to complete the ruse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374287072-60E22QOWNMDWLKPN6MZV/WoodForWood28.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Looks like these American soldiers are putting the final paint touches on a US Army L-4 Grasshopper liaison spotter aircraft dummy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374310541-1K3QPFVKO0VIBHCUDCS3/WoodforWood30.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out The Germans went to extreme and elaborate ends to create the illusion of a French town where in fact there was a hangar filled with aircraft. Here, an Allied B-25 bomber occupies the space designed for Luftwaffe aircraft beneath a long row of faux French apartments. One can clearly see that this ruse would work on anyone snooping with a recce aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374446407-IJLGP5IR6O2OOGEL1T97/WoodforWood31.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out The same trompe d'oeil row house as the previous decoy at another time houses a Hawker Typhoon in for maintenance with a crane holding up its tail. Inside the we see the typical hangar admonition: Kein Rauchen - No Smoking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374490240-BRZJYRK38854VGN547FY/WoodforWood32.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Another chateau come hangar after its capture by the Allies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374522702-22V7U7UAAQMWNMC6SKLW/WoodforWood33.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out A German hangar disguised as a country home with faux windows, chimneys and even ivy growing up the side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374550491-YXSE6SIORN9PG7E4JP5O/WoodforWood55.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Of course, if you were going to disguise your airfield to look like the French chateau of a wealthy man in the province of Touraine, it would be best to have few chevaux trotting about the place for the benefit of the recce cameras. Of course, you couldn't have them there when your own aircraft were operational, so best to use inflatable ones. Note the cow in the background https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374595478-JZZ6MKI55KB1CWVO7H4A/WoodforWood56.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Though not a target itself, the presence of a cow in a field could convince would-be attackers that the field that looked like a great place to fly aircraft from was in deed just a dairy farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374675072-IE68COEZG275WRV4GZ5P/WoodForWood18.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Inflatable F-16s line a fake flight line. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629374706315-VL6F7GF3ZY1B81FVHAC1/WoodForWood17.jpg The Stories - WOOD FOR WOOD - Make it stand out Russian technicians pump air into an inflatable rubber Sukhoi Su-27 fighter with ordnance slung on hard points beneath the wings. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/kittyhawk-discovery monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333453273-6T2LX45S49EOIELQ9QQS/HS-BTitle.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333673185-3LXE3UC9FAM00BIQA870/HS-B34.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A photo taken in 2011 shows Stocky Edwards at his Vancouver Island home, holding a model of the successor HS-B to Kittyhawk ET57– Kittyhawk FR350. Stocky has confirmed that he flew both HS-B aircraft. Photo: Pat Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333821664-667PMNUB2DIF8U25DRV0/HS-B2.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Here we see the power of the sun as it beats relentlessly down on the P-40 in the Egyptian desert. Most of the front of the fuselage and wings has been scoured of paint by the sand perhaps indicating that the aircraft was pointed into the prevailing winds - logical as the pilot would have landing up wind. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333887540-MEIDTU401AVQPX8HFGJU/HS-B9.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The fabric covering of the tail feathers has long ago been destroyed by the sun, wind and sand. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333860496-7B8IEJPW64Z3VT55VH2K/HS-B3.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A close up of the starboard wing with ammo compartments at back of wing open and ammo box in foreground. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333992859-AUUTH3TRDQA4O5A9AEFN/HS-B4.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A closer look at the three machine guns in the starboard wing with muzzles filled with sand. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334060919-9U7ZSCCETYCSTQDQI7SU/HS-B5.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The nose of the Kittyhawk was the most damaged with the propeller hub having been ripped from the shaft when the prop hit the ground. Looking in we can see the two banks of six cylinders of the Allison engine. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334117049-9TXB3LCHMV5KS1TRPJZU/HS-B21.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A close in shot of the nose showing the V-12 block inside a sand and heat blasted skin with paint worn down to almost bare metal with a hint of the original US Army green undercoat from the Buffalo, New York factory. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334146947-SPY4B4L4GXYE4W8GCQ9K/HS-B22.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The exhaust stacks look in remarkable condition, but the underside of the engine is badly damaged with the radiators all sheared away. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334182346-BDTRQT4O1H0SAWRAU56M/HS-B17.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A close up of the V-12's two cylinder banks. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334215996-51Q09Q650PN2JFZYU58T/HS-B27.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The fabric has completely disappeared from the tail feathers. We can see the ammo compartment doors open on the left wing, probably the result of exploring by the discoverers. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334255095-AUBOMS221YPMKOP4S3UT/HS-B29.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Here we see the radio bay and storage compartment door has been opened on the port side of the fuselage. Here we also see a upward puncture of the tail plane indicating it was either struck buy crash debris such as the landing gear or rocks, or perhaps this was the result of ground fire. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334301273-X0ENJVBME1J4J9W4NFD7/HS-B10.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Two of the discoverers inspect the ammo bays. We can see the sandblasting effects on the paint at the front of the aircraft. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334340474-QI5NAS5TKRNM4QYX6CZ7/HS-B7.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The sun and sand have crazed, hazed and blasted all the perspex panels - the glass in the front three panels has fared far better. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334384644-BQTNZZH7MUOV6449YK77/HS-B25.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A curious member of the oil exploration team inspect the Kittyhawk's flaps which were probably compressed upwards by the weight of the aircraft settling on them. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334422309-T5NCIU9316484ZZ00FTT/HS-B28.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out One of the Kittyhawk's tires sits on the desert floor more than a hundred meters behind the final resting place for the P-40. Perhaps the landing gear were down when he attempted to land and were shorn off when they dug deep into the sand. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334462671-WB2NPLIFQIPHZALPW0GZ/HS-B13.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Looking back past the amputated propeller hub, we see severely contorted blades. It seems the landing was made with power on. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334499261-0WDKM0XMD8X81SP4485M/HS-B14.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The prop hub bears some of its original red paint. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334534879-0XCZ8OCOPCYY2123WM7W/HS-B20.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Blades are bent forward and backward supporting a power-on landing theory. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334578104-WBCSSM8PDLBU8HEW3MXP/HS-B15.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Inside the Kittyhawk looks pretty well intact with control cables still attached and cloth covered wiring not rotted. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334606758-GL1DRH5WDHMZEDQN77MK/HS-B16.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A side view of the fuselage seems to show squadron markings still. we can still see what appears to be oil spray up the side of the fuselage. Just above the roundel we see tow bullet sized holes blasting outwards from the inside... is this evidence of ground fire? Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334639367-6VP2F572FKE04AAQY43G/HS-B30.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Photographer and history enthusiast Richard Allnutt torqued the colour on the same photo to better see the aircraft's markings. We can just make out the “HS” to the left of the roundel (with the tops of the verticals of the “H” and the top curve of the “S” faint as well as the horizontal stroke of the “H”. To the right of the roundel, the aircraft letter “B” has left a ghosted image after being scoured away over the years. I would put money on the fact that this was a 260 Squadron aircraft and that it is the same markings (albeit a different Mark Kittyhawk) as the one we have marked in our collection. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334696893-CBIJ0Y8TV7L9MKZWSF7M/HS-B31.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out A photo of a “K” model Kittyhawk wearing the same HS-B code on the 260 flight line in 1942. Perhaps this is the replacement aircraft for the one (“D”- Model) that crashed in the desert. RAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334731115-L7DTBIFMQG9RGUT9Q4UX/HS-B32.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Another clear view of a later model Kittyhawk wearing HS-B on the 260 flight line for an RAF promotional photo. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334774557-JN63MOM4PSVARGQ1WKXC/HS-B33.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada P-40 Kittyhawk HS-B over friendlier terrain. For more informatuion on Stocky Edwards and to see video of HS-B flying, click here. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334865493-TKJUC0ABH9XZ23TS7FAD/HS-B11.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The cockpit area looks in good shape with the canopy slid back for perhaps the first time in 70 years. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334895054-61JCBZ0YDD0MO709C3XZ/HS-B19.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The seat is in the same condition as the day the pilot stepped over the side with his parachute and exited the wrecked P-40. The light accumulation of sand seems to indicate that the canopy was closed for all these years with minimum sand intrusion. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334934600-H9UKDWMC07PTWTQUOCH8/HS-B18.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out The cockpit is in remarkable though dusty condition. Perhaps an experienced Kittyhawk pilot would be able to gain more information about the crash from the settings here. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629334977772-1IRDHKVG44QXYG7O68IX/HS-B26.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out Over 70 years sand has sifted in through cracks and perhaps from below. Aluminum placards are corroded and the throttle seems to be fully forward. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629335016128-P7MQL3KSBX29KB3DV808/HS-B24.jpg The Stories - KITTYHAWK DISCOVERY — Found after 70 years - Make it stand out One man seems to be holding up the remains of a parachute near the front of the aircraft. probably where the pilot discarded it. Or was it set up to shelter from the sun? Photo: Jakub Perka https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/glasgows-own monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331293497-1ADJY4JXXTS8HNB215MC/FlyingHarryTitle.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331425977-G3MBQZU9IVHEJ5TMC7J7/FlyingHarry40.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry crossed the Atlantic in October of 1941, a dangerous time for U-boat activity. Here we see Louis Pasteur alongside the quay at Halifax in 1942. Due to her speed, as a troop transporter, the Pasteur normally made her crossings alone, not as a member of a convoy (without a warship escort). She made a voyage from Glasgow to Halifax (This is very likely Harry's voyage.) with a various complement, including officers arranging the 20,000 British troops’ transport across Canada and the Pacific to Singapore in October, 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331598923-TP28O7W6K9OILMEGMIB2/FlyingHarry43.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out The weather conditions at Falcon Field were conducive to round the clock flying training. Here an RAF flying student (the white flash on his hat is the clue) looks as a rare bit of dodgy weather looms overhead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331637023-SIMN7ZWU2AOY3XTGTFEP/FlyingHarry45.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Falcon field-based AT-6A Texans form up for a nice shot during training in Mesa Arizona. Only one aircraft wears USAAC markings at this ostensibly civilian facility. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331670659-AJ19BAFKZ9J75UDXEMKA/FlyingHarry44.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Falcon field could be a hot as a skillet in the summer, something most British-born airmen had trouble coping with. To help them deal with it, they made extensive use of the base swimming pool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331739318-U2HWDPEUIDSL35Q95DQB/FlyingHarry46.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out A quick look at Google Maps brings us a fine view of the mouth of the Abbeville Canal - the straight line running from Abbeville in the lower right to the delta that is the outflow of the Somme River. It was here that Harry was shot down on the beaches along the Channel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331779543-EVU5SZST6RKSK8G9EIFN/FlyingHarry38.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out When Harry was shot down in 1943, he lost all of his personal records, log book, and many photographs. After two years in prison, those important documents of his RAF service would never be found. The few images that he did have that survived the war, were loaned to a squadron mate to be copied. That was the last he saw of the remaining photos. Harry has no images of himself in service what-so-ever. However, a bit of luck and a a few hours of digging on the web, and I came up with a few images of Harry amidst his squadron mates.Here we see the pilots of 602 City of Glasgow Squadron in England in the summer of 1943, just weeks before Harry was shot down. Harry and his Flight Leader Flying Officer Strudwick (right) are clearly identified. Both men were shot down simultaneously when turning back to France. They parachuted to the beach next to the mouth of the Abbeville Canal and landed only a couple of hundred yards apart. Also in the picture is Harry's best friend, Sergeant Jimmy Kelly, sitting right next to him, leaning on him almost. The one thing Harry still fusses about from the war, the one thing that still makes him sad and angry today is how Jimmy died. A year after Harry was shot down, Jimmy crash landed his Spitfire in France after D-day. He was dragged out of his cockpit and at the orders of the local commander, was summarily executed. Jimmy went through everything that Harry did... from ground crew to Falcon Field to troopships to 602. You can still detect powerful emotion in Harry's voice 70n years after the atrocity. When I look now on Harry and Jimmy in the photo, I see love and friendship and I want to weep for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331808035-LUHU99EPRBQ43APNOTX2/FlyingHarry48.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out When this photo was taken, Harry was already in prison. Taken at RAF Detling in Kent, the caption indicates this is 1944. This would have been one of the three stays at Detling the squadron had between January and April of that year. Jimmy Kelly is second from left at the top row in the wedge cap. 602 Squadron photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629331842352-FE2989DL7RPV00K6BBVC/FlyingHarry47.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Looking further on the web, I came across this image from the Imperial War Museum which shows Flying Officer James W. “Jimmy” Kelly's temporary grave next to the Spitfire he he crashed landed in. Other reports found on the web indicate that Jimmy was flying No.2 to famed Free French ace Pierre Clostermann when he was shot down and murdered. Kelly was one of two Spitfire pilots of No 602 Squadron shot down by FW190s over Normandy on 4 July 1944 ( the other was Flight Sergeant L H Chaldice). The squadron lost four more aircraft that month, all to light flak while strafing ground targets. None of the pilots survived. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332073804-MHM2363DSD49Z5PTFYHN/FlyingHarry2.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out The Harry Hannah Boeing Stearman sits polished and waiting for it official debut and her first meeting with her namesake, Oakville, Ontario's Harry Hannah, formerly of 602 Squadron. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332103301-CJ3CX1P2KOXYOUVQM0A7/FlyingHarry3.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Before the dedication, Harry gets a quick tour of the Stearman, commenting “They weren't this clean when I flew them. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332136959-4B97G1R7QLVBKEY7JPCS/FlyingHarry4.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out With Harry and his wife Yvonne sitting in a place of honour and comfort, the volunteers of Vintage Wings of Canada gather around to hear Harry's story. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332164404-RUL3UUX75G19352U14LG/FlyingHarry5.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry's story is of course just one of many, many thousands of stories of airmen during the Second World War. His story is however a powerful tale of many unique aspects of the pilots experience during the worst conflict in recorded history - U-boat threats, training under the Arnold Plan, Target Towing, fighter ops, bailing out, POW camps, solitary confinement, the bombing of Dresden, and finally salvation. The story as told, clearly has the volunteers riveted. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332193109-0OVWE0ZNB2GUZP0R5KWT/FlyingHarry6.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry rises to speak while Carolyn Leslie, always remembering the details, presents Yvonne with yellow roses representing the Vintage Wings program known as Yellow Wings. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332236769-RUTRC3K2FC2YF478CKUH/FlyingHarry8.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry is a man of few words, but they were words of honour, humility and gratitude towards Vintage Wings of Canada and our work to preserve the memory of Harry and his mates. Harry's wears his pride in his squadron with a City of Glasgow tie and a 602 City of Glasgow Squadron badge on his blazer. The Squadron badge sports a red lion surmounting a white St. Andrew's cross... spawning the Squadron motto: Cave leonem cruciatum – "Beware the crossed lion". Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332270054-655TVPC1XFOKI35ZVY5K/FlyingHarry9.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out The Warbird Pilots. While most of the Vintage Wings pilots were tied up in Formation Camp briefings, four flyers were in attendance including (L-R after Harry) Rob Fleck, President (Sabre, Mustang, Harvard), Todd Lemieux, (Stearman, Cornell, T-28), Rick Volker (Sukhoi) and Dan Dempsey (Sabre). Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332311323-7CLB7MF053VVZ90H5ZZI/FlyingHarry10.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry (centre) is surrounded by the Vintage Wings Team, who were honoured to share the same hangar floor with the humble former Spitfire pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332345952-DV0W7FR18EI3IAJ5QPV9/FlyingHarry11.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out 70 years after his last flight in a Stearman, Harry still shows the youthful excitement and steely-eyed fighter pilot determination men of his generation became famous for. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332381373-YEWE2Y9W19L8EJZWJK2O/FlyingHarry13.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out After the dedication ceremony, Calgary's Todd Lemieux, tasked with getting Harry back into the Stearman Spirit, briefs him and Yvonne on the route they will take back in time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332414701-9STU44ICSV39GJZFB0VC/FlyingHarry15.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Two of Vintage Wings' most-loved pilots, Todd Lemieux and Francis Bélanger share a laugh with Harry before he suits up. Bélanger is a highly experienced, carrier-qualified F-18 fighter pilot who, in addition to flying our Cornell and Corsair, is the check pilot for the Stearman. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332444424-5AFOMCTMLT1HZ37GHFGX/FlyingHarry16.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry's ride for the morning is rolled out onto the ramp. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332482522-I5GUD93DZN3ETWDGBR8A/FlyingHarry18.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Suited and helmeted, Harry has a moment with his memories. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332549053-XE3T6D7S6OQNZF8HMII0/FlyingHarry19.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry and Todd go over the controls and dials, with Harry beginning to remember his training days. Though 70 years old, the memories begin to become clearer and the fog of a long life starts to dissipate. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332580551-4WAZL068W35GH5SAGFNQ/FlyingHarry31.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Todd finishes up his briefing, and Harry is ready to go. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332606951-USSGIRIYO4LOFAN33LSF/FlyingHarry20.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Lemieux starts the Harry Hannah Stearman and the Continental barks to life. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332644176-UZMLDPQNVVYYWPYGWEON/FlyingHarry21.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Lemieux begins taxiing and Harry's heart is most surely soaring. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332680514-PHI6D62S4SCQPESWPH0A/FlyingHarry22.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Out to the hold position at the intersection. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332706983-2SMERP7NKZ5N7T475UQW/FlyingHarry23.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Lemieux and Harry run up while a group of Formation Camp fighters rolls up to join them. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332748837-BBS6NO1ZUBTKZLY72V0D/FlyingHarry24.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out As Harry takes off, Paul Kissmann in the Corsair and Bruce Evans in the Trojan look on. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332778143-9IA547DFRTWOWAVOSOZG/FlyingHarry25.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Back in the big ole Stearman sky after 70 years, Harry carries our hearts with him. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332809931-VRTN4GSA5EOCIL6ENZLI/FlyingHarry33.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out At 500 feet, Lemieux hands over control of the Stearman to Warrant Officer Harry Hannah, and for the next 30 minutes he banked and climbed and soared like he was 19 again. Todd would later add on his Facebook page “He took the controls and flew like it was yesterday. It was a great honor to fly with him.” Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332849590-VEC8WEFFSNH24LB2XZKK/FlyingHarry26.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out The two aviators reluctantly have to return to earth. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332873471-C5PRWAY0IPDH960PZJHM/FlyingHarry27.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out The look on Harry's face says it all... a look in which we alternately see strength, joy, pride, and gratitude. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332899706-8J7HX8GEP5OPSOR3162U/FlyingHarry28.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out xThe two aviators from eras seven decades apart offer a thumbs up for Handley's camera. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332933452-46FHIADTJ1Y3NX0UO5DF/FlyingHarry29.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Harry heads for the arms of his Number Two. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629332969796-0JG26FADTB3DXC2REUPX/FlyingHarry30.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Afterward, Harry and Yvonne toast the successful mission with a cold beer. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333017714-D5XQTH7YH01CD9672UFH/FlyingHarry37.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Maric and Lemieux fly up the Ottawa River Valley past Chalk River on their way to Sudbury. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333084037-8P2U8MAR62Y9A7CGW4VG/FlyingHarry36.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out In the dying light of Day One in their journey westward, Dave Maric captures a magnificent moment - one of many that pilots and passengers will experience aboard the Harry Hannah in the years to come. Of this day, Lemieux said, “The wilds of Northern Canada roll by our Stearman, framed by the yellow wings in an ever changing montage of lakes, trees and rivers. The open cockpit provides a unique and dynamic view. With the wind in your face, the smell of the trees, the water, forest fire smoke and the airplanes spent oil and exhaust, it is a tactile, olfactory and spiritual event. To experience it is like nothing else you've ever done. Words like awesome, beautiful or even wonderful do not do it justice. It is quite simply, life changing. — with Dave Maric”. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333111828-41CGVB4GD6HSXUWVZFVO/FlyingHarry32.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out On a fuel stop, Dave Maric regales a rampie with the story of Harry Hannah. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629333135616-QYP3ACM3NW1LIABQ513S/FlyingHarry35.jpg The Stories - GLASGOW’S OWN — Honouring Harry Hannah - Make it stand out Somewhere over the North Shore of Lake Superior, Maric tilts a wing so that Lemieux can photograph a remote archipelago. Both men are grateful for the opportunity to combine adventure flying with relating our aviation history to fellow Canadians. There are no better spokesmen for Harry than Maric and Lemieux. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/club-run-to-malta monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319770948-2VJP099KJVFLXVW5RNUM/CalTaylorTitle2.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319895394-G3O0WZL79XOGSE9NRWUN/CalTaylor24.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out LAC Cal Taylor (Left) sits at the controls of a Fleet Finch during his training at No. 11 Elementary Flying Training School. Right: Flight Sergeant Cal Taylor, a Malta veteran, in full desert rig in Egypt in 1943. Photos via Cal Taylor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319969299-60IUT39P0AUTZMLMKAQG/CalTaylor22.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Young Flight sergeant Cal Taylor (right) leans casually against a Spitfire of 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron, Royal Air Force in Londonderry, Northern Ireland prior to his deployment aboard MV Hopetarn and HMS Eagle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320049587-NZLFZ9T8Q9UUTEM1NU6J/CalTaylor18.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Though there are no known photos on the internet of the cargo vessel MV Hopetarn, we can show you two of her escort vessels on her important trip to Gibraltar. HMS Armeria (K187) was a Flower Class corvette of the Royal Navy, originally built for the French Navy. Armeria would eventually be stripped of her military equipment and be rebuilt as a merchantman, first called Deppie, then Canestel, then Rio Blanco, and finally Lillian. RN Photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320225521-INBF1VZMS312ZKLWKO83/CalTaylor19.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out HMS Rother was a River Class frigate of the Second World War, launched only months before this particular escort duty. . All River Class ships of this design wer named after rivers in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. River Rother is a river in the northern midlands of England, after which the town of Rotherham and the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency are named. These frigates were specifically designed as anti-submarine escorts for trans-Atlantic convoys. River class frigates offered the size, speed, and endurance of escort sloops using the inexpensive reciprocating machinery of corvettes. River class were designed for North Atlantic weather conditions and included the most effective anti-submarine sensors and weapons. RN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320613703-AT2D9NAE34EV3HXNCDTG/CalTaylor11.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Cobalt Ontario is a hard rock mining town in Northern Ontario. The town produced many highly experienced miners , some of whom were assigned to No. 2 Tunnelling Company Royal Canadian Engineers, which embarked in March of 1942 for Gibraltar, where it was to reinforce other Canadian tunnellers who had been working on and in the Rock since the previous autumn. These Cobalt boys were those who hosted Taylor and Beurling for a tour of the tunnel work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320649172-0SEZPOS12N3NEZ5SGT87/CalTaylor2.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out HMS Eagle, by the time of the Malta Club Runs was an obsolete carrier. Eagle spent the first nine months of the Second World War in the Indian Ocean searching for German commerce raiders. During the early part of the war, the Fleet Air Arm was desperately short of fighters and Eagle was equipped solely with Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers until late 1940. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in May 1940, where she escorted multiple convoys to Malta and Greece and attacked Italian shipping, naval units and bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ship also participated in the Battle of Calabria in July, but her aircraft failed to score any hits when they attempted to torpedo Italian cruisers during the battle. Whenever Eagle was not at sea, her aircraft were disembarked and used ashore. The ship was relieved by a more modern carrier in March 1941 and ordered to hunt for Axis shipping in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. Her aircraft sank one German blockade runner and disabled a German oil tanker in mid-1941, but did not find any other Axis ships before the ship was ordered home for a refit in October. After completing a major refit in early 1942, the ship made multiple Club Runs, delivering fighter aircraft to Malta to boost its air defences in the first half of 1942. Eagle was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-73 on 11 August 1942 while escorting a convoy to Malta during Operation Pedestal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320701188-F2J2PN9R6MYWZP23YEUZ/CalTaylor17.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out A nice shot of HMS Eagle slowly making its way out of Grand Harour, Valetta, Malta during a more peaceful period. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320760593-L0GIHEZVHY4R5Q3HJPD0/CalTaylor9.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out HMS Cairo, a C-class light cruiser, was one of the key escort ships during Cal Taylor's Operation Salient. Two months later, Cairo took part in the now-famous Operation Pedestal, the escorting of a convoy to Malta. During the operation she was sunk by the Italian submarine Axum north of Bizerta, Tunisia on 12 August 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320790898-UGFF3H2KYHL89YES4R4E/CalTaylor8.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Royal Navy Dido Class cruiser HMS Charybdis was part of the Gibraltar-based flotilla that escorted Club Run carriers in their missions to bring aircraft to Malta. Charybdis had a critical part in 22 Malta resupply missions. Following her Malta work, Charybdis was sunk with the loss of 30 officers and 432 ratings in the Bay of Biscay, the victim of German torpedo boats. RN Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629320826951-DUNYFDPLVCJI1OJHK5T8/CalTaylor26.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out A couple of months later during Operation Pedestal, Eagle was torpedoed and sank... proving the danger for sailors as well as airmen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321072741-3URB1G3E74T2C490R554/CalTaylor12.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out USS Wasp (CV-7) launches a Royal Air Force Spitfire VC during Operation Bowery, May 1942. In this trip, one Spitfire landed back on Wasp despite not having arresting gear. We can just make out the 60 gallon “slipper” tank slung beneath the fuselage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321106067-CBV677BN41ZBMCDN1G79/CalTaylor4.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Operation Bowery included tropicalized Spitfires from HMS Eagle (background) and USS Wasp (Foreground). On May 9th, 1942 Wasp flew off 47 Spitfires and Eagle 17, three crashed during the passage (one in the sea on take off, one crash landed back onto Wasp and one off Malta, a fourth lost its way and arrived in North Africa) but 60 Spitfires were in action within thirty five minutes of landing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321131475-44719KF4LYP10HAXBPQ0/CalTaylor25.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out A fabulous photograph pf a Spitfire “Trop” riding the elevator to the flight deck of USS Wasp during a Club Run. When Wasp delivered 47 Spitfires to Malta in Operation Bowery, they were assembled out of the box on the hangar decks of the carrier. Here we can easily tell that this Tropical-ized Spit is perfectly brand new, not a mark or stain on her. We clearly see the air intake for the large “Vokes” sand filter, as well as the large “slipper” gas tank mounted beneath the wing centre section. Small hooks were fitted, just forward of the inboard flaps: when the tank was released in flight these hooks caught the trailing edge of the tank, swinging it clear of the fuselage. On deck we can see another Spit as well as an American aircraft - possibly an Avenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321173076-X5ABPIQ6YWHVQLCQ9WP5/CalTaylor27.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Down on Wasp's hangar deck, a Spitfire “Trop” is checked out before going topside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321226161-YRHVM07UHBGP3AYOXXTN/CalTaylor6.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Young RAF Spitfire pilots walk the deck of HMS Eagle after receiving their final instructions before flying a successful reinforcement of nine Supermarine Spitfires to Ta Kali, Malta. This photo was taken en route to Malta during Operation Picket I, another Club Run which was carried out in March of 1942, three months before Taylor's voyage. Note the Spitfires in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321261786-2P9EQU446N6WW9G9KUR0/CalTaylor5.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out A tropical-ized Spitfire Mk VC thunders down the flight deck of HMS Eagle during Operation Picket I, an earlier Club Run. Note the many sailors watching from the edge of the deck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321297145-R8979TTTDL9TXSR0HGYV/CalTaylor7.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out A shot from an early Club Run known as Operation Picket I which was carried out three months prior to Operation Salient. Supermarine Spitfire Mark VB(T), BP844, the first of a further nine Spitfires to reinforce the RAF on Malta, taking off from the flight deck of HMS Eagle with Squadron Leader E J "Jumbo" Gracie at the controls. Behind him, the other aircraft await their turn. These Spitfires, equipped with 90-gallon ferry drop tanks, flew to Ta Kali to re-equip No. 126 Squadron RAF, which Gracie was to command. BP844 was shot down over Malta, with the loss of its pilot, on 2 April 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321375058-PS9VRTYO550T25PTSQLK/CalTaylor20.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out Squadron Spitfire Mk Vc “Trops” overflies Malta. Though dark in this photo, these Trops would have been painted in typical desert camouflage. These Spits are with 249 Squadron - Beurling's unit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321446963-9D0FWPZ1UQWY6HQXIHOJ/CalTaylor23.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out After his stint on Malta, Taylor (left) flew Spitfires with 601 City of London Squadron (Auxiliary Air Force) in North Africa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629321470638-778BK0YMH0U1QZ0GFBPX/CalTaylor21.jpg The Stories - CLUB RUN TO MALTA - Make it stand out After the war, Cal Taylor (second from right) flew Mustangs with the RCAF as part of 403 “City of Calgary” Squadron - an auxiliary/reserve squadron. This photo was taken at RCAF Station Rockcliffe on their arrival from Calgary. Cal also flew Vintage Wings' own Mustang more than a dozen times while with 403. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hero monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317858163-M1KTZ0V7UH2XB53D9WKT/CoppingTitle.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317953367-FRIUBNW5HR3TCQNGGCLH/Copping11.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Copping's wrecked P-40 still sits in the Egyptian desert. Other than the 70 years of scouring by the sand and the recent ravages of vandals, it is exactly as Copping would have seen it when he turned one last time to look back at the aircraft he was supposed to deliver to the repair depot. Copping walked into oblivion, where he remains today, though, with the appearance of his Kittyhawk, we now know what happened to him. Photo Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317979429-KKR68J0L8V3EZ81JJ3MK/Copping10.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out The dry desert air has preserved all the metal parts of Copping's Kittyhawk, but all the fabric which covered the tail feathers has now disappeared–dried, cracked and blown away by seventy years of hot desert winds and freezing nights. The water soluble paint which was used to write the HS-B designators on the sides was also mostly carried away on the scouring winds. Photo Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629318485331-2GLVB45KN9N2K43N34E3/Copping.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out A gunslinger shot of Copping in a desert P-40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629318714211-9F1VW74Q20NCHE54A81W/Copping3.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out The cowling of Vintage Wings of Canada's Stocky Edwards Kittyhawk will wear a dedication to Dennis Copping for the 2012 flying season when we celebrate the Warbirds of the Med, the fighters of Malta and North Africa. Here we see the Warbird of the Med badge and the Copping memorial. Photo: John Kealey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629318749030-WHOGI893RVJID5CIADJF/Copping2.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out A close up of the Copping dedication panel which is carried on both sides of the cowling. Photo: John Kealey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629318797208-QQZOCE73KHJBELWQ87D3/Copping4.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out The 269 Squadron Kittyhawk HS-B carries Dennis Copping's name on both sides of her fuselage. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629318827216-RTX10DA967N8042RLI4M/Copping13.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Kittyhawk pilot and aircraft manager, Dave Hadfield took two photos of Dennis Copping along with him on his recent journey to south eastern Onatrio's Camp Borden air show. Not only did he tell the story of Copping's service and mystery solved, he took photos of these people with Copping, keeping his memory alive. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319034656-MSVGUTXYZ3WDMKUU9EVE/Copping14.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Here, stopping in at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport for fuel, Operations Manager Chris Drumm and friend Christina and her daughters share the story and the images of the lost aviator. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319189987-FGYPUXAF3DJ5VX6JWXGN/Copping15.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out At the Borden Show, Captain Indira Thackorie of the Canadian Forces Skyhawks parachute demo team learns about Copping and his story... yes Dennis, the world has changed quite a bit! Women in the army parachute teams! Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319222964-L5R9SFT0P2BOUTIGZ3TN/Copping5.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319285606-UEA4QYSBMER0F2CQBOUS/Copping6.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319364871-LV1CD4J2Y49ZRQOXJJE7/Copping9.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out A shot of the cockpit of Dennis Copping's 260 Squadron Kittyhawk HS-B, now, 70 years after the day it came down, covered in dust, sand and grit. Compare the bakelite grip on the control column with ours and you will see that they are identical! Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319255078-VB91G3UVTER8Y6IV8V0A/Copping7.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out The gunsight switch seemed like a good place to put the “guns-at-the-ready” photo of Copping taken in North Africa. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629319426647-NKT3499IZDARHLOOK2WH/Copping8.jpg The Stories - HERO — A Flying Tribute to a Missing Aviator - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-art-of-war monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315702664-Q1PZI224MF0IQ7O8WV86/NoseArtHelosTitle.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316117780-3WN3GB36M9QUC17Q4WVJ/NoseArtHelos24.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Simonsen began his military art career painting designs on the sides of Canadian Army Ferret scout cars used in Cyprus. The British Daimler-built Ferret was the mainstay of Canadian reconnaissance vehicles in the 60s and 70s. Many are still in service in places like Nepal, Burkina Faso, Indonesia and Sudan. The white cowboy hat on this Ferret (not painted by Simonsen) indicates a unit based in Alberta. Simonsen was part of the UN Peacekeeping force there known as UNFICYP, inserted between the lines to keep the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots from killing each other. What is truly unbelievable is that UNFICYP is still in play today, nearly fifty years after the conflict was halted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316154570-OEGF1TRZW5MZACBOK5O4/NoseArtHelos4.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out There are three areas where grassroots military artists and cartoonists could apply their talents - nose art, editorial cartoons for unit newsletters and publications and, as we see here, colourful murals on mess and barrack room walls. For Christmas of 1965, Clarence Simonsen painted a mural on the Military Police mess, which displayed the unit crests from each of the multinational contributors to the peace keeping. The result was to make these soldiers feel just a little bit more at home during a period when they are particularly vulnerable to loneliness. Photo Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316188978-IPP49UCPNLFX6G4PS8TG/NoseArtHelos5.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Clarence Simonsen relaxing in 1965 at his Cypriot barracks. In the days before the intrusion of the NFL, the Canadian Football League was the be-all and end-all of football in Canada. Simonsen created a large mural depicting the Calgary Stampeders (Red) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Photo: Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316240725-AYZANX9TMEXJ4QOVRBLB/NoseArtHelos25.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Nothing makes a Canuck feel at home like a busty center-fold girl and a painting of the great Maple Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower poke-checking a flying Montreal Canadien. Simonsen must have had a Canadiens fan in his barrack, as the famous photograph (Inset) that the image is based on was of Bower stonewalling Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, not a Canadien. Perhaps it was better to keep it all-Canadian. Photo: Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316361169-U59JJ8WEX7DOV0BVFVAC/NoseArtHelos7.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Along with five others Boeing Chinook S/N 147201, was delivered 24 December 2008. Here, we see 201 as a backdrop to a handover ceremony. Pilots and soldiers of the United States Arm 101st Airborne regiment hand over the American Chinook to their brother aviators of Edmonton's 408 Squadron, normally a Griffon unit. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316424850-GZD1VCXLVV2TI0PX3ZNB/NoseArtHelos34.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Boeing Chinook 147201 going about her daily trade in the harsh and unforgiving terrain of Afghanistan. Photo: Brett D. Tyre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316478295-IECHSLPJH9I26PGMFLW6/NoseArtHelos28.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out An RCAF CH-146 Griffon helicopter prepares for takeoff during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 1101 in Wainwright, Alberta, on October 21, 2011. Photo: Master Corporal Marc-Andre Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316508152-B1HEGLJ2TC7KXJF00H4H/NoseArtHelos17.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Corporal Richard Aucoin and his Griffon Canadian helicopter nose art for CH-146 Griffon S/N 146425 Dragon’s Breath. The name was in reference to the Taliban’s moniker for the two M3M guns mounted on the Griffon – Allah’s Breath of Death. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316561999-87XCECE5ZFQLOB1MDGIU/NoseArtHelos8.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out This Second World War sexy style pose was the only nose art painted by Master Corporal Robert Bannen. It was painted on Chinook 147201. The Miss Behavin nose art was liberated/copied from a Quebec City night club. Sexy nose art combined with double entendre titles, while perhaps not politically correct these days, was the most common subject for nose artists since the beginning. Randy behaviour and salacious artwork can be forgiven of those young men who put their lives on the line for our freedoms. Photo: Ed Storey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316622557-A2TST4N4KI5N0GK9GCLY/NoseArtHelos29.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out The two helicopter types flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force in Afghanistan - the CH-146 Griffon (left) and the CH-147 Boeing Chinook. This photo, taken September 9, 2009, shows Chinook 147201 at Kandahar Airfield and Camp Nathan Smith, Afghanistan. The passenger for this flight were VIPs indeed. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and commander in Chief of Canada along with Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), General Walt Natynczyk travel by helicopter to and from Camp Nathan Smith, on September 9, 2009. Her Excellency visited Afghanistan to show her support for and solidarity with Canadian soldiers and the people of Afghanistan. A close look at the spot where the Miss. Behavin' nose art should be shows that there is something missing! Photo credit: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall, OSGG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316665822-X4NJ5U5WDO5VNDZJ0POP/NoseArtHelo35.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A close-up of the above photo of Chinook 147201, Miss Behavin' shows that the salacious, former strip club image of a sexy girl has been painted over in deference to Her Excellency, Governor General Michaelle Jean. Good idea! Photo credit: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall, OSGG. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316728067-6LCF7S250LKEKHXRCIXY/NoseArtHelos9.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A close-up of the above photo of Chinook 147201, Miss Behavin' shows that the salacious, former strip club image of a sexy girl has been painted over in deference to Her Excellency, Governor General Michaelle Jean. Good idea! Photo credit: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall, OSGG. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316870674-2P3PII1OE348IWQXXJAW/NoseArtHelos10.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A more simplified nose art was applied to Chinook 147203 - a stenciled naked, bat-winged she-devil with a trident - The Flying Devil. The dust/sand problems in the Afghan theatre are pretty evident in this shot. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316915602-326IRXZX3X0XMP35ZUBU/NoseArtHelos32.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A close-up of 203's nose art - crude, weird and somehow cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316948932-5UTQANVWQOR8U5ZI5896/NoseArtHelos30.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Canadian military ‘Riggers’ working in Kandahar, Afghanistan for the National Support Element, attach a load to a CH-147 Chinook helicopter prior to commencing hoisting drills at Kandahar Airfield, February 18, 2009. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629316982161-JH28KV3CQH2XS5QITMJP/NoseArtHelos31.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Canadian Forces Chinook helicopters including 201 fly in formation during a training mission for OP MOSHTARAK. Task Force Freedom, Canada's Helicopter presence in Afghanistan was preparing for the largest air assault since the Second World War. The Canadian component consisted of 3 Chinook helicopters, 4 Griffon helicopters and approximately 60 Canadian Forces members. Their mission was to insert British, Estonian and Afghan troops into the village of Nad Ali. The village was considered to be an insurgent hot spot and locals were warned to stay inside their homes. Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) was the Canadian Forces (CF) contribution to the international effort in Afghanistan. Its operations focus was on working with Afghan authorities to improve security, governance and economic development in Afghanistan. JTF-Afg comprised more than 2,750 CF members. Canadian Forces Image MCpl Craig Wiggins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317024167-231JYW8EJE85SJXK46SS/NoseArtHelos11.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out RCAF Boeing Chinook, S/N 3147204, received Canadian-painted nose art Black Jack. One can see the effects of operating aircraft in a desert setting, with oil and dust making this aircraft appear to be worn out and tired. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317061930-QJTOPQ2IQTVCO9O8CK5F/NoseArtHelos2.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A nice close up of RCAF Boeing Chinook Black Jack by M/Cpl. Gordon Bennett, shows a grim Jack the Ripper character, again with a hook, against a full moon, with drops of blood spattered about. More modern nose art, like one sees on American B-1B bombers, tends to be more gruesome than that of the Second World War. Photo: Ed Storey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317096835-R4PJV8H4TAYT9HNZ4O6B/NoseArtHelos12.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out RCAF Chinook S/N147205 came from the US Army with nose art of the Social Distortion which was modified by Canadians [by M/Cpl. Gordon Bennett] and given red hockey helmet, white maple leaf, stick and a new name – 2 for Hooking. Here we see 205 about to sling or “hook” an M777 artillery piece. DND photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317132190-5GB0S03E2QYK4DUOW80T/NoseArtHelos13.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Following the time-honoured tradition of the double entendre title, 2 for Hooking is about the most Canadian of titles imaginable. In the great Canadian game of hockey, a player can be penalized 2 minutes in the penalty box for hooking, or pulling down an opponent with his hockey stick. On the other hand, crew members of the Chinook are proud to call themselves “hookers” as one of the prime roles of the Chinook is as a heavy lift helo, slinging or “hooking” payloads such as supplies or artillery pieces beneath their fuselages. 2 for Hooking crashed on the 16th of May, 2011, but the nose art was returned to Canada, and the RCAF's history H.Q. in Winnipeg. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317174709-OQNW4OKB8VX44SJTLLCU/NoseArtHelo37.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out In fact, 2 for Hooking was simply a more creative and simple over paint of the American nose art that existed on Chinook 147205 when the RCAF took possession of it. Before its new Canadian nickname, it was known as Social Distortion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317233983-XI9CKHJBUG7W1GWHQFRD/NoseArtHelo38.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out The basis for the 2 for Hooking nose art, Social Distortion, was not a random illustration but rather a copy of part of the logo for the long-living American punk rock band Social Distortion which was formed in the late 1970s. Thanks to Robert Allen, our resident punkrockologist and warbird enthusiast for pointing this out. At least the crew of Social Distortion can order t-shirts, ball caps and other swag that would go with their Chinook. Perhaps we will consider a 2 for Hooking t-shirt! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317273193-OE93DOUNROD49NE9BLS7/NoseArtHelos33.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A CH-146 Griffon helicopter provides security for CH-147 Chinook 2 for Hooking during a flight mission. Seeing a helmeted, hockey playing, skeleton flying over the desert is heartwarming to a Canadian. Photo credit: Master Corporal Angela Abbey, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317311286-7MPFY4D9O70GXDLRYRXU/NoseArtHelos14.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Boeing Chinook CH-147D, 147206, in US Army markings with American nose art, Jack’D Up. The artwork resembles the label from a bottle of Jack Daniels bourbon whiskey. This helo was also transferred to the RCAF and the Jack'D Up nose art was maintained, except for the addition of artwork on the interior which celebrated a Canadian whiskey. DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317341986-545NL1IPZ2TP22Q4NT8G/NoseArtHelos15.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A close up of Jack'D Up's design, with a graphic nod to the Jack Daniel's Whiskey label. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317372868-OIU6KLMFT9EZG4BOJZBY/NoseArtHelos26.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Though Chinook 147206, Jack'D Up was a former American helicopter and the nose art was from its American past, the Canadian's who flew it could not help adding a little Canuck touch to the inside... with a tribute to Yukon Jack, a Canadian whiskey of perhaps a rougher palette. The Yukon Jack folks are fond of saying “Yukon Jack is a taste born of hoary nights, when lonely men struggled to keep their fires lit and cabins warm. Boldly flavourful yet surprisingly smooth, there is no spirit like Yukon Jack.” Photo: Ed Storey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317412417-Z8K1ULAM6V08K2DJPIX4/NoseArtHelos27.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Griffon [serial 146401] was the first CH-146 to receive approved nose art - depicting guns with the Bat symbol of the 1 Wing Crest. The guns represented the new approved M134 mini-Gatling gun and the .50 cal. machine gun. The spelling with only one “L” stood for the Tactical Helicopter community “Tac. Hel”. This original nose art was over painted by mistake and lost. The original work was done by MCpl. Tim Patry. Replica painted by Clarence Simonsen 29 April 2012. Photo: Richard Aucoin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317443647-96VCTDZ4JB59WDQYE43F/NoseArtHelos19.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out A close up of CH-146 Griffon S/N 146425 Dragon’s Breath. The name was in reference to the Taliban’s moniker for the two M3M guns mounted on the Griffon – Allah’s Breath of Death. Photo: Richard Aucoin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317487879-RT0VGNKOZLY7FGS47O7I/NoseArtHelos21.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Griffon serial 146482, featured a red Gyrfalcon (the squadron's symbol) called Aggressive Falcon with Canadian Flag. Named for all personnel from 430 Gyrfalcon Squadron who served Canada and abroad. Photo: Ed Storey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317544229-NMVBVJEHMP1RB9X7C9LD/NoseArtHelos22.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Griffon 146414 featured a fist swingin' Popeye cartoon sporting tattoos of the Canadian flag and the RCAF's roundel and the title To the Finish. The art was based on the 420 Squadron (Shearwater, Nova Scotia) crest and motto “Pugnamus Finitum” - We Fight to the Finish! Photo: Richard Aucoin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317526601-NXS6G4VSI2BR58BHNFNB/NoseArtHelo36.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out RCAF CH-146 Griffon 164465 went by the name of Gun Slinger, referring to the M135 Gatling Gun and the 50 cal machine gun that it toted. Photo: Richard Aucoin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317609369-T4YNWF2WXVXF13L7WW8Q/NoseArtHelos41.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out Even the tiny drones like the Scan Eagle have “nose art” in Afghanistan, although the nose has too much sensitive scanning gear to put it there. Photo: Damian Brooks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629317636598-UQJEUVQAK5Y6YRDLZRNT/NoseArtHelos40.jpg The Stories - THE ART OF WAR - Make it stand out The image of a Heath Ledger-style Dark Knight Joker adorns the tail-end of the pusher Scan Eagle, applied by felt-tip markers. The Latin word “Ubique” on the Joker eagle card means “Everywhere”, the root Latin source for words like “ubiquitous”. There is no doubt that the Taliban cannot hide from a small, quiet machine called the Joker... which seems to be everywhere. Photo: Damian Brooks https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/paying-it-forward monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629313248757-OUUSK7AR30EZZJIY631K/PayItForwardTitle.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629313371142-GE6U26LUBCJC1DGBA45R/PayItForward3.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Air show spectators stare slack-jawed as the Golden Hawks perform above them. Not one person looks anywhere but skyward - a tribute to the awesome sight of six blinged-out Sabre aircraft that appear to be welded together. Photo: MWO (Ret'd) Bill Briggs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314542938-KV3XTEER7GJTVK1Y3ISF/PayItForward2.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out In 1959, Squadron Leader Vern Villeneuve, the first team leader of the Golden Hawks signs autographs at RCAF Station Rockcliffe after an Air force Day performance on the fiftieth anniversary of powered flight in Canada. Just one look at the crowd of mostly young boys pressing in and pushing the snow fence down and you can feel the inspiration taking hold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314567580-35M55ENZXF3T90LINT59/PayItForward15.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out During the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada in 2009, we came across this image of one of our volunteers, Cameron Fraser standing on the wing of a Golden Hawk aircraft back in 1960, replete with Little Buddy air force flight suit and helmet. In a nation of boys in coonskin caps, Davey Crockett jackets and Roy Rogers six shooters, young Cameron was clearly inspired to higher goals. Fraser would go on to join air cadets, and to become an accomplished general aviation pilot. Photo: Moe Fraser https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314663995-O7JTI35E2CYIPSKYAE0R/PayItForward4.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey gets down on he level of the kids to sign an autograph after a Hawk One performance at Abbotsford, British Columbia. Though selected for his easy going personality and well-trained by the snowbirds to share time with the public, Dempsey takes it a few steps further, focusing on youth, goal-setting and dreaming big. Dan can speak with kindness and from experience, putting himself in those little shoes. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314696733-QDGKQUK2NE17VW38WJKM/PayItForward5.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out The cultural make-up of Canada has changed much in half a century, but not the imaginations of young boys. Here Dan talks with a class of elementary school children in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's hangar two days before the 2012 Hamilton Air Show. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314749531-XO50WQ5XOFZXMZ237FJ0/PayItForward6.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Smart phones at the ready, these school kids video and photograph Dan's explanation of how the Discovery Air Hawk One Sabre's Orenda sucks in air in the front and blows history out the back. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314774655-2AELTTT61AF1LP6XGO6L/PayItForward11.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out On the day he met the school kids at Canadian Warplane Heritage, Dempsey was aloft with the CWHM's Lancaster for some air to air photography. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314798991-X7UWTB5AYDCZL36VZD3X/PayItForward8.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out After every Discovery Air Hawk One performance, Dan Dempsey will insist that the gold jet be let through the barriers from the hot zone to the static display line so that Canadians and in particular young people can get a close look and a personal tour. Sometimes this can upset harried air show volunteers who have to tow him into a crowded line and forklift him over an air stair, but the result is, well... Pure Gold. Here Dan lets a young dreamer at the Hamilton Air Show sit in the pilot's seat and handle the controls. You know this means a lot to a young man with so many choices ahead of him in his short life. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314826229-6UE4O3GNDHOQQ09NPBTE/PayItForward9.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Yes young lady, these days you can become an airline or fighter pilot if you lock your sights on that objective. Back in the days of the Golden Hawks, this would have been unthinkable and though many young girls would have gone home just as inspired as the boys, they could not have hoped for a career in aviation. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314899075-JYOQ446D2066PR7IOLW6/PayItForward10.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey is still that same little boy from Rockcliffe 50 years ago and though he has been around airplanes and airshows for all of his adult life, he can't help but look up at every pass during an airshow. The ember that was ignited long ago still burns in Dempsey's soul. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314941120-EOA9URRPZT9KSQCHQ3U6/PayItForward12.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Hey Dad... That's a cool airplane over there!!! While Dempsey has been known to stand for four hours with one foot on the wing root and another in the step, Rob Fleck, Vintage Wings President and Hawk One pilot stood in for him so that he could take a break, get some water and stretch his legs. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629314992710-EXIV6CHE79Z7F6S1LXBL/PayItForward13.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out While Rob Fleck works the cockpit, Dempsey, who is supposed to be taking a break, joins the line of adults and kids waiting in the 30 degree heat to see the cockpit of a vintage Sabre. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315033637-ZSFAW1PT2J1ERBKCS8JV/PayItForward14.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out A few years back Peter Handley captured this wistful and determined look on a young man's face as he tries out the controls of our de Havilland Tiger Moth. Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315087477-9FQ7EVB83HDI5QAVOJ4R/PayItForward16.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Last year, Paul Kissmann, Chief Pilot was inspired himself by young Daniel MacPhee at the Ottawa-Gatineau en Vol air show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315148035-3069KZL4Y46RULFKDQ7R/PayItForward18.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out On the way to the Hamilton Air Show, Rob Fleck drops in at Seneca College's Buttonville Airport Campus. Though these young pilots are close the realizing their dream, it can't hurt to reignite the spark by getting a tour of the Vintage Wings of Canada Mustang. Before giving a speech to the Buttonville Flying Club, pilots Fleck and Joe Cosmano visited the Seneca College hangar, putting current students through the cockpit and explaining the history and importance of the Mustang to Canada’s next generation of aviators. Photo via Mary Norman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315180587-VR85IH1DDIZCOW3GOXRW/PayItForward20.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out As a reward for his interest in vintage aviation and his academic and Air Cadet accomplishments, Cadet Zeke Ruddy was made a member of Vintage Wings of Canada and given a ride in a vintage Fleet Finch biplane trainer. Here, after the flight and the post flight wipe-down of the finch, Zeke and new best friend, Finch pilot Peter Ashwood-Smith give a thumbs up. Young Zeke blogged a great and superbly well written account of his flight and it is well worth the time to read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315270204-0XP30DH37DE3R9KYO0MW/PayItForward21.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Zeke works to tidy and clean the backseat of the Finch... part of the job for a Finch backseater! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315299900-Q59ZBDGC16F0PK24X7NO/PayItForward22.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out As Vintage wings Stearman pilot Todd Lemieux would say... “Is there a pretty girl factory around here?”. Last month while touring the Stearman through Swift Current, Saskatchewan, he was approached at the airport by a wedding party to see if they could be photographed next to the Harry Hannah Stearman. Todd, being Todd, said “Sure, but first I need to tell you about Harry Hannah and what he did for us.” After telling the story, the bride and groom and their entourage we moved to stuff the donation box with tens and twenties. Then the gals sent Harry, who lives in Oakville, a special message of thanks for inspiring them and for making their special day so memorable. Photo via Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315327068-15HNW2NNOMWAH38SZX84/PayItForward19.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out Former Spitfire fighter pilot, Warrant officer Harry Hannah of Oakville and his wife Yvonne truly appreciated the gesture from Swift Current and sent a notice right back to the pilots who are touring with the Stearman - Todd lemieux, Gord Simmons, Liam O'Connor, Brice Evans and Dave Maric https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629315360913-41YBSVJJQPFG1JY1FXW2/PayItForward25.jpg The Stories - PAYING IT FORWARD - Make it stand out What goes around, comes around. In 1959, Fern Villeneuve (right) inspired a young boy from Ottawa named Daniel Dempsey, and 53 years later, that young boy, flying an identical aircraft was wowing crowds of youngsters from coast to coast. To complete the circle, Dan, as Discovery Air Hawk One team lead was able to dedicate the golden jet to none other than Villeneuve himself. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lunch-at-the-eagle monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312021910-WOI8M8CDDMDA0NIDVTNA/Eagle00.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312076986-GC0TGFBKF6HQB4N8RK00/Eagle01.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out The writer sits at the window where, nearly 70 years ago, the blackout curtains were drawn and the war temporarily shut out. Photo: Susan Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312140677-RJZ85H3IV0CP6YAPZWPK/Eagle02.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Bert’s Boys, 196 Squadron. Bert was one of Sir Arthur Harris’ nicknames (including Butcher and Bomber), placing this graffiti between July 1943 and November of that year, when 196 Squadron left Bomber Command for the Allied Expeditionary Air Force. At this time they were stationed at RAF Witchford, near Cambridge. They flew both Vickers Wellingtons and Short Stirlings from this base. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312206613-L9SQO8CBSLHAXM2T6925/Eagle15.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out An anchor and the acronym for Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (bottom) tell us it was not always air force blue sitting at the tables and standing at the bar. Photo: Dale Haussner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312273018-3WK0CDE6BY66BP2CBD83/Eagle12.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out One of the boldest inscriptions is the name of a B-17 bomber by the name of The Wild Hare, based at nearby RAF Bassingbourn (according to the display at the pub which outlines the source of much of the graffiti). The Wild Hare, like so many Eighth Air Force bombers, was lost on operations—on 26 November 1944 during a mission to Bremen, Germany. Photo: Janet59@Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312348931-KIQIQM9DV8EP5XVQUDUD/Eagle08.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (Serial number 42-31515) named The Wild Hare, based at RAF Bassingbourn. This aircraft was shot down near Altenbeken, Germany on 26 November 1944. Photo via AmericanAirMuseum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312392038-UMUQ7Q9QDFKKTFXBIWIE/Eagle10.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Among the scores of squadron numbers, we find a Latin phrase: “Alis Nocturnus”—“On the Wings of the Night”. It is the motto of 58 Squadron, Royal Air Force, a bomber squadron of the RAF which was in Coastal Command and operated from RAF St. Eval in Cornwall. It is possible that the crew or a crew member was visiting Cambridge. At the bottom of this photo we see the faux-Chinese saying “Ding Hy!” similar to Ding Hao!, an expression in common usage in the USAAF in the Second World War, meaning Very Good or The Best or Number One!—first used by American Volunteer Group pilot and ace Colonel James Howard on his famous P-51B Ding Hao! Photo: Dale Haussner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312465644-2PXGJH8X4N9TBP7WV98K/Eagle17.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out An approximation of a naked woman, drawn in lipstick on the ceiling, speaks to the bawdy nights, the alcohol and puerile tendencies of young men in the throes of war. Photo: Dale Haussner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312509949-4GDMRHT5HLQ0013STPCY/Eagle16.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Buried among the scores of fighter and bomber squadron names, we find a cryptic numeral 46455. To some this is just a number, to others, perhaps the crew chief of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 42-46455, it was a way of immortalizing their charge. B-17 42-46455 finished the war safely with 58 missions—a true warhorse. She was scrapped along with hundreds of other B-17s at Kingman AFB, Arizona. Photo: Dale Haussner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312575922-1C8TQDG5V13LWMPG1HKA/Eagle04.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out If you are at The Eagle and ask for a warm goat cheese salad and a glass of Chablis—you have no clue. Bangers and mash are the order of the day. Hmmmm, the author was happy. The food is varied and excellent, the beers numerous. Photo: Susan Kirkpatrick (Not so happy with my menu choice) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312618006-V3YHB6U085DKQRUAONAJ/Eagle05.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out The warm and friendly bar at The Eagle Pub—welcomed airmen during the war years—today veterans from those days still make their way to the pub to remember and have another Green King. Though hundreds of years old, it is the modern history for which visitors come—in fact The Eagle Pub is the place that Cambridge scientists James Watson and Francis Crick came to celebrate their discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA back in 1953. Almost as important as the ceiling! Photo: Bill Holmes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312664729-XWALSF128LVCBJU4DNBO/Eagle14.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out The Eagle Pub is a charming place, made all the more compelling by the layers of military aviation history in the form of graffiti and unit “zappers”. Photo: Dale Haussner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312722328-U1EJ0NM0B1VYJEIVNDEO/Eagle06.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out The RAF Bar at The Eagle Pub off Bene’t Street. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312785292-VEBTPKG5088I9ENKRAEQ/Eagle07.jpeg The Stories - LUNCH AT THE EAGLE - Make it stand out Sharpies and Zappers—the modern equivalent of the ceiling’s markings—perhaps not as romantic, but still keeping the tradition alive 70 years later. These can be found on the walls and the bar at The Eagle and come primarily from USAF personnel visiting nearby Mildenhall. However, these particular autographs show us that The Eagle is an important place in American history. At the bottom is none other than Robin Olds, fighter pilot of the Second World War and even more famous as a rare ace of the Vietnam War. Photo: Dave O’Malley The two scenarios of the airmen writing on the ceiling in this article are of course poetic licence only. There is no way that we will ever know the exact history of the day they were written and who specifically wrote them—this is only meant to set the scene for your imagination. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/manufacturing-victory monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303451650-EXBB30U9HVNZSJZUJ15G/FactoryTitle.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303568572-3LHVH30L8KGU1BLNHTWS/Factory89.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The seemingly infinite Willow Run B-24 Assembly Line – Its output was the whirlwind reaped by Hitler. Photo via the CarGurus Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303889891-KBNMQHRT7XPYY1H9KNOZ/Factory87.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Not only did Willow Run have barracks for up to 1,300 air crew members, but it had the equivalent of a community college, training young unskilled workers, both male and female, to build one of the most modern combat aircraft of its day. A full-sized mock up of the Liberator's structure can be seen built from plywood behind these students who are learning about a component in this photo. Photo dates from August of 1942. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303923962-DR1Y7L5ZX9VG326D6W0K/Factory81.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Liberators nearing completion move inexorably toward their finish and toward the 90 degree turn in the assembly line - note the B-24s moving to the right in the background. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303967593-L81GL5IJA76ZAHHNTQFL/Factory84.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Workers install engine components, turrets and machine guns as the Libs head down the line in November of 1944. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629303995651-F5FEV7CA4J2XEAMQOJJB/Factory85.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Pre-constructed large components such as rear and forward fuselages undergo inspection and await joining on the Willow Run assembly line in late 1944. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304030368-TEDUQ17TPNFW8LY02SOC/Factory86.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Another view of the same fuselage storage hall, but from the other side showing the forward fuselage and cockpit sections ready for mating with the aft fuselage. Workers can be seen inspecting the cockpit sections. Everything appears to be ready to connect. Even the wiring harnesses on the right side of the section of each cockpit are bundled in identical fashion. Inside the rear fuselages we can see oxygen bottles and on each fuselage component (forward and aft) we can see the lifting rings used to hoist the weighty components onto the line. These would be removed later. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304151752-TGP2OMT3FJDLRRKHVGYF/Factory88.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Some of Willow run's assembly line workers pose with the 7,000th Ford-built B-24 Liberator (s/n 44-50267, known as “The Lucky 7”) to come off the Willow run Line. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304177333-DU6W1IHXUVZG2D0P73TP/Factory82.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Painted, marked and primed for action in January of 1944 at Willow Run, these Liberators are now 100% complete and await the daylight. To the left are the massive hangar doors through which the Liberators will now be towed. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304208968-OL65PJZRA3G0UPABU75O/Factory83.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Perhaps two days output of immaculate and no-time Liberators gleam in the Michigan sunshine and await test or delivery crews. Photo: Ford Motors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304866510-ES35QY05V6T5T2Y8LJZI/Factory19.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out B-24 Liberators in final assembly at the one of several enormous factories (possibly Fort Worth) in the United States purpose built to produce the type. Production of B-24s increased at an astonishing rate throughout 1942 and 1943. Consolidated Aircraft tripled the size of its plant in San Diego and built a large new plant outside Fort Worth, Texas. More B-24s were built by Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. North American Aviation built a plant in Dallas, Texas, which produced B-24Gs and B-24Js. None of these were minor operations, but they were dwarfed by the vast new purpose-built factory constructed by the Ford Motor Company at Willow Run near Detroit, Michigan. Ford broke ground on Willow Run in the spring of 1941, with the first plane coming off the line in October 1942. It had the largest assembly line in the world (3,500,000 ft²/330,000 m²). At its peak, the Willow Run plant produced 650 B-24s per month in 1944. Pilots and crews slept on 1,300 cots at Willow Run waiting for their B-24s to roll off the assembly line. At Willow Run, Ford produced half of 18,000 total B-24s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629304897579-SV4G631LH1GM0LUFE66L/Factory63.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out On April 17, 1942, the first of three thousand B-24 Liberator bombers rolled out of the new mile-long Fort Worth assembly building of Air Force Plant 4—known locally as the “bomber plant”. After Pearl Harbor the city lobbied the government to build a defense installation here, offering 1,400 acres on Lake Worth. The result was Air Force Plant 4, which opened in 1942, operated by Consolidated Aircraft. When the war had begun, Fort Worth had 176,000 people; Tarrant County had 225,000. During the plant’s peak in 1944-1945 Consolidated employed 38,000 workers. That’s one in five Fort Worth residents, one in six county residents. Probably most blocks in Fort Worth had at least one resident who worked at the bomber plant. Air Force Plant 4 produced B-24s for two years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305509727-XCJE8567GD60YY7NYSUE/Factory68.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out B-24s under construction at Willow Run, disappear into infinity, swarmed by factory workers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305538579-NLN9KIMMEH1D7KL1B65A/Factory7.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out B-24s in the Consolidated-Vultee Plant, Fort Worth, Texas–the other Liberator Plant. In foreground are Liberator bombers while to the rear of this front line are C-87 "Liberator Express Transports" in various assembly stages. The second line is composed entirely of B-24 Liberator bombers in final assembly stages. Photo via Hometown by Handlebar Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305579703-27GP91J05TPMEW9E2EDU/Factory64.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A total off 18,482 B-24s were built by September 1945. At Ford's giant Willow Run plant, which was built to use the "Ford Production System", they built one four-engine Liberator an hour, and by the end of the war a total of 8,700 were delivered from Willow Run alone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305623067-70D4YQ67HI92Z0HR0MQG/Factory25.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A mouth watering sight for Spitfire lovers today - dozens of centre section fuselages of late model blown-canopy spitfires, possibly Mk XVIs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305747969-JRGGWK285PMX04TADUPA/Factory91.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out When aviation was just 15 years old, war production was a much simpler, hand-crafted business. Assembly lines were not yet employed anywhere near the extent they would be 25 years later. Here, in 1917 at the Vought factory, VE-7 “Bluebird” fuselages await wings at the plant in Astoria New York. 25 years later, Vought would be making a blue bird of considerably more complexity and power... the F4-U Corsair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305802869-4PBZN3S318MDUP9Y8ALF/Factory100.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Canadian Aeroplanes Limited factory in Toronto, circa 1917/1918 - poorly lit, cramped and with no evidence of an assembly line. This was the beginning of the aerospace industry in Canada. They built JN-4C Canucks (Canadian versions of the Curtiss Jenny) for the RFC Canada (later RAF Canada) training scheme. It was somewhat of a prototype for the BCATP, both in terms of training aircrew in Canada who would fight in Europe - and in terms of developing an aircraft industry. Just 20 years later, full aircraft assembly plants in the modern style would be built in Canada. Photo via Edward Soye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305842631-4PEFLIQUXXQI02ZWQRLA/Factory70.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Prior to the war, aircraft production was on a much smaller scale. Here, fuselages for the Northrop A-17 monoplane bomber await further work. The Northrop A-17 “Nomad”, a development of the Northrop Gamma 2F was a two seat, single engine, monoplane, attack bomber built in 1935 by the Northrop Corporation for the U.S. Army Air Corps and was used by the RCAF as part of the BCATP. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305886476-065MAS21STW65DCEQNRR/Factory38.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out At the end of the 1930s, the United Sates was beginning to power-up the war manufacturing machine. Plants became bigger, but not to the extent they would become in a few short years. Here we see U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers pictured in various stages of assembly at Douglas Aircraft Company's Santa Monica, California (USA), plant. This was long before the United Sates entered the war. and the plant floor looks much quieter and slower than factories of the late war period. The Douglas TBD Devastator was a torpedo bomber of the United States Navy, ordered in 1934, first flying in 1935 and entering service in 1937. At that point, it was the most advanced aircraft flying for the USN and possibly for any navy in the world. However, the fast pace of aircraft development caught up with it, and by the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the TBD was already outdated. It performed well in some early battles, but in the Battle of Midway the Devastators launched against the Japanese fleet were almost totally wiped out. The type was immediately withdrawn from front line service, replaced by the more capable Grumman TBF Avenger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305958622-C52S8B5L262ZGFEK9A84/Factory15.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Curtiss SB2C Helldiver aircraft near completion at Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario (Now Thunder Bay). Prior to the American entry into the Second World War, the Curtiss Aircraft Co. increased production of SB2C Helldiver naval aircraft by licensing construction to two Canadian companies - Fairchild Aircraft and Canadian Car and Foundry. Though the first flight of the prototype did not happen until December of 1940, large-scale production had already been ordered on 29 November 1940. A large number of modifications were specified for the production model and the program suffered so many delays that the Grumman TBF Avenger entered service before the Helldiver, even though the Avenger had begun its development two years later. Nevertheless, production tempo accelerated with production at Columbus, Ohio and two Canadian factories: Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada) which produced a total of 300 (under the designations XSBF-l, SBF-l, SBF-3 and SBF-4E) and Canadian Car and Foundry which built 894 (designated SBW-l, SBW-3, SBW-4, SBW-4E and SBW-5), these models being respectively equivalent to their Curtiss-built counterparts. A total of 7,140 SB2Cs were produced in World War II. Photo: Archives of Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305918075-5341FS49C15BPEH7Y9UB/Factory102.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Another view of the Canadian car and Foundry Helldiver line at Fort William. Photo via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306307104-RHI4N9QYPPQCFT08KPJL/Factory101.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Another view of the Canadian car and Foundry Helldiver line at Fort William. Photo via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306336452-5A9VR4VI655DC4COSEMA/Factory2.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Early model B-17 Flying Fortresses at Seattle, before the massive retooling and high-production rate of the latter years of the war. In fact it was not uncommon to see other aircraft types, even commercial aircraft, sharing the same assembly lines. Here we see Boeing 307 Stratoliners in the background. In 1935 Boeing designed a four-engined airliner based on its B-17 heavy bomber (Boeing Model 299), then in production, calling it the Model 307. It combined the wings, tail, rudder, landing gear, and engines from their production B-17C with a new, circular cross-section fuselage of 138 in (351 cm) diameter,designed to allow pressurization. It wasn't long before commercial aircraft construction had ceased and entire new plants created to do one thing... build bombers. Only ten Stratoliners were built and TWA sold back their five airframes to the Army when war was declared. They became known as the C-75 and were returned to TWA in 1944. Boeing Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306385194-0NT22X1QNFIIP1IUK5O6/Factory20.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Another early shared assembly line. The Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat and G-21 “Goose” share assembly areas at the Grumman plant at Bethpage, Long Island. The arrival of the Second World War saw the Goose (a name originally bestowed on the aircraft by the Royal Air Force) enter military service with a number of allied air arms, the largest operator being the US Navy. Military orders from the US, Britain and Canada accounted for much of the Goose's 300 unit production run. The Goose in the foreground is clearly destined for either the RCAF or RAF. The Wildcats are marked in the early-war (1942) US Navy scheme of non-reflective blue-grey over light grey scheme. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306476270-Z8NJY89LA7XVOEPTYSN1/Factory17.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Lancaster production at A. V. Roe's Chadderton plant. The old Newton Heath Factory served Avro well throughout the 1920s and 1930s, but with war imminent, it was announced by the government that Avro would build a large new factory. The site chosen was in Chadderton near Oldham. Aircraft production commenced soon afterwards although not with an Avro Design, but with the Bristol Blenheim light bomber which Avro built under license. This type was soon followed by the Avro Manchester twin engined bomber, but trouble with the engines forced the company to search for alternative power plants. The answer came with the excellent Rolls-Royce Merlin which powered the famous Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. With four of these engines installed in a modified Manchester, the Avro Lancaster, the most famous British bomber to emerge from the Second World War, was born. The town of Chadderton is known as the Rose of Lancaster. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306529613-ULROEHM3FWMI8NUS54VV/Factory97.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Lancaster rear sections, fully assembled and painted await mating to the front sections at A V Roe's Woodford Plant. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306603389-0MERXPEATGLQQXJ7PJVE/Factory14.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Lancaster rear sections, fully assembled and painted await mating to the front sections at A V Roe's Woodford Plant. In June of 1944, the 1/4 mile long Woodford factory reached its manufacturing zenith, producing 156 Lancaster bombers in one month. The plant, owned by BAe Systems, closed down permanently just last year. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306968657-X0F7JR1HBC6C1KSRML9A/Factory21.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Fairey Battle Production line circa 1940. There are at least 19 airframes in this photograph. At about this time, the Battle was seen as obsolete and non-competitive as a fighter/bomber. Even though it recorded the first aerial victory of the war for the RAF, mission losses during the “Phoney War” and the Battle of France topped 50%! Most of the remaining airframes made their way across to Canada where they became bombing and gunnery trainers. Fairey Aviation was a major supplier of aircraft to the RAF & the Fleet Air Arm during World War Two. Besides building its own designs it also sub-contracted for other companies such as Handley Page, Bristol & Avro. The factory was a key component of the British war effort, and as such needed to be defended. The factory was camouflaged & had anti-aircraft defences & armed guards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307364068-5VW8YLE9IANQO40O145B/Factory22.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Bromwich Castle plant was built in 1936 and was known as the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory. CBAF was first managed by the Nuffield Organization to manufacture Spitfires and (later) Lancaster bomber aircraft. After the war, the factory ceded to automobile production, and eventually was fully taken over by Jaguar Cars in 1977. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307396479-C16LLBXMT4IFIDM51B4Y/Factory24.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The large Castle Bromwich factory at the height of Spitfire production, with mechanics making good use of crates and pallets as scaffolding. By May 1940, Castle Bromwich had not yet built its first Spitfire, in spite of promises that the factory would be producing 60 per week starting in April. Mid-May, Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvered him into handing over control of the Castle Bromwich plant to Beaverbook's Ministry. Beaverbrook immediately sent in experienced management staff and experienced workers from Supermarine and gave over control of the factory to Vickers-Armstrong. Although it would take some time to resolve the problems, in June 1940, 10 Mk IIs were built; 23 rolled out in July, 37 in August, and 56 in September. By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires (921 Mk IIs, 4,489 Mk Vs, 5,665 Mk IXs, and 1,054 Mk XVIs) had been built. CBAF went on to become the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939-45 conflict. As the largest Spitfire factory in the UK, by producing a maximum of 320 aircraft per month, it built over half of the approximately 20,000 aircraft of this type. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307422399-GK4UVQR4D0JX6JUE5VC6/Factory61.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Final assembly hall with of Spitfires, Castle Bromwich Aero Factory 'C' Block, around 1943. Compared to American factories, British facilities always seem to be much dimmer. Perhaps this is the result of lower energy resources. Photo, City of Birmingham [LSH: WK/C1/147] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307473398-8UZCR0K6J9782YIWMELT/Factory39.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out While there exists today only three exhibit-only Handley Page Halifax airframes, there was a time when they crowded the factories across England. Halifaxes were assembled from pre-built sub assemblies. Total Halifax production was 6,178 with the last aircraft delivered in April 1945. In addition to Handley Page, Halifaxes were built by English Electric, Fairey Aviation, and Rootes Motors in Lancashire and by the London Aircraft Production Group. Peak production resulted in one Halifax being completed every hour. This photo shows Halifax B Mk 111 forward fuselages at the Fairey's Errwood Park works, 24 February 1944. Photo: R.A. Scholefield, Airliners.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307526605-5S01SUJWVCYN2SUM27SD/Factory77.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Bristol Blenheim Mk V bomber in a dim at the Bristol Factory in Filton, England in March 1943 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307568126-2ZLO2SZJMLCCL1QVD6FX/Factory75.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Mossies on the line at Leavesden. One of the major advances in aircraft technology to come out of the period of the Second World War was the De Havilland Mosquito. This amazing aircraft, which first flew on the 25 November 1940, out performed all Allied and Enemy aircraft - it was 23 MPH faster than the Spitfire with the same engines, and the fastest production aircraft in the world for two and a half years of the War. A larger de Havilland factory at Leavesdan, Herts The Hatfield factory was set up for Mosquito production, a new factory was built at Leavesden, production lines at Standard Motors factory at Coventry, Airspeed at Portsmouth, Percival Aircraft at Luton, production of parts and materials was dispersed all over southern England, by 1943 over 100 Mosquito’s a month rolled out, by 1945 almost double that. Production had also started in Canada and in 1943 the first Mosquito rolled off the assembly line at Bankstown in Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307600644-WOVO85PEG959NSGXUYFY/Factory76.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Wooden wing assemblies are mated with de Havilland Mosquito fuselages at the de Havilland facility at Hatfield in 1943. Typically, British aircraft factories were older and smaller. Imperial War Museum photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307628602-T3QWJVJYB4KNRPN7NSRY/Factory66.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Hawker Hurricanes at Brooklands. The Hurricane was produced at the Hawker factories in Canbury Park Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, and then assembled at the Hawker shed at Brooklands, Weybridge, or, from 1942, at the Hawker aerodrome at Langley, near Slough (the famous hometown of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company of the Rocky Gervais original TV series “The Office”). Clearly, the Hurricane was a fighter aircraft from another era, employing both skilled wood and metal workers to construct its complex fuselage. Photo: Brooklands Museum archive courtesy of BAE Systems https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307670131-3MY6CV3CHB6X38XUB7W1/Factory67.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Women went to war by replacing men in factories and doing an equally excellent job, some say better. Where German factories were employing slave labour, women of Allied countries flocked in the millions to enter the work force and demonstrate their equality. Hawker employees Winnie Bennett, Dolly Bennett, Florence Simpson and a colleague at work on the production of Hurricane fighter aircraft at a factory in Britain, in 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307736242-A1JVNQC2U3DNU1CZLBB1/Factory13.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out In 1941 when this photo was taken, the Junkers factory in Dessau was churning out Ju 88 multi-role aircraft. It is clear that the factory had not yet suffered the scourge of Allied bombing. Despite its protracted development, the Ju 88 became one of the Luftwaffe's most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. The bulk of these would eventually be destroyed in the war. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged, proof of the outstanding quality of the original design. Today, the site of the factory now houses the TechnikMuseum Hugo Junkers Dessau. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307766541-9047DPTWHXLLHM5DV3AS/Factory47.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out JU-87B Stuka production on the assembly line at Weser Flugzeugbau at Berlin-Templehof. Here fuselages get to meet their Junkers Jumo 211D liquid-cooled inverted-vee V12 engines. Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH, known as Weserflug, was the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in Second World War Germany. During 1940-5, Weserflug built 5,215 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka aircraft at Tempelhof. This plant also constructed Fw 190 fighters. Forced labour was used at the plant to supplement the diminishing German workforce – on 20 April 1944, 2,103 of the 4,151 Tempelhof workers were foreign forced labourers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307793080-QNJ8DX2JP7NY4TPKPUIL/Factory48.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Early production line of the Ju 87 Stuka - workers take the time to lay down covers on the wings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307829523-LP9WNJE8SDUHOYXJEX7V/Factory49.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out With engines mated to their fuselages, these Stukas near the end of their construction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307859479-51FLMPZI0GYUXMEJLIAV/Factory46.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The scourge of Junkers and other German manufacturers was the destruction wrought by aircraft which were manufactured in Allied plants which never had the same done to them. Here we see Ju-87 Stukas wrecked along with the assembly facility which made them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307891270-YRFXCQ8L07MZRBOF0X88/Factory23.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Clearly, the Ministry of Propaganda controlled this photo of an overly clean and tidy Messerschmitt Bf 109 assembly line in Regensburg. The propellers are all lined up, canopies all open and it seems German aircraft workers don't use tools. Despite never having a chance to match Allied aircraft output, the Germans did manage to build an astonishing 34,000 Bf 109s. Bf 109s remained in foreign service for many years after World War II. The Swiss used their Bf 109Gs well into the 1950s. The Finnish Air Force did not retire their Bf 109Gs until March 1954. Romania used its Bf 109s until 1955. The Spanish Hispanos flew even longer. Some were still in service in the late 1960s. They appeared in films (notably The Battle of Britain) playing the role of the Bf 109. Some Hispano-built, Merlin-powered airframes were sold to museums, which rebuilt them as Bf 109s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307957969-2W3U5N2IXMKORPIKTB2L/Factory31.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Partly completed Heinkel He-162 fighter jets sit on the assembly line in an underground factory in Germany, in early April 1945. By this time, production was still progressing, but suffered from having to be hidden from the aluminum overcast which rained down explosives from the sky and also from a poorer quality labour force. The Germans in general spread their production out away from major factories, to much smaller assembly lines. They built them in caves, and salt mines, and even in forests even. Production quality, however, was another thing entirely. They relied on slave labor too, which made reliability another issue as well, due to sabotage and understandably sloppy workmanship. These huge underground galleries, in a former salt mine, were discovered by the 1st U.S. Army during their advance on Magdeburg. The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritized for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308039163-O7P1UA08GSECLGX8L75I/Factory5.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out It was the building of thousands and thousands of the big Boeing bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress without the threat of attack and with unlimited resources at hand that sealed the fate of the Axis powers. On the ground in the battlefields, it was the Allied soldier that beat them back, but behind him there was awesome assurance of millions of countrymen working to supply the tools. Here B-17s are assembled at Boeing's Plant 2 in Seattle, Washington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308332570-NXJA0H2TDCX35WP8BVSJ/Factory6.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The vast halls of Hitler's demise. Hundreds of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress being assembled during World War II at Plant 2, in Seattle. Photo: The Boeing Company https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308365482-A5PMBCZ8HWQSU3WTPOO4/Factory27.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Boeing sub-contracted the building of the Flying Fortress to Douglas and Vega Aircraft to keep up to demand. The partnership between Boeing, Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed) and Douglas was abbreviated as BVD. Here we see a nearly complete B-17G fuselage moving down the Vega assembly line. Of over 12,000 B-17s produced by war's end, 2,750 were built by Vega. The company also built two experimental B-17 variants, the XB-38 and the B-40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308391659-C8VMYH1OPEKX2DL4VGSA/Factory95.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Camouflaged on its roof to resemble a residential neighborhood the Boeing Plant 2 facility in Seattle really never had to worry about attack. The Vega plant had a similar treatment. The factory was located next to Burbank's Union Airport which it had purchased in 1940. During the war, the entire area was camouflaged to fool enemy aerial reconnaissance. The factory was hidden beneath a huge burlap tarp painted to depict a peaceful semi-rural neighborhood, replete with rubber automobiles. Hundreds of fake trees, shrubs, buildings and even fire hydrants were positioned to give a three dimensional appearance. The trees and shrubs were created from chicken wire treated with an adhesive and covered with feathers to provide a leafy texture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308458444-HVU5A7554E7I3P29XUPZ/Factory54.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Despite earlier fears of attack from the Japanese, the Seattle Boeing Plant 2 complex made good use of outdoor storage of recently finished Fortress bombers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308493345-CKDGLE9YG2PP1TP49BCA/Factory34.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out B-17s being built under license at the Douglas Plant (part of the BVD partnership) at Long Beach, California. Compare this galaxy of overhead lighting to the dim interiors of European factories such as Supermarine Vickers Castle Bromwich plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308534216-RH1XIZNP80YE3MDU0573/Factory55.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out B-17s nearing completion trundle down the line past stored nose glazing units and other components. Can't be sure of this, but the lighting style looks like the Douglas B-17 plant in Long Beach. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308586282-58HOQ5KFC0XGVOQ2I6HQ/Factory4.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out When the 5,000th Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (337716) started life on the assembly line, the company made huge Public Relations hay from the opportunity. every one of the many thousands of employees at Boeing's Seattle plant came to sine or stencil their names on its all metal sides. When it rolled off the line, it was greeted by a reception of plant employees. The skin was left bare metal with the signatures when it went into an operational squadron, nicknamed “5 Grand”. Special permission given by the USAAF to carry the signatures of all those men and women who assembled this flying machine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308705449-UQDTEZ2VFP6SLPUW5FJK/Factory98.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A nice colour shot of 5 Grand in flight. The Big Boeing went into battle with these markings. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308796096-ZRHL158EXSHQ8WPA5DN3/Factory79.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Post war, 5 Grand was scrapped at Kingman, Arizona. The City of Seattle attempted buy it to put it on display. Few people cared and not sufficient money was raised... the 5,000th B-17 with all the names of those who assembled this famous flying machine (plus aircrews who later put their names on it) was scrapped and melted down in an Arizona aircraft bone yard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308823066-ENHURUNKUSFVQMXK1LPX/Factory80.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A close-up of 5 Grand's tail with names still intact. A real opportunity was missed by the City of Seattle when they refused to fund the retrieval of this unique warbird. It would have been a simultaneous memorial to the men and women who made the B-17 and the Men who flew them into harm's way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309066796-IGDO6MYI3HWA4WD0ZS7U/Factory3.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Boeing B-29 Superfortress factory in Wichita, Kanas. As Boeing lacked production space at its Renton, Washington, plant, the USAAC wanted production of the B-29 at Boeing Wichita which at the time was building biplane trainers and B-17 control surfaces. This caused a furor in Seattle, but the USAAC insisted on the security of a plant deep inland given that the B-29 would be a game changer once it entered service. Only the first three Boeing B-29s were built in Seattle. The need for expansion at Boeing Wichita resulted in one of the largest population booms of the once quiet Kansas town. But as the flight test program of the B-29 progressed and the war widened in scope, more B-29s got added to the production order. By January 1944 Boeing Wichita alone had orders for 1,630 Superfortresses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309192504-6BYK9PDP32SDUWUZ9V9C/Factory92.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Nothing demonstrates the power and size and game-changing nature of the B-29 Superfortress than this image of female factory workers hand-painting zinc-cromate primer into the interior of a B-29 wing... or rather the trailing half of the wing. What I see here is an abundant supply of workers, aluminum and energy. Zinc Chromate was used as an anti-corrosive barrier primer; it could be described as a sort of painted-on galvanizing. It had been developed by Ford Motor Company by the late 1920s, subsequently adopted in commercial aviation and later by the US Military. Official USAAC notes mention successful application of Zinc Chromate primer starting from 1933, but it had not been adopted as standard until 1936. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310823604-OLNSGXOXG37JOM19ICEL/Factory56.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A big aircraft like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress needed a super factory. The Battle of Kansas (also known as the "Battle of Wichita") was the nickname given to a project to build, modify and deliver large quantities of the world's most advanced bomber to the front-lines in the Pacific. The battle began as the first B-29 Superfortresses rolled off the production lines of the massive new Boeing factory on the prairies near Wichita, Kansas. The specific B-29 aircraft (44-61535) shown in this photo still exists, or at least part of it does and is outdoor display at the Castle AFB Air Museum in Atwater, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310856300-04YTN0X8CKBMN3XZ8Q6M/Factory58.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out After Boeing B-29A 44-61535 (see previous photo) was rolled off the assembly line, it was taken over by the USAAC, which became the United States Air Force. It was operational until 1957 when it was put into storage at Naval Air Station China Lake until 1980. Here, squadron ground personnel of the 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group pose with 44-61535, better known as Raz'n Hell somewhere in the Pacific during the Korean War. Photo via Jay Somnii, @Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310888737-377ZS1HTCQLG4BG9X0Q3/Factory59.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out In 1980, parts of 44-61535 were combined with components from two other B-29s to make a display aircraft at Castle AFB. The B-29, with only minimal parts from the original 44-61535, is none the less painted to resemble her. The Raz'n Hell serial number is displayed as 44-61535 which was the original Raz'n Hell, however this B-29 is a composite of three aircraft which were used as targets and recovered from from the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake. Nose art was restored by Jay Somnii, the person who sent us the previous Korean war era photo. Photo via Rick Baldridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310966378-O8U8EJVHGPVGONNTXF4O/Factory28.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A rare colour view of the B-25 Mitchell final assembly line at North American Aviation's Inglewood, California, plant in 1942. Note the zinc chromate primer paint on the tops of the wings. The Mitchell was arguably the finest twin-engine medium bomber of the war. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310993600-M1QDLDV5JD2G5UZVKI4K/Factory62.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Zinc chromate covered B-25 bombers being assembled at Kansas City, Kansas. A total of 6,608 B-25s were built at North American's Fairfax Airport plant in Kansas City, Kansas. The remaining 3,376 Mitchells were built in Inglewood, California. Photo: Alfred T. Palmer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311050270-M9FZK81GIFKY1RE2ND2F/Factory78.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out P-51Ds on the line at Inglewood, California. The more than 15,000 Mustangs built during the war were manufactured at two North American plants - one in Inglewood and one in Dallas, Texas. The P-51 was one of the first fighters designed to be easily mass produced. The Mustang was designed in a modular fashion, with 3 fuselage sections and 2 wing sections. Each section was built separately before the entire aircraft was assembled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311020965-B6PGPIX446MEL2EOYZH6/Factory69.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out P-51 Mustang fighter planes in California. An inspector checks over the work done on a P-51 fighter before it moves to the next assembly position at North American's Inglewood, California, plant. This plant produced as well the battle-tested B-25 Mitchell bomber. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311117096-HVK6P5ZBNO12XGMU1BGF/Factory36.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers pictured on the assembly line at Douglas Aircraft Company's El Segundo Plant, California (USA), 1943. The SBD (short for Scout Bomber Douglas) was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver and subsequently the Avenger. The aircraft was also operated by the United States Army as the A-24 Banshee. Nearly 6,000 SBD-5s/A-24s were built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311144911-GR6ZUUDGMIWB56YP6KNY/Factory40.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The submarine-like hulls of Consolidated PBY Catalina Flying Boats crowd the line at the New Orleans plant. Consolidated became Consolidated Vultee and by 1943 was Convair. PBYs (The PB stood for Patrol Bomber, while the Y was the Consolidated designated letter) were manufactured by San Diego based Convair in New Orleans, the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Boeing Aircraft of Canada in Vancouver, and Canadian Vickers (later Canadair) in Montreal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311177801-2N5ZESMJ5FER3L0SUFDE/Factory50.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out At first I believed this to be an assembly line image, but closer inspection shows these Grumman Hellcats are not really on a line, but rather in heavy maintenance. The giveaway was for me the fact each aircraft has unit numbers on their fuselages, something that would not be put on at the factory, but at the units for which they served. The aircraft seem to be weathered as well. Regardless, the shear size of this repair depot tells the same story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311210289-7JLOXOZURO0CU0AB8HRB/Factory51.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Fairey Barracuda production line in 1944. This high-winged naval dive bomber was probably the largest aircraft flown off Royal Navy aircraft carriers during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311237582-JCMDB666BZ9DZ4UNK8RM/Factory52.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Second World War F4U Corsair Production Line of the Chance Vought aircraft factory in Stratford, Connecticut which produced over 6,000 Corsairs. The Corsair's folding wing feature, necessary for Carrier operations and hangar deck storage, must surely have been a huge benefit on the Corsair assembly line as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311271132-HVAU8ZZDDMMC3GDHXHUV/Factory65.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out More Corsairs, with early USN paint scheme (red outline of Star and Bar) near the end of their production line at Goodyear's Akron plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311341337-7LC0TPXW7KUD8LRKHBMT/Factory93.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Centre wing spar sections of the Vought-designed Super Corsair move along on trolleys at the Goodyear line in Akron, Ohio. Only 10 were built by Goodyear here. Here we see the complex and unique structure that allowed the inverted gull-wing configuration. A total of 12,571 Corsairs were made between 1942 and 1953, there were some minor model variations but most used the 2,000 hp, 18-cylinder, Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial. Power was transmitted through a large Hamilton Standard Hydromatic three-blade propeller with a diameter of 13’4″ (4.06 m). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311419442-LV7R6MUZETDXSH4279VF/Factory41.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The finishing end of the Vultee BT-13 Valiant production line, at Downey, California (Near Inglewood). The Vultee BT-13 was the basic trainer flown by most American pilots during the Second World War. It was the second phase of the three phase training program for pilots. After primary training, the student pilot moved to the more complex Vultee for basic flight training. The BT-13 had a more powerful engine and was faster and heavier than the primary trainer. It required the student pilot to use two way radio communications with the ground and to operate landing flaps and a two-position Hamilton Standard variable pitch propeller. It did not, however, have retractable landing gear nor a hydraulic system. The large flaps are operated by a crank-and-cable system. Its pilots nicknamed it the "Vultee Vibrator." The aircraft in the foreground is the Vultee P-66 Vanguard prototype. The Vultee P-66 Vanguard was an accidental addition to the USAAF's inventory of fighter aircraft. It was initially ordered by Sweden, but by the time the aircraft were ready for delivery in 1941, the United States would not allow them to be exported, designating them as P-66s and retaining them for defensive and training purposes. Eventually, a large number were sent to China where they were pressed into service as combat aircraft with indifferent results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311459047-0LKOC33HU3M421KDM6YF/Factory73.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Baltimore Whore. Being my favourite multi-engined aircraft of the war, I looked hard and long for an image of the Glenn L. Martin company's Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft on the assembly line. 5,288 were built at Martin's Middle River Plant near Baltimore. The regularity of crashes by pilots training on the Marauder led to the exaggerated catchphrase, "One a day in Tampa Bay." Apart from accidents occurring over land, 13 Marauders ditched in Tampa Bay in the 14 months between the first one on 5 August 1942 to the final one on 8 October 1943. B-26 crews gave the plane the nickname "Widowmaker". Other colorful nicknames included "Martin Murderer", "Flying Coffin", "B-Dash-Crash", "Flying Prostitute" (so-named because it was so fast and had "no visible means of support," referring to its small wings) and "Baltimore Whore" (a reference to the city where Martin was based). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311492914-SOZY7Q56BNLL83MC7GIW/Factory96.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Eight B-26 Marauders of the US Army Air Corps, at least three with and three without propellers, on the ramp outside the Middle River factory due to a shortage of Curtiss electric propellers during 1941. Photo: Lockheed Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311545030-Z7X0WM8GQZD2ZDPIHA3L/Factory26.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Massive Black Widow twin-engined night fighters on the line in Baltimore. The Northrop P-61 Black Widow, named for the American spider, was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically for night interception of aircraft, and was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar.It was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design developed during the Second World War.The Black Widows were built by the Glenn L. Martin Company located in Baltimore, MD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311621446-POQ8O1HJ3X2RU88I4OB7/Factory42.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out P-40E Warhawks in production at Curtiss Plant 2 on Genesee Street in Buffalo, New York. At its peak, more than 18,000 men and women worked in the Curtiss-Wright plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311650673-E8ZS7I9V9H9QJ7XAMDSN/Factory10.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, New York is jammed tight with multiple lines including final assembly of P-40 Warhawk fighters in the foreground and unpainted Curtiss C-46 Commandos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311690971-A0U0J8ML77E7VH7P2H56/Factory43.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out A close up of C-46s and P-40s in production in 1942 in Buffalo's Curtiss Plant 2. Another Curtiss -Wright plant was built at Louisville and was converted to C-46 Commando production, eventually delivering 438 Commandos to supplement the roughly 2,500 C-46s produced at Buffalo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311754267-EZDMUR41UIF764WUYD1K/Factory44.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Commando was a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C. Known to the men who flew them as "The Whale," the "Curtiss Calamity," the "plumber's nightmare", and among ATC crews, the "flying coffin”, the C-46 served a similar role as its counterpart, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, but was not as extensively produced. At the time of its production, the C-46 was the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world, and the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II. Photo Curtiss-Wright https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311907755-ZIO1JWJXWWPYZ4YM020W/Factory45.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out More P-40 Warhawks near completion in Buffalo, New York. The interesting part of this image is the parallel line of Curtiss-built P-47G Thunderbolts . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311957801-0GL9G986PKW2C67AEL9Z/Factory11.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Warhawk (Kittyhawk, Tomahawk,) was used by the air forces of 28 nations, including those of most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities at Buffalo, New York. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311997164-Y4ZXCBQPF67L05V7URCY/Factory53.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out An early shot (Pre-Pearl harbor) of the Lockheed plant in California churning out Hudson medium bombers for the RAF while at the same time building airliners. It was an identical Hudson from this line that crashed at Wakefield Quebec in 1941. Soon all civilian production would stop across America and all effort focused on strictly war production. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312028362-4HR1OM7L50I1BB5Y2XT9/Factory60.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Workers are busy on the P-39 Airacobra assembly line at Bell Aircraft’s Niagara Falls plant. By the time the war ended, Bell had produced 9,584 P-39s. Not the most effective fighter of the Second World War, few examples managed to survive; at last count, three were still flying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312059739-ZZV566GLJFUSV733TZVN/Factory72.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Vultee Aircraft Co, Inc., Downey, California, Vultee "Vengeance" assembly line. The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. The Vengeance was not used in combat by US units, however it served with the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. As Vultee's factory at Downey was already busy building BT-13 Valiant trainers, the aircraft were built at the Stinson factory at Nashville, and under license by Northrop at Hawthorne, California. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312093816-5VK63LCM4B20YY3LZ69O/Factory71.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out The Vultee BT-13 Valiant line at Downey. A subsequent variant of the BT-13 in USAAC/USAAF service was known as the BT-15 Valiant, while an identical version for the US Navy was known as the SNV and was used to train naval aviators for the US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard. The Downey plant was billed at the time "The world's fastest production line". https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629311858020-F6OBUXZNE9PMQMWH0O8Q/Factory33.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Mechanized Conveyor Lines - Triple lines for Lockheed "Lightnings" Overall view of Lockheed's new mechanized P-38 line at Burbank, California. Moving continuously, slowly, yet as surely as the hands of a watch, these three mechanized conveyor lines at the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. more than double the daily output of the old assembly line. The P-38 Lightning fighters come down the line at the right and are shunted over to the middle line where they grow their wings and engines. They then move backwards to the far end of the huge Final Assembly Hangar to go out the door and into a nearby paint hangar where they are camouflaged. Working exactly as an automobile assembly line, this mechanized line at Lockheed is notable not only because it is the first continuously moving final assembly line for combat aircraft in the West but, it also does what many experts said couldn't be done by putting twin-engined "Lightnings" on a full production basis. The room shown here was completely emptied of airplanes, which meanwhile were completed on an impromptu outdoor line. In eight days, the new mobile line was set up ready to receive its new quota of airplanes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629312202674-OVB7NYDBMUZ8YEZR16F0/Factory9.jpg The Stories - MANUFACTURING VICTORY - Make it stand out Wrap it up and call Fedex! Cocooned Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and North American Aviation P-51 Mustangs line the decks of a US Navy Escort "Jeep" Carrier (CVE) ready for shipment to Europe from New York. Photo by Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/circle-of-sorrow monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310330489-FSV40TWP3MXT5GZNEOA3/GravitasTitle2.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308542319-MPPFHSFA1ZURU0AE2TZC/Gravitas03.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out A view of the small farming community of Cayley, Alberta, looking south along Highway 2A. Cayley was named after Hugh St. Quentin Cayley, the first publisher of the Calgary Herald newspaper. Photo: clogie@Panoramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308663697-P42LATOOOO6M57EX2YI2/Gravitas09.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out A great shot of Gravitas and its relation to Highway 2A and the wetland sloughs. This photo was taken by a family in their homebuilt aircraft en route to a picnic in British Columbia—some of the few folks lucky enough to see it from the air in its springtime prime. Photo: AmateurBuiltFamilyFun.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308753320-QIZVB9OKDRM8G8KZL7M3/Gravitas01.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Deteriorating hulks of Avro Anson training aircraft of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (like these in the winter of 2009) littered the farms and airfields of Southern Alberta. The Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC), in Nanton, Alberta, made a conscious effort to collect up any remnants they could find and bring them together in Nanton. Without a place to store them, these old war horses would be exposed to the elements anyway, so when Keith Harder put together his plan for Gravitas, the folks at BCMC welcomed the project. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308809320-YNZX8RNQ9S7NMGIKQ21B/Gravitas40.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out A deteriorating Anson hulk is lifted from the Bomber Command Museum's storage yard at Nanton, Alberta. Photo via Keith Harder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308861031-2DFBPKD85HQZ833CQF56/Gravitas41.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out The aircradt silhouettes were mapped out using pre-cut tarp templates. Photo via Keith Harder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308900512-HMBF4R9H2B438579PSOB/Gravitas42.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Another hulk is lifetd from a flatbed truck at Cayley. Photo via Keith Harder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308952839-E4REQO0M8RI6NC3GOTKT/Gravitas44.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629308974422-X9UER0HK3P6VLSF93W10/Gravitas02.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309017932-H4NE9EP1Y0SF32WIVA0W/Gravitas38.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309064094-PP3I1LR4M8RCBSFXU28U/Gravitas04.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309110226-OIBEOYULS1GRIA9ZB12D/Gravitas05.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309209973-PR4B4YE1YOIGPWDJ2D89/Gravitas06.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309260609-Z8NDUKE1AZFLWGCBHAHM/Gravitas33.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309384734-F9UXZNMV3I2PTKDFK71Q/Gravitas10.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309421678-9JY7EUWFAZWNG20DI2QE/Gravitas08.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309463557-EUU1D08B5X7RY4BHNTU7/Gravitas43.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309548110-472JPG44CH9BK1GTN82Z/Gravitas30.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309589644-VI6M3UL0BRA8TCVKMOZT/Gravitas32.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309669700-Z72ZXXG78XOLGXWING7U/Gravitas13.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309709210-ICAFM7A9XEBBYV4DN8TI/Gravitas15.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309751669-YNI93NI6L3Q0P6638VFT/Gravitas16.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309794713-IQYIQV3F6OOI7NA4JO2M/Gravitas20.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309834955-SBLVSH54W5LN98ZYBLR7/Gravitas18.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309883675-JSVGJMUPRYSITRFW7THK/Gravitas22.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309924195-D5HKUJMN6H71OQGL2GF6/Gravitas19.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629309975092-UX0EN4WBTJ65IY5UBKHC/Gravitas21.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310021090-17CVE71X3OFFSE2R7K2Y/Gravitas23.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310079437-U2QEM4YXAPOZH95XIKKB/Gravitas24.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310117864-V83XLGS0EPUVH9CNENPF/Gravitas26.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310152582-LIG3WIH491PWNP2Q3AKV/Gravitas25.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310194628-W7I1XR3B78P9R7Z6NT4U/Gravitas28.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629310244911-7B30PWIPNWLLIC43RBWM/Gravitas29.jpeg The Stories - CIRCLE OF SORROW - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-northern-light monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305458991-2MIM7195THO5OY8VVNOC/FochukTITLE.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305510772-JVDVTAEIA85KSVG6KOCZ/Fochuk01.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The ultimate Canadian aviation scene. A Noorduyn Norseman float plane taxies back to home base on Back Bay on Great Slave Lake with a typical Canadian boreal landscape behind. CF-SAN is owned by Buffalo Airways and is the personal aircraft of the airline’s founder Buffalo Joe McBryan. Joe saw Fochuk standing on the dock of the Great Slave Yacht Club and came in closer so he could get better shots. CF-SAN, a Mk-V, was built in 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305584845-8GIT6URHRCI3LC2C8ISJ/Fochuk02.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out In early autumn, leaves are turning and the air is still near sunset on Yellowknife’s Back Bay. A de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver of Ahmic Air rests after a long day of flying sightseers and fishermen to nearby destinations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305622491-0R0X8Q0B3LOHSGHL7EJH/Fochuk03.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out There is not a lot of daylight in Yellowknife in the long, hard winter months, but what little there is is always spectacular—icy morning sunrises, golden sunsets, hard blue days and days so grey, colour seems to cease to exist. Here, a Buffalo Airways DC-3 C-GWZS is caught in the feeble warmth of a Yellowknife sunset, while awaiting work on the Yellowknife-Hay River scheduled run. Just visible beneath the cockpit window is an RAF roundel—a dedication to this warbird’s remarkable history as a D-Day veteran. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305670996-6U7NJKMIHEWO68C41FCV/Fochuk04.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The Canadian North, with its requirements for rugged bush flying, was the formative environment for some of Canada’s most important contributions to aviation. The de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter is one of the greatest bush and small commuter aircraft ever built. Now, half a century after the first one took to the air, the assembly line has reopened at British Columbia’s Viking Air, building the versatile aircraft once again. Here we see Air Tindi’s ski-equipped 300-series Twin Otter C-GMAS making a turn on the frozen surface at Air Tindi’s floatplane base, Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305732330-HKM98VU9U656LY5J0AYW/Fochuk05.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Over the past six years, Buffalo Airways has made an international name for itself through its Discovery Channel television show called Ice Pilots, NWT. But long before their media debut, Buffalo had a strong reputation servicing transportation routes in the Far North, using and maintaining vintage aircraft long after the rest of the world has cast them aside. Here a Buffalo Douglas DC-4 Skymaster water bomber/cargo combi (C-GCTF – Tanker 58) is caught on final at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories during Buffalo’s spring training and check rides. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305775353-MHGOF02PZLLVYS9MCGGG/Fochuk50.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Pinks, oranges, purples and greens—colours of the distinctive palette known to every Canadian. There’s a lot of iconic Canadian artist Tom Thomson in this wonderful image of de Havilland DHC-2 Turbo-Beaver C-FOED resting on a cool fall evening at the Old Town Float Base in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Unlike later Turbo-Beaver conversions, C-FOED started life with a turbine engine in 1965 as CF-OED in the employ of the Province of Manitoba’s Department of Lands and Forests. After service with a number of northern operators, it now flies Polar Developments Ltd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305821788-N0J7ME2QR9PF2KQCS1FX/Fochuk07.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out “The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge...” No photographic story entitled “A Northern Light” would be complete without, well... the northern lights. On some nights in Yellowknife, when the aurora borealis brings to mind the poems of Robert Service, Stephen Fochuk grabs his camera and heads down to the edge of Back Bay on Great Slave Lake, and heads out looking for interesting subjects. In this case, the Old Town Floatplane Base proved to be just that on this epic fall night in 2014. The aurora that evening put on one spectacular display. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305867088-12GC51MYC1WOM0VVUR4B/Fochuk08.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out At the Old Town Float Base on Lessard Drive, the northern lights dance on the night sky above this classic 1976 Cessna Skywagon owned and operated by Open Water Charters Inc., who are based out of Yellowknife. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305925163-QS2BKS51LCDVGZ4XYGEG/Fochuk10.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out This photograph captures the quintessential northern light seen at sunset north of the 60th Parallel—vibrant, still, hopeful—along with the quintessential bush plane—the de Havilland Beaver, rugged, enduring, capable. The aircraft’s operator is Ahmic Air, a Beaver operation offering “flight-seeing” services as well as fishing and hunting charters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629305971247-130VPFKUDUJL5W75DDH1/Fochuk20.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out For the aviation-minded, the sculpted shapes of vintage aircraft are works of art. Here, Fochuk photographs the tail-end of a Curtiss Commando in the failing light of a winter evening in Yellowknife. The bulbous body, massive tail and fared stabilizers in hues of purple and turquoise speak of hard work, pride and utter cold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306012307-1Q8RHPSVZ295V83RILHL/Fochuk42.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out In the dying light of a late fall evening, de Havilland Twin Otter C-FTXQ touches down on Great Slave Lake. C-FTXQ has spent her entire life in the north, being delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1971 and assigned to 440 Squadron shortly thereafter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306058145-4EY750Y1BM3CA9USMGZ8/Fochuk12.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out In an iconic Canadian scene, De Havilland DHC-6-100 Twin Otter C-FTFX touches down lightly on the still waters of Great Slave Lake, bound for the dock of the Yellowknife Sea Plane base (CEN9). This beautiful and cared-for aircraft has seen primarily Arctic and Northern service since it was first bought by Max Ward’s iconic Wardair in 1972. Ward sold it to Ptarmigan Airways seven years later and it flew with Ptarmigan until it went to Bradley Air Services (Carp, Ottawa—now First Air) in 1997. It was bought by Arctic Sunwest Charters in 2001. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306111951-29V9Y36SKNLYJCHPAKLB/Fochuk13.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The History Channel’s hit television series—Ice Pilots NWT—has made legends of a few of its roster of tough, pragmatic and hard-working pilots. Here, the ever-calm Captain AJ Decoste, Buffalo’s Chief Pilot and co-pilot Chris Staples do a little “valley flying” in the rugged Northwest Territories in a Curtiss Commando (C-GTXW). This is no short-sleeved, shoulder board-striped, chateaubriand cockpit; here it’s construction-grade safety vests, layers of sweatshirts and muscles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306262414-3VVZFNZCVFAQ1OWLGYC4/Fochuk44.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out In the North, the weather will remind you when it’s time to take the floats off and put the skis on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306307789-PKPFYDNW6DMF0813OVK2/Fochuk17.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Buffalo Airways DC-3 Dakota awaits passengers on their ramp at Yellowknife Airport for the return flight to Hay River a few days before Christmas 2014. Whisky–Zulu–Sierra was built in 1942 and served with No. 512 Squadron, Royal Air Force, (KG330) and flew paratroopers on D-Day. Quite an historic aircraft still operating in the far north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306368610-G0UBMMC6LKYYW3GW7Q2K/Fochuk18.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out C-FOPE of Arctic Sunwest Charters taxies out after the fog has cleared on the Back Bay, with a passenger load of Japanese tourists bound for the tundra. Purists believe the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver should have a gas sucking, noise making Pratt and Whitney Wasp radial engine at the front end, but the Turbo Beaver’s PT-6 Turbine is still a Pratt and Whitney and gives the classic Canadian aircraft better performance and reliability. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306407462-KVM1LH8VFOIU19CA4VAP/Fochuk19.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out You won’t see this anywhere else other than Yellowknife—two Curtiss C-46 Commandos (C-FAVO (right) and C-GTXW) of legendary Buffalo Airways taxi out in blowing snow on a brutally cold day. Built in February 1945, C-46D C-FAVO was originally in the employ of the United States Army Air Force and then flew with Lufthansa, Shamrock and Trans Continental. It continues to do journeyman service with Buffalo for over 20 years. The second Commando (C-GTXW), a C-46A, was sadly lost in September of 2015, when a propeller overspeed situation necessitated a shutdown of the right engine. The resulting loss of power meant an emergency diversion to Déline, Northwest Territories on the shores of Great Bear Lake. Losing altitude rapidly, the crew chose to keep the landing gear up all the way to the ground so as not to degrade further airspeed. The aircraft bellied in halfway down the runway and slid 700 ft off the end. The crew was unhurt, but the 70-year-old warbird was a writeoff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306494621-N119WRFO080HFROX1DNS/Fochuk40.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The hard work and tough weather in the North takes its toll on people and machines. Many old workhorses have gone through the hangar doors of Buffalo Airways during the 45 years of its existence. Even the strongest draft horse tires eventually and is put to pasture. Here C-GTPO, a former Buffalo stalwart corrodes in the weather at Yellowknife, used now for parts. Built originally for the USAAF, she followed a similar path as C-FAVO, working for Wein Alaska, Shamrock and Trans Continental and Northland Air Manitoba among others. She aborted a landing at Pickle Lake in 1989, overrunning the runway and was left there until a few years later, Buffalo Airways sent a crew in to make her flyable. Now that C-GTXW has been written off, C-GTPO is currently being brought back to life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306572431-CI4021SXCYG2T9S97LUX/Fochuk09.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Fochuk captures an evening in the Canadian North—colours, stillness, clarity and purity—the kind of end-of-day that stays in your mind and in your heart for a long, long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306612334-4F85J2DVSZHBB26QJGWM/Fochuk21.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The fog having lifted off of East Bay of Great Slave Lake, de Havilland DHC-2 Turbo Beaver C-FOPE collects speed with its propeller tips chalking the acceleration in vapour and heat blasting from the port exhaust pipe to head on another run north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306712739-DOVMZ0JFXYPP42US9IH8/Fochuk22.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out A Curtiss Commando (C-FAVO) undergoes engine maintenance on the ramp at Yellowknife. The testy and aging radials, combined with the North’s remote airstrips, mean that ground crews must sometimes work on repairs and other maintenance in the open air. This is not work for the faint of heart—minus 50F degree temperatures and howling Arctic winds can frustrate spirits and freeze hands and faces. Mechanics must continually check for frostbite. This day however, was early winter—a balmy day by Arctic standards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306767368-N5B6F7N2MDEQVY326B3I/Fochuk24.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out To countries around the world facing increasingly dry summers and more devastating forest fires, the red and yellow markings of the Canadair water bomber series of aircraft have become an all too familiar sight—from California to Saskatchewan to Spain and Malaysia. Here, an early model CL.215 (C-GDHN) of the Northwest Territorial government, running pre-fire season check rides is caught on final to Runway 16 at the Yellowknife Airport. It would prove to be a busy season indeed with fires all across the west and north of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306826314-TD4N2ECEOZ6GPEHPSJRE/Fochuk23.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Summit Air’s C-FTFX ploughs through the cold surface of Great Slave Lake one early fall morning of 2013, while streaming gouts of hot turbine exhaust. Though she flies for Summit, she was still wearing the house colours of Arctic Sunwest Charters at the time the photo was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306880656-JTY26FMOUQMBWD598L9Y/Fochuk25.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out With one leg up and hell bent for leather, Twin Otter C-FTXQ is just about finished with the water on takeoff at Great Slave Lake. She is wearing newly applied blue and white house livery of Summit Air. Having just been purchased from Arctic Sunwest Charters, Summit flew here for a while in their burgundy and white markings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306930361-UEIWCVHY3TX2EKXPQMOV/Fochuk26.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out With Ahmic Air’s first operational season in the books (2014), owner and operator Stephen Jeffrey taxis “Mike–X-ray–Sierra” back to base on Back Bay, Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake. C-FMXS was built for the United States Army in 1956, serving later with the Connecticut National Guard. Following military service, it was stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, and then sold in 1976. For 15 years, it flew with the Kansas Geological Survey, then sold and imported into Canada in 1992. For more information and photos of C-FMXS and other Beavers, visit Neil Aird’s amazing and comprehensive dhc-2.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629306972104-7WIGDB7ASXZK6Y3S6WGM/Fochuk27.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Thirty-five-year-old Twin Otter C-FATO of operator Air Tindi gets up to speed on East Bay, Great Slave Lake. It’s a choppy surface and her starboard propeller sucks up a wave and throws it behind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307023917-2MYFS7DYUY3BAV2YECMW/Fochuk28.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out The evening sun gleams from the flanks of First Air’s Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules C-GUSI. This “civvy” Herc was built in 1975 and has since then been owned by Northwest Territorial Airways (Canada), Safair (South Africa—original civilian operator), EAS Europe Airlines (France) and SF Air (France). Sadly, First Air, who previously owned and operated two Hercs, sold their last (C-GUSI) this year to Lynden Air Cargo of Alaska. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307064214-LUM4HSWOCOQND4TFEIHB/Fochuk29.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter C-FATO on a steep approach to East Bay where its operator, Air Tindi has its base of operations. Air Tindi, owned by Discovery Air, operates throughout the Northwest Territories with a large and diverse fleet of aircraft from Cessna Caravans to DHC-7 Dash-7 to the Learjet 35. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307142805-TUCC1MTIBDKZDBWL7UL5/Fochuk30.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Taken during the same landing as the previous photograph, Air Tindi’s C-FATO flares for the touchdown on East Bay. The word “Tindi” means “big lake” (Great Slave Lake) in the language of the Tlinchon (also Dogrib) First Nations people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307280524-U7TWOKU1BIJ7T58FBY0R/Fochuk31.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-138 (DHC-6) Twin Otter touches down on the ice runway on Great Slave Lake. Four Search and Rescue “Twotters” are operated by 440 Squadron, a Yellowknife-based unit of the RCAF. The cold sunny day in Yellowknife was perfect for 440 Squadron’s family day when pilots took family members for a short sightseeing tour from the Yellowknife Airport (YZF) to the ice strip on the Back Bay. Training and community relations, all wrapped into one flight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307320537-2WN4LJSNWONEX9AKXOH8/Fochuk32.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Long Lake lies along the north side of the Yellowknife Airport. Here, a convenient float plane ramp allows aircraft to power up and over the Frontier Trail portion of the MacKenzie Highway and onto the airport grounds for winter conversion to wheels or skis and back again in the summer. Here, Ted Duinker, the Twin Otter’s pilot, sits up high to see over the nose as he throttles up the ramp to have his floats removed, while the lake’s surface gives way under the propeller wash. A light dusting of snow signals the oncoming winter, which, in these parts, will be harsh and long. The white and black offset stripes on the propellers create a pulse-like reminder to stay clear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307365532-8OQOJUJWDDWA5IK9F0KN/Fochuk33.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out This photograph of a Turbo Beaver being tied up at Yellowknife speaks volumes about the magnificent and enduring Canadian aircraft design—65 years after its first flight, two twenty-something pilots make her fast to the dock. It is very likely that the parents of these young men were not even born when the Otter took to the air for the first time on 12 December 1951. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307418000-QX017O32ZU8I8KL19QRZ/Fochuk34.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out A Summit Air Twin Otter is being hauled out of the water at the Long Lake boat ramp and towed across the MacKenzie Highway to the Yellowknife Airport where she will be converted back to a land base plane for the winter months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307470014-WOI542WHAKY0IAAHEMFC/Fochuk35.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out An Air Tindi Twin Otter pilot, with door open, is getting ready to grease C-FATO along the dock at their float base, Old Town, Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629307524230-4XYSDST33DQJAWV46GC2/Fochuk36.jpeg The Stories - A NORTHERN LIGHT - Make it stand out Bush flying royalty—a De Havilland DHC-3 Turbo Otter (C-FMAU) flown by Dave Crerar and belonging to the legendary Max Ward drops into a crowded bay at Yellowknife, slipping down between boats and floatplanes for the biennial Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly-in. C-FMAU was built in 1956 as a radial-engine Otter and worked with the Manitoba Government Air Service for nearly 50 years. It was bought by Max Ward who chose to keep it in its original yellow and red Manitoba markings. It was converted by Vernon BC’s Kal-Air to a Texas Turbine Garrett engine in 2007. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/weve-got-you-covered monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299468885-3B522YT7PNQFXLCPBN90/BomberCommandTitle.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299569732-IOUHX3FNB4M4Z1FU0D0K/BomberCommand12.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Aircraft hunter and key player of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, Karl Kjarsgaard, poses alongside aluminium ingots made from the wreckage of a former Royal Canadian Air Force Halifax bomber. The Halifax components and wreckage were collected from a bog in Belgium by a Museum team and local aviation archeologists. The remains of three Canadian airmen were found inside, still in their positions and these remains were buried with full military honours in Geraardsbergen and the remains of the aircraft were sent to Canada. The twisted and broken aluminium was collected and melted down into ingots. The goal was to donate them to a memorial at some day in the future. It wasn't long before the perfect memorial was found–the Bomber Command Memorial in London. Photo via Karl Kjarsgaard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299617713-SCCDON8LJ4E1B6Y20F48/BomberCommand14.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Karl beams with pride as the ingots of aluminium are loaded on a pallet in the cargo hold of a Canadian C-17 Globemaster III bound for rolling and milling in England, eventually to be made into the roof covering of the RAF's Bomber Command Memorial. Photo: Doug Bowmanl, Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299690732-5CBORQJCJNUIWHR477OR/BomberCommand28.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The aluminium from 426 Squadron, RCAF Halifax LW682, recovered from a Belgian swamp and now blended with the DNA of 7 Canadians and one Brit, was used to create the roof of the Bomber Command Memorial. A remarkably creative and deeply moving idea, worthy of the more than 10,000 Canadians who died while on Bomber Command operations during the Second World War. Photo via Bomber Command Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299725153-5ACH1T53LLBFVCBN5T8E/BomberCommand24.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The ceremony ended with a flypast by five RAF GR4 Tornado bombers, followed by the Royal Air Forces’ Lancaster Bomber, which dropped over 800,000 poppies in a symbolic act of remembrance for the 55,573 Bomber aircrew lost. Photo by Craig Semplis, (ICU Craig65 on Flickr) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299874183-5TCE0QK5K4QZ1JN7L3PR/BomberCommand17.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out As the ceremony for the unveiling of the new Bomber Command Memorial winds down, the RAF makes a spectacularly creative flypast of the Battle of Britain Flight's Avro Lancaster. The Lancaster, along with the Handley Page Halifax, represented the backbone of the RAF's heavy night bomber force. There are only two “Lancs” flying today, while there are no Halifaxes at all. Photo: RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299915445-IP1UNA7CA5ZXU6RVARPS/BomberCommand23.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The big bomb bay doors of the Battle of Britain Flight Avro Lancaster open to release a dramatic blood red stream of 800,000 paper poppies to commemorate in a powerful, moving manner, the 55 thousand Commonwealth airmen who lost their lives in training and on operations with the RAF's Bomber Command during the Second World War. Photo by Craig Semplis, (ICU Craig65 on Flickr) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629299950229-T7C2CPXX0V4WT75QSWRT/BomberCommand8.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The stream of poppies over the Bomber Command Memorial unveiling ceremony as seen from the tail gunner's position on the Lancaster. Photo: RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300067005-V1TUQ8QLB3NJYXIWX9JA/BomberCommand26.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The sobering image of nearly a million poppies fluttering down over London on a peaceful day, 70 years after the end of the Second World War, gives one pause to contemplate the sacrifice of each of these souls. Vintage Wings of Canada commends the RAF on this excellent and creative gesture. Photo by Diane Potter (DianaDianeDianne on Flickr) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300521201-81UV9OINL1EG11DKT86R/BomberCommand19.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Canadian veterans, dignitaries and family members assemble for a private and simple ceremony at the Air Forces Memorial. The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, in Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey, England is a memorial dedicated to some 20,456 men and women from the British Empire who were lost in operations from the Second World War. All of those recorded have no known grave anywhere in the world, and many were lost without trace. The name of each of these airmen and airwomen is engraved into the stone walls of the Memorial, according to country and squadron. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300583508-KCWMS8XHTMEOTOKVPRYQ/BomberCommand5.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Not all the Canadians who participated in the events that ran up to the Memorial's unveiling were part of the group that travelled via RCAF Airbus. Some, like Arthur and Barbara Barrett from Newfoundland, were drawn to the importance of the event and joined the group. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300684470-MEKVFD3G49DRHR7931AU/BomberCommand6.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out A penny for your thoughts Frank. Lancaster air gunner, Frank Boyd spends a moment in silence and with the memories of the 36 operational sorties he and his crew participated in. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300721000-TKY29GW0TX5XYVTJR5GY/BomberCommand13.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out All the well-aged veterans in the delegation were, in the days of their Bomber Command service, young and vibrant men who, fully understanding the risks, were willing to sacrifice all their future sunrises. Luckily, Frank Boyd lived to enjoy the sacrifice. Photo via Frank Boyd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300815183-OGGQT2ONZSPY1UWY2AB1/BomberCommand7.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Ed Carter-Edwards, a wireless operator and air gunner of 427 Squadron RCAF and a POW, has a moment with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who was also a volunteer Army driver during the war. Photo by Christina Gaudet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300996742-MLCNNZ9VMROVO75X8QC0/BomberCommand30.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, the Honourable Steven Blaney and 425 Squadron Lancaster crewman, Jean Cauchy view some of the names engraved on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial. Photo: Canada Remembers-Facebook page for Veterans Affairs Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301206391-RN1OIJEGX5EKMI58ZJSU/BomberCommand18.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Toronto's Albert “Wally” Wallace (left), a 419 Squadron RCAF Halifax crew member joins Fred Stephens and George Mitchell and Donald Bishop and Tom Carney (behind), all RCAF Bomber Command aircrew for a salute to fallen comrades during their ceremony at Runnymede. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301302794-CC1U8P3YMFAMCHMM2PWW/BomberCommand20.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out An informal moment with RCAF Bomber Command comrades at Runnymede - BGen (ret`d) Jack Watts, DSO, DFC & Bar; François Savard, Ed Chenier, Robert Bradley. And walking behind is James Moffat. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301420207-ZKUSOYIL0R1IW56E7C6C/BomberCommand3.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The central piece of the Bomber Command Memorial is a grouping of seven figures representing the aircrew positions typical of heavy bombers like the Halifax or Lancaster - pilot, navigator, bomb aimer, radio operator, engineer and gunners. They are portrayed in full high altitude gear and clothing. The sculptor is Philip Jackson. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301454062-3DW81NCCI3HMLE6RXBYH/BomberCommand29.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out RCAF Bomber Command Veteran Nick Waslenchuk and his son Dennis during a poignant and personal moment at the memorial as Waslenchuck reaches out to touch the foot of one of the Memorial's figures. Photo: Canada Remembers-Facebook page for Veterans Affairs Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301782105-1LGCW1RWR3YG38QVDH2T/BomberCommand15.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The sculptor of the seven main aircrew figures of the Memorial's central statue was Philip Jackson. The power and emotions of strength, determination and stress are evident in each figure. The authentic detail brings the men to life in heroic yet weary manner. Bomber Command Memorial by Cynrik De Decker via Bomber Command Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301830524-BULIBU34PB7Z59ELO1IV/BomberCommand9.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out The entire delegation of RCAF Bomber Command veterans pose in front of the unveiled Memorial in London, proudly wearing their RCAF jackets. This took place on June 29th, the day after the official ceremony. Photo: David Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301875832-5DBIWIBAJD7HUHUMXOLD/BomberCommand25.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out After the fanfare and ceremony, ordinary citizens and tourists pay their respects. Photo by Craig Semplis, (ICU Craig65 on Flickr) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301951328-YRTWYIYCRXPTX71YTX4D/BomberCommand21.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out During the Second World War, 425 Squadron, RCAF was one of the Canadian Bomber Command squadrons, flying Lancasters. As the Veterans Affairs delegation re-entered Canadian air space on their journey home, they were met by two CF-18 Hornet fighter/bombers of today's 425 Squadron flying out of Bagotville, Quebec. Good on ya, RCAF! Photo by Christina Gaudet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301992514-VCH5Y7EIIG5I8EUEL953/BomberCommand16.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out A 425 Squadron Hornet slides in tight to the Airbus in tribute to the honoured passengers aboard the RCAF transport. Photo by Christina Gaudet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302622648-821Z3WSSIGLM93EXQ66H/BomberCommand32.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Canadians owe a debt of profound gratitude to the men and women of Bomber Command and indeed all of the RCAF. So too do they need to know of the behind the scenes work of groups like the Air Force Association of Canada and the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. Without their efforts, none of this would have been possible. Of the tireless work and indeed of the national importance of the Air Force Association of Canada, BGen (ret`d) Jack Watts, DSO, DFC & Bar (second from left) wrote recently, “Having recently returned from the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London, I feel impelled to record some of my thoughts about this momentous and emotional event..... It was an impressive and successful demonstration of the Association's national authority, scope and capability. We are now in a stage where the WWII veterans are rapidly diminishing in numbers. The various service organizations which represented the veterans in the past have closed shop, not by choice but simply as a fact of life's passing. This must not be the fate of the Air Force Association. The RCAF is once again a force in Canada and that alone should give reason for the continued role and existence of the Air Force Association. The Bomber Command Memorial was just one demonstration of the national role which is exercised by the Association. This capability and the preservation of the RCAF membership's way of life while serving their country must be maintained long after the last WWII RCAF veteran has passed away....” Photo via AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302659966-03ROG5D7M3E3MNDCBUWR/BomberCommand34.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out No team should pose for a team photo without wearing their uniforms. Dax Wilkinson of Canada's Red Canoe National Heritage Brands offered the RCAF clothing at substantial discounts to the veterans. This allowed AFAC to purchase the hats, t-shirts and jackets for the veterans and other members of the delegation. The purchase of the gear was funded by donations from AFAC members. Photo via AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302700850-OMM52KCWHNRCFVU786ZV/BomberCommand33.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Our veterans of Bomber Command. God bless them. Photo via AFAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302739638-S26Z5ZRMNU67CJM3O3PC/BomberCommand27.jpg The Stories - WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED — Canadians at the Bomber Command Memorial - Make it stand out Some of the key people from the Bomber Command Museum of Canada who also worked behind the scenes to ensure that the Canadian sacrifices of Bomber Command were not forgotten. It was their drive and support that led to the Airbus trip for our deserving veterans. Left to right; Former CF-18 pilot and air force commander the Honourable Laurie Hawn, MP for Edmonton Centre; Jean Cauchy, Halifax Veteran; Toronto Senator Anne C. Cools; Karl Kjarsgaard of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada and the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, the Honourable Steven Blaney. Kudos to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada and the Air Force Association of Canada for their vision, compassion and patriotism. You have done us proud. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/gnatsnapper monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298243981-L1P5L64QN5Q9WX33OKSV/1000APTitle.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298320463-4YO2FM81580S0KBD90RF/1000AP62.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Websites abound that are dedicated to the collection and sharing of information—production lists, Operations Record Books, images, and every imaginable detail of aviation history from airfields to aircraft carriers to insignia to letters. In fact, as I write this today, 4 May 2016, a group of Canadian aviation historians and enthusiasts are launching a new website dedicated to the goal of showcasing every aircraft ever listed in the Canadian Civil Aircraft Registry with histories of each aircraft and photographs where possible. It is a daunting task, but it starts today, and in the months and years ahead, it will no doubt, through contributions by third parties, take on a life of its own and become one of the many “go-to” websites for researchers in Canada. You would never get a government to build something like that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298403985-843289TGYZ6GVU1NXSDZ/1000AP653.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out 1000aircraftphotos.com founder and constant, Ron Dupas started his project with the hopes of getting 1,000 of his collection of aircraft photos onto the net to share with other people. It went much farther than that. Here he is at 1000aircraftphoto.com’s North American headquarters—his desk. Photo: Martha Dupas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298467801-H7G3DHLT0N091BF0LDYT/1000AP57.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Johan Visschedijk of 1000aircraftphotos.com—driven, meticulous and omnipresent on the internet, writing, researching and sharing his vast knowledge of aircraft and aviation history and culture. Visschedijk’s aviation knowledge comes from a lifelong passion, but also from having been a documentation manager and aircraft recognition instructor with a Dutch aviation association. Photo: Jeroen Visschedijk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298523454-S998OANYHPZHDQD42UTF/1000AP67.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The modern historic aviation research centre and archive—no longer a centralized and imposing edifice in some nation’s capital, but simply a desk and a powerful personal computer linked to the World Wide Web. Of course, not seen here are the many shelves in Visschedijk’s home occupied by his extensive library of documents, periodicals and technical reports. There are a hundred thousand such centres around the world similar to this home office of 1000aircraftphotos.com’s Johan Visschedijk. Photo: Johan Visschedijk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298577255-8TZZFOBGH0E3QQSU3ESX/1000AP60.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out In the same way that I came upon 1000aircraftphotos.com, so did Lieutenant Colonel Tim Hall (above) of the United States Department of Defense. Colonel Hall’s job is to find, identify and bring home as many of the more than 88,000 Americans still “Missing in Action”. As such, he visits many crash sites around the world to determine if the aircraft is American and if so to look for human remains or personal effects. In 2007, Hall wrote to Visschedijk with a request to identify wreckage he was working on in the forests near Vladivostok, Russia. It took Visschedijk only a few minutes to determine that this wreckage was from a Douglas DC-3—the landing gear had a very distinctive structure. Because he had been an aircraft recognition instructor with the Dutch Air Training Corps and had spent a lifetime looking at aircraft images, he could make a definitive judgement right away. Since there were no reported American DC-3 aircraft missing near Vladivostok, Hall called off the search for human remains, and closed the book on the site as far as America was concerned. Photo via Lt. Col. Tim Hall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298615258-RJF7JHFRTSTU6OHV3K4F/1000AP58.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Lt. Col Tim Hall sent Visschedijk several photos of the wreckage he was investigating in the boreal forest around Vladivostok. He asked the Dutchman if he could identify the type based on the broken remains. Photo via Lt. Col. Tim Hall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298651817-MX9L7QNYVAVRYFEB6O3I/1000AP59.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out It took Visschedijk only a couple of minutes to identify the aircraft through distinctive components of its landing gear. Photo via Lt. Col. Tim Hall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298725068-J8UWHBVKO7IZEPVM6MBE/1000AP52.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Icarian obsession. One of the most poignant, yet sadly inspiring stories of aviation is the tragedy and blinding obsession of Leonard Bonney, an aviation pioneer and one-time First World War US Army and Navy flying instructor. Bonney became obsessed with the shape of a gull’s wing, which he believed to be the most efficient and capable wing form in nature. He set out to design an airplane that mimicked its qualities. Through mechanical mechanisms he sought to be able to vary the wing’s incidence and sweep—advanced technology that would not really come to fruition for many decades. But not in 1928. The design, wind tunnel testing and fabrication of the Bonney Gull took him almost five years. At a time when a new airplane cost about $3,000, the Gull’s $83,000 development cost was an indicator of Bonney’s unflinching obsession. The aircraft had so many new features and looked so unpredictable that Bonney could not get a test pilot to take it up—so he did it himself. On 4 May 1928 at Curtiss Field, Long Island after a quick flight in another aircraft to refresh his skills, he took the Gull into the air on its first flight—and killed himself. At a height of about 50 feet, the porpoising aircraft nosed over and dove straight into Long Island. Five years in the making and it took just five seconds to end it. For a tragic newsreel of Bonney’s last moments, click here. Photo: Leslie Jones via David Horn Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298760613-RWK7NPU0WJHBFTGCDU8A/1000AP04.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Henschel HS 124 V1 was a prototype “Kampfzerstorer” or heavy fighter-bomber concept from the early Luftwaffe at a time when the development and rearmament of the Luftwaffe was largely a clandestine affair—hence the lack of Luftwaffe makings and swastikas. While the type held some promise, the role of Kampfzerstorer fell to the impressive and ultimately iconic Messerschmitt Bf 109. Only three prototypes were constructed, each with different engines—here we see the V1 variant, powered by two liquid-cooled Jumo V-12 engines. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300010233-WARWN57354II5W9GZL2S/100AP56.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Many, if not most, of the great early helicopter designers were Russian—Igor Sikorsky, Nikolai Kamov, Mikhail Mil and Ivan Bratukhin, the designer of the Bratukhin Omega II. As with other early helicopter designs, the Omega II was first “captive” tested using a tether to prevent it losing control at a dangerous altitude. The design bureau was evacuated ahead of the German advance and it was months before development could continue and testing proceed. In this image, which I believe comes from a newsreel, the observer descends a rope ladder to the ground. It appears that there is no pilot, but he is behind the door. On YouTube you can find a video of the Omega being demonstrated at an airshow in 1945 plus other footage of the Omegas. Click here to see the film. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300065240-CC295OTPKC514DSX9W28/1000AP06.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Doman LZ-5 was an American designed utility helicopter. The type, designed by Glid Doman and first built in Danbury, Connecticut, was evaluated by the United States Army as the YH-31. Johan Visschedijk explains the Canadian registration on this American-built helicopter: “Doman and Fleet Manufacturing, Ltd. of Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada had formed Doman–Fleet Helicopters. The US-built development aircraft N812 was transferred to Doman–Fleet at Fort Erie and after some minor modifications it was flown in 1955, operating under a Canadian experimental flight permit, hence registered CF-IBG-X. With its 7 ft (2.13 m) wide doors removed on both sides the helicopter showed in mid-1956 its capability of lifting bulky cargo without slings by transporting a 1,900 lb (862 kg) cabriolet Volkswagen.” The promotional stunt impressed the author enough to put the Doman into this story 60 years later. Though only three LZ-5s were built, this same Doman plus a YH-31 US Army variant exist today and can be viewed at the New England Air Museum in East Granby, Connecticut. Photos: Top: Ray Watkins Collection, Bottom: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300146296-RC5GT4EZVZIHNV7AFAJR/1000AP07.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The one-off Curtiss XF14-C. On the date that the USN let a contract for its development, they also issued contracts to Grumman which ultimately would result in the Hellcat and the Tigercat. While these two Grumman cats would go down in naval aviation history, the Curtiss fighter would fail to live up to its designers’ predictions. 1000aircraftphotos.com writes: “On 30 June 1941, Curtiss was awarded a development contract for the XF14C-1 single-seat high-altitude shipboard fighter, to be powered by the still experimental 2,200 hp Lycoming XH-2470-4 liquid cooled engine. Wind tunnel tests conducted by the Navy in October 1942 indicated that Curtiss engineers had been somewhat optimistic in their performance estimates, inadequate by contemporary standards. This, and the still existing prejudice by the Navy against liquid-cooled engines, led to the cancellation of the XF14C-1. However, Curtiss was requested to adapt the airframe for the turbo-supercharged 2,300 hp Wright XR-3350-16 two-row eighteen cylinder air-cooled radial engine, driving a six-bladed contra-propeller. Designated XF14C-2, the aircraft was flown in September 1943, but not delivered to the USN until July 1944. The XF14C-2 performance, too, was below manufacturer’s guarantees, and with the tide of war in the Pacific running in favour of the USA, the altitude capability needs diminished.” Photos: Top: Johan Visschedijk Collection, Bottom: Bill Pippin Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300187763-ZMFIX566C7XGK03JL0QS/1000AP54.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out No aircraft better represents the glories of civil aviation before and after the Second World War than the transoceanic flying boats with their magnificent size and first class service. Of all the flying boats, the French Latécoère 631 was perhaps the most beautiful, if far from the safest. Her beautiful lines and gargantuan size were literally breathtaking. In all, ten production 631s were built after the prototype first flew—in 1942 at the height of the war. Following the 631’s successful first flight, the Nazi’s commandeered it and flew it to the Bodensee (Lake Constance) on the German–Swiss–Austrian border. In 1944, it was attacked and destroyed at anchor by RAF Mosquitos. Despite the war raging through France, Latécoère managed to complete the first production model in March 1945, now powered by Wright Cyclones instead of its original Gnome et Rhône engines. Four following production models were bought by Air France which operated them on the France–Mauritania route. Other operators were SEMAF (Société d’Exploitation du Matériel Aéronautique Français) and SFH (Société France Hydro). In October of 1945 a propeller on F-BANT (seen here) separated in flight with a blade slicing through the cabin and killing two passengers. In February of 1948, F-BDRD crashed in the English Channel during a snowstorm killing all 19 on board. In August of the same year, F-BDRC disappeared over the eastern Atlantic with no survivors being found. In March of 1950, F-BANU was lost off the coast of France, again with no survivors and finally in 1955, SFH’s F-BDRE had a wing failure, crashing with the loss of half of the 16 people on board. France and the world had had enough. Thankfully, the Latécoère 631 never flew again. For a newsreel of the first flight of the 631 (wearing D-Day Invasion stripes as likely the war was still on), click here. Photos: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300369144-BQRJ4BZE23HQWMKTUFI1/1000AP61.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out No aircraft better represents the glories of civil aviation before and after the Second World War than the transoceanic flying boats with their magnificent size and first class service. Of all the flying boats, the French Latécoère 631 was perhaps the most beautiful, if far from the safest. Her beautiful lines and gargantuan size were literally breathtaking. In all, ten production 631s were built after the prototype first flew—in 1942 at the height of the war. Following the 631’s successful first flight, the Nazi’s commandeered it and flew it to the Bodensee (Lake Constance) on the German–Swiss–Austrian border. In 1944, it was attacked and destroyed at anchor by RAF Mosquitos. Despite the war raging through France, Latécoère managed to complete the first production model in March 1945, now powered by Wright Cyclones instead of its original Gnome et Rhône engines. Four following production models were bought by Air France which operated them on the France–Mauritania route. Other operators were SEMAF (Société d’Exploitation du Matériel Aéronautique Français) and SFH (Société France Hydro). In October of 1945 a propeller on F-BANT (seen here) separated in flight with a blade slicing through the cabin and killing two passengers. In February of 1948, F-BDRD crashed in the English Channel during a snowstorm killing all 19 on board. In August of the same year, F-BDRC disappeared over the eastern Atlantic with no survivors being found. In March of 1950, F-BANU was lost off the coast of France, again with no survivors and finally in 1955, SFH’s F-BDRE had a wing failure, crashing with the loss of half of the 16 people on board. France and the world had had enough. Thankfully, the Latécoère 631 never flew again. For a newsreel of the first flight of the 631 (wearing D-Day Invasion stripes as likely the war was still on), click here. Photos: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300404698-TG2SYGT4J0LDWZGYBGSB/1000AP08.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Caudron C.530 Rafale was a French two-seat competition aircraft. Only seven were built but they had great success in several contests during 1934. The Rafale (a French word meaning “gust of wind”) was intended as a competition aircraft and in 1934 it was very successful. On 8 July, Rafales took the first three places in the Angers 12-hour event and later that month filled the top six Esders Cup positions. Late in August, one won the Zénith Cup with a flight over the prescribed 1,578 km (981 mi) course at 240 km/h (149.1 mph). The Rafale’s two seats were in tandem, one over the wing and the other just behind the trailing edge, under a long (about a third of the fuselage length), narrow multi-framed canopy with a blunt, vertical windscreen and sliding access. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300438000-6N22ICAPETYCRSJB2DBD/1000AP09.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Designed and built in 1935 by Hayden Campbell in St. Joseph, Missouri, the Campbell F was made of all-magnesium construction and was powered by an 85 hp Ford V-8 automotive engine. It’s not difficult to see why it had earned the nickname The Flying Easter Egg. The aircraft was damaged in a demonstration flight and never repaired. For a lovely little video of the Campbell F warming up and in flight in Missouri, click here. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300477683-F837G8XFTEWD33OMBG7I/1000AP10.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Armstrong Whitworth’s third airliner type, the Ensign, was the largest machine built in pre-war days for Imperial Airways Ltd. and, like [its predecessor] the Atalanta, was a four-engine high-wing cantilever monoplane designed by John Lloyd. There the similarity ended, the newcomer being of almost twice the physical size, three times the all-up weight, of all-metal stressed skin construction, and fitted with an enormous retractable undercarriage. Power plants were four 850 hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IX engines. It carried 27 passengers in three cabins and was intended for the distant Empire routes, sleeping accommodation being alternatively provided for 20. One promotional newsreel of 1937 stated that the Ensign was “a new streamline monster in the Empire skyways”. For another period newsreel about the Ensign, click here. Photo: Alfarrabista Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300632236-OWNXMHXCDXGC57DGMOC8/1000AP11.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Many of the rare aircraft types listed in the pages of 1000aircraftphotos.com were never meant for production. Many, like this Hunting H.126, were simply designed and built to test a new concept, principle or technology. Hunting Aircraft’s H.126 was “a single-seat research aircraft which had been built to flight test the jet-flap principle [widely called “blown flaps” today]. In this, the exhaust efflux of a turbojet engine is ducted to the trailing edge of an aircraft’s wings and ejected through a narrow slit along the trailing edge. As well as being used to provide propulsion, the efflux can be deflected downward to form a “jet-flap” of high velocity gas which makes possible the achievement of lift coefficients of 10 or more.” The aircraft was designed purely for test purposes and thus lacked features such as retractable landing gear. The shoulder-level wing featured a set of struts, not for support but in order to provide piping for the compressed air used in the blown flaps. The sole H.126 flew for the first time on 26 March 1963, and had completed over 100 test flights by mid-1965 with the program ending in 1967. After two years storage it went to NASA in the USA in 1969, returning in May 1970. Stored for another two years it was struck off charge in September 1972 and is presently on display at the RAF Museum, Cosford. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300669862-19NLIJFYOJ0UD5RBRWNO/1000AP12.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out With such an evocative and powerful name, the Westland Dreadnought seemed poised on the edge of a new era in aircraft design. Sadly, the Dreadnought never came close to living up to its name. The ship was an “experimental single-engined fixed-wing monoplane design for a mail plane created to trial the aerodynamic ‘blended’ wing and fuselage design ideas of Russian engineer M. Woyevodsky. It was designed and built by British aircraft manufacturer Westland Aircraft for the Air Ministry. On completion of the Dreadnought, pilot Arthur Stewart Keep carried out taxi trials and short airborne hops. On 9 May 1924, he took off for its first flight test. While the aircraft was initially stable, it soon became clear that Keep was losing control, and not long after, at a height of approximately one hundred feet, the Dreadnought stalled and crashed. Thrown from the aircraft, Keep sustained severe injuries, and later had both legs amputated. He remained with the company and did not retire until 1935. After this failure, the Dreadnought design was abandoned, although the ideas that were conceived and used in its making were visibly an advancement in aircraft and are appreciated as such in the present day.”—Wikipedia. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300704686-TLYA23DQTZAPSQYG660L/1000AP13.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Vickers 161. Designed from the get-go as a gun platform for a 37 mm gun designed by the Coventry Air Works (COW), the Vickers 161 was extraordinary in its configuration. The website aviastar.org states: “An unequal-span two-bay biplane with comparatively high aspect ratio wings with duralumin plate and tube structure, it had a metal monocoque nacelle, accommodating the pilot to port and the COW gun to starboard, which was faired into the upper wing and raised above the lower wing by splayed N-type struts. The 530hp Bristol Jupiter VIIF nine-cylinder radial carried at the rear of the nacelle drove a four-bladed propeller, aft of which was a curious, long tapered cone which, intended to promote directional stability, was supported by struts from the tubular tail-booms and the tailplane. The Type 161 was flown for the first time on 21 January 1931, and after provision of a broader-chord rudder, it flew extremely well, arriving at Martlesham Heath in September 1931 for official evaluation. Development was discontinued when official interest in promoting the quick-firing COW gun lapsed.” The COW 37 gun was to protrude at a 45 degree angle from the nose and was designed to shoot down bombers. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300739465-CM790Y3G9NEFABBKDA6L/1000AP14.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Vultee V-11 two- and three-seat light bomber—selected for this story simply because I loved the extra long greenhouse canopy. While Vultee designed aircraft with the hopes of building them for the United States Army Air Corps and the United States Navy, some, like the Vultee V-11 were of not much interest to American forces, but saw some service with foreign air forces. While the USAAC would later purchase 7 Vultee V-11s (calling them the YA-19) to compare with other aircraft of the day, there was some interest from foreign governments whose air forces were just beginning to grow. China ordered 30 two-seat Vultee V-11s and then more Vultee V-12s (a more powerful variant) which they were planning to assemble from kits (25 were finished), Brazil acquired a total of 26, Russia bought or built a total of 34 and Turkey purchased 40. The aircraft had limited combat success with the Chinese, and a Brazilian Vultee V-11 made an attack on a submarine, damaging itself in the process. Later developments would have a rear facing gunner at the back of the cockpit plus a rear-facing ventral gun position protruding from the bottom. Most were later used as high speed liaison and transport aircraft. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300773557-A7P66I5JXYJERUY1Q7IQ/1000AP15.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out A later development of the Vultee V-11 was the V-12, a streamlined and attractive alternative to the largely unsuccessful type. First flown in September 1938, the prototype aircraft (NX18985) was sold to Pratt and Whitney aircraft as a test bed. Photo: Curtiss Aldrich Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300804243-4UV6SMBI7YW6ROKVXH7E/1000AP16.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Convair Liberator–Liner. Johan Visschedijk of 1000aircraftphotos.com writes: “Consolidated foresaw a market for a large transport to be used by both civil and military operators and started the design as the Model 39 in early 1943. After the merger of Consolidated and Vultee the type was continued as the Convair Model 104. Convair was the trade name of Consolidated Vultee after the 1943 merger. To produce an aircraft in a short time it became a hybrid: the wings, engines, single vertical tail and landing gear of the PB4Y-2 Privateer (the ultimate US Navy version of the B-24 Liberator) were mated to an entire new circular-section fuselage. The US Navy became interested and signed a letter of intent for 253 aircraft in March 1944. The first prototype NX30039 (c/n 1) was flown for the first time on 15 April 1944 piloted by Phil Prophett and his crew. Due to design deficiencies the Navy cancelled its order but Convair received permission to purchase and complete the second prototype in Navy colours. Thus the second aircraft was completed as the Convair 104 XR2Y-1 and fitted with R-1830-65 engines NX3939 (c/n 2) and made it first flight on 29 September 1944. Eventually this aircraft was given the US Navy registration 09803. American Airlines operated the first aircraft, named City of Salinas (top), with the support of Convair for three months transporting fresh fruits between Salinas and El Centro, California and cities in the east like Boston and New York. In airline service the Liberator–Liner would have carried 48 seated passengers or 24 in sleeping berths. A cargo of 18,500 lb (8,392 kg) could be loaded straight from flat trucks into the aircraft through large fuselage doors. However, the type could not compete in performance with, and was much less powerful than current aircraft and as there was no other interest in the design both aircraft were scrapped in 1945.” Photos: Top: Walter van Tilborg Collection, Bottom: Ron Dupas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300843918-YIC09RM6EONWCEQ7VDGB/1000AP17.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The late 1940s and early 1950s were some of the most exciting and creative times in aviation design and development. There were many players throwing out new design concepts almost daily and the breadth of thinking was astonishing, even if some of the concepts were dead ends. No company better expresses the creativity of the times that Convair, the company which came out of the merger between Consolidated and Vultee. Their designs responded to the times and, unlike other manufacturers, occupied nearly every area of aviation—from the great bombers of Strategic Air Command (SAC) like the transitional behemoth and ironically named B-36 Peacemaker and the wickedly aggressive-looking B-58 Hustler, to the last of the thinking on seaplane technology like the Sea Dart fighter and elegant Tradewind flying boat, to jet fighters that sustained the air force and air guard units for decades like the Delta Dagger and Delta Dart, and finally to the airliners—the sleek 880s and 990s and the highly successful early feeder liners like the Metropolitan and Cosmopolitan. Amidst all their successes was the slender four-engined XB-46 (pictured), an experimental jet-powered medium bomber. The type was developed in the mid-1940s, and despite its futuristic appearance, flew for the first time as early as 1947. It was competing against similarly configured experimental bombers such as the North American XB-45 Tornado and the Martin XB-48. While the Tornado was first to limited production with 143 examples built, they were all eclipsed in the end by the magnificent and inspiring Boeing B-47 Stratojet of which more than 2,000 were eventually built for SAC. The XB-46 was cancelled in the same year the single copy was built—1947. Click here for a video of the type in flight. Photos: Top: Ron Dupas Collection, Bottom: Walter van Tilborg Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300885087-N2WFAPZ99V8R09TB65CT/1000AP18.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out During the 1920s and 1930s, the world was obsessed with air racing and as a result, the science and art of aircraft design took huge leaps and bounds as designers sought to make their race planes faster and lighter. Thanks to air racing and the Schneider Cup, the Spitfire was born. So were any number of tiny aircraft like the Haines H-3 Mystery Ship (sometimes called the Special or Firefly), designed and flown by Frank Haines in the 1937 Greve Trophy Races. The race was ten laps of a ten-mile course, with a $15,000 purse. The Haines H-3 was sixth and dead last. The aircraft’s forward raked windshield and tiny rudder are notable features of Haines’ design and give it a speedy look. Haines was killed in the H-3 on 3 December of that same year in Miami as the race began. At virtually the same moment (but not a related incident) Rudy Kling, the 1937 Thompson Trophy winner lost control of his ship and was also killed. It was thought they were both caught by the same wake turbulence or downdraft. According to newspaper articles, both aircraft were set on fire at the end of the day to get rid of the wreckage—so much for a crash investigation! For a fun video of a rubber band model of the Haines H-3 in flight, click here. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300926014-7MC3QAQM4SXK59MO3NOD/1000AP19.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Handley Page H.P.75 is the type of airplane one might see in an Indiana Jones movie—one that breaks all the control configuration paradigms at once. Johan Visschedijk elaborates on the type. First known as the “Tailless Research Aircraft” [hence the name Manx—the tailless cat -Ed] this aircraft was designed by Dr. Gustav Victor Lachmann to investigate the problems associated with tailless aircraft. The airframe was built by Dart Aircraft of Dunstable, England; the aircraft was finished at Radlett, England. During taxi trials on 12 September 1942, the aircraft flew unintentionally at a height of 12 ft (3.66 m) and was subsequently damaged while landing. Marked with the ‘Class B’ markings* H-0222, the aircraft flew for the first time on 25 June 1943. In 1945 it was designated H.P.75 for the first time. A total of 31 flights were made till 3 April 1946 (total flight time 17 hr 43 min) when the aircraft was stored and subsequently scrapped in 1952. * British aircraft test serials (in this case HO222) are used to externally identify aircraft flown within the United Kingdom without a full Certificate of Airworthiness. They can be used for testing experimental aircraft or modifications, pre-delivery flights for foreign customers and are sometimes referred to as “B” class markings. Photos: Bernhard C. F. Klein Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629300966911-1TJDWF5CPUD1CNVX2GDW/1000AP20.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The one-off Hawker Hotspur turret gun fighter (K8309) was designed by Sydney Camm of Hurricane fame. 1000aircraftphotos.com explains: “K 8309 was the only Hawker Hotspur built. It was derived from the Hawker Henley which was originally planned as a two-seat light bomber, but went into RAF service as a target tug. The Hotspur was Hawker’s response to the request for a turret fighter, but the contract was placed with Boulton Paul resulting in the Defiant. The concept of the turret fighter did not prove successful; so many Defiants were converted to target tugs and replaced the Henleys. Although better as a target tug than the Henley, the Defiant was still far from perfect. The RAF finally got its first purpose-designed target tug in the form of the Miles Martinet.” The aircraft first flew in June of 1938, but with a ballasted wooden mock-up of the Boulton Paul powered turret envisaged for the final production models. The entrance door for the turret gunner can be seen below the turret in this image. The single airframe (K8309) was later painted in the standard RAF camouflage and yellow test markings for its trials. Photo: Jacques Trempe Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301009018-H8E1YJU28N3TYJG2SOM5/1000AP21.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out First developed as a response to an Air Ministry requirement for a light bomber with good enough performance to be used as a dive bomber for close air support, the Hawker Henley would eventually be built for an entirely different role. Eventually the requirement for the light bomber was dropped, but the Henley found a new and less glorious calling as a target tug. More than 200 were built, but in the end the type proved ill-suited to the task, with many engine failures due to a cooling system which performed best at high airspeeds not suitable for target towing. They ended their short careers towing the larger drogues for training anti-aircraft gun crews. Several aircraft were lost when the engine quit but the drogue could not be released fast enough. They were withdrawn from service in 1942. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301043972-SPZUX3XVNPNWLQ9ILBJ2/1000AP22.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The sleek and powerful-looking S.E.1010 was a late 1940s French photo-survey aircraft designed and built by SNCASE for the Institut Géographique National. Johan Visschedijk writes: “Ordered by the French Ministère de l’Air (Ministry of Aviation) the S.E.1010 high-altitude photographic survey aircraft was designed and constructed by the SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud–Est) at Marignane. Powered by four 1,590 hp SNECMA (previously Gnome–Rhône) 14R-28/29 radials and registered F-WEEE, the aircraft was first flown from Marignane by a crew led by test pilot Jacques Lecarme on 24 November 1948. Construction of a small production batch was started in 1949. During a test flight on 1 October 1949, the aircraft entered a flat spin, from which it did not recover, the six crew were killed, including test pilot Henri Vanderpol. Subsequently the Ministère de l’Air revised its opinion of piston engines on future aircraft and the project was abandoned.” Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301090171-DIS8UROVSWVAKZGE11P9/1000AP23.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The pre-war French aviation industry loved unconventional design, and the insectoid SNCASE S.E.100 is a case in point. The S.E.100 was a French two-seat, twin-engined fighter which first flew in 1939. In plan, the aircraft looked rather conventional, but it was not (visit the 3-view drawing at 1000aircraftphotos.com). The fuselage was short in appearance, with a long nose and a very short tail, the cockpit being connected to the gunner’s position aft by a windowed corridor. The undercarriage was of the nose wheel type, rarely used in French aircraft of the 1930s, with the main wheels fitted right aft, retracting into the tail rather than the wings or engine nacelles as was conventional. The aircraft was fitted with four Hispano–Suiza HS.404 20 mm cannon in the nose and one in the gunner’s post... The first prototype of the S.E.100 flew on 29 March 1939 at Argenteuil and a number of necessary changes were identified during the tests. It was destroyed in a crash on 5 April 1940.The aircraft proved to be around 100 km/h faster than the Potez 631, the French Air Force’s current twin-engined fighter, and production was authorized. Mass production was planned to begin late in 1940 but the fall of France prevented further development and production. (Text assembled via Wikipedia) Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301131889-G3H146T25Q864GVB2DON/1000AP24.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The single prototype Sud–Ouest SO-30R Bellatrix with Hispano–Suiza-built Rolls–Royce 101 Nene engines. The type was a jet development of Sud–Ouest’s Bretagne propeller-driven medium airliner. While the propliner had a production run of 45 aircraft, only one test aircraft with jet power was built. Another (or possibly this same airframe) was re-engined with the SNECMA ATAR jet engine. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301164784-Q6CD7X4YANADRTXTR97Q/1000AP25.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The SNCASO SO.4000 from la Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud–Ouest, commonly known as Sud–Ouest, had a big promising name and less than excellent performance judging by its short-lived flying career. Although planned production of the type was already cancelled, it was decided to build out two scaled models (one a glider, the other powered) and the prototype. The landing gear proved to be its Achilles heel, collapsing during taxi tests, repaired and then failing again upon landing. The project was then abandoned. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301203526-4713BDWOZN9KVP4WSHIU/1000AP26.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Jovair 4A—short, stubby and cheerfully stylish in a Bruce McCall/The New Yorker magazine sort of fashion. Ray Watkins tells us in 1000aircraftphotos.com: “The Helicopter Engineering Research Corp was formed in 1947 by D.K. Jovanovich and F.J. Kozloski who were former employees of the Piasecki Helicopter Corp. Their first design, the two-seat tandem rotor Jov-3, flew in 1947. The company was renamed J.O.V. Helicopters in 1948. The design rights were sold to McCulloch Motors in the same year for their new Helicopter Division, with Jovanovich as Chief Engineer. McCulloch continued development of the Model Jov-3 to produce the McCulloch MC-4, which first flew in March 1951 and received FAA certification in 1953. In 1952 the US Army purchased three examples of the MC-4C, which had small endplate rudders at the rear of the fuselage, for evaluation as the YH-30. Jovanovich and Kozloski left McCulloch when the Airplane Division was closed, and formed Jovair Corp in 1957 to continue their work on helicopters. They resumed the design rights and purchased one of the MC-4A’s (N4071K) which had been produced for evaluation by the USN (as the HUM-1). The Jovair 4E Sedan was an enlarged 4-seat version of the MC-4C which received certification in March 1963. It was the last design produced by Jovair and the design rights reverted to McCulloch in 1969 who continued development of the Jovair 4E Sedan as the McCulloch MC-4E. The picture shows the four-seat 4E Sedan with the 1962-built Jovair 4A, a stripped-down two-seat agricultural and training aircraft, in the background.” Photo: Ray Watkins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301238032-SYP9XUJT0KBE2WFSU110/1000AP27.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Abrams P-1 Explorer (X19897). Wikipedia explains the little one-off aircraft: “The Abrams P-1 Explorer was an American purpose-designed aerial photography and survey aircraft that first flew in November 1937. It was designed by aerial survey pioneer Talbert Abrams to best suit his needs for a stable aircraft with excellent visibility for this kind of work. Abrams was an early aerial photographer in World War I. He used a Curtiss Jenny postwar, forming ABC airlines. In 1923 Abrams founded Abrams Aerial Survey Company, and in 1937 Abrams Aircraft Corporation to build the specialized P-1 aircraft... The Quarterly Journal of the American Society of Photogrammetry said, “this new craft is so unique in design as to resemble the mythical creation of a ‘Buck Rogers’ space ship of the year 2040.” Today, the Explorer is stored with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, awaiting restoration. Photo: Loet Kuipers Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301281533-9FNL1KFVG7GDEB26CKQU/1000AP28.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The delightful Airspeed AS.5 Courier was selected for this story simply because it looked smart in its deco livery (in silver and burgundy), retractable gear and wide expanse of glazing. 1000aircraftphotos.com states: “This is the prototype of the Courier, pictured on her first flight from Portsmouth on 11 April 1933. Four days later it crashed at Portsmouth, receiving minor damage. Repaired, it had another accident at RAF Martlesham Heath. It was used in aerial refuelling experiments by the well-known British aviation pioneer Sir Alan Cobham, using two Handley Page W10s as aerial tankers. The experiments led to an attempt of a non-stop flight to India that started at Portsmouth on 24 September 1934. It ended the same day when Cobham had to make a forced landing at Malta, due to a broken throttle; in the event the Courier was damaged. The aircraft was impressed into the RAF in June 1940, s/n X9427. The fate of the prototype aircraft is unknown,” but a total of 15 production aircraft ensued. Photo: David J. Gauthier Memorial Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301319372-3J7FGYG2151WFI8Q23RS/1000AP29.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Of all the names of aircraft I have studied over the years, perhaps the least inspiring of all was the ATL-90 Accountant from Freddy Laker’s Aviation Traders. It was not an unattractive aircraft with its massive tail and purposeful stance in the air, but if ever there was a name that failed to evoke any excitement or emotional response to the burgeoning field of postwar civil aviation, it was the Accountant. The first prototype and only Accountant ever built was flown for the first time in 1957. Built by the very reputable Aviation Traders Limited, builders of the famous Carvair conversions of Douglas DC-4s, the Accountant was demonstrated at Farnborough, but failed to gain any interest whatsoever. Two years later, it was scrapped. Photo: Walter van Tilborg Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301353723-56UC0LAVGCHJMWW62PO2/1000AP30.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Avtek 400 ignored many conventional design configurations at one time. With its over the wing pusher propellers, high mounted forward canard, bizarre wing shapes, all-Kevlar construction and lack of elevators, perhaps it offered just a bit too much change for aircraft buyers. The late Bernhard Klein in 1000aircraftphotos.com wrote: “This was the proof of concept aircraft of a six/nine-seat pusher turboprop-powered business aircraft, with a crew of one or two pilots. It was the first US aircraft constructed throughout from DuPont ‘Kevlar’ advanced composite material, hence the ‘DUPONT’ logo on upper sides of the tailfin. First flown in the USA on 17 September 1984, the type never went into production, and the company went bankrupt in 1998. The aircraft appeared in the ‘Airwolf’ TV series as the X-400, the plane used by the villain Lou Stappleford in the episode ‘Eagles’.” For more on the fate of the Avtek 400, click here. Photo: Bernhard C.F. Klein Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301392776-LOSVBQUMV9MIB32U1D91/1000AP31.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Hirsch–MAéRC H-100 was a one-off research aircraft designed by Frenchman René Hirsch to test his system to deal with gusts that make for bumpy and uncomfortable flying. Walter van Tilborg writes on 1000aircraftphotos.com: “It incorporated a system in which the halves of the horizontal tail moved on chordwise hinges to operate flaps on the wings. The conventional elevators provided not only pitching moments, but moved the tail halves about their chordwise hinges to cause the flaps to move in the direction to provide direct lift control. In this way, the loss of longitudinal control due to the gust-alleviation system was overcome. Of wooden construction, the H-100 incorporated many other ingenious features, including swivelling wingtips for reducing rolling moments due to rolling gusts and lift due to horizontal gusts. The design also incorporated large pneumatic servos operated by dynamic pressure to restore damping in roll and to stabilize the rate of climb or descent.” The single aircraft built was retired after 130 test flying hours and was then donated to the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, at Le Bourget, Paris, where it remains on display. Photo: Pierre Bregerie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301438472-MAAZSLMP25B5GBND9FGE/1000AP32.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Martin Baker M.B.2. Johan Visschedijk of 1000aircraftphotos.com writes “Designed by James Martin with the collaboration of Captain Valentine H. Baker, the M.B.2 was built to conform to the requirements of Specification F.5/34, but funded as a private venture. Conceived for manufacture in large numbers by semi-skilled workers at low cost, the M.B.2 employed a steel-tube structure with fabric skinning, was powered by a Napier Dagger III 24-cylinder H-type engine with a rated output of 798 hp at 5,500 ft (1,675 m), and carried an armament of eight 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns in the wings. The depth of the fuselage was virtually constant from nose to tail and vertical tail surfaces were eliminated, the rudder being hinged to the sternpost behind the elevators. First flown by Captain Baker on 3 August 1938, registered G-AEZD and marked M-B-I, the M.B.2 demonstrated serious directional instability and a rudimentary fixed tailfin was immediately introduced. While tested at Martlesham Heath, a level speed of 320 mph (515 km/h) was recorded with full armament, but official reports of trials, while enthusiastic concerning its engineering design, pronounced the M.B.2 unstable about all axes and generally unpleasant to fly. An unorthodox feature was the retractable crash-pylon which automatically extended behind the pilot’s head in the event of a nose-over. In March 1939 it was handed over to the RAF, s/n P9594, while in May 1939 more orthodox vertical tail surfaces (shown above) were fitted, these markedly improving handling, but the RAF evinced no interest in the fighter, development being discontinued, and the aircraft was broken up at Denham.” Photo: Bill Pippin Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301476013-4DFP2YQKQCGGMT91BKYX/1000AP33.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Martin–Baker M.B.3 was a powerful and promising British fighter aircraft prototype designed around the complex 2,000 hp Napier Sabre engine and first flown in August of 1942. The production aircraft was to have an astonishing punch—six 20 mm cannons. Test flights conducted by company partner Valentine Baker showed that the M.B.3 was highly manoeuvrable and easy to fly. Sadly, on 12 September 1942, the engine failed soon after takeoff and Captain Baker, attempting to save the aircraft during the difficult forced landing, crashed in a field and was killed. Baker’s death devastated his partner James Martin, who eventually abandoned the project even though it held such promise. It is said that the accident started Martin’s new passion for safety systems and air crew survivability and led to the development of the now-famous and ubiquitous Martin–Baker ejection seats. Photo: Jacques Trempe Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301508443-18591X4W6IHRM4TK3EEA/1000AP34.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Here is one airplane that in no way lives up to its euphonious and alliterative name—the McCarter Meadowlark. The swift flying, darting and sleek meadowlark with its buoyant song brings to mind something far different than this aircraft, looking part farm tractor, part toy glider, part ice box. Photo: Walter van Tilborg Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301546749-V1STR2OKSV5X7XFYXCF3/1000AP35.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out To the average person claiming to know something about British aviation history during the Second World War, the name “Miles Aircraft” will barely register, if at all. While names like Supermarine, Hawker, Avro, Handley Page, Bristol and de Havilland absorbed most of the limelight with their now legendary combat aircraft designs, Miles laboured tirelessly and quite successfully “in the wings”, designing and manufacturing aircraft absolutely vital to the outcome of the war. These were flight training aircraft like the Miles Magister elementary flight trainer, the Miles Master advanced flight trainer and the purpose-built Miles Martinet target tug—totalling more than 6,000 aircraft built. Miles Aircraft prepared RAF pilots and gunners to fight and ultimately defeat the Nazis. The importance of their roles cannot be overstated. One of the little known and short production types built by Miles was the Miles Monitor high-speed, twin-engine target tug. The prototype shown here being assessed at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at RAF Boscombe Down wears the “P” for Prototype roundel and yellow underbelly paint of an aircraft under evaluation. In the end, the RAF abandoned the type requirement and the Monitor was modified with dive brakes and other equipment to meet a possible Royal Navy requirement for an aircraft used to simulate dive bombing attacks on fleet ships. None entered service and the remaining aircraft were scrapped. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301589935-ZE4MW3KH4FY2Z376L3G9/1000AP36.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Dumpy, utilitarian and oddly cheerful looking, the Miles M.57 Aerovan truly lived up to its name, looking much like a flying delivery van. First flown in early 1945, the type saw moderate success with 52 constructed. I selected this image because of two things—I was unfamiliar with the type and the cockpit in this image looks so sparse, it brought to mind the fake cockpits of movies of the period, where the normal complexities and equipment normally found in an interior of a cockpit are missing, replaced by what seems more like my parents’ wood paneled rec-room than an aircraft cockpit. The pilot seems to be sitting in an enclosed porch. The Miles Aerovan was made of plastic-bonded wood and was meant to serve the short-range, low cost transport sector. The only military operators of the type were the Israeli Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301627902-GGRCS845LOC6Z6UBEJ2S/1000AP37.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out It’s all in the name. Another one of Miles Aircraft’s forays into the unknown was the Miles M.39N Libellula. I was attracted to the listing of the type in the 1000aircraftphotos.com alphabetical directory simply because I needed to know what a Libellula was and what it looked like. Turns out a libellula is a form of dragonfly whose twin sets of wings no doubt connected it to this tandem wing design (the forward wing or canard is visible but not obvious in the photograph) by Miles, normally a pretty conventional aircraft design company. The Miles M.39 was a five-eighths scale proof-of-concept prototype for a “lightly-armed, high-speed, high-altitude bomber”. Only one was constructed. Photo: Aubry Gratton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301665484-2X5YIRM9W7Z6RJV9F24H/1000AP38.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The all-aluminum Monsted–Vincent MV-1 Starflight pusher airplane has the distinction of being the only four-engined aircraft ever to be built in Louisiana. It was to be an executive/business aircraft, designed by former Lockheed designer Art Turner “to give businessmen the same dependability and flying range that airlines give to their passengers.”* The only Starflight flew for the first time in October 1948. Despite having four engines, the Starflight could only carry 5 passengers and the pilot. It had a range of 1,200 miles at 145 mph—frankly, making it a terrible aircraft for businessmen who are looking for speedy travel. There was little taste for the aircraft and the only copy ended up at the Wedell Williams Memorial Aviation Museum in Patterson, Louisiana, USA, where, in 1992, it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Andrew. The wreck was moved to a storage hangar, where in 2005, it was destroyed by Hurricane Rita! * FLIGHT Magazine, January 1949. Photos: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301699641-I8RET4CC0RZQKA7LWG1C/1000AP39.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Students and researchers at Mississippi State University (Go Bulldogs!!) in Jackson built and flew the XV-11 Marvel in 1965 to test boundary layer and STOL technology. The name M.A.R.V.E.L. was a forced acronym that stood for “Mississippi Aerophysics Research Vehicle with Extended Latitude”. The first all-composite aircraft, it carried out its initial program of research on behalf of the US Army in the late 1960s, and was rebuilt in the 1980s as a proof-of-concept for a utility aircraft. The Marvel is now on permanent display at the Southern Museum of Flight at the Birmingham International Airport in Alabama. Photo: Jos Heyman Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301743632-M0UHB4C8NNZVIE0K4DMP/1000AP40.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out I say it all the time—the Italians have style. The Savoia–Marchetti S.55 flying boat was one of the most beautiful and quirky flying machines of the 1920s, but the publicity stunt that vaulted it into world aviation history and even its lexicon was as impressive as its visual qualities and its substantial abilities in the air. The S.55 was a twin-hulled flying boat designed and built in Italy beginning in 1924. While passengers and cargo occupied the cavernous hulls, the cockpit crew flew the aircraft from the wing section between the hulls. The aircraft had prodigious long distance ability and to demonstrate this, Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo led a full squadron of 24 identical S.55s across the Atlantic and to the Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress Exposition) in 1933. The sight of 24 of the giants anchored on the Chicago waterfront captured the world’s imagination and inspired many a poster. The word “balbo” has come down the decades to mean a large gaggle of similar aircraft flying together in an aerial parade. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301855092-W3D98C4ONY5628F2HKIK/1000AP41.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Once again, I make my point about the Italian aircraft designers always being able to make their aircraft not just different, but beautiful... even when they are fat like this Savoia–Marshetti S.74 designed and constructed for the Italian airline Ala Littoria. Only three were built and they saw service from 1935. The aircraft shown here is the prototype, I-URBE, first flown in November of 1934. The S.74 could carry between 20 and 27 passengers in the lower compartment with astonishing panoramic windows, while the cockpit crew were five metres in the air. Navigator and radio man were seated in the enclosed nose. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301896144-VMRRC0PF9GU9RNJI2HTF/1000AP51.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Edgley E7A Optica—insectoid, quirky, and fascinating. “The Optica”, writes Johan Visschedijk of 1000aircraftphotos.com, “was a revolutionary design to obtain the best possible all around view that could be obtained by a fixed-wing aircraft. This would make the aircraft very useful in the fields of: police and frontier patrol; pipeline and power line inspection; forestry and coastal patrol; film, TV and press reporting; and touring. Despite its revolutionary design, it is a no-nonsense aircraft, simple and rugged.” Despite financial problems and corporate restructuring and sale, 22 copies of the type have been manufactured under various corporate entities since its first flight in 1979. For an excellent video of the type performing at an air show, click here. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629301998466-J7PALRGCXDXHTP61HBV1/1000AP43.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Darmstadt D-22 was a cantilever sport biplane designed and built in Germany in the 1930s by the Akademische Fliegergruppe of Darmstadt University of Technology, a group of aerodynamical engineering students. The D-22 had quite an unorthodox configuration, being a cantilever biplane, with an upper wing placed low, just above the fuselage and ahead of its lower wing. The design emphasized aerodynamics and lightness and the aircraft was small (21.5 feet long with a wingspan of 24 feet—smaller than a Tiger Moth) with a streamlined silhouette. Two were constructed. Photo: Tracy Hancock Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302042765-PP8K70U74LCK7F3J8KW4/1000AP44.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out Double dud. The Dassault M.D.410 Spirale was one of two nearly identical prototypes produced for the French Air Force—the M.D.410 Spirale and M.D.415 Communauté. The former was to be the ground-attack variant of the latter which was a liaison and general duty aircraft (training, command liaison and ambulance), with the latter’s windows removed and a glazed nose installed along with hardpoints and provisions for cannons. First flown in 1959, neither variant garnered any interest and the project was abandoned. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302081184-YJX81B1VDHSQ8NVJAR8L/1000AP45.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out It’s understandable if you thought this was an early model Boeing B737, but it is a Dassault Mercure, purpose-built to not just compete with the 737, but apparently to be its aviation doppelganger. Unfortunately, it was far from the success of the 737, the world’s most popular airliner (with nearly 9,000 produced). Only 12 Mercures were built—2 prototypes and 10 production aircraft, all purchased by Air Inter, at the time, France’s second largest airline. “This lack of interest was due to several factors, including the devaluation of the dollar and the oil crisis of the 1970s, but mainly because of the Mercure’s operating range—suitable for domestic European operations but unable to sustain longer routes. At maximum payload, the aircraft’s range was only 1,700 km. Consequently, the Mercure 100 achieved no foreign sales. With a total of only 10 sales with one of the prototypes refurbished and sold as the 11th Mercure to Air Inter, the airliner represented one of the worst failures of a commercial airliner in terms of aircraft sold.”—Wikipedia. Photo: Johan Visschedijk Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302128525-1HRHJP1A1X7RSPGLZ55Y/1000AP46.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out There is no more elegant engine configuration in all of aviation than a radial tri-motor. The Italians had their magnificent Savoia–Marchetti Sparvieros and Cant Alciones, and the French had the sleek pencil-thin Dewoitine D.338, a fast 22-passenger Air France liner of the late 1930s. Only 30 of the type were ever built (plus two one-off variants), but the aircraft had a reputation for reliability and good flying qualities. During the war, the Free French airline known as Lignes Aériennes Militaires flew the D.338 on scheduled service to Beirut and Brazzaville, French Congo. Nine of the aircraft survived the war and were put into service for a few months. Lufthansa, the German airline, made use of seven D.338s which they confiscated from Air France. For a French newsreel about the D.338, click here. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302165644-F7KAACCGSJHIJTRIDR4F/1000AP47.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The gear legs and wheel pants on the Bernard V.4, while no doubt extremely “draggy”, make this racing aircraft look very fast. The V.4 was actually a land adaptation of the Bernard H.V.120 seaplane racer (on pontoons, hence the very wide wheel stance) from Société des Avions Bernard. Two H.S.120s were built and one crashed and killed its pilot on its first flight (a common occurrence in those experimental days it seems). The remaining aircraft was put onto wheels and became the V.4. As fast as this aircraft looks, it in fact never flew. Photo: Nico Braas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302206333-WJHZZKB0E2WK33IGV8TM/1000AP48.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out While there is nothing particularly fascinating about the Gloster S.S.35 Gnatsnapper, I include it here simply because its weird name made me laugh out loud—apparently a gnatsnapper is a British bird that catches gnats in flight. The Gnatsnapper, though designed by the famous Henry Folland, was a failed design—first flown in 1928. Only two prototypes were built as Gloster’s submission for an Air Ministry specification for a carrier-based aircraft. The winner of that competition was the Hawker Nimrod. The Gnatsnapper was part of a series of Gloster aircraft named after birds whose names started with the letter G and most of which were failures—Gamecock (108 built), Gannet (1 built), Gnatsnapper (2 built), Goldfinch (1 built), Grouse (1 built), Guan (2 built), Gorcock (3 built), and Grebe (133 built). Henry Folland, Gloster’s chief designer, would leave Gloster when it was taken over by Hawker in 1937 and start his own Folland Aircraft. His most successful aircraft design of all time, the Folland Gnat jet trainer (449 built) leads this author to believe he may have been the man behind the name Gnatsnapper. Photo: Bill Pippin Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302248221-50L9C66XGBELIAOQEL9C/1000AP49.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out No one designs aircraft with more style and panache than the Italians—witness the Piaggio P.23R. This three-engine monoplane transport was designed for no other purpose than to win speed records for Italy. Powered by three Isotta–Fraschini engines, the P.23R first flew in 1936. On 30 December 1938, it carried a payload of 5,000 kilograms at an average speed of 404 kilometres per hour, setting new world records over both the 1,000-kilometre and 2,000-kilometre distances. The P.23R’ s development was halted in 1939. During the Second World War, however, Allied aircraft recognition manuals erroneously identified it as a possible Regia Aeronautica bomber. Photo: Ray Crupi Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629302361638-8NU0E2LRJ9IMK6WBQLWO/1000AP50.jpeg The Stories - THE BONZO, GNATSNAPPER, ACCOUNTANT AND THE JOYS OF 1000 AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM - Make it stand out The Wittman D.12 Bonzo was a spiffy little air racer built for the Thompson Trophy races in the 1930s. It was designed and built by Steve Wittman, whose name is now honoured at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Just 20 feet long and with a span of 20 feet (later 17 feet), the bright red Bonzo landed on two of the tiniest pneumatic aircraft tires imaginable—an attempt to reduce drag. Fully restored, it now graces the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh. Sylvester Joseph “Steve” Wittman (5 April 1904–27 April 1995), competed in and won more air races than anyone else between 1926 and 1989, therefore he is also referred to as the “Dean of American Racing Pilots” writes 1000aircraftphotos.com. Photo: Ray Crupi Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/rcaf-station-playground monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629296399389-ECDB5S108WA0TNWXQ0LL/PictonTitle.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629296498125-C0T184U8NYWK6194NJ8F/Picton5.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A shirtless and barefoot David Russell (right) and his brother Arnie in 1948 exhibit the confident child-swagger of boys who are growing up with the freedom to roam a wonderland of mechanical and historical artifacts. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629296906322-S3U0P6V3DGO8ZPARSFJC/Picton21.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Perhaps heading off to church on Sunday morning, a delighted David (right) and a somewhat suspicious Arnie stand on the grass outside their control tower home. The octagonal structure in the background is the control tower itself, which now longer exists at Picton, one of the few structures missing today from the almost perfectly intact Second World War air base. The tower was not used during the entire time the Russells were at Picton. The family occupied half the building and the other half was occupied by the C/O of the artillery unit and his family.. Russell remembers, “Colonel Fisher would occasionally invite our family during the summer to night "shoots'" at Point Petre (Prince Edward County's southernmost point on Lake Ontario) - the 1940s version of fireworks. I thought they put on a great show!!” Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629296944933-Z05BXAQGI22XMW92W72K/Picton30.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A similar control tower structure to the one the Russells called home could be found on several BCATP bases across Canada, being a standard structure designed by DND and applied where appropriate. This photo shows the tower from No.4 Bombing and Gunnery School, Fingal, Ontario. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Air Force Stations Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629296969971-3YFCGQTGIAMFPQGL45QK/Picton31.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A similar tower at No. 7 SFTS, Fort McLeod shows us an entrance similar to that of the Russell home in Picton. Photo courtesy the Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629297028881-VSK5B8R5GFZHXIDT8XW7/Picton32.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A good view of the identical tower at 12 SFTS. at Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with a Cessna Crane in the foreground. Photo courtesy of Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum Brandon, Manitoba https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629297087327-FK4SCNB5ER8PBHX7WP9R/Picton33.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out One one last photo taken at No. 33 SFTS Carberry, Manitoba of its identical tower, with an Anson parked in the snow. Photo courtesy of Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum Brandon, Manitoba https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629297258977-0FHPYX1TF3QD62RDX4O8/Picton18.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A great shot of the young David on a chain driven tricycle and his brother in the trailer with the family dog "Spinner" and friend Barry Bevan in the rear (Barry's dad was in the army). The trike was purchased second-hand in Scotland by the boys' father in 1945 and brought home with him in a 168 Squadron Liberator in September '45 on his return from overseas. David Russel still owns the trike and the trailer. Russell says “Our grandchildren love it - needless to say 3 generations of Russells have beat the hell out of it but it still functions well. On one occasion my brother attempted to circumnavigate the Picton runways on the tricycle on a cold, windy day. All was well while the wind was at his back but when he turned the corner at the far edge of the airfield into a headwind his progress got slower and slower until he came to a dead stop. My mother, watching from our living room window, let him stew for awhile then retrieved him in our car. All of which shows the freedom we had there. Of note is that our Mom dressed us funny, although we may have been dressed for a birthday party. Note the Picton station steam plant in the left background. It provided heat for all the buildings on the base. To the right are several H-huts. The station school at the time the boys were there, containing Grades 1, 2 and 3 (all in one room with one teacher) was in the nearest H-hut. “The proverbial one room school. remembers David Russell, “I enjoyed that school except when I came home one day to be told my little brother had gone flying with our dad, our dog and a visiting pilot in a civilian aircraft. To say I was pissed would be an understatement.” Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298242649-VFB8S4PTUSSAKAP3QFE1/Picton3.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A photograph of David (left) and Arnie taken during a cooler period... wild, almost feral boys - David with some sort of homemade whip and Arnie riding a trike with his pants torn. In the background stands Avro Anson 11962 as well as radio equipment. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298271444-FJWQUVSU8C9WTPPL2OSG/Picton6.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Left: Young Arnie Russell and his sister Nancy outside their Picton control tower living quarters. Right: Arnie and David (rear) pose for dad on their new looking bicycle beside their home in the lower floors of the control tower at Picton. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298297812-JN48R5W9FFDGSQLQE5UO/Picton8.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A great portrait of Arnie Russell at Picton standing with his bike before a field of former BCATP Ansons destined for the "Big Bonfire”. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298337026-I3VPCI7QIB2EB8XTU39T/Picton4.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out An odd photo of a kinked neck David beneath an Anson engine. In the background stands another former BCATP Anson awaiting its fate. Russell remembers “working on” the Ansons which indicates that they were free to play around them. This photograph was taken the first summer that the Russells moved to Picton - a time when the infield would have been full of aircraft. Dress code for young boys on the RCAF base was fairly informal as can be seen in this photo - perhaps described as feral. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298368144-LMU3IK88GPOP7QXT8GRM/Picton7.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out The summers may have been endless and freedom filled, but Canadians have just two true seasons - eight months of winter and four months of poor snowmobiling. Here Arnie rides the much-loved chain-drive tricycle through winter snow on a windswept ramp outside the family residence at the base of the control tower. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298413477-B3ZI3EICVF0ZF3M3P5WU/Picton2.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A wonderfully haunting view of the Russell boys beneath the wing of a stored aircraft of unknown make... clearly a fabric covered wing. If you can identify the type by the triangular inspection panel, let us know. The photo graph was taken by a Chinese Nationalist Air Force Major who was visiting Picton to inspect Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquitoes then in storage in the hangars of Picton. The Chinese Nationalists purchased nearly 300 Canadian Mosquito fighter-bombers to supply their air force requirements. The Nationalists were fighting a bitter battle against the communists and the about-to-be-scrapped “Mossies” represented an inexpensive way to supplement their force. The Chinese sent a delegation in the late summer of 1947 to check out aircraft at Downsview and obviously they sent someone to look at the aircraft stored at Picton, some two hours east. The warmer clothing worn by the boys in this photo from 1947 indicates autumn, just about the time the Chinese were in the area. The somewhat distrustful look on their faces tells more about the fact that a Chinese officer was a rare sight in post-war Canada than anything else. Russell remembers the visit vividly, “My recollection is that he stayed for several days or even longer. My parents and he became quite friendly and he had dinner with us on several occasions. I know that the Nationalist Air Force bought Canadian Mosquitoes but whether it purchased any of the Picton aircraft is unknown to me. Undoubtedly, my Dad was instructed to assist him in his endeavours. He took a lot of photos, including several of us. ” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298458267-H42QOH5GZ3GHM6DXWS73/Picton25.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A Canadian de Havilland Mosquito in the markings of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force. This aircraft, a training Mosquito, is shown taxiing at Hankow, the home base for No.1 Bombardment Group of the CNAF. The Chinese were particularly afraid of the tail wheel “Mossie”, having been mostly familiar with former American medium bombers with tricycle gear such as the Mitchell. Then Chinese wrote off nearly 20% of the Mosquitoes simply in training accidents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298395655-1ZIEFE40LEK7GO38V0WE/Picton17.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out This photograph was taken in Ottawa at a time before the Russell boys and their father A. G. Russell moved to Picton in September of 1947. David writes “Although the hostilities ended in Europe in May, 168 Squadron RCAF continued its scheduled runs because it was a mail/transport operation. That is the reason for his somewhat late return. He returned to Rockcliffe and was stationed there until the move to Picton. My mother, brother and I had lived in Ottawa during the war and we continued to live there until 1947." This photograph shows a father supremely proud of his sons and happy to be home. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298541706-RZTNZH89IX2YYAXCMY4K/Picton20.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out This photograph shows the Russell boys' dad as a happy young airman in a 5 Squadron Stranraer at RCAF Dartmouth at the beginning of the war. “It was his first posting after finishing technical training at Camp Borden - just in time for the war to start. He was employed as a "fitter-gunner". The squadron began patrols within a week of war being declared. Typically, they would take off from Dartmouth at 0530 hours, provide anti-submarine protection (the Mk. 1 eyeball) to an outbound convoy from Halifax, then land at Sable Island to refuel around noon. They would take off from Sable by late afternoon, and join up with the convoy again or conduct independent operations. They would land back at Dartmouth around midnight.” Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298573988-C6GCMDPZBPSM0L4F9CXC/Picton26.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Dad was a “Stranny” man. The Stranraer was a twin-engined general reconnaissance flying-boat with a crew of six, three Lewis machine guns in bow, dorsal and tail positions and a maximum bomb-load of 1,000 pounds. Known originally as the Southampton Mk.V, it was officially renamed in 1935. Twenty-three served with the RAF from 1936 to 1940 while the forty with the RCAF served from 1938 to 1946. The "Stranny" was also referred to as "The Whistling Bird Cage" due to its many brace wires. Stranraer 913 above (or QN*B) belonged to Number 5 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron, operating out of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The unit was mobilized for war on 10 September 1939 and on 31 October was redesignated as Number 5 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron. The RCAF's first wartime mission may have been flown by a Stranny on 10 September 1939 when No. 908 of 5(BR) Squadron carried out a patrol from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298610379-VGMEW0I0O6AWKSEX6IYG/Picton19.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out After his time on Stranraers at No. 5 Squadron, Russell worked at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands where he was a maintainer, sometimes tasked with the recovery of crashed training aircraft. His time there was featured in another article a few years back about the maintenance side at the big training base. After Uplands, Russell would serve with 168 Squadron RCAF. Formed as a Heavy Transport unit at Rockcliffe, Ontario on October 18, 1943. The squadron flew Fortress and Liberator aircraft in delivering mail to Canadian servicemen in the United Kingdom and on the Continent until disbanded on April 21, 1946. Here we see Russell other members of 168, probably taken in Gibraltar or Rabat Sale Morocco (he and 168 was stationed in both places) or perhaps Naples where he flew on occasion. This was probably taken in 1945. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298648305-6HCW1M0C5FZ9TMC2MF7B/Picton27.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out An RCAF Flying Fortress. The RCAF held six Flying Fortresses on strength from 6 December, 1943 to 27 December, 1946, three being Mk. II Model 299-Os (or B-17Es), and three were Model 299-Ps (or B-17Fs) as was 9204 depicted here. All six belonged to 168 Heavy Transport Squadron which operated out of RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario and were tasked to fly mail to Canadian troops serving in Europe. 9204 was severely damaged at Rockcliffe on 17 September, 1944 and was never repaired, but it had contributed to the squadron's overall total of 636 trans-Atlantic mail flights (of which 240 were flown by the B-17s); 26,417 flying hours; 2,245,269 pounds of mail from Canada to U.K.; and 8,977,600 pounds from U.K. to the continent. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298681804-H5QLQVK2KWJ0QLPAAWW8/Picton28.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Ground crews of 168 Squadron work in winter conditions at RCAF Station Rockcliffe at the end of the Second World War. Rockcliffe's distinctive hills rising behind the flight line can be seen in this photograph. RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298719255-JEKFP3WN754SAJASHNCO/Picton22.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out A photograph of Arnold George Russell at his promotion to Flight Lieutenant. Photo via David Russell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298748959-C1XV07SOLFOIWF3KF9EE/Picton13.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out Today, the old base is still alive and functions as the Town of Picton's airport and is home to the Prince Edward Flying Club. Photo: Mike Berry-Canucks Unlimited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298778265-NRKFHEY9DS0T6C088XY1/Picton14.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Yellow Wings Tour of 2011 paid a visit to Picton. Photo: Mike Berry-Canucks Unlimited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298802926-XN8I9JI6HVQR3IN2TVYT/Picton15.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings Finch starts up in an old familiar milieu - the standard hangar found across the country in every BCATP base. These days some of these hangars exists in many old training fields, but not always with intact barracks, maintenance and admin buildings. In fact, Picton is the only fully preserved BCATP base of the hundreds that were built 70 years ago. Photo: Mike Berry-Canucks Unlimited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629298830510-RTR1LU2P5Y7JQ7OSI0KI/Picton16.jpg The Stories - WELCOME TO RCAF STATION PLAYGROUND, ONTARIO - Make it stand out The Finch taxies down the hangar line and back in time at Picton. In the background stands the gun butts which David Russell remembers well. “One of our favourite pastimes was to go to the gun butts (concrete structure used for testing and aligning aircraft machine guns) which were not then being used. There we would root around in the sand looking for unblemished fired projectiles (mainly .303) and/or casings. We would polish them with sandpaper and our Dad would drill a hole through them so we could hang them from our belts or elsewhere. Simple childish games.” Photo: Mike Berry-Canucks Unlimited https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/rock-of-ages monthly 0.5 2021-09-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293456605-HNJTMO0S40RYWZE2P7LW/RockyTitle.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293524256-1B5YZPMBPBC7XLVOZCEJ/Rocky3.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out A group photo of Rocky Robillard and Fred Mahler's course at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands, Ontario captured in July of 1943. The young men stand in front of the aircraft they would qualify for their wings on - the North American Harvard 2. Photo via Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293621924-9PQRZRE4087A3YQHYNRU/Rocky4.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo. Rocky Robillard is at the far right in the back row, while Fred Mahler is on the far left in the same row. The eager, proud, and already-accomplished young men are about to begin one of the greatest phases of their lives. One wonders how many did not make it back home. With everyone wearing their white aircrew trainee flash in their caps, this was taken before their graduation. Photo via Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293680770-QKE80HG69R3GSRLDKOV7/Rocky5.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out A positively wonderful image of Rocky Robillard sitting on a snowbank during his training days at No. 2 SFTS, Uplands. One can read a certain confidence, kindness, openness, and good humour in this young man's face. Rocky still wears his Leading Aircraftman (LAC) flash on his left sleeve and the white flash of an aircrew trainee in his wedge cap. Given that both Fred Mahler and Rocky would graduate by July of 1943, this image must have been taken in the late winter or early spring of that year, judging by the sunlight and the dirt-encrusted – an indicator of springtime. Photo by Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293718745-JCT8UN62WAT9J7BTVBAW/Rocky8.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out The boys of 442 Squadron pose with a Spitfire just before transitioning to the Mustang IV. Rocky Robillard is crouching in the front row, second from the right. Photo via http://www.flyingforyourlife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293775850-IX6AVDU2AX7E23AVQK06/Rocky6.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Today, the Robillard Brothers Mustang IV flies in the very same markings (Y2-C, Serial No. KH661) of a 442 Squadron Mustang known to have been flown by little brother Rocky. This past summer and for the near future, the Robillard Brothers Mustang will remain warmly housed in the Firefly Aviation facility at the Springbank Airport near Calgary, Alberta. Photo by Andrea Kormylo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293807745-EO2PHIO1QW98OWWTC1EU/Rocky7.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada West Leader and board member Todd “Pepe” Lemieux holds station on the Robillard Brothers Mustang somewhere near the Rocky Mountains where the P-51 lives now. Photo via Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294209109-M1B9UADTIB9U1SLWF1PO/Rocky9.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294231472-M4ONTBXAANXPTKR6MIRM/Rocky12.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294273924-5EZKN3VX3R7AL866NQPI/Rocky13.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294302454-0ZZVP7HSG7XZ13V0YU00/Rocky11.jpg The Stories - ROCK OF AGES — The Rocky Robillard Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ghosts-of-saskatchewan monthly 0.5 2022-01-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629225593193-1KMSS53JZUU6DDIOBF26/Ghosts.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629225870741-IWDTRJAGF85YXLS4XFJ6/BCATPTrain.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The men who would populate the schools across the country were brought there by the trains of theCNR and CPR. Overnight, the great railway system of Canada was primarily in the employ of the war effort. Here, a recently graduated class of observers/navigators from No. 31 Air Navigation School pose with the train that will take them from the small town of Goderich, Ontario to their uncertain futures at the war front. Photo via Phil Wilson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226131978-B9QTYGY4QNH785RT3TF5/BCATPAssiniboia2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out After completion, a photograph was taken of each of the BCATP airfields. This one, shot from due west, was probably taken in the summer of 1942. Located 13 kilometers to the northeast of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, No. 34 EFTS was, for Commonwealth pilot trainees at least, quite decidedly in the middle of nowhere, on the broad Canadian Prairie. When it opened, the school utilized the de Havilland Tiger Moth, but later, in Archie Pennie's instructing days, the school operated the Cornell. Image via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226181873-Z303LZPC6F8M2EC7UC1R/BCATPAssiniboia.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Overhead Assiniboia today, we see that only the east-west runway (08-26, bottom of triangular setup) is still functioning as the main airport active runway. The Assiniboia town website speaks only of this runway as being active, but Wikipedia states that runway 13-31 (east side) is still available. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226230770-AZQRFA0OMEU4Q69LLGM4/Pennie7.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of Vintage Wings of Canada's vintage aircraft, the Fairchild Cornell, is dedicated to one of Assiniboia's great flying instructors of the Second World War – Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226276752-XBEGQYZC6TQ91AQMF6FN/BCATPAssiniboiaAir.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, the Assiniboia hangars have been demolished, but their concrete slab floors are still in evidence beneath newer and smaller structures. We can understand the size of the original hangars by comparing the size of the Cessna on the ramp with their footprints. Photo by Kdmit on Panoramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226403102-1LO0NQDNX93JCQERORAU/BCATPAssiniboiaRunway.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Down at ground level, at the threshold of runway 26, we see what those RAF pilot trainees saw 70 years ago... nothing but prairie. The trees and buildings at the right in this shot are actually legendary aircraft restorer Harry Whereatt's family farm yard. Thinking of his friendship with Harry, Vintage News subscriber Randy England says: “ I last talked to him a couple of summers ago. The Assiniboia Air Cadets do a fly in lunch and they always had a tour of Harry's place. Knowing him slightly, I stayed behind the rest of the tour and helped him close up his hangars. We had a really nice chat. We talked about his planes and his Tiger Moth in particular. He told me how he'd never sell it because it was the first plane he ever owned. He was a true gentleman. Ha, I remember him telling me another time about his Hurricane. (sorry the memories are starting to flow a bit). It took him the better part of 30 years to finish it. "That's because I did it 3 damn times" he said. "I'd get it put together then realize I did something wrong inside and have to take the whole damn thing apart again! And I did that 3 times." He forgot to tell me that he also restored the Lizzie at the same time!!. I asked if he was going to fly the Hurri. "Yup. With all that work I want to have a ride in it." ” Sadly, Harry, who was the original restorer of the Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander and Hurricane XII, passed away this year. Photo by Kdmit on Panoramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226533336-V7FUXZMJGXBDGG9HTEZW/BCATPCaron.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An aerial portrait of Caron from the BCATP days taken from due south. H-hut barracks and hangars have been newly completed and the runways are freshly paved if not yet marked. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226573913-2N8ZUVKAU2N02TI9ZX2B/BCATPCaron2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, No. 33 EFTS Caron is known as the community of Caronport – a college town for bible studies. When I was young, I dated a girl who left Ottawa to attend this very school. From this satellite image we can just make out the ghostly lines of the old triangular runway system. To the west runs the Trans-Canada Highway. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226616145-OANB7L47N8RUQL7STEL8/BCATPCaronHangar.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Until recently, when a new arena was built, one of the No. 33 EFTS hangars served the purpose for many decades. Photo: Daryl Sawatsky https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226650058-9AWBYMDE55G2ALHXAA74/BCATPCaronHHut.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of the original H-hut structures from the old base still serves as a dormitory in modern Caronport, though whitewashed now. Photo: Ben Berg, benlarhome on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226714285-9E1CHCVZFE5TXL23Y1RO/BCATPCaron3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The original town of Caron lies about 3 kilometers to the west of Caronport. While Caronport is the largest registered village in Saskatchewan (larger than many towns), Caron now has only a population of 120. Caron was originally a CPR siding when it was founded in 1882 and was named after Sir Adolphe Caron, then Canadian Minister for Militia and Defense. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226748549-SSP0FPXKKRC76ZMKSDQV/BCATPCaronGrave2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out There can be no more powerful statement to the history of Caron's BCATP contribution, than the graves of the ten RAF pilot trainees and instructors at Caronport's graveyard who paid the ultimate price for their willingness to help. Photo: Gregory Melle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226901069-0OFVCWL451ZS27WBX7MB/BCATPDafoe.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out This photo, taken directly above Dafoe during the Second World War, shows us that the base was a large one, as many bombing and gunnery schools were. Visible are six large hangars on the flight line plus large training buildings and many H-hut barracks structures. On the flight line are more than fifty aircraft lined up for the aerial portrait. Image via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629226948623-ERQLKA7WBJ4JLJKABGH2/BCATPDafoeTight.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A photo taken on another flight shows a close-up view of the big base and flight line. The hangars are set up perpendicular to the ramp with doors opening, not to the flight line, but to the shared ramps in between hangars. Flowers on the grass spell put No.5 B & G DAFOE, , MAINTENANCE etc. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227307255-ICLF78XWPDSA7XYD9DFZ/BCATPDafoe2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, almost none of the original bustling base still exists. Gone are all of the dozens of structures and what was, by Saskatchewan standards, a town site. All that remains is one hangar, used for agricultural equipment storage. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227661049-4S1EUGGCQQJPH9CJP1NG/BCATPDafoeBattle.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Training student gunners and bomb-aimers was not a pleasant task in Saskatchewan during winter. Young pilots, who had joined only months before to fight, were now freezing for hours on end, towing targets and squiring gunners about the Quill Lakes region near Dafoe. Here we see a Dafoe-based Fairey Battle after a winter storm. Starting a Battle frozen solid after the down time was most certainly a painful experience. Photo via CanadianWings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227707270-1US56A8RVABUMFP1S9SK/BCATPDafoeBattle2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Then again, it could also be a very pleasant experience. A pair of Dafoe-based Fairey Battles (including thew same aircraft as in the previous photo) thunder over Saskatchewan farmland near No. 5 Bombing and Gunnery School. Photo via CanadianWings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227774182-GLJ3PHY1QTQNQY8RCCM6/BCATPDafoeDance.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out While only memories hang in the air over the old Dafoe base today, once, it was the most exciting place in the Quill Lakes area. Here, young airmen outnumber the local girls at a dance in one of the Dafoe buildings. Photo via rcafdafoeblogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227821878-C4R9EGNPOF8WS2MY6LZA/BCATPDafoeMagazine.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Dafoe had its own “Yearbook” publication called Dafoe Doings. One of the pages shows images of all the instructors and the flight line pilots, who called themselves ”The Captains of the Battles” in reference to the Warner Bros. feature film “Captains of the Clouds” released in 1941. Photo via rcafdafoeblogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227865511-S6IN8AUFKND3HFE5F6SR/BCATPDafoeRaber.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out I suppose it is inevitable, but it remains a weight upon our shoulders. The day before we published this story, one of the gunners who graduated from Dafoe's bombing and gunnery school was Medicine Hat, Alberta's Manny Raber passed away after a long battle with Alzheimers. Manny was shot down in his Handley Page Halifax over Belgium and, parachuting to safety, was hidden by the underground. He was eventually captured and spent the remainder of the war as a POW, something that would have been far more dangerous for Manny who was Jewish. Padre David Carter describes Manny as “a wonderful man, friend, mentor and hero”. Tanchumim Raber family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629227928180-DQP0CVZJO4T2XXNSKSPI/BCATPDafoe3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out From the highway, only one hangar can be seen today, all that remains of the massive BCATP training airfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629228039072-F2UBP0NBAFPOKQQ7D253/BCATPDafoeDedication.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Nobody does commemoration of the BCATP better than the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum (CATPM). Located at the Brandon, Manitoba airport (itself a former BCATP base), the museum is dedicated to commemorating the accomplishments of the BCATP. In July 2012, the CATPM flew three vintage BCATP aircraft (Harvard, Stinson and Cornell) to Wynard, Saskatchewan, a stone's throw from Dafoe. After a Friday nightsleep over in Wynard, the three aircraft then flew to Dafoe and landed there for a rededication ceremony in honour of the rapidly disappearing base. Here, we see the crowd assembled on the old Dafoe ramp for the ceremony. Photo: via the CATPM website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629228095303-EN9GYHF99HR5A9FEJGS4/BCATPDafoeDedication2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out It is clear that the event drew quite a few people from the Quill Lakes region. Here the assembled crowd shares a meal inside the last remaining hangar (No. 5) along with stored farm equipment and some speakers. Vintage Wings of Canada commends and applauds the CATP Museum for their long-term work honouring the BCATP, but in particular, for keeping alive the memory of this important base. Photo: via the CATPM website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229119784-WF20LNA2I6Y3RK0L9AE1/BCATPDafoeDedication3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of three former BCATP aircraft types that made the trip from Brandon, the Harvard rolls along the last still-functioning runway at Dafoe. Pilot Harvey McKinnion put on an aerial demonstration for the assembled crowds. Photo via the CATPM website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229274011-0F6YMK0D3YS9IDJV2WXJ/BCATPDavidson.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Davidson was not a large training facility as can be seen in this period photo of the field taken from the north-east. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229315706-PB1WBTT79ISSQQTU44TN/BCATPDavidson2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The remains of Davidson as seen on Google Maps look much the same as they do in the previous period photo. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229359395-HD4UJRCOOEAA82WICXSB/BCATPDavidson3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out As with all BCATP training bases, Davidson was situated close to the town it was named after. Here, we see Highway 11, the Louis Riel Trail, skirting to the north of town. At the time of the BCATP, Highway 11 ran right through town. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229584113-5F5OTJ35TVF1AK7RP7CF/BCATPEstevan2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out No. 38 Service Flying Training School, south of Estevan, Saskatchewan in the 1940s, and only a stone's throw from the border with the United States. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229709556-IXDA4OV94WZXK1DCYMN4/BCATPEstevanToday.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, the site of the old No. 38 SFTS has been scoured by coal mining, leaving not a single trace of its former glory and history. Somewhere beneath the scars of this coal mine stands the geographical fix that was Estevan. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229791968-9ZP27UXYWII8VU854C1F/BCATPEstevan4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Though No. 38 SFTS was a huge operation, all traces of its seven huge hangars have vanished as the site's overburden was removed to get at the coal beneath. Here we see the No. 38's flight line and one of the Avro Ansons operated by the facility. Photo via BCMC and Mr. Duane Bill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629229964889-PNR27ZNPMCCUNQRV6CUZ/BCATPEstevan5.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Avro Ansons on the Estevan flight line during the war years. Photo via BCMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230010941-C595SMQ8WTFITDH1UX4N/BCATPEstevan6.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Not all training at Estevan was successful. There were many mishaps as witnessed by the wreck dump at No. 38 SFTS Estevan. Photo via BCMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230126450-BU77RJBZMVXHYN69ASBK/BCATPEstevanRelief2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out There are three airfields marked on Google Maps as Estevan Airport. This one, called the Estevan Blue Sky Airport far to the north is most likely Shand, one of the three relief fields for the Estevan facility. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230183294-IZORQO7KDR6GQIJ119I3/BCATPEstevanOutram.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Outram, Saskatchewan, 25 kilometers west of Estevan, was one of the relief landing fields for No.38 SFTS. Today, nothing remains but the faint vestige of a triangular field. More than most. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230254418-WC8WT8OJNG9KCASUQQJB/BCATPChandler.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The relief field at Chandler is located approximately five miles west of the village of Macoun, on the south side of Township Road 44. The garage and a small building that once housed a generator are still on the property The following images are of the remaining structures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230375492-6411UTOQ3LW060XQKQGL/BCATPChandler2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230407627-6XARDYYS2VQ59D4SP8X5/BCATPChandler3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230435320-TFKNUP4SEWKC5NCB2SBK/BCATPChandler4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230606310-JYWTQUU5UB8L1PFDQZ0S/BCATPMoosejaw.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out RCAF Station Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, from the air shortly after its completion on farmland south of the Saskatchewan town that it is named for. This shot, looking west, shows the meandering Moose Jaw River (Originally the Moose Jaw Bone Creek) in the foreground. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d55d808-ab91-45a2-9133-35a21811942c/MooseJaw.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A perfectly crisp shot of the control tower at Moose Jaw’s 32 SFTS during the period of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5c739dd-b3a6-46fc-bd30-37eec393827a/MooseJaw2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An amazing early morning or late afternoon of a Harvard warming up on an empty and frozen ramp in front of the control tower at Moose Jaw. The instructor in the back is just settling in as his student warms the Pratt and Whitney. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c5cd520f-0db0-4fb1-af92-0eb28d38ba58/267759442_10158094675707167_5343145145054244823_n.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Staff flying instructors at Moose Jaw in 1940-41. Only the pilot second from the right can be identified. He is Pilot Officer (Later Flight Lieutenant) Ralph Bernard Farmer, RAF Volunteer Reserve who went on to fly Spitfires with 542 Squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/887477f5-4576-44cd-b307-56760201e39a/MooseJaw3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out In the weak Prairie Spring light, Harvard 2727 runs up (note the chocks), perhaps after being repaired. Harvard 2727 suffered Category C damage on 28 January 1943 while at Moose Jaw. Perhaps this was a post repair test. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/539c2a9d-3135-4283-bcb0-919ef931234e/MooseJaw4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Three 3-plane “vics” form Moose Jaw form a larger vic over the Prairies with the snaking Moose Jaw river in the background. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e5d7876-881d-44b9-88b6-db897a0b9b7c/MooseJaw5.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A great winter aerial of No. 32 SFTS with the city of Moose Jaw visible down the length of 9th Avenue. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25604181-32a1-4684-b88c-635493c408eb/MooseJaw6.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Sunlight pours into a hangar full of what look like new Harvards. The Harvard at right, RCAF 2637 suffered Category C damage on 9 April 1941 while at No. 32 Service Flying Training School. Perhaps this dates it to on or before that time. Photo via Brent Thistle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629230661668-DGC6JVWQ69BAQK5ZIQI9/BCATPMooseJaw2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, the base still thrives, albeit at a much slower pace than in previous decades. In this satellite shot, we can still make out the original triangular runway configuration and the same hangar line, with new modern hangars. On the ramp sit 10 new CT-156 Beechcraft Harvard IIs and five CT-155 Hawks. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629286887380-18BSF0Z4W264A6QIWFLY/BCATPMooseJaw3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Pulling back higher, we see the relationship of 15 Wing, Moose Jaw to the city. Today, Moose Jaw is home to 2 CFFTS (Canadian Forces Flying Training School). Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629286923219-5BP70NL9DNNZ6XH98LEX/BCATPMooseJawButress.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The primary relief landing field for No. 32 SFTS, Moose Jaw was at Buttress, Saskatchewan (seen here), with nearby Caron being utilized as well. The detachment had 3 asphalt runways 100 feet wide and 2,500 feet long, constructed in the standard triangular pattern. Water reservoirs, a barrack block and a garage were added, but no hangar or control tower or barracks. Airmen travelled the ten kilometers to the site during the day and returned to the main aerodrome at night. RCAF Detachment Buttress was abandoned after WWII. The post-war growth of the RCAF resulted in many Second World War stations being reactivated. RCAF Detachment Buttress reopened in May 1952 once again as the relief landing field for the similarly reopened RCAF Station Moose Jaw. By the late 1960s, with the advent of the Canadair CT-114 Tutor trainer, the Buttress airfield became obsolete and it was once again abandoned, this time for good. All that remains today are the abandoned and crumbling runways. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629286968560-85H3FB92HHUAJ3ZD3EQE/BCATPMooseJawTutors.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The heydays of Moose Jaw's training operations were in the 1960s to the 1980s, when the base was home to a massive flight line of Canadair CT-114 Tutor training aircraft. The Canadian-designed and -built two-seat jet trainer was the mainstay of the Canadian Air Force as it was known for most of that time. Today, only the Snowbirds and the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment still operate the type. On the control tower is the emblem of No. 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (2CFFTS), The Big Red 2. Photo: A Hunt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287007716-9WRPX9SMW52AWRUUSMNF/BCATPMooseJawTutors2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Canadair Tutors of The Big Red 2 (No. 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School) line the ramp during the 1980s. Every pilot in the CAF, whether he or she was going on to fly fighters, transports or helicopters, had to master the Tutor first to get their wings. Photo: A Hunt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287111429-BLAH688G1SA2DY2ICN6P/BCATPMossbank.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Typical of bombing and gunnery schools, Mossbank was a huge facility during the war with six big hangars on the flight line and a big parade square (at centre of base) for wings parades for bomb-aimers and gunners. RCAF photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287145731-8UQ76LRNLLP8EY0VLDSH/BCATPMossbank2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, only the concrete floor slabs of the hangar line exist of the original site, but the runways are still very evident. The field is closed to all aircraft however. The Mossbank Golf Course occupies the north corner of the field today. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287221220-LVISRMYM41S0XM9M261J/BCATPMossbank3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A satellite image showing the relation between the old base (lower right) and the town of Mossbank. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287186688-Z2WY7WT23A5TH6GTPUYR/BCATPMossbank5.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The massive hangar line at Mossbank under construction in the summer of 1940. While aviation was the future of warfare, much of the facility construction was done with man and horse power. RCAF image via copaonline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287259421-VQAB6N13UO92TSKRCCUU/BCATPMossbank4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of the graduating classes of air gunners at Mossbank in 1941. Letter “X” on this photo shows airmen who were deceased. It is not known whether these deaths were due to the war or includes post-war natural deaths. Photo via copaonline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287322840-DY7PBHJJ3WH2EXCY6N5D/BCATPMossbankBattles.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The flight line at Mossbank in 1941 showing many Battle aircraft awaiting air gunners for training. BCMC photo from Marty Dewis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287351704-I69UBEXOFLGZN2N36E6K/Bulldog8.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out 135 Squadron Hurricanes gearing up for operations at Mossbank in 1940. Image via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287395025-JOVG1OT89GL7PX1CLS82/BCATPMossbankgunbutts.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Not much remains today above the prairie surface except for the concrete gun butts. Photo: Joan Champ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287421771-XPHVZ107YBP150Q52HGV/BCATPMossbankSnobirds.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A tragic memorial at Mossbank. As mentioned earlier, the RCAF's Snowbirds demonstration team have used Mossbank as a training area. On the 10th of December, 2004, Captain Miles Selby died in a mid-air collision during training near Mossbank while practicing the co-loop manoeuvre. The other pilot, Captain Chuck Mallett, was thrown from his destroyed aircraft while still strapped into his seat. While tumbling towards the ground, he was able to unstrap, deploy his parachute and land with only minor injuries. Photo: Lori and Toss at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287545577-C38FGW2CRZ9QJG2YHT70/BCATPNorthBattleford.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A great shot, looking southeast, of North Battleford's No. 35 SFTS, located to the southeast of the city. The base consisted of seven major hangars in a semi-circular arrangement. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287572210-JX9F2QRUOERTMM88SYSL/BCATPNorthBattleford2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A satellite shot showing the Cameron McIntosh Airport, the site of the former North Battleford flyng training school seventy years ago with the BCATP . Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287604165-3IJBAR1VBQWEVPQY6G89/BCATPNorthBattleford3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Zooming into the airport area, we see that the former 35 SFTS's unique three-sided hangar line can be seen clearly, though these are merely hangar floor slabs. As welll we can see the base streets still open and the faint hint of the former triangular taxiway set up inside the three runways. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287640891-HUE9Q2NYUXRT5CKHWSCS/BCATPNorthBattlefordHamlin.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Only the former relief field at Hamlin can still be seen from above, though nothing much exists but the triangular ghost of the old field. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287844470-1VVID5A9PC8X7VQXR1CO/BCATPNorthBattleford.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An aerial photograph, looking to the south, of No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, situated to the north side of the Saskatchewan River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287882262-0JQZHZJ1RG4M9J755JMR/BCATPPrinceAlbertShow.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A post-war air show at the Prince Albert Airport showing derelicts Harvards in the foreground. Photo from the Transwest Air website. Transwest Air is one of the premier operators of helicopters and aircraft in Prince Albert and points north. Image via www.transwestair.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629287980123-D4FBC1BMH6X4X7MU8C8T/BCATPPrinceAlbert2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The modern Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Airport, known toady as Glass Field, sits tucked into a curve of the Saskatchewan River, north east of the city. Prince Albert was the northernmost of all the Saskatchewan BCATP bases and is a stepping off pint today for the north of Saskatchewan. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288016113-QRODSQXVYO8Z20F6GBES/BCATPPrinceAlbertNew.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A good view of the Prince Albert airport today, looking east. The main airport structure and former tower can be seen at centre right. Image via www.transwestair.com website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288045466-JMLI220OUHI1PASHX1LU/BCATPPrinceAlbertTower.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The only remaining heritage building from the days of the BCATP is the central hangar and control tower, not occupied by Transwest Air, a charter company operating charters as well as scheduled service to six Saskatchewan cities from Prince Albert. The company flies a well-maintained fleet of 38 fixed wing aircraft including Saab 340 Turboprops, Beech 1900, King Airs, Twin Otters, Turbo Otters, Beavers etc and six helicopters. Transwest Air is the largest operator at Prince Albert. Photo: image via copaonline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288075016-TJMH8IKXKR4TGT91XRWG/BCATPPrinceAlbert3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A satellite image showing the relationship between Prince Albert's Glass Field and the city. Image Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288117920-F9PPQMB5CFSJEFIWGGMR/BCATPPrinceAlbertEmmaLake.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Though I could not find and obvious signs on the land that indicated either Hagan or Emma Lake relief fields, I did find an possible site for the Emma Lake airfield. On a peninsula of land beside Emma lake, Saskatchewan, I found what appears to be the remnants of a runway. If anyone knows for sure where Emma Lake was located, please let me know. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288268168-4PQLHIX20MLL4YR962KA/BCATPRegina.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Looking at this overhead shot of Regina's training facility during the Second World War, we can see that, while the layout of the hangars and structures has all the identifiers of the BCATP, the runways themselves lack the common triangular layout. This, as you will see in the next photograph, is because Regina had a fully functioning airport since the late 1920s. The airfield layout maintained much of the character of the original field. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288321368-BEB5ILOOECP4P1FLG141/BCATPRegina1930.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An overhead shot of the Regina airfield before the coming of the BCATP, shows a fairly advanced facility for the prairies at that time. Photo: copanational.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288356362-PGKJ9W16DIDHEOG3K195/BCATPRegina2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Regina International Airport, Roland j. Groome field today still retains the Big X configuration it was born with, and the site planning for the buildings still follows that set down by the BCATP planners. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288389632-4KTZ1W2DHA9L4U94VQQ7/BCATPReginaToday.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Regina's airport (CYQR) is also known as Roland J. Groome Field. Of this historic Regina character, the City of Regina website states: “Lieutenant Roland J. Groome was an aviation pioneer who held several firsts in the field of Canadian aviation and brought Regina to national attention with his aeronautical achievements. Lieutenant Roland J. Groome was a flight instructor with the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. After the war ended, he returned to Regina with 2 wartime buddies, Edward Clarke and Bob McCombie. The men formed an aviation company, the Aerial Service Company, in 1919 and laid out an airfield near the corner of what is now Hill Avenue and Cameron Street. This was the first licensed aerodrome in Canada.” Groome died in 1935 in a training flight accident. There is now doubt that he would have been actively involved with the BCATP if he had lived to see it. Photo: Wikipedia, CrHiles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288438508-ZO4AQVGAEB4A8XP8WVEQ/BCATPReginaBrora.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out I cannot find any remnants of the relief filed that was built at the prairie intersection given the name Brora – except this single runway which is a few kilometers away. It has none of the hallmarks of a BCATP airfield though. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288648857-3IVGO3IXOEK6ZI11HK9J/BCATPSaskatoon.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An aerial view taken vertically above No. 4 Service Flying Training School at Saskatoon. Close inspection of this photo reveals that the dotted oval shapes in front of the hangars are in fact 65 perfectly arranged training aircraft (probably Ansons and Cranes. In addition on the ramp in front of the upper hangar line are a dozen or more additional aircraft) RCAF Image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288843109-Q971RZU551EMUT7EQ6PQ/BCATPSaskatoon2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Saskatoon's John George Diefenbaker International Airport (CYXE) today. The airport is named for the 13th Prime Minister of Canada. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629288891239-MG4QR87WY3YXQVURMHIP/Osler2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out People have told me that absolutely nothing of the Saskatoon relief landing field at Osler, Saskatchewan can be seen today. Regardless, I tried hard to find it, and got it wrong. Thanks to reader Nettie Balzer, I was finally able to find where it was located, due east of the small town of Osler. The red square denotes the land where the field was, while the lighter coloured areas in the lower left are where the hangars and other facilities were. Nettie writes: “In fact it stood on land which my father, Jacob W. Friesen, had been renting until 1940 when the government bought 80 acres of it, leaving him with only 80 for himself. An airport was built there and my dad helped in the construction of the buildings, also having the contract to build a strong fence all around the airstrip. My mother served meals at our farm house to the men who worked on the buildings and also the earth movers who worked on the landing strips. From what my oldest brother remembers, the construction company doing the building at that time was the Perseski Construction company. I can no longer find any information about them. The road that borders the south side of Osler going east was where the access road to the airfield was - one kilometer from the town. Our farm was the larger green area and right next to that was the west side of the airfield. The 'white' spot you can see next to our farm land was where the hangar and other buildings were located. Our family remembers well the small airplanes flying over our farm and area. I was only a small child, but remember walking to the edge of our pasture to see the wind socks and red and white markers near the landing strips and to watch the planes land. The airport was not used long as the end of the war was in 1945. After the war, a coop farm which consisted of several families in the area, bought the land and buildings. This arrangement did not work well and eventually my uncle, David Janzen purchased the farm, selling portions of the barracks to people who moved them off as houses to live in. The hangar was used as a cattle barn. At present, there is no sign of the airport - the old buildings are gone and a newer farm yard exists today.” Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629289104882-CF95T0BPB3OTJQG082S1/BCATPSaskatoonVanscoy.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The village of Vanscoy, Saskatchewan was the site of the second relief field for Saskatoon. Beneath a hazy cloud layer, we can just make out a triangular shape in the lower left corner of this image. Unfortunately, this is NOT Vanscoy but an agricultural feature, Vanscoy's runways were once about two miles directly north and the site was obscured completely by the cloud cover. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290196134-3ZLNLI0IRRNQGU0TEU2G/Vanscoy.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Six years after this story was written, I revisited Google Maps and found that the clouds had cleared and the barely visible ghost of the airfield at Vanscoy could still be seen close to the potash mine west of town. A balloon launch facility was opened there in the 1980s and was the last active base that existed in Canada devoted to the launch of stratospheric balloons until the inauguration in 2013 of the Timmins Stratospheric Balloon base. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290482883-CWQTF1AL1NF4MOGUHAV8/BCATPSaskatoonTower.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out After the war, the control tower at Saskatoon was equipped with more sophisticated electronic equipment borrowed from the RCAF. Photo via Saskatoon Airport Authority website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290512928-PPYPR5FTCPQQQEQ0729T/BCATPSaskatoonMitchel2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out After the war, 406 Lynx Squadron, RCAF became the resident squadron at Saskatoon. Here, one o their B-25 Mitchell bombers gets a cold morning start. Photo from 1000AircraftPhotos.com - the Ron Dupas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290551604-Y91NJ2NV48ISUEZNDHZI/BCATPSaskatoonMitchell.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo reveals its City of Saskatoon Squadron nose art markings, Photo from 1000AircraftPhotos.com - the Ron Dupas Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290590106-2G9ZQO81AYYHNGCNXZX9/BCATPSaskatoonMitchell3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out An airshow at Saskatoon in the 1950s with a 406 Squadron Mitchell in the foreground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290627387-J1OYRIPVQ49PPC4PZUWP/BCATPSaskatoon1950.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out By the 1960s, many types of RCAF aircraft were up for disposal. CAF Detachment No. 1005 Technical Support Depot was established Saskatoon, occupying four of the station's hangars. 1005's job was to dispose of aircraft such as the C119 Flying Boxcar, Beech Expeditor, Lockheed Neptune, North American Harvard trainers and the Canadair Yukon Transport aircraft. Looking close at this photo, the Flying Box Cars and Neptunes on the ramp indicate that this is from the period of 1005 TSD. Photo via Saskatoon Airport Authority website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290663903-1LAIZ4BXDJB1OYQIE7ZJ/BCATPSaskatoonExpeditor.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out It was 1005 Technical Support Depot's job to prepare surplus aircraft, like this Beech Expeditor, for disposal, either though scrapping or sale to a civilian operator. This involved making the aircraft ready for flight out of Saskatoon, and stripping the aircraft of military hardware and RCAF markings. The photographer Tim Martin recalls this particular ship: “When I visited in 1968, the aerodrome was an RCAF storage centre for retired aircraft. Among the acres of Beech Expeditors was this navigation trainer (ex-s/n 2378) with crudely applied US civil registration and RCAF marks painted out for ferrying. It was subsequently used in Louisiana as a parachute jump ship.” Photo Tim Martin aka Spotter Tim on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290796774-BSEQ9T8U0RCZDOBFIOIG/BCATPSwiftCurrent1.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out When it opened at the end of 1941, Swift Current was a large training base with three sets of parallel runways. More than 1,000 young men and women worked there at any given time. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290825565-JSN8NVRPK2H2FTK8KB67/BCATPSwiftCurrent2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Today, No 39 SFTS has long gone and now the old field is operated by the City of Swift Current with an extended runway. The city plans to extend this even further in the future to accommodate larger commuter aircraft. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290854162-EPEOWAQY3E7TVIX2QFD4/BCATPSwiftCurrent3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Moving higher, we see the relationship between the prairie city of Swift Current and the site of the old BCATP training base. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290889713-2BHATC9YSV3QFZ2AWICO/BCATPSwiftCurrentNew.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Swift Current retains all the identifying features of a former BCATP base. Photo: Wikipedia, James Strickland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290924280-59ODM7SS8HMW9BKFAKMH/BCATPSwiftCurrentDrag.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of the runways at Swift Current is now used as a drag strip. One of the most common post-war uses of the old BCATP bases, after storage depot, is as a race course for anything form drag strips to slalom tracks. There is more rubber on the east-west runway at Swift Current than the active at Toronto International. Photo: Riley Wiebe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290952136-E9WGMJW01GHHJ3TTU083/BCATPSwiftCurrentTower.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The old control tower structure at Swift Current is now the airport office. Compare this image with the original image of the control tower at Saskatoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629290994145-034T7CGUOJBQ9BRE2L8X/BCATPSwiftCurrentSteraman.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out In 2011, the first Yellow Wings Tour landed at the Swift Current airport, bring back some of the classic training aircraft that were a common sight there in the 1940s – the Fairchild Cornell, North American Harvard, the de Havilland Tiger Moth and the much less utilized Boeing Stearman (see here in front of the airport office, the former control tower of No.39 SFTS. Photo: Yellow Wings West team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291024391-KZ6E1NRARFRXF73FFD1B/BCATPSwiftCurrent5.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out In 2011, Yellow Wings pilots Bruce Evans (left) and Ulrich Bollinger inspect a still-standing hangar from No. 39 Service Flying Training School at Swift Current. Photo: Yellow Wings Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291064638-3OB8CODXQU7GFNW5XPK3/BCATPSwiftCurrent4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Yellow Wings Team Leader from 2011, Ulrich Bollinger stands with the John Gillespie Magee Harvard on the ramp at Swift Current and in front of a typical BCATP hangar. Photo: Yellow Wings Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291110724-VBDJF9LB2OQ7NCQAFTPR/BCATPSwiftCurrentStAldwyn.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out One of Swift Current relief fields was St. Aldwyn, 20 kilometers northwest of the mother field. Today, only the broken asphalt and hangar slab remain to tell the story. The field is being swallowed up by the endless grid of Saskatchewan farm land. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291146622-3S9K45X1C3C95SNSKB1C/BCATPSwiftCurrwentAldwyn.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Coming in closer we see that one runway serves as a junkyard while all of the asphalt is cracked and broken. The single hangar typical of relief fields can be identified by the large slab. Many relief fields had guards, sleeping facilities and a hangar for maintenance of aircraft that went unserviceable at the field. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291187024-4ROOWRJ9RIRHTQLWTBL7/Ghosts200.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Perhaps the most recent photo of the many in this story—taken Thursday, May 4, 2017 by pilot Todd Lemieux returning in his Citabria from Moose Jaw to his hangar in Vulcan, Alberta. St. Aldwyn remains a paved perimiter containing more mowed prairie crop. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291563647-5RGP5FSFGLDONMZ6BBIY/BCATPWEyburn.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A great shot, taken from the south, of No. 41 SFTS, Weyburn, Saskatchewan from the air in the 1940s. Image via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291632442-JFM4SM38V2TI3DMZI6ND/BCATPWeyburnSnow4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Some of the most difficult things RAF trainee pilots had to endure in Saskatchewan were the hard, miserable winters. Here LAC Thomas, artist and amateur photographer, captures Weyburn shut down during a winter blizzard in March 13th, 1942 - seen from the watchtower. We can just make out one airman running across the open area between building as the wind howls. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291664478-VJT88JZTGKLJGARE07UW/BCATPWeyburnSnow2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out LAC Thomas captures one of his buddies watching the harshness of the Saskatchewan winter as the wind piles snow outside the No. 2 Hangar at Weyburn. Soon, it would be time to dig out! Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291693930-0R6E70HLFHBUVF6D7KOR/BCATPWeyburnSnow.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out As the storm abates, LACs like Thomas must have been rounded up to dig the Weyburn No. 3 hangar doors out of the piled snow banks. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291723840-G6JX7Y7N3LLYBRW7DR80/BCATPWeyburnSnow3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Soon after storms, training operations with North American Harvards would begin anew at No. 41 SFTS, Weyburn. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291753244-TUWPCK9Z1LE0M0HWN90M/BCATPWEyburnDust.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out In winter, the howling prairie winds would dive snow, and in the summer it would be dust. Here, in the summer of 1942, LAC Thomas captures a scene we often see these days at bases in Iraq or Afghanistan. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291785520-SPQ2D4M705RCPC7W7XSU/BCATPWeyburnPool.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Big training bases like Weyburn would have a few amenities to help ease the stress on the students isolated on the prairie. Here in July of 1943, Thmas and his buddies enjoy the warmth of the prairie sun at the Weyburn swimming pool. Left to right in back row: Cpl. Bill Wier, LAC. L.G. Thomas, LAC Len Buttery, AC 2 Skinner; Front row] F/Sgt. Chiefy Robinson, AC.Rysdale, LAC.Stephenson, and Chunky Fleming. Photo from LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291825153-OKHSQQUXI3X5JTPVP29Z/BCATPWeyburnHarvard.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A No. 41 SFTS Weyburn Harvard takes off at Weyburn. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291858236-BCH58N2K2T50BPXWYOAK/BCATPWeyburnHarvard2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Harvards and fuel bowser on the flight line at Weyburn. Photo by LAC L.G. Thomas via Stiffleaf at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291890814-SZO1URGMCXLHTAOZU3YO/BCATPWEyburn2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Weyburn's airfield still exists today as the Weyburn Airport with some of the original facilities still intact though weathered and deteriorating. The outside runways of the dual runway configuration have been decommissioned, leaving the inside runways only. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291937406-5DVHZQNNNEYUL5W5NMWH/BCATPWeyburn3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A satellite shot showing the close relationship of the former No. 41 SFTS to the city of Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291980768-XBELP27WQ9KR8NUMIM7E/BCATPWeyburnHalbrite3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The remains of flight training school relief fields are quite hard to find. Sometimes, having only grass fields and small buildings, they were quick to disappear into the landscape once they were de-commissioned. On Google Maps, I scoured the area around Halbrite, Saskatchewan for miles in every direction looking for the old Weyburn relief field and found nothing to indicate there was a landing field there - no telltale runways or buildings. Thanks to one of our readers, Ed Tollefson, we were able to pinpoint the spot on the Google Maps satellite view that had once been an active airfield. To say that Halbrite was hard to spot is an understatement. The field seen here is still hard to visualize even though we know it to be in this shot. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292040990-E804X2XT0LL8ZVTZ2TQQ/BCATPWeyburnHalbrite4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out I darkened the area around the old Halbrite field, to help readers see it. It is perhaps the least visible of all the fields we have searched for in Saskatchewan, save the ones no longer visible at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629291962506-INBCE82CQZQ1O55HO093/SaskHalbrite4.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A few of the Halbrite details that remain are pointed out here. One of our readers, Darren Sonnenberg sent us views of Habrite using Google Streetview, saying: “I lived on a farm only miles from the field much after it had been closed (1972-1983) but had been there several times to ride dirt bikes on the runways or what was left of them. I went looking on Google maps and if you do the street view off Highway 705 you can get a nice view of the hanger in it’s current state of falling down. You can also see on the left side of the roadway going into the hangar what looks to be a bunker. As a kid I never made it into it to see what was there but it is still there by the looks of the street view. I always found it amazing that there was an airfield out there.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292150874-6HITSXNN63GULEW4KVXS/SaskHalbrite2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Driving along Highway 705 towards Halbrite, we see a bunker and the remains of a hangar at Halbrite. Image Google maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292230129-3C3K5020Q8R8HFOXIX6O/SaskHalbrite.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Though the runway pattern at Halbrite is barely visible from above, two structures still exist (sort of). In the foreground on the left is a below ground bunker of some sort, whil ein the distance is the collapsed remains of a wooden hangar. Image Google maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292269446-3OCT3CL69N20AMNG0322/BCATPWeyburnHalbrite2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out We are very appreciative of Tollefson's efforts to show us where the Habrite field was. Here we see it highlighted at lower left and in relation to the village of Halbrite. Tollefson says: “I have been by the site of the field many times. I was in Weyburn attending a funeral yesterday, Friday, Oct 19/12. I drove out to the site after the funeral. The hangar is still there, though the roof has collapsed. I am sending these images, one with the runways indicated. They were paved. Part of the taxi way is still there. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me or I could have sent you a photo. #41 Weyburn also had about 1 sq mile of rocky, unused land they used as a dive bombing bombing field. In the centre of the section was the target, it had a concrete base, with a pyramid shaped structure made of 1x4 inch boards. The field was situated about 6 miles north and east of the base. I have one of those unarmed bombs in my possession. I can find the location of the field on Google but can not see any remaining indications of its use. The relief field is situated about 1 3/4 miles straight south of Halbrite, just to the west of what is now Highway 705. There was no road just north of the site back in 1941, so it is hard to recognize it on Google today if you don’t know the exact location. The place is now dotted with oil wells and roads.” Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292331106-SAGXNIDOBKKQPV1GKFGJ/BCATPWeyburnToday.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Flying past the northeast end of Weyburn airport, we can clearly see the old school's perimeter runways. Photo: Jeremy Prpich, JerFlyGuy at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292474886-74EY76HDY8TW6CUOAZLR/BCATPYorkton.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A great aerial view of Yorkton's No.11 Service Flying Training School during the Second World War. This view, taken from directly south, shows the endless expanse of Saskatchewan farmland stretching northward. Yorkton sits on the eastern perimeter of the province. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292512296-0WEG55JZ3PUZ4ALV0IRJ/BCATPYorkton2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Yorkton's airport today stands on the same spot as No. 11 SFTS during the war, but most of the structures have been razed and runways have been returned to grass lawns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292540527-MJT2LWULQ97XB1T0CI9D/BCATPYorkton3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Another satellite shot shows the relationship of the former BCATP base to the city of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292596201-I6YAN8D6O8CKFP1CL3H3/BCATPYorktonStocky.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Many great Commonwealth aviators and airmen graduated from the flying and trade schools of Saskatchewan's contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. None were greater nor more loved than Nakomis, Saskatchewan-born Wing Commander Stocky Edwards who, as a Leading Aircraftman, earned his wings at No. 11 SFTS, Yorkton. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292640564-MBYXVFRBII7Z97KN53BJ/BCATPYorktonHangar.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Only one of the original seven massive flight line hangars still exists today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292664455-U5R179TP4V8DNY832S4R/BCATPYorktonSrurdee2.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out Of No. 11 SFTS, Yorkton's two relief landing fields, the largest was at Sturdee, Saskatchewan. Pulling back from the region, we see the Sturdee triangular field at the lower right corner of this image and Yorkton's airport (CQV) at the top middle. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292704237-GRDGPIBIGD16I27DO4BA/BCATPYorktonSturdee.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out A close-up of the Sturdee relief field shows us that the triangular field still exists, with a road into the field. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629292737690-CLLK8W4FPRDWODSMXXU4/BCATPYorktonSturdee3.jpg The Stories - GHOSTS OF SASKATCHEWAN - Make it stand out The last image I leave you with is a shot of the north west corner of the Sturdee airfield. Once a paved triangular field, the runways have now deteriorated and look to be swallowed by the surrounding farmland. This is the fate of all the abandoned airfields of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In a few more decades, only the stories will remain. Image: Google Maps https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/warbird-relic-hunters monthly 0.5 2022-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf4461ee-5708-4b7a-9f9c-21ed15e590bb/DeBoer00.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2dedb80f-89de-4a00-a4d7-8a28152b35cf/DeBoer17.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out In 2012, warbird lovers around the globe delighted in the first and subsequent post-restoration flights of de Havilland Mosquito KA114, one of 338 Mk XVI Mossies built in Canada. Prior to these flights, the last flight of a Mosquito anywhere ended in tragedy when it crashed during a demonstration in England in 1996. Photo: Gavin Conroy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13a329a6-e9ed-4028-829e-8299b9235389/IMG_0012.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Jon (right) interrogates a Saskatchewan farmer about the war surplus airplane he bought and what he did with all the parts he had removed from it. Farmers purchased the aircraft for the various components that could be repurposed for farm work—fuel tanks, Perspex panels, aluminum skin panels, residual oil, glycol and even fuel. Here they inspect a hydraulic ram (grey cylinder) from a Bolingbroke’s landing gear which has been reused in a home-made hay loader. Family farmers operators across Canada nearly all had basic welding and metal-fabrication skills along with an arc welder in their implement sheds. They knew a good and cost-effective source of usable parts when they saw one and a complex all-metal aircraft like a Bolingbroke was seen as a treasure trove. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1a186fc-1d5f-4c4f-9e44-b94ba0d76a1e/DeBoer18.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out The Canadian-built Bristol Bolingbroke was a variant of the ubiquitous Bristol Blenheim and was manufactured by Fairchild Aircraft in Longueuil near Montréal, Québec—626 were constructed for use as a maritime patrol aircraft and a bombing and gunnery training platform. This particular all-yellow Boly served at No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School in Lethbridge, Alberta during the war and then was stored pending disposal at No. 1 Reserve Equipment Maintenance Unit (also at Lethbridge). It survived the war and was bought by a farmer by the name of R. Yancie in Legend, Alberta (east of Lethbridge). Today, the remains of 9896 can be found at the Canadian Museum of Flight in Surrey, British Columbia. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/959efede-3947-443a-93ba-8f8142a567b8/DeBoer06.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Abandoned and rotting on the Alberta Prairie in 1988 is Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke IV, (RCAF serial 9041), the world’s oldest surviving example of the type. Most of the “Bolies” found on the prairie came from surplus centres near the training bases they once operated from. As a result, most were painted in the standard overall yellow paint of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. This was the author’s first experience rescuing a large component aircraft in the “wild”. The state of this aircraft belies its great history. After being taken on strength by the RCAF on 1 October 1941, it was delivered to No. 8 Bombing Reconnaissance Squadron at RCAF Station Sydney, Nova Scotia. By January of 1942, it was flown across Canada to patrol the West Coast, based from RCAF Station Sea Island (now the site of Vancouver International). On the day it arrived there (12 January), it collided with a Kittyhawk while taxiing on the ground. With only 105 hours on the airframe, it went to Boeing Aircraft of Canada (occupying a facility at the same Sea Island airfield) for repairs, finally leaving there at the end of July 1943. It remained at Sea Island as a patrol aircraft and added another 200 hours on the airframe until the end of November 1943. It never really saw service again after that, being stored pending call up by No. 4 Training Command (based in Regina) and then No. 2 Training Command (based in Winnipeg). It was put up for disposal and stored at No. 10 Repair Depot in Calgary. It was sold to a farmer named John Hutchison near Cochrane, a few miles northeast of Calgary, who in turn sold it to Jon Spinks and Richard de Boer in 1988. The hulk and assorted parts made it to the Nanton Lancaster Society (operators of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada). The forward fuselage, which had been partially restored and put on display at Nanton’s museum, was offered to the tiny Manx Military Aviation Museum on the Isle of Mann. Her wings and other components are still stored at the BCMC’s storage facility. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1d8e23f4-0265-4caf-b460-740404266bcd/DeBoer01.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Jon Spinks poses with a 42-foot-long Bolingbroke fuselage on a 24’ trailer at a rest stop in eastern Saskatchewan in the summer of 1994. This one was sold out of Macdonald, Manitoba on the shores of Lake Manitoba having been recovered from north of Dauphin, Manitoba. During the Second World War, Macdonald was home to No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School while No. 10 Service Flying Training School operated at Dauphin. On this particular recovery, de Boer and Spinks were accompanied by legendary aircraft restorer John Romain of the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford. The old air base at Macdonald was, by that time, a Hutterite Colony, a communal branch of the Anabaptists, similar to Amish or Mennonites. Arriving with a bomber on a trailer drew plenty of attention from the pragmatic and social Hutterites. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce717859-1f81-42a2-93fc-e91179e7b311/DeBoer04.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Recovering one of several Bolingbrokes with Jon Spinks, the author is poised triumphantly on the front-end loader. This particular aircraft was made surplus at a sale in Swift Current, Saskatchewan and was found on a farm 30 km southeast of that city. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac3245ae-48fc-46fc-9bee-d5f907159e2c/IMG_0022.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Inside any pilot or warbird collector hides the young boy or girl who first fell in love with flight and history. Here we see author Richard de Boer (probably making airplane noises at that moment) in his Aladdin’s Cave of Warbird Wonders (also called the family garage) and seated behind a P-51 Mustang windscreen with control stick (New Old Stock – NOS) in his hands. We can also see Mosquito fuel tanks to the left and engine cowling on the wall behind (with opening for Merlin exhausts). At the back is also a Lancaster rear gun turret along with his daughter’s stroller. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c1f732c-5ac6-4236-b3b2-48675d3b2581/IMG_0027.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Another view of de Boer’s garage. In the foreground stands a very rare Armstrong Whitworth gun turret from an Avro Anson Mk. I. To the right is a collection of NOS P-51 parts: magnetos, starters, torque tube, ammo boxes, hydraulic rams, etc. “Selling any Mustang part was always a one call deal and you had your choice of buyers”, says de Boer. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d893ff4-11e9-4c6f-8a3d-ef660d0a4eb6/DeBoer02.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Like a trophy bass, warbird relic hunter Jon Spinks proudly hoists a P-51 Mustang header tank he has just pulled from the bottom of a non-aircraft metal scrap heap near Westbourne, Manitoba. Jon had a diviner’s gift when it came to locating old airplane parts. Selling non-Boly parts like this tank helped to finance the two men’s trips. The buyer of this treasure would later send them a single $1,000 bill in the mail. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44bf7b58-5378-4aab-9dbe-efea928a44a8/DeBoer11.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7986127-fdbc-4e24-af29-9a3552203258/DeBoer13.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out A pair of Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquito main wheels (top) and rudder pedals. All had been kept indoors since being removed from KA114 and showed no overt signs of corrosion. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bbc28977-f6b9-48bb-bc84-0036768cb8bf/DeBoer12.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e098c02f-8924-4b4c-a475-b505a9941f72/DeBoer10.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out To most, this is unusable scrap, but to a millionaire rebuilding a Mosquito for his private museum, these parts are Holy Grails—almost impossible to find. In the top photo, we see a complete set of Mosquito hydraulic rams for the undercarriage (left), bomb doors (on wall) and flaps (on ground), along with a tail wheel shock strut with retract jack (at right). In the bottom photo, we see .303 ammo boxes with feed chutes in the back, with 20 mm cannon blast tubes (cylinder shapes) and feed chutes in the fore. In the collection were also fuel tanks, cowlings, radiator trays, universal bomb carrier and a triple pneumatic gauge. Photo: Richard de Boer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6334f8d0-6fd3-434b-96f1-14b0fe58abf9/DeBoer16.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out The Calgary Mosquito was purchased by Spartan Air Services of Ottawa, Ontario. In the 1950s she was registered as CF-HMS and modified for high-speed, high-altitude aerial photographic survey work in the Canadian North. Here, we see her at Edmonton, Alberta around 1959, fuelled up and ready to head north to more remote forward bases. Spartan operated a very diverse fleet of war surplus aircraft including Mosquitos, P-38 Lightnings, an Avro Lancaster, Avro Ansons, Lockheed Venturas, Canso flying boats, DC-3s, Bell-47 and Boeing Vertol helicopters among others. Interestingly, Spartan was the world’s only civilian operator of the de Havilland Sea Hornet, acquiring it directly from the RAF at Edmonton following cold weather testing there. The RAF did not want to pay to have it transported back to England. It was flown until 1952 when it was damaged after a forced landing at Terrace, BC. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e0e593a-d293-4bc8-98a5-aaf42df7e7db/DSC00049.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Canadian-built de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito operating from a remote and rough airstrip which Spartan had built at Pelly Lake, Northwest Territories (Now Nunavut) in 1958. Spartan’s work with Mosquitos in the far North faced extreme logistical challenges for fuel, maintenance and weather information. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e22423d2-1863-42cd-8679-a9b8b09caef7/Screen+Shot+2022-01-06+at+8.24.42+AM.png The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out In true Canadian ‘Snowbird’ tradition, the Spartan photo-mapping aircraft headed south for the winter, when operating in the North was impossible. Here CF-HMS is seen in Cucuta, Colombia with another fine Canadian de Havilland product, a DHC-2 Beaver. Spartan used their fleet to fulfill aerial survey contracts around the world—place like Argentina, Bahamas, Bélize, British Guyana, Canada, Columbia, Dominican Republic, India, Iran, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Malaya, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and the United States. Photo by Spartan navigator Bob Bolivar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7241a8e5-b547-4d90-90a3-4c19d94f308c/DeBoer03.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Moving Day: 11 August 2012. Crating up the collection of parts that used to be a Spartan Mosquito in order to truck them from a warehouse in Calgary to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta. After campaigning for more than five years, the Calgary Mosquito Society reached an agreement with the City of Calgary to retain and restore its Mosquito to non-flying condition. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/094dca9f-4cfa-4bb4-8d65-c5f691402f76/DSCN1239.JPG The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Parts come from a wide variety of surprising places. Calgary Mosquito Society volunteer and board member Andy Woerle trial fits a nose blister on the Mosquito at Nanton, Alberta. The rare component was recently acquired from a couple from Nova Scotia who was out Saturday morning scouting garage sales and spotted it on someone’s lawn. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27d50af1-b34e-467a-ba11-c0bf43fa7f6c/DSCN1507.JPG The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Calgary Mosquito Society (CMS) volunteers Gary Toffelmire, Dave Duh and Dick Snider, work at the forward end of the fuselage at Nanton. Over the past five years, an army of around 15 CMS volunteers has turned out each Saturday to swarm over the fuselage and work tables, contributing more than 22,000 hours to date. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48f9b2ec-36aa-48da-86fe-2508a8fe0fd5/DeBoer25.jpg The Stories - Warbird Relic Hunters of the Wild West - Make it stand out Tragically, Jon Spinks died of leukemia in 1995 at the age of 28. The Bomber Command Museum of Canada said this about John: Jonathan Spinks studied history at the University of Lethbridge. But the history he enjoyed most was not to be found in the books of the University of Lethbridge library. Jon loved to go “airplane hunting” and at this he was both an expert and ahead of his time. At the age of fifteen, he realized that there was a wealth of historical artifacts and in some cases entire airplanes, unappreciated and for the most part forgotten, in farmer’s yards, sheds, and junk piles all across western Canada. Focusing on the Lancasters, he methodically mapped the locations where they had been broken up for scrap in the early 1950s and searched for the leftovers—gun turrets, instrument panels, pilot’s seats, bomb bay doors, escape hatches, and anything else he could find. He also searched for aircraft and artifacts of the BCATP. Clearly a visionary in the appreciation of the value of these treasures, Jon trained and inspired members of the Nanton Lancaster Society in his chosen field of “airplane hunting.” His efforts and enthusiasm were responsible for the Society acquiring numerous aircraft and artifacts from the farms of southern Alberta. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/portrait-of-a-leader monthly 0.5 2021-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221763903-0RF39UEH671QJDUTBGMI/Portrait-of-a-LeaderTitle.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221830248-HPCSTOVRHAINWDB9EUMW/Portair-of-a-Leader12.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out The four banners of the Vintage Wings pantheon of great Canadian aviators. One day we hope to circle the walls of our hangar with these men... and women too. Banners by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221870953-ETBGWZ82ILRG452X9HAQ/Portrait-of-a-Leader2.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out Lieutenant General Yvan Blondin, the top commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)), himself a highly experienced fighter pilot and squadron leader, connects the audience with the story of Wing Commander James Francis Edwards. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221999317-1LE067XJYCENS7AEZ22F/Portrait-of-a-Leader11.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out The now famous photograph of then Squadron Leader James Francis “Eddie” Edwards in Italy in 1943 with the Vintage Wings of Canada Warbirds of the Med theme graphic for this year. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629222037968-QVSWUX7XQXINVI5EIFCC/Portrait-of-a-Leader4.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out Dave O'Malley was given the privilege of sharing an abbreviated history of this gifted leader. Having his photo up for all to ponder during his talk helped the audience better visualize Edwards' great capacity for leadership. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629222102668-SO395ZCH8F715G69LUDU/Portrait-of-a-Leader3.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out Though Stocky could not make the cross-Canada trip from Comox, British Columbia, his daughter, Dorothy (dressed as Rosie the Riveter) and his granddaughter Jesse (dressed as a WAC) were in attendance, making the evening especially poignant. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629222190486-4JAX8P90UFAH63WW5PMW/Portrait-of-a-Leader5.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out As Piper Graham Batty, Canada's finest, plays the Royal Canadian Air Force March Past, a banner honouring Wing Commander James Francis Edwards is hauled to the rafters at Vintage Wings of Canada's hangar, to join the growing pantheon of our great military aviators – men like Max Ward, Bill McRae and Charlie Fox. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629222233940-MBK267KA84PJZOGI4NKW/Portrait-of-a-Leader10.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out As the banner travels to the ceiling, Jesse and her mother Dorothy look on with pride and some emotion – it was a beautiful moment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629222365671-1EZTTZFSDWE5Z1FF8XPQ/Portrait-of-a-Leader9.jpg The Stories - PORTRAIT OF A LEADER - Make it stand out After the tribute to their father, Dorothy and Jesse pose with two of Canada's outstanding leaders of today – Vintage Wings of Canada's founder, Michael Potter and Chief of the Air Staff, Lieutenant General Yvan Blondin. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/busy-flying-and-keeping-warm monthly 0.5 2021-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205541430-08BFNDJ5LQI14VU7I1PJ/Kirkpatrick.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205737266-BC3QEDRU31HNKIRW2NRL/Kirkpatrick12.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out A postcard of the Statler Hotel in downtown Cleveland, Ohio in the 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205809112-UAFC9XS4B4EMEBBUCXM8/Kirkpatrick2.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out An aerial view of No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) St. Eugène, Ontario, shows us that it was one of the smaller facilities in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan system. In the distance we can see the village of St. Eugène, which lies about six kilometres south of the Ottawa River and about five kilometres from the Québec-Ontario border. All that remains today is the gun butt (gunnery backstop) seen at the extreme upper left of the airfield along the road. The local farmers and villagers are predominantly French-speaking in this area at that time. Image via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629206006288-FPLI7R2ZC769ON74Q0SS/Kirkpatrick3.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Conditions at St. Eugène were decidedly harsh from about November to April each year. Here we can tell that late winter sun has begun melting away some of the accumulated snow. Soon the dirty white snow would give way to mud. This image of barracks was scanned from an old colour transparency photographed by another of our Vintage News subscribers, Peter Jenner, a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot who trained at St. Eugène later in the war, when the base housed mostly Navy trainees and operated Fairchild Cornells. Photo: Peter Jenner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629206035571-OCABIV9NXAEMXGEWEZQS/Kirkpatrick4.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Though this image was taken at St. Eugène later in the war (the winter of 1944-45), one gets a sense of the depth of the cold and the short winter days. Here another of our readers, Peter Jenner, stands beside one of the facility's Fairchild Cornell aircraft. Ski-equipped training aircraft seem to have been the norm at St. Eugène as Bob Kirkpatrick trained on ski-equipped Fleet Finches during his days at No. 13 EFTS. For young men from Great Britain like Jenner and for Americans like Kirkpatrick, taking off and landing on skis would be a novelty worthy of a photo or two for the folks back home. Photo via Peter Jenner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629206162599-B2S7M4MH32557ORIA1L9/Personal35.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Not all winter operations on the Fleet finch at St. Eugène were on skis. This photo, from the winter of 1940-41, shows Ottawa native David Francis Gaston Rouleau after his first flight in a Finch beside his wheel-equipped Finch in the depth of winter. Sadly, David Rouleau was shot down and killed making an attempt to reach Malta in June of 1942. For more on this St. Eugène alumnus, click here. Photo via Peg Christie/Rouleau Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629206217583-ZVNQ9TPMREFLT5ON0A1X/Kirkpatrick13.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out LAC Robert Kirkpatrick (on wing of Fleet Finch) and his flying instructor Flight Sergeant Scot Smilie. Photo via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629220707721-YO9CDO2L0FJ9UE83YBVV/Kirkpatrick5.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Bob Kirkpatrick's course photograph from no. 13 OTU at Bicester, England where he and his mates converted to the de Havilland Mosquito after having just completed a Beaufighter course. Bob Kirkpatrick sits in the front row, second from right, while his navigator Wally Undrill stands directly behind him. To Bob's right sits Hugh Bone, a fellow Mossie pilot on the course, who continues his friendship with “Kirk” to this day. Of Kirkpatrick, Bone says: “Kirk is a great guy and a natural pilot. He did things with both a Beaufighter as well as a Mosquito that experienced pilots with many hours on the type would never have attempted.” It is clear that each pilot on the OTU is sitting in a chair in front of his navigator, as the man behind Bone is Ken Guy, part of the Bone/Guy Mosquito crew. Sadly, Bone lost contact with Guy sometime after the war. Photo via Hugh Bone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221111493-2URMUBCUBUN9XDODK5D6/Kirkpatrick6.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Left: A photo of Bob Kirkpatrick (left) and his navigator Wally Undrill. Of his navigator, Kirkpatrick says: “After Beau OTU we went to #13 OTU Bicester Mosquito's and then to 21 Sqd. RAF where we finished the war in Brussels in May 1945. Undrill post war was 21 Sqdn. W/C Wilson's navigator in Germany during the occupation. He became a Squadron leader navigator instructor post war. We were great friends and I was fortunate to make several trips to England to visit him. He died in 1989 if I remember right. Pre-war and after leaving the RAF, Wally was the Veterinary lab foreman at Bristol University. He graduated from Cambridge before the war.” Right: A photo of Kirkpatrick (left) and a photographer passenger after a landing at RAF Rackheath. Kirkpatrick speaks about the event: “This photo was taken after a precautionary landing at Rackheath, a USAAC base, after returning from Copenhagen, March 19, 1945. Sgt. Hearne (right) FPU photographer was my passenger and the photographer on Operation Carthage. We were the 20th Mosquito in the op and 6 minutes behind the first flight. Flak was getting heavy and we were damaged in the nose and starboard engine. No navigator, so I flew home on reciprocals from the trip out doubling the drift. Without a navigator and no radio I landed at the first place I saw.” Kirkpatrick relates the Operation Copenhagen story from the point of view of a Mossie pilot: ”As I was about 2 minutes from target I saw 4 Mossies coming from my left and turning east towards a big pile of smoke, I thought , am I lost? They have navigators and they were so close I either had to turn right 360 or get close to them because of the delayed action bombs. 30 seconds for first 3, 11 for 2nd three. I slipped right next to #4 and we went thru the smoke and they unloaded their bombs, unfortunately as we later learned on the French School. I was carrying incendiaries and told to drop them a few blocks from the target to create a diversion in case some of the prisoners were able to escape. Turns out I burnt up a few houses east of the school and west of Shellhaus. Our windscreens were fouled with salt spray and difficult to see through, this precluded my right 360 and prompted me to join the 4 from 487 [Squadron]. As it turned out 464 Squadron, the second wave, also were diverted by the school crash and missed their run-in, they orbited and the leader bombed Shellhaus, 2 were shot down and one took his bombs home. Good news, bad news; had 464 been successful in their orbit and 487 on target, 487 would probably been blown up, had everybody been on target, no prisoners would probably have survived. We picked up some flak that damaged the starboard engine and the nose. Engine kept running OK but as I wasn't completely comfortable in the MKIV Mosquito and it was a long trip, I was sweating fuel, 8 tanks to monitor, nobody to follow, I just flew reciprocals and when I saw England, picked the first field I saw to land, turned out to be Rackheath. There was no traffic at the time, about 14:00. Got the gear down but no brakes, so just coasted to a stop at the end of 26. Was met by a jeep full of MPs and taken to the tower, Sgt Hearne brought his film and when I called base and was told they would pick us up in the morning, he said " I'll be in London before then". I think he had asked an MP to take our picture which showed us examining holes in the cowling and nose. That was the last I saw of DZ 383 [the serial of Mossie on that flight] or Sgt. Hearne. I don't remember much of my sojourn at Rackheath, probably slept most of the time.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221213509-W1O633FF98RAS426WKYZ/Kirkpatrick14.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Mosquitos making their rooftop run at Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen during Operation Carthage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221282366-RHVRQAE0CYIMK9MC08M9/Kirkpatrick17.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Another photograph taken by a Dane on the ground shows Mosquitos during the raid on Gestapp headquarters in Copenhagen. By the end of 1944 the Danish resistance-movement in Copenhagen was in danger of being wiped out by the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo). Many of their leaders were arrested and a lot of material was filed in the Gestapo archives in the Shell house which was located in Copenhagen. Leading members of the resistance-movement requested an attack by air on the Shell House via SOE in London. Bob says of this photo: “ I think the four Mossies are the remnants of 487Squadron making an orbit, the Mossie far right is probably FPU flown by myself. We were two minutes behind as planned but the orbit made me catch up to them. Things went to hell after that. I'm guessing at all this but the railroad towers, the spacing and the 4 Mossies are where I remember running into them. I went on East about a mile and they all took off to the North.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221321944-91PVFMK3WL6O609RF65B/Kirkpatrick16.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out These two small photographs taken with Sgt. Hearne's camera while he and Bob Kirkpatrick fly toward Copenhagen during operation Carthage. Both photos are of Bob at the controls of his Mosquito. What is noteworthy is that, while Bob is route to an extremely dangerous, meticulously planned and critically important sortie to destroy Gestapo hedquarters in downtown Copenhagen, his face, smiling and calm, totally belies the dangers that lie ahead. It is a testament to the courage and skills of the Mosquito crews involved in the mission. Photo Sergeant Hearne, RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221356738-NS8G457TWYZHBI2JQLOI/Kirkpatrick8.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out 21 Squadron Mosquitos in echelon formation over Europe. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221393916-SZVZQ47OH50WDMZQKPZG/Kirkpatrick9.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out A 21 Squadron Mosquito. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629221430370-9N0QUU3ATZKQZWUWNJ10/Kirkpatrick15.jpg The Stories - BUSY FLYING AND KEEPING WARM - Make it stand out Bob Kirkpatrick signs his name to a crew door from a Mosquito fighter bomber. It is to be signed by as many American Mosquito pilots as possible, then displayed ay Jerry Yagen's museum alongside his new Mosquito. Bob's son John holds the door for him to sign. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/valley-of-remembrance monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629198331778-LRK1O7I1M9ASTEFTI03W/RememberFlightTitle.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629198552163-INAPERH295B0V3W0571M/RememberFlight3.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Our three plane mission was preceded by a thorough briefing by Flight Lead Rob Fleck. Fleck, flying the Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie Cornell, would take us up through the Gatineau Hills and then back down the Gatineau River Valley on an emotional flight of remembrance. With a family farm and cottage at Danford Lake, Québec, Rob has been flying these hills and valleys for 35 years. The route we would take would essentially be the same as the route he takes to and from his cottage every weekend in the summer. Rob knows where every cell tower, landing strip, and hill is for two hundred miles. If any one of us was to have an engine failure and had to put down in a farmer's field, there was a good likelihood that the farmer was a friend of Rob's. Our route would take us northwest overhead Danford Lake, holding for our first memorial flypast at the town of Kazabazua, Québec. From there, we would fly down the Valley and overhead five more cenotaphs and their ceremonies. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629199955805-W8E5XHUPXD13P7U48YHK/RememberFlight4.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch is readied for the flight. This would be the only Vintage Wings open cockpit airplane to venture out on 11 November 2012. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629199986966-73XYXL8EIRS5T8WE51PV/RememberFlight5.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out On a rain-soaked ramp, in near freezing temperatures, the three aircraft of the Yellow Wings Gatineau Valley Remembrance Day Flight warm up. Rob Fleck and Dan Morden crewed the Cornell, Don Buchan and Mike Woodfield crewed the Chipmunk and Peter Ashwood-Smith and Dave O'Malley were in the Finch. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200033516-YEX9L9IZ147AALGQLN3D/RememberFlight33.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada volunteer, Michel Côté, captures the three aircraft from a different angle during the warm-up. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200797723-SEPGVJGIW3SF8QRMGAQ5/RememberFlight38.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Warm-up completed, the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch trundles along following Flight Lead Rob Fleck in the Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie Cornell. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200833085-599KBDG52PUTSTCGTHW0/RememberFlight34.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The three aircraft of the Gatineau Valley Remembrance Day Flight head toward the runway, while Paul Kissmann in the Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray FG-1D Corsair waits. Paul will shortly launch on a Remembrance Day mission of his own, taking the Corsair on a long circuitous flight round the lower Ottawa Valley to visit 12 memorial services. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200870488-AARBOHN545NJCUG2MZ8B/RememberFlight2.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Flight Lead Rob Fleck lines up with the centreline of the runway, while we wait at the threshold and Don Buchan in the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins Chipmunk works his way past him. The weather was decidedly cold and wet when we took off. The propeller is picking up the water from the ramp and throwing it onto the underside of the wings and on to the windshields. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200945312-8PEWZL6JPBMBFFAVJ92Y/RememberFlight39.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Peter Ashwood-Smith, the pilot of the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch, closes up on Flight Lead Rob Fleck for the first formation rejoin. Ashwood-Smith was wearing a Contour video camera on his helmet, so we are seeing exactly what he is seeing. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629200976177-18I4HW41AYHQ3XRSDR9W/RememberFlight43.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out At the same moment that the previous photo was taken, Vintage Wings of Canada's Dan Morden, in the back cockpit of the Cornell, captures our Finch as Ashwood-Smith manoeuvres her in tight after takeoff. In the extreme upper left corner of this image you can just make out the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins Chipmunk (just a black dot here), turning in to join with us. On the runway below, we can see Paul Kissmann in the Corsair backtracking the runway for takeoff. Photo: Dan Morden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629201002876-3YAXUVMHRS87DX38T0FP/RememberFlight6.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The formation works its way up through the Gatineau Hills well below the cloud. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629201048644-8WX8KOWQW3HA190W3H1B/RememberFlight8.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Working our way to the starting point for our first flypast at Danford Lake, we spread our formation wide. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629201083900-G32QSKTPZLLDCLWE24I1/RememberFlight22.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out In the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins de Havilland Chipmunk, Buchan captures the flight heading northwest and skirting well away from the murky weather which was travelling ahead of us. Photo: Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202466610-97YZBNM0IEB4897ZSZSV/RememberFlight24.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out After 25 minutes, the flight broke out from under the cloud to a glorious late autumn day in the Gatineau Hills. In the open cockpits of the Finch, Ashwood-Smith and O'Malley welcomed the sunshine. Photo Dan Morden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202496795-Y670UUWATQH4PYZ0Z9WY/RememberFlight10.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As we neared the initial point for the run into the cenotaph ceremony at Danford Lake, the clouds began to form below us. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202526594-C9I1NY9AJDVM7CJ4W45I/RememberFlight42.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out From the up sun side of the formation, the other aircraft in the formation were a dazzling yellow as seen from the Finch, but to Dan Morden in the Cornell, the Finch was silhouetted. Photo: Dan Morden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202556588-C2CXWYH75EAUYAL7CE43/RememberFlight11.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out At a signal from Flight Lead Rob Fleck, Ashwood-Smith in the Finch and Woodfield in the Chipmunk closed up the formation for the flyover of the Danford Lake ceremony. Sadly, cloud had formed well below us and the people below only heard the passing of the three aircraft. With the aid of GPS, we were still able to fly directly over the site of the ceremony below. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202616156-XIUMEOM6BE8XXJR7DLBV/RememberFlight48.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As we make a turn overhead Danford lake, it is obvious that the whole area to the North is covered with cloud, so we abort the run into the town of Kazabazua and head directly to the tiny village of Venosta, Québec, where, apparently, there is a small gathering in the parking lot of the village municipal building. When, in fact, we flew directly over the village and looked down, there was no one standing there... guess they didn't get the memo. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202680881-YGFHZ2K94BSMP5D497E4/RememberFlight12.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Having turned 180º at Danford Lake and spread out, inbound for the non-existent crowd at Venosta, we were warmed by the sun. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202714109-D4UE3KND4IV9DYKV30NK/RememberFlight41.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out A nice shot of the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins de Havilland Chipmunk as she sails above the snowy cloud banks that obscured Danford Lake and caused the Kazabazua flyby to by aborted. Photo: Dan Morden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202739068-T19OV380TR8TKKVC4LI6/RememberFlight14.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Leaving the snowy white undercast behind us, we approach Venosta and begin to close up for the flypast of the empty parking lot. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202813749-Q4T9JYEG2Y3OQPBSCW8B/RememberFlight15.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out After Venosta, we spread out again and continue down the Gatineau Valley to a flypast and 360º turn overhead of the cenotaph at Low, Québec, followed by another identical pattern overhead Wakefield, Québec. By now, despite the sun in my face, I am beginning to feel the effects of the prolonged (about 40 minutes so far) exposure to the 85 mph slipstream. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629202871305-G2NM9R9YN7DW7KH0DA1Z/RememberFlight53.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out At Wakefield, on the banks of the Gatineau River, hundreds of veterans, armed forces personnel, and citizens attend the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph or Wakefield War Memorial. Not many were expecting the emotional flypast of the three vintage aircraft and none could know that the entire and considerable cost, time consuming organization and complex execution of the flypast was borne by the sponsors, pilots and members of Vintage Wings of Canada who donated the fuel, airplanes, time and skills required to pull it off. Photo: Barry Schwerdfeger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203072571-CS6RGHOP2M1GJH1T9GD3/RememberFlight29.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Participants in the Remembrance Day ceremony at Wakefield, Québec, take snapshots of the formation as it appears over the Wakefield, Québec train station, inbound for the flypast. Photo: David Irvine Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203148752-TWLKFW4RDKL7JZ1MNWCT/RememberFlight30.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Passing overhead the Wakefield ceremony, followed by the eyes of hundreds of surprised onlookers, Fleck leads the formation in a wide left turn over the mountains to set up for a second pass from the north. Photo: David Irvine Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203188686-IYZBFTJHNQOODOF4QB93/RememberFlight51.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The Wakefield War Memorial, on the banks of the mighty Gatineau River, featured the flags of Canada, Great Britain, the United States of America and the Canadian Province of Québec. Photo: Barry Schwerdfeger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203253069-IU6SLFSOS1HVIM8BQJZC/RememberFlight52.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The assembled spectators and honoured guests listen to a speech, while facing the Gatineau River – the perfect vantage point from which to view the emotional flypast of the three vintage aircraft. Photo: Barry Schwerdfeger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203308634-0PZ9F2ZBYNS1RUT2BAUC/RememberFlight28.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Finishing the turn and coming down the river again, the Remembrance Flight shares the limelight with the world famous Wakefield Covered Bridge. The Wakefield covered bridge was built in 1915 at the entrance of the village and was one of the first bridges to link the two shores of the Gatineau River. Sadly, the bridge was completely destroyed by fire (vandals pushed gas soaked car on to the bridge and set in on fire) in 1984. The population of the village decided to collect money to rebuild the bridge. Fourteen years later, in 1998, the new Gendron covered bridge was inaugurated. Photo: David Irvine Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203347979-ZQBRNEPOT8YFBWG8MS1C/RememberFlight31.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Flight Lead Rob Fleck in the Cornell, leads the three historic aircraft for one last flypast of Wakefield, now bound for Chelsea, Québec. Photo: David Irvine Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203485449-ALMIGRXUK128IOHY91M1/RememberFlight25.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Don Buchan, in the front seat of the Chipmunk shoots Rob Fleck in the Cornell, as he leads us toward the last and most important of our flypasts – at Chelsea's Pioneer Cemetery where, each year, veterans, members of the public, soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment at CFB Petawawa, and medics of the Canadian Armed Forces gather to remember the fallen and in particular a man by the name of Private Richard Rowland Thompson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203548663-CQ83SQVX9CCYAZ0R5SY4/RememberFlight50.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Recommended unsuccessfully for the Victoria Cross for deeds of exceptional bravery while attending wounded comrades while under fire in the Boer war, army medic Private Richard Rowland Thompson (left) instead became the only soldier from Canada to be awarded the Queen’s Scarf. Queen Victoria had decided to honour four of the bravest soldiers from the colonies serving in the war by presenting them with scarves she had designed and crocheted (four more were later awarded to British troops). The award, while not as prestigious as the Victoria Cross (though some incorrectly consider it higher by virtue of its rarity), was nevertheless a very high honour indeed. Thompson also received the Queen’s South Africa Medal with three clasps. He survived the war, but died of acute appendicitis in Buffalo, NY in 1908. Photo via Gatineau Valley Historical Society After Richard Rowland Thompson's death, ownership of his Queen's Scarf passed to his older brother William, of Cork, Ireland. Here, William's son (and hence Richard Thompson's nephew), Samuel F. Thompson, shows the scarf off outside the family home in Cork, just before he brought it to Canada for presentation to the people of Canada in a special ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in May 1965. Photo: NAC C16705 via Gatineau Valley Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203610009-5NEIQL54VQ2V29WC2CL9/RememberFlight54.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Down below, on the ground at Chelsea Pioneer Cemetery, paratroopers from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa (Camp Petawawa), march solemnly to the site of Richard Thompson's grave. Private Thompson had immigrated to Buffalo, New York, from Cork, Ireland, and had moved to Ottawa in 1899 where he enlisted in the 43rd Ottawa and Carleton Rifles, one of the predecessors of the present Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa and part of the Royal Canadian Regiment, as a medical assistant. His age was 22. Photo: Trevor Greenway, via the LowDownOnline on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203647856-EPXI31T9V39MU7F854M0/RememberFlight56.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Sombre paratroopers from the Royal Canadian Regiment place their poppies at the grave of their long-dead comrade, Private Richard Rowland Thompson. Photo: Trevor Greenway, via the LowDownOnline on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203720929-DE468LUQWA133IXWJUTP/RememberFlight55.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out School children from the area of Chelsea, Québec, hold up signs of gratitude for the soldiers of the Royal Canadian Regiment who turned out for the ceremony. At Vintage Wings of Canada, it is our prime directive to teach young Canadians like these about the sacrifices of the men and women of our Armed Forces. Our aircraft are simply tools with which we will achieve this. Photo: Trevor Greenway, via the LowDownOnline on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203752438-RJXKRULJ8L0WDARH53GR/RememberFlight57.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Wreaths of Remembrance and gratitude stand alongside the tombstone of Private Richard Rowland Thonpson, Queen's Scarf Recipient. During the Boer War, Thompson was cited for a number of acts of gallantry during the Battle of Paardeberg in 1900. The Royal Canadian Regiment took part in its first battle, during which Private Thompson demonstrated fearless courage while assisting wounded comrades. During the battle, he remained for seven hours in an exposed position, keeping pressure on the ruptured jugular vein of a Private James L. H. Bradshaw. Nine days after that, he crossed 200 yards of bullet-swept ground to reach another wounded soldier. On finding that the man had died, he walked back to his own lines in defiance of the enemy's fire. Because he was an Army medic, each year on Remembrance Day, there are Army medics or members of the Canadian Forces Health Services in attendance. Photo: Trevor Greenway, via the LowDownOnline on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203791408-9FO1MFUAFJQOVRTLS7LQ/RememberFlight45.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out After the flypast of the Chelsea Pioneer Cemetery, it was time to exit stage left and head for home. The conditions whilst making our flybys of Chelsea had deteriorated somewhat. Here, Fleck leads the formation over the Chelsea Dam, bound for the Gatineau Airport. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203834953-Y9IOUIA5K2YDONA21G8D/RememberFlight47.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As we approach the Gatineau Airport, the formation slide from a V-formation to Echelon Right, allowing each aircraft to break left in succession over the field without flying into each other. Note the oil and grease accumulation on the windshield from the five-cylinder Kinner radial engine. This makes it impossible to see out the front windscreen when flying into the sun. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203875905-GPA8034MEBFX9SN3ME7H/RememberFlight18.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Ashwood-Smith moves in close for the smart overhead break, inbound for Gatineau. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203901316-OYH8FEU8JIRJ4WBN7M8O/RememberFlight19.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Closer still. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629203946267-VL1ENACTRX54UFBQ2L4U/RememberFlight21.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Now trailing us in echelon right, Woody brings the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins de Havilland Chipmunk in tight for the break. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204023230-EXA78PRQUW748BMULMXC/RememberFlight40.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Dan Morden captures the echelon formation from the Cornell. Photo Dan Morden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204055749-TBIIHE3COS53LCWNOOYC/RememberFlight26.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out And Don Buchan captures the echelon formation from the Chipmunk. In the back of the Finch, O'Malley is nearly speechless with hypothermia. Photo: Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204104538-JDNP7ELTOEQ6GEYIOB5M/RemeberFlight58.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Home at last. Rob Fleck departs the formation in the overhead break, with all of us following at 5-second intervals. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204197140-PCLG8RKRBXGUG502OYUJ/RememberFlight46.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out After the break, Ashwood-Smith brings the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch in for a landing and a full stop. Mission accomplished. Photo: Peter Ashwood-Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204245189-D4FJRSQEQDOC9S51WA82/RememberFlight65.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield signals ground crew that he is about to crank over the Allison engine of the P-40 prior to the Remembrance Day flypast. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204290310-3NTG9MEICWHJV1A98T9M/RememberFlight37.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Prior to launch on the same morning, John Aitken, in the Flight Lieutenant William Harper Spitfire XVI, leads Dave Hadfield in the Wing Commander Stocky Edwards and Flight Lieutenant Dennis Copping Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk. Their mission for the day was to overfly the parade of veterans down Ottawa's Wellington Street following the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial as we have done in years past. The weather was good overhead the Gatineau Airport, but during the hold for the flypast, the weather over Ottawa's downtown lowered significantly, preventing the flypast. They returned to base after forty minutes. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204333098-DYL4EOW9IJKQ6DGJ84U2/RememberFlight36.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The weather over the Gatineau Airport gave the downtown flypast team hope that the day would be a success. Sadly, it was not to be and Dave Hadfield and Terry Cooper in the P-40, seen launching here, had to return without the goal achieved. Such is aviation. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204723842-JS05429VP33HABX54GQI/RememberFlight70.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out After takeoff, Dave Hadfield forms up with the Spitfire flown by John Aitken as they head toward downtown a hold position before making their pass over Ottawa's Wellington Street. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204763914-7ZZPO4CZHUTWBU594IJC/RememberFlight67.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The two fighters climb higher to orbit above the low cloud that hangs like a shroud over downtown Ottawa. Sadly, the flypast was not to be, and the pair were forced to abort the mission after a long hold. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204803577-7RQAMH73F3ORL974GV09/RememberFlight66.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As the pair of fighters return from the aborted mission, Hadfield, in the P-40, switches to the right side of the formation for the left turn over the field. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204835727-39UT4RD126F6JT6ENM6C/RememberFlight69.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Aitken, Hadfield and Cooper make their run into their home field at Gatineau Airport, visible on the right. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204866312-ORSCYHY2052VBMZDZEB2/RememberFlight71.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out John Aitken hauls the Spitfire into a left turn for home – mission unaccomplished. Photo: Terry Cooper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204931129-26NOECCH37AU6KRYJBLR/RememberFlight35.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann in the Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC Goodyear FG-1D Corsair goes wheels in the wells and heads for his complex mission to overfly 12 different Remembrance Day events throughout the lower Ottawa River Valley. With the bad weather mostly hanging over the downtown area, Kissmann was able to deliver on most of his promises to commemorate. Photo: Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629204960739-C2RE0U6I6LAPIUCFYNQW/RememberFlight27.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out A screen shot from Paul Kissmann's GPS unit shows his “Rhubarb” route starting at Gatineau at upper right. The planned first leg to Orleans, Ontario had to be abandoned due to low cloud. During his hour long flight, Kissmann's original flypast route would take him over 12 different Remembrance Day ceremonies, but he managed to hit eight of his planned ceremonies plus overflying two others above the scattered cloud (the crowds could hear him). He made dramatic appearances at Navan, Manotick, Kemptville, Merrickville, Smiths Falls, Perth, Carleton Place, Almonte, Pakenham, Arnprior and more. Bravo Zulu Gray Ghost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205037309-3JKV9577YGSHJM2P4HJP/RememberFlight59.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie Cornell leads Peter Ashwood-Smith in the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch overhead the small village of Appleton, Ontario, in the township known as Mississippi Mills. The river below is the Mississippi River, but not the big one. Photo: Richard Gorman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205068725-JY90QEE5ET416XEMJ1MF/RememberFlight61.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out The afternoon flight was sponsored by two Vintage Wings members, with the Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie Cornell and the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Finch. Here, Richard Gorman captures the lovely Cornell, flown by 2011 Yellow Wings Team Lead, Ulrich Bollinger. Photo: Richard Gorman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629205107536-ADHCAGEKXT9BUCNSYREB/RememberFlight60.jpg The Stories - UP THE VALLEY OF REMEMBRANCE ON YELLOW WINGS - Make it stand out As part of the Remembrance Day flights, the Cornell and Finch asked for and received permission to overfly the Ottawa International Airport, where, 70 years ago, No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands was graduating fully-winged pilots for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In fact, Squadron Leader Hart Finley, in whose name the Fleet Finch is dedicated, was a Harvard instructor at Uplands 70 years ago! Photo: Richard Gorman https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/godspeed-chris-hadfield monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144214930-OSF4MCQ4HI9UQAPG1LI2/GodspeedTitle3.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144437786-3GK8SYPK46HOBPIF0EN9/Godspeed5.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out In Baikonur, Chris Hadfield shows us his true colours, unzipping his Soyuz jacket to reveal that he was wearing his Vintage Wings of Canada orange polo shirt. In the background we see a monument to the Russian Soyuz rocket program. In the far distance, the bleak plains of Kazakhstan stretch to the horizon and far, far beyond. In the opening image of this story (previous image), we see the Hadfield mission patch, which was designed in the form of a guitar pick. Hadfield, as well as most of his family, is a gifted singer, musician, and songwriter. This patch commemorates Expedition 34/35, Canada's second long-duration mission on board the International Space Station (ISS). The border and living quarters highlighted in red mark the first time that a Canadian will command a spaceship, an honour bestowed on Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield. The central element portrays the International Space Station—the world's only space science and research facility supporting long-term studies in the weightless environment of space. Scientific discoveries and technological innovations made aboard the ISS have applications in both terrestrial science and planetary exploration, represented by the white, silver and red arcs symbolic of Earth, Moon and Mars. The stars represent Hadfield's three voyages into space, and his three children. The ring around one of the stars illustrates the recent discovery of hundreds of other stars with planets circling them. The azure pool at the point of the patch signifies water—the fundamental basis for life on Earth and a resource that requires careful management. Bringing attention to the need for fresh water conservation is one of Chris Hadfield's underlying goals during this mission. The astronaut wings at the top were conferred on Colonel Hadfield by the Prime Minister of Canada in 1995 in recognition of his qualification as Canada's first military pilot astronaut. All these elements are defined by the shape of a guitar pick, symbolic of Chris's musical interests with an emphasis on science and art, a distinguishing feature of Expedition 34/35. Screen capture from CSA video https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144623740-9CDOMYSTP0YYVABB1XHY/Godspeed.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out In December 2012, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Astronaut Chris Hadfield (left), Cosmonaut Roman Romanenko (centre), and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn will put their knowledge and skills to the test when they take their seats on a Soyuz TMA-M for Expedition 34/35. Photo: NASA/Victor Zelentsov. Since 1967, cosmonauts and astronauts have been strapping themselves into the Soyuz spacecraft, blasting off into the atmosphere aloft 102 tons of liquid nitrogen thrust. As the Soyuz rocket hurtles towards space it's a smooth ride – that is until one rocket stage is shed and the next one kicks in, yo-yoing its occupants back and forth. On their return from space the crew members are packed into the tiny quarters of the Soyuz capsule, which re-enters the Earth's atmosphere in a ball of flame and smoke. Soon after the release of its parachute, the Soyuz hits the barren steppes of Kazakhstan with a heavy thud, capsule scorched but crew intact. Though at times a rough ride, the Soyuz is recognized as Russia's most reliable and long-serving spacecraft. In fact, it is so entrusted that it is currently the only vehicle to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), and acts as the Station's lifeboat should any emergency arise. To fly on a Soyuz requires intensive training; for Canadian astronauts, this means not only learning technical aspects but also familiarizing themselves with the Russian language and culture. Photo: NASA/Victor Zelentsov https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144662900-HMVKV1UFZB334M4ZLCLH/Godspeed6.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out Along with the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan, Canada is a partner in the International Space Station (ISS), a unique, orbiting research laboratory. Since the first module of the Station was launched in 1998, the Station has circled the globe 16 times per day at 28,000 km/h at an altitude of about 370 km, covering a distance equivalent to the Moon and back daily. Once complete, the Station will be as long as a Canadian football field, and will have as much living space as a five-bedroom house. Canada's contribution to the ISS is the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) – a sophisticated robotics suite that assembled the Station in space, module by module. Developed for the Canadian Space Agency by MDA of Brampton, Ontario, the MSS is comprised of: the Canadarm2, a 17-metre long robotic arm; Dextre, the Station's two-armed robotic "handyman"; and the Mobile Base, a moveable work platform and storage facility. Canada's investment gives Canadian scientists access to the ISS to conduct research for the benefit of Canadians. Photo and info: CSA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144856645-04FUR8F54SANSV8XQUS5/Godspeed8.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out Young air cadet Sergeant Christopher Hadfield beams with pride at the family home, with his older brother Warrant Officer David Hadfield, both of 820 Squadron of Malton, Ontario. Today, 820 Squadron is known as 820 Chris Hadfield Squadron. Photo via Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629144967048-SKW7TL8AGHO5DW6I3VR5/Godspeed3.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED CHRIS HADFIELD - Make it stand out Godspeed Chris Hadfield. With you go the hearts of 36 million Canadians. Thank you for sharing this accomplishment with us at Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: NASA/Victor Zelentsov https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/top-ten-in-2012 monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629136749071-EV01IV00P45LBOL1NHXQ/TopTenTitle2.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141039509-G7NDYIW498D0AV15OW7O/TopTen30.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141085442-QTSS1DWK5HBXD96AKD4E/TopTen31.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Paul Benoit (right), President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority and Michael Potter, Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada were both on hand to cut the ribbon that signalled the opening of the Gear-Up Shop. Paul Benoit and his airport staff have been huge supporters of Vintage Wings of Canada since day one. The airport earned the distinction of placing 1st among airports in North America, and 2nd in the world (for airports that serve between 2 and 5 million passengers) in customer satisfaction. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141119638-VJPOLEY8G403G8MOOAAG/TopTen34.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The Gear-Up store brand is one we hope to migrate across the country, not only accompanying our touring aircraft, but by opening boutiques in other cities and their airports. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141149952-7IE8JVEH3W26IYQ40T9R/TopTen32.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The Gear-Up Christmas-time kiosk at the massive Place d'Orleans shopping complex in Ottawa. Small, easily stocked and in the flow of shoppers, the Gear-Up kiosk proved to be a winning idea. Photo: Agata Archangielska https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141184986-BEQ7AFDZNIN03RFA3CSA/TopTen36.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141263644-04OTECJBV5KQZ3ORWHZ0/TopTen37.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Phil Hadfield, himself an Air Canada senior Captain, reaches up from the Hucks starter's front deck to attach the shaft to a spiral-grooved receiver on the hub of the Hawker Hind. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141289272-KZIS2YW36I70L1VUZ1E0/TopTen38.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The engine catches, and the propeller shaft spins faster than the Hucks shaft, thus spitting the Hucks free. If you look closely, photographer Handley has captured the Hucks at the millisecond it is released from the propeller hub. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141317639-Z5YD9Q8U6U2A6I4GDD9J/TopTen39.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Proud of what they have accomplished, the folks who built the Hucks pose at the end of the session. Left to Right: Roger Hadfield, Eleanor Hadfield, Laura Miller and Reg Miller. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141370200-A7Z4IUR82BPLSJEZHRDZ/TopTen26.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141473114-OWPV6TXE3E6XHRF0HZM4/TopTen29.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Photographer and history enthusiast Richard Allnutt torqued the colour on a photo of the fuselage to better see the aircraft's markings. We can just make out the “HS” to the left of the roundel (with the tops of the verticals of the “H” and the top curve of the “S” faint as well as the horizontal stroke of the “H”. To the right of the roundel, the aircraft letter “B” has left a ghosted image after being scoured away over the years. Photo: Jakub Perka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629143319134-N6RG1IZZO0FMQUQZGRNT/TopTen28.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The pilot of the lost P-40 Kittyhawk was Flight Lieutenant Dennis Copping. Copping, hundreds of miles from assistance, without water or food and in 40+ degrees Celsius heat, had no chance whatsoever. He attempted to get the radio working and to shelter from the searing sun, but in time found himself attempting a walk to safety. He made it only 8 kilometers before he died of thirst and exposure. An Italian recovery team was able to find his remains and have them repatriated... as well as the P-40, which at last look, was recovered and placed in a shipping container, ready for shipping to the RAF. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141498803-C66XY32I2FW6WX65AY07/TopTen27.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada has a program called “In His Name”, unique to the warbird world. Each of our 18 historic aircraft is dedicated to a great Canadian aviator with a strong operational or training connection to that particular aircraft. Our Kittyhawk was already dedicated to Stocky Edwards, but in honour of the sacrifice that Dennis Copping paid while flying another Kittyhawk HS-B, we have co-dedicated the aircraft to Stocky's squadron mate. Kittyhawk pilot and aircraft manager, Dave Hadfield, took two photos of Dennis Copping along with him on his journey this summer to southeastern Ontario's Camp Borden Air Show. Not only did he tell the story of Copping's service and mystery solved, he took photos of these people with Copping, keeping his memory alive. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141542499-6DI12NRJ45ZF357X6HDI/TopTen41.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141628463-PBEF3RIOZR2XEUH2IFAB/TopTen42.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The now famous photograph of then Squadron Leader James Francis “Eddie” Edwards in Italy in 1943 with the Vintage Wings of Canada Warbirds of the Med theme graphic for this year. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141654427-YL5UTUXUJAFNEVDYJ8YK/TopTen43.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Though Stocky could not make the cross-Canada trip from Comox, British Columbia, his daughter, Dorothy (dressed as Rosie the Riveter) and his granddaughter Jesse (dressed as a WAC) were in attendance, making the evening especially poignant. As the banner travels to the ceiling, Jesse and her mother Dorothy look on with pride and some emotion – it was a beautiful moment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141691288-VHQS2YUCRTLTOLNF8OHL/TopTen44.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out After the tribute to their father, Dorothy and Jesse pose with two of Canada's outstanding leaders of today – Vintage Wings of Canada's founder, Michael Potter and Chief of the Air Staff, Lieutenant General Yvan Blondin. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141716288-QBI6I29A7YS61VLXIPT4/TopTen45.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141777171-L1FUCG9NSSN41628X4B8/TopTen46.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out One of the big thrills of the Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show this year was the aggressive flight demonstration put on by Captain Patrick “Paco” Gobeil. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141806512-795JW5K8LTSKECFI2L2O/TopTen47.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show received a huge shot in the arm over the last two years when we were selected for an appearance by the RCAF's Snowbirds. The Snowbirds in your air show line-up is like having the Rolling Stones at your music festival – a guarantee of a good crowd and a good show. Unfortunately, because we have had them two years in a row, they won't be back in 2013. We have our fingers crossed that we could entice Jerry Yagen's new Mosquito to come North. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141842978-MMZ9IK75LC414QRDKYYU/TopTen48.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Weather played a big role in the 2012 air show, with rain coming through on each day. The rain drenched ramp was a photographer's dream, with reflective pools to mesmerize camera buffs. Despite the rain, the crowds were large each day. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629141896230-1ETQ8FD8YYSPK9LJTRMG/TopTen5.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142002406-M07JNVC8UTS6MPPXL2B7/TopTen8.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out CTV news camera crews, producers and Hutcheson arrived at 4 AM to get set for the morning's broadcast. Our staff was there when they arrived, with coffee on. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142030700-WQ35CM9FJNJ1M18X4R5P/TopTen6.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Jeff Hutcheson bucks a rivet on a Spitfire spar under the tutelage of metals and structures guru Ken Wood. Hutcheson enjoyed it so much that he bucked another after the cameras stopped rolling. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142067108-SSQ8F8BXFY4QF03ECZHS/TopTen7.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out In addition to the national exposure we received by being on Canada AM, the CTV national morning news broadcast, we did it all over again the following morning, with many key individuals appearing on the local CTV Morning show, being interviewed by the lovely-gammed Sarah Freemark. There were several segments presented on the morning show. To view them on YouTube, click the following links: Heather and Rob Fleck talk about the air show. Click here to see our Hangar Dogs on CTV. Click here to see Ken Wood show Sarah how to buck herself a rivet. Click here to see Dan Dempsey explain the history of the Golden Hawks and Hawk One. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142181120-14HKY0O4CPGMINRVLCH7/TopTen21.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142261012-AE0SQ05KAPEBFRDJGR0Z/TopTen22.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Some of the pilots of the Yellow Wings Down Home, Down East tour pose together in front of the Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Harvard IV at Woodstock, New Brunswick. Left to right: Rob Fleck, George King, Todd Lemieux, Mike Ruddick and Team Leader Heather Fleck. Photo: Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142310243-1EXVLHDDNQ6AJSGVN64B/TopTen23.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Being able to tell ordinary Canadians about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a privilege for Chairman of the Vintage Wings Board, Todd Lemieux. Todd joined the tour for a month this summer, flying the Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae Tiger Moth. Photo: Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142340209-Q8XGC0HZYA3EBMNQAJJP/TopTen24.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out A beautiful summer's day in the Maritimes and a beautiful old gal to fly... Yellow Wings pilot John Sterchi enjoys a magical moment. Photo: Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142367392-WOUXQ51JN8Q29SW15WF2/TopTen25.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out High above the Maritimes, Chris Cormier in the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch, holds station on Todd Lemieux in the Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae Tiger Moth. Photo: Yellow Wing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142400719-HJSJBBRM7HGED8P705UC/TopTen40.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142591344-5LA5SRX1SBUTZUC40VM4/TopTen18.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Vintage Wings' Chris Hadfield (top) and his fellow Soyuz Mission 34 crew members, American Tom Marshburn (bottom) and Russian Roman Romanenko wave goodbye, as they prepare to ride the elevator to the Soyuz spacecraft. CSA Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142623423-RL0Y5OZJ3AYJ2FPSSPOJ/TopTen20.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out A few seconds after the “candle is lit”, the Soyuz rocket lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying our beloved Vintage Wings volunteer. CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142661091-6Z5J4A1RTKHDUNUPNM2V/TopTen15.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Down on the ground, Hadfield is a hard working volunteer, but on the ISS, it seems he has become a floater. CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142706185-3Y4ZHQI6OKAJON3N9649/TopTen17.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Christmastime is a family time. This Christmas, we are happy to share one of our family with the world. Photo via Chris Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142743040-6EAIFNPPXU7KYMBIMMIW/TopTen1.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142805295-HYFTTLI5VVTIYOZ3K7EQ/TopTen2.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out At 500 feet, Lemieux hands over control of the Stearman to Warrant Officer Harry Hannah, and for the next 30 minutes he banked and climbed and soared like he was 19 again. Todd would later add on his Facebook page “He took the controls and flew like it was yesterday. It was a great honour to fly with him.” Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142832706-SVJTPRB7VJW8K65POGDF/TopTen3.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out The elegant and humble Harry Hannah of Glasgow, Scotland and “his” Stearman. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142873281-S1VMS7BJW1N7WNBW5EKK/TopTen4.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Right from the outset, the Harry Hannah Stearman team began proselytizing across the country. In Swift Current, they allowed a bevy of beauties to use the Stearman as a wedding photo backdrop, but only if they took the time to hear the Harry Hannah story. By the time Todd Lemieux was finished, these young ladies had learned much about the generation of their grandparents and its sacrifice. They were so touched and impressed with the story that they wanted to thank Harry personally. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142903582-WAAQF7XLSFB6HIQIEELK/TopTen49.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629142994936-KEX7MR9Q6E6CZ8D0XPD4/TopTen12.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey may be an air show legend and Sierra Hotel demonstration pilot, but what he is best at is sharing his knowledge, experience, passion and child-like exuberance with young people. Over the years, we have learned from Dan and Dan's personal experience, that we have a chance, and dare we say, a duty, to change young people's lives for the good, by providing a flight demonstration of breathtaking beauty, followed up by one-on-one role modelling. It is at moments like this one, at the Cold Lake Cadet Camp in 2012, that we began to realize the inspirational power of our aircraft and especially the men and women that fly them. This is the moment when our mission finally became clear in our minds – reach out to our youth and provide them with an example of the possible, combined with a message of discipline, sacrifice and honour. Photo: Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629143021848-WQ5J8FNWI1IDSCNCQF6D/TopTen11.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Dan Dempsey has set the standard for all of us in commitment, endurance and passion for reaching youth with the message of realizing their dreams. Dan knows personally the power of this message, for, in the early 1960s, he watched the Golden Hawks fly their show at RCAF Station Rockcliffe and met Fern Villeneuve, the team lead. It was while seeing their show and being inspired by their professionalism, that Dan decided to become a pilot in the RCAF. After years as a CF-104 fighter pilot, two tours with the Snowbirds including one as Snowbird One, a long career as a Cathay Pacific 747 Captain, a historian, author and book publisher, Hawk One Team Lead, and now Top Aces pilot, Dan has achieved much since Fern Villeneuve gave him that big boost. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629143052178-R7RK2XFIZ01OQXZQU5PF/TopTen50.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out Last summer, the Robillard Brothers Mustang and the Squadron Leader Fern Villeneuve Sabre made a powerful impression on hundreds of bright, high-achieving young Canadian boys and girls. Of all we do, this is where the rubber hits the road, where our mission takes shape and results in success. DND Photo by Cpl Ian Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629143079652-Q3YORGGJ8VTM6KI1YBYQ/TopTen10.jpg The Stories - 2012 — It Was a Vintage Year - Make it stand out While Dan and Rob Fleck were seeing the results of setting a powerful example for air cadets at Cold Lake, George King and all the Yellow Wings team were experiencing the same thing throughout the East Coast when air cadets came out to see and learn from the stories of our heroes of the Second World War. Photo: Yellow Wings https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ya-gotta-go monthly 0.5 2021-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132541804-791QT0FJRZZUT92O2EN8/GottaGo17.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132629397-9XC6Z1PDK9GIAKF5ZTQC/GottaGo15.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out A cutaway drawing of an Avro Lancaster showing the location of the Elsan toilet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629133327295-KE8KHPJ8IKOVQF55DKZM/GottaGo13.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out The exposed Elsan toilet in a Lancaster's rear fuselage. Being at the aft end of the long fuselage, sitting unsecured on this device, in heavy turbulence, would pretty well guarantee injury or a nasty covering of effluent... or both. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629133371947-VYY8GF469TAZ0FZ2XEP9/GottaGo14.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out An aircrew sergeant demonstrates the “facilities.” Reviled by all aircrew on bombers which employed them, the Elsan toilet was certainly not the place for a relaxed commode-read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629133600855-J9TN0MZVVT0R2D4OG3RW/GottaGo6.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out The Handley Page Halifax was one of the four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing. The Halifax was also operated by squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Free French Air Force, and Polish Forces. – Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629133746342-T7TLCN21W5YZUUDV572B/GottaGo8.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. – Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629134437666-03M3DMKN65BREGVTEOYR/GottaGo12.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629134497964-GO8101BR1Q6CTNF02CCU/GottaGo16.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629134836403-W7GHJS7YVT8QBYPBVJS9/GottaGo7.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629134894753-6IL4BJC25I7KJSG0HZ4W/GottaGo10.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629134972296-IJX1XMNJ2NXOW5W0GLGT/GottaGo11.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629135097083-1G0RW4G5TFWMZQNM0DAH/GottaGo5.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629135493306-CGPELEXWS7JKZJISHVE4/GottaGo18.jpg The Stories - IF YA GOTTA GO, YA GOTTA GO! - Make it stand out Good old “702” was a Cessna Bird Dog, a much-loved observation and army liaison aircraft, seen here in Canadian Army markings. After unification in 1967, the Canadian Army ceased to operated flying assets such as the L-19, Boeing Vertol Helicopters. The Canadian Army utilized this Aircraft as an observation platform to guide the shells of the artillery's guns and self-propelled Howitzers. The Aircraft was not known to be fast but, at three feet off the ground, you felt like you were supersonic. Many of these aircraft became tow-planes for the Royal Canadian Air Cadet glider program after they were retired from the Regular Forces. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/illustrious-hero monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629127547564-PZ0PBA7HLCFZVIHIMQ7M/PawsonTitle2.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629127660832-QWGRIIDH7AUNDGJCJSB4/Pawson40.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Just a week before his death, on 19 January 2013, Hugh Pawson and Paul Kissmann deliver a close-up inspection of the aircraft they both know so well at the Warbird U Corsair Ground School. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629127876562-F6U1H1YQEDO20TZVUSP8/Pawson66.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A photograph taken during Pawson's early training days with the caption indicating it as taken at HMS St. Vincent in August of 1942. This photo must have been taken when these young men (Pawson on left and Fred Moore on the right) had just been issued new gear, for their flight boots, suits and gauntlets are in brand new condition. After crossing the Atlantic in 1942, Hugh had orders to join Pilots Training Course No. 39 at St. Vincent. Many young pilots-to-be couldn't wait to send home photographs of themselves in the heroic-looking gear of an airman. Although similar, this photo was taken at a different time than the following image as there are several differences to be noted – different bricks on the building in the background, goggles, and no Gosport speaking tube. Speaking of Gosport (pun intended) this photograph was taken at HMS St. Vincent which was a Fleet Air Arm shore establishment in Gosport, Hampshire, England at which pilots and observers of the Fleet Air Arm spent their first few weeks. St. Vincent was a training facility for officers of the Fleet Air Arm and an overflow for the Royal Navy barracks. A signal school was also established along with a torpedo training section. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629127950016-GX5Z9II5TPEH46JUM5G4/Pawson8.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The caption with this photograph simply says “October, 1942”, and it was clearly taken during Pawson's early training days on Pilot Course No. 39, as he is wearing the flight gear associated with RAF and RCAF flight training in cooler weather, including a gosport tube communications system. Given the gear he was wearing in the previous image taken at St. Vincent, and the fact that other Canadian Naval pilots (such as Hellcat pilot Lt. Bill Atkinson, DSC) did their basic flying training there, this is also likely St. Vincent or the airfield they trained at nearby. After his basic pilot training in England, Hugh was sent back across the Atlantic to US Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan for Flight Training and then on to USNAS Pensacola, Florida for further flight training. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629127993105-U3K1FLOB9O9HWW4PO18T/Pawson67.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out This postwar photograph of a parade at HMS St. Vincent helps us confirm that the previous photograph (two before this one) was taken at the same place. The arcade of arches and brick columns is identical to those visible in the opening photograph with Pawson and Moore. This is the very same facility that another famous Canadian RCNVR Corsair pilot, Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC, began his flying career. Like Gray, Pawson would return to North America to complete his flying training (Gray at Kingston, Ontario and Pawson at Pensacola and Grosse Ile, U.S.A.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128035137-PPZEVY0LKB2EW3DY52P7/Pawson9.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out In August of 1942, Hugh Pawson (left rear) appears to be in England, as this photo's caption states that it was taken on Isle of Thanet at sea. Isle of Thanet, or properly TSS Isle of Thanet, was an English Channel ferry, famous for its participation in the Dunkirk evacuation. The six men are “square-rigged” and wearing Cadet Rating white bands around their hats. Square rig, which consisted of jumper, bell bottom trousers and round hat, was worn by all seaman ratings and those who passed the Admiralty Selection Board were issued with two white cap bands to be worn in place of the normal cap badges and these denoted them as ‘Cadet Ratings.' They were not afforded the title ‘officers under training’ until the final two weeks of the 12-week course. Back row: Hugh "Moe" Pawson, John "Lofty" Thomlison, Clive Woodward, NZ; Front row: Tommy Dunn, Pete Coltman, Podge Morton. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128082022-9OJCAPUXUPGL185OCX5S/Pawson65.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Isle of Thanet as a Dover and English Channel ferry. In August of 1940, Isle of Thanet was fitted up at Merseyside as a Fleet Air Arm target vessel and then commissioned as HMS Isle of Thanet. From refit, she went to work at Crail Naval Air Station in Scotland as a target ship for the Naval Air Torpedo School. Hugh and his friends were there to do a short stint as hands aboard the vessel. Photo via Roy Thornton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128137033-SI938ZFFF9WD0RVRKCGK/Pawson14.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The caption in Hugh's photo album reads “The "Natives" at McAdam, N.B., Oct 42”. McAdam Junction was an important railway hub and service centre during the Second World War. Perhaps the young sailors got off the train from Halifax to pose for this shot during a long wait before moving on to their final destinations which, in the case of Hugh Pawson,was Grosse Ile, Michigan and Pensacola, Florida. If the caption says October '42 and the photo of them aboard Isle of Thanet says August '42, then this shot was taken upon their return. Hugh is at the centre back with two sailors on his shoulders. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128176668-ORRAN5YAUM9VO5V4NNFP/Pawson64.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Naval Air Station Grosse Ile was an airfield located on the southern tip of Grosse Ile, Michigan. It operated from 1927 until late 1969, and is now a township airport. During the Second World War, NASGI was one of the largest primary flight training stations for Naval aviators and other Allied pilots. Among the many thousands of Navy pilots who began their careers at NASGI were former President George H.W. Bush, and game show host Bob Barker. During the war, over 5,000 pilots received training at Grosse Ile, mostly Navy cadets, along with over a thousand RAF pilot trainees. The primary aircraft stationed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile during the war years were Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Vought F4U Corsairs, Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, and Grumman TBM Avengers. Training was also conducted using SNJ, and Boeing Stearman trainers. Image via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128236932-09TFSOIY7VTTZXTQNO0L/Pawson70.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The massive US Naval Air Station Pensacola located on the coast of the Florida panhandle. It was here in sunny Florida that Hugh did further training on SNJs (Texan/Harvard.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128275288-EYDS2GJVEFUHFIOW7U0Z/Pawson72.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Four United States Navy SNJ trainers in surprising numerical order (45, 46, 47, 48) thunder across Pensacola's famous multiple runway configuration. Hugh would gain additional flight time on these types of aircraft before heading back north to Lewiston and Brunswick. Maine for Corsair conversion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128746258-C76WV23HP9XKSU76219W/Pawson71.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Three Pensacola-based SNJ Trainers form up echelon left over the Gulf of Mexico. Hugh would fly the SNJ and earn his Navy wings at Pensacola. Having trained at a USN base, Hugh was also entitled to wear the US Navy's wings of gold as well as his Royal Navy FAA wings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128772818-LPWW2XXQP9C1VMDEOKE4/Pawson2.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Officer Donald Hugh “Moe” Pawson cuts a handsome and dashing figure in his crisp Royal Navy whites. He wears the bullion “Wavy Navy” epaulette stripes and loop of a Sub-Lieutenant of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (Air Branch). In the middle of the square loop of shoulder braid is the letter “A” for Air Branch. Given the fact that Hugh has no naval aviator wings and that the cars behind are American, we might presume that this image was taken at Grosse Ile or more likely later at Pensacola, before or possibly on the day he received his wings. Hugh is smoking a cigarette, something he no doubt later gave up, given his eventual longevity. Photo: Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128814782-0NUUNIEJ9UQ8RN79DQ9K/Pawson4.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A freshly minted aviator of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. This hand tinted photograph shows us a hint of the youth and internal strength that would be needed for Hugh to survive the coming hardships. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128877377-OP24FUFEVNEMG6UP29GR/Pawson59.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out From advanced flying training and his Navy wings at Pensacola, Hugh was sent to the neighbouring airfields at Lewiston and Brunswick, Maine – essentially a combined Corsair OTU, where he met three other Corsair pilots who were training up to fly with 1830 Squadron, now aboard HMS Illustrious. Though they had their wings, the young, inexperienced pilots would soon learn that it was a big step from SNJs to Grumman Martlets (Wildcats) and to the high performance Chance Vought Corsair. Here, a little heavy footwork on the brakes by another Fleet Air Arm pilot trainee resulted in a nose-over at Brunswick's Royal Navy training facility. Photo via Howard King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128904234-0WZTCYY1ZAJSZAN04WPI/Pawson58.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A great shot of a Royal Navy F4U-1A in flight out of Brunswick, Maine. This might have been one of the Corsairs Hugh flew during his time there. When researching this story, I found a website called “Corsair Country” with photographs submitted by Howard King, the son of another Royal Navy Corsair pilot from Brunswick. For an interesting video of a model that shows what the Brunswick Corsairs and in particular this Corsair (5P) looked like, click here. It is Howard King's father, Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant Peter King, who is flying the Corsair in this photograph. Photo via Howard King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128942343-A7TXA9TFADSV912PL694/Pawson57.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Low-level flying training at Brunswick, Maine introduced some interesting new twists. This F4U likely crash-landed on the ice of Sebago Lake, Maine and ran up on to the rocky shore (there is no evidence that it crashed in the direction it is pointed) . Photo via Howard King at Corsair Country https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629128983684-EYUDX28KOM7GJCPJLLMI/Pawson60.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Located on the Androscoggin River, one mile east of Brunswick, Maine and 26 miles northeast of Portland, Naval Air Station Brunswick served mainly as an advanced flight training facility for Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadrons that were transitioning to the Chance Vought F4U Corsair fighter. However, the base also supported operational detachments of various U.S. Navy squadrons. In this shot we can see Corsairs, Wildcats, Avengers and SNJ/Texans. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129044004-FSMTBWQJXMYBHPMQ2I9S/Pawson61.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A photograph of one of Brunswick's Corsair-crammed hangars. When the first four FAA Corsair squadrons, two of which 1830 and 1833, were deployed on Illustrious for that first cruise, they did not have time to actually qualify for landing Corsairs on a carrier at Brunswick, but had to do that in the UK. The Squadrons did sail with their aircraft to the UK from Virginia Beach aboard the carrier HMS Trumpeter... but get this, the pilots couldn't "land on" aboard Trumpeter, as they weren't qualified. Instead they landed at what is probably now NAS Oceana, and literally taxied their Corsairs themselves down the city streets, with engines running and their wings folded, before the Corsairs were hoisted aboard Trumpeter! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129073645-D6UGKGNNH3NAWZ1H0PIC/Pawson53.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out An early model Corsair, based at Brunswick, Maine slides in close to the camera to reveal her curious Canadian style Maple Leaf nose art. Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, was originally constructed and occupied in March 1943, and was first commissioned on 15 April 1943, to train and form up Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots to fly squadrons of the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, and of the Grumman TBF Avenger and F6F Hellcat, for the British Naval Command. Hugh, along with three other Canadians, was training up on the Corsair here in 1943 and was part of a squadron forming up to go to Ceylon to replace pilots lost in accidents and in action with HMS Illustrious. Research indicates that 1830 Squadron, with which Pawson was to serve aboard Illustrious, was formed up in June of 1943, but at NAS Quonset Point, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. In January of 1944, Hugh was ready for operations and was sent via train to San Francisco, California to embark on a ship for Ceylon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129118299-SMMMZREVZJBLOVN0LTL2/Pawson49.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A formation of six Chance Vought Corsairs flying over New England countryside, with British markings and Royal Navy FAA airmen at the controls. This was towards the conclusion of their training in America, just before their departure for deck landing trials. They were flying from Lewiston, Maine. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129177245-IUZNSLWN735PE37XP31L/Pawson50.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Five Chance Vought Corsairs from the same group as the previous photo fly in tight formation over the New England countryside, with Royal Navy markings and airmen at the controls. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129213684-PKB1L2FSVOXJGC6NSQTB/Pawson78.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Data plate for F4U-1 Corsair JT289 which was lost in a fatal accident on 1 December 1943 with SLt J.D. Wallace of 1836 Squadron at the controls. The aircraft broke up in flight during a dive from 25,000 feet over the city of Brunswick, Maine. The engine landed in the garden of the home owned at one time by Harriet Beacher Stowe (the American abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin). The Corsair would almost certainly have been around when Hugh Pawson served at Brunswick, and he may very well have flown her. Photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129253372-RDQBEHHG4XWNQ7KK20TF/Pawson63.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Lord Halifax, British ambassador to Washington, inspects fresh graduates from the Brunswick Corsair OTU at about the time, in 1944, when Hugh passed through. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, TD, PC (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as Foreign Secretary from 1938 to 1940. As such he is often regarded as one of the architects of the policy of appeasement prior to World War II. During the war, he was shuffled out of Parliament and served as British Ambassador in Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129383675-QPSSOW63S6HI6D3MHVX0/Pawson77.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The launch of HMS Illustrious on 5 April 1939 at Vickers-Armstrongs Works in Barrow-in-Furness. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129418296-DPWGBFQM1YALC1JKMCR3/Pawson79.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious as seen at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean from the flight deck of HMS Unicorn. Corsairs and Barracudas can be seen in silhouette aboard her flight deck. Januar, 1944. (William Johnson photo – via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129504732-QOCW4459B6Z9UEQ7M338/Pawson51.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Many Fleet Air Arm fighter units were created and equipped in the U.S., at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Brunswick, Maine, and many other places. They were then shipped to war theatres on board escort carriers. The first Corsair unit of the FAA was No. 1830 Squadron, created on the first of June 1943, and soon operating from HMS Illustrious. This is a photo of an Illustrious-based Corsair taxiing after landing in 1943, shortly after the squadron formed up at Quonset Point. Photo: Imperial War Museum A 20999, Lt. C.H. Parnell, RN FAA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129543021-C12VA848EIIWIFSXRLUS/Pawson24.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out This image of a FAA Corsair dropping down to catch perhaps the second or third of seven wires was in Hugh's album, but has been identified as having been taken the year before he joined the ship's complement. Photo via Pawson Family Album https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129575797-XMAERXVD4ULFDCWXMXFL/Pawson73.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out All landings on Fleet Air Arm carriers were dangerous and all were attempted by only qualified and highly trained pilots. Still, many aircraft and pilots were lost to accidents as a result of trying to land one of the Navy's most challenging aircraft on a short and narrow steel island that was moving away from you. Here, rescue crews and fire crews in asbestos suits attempt to extract the pilot from this overturned Corsair on the deck of Illustrious in 1943. It is worthy of note that Hugh Pawson made his very first carrier deck landing, or “trap”, at sea during blue water operations and landed the difficult aircraft just fine. Photo: Imperial War Museum A 20999, Lt. C.H. Parnell, RN FAA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129611036-7NKDPSPIP73L422537W4/Pawson74.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A gorgeous sunny day and an HMS Illustrious Corsair is down and dirty with flaps, hook and gear hanging. What could go wrong? Photo: Imperial War Museum A 24275, Lt. C. Trusler, RN FAA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129650229-O07XZ5USUY9X4J4A2DYE/Pawson13.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Much of the danger of naval aviation lay not in the operations against enemy targets and adversaries, but rather in simply launching from and recovering aboard Royal Navy Fleet Carriers like HMS Illustrious. The photograph found in Hugh's collection predates him joining the complement on board the carrier. Taken on 12 September 1943, this shot shows a Corsair that has come to grief against the carrier's island while the ship was operating near Greenock, Scotland. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129682894-E0KGZT3EQZZ9SHGNQL1I/Pawson76.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Corsairs and Barracudas aboard the flight deck of HMS Unicorn as she sails for Trincomalee in January 1944 with HMS Illustrious and battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth to her rear. The nearest Fairey Barracuda on the far left, P9886, went on to serve aboard HMS Illustrious, being lost in a non-fatal takeoff accident on 11 June 1944 with SLt D.B. Hayter at the controls. William Johnson photo – via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629129713494-YDHK3IJTR145993HY5LW/Pawson80.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious just off Gibraltar in January 1944, as seen from the flight deck of HMS Unicorn. Her deck is arrayed with Corsairs and Barracudas for the journey to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean at Trincomalee, Ceylon. While Illustrious was making this journey, Hugh Pawson was boarding a ship in San Francisco, bound for Ceylon as well. They would soon meet up. The eight horizontal crane-like structures or masts protruding from her sides are part of the long-range radio antenna. These communications masts run along each side of the ship, and deploy vertically when in use, but are lowered during aircraft operations for obvious reasons. William Johnson photo – via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130604907-OHZAHXQS0CQ4KTFUL67E/Pawson54.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out After his OTU training on Corsairs at Brunswick, Maine, Hugh boarded a ship in San Francisco, bound for Ceylon, where he was to train further on the Chance Vought Corsair and to eventually catch up with 1830 Squadron. The FAA OTU 757 Squadron operated at HMS Rajaliya (Sinahala for “Eagle”) at Puttalam on the northwest coast of Ceylon. Puttalam is famous among history buffs as the place that sometimes used elephants instead of wheeled mules to move aircraft around. As the British expanded their operations on the island, the airstrip of HMS Rajaliya was cut out of thick jungle at Puttalam. The grass strip was reinforced with metal. Even the heavy American-built Chance Vought F4U Corsairs used the runway, but during the wet season many a Corsair went sliding off into the muddy ground that surrounded the strip. It was then that the Navy called in its special Pachyderm towing vehicles to haul the aircraft back to solid ground. Operating in conditions where towing tractors became quickly bogged down, the “Puttalam Elephants” provided an invaluable service. They soon became part of the flying and ground crews fraternity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130647765-RWVP9PIACQPNZGPY55HA/Pawson23.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A photograph of Hugh Pawson standing proudly on a 757 Squadron Corsair at Puttalam, Ceylon in 1944. 757 Squadron Fleet Air Arm was the FAA OTU at Puttalam, training pilots on everything from Supermarine Walruses to the Corsair, Seafire or Martlet. It was at Puttalam that Hugh began the process of becoming a true Royal Navy carrier pilot. He joined the carrier and 1830 Squadron in early May of 1944. While on Ceylon, Hugh also flew Grumman Martlet (Wildcat) fighters, likely with 757. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130746036-J87ZV0QIHUBNJ9V5R9TF/Pawson82.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Trincomalee Harbour, Ceylon; February 1944. HMS Unicorn is in the foreground, with cruiser HMS Renown and carrier HMS Illustrious immediately behind. Hugh Pawson left New York City in January of 1944, bound for the Far East and set to join 1830 Squadron aboard Illustrious. This photo would have been taken about the time Pawson was reaching Ceylon. One can see the long-range radio masts deployed vertically on Unicorn and Illustrious in the distance. William Johnson photo – via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130675939-W9P30W8DHELVAE6MPDJG/Pawson81.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The cruiser HMS Renown and carrier HMS Illustrious in Trincomalee Harbour, Ceylon. They arrived on 31 January 1944 so this is probably in early February 1944, shortly before they departed to join the British Pacific Fleet in March 1944. William Johnson photo – via Richard Mallory Allnutt collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130780363-J96J1MTOA1W4F56QD9RL/Pawson75.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A Royal Navy Corsair seems to be torque-stalling in an attempt to put max power on for a go around. This could not have ended happily. This photograph was taken on Illustrious after she had made her way to the Southeast Asian theatre of operations, as this doomed Corsair sports the SEAC Roundels – sans red centre circle. Photo: Imperial War Museum A 29271, Lt. C.H. Parnell, RN FAA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130822529-ALYO3OUWXVWNSOOLWSGC/Pawson10.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Pilots of 15 Fighter Wing, Surabaya, Java, 19 May 1944, with Hugh Pawson standing at extreme right in the back row. This was the day of Hugh Pawson's 22nd birthday and was shortly after he joined the squadron. The 15th Naval Fighter Wing was, just one month before, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Richard “Dickie” Cork, a Royal Navy ace and a rare naval fighter pilot flying Hawker Hurricanes with 242 Canadian Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Sadly, he was killed at China Bay, Trincomalee, Ceylon when he collided with another aircraft, already on the active runway, while making his second attempt to land on the local airfield at night. The man who was sent to take command was Lieutenant Commander (acting) Mike Tritton who went on to gain their respect and form the pilots into a true fighting force. He is seated sixth from the left. 15 Wing was comprised of the squadrons attached to HMS Illustrious. Only in the Navy could you find bearded fighter pilots! Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130876944-IUP1U3IS8FXUYILX4TKR/Pawson3.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Another photograph from the same sitting as the previous shot shows 30 pilots of the 15th Fighter Wings of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm at Surabaya. Hugh stands at far right. Mike Tritton, the Wing's new Commander sits dead centre. The pilots in the Wing group photo are as follows: Back row: Harry Whelpton, Reg Shaw, Matt Barbour, Tony Graham-Cann, Jock Fullerton, R. Quigg, Steve Starkey, Pete Richardson (wing observer), Jake Millard, Eric Rogers, Hugh MacLaren, Colin Facer, Stan Buchan, Gord Aitken, Moe Pawson; Middle row, seated: S. Seebeck, Johnny Baker, Alan Booth, Bosh Munnock, Norm Hanson, Mike Tritton, Bud Sutton, Percy Cole, Don Hadman, Tiddles Brown, Les Retallick; Front row, sitting on deck: Neil Brynildsen, Jimmy Clark, Mike Ritchie, Brian Guy. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130927661-UCC17MNV2IWYRXDQRFTC/Pawson26.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo reveals Hugh at right, resplendent in his Navy whites and tropical shorts. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629130965123-PIMZZ3ZA2S09F2GG3SH4/Pawson20.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out An image from Hugh Pawson's album shows 16 Fleet Air Arm Corsairs from Illustrious doing a flypast of the waterfront in Colombo, Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka.) The date is Remembrance Day, 11 November 1944, and with the war beginning to wind down and Japan reeling backwards to their homeland, the Royal Navy was clearly taking the time to remember their losses and impress civilian and military personnel watching from the Galle Face Green, the open grassy sward in front of the Ceylonese Houses of Parliament on Colombo. It was also the fourth anniversary of Illustrious' attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto in the Mediterranean Sea, giving these proud FAA aviators plenty of reason to fly the flag. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131022891-AX18ACN4M5P2IL3FLBIT/Pawson18.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Thousands of people cram the open area on the Colombo waterfront known as Galle Face Green. In the distance are the Ceylonese Parliament Buildings. The caption accompanying this photograph states “22 flight coming out final turn on target, Colombo, Nov 11, 1944”, so this is likely all part of the Royal Navy's flying demonstration on Remembrance Day or possibly the 4th anniversary of the Battle of Taranto, in which Illustrious played such a powerful role. We are not sure if 1830 Squadron was part of the flypasts or if Hugh was the photographer on the ground. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131089143-RRT56GDCSNI3G5XQOOPP/Pawson42.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A recent photograph taken from a hotel balcony in Colombo, Sri Lanka shows the same building, now known as the Old Parliament Buildings. Photo by Brian Scott https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131134325-YYCMOS0WBIYRNIJAEQAE/Pawson19.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A final image in the group of photographs from Pawson's album that were taken at Galle Face Green, Colombo on 11 November 1944. It shows possibly the same group of Corsairs (22 Flight?) and is certainly taken at the same time as the cloud formations are very similar. We also see other military equipment on display including a Fairey Barracuda aircraft, which must have been trucked to the site. Photo: Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131200298-2M9BWXLQWPBSPFMLJBTS/Pawson52.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious formed the core of a rebuilt Eastern Fleet, deployed to the Indian Ocean. Embarked on her were two Corsair squadrons, 1830 and 1833. Following a refit at Durban (South Africa) between July and December 1944, HMS Illustrious returned to the Eastern Fleet from December 1944 to January 1945, when she took part in air strikes against oilfields on Sumatra in December 1944, and Palembang in January 1945. Hugh Pawson was Mentioned in Despatches for his actions against the oil refineries and airfields at Palembang, Sumatra. From January 1945, Illustrious was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet. After repairs in a Sydney, Australia dry dock, operations recommenced in March and again in April 1945, with air strikes against Sakishima Gunto and Formosa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131231935-ZAY9MOZZ0LOM7UWUISNX/Pawson56.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The burning oil refineries at Palembang, Sumatra. Hugh Pawson joined the carrier HMS Illustrious on 5 May 1944. Illustrious and Pawson's 1830 Squadron steamed for Sumatra after her refit in Durban to take part in Operation Meridian and Meridian II. Planned for two days earlier but delayed because of bad weather, the first Meridian attack took place on 24 January with 43 Avengers, armed with 172 500lb bombs, supported by 12 rocket-firing Fairey Firefly aircraft and about 50 fighters of which Pawson's Corsair was one. Some of the Avengers and part of the fighter escort attacked the Japanese-held principal airfields in the area. The fighter sweep destroyed 34 enemy aircraft on the airfields but could not prevent all the Japanese fighters getting airborne. Pawson was Mentioned in Despatches and gazetted for his service that day, accounting for 8 of the 34 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground and two additional damaged. Despite heavy flak, the operation was a big success. The output of the refinery was halved for three months and most of the oil in the storage tanks was consumed in the fires. During the course of Meridian, a total of seven FAA aircraft were lost. Operation Meridian II followed on 29 January 1945. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131287776-WS6HI7AHWEXEPSGITBU8/Pawson16.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious sits in dry dock in Australia while her centre propeller shaft is repaired. The Sydney, Australia dry dock or, as it was known, the Captain Cook Graving Dock, was a massive repair facility: 1,139 feet 5 inches (347.29 metres) long, 147 feet 7.5 inches (45 metres) wide and with 45 feet (13.72 metres) draught of water. The dock was not yet finished when Illustrious showed up limping into Sydney harbour. The construction was sufficiently advanced however to allow the emergency docking of HMS Illustrious on 2 March 1945, three weeks before the official opening ceremony. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131326973-I4RIVZ0NXZYXL9M5T6FS/Pawson43.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Seen here as a fighting unit of the British Pacific Fleet, following her emergency docking in the Captain Cook Graving Dock from 2–5 March to remedy a propeller shaft problem, Illustrious left Sydney in mid-afternoon on 6 March. Some Corsair squadrons, left ashore at the Royal Australian Navy air field at Nowra, flew aboard the next morning, 7 March, off the coast as she headed north for the British Pacific Fleet's advance base at Manus Island, and thence to the assault on Sakishima Gunto – where she suffered kamikaze hits. Photo: Warship Review, courtesy Ashley Moore https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131484107-1GR1BVQJM7LO2RKKIDC8/Pawson44.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Another shot of HMS Illustrious high and dry in Sydney's Captain Cook Graving Dock, with some of her Corsair complement on the forward deck and her long-range communications masts deployed vertically. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131516558-DTCJWOSI2LFSLPOMPQON/Pawson45.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A Fleet Air Arm Corsair launches from the deck of HMS Illustrious in the Southeast Asia theatre. We can tell this because the Royal Navy roundel has no centre red circle and carries the bars common to the US Navy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131549485-9RSZFDQUFTHRMMOY2PR5/Pawson46.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The hangar deck of HMS Illustrious, absolutely jam-packed with stowed Corsairs and maintenance crews. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131576458-2EI41XWXMPH3LSLHJB76/Pawson12.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Looking like a Ralph Lauren fashion model, and exuding confidence and youthful élan, a handsome Hugh Pawson (centre) poses in civvies with two squadron mates at Diyatalawa, Ceylon, January 1945, while on leave from operations aboard HMS Illustrious. Diyatalawa is a garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is at an altitude of 1,499 m (4,918 ft) and, today, has become a popular destination for local holiday makers and leave takers looking for relief from the swelter of coastal Ceylon (Sri Lanka.) Clearly Pawson and his mates were there for the same reason – relief from the swelter of Colombo. Note Pawson's white Grosse Ile sweatshirt. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131630530-961TR82R0FQSI7SMPT2Y/Pawson15.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious or possibly Victorious launching Corsairs off Sakishima, in April 1945. The Sakishima Islands (Sakishima Gunto) are an island chain located at the southernmost end of the Japanese Archipelago. At this time, while supporting the invasion of Okinawa, the British Pacific Fleet had sole responsibility for operations in the Sakishima area. Its role was to suppress Japanese air activity, using gunfire and air attack, at potential kamikaze staging airfields that would otherwise be a threat to U.S. Navy vessels operating at Okinawa. The carriers were subject to heavy and repeated kamikaze attacks, but because of their armoured flight decks, the British aircraft carriers proved highly resistant, and returned to action relatively quickly. US Navy ships had decks of wood, which were highly susceptible to damage and gasoline fires. It was here that Illustrious was seriously damaged by a kamikaze attack and had to retire from the fray. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131655168-YP6E79XEQ9WC5TK2BCJ4/Pawson21.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A Royal Navy secret recce photo (dated 3 January 1945) in Hugh's personal album shows Nobara Airfield, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service landing strip on the island of Miyako Jima. The image was taken by a PBY of Air Force United States Pacific Fleet Photographer Interpretations Squadron Two (Interpron Two). While arrows point to barracks buildings we have no difficulty seeing the runways and dispersal revetments. As US Navy and Royal Navy ships and aircraft swept up the Japanese archipelagos like Sakishima on their way to Okinawa, they came up against a deadly surprise – the suicide attacks of the kamikazes. Every airfield on every island up the chain to Japan would offer up sons of the Emperor on the altar of the Divine Wind. Japanese records indicate that seven kamikaze aircraft were launched from Nobara during the Sakishima battles of late March and April of 1945. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131681308-3D9A7SRWNNQG2GQDPBEP/Pawson11.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out 1830 Squadron pilots mill about the deck of HMS Illustrious prior to a launch. Hugh Pawson stands at the right. Left to right: Eric Rogers, Les Retallick, “Tiddles” Brown, Alan Broth, Mike Tritton, Hugh Pawson, Bosh Munnock (cut off in this shot.) Mike Tritton was Lieutenant Commander (acting) AM Tritton, DSC, RNVR who commanded the squadron for all of its operational life aboard Illustrious – from December 1943 to July 1945. Tritton died in 2004 at the age of 83. During his career, he was awarded three Distinguished Service Crosses. Tritton was asked to command 15 Wing (of which 1830 was part) after the loss of their first, and much-loved commander, Dickie Cork. He took command of 15 Naval Fighter Wing in April 1944, and found that his men were much affected by the death of Wing Commander Cork, who had been Douglas Bader's wingman in No. 242 Canadian Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Tritton rebuilt the morale of the squadron's young pilots, earning their admiration and respect, and he led them on a number of successful attacks on Japanese-held shore facilities at Sabang and at Surabaya, during which 15 Wing Corsairs shot down four aircraft. After the war, the much decorated ace managed a brewery for 30 years. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131741834-O2VUQ8TY92PNXVP9URC2/Pawson22.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out The crowded flight deck of HMS Illustrious with Fairey Barracudas on the starboard deck and a few Corsairs on the port side. Visible on the foreground deck are the last four of seven arresting wires used to stop Fleet aircraft during recoveries. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131777055-N30NVKAEEDD4PDP54V1J/Pawson25.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A gorgeous photograph of an 1830 Squadron Corsair overflying China Bay (which actually lies to the left of this photo) near the important northeastern port city of Trincomalee, Ceylon in December of 1944. The spit of land that juts out into the Indian Ocean is the site of Fort Frederick. Prior to the Second World War, the British had built a large airfield to house a permanent RAF base called RAF China Bay along with a fuel storage depot and support facilities for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy's base there was called HMS Highflyer. After the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, Trincomalee became the home port of the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131807174-V0G76FCAPE56N6O5V6PT/Pawson48.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A spectacular shot of HMS Illustrious in the South Pacific steaming at high speed into the sun. Note that both of her aircraft elevators are open to the hangar deck, which means she has no intention of landing on any aircraft, nor are there any on her deck. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131879442-0WX9W9LJQNOTWTCRIZBE/Pawson17.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out A handsome and confident looking Lieutenant Hugh “Moe” Pawson leans against the fuselage of a Fleet Air Arm Corsair in the Pacific theatre, with the Pacific ocean visible beneath the tail of the Corsair. We know that this photograph was taken some time after Hugh was promoted to Lieutenant on 5 December 1944 and before he left the carrier in May of 1945. The large letter “Q” on the tail of the Corsair is known as the deck code. Operating in close proximity with each other, and looking pretty well identical from above, Royal Navy fleet carriers in the British Pacific Fleet carried deck codes – large letters painted on their aft decks to signify the identity of the ship to landing-on pilots. Aircraft operating from a particular carrier would carry that ship's deck code on their tails. The letter “Q” was associated with Illustrious, indicating that this was likely taken on her deck. The Vintage Wings of Canada Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray Corsair carries the letter “X” denoting it is from Gray's HMS Formidable. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131919129-BASEYOHD7OUCSOLZ8SCW/Pawson47.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out 6 April 1945 – HMS Illustrious narrowly misses taking a direct hit by a Japanese Kamikaze aircraft onto her flight deck. Instead, the dying aircraft struck the water beside the hull and the bomb it was carrying exploded underwater causing serious damage to her hull plates. Hugh Pawson was aboard Illustrious when this explosion happened. On 9 April, Illustrious was detached for a raid against Formosa, but on 14 April she was replaced by her sister, Formidable, and sent to the Philippines for inspection. The damage was more serious than suspected and she returned to Sydney and from there to Rosyth for repairs and refit. By that time, the war was over. Hugh and his pilots were detached from the carrier at Sydney and made their way back to England separately from Illustrious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131948605-2USNSPM8Z2O631G34CA7/Pawson6.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out There is no date on this photograph, but given the dark blue Naval reefer jacket (sometimes called a Monkey jacket) with campaign ribbons and full RCNVR Lieutenant cuff bands, this could be back in England or even home in Canada. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629131995135-4VBH48HFGNGAD30FH8DM/Pawson28.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Band of Brothers. Hugh Pawson (left) enjoys a beer with fellow Navy pilots at the Mount Hope Ontario Air Show in 1991. One can only imagine the stories and the mutual respect that surrounded this group of aviators – Left to right: Hugh (Corsairs), Murray “Red” Hall (Avengers), John Baker (Corsairs) and the Royal Navy's only Corsair ace, Don Sheppard. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132037858-N6ZFP7KRIA5AQETZQS07/Pawson29.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out At the bar for a beer at HMS York, Toronto on 4 May 1991 – Left to right: John Baker, an 1833 Squadron Corsair pilot on HMS Illustrious, Hugh Pawson, also an Illustrious Corsair pilot, Don Sheppard, a Corsair ace with 1836 Squadron aboard HMS Victorious and Don Cooper, an 829 Squadron Fairey Barracuda pilot, also from Victorious. Photo via Pawson family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132068005-9HPU9U88QWS9SHFPNYCE/Pawson32.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Close friends. If it were not for Vintage Wings of Canada member and volunteer Pierre Lapprand, we would not have had the pleasure of meeting and knowing Hugh Pawson. The closeness of the two gentle and humble men can easily be seen. In addition, in the eyes of Pierre, we see immense pride to call Hugh his friend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132094233-FJONJP0FIPNF1WACX216/Pawson33.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Hugh Pawson and Vintage Wings of Canada Chief pilot Paul Kissmann meet for the first of many times. Paul, our most experienced Corsair pilot had a lot to learn from the senior Fleet Air Arm pilot. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132119916-9BQT85W70JZUOLCOJU8L/Pawson35.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Hugh Pawson could always find the Corsair pilots! Here, Corsair pilot and Vintage Wings of Canada founder Mike Potter share a few moments in September 2008. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132150169-M646Z7TF4P6UC4WPNLTP/Pawson34.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Still in love with the old girl after all these years. In September of 2010, Pierre Lapprand and Hugh Pawson travelled to Geneseo, New York to check out the warbird action. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132180937-G5K2UM94ZZ7H67IWQI7R/Pawson37.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Hugh Pawson sits in the front row of a large gathering of Corsair pilots and enthusiasts at the first ever Warbird U Corsair Ground School on 27 March 2010. From this day forward, though he lived many miles away, Hugh became one of us – a much-revered one of us. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132233557-0AXW0IUEJR7QP2XL56Z9/Pawson39.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out This is how we will remember Hugh. Just a week before his death, he sits once again in the cockpit of his old love – the Corsair. He is beaming with youthful joy and clear-mindedness. He looks good. He looks strong still. He looks happy. We are proud that we were able to bring alive these great memories of Hugh Pawson's and to show to him how much he was loved for what he and his mates did so long ago, and so far away. Bravo Zulu Moe! Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629132260514-B8GFEJ9D9NS90VCYZRJA/PawsonEnd.jpg The Stories - AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERO — The Hugh Pawson story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-class-act monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125208430-N6T1ASYKEWIYIBFQU9BC/Timmins01.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125264669-2MPR2YYYBV3RSI1FDZ01/Timmins2.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out A young Flying Officer Tim Timmins (left) poses with three other CF-100 crew members on the rainy RCAF Station Comox flight line in the fall of 1959. This image appeared in a 1960 article in Aviation Quarterly magazine about CF-100 operation across Canada. Left to right: Tim Timmins, John Eggenberger, Dick Bentham, and Jerry Frewen – Flying Officers all. Photo: Aviation Quarterly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125332625-FEQ5UPQD3CK62JF9B6EU/Timmins3.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out A 409 Nighthawk Squadron Avro CF-100 “Canuck” holds steady for the RCAF cameraman over Georgia Strait. The CF-100, affectionately known as the “Clunk,” was a Canadian-built jet interceptor/fighter serving during the Cold War both in NATO bases in Europe and as part of NORAD. The CF-100 was the only Canadian-designed fighter to enter mass production, serving primarily with the RCAF/CAF and in small numbers in Belgium. For its day, the CF-100 featured a short takeoff run and high climb rate, making it well suited to its role as an interceptor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125398593-N29JUSIMA62973M9U0PF/Timmins4.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out The Big E. During a visit to RCAF Station Comox, British Columbia by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a formation of ten 409 Squadron Nighthawk CF-100s form up into a giant letter “E” in the sky in her honour. Flying Officer Tim Timmins pilots the aircraft at the lead of the cross member in the middle of the “E.” RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125499432-DX9CZV26RK53ZGTPST8I/Timmins6.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Tim Timmins had the good fortune and the chops to have flown with two of the world's most respected aircraft operators – the Royal Canadian Air Force and Trans World Airlines. Left: the young, faintly pugilistic-looking, Patrick Joseph Timmins of Ottawa, shortly after getting his wings, and then the elegantly gold-braided Captain Tim Timmins of Trans World Airlines, exuding the strength and confidence that comes with many thousands of hours of air force and airline flying. Photos via Timmins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125528250-4FLJD5DXNP1ZH1627XG5/Timmins7.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out When Tim Timmins was first hired by Trans World Airlines in 1964, he was taken on, as many experienced pilots were, as a Flight Engineer on the Lockheed Super Constellation. In 1964 the Constellation was near the end of its service life with TWA. Tim served for about only 4–6 months on the third seat of the Connie, before the Connie was taken out of service. His contracted time as Flight Engineer was for two years, so after his Connie service, he was still required to stay on as an FE, but this time on the Boeing 707. On 7 April 1967, TWA became one of the USA's first all-jet airlines with the retirement of their last Lockheed L-749A Constellation and L-1649 Starliner cargo aircraft. That morning, throughout the TWA system, aircraft ground service personnel placed a booklet on every passenger seat titled "Props Are For Boats." TWA archive photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125579044-GFJK2GBF3PZIJWMDLXTQ/Timmins23.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out This was the aircraft with which TWA inaugurated international jet services on 23 November 1959, when Tim Timmins was still kicking NORAD ass at Comox. The series -300 was the so-called Boeing 707 International. Tim would fly three of the TWA Boeing types – 707, 727 and 747. Photo: Ed Coates Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125605792-BE2R8O4EHJILX13I68O9/Timmins8.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Tim would spend the bulk of his TWA flight time on the Boeing 727, occupying in turn the Flight Engineer's First Officer's and Captain's seats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125632138-FCCHK44B4H5PH4NF91NB/Timmins9.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Already a Captain on the Boeing 747, Timmins takes a right seat position as a First Officer on the mighty 747, but could still be called Captain, a moniker and rank he had already earned. Photo via Tim Timmins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125668212-KJ387LCL80VUIKRXX1WU/Timmins10.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Tim Timmins finished up his airline flying career as a Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” pilot with Trans World Airlines. An unforeseen medical issue took him off line before he wanted to stop airline flying, but he would battle back to the skies years later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125694296-EOXHZ9OCVSOMRWCPHN3G/Timmins11.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out For a period after his TWA career, and before his reinstated flight status, Tim employed his considerable Irish charm, fighter pilot get-er-done attitude, and diplomacy as Supervisor of Ceremonies for Vancouver's Expo 86, which also included the Abbotsford Airshow. This in turn made him the logical choice to become Coordinator of Media Support Services and Assistant Press Chief to the Main Press centre at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Here, we see Tim (front left) striding confidently, as fighter pilots do, with then President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125740885-KZRFJGGHHYX22415QOB7/Timmins17.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Avionics guru Graham Smith (left) looks on as Dave O'Malley makes a short speech about the person who will be commemorated on the side of the “Chippie” – a challenge if you can't mention Timmins' name until the moment of the unveiling. Standing next to him are Chipmunk owners and Vintage Wings pilots Don and Kathryn Buchan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125777254-7287TXGRTE1ZLUY021YJ/Timmins22.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada volunteers, staff maintainers, squadron dog Wallace and even one in utero baby boy were happy and proud to down tools for an impromptu and surprise ceremony to “unveil” the dedication panel on the de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Everyone had seen the Tim Timmins panel on the aircraft so were delighted to keep the dedication a secret. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125809325-6Z1OITSRN2WGROTHTRFL/Timmins21.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Just a millisecond before Tim Timmins realizes he is the subject of the just unveiled dedication panel, Chipmunk owner/pilot Don Buchan looks to him for a reaction. Of course, Tim, being both Irish and an Ottawan as well as being a pilot, was slow to understand he was being honoured. Photo: Angela Gagnon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125854899-8IYFCA9RHHXSPRCTZNBF/Timmins19a.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out It takes a while, but Irish pilots do catch on. Tim Timmins finally understands that it is his name on the side of the Chipmunk, an aircraft he first flew at RCAF Station Centralia when he joined the RCAF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125890406-LEN82GW7BJ4U3TUUDTWV/Timmins14.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out The moment in which Captain Tim Timmins fully grasps the fact that the de Havilland Chipmunk is dedicated to himself is captured on film. Shortly after this, tears could be seen in his Irish eyes. Mission accomplished! Photo: Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125930037-DHXCLJ5YONJTJYT7ADSW/Timmins15.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out Three Chipmunk pilots – Kathryn Buchan, Don Buchan (who has provided his beloved aircraft for the Yellow Wings program and who was proud to support the Timmins selection) and a teary-eyed Captain Timmins – pose with the freshly dedicated Chipmunk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125964364-TI276OFHUA4UJRD8Y5G4/Timmins16.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out A more deserving pilot there never was. The elegant, cheerful and hard-working Captain Tim Timmins and “his” Chipmunk joins other great Canadian aviators and “their” aircraft immortalized with the In His Name Aircraft Dedication Program – Stocky Edwards, Hammie Gray, Les Frères Robillard, Hart Finley, William Harper, Willie McKnight, Rosey Roseland, Bunny McLarty, Bill McRae, Harry Hannah, Fern Villeneuve, John Magee, Archie Pennie, Terry Goddard, Cliff Stewart, George Neal and Russ Bannock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125991896-PDS1RNA0A16W8AJU1Y2S/Timmins12.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out So long as Don Buchan's beautiful Chipmunk remains part of the Vintage Wings of Canada family, she will, as all of our aircraft do, bear a dedication panel on her flanks trumpeting the name and career of one of Canada's top flying ambassadors, Flight Lieutenant Patrick Joseph “Tim” Timmins, RCAF, TWA, of Ottawa. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629126022680-JSKWV2M576BDAWQFPEW4/Timmins13.jpg The Stories - A CLASS ACT - Make it stand out The Flight Lieutenant Patrick Joseph “Tim” Timmins de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Long may she fly in his honour. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/an-unimaginable-task monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119305905-WAR2GNNKTQZFDVUGU6J7/BritainRemembers1.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119386491-MCBTH6GJ1K6HV63S9HWZ/BritainRemembers2.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out On a cold and blustery day at Durham Tees Valley Airport, the Air Traffic Control Tower looks much the same as when it was operating as the tower for RAF Middleton St. George in the Second World War. © Malcolm Tebbit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119422198-ENWVZGSZ99ROMDZPK9G7/BritainRemembers3.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The Air Traffic Control Tower, RAF Linton-on-Ouse may have a newly installed staircase, but it is much the same as it was during the Second World War. Today Linton-on-Ouse is an active air base, home of the RAF's Central Flying School. © Frank Glover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119606912-5HDFKD45IO8TV2UIHSTQ/BritainRemembers4.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Air Traffic Control Tower, at RAF Topcliffe, another 6 Group air base of the Second World War. Today it is a relief landing field for the RAF's Central Flying School at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. © Frank Glover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119544253-0XJO9NV2QNNSM5EYY1BM/BritainRemembers5.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The Air Traffic Control Tower at RAF Leeming, now a training airfield for the Royal Air Force. © RAF Leeming, Ministry of Defence, UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119673904-K3I1W6VT89B9OI84PAVC/BritainRemembers6.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Key players in the Canadian Memorial project pose after the dedication ceremony. (L-R): Major Jason Furlong RCAF, SAC Dave Turnbull, and Flight Lieutenant Alfie Hall of the RAF © Mrs. Hall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119703969-7HKR3S53HYALPPARIWA6/BritainRemembers7.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Each of the provinces is named at the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, UK. The idea was turned into reality by personnel and leadership from two current RAF (former RCAF) bases – RAF Leeming and RAF Linton-on-Ouse and in partnership with the RCAF and many sponsors. © Ministry of Defence, UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119737006-P7C0U3KHGOFY7QB2YKJY/BritainRemembers8.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The dedication ceremony of the Memorial, 8 July 2011, with media, veterans, families and VIPs in attendance. © Ministry of Defence, UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119797425-LTUOW0AEA5VLTOY3482M/BritainRemembers9.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Commemorative painting, highlighting 405 Squadron aircraft and the Memorial by talented artist John Stevens, MBE. © John Stevens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119830508-0HU5GGPF9XAN3TIUYNSU/BritainRemembers10.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out “Counting them home” The full-sized version of this bronze miniature is destined to be part of the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial at some point in the future. Artist Sara Ingleby-MacKenzie of Somerset, England took her inspiration for this statue from Ian W. Bazalgette, a Canadian RAF pilot and Victoria Cross recipient. © Ministry of Defence, UK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119916322-HGAHJ34PFZG53OIO8ECZ/BritainRemembers11.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Halifax Mark II Series I, with serial number W7676 TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire piloted by then Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF). The early Series Halifaxes differed from those operated by the RCAF in that they had V-12 Merlin liquid-cooled engines. Later models employed the Bristol Hercules XVI radial engines. © IWM (COL 185) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119948519-7EKR7BEXXEEUW9PLD1EY/BritainRemembers12.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Air and Ground crew members of a No. 428 “Ghost” Squadron RCAF (calling themselves Hitler's Haunters), Avro Lancaster (KB760, NA-P, P for Peter), pose with a load of ordnance bound for Bremen, Germany on the occasion of the squadron's 2000th sortie. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629119980924-R0AVR0LMZGC69KNN60LZ/BritainRemembers13.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Looking more like Canada than Great Britain, RAF Balderton in Nottinghamshire is covered in a wintry blanket of snow on 20 January 1942 as aircrew return from a flight in a Hampden of No. 408 (Goose) Squadron, RCAF. During the war, the Goose Squadron changed from the Hampden Aircraft to Halifax, to Lancaster, to Halifax, and back to Lancaster aircraft. It flew an amazing 4,610 sorties and dropped 11,340 tons of bombs. A total of 170 aircraft were lost and 933 personnel were killed, listed as missing in action (MIA) or prisoners of war (POW). Squadron members won two hundred decorations, and 11 battle honours for its wartime operations. © IWM (CH 4742) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121455291-WM56GN12Z3QMFZENNMQI/BritainRemembers14.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Halifax B Mark II, (W7710 LQ-R) Ruhr Valley Express, of No. 405 Squadron, RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire. This 405 Squadron “Hallie” crashed at Liehuus, Denmark, on the night of 1 Oct 1942. As its motto, DUCIMUS – We Lead – indicates, 405 Squadron was a leader since its formation as the first RCAF Bomber Squadron in England on 3 April 1941. From its first operation on 12 June 1941 until the end of the war in Europe, 405 was actively employed in offensive operations over land and sea, participating in most of Bomber Command's heaviest and most telling assaults on targets in Germany, the occupied countries and Northern Italy. During its wartime service, 405 was attached to RAF Coastal Command for a brief period and carried out numerous anti-submarine patrols similar to the squadron's present role. Shortly after the duty with Coastal Command, 405 became part of 6 Group and later moved to the elite Bomber Command in 8 Group as a Pathfinder Squadron. © IWM (CH 6614) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121491742-PA9S5BTRE0BEH8HCBDJ7/BritainRemembers15.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Able Mabel, a 100 Squadron RAF Lancaster, flown at times by an RCAF commander. The squadron was based at RAF Waltham. © IWM (CH 14986) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121584503-O69M3ZK8VS1YSDMVIDMI/BritainRemembers16.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Ground crew bombing up a Handley Page Halifax Mark II, “LQ-Q” of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, at RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire. Ground crews worked tirelessly and around the clock to ensure that the aircraft in their care were serviceable and armed. © IWM (CH 6609) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121610247-NTC7PGGCT6RXQ52GBMUZ/BritainRemembers17.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The Avro Lancaster is to Bomber Command what the Supermarine Spitfire was to Fighter Command – an icon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121634107-E29HZZPN185CPUWR8D5M/BritainRemembers18.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The Handley page Halifax Mk III in flight, showing its late model rectangular tail fins. Although the Avro Lancaster took the lion's share of fame in Bomber Command, the Halifax played a massive and vital role – especially in the RCAF. More RCAF aircrew served on Halifaxes than on Lancasters. The Halifax was utilized in a variety of roles including glider towing, maritime patrol and casualty evacuation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121689232-BRNEXWG7CCH4BYVWF2GY/BritainRemembers19.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Sergeant Herbert I. Austin's formal RCAF crew photograph from 1943. Every winged airman coming out of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan bases went to a photo studio to have an official portrait taken, at his own expense, to be given to parents, family and sweethearts. © Family of Herbert Austin – reproduced with permission https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121715728-LD1T0IVRB1ENEVWV952Q/BritainRemembers20.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The international crew of RCAF Halifax LK802 in the winter of 1943–44. (L to R): Low (Canada), Achtymichuk (Canada), Crosswell (Canada), Kempton (USA), Miller (Canada), Austin (United Kingdom), Fennessey (Canada) © Family of Herbert Austin – reproduced with permission https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121826213-VHVIQUKX2JC11YLT9MLS/BritainRemembers21.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Crew of F/O Robert Mitchell and Engineer Doug Petty's Halifax with 429 Squadron. Back Row (L to R): William Manion, Fred Bullen, Robert K. Mitchell, Second Pilot (this flight only), Douglas Petty. Front Row (L to R): William Hay, Ground Crew, E. Tamella, Ground Crew, Len Jodrell. © Family of F/O Robert Mitchell – reproduced with permission https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121856535-HH7OXMJDGBTVUH1JNSAR/BritainRemembers22.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Air and Ground Crew 419 Squadron. No. 419 Squadron was formed at Mildenhall, Suffolk, on 15 December 1941, as the third RCAF bomber squadron overseas. The first CO was Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton, DSO, DFC, AFC, a native of Kamloops, British Columbia, and it was from him that the unit gained its nickname. Originally in No. 3 Group of Bomber Command, the squadron joined No. 6 (RCAF) Group upon the latter's formation on 1 January 1943. From Mildenhall it moved to Leeming, Topcliffe and Croft for short periods before settling down, in November 1942, at Middleton St. George, where it remained based until the end of the European war. Beginning operations with Wellington medium bombers, No. 419 later converted to Halifax heavy bombers and then to Lancaster Xs. Over a span of roughly three-and-a-quarter years it logged 400 operational missions (342 bombing missions, 53 mining excursions, 3 leaflet raids and 1 “spoof”) involving 4,325 sorties. One hundred and twenty nine aircraft were lost on these operations. Part of a series of photos taken by war photographer Henry Prince. Air and ground crew “D” Dog's diggings, from left: F/O R.V. Daly, LAC Jerry Greves, AC Frank Beaves, LAC Vic Hewitt, Sgt. N.C. Fraser, Corp. Don Mersereau, F/L A.J. Byford, Sgt. D. Logan, AC Ken Barter. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629121892258-F0HDTVO7YGPKI0Y0IUY8/BritainRemembers48.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The “D” Dog crew from the previous “Gladys Hotel” photograph was led by Flying Officer Byford. “D” Dog was Lancaster KB-738, VR-D, of 419 (Moose) Squadron. We were sent this image by reader John Dicker showing the Byford crew with D-Dog in England. Dicker comments: “Dad’s best friend and close friend of our family in North Bay, F/O Russ K. Nickle, was the Nav on this particular aircraft when he was KIA along with the rest of the crew on 28 December 1944, on their 19th Op (Opladen, Germany). The photograph, which I received many years ago from Vince Elmer, the 419 Squadron historian, shows F/L Byford and his crew in front of KB-738, VR-D, prior to 28 December 1944. You can just see the “D” to the left of the pic. I find it awesome to this day to look at that pic and to think that it was the very aircraft in which Russ was lost that fateful night. Russ’ captain was Flying Officer How and the lost men were a completely different crew than Byford’s.”` https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122652782-FBUWA4HQN262LFKZK3XQ/BritainRemembers23.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Aircrew from 427 “Lion” Squadron, RCAF at the London Zoo adopting “Mareth”, a cub of “Rota”, Winston Churchill’s pet lion. As well, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adopted the squadron on 24 May 1943 and allowed the names of their stars (such as Lana Turner, Greer Garson, Joan Crawford and Hedy Lamarr) to be displayed on squadron aircraft. In addition, MGM presented a bronze lion to the squadron, and from this came the name “Lion Squadron”. © Archive of ZSL, London https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122701814-2VGB5XA8GDCDI5TOI7L3/BritainRemembers24.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out A very tired young Halifax pilot of No. 405 (Vancouver) Squadron RCAF, after returning from Germany July/August 1942. The physical and mental toll on RCAF aircrew is clearly evident in this photograph. © IWM (CH 6627) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122730635-N93GIAUQCXIHPBF3FDM5/BritainRemembers25.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out RAF Pocklington, Lancaster B.X with the entire squadron, ground and aircrew of 419 (Moose) Squadron. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122757714-1P386T3I2ZODVO4IK8IS/BritainRemembers26.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Officers of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, outside their mess at Topcliffe, Yorkshire. Note that the photo includes at least five female WRAF officers (Women's Royal Air Force). © IWM (CH 4718) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122785796-YKY1G1T6T220U826SFBY/BritainRemembers47.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out One of Canada's finest aviation artists, Peter Mossman, wrote to us with this photo of his brother James with his 429 Squadron Halifax crew, sent to him back home in Canada when he was just 7 years old. James is the man hunkered down in the middle. Imagine the thrill a 7-year-old boy would have to find this picture of his hero brother in the mail. From left to right we have: F/O Willis O'Connor (mid-upper gunner), P/O D. Hartley (flight engineer RAF), F/O Guy Wheeler (tail gunner), F/O James D. Mossman (bomb aimer), F/O Don G. Gillis (pilot), P/O J.M. Haynes (wireless air gunner), F/O Gerry B. Ullett (navigator). Peter Mossman writes: “I know Gillis and Ullett got the DFC, Willis married Billy Bishop's daughter, Wheeler was a Squadron Leader, but dropped in rank to go on ops and the pilot and W/O had done a tour together on Coastal Command before joining 429 – my brother had already crewed up when approached by Ullett, another Toronto boy, to join him and his crew, which Jim did and his previous crew were lost on their first trip and Jim is eternally grateful to Gerry and they stayed in touch until Ullett passed away not too long ago.” This crew finished 32 ops together, except for Wheeler, who was not on the 32nd op. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122816630-ZEQW1985NS2671W5M464/BritainRemembers27.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Wing Commander D.C. Hagerman aboard Lancaster B.X KB707 (VR-W) of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF at RAF Middleton St. George. The youth of the leadership of the RCAF can be seen on the face of this Wing Commander. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122843191-8QMSPTJO3Q6B9VSC4DDJ/BritainRemembers28.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Ready for action... a rather hazardous photo in front of a spinning prop of a Vickers Wellington with RCAF Pilot J. Mason and his 420 Squadron crew. Though 420 “City of London” Squadron (sometimes called Snowy Owl Squadron) ended their combat service on Halifax and Lancaster bombers, they first flew medium bombers like this Wellington, as well as Handley Page Hampdens and the much maligned predecessor of the Lancaster – the twin-engined Avro Manchester. The “Wimpy” (nickname of the Wellington) in this shot indicates that it was taken before October 1943, when they ceased Wellington operations. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122873780-NN00EXAXK8B5AZP9ZCP3/BritainRemembers29.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Bomb Aimer, Sergeant Stuart N. Sloan (UK), MVO, DFC, CGM (left) of 431 (Iroquois) Squadron, RCAF, took control of a damaged RCAF Wellington over enemy territory and landed it at RAF Cranwell. Amazing! They then decided to make him a pilot (no kidding) and eventually commissioned him a Wing Commander, RAF. “One night in May 1943, Flying Officer Bailey and Sergeants Sloan and Parslow were members of the crew of an aircraft detailed to attack Dortmund. Shortly after its bombs had been released, the aircraft was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire whilst held by the searchlights. Evasive action was taken by putting the aircraft into a steep dive but this proved ineffective and the bomber was subjected to heavy fire whilst still illuminated. The situation became critical but Sergeant Sloan, displaying superb skill and determination eventually flew clear of the defences and headed for this country. A hatch was open and could not be closed, the rear turret door was also open and wind of great force blew through the length of the aircraft. All the lights in the navigator's cabin were extinguished but in the face of extreme difficulty, Sergeant Parslow plotted a course. On the return flight, he and Flying Officer Bailey assisted Sergeant Sloan in every way within their power and eventually this gallant airman flew the badly damaged bomber to an airfield and effected a good landing. In appalling circumstances these members of aircraft crew displayed courage, determination and fortitude of the highest order.” Extract from the London Gazette The incident is still remembered as a magnificent feat for a seasoned pilot, let alone a bomb aimer with a very tentative knowledge of the pilot's trade. Sgt Sloan was given an immediate Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, which ranks just below the VC as the highest award open to NCOs. He was also commissioned in the field and sent on a pilot's course and, in 1945, completed a successful tour with the famed 158 Squadron at Lissett (flying Halifax MkIII). He ended the war as a Flight Lieutenant with a DFC and relinquished his commission as a Wing Commander in 1975. Postwar he served with the King's Flight. He joined Vickers Armstrong as a test pilot in 1951, flying various types and displaying at the 1953 Farnborough airshow.” © IWM (CH 10320) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629122941224-06PLIVS4TUXZMVW90K17/BritainRemembers30.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC (19 October 1918 – 4 August 1944) was born in Calgary, Alberta and while serving in the Royal Air Force was awarded the Victoria Cross. © IWM (CH 15911) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123118434-TEH9OHIHUAEHQBRDCWSK/BritainRemembers31.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Left: Andrew Charles (Andy) Mynarski, VC (14 October 1916 – 13 June 1944) © IWM (CHP 975) Right: Statue of Pilot Officer Mynarski, sculpted by Keith Maddison, fundraising by the Northern Echo / Forgotten Hero Appeal / Wartime Memories Project, inspired by Betty Amlin, was dedicated in 2005 at RAF Middleton St. George. © Copyright Nick W, Creative Commons license https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123257894-M99VAQ60F7XXVYGAQ7FN/BritainRemembers32.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Sometimes, the enemy was the weather. One that could kill as easily as a German fighter, and one you could not escape. Flight Officer Humphrey Watt’s crew (above) of 426 Squadron, flying Halifax NP793 set off from RCAF Linton-on-Ouse on 5 March 1945 to attack Chemnitz. They crashed shortly after take-off due to severe icing, killing all of them. That night, 11 Linton and Tholthorpe based RCAF aircraft were lost – 5 due to severe icing. The Yorkshire Aircraft website states: “This night was a bad night for Bomber Command, a number of aircraft were to be lost due to suffering from severe icing conditions soon after taking off from their Yorkshire bases, these icing conditions effected the control surfaces of the aircraft and there were a number of accidents, it was one of seven Halifaxes to crash due to identical circumstances. Halifax NP793 was one of 760 aircraft leaving to bomb Chemnitz on 5 March 1945 on Operation Thunderclap, the crew left their Linton-on-Ouse base at 16.48hrs and flew in a north-easterly direction over the Moors and climbed. Crews were ordered to circle base until all the unit's aircraft were in the air so they could all continue as one large bombing force, where the pilots of each aircraft flew during this waiting time was more or less up to them so long as they were over Linton at a set time, in this case around 17.30hrs. No adverse weather was forecast prior to taking off, though this would prove to be an inaccurate forecast. Soon after taking off this aircraft began to encounter the icing conditions, the pilot began circling in an attempt to get above freezing fog which was present over much of North Yorkshire on this evening but this attempt failed and the aircraft came down after control had been lost at a location to the south of Hutton-le-Hole and near Westfield Farm at 16.59hrs. Some of the crew, possibly three, are believed to have survived the initial crash and are thought to have been trying to attempt to rescue other members of the crew when the bomb load exploded, this resulted in all seven on board the aircraft being killed.” Though the photo's history will not allow us to say who is who, but headstones at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire let us know who the individuals were: H.S. Watts, Pilot, F. MacG. Myers, Navigator, W.A. Way, Bomb Aimer, M.W. Coones, Air Gunner, R.A. Biggerstaff, Air Gunner and B.J. McCarthy, Wireless Operator. © Memorial Room RAF Linton-on-Ouse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123349899-1H50X2AYBXH3Y9GANVKJ/BritainRemembers33.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out One page of many, in the logbook of Engineer Doug Petty, 429 Squadron. The notes show a myriad of typical German industrial targets and the totals at the bottom tell us much about the RCAF and Bomber Command night bombing role – with 31 hours in night bombing ops and 6 hours 35 minutes in daylight raids. © Doug Petty – reproduced with permission https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123376072-GQ84MIK1N9XIEV30LKSJ/BritainRemembers34.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Three 1,000-lb MC bombs, small bomb containers (SBCs) filled with 30-lb incendiary bombs in the belly of a Halifax Mark II of No. 405 Squadron, RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire. You can also note that the Halifax also carries some of this ordnance in its smaller wing bays or “cells”. Germany will reap the whirlwind tonight. © IWM (CH 17362) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123415149-J5IWDCM6EX5VS2G5JJC1/BritainRemembers35.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Preparing to board Lancaster B.II 432 (Leaside) Squadron. It was first formed at RAF Skipton-on-Swale in May 1943, as part of No. 6 Group of RAF Bomber Command. The unit was equipped with Wellington X bombers. The squadron deployed to RAF East Moor in mid-September, equipping with Lancaster IIs in October. In February 1944 they changed to Halifax IIIs, upgrading these to Halifax VIIs in July. As part of a Royal Canadian Air Force public relations plan, the town of Leaside officially “adopted” No. 432 Squadron RCAF. Formed and adopted on 1 May 1943, the squadron took the town's name as its nickname, becoming 432 “Leaside” Squadron RCAF. The sponsorship lasted the duration of the war. The squadron was disbanded at East Moor in May 1945. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123441318-7Y8GGYWE8PMJPLRYMT5M/BritainRemembers36.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out From the massive Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs designed for hitting submarine pens and other hard-to-knock-out targets to the 4 pound general purpose bomb over this armourer's shoulder to the diminutive and terrifying 4 pound incendiary, Bomber Command delivered body blows to the Third Reich, night after night, for five years. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123488477-BTISULRWO9SJ9P773B5B/BritainRemembers37.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Aircrew of No. 405 (Vancouver) Squadron RCAF board their Wellington Mk II. 405 Squadron flew the very first operational sortie by an RCAF unit during the war – 12–13 June, attacking the railway marshalling yards at Schwerte – only ten weeks after being formed at RAF Driffield, Yorkshire. 405 remains today a long-range bomber squadron, flying the CP-140 Aurora on anti-submarine patrols on the East Coast of Canada. © IWM (HU 108387) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123519945-RJRCRLHSNDZL1FW6ZFWB/BritainRemembers38.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out A Handley Page Halifax of No. 6 Group flies over the smoke-obscured target during a daylight raid on the oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr. 111 Halifaxes of 6 Group and 26 Avro Lancasters of No. 8 Group took part in the raid which destroyed a chemical factory but only inflicted minor damage on the refinery itself. © IWM (C 4713) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123552231-PQ2WKEKTNQN1W197IYM4/BritainRemembers39.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Trouble did not always come from below. Here we see Halifax B Mark III, LW127 HL-F, of No. 429 Squadron RCAF, over Mondeville, France just moments before her death. She has lost her starboard tailplane and rudder after it was knocked from the fuselage by bombs dropped by another 429 Halifax above it. LW127 was one of 942 aircraft of Bomber Command, one of the famous Thousand Plane Raids, despatched to bomb German-held positions, in support of the Second Army attack in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD), on the morning of 18 July 1944. The crew managed to abandon the aircraft before it crashed in the target area. © IWM (CE 154) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123607351-3FDFTNBE21AGD8IPFF9P/BritainRemembers40.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Imagine the tension. Three Halifax crew before takeoff work as a team to execute the op. This is the interior of a Handley-Page Halifax B Mk II Series I of No. 35 Squadron RAF, looking forward to the flight engineer's seat, prior to takeoff from Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. Below the engineer's position can be seen the navigator at his position closer to the camera with the front gunner alongside him. On the right hand side of the Halifax and Lancaster cockpits was a fold down seat that the flight engineer used. The centre mounted throttles could be reached by both the pilot and flight engineer; on takeoff the flight engineer handled these while the pilot concentrated on keeping the heavily laden aircraft straight. The flight engineer was there to assist the pilot, monitor the engines and fuel levels and transfer fuel to maintain the balance of the aircraft. © IWM (D 6028) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123644950-CN0UCZZUDYD3AOQW74BR/BritainRemembers41.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Handley Page Halifax aircraft of No. 427 Squadron RCAF during a major night raid by a mixed force of 128 aircraft on the German submarine base at Lorient, France. Note aircraft just above the largest group of incendiaries plus another possible aircraft silhouette to the right of the harbour mouth. Also note that the bomb hits and fires have mostly hit their mark. © IWM (C 3387) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123698460-ZQW69ELP1GZ0DNO7LPNS/BritainRemembers42.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out The terrible beauty above Pforzheim, Germany at night – a powerful photoflash flare is ignited to allow night photography while target indicators (TIs) float down to the ground. © IWM (C 5012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123726660-QFYHJ3ZL9DUUPYR65PYV/BritainRemembers43.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Halifax Bomber on a daylight raid. Note the difference between lines of bomb craters. Some, like the line at the lower right are perfectly straight, while others seem to fall in tight groupings and others seem like single hits. © National Archives of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629123774869-0KGBFG780M6KJVHX179R/BritainRemebers46.jpg The Stories - AN UNIMAGINABLE TASK - Make it stand out Many did not make it off the runway. Many did not make it home. Many made it home only to crash on landing. Here, a Merlin-powered Bomber Command Halifax burns at its home airfield. Photo: RAF Bomber Command Diary https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/spitbomber monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118096296-BCSO3HR7CQQN4WR0Y573/SpitfireBomber1.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118135898-AOYLCY2HAV5VMWIE5TCA/Spitfirebomber20.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out A typical cigar-style centreline auxiliary drop tank system for the Spitfire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118181651-97MBM3VMQ6RVLRDMEKSC/SpitfireBomber3.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out The Slipper Tank. A group of 127 Squadron RAF airmen swarm a Spitfire on a muddy forward airfield known as B.60 at Grimsbergen, Belgium in December of 1944. The Spit carried both a pair of 250 lb under-wing iron bombs and a “slipper” auxiliary gas tank between her gear legs. Photo from Andy Ingham Collection, the spitfiresite.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118285730-TEBMVHDVT950X4AW5I2I/SpitfireBomber2.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out A wonderful photo of Bill and a clipped wing Spitfire Vb taken in England in the winter of 1943–44 – just prior to his dive-bombing course at RAF Fairwood Common. Photo via Marilynn Best (née McRae) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118607715-GRXUU7WADOZN6K5N03F1/SpitfireBomber7.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out When author Bill McRae was employing his newly learned dive-bombing skills in France against V-1 launch sites and other targets with 401 Squadron RCAF, his old squadron, 132 Squadron RAF, was doing the very same. Here, 132 Squadron armourers wheel two 250 lb and a 500 lb bomb to the bomb shackles beneath a waiting Spitfire. Photo via Avia Deja Vu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118638439-XGZQ6H4B6E6VPFMC7PQ7/SpitfireBomber4.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out A pair of 601 County of London Squadron Spitfires accelerate to take off carrying centreline 500 lb bombs for targets in Italy. A Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is painted in the markings of the all-silver Spit seen in this pair. The BBMF website speaks about the dangers of Spitfire dive-bombing: “There can be no doubt that flying heavily bomb-laden Spitfires on ground attack sorties against a determined, disciplined, and dug-in foe was a very dangerous occupation. Consequently, many brave and skilled pilots of 244 Wing were lost over Northern Italy during the last hard-fought months of World War Two. Many of these men are now buried in the war cemeteries dotted around the Po valley, Ravenna, Venice, and Bologna, but many more still remain undiscovered along with the wreckage of their aircraft. Much less has been written about the Italy campaign than about the advance through northern Europe following D-Day, but there can be little doubt that the Italy campaign was an equally grim and bloody struggle to victory.” Photo via Battle of Britain Memorial Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118667723-T3CA04O3J0P9KTBPSEQY/SpitfireBomber10.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out In May of 1944, armourers wrangle a 500 lb bomb to the centreline shackles of a Royal Air Force Spitfire. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118703099-Q6KQODII50MK57SIXBNO/SpitfireBomber8.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out A 250 lb bomb is shackled to the hard-point under the port wing of a Spitfire. It was not uncommon, as related by McRae, to have one or even both bombs fail to release when desired. RAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118749940-A1B4CGNFY81P4DRQ6902/SpitfireBomber5.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out A fully-bombed up Spitfire warms up before an operation after the D-Day landings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629118844132-M4EQGKSUGBWIPCWHQ0SP/SpitfireBomber9.jpg The Stories - SPITBOMBER - Make it stand out The author, Bill McRae, with his squadron in 1944. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/boyles-dance-over-takoradi monthly 0.5 2021-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889955442-XVCWUUCPO7S3XKAOMFFW/Boyle1.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out A photo recreation of Harry Boyle dropping into a 20,000 ft cumulus cloud top while fellow Defence of Takoradi Flight pilot Bill McRae looks on to confirm the feat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890289404-9M78MPY1B1983WSKBDDE/Boyle8.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out In searching for photographs of Flying Officer Harry Vern Boyle (J17745) on the internet, only one came immediately to light at forst. This image, from the 403 Squadron RCAF's blog shows Boyle (second from left) with (left to right) Mac Gordon, Jim Preston, Bill Whittaker (peeking from behind) and Cecil Brown sitting on 403 Squadron readiness – all with Mae Wests on. Like Bill McRae, Harry Boyle went on to Europe to fly Spitfires with a front line RCAF squadron, in this case 403 “Wolf” Squadron. Harry Boyle joined the RCAF at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1941. He did his Service Flying Training on Harvards at No. 1 SFTS, Camp Borden and went overseas to fly Hurricanes, finding his way to Takoradi, Ghana with Bill McRae. After Takoradi, Boyle was returned to Canada to become a Hurricane instructor at the Operational Training Unit at Bagotville. In September of 1943, he was promoted to Flying Officer and went overseas again the following March to join 403 Squadron flying Spitfires. Sadly, Harry Boyle did not survive the war, having been shot down and killed in August 1944 while strafing a convoy near Trun, France, about 20 km from Falaise. He is buried in the military cemetery near Castillon, France. Photo was provided to the 403 site by Cecil Brown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890508016-GU66NTZN6AX16RFGIYWF/Untitled-1.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out Some time has passed since publishing this story and these photos of Harry Boyle have since been posted to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial site. Photos: Operation Picture Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890752136-HRDSIQ1VQZWKFVBCSFNL/Boyle3.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out While at Takoradi, men like McRae and Boyle were officially attached to the Defence of Takoradi Flight, flying Hurricanes and watching out for submarines and the enemy in general. His actual duties included everything from aircraft test flights, meteorological flights, long distance recce and even aerial mosquito spraying. Here, a fresh from the factory Hawker Hurricane is craned from a transport at Takoradi's dock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890784840-574ICX8JSN88Q6ILNUFI/Boyle4.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out A view of Takoradi's busy harbour during the Second World War https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890810163-O5ANU8N3ITPWNLLXIZA7/Boyle6.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out A map showing the West African Reinforcement Route which was followed by RAF pilots ferrying combat aircraft from Takoradi to Cairo. Bill McRae flew this route on just such a mission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890839312-5VENHTCN89ORGRKP4HBE/Boyle9.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out Crated centre sections of Allied combat aircraft are craned from the deck of merchant ships to lorry beds. The general size and configuration of these crates leads us to think they could be Bristol Blenheim twin engine fighter/bombers. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CM 5402) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890876657-VQNHM3OU6OZ57CFI1S1T/Boyle7.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out Oblique aerial view of the airfield at Takoradi, Ghana from the north, after the cessation of the West African Reinforcement Route, the vital aircraft ferry route which operated for three years from Takoradi to Egypt. Between the arrival of the first consignment of crated aircraft at Takoradi harbour in September 1940, and the cessation of aircraft assembly at the airfield in October 1943, 5,200 aircraft were assembled and flown along the Route to the North African and Mediterranean theatres, with a further 1,000 assembled and retained for service in West Africa. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CM 5401) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890923803-PHGUDDUCI68SJE4RNACC/Boyle11.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out Hawker Hurricanes being assembled for despatch to the North African and Mediterranean theatres, at Takoradi, Gold Coast. In the foreground Hawker Hurricane fuselages are pulled by civilian labourers from their packing crates for assembly, after being shipped from the United Kingdom. Behind them are parked aircraft in various stages of assembly. In the background, a line of completed Hurricanes, with white recognition panels painted on the tops of their fuselages, wait by the main runway before being ferried to Egypt, headed by two similarly painted Bristol Blenheim Mark IV “mother” aircraft which will guide them along the West African Air Reinforcement Route. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CM 3022) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890951793-NBDLHO8Z0QOA37VV5H0F/Boyle12.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out The fuselage of a Hawker Hurricane is pulled from its packing crate for assembly at Takoradi, Gold Coast, after being shipped from the United Kingdom. The wings, tailplanes and propeller can be seen stowed in the side sections of the crate. Once assembled, the aircraft were then ferried to Egypt on the West African Reinforcement Route. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CM 3021) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628890989918-WFIMYGZCRPRIQ0NS3019/Boyle13.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out RAF mechanics, assisted by local civilian labourers, check over a line of newly-assembled Hawker Hurricane Mark IICs at Takoradi, Ghana, Gold Coast, before beginning their ferry flight to Egypt on the West African Reinforcement Route. BE715, the aircraft shown in the middle, served with No. 250 Squadron RAF in the Western Desert, the same unit that Flight Sergeant Frank Waywell served later in the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CM 3019) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628891021855-7CNGNF0J6ENMGHA3UB6T/Boyle10.jpg The Stories - BOYLE’S DANCE OVER TAKORADI - Make it stand out The page from the Book of Remembrance in the Peace Tower at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa which shows Boyle's name and rank. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/rose-of-york monthly 0.5 2021-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888006248-VU2XELI2U68FSS11ZHFA/Rose1.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888056870-S6TOWYXN4AO88KT32GLZ/Rose26.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Both Lancaster R5489 George and Lancaster R5548 Elizabeth were destroyed in England (see fates at end of story) during operations, but because of this, the Royal Family and RAF had fear of the propaganda that might be made if a similarly named aircraft was shot down over German-held territory or worse, captured. Photo via 97 Squadron Association Website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888097770-CMUYAXWSUKA0RULP9KST/Rose2.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out M/Sgt. Ed Gregory in front of an orderly room at Thurleigh, England, summer of 1943. The 306th Bomb Group was stationed in England, at the same base, longer than any other group in the 8th Air Force. Ed, a crew chief with the 306th Bomb Group, was assigned responsibility for the care and maintenance of B-17G (42-102547) a.k.a. Princess Elizabeth, The Princess, and finally Rose of York. Photo from Ed Gregory via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888147537-WA085IQ2XL7WWB4OCRDW/Rose23.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Two photographs of Boeing B-17G (serial number 42-102547) painted as Princess Elizabeth. The big Boeing completed 13 bombing missions over Nazi occupied Europe before her christening as Rose of York. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888271671-ELZZFV9R6UURIWLW5LJH/Rose35.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The Nazi propaganda machine made hay from the shooting down of B-17 Murder Inc., claiming that they were convicted gangsters and killers sent to murder innocent German citizens. Photo from Berlin newspaper of the day via Ken Williams of Murder Inc. crew https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888354719-UZKAGG2W2ME4W4FT4U3S/Rose14.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out This photo of Rose of York shows her with absolutely pristine nose art and, on the other side, a small scaffold with someone clearly sitting on a platform, leading the editor to postulate that this is a photo of the B-17 actually undergoing painting of the nose art on her starboard side. This is also confirmed when another look reveals the flat board-like device attached to the chin turret's twin machine gun barrels which was used as a striker plate for the bottle of English cider used to christen the Fortress. This shows us that Rose of York is being prepped for the ceremony. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888409494-ODW86XAFHTKRJUJQW4YC/Rose13.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The 18-year-old and very composed Princess Elizabeth chats with famed U.S. Army Air Force General James Doolittle at the beginning of the Rose of York christening event. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888448642-EAJU08UM0P132P8DTVW1/Rose21.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Rose of York and her crew await the Princess and the christening. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888490511-HSAEBKTZ0XLL1AQEFBL3/Rose4.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out With cameras popping away, the young Elizabeth is escorted by the 306th commanding officer, Colonel Claude Putnam, to the B-17 dedicated to her. In front stand the members of Captain Perry Raster's crew, the crew at that time assigned to Rose of York. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888524623-9ACZ7SJ00D31IHWY0UQ2/Rose12.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The Rose of York and her crew are turned out perfectly as the full Royal Family now joins the Princess. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888562600-8UR22996CX59A7PVQ272/Rose10.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out With English cider splashed across the tarmac and dripping from the cloth bag holding the broken bottle, Princess Elizabeth and 306th commander Colonel Claude Putnam review the ship and her crew. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888605049-QZR4QGF0XXW0CD7L8OC7/Rose11.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Bouquet of appropriately coloured white roses in hand, Princess Elizabeth shakes the hand of Sgt. Eugene Kelly. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888686429-2M20KTZI93VT6R0VQPD4/Rose6.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Standing at the left is the Group's commanding officer, Colonel Claude Putnam. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888729859-NR01CPAVJ0SIK09VRU03/Rose8.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out British and American royalty. Princess Elizabeth, her father King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and General Jimmy Doolittle. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888774267-TDNYWLGNY1XECJ2EBB5S/Rose9.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out A grainy but nice close-up of the Rose of York nose art with the Princess and the King. Two things are evident here – the nose art was very professionally done and the Princess was a very beautiful young lady at 18 years. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888823284-DS71ONS7L83QL5QSCP4P/Rose15.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out With a USAAF photographer ducking under a tail plane to get a good angle, the Princess and Colonel Putnam leave the scene. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888937855-YFJFKE3HSG2U3BNFYM71/Rose16.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The full Raster crew of Rose of York pose with their “Fort”. Given the uniforms they are wearing, this is likely taken the day of the christening. However, the striker plate against which the cider bottle was smashed has been removed from the barrels of the chin turret's machine guns. In front, left to right: Eugene Kelley (Engineer), George Roberts (Radio Operator), Don Urban (Ball Turret Gunner), Herman Shore (Waist Gunner), Bill Landrum (Ball Turret Gunner), Watson Vaughn (Tail Gunner) Back row, left to right: Unknown (this guy doesn't appear in other frames taken of this grouping, but he could possibly be Ed Gregory), Percy Raster (Pilot), Talmadge McDonough (Co-pilot), William Pleasant (Navigator), Marion Northway (Bombardier), and Steven Tanella (previous Bombardier). Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628888981850-VEZ3YAA9ZKKRH2C5AMRB/Rose25.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The scene at RAF Molesworth later in the day as 303 Bomb Group aircrew gather for the visit of the Royal Family – once again in front of Rose of York (her tail letter “F” can clearly be seen, as well as her serial 2-102547). The wind sock shows a strong wind blowing – the same wind that earlier nearly blew the hat off the young Princess Elizabeth (see opening colour image). Photo via 303rd Bomb Group “Hell's Angels” website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889020255-BXSR6A0OESMWSLL516L9/Rose24.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out The Royal Family, accompanied by RAF and USAAF brass (including General Jimmy Doolittle), arrives at RAF Molesworth to review the operations of the Bomber Group stationed there. The Royal Family made this visit as part of a series of visits that day to operational bomber bases in England including RAF Bomber Command and USAAF Eighth Air Force bases. Photo via 303rd Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889062395-7ZF21PQJ3MN0JN5CFV2E/Rose34.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out On 6 July 1944, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) and then-Princess Elizabeth visited the 303rd Bomb Group at U.S. Army Air Corps Station 107, Molesworth, England, which continues as a U.S. base today and home to units of the U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, and NATO. Notables in the photo in addition to the Royal Family are General Jimmy Doolittle, 8th Air Force Commander, Colonel Kermit Stevens, 303rd Bomb Group Commander, and Red Cross ladies. The long-lost photo, recently found at what is now RAF Molesworth, was almost certainly sent home by an American airman who helpfully annotated for his family the VIPs in the photo, such as “King” – and interestingly, “Jay Schwarz.” Standing stiffly at attention in the photo, Private Jacob “Jay” Schwarz and an unidentified sergeant were no doubt staged and “just happened to be in the Red Cross Club” when the royal party arrived at 4:15 p.m., according to the clock above the bar. Photo via 303rd Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889102466-7ROYM0HXZXO2M08VQ5WU/Rose3.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Princess Elizabeth meeting another Boeing B-17 crew, possibly at RAF Molesworth, as she is walking with Colonel Kermit Stevens, commander of the 303rd Bomb Group stationed there. This image created some confusion for the Vintage News editor as the crew lined up in front of Rose of York is wearing combat flight gear including parachutes and flight suits. Rose of York started the day at RAF Thurleigh and then flew to RAF Molesworth, but the author does not indicate that the Princess went to Molesworth. Photographs from that same day show her meeting the Raster crew at RAF Thurleigh in front of Rose of York, wearing dress uniforms. We know it is the same day as Elizabeth is wearing the same clothing but, because she is not carrying a bouquet, this must be later in the day's events when the motorcade drove to RAF Kimbolton or possibly Molesworth. The editor found a Pathé newsreel clip, which includes scenes from this very day, showing that she did in fact meet another B-17 crew, but one dressed differently from both the Rose of York crew and the Four of a Kind crew. It shows Four of a Kind with engines running and implies that she was introduced to them before they took off. If you check out this video you will see that the crew is wearing similar flying gear. We are still confused by these events however. This picture indicates that one of three things happened – either she met another crew at RAF Thurleigh or she met this crew standing in front of Rose of York at RAF Molesworth, or Rose of York flew on to meet her again at RAF Kimbolton. Photo via 303rd Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889143766-4IVNSH6BXLRZH9LLN6RI/Rose33.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Busy Princess! The Royal entourage meets yet another B-17 crew – this time at RAF Kimbolton with the ground crew of B-17 Four of a Kind (serial number 43-37777) which clearly took its name from the last four digits of its serial number. Looking at the caps and uniforms of this group, they are not Four of a Kind's flight crew, but rather the Fort's crew of maintainers led by M/Sgt Glen E. Korthouse. Photo from B-17 Groups of the 8th Air Force in Focus by Martin Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889237648-ADJS3SULVY75FZYROUTR/Rose20.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Still wearing their dirty clothing, BBC War Correspondents Stanley Maxted (left) and Guy Byam tell their stories of Arnhem at Broadcasting House on 27 September 1944. Byam, along with the crew of Rose of York (not the crew from the christening), were lost on a bombing mission to Berlin. Lost were: Vernon Daley (Pilot), Joe Carbine (Co-Pilot), Paul Becker (Navigator), Bob Crede (Bombardier), Reisel Horn (Engineer / Top Turret Gunner), Pofirio Marquez (Radio Operator), George Petrillo (Ball Turret Gunner), Silvio DeZolt (Waist Gunner), Okey Coplin (Tail Gunner), Guy Byam (BBC press) Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889287433-Y11GKM94WEQE3INNGUWM/Rose28.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out 306 Bomb Group Fortresses on a mission to bomb Germany. This is typical of the tail markings for a 306th Fort. Photo: National Archives via the United States Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB Alabama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889331378-WTLW45OID6GUD62P30T7/Rose27.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out A photograph of a Rose of York crew bomber jacket at the 8th Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia. This jacket depicts Rose of York as she was on the day of the christening without the red and yellow 306th Bomb Group common markings as seen in the previous photo. Photo: © Kevin “Elvis” King, divemasterking2000 on Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889364273-O33X1IHTCFMQCYQSJ2O5/Rose31.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Another crew jacket from Rose of York, perhaps from a later crew as the tail markings now conform to the common design as seen in the photograph above. The image from the 306th Bomb Group website shows Rose of York flying through heavy flak which, in the end, destroyed her. Photo via 306th Bomb Group website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889398242-25WA68NUSWJKU8M7MLN4/Rose29.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out Rose of York lives on again: Army Air Force Lieutenant Joseph Couris (ret), New Hampshire Air National Guard Technical Sergeant Frank Stephens, Staff Sergeant Kevin Johnson, and Airman First Class Alyssa Stansfield pose for a group photo in front of a Boeing KC-135R aerial refuelling tanker at Pease Air National Guard Base, New Hampshire, 9 September 2009. The tanker recently was affixed with replica nose art to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the christening of the original Rose of York and the bravery and selfless service of all of her crew members, including her first Aircraft Commander and New Hampshire resident Joseph Couris. In 1944 Joseph Couris was stationed at Thurleigh Royal Air Force Base near Bedford, England serving as a B-17 Aircraft Commander in the 306th Bombardment Group, 367th Bombardment Squadron of the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force. Tech. Sgt Stephens and Staff Sgt. Johnson designed the decal and all three unit members installed the nose art onto the tanker. Photo: 157th Air Refueling Wing NHANG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628889426510-5GSV8M8KFJUNVY5AERLQ/Rose30.jpg The Stories - ROSE OF YORK — A Fortress fit for a Princess - Make it stand out A close-up of NHANG KC-135R Rose of York's artwork... not as complete and polished as the original. Photo by Fergal Goodman https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/johnny-typhoon monthly 0.5 2021-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628882865352-FI0XS2YQTQXQYYXPDI5O/Colton01.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628882940824-2QRAUMLE5HC5ZNA7FMCL/Colton03.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out In 2005, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Johnny Colton came across a de Havilland Tiger Moth, serial number 8922. Looking in his log book, he realized this was the very same Tiger Moth which he force landed on a farm near Danville, Québec in 1941. The young girl who was the daughter of the farmer was 12 years younger than he was and of no interest to him at the time. But 35 years later, as a woman of 43 years, he would meet her again and marry her. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628882983642-G2P7ZOI99ROLBNS860Z4/Colton04.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out A couple of pages from Johnny Colton's log book showing his earliest entries at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills, Québec. Looking at the total flying time to date in the first column of the right page, we see that this scan includes Johnny's first solo on 29 September 1942, flying Tiger Moth 8939. Flight Sergeant Chambers knew a good stick when he saw one and let Johnny solo at 8 hours. This would be the birth of a great warrior flyer and proof that the BCATP system was an excellent one. Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883026299-40ZA84607Q4ACUUBZSXK/Colton05.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out At Geneseo in 2007, Tiger Moth 8922 trundles along the grass field, looking much the same as the day Johnny force landed it in a farm field near Danville, Québec. Photo: Jean-Pierre Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883053841-W5J7CDYLM0ZJ523ZJDKL/Colton06.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out There is not much left of the once busy No. 4 EFTS at Windsor Mills today, except part of the concrete ramp. There were not too many flying training schools in Québec during the Second World War, due in large part to the rugged, hilly landscape of most of the province. Windsor Mills produced Johnny Colton and Hart Finley, to whom the Vintage Wings Fleet Finch is dedicated. Source: Google Map—Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883117402-CYKVY9KKMUGPTR9SUDN1/Colton07.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Local Eastern Townships resident Yvon Goudreau was a civilian member of the Ground Crew at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills. Here he poses next to a winterized Tiger Moth (canopy and skis) on a lovely winter's day. We can't be certain, but the serial number under the wing appears to be 8922—the fateful Tiger Moth that led Johnny to his future wife. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883148467-SJVVVYKQR5MXZFG74Q5U/Colton08.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out As this article in a Sherbrooke paper reveals, flight training was a dangerous thing and the immediate needs of the war meant that a high loss rate would be, of necessity, acceptable. This tragic accident at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills, on 8 September 1942 was the first. The story goes on to explain: “In the first fatal accident to occur at the Windsor Mills Elementary Flying Training School during the two years and three months it has been in operation, two young Royal Canadian Air Force student pilots lost their lives when their planes crashed in mid-air at four thirty Saturday afternoon. The dead are LAC Thomas B. Fetherston, 21, of Toronto, who was killed instantly when he suffered a broken neck and other injuries and LAC James Robertson Davie, 19, also of Toronto, who died fifteen minutes after the crash in the school hospital. Flight Lieutenant Mackenzie Hume, Officer Commanding the School, said the accident occurred at about 1,000 feet, a mile southeast of the School, and that the two young flyers were turning about to come in for a landing. Flying Officer Gravel, Medical Officer, could do nothing to save Davie, who failed to regain consciousness after the accident. Both lads had been at the school for five weeks, and would have graduated to a higher branch of training in three weeks. Their bodies were taken to Toronto Saturday night, where funeral services will be held. Davie is the son of Mrs. Nary Davie of Toronto, and Fetherston the son of Mr. T. Fetherston, of Toronto.” Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883228806-CAUY0DTSLMKFGL4WTXEH/Colton09.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Invitation to Johnny Colton to attend an RCAF band concert in the summer of 1942. Johnny, like all the young men of the day, loved to go dancing. Soon he would be dancing in the skies over France with an angel of death. Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883323381-WMQOD4TGXGF71IWUUOCI/Colton11.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Johnny Colton (right) became fast friends with another pilot by the name of Flight Sergeant Ralph Hassall, while in training at Bournemouth, UK, in 1943 and on to Hurricane and Typhoon conversions. They went their separate ways, and never heard from each other again after Typhoon OTU. Johnny had lost contact with Ralph and had searched for his friend for many years after the war. After multiple efforts in searching for Hassall for 59 years, Johnny finally found that Ralph had died in 2001 near Cleveland, Ohio, where he was living. Johnny organized a proper tombstone to mark Ralph's simple gravesite—a stone that speaks to the fact that he was a fighter pilot of the RAF in 3 Squadron. God bless these boys. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883379537-6GPEMSCS4GI6M4YNK7TH/Colton10.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out After the war was long over, Johnny discovered that his friend Ralph Hassall went on to fly Hawker Typhoons and Tempests with 3 Squadron, RAF. Ironically, they never realized how close they had come to each other in the fighting to come—Ralph at the airfield at Volkel, and Johnny at Eindhoven just a few miles apart, in Netherlands, at end of 1944. Ralph flew with the famous French uber ace Pierre Clostermann. Standing, left to right (photo captioned with full names, last names and even nick names): Ralph Hassall, Pierre Clostermann, Walker, Peter West, Bruce Cole and Macintyre. Sitting: Gordon, Dug Worley, Wright and Torpy. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883456232-9NP0ZB4QM39PK7R10FTO/Colton48.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out A Miles Master of No. 5 Service Flying Training School. The Miles M.9 Master was a British 2-seat monoplane advanced trainer built by Miles Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. It went through a number of variants according to engine availability and was even modified as an emergency fighter during the Battle of Britain. It was a fast, strong and fully aerobatic aircraft and served as an excellent introduction to the high performance British fighter aircraft of the day: the Spitfire and Hurricane. Photo: Imperial War Museum, COL198 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883568648-XEHY1UHECP155UP3PYAM/Colton12.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Left: Johnny Colton at age 22, showing no effects from the terrible stresses of 104 ops in the Typhoon, proudly wears his RCAF wings and campaign ribbons. Photo: John Baert Collection Right: When in Great Britain, most young Canadians, who had never really been anywhere outside of their hometowns, would visit all the tourist spots wherever they were and send photos home to their families. Flight Sergeant Johnny Colton was no exception. Here he poses on a stack of massive cannon/mortar balls at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland in 1943. This photo was probably taken when Johnny was at the Hurricane OTU at Annan, Scotland. The only comment Johnny offered with this photo was: “I needed a hair cut!” Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883676834-1HH9G1QTARNS0PS6B4NV/Colton49.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Hawker Hurricane Mark X (AG162 “EH-W”) of No. 55 Operational Training Unit based at Annan, Dumfriesshire (UK), in flight. This would be Johnny's first taste of a real fighter aircraft but, compared to the Typhoon, the Hurricane was a piece of cake. Photo: Imperial War Museum, CH 9220 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883751518-U0EQ66W7ZD9TPQJHEZ2E/Colton13.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The next, very big step: Hurricanes to Typhoons. This photograph was taken during the conversion course from Hurricanes to Typhoons. From left to right: Charlie Hall (CAN), Pat McConvey (CAN), Bill Speedie (AUS), Johnny Colton (CAN), Ralph Hassall (CAN). We see Hassall with his right hand resting on the left shoulder of Johnny Colton and in that we read a bond and friendship often found in comrades-in-arms. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883921440-KQ56IENDU4AH64MQH0FZ/Colton41.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out One of the most complex piston engines of the Second World War, the 2,180 hp Napier Sabre engine powered the Typhoon. This is a cutaway display engine at the London Science Museum. Photo: Paul Maritz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884004161-1QMY84566OSUZ1OF5E3Z/Colton02.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Johnny Colton perches on his Hawker Typhoon in Manston, England, in July 1944. The massive size and stature of the Tiffie can be gauged in this image. Courtesy John Colton, colourization by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884052610-ROPBV6SI953DZFYH1TQ7/Colton15.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The beast: the Hawker Typhoon Mk IB (MN234 SF-T), running up’ on an engine test at B78 Eindhoven, Holland. It is loaded with 60 lb rocket projectiles and cannon rounds. Johnny flew this particular 137 Squadron Typhoon while in Holland in 1944. That aircraft was eventually shot down during the Ardennes Campaign in December 1944. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884114935-0VOX2A01DBB6VPS3UQVF/Colton45.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Loaded for bear. Sergeant W. Page of Coulsdon, Surrey and Leading Aircraftman G. Skelsey of London fit a long-range fuel tank to a Hawker Typhoon Mark IB of No. 137 Squadron RAF at B78 Eindhoven, Holland. The tanks enabled the Typhoons to carry out strikes deeper into German territory, at the expense of a reduced weapons load of two, instead of four, rocket projectiles carried under each wing. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884158154-6RTXD1PAATQBR7D3Q9K2/Colton16.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The Typhoon had virtually zero forward visibility. For manoeuvring on tight taxi strips, it was expedient to have a member of the ground crew sitting on the wing to direct the pilot. Here, a Typhoon is directed by an “erk” through standing water at a captured German airfield (as witnessed by the sign on the wall in the background which says Smoking Prohibited.) Photo: Michel Côté Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884331360-0IKA7R43RC1CVI3Y8ASM/Colton50.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out This would be the view that Colton would have had when intercepting and shooting down a V-1 “buzz bomb”. A German Fiesler Fi 103 flying-bomb (V-1) in flight, as seen by the gun camera of an intercepting RAF fighter aircraft, moments before the fighter destroyed the V-1 by cannon fire. Photo: Imperial War Museum, C 5736 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884417507-9IGHHB16YEJS08L8VABF/Colton52.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out In the summer of a long and difficult campaign, Johnny (Middle row, fourth from left) and his 137 Squadron mates pose together with a Tiffie in Normandy in August 1944. Many of the men in this photo would not make it home. The pilot standing alone on the extreme right is Johnny's good friend, James “Paddy” Shemeld. Photo: John Baert Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884500354-V2OCP4M8P6QEDABMWJHV/Colton19.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The conditions at Coulombs' B-6 temporary airfield were primitive, as witnessed by Johnny’s friend and pilot Paddy Shemeld standing outside his heavy canvas tent. Paddy, one of the most experienced hands on the squadron would be shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf-109 on 31 December, the day before Operation Bodenplatte, the failed all-out German aerial campaign to re-establish air superiority. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885157416-RX1NFZDQEZ1P1UPJ21JQ/Colton20.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out A drawing of the layout of revetments and runway at the Allied airfield near Coulombs, Normandy was known as B-6. Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885230345-WOQC96RTYFJMENK3YF1M/Colton55.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The site of the Allied airfield at Coulombs today. It was from here, next to the quiet and bucolic Norman town that Typhoons of 124 Wing hammered the Germans for weeks. Photo: Google Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885394354-W4TN98KTHGJJERV5HXF4/Colton21.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The memorial stone at the site of B-6 in Coulombs–Ste Croix-Grand-Tonne. Plus a close-up of the inscription which honours the airmen of 124 Wing, of which Johnny's 137 Squadron was part. The graphic shows a loaded Typhoon with invasion stripes collecting its landing gear after lifting off from the airfield, bound for German lines. A very fitting tribute. Photo: Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885433719-4Y3GL36NPFY526WJVSKB/Colton22.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out When author Lapprand showed this photo to Johnny after a return from a trip to France, he asked: “Johnny, do you recognize this church?” Johnny Colton smiled and answered: “Yes, the Sainte-Croix Grand Tonne church... I hit it with my wing once.” Photo: Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885474434-WGKVCV0MNCGTII38HLIZ/Colton47.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Hawker Typhoon Mark IB, MN627 “SF-N”, of No. 137 Squadron RAF undergoes engine maintenance outside a hangar, elaborately camouflaged as domestic buildings by the former German occupants, at B-58/Melsbroek, Belgium. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885537425-H478VJX27ZNHNJ02XNI9/Colton51.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Ground crew of No. 3208 Servicing Commando insert collapsible tubes from a pre-heating van into the air intake and radiator of a Hawker Typhoon Mark IB in the snow at B-58/Melsbroek, Belgium. The tubes fed hot air into the Napier Sabre engines, which were notoriously difficult to start in wintry conditions, and required this treatment at regular intervals to maintain serviceability. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885615857-PHUQXW95KTE1YFE1NAWW/Colton23.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Johnny’s Typhoon, SF-Y. Model and photo made by John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885734341-32WHQSFRHXICTV9GKHB3/Colton24.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Newspaper clippings from Canadian newspapers trumpeting Johnny's part in the attack against General Kurt Student's headquarters. Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885842190-KMD4AOMT8JLJJKZARAJD/Colton25.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Hawker Typhoon SF-Z, an aircraft that Colton flew on many occasions, shows heavy damage from fire. When flames sweep back along the fuselage and empennage, the first things to go are the components covered in fabric. One wonders how the pilot was able to use his rudder at all. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885967546-96JL3EEUASRPWXDERK4G/Colton46.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The scene at Eindhoven, Netherlands in 1944 with 137 Squadron Typhoon SF-K. Typhoon SF-K was the ship that was flown by Colton's good friend James “Paddy” Shemeld when he was shot down on the eve of Operation Bodenplatte. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886016168-3GKLLL81CZGN5IAGWFTM/Colton53.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out 124 Wing Typhoons armed up and rolling on perforated steel mat taxi strips at Eindhoven, Netherlands in 1944. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886079895-6C6WETU816AH2VBC1NBU/Colton44.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The opponent. The Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Würger (Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by the famed Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during the Second World War. Like the avian shrike, whose nickname is the “Butcher Bird”, the Würger was a deadly predator, one often mistaken by friendly forces for a Typhoon and vice versa because of a similar wing shape. Powered by a radial engine, the Fw-190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf-109. The Fw-190 was used by the Luftwaffe in a wide variety of roles, including day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886134435-LG6LXJZSM0SCUUTAMHPK/Colton28.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out A group photo of one of the units that attacked Colton's 124 Wing at Eindhoven—Sturmstaffel. 1m Jagdgeschwader 3 “Ernst Udet”. Here we see Fw-190 Butcher Bird pilots of that unit posing for a group photo late in the war. Feldwebel (Sergeant) Oscar Bösch is second from right. All of these men died in action in the last desperate months of the war except Oscar and two others. Photo: John Baert Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886172696-QVP6KG2YIT7I2YIEMVNM/Colton32.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Feldwebel Oscar Bösch at the age of 19 years in Austria. Brought up on gliding like so many young German pilots, all he wanted to do was fly. His war record is 18 victories against Allied air forces, including 8 B-17s and B-24s, as well as a P-51 and a SpifireAfter the war, Bösch emigrated to Canada and began a stellar and storied career as an air show glider pilot. Photo: John Baert Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886209473-NRF2OLYU9MMKYKH4WUQG/Colton30.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Johnny Colton and Oscar Bösch standing beside Oscar’s glider (OB for Oscar Bôsch) in the summer of 1978, at Sherbrooke, Québec. During the war, each of these two fine men would have done everything in their power to kill the other but, after the war, they were able to put aside the war and build a long and lasting friendship. Every 1 January at 0910 hrs, the hour of the Bodenplatte attack on Eindhoven, they would call each other on the telephone. Photo: John Baert Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886271560-JCEP3ONZN1Q91Q4NXAO3/Colton31.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Pilots' friendships often transcend time, hardships and borders. Johnny received a few years ago this gift from Oscar Bösch in memory of their mutual experiences of Operation Bodenplatte 1 January 1945: a picture of Oscar standing with famous German uber Ace Erich Hartman. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886341287-HNJVXXN57HKDS23AXQVR/Colton43.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The Messerschmitt Bf-109, often called Me-109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid-1930s. The One-o-Nine was a formidable fighter in the hands of a good pilot, and Germany had many very good pilots. It was one of the first truly modern fighters of the era, including such features as all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, a retractable landing gear, and was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted V12 engine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886431458-FKNLRKZNZW1ANK28RVYI/Colton42.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe (“Swallow” in English) was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944. Compared with Allied fighters of its day, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor, it was much faster and better armed. One of the most advanced aviation designs in operational use during World War II, the Me-262 was used in a variety of roles, including light bomber, reconnaissance and even experimental night fighter versions. The Me-262 influenced the designs of postwar aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886539097-GW79RUJ60DHDZOOOKHDR/Colton33.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Take a minute to read the glib and understated 137 Squadron Logbook, from February 1945. A fascinating and casual recounting of the day's activities including Johnny's part in the action. Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886648083-FJFIA3Q0T282RYJBOAZ3/Colton34.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out The last and only one surviving Typhoon is in the Hendon Museum, in England. Originally saved by the Americans, this Typhoon is supposed to come for a period of 3 years at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa starting next year. Photo: John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886698420-QY2PIQI6Y0B0Z8W68NZD/Colton35.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out In 1994, during the 124 Wing reunion in Normandy, Johnny (centre, facing us) receives commemorative medallions from the mayors of two villages close to the Allied airfield called B-6, one of the first Allied operational airfields after D-Day. The Mayors were Roland Heudier of Noyers-Bocage, and Claude Marguerite of Sainte-Croix-Grand-Tonne. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886729533-03PJ9WT1RZAS5MBATMAJ/Colton36.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out On his visit to Normandy, in 1994, Johnny and pilots and ground crew of 124 Wing pose for a group photo at a reunion in Noyers-Bocage. Johnny is standing in the back row, fourth from the right. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886784318-9MR3TPGZPXP6UVYA8423/Colton37.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Johnny remains very active in his local legion and participates in commemorative events like the D-Day Anniversary ceremony at the Sherbrooke, Québec Legion Br 10 in June 2012. Johnny stands third from the left. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886831167-8ORM6BCMSAM82GRVXH0I/Colton38.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out On 30 September 2012, Johnny (seated, at left) received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886867785-E6AJK13P9BZ9DZIKWWO3/Colton39.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out On 12 October 2012, LGen Yvan Blondin, Chief of the RCAF, presented an RCAF Certificate of Recognition to F/L John Colton in recognition of his “outstanding service to Canada in the RCAF as a Typhoon Fighter-Bomber pilot in Europe during WWII… Through your bravery, courage, skill and audacity, you survived 104 combat missions and served as an inspiration to your fellow aviators during combat.” This award corresponds to the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) given to pilots during the Second World War. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886906063-EQIS3EAYWOMP6MFA90FO/Colton40.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Whether he is meeting school children or an astronaut, Colton is an inspiration to everyone. Left: 9 November 2012, Sherbrooke Elementary School. Johnny participated in the Veterans memorial events and said the children were very interested. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection Right: People who make History, past and present. A meeting of Johnny Colton, John Colton Junior, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield during the Gatineau Air Show at Vintage Wings of Canada in 2010. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886937659-5QEIYQN6NS58ROXRENCR/Colton54.jpg The Stories - JOHNNY TYPHOON — The Johnny Colton Story - Make it stand out Author Pierre Lapprand visits his dear friend Johnny Colton in the summer of 2012. It is evident, from the surrounding memorabilia in Johnny's office, that his days with 137 Squadron flying Typhoons were, in many ways, the finest of his life. Shared deprivation and stress bond men together forever. It is also evident that Pierre and Johnny are friends and that, for the Frenchman, it is a very important and proud connection. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-simple-thing monthly 0.5 2023-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628879920196-7LPPX7048LMZ2L1PLCW2/Clasp10.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628880058854-MRU9YPM2YM0G9AKW6479/Clasp08.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Make it stand out While it is too late to demonstrate our recognition and pride for the large percentage of former Bomber Command aircrew, a small group of Bomber Command veterans were assembled for the unveiling of the new Clasp – an extraordinary grouping of proud aviators accounting for 305 Operations over enemy territory. The group includes Frank Savard, 425 Squadron, RCAF (5 Ops); Ron Moyes, 429 and 405 Squadrons, RCAF (30 Ops - Full Tour); Robert Bradley, 576 Squadron RAF, (30 Ops - Full Tour); Eric Plummer, 406 Squadron, RCAF (2 Ops); George Bova, DFC, 432 and 405 Squadrons, RCAF (60 Ops - Two Full Tours); Jack Maclean, 415 Squadron (32 Ops - Full Tour +); Cecil Corbett Stewart, 514 Squadron, RAF (30 Ops - Full Tour); Jack Bower-Binns, 578 Squadron, RAF (37 Ops - Full Tour + 7); Fraser Muir, 50 Squadron, RAF (35 Ops - Full Tour + 5), Al Smith, 415 Squadron RCAF (8 Ops); John Maitland, 70 Squadron, RAF (36 Ops - Full Tour + 6). Other dignitaries included Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie (right of Clasp Design on easel), and Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence (to the left of the easel). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628880598146-ZTA4FNMZHD9WWHYB3ESC/Clasp02.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - George Bova George Bova, DFC, 432 and 405 Squadrons, RCAF (60 Ops - Two Full Tours) was a wireless operator and air gunner. George was born in Ottawa, on 4 June 1921, son of Salvatore Bova and Salvatora (Liberti) Bova. He enlisted in the RCAF on 30 June 1942 and received aircrew instruction at various training schools in Canada. He graduated from 2 BG School on 28 June 1943. After arriving overseas he served with 432 Leaside Squadron (6 Group) based in East Moor Yorkshire, England, from which Bova and crew flew Halifax aircraft for Bomber Command. Later, Bova and crew flew Lancasters with 405 Squadron (8 Group). Warrant Officer Bova beat heavy odds against returning safely to base and completed 49 risky and danger-filled sorties as a Wireless/Air Gunner over enemy territory to heavily defended targets such as Essen, Nuremburg, Kiel, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf. On the night of 26/27 March 1944, fourteen 432 Squadron crews were tasked with Ops to Essen. Bova's aircraft sustained flak damage to the starboard aileron but the pilot was able to make a return to East Moor and land safely. He survived a raid over Nuremberg, Germany where 96 planes had been lost and 545 air crew killed. By 20 December 1944, when Bova was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), he had flown 49 sorties and 154 hours. His citation referred to his skill and bravery and coolness under fire during extremely personal danger situations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628880551055-ZRDUN3WH1VLMTSF4XPBS/Clasp03.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Eric Plummer The pride and determination, and a high degree of elegance can be found on the face of 406 Squadron veteran Eric Plummer, in attendance at the Bomber Command Clasp unveiling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628880551042-G6S1O8VWY81NAVU0FTC0/Clasp04.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Robert Bradley Though pride was the emotion of the day, there was still a profound sadness for the men who died on ops or who have passed away in the nearly 70 years since the cessation of Bomber Command ops as witnessed by the face of Robert Bradley of 576 Squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628880551680-JOXJQI2XTQJWRSEJXSEU/Clasp05.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Ron Moyes Warrant Officer (Retired) Ron Moyes, Veteran of No. 405 (Pathfinders) Squadron, RCAF, was an air gunner aboard heavy bombers, completing a 30 op tour, including missions over the city of Rotterdam, Holland during Operation Manna. The bottom gold pin on his lapel, a winged “O”, is the pin given to men who completed a full tour of Operations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628881047490-NNCPEODLGLNIS3GUOA4X/Clasp06.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Make it stand out Minister Steven Blaney (right) and Minister Peter MacKay (left) unveil the Bomber Command Honour with Colonel (Retired) Terry Chester, National President of the Air Force Association of Canada (centre right) and Lieutenant-General (Retired) William Carr, former Commander of the Air Command (centre left). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628881076957-90G92MBCGV6N4PJK3LGS/Clasp07.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Make it stand out As Minister Peter Mackay shows them the design of the clasp up close, the pride can be read on the faces of men who have learned to keep their emotions to themselves. Well done Minister. Well done DND. Well done DVA. And thank you AFAC... from the bottom of Canada's heart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628881122409-XN6M36JGHAOM6R6FT13E/Clasp11.jpg The Stories - A SIMPLE THING - Make it stand out We will never know the true terror, strain and loss of those long nights over hostile territory, but at least now, they and above all, their families, will know how much they are appreciated. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/living-legend monthly 0.5 2021-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854352919-EFIWDBG0ZVLYL3A3SR4A/Stocky01.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854479983-5SON2DJ1FGI1FCP9074M/Stocky38.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Wing Commander (Ret'd) James Francis Edwards, CM, DFC & Bar, DFM, CD and now member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame arrives at his induction ceremony with his wife Toni, herself a Second World War veteran combat nurse. Photo: John Chalmers, Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854582811-MVCHV36P41OQ3NKMC3U1/Stocky37.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out The five 2013 inductees of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame stand together at the end of the night's ceremonies. It was the Hall's 40th anniversary induction ceremony. Stocky, the oldest of the group, looks marvelous and in fighting trim in his tuxedo. Left to right beside Stocky are: Joseph Fernand “Frank” Henley established his career with the RCAF, and also bush flying. Henley held executive positions at Maritime Central Airways (MCA), Nordair and Hydro Québec, where he masterminded immense logistical effort to transport heavy equipment, supplies and personnel to the James Bay hydro project via air. In doing so, he pioneered the use of ice runways for the delivery of heavy loads by air. Henley was named to the Order of Canada in 2003. Photo and text: John Chalmers, Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame Donald Carty, former president of Canadian Pacific Air Lines. Doug represented Canadian Pacific Air Lines Ltd. which received the Belt of Orion Award for an Organization. CP Air Lines was established under modest conditions in 1942 with the amalgamation of ten small, independent air services. The airline went on to expand its operations and become a prominent international and domestic provider of scheduled air services. Canadian Pacific Air Lines serviced nearly every province and territory in Canada, as well as 14 countries across five continents. The company also launched Canadian airline services across the Pacific. John Sanford, former president of de Havilland Canada, was its chief executive during the company’s tumultuous period as a crown corporation. During this time he launched a new generation of regional airliners that saved the company from collapse. His legacy can be seen in the more than 1,000 Dash 8 aircraft used by airlines around the world. Victor Bennett, whose long career in aviation has seen his active involvement with a host of organizations, spanning business, professional and heritage sectors. His background in the RCAF Reserve, education in law, exemplary leadership skills, business acumen and entrepreneurial talent, have seen him reach the top of his field in providing FBO, repair, overhaul, completion and refurbishing services to customers worldwide, as chief executive at Innotech Aviation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854730547-2OPTEL3EJGDUHJO9BHWW/Stocky02.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out While chatting with Dave O'Malley, Stocky notices the dedication panel on “his” aircraft. Dragged from the jungles of Papua New Guinea, the former Royal Australian Air Force P-40N Kittyhawk is not only dedicated to him, but is painted in the exact markings (HS-B S/N FR350) of Edwards' personal Kittyhawk when he flew with the RAF's 260 Squadron of the Desert Air Force in North Africa. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854771544-YNC0QNMUXKG9BCG7934U/Stocky40.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out The Stocky Edwards P-40 flying for the first time near Ardmore, New Zealand shortly after her restoration. Note the panels behind the cockpit which turn the P-40 into an authentic looking single seat fighter. We normally fly without these so that the second seat can be utilized. Photo: Gavin Conroy, Classic Aviation Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854803344-NRGBA62US9OMO83EFHUR/Stocky12.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out As Vintage Wings staffers gather to talk with Stocky by his banner and his Kittyhawk, Vintage Wings photographers Richard Mallory Allnutt (left) and Peter Handley machine gun him with their shutters. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854846109-LXF8TA00KDEM2YCA2KDE/Stocky03.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Stock lays a hand respectfully on the P-40's radiator housing. The P-40 brought Stocky through more than 200 combat sorties without a scratch, while flying against more experienced pilots with better machines like the Bf-109. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854894464-0HCI7HNCV8FTNTOL3V3C/Stocky07.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out With the Kittyhawk up on Jacks, Stocky could stand beneath the wing and regale us with stories of flying the P-40. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854928361-S7L97YKCRMAZU65XZ06P/Stocky10.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Though he may be 92, Stocky Edwards clearly still has iron in his back and fire in his eyes. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854961088-6FK4GEN8VJ5AZPJFGDRT/Stocky06.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out For a few shots, Stocky wore his Vintage Wings of Canada cap. Stocky is a great supporter of Vintage Wings of Canada and during his acceptance speech at the Induction Ceremony, he paid tribute to Mike Potter and our organization several times. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855017064-3XLL750COA057D9UEHNO/Stocky04.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Two old friends and Spitfire pilots—The ace, Stocky Edwards, a former Commander of the four Spitfire squadrons of 127 Wing and Mike Potter, one of only a handful of currently qualified Spitfire pilots in the Western Hemisphere. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855055678-GDK6LT4SCZ4Q6BEKP1D6/Stocky13.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out The activity surrounding the photo shoot with Handley. The two pilots were made to stand on wooden boxes to approximate ground level for the jacked up Kittyhawk. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855166157-U30U25N09JQMZNCS7LZV/Stocky11.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Both men, used to being in the limelight, obliged the photographers with bemusement. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855195958-EM95QZL5AMRZM6VBJ6N2/Stocky05.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out There is no doubt that Stocky's story and his persona can inspire people of all ages... even his great grandchildren who are more than 80 years younger than him. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855225769-JK8J2IF7KZCWUO6MTSWV/Stocky09.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out While Stocky is inspecting the Vintage Wings Spitfire XVI, Potter approaches him and says: “Hey Stocky, how would you like to reacquaint yourself with the Harvard?” Stocky replied: “Right now?... Well sure!” How many 92-year-olds do you know that would jump at that opportunity? It's a measure of the strength, spunk and adventure in the man who we all look up to. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855261600-SZSXV4MG3H3O0PIC0GQ3/Stocky21.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out With Nomex gauntlets adding that perfect tactical touch of style, Edwards mounts the ladder to the Harvard unassisted. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855295546-YL4FMYRBZ8GHGWGXQ6O1/Stocky22.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out While pilots Potter and Edwards strap in, AME Paul Tremblay assists Stocky with reaching awkward straps. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855327526-XZXAPN99JQQ5QUT6HDKF/Stocky23.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out The former Wing Commander and forever ace, shows us he still has the ember of flight burning in his heart. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855431199-I8P2FTI39RW0DD6DMYCI/Stocky24.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Clearly, Mike Potter was proud and delighted to share his cockpit with a living legend. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855464290-1RXAIOTWSPIZZRNSV234/Stocky25.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Potter and Edwards run up on the Gatineau Airport ramp. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855493050-MWM76YPCXJUB26TMKD68/Stocky26.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Edwards takes to the air in a Second World War aircraft one more time. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855526645-Y59FO0AKVIJQJSY6IKJ4/Stocky27.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Potter brings the Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Harvard 4 in low and fast for a good photo op with the ace in the back seat. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855560125-NSA502M117Q1RX8UKBWB/Stocky28.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Another view of the high speed pass. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855588419-T5RDUP413C8HA1GNH5KY/Stocky29.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Family and friends are busy snapping photos of their hero as he and Potter fly past. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855614570-STYCRXUIEZK82P614VGT/Stocky30.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out After his great grandfather flies by, Stocky's great grandson flies after him. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855642818-C02SRPVR7CXFR9KZVVWG/Stocky32.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Potter turns off the main runway after landing with Stocky waving to his family and looking decidedly cool. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855669909-OL2TWSEMVRO60H0ADZ8X/Stocky31.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Under glowering skies, Potter brings the Harvard down the Vintage Wings taxi road, while Stocky slides his canopy forward and gives waiting folks a big Nomex-gauntletted wave. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855719647-QR0WE37GRM8OWKDOIESY/Stocky33.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Potter and Edwards share a moment together after the flight. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855754801-40T06BF3PB5OZ721RGQ8/Stocky34.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux (Right) and Terry Cooper steady the ladder for the ace as he dismounts. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855788664-QXPK0T9HZPP70CST7C49/Stocky35.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Stocky and Toni pose with three additional generations of their clan after the flight, while Allnutt climbs the ladder. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855831280-S5PJA21448SNSMWBDFFH/Stocky20.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Yellow Wings coordinator Alex “Soupy” Campbell puts one of Stocky's great grandchildren into the cockpit of the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk and the Wingco gets the thumbs up. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855898703-9WLYXGPGHZQYZYHN5M9K/Stocky15.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Since Stocky did not get to witness the formal raising of the banner in November of 2012, Rob Fleck, President of Vintage Wings (Left) staged a re-enactment of the event for Stocky and Toni's entertainment. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855939858-UKJW2PVDZRTOO0SST0DF/Stocky16.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out As Vintage Wings pilot Bob Childerhose (his father, Chick Childerhose, a famous F-86 Sabre pilot like Stocky) raises the banner, while the honoured couple looks on. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628855979740-EHDN01EQQF5P35L8TJDJ/Stocky17.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Stocky was clearly amused, while Toni looks up at an image of the man she married so long ago. There were smiles and thank yous all around. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628856014297-T3B6N2Q2JWU2HJO6O0DS/Stocky18.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out It is clear that the entire week was a great experience for the couple who have been together for more than 65 years. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628856049308-364UXXOEOBPCKKB8KZFN/Stocky19.jpg The Stories - LIVING LEGEND — A Visit from Stocky Edwards - Make it stand out Perhaps the finest picture of the day... The love and ageless beauty of these two humble and elegant people is very apparent to all who were there and also to anyone who looks at this image. Toni wears (as did other family members) a hand-tied fly-fishing fly made by Stocky. He has made and designed hundreds of different types including a Spitfire fly. I think this is one of the most wonderful symbols of the man, even more telling that the Order of Canada pin he wears on his left collar (out of view in this shot). Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt, Vintage Wings of Canada https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/chastise-70 monthly 0.5 2021-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628813508642-AWXFQWGCN4PAEQMTE2SJ/Chastise.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Photoshop Illustration by Dave O'Malley with Richard Allnutt photograph https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628813622731-13A2LPHUA7NKZ8ZVAHU0/Chastise01.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The Canadian DamBusters. In the group photo we see 16 of the 17 surviving members of the Royal Canadian Air Force—15 Canadians and the legendary Joe McCarthy (second from right at back), an American in the RCAF. Standing, left to right: Sgt. Steve Onancia, Bomb Aimer on F-Freddie; Sgt. Fred “Doc” Sutherland, Air Gunner on N-Nancy; Sgt. Harry O'Brien, Air Gunner on N-Nancy; FSgt. Ken Brown, Pilot on F-Freddie; FSgt. Harvey Weeks, Air Gunner on W-William; FSgt. John William “Jack” Thrasher, Bomb Aimer on H-Harry; P/O George A. Deering, Air Gunner on G-George; Sgt. W.G. Radcliffe, Flight Engineer on T-Tommy; FSgt. Donald A. MacLean, Navigator on T-Tommy; F/L Joseph C. McCarthy, Pilot on T-Tommy; and FSgt. Grant S. MacDonald, AF on F-Freddie. Kneeling: W/O Percy E. Pigeon, Wireless Operator on W-William; F/O Harlo T. Taerum, Navigator on G-George; F/O Danny R. “Revie” Walker, Navigator on L-Love; Sgt. Chester B. Gowrie, Wireless Operator on H-Harry; and F/O David Rodger, Air Gunner on T-Tommy. A 17th RCAF airman, P/O John Fraser was shot down at the Möhne Dam and parachuted to safety to become a POW. Later in the war, Taerum, Deering, Thrasher and Gowrie would all be killed on ops. The group of 15 airmen at the bottom are the Canadians who were killed on the raids. Left to right, top row: WO2 James L. Arthur; WO2 Joseph G. Brady; Sgt. Charles Brennan; P/O Lewis J. Burpee; Sgt. Vernon W. Byers; Sgt. Alden Preston Cottam; F/O Kenneth Earnshaw; P/O John W. Fraser. Bottom row: Sgt. Francis A. Garbas; Sgt. Abram Garshowitz; F/O Harvey S. Glinz; F/O Vincent S. MacCausland; Sgt. James McDowell; F/O Robert A. Urquhart; and P/O Floyd A. Wile. Photos: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628813666074-1MYASA2NP9IALI6AEETF/Chastise02.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out A photograph shortly after the Lancasters and their crews had breached the Möhne Dam, one of the headwaters of the Ruhr Valley. One can see that barrage balloons have been tethered in the approach path of attacking bombers, but by then it was too late. This breach was the most successful and most damaging of all the floods caused by the attack. The Möhne Reservoir, created by the dam, is an artificial lake in North Rhine–Westphalia, some 45 km east of Dortmund. The lake is formed by the damming of two rivers, Möhne and Heve, and with its four basins stores as much as 135 million cubic meters of water. The dam was built between 1908 and 1913 to help control floods, regulate water levels on the Ruhr River downstream, and generate hydro power. Today, the lake and the dam are also a tourist attraction, largely because of these raids. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628813705425-YG8S6KO1WU7K1OSK4AJN/Chastise11.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out A view of the top of the Möhne Dam days after the reservoir has drained. The next photo gives you much the same view today. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628813755869-6AJXOKUWHFTATSEQJCZI/Chastise04.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The Möhne Dam today. Vintage Wingers Howard and Peta Cook visited the dam just a couple of months ago. The dam looks very much the same as it did on the night of 16–17 May 1943. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628814115368-X1G5CT9ZMFBMGNOZRTSZ/Chastise05.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out On the reservoir side of the dam, only a few metres of dam wall could be seen from the air, but the two blockhouses made perfect reference points from which to make a distance calculation. In order the work, the “skipping bomb” had to be released at exactly the right speed (240 mph), the right distance from the dam and at the right height (60 feet). 617 Squadron navigators came up with a simple hand-held targeting device with two prongs, making the same angle as the two towers at the correct distance from the dam, which showed when to release the bomb. (The BBC documentary Dambusters Declassified (2010) stated that the pronged device was in fact not used due to issues related to vibration and that other methods were employed, including a length of string tied in a loop and pulled back centrally to a fixed point in the manner of a catapult.) The second problem was determining the aircraft's altitude, as the barometric altimeters then in use lacked sufficient accuracy. Two spotlights were mounted, one under the aircraft's nose and the other under the fuselage, so that at the correct height their light beams would converge on the surface of the water. The crews practiced at similar dams and reservoirs in the north of England. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853528348-P89VX6CY0R9DPVFESFKI/Chastise17.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out A scene from the Dam Busters movie of a 617 Squadron Bomb Aimer lining up the towers on the Möhne Dam with the spikes at the end of the “Y” of his simple wooden device. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853555000-SYKDZ1ASWWIQIMO8GOB4/Chastise06.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Howard and Peta Cook posing on the river side of the Möhne Dam. One gets a true sense of the mass of the dam and the difficulties one would have breaching it with a bomb dropped from a 240 mph Lancaster. Photo: Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853582264-APO15MJV88SSYESS3C7I/Chastise07.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out A shot of the cylindrical “bouncing bomb” code-named “Upkeep”and its attachment system. We can see the chain drive that spun up the bomb to 400 rpm, a necessity to have the bomb skip and not breakup. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853616001-C42N82N7OXHAXX7ONK6F/Chastise12.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The Möhne Dam the morning after the breach, with the reservoir still in full spill and roaring down the valley to the Ruhr industrial region. The two direct mine hits on the Möhne Dam resulted in a breach around 250 feet (76 metres) wide and 292 feet (89 metres) deep. The destroyed dam poured around 330 million tons of water, equivalent to a cube measuring 687 metres, into the western Ruhr region. A torrent of water around 32.5 feet (10 meters) high and travelling at around 15 mph (24 km/h) swept through the valleys of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers. A few mines were flooded; 11 small factories and 92 houses were destroyed and 114 factories and 971 houses were damaged. The floods washed away about 25 roads, railways and bridges as the flood waters spread for around 50 miles (80 km) from the source. Estimates show that before 15 May 1943 water production on the Ruhr was 1 million tonnes; this dropped to a quarter of that level after the raid. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853665208-H7K8DY4WEEWG8C7PFV0E/Chastise13.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out From the top of Möhne Dam, we see the extent of the fine work of 617 Squadron. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853697113-MV7E6RR3MCA4X61I4Y4I/Chastise14.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The massive breach in the Möhne Dam and the exposed bottom of the reservoir evident to the right. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853734507-C2BCHMGHOFYBJ1Q8763Y/Chastise15.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The damage done downstream wiped out much of the industry, but only for a relatively short period of time. The flooding caused more than 1,650 deaths, most of which were forced labourers from the Soviet Union. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853775081-9S10ZCUTNOXBTVMWK2BM/Chastise09.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out A similar breach in the Eder Dam. Note the level of the water and the exposed shoreline behind the dam. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853810021-UY15IS6LAHSDWWDL4YIK/Chastise16.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The Eder Dam from high above. Note the exposed flanks of the reservoir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853839985-BBC2YRNJK7RHO5CBRSYV/Chastise08.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Some came home safely. Here the crew of 617 Lancaster T for Tommy, commanded by the famous American in the RCAF Big Joe McCarthy, pose after their Operation Chastise ordeal in a rare colour photo. During his attack on the Sorpe Dam, which required flying parallel to the dam, McCarthy made 9 attempts before dropping his bomb... a testament to his courage and determination. Joe McCarthy went on to a postwar career with the RCAF. He was the Chief Flying Instructor at Penhold when our own Tim Timmins did his Harvard course there. The crew included three members of the RCAF, two Canadian and one American. The crew of Lancaster ED825/“AJ-T” sitting on the grass, posed under stormy clouds. Left to right: Sergeant G. Johnson, bomb aimer; Canadian Pilot Officer D.A. MacLean, navigator; Flight Lieutenant J.C. McCarthy, pilot; Sergeant L. Eaton, wireless operator. In the rear are Sergeant R. Batson, front gunner; and Canadian Sergeant W.G. Radcliffe, flight engineer at RAF Scampton, 22 July 1943. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853865728-3X7R361M8X5WQXHW5K2I/Chastise10.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The visit of HM King George VI to No. 617 Squadron (The Dambusters), Royal Air Force, Scampton, Lincolnshire, on 27 May 1943 – The King has a word with Flight Lieutenant Les Munro from New Zealand. Wing Commander Guy Gibson is on the right and Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane, Commander of No. 5 Group is behind Flight Lieutenant Munro and to the right. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853929045-C2SAJBOZJNJYOXANF4IH/Chastise18.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out The visit of HM King George VI to No. 617 Squadron (The Dambusters), Royal Air Force, Scampton, Lincolnshire, on 27 May 1943 – The King has a word with Flight Lieutenant Les Munro from New Zealand. Wing Commander Guy Gibson is on the right and Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane, Commander of No. 5 Group is behind Flight Lieutenant Munro and to the right. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853970339-XO3RG47Y8YDZZ0V1DGJS/Chastise19.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628853989539-C2DPYW7OH2HGL49NS7JR/Chastise21.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628854018726-KCSZR34CYGUGO4VWEGAA/Chastise22.jpg The Stories - OPERATION CHASTISE — At 70 Years - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/per-ardua monthly 0.5 2021-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628805849918-0NE5RQC2KBBFV93XVYI9/PerArduaTitle.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628805964307-B8XVNOL3F4GFM3HBYJHV/Kirkpatrick5.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob Kirkpatrick’s course photograph from no. 13 OTU at Bicester, England where he and his mates converted to the de Havilland Mosquito after having just completed a Beaufighter course. Bob Kirkpatrick sits in the front row, second from right, while his navigator Wally Undrill stands directly behind him. To Bob’s right sits Hugh Bone, a fellow Mossie pilot on the course, who continues his friendship with “Kirk” to this day. Of Kirkpatrick, Bone says: “Kirk is a great guy and a natural pilot. He did things with both a Beaufighter as well as a Mosquito that experienced pilots with many hours on the type would never have attempted.” It is clear that each pilot on the OTU is sitting in a chair in front of his navigator, as the man behind Bone is Ken Guy, part of the Bone/Guy Mosquito crew. Sadly, Bone lost contact with Guy sometime after the war. Photo via Hugh Bone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806033277-5Y2KQNOQ2XUS1PVX9PUP/PerArdua22.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out A screen capture from film footage shot from Bob Kirkpatrick’s Mosquito as his squadron thunders across the English Channel on their way to surprise the Gestapo. RAF image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806074446-TCCWVYU1B87BNBGQ9II3/PerArdua21.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out A rather poor screen capture from a blurry YouTube video. The camera film footage from the famous Shell House Raid (Operation CARTHAGE) in Copenhagen was all shot from the cockpit of Bob Kirkpatrick’s Mosquito. His normal “looker”, Wally Undrill was replaced for this raid by RAF camera man named Sergeant Raymond Hearne. What we see here is what Bob saw. RAF film footage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806107574-HH1Q9IUG9ZH6I91P9UKD/PerArdua69.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Another photo from the Shell House Raid shows a Mosquito at roof top level. RAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806173389-WWV5WAEVNK3SU9BV0FR7/PerArdua75.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Happy to be alive and on friendly soil after the Shell House Raid, Kirkpatrick (left) and Sergeant Ray Hearne, the RAF’s cinematographer take a moment at RAF Rackheath to have their photo taken. Photo via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806234829-DRF7YRIQUO0QGAJY225C/PerArdua73.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out When Bob Kirkpatrick crossed into Canada to join the RCAF in 1942, he would not see his homeland until late 1945. Without an American service record or passport, he was no longer believed to be an American citizen when he tried to come back in to the US with his new bride Ginny. Then Bob remembered his American Red Cross Officer’s Club membership card: “I carried it in my billfold and when we were returning to the States from our honeymoon and release from the RCAF at Lachine, we were stopped at the border at Niagara Falls. Customs saying I was not a citizen of the US and wasn’t allowed in. I remembered this in my billfold , presented it and said the American Red Cross says I am a citizen. They let me in and it was 19 years later when the subject came up again and I had to go to court prove my citizenship.” Photo via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806284799-BZIK1N1OZ2KGKJN6SVMW/PerArdua74.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob’s business card from the 1980s shows how proud he was to be a pilot and how fatalistic he was about being a cattleman. Image via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806325574-K2E6NB9HI3JUTNWKI8AS/PerArdua72.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob (left) loved nothing more than to get in one of his airplanes and fly to where the fishing was good. Here, he and his son John display the catch of the day. Photo via Bob Kirkpatrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806590883-81G2TE1LQHT3U975ES4M/PerArdua39.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out En route from Humboldt, Iowa in the Born Free motorhome, the adventurers were comfortable and able to support Bob all the way with encouragement and love. Left, Dave Dodgen, “Our Pilot”, gives a thumbs-up rolling eastward on the interstate, while in the back, Bob rests and enjoys the company of his high school sweetheart Ginny. Dave is himself a pilot and son of a US Navy aviator. He owns a Beech Bonanza and another aircraft. Photos: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806625523-U7CGKR24PAPC0L209KI2/PerArdua33.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Volunteer John Coleman proved to be an invaluable man to have around that day. John is a member and volunteer at Vintage Wings of Canada as well as the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. With his knowledge of CWHM and his uniform, we had no problems getting anywhere. He hung in there all day and made us all feel welcome and at home. When I first told John about Bob’s visit several months ago, he signed on to help immediately. Here he assists Bob, who was loaded with gifts from organizers, on his arrival at CWHM. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628806668417-53VFFFPWWPWKK2U8KRUU/PerArdua45.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out There was standing room only at the Mosquito Memories event. People were there to see the magnificent machine, but also to be in the presence of her pilots, navigators and maintainers when they were reunited. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808384347-GHRSCBX3XG1M42JTRZM8/PerArdua02.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out A large crowd of veterans, their families and interested people were in attendance, and Bob took up a position on the edges. In the background stands Jerry Yagen’s Messerschmitt Me 262. There was a time when Kirkpatrick would have to be very wary of the Luftwaffe’s jet fighter, but today, his attention was focused on the de Havilland Mosquito in front of him. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808419797-Y6IEYCHCH37A5T0T9UWQ/PerArdua46.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Despite his worries and his constant pain, Flying Officer Bob “Kirk” Kirkpatrick was a happy man this day, surrounded by his comrades-in-arms once again, flanked by people who loved him and in the company of his beloved and beautiful Mosquito one more time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808601976-JR813FW5HMZPXTHL9MGV/PerArdua47.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out There were a number of speakers at the Mosquito Memories event—the builder, the Military Aircraft Museum’s chief pilot, CWHM leaders and a couple of veterans. Here, one of the most famous Mosquito pilots of all time and an ace, Russ Bannock speaks about his experiences. Bob was particularly looking forward to having a chat with Bannock. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808631323-5GSALBXFYXLX3DVS1R40/PerArdua48.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out There were many people in attendance and quite a few multi-generational families. Here, a young great grandson hand-flies a diecast Mosquito toy to while away the speechifying, while dad and great granddad listen to the guest speakers. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808667873-RVTMAZB0OMC7UV4L4GV0/PerArdua49.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out There were many Mosquito operations veterans in attendance, including Distinguished Fly Cross recipient Norman Griffiths who was both a Mosquito Navigator and a Pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808734320-1LG28M47G4GTMF2OCZXM/PerArdua42.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob stands along with fellow Mosquito veterans to be recognized by all in attendance. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808775035-FBULY7RLVHB6CB35YZ7F/PerArdua14.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob Kirkpatrick doffs his RCAF cap in recognition of the applause from the crowd. Bob, along with fellow American Bill Siler, were also asked to stand up as the two American Mosquito veterans in attendance. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808803855-0NMDQQAB05D504QJ2M9M/PerArdua15.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Some photos say many things. To me, this one says pride, happiness, sadness, time passed, sorrowful memories of comrades, happy memories of a life at the peak of personal experience and, above all, strength of the human spirit. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808863877-Q6YRSVID4SQQB19ZLSJE/PerArdua41.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out These extraordinarily dignified veterans of Mosquito operations were given front row seats for the event. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808912920-533T74BQXT7WKR909S0P/PerArdua68.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Two more dapper men could not possibly be found. As Gerald Haddon (left) will tell you, it was an honour to accompany or be associated with a Mosquito veteran at this event. Here, he is with his good friend Squadron Leader Larry Henderson, a Mosquito pilot from the Burma Campaign, who incidentally was shot down three times. One can imagine the difficulties maintaining wooden aircraft in the damp monsoon periods and sweltering heat of Burma. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808954325-J2W4VKYG36KG4R5HH4Z1/PerArdua44.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Warren Denholm (centre), of Mosquito builder AVSpecs Warbirds Restoration, talks to the assembled veterans, families and historians about the honour attached to building the world’s only flying example of the once ubiquitous de Havilland Mosquito. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628808992792-SCB2XPJOVZFT9J8AE5UR/PerArdua11.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Christopher Wilkinson of the United States purchased a vintage de Havilland Mosquito crew door online, than had a unique idea. He would send the door to as many living American Mosquito crew members he could find and have them sign the artifact. He managed to find six survivors who flew with the RAF, RCAF and even with the rare USAAC Mosquito squadrons. One of those was the RCAF’s Bob Kirkpatrick of 21 Squadron, RAF. Wilkinson’s dream was to collect as many of these signatures as possible, then donate the door to be on display at Jerry Yagen’s Military Aviation Museum (MAM). The other signers were: Richard Tyhurst – 25th Bomb Group, Robert Hastie – 25th Bomb Group, Jack Sheen – 25th Bomb Group, Roland Bushner – 25th Bomb Group, James “Lou” Luma – 418 Squadron RCAF, Richard Hoover – 416th Night Fighter Squadron USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628809041994-UZC42795I4QMZE9DXF2K/PerArdua12.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The hand-painted air force armorial crests included 21 Squadron RAF, famous for their participation in the great Shell House Raid of Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen. When Christopher Wilkinson had collected his signatures, he sent the door to the MAM in Virginia Beach, where it was put on display for their airshow. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum traded an appearance of their Lancaster at Virginia Beach for an appearance of the Mosquito at Hamilton. While at the MAM event, CWHM agreed to fly the door back with them to Hamilton and to put it on display during the Mosquito Memories event. It was given a place of honour under the wing of the Mosquito, where it received a lot of attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628809081050-J8IBSMEZROO5Y8FXSW0N/PerArdua05.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob points to his name and 21 Squadron badge on the Wilkinson Mosquito crew door. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628809116891-CDAK20Q1EU6IDRG5H90S/PerArdua51.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out “We did it!” Dave Dodgen and Bob Kirkpatrick celebrate with a firm handshake and big smiles at the result of a committed friendship and a lot of planning. They bought a motorhome for the single purpose, drove 2,000 miles there and back, and shared the road for 6 nights. All for the love of a very fine man—who is both a Canadian and an American hero. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628809147412-1MPYRLUBIA9KYN52X1SS/PerArdua10.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out A little bemused by all the attention and flashes going off, Kirkpatrick allows a swarm of photographers to close in on him. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628809187353-UQRD6Y92TKRX1ZYS4O8J/PerArdua09.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out One of two former Mosquito air crew members in attendance who were Americans, was Bill Siler, who flew recon Mossies with the 653rd Squadron of the 25th Bomb Group of the United States Army Air Force. Bill Siler, at 97 years of age, is a study in longevity and determination. The near-Centenarian drove himself to the Mosquito Memories event FROM CARMEL, CALIFORNIA!!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811625804-V89DF0KPOT8780F3BCK0/PerArdua52.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob and Bill share a moment together. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811688830-ZS2L3VSMPZ2V9W3BO21V/PerArdua53.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The diminutive but feisty Siler and the lanky and proud Kirkpatrick pose together. When I asked Siler what was the secret behind his longevity and get-up-and-go, he looked me in the eye and said, “I follow the bible...” and just as I was thinking to myself “Here we go”, he added, “... where it says ‘Only the good die young!’ ” Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811722846-BD159WAHIMCJYOZZRUWS/PerArdua35.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Left: The man whose idea it was to create the Mosquito Memories event was Dave Pridham of Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Here, Dave asks Bob Kirkpatrick to sign his Mosquito ball cap after the formalities were over. The event was a spectacular success with more people attending than originally planned for. We, at Vintage Wings of Canada, would like to commend Pridham for this grand gesture to our veterans of Mosquito operations and the success of this emotional and rare event. His love of history and pride in our veterans send the right message about why we do this in the first place. Photo: Deb Dodgen Right: Bob looks into the crew compartment of the Mosquito through the tiny crew door. One can only imagine the thoughts pulled from his memory of the hundreds of times he squeezed his lanky frame through that small opening and slid his 6’2” body into the pilot’s seat, there to remain for hours and hours until the mission was complete. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811774006-QAIEKXN07ZVXB2K1SGPK/PerArdua54.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob sat in his walker/chair, held court, answered questions, signed autographs and met new veteran friends. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811806533-Y108109QYT9OBB5EZ8L7/PerArdua56.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out With the door open, visitors (including Vintage Wings Hurricane pilot, Joe Cosmano) lined up for a look inside the magnificently restored Mosquito. Everyone was amazed at the tight crew confines of the fighter-bomber. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811842837-FBBT12I5BFF2TQYT4QJL/PerArdua57.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob shows us the small crew door that he and his navigator (“looker”) would have to crawl through to get to their seats in the Mosquito’s cockpit. At 6’2”, it was a challenge for Bob back then. While he did not try to get in, you could see him thinking about it! Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811879910-VUGQ4ERY2073QZFZI0DZ/PerArdua25.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The Humboldt Four pose for the camera in front of the de Havilland Mosquito—Bob Kirkpatrick, Deb Dodgen, Ginny Kirkpatrick and Dave Dodgen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811916286-ZQCOYNTT3XVLNH1LHA3F/PerArdua23.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out 92-year-old Bob Kirkpatrick and his high school sweetheart Ginny pose with his other love—the de Havilland Mosquito. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628811959706-689CH53KW8VSOU99O9GD/PerArdua29.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out After the Mosquito Memories event, Bob and Ginny pose for a photo in front of the Museum’s front door. Vintage Wings of Canada would like thank Dave Pridham and the CWHM for their spectacular and emotional tribute to the Mosquito crews of the Second World War—Well Done. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812002614-5VZG6FDWRTCJ39MGWIPE/PerArdua34.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The kind folks at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum gave the Kirkpatrick entourage a prime parking location, right at the front doors of the museum, allowing Bob easy access to the motorhome to rest. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812039545-2I211W6BX3JZWCH12Y5S/PerArdua36.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The two Daves (Dodgen and O’Malley) enjoy the company of Ginny and Bob Kirkpatrick. The motorhome was the perfect idea to get Bob all the way to Hamilton in comfort and, as it turned out, a perfect way for new friends to have a couple of bourbons and get to know each other. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812072190-O9GGJR5SY4FGKOEKXLCZ/PerArdua37.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out After the Mosquito Memories were over, we accompanied Bob and Ginny back to the motorhome so that he could rest prior to a late day flypast. Instead, a party broke out. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812105997-UE53LD32ACLEIY6YUY78/PerArdua58.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Out on the ramp, the “Mossie” is getting ready for a formation flypast practice session. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812141038-MFOJDZ5HD5ZJAQ6DD8AM/PerArdua59.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The warm-up for the flypast begins with the Mosquito’s Merlins firing up in spectacular fashion. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812175652-JG1WOTPCKUM2DM7T9B8A/PerArdua60.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Six Merlins come to life. Preparing for the formation flypast of 6 vintage Rolls Royce Merlin-powered aircraft, the Mosquito and the Lanc warm their engines on the CWHM ramp at Mount Hope. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812377715-AK6KBNSJ7MQBMTZSG38A/PerArdua61.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada participated in the Merlin-powered flypast for the Mosquito Memories event with our Spitfire XVI and Hurricane IV. Here, VWC pilot John Aitken keeps cool by opening his door and canopy while he warms the engine. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812413817-ASUX8HPDIM6KG2R3VY53/PerArdua62.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Rob Erdos in the Hawker Hurricane joins the action. Here, we can see the scores of photographers assembled on the observation deck in the background. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812451373-W2HIWG6MM2NAQ5Z8YOKQ/PerArdua16.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob, family and friends look into the distance as the formation flight approaches for a sweeping and thundering flypast of the ramp outside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812482057-0G3KF0HIBVH3D0XX5TT7/PerArdua63.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Now in perfect alignment, the moment arrives. Bob will see a Mosquito fly for the first time since he stepped out of one after delivering it back to Bournemouth, England from Europe after the war. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812519586-MDG824TN88WH9T6LFOQH/PerArdua20.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out As the world’s only flying example of the de Havilland Mosquito approaches in the company of a Lancaster and British Fighters, one can only imagine the memories of days and friends long gone that course through Bob Kirkpatrick’s mind. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812552639-AGMZTSYXBEHP4YK2IR0Z/PerArdua64.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The Lancaster, flanked by Spitfires, Hurricanes and the Mosquito, makes a long majestic approach to the ramp of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, as Bob Kirkpatrick and hundreds of photographers below watch in awe. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812592515-FO3BRX1WEK9BL34SVG2P/PerArdua18.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out A perfect formation. Flanked on all sides, the Mosquito’s first real appearance in Canada was a dramatic one. One veteran at the Mosquito Memories event quipped that the elegant Mosquito was considered a bomber in the presence of fighters and a fighter in the presence of a bomber. In this formation, it was simply a superstar. On the right, Vintage Wings pilot John Aitken flew the lead Spitfire with Rob Erdos in the Hurricane Mk IV behind him. Three of the aircraft in this formation were built right here in Ontario—The Hurricane XII (Canadian Car and Foundry at Thunder Bay), the Avro Lancaster (at Victory Aircraft at Malton) and the de Havilland Mosquito (at de Havilland Canada at Downsview). Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812626960-EBTW6414ZJIJLIABCBAX/PerArdua65.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The observation deck of the CWHM was crowded with photographers. It is evident that a few of them were so awestruck by the flypast that they forgot to train their cameras on them. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812656625-T4P2HVVSH2CCWTLBN21M/PerArdua66.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out One last flypast to the north of the field—a practice flight for the next day’s airshow. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812690657-PHXVDO1DI208PTPPOBQ1/PerArdua17.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out After the flypast, Peter Handley shows Bob the results of his photography and all are surprised by the geometric perfection of the 6-ship formation of dissimilar types. Photo: Robin Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812731393-4TQDT9B3AKH2OVEWTSGS/PerArdua38.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob’s stamina amazed us all. The evening of the Mosquito Memories event found dining al fresco on the shores of Lake Ontario in Burlington as the night overtook us. Around the table, clockwise from Bob Kirkpatrick, are Ginny Kirkpatrick, Peter Handley, the author, Dave Dodgen and Deb Dodgen. Photo by our waitress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812769797-708GBC2QFBLV18SRXMPY/PerArdua28.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob meets Gavin Lee (centre), RCAF Search and Rescue Technician and, on the weekends, a part of the Scheyden aerobatic team. Bob, at 92, was still the equal of Lee, the hypersonic, athletic, manic para-rescue jumper and uber-friendly former comedian-in-residence at Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812804693-AIOJC3LIEUSGDTNHR0IM/PerArdua30.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Flying Officer Bob Kirkpatrick enjoys the company of friends, a glass of red wine and the presence of mighty aircraft. While many folks who attend these shows and sit beneath the tent never look up at the show, Bob and Dave and Deb were there to see everything and were enthralled by the flying demonstrations. In this photo, you see two things that differentiate him from every other American… he is proudly wearing the badge and hat of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with which he served with such distinction during the Second World War. The words of the badge say it all—Royal Canadian Air Force—Per Ardua ad Astra. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812869109-NB4ZTU2D566ASF8APKDE/PerArdua32.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The Humboldt Four enjoy the airshow with cold beer and red wine close at hand. Photo via Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812906360-NUSQVEIB1QFY182LGDOV/PerArdua26.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Bob and Ginny enjoy a brief stop at the edge of Niagara Falls before the start of their two-day journey home. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812934342-Z0BXBK9UKELD538J2Y2S/PerArdua27.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Niagara Falls from the window of the motorhome on the return trip. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812961962-DJSROI61GFED1ZT6MVWB/PerArdua40.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out Though this photograph taken on Deb’s phone is small and blurred from the motion of the rolling motorhome, it says it all: Bob, looking happy and strong, and Ginny, happy and relieved, offer a toast to a “Mission Accomplished”. We, at Vintage Wings of Canada and the volunteers at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, offer our deepest thanks to Dave and Deb Dodgen for making the impossible possible. Photo: Deb Dodgen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628812993761-55WFSYKJGZDCJ3ZBDYST/PerArdua19.jpg The Stories - PER ARDUA — Life, Love and Courage - Make it stand out The best day of my summer. I finally get to shake the hand of, hear the voice of, and put my arm around a good friend—Flying Officer Robert “Kirk” Kirkpatrick, Royal Canadian Air Force. Bob, if I have told too much here, please forgive me. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-other-pilot monthly 0.5 2022-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801128839-QZWAS0NAON72NRLJW9L9/MiddlemissTitle.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801192446-R96L4FLE6YRB9WDUF1FF/Middlemiss08.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out I bid you to compare the look you see here, on the face of RCAF ace James Edwards, with that on the face of Flying Officer Bob Middlemiss in the opening photograph–the face of a leader, tranquil, introspective, focused ahead. Identical. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801337338-GYC3AMXSZAGV1FVPY5MP/Middlemiss02.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Spitfire pilot Bob Middlemiss—a photo most likely taken at the same time as the one with him and Beurling. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801473605-HBP5C574BXY8E7ZD2T9R/Middlemiss05.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Bob Middlemiss, 8th from left with Squadron Leader’s cuff bands and his new 421 Squadron pilots visit the Canadair Sabre plant in Montréal near their St Hubert home base. Canadair Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801434153-SVCQJ3S8UX5GUMJWZ4JM/Middlemiss04.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Sabres of 421 “Red Indian” Squadron are lined up and on parade at RCAF Uplands on 23 September 1952 in a formal send-off for 2 Wing (416, 421 and 430 Squadrons), bound for France. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801516992-DD8S6N422ZJ02XL99B7Y/Middlemiss06.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out An overhead view of RCAF Uplands on 23 September 1952, as the RCAF brass sends off 2 Wing to France. Middlemiss’ 421 Squadron Sabres are grouped at the left. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801558650-6VP8Y1FZG972IDWNT6JD/Middlemiss03.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Bob Middlemiss would be one of two RCAF fighter pilots who would assess aircraft and recommend the replacement fighter for the F-86 Sabre—the winner being the CF-104 Starfighter. Here he sits in the cockpit of a new Canadian Starfighter. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801590139-T0CWOVF31OVIDMJN1MSK/Middlemiss09.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out In 2012, Bob Middlemiss was the guest speaker at the Vintage Wings of Canada Members Gala. He shared with us some memories of his days on Malta. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628801618315-GHI9W9GYNV2RZW9ZJF54/Middlemiss10.jpg The Stories - THE OTHER PILOT - Make it stand out Mike Potter, Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada and himself an Honorary Colonel of the Snowbirds, stands with a robust and healthy Honorary Colonel Bob Middlemiss in 2012. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/barrens-airfield monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628797037077-ISHTMHLMOR3LF46Y3F8J/Ungava01.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628797146194-KILT2RH0GM1Y6M8EIHDH/Ungava14.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Young and jaunty Kelly Bridge in 1956, an engineering student with a remarkably important summer job—to build an airstrip in the remotest part of Québec. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798058351-BOQUKO4GHUXX9MUVW7IM/Ungava22.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Kelly arrived at Fort Chimo on a Nordair DC-3. Later, when the runway was finished at Hopes Advance Bay, he would be picked up by another DC-3, that one painted in the markings of Mont Laurier Aviation. Nordair was created by the merger of Mont Laurier and Boreal Airways, so most likely the one that would pick him up had simply not yet been painted as a Nordair aircraft. Photo: Mel Lawrence at airliners.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798240446-XSFLZN3DL4E9P3NJD00L/Ungava02.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Sitting well above high tide and the boulder strewn tidal shore we found the cache of food, fuel, equipment and shelter off-loaded the previous summer. The “sheep’s foot rollers” can be seen lower right. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798369356-J4L968348IRLI2JVYYPR/Ungava03.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out The glacial esker from which a runway was carved. An esker is a long, narrow, steep-sided ridge of coarse sand, gravel and boulders deposited by a stream flowing in or under a melting sheet of glacial ice. Eskers range in height from 10 to more than 660 ft and in length from less than 300 ft to more than 300 miles long. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798309702-QU0RRR2GX92WUQAMJQHK/Ungava04.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out An in-progress shot showing the 100 foot wide and soon to be 3,500 foot long runway. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798452816-DVFX27NJKHLRXJDPA47P/Ungava10.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Being the land of the midnight sun, there were plenty of daylight hours available to the four-man crew, and they took advantage of it. Here, the dozer muscles Barren land dirt around with the sun barely making it to the horizon before it starts back up again. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798604577-62OAW50UYHAFU9661KSW/Ungava05.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out It took a heavy dozer to expose the “small” boulder—a remnant from the last glaciation period. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798649025-TFH8HRH1OHW6JPDD8W5J/Ungava06.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out The only way to deal with the massive boulder was to dynamite it. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628798705357-K6OEJXIMNZVBX6X1N5IU/Ungava07.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out The boulder once some of Alfred Nobel’s magic formula had been applied. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799009094-IIKGU1M2X0B2K692I1XR/Ungava08.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Backfilling the hole left after dynamiting. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799087295-HI3D25J5PRDX9BA8QLWL/Ungava09.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out The finished runway. 100 feet wide and 3,500 feet long and remarkably smooth. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799118383-YW9WXX1B3XDDICX6L21X/Ungava12.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out With winter coming in, the strip was finished and it was time to head south. We can see the buildings and the clear runway to the right under glowering fall skies. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799226912-B37OT6WT0VM4QJXZJQ1Y/Ungava16.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Mont Laurier Aviation’s Douglas DC-3, with Chief Pilot Frank Henley alone in the cockpit, makes the first landing at Hopes Advance Bay runway. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799286862-ZR0IYMBGJZ1YFLDVMSLO/Ungava11.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799328867-GEN282ENZBQ2XBETY0LX/Ungava17.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Mont Laurier’s chief pilot, Frank Henley, trundles the big DC-3 single-handedly up to the newly finished Hopes Advance Bay airfield ramp. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799368459-FAAM8F0K9RXLQHQGWGVM/Stocky37.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Fast forward 56 years from Henley’s single-handed landing at Hopes Advance Bay, and we find him on stage at Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. The five 2013 inductees of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame stand together at the end of the night’s ceremonies. It was the Hall’s 40th anniversary induction ceremony. Henley stands second from left. Joseph Fernand “Frank” Henley established his career with the RCAF, and also bush flying. Henley held executive positions at Maritime Central Airways (MCA), Nordair and Hydro Québec, where he masterminded immense logistical effort to transport heavy equipment, supplies and personnel to the James Bay hydro project via air. In doing so, he pioneered the use of ice runways for the delivery of heavy loads by air. Henley was named to the Order of Canada in 2003. Photo and text: John Chalmers, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799412209-60RDKZWXO1CZTVNG9DVH/Ungava13.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out With the runway on the right, we look down the length of the field to the “ramp” and the buildings which housed the four-man crew during the summer. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799495706-CTDM24WMZ7HNYRM7UNUW/Ungava15.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Kelly Bridge spent a summer unlike most of his engineering classmates—building an airfield in Canada’s remotest region, one that remains today, nearly 60 years later. Photo: Kelly Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799527528-9QQ7MNTTEGSNWTEFKRAL/Ungava18.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out By building the rugged Barren land airstrip, Kelly’s crew created a new community called Aupaluk, clinging precariously to the edge of Hopes Advance Bay and Kelly Bridge’s airstrip. Photo: Michael B. Kalinowski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799573456-9Q617IHSEN77CCB3EY32/Ungava19.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out An Air Inuit Dash 8 awaits passengers and cargo at the Aupaluk airport. Photo: Oceanic Iron Ore Co. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799599275-P5UKC9SMCIDI0CJIC88Y/Ungava20.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Accommodations at Hopes Advance bay are decidedly better than in the summer of 1956, but just as bleak. Photo: Nunavut Tourism https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799636234-6HGKZ92XG72PKEKYHQO0/Ungava21.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out The airport terminal building at Aupaluk today. The letters beneath are the Inuktitut syllabic alphabet and language. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799699840-MA56X0PALCY3YHCS98V6/Ungava23.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Hopes Advance Bay lies on the west coast of the massive Ungava Bay in Northern Québec. Image: Google maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799732319-0UG2WCODGURUL16KMCLN/Ungava24.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Zooming in much closer. Ungava is a large bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Québec) from Baffin Island. The bay is roughly oval-shaped, about 260 km (160 mi) at its widest point and about 320 km (200 mi) in length; it has an area of approximately 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi). It is generally fairly shallow, under 150 m (490 ft), though at its border with the Atlantic Ocean depths of almost 300 m (980 ft) are reached. Image: Google maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799804310-Y9A7ACAJL7RH6X5WEUE4/Ungava25.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out Hopes Advance Bay, 970 miles north of the city of Montréal. Kelly explains: “We arrived by float plane at the nameless lake ten miles west and walked east to find our cache.” Image: Google maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799776178-5J77E1IVXXBL4MCVO77I/Ungava26.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out We can now begin to see the runway that Kelly Bridge and his team built in 1956. Image: Google maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628799872080-PWU3U58MU2RYUAW5N3SS/Ungava27.jpg The Stories - BARRENS AIRFIELD — Building a Flying Outpost - Make it stand out As close as we can get. In this view the runway runs roughly north-south. It is still there fifty years later. The roads to the north and east came as the settlement grew at Aupaluk. Image: Google maps https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/archie-pennie monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793706397-PRKJAJF129J0Q0H2W18T/Archie01.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793771072-QCIPHEUVMXBISLLEJEWI/Archie05.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out A smiling Archie Pennie explains to his family how the rudimentary air speed indicator worked on the Tiger Moth during our first meeting with him in 2007. Photo: Frank Charette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793959186-LANKWMFEB43NGKZWPB2W/Archie03.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out Archie Pennie, still in his blue argyle sweater, speaks at the time of the dedication of our Fairchild Cornell in his name. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628794004193-UA5C3HQDYAPSEI00S9BW/Archie04.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out As Gord Simmons and Francis Bélanger take the Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie Fairchild Cornell for an evening flight, Archie watches with concern, relating to us all the feelings of trepidation he once had as each of his pilot trainees took to the air solo for the first time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628794045006-KGC31ZYOH9NL87XDJYRE/Archie06.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out At the time we were notified of Archie's death, Chairman of the Board and Yellow Wings Team Lead Todd Lemieux (above) wrote to Archie's family via daughter Sheena to express some important sentiments on behalf of the Vintage Wings of Canada family. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793879832-8KYU63N6T7IM5JX293QJ/Archie02.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — A short goodbye - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Archie Pennie (right) and a fellow RAF flying cadet, William Denzil Livock, at No. 37 Service Flying Training School in Calgary—a study in opposites, yet great friends. Given his 98 years on the planet, Archie (right) likely gave up smoking after the war. Sadly, the charismatic and flamboyant William Livock did not survive the war. He died when his Mosquito fighter-bomber crashed into the sea near his Scottish base whilst making a single engine landing. Archie Pennie never knew what happened to his close friend of his training days, until the 21st century. It was then that he learned of his friend's death and felt that pain. This resulted in one of Pennie's wonderful stories which, for your enlightenment, we have copied below. Photo via Archie Pennie Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-hadfield-effect monthly 0.5 2021-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780031008-KGTL3PZ7ASMHK27K39ZJ/Chris01.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780180968-AJTEIVBPU7B8V0SAV41K/Chris38.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out So typical of every encounter I witnessed this day, the parents are pressing forward, eager for their children to meet their hero, hoping for the spark to be ignited in their sons and daughters to follow a dream to the end. It was beautiful to witness. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780276279-N8AECA6N25Y5UGCUFFI2/Chris11.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Every young person Hadfield spoke to, and there were hundreds, got the same experience—a direct eye to eye greeting, firm handshake and honest questions from Chris about their own dreams and aspirations. Some even got lessons about how to shake the hand of another human. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780388726-UP4Y1C5CGNJTUH0DIQ8K/Chris02.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Hadfield’s first duties upon arrival was to go to the boardroom to meet with a few lucky families who had won an air show promoting radio contest to have 15 minutes of private time with the global celebrity. Here he speaks about living in space for 5 months as the daughter of one family looks on with rapt attention. Chris shared his thoughts in both French and English on this day and even Russian to one young boy. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780443072-4JCZ7RAE3AR6H9S8D4SI/Chris03.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The winning family and Chris had an animated conversation about life above the planet and in their own family’s somewhat smaller sphere of experience. Raising two young girls was their commitment and, like Hadfield, they put everything into it. Being able to share a few minutes with this global role model was, I am sure, a formative experience for these young Canadians. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780494633-BM2J9OWZB1J9Z50L7QQN/Chris04.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Meeting with a group of three English-speaking families, the adults held back and made sure that the children were closest to Hadfield and had a direct experience with him. This set the tone for the entire day. Here he explains the effect of zero gravity on bone development. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780534129-R6N11HRMV10DT1RU2O9P/Chris05.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Hadfield, if anything, understands that the air show was the result of hard work, professional input and volunteerism and he would always take the time to share a word and a photo op for air show organizers. Here he poses with the Gatineau Flight Services Station staff in the cab of the tower. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780594389-KHG83VAG3X7RDYIF5INK/Chris06.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out After meeting with the radio contest winners, Commander Hadfield found his way to the control cab and then out onto the roof of the terminal where he accepted an award from the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association for his promotion of General aviation in Canada. He received this from president Kevin Psutka in front of the air show crowd. Here he watches as Kevin introduces him. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780658802-RPIY8FD3KFEZ6IP4H61Z/Chris07.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out While being interviewed by air show announcers, Chris, the eternal kid, watches as a CC-150 Polaris refuelling aircraft roars down the show line trailing drogues and two apparently thirsty CF-18 Hornets. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780700167-T0606O0ETPABRO68U5CT/Chris08.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out As Chris speaks, the crowd begins to turn away from the show and approach his perch on the roof. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780732349-XC88UQSZB8OG20RE19JO/Chris09.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Later, in the VIP tent, Chris is introduced to two of Vintage Wings’ most generous supporters, Helen Salkeld (right) and Isobel Creelman. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780765300-QQP0DQEA6CTCM5M4VIXL/Chris10.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Helen Salkeld (left) and Isobel Creelman talk to Hadfield of their own flying experiences, Helen being a pilot. To be able to connect folks like Salkeld and Creelman, who support our mission with fellow supporters like Hadfield, is a satisfying accomplishment. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780831323-QDF51IDJIGDNTI7H2TDP/Chris12.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Hadfield autographed many things this day—from a ukulele to shirts, posters, hats, notebooks, even airplanes. Here a young girl, assisted by Vintage Wings founder Mike Potter, has her jacket signed with lots of flare. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780882265-SBKNV5582WM62N4EDRVR/Chris13.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Being a Vintage Wings board member and one of our pilots, Hadfield was among family. Here he chats with Vintage Wings Chief pilot Paul Kissmann who, among other things shared with Hadfield, is a former CF-18 pilot, test pilot and Hawk One Sabre pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628780955592-70Z1XZ2GN9PQ1MTTV9WW/Chris14.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Hadfield autographs Alf Beam’s beautiful Fairchild Cornell, The Spirit of Fort Erie. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781060021-ODKV8LLEAK5ZRKPYJRLO/Chris15.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Walking through the hot zone to avoid the inevitable scrum, Hadfield passes his brother Dave, heading to the P-40 Kittyhawk, and shares a few joyful words. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781136495-0O1DG6I57HVHAL36PPQE/Chris45.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Hadfield never tired of shaking the hands of our hard-working air show volunteers. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781192504-5EBHJ9PVY7QHX4D1SPTI/Chris16.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out In February 2009, Chris Hadfield flew the Hawk One Sabre over Baddeck, Nova Scotia, where 100 years previously, J.A.D. McCurdy had made the first powered flight in Canada. The Hawk One F-86 Sabre was created as a special tribute to the Centennial of Flight, but will fly on in the years to come as a flying tribute to our Cold War warriors, many of whom were killed in exercises and training for an eventuality which, thankfully, never happened. After landing, Hawk One show pilot Mike Woodfield asked Hadfield to “ride the brakes” as the “Blingjet” was towed to the crowd line to act as a backdrop for a photo op with the ISS Commander. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781372683-7NH9G90APQSPF2W40Y7D/Chris17.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Fields of Dreams!!! At the air show crowd line, Hadfield and Woodfield have a quick chat about their beloved “Sword”, the Hawk One F-86 Sabre Jet. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781714438-W9RCDGUF6FQYO755PN0F/Chris18.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Meanwhile, the crowd awaits. Some families, recognizing the budding passion in their children for space and space exploration, brought them fully decked out in spacesuits. In my day, young boys would have six-guns and fringed Davy Crockett jackets to meet Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy. The effort this young boy and his family went to, made them a shoo-in for a one-on-one with the astronaut. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781766041-NS664I80LQS53B743XQ1/Chris19.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The cameras were machine-gunning away when this photo op appeared—the ISS Commander meets an astronaut of the future. One wonders if we will be on Mars by the time this young fellow is old enough to be part of the enterprise. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781803468-T3JBEO8RUOBK0ZF7LWFO/Chris20.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The joy and respect on the faces of ordinary Canadians were incontrovertible proof that Hadfield is perhaps the most recognizable living Canadian. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781843634-SREVZ2P9NIT7157ZO8YF/Chris21.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out You just have to scan the faces of these children to understand the influence Hadfield can have on their lives. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781880596-O9BZS5JME789UF5MOCPJ/Chris22.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Photographs or autographs, Chris Hadfield was tireless. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781919668-2MYDOQPNK58V85ENHL0A/Chris23.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Above all else, Chris Hadfield is a family man, engaging his own wife and children in his new found enterprise as a communicator. Hadfield comes from what we like to say is the First Family of Canadian Flight— father, brothers, nephews, in-laws, all involved in aviation. His mother, Eleanor, is no exception, attending the Vintage Wings air show to display the contraption known as the Hucks Starter. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628781962103-N8ACI54MIQXOF0SF148O/Chris25.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Swept up in the moment, Chris’ mother Eleanor asked him for an autograph too. The message he wrote on her jacket sleeve is telling. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782004207-D60B81S103GM64CXVSEQ/Chris24.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out On this day and any other day, Chris Hadfield pays special attention to Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Having found his start in aviation as an air cadet, Chris attributes much of his early formative lessons to what he learned as a cadet. Besides the flying skills he took with him from his cadet’s days, he admits it was more the intangibles that formed his will to succeed—discipline, respect, patience, goal setting. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782043369-TGD257AZB3DH131O01P0/Chris26.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Admiring Canadians knew in advance of Chris’ appearance at the Sunday show, so brought with them all manner of objects to sign, from ukuleles to spacecraft models to flight helmets. Hadfield’s new weapon of choice... the Sharpie pen. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782090823-TVXPUNQRNL7V5IPTD5LS/Chris27.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The bond Chris establishes with each young person is unbreakable for the short time they spend in conversation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782142527-FWGSGKWRNHDVD7MD7OEQ/Chris28.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Chris also spent some time visiting with the veterans of the Second World War who were our guests at the Veterans hospitality tent. He pulled up a chair and the veteran airmen and soldiers gathered round for a long talk. The gentleman speaking to Chris in this photograph was part of an engineering/construction crew that built the now-famous RCAF advanced airfield at Normandy known as B-2 at a French village called Bény-sur-Mer. Bény-sur-Mer was completed on 15 June 1944 by Royal Engineers, only 10 days after D-Day. Soon after, the airfield began seeing use by the RCAF’s 401, 411 and 412 Sqn and RAF’s 35 Recce Wing (2 and 268 Sqn), 136 Wing (263 Sqn) and 146 Wing (193, 197, 257 and 266 Sqn), flying Typhoons and Spitfires. Bény-sur-Mer Airfield was used until early August 1944, and afterwards the engineers moved in and dismantled all recoverable equipment. The land was then returned to the French farmers and, over the years, it has been used as agricultural fields. Today, nothing remains of the former airfield. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782193545-S99X7SYNIJ3SLIOLJ8EK/Chris29.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Everyone stood back to allow the veterans open contact with the modern Canadian hero. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782244098-37WH9L9J08LBI1BFWK74/Chris30.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out After the veterans had had their powwow with Hadfield, a couple of young air cadets, right out of central casting, had a moment with the ISS Commander. The lad on the right wears a Hadfield ISS mission patch on his shirt inside his cadet uniform. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782309352-5MTZWTIJ4U1OUPY2D169/Chris31.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The air show set up an autograph table so that ordinary spectators could line up for a signature and a word with Hadfield. The look on this lad’s face says a million words. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782390497-2GTT2WYORGN05MN6T8R8/Chris43.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out This image pretty well says it all. The delight of this young boy in meeting his hero is contagious. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782445489-LCL9DBZCVJ4HMC2M351P/Chris34.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The lineup stretched for 50 metres for an hour. Sadly, we had to cut off folks who had waited for some time. We had volunteers keeping them posted as to when Chris would have to take his leave. Chris’ greatest concern was to ascertain that no one left disappointed. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782477470-2RPAMBBUMHWSWGH4CSQW/Chris35.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Some of the crowd around Hadfield and Kissmann as they signed autographs... people were photobombing rather than waiting in line. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782525469-XBJF2KNB2PKMS01OBLQU/Chris36.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out There were several children presented to Hadfield this day who wore miniature spacesuits, including this interpretation of a Russian-designed Sokol (Hawk) spacesuit, with Canadian flag on the sleeve. Clearly this was made for the young astro-boy by Mom to represent the one worn by Hadfield on his Soyuz flights to and from the ISS. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782568424-VY661PC6SGTRE2WCIGTH/Chris37.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The intent with which this young girl looks at Hadfield is typical of all his encounters and proof that the youth of today, who will be the great leaders of tomorrow, understand that Hadfield’s accomplishments make him a role model to be emulated. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782709195-3NW4DFYORDCL6DB9OCSU/Chris39.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The line presented Hadfield with one family after another for an hour, and he could have stayed for 6 hours and that line would never have diminished. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782762692-AL0ZCMGWTOL3AU2IBVB2/Chris40.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out When Hadfield was presented with this ukulele to sign, he asked if it was in tune. The woman who presented it to him said she didn’t think so. He played a couple of chords, declared it in tune and plinked away a happy tune. The autographed uke was to be auctioned off for a charity, but as an authentic Hadfield-signed AND played instrument, we hope it made even more for the cause. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782812441-WKYY2CMBHTX63ORBQELK/Chris32.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Knowing all the players, key volunteers, sponsors and organizers, I was assigned the duty of “handling” Chris Hadfield this day. Given that the entire day would be one big photo opportunity, I asked that Vintage Wings photographer Peter Handley accompany me for the time Chris was with us. At the end, as Chris was leaving, the normally shy shooter couldn’t resist one last “selfie”. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782854344-LZ4653QW6VGMRGAGO3VI/Chris46.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Being a member of the Board of Directors and a Hawk One pilot, Hadfield knows the important part that volunteers play in making the air show a success, and he always took the time to pose with them if they asked. Here, as he leaves, he grabs a couple of the marshalling crew for a photo op. Photo Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782904425-HKOMH1Y6L52XLROBI1FK/Chris33.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out The last thing I asked Chris to do was to pose with the Flight Lieutenant Tim Timmins de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Tim Timmins is a steadfast volunteer who had to man a security post all day and never had the chance to see Hadfield. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628782952328-833AFFCJK7YBBA6KU6U1/Chris41.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings pilot Kathryn Buchan straps her fellow pilot into her father’s Chipmunk for the flight back to Ottawa. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628783015587-WCSUJ344R05UNFXHN68C/Chris42.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Typical of a Hadfield, once in the cockpit, it was all business. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628783059856-YGZYUT1ETFOPCTORTFWX/Chris44.jpeg The Stories - THE HADFIELD EFFECT - Make it stand out Don Buchan, himself an air cadet instructor, takes off into the grey sky, bound for Rockcliffe with the air cadet turned spaceship commander in the back. Hadfield flew the leg to Rockcliffe, handing the landing over to Buchan, the more experienced Chippie pilot. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/sextants-and-sonnets monthly 0.5 2021-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774306320-E6P8CL4G4ZTQ9REZESPQ/Sextants-and-Sonnets16.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774439996-T14JJAP97LC7IHNN6BP6/Chalmers03.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out In a letter to his mother from his base at RAF Ludford Magna in Lincolnshire, England, F/S Alfred Chalmers wrote, “We have wonderful aircraft over here so there’s nothing at all to worry about.” Some four weeks later he and all crew in their Lancaster LM479 of RAF 101 Squadron were all killed in action. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774475318-H2D88Y86TRSMIHU84I2C/Chalmers13.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out This photo shows Alfred Chalmers, kneeling, second from left in the front row. Date and location are unknown, as are names of other airmen in the picture. This was likely taken shortly after enlistment, as none of the men are yet wearing LAC insignia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774566008-E13FHGSG9SJ4N4UDEZTX/Chalmers04.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Vicar Hans Pedersen conducts a service on Christmas Day 1945, when the large stone retrieved from the crash site was to be unveiled and dedicated to the men of Lancaster LM479, with their names carved into the stone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774604671-G1JNQMP6PTI01KYWL6E9/Chalmers05.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out On the official military headstones added later, the names of two crew members appear on each headstone. The internment originally had four coffins with two airmen in each, hence the two names on each headstone. Photo: John Chalmers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628774822987-X0AOOMWI2EM0T7CWQ2MO/Chalmers06.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Left to right, the four Chalmers brothers are Fred, Herbert, who became a flight engineer, Jack and Alfred, wearing the white flashes in their wedge caps as air crew trainees in navigation. It was the last time the four were together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628775640516-SGTMND0V6VPXM6U0VDFN/Chalmers07.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Alfred Chalmers with girlfriend Ann, whom he intended to marry after the war. Photo: Chalmers Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628775674598-832YH0Q2DW4JRNEHKA47/Chalmers02.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out The Chalmers brothers of the Royal Canadian Air Force. My father, F/L Jack Chalmers, left, served as a navigation instructor in Canada during the Second World War. At centre, is Alfred as a fresh-faced young recruit. At right is his brother Herbert, the first of the three brothers in the air force to be commissioned, and who flew later as a flight engineer. Photos from Chalmers family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628775730751-70PRBV0JFU60LC8SCGJ0/Chalmers08.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Alfred Chalmers as an aircrew trainee, 1943, with Ann, before he was shipped overseas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628775961110-83ICQ43K36IX7W9A5VFU/Chalmers14.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Jack Chalmers is shown front row centre as instructor of Australian navigation students in their graduation photo for Course No. 94 at No. 2 Air Observer School in Edmonton, 13 June 1944, in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: Chalmers Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628776188367-7E6N0B1LB64SSNB4VXKT/Chalmers09.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out An RCAF Cornell flies over No. 19 Elementary Training School at Virden, Manitoba in October 1944. Photo: RCAF/DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628776220938-I3R0BARU23UFAEUUILKV/Chalmers10.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out One of the hangars shown in the previous picture, as it appears today, unused and in a state of disrepair. Photo: John Chalmers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628776304642-9V9V492ZHZ5YAXXBJDAW/Chalmers11.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out One of six hangars still standing at the location of RCAF Aerodrome Vulcan, where Jack Chalmers had his last posting as a navigator instructor. Photo: John Chalmers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628776355815-L4LHBL8S2U3OADE2HS35/Chalmers12.jpg The Stories - SEXTANTS and SONNETS - Make it stand out Author John Chalmers, Jack Chalmers’ son, at the commemorative plaque mounted on a huge rock at the site of the BCATP base that served as home to No. 2 Flying Instructor School and No. 19 Service Flying Training School. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lightning-over-the-hudson monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772210021-L4TRC59MLU1FSJ3AIJXK/Lightning12.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772355100-GL5USKIDUQ2A2A0UTXL1/Lightniing11.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out The last thing author Jim Griffith expected to see silhouetted against the sky below when he came out of a cloud layer over the Hudson was the sinister shape of an unmarked and all-black P-38 Lightning. The shape and configuration of the Lightning is simply unmistakable. Photo montage: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772419414-3TVZKCCQMBOOCH7NJ5I1/Lightning09.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out Loading a Canadair North Star “Flying Merchant” at Winnipeg in the early 1950s. The scene would have been similar at Ottawa, but with the addition of wary Brinks guards. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772489391-W8XG88Z90I6HIHYOGCYJ/Lightning06.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out The Canadair North Star was essentially a Douglas DC-4 re-engined with Rolls Royce Merlin power plants. In this photograph of a North Star “Flying Merchant” cargo variant warming up at Malton around 1960, we see the classic DC-4 ovoid fuselage and dihedral wings. Missing are the familiar Pratt and Whitney R-2000 radials. The addition of the V-12 Merlins added 35 miles per hour to the cruise speed of the DC-4. Photo: David Kerfoot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772522106-XPZBKDLQYYM42MM05B89/Lightning07.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out Another shot of Canadair “Flying Merchant” CF-TFH warming up her Merlins at Malton around 1960. Note the “Flying Merchant” moniker on the nose of the aircraft. Photo: David Kerfoot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628772776017-2XOQ83UUFGEBY8MRFAO2/Lightning14.jpg The Stories - LIGHTNING OVER THE HUDSON - Make it stand out Author Jim Griffith throughout a distinguished career with Trans Canada Airlines and Air Canada. Clockwise from upper left: Young Jim Griffith as an air cadet. Of this photo Griffith says, “The cadet shot was when I just joined cadets. I was 12. I got in underage because my Dad knew the CO and it allowed me to go camp at Abbotsford that summer. I was in the 177 TCA RCAC Squadron in Winnipeg and eventually won my wings on the cadet program training at the Winnipeg Flying Club. I came second in a national competition, the Tudhope Trophy. I don’t know if it’s still around or not.” Upper right: Griffith's company photo taken at age 21 when he first joined TCA with about 500 hours under his belt. Lower right: Griffith as a Boeing 727 Captain, and left, as a B727 First Officer. Photos via the author https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/blue-max monthly 0.5 2021-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771458826-APJ5BU6G305KOZFFLAIS/BlueMax05.jpg The Stories - THE BLUE MAX AND THE LITTLE BOY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771594954-BHHBPGQYH87MJXYSFVJK/BlueMax02.jpg The Stories - THE BLUE MAX AND THE LITTLE BOY - Make it stand out The Red Baron and his Blue Max. Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during the First World War. He is considered the top ace of that war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories and is perhaps the best known fighter pilot in history. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771722825-VXOXM9K8JEL2UIPC04I7/BlueMax03.jpg The Stories - THE BLUE MAX AND THE LITTLE BOY - Make it stand out Third-ranked German ace of the First World War Erich Löwenhardt with his Blue Max. Löwenhardt was only 8 years older than Adam when he died in combat near Chaulnes, France after a four year combat career. The Blue Max was the most coveted of all Imperial German military decorations, worn at the throat and trumping even the Iron Cross. Originally called the Pour le Mérite (for merit), the Blue Max was the German Kingdom of Prussia’s highest order of merit. The Pour le Mérite gained international fame during the First World War. Although it could be awarded to any military officer, its most famous recipients were the pilots of the German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte), whose exploits were celebrated in wartime propaganda. In aerial warfare, a fighter pilot was initially entitled to the award upon downing eight enemy aircraft. Aces Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke were the first airmen to receive the award. Although it has been reported that, because of Immelmann’s renown among his fellow pilots and the nation at large, the Pour le Mérite became known, due to its colour and this early famous recipient, as the Blue Max, this story is probably an urban legend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771753013-9J0CDS99Z35R4K8ZQQIE/BlueMax04.jpg The Stories - THE BLUE MAX AND THE LITTLE BOY - Make it stand out Some of Germany’s greatest flying heroes of the First World War proudly wearing their Blue Max decorations. Clockwise from upper left: Oswald Boelcke, considered the father of the German fighter air force, as well as the “Father of Air Fighting Tactics”. He was the first to formalize rules of air fighting, which he presented as the Dicta Boelcke. Boelcke died in combat at age 25; Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of the First World War. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war (at the age of 22). He began his fighter pilot career when he was just four years older than Adam Kirkpatrick; Werner Voss, a friend and rival of the famous “Red Baron”. After he fell in solo opposition to eight British aces, he was described by his preeminent foe, James McCudden, as “the bravest German airman”. Voss was just 20 years old; Fritz Rumey shot down more fighter/scout aircraft than even the Red Baron with 35 of his confirmed 45 victories being fighter airplanes; Lothar von Richthofen was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) and is credited with shooting down famous British ace Albert Ball. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-close-shave monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628769367676-7XD01U14AFUHA6QTIO70/Mossie01.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628769515554-E4T8SMCRZ74DAEU8CLPP/Mossie07.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was one of the finest, fastest and most versatile fighter/bomber aircraft of the Second World War. Possessing very good speed, massive firepower, and a highly useful bomb load, the Mossie made for an excellent low level penetration aircraft, able to approach at very low levels and high speeds. The FB Mk VI variant shown here, and flown by Hugh Bone, was also a fighter as the FB (fighter/bomber) designation suggests. Mosquito bombing raids were often escorted with other Mosquito Mk VI models acting in the fighter role. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628769928042-S8VMQET0KQIYNXGPWIJH/Mossie08.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out Pilot and navigator sat very close together in a de Havilland Mosquito, the navigator displaced slightly behind the pilot. The crew escape (and entry) hatch was to the right of the navigator. It was because they sat so close together, that pilot Hugh Bone was able to reach over and eject the door and the passenger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628770021171-QE8H980GDZKQ9SWUCQ18/Mossie10.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out A nose-on view of a de Havilland Mosquito Mk VI being “bombed up” by a couple of RAF armourers. Here we see the position of the escape hatch/crew door on the starboard side of the aircraft. Sitting on the left seat, pilot Bone would have had to reach across Rushton’s lap and down to the starboard side door... he could only do this by unbuckling from his harness. One can see that the propeller would have been turning only inches from where he exited the aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628770060234-55I7BUXKJ1J58RWALLCL/Mossie12.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out All though this is a diagram of a Night Fighter variant of the Mosquito, it demonstrates clearly the seat arrangement and placement of the escape hatch. The seat pan for the pilot’s parachute can be seen at lower centre. In the lower right corner we see the escape/entry hatch. The navigator’s seat pan would be between the pilot’s and the door, slightly out of this picture. We can see the need for the navigator/passenger to leave the aircraft first before the pilot can easily exit. There is a warning placard on the door that reads “BEWARE OF AIRSCREWS”. A too-enthusiastic leap forward would result in serious “headaches”. Image via 456FIS.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628770128826-BPED7NPA7ILYSPJWAVJM/Mossie09.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out Though Bone was unhappy abandoning a perfectly good aircraft (except for the radio), his main concern was where the pilotless Mosquito would come down—hopefully not into a populated area. He would learn later that it crashed into open farmland near the town of Fleurus, Belgium. Photo illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628770343108-ZSR0VNYQEQN77DCXLGT1/Mossie02.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out A couple of portraits of author Flight Lieutenant Hugh Bone taken after the war. Though he was an Englishman by birth, Bone served the bulk of his combat flying with 487 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force and therefore proudly wore the “silver fern”, worn as an unofficial decoration by many New Zealanders, especially aircrew, on the left breast pocket. Photos via Hugh Bone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628770976035-12PBCN7OOQK7A8B0YQ57/Mossie11.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out Born in Odiham, Hampshire, Hugh Bone is English through and through, but sharing many combat ops with a superb fighting unit like the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s 487 Squadron, he was proud to wear the silver fern worn by RNZAF aircrew. Here we see a close-up of that pin. Image courtesy of ww2wings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771003934-X941LIOM5A7I2D1MVBHS/Mossie03.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out Hugh Bone (front row, far right) and members of 487 Squadron RNZAF pose with one of their war-weary Mosquito Fighter/Bombers. Hugh has high praise and fond memories for his flight commander, Squadron Leader Bill Kemp, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, sitting fifth from the left in the front row. Kemp would eventually become Wing Commander. Photo via Hugh Bone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771045070-3VSXZEI3VQEDGPDEMYQ4/Mossie05.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out The end of the war brought peace and contentment, but also tragedy. Here, a few of the Hugh Bone’s 268 Squadron mates, pilots and navigators, get their photo taken on the boardwalk at Sylt, Germany with the North Sea to the left. The war-weary men are Bone (left), Louis Precieux (from Mauritius), Ted Bowden and John Emburey. Ted Bowden, the “chunky fellow” at the back, flew two operational tours with the Wing Commander Paddy Maher. Just two hours after this happy photo was taken, Maher and Bowden, engaged in gunnery practice, were killed on takeoff at Sylt. Bone relates the incident which he witnessed: “Their aircraft was about 100 feet above the ground and the undercarriage retracting when the starboard engine cut out, the plane flipped onto its back and dived straight in and blew up. It was a terrible tragedy, to have operated throughout the war and then to die in an accident. Only two hours before, Ted had been walking along the promenade with myself and a couple of other fellows and we had our photo taken. Now he was dead. We accepted death as a way of life during the war, but now, after a year of peace, this tragedy affected us deeply, especially as Paddy was such a popular leader.” Photo via Hugh Bone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628771080841-WYKAXVYS5IW9K58QXPE4/Mossie06.jpg The Stories - A CLOSE SHAVE - Make it stand out The author, a youthful and sartorial Flight Lieutenant Hugh Bone, veteran Mosquito fighter/bomber pilot, at home this year in Göteborg, Sweden, where he lives with his beautiful wife. Of his wartime experience, Bone had this to say, “It was seven years since the commencement of the war, undoubtedly the most eventful years of my early life. There was sadness at the high cost in lives within even my own limited horizon. Of the hundred names on Palmers Roll of Honour, I knew twenty-five personally and some of those were good friends. Others, such as Bob Major and Sticky James, were severely disfigured. What happened to many of the friends I made during training I will never know, but on the law of averages I doubt whether more than 50% survived. Of those with whom I trained in the latter stages, it was less than 50% that survived. There were the losses of friends on the squadron, losses of men that were not on the squadron long enough to get to know, and I have been forever grateful for being granted so long a lease of life when so many lost theirs when they were no more than 21 or 22 years of age.” Photo via Hugh Bone https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/me-and-mr-jones monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628728336765-R2XEH5LTWZ2X7RZ3AWIT/Jones01.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628767915500-QOX7MHG1AOMH0Y3IZYX4/Jones02.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Newly-winged Pilot Officer Allister Gordon Jones in his formal portrait as an instructor pilot with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: Gordon Jones Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628767962676-VIMBFMMFK6PKMX3GM32K/Jones03.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out A late war photograph of Pilot Officer Gordon Jones speaking with the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Earl of Athlone during a vice-regal inspection visit to No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School at High River, Alberta later in the war as indicated by Jones’ service ribbons. Accompanying the Governor General were Air Vice-Marshall G.R. Howsam (foreground), a First World War fighter ace of the Royal Flying Corps with 13 confirmed victories. RCAF Photo via Gordon Jones Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768031292-08SOTE1LMVFB5CJM6QET/Jones04.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out The author Anne Gafiuk posing happily in the cockpit of the Vintage Wings of Canada Cornell, dedicated to the memory of Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie, like Gordon Jones, a long-time EFTS flying instructor of No. 4 Training Command of the BCATP. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768108638-A7677GT5HD5X51FRR1OP/Jones05.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Author Anne Gafiuk and her children pose with Gordon Jones’ Tiger Moth (RCAF Serial 1214, Canadian registered CF-CIX), one of the many Tiger Moth trainers he actually flew as an instructor at High River, Alberta. Gordon Jones is standing over Gafiuk’s left shoulder. Jones’ de Havilland Tiger Moth was originally one of 200 ordered and built for the United States Army Air Corps, designated PT-24 DH (Serial Number 42-1078). Then it was listed as a Lend Lease aircraft with RAF serial number FE214 and then sent to High River as RCAF 1214. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768145128-OFGH5LEMW0RXF4SU3K4P/Jones06.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Pilots of the Vintage Wings of Canada Yellow Wing tour of 2011 at Claresholm, Alberta pose with Gordon Jones. Left to right: Dave Maric, Liam O’Connell, Ron Dujohn, unknown, Bruce Evans, Ulrich Bollinger and Gordon Jones. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768174220-KCIFXBXTUNTJ8PH0KZ4G/Jones07.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Gordon Jones, then 88 years old, and his wife Linora in High River, August 2011. Photo: Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768275050-VBYSGXHX0OZKAK9J6Q8S/Jones08.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out The author, Anne Gafiuk, about to take her first Tiger Moth and open cockpit biplane ride at High River, Alberta with 88-year-old Gordon Jones at the controls. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768309966-T4C50J5X60Q7GJSJRAU2/Jones09.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out The view over Jones’ beloved Tiger Moth 1214 as they climb into the skies over the QEII (Highway 2), the longest Provincial highway in Alberta. Photo: Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768424666-K2VF056FO51KUMGPHR51/Jones12.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out In 2011, the sun rose over the High River prairie in much the same way as it did when Gordon Jones instructed there during the war. Now, seventy years after first flying a Tiger Moth, Gordon Jones still struck a powerful and proud pose beside his beloved flying machine. Photo: Don Molyneaux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768485797-RRUW8WSU1B7ARSCZNXBK/Jones13.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Author Anne Gafiuk and Gordon Jones going over a draft of Gordon’s biography in January, 2012. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768549864-245TDIMVDNVGSVUHQQY4/Jones14.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out A typical graduating class from No. 5 EFTS High River—Course 92, “E” Flight. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768586963-MK7SB5QCKBZ3JW7Y6L6U/Jones11.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out The last of two original hangars of No. 5 EFTS, High River, now houses equipment and storage of a home building company. Photo: Don Molyneaux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768616340-RW96IQJ8D2NHYTCGS9AU/Jones10.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Inside the more than 70- year-old hangar, the wood structure looks in relatively good condition. Photo: Don Molyneaux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768686473-V2WI98HM3EHY5VK00BZD/Jones19.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out The author was able to travel to Ottawa to conduct records research at Library and Archives Canada on a number of stories related to Gordon Jones. She was able to bring back to Jones the stories and fates of some of his classmates from his own training days at No. 5 EFTS High River and No. 7 SFTS Fort Macleod. At left is Flight Lieutenant Ian Lorne Colquhoun, 22, of Edmonton, Alberta. Colquhoun was an RCAF Halifax pilot. He was killed in action on 18 August 1943. He was the pilot of Halifax DK260 pf 434 Squadron which was shot down over the rocket research base at Peenemunde. Colquhoun is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery in Charlottenburg, Germany. He had a small creek near Wembley, Alberta named in his honour after the war. At centre is Flight Lieutenant Leslie Norman Laing of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, an Avro Lancaster pilot of 405 Squadron, a Pathfinder unit with 8 Group. Laing did his EFTS flying at No. 15 EFTS Regina and No. 4 SFTS Saskatoon, close to his home. Like Gordon Jones he went to Central Flying School at Trenton and then on to High River as an instructor (likely where he met Jones). He also taught at No. 15 SFTS Claresholm and then went on to operational training and squadron deployment. Laing was shot down and killed on 15 March 1945 on his 35th sortie, only a month before 405 Squadron flew its last operational mission of the war. It is possible that he, along with three other members of his crew were shot while trying to evade capture. He is buried in Germany at the Hanover War Cemetery and was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette in 1946. Lake Laing, NWT is named in his honour. At right is Flying Officer Robert Warren Conway, 26, of Montréal, Québec, who died just five days after Colquhuon. Records indicate that he went to No. 12 EFTS Goderich, Ontario, then to No. 31 SFTS Kingston and as Warrant Officer Robert Warren Conway was taken on as a student at No. 34 Operation Training Unit (RAF) at Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick, flying Lockheed Venturas from January to April of 1943 with a deployment to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He died on 23 August 1943 when his aircraft (possibly a Blenheim or Whitley) was seen to dive into the Severn River (he was based at RAF Ashbourne) while on a night flying training flight at No. 42 OTU. He is buried at the Bath Haycombe Cemetery in Somerset, England. His service records indicate he was at the Central Flying School at Trenton but not at the same time as Gordon Jones, but was posted before examination. Photos via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768768100-AS5FIVH7K54TRXDYTU57/Jones15.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out A photo of friends in 1943—the “High River Clan” of instructors and their wives: Ralph and Lois White, Ernie and Goldie Snowdon, Bob and Marie Spooner, and Linora and Gordon Jones. Photo via Gordon Jones Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768813610-W4VJF4XP2PXJJWZC2FHX/Jones16.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out De Havilland DH82 Tiger Moth, serial number 5091 spun and crashed after takeoff at 20:00 hrs, on 13 May 1942. The aircraft came down 5 miles north of High River aerodrome. One of Gordon Jones’ fellow instructors, Flight Sergeant Phillip Hayne Chapman was killed and his student, LAC R.B. Thompson seriously injured. The accident reports states: “A/C took off with Sgt. Chapman in front seat giving instruction to LAC Thompson. Shortly after a/c made a gentle turn to the right then went into a spin to the right and continued to spin until it hit the ground totally damaged. Propeller was not turning when a/c crashed. Though injured, Russell Bennett Thompson, of Winnipeg, went on to complete his training and to join 158 Squadron as a Pilot Officer. Sadly, he lost his life on the night of 2–3 June 1944 on ops to the French city of Trappes, southwest of Paris. He is buried in the Ecquetot Communal Cemetery in the town of Eure.” Photo via Museum of the Highwood, High River, Alberta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768852589-6ZQX0I2JU5JUTFIOCAZB/Jones17.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Gordon Jones would attend more than a few funerals like this one for students and instructors. While at Flying Instructor School at Trenton, two of Jones’ friends, Pilot Officer George H. Armstrong of Gananoque, Ontario and Pilot Officer Harry K. Robertson were killed in a Harvard he had just flown that morning (Harvard No. 3102). Photo via Museum of the Highwood, High River, Alberta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628768961678-1NLHXM9MVVD2R8GEPXE3/Jones20.jpg The Stories - ME AND MR. JONES - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Gordon Jones as a Cornell Instructor at No. 5 EFTS High River. Photo via Gordon Jones Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/honouring-bill-carr monthly 0.5 2021-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628724524220-UPVVST453XA1Z11O9WXD/Carr01.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628724643605-RPQUP7RXKCN7NJFR8KHQ/Carr29.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out We met the finest young Canadians and brought to them the messages of duty, honour and sacrifice. Photos via Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628724735599-S0M2MJ4CF7EKOS5QR3ES/Carr28.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out It was the most ambitious program we have ever taken on... and the most successful—largely because of the commitment of the pilots and staff involved. Photos via Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726485621-D43AZEQSRE1TG0Q4NXTJ/Carr19.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Senior air cadets, after promotion to Warrant Officer 1st Class at Trenton. From this photo we can see that these young men are not much different than the young men who went to war in the 1940s. They are the best young people in Canada. Photo by Dean Ducas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726521289-V4OJ7URLQ5WSJBFBPMX5/Carr20.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Young Chris Ducas, Royal Canadian Air Cadets, eyes right and saluting, at Trenton and demonstrating visually the high quality of the young people involved in the cadet program. Photo by Dean Ducas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726626388-VUKW1CHH7JMGCW99NSMW/Carr02.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726703887-6678V8RZJNAWDUUDP26K/Carr23.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out A lovely photograph of a post-D-Day Spitfire XI PR. We can see three distinguishing indicators of the PR Spit—Overall Blue paint, lack of guns and no bulletproof glass in the cockpit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726782830-VI8M80GFOC61HCG8HEK0/Carr24.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Another excellent image of a Spitfire Mk XI PR at altitude, showing the clean lines of an unarmed Spitfire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726902208-58U7MAIMFKRTGUNE2TME/Carr16.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Wing Commander Adrian Warburton, DSO and bar, DFC and Two Bars, Bill Carr’s commanding officer at 683 Squadron. The son of a naval officer, Warburton was born in England, and christened on board a submarine in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta. Below his decorations (DSO, DFC and 2 bars), on his left breast pocket, Warburton wears “The Order of the Winged Boot”, an unofficial award given to airmen who had been shot down and forced to return to their base on foot or by other means. Warburton became one of the most successful and best-known aerial-reconnaissance pilots of the Second World War while flying sorties from Malta and North Africa in 1941–1943. Photo via the Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726948524-VE9SV2U4YLQWAPEI2UWQ/Carr03.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out A photo of LAC Bill Carr’s course at No. 2 SFTS, Uplands Ottawa in the summer of 1942. Carr is 4th from the left in the middle row. Photo via Bill Carr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628726982978-CM79URYKUVAISVMFC3G1/Carr04.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Bill Carr (right), and two fellow LAC pilot trainees at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, Uplands, Ontario. Student pilots can always be identified by the white flash at the front of their caps. Photo via Bill Carr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727008969-NPVR711IAF1TL2J1ZXMV/Carr05.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman William Carr, of Newfoundland, stands before a Harvard at No. 2 SFTS, Uplands. There is an indication of a change of paint colour mid-fuselage on this particular Harvard, possibly indicating that this is one of the Harvards that was originally in camouflage and destined for the French Armée de l’Air. The delivery of these aircraft was cancelled when the Germans invaded France and the undersides and wing surfaces were overpainted with yellow. Photo via Bill Carr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727056170-U4ACR9LUADJTC2OPKHST/Carr06.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out A mighty proud LAC Bill Carr smiles as Air Marshal Billy Bishop, VC, pins his wings on him at Uplands in the summer of 1942. RCAF photo via Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727120387-HCB8LNWA9BF41HJEIJRI/Carr26.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out A de Havilland Comet 5301, one of two operated by 412 Squadron RCAF is parked at Uplands. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727150513-VPDF5MDA74XQ12PGP456/Carr25.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out The de Havilland Comet jetliner used by Carr to fly Queen Elizabeth is photographed parked at Uplands. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727264603-HUYZW5XY4P92SXS0FELK/Carr07.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Carr listens as his impressive career is outlined by Dave O’Malley. A career such as Carr’s cannot possibly be given justice in the fifteen minutes allotted. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727302479-SNHIFUQXN0SDOPGVN4MH/Carr08.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out At the end of the introduction and the banner raising, Carr is honoured with a long standing ovation. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727337741-TPPCRZMZJFX13LELQXW4/Carr09.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out The amazingly youthful Bill Carr, at 90 years, looks every inch a warrior in this photo. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727369575-1H5FAGKPMC10355B9T8A/Carr10.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Bill Carr speaks at the podium with the photo of him as a 20-year-old projected on the screen. Carr’s short speech had all the guests in stitches as he related the story of having to have a student visa in order to attend Mount Alison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. From Mount A, he volunteered for the RCAF. When he was in Malta and under a bombing attack, he received a letter from a bureaucrat back in Canada telling him his student visa had expired and he was no longer legally able to stay in Canada. To that bureaucrat, Carr said, “Come and get me!” Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727405113-SUGPITXLSTB2QU8R9DQ2/Carr11.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out The ten-foot-high banner in honour of young Pilot Officer Bill Carr, who became the Father of the Modern Canadian Air Force, is raised to the ceiling. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727480301-Z8HY2FQXFDZQ8IDXNCGC/Carr12.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Carr joins Max Ward, Bill McRae, Charlie Fox and Stocky Edwards in the pantheon of honour that is Vintage Wings banner row. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727529898-68AMFY6B1UW63VGK0Z52/Carr13.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Carr at the podium on Saturday was both serious and humorous. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628727561556-T20HC51BAMAXX7PJDY9E/Carr15.jpg The Stories - HONOURING BILL CARR — The Father of the Modern RCAF - Make it stand out Lieutenant-General William Keir Carr, one of Canada’s heroes of the war. Carr was quick to say that he was no different than any other of the many thousands of flyers who went to war with him, just a man with a lot of luck. Lucky to be a Spitfire pilot. Lucky to be commanded by Adrian Warburton. Lucky to fly with men he respected. Lucky to survive. Lucky to work through the chain to become the head of Air Command. Lucky to have his health (and good looks). Lucky to be still deeply involved. Yes Bill, you are lucky, but we did not honour you for your luck. We honoured you for your courage, skill, leadership, kindness, intellect, support for Vintage Wings and strength of character and will. Your mother would be proud. Photo by Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/oxboxes monthly 0.5 2022-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628707500741-TAL9GBOCDEFR74U63Y40/Oxbox01.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628707635783-U149NZ4R02IMY4BHCY8N/Oxbox92.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out When Ray Morgan (left) arrived in Canada, he was already an accomplished flyer, having completed his Elementary Flying School training in Australia at No. 5 EFTS at Narromine, New South Wales. Here we see him with his classmates at Narromine in December of 1943, in the heat of an Australian summer, but wearing cold weather gear. They would soon need it in Canada. Sending these pilots to Canada for wings training surely meant they arrived with rusty skills. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628707674811-MTILOK5PI04DB94LZ82H/Oxbox02.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The pilots of No. 36 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), Course Number 105, (probably both A and B flights). This was the final course through No. 36 at Penhold. Royal Australian Air Force student pilot, Ray Morgan, is fifth from the right in the third row. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628707728783-TOJMKWISW3ODX2ZMSWMJ/Oxbox89.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The Last of the Best. A close-up of the Course 105 group photo reveals the beautiful young boys of Australia—most of whom would be no older than 20 years. An earnest looking Ray Morgan stands at centre. Each young man, wearing the white cap flash of the student airman (pilot, bomb aimer, navigator, etc.) has completed approximately 80 to 100 hours at an Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in the west of Canada or, as in the case of Morgan, back home in Australia. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628707784513-GAK4TC66PFP3E49DUQB2/Oxbox04.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The Royal Canadian Air Force ordered 25 Oxford Is in 1938 and they were taken from RAF stocks and shipped to Canada in 1940. They were assembled by Canadian Vickers at Montréal and issued to the Central Flying School. They were later joined by large numbers of RAF-serial numbered Oxford aircraft, like this one, to equip the Service Flying Training Schools operated by the RAF. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708107428-7V86H7FCHVBIKSPWAC5D/Oxbox34.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Oxfords on the flight line at Penhold. A pilot, parachute under arm, chats with a mechanic after landing. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708143217-REW26NLDDFRJOG0OV2MH/Oxbox05.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Ray Morgan (third from left in second row) poses with his entire B-Flight—the instructors, students (thirty or more) and mechanics of Course 105, B Flight. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708187060-9DJCXINNNB5K5V63A4UR/Oxbox10.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A photograph of the tight cockpit of the Airspeed Oxford. Pilot and instructor sat shoulder to shoulder as if in an automobile, but with even better visibility under a greenhouse canopy. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708616917-UURZP6PK5H77FY8WIBCG/Oxbox11.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another great photograph by LAC Morgan, RAAF, of the cockpit of an Airspeed Oxford, clearly showing all the controls the student would have to master—a far cry from the simplicity of the Tiger Moth of Elementary Flying Training School. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708711674-UJW1XLBNWB9IKTTV0K6V/Oxbox83.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A very descriptive illustration from Flight Magazine tells us what some instruments and mechanical devices in the previous photograph are used for. Image via FlightGlobal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628708756371-82LKDEUYBJPMWWYWSG46/Oxbox12.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out There were several images in Ray Morgan’s album showing pilots in the left command seat of an Airspeed Oxford in which he was a passenger. This leads us to believe that the large number of following photographs, which show various large formations of Airspeed Oxfords, were taken during at least three different flights. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711189397-SV7V5RB7U2G1WI0EX4DN/Oxbox07.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Looking over the nacelle of the starboard Cheetah engine, Ray Morgan snaps a gorgeous portrait of a single “Oxbox” backlit by a prairie sun. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711221442-QFJBZS0KW2C7OTEME2WC/Oxbox08.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Three Oxfords thunder in line astern formation over a snowy Alberta foothill landscape. This is one of the most elegant angles for the boxy-looking Airspeed Oxford, showing her snarling Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah radial engines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711262822-GRBOBQU7FM873D0I5DYL/Oxbox09.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another photo of a trailing Oxford taken from a rear port of some kind. Here we look straight down on two RAF pilots as they hold station behind and below, with their faces craning upwards. We are not sure if this was taken on the same flight as the previous photo, as there is no snow on the ground, just dry farmland. Possibly, though, it could be that the aircraft has flown down out of higher ground where snow was still lingering and that this is the same day. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711343018-ADOEC2IF7ZSI1GTM7HIM/Oxbox13.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Two leather-helmeted young aviators move in close to the aircraft that Ray Morgan was flying in. It is doubtful that he has simply changed lenses on his camera as this was the 1940s. Looking at this image I can just imagine the thoughts in the minds of these young men who likely have no more than 100 to 200 hours flying time. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711296714-6W797XSPC7OWPZ8IHHSU/Oxbox38.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Most likely taken in the line astern formation of the previous photo, this image shows that Morgan’s aircraft was not leading, but in trail behind at least one other Oxford—and pretty close at that. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711379053-8LE1A5VI7KQP9158TAC9/Oxbox44.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Looking out the front of the Oxford, Morgan captures six fellow Airspeeds in line astern. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711429376-I8VFYE2NX20T9YT3019Q/Oxbox36.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The pilot of Ray Morgan’s Airspeed Oxford moves in below a large gaggle of Oxford trainers, sliding in astern of the centre grouping. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711572863-PWPEZKODNZ5TCHDZZDZY/Oxbox35.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Morgan’s aircraft lines up with three other Oxfords, which we believe to be a component group of the previous formation photo. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711608523-8QC8MOLEV2BDBIFPVQVD/Oxbox14.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out In formation, a group of Airspeed Oxfords head across the prairies of Alberta. From here, we can see Oxford No. 8 leading. The ports visible on the port side of No. 8 are how Morgan was able to take his beautiful images. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711640563-6CUPMD8DXS8YBDVH5F99/Oxbox15.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Morgan, sitting at the port side window of the Airspeed Oxford as it leaves Banff behind and climbs to the northeast, heading over the dam at the western end of Lake Minnewanka, separating it from the smaller Two Jack Lake, just visible at the edge of the cowling. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711704039-VIXMFXP9HI3SHJGTDZ26/Oxbox16.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A flight of Oxfords rumbles across the prairie landscape on a hazy day. With not many visible landmarks, it was easy to get lost on the wide open prairie. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711738422-MCFIY6T2R7EC1J8Z2N71/Oxbox17.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Morgan in his Airspeed Oxford scoots past a mountain, bringing Lake Minnewanka into view, looking from the east to the west, approaching from the Calgary side towards Banff. Rounding the bend in the lake ahead would bring Banff into view. To the left rises the base of Mount Girouard and Mount Inglismaldie, the highest peaks in the Fairholme Range of the Rocky Mountains. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711820202-3ZU4Z7W6PFA8IU3ZLZAZ/Oxbox18.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Morgan, looking out the starboard side of his Oxford, captures two more “Oxboxes” snuggled in tight echelon right formation. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711856728-4XOTU4Q5GRXWYVIF5SL3/Oxbox19.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out An Oxford climbs out of No. 36 Service Flying Training School at Penhold. Student pilot Ray Morgan snaps a photograph of the seven hangars and flight line of the newly constructed base. We are east of the airfield and looking west. Penhold did not have the standard triangular layout of runways. Today, the BCATP airfield is known as Red Deer Regional Airport and the community of Springbrook. Today, the home of Springbrook is the home of the Penhold Air Cadet Summer Training Centre (PACSTC). Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711889375-AD8LQEYQ8JDB8ZT2KTTY/Oxbox20.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another photograph shows part of a large echelon right formation of Airspeed Oxfords from Penhold thundering in the early morning light toward the Rocky Mountains. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711919327-IP4IRONQG3HFHVUX019R/Oxbox39.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A flock of “Oxboxes” thunder together across the Alberta sky under a warming sun. If any of the Airspeed Oxfords in these shots belonged to the RCAF, we would be able to tell readers the fates of any aircraft. As nearly all the Oxford aircraft in Canada, except the original batch of 30, belonged to the RAF, we have no access to the serial number records. If anyone has records of the fates of RAF Oxfords, let us know. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711958985-WTQDRZQVAOOPYGNHHYS5/Oxbox41.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Looking over the starboard engine nacelle and wing, Morgan captures an excellent portrait of two Oxford pilots in Oxford 76 sliding in close. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628711997710-VG24X80A3L9XSKZ3OTW9/Oxbox40.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A close-up of the same photo shows the two pilots keeping a close watch on Morgan’s Oxford. The position of the wing tip in the image shows us just how close these young and relatively inexperienced pilots were willing to get. These lads would not have much more than 100 to 200 hours total flying time. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712046228-UFN3L4OLL8QDVKS2SWVP/Oxbox42.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out During one formation flight, an accompanying Oxford peels away from the formation, showing off her beautiful lines in silhouette. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712076801-GMPFIXRCMNBMYP8KB9H5/Oxbox43.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A Penhold Oxford makes a steep right turn over Banff, Alberta in the Rocky Mountains, with the meandering Bow River to the left. The layout of the town is much the same as it is today with Banff Avenue, the main drag, clearly visible off the leading edge. The same Bow River runs from here downhill, out of the mountains and into Calgary—the perfect navigating tool when the weather was good. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712113585-4ZE3S8GU4JFJHKQB6WR1/Oxbox45.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A nice tight formation of Oxfords over Alberta. The skills in maintaining formation in larger and less responsive aircraft like these Oxfords would allow these future bomber pilots to fit into the bomber streams over Germany, flying Lancasters and Halifaxes. Most likely, given the late 1944 dates of these formation flights, most if not all of these pilots would get the chance to make it to England and through an Operational Training Unit in time to take part in the final battles against Germany. Likely training leaders were looking further out to the continuing war against Japan. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712153284-5SB1ONXEYJVN5PDKNUN1/Oxbox46.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out This image is the same as the colourized one in the opening title graphic. It shows at least three Penhold Oxfords flying over Red Deer, Alberta headed north. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712202781-5G72Y2SHPSZSWKEKA4G1/Oxbox88.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The same group from the previous photo with the distinctive shape of Sylvan Lake, Alberta in the distance. When trying to figure out where this was, I simply fired off the photo to Todd Lemieux and John Sterchi, two of our Yellow Wings pilots familiar with flying in this area. I got an immediate email stating unequivocally that this was Sylvan Lake. Given the position of the lake in this image, the town of Red Deer would be just below them or slightly to their right. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712277858-1D3OBK23JEMR21AJ8BL2/Oxbox26.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another sunlit photograph of a mass formation thundering across the Alberta prairie. This shows us that these students are close to getting their wings and becoming finished pilots of the RAF and RAAF. Oxford 43 (AS367) above (next to the photo ship) was earlier involved in an air-to-air collision and was forced to make a wheels up landing in the snow at Penhold’s relief airfield at Innisfail. The other aircraft did not fare as well. See image below in the Cunningham Collection. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712315495-DILZCJ2MUXBUJQ1M9H8F/Oxbox06.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A single Airspeed Oxford about to touch down at No. 36 SFTS Penhold, Alberta. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712368408-M47HMKRFCT2BPABQGX8P/Oxbox21.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Not all landings or circuits were successful. In the three albums I found on Flickr, there were crash photographs in all of them. The wooden and fabric-covered Oxford did not fare well in an accident. The severity of the damage to the cockpit area of this de Havilland-built Oxford II leads one to assume serious injury or death to its occupants. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712422637-MQ0M36AKJ76PHPEFHYYO/Oxbox22.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Unlucky No. 13—Another angle of the same crash scene from the previous photograph. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712462447-5KDSRCT8PT85AOIMZFYX/Oxbox23.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Judging by the prairie grass and mud in the landing gear of this Oxford and its flaps set for landing, it was attempting a wheels down emergency landing when the wheels dug into soft ground and the Oxford flipped onto its back. One of Morgan’s Penhold mates (possibly Al Bartlett) poses with the totalled aircraft—a sobering reminder of what could happen during training. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712514406-VXWY5V0GLTU1E5N1CAIG/Oxbox24.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Same accident as previous photograph. Both propellers are undamaged, leading us to believe that both engines had quit during flight, possibly from fuel starvation. The condition of the cockpit indicated severe injury to its occupants. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712548967-3T6APQJ4E6D7UHJMPNGD/Oxbox25.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another angle on the previous crash scene shows us just how deep the grass was in this field, burying half of the fuselage. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712606713-7SQPXUJ9BM9UZ121D4MH/Oxbox27.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out For Australians, rough and tumble physical fitness was de rigueur. In Morgan’s album, this group shot was taken during a competition with rival New Zealanders at The Australian Rugby Union IV in April 1944 at Penhold. Morgan is at right in back row. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712830301-TCYD2BZ8WIG1G9YI7MT8/Oxbox28.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Athletics were an important part of staying fit and becoming competitive. Here we see RAAF students pilots (Dick Gray (55) and Peter Bury (54)) scrambling over a fence structure in an obstacle race during an Athletics Carnival held at Penhold in August of 1944. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712865296-1IIYM1BYSUO55DQ55SLX/Oxbox29.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A big mess dinner at No. 36 SFTS Penhold with students and flying instructors enjoying some Calgary Beer and good food. The occasion was the graduation of the pilots of Course 105. It appears that Ray Morgan is at the head table (between the “R” and the “A” in RAF). By blowing up this image I was able to get a close look at the programs at the tables—a souvenir that Ray Morgan took home with him to Australia. See next photo. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628712907049-E3J2WB9LWTDGTL0NHQDH/Oxbox49.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The program for the big mess dinner to celebrate the graduates of Course No. 105 B Flight. The party started at 8 PM, 19 October 1944... and ended much later! All of the 34 graduates were with the RAAF, except one lone Scotsman. The dinner featured “Fried Chicken Southern Style with Roast Ham seasoning.” Toasts were made to the King, the Commanding Officer, Guests, and the Instructors. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713112407-J7D3WPAN9Y7OUM9FF63T/Oxbox30.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Being a celebration of the winging of Course 105 student pilots, the centrepiece was, of course, a set of wings. Instead of an RAF or an RAAF acronym in the centre, there is a question mark. Ray Morgan is at far left with possibly Dick Gray standing and facing the camera. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713166403-6PPQRT5W9D71EBJ9B1TW/Oxbox95.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Soon to be Pilot Officer Ray Morgan (third from left) still wearing his Leading Aircraftman propeller insignia, joins his Course mates and instructors (those with wings) for a toast and a smoke beneath the bunting at the Airmen’s Mess at Penhold. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713207399-CBMAXA8QYVNH2NRK2G9C/Oxbox31.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The boys (and they do look like boys) are getting a little happier as the evening progresses. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713266698-FZXR1UH78KWMHQFH4KMG/Oxbox32.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Ray Morgan (at the very back on the left), his Penhold instructors and mates seem to be getting well oiled. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713305238-4W4YWDRN4UOQE9T28KXT/Oxbox33.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Clearly, these lads have had more than just the one Calgary brand beer. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713356289-FT1CZ1ICJRT6MPCGB63E/Oxbox85.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out While at Penhold, Morgan and his pals visited Banff, Alberta. Here we see a photograph taken by Morgan or one of his mates looking down Banff Avenue toward Cascade Mountain rising to 9,800 feet in the background. Today, this scene looks much the same. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713414655-CWY3EB9P7C923BI4FIAF/Oxbox86.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another photo of Banff and the Banff Springs Hotel from Morgan’s photo album. For young men from a relatively flat Australia, the rugged Rockies must have seemed foreign and exciting. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713488429-YZG9VNZW0HXSXBHOL712/Oxbox87.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Castle Mountain, a spectacular outcropping of stone halfway between Banff and Lake Louise, can today be viewed from the much less rugged TransCanada highway. These spectacles made the long trip from Australia bearable and memorable enough that many would return for a visit after the war... including Ray Morgan. The pinnacle to the right was named Eisenhower Tower after the Second World War. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713550957-P3LJ3SBWQK404BWVDCEA/Oxbox47.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Some visiting aircraft at Penhold. In the foreground stands a Douglas C-47A (43-30654) of the United States Army Air Force. Records indicate that this Skytrain, flown by a Thomas Walker, was involved in an accident at Athens, Greece in June of 1953. At right is Anson 8247 which was originally issued to No. 4 Training Command on 1 June 1942, for use by No. 8 Bombing & Gunnery School at Lethbridge, Alberta. After mid-November of 1944, it was listed for disposal. To the left is a Cessna Crane, serial number 7889, which was sold to A.J. Leeward of Montréal after the war and then was registered with the U.S. civil register as N69120. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713579193-4ZMWKKFUZGJZA5G8KVN8/Oxbox03.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out When Ray Morgan had completed his flying training and had received his wings at Penhold, he travelled back to Australia aboard the troopship S.S. Lurline, celebrating Christmas and New Years’ Day aboard the Lurline, an 18,000 ton American liner of the Matson Line. In this shot taken in Honolulu in 1943 in her troopship configuration, we can see gun tubs on the foredeck and extra rafts secured to her sides. Famous aviator Amelia Earhart rode Lurline from Los Angeles to Honolulu with her Lockheed Vega airplane secured on deck during 22–27 December 1934. Photo via cruiselinehistory.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713623620-G9US0TKEMMRCPUAE6RI9/Oxbox84.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Back home in Australia, Ray Morgan continued to fly with the Royal Australian Air Force, which was awaiting the development of the war against Japan. Here he stands with another Oxford in August of 1945 at the Advanced Flying and Refresher Unit, Deniliquin, New South Wales. He was here to keep his skills fresh. During the war, Deniliquin was home to No. 7 SFTS, training some 2,000 RAAF pilots on the Wirraway. By late 1944, No. 7 SFTS was shut down and the base became home to Advanced Flying and Refresher Unit (AFRU), where pilots returning from Europe and Canada could keep their recently won skills fresh. The AFRU itself disbanded on 1 May 1946. Deniliquin was the final destination of various RAAF units returning from the Pacific War for disbandment. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713666905-SZ1E5PXRW6YEBUXCPZS3/Oxbox90.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Ray Morgan, in peaked cap and tie at the controls of an Airspeed Oxford once again, this time at the Advanced Flying and Refresher Unit after having crossed the Pacific on S.S. Lurline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713702081-H19T8DKQ8ZOUB75LLQ7D/Oxbox91.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Morgan, this time with a leather helmet, poses for a portrait for old times’ sake at Deniliquin, NSW. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713734429-WHWAIDDTFM1G3Z6HYFPG/Oxbox93.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out When Morgan reached Australia he was first posted to No. 11 EFTS Benalla in Victoria. It was here that he shot this image—one of the weirdest photographs of a Tiger Moth in flight I have ever seen. It seems the passenger of this Royal Australian Air Force Tiger Moth at Benalla has gone “walkabout”, dropping the side door panel on the front cockpit and walking out to the outer wing struts for better view of the Australian landscape. Ray Morgan’s son Lee says he has no details as to why this was done—perhaps a bet or a lark by returning combat pilots looking for excitement. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628713925104-YWEH82D1VJ6VUAJ606OC/Oxbox94.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another view of the RAAF wing walker. If anyone has any information on this incident, let us know. While Morgan was at Benalla, volunteers were sought to ferry some Tiger Moths from Narrandera NSW to Sydney, and Ray put his hand up. This was on 27 March 1945, and he had not flown a Tiger Moth since 6 January 1944. The first leg was Narrandera to Cootamundra NSW, where he landed heavily and broke the undercarriage slightly. The senior officer then took him up for a checkout before he was allowed to take the repaired aircraft to Sydney via Goulburn, NSW. His son Lee remembers him remarking how tiny he felt taxiing his Tiger Moth through rows of B-17s then parked at Sydney airport. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714025143-99CTZXKJIJ7SM9DTFP95/Oxbox48.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Young Raymond Morgan, of the Royal Australian Air Force, photographed on 3 November 1944, shortly after earning his wings at No. 36 SFTS. A month later he was aboard the troop carrier S.S. Lurline, headed home to Australia. He wears the white armband of an LAC who has recently been commissioned as a Pilot Officer but is awaiting his insignia. At right is a colour photo taken in 1986 when Ray Morgan visited Penhold and Alberta. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714075365-H2BDDCY24BB9ETDYIMXS/Oxbox50.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out In 1994, Australians of Penhold Course No. 105 had a reunion in Adelaide, South Australia on the 50th anniversary of their wings parade. Unlike wings courses from earlier in the war, these pilots were shipped home as the war was winding down. That is why there are so many still alive in this reunion photograph. Ray Morgan is standing third from the right in the back row. Photo via Ray Morgan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714196314-2YO5Z2IUA1MILHXYRC83/Oxbox97.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A couple of photos of Aircraftman Alexander Cunningham. At left we see a very proud young Aircraftman Second Class Cunningham in a formal portrait taken shortly after his induction. At right we see him studying Paul Sullivan’s War Atlas. This was a book of reference maps published in Chicago USA for use in conjunction with Paul Sullivan’s broadcasts on Columbia Radio. Cunningham would learn skills in the RAF as an aircraft engineer that he would keep and utilize throughout his civilian career as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714247894-8VHA7UJX1LVIAH46U7BH/Oxbox98.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Alexander Cunningham joined up with the Royal Air Force in 1940. Soon he would be sent overseas to Canada to assist as a mechanic with the Royal Air Force operations as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training plan. His journey across the seas would take two ships and a stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland. They boarded the troopship (T.S.S.) S.S. Leopoldville in Greenock on 21 August 1941, dressed in tropical gear as a ruse for dockyard spies. Well out at sea, they were issued colder weather gear, something they would definitely need where they were going. The ship reached Reykjavik on 24 August 1941 and Cunningham was transferred to Helgafell Camp at Alafoss, where the British had constructed temporary barracks for transiting troops and airmen. SS Leopoldville was an 11,700 ton passenger liner of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. She was converted for use as a troopship (TSS) in the Second World War, and while sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, was torpedoed and sunk by the U-486. As a result, approximately 763 soldiers died, together with 56 of her crew. Photo via u-boat.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714285845-PFPP5L016GAAYPDV6GFB/Oxbox99.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out After a lengthy stay of several weeks in Iceland at Alafoss, Cunningham and his RAF compatriots then boarded the troopship SS California which lay in Hvalfjord. On 3 September 1941, this ship weighed anchor and steamed in the company of two other ships to join a convoy of sixty five ships bound for Canada. SS California was a British steam-powered passenger ship of 16,792 tons built in 1923 for the Henderson Brothers Ltd, Glasgow. In 1939 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser, and from 1942 she was used solely as a troopship. On 11 July 1943, when about 300 miles west of Vigo, Spain, the convoy was attacked by three Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft. California and another troopship, the Duchess of York, were set ablaze. The ships were abandoned and then sunk by RN torpedoes. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714321331-0LZ7T5RDT6DFYM98D9ZE/Oxbox96.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Alexander Cunningham’s first photograph in Canada—a view of Halifax harbour from SS California that is less than flattering. His personal feelings about this war town were also not so positive as he took to calling it the Garbage Can of Canada. Being a Haligonian myself, I winced when I heard this the first time, but then I realized that my hometown Halifax was a different place during the war. Polluted, dirty, crowded with sailors, airmen and soldiers and all the attendant sin and evil that they attract (Bars, Brawls and Bordellos), Halifax must have been a decidedly busy if unattractive city with no time to do anything except provision ships and send them to war. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714445853-XXP4VIXIKVCO9J4BBFSQ/Oxbox58.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The sign at the entrance to No. 36 SFTS at Penhold, Alberta near Red Deer, was the same as you would find at any of the BCATP establishments. Young Alexander Cunningham would have seen a similar sign at the entrance to the airfield at Gananoque, Ontario, a relief field for No. 31 SFTS Kingston, Ontario where he had also worked during his BCATP days in Canada. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714587053-LCZ55QADYXJGQP3VUYHU/Oxbox57.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out For a young man used to the rolling bucolic greenery of “This Sceptred Isle”, the flat prairies of Alberta might have seemed rather bleak and uninviting. In this view, we see the hangar line of No. 36 SFTS... rising not that far above the plain. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714652659-910YCOG7GI4ZMQS5X9N6/Oxbox66.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A couple of photographs of Alexander Cunningham at Penhold. At left is a summer shot of the young RAF mechanic standing on the duckboard outside an H-hut barrack building where he lived between 1941 and 1943. At right he is wearing soiled coveralls and a parachute, about to go for a flight in a North American Harvard in the winter. This shot was likely taken at Relief Field Gananoque of No. 31 SFTS as that was the type of weather he had during his stay there. Photos via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714709737-L8L9PKZ9V1EOAGTDI37O/Oxbox67.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Alexander Cunningham doing guard duty at No. 36 SFTS Penhold. There were many reasons a young LAC would be required to do guard duty, but the most common was because his status was on hold and he had not yet been given a specific task or placement. Many an airman was required to stand guard duty awaiting final orders to go on to the next stage of his career. There were also duty guards and the odd guard who was being punished for a simple transgression of rules. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628714837585-X90V8RYNOOE8VPEVJ9SS/Oxbox55.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out An evocative image of airmen lounging in a crude barrack hut at Penhold. The man lying on the bunk is Herman “Slim” Joseph Knights, a Canadian aviation legend. Knights went on to Squadron 57 RAF flying Lancasters and was shot down on 24 December 1943. When he returned to his home at Port Alberni, BC, he was involved with several aviation start-ups. He flew DEW Line supply flights, was a bush pilot, conducted firebombing with Skyways, and eventually, was one of the group who purchased Skyways and started Conair Aviation Ltd., where he served as Vice-President. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715194422-0XKBBPTA39AC9H9O7GV8/Oxbox68.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Like Morgan’s photo album which precede this. Cunningham’s album contained a lot of sporting images. Sport in all its forms was certainly how young airmen and student pilots relieved the stresses of boredom and hard work. Where Morgan’s Australians played rugby, Cunningham’s Brits assembled teams for football. The station team, known as the Penhold All Stars, pose for a photograph in 1942. A list of team members is listed on the back of the photo in the album. They are in no clear order, J.E. Hopwood; A. Massie; H.J.D. Hogg; J.S. Chambers; L.L. Gill; D. Allan; E.C. Watkin; H.G. Bond; T. Fisher; T. English and G. Harper. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715316621-V8TF51JCAGQMH6KB3SYZ/Oxbox76.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Of course, in Alberta they have 10 months of winter and two months of poor soccer weather. With the Alberta grasslands behind him still showing signs of residual snow, RAF airman J. E. “Ginger” Hopwood of the Hut 11 Ragamuffin Eleven attempts to head the ball (“nod” it in) during an inter-barracks game of soccer. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715433786-NFNR147WLZMMF9ALZE9U/Oxbox78.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out On what seems like a warmish and sunny day out on the Alberta prairie, a few RAF and RAAF airmen don skates and pick up sticks for a game of shinny. If you are a Canadian, you will be able to tell, by the way all three of these men are holding their hockey sticks, that they have not played much hockey. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715479460-Q6UYAEP15O7ZC7O28PLA/Oxbox74.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A lovely and engaging photograph of six fellow airmen of Alexander Cunningham taken on the hangar roof at Innisfail, the relief landing field for No. 36 SFTS Penhold. A relief field was designed to take some of the load of student pilots doing touch and goes and circuits, thereby “relieving” the home field at Red Deer/Penhold. Note the ladder leaning against the roof and the fact that the young men have brought the hangar dog up with them. For more on the history and heartwarming concept of the Hangar or Squadron Dog, click here. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715525093-5W811CST7ZKK7QW21YCB/Oxbox59.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out This is either Tiger Moth 1125 or more likely 1128, both of which were attached to No. 32 Elementary Flying Training School at Bowden, Alberta, some 40 kilometers to the south of Penhold. Unlike the Boeing Stearman aircraft originally used at Bowden, this Tiger Moth is equipped for winter operations with the cockpit canopy. Both 1125 and 1129 were originally ordered as PT-24s for the United States Army Air Corps, but were channeled into the RAF and the BCATP using the Lend Lease program. Tiger Moth 1128 had nearly 2,100 hours on it in the three years it served at Bowden—a considerable number of hours. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715577910-DMAR40KQA44COIL1Z1M7/Oxbox51.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out In addition to keeping the fleet of Airspeed Oxfords in operating condition, RAF mechanics like Aircraftman Cunningham were often required to salvage and recover damaged or crashed aircraft. Here Oxford, Fuselage Number 63 (AT448), has run off the runway at Penhold’s relief field at Innisfail, Alberta and has come to grief in a drainage ditch. An aircraft in this condition was likely deemed un-repairable and its various usable components cannibalized for repair to other Oxfords. The mainly wooden wing and frame of the Oxford was easily shattered when in contact with the ground. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715688240-KG7ESH45ECGPFVCWRKZY/Oxbox62.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Recovery crews await the arrival of a Royal Air Force crane to lift the heavily damaged Oxford out of the ditch at Innisfail. While the wings, engines and landing gear are probably totaled, there is still hope that the fuselage is intact. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715782663-M5327E4TUD8XI9SE03IV/Oxbox52.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A crane is brought in to remove Oxford AT448 from the Innisfail drainage ditch. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628715878056-Y0Z4XHCA5YJQ6D55IKD5/Oxbox63.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Exuberant and youthful pilots test their skills at Penhold’s Relief Field at Innisfail. Here, the pilots of an Airspeed Oxford force themselves down low on to the prairie airfield. The result of such test of skill might, from time to time, end in disaster. In this case, the extremely flat geography is in the favour of the pilots involved. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716223432-ZLVAQ7XFJWVL5MPMU1H7/Oxbox69.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out In another pass, some of the airmen on the field at Innisfail have come out of their huts and hangars to watch as the same pilot push their luck even further for a second lower pass. Note the truck in the background. Today, the old relief field at Innisfail is the municipal airport for the town of Innisfail and the triangular layout of paved runways can still be seen. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716181155-3DN5JDJOVZLO2XTFBG90/Oxbox56.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Cunningham at the controls of a Ford 1-1/2 ton truck used by the RAF at No. 36 SFTS Penhold and its relief field at Innisfail. This appears to be the very same truck, or at least the same model, as the truck in the previous photograph. The light at the top and the general design are very similar. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716283987-KSWSHODUAI37WCT2NTPM/Oxbox54.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Recovering downed aircraft was in many ways a difficult task, what with grim findings and bad weather. Here an Oxford has crashed into a farm near Penhold after experiencing an engine failure. Aircraftman Cunningham (background) and fellow mechanic Norman Tyson were tasked to recover the wreckage. The old air force euphemism for being killed during training— “He bought the farm”—comes from situations just like this. During the war, if an American pilot crashed his aircraft into a farm or farmland near his training field, USAAC authorities would compensate the farmer for damage to his crops or structures from the crash and ensuing recovery. Unless the pilots bailed out of this aircraft, it is doubtful that they survived. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716354328-W55JL9MJ5W9O81E7DFGZ/Oxbox61.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Likely a photo taken at the same recovery site as the previous photograph. Aircraftman First Class Alexander Cunningham (left) has removed his cap, and the three airmen are warming themselves around a fire while they work to recover the wreckage of the downed Oxford. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716404101-70OTEXVNTV924S8M3MWG/Oxbox64.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The wreckage of a Penhold-based Airspeed Oxford lies on one of the three runways at Innisfail’s Big Bend Airfield, so named because it lies just to the south of a “Big Bend” in the Red Deer River, which turns north to Red Deer and then south again for 724 kilometres before emptying into the South Saskatchewan River. This Oxford (Fuselage Number 59) was involved in a mid-air collision with Oxford 47 which managed to execute a wheels up landing on the snow in the infield, right next to the wreck of this aircraft. Note the shattered wooden structure of the wings. It is not clear whether this aircraft, with its wheels down, was taking off or landing when the accident happened or whether it crashed after the mid-air collision when trying to land. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716456495-9YYFNQBVFNDJZCRP72Y2/Oxbox60.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Another view of the same Oxford 59 after a catastrophic crash or ground loop. As with many Oxford crashes, it seems that the occupants of the fragile cockpit area have suffered greatly. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716488452-7CWDRM3EGUCRGLFXJ8TJ/Oxbox65.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Airspeed Oxford (fuselage number 47) after its mid-air encounter with Oxford 59. It has fared better than the other aircraft, though sustaining heavy damage to the engines, propellers and fuselage. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716526505-9TAXUALHPC9QMZWACM72/Oxbox71.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Airfield fire trucks and crash recovery vehicles surround the devastation of the Innisfail crash site. Judging from the trail of shattered wooden structure, it’s possible that the Oxford cartwheeled to a stop after ground looping or crash landing. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716558072-5ZERT0LDOYHPX3FTTAOB/Oxbox72.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Looking at the same crash from the other side, Oxford, Fuselage No. 59, looks shredded and utterly broken. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716616625-VUF7AXIW02572AHNU6AT/Oxbox73.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The close proximity of Oxford 59 on runway and Oxford 47 on infield is interesting. Was 47 taking off with wheel up when it was struck by Oxford 59 while landing? Did the mid-air happen at a very low altitude? If anyone knows the circumstances of this crash scene, let us know. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716644892-71ZN7PMYN2CF0011IGO7/Oxbox77.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The snow on the prairie is quite forgiving if you are properly set up for a wheels up emergency landing. Here, Oxford 43 has slid to a stop on the snow with not much obvious damage. This is backed up by the photograph of the same Oxford aircraft (AS367) flying in formation in a photograph in the previous Ray Morgan Collection. Photo via Alexander Cunningham Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716683158-QHFGJORE7MN4EVVFFKXG/Oxford100.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out On his way home to the United Kingdom, Aircraftman First Class Alexander Cunningham went through Halifax again. This time he boarded the troopship TSS Louis Pasteur, seen here tied up at Pier 21 with SS Aquitania. After the war, her name changed four more times. She became SS Bremen in 1957, then SS Regina Magna, SS Saudiphil and finally she sank under tow as SS Filipinas Saudi I in the early 1980s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716818095-SOYQNWEQAR72EX130BLQ/Oxbox102.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Aircraftman Second Class Robert W. Barnes lounging in a sunny barrack room at No. 4 ITS, Edmonton. This would be in a wing of the Edmonton Normal School, known as Corbet Hall. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716858796-AGHDV480O83730QRC6G1/Oxbox105.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out Aircraftman Robert W. Barnes (left) striking a handsome and determined pose back home in Ottawa. This image would likely have been taken before he went on to flying training or between EFTS and SFTS as he still wears the white cap flash of a student aircrew member. At right we see Barnes in cold weather flying gear outside his barrack hut at No. 35 EFTS at Neepewa, Manitoba in the winter of 1941–42. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716889530-C4HR4GMHSWHDO4RZPUHA/Oxbox80.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A great image of Barnes’s friends sunning themselves out on the Alberta prairie in 1942. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716926133-9OLXUUD3PQBN7OW01IGH/Oxbox104.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A photograph, apparently taken at Penhold, shows a few of the same friends (with Barnes in the cockpit as well as Lyle Gibson, Jeff Raymond and a fellow named Copping) posing with an Avro Anson. Number 36 SFTS used only Oxford aircraft, so this was taken either at another field or it was of a visiting aircraft. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628716967216-OJQ5P8TNRY44GXX4CU69/Oxbox79.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out A rather catastrophic crash of an Airspeed Oxford at Penhold. The scalloped metal piece at the bottom right is the upper trailing end of the engine nacelle. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628717064802-I3BKUACPWSIUDHKJAVVA/Oxbox82.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out One of Barnes’ chums poses with the wreckage of the same Oxford. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628717046634-EE810JXCB1GC77ZF545Y/Oxbox81.jpg The Stories - OXBOXES OVER THE PRAIRIES - Make it stand out The same airman from the previous photograph, this time with one of the locals. Photo via Robert Barnes Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/body-english monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628693001618-0FYYN8D75DOVQD9LV800/BodyEnglishTitle2.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628693850043-6BHBRWXZPX0LDVYOHEER/BodyEnglish57.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning, DSC of the British Royal Naval Air Service, was the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship. He did so by landing his Sopwith Pup on the specially equipped battle cruiser HMS Furious in Scapa Flow, Orkney on 2 August 1917. He actually hovered his aircraft while attending sailors rushed to grab hold of him as there was no arresting gear. Here he is being congratulated by the men of Furious who helped him come to a stop on 2 August 1917. He was killed five days later, during his second landing attempt of the day, when an updraft caught his port wing, throwing his plane overboard. Knocked unconscious, he drowned in the cockpit. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628693896559-99Q3LST8H98YVAJGN3C5/BodyEnglish58.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Royal Navy Air Service sailors and officers race to restrain Edward Dunning’s Sopwith Pup on the forward flight deck of HMS Furious, 5 days after his first successful landing on a moving ship. A second later a crosswind gust caught his left wing and he veered to starboard. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628693945472-US9YCDSN1DCAFB7GUPST/BodyEnglish59.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Unable to stop Dunning, officers and sailors of the Royal Navy Air Service can only watch as Dunning’s Pup veers to starboard and over the edge. Dunning was knocked unconscious and drowned. He was the first pilot to successfully recover to a ship in motion and the first to die attempting to do it. Sadly there would be many, many more in this unquestionably dangerous activity. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628693989957-LVMDHVDY1PY2U7S9L8DY/BodyEnglish56.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An early Landing Signal Officer(LSO) stands at the edge of the ramp of the flight deck of USS Langley (CV-1) using ordinary signal flags, while a Vought VE-7F Bluebird makes its final approach. According to Navy legend, the first LSO was Commander Ken Whiting, the XO of Langley. Legend has it that he observed and coached many of the first landings from the position at the port stern of the aircraft that would become the LSO position we know today and grabbed two white sailor’s hats to make his approach coaching corrections more visible. Standardized signals and the use flags, and eventually paddles, followed in short order. In normal flying operations, an aircraft carrier should be steaming into the wind to maximize headwind over the deck, allowing aircraft to maintain a lower ground speed. The fact that the Langley, America’s first aircraft carrier, is tied to a pier is strange. The Bluebird pursuit aircraft was a slow-moving biplane landing with a slow landing speed, but one does not often see a landing on a stationary carrier. Note the large net on whisker poles at the stern of the ship. Not sure whether this is to catch an aircraft that rolls back after a ramp strike or if it is to prevent damage to the ship in the event that an aircraft crashes into the stern. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694054286-6RF1EGHDSAA9VKRJW3R7/BodyEnglish54.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An early image of a US Navy Landing Signals Officer, on board the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) in 1931, using flags to guide an Loening OL-8 amphibian to a recovery on board the ship. As flags, in the wind over the deck, would be driven flat, therefore less visible, it was soon decided to go to a stiff paddle or louvered bat. The two-place Loening was returning from relief mission to Managua, Nicaragua, following a devastating earthquake there on 31 March 1931. It had a magnitude of 6.0, and killed 2,000 people. The LSO uses traditional semaphore signal flags and stands on a scaffold next to, instead of on, the flight deck itself. A plane guard ship can be seen in the distance should any aircraft be forced to ditch or come to grief during a landing attempt. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694111369-ZHGWD5YH6NTSMQ43690J/BodyEnglish01.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out This batsman from HMS Ravager, the Rudolf Nureyev of batsmen, is the most expressive of all as he lunges toward a landing Fleet Air Arm Fairey Barracuda like a joyful gazelle, welcoming the aircraft aboard. HMS Ravager (D70) was an Ruler class escort carrier built on the West Coast of the United States and operated by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Ravager initially served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic theatre. Later in the war she was used mainly as a deck-landing training carrier and this photo is likely from that time as a training ship. In February 1946 she was returned to the US Navy and the hull sold for civilian use in July 1947 as a freighter, being renamed the SS Robin Trent. All 28 Ruler class escort carriers were built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation and supplied under Lend-Lease. They were the most numerous single class of aircraft carriers in service with the Royal Navy. Some names of these carriers were from an interesting list of job descriptions: Patroller, Puncher, Reaper, Searcher, Slinger, Smiter, Speaker, Tracker, Trouncer, and Trumpeter, while other names for the class were derived from the titles of the Royal/Ruling Class or heads of state around the world: Arbiter, Ameer, Atheling, Begum, Emperor, Empress, Khedive, Nabob, Premier, Queen, Rajah, Ranee, Ruler, Shah and Thane. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694307007-ETU0DIG3SWKNHA5P1VSW/BodyEnglish03.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Deck Landing Control Officer aboard HMS Illustrious enthusiastically guides an 806 Naval Air Squadron Grumman Martlet (Wildcat) pilot home in wet weather en route to Malta, using the hand-held lighting system. On a grey day like this, the lights would have been a very effective system. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694558216-6NL2SMSK60HB4XFT5S3N/BodyEnglish36.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Carrier aircraft are required to take off and operate under poor weather conditions as well as fine, so are Deck Landing Control Officers of the Royal Navy. Here we see the same Deck Landing Control Officer from HMS Illustrious as in the previous photo, using the reflector light system to send clear messages to an oncoming aircraft in inclement weather. One wonders if this is Johnny Hastings, the legendary batsman of Illustrious spoken of frequently with such reverence in the war memoir Carrier Pilot by Corsair pilot Norman “Hans” Hanson of the Fleet Air Arm. Also, there was an Aircraft Handling Instructor by the name of Alec Simpson, who was also one of Illustrious’ batsmen. Simpson’s son Alec works with Transport Canada here in Ottawa. If anyone knows who this DLCO is, let us know. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694635324-TOYZUVH5ENMWDB68N19Q/BodyEnglish60.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Deck Landing Control Officer “bats down” a Fairey Barracuda on a Dummy Deck Landing Airfield on the Isle of Man during the Second World War. Note that the arresting wires are simply painted on this dummy deck. Images via www.island-images.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694674723-CZCBL6G11PNAADEAR94H/BodyEnglish05.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An instructor demonstrates a “cut” for young Deck Landing Control Officers from HMS Implacable at a training field in the United Kingdom as a Hawker Sea Fury flashes past. Photo via naval-history.net and Lieutenant Commander James Henry Summerlea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694706473-X0I1STQ0U8ZJO3B9W92N/BodyEnglish06.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A rather long-haired “Old Professor” William “Flashman” Hawley, with his normally pomaded locks in disarray, demonstrates the use of louvered cloth paddles to bat in an approaching fighter at a Deck Landing Control Officer training school on land. HMS Implacable pilot and batsman trainee Jock Hamilton looks on, smoking a cigarette. Photo via naval-history.net and Lieutenant Commander James Henry Summerlea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694827763-Z764B9IUZX1BY4XO87UO/BodyEnglish07.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Deck Landing Control Officer Instructor Bill Hawley watches over a charge as he works a Navy fighter to the ground at a training field. Photo via naval-history.net and Lieutenant Commander James Henry Summerlea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628694905030-G4GTPH7GHNIWL4QYW64H/BodyEnglish49.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Back on HMS Implacable, Bill Hawley (looking less like a long-haired maestro) and Johnny (Curly) Blunden watch as fighters overfly HMS Implacable. Photo via naval-history.net and Lieutenant Commander James Henry Summerlea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695078915-T4Q8Y1O0VZ4EZUJHWQ2I/BodyEnglish46.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out At a training school in England, both the Deck Landing Control Officer and the pilot of the Fairey Albacore learn their respective arts at the same time. Here we can just make out puffs of smoke as the Albacore, with landing flaps down, touches down with the batsman showing the cut signal. It is evident that the port wing of the torpedo bomber will roll over the head of the batsman as it rips down the runway. It is likely this is a touch and go as there are no arresting cables on this practice field. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695149083-X9BUJQRPCAMM17AII4D9/BodyEnglish53.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An image of a rather lackadaisical US Navy Landing Signal Officer guiding a Douglas SBD Dauntless on a shore base during the Second World War with a signal I can’t quite make out. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695198214-IRVBKAZTCP34DJ9ROJOW/BodyEnglish52.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Compared to the previous photo, this North American Fury looks properly lined up and not in danger of striking this LSO during Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) in 1954. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695249000-DG8UEXQHQEPQV7X12KQQ/BodyEnglish44.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out “Bats” and the Boys. The Deck Landing Control Officer of HMS Ravager stands in front of his fellow deck crew in the air department, with his own team in light coloured vests. At the back front left to right we see the flight deck tractor, aircraft starter trolley, aircraft handlers with their chocks (centre), then more aircraft handlers with manual tow bars, then crash and fire crew. Photo from royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695280386-USU9R53KJS701VTJEMFV/BodyEnglish08.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Out on the Indian Ocean, this HMS Illustrious batsman wears tennis shoes and Bermuda shorts to help him deal with the heat, though he is one of the lucky ones standing in the cooling effect of the 30-knot air blowing down the deck. He wears a light contraption that helps the oncoming pilot see the signals from much farther out. This consists of a reflector with bulb in each hand and a central one strapped to his chest. From a distance, the pilot would read the relation between the hand-held lights and the central light to understand what he needed to do. In this case he is being told he is too low and needs to climb to keep in the correct angle. All he had to do was mimic the position of the hand-held lights with his aircraft—easier said than done. One wonders who he is signalling to—could it be our own Hugh Pawson? Photo: Imperial war Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695318333-7XRB4F5FLGXDVMHG98UC/BodyEnglish02.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The same Illustrious batsman in the Indian Ocean. He seems to be putting everything into it, including his tongue. One wonders what this fellow would do if he had to make a fast dash to his right to avoid an oncoming and off line Corsair. Tethered as he is, one suspects he wouldn’t get too far. The difference between American and British LSOs was the nature of their signals. Generally, US Navy signals were advisory, indicating whether the plane was on glide slope, too high, too low, etc. Royal Navy signals were usually mandatory, ordering the pilot to add power, come port, etc. When “cross-decking” with one another (i.e. landing on each other’s carriers), the two navies had to decide whether to use the U.S. or British system. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695385867-26ZDMR5L7FFD206OOLXK/BodyEnglish09.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Royal Navy batsman lunges as he brings in a Fairey Barracuda of 831 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm on board HMS Furious. The carrier Furious was one of the first carriers of the Royal Navy, which began her life as a modified battle cruiser in the First World War with a flight deck forward of the bridge. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695420218-W835V0JIM16VI49W3UI4/BodyEnglish04.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Batsman Lieutenant Malcolm Brown, his name painted in white on the back of his Irwin flying jacket, warmly bundled up against the cold North Atlantic with flight boots, works a Supermarine Seafire down to the deck of HMS Indomitable. He wears his name emblazoned on his back. All I can read for sure is the last name: Brown. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695473017-RUUG5HYEXIFD0DOR8560/BodyEnglish11.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A batsman on HMS Formidable gives the signal to an approaching 820 Squadron Fairey Albacore pilot to get lower as he passes over the round down. Photo via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695537405-4YBGECYCW3C0I83DXY4P/BodyEnglish48.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The same Royal Navy batsman from HMS Formidable as in the previous photo gives the “cut” signal to possibly the same Fairey Albacore from 820 Squadron. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695631092-ZLFMM6R84EO43KKLHUUL/BodyEnglish12.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Another Royal Navy batsman encourages a Firefly pilot with a little body English. Royal Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695663767-9DYD8INFU6GD3S0DFKYU/BodyEnglish13.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Lieutenant Commander Donald Macqueen, RNVR, Fleet Air Arm pilot and the greatest batsman of all time. According to the British newspaper, The Telegraph, Macqueen “batted in” more than 66,000 aircraft landings on fleet carriers and Airfield Dummy Deck Landings (ADDL) on practice fields in the United States and England—more than any other Royal Navy Deck Landing Control Officer (DLCO) in history. The London Times has different numbers for Macqueen—20,000+ carrier landings and 200,000 ADDLs. His record was an astonishing 775 landings in a day! Macqueen flew Swordfish torpedo bombers with 823 and 810 Naval Air Squadrons from the carriers Glorious, Illustrious, Ocean, Vengeance and Theseus. He died in 2010. Photo via the London Times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695740175-RNHWTWB5H8ET9FYTR8CX/BodyEnglish47.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The pilot-batsman connection from the pilot’s viewpoint. With his aircraft’s nose held high, a pilot of a Fairey Swordfish watches the Royal Navy batsman (centre-right) signal that his wings are level and on line with about 50 yards to go before trapping. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695788951-015QTKCR4S6GZW3YS27T/BodyEnglish43.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Only a few feet above the flight deck, a Deck Landing Control Officer gives the pilot of a Fairey Swordfish the “cut” signal, telling him to chop power to his engine. In the Royal Navy, instant obedience to this signal was essential for a successful trap of the landing Swordfish. One of the arresting cables (cross-deck pendants) can be seen on the deck in the foreground lying over a retractable device that elevates the cable a few inches above the deck. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695840345-VGEYZPFIU141QA9O4KG7/BodyEnglish62.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Another pilot’s eye view of a batsman, this time from a Canadian pilot coming in to land on HMCS Magnificent. One wonders if this is Lieutenant Barry Hayter, the No.1 Deck Landing Control Officer aboard the Maggie. Photo via Bill Ewing, RCN, RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695872887-Z3QFWKBVMXL3J1OBE8RL/BodyEnglish14.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Griffon-powered Supermarine Seafire Mk 47 is batted in by the Deck Landing Control Officer aboard HMS Triumph. Note the other deck crewman watching from the safety of the catwalk. We can see the under-wing and centre-line additional fuel tanks, which were found on the Mk 47. The batsman would, if required, dive headlong into “the nets” to avoid an off line aircraft, but it was not uncommon for a batsman to miss it entirely and end up falling 40 to 60 feet to the ocean below. HMS Triumph, a Colossus-class fleet carrier, was the ninth of ten ships of the line to carry the name—the first was as a 68-gun galleon built in 1561, the last was a nuclear-powered Trafalgar-class fleet submarine launched in 1990 and currently in service. Royal Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695932223-4M46D2S52WS2WXKZLDXZ/BodyEnglish15.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Using the body-worn electric light system, a batsman signals to a Grumman Martlet of 881 Squadron coming in to land on HMS Illustrious during operations in the Indian Ocean during the Second World War. 881 Squadron was destined for HMS Ark Royal, but when the ship was sunk on 13 November 1941 the squadron was allocated to HMS Illustrious, sailing for the Indian Ocean in March 1942. In May 1942, the squadron, joining 882 squadron, supported the capture of Diego Suarez in Madagascar, jointly shooting down 7 enemy aircraft. In the middle of the month 882 was absorbed into 881, and the squadron returned to the UK in 1943. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628695986011-RNORJ8L7BYXFLQRF7QZO/BodyEnglish51.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out US Navy landing signal officers scramble to safety shortly before the ramp strike of a Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat aboard an aircraft carrier. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628696030590-Z8PUVUG3HTQLSNEJQ17O/BodyEnglish50.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Vought F4U-4 Corsair of Marine Attack Squadron VMA-322 about to slam into the ocean in 1949 after a botched landing attempt on the U.S. escort carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118). Landing Signal Officer (with the paddles) and his assistant (with the notepad) running to the opposite side of the flight deck to escape decapitation. If this LSO was wired with the same electric lamp system that the Illustrious batsman had earlier, he would not have been able to scramble for his life. Photo: US Navy Naval Aviation News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628696066289-QYL1ESSO1RPPR226AKKP/BodyEnglish45.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out This LSO has the biggest balls in the Navy for standing his ground and not leaping to the nets as this US Navy Bombing Squadron 8 (VB-8) Douglas SBD Dauntless drops to the deck just a few feet from his head. The Dauntless and VB-8 are part of the air group attached to Captain Marc Mitscher’s legendary USS Hornet (CV-8), during the Battle of Midway. In the distance we see plane guard destroyers keeping pace. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705262099-AK8L85I9JLOGLGS4NQ8E/BodyEnglish16.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Lieutenant Commander Jay Alkire, USNR, of the VF-124 “Stingrays”, Carrier Air Group Twelve (CVG-12), aboard the USS Hancock (CVA-19) is far too low as he reaches the round down. In this photo, we see him pitch his F7U-3 Cutlass up drastically in a last minute attempt to avoid striking the stern of the ship. Note the LSO running for his life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705224973-SCFS2P3Q2TQ1C6U08FMP/BodyEnglish17.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out In a very powerful photograph of the same event as the previous shot, but from another angle, we see Ted Reilly, a US Navy Landing Signal Officer running for his life just prior to a Vought F7U-3 Cutlass impacting the edge of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) on 14 July 1955. The belly of the Cutlass reflects the white churning wake of the carrier. Sadly, the Cutlass’ performance suffered due to a lack of sufficient engine thrust, (earning it the sad nickname of Gutless Cutlass); consequently, its carrier landing and takeoff performance was notoriously poor. Pilot, Jay Alkire, had no chance at this point to avoid his death. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705338796-J5XP5QNT8T73FJNEIC1Y/BodyEnglish19.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out LSO Ted Reilly saves his life as Alkire’s Cutlass strikes the deck of Hancock and disintegrates, spraying flaming jet fuel over the deck and catwalk. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705430146-EXN1JL8IQTCCWEO1LOGR/BodyEnglish18.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The terrible result of LCDR Jay Alkire’s ramp strike on landing aboard USS Hancock during carrier qualifications off of the California coast. The disintegrating airframe spins off the port edge of the flight deck. Alkire was killed, still strapped into his ejection seat, when the wreckage of the Cutlass’ airframe sank. Also killed by burning fuel were two boatswain’s mates and a photographer’s mate on the port catwalk (one wonders if one of the previous photos was taken by the photographer’s mate that died). Thankfully, LSO Reilly survived. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705652414-MB8QKRMFE3V1GWOLMR56/BodyEnglish20.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Landing Signal Officer Ensign R.J. Grant, aboard USS Enterprise in March of 1945, goes to work sheltered from the wind over the deck by a screen, joined by other pilots who watch the landings and gain experience. When an aircraft carrier launches or recovers its aircraft it turns into the wind and increases to full speed to give as much wind over the deck as possible. In some conditions, the wind whipping down the deck might be in excess of 40 knots. Such wind speeds buffeting the LSO would almost knock him off his feet if it were not for the screens they could stand behind. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705696933-43ZWGTHFZVM6829GGTJM/BodyEnglish21.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A Douglas TBD-1 Devastator is brought in by a rather stiff LSO aboard USS Enterprise in July 1941. While I know that American LSOs are the finest anywhere and, in fact, can be considered the creators and the greatest practitioners of the art form, the style of the average Second World War LSO of the US Navy pales in comparison to the flourish, virtuosity and panache of the deck dance put on by the Royal Navy Deck Landing Control Officer. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705729349-5LOKY48IX5O8BY8KOP3K/BodyEnglish55.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The Perfect Cut. A US Navy Landing Signal Officer giving a “cut” signal to a Grumman TBF Avenger during the Second World War. Cutting the power at this point, the heavy torpedo bomber will drop like a stone and catch a wire. Note the less than theatrical signal from the LSO. Like traffic cops, there are those that get the job done and then there are those that make an art form out of it. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705760864-PCTOO2GXBJU4VTNYVPJX/BodyEnglish34.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An American with Royal Navy panache and style. The legendary US Navy Landing Signals Officer, Lieutenant Richard (Dick) C. Tripp, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, lands on a Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat wearing nothing but tennis shoes and flowered boxer shorts. Dick Tripp “batted” in more than 10,000 carrier deck landings from 1943 to 1945. Tripp died in 1990. Yorktown was the second of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during the Second World War for the United States Navy. She is named after the Battle of Yorktown of the American Revolutionary War, and is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 and in 1975 became a museum ship at Patriot’s Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She is a National Historic Landmark. Other Essex-class carriers include a list of some of the most historic and legendary ships of the war: Intrepid, Hornet, Franklin, Ticonderoga, Wasp, Lexington, Princeton and Shangri-la. US Navy photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705854915-XLFNB19GOG2M2WP1MN2A/BodyEnglish26.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Another image of the legendary Dick Tripp. Here he shows his style not only with hand motions, but with fashion, sporting coveralls, sock feet, aviator glasses and a do-rag. “The guy was damned near magic,” said naval airman Jean Balch, a radioman in a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. “Dick Tripp, for my money, was the best LSO in the whole Pacific.” Tripp, by all accounts was a piece of work. In On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers by Clarke Reynolds, Tripp at one time had to be disciplined for striking an officer: “A tipsy diminutive LSO Dick Tripp belted a rowdy commander from another ship for calling the Yorktown a ‘rusty dirty old boat.’ ” US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705915376-VWJ3BULWKXWPK6CFDK9M/BodyEnglish27.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Although this LSO is signalling “Cut” to this Grumman Hellcat, the pilot looks like he is banking to go round. This LSO has some Royal Navy style as he leans into the signal and the motion of the “cut” signal is so aggressive, that the paddle in his right hand is wrapped around his left shoulder all the way to the back of his right shoulder—big style points! It reminds me of Tiger Woods’ golf swing finish. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628705949741-THAIMRN5WF02KWT2JUXD/BodyEnglish28.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A US Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastator from Torpedo Squadron VT-6 is guided to a touchdown by an LSO on a platform on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) on 4 May 1942. We can see the net the LSO and his mate will dive into if need be. Since the aircraft is armed with a centre-line bomb, it was probably returning from an anti-submarine patrol. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706002223-GNT49GKEIH7GQ139A808/BodyEnglish31.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The nonchalance of this US Navy LSO and his assistant with hands in his pockets lends credence to my theory that the American LSO lacks the willingness to put some style into his signals. This in no way is meant as a criticism, but rather an observation. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706055440-FA2F1H5PW149M0ZUX095/BodyEnglish32.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Conditions at the LSO’s station were often less than equatorial in temperature and the wind shield was a blessing. Here an F4U-4B Corsair from VF-53, The Blue Knights, drops on to the deck of the USS Essex off the coast of Korea in the cold winter of 1952. The LSO is bundled with insulated suit, boots, gloves and a fur-lined hood. The LSO can be forgiven for less than dramatic signals. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706092959-C1JX26EBYVXDK5R1CBI9/BodyEnglish42.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out The job of an LSO or DLCO is extremely demanding, one that requires experience and many landings from both sides of the equation—in the cockpit and on the LSO platform. LSO apprentices, all of whom are highly experienced carrier pilots, must watch many hundreds of landings from the LSO’s side to understand the unique bond of trust between pilot and LSO and to learn a technique that is not truly or fully quantifiable—the art. Here American Navy pilots watch as a buddy uses paddles to bring home a squadron mate. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706223314-VCOVHDT4UJJVPNLQZ2MR/BodyEnglish22.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out It takes a lot of courage to stand close to the path or, as it seems in this case, IN the path of an oncoming fighter aircraft attempting to land within a few feet of you. Here, a Grumman F9F Cougar appears to line up on the LSO himself during Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) at Naval Air Station Miramar, California, in 1954. The caption on this photo says that the LSO is giving the pilot the “Cut!” signal, but that would be to the other side of his body. It’s possible that, with his right foot in the air, he is just beginning his life-saving dive to the right to get out of the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706259368-T8478XLJBN9SPE63PZX4/BodyEnglish33.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Standardized Fleet LSO signals of the US Navy. Tommy H. Thomason wrote in Waving Them Aboard: “The pilot first had to get to the start of the ‘groove’, which was where the LSO’s coaching began. At the risk of oversimplifying, the groove began a few hundred yards (less for propeller-driven airplanes) behind the ship, where the pilot had completed his turn from his base leg and was lined up and on speed at approach altitude in level flight. At this point, the LSO’s signals were visible and he began coaching the pilot as to height, airspeed, and line up in that order of priority... The ‘slant’ or ‘tighten turn’ were used to coach the pilot as to line up, since—particularly with the F4U Corsair—the groove might well begin while the pilot was still turning to line up with the carrier. If the LSO thought that the pilot was in the process of making a good approach, he might therefore be given a Roger signal even while in the turn. A wave off wasn’t necessarily indicative of a poor approach. In order to bring all the airplanes in as quickly as possible, the interval between them left little margin for a problem getting one out of the landing area. A wave off might therefore result from a foul deck [an aircraft still blocking the landing area or possibly a barrier problem-Ed] . The LSO might also realize that the deck movement, which he could feel before the pilot could see it, was out of sync with the airplane’s ability to settle into the landing area without being long (deck descending) or touching down too hard (deck rising).” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706320148-CVEY4GGE5I0D16A6ZIGH/BodyEnglish29.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A United States Navy LSO of Korean War vintage signals the “cut” to a Grumman F-9F Panther. He wears a hand-painted coverall with a squadron tiger emblem and though it’s probably not him, he looks a lot like Dick Tripp in terms of style. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706351570-83PE1HS0P8Q53DQRNAMJ/BodyEnglish30.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out As a McDonnell F2H Banshee rounds out after his approach he is right on line and gets the “cut” from this LSO. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706388760-TKH4B6AWF0UFC65H9HOS/BodyEnglish23.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An LSO turns to admire his work as Grumman S-2 Tracker of Anti-submarine Squadron VS-33 passes him on its way to trapping on board the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12) in 1970. Hornet CV-12, an Essex-class carrier, was built in the Second World War and named in honour of USS Hornet (CV-8), the carrier which launched the Doolittle Raiders and was sunk at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706422493-OYU6Y6F92U78K4B9UB4H/BodyEnglish24.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Looking more like a 1980s stoner downhiller in a one-piece ski suit, or perhaps a mid-70s new wave band like Devo, this USS Yorktown LSO can be forgiven for looking like a London ponce in 1954 in his satiny coveralls with Day-Glo pink stripes, because he and his fellow LSOs are doing one of the most difficult jobs in the world of aviation. US Navy photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706476901-EA8MWCULV3Z6OXDLB1EG/BodyEnglish25.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out This is a screen capture from the motion picture The Bridges of Toko-Ri, with Robert Strauss playing the part of the irascible and colourful LSO known as Beer Barrel wearing the same LSO suit that is worn in the previous photograph. The horizontal pink stripe and vertical yellow bars were designed to not only be seen, but to help pilots to better see the vertical and horizontal relationship of signals. Today, the LSO no longer gives hand signals, but guides by radio as the pilot keeps on the glide path using visual cues from a light known as the ball. When landing on a carrier today, there is a beam of light shining towards the incoming aircraft. The beam of light represents the perfect glide path / approach. When the pilot of the incoming aircraft looks directly at the beam it appears as a ball. When the pilot “calls the ball”, he has sight of the ball and is preparing to land. When the pilot is coming in, he is asked by the LSO to “call the ball,” which is just asking the pilot if he can see the ball and that he is on a safe glide path for the landing. The proper response from the pilot is to give the weight of his aircraft, and then “Roger Ball.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706576602-PWXHESQNCINSPP6L1ZTM/BodyEnglish39.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out US Navy Landing Signal Officer Lieutenant W.F. Tobin, on exchange, offers up signals to a French fighter landing aboard French carrier La Fayette, off Indochina, in 1953. Sadly, while acceptable to perhaps a European, the chin-strapped cap is just not cool enough for the macho job that is the LSO’s. Ten years later, US Navy LSOs would be working out of the Gulf of Tonkin 24 hours a day. Photo: United States Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706606437-OS25XIP8ES7XRF5AWDRG/BodyEnglish61.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out While Dick Tripp earned style points in tennis shoes and flowered underwear, there are absolutely NO style points earned dressed like this American aboard the USS Midway in 1955. The head gear was experimental. Photo by Luis Marden, National Geographic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706652370-5NBLUX048G89FBLGNE2Z/BodyEnglish40.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Lieutenant David McCampbell signals that the oncoming aircraft about to land on the USS Wasp is too low and needs to come up to get on the proper glide angle. If this was aboard a Royal Navy carrier, this signal would mean the exact opposite—you are too high, come down. US Navy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706695957-E55RRLE5K6KGSV1NKT8G/BodyEnglish41.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out An advertisement for General Electric radio/telephones depicts the drama of a Second World War Landing Signal Officer giving the “cut” signal to a landing fighter. In the background we see the carrier’s island flying the signal flag for the letter “F”, which is also the flag carriers fly when Flight Operations are underway. It is also the flag for the message “I am disabled; communicate with me”, but certainly not in this case. Image via www.vintageadbrowser.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706733000-NM5429PHENJK7KTV94EV/BodyEnglish38.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out Landing Signal Officer Lt. J.G. Brian Felloney helps guide the pilot of an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the “Diamondbacks” of Strike Fighter Squadron One Zero Two (VFA-102) to land on the flight deck of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis was at sea conducting training exercises in the Southern California operating area. The modern LSO no longer uses his hands, paddles, bats or flags. He or she communicates directly with the pilot by radio calls and light signals. Carrier landings are so important to successful aircraft carrier deployments that there exist private companies in the United States who consult and train future LSOs. Carrier Landing Consultants, one of these training companies, has this to say about the role of the modern LSO: “LSOs watch aircraft to ensure their glideslope, airspeed, attitude and lineup are within normal parameters for a safe recovery on the carrier. Too steep and an aircraft might break when it lands. Too shallow and a jet might hit the back of the ship. Too fast and an aircraft can damage the arresting wires. Too slow and the aircraft might stall or settle. LSOs communicate to pilots with light signals and radio calls, ensuring a safe pass and a quick recovery. While aviation technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the past century, the role of the LSO has remained. Technology can fail and the weather at sea can be unpredictable. When the conditions become the most challenging, the need for an experienced and highly trained LSO is at its greatest. The LSO community has left a long and distinguished history, and it has a bright future ahead” US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class (AW/SW) Jayme Pastoric https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628706797217-MXBHQ9R7AK7GGPVJSF36/BodyEnglish37.jpg The Stories - BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO - Make it stand out A covey of modern LSOs at sea aboard the nuclear carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) evaluates the landing of an aircraft aboard the Truman. Gone is the flourish, the theatrical hand gestures and the lunging “cut” signals of the early days of carrier aviation, replaced by optical light systems, stop watches and radio calls. While the panache and style have disappeared from the LSOs bag of tricks, the practitioners of the art today still have to apply instantaneous decision-making, impeccable judgement, years of carrier flying experience, courage and, like James Michener’s quote in the beginning of this story, they can defer their job to no one. While the period of The Harry S. Truman and Carrier Airwing 3 were on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Ryan O’Connor. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wtf monthly 0.5 2021-08-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645360337-2KRBPAFDGEQI93N7FF9E/WTFTitle2.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645535229-OSYSH3KMQEU0B25794QW/WTF135.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Es ist nicht ein “Pup”, es ist ein “Welpe”! A perfectly intact Sopwith Pup in Imperial German Air Service markings shares a flight line with German-built types in France. The Pup in this shot has been identified as the same Pup (N6161) featured in the following photo; however, to me, it seems they have different crosses on their fuselages, so I am not sure they are the same aircraft. Photo: theaerodrome.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645599973-VMNXGYC6YDCUKBKM6L00/WTF136.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Sopwith Pup (N6161), built by Sopwith at Kingston-upon-Thames, was brought down in nearly perfect condition near Blankenberghe on 1 February 1917 by Flugmeister Carl Meyer of Seeflugstation Flandern 1 and the pilot of the Pup, Flight-Sub-Lieutenant G.L. Elliott, was made a POW. Following evaluation and trials with the German Air Service, N6161 was then re-painted and given German markings. Not all post-capture test flights were successful with N6161, as indicated by this shot of her having broken her undercarriage and nosed over. It is interesting to note that though the markings were completely changed to those of Imperial Germany, the aircraft retained its RFC serial number. Photo: theaerodrome.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645637428-5JQT01YWNJF131G9046C/WTF137.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out We, Second World War warbird students, can be forgiven if our less-trained eyes call this a Fokker Triplane. It is in fact a Sopwith Triplane, sometimes called a “Tripehound” or just “Tripe”. This particular Tripe, Serial No. N5429, had previously seen service with No. 8 Naval and No. 10 Naval Squadrons, before being assigned to RNAS 1 Naval Squadron at Bailleul, France. While being flown by Flt. Sub-Lt J.R. Wilford of Naval 1, this aircraft was forced down by German pilot Kurt Wüsthoff (as his 15th victory), and captured on 13 September 1917. Following capture, this Tripe was painted over with German markings. Photo: theaerodrome.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645679237-BLEJSH9A4F50OCDSP56B/WTF138.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out British officers get a close-up look at a captured German fighter, an Albatros DVa, wearing Royal Flying Corps roundels. This particular Albatros (Serial Number 1162/17–coded G56) was captured at St. Omer, France following an attack on a balloon of 38KBS and given captured serial number of G56. It was a former Jasta 4 aircraft flown by Feldwebel Clausnitzer. The DVa was brought down by a Lieutenant Langsland of 23 Squadron. After capture it was extensively tested and flown in the UK. Photo: theaerodrome.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645710866-9R3EYCKERGE0FNSS1VCC/WTF139.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another captured Albatros (D4545/17) in Royal Flying Corps markings including recovered rudder. This Albatros was brought down in December 1917 by anti-aircraft fire (which must have been relatively light as there is little damage evident). The pilot was Max Wackwitz of Jasta 24. The aircraft was then given an RFC capture number–G97. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645749787-IIZXFX4F3KI5PPEIWGMQ/WTF140.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another angle on Albatros D4545/17 (the same aircraft as the previous photo) shows her original five-colour lozenge camouflage, so typical of many German flying machines of the First World War, and also her Royal Flying Corps roundels and fin flash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645781748-D5YG7V296F1HEQP6ALT8/WTF141.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A captured Fokker DVII (German serial 6792) is serviced with Sopwith Camels (in background), whilst wearing Royal Flying Corps markings. We can also see the standard multi-colour German lozenge camouflage paint scheme. A close look at the lettering on her sides, we see in addition to the 6792 serial, the words Fok DVII (Alb). This means it is a Fokker D7 and was manufactured under license by Albatros Werke. Photo supplied courtesy of John W. Adams Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628645859889-DR51V31125OGG021AYS3/WTF142.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another captured Fokker DVII (D-7 serial number 2009/18), this time in French Air Force markings, carries long pitot tube on its starboard inter-plane struts, added post capture. Photo: theaerodrome.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628646193415-Y4Z57MBXYLTIRC81BV4L/WTF144.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out During the Second World War, there was no way an RAF fighter would share top billing next to a Hakenkreuze (Swastika), but this early application of a swastika in the First World War on a Pfalz D.III carries none of the evil we have come to know and is merely decoration with the roundel or cockade being painted over the mark that really mattered—the German Iron Cross which once occupied the fuselage. Swastikas were used by both sides during the First World War and were looked upon as good luck symbols. Some aircraft of the American squadron in the French Air Force, known as l’Escadrille Lafayette, actually carried a similar swastika. In fact, a swastika like this was the personal symbol of Raoul Lufbery, the leading ace of l’Escadrille Lafayette. Thanks to Mark Nelson for assistance with this aircraft identity. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628646256352-MU2RFXCKD0L66RIZCPOZ/WTF145.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Fokker Eindecker EIII (the main production variant of the German fighter) captured and over-painted with early French Air Force cockades and tri-colour fin flash. The Fokker Eindecker fighters were a series of German First World War monoplane single-seat fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker. Developed in April 1915, the first Eindecker (“Monoplane”) was the first purpose-built German fighter aircraft and the first aircraft to be fitted with a synchronization gear, enabling the pilot to fire a machine gun through the arc of the propeller without striking the blades. The Eindecker granted the German Air Service a degree of air superiority from July 1915 until early 1916. This period was known as the “Fokker Scourge”, during which Allied aviators regarded their poorly armed aircraft as “Fokker Fodder”. Photo: axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628646356544-H1J0Q0APT1GT3X7PUJND/WTF146.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Bristol F2BF2 Fighter (A7231) was captured by Jasta 5 of the German Air Force and provided valuable intelligence of the type’s capabilities. It was then painted in German markings and used as the squadron hack. Concerned that German Iron Crosses were not enough to deter German soldiers from taking pot shots at her, Jasta 5 pilots added large lettered notifications stating clearly: Don’t Shoot! Good People! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628646756331-0N5G4PYH0TEP3T2ZYBJK/WTF182.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Japanese Navy fighter pilot Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga’s Mitsubishi Zero would live on to fly again with the United States Navy, but sadly Koga’s body would be lost among hundreds of unknown Japanese servicemen who died in the Aleutian Islands campaigns. Photo: militaria.ee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628646988463-B5YP83UKGJLG1QR0J6KH/WTF183.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Japanese Imperial Navy carrier Ryujo delivered death and destruction to Catalina crews in Dutch Harbor, Alaska in July of 1942, but she also unwittingly delivered unprecedented intelligence to the US Navy in the form of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the first flyable enemy aircraft to fall into US hands. The Japanese Navy sent two carriers (Ryujo and Junyo) with 82 fighters and bombers, escorted by two heavy cruisers (Takao and Maya), and three destroyers. Also included in this task force were troopships holding 2,500 troops, 5 I-class submarines, and 1 oil tanker. This task force was to destroy Dutch Harbor, and occupy the islands of Attu, Kiska, and Adak. Photo: militaria.ee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647028646-19753C4K21MDLXW2H8OI/WTF181.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out 4 June 1942, half a year into the havoc created by the Mitsubishi Zero throughout the Pacific Region, Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga’s Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero takes a hit in an oil line over Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Koga was part of a three-plane section from the aircraft carrier Ryujo that had just shot down an American Consolidated PBY Catalina and was in the process of strafing the survivors when his Zero was hit. Photo: US National Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647326778-5643RXGVJCQG6K931NAC/WTF176.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out With Koga’s engine smoking and running out of oil, Koga and his two wing men reduced speed to preserve it for as long as possible and made their way to unpopulated Akutan Island, about 25 miles from Dutch Harbor. Akutan was a designated emergency landing area with a Japanese submarine patrolling nearby to rescue any downed pilot. Here, Koga made an attempt to land with his wheels down, but the grassy meadow was boggy and his gear dug in and flipped the Zero on its back. Koga was killed instantly, likely with a broken neck. His squadron mates were instructed to strafe and destroy any downed aircraft to save it from falling into enemy hands, but they were unsure whether their friend was dead or alive and were loath to kill him if he had survived. The crash site was undetected for a month, but was finally spotted by a PBY. A recovery team was sent immediately to inspect the aircraft wreckage and recover intelligence. Photo: Arthur W. Bauman, USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647402581-B67INJ6MRP7796X8IMUC/WTF178.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out An inspection crew clambers over Koga’s damaged Zero on Akutan Island. The smallest member of the team had the unpleasant task of climbing into the cockpit and cutting Koga’s harness. His body was dragged out and photographed then buried in a shallow grave nearby. An attempt was made in 1988 to recover Koga’s body and repatriate his remains. The grave was found empty. A search of records indicated that an American war graves team had dug up Koga and buried him as unidentified along with other Japanese bodies at Adak Island. This graveyard was excavated in 1953 and the remains of the 236 Japanese buried there were repatriated to Japan and Koga’s body would never be identified. After two attempts to recover the Zero without damaging it, it was finally removed upside down by barge to Dutch Harbor. Photo: Arthur W. Bauman, USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647499326-7RI9RC5IRDZ59J0M0AVS/WTF179.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Koga’s Mitsubishi, soon to be known as the Akutan Zero, is hoisted from a transport barge at Dutch Harbor and loaded into the USS St. Mihiel for transport to Seattle, Washington. From there, it was transported by another barge to NAS North Island near San Diego where repairs were made—straightening the vertical stabilizer, rudder, wing tips, flaps, and canopy. Photo: US National Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647586991-R763YS8YV3P2BRP7B32X/WTF173.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The captured A6M Zero fighter known as the Akutan Zero is seen landing at San Diego, California, United States, in September 1942. It carries the standard medium blue over light blue scheme typical of carrier-borne aircraft of the early war. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647667790-4VCN8U7JOAH1U1ZGA6TF/WTF-99.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Akutan Zero taxiing at San Diego’s NAS North Island. For a series of breathtaking photos of the Akutan Zero’s recovery and subsequent flights, visits Warbird Information Exchange (and sign up!) The photos, posted by member “rtwpsom2” are from NARA (National Archives and Records Administration of the United States), via Sean Hert and are EXCELLENT. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647786942-W6VFEGCDZFPU7PI00NN0/WTF-63.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Akutan Zero in flight, high above San Diego during initial flying tests. There are those that say it was the most important intelligence acquisition of the war and ultimately led to the defeat of the Japanese Army and Navy air forces. There are others who say that it was somewhat inconsequential, as fighter pilots in the Pacific area were already and quickly learning how to fight the nimble fighter. As well, the aircraft which would ultimately best the Japanese in the air were already in design and in production. Regardless of the impact, the Akutan Zero was a sensation, albeit a Top Secret one. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628647997430-FWEX39HF0SBZ5HWH25UJ/WTF-64.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Koga’s crashed aircraft, while resurrected temporarily, did not in fact survive the war. Following its tests by the Navy in San Diego, the Zero was transferred from Naval Air Station North Island to Anacostia Naval Air Station in 1943 (becoming TAIC 1). In 1944, it was recalled to North Island for use as a training plane for rookie pilots being sent to the Pacific. As a training aircraft, the Akutan Zero was destroyed during an accident in February 1945 at North Island. While the Zero was taxiing for a takeoff, a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver lost control and rammed into it. The Helldiver’s propeller sliced the Zero into pieces. Only small bits (instruments) still exist in museums in Washington and Alaska. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648095788-CEWHP6MHSSRMT92MCOJX/WTF-86.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out One of the first Allied aircraft to be captured and put to work in Luftwaffe colours during the Second World War were the North American NA-57 and NA-64 trainers of France. The Armée de l’Air, the French Air Force, and the French Navy already had 230 NA-57s and had ordered 230 of the NA-64 Harvard predecessors, and 111 of the initial order (of NA-64s) were already in France when the Germans invaded. They gratefully took the excellent trainers (230 NA-57s and 111 NA-64s), while the other 119 still on order were delivered to Canada and used extensively in training RCAF and commonwealth pilots. The RCAF named them Yales. This camouflaged example of an NA-64 carries only the Balkenkreuz on its fuselage and did not have to endure the indignity of a Hakenkreuz (Swastika) on its tail. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648201090-2XMYO5RLABDHKXDPEUKZ/WTF-87.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Luftwaffe officer flies along with a disturbingly high angle of attack in this photo of a captured Armée de l’Air North American NA-57. The NA-57 can be identified by its ribbing and fabric covered fuselage. The peaked officer’s cap would most certainly have flown off at some time during the flight. My professional opinion is that this is a staged shot of one on the ground superimposed on a cloudscape. The angle is perfect for a sitting/parked Yale. Can’t be sure of this but I suspect it. The NA-57 is painted in the scheme common to the NA-57 and 64 trainers—overall bare metal with bright yellow engine cowling and tail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648263258-SWS2PFYSLD5JJUWZ2X8Y/WTF-88.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In a scene so typical of a Canadian training base during the Second World War, an all-metal NA-64 (called North by the French and Yale by the RCAF) warms in the winter sun in Europe somewhere during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648565195-D7AB2CHQ36UBSAI5GWJW/WTF200.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out An NA-57 in Luftwaffe markings with yellow cowling and empennage, photographed at Guyancourt, France in early 1944. Image via alternathistory.org.ua/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648632488-CTI28TULYJS1LTS4UT96/WTF220.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A year and a half before the Americans were in the war, American-designed and -built aircraft like the previous French Norths (Yales) were not only in the war, but already captured and remarked as Luftwaffe. One of these types was the Curtiss Hawk Model 75 (P-36). The Germans captured several dozen of Armée de l’Air Curtiss H-75 Hawks during the French campaign in the summer of 1940. Many of those were subsequently donated (or sold) to Finland, later joined by Norwegian examples up to a total of 44. Others were operated by the Luftwaffe. A dozen of captured Curtiss Hawks were assigned to 7/JG 77 (The Aces of Hearts) during August–October 1940 as interim equipment while awaiting delivery of their Messerschmitt Bf 109s. After this, some were utilized in the fighter-trainer role with Jagdfliegerschule 4 near Nuremberg. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648671719-235Q0HU5WO7JU9BGQRCJ/WTF240.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out There is no doubt that the Luftwaffe pilots of Jagdgeschwader 77 enjoyed the experience of flying the captured American-built French Curtiss Hawk 75s, and learning that they were no competition for the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitt 109s, but enough was enough. They could not have enjoyed the time they were equipped with them when the rest of the Luftwaffe was wreaking havoc with the 109. Thankfully, it was an interim situation and their Hawks, along with KQ+ZA, were handed to Jagdfliegerschule 4 near Nuremberg as a fighter-trainer. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648808833-HCPKLNB8CX4LJPRJ226G/WTF-4.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out One of the best-known and most photographed captured aircraft in enemy markings is the now-infamous Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Wulfe Hound. This “Fort” was a B-17F of the 303 Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force that a made a forced landing in France in December 1942. Wulfe Hound became the first B-17 captured intact by the Luftwaffe and was thoroughly used by them to better assess weak points of the Flying Fortress. It was later transferred to the Luftwaffe’s KG 200. Wulfe Hound’s American pilot, Lieutenant Paul Flickenger, said that he always felt guilty because his was the first B-17 that the Luftwaffe was able to capture in a flyable condition. The crew was attempting to destroy the airplane by stuffing a parachute into a fuel tank and then firing a Very pistol flare into it. Unfortunately, the Germans arrived before they could get a fire started. He ended up as a POW and managed to escape twice, being captured again on both occasions. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648881112-4QLLN1O38L6G8X5LKPU8/WTF-5.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A shot of Fortress 124585, nicknamed Wulfe Hound by its original USAAC crew, shows the Swastika and Balkenkreuz markings of the Luftwaffe. All aircraft that were captured by the Germans had their original national markings removed and replaced by the Balkenkreuz and Swastika and then had their undersides painted overall “RLM 04 yellow” to help prevent trigger-happy anti-aircraft crews from destroying the aircraft and months of important intelligence work. Boeing B-17F-27-BO Fortress (c/n 3270/3324, USAAC Serial 41-24585) flew with the 360th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd BG. Wulfe Hound force-landed at Melun, France on 12 December 1942, after attacking the Rouen-Sotteville railroad marshalling yards, while in service with 303rd Bomb Group, at RAF Molesworth. After flight testing at Rechlin, the Luftwaffe’s famed test facility airfield, she visited fighter units throughout Germany and France so that pilots could recognize the Fortress’ strengths and weaknesses. Wulfe Hound then returned to Rechlin in July 1943, before being transferred to Kampfgeschwader (KG 200) in September 1943 and coded A3+AE. Profile via wingspalette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628648966192-P7F0Y7YAY3554IJAV3HO/WTF-51.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out It’s likely that this Luftwaffe-marked B-17 Fortress is not Wulfe Hound, as the Swastika on the tail is considerably bigger than in other photographs of the famous aircraft. This Fort is heavily camouflaged from marauding Allied aircraft, and was used extensively by KG 200 for night missions. Kampfgeschwader 200 (Battle Wing 200) was a Luftwaffe unit of the Second World War. The unit was the Luftwaffe’s special operations wing that carried out long-distance reconnaissance flights, tested new aircraft designs (when a special Erprobungskommando unit was not used), and operated captured aircraft. This unit also operated a Short Sterling, P-38, Mosquito and a Beaufighter. Hans-Werner Lerche, the legendary Luftwaffe test pilot from the Luftwaffe’s Rechlin test facility wrote about his experience with another B-17 in his Second World War memoir called “Luftwaffe Test Pilot–Flying captured Allied Aircraft of World War 2”. Lerche writes: “The B-17 interested us so much because of its flying characteristics but more because of its supercharged engine, which gave excellent performance at higher altitudes. These superchargers were activated by exhaust-driven turbines which became really efficient corresponding to the greater difference in air pressure at higher altitudes, exactly when more power was needed. For that reason the Flying Fortress was primarily made available to the power plant experts, who tried to get to the bottom of as many details of the engines as possible. The most varied measuring instruments were installed for this purpose, so that the fuselage behind the bomb-bay was like a laboratory with engineers in attendance. I took over the following test flight, which was to take place with the full complement of the engineers aboard; our task was to monitor the engine and airframe performance in climbing to higher altitudes. I remember this flight particularly well, and shall therefore dwell on it some detail. The take-off was made with full fuel tanks, which meant having some 2310 Imp gals of fuel on board. We departed from the concrete runway of Larz airfield and the take-off was monitored on instruments. Even with the comparatively heavy all-up weight the actual take-off presented no problem and the aircraft handled normally. Then began the climb with maximum climbing power which was also measured and monitored. Everything went very well at first. The engineers were busy doing their jobs, and we had meanwhile reached an altitude of at least 9000 ft, and we saw ourselves in a nice mess: the starboard outer (No.4) engine was on fire! It was quite a remarkable fireworks display with the flames flaring out just behind the engine nacelle and over the wing to a length of some 15 feet. Now, what does one do when an engine is on fire? By no means throttle back the misbehaving engine, but instead stop the fuel flow immediately by shutting the relevant fuel valve so that the fuel already in the pipes and carburettor is used up as quickly as possible. That done, I alerted the rest of the crew and the engineers about the fire – in so far as they had not already noticed it themselves. For this purpose there was a loud alarm bell in the B-17, which could be heard everywhere despite the rumble of the engines. In any case, I also opened the bomb-bay doors as I considered this is the best method of bailing out from this aircraft without getting caught in the tail unit. The fuel in the pipes was soon used up, but I let the engine run for a while longer to make sure every last drop was gone. Despite this, the flames hardly became smaller at all.” Lerche, who had flown the B-17 from Denmark where it had landed, had enough experience with the type to land it successfully in this situation. Photo via ww2incolor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628649090426-QGCT0F0QAXPF1RZ79GYJ/WTF-67.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out If Allied crews were in the vicinity of Switzerland when they ran into mechanical problems, they chose to make forced landings in the neutral country, rather than risk capture and internment as POWs. They were however not allowed to return to the war and their aircraft were impounded. Switzerland played host to numerous crews (170 aircraft landed or crash-landed in Switzerland during the war—mostly B-17s and B-24s) and even commandeered some of their aircraft for evaluation. Here we see the strange sight of a strategic offensive bomber in the bright red markings of neutral Switzerland. This B-17G-35-BO (QJ-D, s/n 232073), operated by the 339th Bombardment Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, force-landed on 13 April 1944. It was returned to England in September 1945. Many of the aircraft were painted in the red Swiss markings simply for the ferry flight to a storage field at Dübendorf, Switzerland, not wishing to be inadvertently shot down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628649199800-HOQGED11ERNDQKR09YMI/WTF-85.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another B-17 in Luftwaffe markings. This one, the second B-17 to fall into German hands was B-17F-85-BO “Flak Dancer” (42-30048) from 544BS 384BG. The aircraft was piloted by Lieutenant Dalton Wheat when he forced-landed at Laon airfield in France on 26 June 1943, on a mission to Villacoublay. After repairs and traditional period of trials in Rechlin, the Flying Fortress was transferred to KG 200 in the spring of 1944 and coded A3+CE. Units like the famous KG 200 actually operated a number of captured B-17 bombers, in particular on night missions, where the markings were less obvious. Due to the lack of German aircraft with sufficient range, some recon missions used captured American B-17s or B-24s and Soviet Tu-2s. For the most part, these machines were used for re-supply roles (dropping in supplies to German forces operating behind Soviet lines), or transporting important personnel. It appears that this was photographed at a captured Luftwaffe airfield late in the war as the gawkers appear to be Allied airmen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628649417868-G5PM7XEFGH8L9VWODP9Y/WTF-17.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In the fast shifting battlefields of the North African campaign, where the whole desert was an emergency landing field, aircraft could in fact change hands more than once. Here we see Hawker Hurricane Mk I Trop* V7670, a former 260 Squadron Hurricane in the Desert Air Force. It had been captured by the Wermacht in April 1941, but was then taken back by the Allies in January of the following year at a place called Gambut in Libya, albeit in poorer condition. * The “Trop” was for “Tropicalized”—meaning fitted with modifications for the desert sand and heat. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680664900-YFGQPDON7UGBTF2F8IGJ/WTF147.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Former 261 Squadron Hawker Hurricane V7670 (from previous photograph) at the time of its recapture (January 1942), some eight months after the Germans took it. It clearly had seen better days. It was one of about 30 Hurricanes which were left in Derna, Bomba and Gazala. The Germans had made use of two of the Hurricanes—V7670 and T9536. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680714261-1UIQ50IOAN87QBT3FRFU/WTF-62.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 in Luftwaffe markings. Little is known by us about this captured aircraft. On the web, I have read where it was operated by Jagdgeschwader 51, but was unable to corroborate that. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680746666-ISBKQVOPVZG6FH56RJFU/WTF-79.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A rare colour photo of a Hurricane in the service of the Luftwaffe—with mechanics, pilot and brass looking on. Looking at this image and the previous black and white image, it seems possible that these are one and the same Hurri. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680783737-UA4FCNHX0QQMUTGI8NKR/WTF128.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Spitfire (colour image is a model) suffers the double indignity of having not only Nazi markings, but the attachment of a Daimler-Benz DB605 Engine. The RAF identity of this aircraft was EN830—a Spitfire F.Vb (Merlin 45) and was the presentation aircraft called “CHISLEHURST AND SIDCUP” (a grammar school on Kent). The Spitfire force-landed on the occupied Channel Island of Jersey after air combat over Ouistreham, France on 18 November 1942. The pilot, Pilot Officer Scheidhauer was captured and made a POW. Scheidhauer took part in the Great Escape, but was recaptured at Saarbrucken, and shot dead by the Gestapo on 29 March 1944, along with 50 others who took part. After the Spitfire was captured and received its DB605, it was taken to Sindelfingen Daimler-Benz factory, near Echterdingen, where a 3.0 m. diameter Bf 109G propeller was added, together with the carburettor scoop from a Bf 109G. After a couple of weeks, and with a new yellow-painted nose, the Spitfire returned to Echterdingen. Capt Willy Ellenrieder, of Daimle-Benz, was the first to try the aircraft. He was stunned that the aircraft had much better visibility and handling on the ground than the Bf 109. It took off before he realized it and had an impressive climb rate, around 70 ft. (21 m.) per second. Much of the Spitfire’s better handling could be attributed to its lower wing loading. Inset photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr . Model and its photo by Alain Gadbois https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680826090-75DE6LU7CBJGCDZO4JMP/WTF-74.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out After a brief period at Rechlin confirming the performance data, the modified Spitfire (CJ+ZY) returned to Echterdingen (today’s Stuttgart Airport) to serve officially as a test bed. It was popular with the pilots in and out of working hours. Its career ended on 14 August 1944, when a formation of US bombers attacked Echterdingen, wrecking two Ju 52s, three Bf 109Gs, a Bf 109H V1, an FW 190 V16, an Me 410 and the Spitfire. The remains of the hybrid Spitfire were scrapped at the Klemm factory at Böblingen. Text via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680884569-Y7WUTICBQ9I49QQGGQ82/WTF206.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Achtung Spitfire! One wonders why the Luftwaffe wanted to re-engine the Spitfire with a Daimler-Benz engine from a Messerschmitt Bf 110; it’s not like Supermarine would build the result for them. Perhaps the Merlin was permanently destroyed and they had not captured any other Rolls-Royce engines. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628680939138-W24VXXNT0DUBLMCW8Y6F/WTF-56.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out At first glance, I saw a P-47 in this photo, but then on second glance realized it was not... it took me a while to figure it out, as I was not familiar with French types. This is the only Marcel Bloch MB 157 (conversion of a MB 152 meant to have a 1,580hp Gnome-Rhône 14R-4 engine) ever built. It was taken by the Luftwaffe for evaluation. After a series of very promising test flights, the aircraft was flown to Paris-Orly, where the Germans removed the engine (it was a slightly less powerful one) and brought it to the Gnome-Rhône factory at Bois-Colombes. The aircraft remained in an incomplete state in Orly, until it was destroyed in an Allied air raid. During the research phase under German control, it wore the German registration code PG+IC. Photo: warbirdsforum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681011554-R8395DS0C0RKWCZUYNZC/WTF148.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Marauder that never marauded. A Martin B-26B Marauder (41-17790) of the 437th Bomb Squadron of the 319th Bomb Group, USAAF in Luftwaffe markings. This Marauder was evaluated by the Luftwaffe in 1943 and then displayed at an air show in Germany after its bizarre capture on 2 October 1942. The aircraft never saw combat, having been lured to a Dutch island following spurious German radio signals as it was trying to land somewhere safely (following an engine fire) on its remaining engine during its delivery flight from Iceland to Scotland. Flown by 2nd Lieutenant Clarence Wall, the crippled bomber force-landed on a beach in Noord Beveland, Netherlands. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681044202-FG9RMUOO766XZQUYAX0M/WTF151.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This is exactly how most of the aircraft that fall into enemy hands are retrieved. Marauder 41-17790 (the one from the previous photo) sits forlornly on a beach on the Dutch island of Noord Beveland, surrounded by admiring Germans. The pilot, Clarence Wall, was lured off course by fake radio directions from Germans and, having an engine fire, made a picture perfect wheels up landing. The aircraft was quickly jacked up and removed. Hans-Werner Lerche, the legendary Luftwaffe test pilot from Rechlin wrote about his experience with this aircraft in his Second World War memoir called “Luftwaffe Test Pilot–Flying captured Allied Aircraft of World War 2”. He said, “A mid-wing monoplane with an aerodynamically faultless fuselage, the aircraft had a fast and racy look about it even from the outside. Its long range also made it suitable for direct ferry flights across the Atlantic. But the B-26 had its negative points. With its small wing area and a gross weight of some 30,000 lb (later increased to over 38,000 lb), the load per square foot of the wing area was relatively high, and the high take-off and landing speeds caused so many bad accidents that this aircraft at first had a poor reputation amongst the crews and was known as the ‘Widow Maker.’ Its other nickname of the ‘Flying Prostitute’ was unknown to me when I became intimate with the Marauder for the first time. Apart from other bad characteristics, malicious tongues also asserted that the Marauder’s landing speed was higher than its cruising speed. Yet all this did not prevent experienced crews from appreciating the combat values of the B-26 on account of its high speed and strong armament, and using it accordingly. That much was known to us – and it was to be expected that the grass field at Rechlin would not be abundant enough for this ‘hot’ aircraft.” Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681095396-JMAIIZ26F4TDBOLM2OZ1/WTF150.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out It is surprising that any of the aircraft captured by both Germany and Japan survived the war. Here, an RAF ground crew inspects the former USAAF B-26B Marauder (41-17790) that carried the Nazi markings for nearly two and a half years. The bright yellow fuselage band and tail flashes can still be seen (though barely visible on orthographic film), but the Swastika has been blanked out by a censor in this photo. We can also see the paint circle where the old USAAF star roundel was painted over—just to the right of the airman. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681179423-XXFK3PF9HLRY5GB5LVPN/WTF-72.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Vickers Wellington Mk I captured by the Luftwaffe from the Royal Air Force’s 311 Sqn (KX-T, RAF Serial L7842). 311 Squadron was first formed at RAF Honington, Suffolk on 29 July 1940, equipped with Wellington I bombers and crewed mostly by Czechoslovakian aircrew who had escaped from Europe. This was before the aircraft received its traditional yellow underside paint used by the Luftwaffe’s Rechlin test facility. L7842 was delivered in mid-1940. It was lost on 6 February 1941 while in service with No. 311 (Czech) Squadron, RAF, while on a mission to Boulogne (France). It was forced to land and captured intact. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681218534-GRCQWDG6WGW1E8B1NXJM/WTF-73.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A wonderful digital recreation of the captured 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron Vickers Wellington shows us just how she was repainted. Luftwaffe markings were added including painting her underside yellow as both the Axis and the Allies did with experimental aircraft. She still carries her 311 Squadron code letters (KX-T) and her RAF serial (L7842). The crew was comprised of P/O F. Cigos, Sgt P. Uraba, P/O E. Busina, F/L Ernst Valenta, Sgt. G. Kopal and P/O K. Krizek. All were made Prisoners of War, with Valenta eventually being murdered by the Gestapo following an escape attempt at Sagen POW Camp. Image via airwarfare.com by Checkmysix https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681270842-19LNAN8BKQOTHIZPM2N6/WTF224.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out I searched for days on the web trying to find an image of the one and only Avro Lancaster to be captured and taken to Rechlin for study and eventually for missions. It is mentioned in Hans-Werner Lerche’s book, but there is no photographic proof to be found. The leading candidate for its RAF identity is Lancaster ND396, BQ-D, of 550 Squadron, which crash-landed near Berlin on 30–31 January 1944. Late in the war, it behooved the Germans to get the intact aircraft to Rechlin as soon as possible, for marauding Allied aircraft would soon be on hand to make sure it would never fly for the Nazis. Here we see another Lanc being shot up by a P-51 the day after it went down in a field in Germany. Note the staff car which then got the same treatment. The strafed Lancaster, probably PB362 of 83 Squadron, crash-landed near Rouen shortly after midday on 18 August 1944. Photo: ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681322103-QA3ATRAQEHXU4PC28MA3/WTF-71.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Even the Finnish were into capture and release. This Soviet lend-leased P-40M (USAF 43-5925) was captured by the Finns during the Battle of Leningrad. Piloted by Soviet pilot, Sub. Lt. V.A. Ruevin from 191st fighter squadron, on 27 December 1943, it made a forced landing on the frozen surface of Lake Valkjarvi, Karelian Isthmus. The Finns captured it in perfect condition. It was overhauled at the Mechanics’ School and delivered to HLeLv32 on 2 July 1944. It was used till 12 February 1945. It was not used in combat flights however, due to lack of manuals and parts. The two letters “KH” on the fuselage possibly stood for the Finnish words “Koe Hävittäjä” (Test Fighter) or even Kittyhawk. The Finns also employed a swastika device as a national marking, but it was blue on a white roundel and was 45º off the alignment of the Nazi version. The Finnish Swastika predates the Nazi symbol by a number of years, dating back to the end of the First World War. The Latvians also use a swastika (red on white). Photo via WWII in Color https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681359096-ZOU4V0SC8TJC1ZGM8YI4/WTF189.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Ju 88 photographed in Foggia, Italy, in 1943, when its Romanian pilot defected to the Allies in Cyprus. It was repaired by the men of the 86th Fighter Squadron and flown from Italy to Wright Field in 1944 by 86th Fighter Squadron Comanche pilots Major Fred Borsodi (the guy with the big smile) and Lt Pete Bedford. This Junkers Ju 88 not only wears USAAF markings, it wears a fighter squadron’s nose art. It appeared in war bond drives, and was finally returned to Wright Field in the summer of 1945 after being superficially damaged in Los Angeles. It finally went to Freeman Army Air Field, Indiana and was eventually scrapped. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681453192-MZI2J6X42APBER20O2YO/WTF188.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The same Junkers Ju 88 from the previous photo is shown being prepared for flight at Foggia, Italy wearing USAAF star roundels, RAF fin flash and Luftwaffe camouflage. When it landed back at Freeman and Wright Fields it was repainted in Nazi markings for public viewing. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681485243-FE0SLTQ5VV68II3LPS10/WTF192.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Heinkel He 111H bomber, which was abandoned by the Luftwaffe during the retreat after the Battle of El Alamein on a landing ground in Libya after being “commandeered” by No. 260 Squadron RAF. Several 260 Squadron pilots climbed in and took off to check it out. It worked fine, so they painted RAF roundels on it and the squadron letters “HS-?”, flying it to Alexandria for mess supplies. 260 Squadron’s popularity climbed fast in this period as they were the only mess around with cold beer in a hot desert. It was nicknamed Delta Lily. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681522756-OZVMZBFMVYD2JJXC51NT/WTF215.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Junkers Ju 52/3m – 450 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force. This Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52/3m transport aircraft was captured intact by Australian forces at Ain-El Gazala, Libya, repainted with the Royal Australian Air Force’s roundels and nicknamed “Libyan Clipper”. The aircraft was used by 450 Squadron RAAF to transport mail, food supplies and small items from Cairo and back to the front line, doing two or three trips each week. Lord Casey, Governor General of Australia, came in this aircraft to see the men of the squadron in 1943. Photo: Australian War Memorial via adf-gallery.com.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681558278-0OAM8GMFKXKMSVKJ00HT/WTF214.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The starboard side of the Libyan Clipper had a different layout for her lettering. The Junkers Ju 52 was built in very large numbers—nearly 5,000. Their Luftwaffe crews lovingly referred to them as Tante Ju (Aunt Ju). Photo: Australian War Memorial via adf-gallery.com.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681584759-B9A0EJYYSJ1B97GU6ABA/WTF218.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out One of the most beautiful aircraft of the war was the Italian-designed SM.82 Trimotor. In my estimation it belongs in the top ten most beautifully designed aircraft of the war along with the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 (next photo). The Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 Canguru (Kangaroo) was an Italian bomber and transport aircraft of the Second World War. It was a cantilever, mid-wing monoplane trimotor with a retractable tail wheel undercarriage. About 400 were built, the first entering service in 1940. Although able to operate as a bomber with a maximum bomb load of up to 8,818 lb (4000 kg), the SM.82 saw very limited use in this role. After the armistice with Italy in September 1943, the Germans captured 200 SM.82s, many being operated as transports by the Luftwaffe. The Germans were thus rewarded for the delays in their order for 100 SM.82s, only 35 of which were delivered in 1943. These aircraft had better capabilities as transports than the Ju 52, the standard transport aircraft of the Luftwaffe, even if it was much more robust, being all metal. The “Savoia Gruppen” operated many of these aircraft, with a force in early 1944 of over 230 aircraft, but little is recorded of the activities of these aircraft in the last 18 months of the war as most were ad-hoc units. Records were either not kept or were destroyed. Information via Wikipedia, photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681629602-LJYKX5REL6Y3AGMQXFN6/WTF217.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out There is something about a trimotor that seems just right and balanced and yet which seems so foreign. Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) is one of the most compelling designs extant with striking lines and art deco styling. After the Armistice in September 1943, the Luftwaffe captured a number of the beautiful aircraft and pressed them into service. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681667703-NXHELQ61VWGTFAOBLTRL/WTF-81.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out When the Italians surrendered on 8 September 1943, this was not the end of the combat history of the SM.79. A new Sparviero variant was designed and put into production, the SM.79-III torpedo-bomber. The North of Italy was still in German hands and a fascist government continued construction. Some Sparvieros were taken on the spot by the Luftwaffe and used with German or Italian crews as regular Luftwaffe utility transports. Some served in the newly created ARSI, the Air Arm of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, which continued to fight on the side of the Axis. A few found their way to the Allied side and served with the Co-Belligerent Air Force against German Forces. The Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI) dropped the use of the fascist symbol and, instead, employed the old First World War tri-colour roundel, the same used by the Italian Air Force today. Photo: wwiiaircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681926864-T9DOK4VGCV673TM8R1QD/WTF219.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A captured Gloster Gladiator (Luftwaffe serial NJ+BO) in the Russian forests—one of 15 Latvian Gladiators which were captured and used first by the Soviets, then captured by the Germans. When the Germans removed the Soviet red star markings they found the Latvian Swastikas underneath. The Germans operated them at virtual squadron strength as glider tugs for assault glider pilot trainees. None are known to have survived. Photo: FleetAirArmArchive.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628681971944-56L3I5PT1CXMZ4ERSCA3/WTF-23.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out An RAF-marked Messerschmitt Bf 109 at Treviso Airfield, Italy, in March 1946. This aircraft, a former Croatian operated 109, was captured by the British and operated by 318 Polish Squadron in Italy immediately after the war. Note the Polish checkerboard symbol on the nose. The “LW” lettering was the RAF Squadron code for 318 Squadron. 318 was at Treviso for only one week in the month of May 1945, and then March to August of 1946. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682013068-TROMYIR8MCVQKQSL0G2H/WTF127.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 “Gustav” code-named Black 14 and with the name “Irmgard” painted in Germanic lettering on the side (so-named after the German crew-chief’s girlfriend) was captured by airmen of the 79th Fighter Group. Here we see it shortly after the Americans painted their brand on her sides. During the Second World War, the 79th and its subordinate fighter squadrons were assigned to the 12th Air Force in the Mediterranean Theatre. With the beginning of the occupation period, the Group was reassigned to the Ninth Air Force which had been assigned the primary Army Air Corps occupation duties in the European Theatre. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682052479-AFZPJ8ZWZR3LG071XOWC/WTF-103.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out “Irmgard”, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 captured by the 79th Fighter Group of the USAAF, is seen wearing the 87th Fighter Squadron crest, with an 86th Fighter Squadron P-40 Warhawk (X5-8) behind it. The 86th and the 87th along with the 85th Fighter Squadron made up the three squadrons of the 79th Group. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682083456-P1EVH7K12P4G69IVEW0G/WTF-25.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A great colour shot of “Irmgard” taken in the field with 87th Fighter Squadron emblems on each side. This appears to have been painted right over the dirt from the exhaust or perhaps the stain was cleaned off for the photo. This was applied to both sides. This emblem was eventually replaced by that of the 86th Fighter Squadron, shown in the next photo. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682111005-3C2QUH0A8IQUYSAD1KJ3/WTF126.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out “Irmgard” eventually wound up at Wright Field in Ohio for testing. She is photographed here undergoing static testing. Note the replacement port wing. The original port wing can be seen off to the side, behind the tail. Here she has had her 87th Fighter Squadron emblem (a cartoon mosquito with a machine gun) replaced with that of sister 86th Fighter Squadron, a Native American with a Tomahawk and quiver of arrows leaning down from the clouds. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682140783-WNU7S9CSC7IARV7YMT2M/WTF-97.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Yank named Gustav—a captured Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Tropicalized) in USAAF colours. This intact fighter was captured by American soldiers on 8 May 1943 at Soliman airfield in Tunisia. Originally it belonged to the 4. Staffel of JG 77. The aircraft was disassembled, shipped to the USA, reassembled by the North American Aircraft company, and subsequently flown to Wright Airfield. Note the tropical filter, the re-painted surfaces and the missing seat armour. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682166951-FUE4WNF3KVYOUYZ6HAKS/WTF-111.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another shot of the USAAF’s Messerschmitt at Wright Patterson. The USAAF test pilot who evaluated the Yankee Gustav, Major Fred Borsodi, had this to say about the Nazi fighter: “The airplane was assembled by North American Aircraft and was flown briefly at the factory before being ferried to Wright Field by the undersigned pilot. The only changes made at North American were installation of American radio and oxygen equipment. The armour plate behind the pilot`s head was removed. The ME 109G has a high rate of climb and good level flight performance. Its range is very limited as only 105 gallons can be carried internally and flights of over 300 miles leave little gasoline for reserve... It is very light on all controls below 400 KPH but the turning radius is poor compared to our fighters. At high speed the controls become very heavy. The airplane is stable and should be a good gun platform but the vision is very poor under all conditions. The cockpit is cramped but would not be too bad if the visibility were better.” Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682200184-CW5WCCFXZU6Q42HCZ74V/WTF-27.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A captured Messerschmitt Bf 109F with tropical filter on its engine cowl was used by No. 5 Squadron of the South African Air Force as a squadron hack. Here we see one of many times that the aircraft letter code was replaced by a punctuation mark. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682242024-EOWAK312KMVE8NEJDUWQ/WTF154.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another Messerschmitt Bf 109F, captured by a South African Air Force unit (No. 4 Squadron SAAF) in North Africa (with the serial “KJ-?”), is pictured on the airfield at Martuba’s No.4 Landing Ground in Libya, January 1943. It is not uncommon, for squadrons operating captured aircraft, to give them squadron markings so as to lay claim to the booty. Also it was common to give them a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!) instead of an aircraft letter code. Whether this was done for humorous reasons or to keep letters for operational aircraft is not known. Martuba is where Stocky Edwards gained his first nickname—“The Hawk of Martuba”—when it was still in German hands. Today, Martuba is still a Libyan Air Force base. Photo: SAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682308737-1YHKSAEU26LC3M4274ZX/WTF-30.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In the previous photograph we make mention of Wing Commander James “Stocky” Edwards, Canada’s highest scoring living ace of the Second World War (as of the publishing of this article—January 2014). Stocky (then nicknamed “Eddie”) gained most of his victories while flying with 260 Squadron of the RAF’s Desert Air Force in North Africa. Here we see a captured Bf 109 (likely from the Luftwaffe unit III/JG77) in 260 Squadron code (HS) and an exclamation point as its aircraft designator. The aircraft was flown for evaluation purposes by squadron pilots including Stocky Edwards. This very Luftwaffe fighter may have met Edwards in aerial combat previous to its capture. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682338381-L46NT7E12AR76L8Y069V/WTF157.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 “Black 6” (Trop), flown by Lt. Heinz Lüdemann, was damaged on 4 November 1942 as a result of a dogfight between fighters from 8./JG77 and Kittyhawks from 112 Squadron, RAF. Lüdemann made a perfect forced landing at the Quotafiyas airfield near Gambut in Libya. It was subsequently ferried to Gambut by another pilot. The Messerschmitt was found at the Gambut Main airfield by Australian Ken McRae of 239 RAF Wing. The aircraft was repaired by maintenance crews of the No. 3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force and coded with their code—CV-V. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682415180-9WR713LO07A8SWV6JQVG/WTF155.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Once the Messerschmitt Bf 109G from the previous photo was repaired, it was given the markings of No. 3 Squadron RAAF and the aircraft code letter “V” for Victory. This was Squadron Leader R. Gibbes’ personal code. No. 3 Squadron Engineering Officer Flight Lieutenant Ken McRae relates the story of finding the perfectly intact fighter: “During the successful advance of November 1942 in the Western Desert, the Wing was returning to Gambut Satellite airfield, where we had operated from prior to the retreat. My co-driver and myself were ahead of the convoy and when we had arrived at our Satellite, the only aircraft there was a 3 Sqn. Kittyhawk on jacks. It had been under repair when we retreated six months earlier, as our orders were not to destroy aircraft that couldn’t be flown out as we’d probably be returning within a few days. The aircraft appeared to be OK and it was obvious no enemy had operated from the airfield. Our main object was to find an enemy aircraft that could be flown by our C.O. Bobby Gibbes – so we went to see if there were abandoned aircraft at Gambut Main, several miles away. There were lots of damaged aircraft and we were delighted to find an almost-new 109. On examination the damage was slight – mainly no canopy – which must have been jettisoned in flight for the tail plane was damaged where hit by the canopy. I wrote CV on the fuselage and then realised if we left it unguarded someone else would grab it. I sent Rex back to the Squadron to notify Bobby of what had happened and saying we would return the following morning. A team of airmen and a truck was organised to come to Gambut Main early next morning. In the meantime, three army officers appeared and wanted to know what I was doing with the 109. I told them that I was taking it back to the Squadron for the C.O. to fly and evaluate its capabilities. They informed me that they were Intelligence and I couldn’t take it – they wanted to evaluate it. I told them ‘no way’. – I had the aircraft and was going to keep it! Outranked (I was a Flying Officer) and outnumbered, I did well to convince them the prize was going to 3 Sqn. We finally compromised… they’d take the name plates from various places on the aircraft – which would allow them to find out where the bits and pieces had been manufactured. On departing their final remark was, “We’ll get it anyway.” “Maybe,” I said, “but not before we’ve flown it.” When Sergeant Palmer returned we parked the vehicle against the fuselage and that night slept under the mainplane. No one was going to get the 109, which we now knew to be a 109G. The ground staff arrived early the next morning and the aircraft was towed back to the Sqn. I imagined the look in the eyes of the C.O. – to see such a prize and in such good condition. Three or four days later the aircraft was repaired and the C.O. test-flew it and later made more flights. Eventually the Intelligence people did get the aircraft and Bobby Gibbes flew it back to the Delta area. (Much later we heard that they had pranged it!)” Captured in Tunisia in 1943 and often attributed to Heinz Lüdemann of 2./JG77, “Black 6” is likely one of the most famous, if not THE most famous 109 survivor extant thanks to her intricate restoration at the hands of Russ Snadden and his team. She appeared at numerous air shows throughout the early 1990s, demonstrating the grace and power of this beautiful aircraft and, in a twist of sheer irony, she was heavily damaged when landing from what was to be her final flight before permanent retirement in the RAF Museum. Her full history can be read here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682467804-NQXXYWMWRLI5VAHXJ1MP/WTF205.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The end result of the previous description of stealing a Messerschmitt Bf 109 is one happy unit commander. Here Squadron Leader Bobby Gibbes smiles widely in “his” new Messerschmitt—the captured “Black 6” with an improvised canopy replacement. Photo via Mike Mirkovic at adf-gallery.com.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682501084-YTN975SGTWLPR8AFJJM5/WTF300.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682614899-UWEPOKH8WKVE4CFIEMDY/WTF301.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out When No.1 Squadron arrived at Derna on Christmas eve 1941, the aerodrome was a sea of mud and heavy rain which curtailed most flying for several weeks. The squadron personnel amused themselves by inspecting the many abandoned German and Italian aircraft on the field. A Me 109F that had been shot up and crashlanded became the Squadron Engineering officer, 2/Lt ‘Red’ Connor’s pet project. Despite badly damaged wings, undercarriage and prop and a stripped instrument panel, he was determined to make it airworthy again. Various parts were scrounged off wrecks at Derna and nearby airfields, and a new airscrew was found at an airfield 100 km away. On the 18th January the 109 was started up for the first time, and just before noon on the 24th the CO Major Malcolm Osler flew it for ten minutes. General Rommel had started an offensive the day before, and an hour later the squadron’s ground party started moving further east to an airfield named Gazala No.3. The squadron’s Hurricanes, and Major Osler in the 109 flew to Gazala no.3 on the 26th. Two days later Captain Peter Venter, one of the flight commanders, flew the 109 for 30 minutes and reported reaching 700 km/h in a shallow dive. As soon as word got out that 1 Squadron had an airworthy Me 109F – the first one captured in the desert – RAF HQ in Cairo decided they wanted it. A signal was sent on the 25th with orders that it be flown to Heliopolis. Rommel’s offensive was gathering steam, and on the morning of 3rd February Major Osler departed Gazala no.3 for Heliopolis in the 109, escorted by a Hurricane. Later in the day the squadron moved further east to El Adem airfield. From Heliopolis the 109F was eventually shipped to England for further testing. Photo via Yuri Maree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682678135-V0KCQD0JU9C6QWTYK7FE/WTF303.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682765938-32T2E26GYBPPAQI2V7BY/WTF302.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Major Peter Metelerkamp at left, standing by "his" Me 109F. Photo via Yuri Maree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682715121-C6FRT3N3T5NRIF0NG12K/WTF304.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Major Peter Metelerkamp's “own” 109F. No.1 Squadron, still flying obsolete Hurricane Mk.2’s from LG 172 which was only 60 km behind the front, was in the thick of the fighting during the Battle of El Alamein that started on 23 October, 1942. 8TH Army broke through the Axis lines on 4 November and on the same day the SAAF’s first Spitfire Mk.V’s arrived at 1 Squadron. The unit was taken off operations for ten days to train on the aircraft and stayed behind at LG (Landing Ground) 172 as the Allied offensive moved west at high speed after the Alamein breakout. The swift German retreat left much equipment behind. On the 8th, the CO, Major Peter Metelerkamp and Engineering Officer Lt. ‘Red’ Connor and two mechanics drove to the abandoned German LG’s west of Daba, looking for flyable aircraft. They reported 120+ abandoned German aircraft, including about 90 Me 109s, numerous Ju 87 Stukas, a few He 111s, Ju 88s and twin-boom 20 seat gliders on LGs 20, 21 and 104. On LG 104 they found an intact Me 109F and after an inspection and service, Major Metelerkamp flew it back to LG 172 on 10 November. After a few low passes he made a “ropy landing” and the 109 groundlooped when the left brake locked up. Damage was slight, and after a new engine was installed Major Metelerkamp flew the 109 (renumbered AX-? and carrying 1 Squadron’s trademark red wingtips, visible in the first photo) in mock dogfights against the squadron’s new Spitfires on the 15th. He noted in his logbook that it couldn’t outturn the Spitfire but could outclimb it, and that downward visibility was poor. Captain Hannes Faure, one of the flight commanders, flew AX-? that afternoon and expressed the same opinion. The next day Lt. Stewart ‘Bomb’ Finney flew the 109, and on the 17th the squadron moved forward from LG 172 to resume operations. 8th Army’s advance was swift and No. 1 Squadron moved forward 830 km in big leaps: LG 172 to Martuba in Libya on the 19th where it joined the Spitfire Mk.V equipped 244 Wing, on to Msus and finally to El Hasseiat, south of Benghazi. ‘Bomb’ Finney ferried the Me 109 to Msus, from where Peter Metelerkamp flew it to El Hasseiat on 1st December. On the 6th the squadron was ordered to send the 109 back to 59 Repair and Salvage Unit at Gazala, when RAF HQ decided that tame 109’s caused confusion among AA gunners and wasted valuable fuel. Major Metelerkamp flew it back to Gazala, but most of the LG’s in the area were flooded by heavy rain and he landed at Tmimi where the SAAF’s (non-operational) Liaison Officer wanted to have a go at the 109. However, the cockpit hood had blown off upon landing at Tmimi and it was fixed by No.12 Squadron SAAF, based there. On the morning of the 8th Major Metelerkamp made a third attempt to reach Gazala but the 109’s engine failed on takeoff and, as he recorded in his logbook, “pranged her....thank God, before Colonel P--- took her off”. Major Metelerkamp was killed in action five days later. Photos via Yuro Maree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682932415-CZ95H0ZE46ZYURP869Q5/WTF193.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The fast-moving armoured war of the Eastern Front would from time to time cough up an intact enemy aircraft for both sides. Here we see a fur-hatted Soviet pilot or technician in the cockpit of Bf 109G-2/R-6 (No. 13903), in January of 1943. One can only imagine how cold this scene would have been in that brutal winter war. The date indicates that the German forces were just a few weeks away from surrendering at Stalingrad. Captured near Stalingrad and tested in the Soviet Union using the designation “Five-Pointer”, this fighter seriously worried the Red Army Air Forces leadership due to its excellent flight capabilities. Photo via forum.il2sturmovik.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628682995993-Q72NAHCIAV9G0CB19QMY/WTF194.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another Messerschmitt Bf 109 trophy (14513 operated by II JG 3) bagged by the Soviets was tested against a Lavochkin La-5FN and Yakovlev Yak-9D, with the conclusion being that the Russian fighters could compete successfully against the 109. This aircraft was tested at NII VVS Research Centre after it had been captured, following a forced landing with battle damage. According to trophy lists, the Soviets would acquire 54 Messerschmitt Bf 109s with eight of these being fully operational. Photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683038523-0D6YFVLLPG9VPJC1LVFM/WTF-31.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Out in the North African desert, mechanics and pilots of the Royal Australian Air Force get a very close look at a captured Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 with RAF serial number HK849. Used by 3 Squadron RAAF as a squadron hack. Photo via Lou Kemp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683096205-V7NT8MOEOI7R9Z5I56T2/WTF-37.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Japanese Messerschmitt Bf 109 is certainly not a captured aircraft, but more of a military exchange project. Japanese 109 pilots pose with one of five 109 “Emils” sent to Japan. In 1941, the five Bf 109Es were sent to Japan, without guns and armament, for evaluation. While in Japan they received the standard Japanese Hinomarus (red meatball) and yellow wing leading edges, as well as white numerals on the rudder. A red band outlined in white is around the rear fuselage. Study of the Bf 109 in Japan led to the design of the formidable Kawasaki Ki-61 Hein (Japanese for “Swallow” or “Tony” as it was called by the Allies). Photo via dieselpunks.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683133648-DNEYF3E4N9ICV3VOHLXS/WTF248.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In 1943, the Japanese Army received one Focke–Wulf Fw 190A-5, and this aircraft was extensively tested during that year. It was most probably delivered by submarine, and also carried standard Luftwaffe camouflage, and was flown in Japanese markings. Photo via wwiivehicles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683172579-IFSMAD84M7MHWAQJ2VDE/WTF195.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A strange aircraft with a strange roundel. This former Regia Aeronautica Macchi MC.200 “Saetta” was captured on Sicily in September 1943 and flown by pilots of the Desert Air Force of the RAF in North Africa. The Saetta was a Second World War fighter aircraft built by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy, and used in various forms throughout the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force). The MC.200 had excellent manoeuvrability and general flying characteristics left little to be desired. Stability in a high-speed dive was exceptional, but it was underpowered and under-armed for a modern fighter. In keeping with a test aircraft, the rudder and fuselage band of this aircraft were painted bright yellow, while the roundel is wrong in every respect—proportion and size. Photo via 57thfightergroup.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683213534-IH33NW47YUQCMI7HBPAI/WTF-29.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Royal Air Force impounded four Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifuns on the outbreak of the Second World War and put them into service, designating them as the “Messerschmitt Aldon”. One of them was used by the German Embassy and was at Croyden. That particular Taifun was blocked from escaping by the placement of a large woodden packing crate at the doors of the Embassy hangar. Another of the impounded 108s belonged to the Messerschmitt dealer/agent. This Taifun was first used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough in connection with the tests carried out there on the Bf 109E. The aircraft was pressed into service with the RAF on 17 April 1941 and received the RAF serial DK280. It was allocated to the Maintenance Command Communication Squadron (MCCS) at Andover. It was the fastest light communications aircraft the RAF had then, but they were often mistaken for Bf 109s. Postwar, 15 more captured Bf 108s flew in RAF colours. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683248689-KIAYGBOTDB9TBPMO1UAL/WTF210.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Royal Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Harry Broadhurst, Air Officer Commanding the Desert Air Force, about to board his Fieseler Fi 156 C Storch at the Advanced Headquarters of the DAF at Lucera, Italy. Broadhurst acquired the captured German communications aircraft in North Africa, had it painted in British markings and used it for touring the units under his command. Broadhurst took command of the DAF in January 1943, becoming (at the age of 38) the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force. He continued flying the Storch while commanding the 2nd Tactical Air Force in North-West Europe. Photo: RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683277112-69QN2K7OWS2ZQHCFFOS4/WTF211.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A captured German Fieseler Fi 156 C-3/Trop Storch (ex “NM+ZS”) commandeered by the Air Officer Commanding, Western Desert, Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Coningham, as his personal communications aircraft. A very crude roundel has been applied to cover the full fuselage Balkenkreuz. The photograph was probably taken at Air Headquarters, Ma’aten Bagush, Egypt. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683316695-3S3YYPL3INSPWNH3J10W/WTF238.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Focke–Wulf Fw 190G-3 (No. 160057) was one of two captured by ground crews of the 85th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group at Gerbini Airfield on the Island of Sicily, in September 1943. It was painted in a striking white scheme with red spinner, cowling, fuselage band and USN striped tail. Here we see it at Gerbini, covered in camouflage netting to keep it hidden from marauding Luftwaffe aircraft bent on destroying it to keep it from the Americans. Later, in 1945 while stateside, this aircraft was repainted in a standard USN 3 tone non-specular, intermediate blue and insignia white scheme. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683402354-NUW9QN0GKLZNY41VPATE/WTF-66.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Gerbini Focke–Wulf Fw 190 (previous photo), flying unmolested above the United States. It was shipped to the United States in January 1944, where repairs were made. It was test flown at NAS Anacostia, then moved to NAS Patuxent River in February. It should be noted that the USN seemed impressed enough by this aircraft that they encouraged development of the F8F Bearcat, which was clearly and visually inspired by the tough fighter. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683456898-WD1CC72S2UGJ938SVBYD/WTF-36.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The other Focke–Wulf Fw 190A that was captured at Gerbini and then flown by the 85th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group of 12th Air Force. The 79th FG is the same unit that captured and flew the Messerschmitt Bf 109 Irmgard, shown earlier in this article. To avoid any possibility of the aircraft being taken to be the enemy, the aircraft was painted overall red with yellow wings and red wingtips as well as a yellow fuselage band and horizontal stabilizer. It carries USAAF markings as well as the flying skull emblem of the 85th FS. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683482787-8U7A5RB5B7R3OHGNTVSY/WTF-91.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out It is believed that this is an air-to-air photograph of the same Focke–Wulf Fw 190 that is shown in the previous image but it could be another airframe altogether. The former Luftwaffe aircraft appears to be flying over olive groves, which makes sense, as the 79th Fighter Group was assigned to the 12th Air Force operating in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The orthographic film used by the photographer gives the appearance of a colour shift. This may be later as the rudder now sports red, white and blue stripes. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683510005-4K7U5JWCT5FDBSU6ZOOT/WTF-92.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another shot of the Focke–Wulf Fw 190A captured by the 79th Fighter Group. It is interesting to note that today, the 79th Fighter Group became the 79th Test and Evaluation Group in the early 1990s, and then was consolidated with another group to become the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group. One wonders whether the test and evaluation experience won by the 79th on 109s and 190s during the Second World War played a part in this new assignment. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683539492-9KBMFEW160ZPEPL3SCRD/WTF130.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A close-up of the 85th Squadron Flying Skull emblem. There were two Fw 190s procured and flown by the 79th Group. The colour image in the inset is likely the same as the larger photo, but there are differences—the inset photo has a foot step near the wing root that is missing in the larger shot. The call sign for the 85th was “DICKEY”. Photos: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683571787-4BJGK8P0MH3NELQIGABK/WTF-35.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out On 1 January 1945, 404 Fighter Group 508 Squadron’s airfield at St-Trond, Belgium was attacked in Operation Bodenplatte—a front wide attack to destroy allied aircraft on the ground. A Focke–Wulf Fw 190A-8 piloted by Gefreiter Walter Wagner, of 5. II/JG4 was slightly damaged by Allied anti-aircraft fire and was forced to land at the airport of St-Trond. It was captured and painted overall bright orange-red to distinguish it from enemy Focke–Wulf 190s. The aircraft’s code, OO–L, has been described dramatically as standing for OH OH ’ELL, however St-Trond was a Belgian base and OO is the Belgian national code for aircraft registration purposes. Presumably the L was for its intended pilot Leo Moon, the CO. In the end, the aircraft was never flown and was left behind when the 404th left St-Trond. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683616042-MW90S5G86T7Q24QSSYR9/WTF-100.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out USAAF Focke–Wulf 190 OO-L. The 404th’s CO, Colonel Leo Moon, wrote regarding the all red Focke–Wulf 190; “The aircraft was painted red by a crew who had overheard me saying that I had always wanted to own a red airplane... the OO*L code was placed on it because we had created an ‘imaginary’ fourth Squadron in the Group, and as in the 508th, we used the first initial of the pilot’s name as the last of the three code letters. Since I agreed that we should try and get the 190 into flying condition, everyone considered it my aircraft and added the ‘L’ accordingly... when it was ready I taxied it at all speeds up to near takeoff speed but we had no clearance to fly it from the Anti-Aircraft. After taxiing in I found the tires soaked in hydraulic fluid and they were so deteriorated I felt that they were unsafe... we spent considerable time looking for new tires without success. Then we had to move on and left the Fw 190 at St- Trond. I regret that I wasn’t able to get that 190 in the air – I had even learned the ‘offs’ and ‘ons’ of the switch labels in German but I don’t feel too bad about not flying it. I did get to fly the Bearcat which I believe was more or less a copy of the 190—although no-one ever admits it.” It also looks like the Americans have left the JG4 unit crest on the cowling. Photo via kevsaviationpics.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683642545-NFW4MRYG8P0SY0R4T8RN/Hart32.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Prior to a test flight, we see Canadian Squadron Leader Hart Finley at the controls of an RCAF-marked Focke–Wulf Fw 190 at Soltau, Germany at the end of the war. The aircraft bears the JFE markings of James Francis “Stocky” Edwards who was visiting Finley at the time. We can see where the German markings were either buffed out or spray-painted over. Finley relished the opportunity to understand what he had been up against. Both pilots felt that the Spitfire was superior. For more on Hart Finley, click here. Photo via Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683676492-IG9JOZYGPL74BGHMLBIE/WTF-119.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Luftwaffe de l’Air—war reparations take many forms. In the immediate postwar period, the French Armée de l’Air operated Fw 190 fighters (French designation NC.900). 65 Fw 190s were built in 1945 and 1946 by the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre (S.N.C.A.C.) at Cravant. Between 600 and 900 people worked at Cravant, and the facility was also known as camp 918. Cravant had been a Luftwaffe repair facility, and 127 Fw 190 fuselages and 162 wings of Fw 190 A-4s, A-5s, and A-8s were captured there by the Allies in October 1944. About 100 BMW 801 radial engines were found at Dordogne, and the French planned to assemble 125, under the designation AACr-6, or NC.900. The first NC.900 was flown on 1 March 1945, but there were many problems with the new aircraft. Sabotaged airframe parts and the use of hastily recycled metals meant many aircraft were of poor quality. Armée de l’Air Fw 190s only saw service for a few years, before more modern fighters were acquired. The principal operator of the NC.900 was GC 111/5 Normandie Niemen, which received just fourteen NC.900s. They flew with the unit for 18 months. A majority of the remaining 51 NC.900s were used by the CEV (Centre d’Essais en Vol) at Brétigny. The final flight by a French NC.900 was on 22 June 1949. Photo via Gekho https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683792140-DFHTW7PCC0RWF7G0PZKG/WTF-43.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Last Rufe standing (floating). As soon as the war was over in Europe, the French were looking to consolidate their interests in the Far East, including French Indochina (Vietnam). Here at Cat Lai in 1946, some French “matelots” check out a captured (confiscated) Japanese Nakajima A6M2-N, a single-seat float seaplane based on the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Model 11. The Allied reporting name for the aircraft was the Rufe. This was the last A6M2-N in Japanese military service, recovered by the French forces in Indochina in 1946. It crashed shortly after this photo was taken, killing the pilot. The large float and wing pontoons of the A6M2-N degraded its performance by about 20%, enough that the A6M2-N was not usually a match for even the first generation of Allied fighters. Being from an island country with an empire spread over half the largest ocean in the world, the Japanese were into float planes in a big way—not just transports, but bombers and fighters. Photo via frenchwings.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683824454-QC2LE28YQWQL3QZDWKNT/WTF-44.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Some aircraft were never captured or found, but were in fact outright gifts from individuals making bad career decisions, such as this P-38 Lightning. Actually an F-5E, a reconnaissance version of the P-38. This particular aircraft, sporting Luftwaffe markings, was stolen by USAAF pilot Martin James Monti (Italian-Swiss father and German mother) when he defected to the Axis side. Monti hitched a flight aboard a C-46 from his base in Pakistan, to Cairo, and then to Italy via Tripoli. He stole the plane from the 354th Air Service Squadron and landed this Lightning at Pomigliano Airfield near Milan in Italy. The Italians had captured the aircraft and handed it over to the Germans. He defected and became a member of the SS, gained the rank of Leutnant, and participated in radio propaganda broadcasts to the United States and to American troops in Europe under the nom-de-plume of Captain Martin Wiethaupt. After the end of the war, he returned to Italy and turned himself in at the Fifth Army Headquarters, still wearing his SS uniform. Monti was court-martialled and sentenced to 15 years for desertion, but was pardoned after less than a year on the condition that he join the Army as a private. In 1948, having achieved the rank of sergeant, he was given a general discharge under honourable conditions, but was promptly arrested by the FBI, as his activities in Germany had become known. Ultimately, Monti was tried for treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He was paroled in 1960, and died in 2000. Now that’s a good story! The Lightning was overall bare metal but the Luftwaffe painted the entire underside bright yellow from mid-fuselage down with T9+MK Luftwaffe serials. Source: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683883712-HKYHHM6Y0T3SC93PIOC5/WTF-44.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Some aircraft were never captured or found, but were in fact outright gifts from individuals making bad career decisions, such as this P-38 Lightning. Actually an F-5E, a reconnaissance version of the P-38. This particular aircraft, sporting Luftwaffe markings, was stolen by USAAF pilot Martin James Monti (Italian-Swiss father and German mother) when he defected to the Axis side. Monti hitched a flight aboard a C-46 from his base in Pakistan, to Cairo, and then to Italy via Tripoli. He stole the plane from the 354th Air Service Squadron and landed this Lightning at Pomigliano Airfield near Milan in Italy. The Italians had captured the aircraft and handed it over to the Germans. He defected and became a member of the SS, gained the rank of Leutnant, and participated in radio propaganda broadcasts to the United States and to American troops in Europe under the nom-de-plume of Captain Martin Wiethaupt. After the end of the war, he returned to Italy and turned himself in at the Fifth Army Headquarters, still wearing his SS uniform. Monti was court-martialled and sentenced to 15 years for desertion, but was pardoned after less than a year on the condition that he join the Army as a private. In 1948, having achieved the rank of sergeant, he was given a general discharge under honourable conditions, but was promptly arrested by the FBI, as his activities in Germany had become known. Ultimately, Monti was tried for treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He was paroled in 1960, and died in 2000. Now that’s a good story! The Lightning was overall bare metal but the Luftwaffe painted the entire underside bright yellow from mid-fuselage down with T9+MK Luftwaffe serials. Source: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683856772-1OVUVLGGZ017LQNF2PQQ/WTF-46.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another Lockheed P-38 Lightning, this one landing at Capoterra airfield, in southern Sardinia, 12 June 1943. The stunned Italian Air Force personnel at Capoterra could barely believe what had happened, but one airman quickly drove a vehicle in front of the Lightning to prevent it from taking off again. The embarrassed and soon to be imprisoned pilot was just opening his canopy when he realized that he had landed at the wrong airfield. He had landed at Capoterra almost out of fuel after a long trip over the Mediterranean from Gibraltar. It was later determined that his compass was off by 30 degrees. The USAAF insignia was covered with Italian Dark Green paint which was a bit darker than the US Olive Drab. New white fuselage bands circled the twin booms, Italian “Sabaudian” crosses emblazoned the tails, while the prop spinners were painted in white. The Lightning was test flown at Guidonia Experimental Centre near Rome and later was used against USAAF bombers. Col. Angelo Tondi, flying this P-38 and using its familiar profile, was able to get up close and down a USAAF B-24 Liberator off the Italian coast near Anzio on 11 August 1943. Six of the B-24’s crew bailed out from the aircraft. The Italian Lightning had a short flying career because the German synthetic fuel used by Italians corroded the P-38’s fuel tanks and the aircraft was grounded, but US reports say that B-17 bombers were attacked by two P-38s in early September 1943. During another mission, a damaged USAAF P-38 was flying close to American bombers needing protection. The bomber’s gunners, thinking he was the “enemy” P-38, shot down the aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628683933403-Y4J8IA9KRZ6B3OWPYQ3L/WTF-47.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Free French Air Force in North Africa made good use of captured Italian aircraft such as this CANT Z.1007 Alcione (Kingfisher), a three-engined medium bomber with wooden structure, captured at Enfidaville, Tunisia. The Alcione had excellent flying characteristics and good stability and was regarded by many as the best Italian bomber of the Second World War although its wooden structure could be easily damaged by extreme climate conditions, like those experienced in North Africa and in Russia. Despite being a bomber, it was used as a transport aircraft by the Free French. This example carries the Free French cross of Lorraine, a symbol chosen by General Charles de Gaulle himself, on its tail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684013308-CSVW7BS71C3FLL7W0PP5/WTF162.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out At the very beginning of the Second World War, France operated many indigenous types in all aircraft categories including native fighters like the Dewoitine D520, which showed promise and could match the performance of even the Messerschmitt Bf 109s of the Luftwaffe. Unlike most captured aircraft which were used for evaluation purposes and black ops, the Dewoitine D520 would be put to work in numbers by the Luftwaffe as advanced fighter trainers. The Vichy French were allowed to continue to manufacture them, so there was a large and accessible supply. This photo shows Dewoitine D520 SV+GB, an advanced fighter trainer operated by Jagdgeschwader 103 of the Luftwaffe in Belgium in late 1944. Photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684047490-T9ETNSWA70ZI0PUAGOOS/WTF-82.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Italian Regiane Re.2002 fighter, fresh off the assembly line at Caproni’s Taliedo factory prior to delivery to a Schlachtgruppe of the German Luftwaffe. This was not a captured aircraft, but one that was purpose built under license for the Luftwaffe, which used them against French resistance. Photo: Caproni https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684076102-7C2FF736LMX7N9UJSB29/WTF-89.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft was the nemesis of the German Army on the Eastern Front, so getting their hands on one to see first-hand and close up what made it tick was important to the German military planners and designers. This is an early version without the rear machine gun position. Without this protection, the heavy and slow-flying Sturmovik was vulnerable to fighter attack from the rear. Until the gun position was added, the Il-2’s losses were heavy. Image via sovietwarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684105041-JN0QBY4FSVU1SMC9OAG6/WTF-93.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Junkers Ju 87B-2 Stuka in RAF service (W.Nr. 5763, s/n HK827). It had been in service with 209a Squadriglia, Regia Aeronautica, and was forced to land behind enemy lines when running out of fuel in September 1941. It made its last flight from El Ballah airfield, Suez Canal Zone, on 27 September 1944 and was then scrapped due to corrosion in the wing structure. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684139639-7AV3R9L7TPKN899XH3A4/WTF-95.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out These RAF ground crew display their famous British droll sense of humour, a sign meant as much for the enemy as the folks back home. This captured Junkers Ju 87-D Stuka, seen here at Sidi Haneish (temporary landing ground LG 13, November 1942 was test flown and used by 601 City of London Squadron. The commanding officer of 601, Squadron Leader Billy Drake, commandeered this Ju 87-D as the squadron beer run hack. Sidi Haneish Airfield was a Second World War military airfield in Egypt, in the Western Desert, about 35 km east-southeast of Marsa Matruh; 410 km northeast of Cairo near the Mediterranean coast. It was used during the Eastern Desert Campaign by the British Eighth Army and was little more than tents and unprepared landing areas. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684516581-96M4N42J3Y960BXPL2OX/WTF-96.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Just like the ambivalent Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica Italiana (RAI)) of the Second World War, it was better to hedge their bets with markings from competing sides of the conflict. Well, not really. Here a German-built Ju-87 Stuka wears the markings of both the Italians AND the RAF. The Stuka is a surprise in the Italian markings alone, but the roundels and fin flash of the RAF share the space with the white cross fin flash of the RAI and the Italian roundel. The RAI roundel depicted the three “fasces” insignia. The fasces were originally a symbol representing the authority of the Roman Republic. The fascist Italian government adopted it with the same symbolism in mind, supremacy of the state. The original national air markings had three fasces, they symbolized the three holders of power in the Italian state, King, Parliament, and the Fascist Party. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684558719-WZ64HET0S1SDZ29H0Y0L/WTF-48.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Those ungrateful Brits! The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force), if anything, operated some interestingly designed aircraft, with a particular love of the three-engined configuration. This Cant Z.506, photographed at Kalafrana, Malta, belonged to the Regia Aeronautica’s 139th Squadron. On 29 July 1942, it was used by the RA to rescue the crew of a ditched Bristol Beaufort, but the “ungrateful” English prisoners overwhelmed the Italians during the flight to Taranto, Italy and hijacked the aircraft to Malta. Afterwards the aircraft was based at Alexandria. The CANT Z.506 Airone (Heron) was a triple-engine floatplane produced by CANT from 1935. During the Second World War, it was used as a reconnaissance aircraft, bomber and air-sea rescue plane by the Italian Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684607322-9B3256C15PRN4VCE9ZGW/WTF-49.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out French design in Italian colours. Prior to the beginning of the Second World War, they were many indigenous French aircraft designs. Despite the German occupation, some of these types were continued in production for the Vichy French. Many Potez 63.11, like the Regia Aeronautica example above, were acquired by the Luftwaffe after the defeat of France—80 reportedly at Meaulte alone— and fell into the hands of the Wehrmacht in unused condition while awaiting ferrying to the Vichy French Air Force. The Potez was employed by the Luftwaffe for training and liaison duties. The assembly line at Les Mureaux was to be reactivated during the following year when a further 120 Potez 63.11 were to be assembled for the Luftwaffe from existing components. Ten Potez aircraft of this type were flown by the Regia Aeronautica, mostly for training flights. Photo via forum.warthunder.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684642583-3633EWMH7CXKV9ZD8KHF/WTF-50.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Italian ground crews and pilots of the Regia Aeronautica help to move a captured Bristol Blenheim of 40 Squadron RAF, here in Regia markings. The Mk. IV Blenheim (Serial Number N3589) landed at Pantelleria airport on 13 September 1940. Pantelleria, a small Italian island halfway between Sicily and Tunisia in the Strait of Sicily, was a strategic base from which attacks on Malta and North Africa were staged during the first half of the Second World War. The aircraft was evaluated at Guidonia, an airfield near Rome—quite possibly where this photo was taken. N3589 might be the Mk. IV appearing in a non-flying role in the movie Un Pilota Ritorna (A Pilot Returns) (1942) directed by Roberto Rossellini. Photo via forum.1cpublishing.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684677203-22GABCQ290OE3Y3SD6VB/WTF163.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Germans, as well as the Italians, captured, evaluated and made use of all types of aircraft, even obsolete ones. Here a Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV is seen at a test facility sporting Luftwaffe markings and the numerals 5+5 on her fuselage. Photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684711971-9IOG135ONM9EXF1BIY2F/WTF133.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out It’s not often that we can see photographs of an aircraft at the very beginning of its existence and then at the end of its fascinating military career with both the Yanks and the Jerries. Consolidated B-24H Liberator (s/n 41-28641) is seen here test running its four engines at the Douglas Tulsa factory prior to delivery to the United States Army Air Force. Not long after, she was in the employ of the Luftwaffe—see next photo. Photo: Consolidated Aircraft https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684760621-H2JYZL5BBH16HUDS56V3/WTF-53.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out American airmen inspect the damaged hulk of a former USAAF Consolidated B-24H-5-DT Liberator in Salzberg, Austria. This “Lib” is Serial Number 41-28641, once operated by the 732nd Bomb Squadron of the 453rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. She force-landed at a Luftwaffe airfield in France on 4 February 1944. The entire crew was captured. Apparently this aircraft got separated from the formation while still very near the base and flew eastward until it either force-landed or crash-landed at an airfield at Ager, Czechoslovakia. It was repaired and assigned to the famous Luftwaffe unit, KG 200, and painted with German markings and code A3+KB. It was used to fly supply missions to the Island of Rhodes from forward fields near Vienna. Pilot was Hptm. Stahnke of Commando Clara. This was the first B-24 captured by the Luftwaffe, though not the first that they flew—that being B-24D “Blonde Bomber II” (Serial number 41-23659) which had been captured by the Italians when it landed by mistake at Pachino, Sicily on 20 February 1943. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684790757-0S92XA0232PS8HTYNELF/WTF-68.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Consolidated B-24H Liberator (squadron code H6-X+), nicknamed “Borsuk’s Bitch” (after M/Sgt. Matthew Borsuk, the aircraft’s crew chief), made an emergency landing in Switzerland on 25 April 1944, following flak damage over France while on a mission to bomb Mannheim, Germany and, along with its crew, was interned by the Swiss government. The “Lib”, built in Forth Worth, Texas (s/n 42-64496) was operated by the 735th Bomb Squadron, 453rd Bomb Group, of “The Mighty Eighth” Air Force. The bomber was marked in Swiss markings and evaluated by the Swiss Air Force and was eventually returned to the United States Army Air Force in October 1945. All of her crew were interned, however, the Bombardier, 2nd Lt. William O. Smith, escaped from Switzerland and made it back to England. Photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684822321-9JDES4W2NM5Y4KUEER51/WTF-115.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out There are not many colour photographs of activities at the Luftwaffe’s test field at Rechlin, at least not that I could readily find. I did find this excellent colour slide showing two Soviet MiG-3s (one in background) captured and brought to Rechlin air base for evaluation. These two are likely still in assembly, and the Germans have rather lackadaisically painted a black cross over the red star marking of the Soviets. The angled line just below the cockpit is the point where the fuselage material changes from metal in front to wood at the back with the paint colour changing accordingly. Photo via sovietwarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684855893-JXKBJTYO6KAOYDD3WU17/WTF-58.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Me 262 Swalbe (Swallow) marked as Yellow 17, sports RAF roundels while sitting in a postwar aircraft park for captured German aircraft. This aircraft became a war trophy of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Me 262A-1 (Werk Nummer 500210), AM 52, coded Yellow 17 of I./JG 7, surrendered at Fassberg and was taken over by No. 616 Squadron, RAF. It was flown to Lübeck on 29 May 1945, and then ferried to Schleswig and on to Farnborough on 9 June 1945. It was allocated RAF Serial No. VH509 on 14 June, and made at least one test flight in July at Brize Norton. Information via Axis Warplane Survivors (great book!) Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684905568-5HQLL68G2VAJVNVDSXA9/WTF-59.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The same Messerschmitt Me 262, Yellow 17. AM 52, was shipped to Canada from Ellesmere Port on board the SS Manchester Shipper on 23 August 1946, arriving at Montréal on 1 September. AM 52 was sold to Cameron Logan of New Scotland, Ontario, about 1947, with 300 other war-surplus RCAF aircraft, and was eventually scrapped by him at New Scotland. Information via Axis Warplane Survivors (great book!) Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628684972464-QI66AEM7QHJMQWGM2RL9/WTF-123.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Me 262 in United States Army Air Force markings. This Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a was surrendered at Lechfeld and became part of “Watson’s Whizzers”. In 1944 intelligence experts at Wright Field, under the leadership of Colonel Harold E. Watson, a former Wright Field test pilot, had developed lists of advanced aviation equipment they wanted to examine. Watson and his crew, nicknamed “Watson’s Whizzers,” composed of pilots, engineers and maintenance men, used these “Black Lists” to collect aircraft. Watson organized his Whizzers into two sections. One collected jet aircraft and the other procured piston-engine aircraft and non-flyable jet and rocket equipment. Named “Screamin’ Meemie”, the aircraft was allocated to the US Navy Flight Test Division where it was used to test the reaction of jet aircraft to a wave off from an aircraft carrier. The airplane was retired in January of 1947 and placed into storage. In 1957 it was given to the U.S. Air Force Museum, where it remains on display to this day. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685007742-4I88D728UKIXY3J06Y4O/WTF-52.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Allied and American intelligence officers and aerodynamicists were particularly interested in German aircraft types with unique configurations, such as this hefty pusher/tractor configured twin-engined Dornier Do 335. The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (“Arrow”) was a Second World War heavy fighter built by the Manzell, Friedrichshafen-based Dornier company. The Pfeil’s performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique “push-pull” layout and the much lower drag of the in-line alignment of the two engines. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant only a handful was delivered before the war ended. Here an American test pilot makes himself familiar with the controls of a USAAF-painted one at a captured Luftwaffe airfield, surrounded by the wreckage of other German aircraft, possibly a Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger and an Me 262. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685040112-RNUC5QP19DKJCQKT0JM4/WTF125.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another Yankee Arrow. A Do 335 A-1 Werk Nummer 102 (VG+PH) at the U.S. Navy’s Patuxent River Test Center in Maryland. The rear propeller could be jettisoned to enable the pilot to bail out safely, thus avoiding the Cuisinart effect. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685131585-2N91XENOZCOQPOXJOMWU/WTF-98.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Dornier Do 335A-10 two-seat piggyback conversion trainer. This one was captured by American forces in Germany and given to the British. The aircraft above was seen here on display at the “Royal Air Force Captured Enemy Aircraft and Equipment” display at Farnborough in April 1946. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685158478-SK1P8TDTZ8IZ079BGKEZ/WTF165.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The two-seater trainer version was also nicknamed Ameisenbär (“anteater”) for obvious reasons. This is the same Dornier Do 335 as pictured in the preceding photograph and the location is also likely Farnborough. Photo via Stewart Callan, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685187347-34D6KFXNEJNT34XNY2R4/WTF-20.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Royal Air Force Captured Enemy Aircraft and Equipment display at Farnborough in April 1946 includes the Dornier Do 335A-10 “Pfeil” as well as many other Luftwaffe and RAF types, including a Supermarine Spiteful (left front) and Blackburn Firebrand (front right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685214543-AMOTDN39U7BV58NWR29R/WTF-121.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Salamander in French markings. The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger or “People’s Fighter” was a single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft operated by the Luftwaffe at the end of the Second World War. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritized for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry’s official name for the government design program competition that the He 162 design won. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the code name of its construction program, and Spatz (“Sparrow”), which was the name given to the plane by the Heinkel company. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685268540-ZQIYMB4TYE9GV4HNWZXC/WTF-3.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out During the spring of 1942, a Soviet pilot of a regiment based in the Far East defected and made a wheels-up landing near Chiasmus, in Manchukuo. The aircraft was captured by the Japanese. They repaired the aircraft and started an evaluation flight cycle, whose supervisor was Major Yamamoto of the Army Test Centre. These tests were made from the Mutanchiang Air Base, in Manchuria. The Japanese test pilots were not satisfied with the LaGG-3’s performance and flight characteristics; the difference in handling and wing load with A6M Zero and other typical Japanese fighters was enormous. For those who are not familiar with the Soviet Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter aircraft of the Second World War, we have shown a Russian version along with a Japanese captured example. Overweight despite its wooden construction, at one stage 12 LaGG-3s were being completed daily and 6,528 had been built when factory 31 in Tbilisi switched to Yak-3 production in 1944—by sheer numbers alone, it was an important stopgap aircraft. While modern in appearance, the LaGG-3 is actually a throwback. Constructed primarily of wood, the LaGG-3 proved to be surprisingly resistant to damage. While it did not perform as well as some other Russian designs, it did provide a sort of stopgap until sufficient numbers of better performing fighters could be produced. Later developement of the type included adding a radial engine which increased speed and performance. This prototype eventually led to the LaGG-5. Soviet pilots generally disliked this aircraft. LaGG-3 Pilot Viktor M. Sinaisky recalled: “It was an unpleasant client! Preparing the LaGG-3 for flight demanded more time in comparison with other planes. All cylinders were supposed to be synchronized: God forbid you from shifting the gas distribution! We were strictly forbidden to touch the engine! But there were constant problems with water-cooled engines in winter: especially as there was no antifreeze liquid. You couldn’t keep the engine running all night long, so you had to pour hot water into the cooling system in the morning. Furthermore, pilots didn’t like flying the LaGG-3 – a heavy beast with a weak M-105 engine – but they got used to it. Even so, we had higher losses on LaGG-3 than on I-16s.” Top image: vvsregiaavions.com, bottom image: russian.warbirdsresourcegroup.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685306715-H788C4P000Y1K7CZG774/WTF-6.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out At the Eastern Front, the Germans wanted to know what they would be up against when it came to the new Lavochkin La-5, a later development of the LaGG-3 lineage. In the summer of 1943, a brand new La-5FN made a forced landing on a German airfield providing the Luftwaffe with an opportunity to test-fly the newest Soviet fighter. Test pilot Hans-Werner Lerche wrote a detailed report of his experience. He particularly noted that the La-5FN excelled at altitudes below 3,000 m (9,843 ft) but suffered from short range and flight time of only 40 minutes at cruise engine power. All of the engine controls (throttle, mixture, propeller pitch, radiator and cowl flaps, and supercharger gearbox) had separate levers which served to distract the pilot during combat to make constant adjustments or risk suboptimal performance. For example, rapid acceleration required moving no less than six levers. Lerche describes some of his experience with the type: “The captured La-5–actually an La-5FN–was powered by an M-82FNV twin-row radial engine with direct fuel injection. It was obvious from the start that this aircraft was no longer comparable with the earlier Soviet fighter types of sometimes rather primitive construction, and was a very serious opponent to our fighters in altitudes below 3000 m (10,000 ft).” The large number 21 on the side of this La-5 is not Luftwaffe in origin, but the number worn in Soviet service. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685337854-POKI4HF03Z31JRG4V6WI/WTF255.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Japanese George fighters in American markings prepare for a flight from their base to an American-held base at Yokosuka. After the war’s end in Japan, the Americans found six surviving Kawanishi N1K Shiden (Japanese for “Violet Lightning”, Allied code name “George”) at a base in Kogashima. In late August 1945 Japanese pilots, flying these Georges and escorted by US Navy F6F Hellcats, flew from the air base at Kogashima in the south of Kyushu to Yokosuka. The flew a well-defined route under the threat that they would be shot down if they did anything unexpected. On this trip they were able to use American fuel of a much higher octane than they had had access to before. The Japanese pilots reported that they had to use 75% of the normal power settings in order to stop themselves from pulling away from their escorts. Two of these Georges were subsequently scrapped in Yokosuka and the remaining aircraft (no. 71, 5128, 5312 and 5341) were moved to the USA to further learning. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685444780-P7VIM6ITP8UQREMBVGGF/TypeB_5.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Early in the Second World War, a Spitfire that had been captured by the Luftwaffe was used in a propaganda film/photo shoot, showing one about to be shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Spit had been painted in spurious markings which included an incorrectly proportioned roundel and a fin flash which was unwittingly reversed—the red should be forward with the blue trailing in all RAF and Commonwealth aircraft. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685493235-YURNRAR4QERE59EUW57A/WTF129.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Here is a close-up black and white photograph of the same Spitfire used in the propaganda photograph in the previous photo. It is possible that initially the RAF markings were painted over and the Balkenkreuz and Swastika applied on top as we see in this photo. I suggest it was when the propaganda photo op was planned that the roundels and fin flashes were applied—incorrectly. The Spitfire was a Mk V and is seen here at the Luftwaffe training base at Kolberg in Northeast Germany. One very interesting modification to the Spitfire is the addition of a smoke generator under the fuselage, forward of the tail wheel. This, we assume, was meant to generate smoke to simulate the aircraft being shot down by the Luftwaffe on the propaganda photos (or film). Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685527320-YRQKWYLZ1NH4GKQPBFPP/WTF204.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In the big Warner Bros. blockbuster called Captain of the Clouds, the troubled and ostracized pilot played by James Cagney finds redemption when he takes on a lone “Hurricane” mid-Atlantic during a ferry of a Hudson bomber across to England. The entire film was shot in Canada, mostly here in Ottawa, but one sequence required an RCAF Hurricane from an East Coast squadron to play the part of a Messerschmitt Bf 109... all dressed in evil-looking black. After he was done shooting the sequence above, Hurricane/Messerschmitt pilot F/O Dal Russel, a Battle of Britain veteran, couldn’t resist a low level rip up Barrington Street in wartime Halifax. Despite warnings to the public, this caused some degree of panic. Russel’s commander, S/L Hartland Molson, also a BoB veteran, was apparently not amused. Screen capture via Warner Bros. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685557952-FYCQZI33KXQ4DL4NS1VV/WTF131.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A stranger sight you may never see than a whole squadron of Spitfires wearing Nazi markings. Spitfires of Numbers 5 and 17 Squadrons, Royal Air Force, suffer a massive indignity as they were used to masquerade as Messerschmitt Bf 109s in an air show performance at Farnborough in 1950. The scene they were re-enacting was the Luftwaffe’s interception of the attacking de Havilland Mosquitos in the set piece—a reconstruction of the famous Second World War raid to destroy a Gestapo jail at Amiens and release prisoners. The look is certainly enhanced by the use of all clipped wing Spitfires. Photo: RAF from A Pictorial History of the Royal Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685911180-RW2WVQBSGDVBUOKRGOTC/WTF-124.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Mechanics with No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight RAF (humorously regarded as the “Rafwaffe”) at Collyweston, Northamptonshire, perform maintenance on Focke–Wulf Fw 190A-3, PN999 (read further to learn how this came to be in the hands of the RAF), while airmen in the foreground re-paint the wings of Junkers Ju 88S-1, TS472. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685948689-RUL350WZ3B6HMK4IAU2H/WTF-160.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Pilots of the Royal Air Force 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight took their aircraft on the road to fighter and bomber bases across England, escorted by Allied fighters in case they were mistaken for the enemy. Here, a pilot of the “Rafwaffe” “Flying Circus” chats with and answers questions from pilots and air crew of the 390th Bomb Group in England on 28 April 1944 while sitting on Messerschmitt Bf 109 NN644. Photo via usaircraft.proboards.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628685985226-9R0XRWO2V6JBCQ8LZSC6/WTF152.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out On 20 May 1942, while bombing shipping in the harbour at Newhaven, this Messerschmitt Bf 109F took a machine gun hit in the oil radiator and was forced down on the coastal grass at nearby Beach Head. The engine was severely damaged by overheating and exploding of the water jacket. The pilot, Unteroffizier Oswald Fischer (seen here at right), also emptied his pistol into the engine. The aircraft was then sent to the Enemy Aircraft Flight. See next image. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686014574-BQJ2I5SE1XEJP8GKA3II/WTF-110.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out It seems that the aircraft (from the previous photo) was kept until a serviceable engine or cylinder block could be acquired from a downed aircraft in the Middle East. In August of 1943 the aircraft was delivered to No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft Flight). A F/Lt R.F. Forbes flew the aircraft at RAF Collyweston on 24 October, while it was still in Luftwaffe markings. Shortly after that, it was painted in RAF colours and given the serial NN644, keeping the white 11 and bomb markings. RAF pilots had similar ground handling problems with the 109 as did Luftwaffe pilots. In July of 1944, the port wing and aileron where damaged when an RAF pilot ground looped it on landing at RAF Thurleigh, Bedfordshire. The Messerschmitt passed to the Enemy Aircraft Flight at Tangmere in January of 1945, and went into storage at No. 47 MU at RAF Sealand in November of that year. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686047389-67ARBKP4WMVH3QAL34WF/WTF184.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The captured German Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (RAF serial NN644) of No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft Flight), based at Collyweston, Northamptonshire (UK), parked near the control tower at Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, during the unit’s 11th tour of operational stations giving flying demonstrations. Although painted in RAF colours, the aircraft retains the “White 11” and bomb symbol markings on Oswald Fischer’s former Luftwaffe unit, 10.(Jabo)/JG 26. Photo: RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686080219-NL2RYP7J4Y6222F1LZ43/WTF236.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A terrific shot of Messerschmitt Bf 109 NN644 in action in January of 1944 at the USAAF bomber base at RAF Chelveston where the 305th Bomb Group was getting one of the famous 1426 Flight demonstrations. In addition to NN644, the Enemy Aircraft Flight brought with them one of their Focke–Wulf Fw 190s, a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and a Junkers Ju 88. We can see one of the 305th’s Flying Fortress in one of the T-2 hangars in the background. Photo via Ian White, 305th BG contributor on armyairforces.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686138435-YY6ZKX0V438QPN153AZ6/WTF237.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A B-17 crew member of the 305th Bomb Group poses with an enemy he is likely to meet in the sky in the next week—the Focke–Wulfe Fw 190 of No. 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight of the RAF during a visit in January 1945. Photo via Ian White, 305th BG contributor on armyairforces.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686173787-EQUOY892IJ97DEFJK65H/WTF185.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Intercepted by RAF fighters while on a reconnaissance mission on 21 July 1940, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 of 1426 Flight was forced down and captured largely intact. Royal Aircraft Establishment repaired this aircraft and after handling trials, it was flown to the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford in October 1941. In March 1942, AX772 was transferred to No. 1426 Flight until moving to the Enemy Aircraft Flight of the Central Flying School at Tangmere in January 1945. It was stored at No. 47 Maintenance Unit (MU) Sealand in November 1945 and scrapped in 1947. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686275910-W7OZPW6UZUWX5FNWK6AL/WTF-28.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf 110 C-4 (c/n 2177) in flight in Royal Air Force roundels but Luftwaffe camouflage. This captured aircraft belonged to the German Luftwaffe reconnaissance unit 4(F)/14 (code 5F+CM) and was force-landed at Goodwood Racecourse, Sussex, after being hit by gunfire, on 21 July 1940. It was repaired at Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough with parts of another Bf 110 that was shot down near Wareham on 11 July. It was flown for the first time on 15 February 1941. Later it was tested at RAE Duxford wearing a new colour scheme and the RAF serial AX772. After the trials, the aircraft was assigned to No. 1426 Squadron. It was stored in November 1945 and subsequently scrapped in November 1947. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686309011-761IHBGGTDB7ICK7QCPP/WTF159.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The same Messerschmitt Bf 110 as the previous photo, but in new RAF colours (green grey over bright yellow (for experimental aircraft)) and her new RAF serial number AX-772, is shown flying near Duxford. Photo: RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686345770-BNV0VPY7VIZB7W8WLQ5F/WTF-90.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Messerschmitt Bf 110 AX772 in RAF markings and camouflage with RAF officers getting a tour. In April of 1943 some captured German Aircraft visited RAF Molesworth to help bomber combat crews learn about and better identify the German aircraft they were facing. Visiting aircraft included: Fw 190, Ju 88, Bf 109, and Bf 110 (above). Photo: RAF via 303 BG Website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686379241-KMOM2MGVL5QZ75773WN3/WTF186.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Messerschmitt Bf 110 AX772 in flight over England wearing markings she was never meant to wear. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686410726-XB9BYZECJVWXTI6633LG/WTF-76.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf 109E (Emil), built by the Erla Maschinenwerk near Leipzig, in September 1940, in RAF markings. On a sortie on 27 November 1940, it was piloted by Lt Wolfgang Teumer of II/JG 51, 4101 and was shot down by Flt Lt George Christie, DFC flying a Spitfire of 66 Sqn. The damaged 109 was rebuilt from components of other captured Bf 109s and flown in British hands with RAF serial DG200. In this shot, when it was flown by Rolls-Royce pilot Harvey Hayworth, it is flying without its canopy. Because of Hayworth’s size, over 6 feet tall, the Bf 109’s canopy was removed and “mislaid” and was never seen again! DG200 lives today, on display in its original Luftwaffe markings. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686439919-5ECB6BRR2289YGX2GQYP/WTF153.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another fine shot of lanky Harvey Hayworth of Rolls-Royce flying the captured Messerschmitt Bf 109E, re-serialed as DG200, with No. 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686491907-FTTGUBS1WVZW2FBHR2X4/WTF156.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Messerschmitt Bf 109G was captured when its pilot, Lt. Horst Prenzel, Staffelkapitan of JG 301, landed at RAF Manston by mistake, following a Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) sortie over the invasion area against night bombers on 21 July 1944. Another Bf 109 also attempted to land with him, but crashed. The RAF markings were applied and it was given an RAF serial—TP814. Wilde Sau (German for “Wild Boar”) was the term given by the Luftwaffe, during the Second World War, to the tactics by which British night bombers were mainly engaged by single-seat fighter aircraft. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686526113-3F1GLP1B934CLRJDL395/WTF158.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another great shot of captured Bf 109G with RAF serial TP814. The aircraft was operated by No. 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight of the RAF. It was subsequently written off in a takeoff accident at RAF Wittering near Stamford, Lincolnshire, on 23 November 1944. We can see lots of exhaust soot on her sides in this photo. The band of colour around the fuselage near the tail was red. Photo via Aces High Bulletin Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686562015-AO5W8UKZ6AQDSBXVPRSR/WTF-18.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Messerschmitt Bf 109E— AE479. During a dogfight on 22 November 1939, Luftwaffe pilot Karl Heir became disoriented and landed by mistake at the French airfield at Strasbourg-Woerth in Alsace. The aircraft was taken to the research facility Centre d'Essai du Matériel Aérien of the Armée de l'Air at Orléans-Bricy. Here they test flew it to determine how it fared against French types like Dewoitine D.520, Bloch MB 152 and the British Spitfire Mk I. German markings were painted over with French markings. A camera was installed under wing for filming combat simulations. On 2 May 1940 the French lent the aircraft to the British. It was flown from Chartres to Tangmere by F/O Canadian Hilly Brown of 1 Squadron, then to Boscombe Down and the hands of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). British roundels and fin flashes replaced those of France. In keeping with test aircraft paint standards, the undersides were painted yellow except for the control surfaces, ailerons, flaps and elevators, which were left in the original light blue. It was given the serial number AE479 and used for comparative tests with the Hurricane Mk I and Spitfire Mk I by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in May and June 1940. Between May–July 1940 and July 1941 it made 78 flights, totalling 49 hours, operating from Farnborough and Northolt. It stayed with the RAE until July 1941 when W/C I.R. Campbell-Odre flew it from Farnborough to Duxford to deliver it to the Air Fighting Development Unit. It returned to Farnborough on 20 November. As a result of a crash, the tail of another captured 109 (Construction Number 1480 —Franz von Werra’s aircraft— famous Luftwaffe pilot who was the only successful escapee from a North American POW camp) was used for repairs. After repairs were completed, it was handed to 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight on 11 December 1941. In January 1942, it was dismantled and crated for transit to the USA. It left on 7 April 1942 on the freighter S.S. Dramesford. After arrival (May 1942 to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio) it was damaged in a crash on 2 November 1942 and never flew again. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686710076-5O28N2PCCOZL5WAXRINT/WTF187.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Junkers Ju 88A-5 (Luftwaffe markings M2+MK) of 2/KGr 106 landed by mistake at RAF Chivenor, Devon on 26 November 1941. It was remarked in RAF roundels and camouflage and given RAF serial number HM509. The aircraft flew with No. 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight until it was damaged in a ground loop at RAF Thorny Island on 19 May 1944. Though not seriously damaged, it was cannibalized for spares for other Ju 88s operated by the unit. Likely painted yellow underneath. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686745107-DRVFM6GBQG1W8NEMTIHX/WTF-94.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A single Fiat Cr.42 Falco was captured during the Battle of Britain. The aircraft was salvaged following a forced landing at Orfordness, Suffolk, on 11 November 1940. Still wearing its Italian camouflage scheme, it was given RAF roundels and RAF serial BT474. It is pictured here parked on the dispersal of Air Station Duxford, Cambridgeshire, during a cold winter day where it was in the employ of the RAF’s Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) through the war. It is preserved and displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum Hendon, as MM5701 ‘13-95’. Photo: Imperial war Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686774305-7ZYFNN1X9FRJRECV1XUL/WTF201.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The very Fiat Cr.42 Falco which became RAF BT474 nosed over in Orfordness, Suffolk. On 11 November 1940, with an overheating engine, Sergente Pilota Pietro Salvadori’s aircraft “MM5701” force-landed on the shingle beach at Orfordness, Suffolk, gently nosing over on the shingle. Salvadori was taken prisoner and was apparently very proud of his landing. His aircraft is now displayed at RAF Museum in London in its original markings. Photo: Imperial war Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686808492-WZK4YRD6P1AVGBPXJ5UF/WTF202.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The captured RAF Fiat Cr42 Falco, which Salvadori had crashed in Suffolk, is now displayed in its original markings at the RAF Museum in London. The RAF Museum website states: “Mussolini brought Italy into the war in June 1940. Convinced of an Axis victory and not wishing to miss out on the spoils of war he ordered the Italian Air Force - Regia Aeronautica - to form an air expeditionary force, the Corpo Aereo Italiano/Italian Air Corps (CAI) - composed of three Stormi-Wings - some 200 aircraft - to operate against the United Kingdom in support of an unenthusiastic Luftwaffe from bases at Melsbroek, Chievres, Maldeghem and Ursel in Belgium.” CAI operations began at the close of the Battle of Britain, with an unsuccessful night raid around Harwich on 24 October 1940, with the first daylight mission, bombing Deal, on 29 October, and a unopposed fighter sweep over Canterbury on 1 November. Offensive fighter sweeps along the channel continued until 28 November 1940 and mainly night bomber raids on Felixstowe, Lowestoft, Ipswich and Harwich until 7 February 1941, with defensive/patrol fighter sorties continuing until the same month, the CAI Cr42s and BR20s then returned to Italy, although two squadrons of G.50bis aircraft remained in Belgium until April 1941 on local coastal patrols. Despite numerous claims, the CAI shot down no British aircraft but lost two dozen in a relatively ineffectual campaign that caused little damage, having suffered from limited experience and training, using outdated aircraft and tactics.” Photo by Bryan Gibbins, via 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686845356-AKW1H1UDO267H65VF73X/WTF-22.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Heinkel 111H-1 (Luftwaffe marked as 1H+EN, RAF as AW177) was captured when it force-landed in a field near North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland on 9 February 1940, having been damaged by an RAF Spitfire. The aircraft crashed at RAF Polebrook on 10 November 1943 while carrying a number of 1426 Flight ground crew as passengers. The pilot, F/O Barr, and six others were killed, four were injured. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686879827-NZ4UQOSGL5CYPGWDU64U/WTF190.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A nice photograph of Heinkel 111H of the Enemy Aircraft Flight flying over England. The Luftwaffe bomber was shot down in Scotland. The crash report indicated that a Spitfire fighter from 602 Sqn, flown by S/Ldr A. Farquhar, damaged the German aircraft over the Firth of Forth. The undercarriage was lowered in a sign of surrender and then, with one engine out of action, it turned towards the coast and made a forced landing, tipping onto its nose. The aircraft was recovered and repaired and then flown by the RAF as AW177. Of the crew, Unteroffizier (Uffz-Corporal) F. Weiners died of injuries, while Uffz H. Meyer, Uffz J. Sangl and Obergefreiter (LAC in RAF) H. Hegemann were made Prisoners of War. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686918983-AWZDXA81XIZ71MYGX57C/WTF-26.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A former Luftwaffe Focke–Wulf Fw 190, sitting in the cold European rain awaiting pilots to test fly her for evaluation, sports Type C roundels of the RAF and RAF serial number PN999. This Focke–Wulf 190A-3 was flown by No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight at Collyweston, Northamptonshire. Several aircraft on charge with the RAE Farnborough section were also used by this unit. The RAE facilities at Farnborough were utilized for the flight testing of German and Italian aircraft during the war. Many crash-landed airframes were brought to Farnborough for examination, testing and cannibalization of spare parts to keep other airframes in serviceable condition. This particular Fw 190 was flown by Uffz. Werner Ohne (Luftwaffe Call sign White 6) and was captured when he landed in error at RAF Manston, 20 June 1943. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686949769-O3K86V20V48Q05JXMSUH/WTF228.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another shot of Werner Ohne’s Focke–Wulf Fw 190—about to be run up by a pilot of 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight, Royal Air Force. Just visible in the right background is the fuselage of Messerschmitt Bf 109G Trop (RAF serial number VX101) which was captured in the Middle East in 1943, but was written off as a result of a forced landing at RAF Thorney Island on 19 May 1944. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628686988007-X23M1VISDCCV913MPGM2/WTF-16.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Focke–Wulf Fw 190A-3, formerly of the Luftwaffe and now trundling along at an RAF base in the markings of the RAF. This 190, flown by Oberleutnant Armin Faber, Gruppe Adjutant of III./JG 2 “Richthofen”, became disoriented after shooting down an RAF Spitfire over Start Point, Devon. Attempting to return home, he accidentally flew north instead of south and landed at RAF Pembrey on 23 June 1942 to his dismay and embarrassment. This aircraft (MP499) was struck off charge from 1426 and the RAF the following year on 18 September 1943. At one point this aircraft carried the “P” for Prototype markings, but they are not evident here. This aircraft is available as a die-cast model from Corgi. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687028104-K7F5NTYX7N1D9DR3UWXX/WTF234.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another captured Focke–Wulf Fw 190 in the employ of 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight. This one, PM679, was captured when its pilot, Unteroffizier Heinz Ehrhardt, accidentally landed at RAF Manston, Kent on 20 May 1943. The last flight of PM679 was in June 1944 when, shortly after takeoff, the aircraft suffered a major engine failure and force-landed. The aircraft was used for spares. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687070559-XW2HWREBYULZDOB5H128/WTF233.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out An absolutely fantastic shot of one of the four Focke–Wulf Fw 190s of 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight, winging over and diving for the English countryside. The underside of the Fw 190 would have been bright yellow, so this would have been a really spectacular image had it been in colour. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687104198-D7XLE8SIWLR07GEQWTVE/WTF230.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Like peas in a pod—the similarities between the de Havilland Mosquito and the Messerschmitt Me 410 are pretty darn obvious in this image and their roles were similar. This 410 (Luftwaffe code F6+OK) was formerly of 2(F)/122, which landed intact and was captured at Monte Corvino, Italy when the crew had become lost during a photo–reconnaissance mission in the Naples area. This aircraft wears the P for Prototype roundels showing she was at RAF Boscombe Down for testing. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687151862-ALAQ7BSGKIJY55C40ONJ/WTF231.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another great shot of the Messerschmitt Me 410 of 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight (TF209), showing her big twelve cylinder V-12 Daimler-Benz engines, probably at RAF Collyweston. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687718679-UA59JHHWESUTYQP3TJKA/WTF232.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A shot of Junkers Ju 88 in the RAF markings of No. 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight. This is RAF serial HM509, a Ju 88-A-5 which landed accidentally at RAF Chivenor on 26 November 1941. It was damaged in a ground loop on landing on 19 May 1944, the same day that Focke–Wulf Fw 190 PN999 was written off in a landing accident at RAF Thorney Island. Though repairable, the aircraft was cannibalized for parts to keep others going with 1426. Just visible beneath the fuselage of the Junkers is the fuselage of Airspeed Oxford V3781, one of the support and liaison aircraft operated by 1426. This shot is likely at RAF Collyweston. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687762977-X6DOZAPJJZU3E00GEU6Q/WTF-32.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out One of 1426 Flight’s seven Messerschmitt Bf 109s poses in the sunshine for the RAF cameraman. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687819105-M2XH3EZOZ2HB0UJIEAKN/WTF-33.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out One of the 1426 Flight Focke–Wulfs (likely PN999 based on the bare metal cowling) poses beautifully for an RAF camera. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687933690-9SH9BLVIRLNC6X9TTKLY/WTF-24.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Some web references indicate that this colour photograph was taken in July 1944 at Sagan-Kupper airfield (now Zagen-Kopernia in Poland), an advanced training base. The unit code on test platforms such as captured Allied aircraft was typically applied in small white letters (T9 in this case). T9 was the unit code associated with the famed Zirkus Rosarius (also known as the Wanderzirkus Rosarius). Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628687968952-7WWROVFYS61IF7WHF4AL/WTF223.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Given the size of the Balkenkreuz on her sides, the yellow tail and overall dark paint, this is likely the same Spitfire as the previous shot and therefore T9+CK. The Zirkus Rosarius aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang in the background, have landed at a Luftwaffe base to demonstrate their flying abilities and to familiarize other German pilots with their features. This particular Spitfire was a 412 Squadron, RCAF Spit. This is the same squadron which John Gillespie Magee, the poet of High Flight, served with until his untimely death. The squadron still exists operationally here in Ottawa, Canada. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688023009-QZI7G67J2JZUQJF4ER2F/WTF225.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Seeing a Supermarine Spitfire or de Havilland Mosquito in Nazi markings is like seeing Canadian hockey superstar Sydney Crosby wearing a Russian hockey jersey and playing for the Russians in the Olympics... very painful to look upon. While Crosby will never defect, the Nazis captured both of these iconic British designs and slapped the symbols of evil on them, even before they were ready to fly. Here, a captured de Havilland Mosquito (T9+XB) fighter/bomber is displayed for the benefit of Nazi party officials and Luftwaffe brass, wearing the bright yellow empennage and undersides of a Zirkus Rosarius aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688058034-G328K98X6DN1FMDGMTKP/WTF222.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The officers and party officials get a close look at an aircraft that is already a legend—the de Havilland Mosquito Mk IV but, without propellers, this Mossie (T9+XB) isn’t going anywhere soon. According to Australian aviation writer Mark Nelson, this Mosquito never flew after it was captured as the landing gear and propellers were seriously damaged in a wheels-up landing. For display purposes, the Germans fabricated a makeshift steel tube “undercarriage” using the original Mosquito’s tires. Strangely, the Zirkus Rosarius used the T9+XB lettering for both the Mosquito and their P-38 Lightnings... see following photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688107003-SQBJBQ8849SGGOFK2XXB/WTF-45.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A P-38E Lightning with Luftwaffe Swastikas and crosses wears the typical yellow underbelly and appendages of aircraft under evaluation at the Luftwaffe’s Rechlin Technical Development Centre. This was done so that anti-aircraft crews in the Rechlin area would not shoot at the very-Allied Lightning silhouette. This P-38 T9+XB (USAAF serial 43-2278) was operated by the Zirkus Rosarius and was later used in an air show put on at Rechlin during late 1943. It was captured when the former 15 Air Force Lightning landed by mistake at Capoterra Italy on 12 June 1943. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688148445-R8NH3CTY6D8LYAWOJ5W0/WTF-55.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This P-47 D2 s/n 42-22490, formerly belonging to the 358th FS, 335th FG, had been piloted by Lt. William Roach who mistakenly confused a French airfield with one in Southern England and had landed at Caen. This aircraft was captured in November 1943 and delivered to the Rechlin experimental centre. Later, after receiving a thorough overhaul, it was delivered to the Rosarius Zirkus. The original American paint scheme was replaced by Luftwaffe camouflage and the code T9+FK applied. Evan Gilder of WW2Aircraft.net writes, “On November 7, 1943, 110 B-17s from the 1st and third air division were assigned to bomb aviation industrial targets in Wesel and Duren. They were escorted by 283 Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, working in relays to provide cover for the bombers throughout the mission. Twelve P-47s from the 358th Squadron of the 355th FG would fly their part, taking off with a spare aircraft in case any had difficulty. That spare, “Beetle”, was flown by Lieutenant William E. Roach. Lieutenant John Lanphier developed engine problems and was unable to fly the mission. He returned to base while Roach formed up with Yellow Flight. The mission was an uneventful mission until they reached the rendezvous point for their relief. The relief had been delayed due to weather. Colonel Cummings chose to stay and protect the bombers, a decision that would prove disastrous. Head winds caused them to burn more fuel than expected. Captain Walter Kossack, the yellow flight leader became disoriented and lost in the clouds. The flight became desperately low on fuel. Captain Kossack ran out of fuel and crash landed on the beach in Caen. Flight Officer Chester Watson ran out of fuel over the North Sea and bailed out to be captured by the Germans and made a POW. Lieutenant Jack Woertz was the only one from Yellow Flight to make it to England, where he crash landed at Hastings, just short of the runway. Lieutenant Roach watched his flight leader go down and looked around for options. He spotted a field nearby. Thinking he was in Southern England, he made a short approach and landed safely. He followed an airfield vehicle to a parking space and had shut down his engine when he realized that he was not in England! Germans approached with their guns drawn. They took him prisoner and he served the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I, with his flight leader, Walter Kossack. Roach had landed at the Luftwaffe base in Caen. This was the first complete and flyable P-47 that the Luftwaffe had seen. American markings were quickly replaced with German markings. The Luftwaffe wisely chose to move the Thunderbolt inland to keep it away from allied strafing attacks. The P-47 was flown to Rechlin. There it was tested and evaluated thoroughly. The Germans gathered data on the performance, armament and handling of the P-47. During testing, the Germans found the Thunderbolt to be slow and difficult to fly below 15,000 feet. At higher altitudes, they were impressed with its dive speed and roll rate. They were also impressed with the firepower of the 8 .50 caliber machine guns. As with other fighters tested by the Luftwaffe, after a complete test and evaluation period, Beetle was released to “Zirkus Rosarius”. Zirkus Rosarius was a special Luftwaffe unit under the command of Flugkapitan Ted Rosarius that visited front line fighter units to instruct Luftwaffe pilots on the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of enemy aircraft. The Germans also captured and flew 2 other P-47 Thunderbolts. Beetle also became a bit of a movie star. In early 1944, the German propaganda ministry used Beetle for a propaganda film. For the filming, the aircraft paint job was restored to its original American markings. It was returned to Luftwaffe markings after the filming. Nazi propaganda films later also included a captured Spitfire for filming a propaganda film about the Battle of Britain.” Photo: Evan Gilder of WW2Aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688211873-CE552QJ3UUWL12JJFN29/WTF-83.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Republic P-47 Thunderbolt T9+FK is the unquestioned centre of attention at this Luftwaffe fighter base as ground crew and pilots alike discuss the big fighter and ground attack machine. Before seeing it, test pilot Hans Werbner Lerche called the P-47 “precious”. While standing in front of the P-47 for the first time he said, “At long last I was standing in front of the legendary Thunderbolt!” Lerche said, “The P-47 cockpit could baffle even an experienced pilot.” He also talked about how long it took for him to get used to flying this aircraft. He appreciated that the Americans colour-coded the instruments. Lerche clearly enjoyed the comfort of the Thunderbolt as he said, “The Thunderbolt was flying in comfort indeed.” He described how the flight, takeoffs and landings were no problem with the undercarriage lowered. He explained how the Thunderbolt flew and attacked better at higher altitudes. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688262681-L1UGQRXR3ORYPLYHIF3L/WTF-61.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another day and another Luftwaffe base. A Zirkus Rosarius P-47 Thunderbolt (likely T9+FK) draws another group of inquisitive Luftwaffe mechanics and pilots. In his memoir Luftwaffe Test Pilot–Flying captured Allied Aircraft of World War 2, Hans Werner Lerche wrote: “The P-47 cockpit could baffle even an experienced pilot. I gradually managed to ascertain the function of most of the levers and instruments, but there were also some obscure controls, the meaning of which was not immediately clear to me. For example, the flaps were hydraulically compensation of the flap angle on both sides of the wing, but how this should function was at first a mystery to me. So I decided to try the flaps at a safe altitude and to operate them step by step. Lowered for take-off, they seemed able to take some dynamic pressure. On the other hand, I was obliged to the Americans for having meanwhile indicated on the instruments with the red and green sections regarding which values were acceptable for the engine and which were not. This was probably due to the fact that the P-47 was also flown in combat by non-English speaking pilots who could not easily understand the inscriptions. The levers for regulating the fuel mixture and the hydraulic constant-speed propeller was moved into full revs when the throttle was fully opened. A warning lamp was provided to indicate over speeding of the exhaust-driven turbine which activated the supercharger of the 2000 hp Double-Wasp radial engine at higher altitudes, but I did not intend to test this during my ferry flight. The sliding cockpit hood in the Thunderbolt was particularly pleasant and could be easily opened at low speeds. The roominess of the cockpit was also pleasantly surprising and comfortable, with the exhaust pipe leading to the turbine behind the pilot’s compartment. I was used to cowering in the Bf 109 seat to avoid continually knocking my head against the cockpit hood, compared to which sitting in the Thunderbolt was flying comfort indeed. And so came my first flight in our capture Thunderbolt in the afternoon of 10 November 1943. With its broad and robust undercarriage taking off and landing were not difficult at all, but nevertheless it was important to lock the tail wheel to keep the big fighter straight. Later on, I once forgot to do this when taking off and was barely able to avoid a ground loop when landing. There were no difficulties in flight. I first lowered, and everything worked out fine. The engine was running beautifully smoothly, something that I was already accustomed too from the other American aircraft I had test-flown. But I could discover nothing of the speed for which the Thunderbolt was renowned, at least not near the ground level.” Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688325639-NTS0ARGCB1KVJ13C4Q8E/WTF-54.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This P-47 Thunderbolt (T9+LK as this appears to have yellow undersides whereas T9+FK had grey undersides) was captured when its pilot, 2nd Lt Lloyd Hathcock of the 301st Fighter Squadron became disoriented during a mission on 29 May 1944 and landed in Rome, where he and his aircraft were taken. This particular P-47 (sn 42-75971) had at one time been the personal mount of 8-victory ace George Novotny of the 317th. This was the second P-47 captured by the Germans and it quickly made its way to the Wanderzirkus Rosarius at Rechlin. The alphanumerical code “T9” (just visible to the left of the flaps) was the unit code associated with the famed Zirkus Rosarius (also known as the Wanderzirkus Rosarius). The tail and wing undersides would have been painted in bright yellow. Among many Luftwaffe pilots who test flew T9+LK was Hans Werner Lerche. This particular image was taken after Americans captured Göttingen and pulled T9+LK outside. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688410142-U8561QC4PNAPFZ2OGHZS/WTF-84.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Captured P-47 Thunderbolt T9+LK from Zirkus Rosarius in Göttingen, Germany. It was probably used for several reconnaissance missions over England just before the D-Day invasion. It was recaptured by US troops in Göttingen in 1944 when the Germans were forced to make a rapid withdrawal to Bad Wörishofen. The Germans had to leave T9+LK behind because of mechanical problems. It had original American camouflage, with yellow tail and lower surfaces. USAAF Poster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688446638-1ORM6RGUIHUPU83XIHJV/WTF-60.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Mechanics and pilots inspect T9+CK, a North American P-51B Mustang that was restored to flying status by the Germans and evaluated at the test facility at Rechlin. Some forum discussions about this particular aircraft (P-51B 42-103458) indicate that it was flown by Lt. Thomas Todd and had force-landed, due to poor weather in a field in Austria, near the Hungarian border. When it was first captured, this Mustang wore overall USAAF dark green camouflage which was the USAAF standard at the time. Only the undersides and empennage were painted bright yellow by the Germans—the standard colour used on Luftwaffe test aircraft. In the personal test flying memoirs of legendary Rechlin test pilot Werner Lerche, his aircraft had landed intact. Here, Luftwaffe ground and air crews check the aircraft out, possibly at a fighter base where the pilots were being taught some of the flying characteristics of the legendary aircraft. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688487816-USKB4B3POP9JJK3WKOMQ/WTF-77.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another shot of Mustang T9+CK shows that, later, her camouflage was removed and bare metal was left unpainted except for the yellow tail and undersides. The use of bare metal matched the new standard for USAAF Mustangs and saved considerable weight. Mustang historian and artist Gaëtan Marie states, “Urban legends have arisen concerning the use of captured aircraft by the Luftwaffe. KG 200 is said to have used restored bombers to get into American bomber ‘boxes’ undetected and open fire on unsuspecting aircraft. It is also claimed that Mustangs were used to attack ‘stragglers’ – bombers who had dropped out of formation after taking damage. These reports seem untrue: possibly some aircraft were used to parachute spies in England, but this is probably as glamorous as it gets. Although no hard evidence exists for such things, the Luftwaffe nevertheless did use Allied aircraft rather extensively – but for more straightforward and useful purposes.” Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688597696-7NKLRY7SAKKZ4M1A5YRO/WTF-57.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another P-51B Mustang (T9+HK) gets the same attention as does the P-47 in the background. This P-51B-15-NA (s/n 43-24825) was originally nicknamed “Jerry” and assigned to Lt. Thomas E. Fraser of the 4th FG, 334th FS. It was lost in Cambrai, France, on 6 June 1944 and was tested by the Germans at Rechlin, before being transferred to the famous Zirkus Rosarius for training. It was lost on 10 December 1944. Often, pilots from the Rechlin test establishment would fly the fighters to other German bases and let the pilots there get a really close look at the enemy aircraft. Walter Wolfrum was one of the fortunate pilots who was afforded the opportunity to test fly aircraft like the Mustang: “During the war I had the opportunity to fly captured P-47s and P-51s. I didn’t like the Thunderbolt. It was too big. The cockpit was immense and unfamiliar. After so many hours in the snug confines of the 109, everything felt out of reach and too far away from the pilot. Although the P-51 was a fine airplane to fly, because of its reactions and capabilities, it too was disconcerting. With all those levers, controls and switches in the cockpit. I’m surprised [their] pilots could find the time to fight. We had nothing like this in the 109. Everything was simple and very close to the pilot. You fitted into the cockpit like a hand in a glove. Our instrumentation was complete, but simple: throttle, mixture control and propeller pitch. How [the] pilots were able to work on all their gadgets and still function amazes me.” Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688647804-F4NJG05VLKSGNQ6XOJZ3/WTF149.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A giant Short Stirling (RAF Serial N3707) with bright yellow test evaluation undersides was one of the stranger aircraft to be captured and test flown. The 7 Squadron RAF Stirling was on a mine-laying mission on 16 August 1942 when the radio operator radioed for a position at 04:58. Within a few hours, the Stirling, piloted by Sgt. S.C. Orrell, made a wheels-down landing in a marshy field near Gorinchem, Netherlands. Luftwaffe personnel from nearby Gilze-Rijen airfield took two weeks to make field repairs to the damaged Stirling and prepare the meadow as a makeshift runway. The Stirling was flown to Gilze-Rijen on 5 September 1942. It was tested at Erprobungsstelle Rechin, Germany, and recoded as Luftwaffe. Photo: Luftwaffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688681969-LYNGOWYTQTXDACSWXFU7/WTF-78.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another view of the Nazi-marked former RAF Short Stirling N3707. This aircraft was operated by the Zirkus Rosarius. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688760044-DAU6DBK55SZ1YH35XLIE/WTF216.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The hand drawn crest of the Technical Air Intelligence Unit of Southwest Pacific Area depicted the typical racist caricature of a Japanese pilot—buck-toothed and squinting, while technicians measure up his aircraft and fill out a Crashed Enemy Aircraft Report. Technical Air Intelligence Unit logo drawn by D.W. Coffin, during his time on Leyte in the Philippines https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688799777-0DF945MU4XIZJJFWS34R/WTF-40.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Two captured RAF-marked Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zeros, captured in Malaya at the end of the Pacific War, form up on a camera ship over Malaysian plantations in roughly applied markings of the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit–South East Asia (ATAIU–SEA). These were actually tested and evaluated by Japanese naval pilots under the supervision of Royal Air Force officers. One of these Zeros, along with other captured Japanese aircraft, ended up at Tebrau Airfield in Johor, Malaysia. It was then transported by ship to England, arriving in 1947 and was stored by the RAF until 1961, when it was then transferred to the Imperial War Museum for display. All that remains today is the centre fuselage section and wing centre section, with the landing gear partially deployed. The rest of the aircraft was lost or scrapped. The Sakae 21 engine, reportedly from this Zero, is displayed separately at the Aerospace Museum at Cosford. Photo: Sgt. Breeze, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688842832-ZGIE1RY7TWUJUTAHV1C7/WTF-38.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Mitsubishi J2M5 Raiden (Japanese for “Thunderbolt”) was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero. Japanese aircraft taken over by the Allies in British Malaya were tested and evaluated by Japanese naval aviators under close supervision of RAF officers from Seletar Airfield. Here two Mitsubishi J2M Raiden fighters (known to the Allies as “Jack”), belonging to the 381 Kōkūtai of Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, are flying in close formation during their evaluation flight with the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit–South East Asia. Primarily designed to defend against the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the lack of a turbocharger handicapped the Jack at high altitude. However, its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally. Insufficient numbers and the American switch to night bombing in March 1945 limited its effectiveness. Photo: Sgt. Breeze, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688881108-AFV0XSHIA3PBVSU11GMB/WTF197.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The previous photograph by RAF Sergeant Breeze showing two Raiden/Jack fighters flying in close formation over the Malaysian jungle is a well-known by aviation researchers. It is actually a tight cropping of a much wider shot taken that day which looks far more beautiful. According to most websites discussing this image, the pilots were in fact Japanese. Photo: Sgt. Breeze, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688917604-LHK13NPPGHFYG9HS4F9Y/WTF198.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out While researching the Raiden and its capabilities, I came upon a couple of images of the two Raidens from the famous ATAIU–SEA photo which show the preparations for the photo flight. Here we see Japanese ground crew watching as one of their Raidens, bearing the crudely applied markings, warms up. At right we see a British Army armed guard. Photo: Sgt. Breeze, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628688961814-HNUI6C0XLE0Y4H1SY8I4/WTF196.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another photograph from the Raiden formation flight photo-op shows Raiden mechanics watching as one of their pilots runs up the big 1,850 hp Mitsubishi MK4R-A Kasei 23a 14-cylinder twin-row radial engine. In the background we see the high tail of another ATAUI–SEA aircraft—a Mitsubishi G4M Betty, which likely flew that very same day as witnessed by the following photograph. Photo: Sgt. Breeze, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689012326-3XMQ6ET9P3BGT3WT8YRF/WTF-39.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Along with the two Raidens and other Japanese aircraft being evaluated by the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit–South East Asia, this Mitsubishi G4M Betty was put though her paces on the Malaysian Singapore area. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689056726-EVQ9ERW6I1ZNI4099DXI/WTF-41.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Aichi B7A Ryusei (Japanese for “Shooting Star”) was a heavy, powerful carrier-borne torpedo/dive bomber produced by Aichi Kokuki KK for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during the Second World War. It was known as “Grace” by Allied pilots. The Grace was manufactured in small numbers (only 114) and, sadly, the carriers it was supposed to operate from were largely sunk by the time of their appearance. It had little opportunity to show its metal before the war ended in 1945. This Grace was captured by American troops and was test flown in 1946 by the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit ATAIU–SEA. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689098537-5UBHSLMUT6JKEOOD9EJ4/WTF213.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero-Sen “Hamp” in the snow at Wright Field, Ohio. The Zero variant was built at the RAAF’s Eagle Farm Air Base, Brisbane, Australia, on 5 August 1943. Known as the Hamp, the A6M3 was rebuilt with parts from other A6M3, Model 32s, to rebuild a flying example for testing. The engine from one was used, main fuselage and wing section from another and the rear fuselage from another, plus components from other wrecks recovered at Buna. With an interpreter and a Japanese pilot POW, a cockpit checklist was created. USAAF pilot William Farrior, a replacement pilot, was asked to test the Zero. He stayed with Air Intelligence throughout the Second World War. The Hamp was later shipped to Wright Field, Ohio for testing. Arriving at Wright with 69 hours flying time, the Hamp was given the number EB-201. Testing at Wright Field added another 22 hours. Inspections found that the Hamp needed a new engine. The fate of the Hamp after the Second World War is unknown, but most likely the plane was scrapped. The performance report from Wright stated: “The Japanese Hamp, AAF No. EB-201, is a low wing single-engine fighter of all metal, stressed skin design. The fuselage is in two sections, joined aft of the pilot’s compartment, the forward section is of the semi-monocoque construction, the rear section is full monocoque. The wings are integral with the forward section of the fuselage. The airplane is highly manoeuvrable, has a fair rate of climb, and good visibility; however, its speed in level flight is low, it is lightly armed, has no armor protection for the pilot, and the fuel tanks are not self sealing. The cockpit layout is fair, leg room is insufficient for an average sized man and application of the brakes with fully extended rudder is impossible.” Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689155153-BHWFOGM8VO13I6T44MB8/WTF-42.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Japanese for “Peregrine Falcon”) was a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in the Second World War. Though code-named Oscar, it was often called the Army Zero for it similarities to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. This Oscar, in USAAF markings, is seen on a photo in flight over Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) in 1943. After its capture, it was rebuilt by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit (TAIU) in Hangar 7 at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689194094-FCYD7AMMZG2XMFI79ZHA/WTF180.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Center 1. After the United States Navy squeezed all the performance intelligence they could from the Akutan Zero in San Diego, it was transferred from Naval Air Station North Island to the Technical Air Intelligence Center at Anacostia Naval Air Station in 1943 becoming TAIC 1. Photo: NARA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689232979-WI3A559AQ9Z8DGLD4MQ7/WTF258.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Center 6, taking off at Naval Air Station Anacostia. The Nakajima B5N (Allied reporting name “Kate”) was the standard torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy for much of the Second World War. Although the B5N was substantially faster and more capable than its Allied counterparts, the TBD Devastator, Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore, it was nearing obsolescence by 1941. Nevertheless, the B5N operated throughout the whole war, due to the delayed development of its successor, the B6N (see example captured by TAIC below). Photo: NARA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689268044-J542629WYULWAH65P0NW/WTF-102.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA 7. A Kawanishi N1K “George” (Serial No 5511), painted in the markings of the Army Air Forces Technical Air Intelligence Unit – Southwest Pacific Area, pictured on the ground in 1945. Built by Kawanishi at Naruo in November 1944, it was assigned to the 201st Kōkūtai, with tail code 201-53 and painted in yellow. It was captured at Clark Field on 30 January 1945. Evaluated and flight tested by TAIU–SWPA at Clark Field, assigned tail number S7, but only 7 was applied to the tail. This aircraft was eventually scrapped. Photo: US Navy via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689306001-BD0MZ0FDWOFF3JNXHIMY/WTF-65.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Center 8. Another shot of a Technical Air Intelligence Center aircraft—a Mitsubishi A6M-5 Zero (sometime called a “Zeke”) The Zero has been stripped of all paint save USAAF markings and the TAIC markings on the tail (T.A.I.C. 8) and under the canopy rail. This is the Zero that is presently displayed at the National Air & Space Museum hanging from the 2nd Floor, Second World War gallery. This particular Zeke was built by Mitsubishi in or around December 1943. It was originally assigned to the 261st Kōkūtai with tail code 61-108. It was one of 12 captured by the US Marines at Aslito Airfield, Saipan in March 1944. American intelligence coded this aircraft as TAIC 8, and later FE-130 and T2-130. In the United States, this Zero was transported to the US Army Air Forces test organization at Wright Field, Ohio. During 1945 it was relocated at Eglin Field, Florida. At one time it had the name “Tokyo Rose” on its engine cowling. This colour photo was taken in the US some months after the Second World War. The TAIC operated several Zekes and used them to evaluate their performance against many different American types. Photo: TAIC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689347019-EOTVN503PT656979PM43/WTF252.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A captured Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Japanese for “Swallow”) in American markings and the tail inscription TAIC 9. The Kawasaki Ki-61 was a Japanese fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. The first encounter reports claimed Ki-61s were Messerschmitt Bf 109s: further reports claimed that the new aircraft was an Italian design, which led to the Allied reporting name of “Tony”. It is my understanding that if the tail/fuselage inscription says Technical Air Intelligence CENTER, this means that the aircraft was shipped stateside for more testing at Anacostia Naval Air Station near Washington, DC and if the inscription says Technical Air Intelligence UNIT, this means the aircraft was still being tested at one of the TAI Units in or near the Pacific theatre. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689464165-EY9Z43JPQBKFPZU87CWA/WTF259.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The last remaining Tony in Japan was put on display at Yakota Air Base in Japan, which is still a functioning USAF base today. It was initially set up on the base in Japanese markings it was captured in at Yakota at the end of the war. Sometime in 1947, it was deemed offensive to American personnel and repainted in the above bogus USAF markings (with new red bar in flashes in use after 1 January 1947). It was easier to mark them as American than to dispose of them . In 1953, the Tony was returned to the Japanese people through civilian representatives of the Japan Aeronautic Association (Nippon Kohkuh Kyohkai). They moved it to Hibiya Park in Tokyo near the Imperial Palace for display. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689504022-VZ2EHSKVZ2HXX7VOPF1D/WTF-101.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Center 10. The Mitsubishi Ki-46-II, a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second World War was a sleek and fish-like beauty. This elegant aircraft was the best high-altitude long-range reconnaissance type that the Japanese put into the field in the Second World War. Its high speed allowed it to frequently avoid Allied interceptors for most of the war, making it a well-respected thorn in the Allies’ side. Its Army Shiki designation was Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft but the Allies nicknamed it the “Dinah”. Here we see it in the now-familiar markings of the Technical Air Intelligence Center (written on the fuselage) at Naval Air Station Anacostia near Washington, DC after it was delivered there and restored in 1945. Photo: TAIC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689540726-9OJQIP393SGE490LIA4L/WTF-107.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S11. A captured Japanese Nakajima Ki-44 “Tojo” fighter pictured in flight in American Navy markings (“Tech Air Intel Unit – South West Pacific Area”). The Nakajima Ki-44 was a single-engine fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in the Second World War. The type first flew in August 1940 and entered service in 1942. The Allied reporting name was “Tojo”; the Japanese Army designation was “Army Type 2 Single-Seat Fighter”. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689574826-FELYS2GTUNXYTLMMOFWK/WTF243.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Technical Air Intelligence Center 11. Not every aircraft evaluated by the Technical Air Intelligence Units or the Center were marked as US Navy aircraft. Here we see a T.A.I.C. Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 in the markings of the British. Photo: j-aircraft.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689611184-YOXGSU7LEKB7225QNNNH/WTF-105.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S12. As well as ATAIU–SEA, the TAIU–SWPA operated two Mitsubishi J2M Raiden fighters, known as the Jack. The Jack is shown at Clark Field being put into flying condition by Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA in 1945 at Luzon, Philippine Islands. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689641623-YIY5LY1O2MRH19JFXTFT/WTF250.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A great shot of the TAIU–SWPA S12 Raiden in flight in perfect plan view. It was a beautiful aircraft in plan. Photo: NARA via j-aircraft.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689676650-RXMDHNMOVA5KI3FR3ZJB/WTF241.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA 14, Nick the Dragon Slayer. The Technical Air Intelligence Unit – South West Pacific Area clearly took great care of their captured aircraft, as witnessed by this well-maintained and carefully painted captured Kawasaki Ka-45 Toryu. The word Toryu means Dragon Slayer in Japanese, but the Allied simply called them by the non dramatic code name “Nick”. This is at Clark Field, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689736471-PIKL63O48LWDVSRSVE14/WTF242.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Pilots of the Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA turn the Kawasaki Ka-45 Nick on its wing as they put it through its paces after the end of the Second World War. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689777028-UQE2KG3FM97FVM3VYM0X/WTF161.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA. A captured bare-metal finish Mitsubishi G4M Betty bomber of the Japanese Army is shown in flight in 1945 and being evaluated by the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit based at Eagle Farm Airbase, Brisbane, Australia. The Japanese aircraft wears the red and white striped tail markings of the USAAC which had been out of use for over three years—perhaps to make it as American in appearance as possible. Photo: ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689812464-ZJKIU4KILAZFZ3K33SKY/WTF175.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S16, Judy in the skies. A US Navy–marked Yokosuka D4Y3 Model 33 Suisei (Comet) dive bomber wears titles (Tech Air Intel Unit S16) that indicate she is flown and evaluated by TAIC (Technical Air Intelligence Center) at NAS Anacostia. This evaluation took place after the war. The “Comet” Navy Carrier Dive bomber was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its Allied reporting name was “Judy”. The D4Y was one of the fastest dive bombers of the war and only the delays in its development hindered its service while its predecessor, the slower fixed-gear Aichi D3A remained in service much longer than intended. Despite limited use, the speed and the range of the D4Y was nevertheless valuable (probably the reason it was evaluated by the TAIC), and the type was used with success as reconnaissance aircraft as well as for kamikaze missions. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689851954-1D7REFYJLSVGF1M3GHV0/WTF172.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S17. A Japanese fighter followed in close contact by three of the Allies’ most formidable fighter aircraft would normally quickly hard and pull hard on the pole to get away. In this case, it’s an Allied pilot and he is leading this foursome in a captured Japanese fighter aircraft Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Japanese for “Gale”, allied code name “Frank”). This Frank, in US markings, was discovered at an abandoned airfield (Clark Field) in Luzon, Philippines, after the U.S. recapture of the island in January 1945; the first aircraft of this type was discovered on the island of Leyte. This aircraft was operated by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit – South West Pacific Area (SWPA) located at Clark Field, Luzon (Philippines), from the end of January 1945. Other aircraft in the formation are a Royal Navy Seafire (lower left), a US Navy Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat and a USAAF North American P-51D Mustang. The Nakajima Ki-84 models, fitted with engines exceeding 1800 horsepower, could surpass the top speeds of the P-47D Thunderbolt and the P-51D Mustang at 6,000 m. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628689968942-WC979F7UY5KSQDEIPP2R/WTF174.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S17. This could be the same captured Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) as in the previous photograph, however it now wears Technical Air Intelligence Unit markings and the number S17 while being shipped to the US aboard USS Long Island in 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690001088-M577HB4CJHYP7GMK157S/WTF249.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Technical Air Intelligence Unit – SWPA S19. The Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Japanese for “Heavenly Mountain”, Allied code name: “Jill”) was the Imperial Japanese Navy’s standard carrier-borne torpedo bomber during the final years of the Second World War and the successor to the B5N “Kate”. Due to its protracted development, a shortage of experienced pilots and the United States Navy’s achievement of air superiority by the time of its introduction, the B6N was never able to fully demonstrate its combat potential. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690040203-U6KP53BCU1L89L4ETKQN/WTF199.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Sometimes the markings were put on aircraft simply to rub it into the enemy... especially one that lost. Because the Japanese High Command thought that Japan did not have enough obsolete aircraft to use for kamikaze attacks, it was decided that huge numbers of cheap, simple suicide planes should be constructed quickly in anticipation for the invasion of Japan. The Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi (Sabre) was one of these designs. It had a droppable takeoff gear, as there was no expectation of a return flight. While the Japanese High Command had plans to construct some 8,000 per month in workshops all across Japan, only just over 100 were made and they thankfully never saw service. This Nakajima Ki115 kamikaze aircraft “war prize” is pictured on display as a “gate guardian”, in faux United States Air Force markings, at Yokota Air Base. The aircraft was on display at Yokota between 1945 and 1952. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690077062-CM8GVEUGHADRDVHKEIP6/WTF-108.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Nakajima G8N1 Renzan (Japanese for “Mountain Range”) long-range heavy bomber, code named Rita by Allied forces, in American markings. The first prototype Renzan made its first flight on 23 October 1944, and it was followed by the second, third and fourth aircraft in December 1944, March 1945 and June 1945, far too late to be put in mass production. In the last months of the war, the disastrous situation of the Japanese industry and severe shortages of strategic materials led to the cancellation of the program, with only four Renzans being completed. One of those aircraft was destroyed on the ground during an Allied air raid, and after the war, one of the remaining examples was taken to the United States for testing. The few test flights conducted by the Japanese between American bombing raids showed that the G8N Renzan held great promise; this was backed up by American tests after the war. Photo: USAAF, taken at Teterboro Airport, Newark, New Jersey, USA, ca. 1946 by Howard Levy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690130469-KSCW0UE3MJVK45UACXB5/WTF-2.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Watanabe-designed Kyushu Q1W Tokai looked a lot like the Luftwaffe’s Junkers Ju 88 and was the only Japanese aircraft specifically designed to carry out antisubmarine warfare during the Second World War. The design started in 1942, and the first prototype of the Tokai (“Eastern Sea”) was flown in September 1943. Production of the type was not authorized until early 1944, and only 153 examples of the type were built before the war ended. The view offered her crew was clearly excellent. The design proved to be relatively ineffective, especially in the face of American fighters. Photo via Militaryfactory.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690184385-4UYP2EI7CCF5FA2U63LO/WTF-7.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out When Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies (today known as Indonesia) in 1942, the Dutch put up a stiff defense, but ultimately could not possibly win over the onslaught of the Japanese. 32 Douglas DB-7B Bostons (A-20 Havoc) were allocated to the Dutch by the USA for defense aid, and a number were already in the country, some just recently assembled and others still in crates from Australia. Most of the twin-engined medium bombers were destroyed by retreating Dutch airmen with the Dutch Naval Air Service and the Army Aviation Corps of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army or sent (still in crates) to Australia for use by the RAAF. Those that were assembled or nearly assembled could not be flown out due to a shortage of 100 octane fuel. However, the Japanese were able to acquire a number of intact Bostons—among these, one still in crates on the waterfront at Tjilatjap and another fully assembled at Andir. The aircraft in the above two photos was the Boston assembled from crated components and was flown to Tachikawa, the Japanese test centre. The one in crates (top image) was assembled by Dutch POWs and flown by Dutch personnel under Japanese guard from Tjilatjap to Andir and then on to Japan with Japanese pilots. It wore a Japanese registration (Ko-DA-1) on its tail. This aircraft’s fuselage (lower image) was found after the end of the war at Atsugi, a Japanese Navy facility, where it was being used as an instructional airframe. Photos via sas1946.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690241246-S8PNH4QQYVW4J83Y3ZXW/WTF-8.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A photograph of the Dutch Douglas Boston (RAF serial No. AL906, Dutch serial No. D52), which the Japanese had captured intact at Andir, taken at the Japanese Army Air Force test facility at Tachikawa, Japan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690281787-7WTXNURVETGEA0OL8JIP/WTF-9.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Curtiss-Wright Model 21 Demon (also known as the Curtiss-Wright Model 21 Demonstrator, the Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Interceptor, and the Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Demon) was an American-built fighter interceptor, developed by the St. Louis Airplane Division of Curtiss-Wright Corporation during the 1930s.The Netherlands East Indies Army Air Corps operated the Curtiss Wright CW-21 in Java. Lower right, we see the Dutch orange triangular markings on the side of a CW-21 Demon at Andir Airfield, Bandung, Java. Above, we see another Demon wearing the Hinomaru or “Meatball” after it was captured at Java and flown to the Tachikawa test centre in Japan. The winged symbol on the tail of the aircraft is that of the Tachikawa test centre. The aircraft survived the war and was found at the Tachikawa test facility at Singapore (lower left). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690319072-RHI243KDEVRPEH2R6M78/WTF-70.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The official reason the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) decided to use Curtiss P-40E Warhawks operationally in the defence of occupied Rangoon is not known, but they had several. Several Curtiss P-40E Warhawks were captured by the IJAAF in the Philippines and Java, while others were recovered from the water after being dumped by Allied cargo ships. After the fall of Burma, Malaya, Netherlands East Indies (NEI), and the Philippines, all types of Allied aircraft were pressed into service by the Japanese including this flight of P-40s sporting Hinomaru markings—the Rising Sun roundel of the Japanese, sometimes referred to as the “Meatball”. In the background stands a Japanese B-17. Photo via J-aircraft.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690360681-2740P3Z10EPHG94SG6YV/WTF132.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A rare colour photograph of a Japanese airfield near Tokyo after VJ Day shows a captured P-40 Warhawk along with other Japanese types. The USAAF star roundel can still be seen beneath the Hinomaru red roundel of the Japanese Imperial Army. Photo: James G. Weir https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690392649-74CCB4MJ02FH5VCGWZ0K/WTF-69.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A proud Japanese fighter pilot stands before a captured P-40 Warhawk. Image via ww2shots.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690431892-JK6GQ08QAF40LHPLJN5R/WTF134.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Grumman F6F Hellcat (s/n 71441), the Navy fighter that finally bested the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, was found by Marines of Marine Air Group 31, who flew from Okinawa to occupy the famous Yokosuka Naval Air Base, which was situated 30 miles from Tokyo. This example had its USN markings over-painted with the Hinomaru rising sun roundel. The aircraft was flown by Lt. Charles V. August, of VF-44, aboard USS Langley when he was shot down and crash-landed on Formosa. He became a POW of the Japanese on 4 January 1945. It was the second time that he had been shot down and made a POW—the first being as a POW of the Vichy French on 11 August 1942. He is likely the only naval aviator to be a POW of two different enemy forces in the Second World War. Photo via PacificWrecks.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690483358-091S2EY37YECTL5EOHYH/WTF-19.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out At the end of the war, the Allied air forces loaded up on as many new German technologies as they could lay their hands on. While everyone wanted to get their mitts on jet technology, the Germans had also made advances in vertical flight technology. The Focke–Achgelis Fa 223 Drache (“Dragon” in English) was a helicopter developed by Germany during the Second World War. Although the Fa 223 was noted for being the first helicopter to attain production status, production of the helicopter was hampered by Allied bombing of the factory and only 20 were built. This one ended its life as the RAF’s first helicopter. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690523228-96EZZMHGJSLCPN5DTB15/WTF-10.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out On 5 May 1945, just as the war was coming to an end, the Luftwaffe was looking for locations to regroup their remaining aircraft. One of those places was Norway and on that date there was a massive relocation of Luftwaffe assets. When the British and American forces arrived in Norway, the Ar 234 was a high priority intelligence target. As Norway was part of the British occupation zone, the British forces decided on Ar 234 dispositions. An American request for 3–4 Ar 234s from Sola was granted in June, and the American Colonel H. Watson arrived with a team to collect the airplanes. His team included two American pilots and one German pilot—H. Baur. Three Ar 234s were selected, and these were prepared for flights via Germany to France. From France the airplanes were later to be shipped to USA for evaluation. Arado Ar 234B-2 No. 140311. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690564521-RAIP4KL6R66HRN6FKEO1/WTF-11.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Nazi secret weapon in Royal Air Force colours. Certainly, the greatest captures at the end of the war for the Allies would have been the mysterious first generation jet aircraft like this Arado 234 B2. The Arado Ar 234 was the world’s first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of the Second World War. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible to intercept. It was the last Luftwaffe aircraft to fly over England during the war, in April 1945. Photo: worldweapons.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690679037-2E8BUDBGAH34113AQSH3/WTF-13.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The Heinkel He 177A-5 (Geschwaderkennung code of F8+AP from 6./Kampfgeschwader 40) was captured in the Toulouse–Blagnac airfield in September 1944. It was repainted with British markings and given the serial TS439. It was tested by the Royal Aircraft Establishment who applied its Circle P roundel for experimental aircraft. The final end for the He 177 came in late 1944 when high grade fuel wasn’t available in the quantity needed to operate a whole Geschwader and the implementation of the Emergency Fighter Program. At this point the He 177 proved to be the most reliable, rugged and technically advanced bomber of the Luftwaffe. This seems to be confirmed by postwar tests on the He 177A-5 and the single long-range He 177A-7, which turned out to be impressive for the RAF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690718985-M8YV1ZFI8EY7GJDYA5IG/WTF-118.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Le Heinkel—A Heinkel 274 in French Air Force markings. The Heinkel He 274 was a four-engine bomber designed during the Second World War as a high-altitude variant of the Heinkel He 177 for the German Luftwaffe. Developed in substitution for the planned He 177A-4 high-altitude bomber, the Heinkel He 274 was the detail design responsibility of the Société Anonyme des Usines Farman’s Suresnes factory in occupied France. Fitted with a pressure cabin, the aircraft was powered by four 1305kW Daimler–Benz DB 603A-2 engines and featured a lengthened version of the He 177A-3 fuselage, with a new high-aspect-ratio wing and twin fins and rudders. Two prototypes were ordered in May 1943, together with four He 274A-0 pre-production examples, which were to have 1417kW DB 603G engines. Despite an unsuccessful German attempt to destroy the almost-complete first prototype when they retreated from Paris in July 1944, the aircraft was finished by the French after the liberation and flown from Orléans-Bricy in December 1945 as the AAS 01A. In 1949, one of the AAS 01A aircraft (above) took part in Sud Ouest S.O. 4000 Vautour I jet-bomber programme. It was used as the Sud Ouest 1/2 scale SOM.1 model carrier. The captured German aircraft was withdrawn from French Air Force service in 1953. Photo via ww2eagles.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690756234-YGQ0SGB9Q349X60AVX81/WTF-15.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out While the Germans captured several four-engined B-17s and B-14s from the Allies, they operated very few four-engined types themselves, making the capture of one really worth the intelligence. Here a captured Focke–Wulf 200C Condor in RAF roundels but still with its Luftwaffe aircraft code GC+AE is evaluated in Great Britain during the Second World War. Aft of the letters AE on her fuselage she carries the words “Air Min” for Air Ministry. The Condor, also known as Kurier to the Allies, was a German all-metal four-engine monoplane originally developed by Focke–Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft led to military versions that saw service with the Luftwaffe as long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping/maritime patrol bomber aircraft. The Luftwaffe also made extensive use of the Fw 200 as a transport with Adolf Hitler himself using one as his personal aircraft. This particular Condor (CG+AE) was the personnel aircraft of Heinrich Himmler and later Grand Admiral Doenitz. It was found intact at Achmer in 1945 and flown to Farnborough on 3 July 1945 for evaluation. In addition, Danish-owned Fw 200 aircraft named Dania was seized by the British on English soil after Denmark was invaded by German forces in 1940. It was subsequently operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and was then pressed into service with the Royal Air Force. It was damaged beyond repair in 1941. Photo: Air Ministry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690810450-BANYDZR9SZTTF7IHQPAS/WTF-104.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Junkers Ju 290 four-engined transport and patrol bomber, wearing United States Army Air Force markings and getting her port outer engine changed at Orly, Paris, France on the way to America in 1945. Renamed Alles Kaputt, (It’s all over), and numbered FE 3400 (former Luftwaffe code PI+PS), it was flown to the U.S. by Colonel Harold E. Watson from Orly, Paris to Wright Field on 28 July 1945, via the Azores. The captured aircraft, with its Nazi insignia repainted, was a frequent performer at air shows at Freeman Field and Wright Field. When the aircraft was scrapped at Wright Field in 1946, a plastic explosive device of German manufacture was discovered in the wing near to a fuel tank. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690847979-W4EAUKQR37F6C2O7UULW/WTF171.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A great moody shot of the captured Junkers Ju 290 with her new American nose art Alles Kaputt and a fresh port outer engine, photographed at Orly airport just prior to her departure for the USA. She also wears a newly-installed Allied-style radio compass antenna behind the cockpit and forward of the gun turret. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690897244-OIM51C9VHCHXL8R6ZJXH/WTF191.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A beautiful colour photograph of Alles Kaputt being displayed in Dayton at either Freeman or Wright Field. When she arrived back in the U.S., her Balkenkreuz and HakenKreuze (Swastika) were repainted on her sides, but she retained her Alles Kaputt nose art. Sadly, she was scrapped in 1946. Photo via FalkeEins–the Luftwaffe Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690937022-RF76Q11CRU6VU440YITL/WTF253.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out The entrance sign at Freeman Army Airfield in Indiana was made from the port wing of a captured Luftwaffe Focke–Wulf Fw 190. The base was established in 1942 as a pilot training airfield. After the war, captured German, Italian and Japanese aircraft were brought to the base for evaluation, testing and even public display. It was closed in 1946. Photo via Alex Campbell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628690972312-5KWPL88ZNDKSFSS0LUAT/WTF254.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Though this Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun (T2-4610) was brought from Europe to Freeman Army Air Field after the war, it clearly was not for evaluation, for there could be little the USAAF could learn from a pre-war design. Likely it was taken because it was a sweet little performer and made a great liaison aircraft. Near the end of the war, this aircraft was with Air Technical Intelligence at Villacoublay, France. It was used as a communications aircraft by the Air Technical Intelligence teams in theatre. It was transferred to the United States aboard HMS Reaper, to continue as a liaison aircraft and used as a flying trophy by members of that team. When it arrived, it was painted overall orange-red still with Swastikas and Balkenkreus. There is a rumour that this aircraft had one time been Herman Goering’s personal Taifun. This aircraft is currently owned by the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino, California. Image from Ashley Annis Collection via indianamilitary.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691014031-ZQF7ZE53W7XZQW9WWJ8X/WTF226.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Focke–Wulf Fw 190 / Ju 88 combination known as the Mistel (Mistletoe) in the snow, likeley in Great Britain after the war. Both aircraft wear Royal Air Force roundels as well as a captured Ju 52 in the distance. The bottom Ju 88 bomber would normally have a cockpit area filled with explosives and a long proboscis-like nose that would detonate the warhead. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691055270-5KVMGUVF73FRN6SE5GBO/WTF227.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out Another captured 3B Mistel combination in RAF markings at RAF Farnborough after the war—a Focke–Wulf 190A fighter-guide on top of a Junkers Ju 88A pilotless bomber. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691108727-CCHWZ441169HQDGRZRU4/WTF-106.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A former Japanese Tachikawa Ki-9 “Spruce” pictured at airfield K-1 (Pusan-West) in South Korea during 1951. Note that it is painted in South Korean markings (under wing) as well as American. We’re not sure whether the Americans captured this aircraft after the Second World War and then transferred it to Korea, or the other way around. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691156005-JUO1K03JSSYSV4QGDDYY/WTF244.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out United States Marines guard a captured North Korean Yakovlev Yak-9 (USAF serial T2-3002) during the Korean War. This aircraft would be packed up and sent to the United States for evaluation. See next photo. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691186511-W1JCO2WGXQUOVEOHX9M2/WTF209.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out According to aeroflight.co.uk, the captured North Korean Yak-9U was found in airworthy condition by Marines at Kimpo airfield on 17 September 1950, and subsequently shipped to USA for evaluation. It arrived at Buffalo for rebuild by the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory. The Yak-9U was assigned the serial number T2-3002, with the first flight in US hands occurring on 21 September 1951. In all, 23 hours and 55 minutes of flying time was accumulated in the Yak-9. The last flight took place on 12 December. Following the conclusion of the tests, the Yak-9 was allotted to the USAF Museum in the mid-1950s. Sadly, due to lack of storage space, it was scrapped in 1958. Interestingly, it is alleged that the Yak was offered back to the Soviet Union as a gift by the USAF! Information via aeroflight.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691226934-YSJOE4BQ5QLBFCHVF1OF/WTF-112.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out An American MiG-15 under heavy guard. In April 1953, the U.S. Far East Command made an offer of $100,000 for the first MiG-15 delivered intact. No enemy pilot took advantage of this offer and when the Korean Truce went into effect on 27 July 1953, the UN still had not acquired a MiG-15 for flight-testing. On 21 September 1953, personnel at Kimpo Air Base near Seoul, Korea, were surprised to see a MiG-15 suddenly land downwind and roll to a stop. The plane was piloted by a 21-year-old Senior Lt. Kum Sok No of the North Korean Air Force, who had decided to fly to South Korea because he “was sick and tired of the Red deceit.” Shortly after landing at Kimpo Air Base, the young pilot not only learned of the $100,000 reward but also that his mother had been safely evacuated from North to South Korea in 1951 and that she was still alive and well. The MiG-15 was taken to Okinawa where it was first flown by Wright Field test pilot Capt. Tom Collins. Subsequent test flights were made by Capt. Collins and Maj. Chuck Yeager. The airplane was next disassembled and airlifted to Wright–Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in December 1953 where it was reassembled and given exhaustive flight-testing. The United States then offered to return the airplane to its “rightful owners”. The offer was ignored, and in November 1957 it was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force for public exhibition. Today it carries its original number “2057”. At his request, No came to the United States, changed his name and became a U.S. citizen. He graduated from the University of Delaware, was joined by his mother and was later married. Interestingly, just below the gunsight on Lt. No’s MiG-15 was the following admonition in red Korean characters: “Pour out and zero in this vindictive ammunition to the damn Yankees.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691420414-Q2ZRN608YN4F6RQPZAKZ/WTF-109.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A former Syrian MiG-17 F “Fresco” in the Nevada skies, thanks to Israel. A number of U.S. federal agencies undertook a program at Groom Lake to evaluate the MiG-17 to help fight the Vietnam War, as North Vietnamese MiG-17s and MiG-21s had a kill rate against them of 9:1. The program was code-named HAVE DRILL, involving trials of two ex-Syrian MiG-17F Frescos over the skies of Groom Lake. These aircraft were given USAF designations and fake serial numbers so that they may be identified in DOD standard flight logs. In addition to tracking the dog fights staged between the various MiG models against virtually every fighter in U.S. service, and against Strategic Air Command’s B-52 Stratofortresses and B-58 Hustlers to test the ability of the bombers’ countermeasures systems, they also performed radar cross-section and propulsion tests that contributed greatly to improvements in U.S. aerial performance in Vietnam. Photo: US Department of Defense https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691464687-Q8S1EMVQM92QIGSFZFUU/WTF-113.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out A Soviet-built MiG-21F(68-0965) in the simplest of United States Air Force markings is seen overflying the Tonopah Test range in Nevada during evaluation tests. During the late 1960s and 70s, the USAF’s Foreign Technology Division, Air Force Systems Command obtained a number of Soviet-built fighters from various sources, including several MiG-21s. Following their evaluation (a top secret program called Project Doughnut) within the frame of other projects, they gradually entered service with 4477th TES “Red Eagles” at Tonopah, in the early 1980s. These aircraft came from such places as Israel and Indonesia. Photo: US Department of Defense https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691500200-C8JVRQLOWHC1FXJPHW71/WTF-114.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out This Syrian MiG-23 Flogger was gifted to Israel by a defecting pilot in the late 1980s. It wears both Israeli and Syrian roundels and a Syrian flag on its tail. Photo: Israeli Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628691535089-9E9EPB1H1VT8XJULWWUQ/WTF-116.jpg The Stories - WTF? — Captured Enemy Aircraft - Make it stand out In 1966, a Christian Iraqi pilot, dissatisfied by the Saddam Hussein regime, defected to Israel in his MiG-21. This was a result of an extensive Mossad operation. As a humorous nod to the black ops required to get the aircraft, it was given the serial number 007. Photo: Serge Batoussov https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/moose-jaw-saskatchewan monthly 0.5 2022-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628627778043-F8N50MU6UUBMRYJGW4PC/MooseJawTitle.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628628195311-RPVAQI2B2K82ZKBN76VA/MooseJaw45.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Young Harry Blakey (with arms crossed) poses with work mates from Pius A. Baines & Sons, Preston, building contractors and cabinet manufacturers in his home town of Preston, Lancashire, England. Harry was apprenticing as a woodworking machinist. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628628256991-VNUZYJONAVKDKPD9J0MA/MooseJaw25.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry Blakey and his beloved Kodak Vigilant. One of Harry Blakey’s pastimes was photography—a passion he inherited from his father. All his life, he would have a dark room in his home and would even process colour film. But throughout his war experience, Blakey carried with him a Kodak Vigilant Six-20 camera—with leather bellows that allowed it to fold for travel. The camera was manufactured from 1939 to 1949 by Eastman Kodak and was state of the art for personal advanced photography. This shot was likely taken at home as the mail slot and flowers in the windows would not be at an RAF training facility. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628628602532-XOEKN466BZONR5SVZSYG/MooseJaw01.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Aircraftman Second Class Harry Blakey (foreground) practices at a rifle range at RAF Ternhill with a Pattern 1914 Enfield .303 rifle, the service rifle of the British Army in the First World War. Ternhill was, and is today, a small Royal Air Force base in Shropshire in west central England. Ternhill was host to several flying units in the First and Second World War but, from 1939, it also was the home of No. 15 Personnel Transit Centre (PTC) as well as No. 10 Service Flying Training School (SFTS). According to Harry’s identity card (below), he was issued the identity document on 14 June 1940 at Ternhill. As he did not leave the base for another 6 months, it was unlikely that he was at the PTC as he would have only stayed for a couple of weeks at the most. Looking into the history of No. 32 SFTS in Moose Jaw, where Harry ended up, I learned that No. 32 was originally numbered No. 10 SFTS at Ternhill in Shropshire, England, and that this school was moved as a unit to Moose Jaw in November 1940 and renumbered as No. 32. So Harry was essentially with the same school in England as he was in Saskatchewan. Image: Harry Blakey collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642389949-WA34RIW4UOXB7G3EOMC9/MooseJaw12.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out The interior of Harry’s Royal Air Force identity card, showing his arrival at Ternhill, 14 June 1940. His photo appears to be clipped from a group shot. Image: Harry Blakey collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642424366-W5XDAX8R02K3RZAYRVRM/MooseJaw02.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out On 17 December 1940, Aircraftman Harry Blakey set sail on the troop ship SS Leopoldville, headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia along with other members of No. 10 Service Flying Training School from RAF Ternhill, bound for Moose Jaw. Here Harry gets one of his mates to snap a photograph of him somewhere in the North Atlantic, at the stern of his troopship. Image: Harry Blakey collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642463024-5QVSY0K85L2EQYPQTJPJ/MooseJaw32.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Like many an RAF airman destined for Canada or coming back to the United Kingdom, Harry’s ship on the trip to Halifax was the old liner SS Leopoldville. Here, I have marked out exactly where Harry was standing when the previous photograph was taken. SS Leopoldville was an 11,700 ton passenger liner of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. She was converted for use as a troopship (TSS—for Troop Steam Ship) in the Second World War, and while sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, was torpedoed and sunk by the U-486. As a result, approximately 763 soldiers died, together with 56 of her crew. Photo via u-boat.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642527389-2GVFP26C1MKVXZSY4R1L/MooseJaw03.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out A Halifax harbour pilot boat meets Harry Blakey’s Belgian-registered troopship outside the approaches. Harry walked down the gangway onto the wharf at Halifax on 29 December 1940, boarded a train immediately and was stepping off the railcar in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in the dead of winter just three days later, having journeyed nearly 4,000 kilometres in that short time. I have heard that many arriving British, Australian or New Zealand airmen were not overly impressed by the sooty and rough and tumble city of Halifax upon arrival. Halifax, the single most important port on the west shore of the Atlantic Ocean in 1940, could be forgiven for its untidiness, not because there was a war on and it was crowded with transiting soldiers, sailors and airmen, but largely because the entire central part of the city and Dartmouth, its sister city across the harbour, was wiped off the face of the earth just 24 years before in the Halifax Explosion, a 2.9 kiloton detonation caused when a French munitions ship by the name of SS Mont-Blanc exploded in the harbour following a collision with another ship. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642605696-RB6V7WAX0MN8J0RB2GUL/MooseJaw04.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out The winter of 1940–41 in Moose Jaw was as mean and hard as any on the locals, but one can imagine what a shock it had to be for men from the Cotswolds or the warmth of Gladstone, Queensland. It seemed that Harry Blakey embraced the weather and the people immediately, photographing around the prairie town of Moose Jaw, which lay eight kilometres to the north of No. 32 Service Flying Training School where he trained and eventually worked. There is one thing colder than a winter’s day in Moose Jaw, and that is a winter’s night. Here, while the café, theatre and tavern lights of downtown weekend Moose Jaw signal warmth and welcome inside, Harry stands in the middle of Main Street, not long after his arrival and sets up a time exposure. A bus blurs off into the distance, while cars and shoppers line the street. The magic lies in the bright welcome offered by the prairie town which contrasted so drastically with the blacked-out cities of Blakey’s England. In the lower right, we see a shadow and a blurred shadow of a man, maybe two— is that you Harry? Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642655763-XEVPDST1T1IXG4AKQNFE/MooseJaw18.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out It is doubtful that Moose Jaw’s Wimpy’s Hamburger Shop of the 1930s and 1940s was inspired by the chain of Wimpy Burger restaurants in England, as that enterprise had barely gotten off the ground by the beginning of the war and had only 12 restaurants in England by the 1950s. Instead, it is simply likely that this establishment, now long gone from Moose Jaw, was simultaneously named after the same fat, hamburger eating character from the animated Popeye cartoon by the name of J. Wellington Wimpy—pictured here on their sign on River Street, Moose Jaw despite the obvious copyright infringements. On the other hand, Amil’s Taxi has been in continuous operation since 1924 and is still the number one taxi company in the city today. Note the four digit telephone number. Moose Javian Todd Lemieux remembers Amil’s fondly from the not too distant 1980s: “You bet Amil’s Taxi has been around for a long time... we used to take two of them, drive down Main Street, open the windows and crawl from cab to cab with the drivers still driving.” Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642688504-W41HY8E4HTY2P05KQXEW/MooseJaw06.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out While many of his mates were hunkered down inside on the base or in Moose Jaw’s fine social establishments, Leading Aircraftman Harry Blakey of Preston, England shouldered his tripod and camera and roamed the streets, driven by a passion to record and express the simple beauty of the place he loved and would someday call home. Here he stops on Langdon Crescent to capture a winter scene. The photograph is looking south towards St. John’s Anglican Church (today known as St. Aiden’s) in the thin winter light. We asked Todd Lemieux, Vintage Wings Chairman and warbird operator, about this scene: “It’s the church my family attended and still attends, I was baptized there, confirmed there and was a choir boy there (no joke). It contains two original crosses that survived the battle of Vimy ridge”. The park on the left of this photo, called Crescent Park, was built during the depression-era 1930s by men on relief. To the extreme right, off camera, is the famous dance hall known as Temple Gardens. Temple Gardens was THE dance hall in Southern Saskatchewan and one of the centres of social life in Moose Jaw. It had hardwood floors laid over a bed of horse hair and all the big travelling acts played there during the war years and after. Art Linkletter, who was born and orphaned in Moose Jaw, was a host there in the early years, and beloved CBC radio host Peter Gzowski also announced there for Moose Jaw radio station CHAB when he was editor of the Moose Jaw Times Herald. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642748928-Y7XEKYJTOIKDT1W0M1RK/MooseJaw33.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Not sure why I am always compelled to look to see what the same place would look like today, but thanks to Google Maps, I can visit the same spot as in the previous photograph more than seventy years later and see how things have changed. This view is also looking south on Langdon Crescent with Crescent Park to the east. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642798981-2A2X6ZB1168X5LI6UCYF/MooseJaw30.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out A Temple Gardens advertisement found in a 1942 copy of “Prairie Flyer”, the newsletter/periodical of life at No. 32 SFTS Moose Jaw. Cover charge was anything from 20 to 50 cents depending on the expected crowd. Clearly, Saturday night’s Week End Hop, with flying training shut down, was the big night for airmen stationed at the base. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642840119-B3D4V72M3Y5SBDX0WWMB/MooseJaw07.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out In a shot that today would be called classic editorial, suitable for a high end magazines like New Yorker or Harpers, Blakey captures the image of three airmen in the kitchen of one of the messes at No. 32 Service Flying Training School. In many of Blakey’s photos, the Moose Jaw air base still looks shiny and new, which of course it was. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642870879-CS38EZPT63F7BQBB9IB1/MooseJaw08.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Blakey was particularly interested in the photography of architecture and took photographs of churches, civic buildings and edifices. His eye for balance and symmetry was expressed in this wartime image of Moose Jaw’s Central Collegiate Institute (CCI) in wintertime. This is the same high school which graduated our Chairman of the Board Todd Lemieux and his father before him. CCI has stood on Oxford Street West since 1909. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642907605-Z7RMTUAWDUAC14UF3V1T/MooseJaw10.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry spent some of his spare time photographing the flight line of No. 32 Service Flying Training School. Here during the winter of 1940–41, the pilot of North American Harvard 2735 trundles away from the line, with two others in the background. We know it to be the first winter after Harry’s arrival as this Harvard was taken on strength with the RCAF as Harry was crossing the Atlantic, but suffered Category A damage on 28 August 1941. It was written off and reduced to spares by December 1941. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642954692-XAF0786W4SF25HOZVV4J/MooseJaw11.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Judging by the lack of oil and hydraulic fluid stains, shiny tire rubber and highly polished propeller speed governor, the Harvard that airman Harry Blakey is touching is brand new. One of a large batch that was sent to No. 32 at the beginning of its years at Moose Jaw and Harry was there at the outset. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628642989403-0ESXWZY8S2MKBO0RZE7K/MooseJaw09.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out After the first winter, Harry experienced the beauty and seemingly endless days of a Prairie summer. Here, standing on the ramp of the hangar line and looking to the east, Harry captures a busy flying training school under perfect flying conditions. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643017110-FCEELIIOKYA8VQFLKX3D/MooseJaw15.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out On his off-hours and on leave, Harry enjoyed visiting friends in nearby Mazenod, Saskatchewan, south of Old Wive’s Lake. Here, he could hang out and hunt with a Canadian named Frank Hamilton, an airman of the RCAF, whose family welcomed him like another son. Here we see Harry holding a pheasant he has just shot with a rifle out on the prairie grass. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643076853-7G4KHAESAFI2BFUKRBB7/MooseJaw34.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry (left) poses with members of Frank Hamilton’s family in the shade at their farmhouse near the tiny hamlet of Mazenod, Saskatchewan. His friend Frank stands beside him and next to his brother Geoff. We can see the white forehead of Mr. Hamilton’s classic farmer tan... evidence of the hard work of farming on the Canadian prairie. Frank Fletcher Hamilton (inset) served with the RCAF from 1940 to 1951. He completed two tours with Bomber Command and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Medal. He returned to Canada in 1944, married his wife Olga and remained on strength with the RCAF flying transports in the Arctic and instructing the first NATO pilots. He became a Progressive Conservative Member of Canadian Parliament through four successful elections from 1972 to 1984. He died in 2008. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643108798-KHI6W1BFWRSSQZL0OV8S/MooseJaw17.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Probably not one of Harry’s photos, but in his album of Second World War mementos, this photo shows a group of electrical technicians and mechanics in coveralls posing brightly for a base photographer in front of workshop doors. Harry stands at left in the back row with his coffee mug in hand. Judging by the 100% use of coveralls and even a fur hat, this was likely sometime in the spring of ’41, ’42 or ’43. Harry came to No. 32 SFTS to apprentice as an electrical/radio technician, and stayed for more than two years, before leaving for Southeast Asia in 1943. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643159230-23IF3H9JK6T3IZWRGLIV/MooseJaw19.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out A wonderful and formal group shot taken in front of one of the Harvard aircraft of No. 32 Service Flying Training School. Harry stands at far right in back row. As Harry is always on the end of a back row in the three group shots above, I have to wonder if he had not set a timer on his own camera and run into the shot. I was not able to determine if there was any specific numbered school of electrical and radio repair at Moose Jaw which Harry might have attended during his stay in the Prairies. It is more likely that he apprenticed at the Flying School or because of his previous pre-war experience he may have been able to skip formalized training. After a seven year apprenticeship as a woodworking machinist in Preston, Lancashire and before enlisting, Harry had turned his attentions to something that truly captured his imagination—radio-electronics. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643212647-DCF955VWF46RQUJTX4IA/MooseJaw36.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry Blakey, left, and two of his Royal Air Force chums at Moose Jaw. The airman in the middle is Win Baron, one of Harry's best friends during the Second World War. Win Baron. Win married a girl form the Moose Jaw area and returned to England. He owned a furniture business and moving company. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643248903-RG3I6V57GQ3LUDNQSA41/MooseJaw20.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Today, this portrait would be called a “selfie”, as Blakey sets up his timer to capture this dark and moody shot. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643284674-4ZC6J32NV6HBW69W2SSI/MooseJaw05.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out After his first tough winter in Moose Jaw, Harry Blakey was rewarded with a visit of several months from his wife Jenny and their two daughters. Like Harry, Jenny ran the U-boat gauntlet in a troopship escorted by destroyers. Here, in a photo taken in the summer of 1941, Harry and Jenny pose in Moose Jaw with their daughter June and a farm dog. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643323716-38SFPSO9BNKI5G9R209F/MooseJaw35.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out A breathtakingly beautiful colour photograph of Jenny Blakey, taken in the Rockies by Harry on a trip the two took while Jenny was visiting Moose Jaw in 1941. Everything about this photograph is remarkable to me. Though there is no aircraft, airfield or airman in the photo, it is a vital part of aviation history. In 1941, with the visit from Preston of his family, Aircraftman Harry Blakey was granted leave, and with his wife (and possibly his daughters) drove west to the Rocky Mountains. In the south of Alberta, Harry and Jenny crossed the American border into the Big Sky State of Montana headed for Glacier National Park. Harry could not cross the border in uniform as the United States was officially neutral at that time. He took this remarkable Kodacolor photo of the passenger tour boar DeSmet at the lodge dock on Lake McDonald at a time when that type of colour film was not yet available to the general public. An avid photographer, Harry had a friend at the Kodak plant in Rochester, New York, who had procured for him some of the still experimental film to try. Harry shot a full roll on the Montana trip then mailed it to his friend for processing. Harry’s nephew Bob Blakey explains: “Although colour photography wasn’t new – Kodachrome slide film, for example, had been introduced in 1935 – a film that could produce colour negatives for easy print ordering by consumers was something of a holy grail in the industry, and Kodak led the way in North America. (Globally, I believe the Germans did it first.) This is most likely the first colour-negative image ever shot of that tour boat and lake. Harry’s son Chuck Blakey and I found the negative about 10 years ago after much searching among his father’s neg files (in the 1970s, Harry told me the Rochester story, so we knew the negs were there somewhere) but I wasn’t able to fully restore this image’s colours until 2011 using modern software. Even so, the Kodacolor neg has actually held up well considering its age. Not so the original prints Harry got back from Rochester, which turned to shades of orangey brown by the early 1950s. Kodak had gotten the film technology right, but had a long way to go with colour paper.” Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643378229-74942EWFEY08FO0FYB1U/MooseJaw26.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Young Patricia Blakey puts a supportive arm around her sister June. When they came to Canada with Jenny, Blakey took the opportunity to photograph his two toddler daughters, an image which would comfort him in his journeys through a frozen new world and then on to a tropical Burma. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643632258-ICMYWLEQME9DJF8M1PSN/MooseJaw21.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out In the winter of 1941–42, Harry Blakey visited Calgary and Banff, Alberta where he captured this perfect photograph of the Banff Springs Hotel, a favourite stop of airmen on leave in the Canadian prairies of the Second World War. Though airmen seemed to want to visit Banff and the beautiful chateau-style hotel, as 1941 closed, the hotel closed its doors for the duration of the war due to lack of business. With no flag on the flagpole, boarded up windows and walkways and drives not cleared of snow, it is likely that the photo was taken in the first months of 1942. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643666963-PS8UXY6LQL7552U8SKOP/MooseJaw24.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out On his trip to Banff in the Canadian Rockies, Harry also visited Calgary, where he took this image of 8th Avenue in downtown. At the left we can see the sign for the Victoria Hotel, a favourite drinking spot for the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry – PPCLI. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643724167-HZQYSRZZI5PTPPN0B22P/MooseJaw48.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out A photo of Harry on another leave in the Rockies, possibly the same trip as the previous photo. Harry carries his Kodak Vigilant camera and his always present cigarette in this shot set up on a tripod and useing a self timer. Since the negative for this shot was in the collection of Harry Blakey, we can then assume it was from his camera, which means that he had two cameras by this time. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643754358-YZZNAGY3XQEZJ4Z6251U/MooseJaw22.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Another “selfie” by Harry Blakey, with his cigarette in hand. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643819893-882BQAKN31ZO5WV78VPA/MooseJaw27-1.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out In the spring of 1941, Harry set up on Athabasca Street to take a photograph of one of the city’s most beautiful buildings—the Gothic St. Andrews United Church, a Moose Jaw landmark since 1914. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643854784-JLTJ7D0LRXUYZPU8QYDS/MooseJaw28.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry left Moose Jaw for the war in Burma in 1943, but in 1947 his love for the town and the open prairie sky brought him back to stay in Moose Jaw permanently. It was as a Moose Javian that Harry Blakey captured this dramatic photograph of St. Andrews on fire on a frigid December night in 1963. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643894764-ANUVOKSS1RG68C0RBKB4/MooseJaw29.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry, ever the photographer looking for the dramatic image, was back at St. Andrews a couple of days later to capture the terrible but beautiful destruction. The Church was rebuilt to the same design two years later. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628643976955-FVIN5QPIG2PJBQ6ISPF4/MooseJaw16.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out In 1943, Harry returned to England briefly after his apprenticeship and work at No. 32 SFTS Moose Jaw. Here we see him, looking tall, dark and handsome in his Royal Air Force kit, standing with his daughter June. In the background the sombre and treeless streets of his hometown of Preston in Lancashire, Northwest England, a boom town of the Industrial Revolution. From here, Harry joined the war effort in the China–Burma–India Theatre of Operations. After returning to Preston from Burma after the war, Harry set up a small radio repair business. Soon he started to miss his friends from Western Canada and became disillusioned with post-war England and the social, housing, economic deprivation and de-industrialization problems of working class cities like Preston. He missed the clean air, trees and wide open spaces of Moose Jaw and the heartland of a country that had captured his heart. By 1947 he was back in Moose Jaw, with Jenny, June and Patricia. In Moose Jaw, the Blakey clan would increase by two sons—Charles and Raymond. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644014837-8IAHXRZ4ZYT15RWQAV74/MooseJaw13.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Bob Blakey was only able to find a single image from Harry’s days in Burma and India—this shot of Corporal Harry Blakey in tropical khaki kit and the omnipresent cigarette. After sweltering Burma and India as well as his disenchantment with post war Preston, England, Harry longed for and eventually returned to the prairie life. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644048617-2EHCIVM78XZUHNI0ZOA8/MooseJaw23.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry, with his ever present cigarette and a cold beer, poses with his wife Jenny (closest to the camera) and a friend drinking more sophisticated red wine at a bar in Moose Jaw, likely after the war. The fourth person at the booth (Frank Hamilton) has stood back to capture the image. Harry has returned from two years in Burma and two in Preston, while Frank has survived two tours in Bomber Command. The beer tray on the plate rail behind Harry extols the goodness of Palomino Fine Beer. Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644087016-K0PUXPWXJ19GNMYVXRKG/MooseJaw37.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out This photo was taken a few minutes and half a glass of beer after the previous photo at a bar in Moose Jaw. The friend with Harry is Frank Hamilton. Jenny sits with Frank’s wife Olga. Frank was lucky to survive two tours in Bomber Command, earning a DFC and a DFM. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644121459-0V0A8QS9EYFQ3MU8NJCO/MooseJaw39.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out This photograph, judging by Frank Hamilton's clothing, was taken on the same evening as the previous one. The sign in the background states that persons under the age of 21 were subject to a $100 fine (huge in those days) and up to 30 days in jail. Since Frank was born in 1921 in April, we can calculate that this evening was not during Jenny Blakey's 1941 visit to Moose Jaw (Harry was born in August, 1918) . We can assume that this was likely post war after Harry's return to Moose Jaw. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644156308-B47VLZZYT54Z4YX4FMHS/MooseJaw40.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out After the war, Harry tried to pick up his life in Preston, but became disillusioned with the economy and social pressures in England and in his industrial home of Preston. He moved his family back to Moose Jaw, where he had felt so welcomed, bought a 1940 De Soto car and a home and started life anew. Here, sometime between 1947 and 1950, is Harry standing on the dirt roadway outside his new home on 7th Avenue North East in Moose Jaw, with the railway line running close by. The car as the prerequisite cracked windshield of a prairie car driven on gravel roads. Chuck Blakey recalls: “That as the house at 1143 - 7th Avenue NE in Moose Jaw. It is gone now, with the area being part of a flood control zone. He used to park the car in winter nearby on a downhill slope so they had a better chance of getting it started in the cold winters.” Harry had an abiding interest in anything mechanical and loved tinkering with cars. Bob Blakey remembers… “We talked for many hours at a time on numerous subjects. He had a phenomenal memory. He could quote from books and articles he’d read 20 years earlier, and his practical knowledge, especially on technical and engineering subjects, was deep. I remember when I started to mess around repairing cars and I mentioned to him a friend had a car with a straight-eight engine. I asked my uncle why they had gone out of fashion in favour of V8s and he gave me this incredible, detailed explanation about how modern high-octane gasoline led to high-compression engines and the long straight-eight crankshafts couldn’t take the strain, plus something about cooling passages and other details. Later, Dad told me Harry, as a kid, used to dismantle and reassemble engines with ease, and pretty much any other gadget or machine that caught his attention.” Image: Harry Blakey Collection via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644193234-2U3R2F5FNIDLNIXYST92/MooseJaw41.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out It wasn't long before Harry had convinced his younger brother to come on out to Saskatchewan, where a man with initiative and skill could create a life for his family, far from the polluted industrial cities of England and crowded council housing. Bob Blakey, Robert's son recalls : “This was when my dad was staying with Harry and family in Moose Jaw, earning money to bring my mother and me over from England. Dad was working at the Robin Hood Flour mill at the time, and he wore that old suit on the job. No money for denim or overalls in those days!” Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644227400-7RSB1TQ7Q9V0Y2UVXGG1/MooseJaw42.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Living with his brother Harry, Robert Blakey (right) worked hard to get the money to bring his family over for a new start in life. Bob Blakey remembers: “My dad had come over a year earlier, then worked in a succession of jobs, each paying a little better that the previous one. When he had enough money to bring us over, my mother and I crossed the Atlantic on a Canadian Pacific ship, then travelled by CPR train from St. John, N.B. to Moose Jaw. So this was the first time the two families were together in one place since 1947. I'm the taller of the two kids. Charles (Chuck–Harry's son) is next to me. My dad, Robert Blakey, is behind me. My mother (Winnie) is behind Chuck. Harry's wife/Chuck's mother Jenny is at the back. The car is the 1938 Dodge Harry was driving at the time. It's a bit of Canadiana. Note the plastic sheets glued to the windows, designed to minimize fogging on cold days. Lots of cars had them then. (The heater/defrosters in those days were almost useless.)” Judging by the look on their faces, and the fact that this was the first day they of their new lives in Saskatchewan, they had not yet adapted to the legendary cold of a Moose Javian winter. In fact.. this was the morning of their very first day in Moose Jaw in February, 1952. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644272035-P38VNIQMYV0KISXZBUGH/MooseJaw44.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Despite being thousands of miles from his homeland, Robert was quick to adapt and see in the prairie town of Moose Jaw what he wanted for his family. Here, Robert (with ball in centre) poses with his soccer team–the Moose jaw Wanderers, about a year after his family had arrived. The group relied on Robert's brother Harry to take the photo, as Harry was making a name for himself as a photographer. Recent posts on the internet indicate that the Wanderers were still playing soccer as late as 2008. Photo by Harry Blakey via Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644329303-A45KB5FWZ4N43TI1VK72/MooseJaw46.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out One of the few shots of Harry (right) and Robert together was shot by Robert Jr. (Bob Blakey) in 1969. By this time, Robert Blakey had moved his family to the Seattle area and the two families could only get together on occasional vacations, like this one in Moose Jaw in 1969. The two men look like no-nonsense scrappers in this shot and Bob Blakey recalls: “He and my father spent part of their youth in some rough neighbourhoods in Preston and they had to learn how to defend themselves, ready to come to each other’s rescue when there was trouble, though Harry, being almost five years older than Dad, usually did the rescuing. Such skills came in handy during the early postwar Moose Jaw years because the place had a Wild West aura about it, with fights breaking out in bars so often that nobody thought it was a big deal. Harry and my dad were half Irish (on their mother’s side), but Harry was the one who most physically resembled their uncle Johnny Horan, who was a successful pro boxer all over England and Scotland early in the 20th century.” Of his relationship with his uncle, Bob Blakey reminisces: “Harry was brilliant, and I think I felt, as a kid, that I’d be wasting his time trying to engage him in conversation. I wasn’t worthy. But when I got into my teens and beyond, our relationship changed. I enjoyed his company and he enjoyed mine.” ...“He loved electronics, and his was the first family in Moose Jaw to have a TV set, around 1954. This was before there even was a local TV station. I remember when our family went over to look at this new gadget and all we could see were some wavy images from a signal broadcast from Minot, North Dakota. Harry had managed to rig up a tall antenna to pull it in. (Soon afterwards, CKCK-TV Regina signed on.)” Photo by Bob Blakey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628644375121-BJO9Q2992M9OILZTRP0S/MooseJaw38.jpg The Stories - MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN — A Prairie Town in the Second World War - Make it stand out Harry’s grave marker with the inscription: “Wisdom had he with a love of earth’s nature.” Returning to Moose Jaw after the war was not easy, but it would have been a tougher life for Harry and his children if he had stayed in Preston, and he and Jenny understood that. His son Chuck would appreciate what he did: “I was always grateful that my parents came to Canada. It was not easy when he returned to Canada after the war. Returning servicemen got first priority for jobs. In that my Dad was with the RAF, he was not a Canadian serviceman! But his children had great opportunities. My brother attended Saskatchewan Technical Institute in the electronics field. My sister June became a registered nurse with a B.Sc. My older sister Pat worked for a time as a lab technician but then raised a family of three children. I got some great experience in the RCMP, went to business school at the University of Calgary, Scurfield Hall, and then got my Doctor Juris degree. I am sure that, with the times and our status in England, we would not have achieved these life goals.” Image via Saskatchewan Genealogical Society https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/those-kiwi-moths monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622785925-62T4CP6M9W4B23Z85Q8B/KiwiMothsTitle.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622989269-Z6L2EZ20L4TX4MIH7PQ0/KiwiMoths01.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A wonderfully evocative and beautifully framed shot of Air Travel NZ’s Fox Moth ZK-ADI flying past mountain ranges on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Below them are the littoral regions of the Tasman Sea coast, while in the distance on the right stands magnificent Mount Cook, at 12,349 ft above sea level, New Zealand’s highest peak. The date is September 1938, four years after this aircraft was built at the de Havilland Aircraft Company factory at Stag Lane, England. The diminutive yet hardy aircraft arrived by ship at Christchurch in 1934. It was registered in January of 1935 to Tourist Air Travel & Transport Service N.Z. Company Limited of Christchurch. That same month, the company moved its base of operations to the small town of Hokitika on the West Coast (150 km northeast of where this shot was taken) and changed the corporate name to Air Travel (N.Z.) Limited. Photo: Leo White https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623023128-D044BS8VE9QM4T6744BY/KiwiMoths02.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out With such a magnificent photograph as the previous shot, it was impossible not to zoom in to see the faces of the passengers as they gazed toward the photographer’s aircraft and the beauty of the Tasman Sea on a bright sunny day. The wording on the nose of the aircraft reads: Air Travel N.Z. Ltd – Hokitika, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers Service. Franz Josef Glacier lies between this Fox Moth and the slopes of Mount Cook (to the north of the peak in the heart of Westland National Park) while Fox Glacier streams down right in front of Cook. Photo: Leo White https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623063626-E4LOYXYM7XTEJQUREAHA/KiwiMoths05.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Pulling back we see the waters of the Tasman Sea below and quite possibly the Franz Josef Glacier beneath her wings. Photo: Leo White https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623098057-MYZ38VCU9J2WADFI53QL/KiwiMoths03.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Paul Sheehan tells us that this is perhaps the most famous aircraft photo in all New Zealand and we can see why. While most of New Zealand’s population resides in the coastal regions, back in the 1930s, they were not all connected by road—especially remote sheep farms. This image captures the simplicity of the aviation promise—land on a beach near the farm or community, load up the passengers and be off in a few minutes, flying to business centres in minutes and hours as opposed to days. As if to underline the dawn of a new age, a NZ government coastal steamer, S.S. Matai, labours slowly in the distance. Its commander was Captain John Burgess Sr., whose son, John Jr., was the command pilot of the Short S.30 Empire Class Flying Boat named Centaurus, which opened the scheduled flying service from Southampton, England to Auckland in 1937. Burgess later became Chief Pilot of Tasman Empire Airways Limited, which changed its name to Air New Zealand in 1965. “From left: Jack Condon with young daughter Fay riding Fairy, the horse, Alex McEwan with suitcases, Pat Mahuika, Jimmy McLaren, Cyril McEwan, Letti McEwan and her youngest child Margaret, Captain Bert Mercer, unidentified small girl and Iris Wilson. Off shore, the Government steamer S.S. Matai has arrived from Bluff with supplies, including stud Hereford bulls for the Condons. Jack Condon has his dogs ready to muster the bulls away from the aircraft when they swim ashore from the steamer.” Photo: Whites Aviation via National Library of New Zealand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623129506-19BEENY3XT7R9DWN2GP0/KiwiMoths04.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Again, the photo begs zooming in. We see Captain Bert Mercer, chief pilot, managing director and chief engineer of Air Travel NZ, beaming at the adulation of the children after he has just landed on the beach at Bruce Bay, just a short distance from the spot where the opening photograph was shot. The Mahitahi River empties into the bay, and its valley is home to farmlands and sheep grazing. This spot is remote today, but in 1935 when this image was taken, it was the back of beyond... but a fairy tale land for these children to grow up in. Though the aircraft looks darker in this image, it is likely the same orange and the contrast is due to the type of orthographic film used. Photo: Whites Aviation via National Library of New Zealand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623162973-MZDM7X6VVDV10QO83Y0X/KiwiMoths09.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-ADI had been working with Air Travel NZ since its arrival and registration in December of 1934, except for one short period only a month into its service when it was out of action, having been damaged after a collision with a bull at Waheka, near the Fox Glacier—a clear testament to the dangers of operating from farm fields, beaches and rough, open land. Here we see her in these very kinds of conditions at Nolan’s Farm, Okuru, West Coast, South Island in September of 1935 after being repaired. Captain Bert Mercer, among other things, Chief Pilot of Air Travel NZ Limited is in the flying helmet. Note the omnipresent spectacular mountain backdrop and border collie sheepdog. The Fox Moth again looks very dark in this shot, likely due to the type of film used. Photo: Whites Aviation Limited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623278881-H88A3V0GM9OSTPPGQL31/KiwiMoths10.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Pulling back from the previous shot, we see one of the best job benefits Bert Mercer and his fellow pilots enjoyed—spectacular scenery to fly over every day! Photo: Whites Aviation Limited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623315690-FSQGMUHPRBBBRM77I298/KiwiMoths34.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out When ZK-ADI was down for repair following the collision with the bull, Air Travel NZ maintained service by leasing another Fox Moth from the Canterbury (New Zealand) Aero Club. That aircraft was ZK-ADH (above) and it kept up service from February until it was returned in June of 1935. The Canterbury Aero Club Fox Moth (ZK-ADH) was fitted by them as an aerial ambulance, complete with attendant. Sadly, it crashed the following year and was written off, after just two years of service. It met this end when it crashed on landing in the fog at Sockburn, near Wigram on 7 June 1935. The wreck was sold to Owen Templeton, an engineer with Air Travel NZ Ltd., and rebuilt by them using a new fuselage built-up by DH Technical School, Rongotai. That newly restored aircraft was then registered as ZK-AGM. Its career would last almost 30 years, but it too would crash in 1963, killing its passenger. Photo via Kitchener.Lord at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623899405-OBMRZ02GTBNK7JGUGNGU/KiwiMoths13.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out The Air Travel NZ Fox Moths were used to ship “whitebait” fishermen and equipment in and product out of the coastal estuaries along the Tasman Sea coast of the South Island. Whitebait is a New Zealand delicacy—a tiny fish about the size of a matchstick that makes a great meal when mixed with egg and parsley and fried like fritters. Here ZK-ADI lands on a gravel bar next to the Paringa River in South Westland, NZ—pilot Jim Hewitt stands at right. Photo: Whites Aviation Limited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628623941472-3KOBCZPXQT71D38RMT3V/KiwiMoths14.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out The Paringa River feeds into the Tasman Sea at Bruce Bay. Here, in the 1930s, whitebait abounded and bringing out the catch by air made economic sense. Whitebait in New Zealand is very much a delicacy and commands high prices to the extent that it is the most costly fish on the market, if available. New Zealand whitebait are caught in the lower reaches of the rivers using small open-mouthed hand-held nets, like the ones seen here, although in some parts of the country where whitebait are more plentiful, larger set nets may be used adjacent to river banks. Whitebaiters constantly attend the nets in order to lift them as soon as a school of fish enters the net. Photo: Whites Aviation Limited https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624014460-M121ZU53ON41A726WTGM/KiwiMoths32.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out During the Second World War, Air Travel NZ’s Fox Moth ZK-ADI was requisitioned and pressed into military service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Here, at the de Havilland factory at Rongotai, Wellington we see a number of de Havilland products including Dragon Rapides, a Moth Minor (monoplane), Tiger Moth, Puss Moth and on the left, a camouflaged Fox Moth which could only be ZK-ADI in its military markings as NZ566 as it served with the Rongotai Communications Flight and 42 Squadron RNZAF. ZK-ADI was the only Fox Moth to fly with the RNZAF. Photo: The Wings over New Zealand Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624060110-W6I86Z4V1SOP6RXPL2CQ/KiwiMoths39.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A great shot of the former Air Travel NZ ZK-ADI in roundels and what may appear like an overall silver finish—perhaps postwar. It was purchased from Air Travel NZ for 1,300 New Zealand pounds in April 1943. After the war, it continued to serve at Rotorua on fire watching duties until it was sold to NZ National Airways Corporation for 1,200 pounds. Photo: The Wings over New Zealand Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624128969-PK5LLAJWASJ44IL460Z0/KiwiMoths37.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A shot of the former Fox Moth ZK-ADI, which re-entered the civilian registration lists as ZK-ASP after the Royal New Zealand Air Force struck her from service as NZ566. She was purchased by the New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC). I believe this is shortly after she received her new registration as she appears to be still painted in the overall light colour (silver/aluminum) of her military service, but with a red colour accent on her nose and a darker colour (likely red too) on her struts. Photo via shu-aero.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624093765-M67JRQFL7RISBTQYMIG2/KiwiMoths40.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Another photograph of ZK-ASP, seemingly still in her overall light coloured paint scheme but with a scalloped design on her nose, different registration font on the tail and under the wings, plus red hub caps. When it was registered with NAC, it was given a name—Mimiro (for the Miromiro Bird—a small tropical bird from New Zealand), which was written on the cowling in this photograph. Photo via the Ed Coates Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624187951-35WJZ08JUT4TKW1FTTSE/KiwiMoths12.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Later, ZK-ASP would receive a much more elaborate paint scheme of bright orange and black (with silver paint on the empennage) as seen here at the Christchurch Airport, South Island in March of 1964. At that time, she was owned and operated by John Switzer. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624216750-53TBVLNUS5GQU3U2JGSJ/KiwiMoths11.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out In this close-up of ZK-ASP (former ZK-ADI) at Christchurch in 1964, we see a towheaded young boy, perhaps at the moment he was inspired to become a pilot. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624246928-C09TT2KJSNTQHNEN5BQF/KiwiMoths46.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out An absolutely lovely shot of ZK-ASP, in a new paint scheme, flying through wisps of cloud over Canterbury in March of 1964. At this time, the former NAC Mimiro was owned by John Switzer of Christchurch. Photo: V.C. Browne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624275217-I7X8KJ0HNU7ZWR6B6PEM/KiwiMoths47.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A photo as beautiful as the previous one begs to be zoomed into. Here we see an immaculately turned out de Havilland DH-83 Fox Moth ZK-ASP with possibly its new owner, John Switzer, at the controls, overflying a tidy town in Canterbury, New Zealand. Photo: V.C. Browne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624325021-NF1M21XLLC651YOYM1N2/KiwiMoths41.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out On 11 November 1970, Fox Moth ZK-ASP force-landed on a beach on Great Barrier Island with engine problems. The situation was such that it could not take off again. It was below high tide level and an urgent call from the crew brought out a Royal New Zealand Air Force UH-1H Huey and its crew. The crew managed to get it hoisted off the beach and home after folding its wings. Here we see members of the Huey crew that saved her. Photo via topbirdsandeveryfing blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624377947-TO6G0IA6JYGQPSEYRW31/KiwiMoths17.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Here is a sharp colour image of Fox Moth ZK-ASP (formerly ZK-ADI) on the beach at Pukutuaro, South Westland, in July 1972. It was making re-enactment flight tour down the West Coast with owner David Lilico and passengers Alister Barry and John King (this was NAC’s 25th anniversary tour). Note the contrast of snow-capped mountains, tropical forest and the Tasman Sea lapping the black sand beach. Photo: John King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624413241-IAFLRM9MWNTX5WYLR1YL/KiwiMoths45.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After ZK-ASP was purchased by Myles Robertson, he packed her up in 1974 and had her shipped to the United States, where he embarked upon a flying tour of the country. His voyage to North America was epic, starting on the West Coast. Here we see Myles Robertson taxiing his Fox Moth ZK-ASP on the grass at Aero Plaza in Olympia, Washington for a flying gathering before a big air show at McChord Air Force Base in 1975. According to “Tony” of COPA, “Myles Robertson’s New Zealand–registered DH Fox Moth was charmingly English. The type evolved in 1932 using the wings, tail, undercarriage, and engine of the classic Tiger Moth. The pilot was stuck out in the weather à la hansom cab, whilst facing pairs of rather thin passengers sat in soft leather luxury… And, reminiscent of Brit 1930’s First Class rail, a grand string bag luggage rack hung above. Amazingly, this venerable Moth could haul five ‘flapper’ sized people! And, per Bramson & Birch’s ‘The Tiger Moth Story’… “Inserted in the pilot’s panel was a Victorian-looking oval window through which he could wave reassurance to his passengers!” Naturally everyone wanted to “ ’ave a go” …and genial pipe smoking Myles happily obliged, tucking us in before cheerfully clambering into his perch. The ride was wonderfully romantic, passengers agog as the world drifted by through a comforting matrix of struts and bracing wires. A broad goggled smile peered down at us through the little oval window, and the ride was amazingly quiet… Sigh, those were the days! ” Photo: Tony, COPA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624458083-KFPSV6B8UEPAIKWZRXAF/KiwiMoths44.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Young Myles Robertson brought ZK-ASP to several air shows on his 1974–75 North American tour. Here we see him at Oshkosh that year. Note that the aircraft, which once had a black cheatline down her side, now wears a green one and that Robertson has added the Air Travel NZ Hokitika lettering. Photo: Dave Welch, Air Britain Photographic Images Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624521568-SD8N7Z4U5AWEB1ZHTR3N/KiwiMoths56.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out In 1974, Myles Robertson took ZK-ASP across America, making one very important stop at Oshkosh’s AirVenture in Wisconsin. Here we see her on the grass at Whitman Regional Airport sporting a New Zealand flag on her rudder. Image via shu-aero.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624555226-LYX86JX7FV7PZU5F3BAY/KiwiMoths59.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Another photo of ZK-ASP tied down at Oshkosh 1974, brought there by the youthful Myles Robertson. Photo: Jim Thompson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624627514-DD79TBA303YMKAP1T18Z/KiwiMoths70.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After her visit to Oshkosh, ZK-ASP was sold in New York. Nigel Hitchman takes it from here: “When ZK-ASP/ADI arrived in the UK from Hamburg, NY, it was a basket case in need of a total restoration, this was done by Ron Souch and his company Aero Antiques and the completed aircraft was painted as G-ADHA in the King’s flight colours. Ron also obtained a DH89A Dragon Rapide in Hamburg, NY at the same time, this was rebuilt as G-ACZE and painted in the same colours, this aircraft remained in the UK until recently when it was purchased by Gerry Yeagan, not to be confused with G-ADDD/N89DH which Yeagan used to own which was restored for him by Avspecs in NZ and sold to Rod Lewis last summer, and then eventually to a Brian Woodford of Dorset who brought her home to Great Britain for the first time in decades.” Here she was registered as G-ADHA and painted in Royal Marines livery. Photo: Dave Welch, Air Britain Photographic Images Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624775540-YS0CZWV48MKKRJC5KX3U/KiwiMoths42.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Gerald Grocott purchased the aircraft from Wessex Aviation and Transport Ltd and returned the aircraft to New Zealand in 1997 to be restored to the original orange and silver paint scheme and re-registered once again as ZK-ADI. Since then, she has flown at air shows and fly-ins throughout New Zealand with Croydon Aircraft Company out of Mandeville Airport at Gore, in the far south of New Zealand. Here she is photographed in 2010. Photo: Gavin Conroy, Classic Aircraft Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624810474-DQZONW60C2GSHE5RW4H3/KiwiMoths20.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out The bright orange of Air Travel’s livery stands out in colourful contrast to the hazy blue hills surrounding the airfield at Wanaka, New Zealand in 2006 during the Wings over Wanaka air show. Photo: George Canciani https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624838330-IKHF3SELTM79UJ7FF8V7/KiwiMoths19.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Croydon’s beautifully restored ZK-ADI looks right at home on the dry infield grass at Wanaka in 2010. Photo: Jonathan Rankin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628624999093-XK363KO41RKF6SAFM4UT/KiwiMoths15.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Fox Moth ZK-AEK takes a relaxing break from operations, again on the beach at Bruce Bay on the West Coast near Mount Cook, in 1936. While the ladies take the sun, the kids build sand castles, dogs play and Captain Bert Mercer, Chief Pilot of Air Travel New Zealand (kneeling) relaxes with his friends. The Fox Moth appears to retain the dark blue and silver paint from its previous owners. She was built at de Havilland’s Stag Lane factory in 1932 and that year was registered as G-ACDD to a Flight Lieutenant Edward Hedley Fielden, a Royal Air Force officer acting on behalf of HRH, the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII. This Fox Moth became the first aircraft of what would become the Royal Flight. But its regal career did not last long. It was sold within months to a Belgian named Guy Hansez and registered as OO-ENC on the Belgian register. Hansez operated the little aircraft extensively throughout Belgium and Europe, even flying it to the Belgian Congo in Africa. By the time he returned in 1935, Hansez sold the aircraft back to England and it was registered again as G-ACDD. Shortly after that, it was sold to Air Travel NZ and was shipped to New Zealand, where it was registered as ZK-AEK. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625052649-13CYMGTE5CD8BI5T27V1/KiwiMoths50.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Fox Moth G-ACDD (the future ZK-AEK) photographed at de Havilland’s Stag Lane factory in 1932. She was purchased on behalf of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales and used briefly as the first official aircraft of the Royal Flight. This Fox Moth originally sported a wooden propeller, but here we see it has been replaced by a metal one. One of our readers, John Adams, tells the story of the one part that did not make it to New Zealand from ZK-AEK: “When this aeroplane was first delivered to HRH the Duke of Windsor it was fitted with a wooden propeller which would appear to have been quickly replaced with a Fairey Reed type metal propeller. I acquired this original wooden propeller some 35 years ago. I was a Sgt engineer on No.1(F) Sqn RAF at RAF Wittering. When during an Air Officer Commanding’s inspection annual clear out, this prop was discovered in a locker in the disp Sgt’s office. It was scheduled for the dump. The then Wingo the late W/C Eric Smith gave me permission to take it. I then found out it had been given to the airmens crew room tea bar by a young F/O member of the Sqn, and had been displayed in there. I traced the previous owner to the OCU at Wittering and he was happy for me to keep it. It was he who told me that his father had been a Scout leader in Sunningdale and the prop had been given to the Scout troop many years before as "jumble". For years I was under the impression my prop was possibly off a Puss Moth (a favourite aircraft) as it was marked Gipsy III, but only recently I matched the propeller drawing number up to a Gipsy III off a Fox Moth. When I acquired the prop the fabric covering was in very ravaged and poor condition and filthy with years of grime so it initially looked a very dirty matt Black. I had been looking for, and believed I had found a Tiger Moth prop which I wanted to finish in natural wood with the brass leading edges polished for display. It was only when the remaining fabric had peeled away did I realise it had been painted a Royal Blue and not Black. The tips had been daubed at some time during its sojourn in the tea bar with bright Red and White equal bands (No.1 Sqn colours) but underneath these I found the broad dark Red tip and thin White dividing line (the Brigade of Guards colours), a livery which all the Royal aeroplanes were painted. (I have retained the original Blue paint on the back of the boss). It was only when cleaning it up that I found a tightly wound tiny piece of paper in one of the bolt holes which just said "Off the Dukes Moth". Things started to click, with the colours and the place. Sunningdales was where the Duke of Windsor had a house and landing strip. This is where the prop had been given to a local Scout group as clearance "jumble" at the closure of the property, on HRH’s accession to the Throne as HRH King Edward VIII and his subsequent abdication. HRH only had one Fox, so it’s got to be off G-ACDD. It would seem that my prop was the only bit of the Fox Moth not to go on the aeroplane’s later travels and yet strange to relate it will eventually go to my son... who lives in New Zealand.” Photo via de Havilland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625136474-F7R99JVTX0R4Y9W7ACSN/KiwiMoths51.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After its career as a Royal, G-ACDD was sold to Belgian Guy Hansez and registered as OO-ENC. The little biplane made a lengthy flight from Belgium to the Congo and back during that time. This was during a period when pilots throughout the world were attempting long distance flights, breaking records and making history. No doubt, this was a huge event in Belgium at the time. Photo via Vintage Wings website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625181137-T50TMURPPKJCD26QZ1WZ/KiwiMoths83.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Guy Hansez and Fox Moth OO-ENC having a little fun with a friend and his donkey over Deurne, Belgium near Antwerp. Photo: Archive French Of Humbeek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625223136-R0F7URFMCBWH9YQRFKXL/KiwiMoths85.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Camille Huysmans, the Prime Minister of Belgium, greets fellow countryman Guy Hansez and his wife Marie-Louise Fester-Hansez after their flight to the Congo and back. In the background we see Fox Moth OO-ENC, the future ZK-AEK. Photo: Archive French Of Humbeek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625268337-3YXFKVB8KKJZ7F4YFV0J/KiwiMoths52.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After flying from Europe to the Belgian Congo and back to England in 1935, the Fox Moth was sold and shipped to New Zealand, to begin life as ZK-AEK with Air Travel NZ. Here we see her at the Hokitika base of Air Travel NZ, still in the markings she wore in Europe. Photo via Vintage Wings website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625299213-CFYDNJKCXKASAX9WB1U3/KiwiMoths53.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-AEK ran into misfortune on the Franz Josef Glacier. In 1943, Fox Moth ZK-AEK, piloted by Ozzie Openshaw, crashed while taking four passengers for a scenic flight over the glacier, although none of the passengers nor Openshaw was injured. A crew was put together and the wreckage was dismantled and carried by hand down the glacier and was rebuilt at Rongotai. Photo via Vintage Wings website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625337661-R1X9EHY7EZKWPHJ83U2V/KiwiMoths77.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A close-up of the wreckage of ZK-AEK on the Franz Josef Glacier at the foot of Mount Cook. It was a miracle that Ozzie Openshaw and his passengers escaped relatively unscathed. Openshaw’s passengers, four WAAF women, tumbled from the torn open passenger cabin after the Gipsy engine folded to the left. Passengers had to spend the night on the glacier before being rescued. For more on the removal of the aircraft from the glacier, click here. Photo via Des Nolan Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625376923-2W4Q9DUDQ4W9ACYQITS3/KiwiMoths06.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A rebuilt ZK-AEK rests in April of 1947 at Hokitika’s airfield outside what was once the Air Travel NZ hangars. The aircraft, which started its life so auspiciously and which recently had nearly been written off, is here being transferred to a newly formed New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC), Air Travel having been absorbed into NAC. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625425895-90WKO58VKXJRYIYNHWWW/KiwiMoths07.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A few months later, ZK-AEK is seen again, this time resting at Omaka Air Field near the city of Blenheim, New Zealand. This city along the coast of Cook Strait and its historic airfield are today the home of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre and very fine air shows. At this date, ZK-AEK was fully in the employ of New Zealand National Airways Corporation. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625448283-T6O2KHHNRUU5C9V7RIKT/KiwiMoths08.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out With its pilot now on board, Fox Moth ZK-AEK is set to take off at Omaka Airfield in 1947. This photo was taken moments after the previous image. Omaka Airfield is in the small city of Blenheim in the heart of the Marlborough region of New Zealand... and if that doesn’t ring a bell, then you don’t drink a lot of fine New Zealand wine. Photo via Paul Sheehan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625517036-1KRODFYCQX5M4OYAKYFI/KiwiMoths55.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out For the next six years, ZK-AEK was in the employ of NAC, but she would soon be repainted in the plain markings of that new airline. The scheme was a simple all-over silver/aluminium paint, with just one tapered nose graphic in red and her new name—Mohua—which means Yellowhead in Maori—a small bird indigenous to the South Island of New Zealand. We can just make out this avian sobriquet on her nose where the red cheatline tapers to a point. This photo dates to the early 1950s. Photo: Ken Meeham, via edcoatescollection.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625565508-BN2JGB2NV5027HLG9DMJ/KiwiMoths48.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After her six years operating largely along the West Coast of the South Island, NAC sold ZK-AEK to W. “Keith” Wakeman’s Aerial Sowing Limited as an aerial topdressing aircraft, applying granular superphosphate to hill country grass pasture. Here we see ZK-AEK, still wearing her NAC markings with Mohua still on her nose. Wakeman purchased her on 1 October 1953, and then sold her the following August 1954. The exact date of this photo appears to be on or around 9 October 1953, at Harewood International Airport, Christchurch, or on the 19th of that month. The Canberras in the background give us a time-stamp. Though two squadrons of the Royal New Zealand Air Force operated British Electric Canberra bombers, they did not do so until 1958. The serial number—WE139—on the closest aircraft tells the story. Canberra WE139, an RAF Canberra with 540 Squadron, entered and won the United Kingdom–New Zealand International Air Race on 9 October 1953 with an elapsed time of 29 hours and 51 minutes from Heathrow to Harewood. WE139 beat the second place aircraft—a Royal Australian Air Force Canberra—by only one minute! The other Canberra, the all-metal one in the background, is likely the runner-up. Canberra WE139 flew demonstration flights in New Zealand for the next week and returned to Christchurch on 19 October, but knowing that the actual race ended in heavy rain and cloud, this looks to be the weather of that day. As Wakeman had purchased ZK-AEK just the week before, this is likely the delivery flight. Photo: V.C. Browne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625595649-6M1L8J835LZ9JARR6S6D/KiwiMoths49.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A close-up of the photo helps us identify much. We see Keith Wakeman, second from left. Wakeman learned to fly with the RNZAF on ground-based Corsairs in the South Pacific theatre. We see Mohua written under her tapered nose paint. We see WE139 on the side of the Canberra that won the United Kingdom–New Zealand Air Race. We see the cold and wet weather. We also see the man on the left with a pair of binoculars, perhaps there to witness the arrival of the 5 Recce Canberras that took part in the race. Canberra WE139 can still be seen today. Accomplishments like the one she made on this day made her a candidate for preservation and she can be seen up close at the RAF Museum at Hendon. Photo: V.C. Browne https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625666350-I0DPWFH0ZFQRVXG63NU4/KiwiMoths57.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-AEK, still with the colours of NAC and her Mohua title, but in the employ of Wakeman’s Aerial Sowing Limited at Christchurch. Photo via aerohub.co.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625694424-O17D2YGJ2PJJY9P8QOCA/KiwiMoths61.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out In 1954, Aerial Sowing sold off ZK-AEK to a C.A. Wornall and it was entered into the Fijian aircraft registry as VQ-FAT. It was in the employ of Air Viti Limited in Fiji as an aerial freighter. It did not do well there, and soon the registration was cancelled and the aircraft languished in derelict condition near Suva, the island nation’s capital. In fact, the fuselage was burned in a fire practice at Nausori Airport. The remnants of this once-important and beautiful aircraft were salvaged from utter dereliction at Nausori and returned to New Zealand. These parts, as well as a new fuselage (built by Myles Robertson), were combined into a full restoration of the aircraft by Croydon Aviation Heritage—with the kit and colours it had while in the employ of the Royal Flight. It was re-registered in this kit as ZK-AEK for Englishman Roger Fiennes. The aircraft was allowed to wear its original British registration of G-ACDD along with a smaller New Zealand registration on its rudder. Here we see the freshly completed restoration at Ardmore before it was shipped to Oshkosh in 1993 and then to England. From England, it was quickly sold back to Sir Timothy Wallis at Wanaka, whose father had been a passenger on ZK-AEK many times in the 1930s and 40s. Photo: Bruce Cooke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625730802-MY8GCE0KYESDQSFFT4GB/KiwiMoths71.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out I put out an all points bulletin on a New Zealand aviation history forum called the Wings Over New Zealand Aviation Forum and received wonderful support from some of their members. New Zealander Peter Lewis (also one of our Vintage News subscribers) sent several photos, including this beauty of a gorgeous looking ZK-AEK at Ardmore (near Auckland) awaiting disassembly for shipping to Oshkosh in May 1993. I have to say that the all-blue fuselage and empennage looks far sexier than the blue fuselage and silver empennage she now sports. Photo: Peter Lewis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625775547-5E2HI14H8ULUT30TT77V/KiwiMoths60.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-EAK’s debut would be at Oshkosh in 1993. To get there, she had to be packaged up for shipping by sea. Bruce Cooke, who assisted in readying ZK-AEK for shipment, remembers that day: “These [photos] were taken when I was working at Gulf Aeronautics, Ardmore in the early 1990s and were AEK’s first trip to the USA. The aircraft had flown up from Gore and we helped pack it for shipping. Was quite an exercise as we were running out of time, the Dept of Internal Affairs put an embargo on it as a heritage item, and someone threatened to damage it whilst it sat on the pallet outside overnight. In the end it was trucked to the Port of Auckland in rush hour and only arrived just in time to make the loading schedule.” Photo: Bruce Cooke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625807401-C65199M26CE3UCOLOTV5/KiwiMoths76.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-AEK parked in a shady paddock at Oshkosh’s Whitman Airport in August of 1993. This beautiful aircraft, with its exotic double registration and Royal pedigree, must have caught the eye of every passerby. Photo: Ken Videan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625840016-WGGYAXTFKPY9XHB1BO1H/KiwiMoths18.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A photo by George Canciani of ZK-AEK with its old New Zealand registration back on its side, but still in the Royal Flight configuration and making a splash back home at Wanaka in April of 1994. Photo: George Canciani https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625874831-RO17HHWX2G8L9H96N1UL/KiwiMoths72.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out After being apart and around the world, ZK-ADI (background) and ZK-AEK were back together again in 1997 at Westport, just like the old Air Travel NZ days at Hokitika... see next photo. Photo: Peter Lewis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625917288-HPAY0CD9GXH4RDWB69ZG/KiwiMoths58.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A rare photo of ZK-ADI and ZK-AEK together prior to AEK’s unfortunate accident on the Franz Josef Glacier. This photo of the two together was taken 60 years before the previous photo by Peter Lewis. Photo: D.E. Theomin via Hockin Collections, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625956659-9VJF89E1CFJ95M6AT7LI/KiwiMoths21.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Here we see ZK-AEK, nearly 73 years after she was built at Stag Lane, still in New Zealand as ZK-AEK at Wanaka in April 2005. Photo: John Rankin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628625983671-IJBJ5R9ZO95Y6LYBUYHI/KiwiMoths73.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out There is another de Havilland Fox Moth at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland which wears the identity of ZK-AEK. This aircraft, built from condemned fuselage from Stan Smith’s restoration of ZK-APT and the museum’s surplus de Havilland parts from their own stock, was painted up in a red/black/orange Air Travel NZ scheme to represent ZK-AEK back in her early life. Photo: Peter Lewis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626015491-HENCBLPY356L51O0S67L/KiwiMoths88.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A fine shot of the replica of ZK-AEK with wings folded at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland. Photo: reader John Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626046754-5BBNTXLT57PU83RVWZAU/KiwiMoths87.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Perhaps the world’s most travelled Fox Moth, the former ZK-AEK, has been around the world a few times by air and by ship. When it was purchased by Mike Potter for his Vintage Wings of Canada collection, it took the Canadian registration C-FYPM, the last two letters for Poppa Mike, the call letters for Potter, a proud father and aviator. Here we see her flying over the Upstate New York landscape near Geneseo. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626095012-PLHXAMXN6QESM8X725C9/KiwiMoths84.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Eric Dumigan frames C-FYPM in the struts and bracing of a Stearman biplane. Though not as spectacular as the rugged landscapes of the Congo or New Zealand, it’s still beautiful flying country. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626127712-DPSA6NJMQFDDKHAVG418/KiwiMoths86.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield brings C-FYPM in for a close-up over Geneseo. Hadfield, more than anyone at Vintage Wings, understands the pride that New Zealanders have in this historic aircraft. While our P-40N Kittyhawk was being built by the talented Pioneer Aero, Hadfield oversaw its progress on Vintage Wings’ behalf. He was able to witness firsthand the passionate approach to aviation history that so many Kiwis have. Last year, while his brother Chris Hadfield the astronaut was orbiting the planet, Dave was flying vintage aircraft like the Fox Moth at a much lower altitude. Photo: Gilles Auillard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626192454-8073DLCV81OXDRJGBUGS/KiwiMoths68.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Guaranteed to be the most up-to-date images of the de Havilland Fox Moth ZK-AEK, now registered as C-FYPM. These three images were taken on 11 February 2014. Here the storied aircraft rests in the Vintage Wings hangar with wings folded like her big sister, the Fairey Swordfish in the background. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626280166-5BKSL0U2B9CUORAOMQH4/KiwiMoths67.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Nice and warm inside, but it’s -20ºC outside. The former ZK-AEK’s cowling reflects a snowy Québec landscape outside the hangar windows in the February depths of winter. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626317145-32B486SHXUTNTKVJCW83/KiwiMoths66.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out While all of our aircraft have been painted and marked to celebrate Canadian heroes and Canadian aviation, the Vintage Wings of Canada Fox Moth had a unique pedigree which is so powerful that to paint it as a Canadian would be a travesty. Being the first aircraft of the Royal Flight and having been so lovingly restored by New Zealanders, we could not bring ourselves to repaint her to tell a Canadian story, even though many early Canuck bush fliers operated them, including Max Ward’s Wardair and Arthur Fecteau’s Fecteau Air Services. Instead, we put it up for sale and it was purchased by one of our own pilots, Blake Reid, a first officer on 747s with Eva Airlines out of Taiwan. Today, she awaits better weather, a few snag fixes and her pilot to come home. When we tell the history of this remarkable airplane, we take people on a trip to the other side of the world, to a time when commercial aviation in New Zealand was just getting off the ground. We salute all those New Zealanders that made this history and all of you who continue today to keep it alive. Pound for pound, there is no greater warbird country on the planet, and that’s a fact. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626388899-L38B6D41Y544TW2MGIAK/KiwiMoths80.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out The third of the Air Travel NZ/NAC Fox Moths was ZK-AGM. She was constructed at Stag Lane as well in 1934 and arrived at Christchurch by ship in March of the same year. She was entered into the New Zealand aircraft registry as ZK-ADH and, as previously mentioned, she belonged to the Canterbury Aero Club. After the damage to ZK-ADI, caused when it and a prize bull attempted to occupy the same space, ZK-ADH was leased temporarily to Air Travel NZ to help keep their flying commitments going. Here we see ZK-ADH in the temporary livery of Air Travel NZ at the Nolan homestead near Upper Okuru. Photo: Westland National Park Board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626446934-4IUMRT6WUSO18CMHD08Q/KiwiMoths27.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Fox Moth ZK-AGM. The airframe of ZK-ADH was damaged beyond repair in a foggy landing at Wigram (Christchurch) and it was de-registered and later cannibalized for usable parts. The wings, undercart and empennage were used with a newly constructed fuselage from the de Havilland Technical School in the UK, where it had been constructed as a student. The new machine was registered as ZK-AGM in 1938. In the NZ government-run amalgamation of Air Travel NZ with other commercial flying entities that begat New Zealand National Airways, ZK-AGM was absorbed and painted as others in the fleet, all-over silver with red nose design and, like the others, was given an avian-inspired nickname—Matuhi—the Green Wren (also known as the South Island Bush Wren). Here we see her pilot swinging her around with passengers on board. Photo via edcoatescollection.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626475814-5VUJDVGYZG1KY3GKBZ8N/KiwiMoths69.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out A beautiful colour photo of National Airways Corporation’s Matuhi at Christchurch, showing how NAC’s aircraft were painted... and patched (rudder). Matuhi spent most of her NAC career flying up and down the picturesque West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Photo: R. Killick via 3rdlevelnz.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626536545-RKUPHQRGGEFZYIS4TFYM/KiwiMoths16.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Another good shot of Matuhi/ZK-AGM at Christchurch, New Zealand. This photo was taken for New Zealand National Airways Corporation by K E Niven and Co, commercial photographers of Wellington. Looking at this image and the previous one, there is no doubt in my mind that they were taken at the same place and time. Photo via New Zealand National Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626580756-EA33OHTIVAIPM4JQGWNJ/KiwiMoths28.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Matuhi’s pilot warms up her Gipsy Major engine on an impeccably groomed ramp. Matuhi operated with NAC until February 1954, when it was sold to Wanganui Aero Work, Wanganui, North Island. Wanganui Aero Work is the progenitor of today’s Ravensdown Aerowork, an aerial top dresser on the North Island of New Zealand. In this photo, we see that she now sports a diamond motif on her nose design. Photo: D. Walker Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626612262-AODK2EVA3RCMZTU85OQ0/KiwiMoths79.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Another close-up of de Havilland DH-83 Fox Moth ZK-AGM, likely at Greymouth, South Island. Her registration letters, ZK-AGM, which were previously small and on the rudder, are now painted large on her sides. Photo: D. Walker Collection via 3rdlevelnz.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626638303-XUFM7WET61ZXSTUTI0YZ/KiwiMoths74.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Fox Moth ZK-AGM awaits passengers and luggage at Greymouth, New Zealand, about 40 kilometres north of Hokitika on the South Island Tasman Sea coast. Photo: D. Walker Collection via 3rdlevelnz.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626679603-MG1AZ4H3OU00CBI93AWA/KiwiMoths25.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Baggage and mail is stowed aboard ZK-AGM, Matuhi, at Greymouth. In April 1963, when owned and registered to T.A. Garner, ZK-AGM crashed at Freezing Flat, near Minaret Creek, West Wanaka. Matuhi’s pilot Terry Garnier was injured while his passenger, Myrven Ernest Reid, died in crash. The Flight Safety Foundation’s accident report states: “The Fox Moth took off on a pleasure flight over the surrounding mountain country. The weather was fine and the visibility was unlimited. The wind was light and the air smooth. When flying in a narrow valley above Minaret Creek at height of 1,500 feet and confined by high hills the pilot found that his aircraft would apparently not maintain height and airspeed, despite cruising and at times full power being demanded from the engine. The pilot said he could not prevent the aircraft from losing height rapidly. The plane crashed on a dry shingle bank in a moderate dive and burst into flames. Despite his burns and shock the pilot made a resolute attempt to rescue his friend from the fire but was unsuccessful. The crash investigation found that pilot had suffered spatial disorientation induced by the lack of a true horizon and had mushed the biplane into the ground in a semi-stalled condition.” The remains of the aircraft were held in storage in New Zealand pending a full rebuild of the aircraft. Photo: D. Walker Collection via 3rdlevelnz.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626761400-3RHYG903VAAESU1DMWQC/KiwiMoths26.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out Of the Fox Moths that were registered in New Zealand, there were four that were built in Canada. These carried a slightly different designation—de Havilland DH-83c Fox Moths to be exact. Fox Moth ZK-APT was one of the Canadian-built types. She arrived in New Zealand in 1947 and was officially registered to the Marlborough Aero Club. The Club was also in business and used it for freight and charter work. A few months into her career, she was damaged at Bluff Station, when a gust of wind carried her off the airfield and over a cliff. The wrecked Fox Moth was then disassembled and rafted down the Clarence River and shipped to Wellington. It wasn’t until January 1949 before it was flying again, only to be damaged once again in March of 1951, and made flyable again by July of that year. It then went through three different owners and operators. In 1958, it had its third accident when it struck a tree stump. It was finally grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand in 1962. Photo via Wings over New Zealand aviation forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626798334-80CTFOBE3YQLEKRA8K17/KiwMoths43.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out The remains of ZK-APT were acquired by Stan Smith for restoration, but he gave the condemned fuselage section to the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland for their replica of ZK-AEK. In the mid-1970s a group in the Auckland area built five new fuselages; one of these went to Stan Smith for the ZK-APT rebuild. Today, this aircraft runs commercially available sightseeing and historic rides at various air shows around NZ during the season. To see the restoration of this aircraft process visit the 3rd Level New Zealand Blog. Photo: Gavin Conroy, Classic Aircraft Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626866383-DA5DT3SRUD2Y70R68Y1X/KiwiMoths35.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-AQM from edcoatescollection.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626917936-UFFXJ89R8G9M9AZMHVK8/KiwiMoths36.jpg The Stories - THOSE BEAUTIFUL KIWI MOTHS - Make it stand out ZK-AQB from edcoatescollection.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/andthen-there-were-two monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615883068-Q2F6FIGN2I29RKNBW7BR/Mitchells00.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616011956-2UABAK1UT4OA4UACWHPM/Mitchells15.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Perhaps the greatest moment in Rob Scratch Mitchell’s exceptional flying career was the day at Cold Lake, Alberta when all three generations took to the skies together in two CF-18 Hornets of 410 Squadron Cougars. Rob flew with his father Bob in the back of one CF-18 two-seater and his Grampa Fred flew with 410 Squadron Commander, LCol Al Stephenson. The mission was a full-on four-ship 2v2 Air Combat Manoeuvring (ACM) training mission for a couple of new instructors in the other two Hornets. Fred Mitchell was in the other 2 ship, so Rob and Bob took a pause mid-mission and Scratch did a 1v1 demonstration of Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM) with his wing man to show his father how CF-18 fighter pilots fight the jet these days. Later in the flight Grampa Fred Mitchell went supersonic for the first time!!! The entire mission lasted 1 hour and ten minutes and ended with a four-ship break overhead Cold lake. Pulling some hard Gs in the break, Second World War Spitfire pilot Fred Mitchell said he felt right at home. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616130122-3SH8AQ0XL7Q66K6H9J2M/Kirkpatrick2.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Young Leading Aircraftman and flying student Fred Mitchell of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada did his Elementary Flying Training at No.13 EFTS St. Eugène, Ontario, about 100 kilometres east of Ottawa on the broad, flat Ottawa River valley. It was here, in the winter of 1942 and then at No. 2 Service Flying Training School in Ottawa, that he honed his skills as a military pilot. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616198643-CXMRU15LMAWNIWPCHNIS/Mitchells31.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out I asked Rob Mitchell the same question as I ask any pilot who got their EFTS training on Fleet Finches at St. Eugène, “Could you look in his logbook and tell me if he had an instructor by the name of Fred Jones? If not Jones, then Scott Smilie?” Fred Jones was my father-in-law at one time and Scott Smilie was an instructor there who had helped teach the late Flight Lieutenant Bob Kirkpatrick of Humboldt, Iowa, one of my dearest friends. Indeed, one of Fred’s instructors was Scott Smilie, as seen in this shot of the early pages in his log. St. Eugène has long since faded away, but the memory of men like Mitchell, Jones, Smilie, Kirkpatrick and all the young men who once lifted to the heavens over this idyllic spot will endure through their children, grandchildren and holy artifacts like their logbooks. Photo by Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616273416-ZN0R2VY9D4FFVHODO1GA/Mitchell33.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out After getting his wings at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands in Ottawa, Mitchell wasted no time getting to England and No. 7 Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. At this AFU, he got a refresher course in high performance flying on the Miles Master in order to sharpen the flying skills which may have grown rusty during the transit by train to Halifax and the crossing of the Atlantic. The Master, designed and built by Miles Aircraft Ltd. was relatively fast, strong enough to deal with novice fighter pilot skills and was fully aerobatic. It was an excellent introductory aircraft to the high performance British fighter aircraft that Mitchell would eventually fly—the Spitfire. The Master had a unique seating configuration for a trainer. The instructor sat in the back on an elevated seat looking over the head of the student and protected by a windscreen, which he popped up. Seen here is Mile Master DK681, one of the Masters operated by No. 7 AFU at RAF Peterborough. Photo via Larry Button Collection at 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616344475-Y3XG9RR6F9OG9TORQ3BQ/Mitchell32.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Another fine look at the Miles Master in training colours—camouflage over yellow undersides—as it would have looked when Mitchell flew them in the summer of 1943. Photograph via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616390552-J2OB4EZ2FLDE3ZBURHJA/Mitchells29.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out After getting up to speed on the Miles Master in England, Fred Mitchell was sent to North Africa and No. 73 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Abu Suier. Abu Suier was originally formed on 20 November 1941, at Sheikh Othman in the seaport city of Aden, Yemen, under the control of No. 207 Group. It would be January 1942 before sufficient personnel were available to begin training. Initially the unit operated a slim selection of Curtiss Mohawks and Hawker Hurricanes and was tasked with training fighter pilots in desert conditions. It then moved to Abu Sueir along the Suez Canal, where it began operating in February 1943 as a fighter-bomber training unit. It came under No. 203 Group on 10 May 1943 and moved to Fayid in June 1944, disbanding there on 25 September 1945. Here we see Spitfire “Trop”, a tropicalized Spitfire Mk V from No. 73 OTU in North Africa, with a special Vokes filter under her chin. It was on this type of Spitfire that Fred Mitchell began his front line fighter training. Photo by Stan Colley, Peter Arnold Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628616894220-420ZYCBJKDSCR6IW8SYP/Mitchell35.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out A flight of three Spitfire Mk V Trops flying over the Egyptian desert. Roger Andrews at thescale.info explains: “A flight of Spitfire Mk Vs, most likely with 73 OTU in 1944/45. JK926/1 and JG933/6 (the two closest Spitfires) both served with 73 OTU at that time. The aircraft would seem to have been repainted in the day fighter scheme, at a Maintenance unit in the Middle East.” Photo via Derek Pennington at thescale.info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617237533-SDAP1KKUAKG49W2WBR0F/Mitchell34.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Another 73 OTU Spitfire showing the obviously less streamlined face of the otherwise gorgeous Spitfire V. Photo from Fritz Johl Collection via Tinus le Roux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617277277-U4PWS97RU2TYWTU7LTUR/Mitchells40.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Spitfire V Trops at 73 Operational Training Unit at Abu Suier, Egypt along the edge of the Suez Canal. Instructor Collin Sinclair of the South African Air Force stands at the wing. Photo from Colin Sinclair Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617327713-BP4SVW1510QTUPTT0N5T/Mitchells41.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out No. 73 Operational Training Unit Spitfire V Trop overhead Abu Suier, Egypt. Photo by Bomb Finney from Colin Sinclair Collection via Tinus le Roux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617652211-O81JE8LA1YFXREICY2WN/Mitchells43.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out A pair of 73 OTU Spitfire V Trops roars across the Western Egyptian desert. Photo from Fritz Johl Collection via Tinus le Roux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617694868-HGF73MQUIHKWH0KYGVA0/Mitchells42.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Another shot of a 73 OTU Spitfire (this one without the Vokes filter) overflying the Great Bitter Lake and the Suez Canal. The Great Bitter Lake is a saltwater lake which is part of the Suez Canal. It is connected to the Small Bitter Lake, through which the canal also runs. Photo from Fritz Johl Collection via Tinus le Roux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617731199-LGI2HX6WAGDUNW9YYT4F/Mitchells02.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Young Spitfire pilot Fred Mitchell leans casually next to a Spitfire Trop somewhere in the North African Desert, likely Abu Suier, Egypt near the Suez Canal. Note the large Vokes filter air scoop under the Trop’s chin. Spitfires in North Africa operated in some extreme conditions with sifting sand, dust and extreme heat. Supermarine Spitfires that were assigned to the Mediterranean and North African theatres of operation had to have modifications made to the air induction system. Two different air filtering systems were used on these Spitfires, which unfortunately altered their famous streamlined good looks. The Aboukir Tropical Filter had a shorter intake scoop, while the Vokes system (above), used for filtering out the omnipresent desert sand, had a longer intake. These North African Vokes Spitfires were also used in Mid East and Far East theatres of operations. Photo via Mitchell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617773141-2DAAWY0WKII4NOOJ0L4L/Mitchells03.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out After OTU at Abu Suier, Mitchell spent a few months in Sardinia for additional training on Spitfire Vs, VIIIs, and IXs, before being sent back to England to join a Canadian squadron—the RCAF’s 421 Red Indian Squadron, flying Merlin-powered Spitfire IXs and Griffon-powered Spitfires. It was in December of 1944 that the 421 squadron received the Spitfire XIV. In 1945, the unit participated in the liberation of the Netherlands, before moving into Germany. At the end of the war, the unit had achieved over 90 aerial victories. Photo via Mitchell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617814628-XBGLJDRL4T2E6C9H0298/Mitchells06.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out One of the many special connections that Fred Mitchell had with his grand son Rob was that, as a member of the 421 Red Indian Squadron, he flew Spitfire AU-J. Our own Spitfire, SL721, is painted to commemorate a 421 Squadron Spit with that very aircraft code on its sides. It is not known whether the AU-J written into Fred’s logbook on 17 May 1944 was the same Mk XVI that ours is dedicated to, known to have been the personal aircraft of Flight Lieutenant William Harper. Photo by Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617852404-EMF8ZAXPG2YK5LFKQBOC/Mitchells44.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Mitchell flew many Spitfire marks including Mk XIVs and Mk XVIs with 421 Red Indian Squadron, RCAF. One of them, AU-J, seen here, is how our Spitfire Mk XVI is painted and dedicated to Fred’s squadron mate, Flight Lieutenant William Harper, also of Ontario. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617936876-4VF1Y21HUW83UEI9FHZB/Mitchells04.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out On 28 July 1945, whilst ferrying an ex-41 Squadron Spitfire Mk XIV (EB-Q MV264) to an advanced landing field in occupied Germany (B.174 Utersen (awaiting confirmation from Mitchell's logbook)), Fred Mitchell was very nearly killed when his aircraft cartwheeled off the runway. This forward airbase runway was made from a flexible steel matting known as Sommerfield Tracking (SMT). Unfortunately some of the SMT had come loose. Upon landing, and rolling out, the Spitfire developed a bow wave of the SMT in front of the tires. At one point the wave pushed back and caught the tires, causing the aircraft to flip over and cartwheel off the track, coming to rest on its back on the infield grass with a crushed and shattered canopy. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628617983307-GMAQPXRE7HD68BVXOJSA/Mitchells05.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out A close-up of the remains of the 41 Squadron Spitfire in which Fred Mitchell was very nearly killed in Germany. Mitchell recalled thinking “Duck!" and it was lucky indeed that he did. When he came to, hanging from the straps with French turf jammed in his face, he heard the ticking of the magnetos and flipped off the engine switch. The crews arrived and ignored him at first, certain he was dead. It was several minutes later when they heard him and realized that indeed he had survived, relatively intact. Looking at this image, one sees how they had assumed his neck had to have been broken. Photo via Mitchell Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618033939-BGJHR03EPYLX2WLTV00H/Mitchells01.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out A dashing young Warrant Officer Fred Mitchell, looking confident, takes a break for a smoke and a coffee. After the end of the Second World War, Mitchell continued to fly, with 411 and 416 Squadrons, in Spitfire XVIs. Photo via Mitchell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618066600-9VGLS9RJAX6X0AGZQSFX/Mitchells08.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out After his Second World War service as a Spitfire pilot, Fred Mitchell chose a career as a firefighter rather than continue on in the RCAF as he was offered. He spent a lifetime as a member of the Sudbury Fire Department, rising to become Chief. The man in this photo does not look like a man you would want to cross. Photo via Mitchell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618172700-Z44WOOMZBYH3XDJBCS3C/Mitchells11.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Fred’s son, Bob Mitchell, was inspired by his father’s experiences in the Second World War and he joined the Canadian Air Force (now once again the RCAF thankfully). He started his flying career as a navigator/weapons officer on CF-101 Voodoos with 416 Lynx Squadron in Chatham, New Brunswick, but he longed to fly like his father. He did a short additional stint as a de Havilland Canada CC-108 Caribou navigator, flying relief supplies into Peru after the June 1970 earthquake, before he cross-trained to the front seat. Bob Mitchell was one of the few pilots who earned their wings on the CF-5 Freedom Fighter. Here we see him and a Freedom Fighter shortly after earning his wings. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618207326-000EJZ124E8EZ5OBBE46/Mitchells12.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out After earning his wings on the CF-5 Freedom Fighter, Bob Mitchell would go on to instructing other new pilots on the CT-114 Tutor with “The Big 2” (No. 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School), at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan from 1975 to 1980. This was followed by two years of T-33 flying with 414 Squadron, the Black Knights. After a long ground tour for advanced education and a staff placement, Bob returned to the air at the Instrument Check Pilot School at Central Flying School (CFS) in Winnipeg. Here he takes the fighter pilot’s knee in front of a CFS Tutor as Raven 14. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618249174-P0QZILOHW8MB9U970C4S/Mitchells10b.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out From 1980 to 1982, second generation fighter pilot Captain Bob Mitchell was an instructor at the Central Flying School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This school was where flying instructors were trained for duty at Moose Jaw and Portage La Prairie. In 1987, Mitchell returned to Central Flying School as an Instrument Check Pilot (ICP), proud to wear the ICP patch, demonstrating excellence and accomplishment in instrument flying. Bob checked out Canadian pilots’ abilities in instrument flying on the venerable CT-33 Silver Star, or as all Canadians called them, the T-Bird. On the canopy edge of the T-Bird behind him in this photo, we can see the fabric hood which would be closed for instrument training. After 20 years with the Canadian Air Force, he left to take up a flying instructor position with BAE in Saudi Arabia, flying the Pilatus PC-9. For a time, Mitchell was the highest time Pilatus PC-9 pilot in the world. At just 50 years, he retired in 1998 to Whideby Island in Puget Sound. Photo via Mitchell family Collection, Inset J.F. Chalifoux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618617426-H8LPFLC7NBA06UBGDDG3/Mitchells13.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Fred Mitchell’s grandson would go on to the most stellar career of all. Young Rob “Scratch” Mitchell, taking a knee in the time-worn fighter pilot style, helmet in hand, in front of his spectacularly painted RCAF 75th Anniversary CF-18 Demo Hornet (s/n 188718). Rob and the Hornet were part of 410 Squadron Cougars, the CF-18 Training unit at 4 Wing, Cold Lake, Alberta. Photo via Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618652417-TOCXXKQ4UGPNEJBIEBM5/Mitchells17.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Here, three of the most versatile and enduring aircraft types in history fly together in an anniversary flight. Leading the flight is the Boeing E-3 Sentry of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in its 50th Anniversary year paint scheme, featuring the flags of all 19 member nations. Off its big right wing we see Rob Mitchell in the RCAF 75th Anniversary CF-18 and then a CT-33 Silver Star from 414 Black Knights sporting a sinister yet celebratory paint scheme also commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo by Mike Reno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618709629-A64FB78Y4RZ4TAVCZFCL/Mitchells18.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Captain Rob “Scratch” Mitchell, the ultimate performer, acknowledges an air show crowd, climbing out of the 410 Squadron CF-18 Hornet Demo bird. His sociable nature and superb performances with the CF-18 in 1999 made him a logical choice for the Canadian Forces Snowbird demonstration team later in his career. Photo via Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618750275-UU0SNZBRR3G7525K2C5B/Mitchells14.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out As the CF-18 Demonstration pilot for the Canadian Air Force, Scratch had a bit of pull around the 410 hangar and was able to bring together his father (left) and his grandfather out at Cold Lake for a once-in-a-lifetime event—the three generations of Canadian fighter pilots flying together. This was at the time of the 1999 Cold Lake Air Show and Canadian Space Agency astronaut, Julie Payette, was on hand to meet the family. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618786966-FICWH3SGKS5V0UBK3XVR/Mitchells19.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Earlier in his career, Scratch Mitchell did a two-year tour with the Snowbirds and came back in 2006 as the team lead. Photo via Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618839876-MEDA4FDCDHMB5DVFBB5Y/Mitchells22.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Any military pilot will tell you that they would love the chance to show their parents what they have accomplished. Rob Mitchell got to do than more than once. As Snowbird Lead in 2007, he had the opportunity to take his retired fighter pilot dad up with him in Snowbird 1 as he led the team in a practice. Photo via Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628618879880-M55QOK700LDZQ9ASZZQL/Mitchells21.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Rob and his father in Snowbird 1 shine identical smiles before taking off for some team aerobatics. Photo via Rob Mitchell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622077342-8KED0CD57B9R7IXBHXCM/Mitchells37.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Scratch has been flying jets pretty well all of his adult life. Upon retirement from the RCAF as a Lieutenant Colonel, Rob went to Canada’s WestJet Airlines as a 737 First Officer. Though still technically flying jets, he was definitely not flying them upside down. Rob joined Vintage Wings as our Safety Officer for a couple of years then came on board as one of the Hawk One F-86 Sabre demonstration pilots. Here we see him in the cockpit and getting “in the zone” at the Abbotsford International Air Show in 2011. Photo by Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622113772-5I9XHBOO9IJAL9ZXKETM/Paulie17.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out I had the good fortune to fly beside Rob Mitchell’s Hawk One F-86, in an aircraft of his grandfather’s vintage. Vintage Wings pilot Paul Kissmann in the P-40 (with the author in the back) leads Rob Mitchell in the Hawk One Sabre and the CF-18 Demo Hornet at the Kitchener–Waterloo Air Show in 2011. After the Second World War, Fred Mitchell had an offer to return to the RCAF and fly jets like the F-86, but decided to stay with the Sudbury, Ontario Fire Department instead. He had always wondered what it would have been like to fly the F-86 and his grandson was able to sit down with him and share his perspective and his knowledge of the Sabre. Photo by Andy Cline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622152388-J3IMXX2I9C9QWAS95U5N/Mitchells36.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Lieutenant Colonel (Wing Commander) Rob Scratch Mitchell at British Columbia’s Abbotsford International Air Show in 2011. Years of being a show pilot gave Scratch a certain comfort in front and behind the camera. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622181253-YPUMUGGO2IE21P1H99SG/Mitchells23.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Scratch Mitchell, now a civilian, hasn’t missed a beat in the world of air demonstration. Now he is part of the Patriots Jet Team out of Byron, California, where he flies the nimble L-39 Albatros as No. 5, the outer left wing position. The Patriots Jet Team allows Rob to exercise one of his two passions in life—aerobatic team flying. Rob flew for WestJet Airlines for a few years after retiring, but reluctantly gave that up to pursue a lifelong dream to be involved in the film business, both as an actor and a film producer. Photo via Patriot Jet Team website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622214632-AXDCO4XN2IWYIRNNCTNF/Mitchells24.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out The Patriots Jet Team is a civilian aerobatic formation team that performs in air shows across the western United States of America. The Patriots currently operate as a six-ship team, flying the Czech-built Aero L-39 Albatros. The Patriots are based in Byron, California. Photo via aerobaticteams.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628622261863-XIOG0GQV651YYYSBMMVP/Mitchells16.jpg The Stories - AND THEN THERE WERE TWO - Make it stand out Scratch and Grampa. Rob Mitchell received his passion for flight from his father who had it passed down to him with his DNA from Fred Mitchell, Canadian Spitfire pilot. Fred Mitchell died on 18 January 2014 at the age of 92, fighter pilot to the end. Photo via Mitchell Family Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/snowbird-in-hell monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614157904-5KGEYDC1O2H94QJZPM9J/Screen-Shot-2021-08-09-at-4.09.48-PM.png The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Above, Tery Lebel (SB10) and Jody McKinnon (SB11) both Snowbird Co-ordinator pilots stand on a sunny beach to narrate the performance of the team during the 2006 season. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614526403-L8ZGTIL5943JLN4I8KIG/Snowbird11.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Tery Lebel, far left, poses with the team aircraft, the Canadair CT-114 Tutor and newly-selected pilots and mechanics for the 2005 Snowbirds season. Photo DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614568091-V0CP5S8J024L0QRUWC1U/Snowbird4.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Welcome to Weather Haven, Kandahar Air Field - a "weather haven" suburb to planners... a dusty compound of miserable tents to the thousands of Canadians living in them. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614625368-8YN97LMPF1XT3M9VV8QC/Snowbird6.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out While every attempt is made to normalize life in Kandahar, life is not at all like the streets of Ottawa - the signs are everywhere. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614700224-LQUGW6RHX4BKC9126KC4/Snowbird12.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Canadian soldiers line up to buy coffee and donuts at the Tim Horton’s in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The staff there have all volunteered for the duty because they are committed to the well-being of our Canadian troops. Photo by Sgt Roxanne Clowe, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614795315-0JCGN3XO8R0XHD89KESG/Snowbird2.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Captain Tery Lebel, former Snowbird 10, and now Mission Controller on a three-man TUAV team, poses with the Sperwer tactical unmanned aerial vehicle at the Kandahar airport. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614930205-7JBE2969ALKZED9UZQWM/Snowbird13.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Bombardier Jean-Francois Paré (far left), a member of the artillery flies the CU-161 Sperwer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), from a mobile ground control station while Bombardier Karin Khoudja (foreground) operates the Sperwer’s high-tech camera. Captain Clay Rook (far right) is a Canadian Forces pilot like Tery Lebel and as the UAV mission commander, is responsible for planning the flights, ensuring that the airspace and fire support measures are clear and supervises the ground control station activities. The CU-161 Sperwer is sent deep into hostile territory where it would be extremely dangerous to send a helicopter. Photo by Sergeant Carole Morissette, Task Force Afghanistan Roto 1, Imagery Technician https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628614975154-JC6SIMZZYGZMTHMLR270/Snowbird14.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Bombardier Jean-Francois Paré (far left), a member of the artillery flies the CU-161 Sperwer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), from a mobile ground control station while Bombardier Karin Khoudja (foreground) operates the Sperwer’s high-tech camera. Captain Clay Rook (far right) is a Canadian Forces pilot like Tery Lebel and as the UAV mission commander, is responsible for planning the flights, ensuring that the airspace and fire support measures are clear and supervises the ground control station activities. The CU-161 Sperwer is sent deep into hostile territory where it would be extremely dangerous to send a helicopter. Photo by Sergeant Carole Morissette, Task Force Afghanistan Roto 1, Imagery Technician https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615016024-9JQMFO9N7L9CHWI87KC5/Snowbird9.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Master Bombardier (MBdr) Patrick Moreau (left) and Bombardier (Bdr) Steve Michaud-Hébert recover the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) after descending from a mission out of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Air bags are deployed under the wings to cushion the landing. MBdr Moreau and Bdr Michaud-Hébert are part of the 5e Régiment d’artillerie Légère Du Canada, from Valcartier, Quebec, which operates the UAV - instrumental in providing valuable information to the Commanders and troops on the ground. Photo by MCpl Robert Bottrill, Canadian Forces Combat Camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615119840-8UFCX1VS09O0DDDVJ18M/Snowbird5.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Tery poses with the Taliban Persuader - the much larger Predator unmanned aerial vehicle and a laser guided munition - prior to a mission launch. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615151372-ODE9DU4YRADJVRHFHJDS/Snowbird10.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out A lot of the mission work in the TUAV and UAV teams is done under the cover of darkness. Here, the same RAF Predator as in the previous photo is set to deliver its package. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615195557-8WG9340N66QYXRVA00B8/Snowbird8.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Soon he will be on leave... the signs of Tery's need for a rest are in his eyes - Ed. Photo via Tery Lebel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628615270721-1R8XDGM2E14JRSGR6VDW/Snowbird3.jpg The Stories - A SNOWBIRD IN HELL - Make it stand out Like Lebel's predecessors in other wars on other continents, men have always longed to be home and made their lonely stay at Christmas time a bit more bearable by constructing a unit Christmas tree. Kandahar was no different. Photo via Tery Lebel https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/last-call-for-lancasters monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628598773245-AGC0OEB95G5YNO5C1UMC/LastCall00.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628598931339-DCAIVMBEY8P3C02ZBUXW/LastCall68.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The colour scheme for Tiger Force aircraft was to be white upper surfaces with black undersides. This scheme, despite the cancellation of operations against Japan, was apparent on many postwar RAF Lancasters and Lincolns like this 35 Squadron aircraft. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628598962577-6416YW7XC3GGC4VPX6GU/LastCall201.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Tiger Force Fuel. The earliest planners for long-range bombing of Japan by Commonwealth air forces began thinking in 1943 about how Lancasters would get to Japan when there were no bases in striking distance. The Air Ministry dabbled with converting Lancs into flying tankers, capable of refuelling other Lancs en route. The eventual capture of suitable air base islands by the Americans made the idea unnecessary, but two Lancasters were converted as tankers and two as receivers to develop aerial refuelling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599008594-SS4Z16LVF8P23AF324AP/LastCall203.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Two additional British-built airframes were modified to accept a 1,200 gallon dorsal saddle tank mounted aft of a modified canopy for increasing range. The aircraft were evaluated in India and Australia in 1945 for possible Tiger Force use in the Pacific, but the tank adversely affected the handling characteristics when full and was deemed a failure. Given the defensive mid-upper gun turret was removed to accommodate the enormous tanks, there was no way to counter an attack from above. One can only imagine what kind of flying blowtorch this aircraft would have been should a Japanese fighter pilot score just one hit or if a flak shell burst above. Both Lancasters would have a date with the scrapper’s blade in 1946. Photos via Brit Modeller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599137222-1ZKUE05HWP10VCYCOIHV/LastCall02.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out On 31 May 1945, three weeks after VE Day, the European Allies got set to get right back into the fight against the Japanese. Here we see RCAF Air Vice-Marshal “Black Mike” McEwen, Commander of 6 Group, Bomber Command (foreground) and Air Vice-Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris at RAF Middleton St. George, waving goodbye to the first of 141 Canadian Lancasters that would fly to Canada, via the Azores, over the following weeks. Air Vice-Marshal Clifford Mackay McEwen, CB, MC, DFC and bar, was a First World War fighter pilot with 22 aerial victories. During the 1920s at Camp Borden, Ontario, he acquired the nickname “Black Mike”, due to his tendency to suntan very quickly. One of the Lancs destined to join Tiger Force assets back in Canada was Lancaster KB999, the 300th Canadian-built Lancaster. When it came off the assembly line in Malton, Ontario, Victory Aircraft Corporation production staff dedicated this aircraft to McEwen and had his pennant painted on the nose with the words Malton Mike. After the end of the war, it was decided that KB999 Malton Mike should have the honour to fly McEwen back to Canada. Malton Mike was assigned to the RCAF’s 405 Vancouver Squadron, painted code letters LQ-M, and returned the Air Vice-Marshal to Canada on 17 June 1945. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599193883-69A0K8EQS4GC4GP6M57Z/LastCall03.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Royal Canadian Air Force Lancaster 10s (all built by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario) line the taxiway at RAF Middleton St. George as crews assemble before their mass departure for Canada via the Azores. Over the following weeks, 141 Lancs would make the journey. Aircraft and crews await the arrival of dignitaries, such as Bomber Harris and Black Mike McEwen, there to see them off. The black and white checkered control building at top centre is where Harris and McEwen’s entourage would arrive. RAF Middleton St. George, in Durham County, England was the main base of 6 Group (RCAF) of Bomber Command and home at one time or another to 419 (Wellingtons, Halifaxes and Lancasters), 420 (Wellingtons) and 428 (Wellingtons, Halifaxes and Lancasters) squadrons. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599224533-XK569H1OVR9UNJM1GUAY/LastCall04.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A terrific overhead shot of the crowd of RCAF and RAF airmen surrounding a staff car and its occupants, Bomber Harris and Black Mike McEwen. Lancasters of 419 Moose Squadron and 428 Ghost Squadron are serviced and fuelled for the 2,600 kilometre flight over water to the Azores. Over the next few months, 141 Lancs would make the transatlantic flight. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599287061-1FYEXXCWVJZLMP2TNU18/LastCall62.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of the preceding photo reveals a relatively new Lancaster, with only over-wing exhaust streaks to mar her clean paint. NA-F was a 428 Squadron Lancaster. The squadron crest features a human skull displayed within a black shroud and the motto of the squadron is “Usque ad finem” (“To the very end”). The nickname “Ghost” came from the numerous hours of night bombing that the squadron carried out. Nearly 200 decorations for valour were awarded to the aircrew of 428 Squadron during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599378326-ESQ7Z3HYPFBJEOHEPYJI/LastCall05.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out On 8 June 1945, after a 2,600 kilometre leg to the Azores, followed by a 3,500 kilometre journey to Nova Scotia via Gander, Newfoundland, 428 Ghost Squadron Lancaster NA-D for Dolly drops nicely onto the runway at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, en route to Scoudouc (pronounced Skoo-duke), New Brunswick along the shores of Northumberland Strait. Lancaster Dolly was the third 428 Squadron Lanc with the NA-D code. The first was lost on a night raid on Hagen when heavy icing caused it to force-land in France, killing its Navigator and Flight Engineer. The Lanc which replaced it in the flight line was also lost during a raid on the Hirth aircraft engine plant in Stuttgart in January 1945. That aircraft was shot down by a night fighter, with only two crew members surviving to become POWs. This Lancaster with the name Dolly (KB843) saw 32 bombing missions, but the last one had the most historic significance. As NA-D in RCAF 428 Ghost Squadron, it was the last Group 6 Bomber to land and last RCAF bomber aircraft to log combat time in the Second World War. This Lanc was destined to become part of Tiger Force’s 661 Heavy Bomber Wing at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Like all Tiger Force Lancs after the Japanese surrendered, it was stored in Alberta (Calgary), but then sold for scrap in May of 1947. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599425101-WK4SA4FT1L7PM22TVM9K/LastCall06.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out On 5 June 1945, the crew of Lancaster KB-739 Zoomin’ Zombie (NA-Z) celebrate their successful crossing of the Atlantic from the Azores on their way to Scoudouc. Beneath the Zoomin’ Zombie title she also sports the Latin phrase “Cui Bono?”— “To whose advantage?” Under these nose art titles, this Lanc completed 56 combat ops. The members of the crew include Cliff Pratt (P), Gord Claire (FE), Jim Gunn (N), Doug Miller (B), Archie Martin (WAG), W.A. Magee (WOP), Ted Dykes (AG); along for the ride home were Les Powell (PR) and Hal Baddock (RT) assigned to Tiger Force, 661 Heavy Bomber Wing, Yarmouth, NS. She was last seen in a scrapyard in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599604209-AKAGIK6URWJCMQR17TP3/LastCall304.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out An overhead shot of RCAF Station Yarmouth after the war. Looking straight down, we can see 18 large four-engined aircraft that appear to be Lancasters, stored in front and between the hangars on the flight line. There were other aircraft as well across the field, but we enlarged just this portion. The plaque at the former East Camp site of RCAF Station Yarmouth states that Yarmouth was used by RCAF Tiger Force in 1945. This confirms that these aircraft were indeed Lancasters either in storage or on their way to Scoudouc or Pearce. Yarmouth was built to house the Royal Navy Telegraphist/Air Gunnery School. Photo via Joe Hine Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599643438-85WWMZZZI44Z1GWC62YG/LastCall07.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Over the next weeks, Lancasters would arrive at Scoudouc, New Brunswick, home of No. 1 Maintenance Wing and No. 101 RCAF Equipment Park. Being photographed on 2 or 3 June 1945, this is likely the first group to arrive, judging by the crowd of depot workers and New Brunswickers turned out to meet them. With its white spinners and the big crowd, this may be Lancaster KB941 (PT-U) of 420 Squadron, the first to arrive. She landed as a Tiger Force Heavy Bomber and a couple of years later at Penhold, Alberta was towed away by a farm truck to be used for anything from flower planters to outhouse doors. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599689963-V4KNF3C3GYDXJCA6E1AM/LastCall08.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out With gawking crowds and photographers all around, the pilot of Passion Wagon (KB941) shuts down his still spinning propellers. Tired as they may have been, it must have made them proud to arrive back in their beloved Canada in this kind of martial style. This aircraft had, just two months before, been ferried from Canada to England and No. 32 Maintenance Unit at RAF St Athan, Glamorgan, Wales. It saw no combat and returned to Canada as PT-U—part of 420 Snowy Owl Squadron, RCAF. It was soon in storage at Penhold and then to Claresholm, Alberta. It was struck off charge in 1947. There is a photo of it being dragged away by a farmer later in this article. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599732369-IAKY9QG5CTVFK0XMK8XV/LastCall09.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster Rabbit Stew (KB903), with three of its engines still running, comes to a stop at Scoudouc with lots of RCAF personnel watching. Whereas American nose art was randomly selected by the aircraft’s first commander or crew chief, nearly all the nose art found on RAF and RCAF bombers related to the aircraft code. For instance, NA-Z was Zoomin’ Zombie, WL-P was Piccadilly Princess and WL-B was Bluenose Dads. So why was Lancaster 420 Squadron PT-P called Rabbit Stew and why did it have the letter R on its nose? The reason was that it was originally assigned to 425 Squadron Les Alouettes as KW-R. It never saw combat and was reassigned as a Tiger Force Lanc to 420 Squadron as PT-P, crossing the Atlantic still wearing the Rabbit Stew markings. It was one of two RCAF Lancs called Rabbit Stew, the other being KB882. Both were included in the many Lancasters which would survive the war as well as the scrapper’s torch, KB903 being modified to Mk10-MP (Maritime Patrol) standard, and KB882 modified to Mk10P (Photographic) standard. KB882 exists to this day as a gate guardian at the Edmunston, New Brunswick Airport. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599775401-0RTY54VQLCQ7QBOV1WVW/LastCall10.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Dozens of low-time Lancasters, fresh from combat or at least European operations, sit on the grass at Scoudouc’s Repair Depot and Equipment Park, where they were to be modified as Tiger Force Lancasters for the coming battle against Japan. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599824538-IHTE5JYQFZTOPTZ2LCRF/LastCall11.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of the Repair Depot flight line at Scoudouc, New Brunswick. The all-white prop spinners belonged to aircraft of 420 Snow Owl Squadron. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599911897-ALYBUT2VYGYTXD3CMJXO/LastCall12.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster KB864, Sugar’s Blues, was a relatively new airframe, having flown to England in January of 1945 and been allocated to 428 Ghost Squadron, RCAF. Sugar’s Blues’ nose art, a copy of the famous pin-up girl by legendary pin-up artist Alberto Vargas, was painted by squadron artist Tom Walton. Sugar’s Blues became well known in Canada as this aircraft was chosen for a cross-Canada bond tour. The 21 bombing mission marks, which would have been normally bomb silhouettes, are here replaced with a silhouette of a diving female. It is clear from this photo that the Scoudouc Repair Depot had expected the bombers to stay a while as the tires have been covered in custom made tarps, designed to protect the rubber from deterioration in the sun. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628599944177-5TTYSGCPCYL1HMU0GDP1/LastCall63.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A painted replica of the nose art from the Sugar’s Blues Lancaster of No. 428 Squadron RCAF. The figure is based on the popular Alberto Vargas pin-up girl featured in the January 1945 edition of Esquire magazine. Since the aircraft’s squadron code was NA-S, her call sign would have been “S for Sugar.” Sugar’s Blues got its name from a popular wartime dance tune. Each of the diving figures represents a successful operation. The artwork on KB864 was painted by Wireless/Air-gunner Sgt. Tommy Walton. The replica painted on the Bomber Command Museum of Canada’s mock-up is the work of nose art historian and artist Clarence Simonsen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600024929-9B20C57RWV60WEGATLR9/LastCall13.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of NA-S, Sugar’s Blues, on the Scoudouc flight line along with dozens of other Lancs. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600398347-I97K4HS11047XAR2BFF6/LastCall14.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Not all the Lancasters were in pristine condition as witnessed by this rather battered looking Lanc (KB839), nicknamed Daisy. Though she started her combat career as SE-G with 431 Squadron RCAF (now known round the world as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds), she then was reassigned to 419 Moose Squadron as VR-D. Small dog silhouettes (presumably Daisy the dog) tell the story of Daisy’s 26 combat operations. She was returned to Canada in the first week of June 1945. It was then flown to Avro Canada at Malton for a conversion to Mk10-AR specifications—an Area Reconnaissance aircraft. Conversion included adding equipment such as six camera positions, search/navigational radar, electronic surveillance aerials, and new nose and rear fairing, with the survival equipment in the rear turret. It would go on to a long career, flying with 405 and 408 maritime squadrons. It exists to this day at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum in Nova Scotia. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600449167-YP4D7E7ZJDXNWNT1HLG7/LastCall65.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Not all the Tiger Force Lancasters met an unworthy fate out on the Alberta prairie. The former 419 Squadron VR-D for Daisy (KB839) was selected for modification to the Lancaster Mk10-AR configuration as an Area Reconnaissance patrol aircraft. Here we see her at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, in February 1953. It served with 405 Maritime Patrol squadron in 1952 (new aircraft code VC-AGS). It was retired on 23 June 1955. Photo via Ronnie Bell Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600509053-RYMN5IBY4240QOM58CLP/LastCall64.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster KB839, the former D for Daisy of 419 Squadron and a 26 mission veteran and Cold Warrior, is now on display at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum at the RCAF’s 14 Wing in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is displayed in the markings it once wore as a Maritime and Area patrol aircraft postwar, until it was replaced by the two-turning/two burning engines Lockheed Neptune. KB839 is the only Lancaster in Canada today that sustained battle damage during the Second World War. Photo by Andre Eisnor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628600542496-VIUVJ22BBZ3MI6WEZJXX/LastCall15.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Another Lancaster Mk10 parked at Scoudouc after crossing the Atlantic—420 Squadron's PT-N, No Drip Nan (KB923). Not sure I want to think about that aircraft name too hard, but perhaps it is because she had tight engine seals and her Merlins never dripped oil, which is of course unlikely. No Drip Nan was delivered to England and assigned to 420 Squadron late in April and just six weeks later she was back in Canada at Scoudouc, assigned to Tiger Force at Debert. She clearly had no time to see combat and her postwar career was not much better—put in long-term storage at Pierce, Alberta, then used as an instructional air frame in 1946 and struck off charge in December 1948. She wears crew names on her sides NIC, HOE, RICH, and GUS (on engine). Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601098108-6SWSWGB5AXV66C1L6RK9/LastCall16.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A good look at the jumble of Tiger Force Lancasters at the Repair Depot at Scoudouc from the roof of a hangar. We can see maintenance men eating their lunch beneath Lancaster PT-G in the middle ground. These are mostly 420 Snowy Owl aircraft, which can be determined not just by their PT squadron code, but by the white propeller spinners and the white owl flying on the facing sides of the vertical stabilizers. Tarps cover some glass areas such as the top turrets and some cockpits. In the far distance is a line of Harvard trainers. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601141124-58RH4CIFBA6R7TEPH0KZ/LastCall17.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Another Lancaster by the name of Hell Razor sits on the Scoudouc storage line. Its nose art shows a bat-winged creature with a jagged straight razor for a beak and a machine gun spitting bullets from its mouth whilst dropping bombs from its clawed feet. The Bomber Command Museum website has a powerful story about Hell Razor: Lancaster Mk. X KB885 was built at the Victory Aircraft Plant at Malton, Ontario and ferried to a maintenance unit in England. It was assigned to No. 434 [Bluenose] Squadron in March 1945 and the markings WL-Q were painted on the fuselage. The number of operations flown by KB885 with No. 434 Squadron and their details is not known. In April 1945, the aircraft was transferred to No. 420 [Snowy Owl] Squadron based at Tholthorpe, Yorkshire, England. Here the aircraft was assigned the code letters PT-Y. However the war in Europe ended before KB885 could fly combat operations with its new squadron. No. 420 Squadron returned to Canada on 14 June 1945, and prepared for duty in the Pacific as part of “Tiger-Force.” The dropping of the two atomic bombs and the total surrender of Japan ended the Second World War on 15 August 1945. No. 420 Squadron was disbanded at Debert, Nova Scotia on 5 September 1945. On 8 September 1945, KB885 arrived at Pearce, Alberta together with 82 other Canadian-built Lancaster veterans. In the next three months all these aircraft were flown to different RCAF bases in Alberta and placed into long-term storage. KB885 was flown to what was formerly #37 Service Flying Training School in Calgary and placed in a hangar. In 1947, the Canadian Government decided to sell a number of Lancasters. The RCAF struck KB885 off strength and sold it to C.R. “Charlie” Parker of Red Deer, Alberta for $275.00. The aircraft was flown to Penhold (formerly the site of #36 SFTS under the BCATP), where she appeared at an open house air show on 11–12 June. Health reasons forced Charlie Parker to sell “Bomber Service” in 1954. Two years later, the business was purchased by Walter Mielke. Mr. Mielke was approached by Troutdale Airmotive Company of Troutdale, Oregon, who offered to purchase the Lancaster for $6,000 and convert it into a fire-fighting water bomber. The offer was accepted on the condition that Troutdale purchase a surplus P-40 Kittyhawk from the RCAF base at Vulcan and move it to “Bomber Service” to replace the Lancaster Preparations then began to make the Lancaster airworthy and ferry KB885 to California for licensing and then to Portland, Oregon to be modified to become a water bomber. The cost to prepare the aircraft for flight was estimated to be $14,000. James Sproat, a Portland pilot who was to fly the aircraft to California, was reported as saying that the bomber was to carry 4,000 gallons of water and would be able to lay a 200-foot swath of water one inch deep in the path of an advancing fire. The weather was good in the fall of 1956 as two air force mechanics from the Penhold base assisted with preparing KB885 for flight. New Rolls-Royce Merlin engines were fitted and run-up, the elevators, ailerons, and rudders were refurbished, new tires were installed, and a makeshift runway was bulldozed in a nearby field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601262303-OJC6ICJHMGEX5PJHVPSH/LastCall35.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Charlie saw his new Lancaster as a potential magnet to draw customers to his service station on Highway #2, about one mile south of Red Deer. His daughter, Lois Gilmour recalled, “Dad was always full of ideas that were different. He could fix or build almost anything, really a great inventor of machinery, etc., and loved cars and planes. I’m sure people around here wondered about him—but they were in awe when he set his plan in motion.” Mr. Parker began to tow his new bomber from the Penhold base on country roads and across farm fields. For a time it was bogged down in wet ground but finally, after the ground froze, it completed its trip to Charlie’s gas station that he named “Bomber Service.” The Calgary Herald reported that, “When the engines were started, early morning motorists who probably had no thought that the machine would ever fly again, stopped to confirm their disbelieving eyes. Nearly everyone who went by slowed their cars to a crawl as they watched the propellers cutting through the air.” But a happy ending to the saga of KB885 was not to be. As the big moment arrived in January 1957, pilot-mechanic E. Robinson taxied the Lancaster through the snow to her new runway. Just before take-off, hydraulic problems developed and, while Robinson worked on the hydraulic system, a fire ignited in the interior of the nose section. Before it was extinguished the complete nose section burned off and fell to the snow. The once proud bomber was towed back to the service station and later sold for scrap. Both photos via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection–Colour photo by Rob Taerum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601418323-G0MFWU3S4K0CSUPG1HS7/LastCall18.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out One last look at a Lancaster at Scoudouc, New Brunswick—this one Lancaster KB872, NO! NOT NOW. She sports a copy of the same Alberto Vargas pin-up as did Sugar’s Blues. This was a 431 Squadron Lancaster with aircraft code SE-N. Delivered to England in February of 1945, it was assigned to 431 and then to 434, but was back with 431 and assigned to Tiger Force with 434 at Debert. Instead, like all these Lancs, she lingered at Scoudouc, then was flown to Alberta for long-term storage and then struck off charge in 1947. Given her career, her nose art of NO! NOT NOW, was incredibly apt. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601494756-0O3J9XMKM6KTEOKNWFOF/LastCall19.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Up until Karl Kjarsgaard recommended that I look into this story about Tiger Force Lancasters and the Alberta boneyards, I had never even heard of the Repair Depot at Scoudouc, New Brunswick. I did however have this photograph in my miscellaneous folder which I have never been able to find information on. I had just assumed it was one of the Alberta BCATP bases which would later be used for long-term storage of the Tiger Force Lancasters. On showing this to Karl, he was quick to identify it as Scoudouc, New Brunswick. Scoudouc was originally established in 1940 as a relief landing field for No. 8 SFTS at Moncton. In September 1941, the aerodrome changed its function when it became the home of No. 4 Repair Depot, which later relocated to RCAF Station Dartmouth, and No. 1 Radio Direction Finding Maintenance Unit** (No. 1 RFD MU), a top-secret maintenance unit. Scoudouc was the home of No. 1 Maintenance Wing which performed most of the second and third line maintenance on the Home War Establishment aircraft in Eastern Canada. In fact, 162 Squadron in Reykjavik, Iceland flew their Cansos to Scoudouc for heavy maintenance on completion of which the aircraft returned to Iceland. There is no doubt that Tiger Force Lancasters landed at Scoudouc for a variety of reasons but none of the Tiger Force Wings formed there. In 1945, the station was renamed RCAF Station Scoudouc. A new repair depot was formed at the site, as was No. 1 Maintenance Wing and No. 101 RCAF Equipment Park. These units were short-lived however, as they disbanded on 1 November 1945. The RCAF departed and the aerodrome was abandoned. One thing for sure, this was a big installation with 6 large hangars and two smaller ones for repairing and modifying aircraft. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601651687-QO0O5CCG7VFTC8AFXVMC/LastCall20.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan base at Pearce, Alberta. Opened by the Royal Air Force north of the Village of Pearce on 30 March 1942 as No. 36 Elementary Flying Training School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The school had a brief existence as it closed on 14 August 1942. No. 3 Air Observer School of Regina, Saskatchewan opened a Detachment at the aerodrome on 12 September 1942. The school operated at the Pearce aerodrome until 6 June 1943 when both the Pearce and Regina schools closed. No. 2 Flying Instructors School, originally from Vulcan, relocated to Pearce on 3 May 1943. The school closed on 20 January 1945. Although the airfield was abandoned, the former school continued to be used as a storage depot and scrap yard. Many Second World War Lancasters and training aircraft met their final fate at the Pearce Depot. The Depot closed in 1960. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601722956-1P8L7OG39E536V279MC0/LastCall21.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The instructors, students and staff of No. 2 Flying Instructors School at Pearce, Alberta during the Second World War stand in front of one of the school’s Cessna Cranes and a Harvard. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601751020-SEAFBN072AOO7JZLMMBL/LastCall22.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo reveals a happy crew at No. 2 Flying Instructor’s School. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601932553-9HXN9F4JR01HLDAV95I8/LastCall23.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Until the RCAF could figure out exactly what they were going to do with the Tiger Force Lancasters, they were flown in groups away from the wet and salty air of Scoudouc, an airfield not far from Northumberland Strait and moved to partially closed and former British Commonwealth Air Training Plan bases on the Alberta prairie—places like Fort McLeod, Medicine Hat, Vulcan and Pearce. This shot of flight students at the Pearce railway station during the Second World War tells you all you need to know about the remoteness of this tiny farming community. Pearce itself could not have been more than a few houses and grain elevators and today, largely because the highway no longer goes near it, it is a ghost town. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628601974064-5OU4QH44V2BZDFZ5URUL/LastCall24.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The only known photograph of a Lancaster arriving at Pearce in 1945. Pearce was closed down and vacant by January of 1945, and then officially reopened on 7 September 1945 to accept incoming Tiger Force Lancasters. The very next afternoon, 83 Lancaster Mk 10 bombers arrived and landed at the old base. This shot was taken by Ray Wise, an RCAF mechanic who was tasked, along with a Corporal Edge, LAC Cook, and LAC Wyers, to take care of a large number of Lancaster aircraft which were soon to land... and land they did. Ray Wise was 92 years of age when he was interviewed by Clarence Simonsen, Canada’s leading authority on nose art and Jim Blondeau, a documentary filmmaker with Dunrobin Castle Productions. Blondeau remembers, “... he still spoke with excitement about the spectacular arrival and low flying air show they witnessed at Pearce on that one single fall afternoon. Out in the middle of nowhere the ferry crew pilots showed their low level flying skills, terrifying nearby farm animals and the local Alberta farmers. Ray Wise also helped to record and save Canadian history when he took along his camera. His collection shows Anson ferry pilot aircraft, the rows of Lancaster bombers and most of all the Canadian Nose Art, painted on our most famous Lancaster aircraft. Just eighteen months after the photos were taken some of these aircraft were unceremoniously scrapped without any due thought by Canadian authorities. Once the Lancaster bombers had arrived they were parked in long rows and each morning the four mechanics were ordered to start each of the four Merlin engines on all the 83 aircraft. Over the next six months ferry crews arrived at Pearce and the Lancaster aircraft were flown to various long-term storage areas in southern Alberta. The mechanics were also ordered to prepare as many bombers as the Pearce hangars could hold for long-term storage.” Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602027403-418TP8FRFUSFRZOH9C1J/LastCall26.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Once the Lancasters were on the ground, they had to be organized to fit as tightly as possible to save space, but still with adequate room around to work on them and start their engines daily. Here we see Ray Wise’s mates towing the bombers into position off the ramp. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602079677-187XQYUCFSPX13O8TLU6/LastCall25.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A photo by Ray Wise, taken from the roof of one of Pearce’s hangars looking south, shortly after the arrival and parking of 83 Lancasters. It was Ray Wise’s duty, along with others, to keep them functional until their disposition could be decided. 83 Lancasters, 332 Merlins, and just a few mechanics... quite a daunting task. Because the hamlet of Pearce was so tiny, Ray and his mates rented a house in Fort McLeod and commuted daily. Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602127263-GQ3MVB1U5268URP155JO/LastCall27.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Looking down the flight line at Pearce in the autumn of 1945. We can see that the tires have been covered to reduce sun damage to the rubber. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602328730-QS85ROY2KU7AD09ZNHKP/LastCall28.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Another photograph of the Pearce flight line and the former Tiger Force Lancasters looking southwest. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602362994-AY6ARI3LN7386ZPIUAK1/LastCall29.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Some of the Pearce ground crew, tasked with the daily upkeep of the grounded Lancasters, stand on a scaffold next to a combat veteran Canadian Lancaster with 51 sorties—clearly on a warm day in the fall of 1945. Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602398248-1VM5IH3R7HMF5CB54DGN/LastCall30.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Thanks to Ray Wise, we have today a fair record of the aircraft and even the staff who were tasked with the care of these old warhorses. Here some of Pearce’s airfield staff pose in front of Lancaster KB732, VR-X, the X-terminator. X-terminator boasts 83 combat bombing operations on her nose as well as two Luftwaffe fighters destroyed and there is no doubt she was the source of some extermination on the ground. It is very clear why these men (LAC Wyers, Corporal Edge and an unknown mechanic) wanted to be photographed by Wise in front of this particular Lancaster bomber, for the legendary X-terminator was the greatest of all Lancs in the RCAF—surviving more operations than any other. For a superb recounting by historian Dave Birrell of this aircraft’s remarkable combat history found on the Bomber Command Museum’s website, click here. Sadly, this greatest of all Lancasters was later ferried to Calgary for long-term storage, was struck off charge in May 1948 and scrapped for its value in metal. Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602428099-48NDSMZP0K2Z740EZOWU/LastCall31.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Another great shot by Ray Wise, of some of the same lads as in the previous photograph. Note the airfield dog sitting on the tarped port tire. It is interesting to note that the bomb doors seem to be open in most of these photographs. One would think that they would have been closed to keep birds from nesting in the bays, but the stress on the hydraulic system was reduced by dropping them open. As well, John Coleman says, “Since the engines were started daily, that they were left open on purpose. When we start our Lanc the bomb doors ALWAYS must be open. Early in the Lanc’s career they lost a few to massive explosions. It turns out that fuel vapours tend to collect in the bomb bay.” Many of the following photographs reveal that this was standard for storage. Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602475078-8I4CGYT11223V6GRK7YD/LastCall32.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A few Lancs and an Anson at Pearce. Note bomb doors open on the Lancaster. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602507161-8PLWRRU7WUWIKNM5O40B/LastCall33.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out We covered Lancaster KB839 D for Daisy earlier in this story, but here we see her at Pearce, with bomb doors agape, before she was modified to become a Maritime Patrol aircraft. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602532281-7N6DUWU94AVQPFNV8I73/LastCall34.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out After their stay at Pearce, many Lancasters were prepared to be scattered to other former BCATP bases across southern Alberta. Here we see KB881, called C for Chopper, which had been issued to 419 Moose Squadron in March of 1945 and given squadron code VR-C, being prepped for dispersal to the BCATP training field at Penhold near Red Deer, Alberta. According to records on the Bomber Command Museum website, Chopper returned to Canada on 2 May, a full four weeks before the first mass crossing of the Atlantic which was attended by Harris and McEwen. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602584366-6T0PWXWARQYLXLAYQ1XG/LastCall36.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A shot of Lady Orchid, a 434 Squadron Lancaster (KB895) at Pearce. Lady Orchid is one of the more interesting Lancs of Tiger Force. The Lanc rolled off the assembly line at the Victory plant in January of 1945 and flown immediately to England. It was originally issued to 428 Ghost Squadron RCAF, but in March of 1945, it was reissued to 434 Schooner Squadron. It completed 35 combat operations with aircraft code WL-O Oboe. After a brief period at Pearce, it was placed in storage at Penhold and struck off charge in January 1947. The nose art on the port side originally featured a totally nude blonde gal straddling a massive bomb as she holds 2 pistols with the red and white script “Lady Orchid” below the nose art. For her journey home, her sexy bits were covered up with red maple leaves. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602633899-9HGME6UBZ047UY8DSYS9/LastCall69.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The nose art of Lady Orchid was immortalized on another Canadian-built Lancaster (FM136), at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, Canada, chosen no doubt because its crew commander hailed from Calgary. The story behind Lady Orchid is fascinating. Its 434 Squadron pilot, Ron Jenkins of Calgary, Alberta was allotted KB895, coded WL-O as “his” and permitted to name her. He and his crew chose Wee Lady Orchid for each of its WL-O code letters. The entire crew had a hand in the painting. The six guns were a nod to Jenkins’ home in Calgary, Alberta. Eventually, they dropped the “Wee” suffix. Five of Jenkins’ 15 combat sorties were in Lady Orchid and under his pilot position he painted fifteen white bombs and one red bomb for an aborted operation—this was likely done at the same time the maple leaves were added over Lady Orchid’s breasts as they are not the normal way someone would systematically add his combat ops marks. Lady Orchid crossed the Atlantic and landed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 17 June. When she was struck off charge, Jenkins, who had done well in the family grocery business, purchased the Lancaster and had the seats and equipment from each crew position stripped from the hulk and sent to the corresponding member of his old crew as mementos of their service together. He then gave the airframe back to War Assets, who then sold it to a farmer who was going to use it as a machine shop and storage shed. Years later, when an RCAF Lancaster stalled and crashed at Greenwood, Nova Scotia, it was deemed repairable if a replacement centre section could be found. By this time all the Lancs had been scrapped, but someone remembered the Lady Orchid airframe that belonged to the farmer, who, as it turned out, had done nothing with his Lancaster. He was willing to sell it back to the RCAF, which sent the largest flatbed railcar in Canada all the way to Alberta from New Brunswick to collect the centre section which had been removed from the old airframe of Lady Orchid. That centre section was mated with the wrecked Greenwood aircraft at Downsview, Ontario and enabled Lancaster FM213 to be put back on the flight line in 1953. It continued to fly for an additional ten years at 107 Composite Unit at Torbay, Newfoundland. THAT Lancaster, with the centre section of Lady Orchid, is still flying today with the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, one of only two flying Lancasters remaining of the 7,377 built during the Second World War—an aircraft that pays homage to a 419 Squadron RCAF air gunner by the name of Andrew Mynarski, a Canadian Victoria Cross recipient. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602699273-RJANLS2GCJ9EOG2KDT5Q/LastCall37.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out One of the old BCATP training airfields designated as an aircraft storage facility was at Claresholm. Here we see some of the dispersed Lancasters awaiting their fates on the grass at Claresholm in 1946. By the style of lettering on their sides and the snowy owl painted on their vertical stabilizers, the first two on the right row are from 420 Snowy Owl Squadron. The Lanc in the foreground, PT-G (KB937) was too late for combat, being assigned in April of 1945 to 420. It returned to Canada on 14 June of that year. Though never having been in combat in the Second World War, KB937 was selected for conversion to Mk10MP (Maritime Patrol) standard shortly after this photo was taken and served as an OTU conversion aircraft at RCAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia until it was struck from the lists in June of 1960. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602732411-BZLL48K9YHUORFDJFK33/LastCall38.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster KB860, L for Lanky was coded VR-L with 419 Moose Squadron, RCAF. She arrived in England in November of 1944, but was not assigned to 419 Squadron until February 1945—she still had enough time left in the war to put 18 ops under her belt. She was stored first at Pearce, and then flown to Medicine Hat, Alberta to make room for other aircraft being processed at Pearce. By January of 1948, she had been struck off charge and scrapped. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602801225-U5HH0XUFZ5VT154C5HSJ/LastCall39.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The Lancaster ground maintenance crew at Fort McLeod, Alberta. McLeod was one of the former BCATP airfields where the Lancasters were dispersed, and though its first resident unit, No. 7 Service Flying Training School, had shut down in November of 1944, it housed No. 1 Repair Equipment and Maintenance Unit after the war, and a slew of Lancasters awaiting their fates. This greasy, but happy crew were tasked with upkeep of the Lancs stored at Fort McLeod. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602855783-VHT3PC1T30Y56DP7UZEK/LastCall40.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A couple of RCAF mechanics pose in a relaxed manner on the port outer Merlin of Lancaster Piddlin’ Peter. While trying to identify the serial numbers and squadron codes associated with a Lancaster with that sobriquet, it became clear that there were two Piddlin’ Peter Lancasters, one with 431 Squadron and one with 419 Squadron. The records that I was able to find seemed to indicate that the 419 Lanc remained in England and was scrapped there. The 431 Lancaster (KB773) was listed as SE-A on the BCMC website, but further investigation revealed that KB773 was indeed SE-P, Piddlin’ Peter. Flying Officer Bill Dowbiggin flew Piddlin’ Peter from RAF Croft, Yorkshire to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia via Cornwall, Azores and Gander, landing in Canada on 14 June 1945. Dowbiggin had flown Piddlin’ Peter on 13 of its more than 30 combat ops. The aircraft was stored at Vulcan, Alberta and scrapped in 1948. One of its main gear tires is still on display at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602904424-JRD82Y2AWM6CIWQEB251/LastCall67.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out By the winter of 1945–46, there was a lot more aircraft in storage at Pearce and other airfields throughout Alberta than the remaining Lancasters, including this massive array of Avro Ansons, now no longer needed for pilot, bomb aimer and navigator training with the BCATP. The Anson closest to the camera, 8249, was used by the Bombing and Gunnery School at Lethbridge, Alberta during the war. It had a total of 2,001.25 hours on the airframe and had never been overhauled. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602962691-1I2XKRVD68P6HBPJ9LZ4/LastCall41.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out From sword to plowshare. Depending on how you look at the photo, it is either amusing or terribly sad. Here, in the summer of 1948, we see two farm tractors pulling the 434 Squadron Lancaster Dauntless Donald (KB830/WL-D) like a shot moose across the dusty prairie to its new life on a farm—the price was only $250.00. Farmers bought surplus aircraft like Dauntless Donald for the fuel and glycol still on board or to make implement and storage sheds from their fuselages. In addition, there were hydraulic, sheet aluminium and wire components that a resourceful farmer could make use of. While the fate of this lovely aircraft may break our hearts, one must remember that after the war, there was only a few ways to deal with the literally hundreds of thousands of surplus aircraft—store them, cut them up or sell them to whoever wanted them. Today, throughout Canada, the US and England, it is often the farmer’s chicken house, implement shed or water trough that is the source of rare components for warbird restoration. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628602997006-X54M3KJDMJOGFBU4QV8I/LastCall42.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out In 1948, Alberta rancher Victor Leonhardt poses on the running board of his farm stake truck before towing his new Lancaster back to his farm from Penhold. It appears he has also purchased a Lancaster tail wheel tow bar as well. Leonhardt bought this 420 Snowy Owl Squadron Lancaster (KB941) for $350.00, as well as Lancaster KB994. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603050875-3BCS8XKASWZIRJT942MC/LastCall43.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of rancher Leonhardt about to drag away his new Lancaster KB941. The only flying time accumulated on Lancaster PT-U was its factory test, two transatlantic crossings and the cross-Canada flight. I suspect this would be less than 100 hours. Leonhardt was a two-Lanc man, having also purchased KB994. The Bomber Command Museum’s listing of the fates of all Canadian Lancasters tells us of the fate of that second Leonhardt Lancaster below: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603161103-N4PJWNCY70ARDFU6M7HJ/LastCall72.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A very compelling photograph, taken in 1973, of KB994, one of Vic Leonhardt’s two Lancasters, purchased in almost perfect condition at Penhold in 1948. Both aircraft had been trucked to Drumheller in 1948 and had largely been picked over for usable parts but, in the 1960s, when he chose to move to Pigeon Lake, some 150 miles away, the family could not part with the remains of the Lancasters and they were brought to their new home west of Wetskawin. Photo by Dick Richardson via timefadesaway.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603240992-VXDL3HFISJLKGHN91PJB/LastCall73.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Another wonderful photograph of Lancaster KB994, overgrown by brush at the Leonhardt farm at Pigeon Lake, Alberta. Only the fuselage remains, with its traditional short Lanc nose having been removed and been donated to Lancaster KB976, being restored by 408 Squadron in Comox. Photo by Dave Welch via timefadesaway.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603273433-1S7G7CA07SYYH6F49KP4/LastCall74.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of the fuselage of KB994 as it rested in the Leonhardt wood lot at Pigeon Lake, Alberta. Though a quarter century had passed since Vic Leonhardt towed it away from Penhold, the paint is still mostly there, but vandalized by no less than Elvis Presley and Twiggy! Photographer Dave Welch, a Martinair DC-8 navigator, was on a four-day layover in Edmonton when he drove to photograph this aircraft in August of 1973. Photo by Dave Welch via timefadesaway.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603325719-SXIFGSEXBU5S326JKJ13/LastCall75.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The fuselage of KB994 was airlifted from Pigeon Lake, slung beneath a Canadian Forces Chinook helicopter. Its fuselage was mated with the long Maritime Patrol nose of KB976 (though they had the short nose of KB994 already) as part of an aborted attempt by members of 408 Squadron to build a commemorative Lancaster for their museum. Photo via Dick Richardson and timefadesaway.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603410554-0PWCSALI3PG78CYETLCY/LastCall76.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The 408 Squadron rebuild of a Lancaster using the fuselage of KB994 was abandoned when a new commanding officer did not grasp the importance of the project and returned the fuselage to Neil Menzies, who in turn sold it to Charles Church of England for a restoration project. This is a photograph of the fuselage arriving to RAF Bruntingthorpe back in the late 1980s. Today, this fuselage rests in Kissimmee, Florida. Photo by Dick Richardson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603509974-X6LNY3HGZE30L7GPLY17/LastCall300.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out When researching this story, I was fully convinced that Lancaster KB976 had ended up in Kissimmee, Florida with Kermit Weeks. One of our long-time readers and international aviation consultant Mike Pearson set me straight on that with this astonishingly timely photograph he had taken... JUST YESTERDAY! Mike writes: “By total coincidence, I’ve woken up to your article in my inbox, only a day after I had taken my son to the Brooklands Air Museum, in south-west London (not far from Heathrow). The attached photo is taken from the top of an elderly double-decker bus that was doing rides around the site. I snapped the photo rather quickly as we drove past because the red/white markings drew my attention. Although it is part-covered in tarp, protecting it from the deluge of rain we’ve experienced in recent weeks, the forward fuselage (nose only) is of KB976! ...the very same aircraft that is shown at the end of your article! An unbelievable coincidence, for me anyway, given your article’s timing! How did that flying beauty end up with just its nose section back in the UK? Do you happen to have any research on that aircraft?” The static test fuselage of the TSR-2 lies in the background. For Canadians, this aircraft had, in many ways, similar development promise and sad ending as our beloved Avro Arrow. Reader Andrew Hilton has told us (September 12, 2014) that the nose and the newly built fuselage it is attached to have been moved to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Photo: Mike Pearson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603687051-K7D6FZ6MJW875EC6N4NM/LastCall58.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Once a warhorse, now sharing the farmyard of an Albertan rancher with his cows and horses, this Lancaster looks truly out of place. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603721542-FGD3KVILXDT35LPJ72EF/LastCall44.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Not all Lancasters disappeared into oblivion on the sweeping prairie landscape or were dragged to ignominy by ranchers. Many of the Lancasters went on to relatively long and illustrious careers as Photographic, Maritime Patrol or Area Recce aircraft with the RCAF, designated Mk10P, Mk10MP or Mk10AR, respectively. Here, in 1953, we see ten mechanics swarming a Lancaster at Fort McLeod prepping it for delivery to Calgary where it will undergo conversion to the Mk10MP standard—the very last to be converted. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603754379-A6PXB4N5U6GUUZ32HFJO/LastCall45.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photograph shows us that the Lancaster is in pristine condition (considering that it had been in storage for eight years) and sports a new lightning bolt cheat line running the length of the fuselage. The lightning bolt motif would become an RCAF design standard throughout the next four decades. We see that the defensive guns have been removed. Many Maritime Patrol Lancasters would receive an extension forward of the cockpit which would give them a leaner look (see previous photograph of the Lancaster at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum). Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603805677-BBPJ91LDUFULT6FR3ACO/LastCall70.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out One of the lucky Pearce Lancasters to receive a second chance to defend her country was FM159. Probably one of the last Lancasters to be flown to England, it arrived there in May 1945, being stored at No. 32 Maintenance Unit awaiting turret installation and assignment to a squadron. It was returned to Canada in September of 1945 and eventually modified to Mk10-MP standard, serving with 407 Squadron and 103 Rescue Unit as RX159. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603857248-7I42MJPRFGCZHZAR4OZD/LastCall60.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster FM159 would become RX159 in its Maritime Patrol configuration. Here we see it on exercises in Alaska taxiing past other Lancs of 407 Squadron. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603885363-KAL94LQFEMN76NF2X110/LastCall46.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancaster FM159 was one of the lucky aircraft to have been converted to a Mk10-MP. It was moved from Pearce to Fort McLeod in March 1946. Then, in the early 1950s, it was one of 70 stored Lancasters to be given a new lease on life. It served with the legendary 103 Search and Rescue Unit at Greenwood, Nova Scotia until early 1955, when it got some newer anti-submarine warfare upgrades and was transferred to RCAF Station Comox with 407 Squadron. With 407 Squadron it served from Alaska to Great Britain and everywhere in between. The Bomber Command Museum website tells the story of its final flight: “The Lancaster era at Comox drew to a close in 1958 and it was with some nostalgia that F/L Brooks and flight engineer Duke Dawe left Comox, flew across the mountains, and parked FM159 at RCAF Station Calgary. The aircraft had acquired a total of 2,068 hours since its overhaul in 1953. Duke recalled that leaving Lanc159 was a “rather moving experience.” He had flown in the aircraft 62 times, accumulating a total of 224.5 hours and he “always had a very great feeling for her.” Later, a civilian crew flew the aircraft to the former BCATP base southwest of Vulcan where its engines and props were removed and the aircraft was to be scrapped.” Luckily, scrapping was not to be! In 1960, Nanton, Alberta resident George White was looking to acquire an aircraft for his community to use as a war memorial and tourist attraction. When he learned that FM159 was to be broken up for scrap at nearby BCATP base at Vulcan, he and two others pulled together the $513.00 necessary to acquire the airframe. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628603935055-KKOYZOOJTWWCBPNCBKVP/LastCall47.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Volunteers from the community of Nanton waited until the harvest of wheat was in before they hooked up Lancaster FM159 (RX159) and towed her across the prairie from Vulcan to Nanton, a distance of some 35 kilometres as the Lanc flies. Here we see the tow vehicle and the Lancaster fording the Little Bow River, about halfway to Nanton. We can see that the engines have been removed and the RCAF markings have been painted over. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628604102065-QO5TD8SP9MVEE357676D/LastCall105.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605365193-TI3FO6XHKUDT5YVR7SL7/LastCall106.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605390098-MNUE6FGWL86YWO57KVA6/LastCall107.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605414400-9HIYRSUI4NZ0FAAZJ66E/LastCall103.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605439751-EKERQBVQFU7LBY27YZRH/LastCall202.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605464015-A8CPIG3NR40SZGVBLW4R/LastCall78.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out FM159, the “Nanton Lancaster” would spend five decades in various states of repair and disrepair at an intersection in the small town in Alberta. Here we see it in 1972 as the Bull Moose and in pretty poor condition. The original reason to bring the Lanc to Nanton was to create a tourist attraction. In doing so, it became the nucleus of a group of dedicated men and women who did, in fact, create a more important and longer lasting tourist attraction in Nanton—the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605514470-Y33L02XZP0RQDKCQZD2X/RoarofFour06.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The long, long story of the Nanton Lancaster is one of a community dedicated to preserving the history of military aviation in Alberta and bringing back to life a vintage bomber that was just days away from the scrapper’s saw. In the summer of 2013, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, the final owner of FM159, the Nanton Lancaster, reached the penultimate milestone—the running of all four Merlins... at night and in front of hundreds of admirers. Though it will never fly again, the hearts and minds of Nanton and Alberta citizens were flying this night! Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada; Doug Bowman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605547540-PCFCB00AU3HR52CKQ1H2/LastCall92.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out No story about the Canadian-built Lancasters would be complete without FM213. FM213 was not one of the Tiger Force Lancs nor was it stored in Alberta, but rather RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario as she did not make it to England at the end of the war. She is, however, the most successful of all the Canadian Lancs, as she is still flying today as the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s Mynarski Lancaster, one of only two Lancs flying in the world and the only Canadian-built example. But it was not a life of continuous flying. FM213 was selected for conversion to Maritime Patrol and as such served with distinction with both 405 Squadron at Greenwood, Nova Scotia and 107 Rescue Unit at Torbay, Newfoundland. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605686825-NI3R6K8T8X38ABRE7JC3/LastCall85.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out After her flying service, FM213 stood as a memorial at Goderich, Ontario on the shores of Lake Huron. She was depicted “wheels in the wells” in level flight. One can almost feel the thunder of a low-level pass. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605718664-XPKR1VE5IE23YNV1X8NM/LastCall90.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The Legion at Goderich raised funds to have FM213 raised up on three posts and there was a substantial dedication ceremony when the work was completed. During the Second World War, Goderich, a salt mining and Great Lakes harbour town was host to a BCATP training facility—No. 12 Elementary Flying School. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628605748009-4C0BDR4H1DYIZI6ZNEHN/LastCall86.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out FM213, stripped of wings, engines and extra weight, ready for airlifting from Goderich airport to Hamilton by 450 Squadron Chinook. The museum’s volunteers had a heavy task ahead of them to restore their new acquisition to flying status, but it was one they were eager to take on and still help to maintain her today. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611379577-51X7UZU0BZ8PKE76GY9U/LastCall88.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out FM213 at Hamilton shortly after her delivery by air. Even without wings or engines, the aircraft stands magnificently. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611445442-09WGGYOAL9AZ63XW1TIH/LastCall87.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out With work towards a flying Lancaster in Canada well on the way, the FM213 project is rolled out for all to see at an air show at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in 1985. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611490157-KCQ37YJGF2E1XHMYR34T/LastCall91.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The nearly completed Lancaster at the 1988 Hamilton International Air Show. One sees just how elegant the Avro Lancaster is when displayed in bare metal. Photo via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611524860-RSLODJLXGWBPE46FJ3KC/LastCall98.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s fully restored Mynarski Lancaster is escorted by two CF-5 Freedom Fighters, the nearer of the two being the 419 Moose Squadron’s air show bird (now, like the Lancaster had once been, it is retired and on a pedestal in Kamloops). The Lancaster was painted in the markings of 419 squadron, so the escort is extra special. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611568627-UP1AJI2B4UJB8UQN80O9/LastCall93.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out There is no shortage of aircraft that would love to be photographed side by side with the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s Lancaster. Here, Vintage Wings of Canada’s Hawk One Sabre in Golden Hawks markings slows down to hang with the big bomber. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611643678-AL13FVDR084R82OL5TXK/LastCall96.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Earlier in this story we had mentioned that 83 Avro Lancasters arrived at Pearce, Alberta at the same time and many were loath to land. Instead, these Lancasters spent the last of their fuel low-level flying over the prairie, the air crew squeezing the last ounces of joy out of their venerable bombers. Here, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on that same prairie, some 65 years later, the CWHM Lancaster shows us how joyful that must have been. Photo from Saskatoon Tower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611672922-HYVI72054RWY69GE9HWT/LastCall95.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Also taken from the Saskatoon Airport’s control tower, we see just how low this Lancaster was. One thing of note here is the dihedral of the wings. On the blue circular nose art, we see a depiction of a Victoria Cross, the medal awarded to Andrew Mynarski. Mynarski was 27 years old and flew with 419 “Moose” Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War when he gave his life attempting to help rescue a trapped crew member. His Victoria Cross was awarded in 1946 as the last such award to a Canadian airman in the Second World War. Photo from Saskatoon Tower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611711617-XVM2UYLNAOC702KG5AAD/LastCall99.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The CWHM Lancaster is an annual visitor to Vintage Wings of Canada on Battle of Britain Day, where she pays tribute to the more than 10,000 airmen lost on operations with Bomber Command. Photo by Colin Huggard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611760389-UCAKKNXMS21LDPZHWQDQ/LastCall71.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Lancasters at Pearce in the final days, with collectors and mechanics picking over the bones. The 70 or more which were selected for Cold War patrol were the lucky ones... but just for a few years more. This is the sad end of many of the Canadian Lancasters... rotting and crumbling, being picked over, shat on by pigeons, fading under the prairie sun. Canada’s leading aviation historian and publisher summed it up perfectly: “Barnyard bombers were well worth the fifty dollars asking price. To begin with, a farmer could count on recouping his investment by simply draining gas and antifreeze from his plane. Tires were just fine for a farm wagon. A tailwheel fit the wheelbarrow. For years to come the carcass would be a veritable hardware store of nuts and bolts, piping and wiring. In the meantime it made a suitable chicken coop or storage shed. One farmer converted the nose of his Anson into a snowmobile.” Photo via Larry Milberry, Aviation in Canada, Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611826587-UJ2YYIMJSL7L6TRHZ1YM/LastCall50.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The last crumbling Lancs out at Pearce, with their engines removed—sometime between 1950 and 1955. Canada still operated Merlin-powered Mustangs in reserve squadrons plus Merlin-powered North Star transports, so the engines were still valuable and usable. The Pearce Lancasters became somewhat of a tourist attraction in themselves. Here, members of the Szoke family roam the Pearce storage area and pose with one of the engineless Lancs. Photo via Szoke Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611858609-UXFLAG9MB4UM7591412I/LastCall51.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The Lancasters begin their long fade to oblivion—1950–55. Photo via Szoke Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628611891409-FPNUVA2VTMF84TEPHVXP/LastCall52.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out All their engines removed, these dozens of crumbling Lancasters have been scavenged, cannibalized and vandalized at Pearce with no one to protect them. Photo via Palsky Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628612212314-3NBTO05MF19N80JX8GMD/LastCall53.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Visitors were clearly free to climb over these derelict historic artifacts as they sank into the ground. For a vintage aircraft lover, this is the worst of all endings, but the finest of all places to walk. Photo via Palsky Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628612247838-Y0PSK21S0JRGJZRPF98S/LastCall54.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Looking at this photo of the last Lancs at Pearce, there is nothing more to say. Photo via Palsky Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628612279703-FSL1WXOJDE9XMIO8PHT9/LastCall56.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Earlier, we saw the nose art and learned about the history of 428 Squadron’s NA-S Sugar’s Blues. This is how she was found by the Szoke family in the mid-1950s—engines removed, rubber rotted, bomb doors gone and all cockpit glass shattered. Photo via Szoke Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628612315809-WYT1OJ4XQ92GIMJR0XBF/LastCall55.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out The tragic end of a war machine—covered in bird shite, broken, vandalized—all in less than ten years. Hopefully these young members of the Szoke family understood the history they had climbed into and felt the ghosts of the 10 thousand Canadian boys who died in Lancasters, Halifaxes, Wellingtons and others. Thanks as well to this family for sharing these final moments with these legendary aircraft. Photo via Szoke Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628612360804-YT1MXOJFKGZ9LC37VCCP/LastCall81.jpg The Stories - LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS - Make it stand out Just so our readers don’t think it was dereliction and ignominy for all the Canadian Tiger Force Lancasters, I leave you with this beautiful photo of one of those Lancasters—KB976, flying over Canada somewhere. These old warhorses went to work and did journeyman service patrolling our coasts, reconnoitering the icebergs coming down from Greenland, and photographing and mapping our great country. In this image we can clearly see the extended nose of the MP-configured Lancasters of the RCAF. For a Canadian boy who grew up near RCAF Station Rockcliffe, this was a common sight. A silver-bellied, white-backed thunderer roaring across the skies as seen through my binoculars. Perhaps, at least for that young boy, this was, and still is, the most beautiful iteration of the Lancaster—a true Tiger Force. RCAF Photo via Dick Richardson and timefadesaway.co.uk https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-miraculous-torpedo-squadron monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628558445510-2PH6C7STY5EYCS09IDFA/SoryuTitle.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628558407033-RYDB8IFV3A5IHTRI3LQ6/Soryu27.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Juzo and his squadron mates aboard Soryu flew the Nakajima B5N (Allied reporting name “Kate”), the standard torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of the Second World War. Primarily a carrier-based aircraft, it was also occasionally used as a land-based bomber. The B5N carried a crew of three: pilot, navigator/bombardier/observer, and radio operator/gunner. By 1944, the Kate had been replaced by the Nakajima B6N (Jill) torpedo bomber but a few Kates stayed in service until the end of the war as trainers and target towing aircraft, and many that remained in flying condition were used as Kamikaze aircraft in 1945. Image via Finnish Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628558474157-40QO4BKC5FAZ8YZH5JCD/Soryu10.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out The Nakajima “Kate” was a substantial aircraft as witnessed by these Japanese ground crew handling one. Image: Imperial Japanese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596132580-GRRC14KNFM9VZDN527GI/Soryu11.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out The task force of six aircraft carriers and 18 surface vessels which made the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor first assembled in the protected waters of Hitokappu Bay in the island of Iturup, the southernmost of Kuril Islands north of Japan. Assembled there were Mori Juzo’s Soryu as well as Agaki, Kaga, Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Hiryu. This photograph shows Soryu at the far right. After the war, the Soviet Union took over administration of the islands and kicked out all the Japanese inhabitants. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596192478-8H34IMCQAJYQB9CABZQV/Soryu26.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out The Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier Soryu (Blue Dragon) rests in the pale November sunlight of the Kurile Islands in Hitokappu Bay, just days before departing with the task force for Pearl Harbor. Aboard, torpedo bomber pilot Mori Juzo finally learns of the specifics of his mission. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596447690-LJ96SQG88FGZG5Y617PL/Soryu12.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, aboard the carrier Agaki, addressed the 600 or more pilots and aircrew who would take part in the surprise attack. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596560219-YTKWN1G0TWDSN2FP8FYE/Soryu24.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out While final instructions were given, last minute training carried out and plans finalized, the torpedo squadrons aboard the carriers were issued brand new 18-foot-long Type 91 Kai 2 “Thunderfish” shallow water torpedoes, which featured wooden attachments on the tail fins that acted as aerodynamic stabilizers, and which were shed upon water entry. These Thunderfish were photographed on the deck of Akagi with Hiryu in the distance at HitoKappu Bay. Photo: Japanese Imperial Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596629716-NRBIF1H8EB255T6QXEPN/Soryu07.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out En route to attack Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft carriers encountered heavy seas, which though unpleasant, helped to hide their approach to the attack point. Here, in a screen shot from Japanese newsreel footage, the carrier Kaga makes steady progress through rough seas, followed by Carrier Zuikaku. The film footage was taken from the deck of Akagi. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596662630-AF3M6F09DAYGQTLCOFZZ/Soryu03.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out On every carrier en route, groups of pilots and aircrew were briefed thoroughly. Here, chalking the plan on the carrier’s deck, Lieutenant Ichiro Kitajima, group leader of the Kaga’s Nakajima B5N group, briefs his flight crews on the details of the attack which will take place the next day. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596823281-6ISGJ888FKDMDLNG9BXP/Soryu05.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Japanese Navy Aichi Type 99 “Val” dive bombers warm up on the deck of the aircraft carrier Akagi in the morning of 7 December 1941. Trailing her is Juzo’s Soryu. Contrary to the general impression, these photos of the preparation and launch from the Japanese aircraft carriers were actually taken during the 2nd wave of the attack instead of the first wave. The first wave from Akagi consisted of 27 Nikajima Type 97 “Kate” torpedo/level bombers and 9 Zeros. They took off in the darkness at 6:00AM local time, about 55 minutes before sunrise. The second wave from Akagi consisted of 18 Vals and 9 Zeros and launched around 7:15AM local time, about 20 minutes after sunrise. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596863515-D5IWL3BV1TYB6HDLSDJT/Soryu00.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out In this famous photograph of a Nakajima Kate rolling down the deck of Zuikaku with deck crew cheering them on to Pearl Harbor is actually a still from a Japanese film later captured by American forces. Zuikaku launched 27 Vals and 6 Zeros in the pre-dawn first wave attack and 27 Kates and no Zeros in the 2nd wave. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy via USN. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628596902307-GMDJF2TP9JWIUMUYMVBX/Soryu01.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out A Japanese carrier attack plane Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” takes off from the aircraft carrier Shokaku, en route to attack Pearl Harbor, during the morning of 7 December 1941. Same as her sister ship Zuikaku, she launched 27 Vals and 6 Zeros for the first wave and 27 Kates for the 2nd wave. Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597115241-Z6L281V4H8A40C94GD4Q/Soryu14.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Despite being caught completely by surprise, the Americans at Pearl put up some stiff resistance, as witnessed by the flak bursts in this photo. The Imperial Japanese Naval Air Forces lost 29 aircraft in their attack on Pearl Harbor—9 Zero fighters, 15 Val dive bombers and 5 Kate torpedo bombers. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597229599-WVXREYIZ4MHL1XYREISK/Soryu25.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out The aftermath of Juzo’s attack on the USS California (BB-44). She sits on the muddy bottom. She was re-floated three months later and would not be ready for combat until January 1944. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597266283-UUWNVTNANJIO8H366TF5/Soryu23.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out A hand-tinted photograph of tenders attempting to rescue sailors from USS California. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597355414-PIHI8970OWXM9JBNEYRY/Soryu19.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Though Mori Juzo remembers that the dying torpedo plane from either Akagi or Kaga made a Kamikaze-style last crash into the bridge of a battleship, it was likely that this was the well-documented last-gasp crash of a Kate bomber into the crane (seen at stern) of the large seaplane-tender USS Curtiss (AV-4). If one looks at the displacement of ships in Pearl Harbor, Curtiss was just to the right of the line Juzo would have taken after he released his “fish.” The fire and smoke seen here was from another bomb that hit Curtiss later in the attack. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597409480-T9EKEZX4FL9Y389KXA6G/Soryu16.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out A famous shot of torpedo hits on Battleship Row in the opening minutes of the attack. Massive geysers of water soar skyward as torpedoes find their marks on Oklahoma and West Virginia. At the far right of Battleship Row is California, Juzo’s eventual victim. In the foreground, on this side of Ford Island, just below the right hand torpedo geyser, is the seaplane tender USS Curtiss. One can see from here that she is right in line with Juzo’s exit from the attack. Image: Imperial Japanese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597532211-2QU69SA2X4FK3DZI65NQ/Soryu28.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out A heavily touched-up photo of an Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima B5N “Kate” exiting the Pearl Harbor destruction. This particular aircraft was, according to the Japanese caption, from Zuikaku. The Japanese caption also reads: “Pearl Harbor in flame and smoke, gasping helplessly under the severe pounding of our Sea Eagles.” We can just see USS California near the centre of the photo, yet to be struck by Juzo’s torpedo. Photo: www.ahctv.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597639073-ABN7NLHT909BD1HBVZCJ/Soryu17.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out By any tactical standards, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a massive success, but the crippling of the US Pacific Fleet was only temporary. The full payment for the surprise attack would be paid out by August of 1945 with the utter destruction of the Japanese Empire, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the deaths of millions of Japanese. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628597705066-6SUKYKC2Q4TFQ7HS3XXB/Soryu29.jpg The Stories - THE MIRACULOUS TORPEDO SQUADRON - Make it stand out Aviator and a passionate translator of rare aviation-related Japanese works, Nick Voge poses with an L-19 Bird Dog at Dillingham Airfield, the former Second World War training field on the North Shore of Oahu. He flashes us the Hawaiian “shaka” sign, offering us the “hang loose” interpretation of the “Aloha Spirit.” Photo via Nick Voge https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donsheppardepisode3 monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539339449-KV2RGO1OLDDDXIM1V5TM/Tityle3.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539498054-637RIPSYNGMQV17MIJS2/Episode2_3_82.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A strike of Corsairs and Avengers powers up in the seconds before launch during the early stages of ICEBERG. The absence of squadron markings on the landing-gear flaps of the foremost Corsair may indicate that it’s Ronnie Hay’s fighter. Note the deck-handlers at the chocks of each aircraft, working amidst a whirling forest of danger. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539541845-INDBQGI0NDMVLTES7OA1/Episode2_3_05.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A Corsair Mk II of 1836 Squadron in the spring of 1945. BPF aircraft adopted the blue and white roundel and American-styled “rectangular panels” heading into Operation ICEBERG to approximate USN markings. The letter ‘P’ on the tail signifies the Corsair belongs to Victorious; the figure ‘I’ is the designated “unit number”; and ‘20’ is the “terminal number” assigned by the squadron CO; all were painted in sky blue—this pattern was laid down by Admiralty regulations and was changed in the last months of the war. Sub-Lieutenant Don ‘Whitey’ McNicol, RCNVR, who joined 1834 in May 1945, flew JT-633 on several missions over Japan and referred to it as his private ‘cab’. The lady on the cowling is unidentified. Photo: Randy and Jane Hillier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539633981-FEI4XO03Z3X2017MXGAX/Episode2_3_45.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539651714-IV94SD6A8EYCRYSP10C7/Episode_2_3_73.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Things happened extremely quickly during a deck landing, particularly when landing a high-performance Corsair on a smaller escort carrier. No more than one or two seconds would have elapsed from the time this Corsair from 1836 Squadron missed the arrester wire until it settled on its back after crashing into the barrier. One can only guess what the pilot might be thinking as his aircraft tumbled over, but he would have been powerless to save the situation. Judging from the damage, he came down hard on his port landing gear, which snapped. The incident occurred in February 1945 on the escort carrier HMS Striker off Jervis Bay, Australia when replacement pilots for 1836 were conducting Deck Landing Training. During ICEBERG, Striker and other escort carriers ferried replacement aircraft to TF-57. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539809480-M9COY4TH6V85UHWIWTCT/Screen+Shot+2021-08-09+at+4.09.48+PM.png The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628539928287-8ITJ8B9OCDIKMIGVGY18/Episode2_3_48.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Avengers over TF-57 during Operation ICEBERG. The image shows the vast area occupied by a fleet at sea. Despite the fact that TF-57 and the USN forces off Okinawa lingered in the same area for weeks, the Imperial Japanese Navy failed to use submarines against them. Any sustained success by submarines would probably have had a significant impact on Allied deployment patterns, particularly TF-57’s. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628540256154-J5T07MVY0EI51I4MQF2L/Episode2_3_14.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out TF-57 pounds Hirara airfield on Miyako early in ICEBERG. Miyako, which Sheppard attacked a number of times, was a tough nut to crack, initially defended by an estimated nine heavy AA positions, 38 light positions and 12 machine guns. The relatively flat rolling terrain did not help. The light colour of the runways is derived from the coral used in their construction, which also made them relatively hard to damage and easy to repair. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628540967833-RUFE67H9PHULA967QG7I/Episode2_3_36.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out One of Victorious’ two Supermarine Walrus float planes, which served as TF-57’s search and rescue aircraft during ICEBERG, lands on the carrier. Although ‘Shagbats’ were well-suited to picking-up downed pilots at sea, their slow speed—they cruised at about 95 mph—and the fact that their launch was often hindered by other flight operations, caused delays in responding to emergencies, resulting in the loss of some pilots. Fortunately, USN lifeguard submarines and ‘Dumbo’ aircraft helped fill the gap. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541007030-I7PP04ON54FEXNXN2I8X/Episode2_3_35.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Captain Michael Denny: Victorious’ commanding officer throughout the Don Sheppard’s time in the ship. “A short stocky man with bushy eyebrows, known as a strict disciplinarian”, Denny quickly won the respect and admiration of his sailors and aircrew. Throwing his large carrier around like a destroyer, his coolness and brilliant ship-handling under kamikaze attack in May 1945 helped save Victorious from serious damage. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541128284-G53WBW8HRSNKEBMC8NHM/Episode2_3_18.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A Japanese airfield, probably Nobara, gets pounded by aircraft from TF-57. A number of revetments are apparent to the right of the main runway, and the treed area at the left centre of the image shows how it would be possible for the Japanese to hide their aircraft. Judging from the scores of bomb craters pock-marking the terrain, this image was taken towards the end of ICEBERG, but, again, accentuates the requirement to batter the targets again and again. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541161078-5ZU3UQN9XBEF1IZQ430U/Episode2_3_21.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A Japanese airfield on Sakishima Gunto. Although some bomb damage to the runway can be discerned, the image was probably taken in the early stages of ICEBERG. Since TF-57 had no night flying capability, the Japanese were usually able to repair the runways overnight, forcing aircraft to return to the same targets day-after-day. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541251870-YSEQ7R7LCBYNHCD0GD5I/Sheppard71.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541278584-UKOUJUIBZ2RF2NXZA9B8/Sheppard75.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The USN submarine USS Bluefish. Along with her sister USS Kingfish, Bluefish served as a lifeboat submarine during ICEBERG, lying close off Sakishima Gunto to pluck aviators who had been forced to ditch. Over the course of ICEBERG the two boats rescued eleven aviators who would otherwise have perished or been taken prisoner. USS Tang, seen in the second image, proved the veracity of the lifeboat concept when she picked up 22 downed airmen while standing by a 1944 raid on Truk atoll in March 1944. Don Sheppard had two encounters with lifeguard submarines, flying an RCAP over Kingfish on 31 March, and startling Bluefish with a low-level pass later in ICEBERG. Photos: navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541438113-8PMJGM9050UPF3ET72IJ/Episode2_3_49.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Nearly invisible amongst a blizzard of spray from flak, a kamikaze attempts to break through to a target in TF-57. This image was likely from the fleet’s initial encounter with suicide aircraft on 1 April 1945. The Japanese varied their tactics during ICEBERG, alternating between plummeting from high altitude or coming in low at sea level. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541515424-TLE6ON9LM5VWF6I61QO8/Episode2_3_51.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541636635-SX3E0PF8DRXYSD63ZDH7/Episode2_3_50.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The A6M Zeke “suicider” banks in a final desperate attempt to crash into Victorious on 1 April 1945. Denny recalled, “Banking to keep over the deck, he was out-swung by Victorious and his starboard wing touched down on the port flight deck edge at 45 Station, spinning him into the sea. His bomb detonated under water about 80 feet clear abreast No. 8 Station Port.” Testament to Denny’s skill, he succeeded in out-manoeuvring a nimble fighter aircraft with a 30,000 ton, 670-foot aircraft carrier. Photos via ArmouredCarriers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541739667-5ETOBY0R9AP50T3PUO88/Episode2_3_06.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Victorious’ Corsairs forming up for ICEBERG OOLONG in April 1945. Assembling dozens of aircraft of different types from four carriers into an organized strike formation could be tedious business, but had to be carried out quickly and cohesively; and usually with radio silence. FAA leaders utilized a number of tricks to facilitate the manoeuvre: during TUNGSTEN, the formation leader dropped smoke floats to help the fighters gain position, and to help the process along in MERIDIAN squadron and flight commanders identified themselves by lowering their landing gear and tail hooks respectively. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541828343-SBX6D0SZF03WIAAF7G4J/Episode2_3_11.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A beautiful image of a fully-loaded Avenger struggling aloft in the early dawn, probably during ICEBERG OOLONG. With their thoughts and nerves preoccupied with the launch and upcoming mission, the Avenger’s crew likely paid little attention to the spectacular view. Note that the fighters have already launched. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541914169-4ZCR8LOTW0AEFG6UY05A/Episode2_3_12.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628541937527-6ZFM887P6TQGE5NDW7JE/Episode2_3_13.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Striding casually up the flight deck of Victorious after a mission—probably Operation OOLONG—pilots of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing exhibit the swagger, smiles and relief that accompanies the completion of a successful operation. Don Sheppard walks third from the right; Barry Hayter third from the left; while James Edmundson shares a laugh with Ronnie Hay at the left of the line. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542111293-0GPYRRHIYHVUGCWT27TV/Episode2_3_56.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542134194-RHFI8VR8WI6THTNXCMSI/Episode2_3_57.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Images from both ends of the line of TF-57’s carriers at anchor in sweltering Leyte Gulf during their break from ICEBERG in April 1945. Victorious lies in left foreground of the first image. Illustrious has gone home, and been replaced by Formidable. Unicorn was a Repair and Maintenance carrier designed to be able to operate and maintain any aircraft in the FAA inventory. During ICEBERG she largely operated out of Manus, repairing aircraft and ferrying replacements to the fleet, and she joined TF-57 for that purpose during the respite at Leyte. At one point Rear-Admiral Vian recommended utilizing Unicorn as a night carrier so TF-57 could maintain pressure on Sakishima Gunto around the clock, but the measure was never adopted. The images demonstrate the distances and challenges involved in getting thousands or sailors ashore to take advantage of Leyte’s recreational facilities. Photo: Bottom-Sheppard papers, Top-Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542272257-4SD42GJIHR7R0JXGKUG3/Episode2_3_04.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Corsairs squeezed tightly into Illustrious’ cramped hangar, clearly demonstrating why their wings had to be ‘squared off’ by eight inches. Hangars became almost unbearably hot in the tropics with the flight decks radiating heat and no air conditioning. One can also easily imagine the terrible ramifications if a fire broke out as occurred in Formidable in May 1945. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542353760-BL7BXTHMH2II9UW4UBKO/Episode2_3_85.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The actor Kenneth More, seen here as Captain Jonathon Shepard in the 1960 movie Sink the Bismarck, did not have to step too far out of character to play a naval officer. The son of a FAA officer, More joined the RNVR in 1941, and served as a Fighter Direction Officer in Victorious during Operation ICEBERG and the later strikes against Japan. FDOs were an integral part of the air team, and Sheppard’s brilliant interception on 4 May 1945, which may well have involved More, demonstrated how the effective use of radar, skillful plotting and the well-honed instincts of a FDO and a fighter pilot could result in success under challenging circumstances. More made other contributions in Victorious: every happy wardroom has a good piano player, and 1836’s Lieutenant Don Chute recalled More’s happy disposition and musical abilities helped boost morale during the rough patches of ICEBERG. Images: 20th Century Fox https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542573177-G4ROBTM7HRAXKBP8K7CS/Sheppard72.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The Canadian cruiser HMCS Uganda joined TF-57 for ICEBERG in April 1945. Uganda was a distant cousin to the cruiser HMS Argonaut, over which Sheppard had flown a RAP CAP on 26 March. Uganda also served in the picket role, and took part in the controversial 4 May 1945 bombardment of the airfields on Sakishima Gunto, which suppressed Japanese defences but denuded the carriers of much of their anti-aircraft support—the main role of TF-57’s battleships and cruisers—leaving them open to kamikaze attack. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542645409-978PYBZF1VF76HRXEQXT/Episode2_3_83.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Looking every inch the thrusting fighting hero, Rear-Admiral Sir Philip Vian welcomes Canadian sailors to TF-57 from atop a capstan on HMCS Uganda’s fo’c’sle. Judging from the seriousness of his countenance, Vian is challenging them “to get bloody stuck in!” The contrast between the rigid formality of the officers brandishing their ceremonial telescopes to the casual stripped-down attire of the sailors due to the oppressive heat is striking. Photo: Department of National Defence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628542830850-C1Z7T0IJCP9JO6V7N1WT/Sheppard78.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out “By sheer luck I spotted a small dot about five thousand feet above us.” An Aichi D4Y Suisei or ‘Judy’, dive bomber, with “greenish brown camouflage”, such as Don Sheppard shot down on 4 May 1945. Japanese kamikaze operations were closely directed affairs, and his Judy was likely a ‘Gestapo’ or ‘snooper’ aircraft co-ordinating attacks against TF-57, making it an extremely valuable victory. Photo: NavyField.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543120725-DDOXNPAN01KNVNPN6JKZ/Episode2_3_86.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Smoke from burning Japanese aircraft obscures Ishigaki airfield during a strike on 5 May 1945. Lieutenant-Commander James Edmundson led that day’s strike on the airfield, and his tactics of coming in low and fast paid dividends as both he and Sub-Lieutenant Dusty Rhodes caught aircraft on the ground. That day Sheppard was flying CAP over TF-57. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543236769-FAR7C86DCG26F06RIO4V/Episode2_3_27.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543356176-W153ENPMYB6QT9S5BKH0/Episode2_3_28.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Spectacular images of a kamikaze slamming into Formidable on 4 May 1945. The carrier attempts to evade at full speed under port rudder to no avail. The splashes ahead and abeam of the carrier in the second image are probably the result of shrapnel from the aircraft bouncing off the flight deck. Photo: Randy and Jane Hillier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543413841-OFIUYC0N1V4LTA6P4GT8/Episode2_3_29.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Firefighters battle the resultant carnage on Formidable’s flight deck. Anxiety clouds the face of the fire ighter approaching the cameraman, while the group at his five-o’clock lead an injured sailor to safety. Despite the havoc, Formidable returned to operational status within hours. In contrast, USN carriers, with wood as opposed to armoured decks, who suffered similar fates, were routinely out of action for weeks or months. Photo: Randy and Jane Hillier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543492352-Z4302HDQ99K1M499WJQD/Episode2_3_23.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The DOG strike on Miyako on 9 May 1945. Lieutenant D.A. Dick of 1834 who led the escort reported “I saw no flak whilst over island. No enemy air activity. All runways on the island appeared unserviceable.” Despite that inactivity that day Victorious was hit by two kamikazes. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543534893-91D1E8R9HIBIZAH09NSA/Episode2_3_52.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543566196-UVYSJ5EF7V1PJTO1M2QB/Episode2_3_53.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543594519-WBC1GPSWLOBL04HNAB0Q/Episode2_3_54.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Victorious on fire forward after the first kamikaze strike on 9 May 1945. The last image shows some of the damage, which, among other things, laid bare her accelerator rail. Three died and nineteen were wounded in the attacks. Photos: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543853741-Y8YRCTN1CSH3YOOYKBHF/Episode2_3_81.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Pilots of aircraft crippled by flak during ICEBERG faced two alternatives; put down in enemy-held territory or ditch at sea. If at all possible, most took their chances in the ocean, with the chance of rescue by Lifeguard Submarines, picket-destroyers or SAR Walruses. Although the aircrew of this Avenger seem to have pulled it off safely, ditching could be a dangerous evolution, and 1836 Squadron lost two COs in instances where they went wrong. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628543990771-K6ILWRSTU3KLPRL85SYN/Episode2_3_30.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out The Survivors. Happy but tired pilots of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing pose for one last group portrait on the way back to Australia in May 1945. Don Sheppard stands fourth from the left, while Ronnie Hay stands directly under the prop. Commander J.D.C. ‘Sam’ Little, RN, Victorious’ Commander (Air) stands to Hay’s immediate right. Sub-Lieutenant ‘Whitey’ McNicol, RCNVR, is fourth from left in the second row sitting on the wing of the Corsair; Lieutenant Johnny Maybank, RNZNVR, crouches sixth from the left; while Lieutenant ‘Dusty’ Rhodes, RNZNVR, leans out over the cowling sixth from the right in the back row. Photo: Courtesy Randy and Jane Hillier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544075180-PPOESBTUS56WEGAPLSQA/Episode2_3_25.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544139210-WIPIQYGWYLWX8YQJV7EL/Episode2_3_84.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out ICEBERG took a toll on ships as well as men and aircraft. Here, a baffed-out Victorious sits at anchor before departing for operations off Japan in the summer of 1945. Members of the ship’s company have gathered at the rear of the flight deck for Church Parade or Captain’s Defaulters. Ahead of them sits the Supermarine Walrus SAR ‘Shag Bat’, incongruous amongst the powerful Corsairs and Avengers. The carrier’s radio masts are in the upright position while the small boat boom extends to port amidships; a pile of cargo netting forward blights the otherwise seamanlike flight deck. Barely visible hanging under the flight deck forward, two individuals—they have to be fighter pilots—enjoy some seclusion, presumably having heard it all before. Photo: Randy and Jane Hillier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544415199-AMMNU6IPY0C1D34R86H9/Episode2_3_02.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out 1836 Squadron’s surviving pilots at the end of ICEBERG. The New Zealander Lieutenant Dusty Rhodes sits in the middle of the front row with Don Sheppard to his immediate right. Note that they are the only two officers in the rank of Lieutenant, an indication of how experience had been watered-down over the course of operations. Rhodes was temporarily appointed acting CO of the squadron after Edmundson’s death and then became Senior Pilot, but it is likely that Sheppard, who was senior to the New Zealander, would have assumed those positions if he was not going home on Foreign Service Leave. The two officers marked by crosses, Sub-Lieutenants Sidney Newton and Peter Bennett were killed later in operations over Japan. Note that every aviator wears the ‘wavy’ rank stripes of the Volunteer Reserve. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544475656-ZQDOYSUAMDMG2N8MAVG4/Episode2_3_03.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photograph, with Lieutenant Don Sheppard at centre. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544661324-PXR7KYE4S94231EZ5DBE/Sheppard79.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Home again. Don Sheppard climbs into the familiar cockpit of Vintage Wing of Canada’s FG1-D Corsair in 2010. The smile says it all. Photo via Paul Kissmann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544696753-62CDS2JHTG7FE81EUPP9/Episode2_3_67.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628544722292-IA1FH5WKG883X06MH7I7/Episode2_3_65.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out xDon Sheppard’s wartime achievements are familiar among aviation enthusiasts in Canada, but he has a more popular image on the other side of the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Here we have a painting of Sheppard’s first victory during Operation LENTIL by the award-winning aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite that graces the front cover of a popular British journal and a publication in the respected Osprey aviation series. The well-known British company Hobbymaster has also released a die-cast 1/48 scale collector’s edition of the Corsair Sheppard flew when he downed the Judy on 4 May 1945. Such acclaim is almost unheard of for a Second World War Canadian naval aviator, and is only surmounted by that for Lieutenant Robert Hampton ‘Hammy’ Gray, the legendary recipient of the Victoria Cross. Images via Osprey, Britain at War and Hobbymaster. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628545127029-UK6XNOFO7KOTDK8H0V8X/Episode2_3_87.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Three - Make it stand out A career as illustrious as that of Sheppard’s requires considerable length if we are to do justice to it. Perhaps before you begin reading Navy Blue Fighter Pilot, Episode Three, you might want to visit the other two episodes. To read Episode One … first a Sailor, Then an Aviator, click here. To read Episode Two: Strike and Strike Again, click here. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donsheppardepisode2 monthly 0.5 2024-09-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532538399-SIEFSFS5XJ85Y8IHOXBH/SheppardTitle3.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532804671-DLQRBRG7RYKM92OTGZQX/Episode2_3_40.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out The young naval aviators who found themselves flying out of Ceylon would have understood Rudyard Kipling’s sentiment, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Life there was an eye opener, and chances are they had never before laid eyes on an elephant, let alone encounter one at work towing an aircraft around their airfield. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532896679-Y0AX00SXHDUEQU3LS3F6/Episode2_3_55.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out “A fighter born out of desperation”, wrote aviation historian Tony Holmes of the Supermarine Seafire, the Spitfire that went to sea. Seafire squadrons arrived in the Eastern theatre with HMS Indomitable, and later HMS Indefatigable. Despite their elegant lines and revered air-fighting capability, Seafires had significant weaknesses as a naval fighter, leading Rear-Admiral Vian to conclude they were “unsuitable for ocean warfare.” Although effective in the low- and mid-level CAP roles, their limited endurance and poor decking-landing characteristics disrupted the flow of air operations and increased the burden on Corsairs and Hellcats. In operations off Japan later in the summer of 1945, the adoption of drop tanks from American P-40 Warhawks improved their endurance significantly. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533029257-IPRAPU4E49DVJRXG8I51/Episode2_3_16.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A number of Royal Marines saw distinguished service with the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War, and Lieutenant-Colonel ‘Ronnie’ Hay was amongst the most illustrious. He saw action in virtually every theatre of the war, early on against terrible odds, and finished with a DSO, DSC and Bar, and an estimated four victories with nine shared (his original logbook went down with HMS Ark Royal, preventing a precise total). A skilled, inspirational and outspoken officer, Hay’s leadership and commitment to training were instrumental to the success of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing and Don Sheppard. Photo: clanhay.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533095473-PHTPGZYE2BQS0J7H7V5U/Episode2_3_59.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Ronnie Hay parades Corsairs of the 6th Naval Fighter Wing over Colombo, Ceylon in May 1944. Cohesive formation flying was an essential element of the escort role often carried out by FAA fighters, and Hay was relentless in pushing his pilots towards excellence in that area. Hay assumed command of Victorious’ 47th Naval Fighter Wing in August 1944. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533188456-BZHQDDLT2X6Z5SAQXCJF/Episode2_3_39.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Corsairs form up in the distance as a Fairey Barracuda trundles off HMS Formidable. The ungainly Barracuda had a number of weaknesses, but its relatively short range made it unsuitable for the Eastern Fleet’s strikes against the oil refineries on Sumatra. Due to their longer legs and ability to get airborne after a short run, Corsairs typically launched ahead of TBRs. The plume of steam rising at the fore end of the flight deck was intended to give pilots an indication of the wind speed and direction. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533289746-UHNN8JI8M7DHMNHO80CG/Episode2_3_08.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Corsairs and Barracudas, returning aircrew and the deck landing party crowd the fore end of Illustrious’ flight deck after the strike on Port Blair in the Andaman Islands on 21 June 1944. Although seemingly serene, the image conveys some of the hectic nature of flight operations. As the return strike landed, the deck landing party had to move quickly to secure aircraft in the hangar below so as to leave room for the continuing recovery of aircraft. In this case a Barracuda is being sent down on the lift. Since returning aircraft may be damaged or their pilots wounded, as landing operations progressed those on deck kept a wary eye on the ongoing recoveries in case an aircraft jumped the barrier to interrupt their gathering with potentially devastating consequences. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533396127-SGMS5AM8Q8R6WZSXMLBQ/Episode2_3_41.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533420973-2ZEJ653701V1J4TO5K93/Episode2_3_42.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533451268-UV67SIMK1ZRGPRXAK8TS/Episode2_3_43.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out This series demonstrates why Corsairs routinely dumped their drop tanks before landing on. Returning from the strike on Sigli, Sumatra in August 1944, 1834 Squadron’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander Noel Charlton, was unable to jettison his drop tank, which burst into flames after it scraped the deck when he landed on Victorious. Fast action by the firefighting party got Charlton out without injury, and the Corsair was repaired to fly again. Charlton was known as ‘Fearless Freddie’, likely due to a 1943 incident at Macrihanish, Scotland when he suffered burns pulling a pilot and observer from their Swordfish after it crashed and burst into flames. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533607360-TYG02MP2I0UFSSK98YRN/Episode2_3_01.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Corsairs launching off a carrier during the raids on Japan in the summer of 1945. By this time the BPF had adopted overall “Glossy Dark Blue” paint scheme for all aircraft “manufactured in the USA”. The image gives some indication of the tightly orchestrated launch cycles utilized to get aircraft into the air quickly. Note that the deck handling party have removed the chocks from all aircraft; the two in the foreground are leaning on their brakes; while the third is just starting to roll; and the fourth climbs away. Photo: Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533735612-J67UEC8RG84EUJ6J0AYN/Episode2_3_10.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Corsairs of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing ranged on Victorious’ flight deck. The absence of any Avengers or Barracudas seems noteworthy and suggests she may have been at sea on a training sortie. Certainly, the type—and lack—of dress of the sailors on deck, and the markings on the landing gear flaps, indicate it was taken in the Far East sometime in the autumn of 1944. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534025483-HNV12WALAEO0G94XOCOA/Episode2_3_15.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out The tired-looking Corsair Mk II JT-422 flown by 1836’s Senior Pilot, Lieutenant W. Knight. Don Sheppard flew JT-422 on a ‘Pin Point’ navigation exercise on 27 October 1944, probably about the time this picture was taken. Note the recently introduced ‘T’ Wing designation has been informally chalked on the fuselage. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534165702-F76203QFOKPJ00R62GRD/Episode2_3_37.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Besides their premium performance, Corsairs had other qualities that helped make them outstanding naval fighters. Unlike some contemporary British aircraft, they featured power-folding wings, which negated the need for deck hands to wrestle them folded, and thus enabled flight operations to be conducted more expeditiously. In this image a Corsair folds its wings while taxiing forward immediately after recovering onboard Victorious. Corsairs were also durable aircraft that could sustain serious damage. The image below shows the terrible damage suffered by a Corsair flown by 1834 Squadron’s Sub-Lieutenant Don Cameron after a collision with another Corsair during a training flight. Cameron and his aircraft survived a harrowing 140-knot landing. Unfortunately, the other Corsair had a wing completely sheered-off and spun in. The New Zealander Cameron was taken prisoner after being downed by flak attacking Miyara airfield on 9 May 1945. Taken prisoner, he survived the war. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534232197-7M1TZBPMT55EOBP7TWBL/Episode2_3_38.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534309340-Y1S488GX2DAAQ6Y7LWPD/Episode2_3_24.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Victorious steaming in placid tropical seas southwest of Ceylon on 8 October 1944 with a deck load of Corsairs. The carrier had just emerged from dry dock in Bombay to have her steering machinery repaired, and was working-up prior to Operation MILLET. That day Sheppard was conducting gun camera exercises from ashore. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534428341-OGMTDSGOYE6BCILWYGVC/Episode2_3_34.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out This profile depicts an Avenger Mk II of Victorious’ 849 Squadron. Formed in the USA in mid-1943, 849 operated in European waters until joining Victorious in December 1944, where it served until the end of the war. This aircraft displays well the camouflage and markings of the Eastern Fleet, and took part in Operations LENTIL and MERIDIAN against the refineries in Sumatra. Photo: Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534571488-BGFOA1GTPVU2N4P52E00/Episode2_3_47.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out The Fairey Firefly brought tremendous versatility to the Eastern Fleet and the BPF. Capable of operating as a strike aircraft armed with three-inch rockets or as a close escort, Fireflies were a popular, dependable aircraft, and far superior to earlier British naval aircraft designs. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534605897-8APCH7CDIPOU39BBTCAD/Episode2_3_46.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A Firefly from HMS Indefatigable’s 1770 Squadron about to launch on Operation LENTIL on 4 January 1945. The three-inch rockets visible on the launch rails proved to be an effective weapon, although achieving accuracy was sometimes a challenge. In LENTIL RP-equipped Fireflies scored the first hits on the refinery complex at Pangkalen Brandan, and on MERIDIAN II on 29 January 1945 they tried to clear a path through barrage balloons with mixed results. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534766368-Q461VM936S1DPPD88PJL/Sheppard77.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa or ‘Oscar’. This pretty, nimble fighter was extremely manoeuvrable at all altitudes but was out-gunned and out-performed by the more durable modern naval fighters equipping the Eastern Fleet. Don Sheppard shot down two Oscars and shared in the kill of a third in fighting over Sumatra in January 1945. Photo: Historum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534905243-S54ZHQPD4GU6CK30KVIC/Episode2_3_19.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A fully-loaded Avenger trundles up Victorious’ flight deck in December 1944 or January 1945. Although the carrier was equipped with an ‘accelerator’ or catapult, it was rarely used during the war—this Avenger has plenty of deck to work with but those that occasionally launched from near the head of the deck park faced a tougher challenge. Although the Avenger was a relatively large aircraft, pilots appreciated its sturdiness and performance, and even flew it successfully from much smaller escort carriers. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628534936812-9DS6BMTR8RU17OABFRYP/Episode2_3_80.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Avengers about to wheel in for their bomb run on the Pangkalan Brandan refinery during LENTIL. Fireflies and other Avengers have already inflicted damage on their initial runs. Circling above the target in his role as Air Co-ordinator, Major Ronnie Hay observed “Attack was concentrated and the majority of the bombs were seen to fall on their targets.” Photo: MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535070790-FF3MQZ3WU5F7XUXA1VP6/Episode2_3_20.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A year after the war ended, Don Sheppard formally receives his Distinguished Service Cross from Rear-Admiral Cuthbert Taylor, RCN, in a ceremony on the flight deck of HMCS Warrior in Halifax harbour. He now wears the straight stripes of an officer of the regular force. He later admitted that flying in the postwar navy was not as enjoyable as during the war. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535128523-5EKAONG06OLKP54F7T0A/Episode2_3_63.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out This superb profile by Mark Styling depicts Don Sheppard’s personal ‘cab’ for a good part of his operational career. All told, he flew Corsair II Ser. No. JT-410 some 42 times between August 1944 and January 1945, including on operations LENTIL and MERIDIANs I and II, and it was therefore the fighter he was flying for his first four victories. According to Styling, Lieutenant James Edmundson also flew this Corsair when he shot down a Japanese fighter on Operation MILLET. There is often confusion over the meaning of the various “distinguishing symbols” or markings, but these accurately reflect those promulgated under Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order 1901 issued in August 1944. ‘T’ represents the “standard Wing letter” assigned to the 47th Naval Fighter Wing; ‘8’ was one of the four designated “squadron figures” for operational fighter squadrons, in this case 1836; and ‘H’ was the “terminal letter” allocated by individual squadron commanders (any letter could be used except for ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘O’ or ‘T’). According to the regulation, these letters were to be painted in sky but that and their position relative to the roundel sometimes varied. Photo: Mark Styling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535190074-8QEQG62KEMTAOSOC73BP/Episode2_3_31.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535209576-Y5PECSGBWJQJ27JPBXDF/Episode2_3_32.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535230288-E3HEP0VJPB7N5QC4HEZ0/Episode2_3_33.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Don Sheppard’s logbook is a remarkable historical document. Unlike many other pilots he included some details of his missions, which makes it more like a personal diary. These images display his entries for January 1945 when he participated in Ops LENTIL and MERIDIAN, and shot down four enemy aircraft. The image of the enemy aircraft is presumably gun camera footage of one of the Ki-43 Oscars he shot down. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535354812-B2I5QMPG3D7QWV9WSV26/Episode2_3_62.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out An Avenger of Victorious’ 849 Squadron crosses the coast of Sumatra on its way to Palembang during operation MERIDIAN. The RN used a different crew composition than the USN for its Avengers, replacing the radio operator/dorsal gunner with an Observer officer. Seated behind the pilot, the Observer was akin to an ‘operations officer’, fulfilling the navigation duties and contributing to tactical decisions. One Canadian Observer, Lieutenant Ed Jess, RCNVR, commanded 854 Squadron during ICEBERG and in operations over Japan. Whether Observer, pilot or gunner, none would have enjoyed the prospect of having to deal with the jungle, or ‘ulu’, unfolding beneath them. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535393749-EXR036VTZYSE5EOHG15E/Episide2_3_74.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out The former Dutch refinery at Soengei Garong operated before the war by Nederlandsche Koloniale Petroleum. The Sumatra refineries produced the bulk of the aviation fuel required by the Japanese, and were thus an important strategic objective. The destruction of the entire complex would be difficult to achieve, and Rear-Admiral Vian’s Force 63 concentrated its efforts on neutralizing pump houses and other critical operating systems. This required good intelligence, effective strike planning and pinpoint bombing accuracy, all of which proved a feature of Operation MERIDIAN. Photo via aukevisser.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535428948-XHWBK89D1QRH61PBAOZ0/Episode2_3_22.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Ronnie Hay and Don Sheppard’s view of MERIDIAN II. Raging fires and towering smoke give evidence of the “truly impressive” bombing of the Soengei Gerong refinery. Barrage balloons can be discerned to the right of the smoke well above the target, while the Pladjoe refinery still smolders across the Palambang River from the attack on 24 January. Within minutes of this image being taken, the photo sortie was interrupted by Japanese fighters. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536381010-VAGPBEQ65CQX8I282W7E/Sheppard73.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out The irascible but talented Rear-Admiral Sir Philip Vian. He had earned a justified reputation as a brilliant fighting sailor during the war, but his personality simply rubbed many the wrong way: the USN liaison officer with TF-57 described him as “a neurotic type who can be, and is, extremely rude at times and very difficult to deal with.” Nonetheless, Vian got the most out of what he had, and his forces performed admirably during LENTIL, MERIDIAN, ICEBERG and later operations against Japan. The veteran aviator Lieutenant-Colonel Ronnie Hay thought Vian’s leadership was first-class. Photo via historyofwar.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536624652-IFDXQHN3CAXIAP7KFP7Q/Episode2_3_60.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out An Avenger from 849 Squadron makes a perfect approach while landing on Victorious around the time of Operation MERIDIAN. One can easily discern the superior view the pilot had from its cockpit as opposed to that from a Corsair. The sturdy, durable Avenger was extremely popular with aircrew, and was an excellent aircraft on the deck. Note the large bomb bay, which normally accommodated one 1,000-lb. or four 500-lb bombs. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536820222-X4JSAAWYDK8FMS8YHH7R/Episode2_3_61.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Don Sheppard and the air maintainers who looked after his aircraft. Long after the war he remembered “I am full of admiration for those men who always seemed to be cheerful in spite of the conditions under which they lived and worked. I can never praise them enough for ensuring that our aircraft performed perfectly in all respects every time we climbed into the cockpit.” With sadness he added, “I owe my life to those men and I don’t even remember their names today.” Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536863853-Z752OI4XL8RZF9HA68CI/Episode2_3_76.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out A group of pilots from 1836 Squadron posing in the early autumn of 1944. Don Sheppard is second from the right in the front row. The image becomes poignant from Sheppard’s personal notations—it was his habit to draw small crosses above those who did not survive the war—and betrays the attrition, not just from death, common of a Second World War fighter squadron. Sheppard probably inserted the fates when he completed his tour in the summer of 1945. The front row, from left to right is Sub-Lieutenants C.H. Singleton, P. Coltman, and the Canadians Sheppard and Barry Hayter—those designated as “Relieved” or “Leave” were all actually on Foreign Service Leave. The back row comprises Sub-Lieutenants Matt Blair (shot down during MERIDIAN I), Stan Maynard (shot down during MERIDIAN II), Eric Hill (shot down during MILLET), Lieutenant-Commander Chris Tomkinson (1836’s first CO, killed in ICEBERG), Lieutenant V.A. Fancourt, and Sub-Lieutenants Bill Direen and W.H. Rose. All were Volunteer Reservists. Photo: Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628537309288-BJJKXKBPPSWDS0YNT29O/Tityle3.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT — Episode Two - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-men-who-fell-to-earth monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536356084-FXKA623N9X61QXLKY0BN/FellToEarth00.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536546559-2G090KJGM4J7AL3FYY82/FellToEarth02.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out The Handley Page Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber of the RAF, RCAF and RAAF during the Second World War, along with similar types like the Short Stirling and the famous Avro Lancaster. More Canadian airmen served with Halifax-equipped squadrons than on those employing the Lancaster. The Halifax could not carry the same payload as the Lancaster, but had a better reputation for survivability. While on squadron strength units of Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew 82,773 sorties and dropped a quarter million tons of bombs. The Bradford-on-Avon Halifax was one of 1,833 “Hali-bags” lost during training and operations. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536603786-QUG5BMYACHFAL4VPJGOQ/FellToEarth14.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out The perfectly British village of Bradford-on-Avon today. A view of the town centre with its ancient river bridge over the Avon (in flood last winter). The Halifax crashed on the tree line at the centre top of this photograph. Photo: Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536654698-7K7AHK6IR43ABS6AXQKQ/FellToEarth01.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out RAF Tholthorpe was a Bomber Command base used by two Canadian Halifax squadrons—425 Alouette and 420 Snowy Owl. In December 1943, No. 420 and No. 425 Squadrons were moved to Tholthorpe airfield, having just returned from service with Wellingtons in North Africa. No. 420 Squadron flew 160 operations from Tholthorpe airfield and lost 25 Halifaxes. No. 425 squadron flew 162 operations from Tholthorpe airfield and lost 28 Halifaxes. In all, 119 Halifax bombers were lost from Tholthorpe. Tholthorpe was nearly 400 kilometres from the site of the crash. The squadron had just transitioned to the Halifax from Wellingtons, and this was a training mission. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536748442-7H1AL7K4Z1R0XNHDDTKX/FellToEarth06.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out A wartime photograph of a young Leading Aircraftman Craig Reid, a radar technician with the RCAF. Reid was one of only two airmen who survived the fire and crash of Halifax LW693. Photo via Craig Reid Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536794820-0NR1DKATG52R0WGZCVVT/FellToEarth05.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out An RCAF service ID photograph of Pilot Officer Joseph Georges Brian Hall (J/89283), an American from Pleasantville, New York who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Hall had been recently married to Barbara Sykes. The image reveals a young pilot, in his early 20s with a serious demeanour. At right is the RCAF grave marker for Hall at the Haycombe Cemetery in Bath, Wiltshire, about twelve kilometres northwest of the spot where he lost his life. Photo: Library and Archive Canada and Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536828401-MCX9PFV016K01Q5AM4MY/FellToEarth10.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out Those crew members who were Britons were able to be interred in their hometowns in England and Wales, while the Canadians were buried far away from their families—such are the realities of war. Flight Sergeant Roy Stanley Porter (J/89470), a Canadian Bomb Aimer with 425 Squadron was buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath, while the body of 20-year-old Norman Simpson, an RAF Flight Engineer, was returned to Stretton, Cheshire. Photos via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536875099-6GVQC1HONN5VOBS5DZ9A/FellToEarth04.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out Mid-upper turret gunner, Sergeant Bill Cameron (A/2403), son of Alexander and Louise Cameron of Chilliwack, British Columbia survived the crash of the Bradford-on-Avon Halifax, only to be killed in action with another 425 Squadron crew, four months later over Germany. Don Hernando De Soto Grover (J/85140), who hailed from Haileybury on the shores of Lake Timiskaming in Northern Ontario, was the crew’s navigator. Photos via Jonathan Falconer and Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628536951522-YS2OFXTZX5ITX8C8FKZI/FellToEarth20.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out All recently winged aviators like Navigator Sergeant Don Hernando De Soto Grover would go to a professional photographer to get a portrait done for family and sweethearts. This one just underscores the youth of the men involved, their sense of pride and even their innocence. Photo via Grover Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628537014317-13T6HBWKQADW29AXE1TA/FellToEarth15.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out The plaque dedicated to the memory of the fallen airmen was laid in the stones outside the Town Council offices of Bradford-on-Avon. Falconer, who was instrumental in this fitting memorial, took this photo of it on 26 March 2014, 70 years to the day that these brave airmen met their deaths. Photo: Jonathan Falconer’s iPhone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628537063135-1OERD8OKMJNQ4HDA7QA3/FellToEarth07.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out In 1994, 72-year-old Craig Reid returned with his wife Verna to the site of the Halifax’s crash for the 50th anniversary and the unveiling of a plaque in honour of his fallen comrades. Photo via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628537106909-ZYVSHQKVREB9XEZSSJKP/FellToEarth09.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out Also in attendance at the unveiling of the plaque was Jean Morris, the sister of tail gunner Graham Evans. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628537173805-BI0GH8TPBP2G7MGQBGCG/FellToEarth16.jpeg The Stories - THE MEN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Make it stand out On the 70th anniversary of that unfortunate night, a bouquet of yellow tulips was offered to their memory. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/one-way-ticket-to-duisberg monthly 0.5 2021-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628529901985-AA7KV97WRG5YMRNE541S/DuisbergTitle2.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628530037233-5QV0ZD970X3NC45D74J9/Duisberg01.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Flying Officer George “Nobby” Clarke, RCAF from Windsor, Ontario, the skipper of 429 Squadron Halifax Mk III, Serial Number MZ314. The name “Nobby” is a common nickname in England, given to those whose surname is Clark or Clarke. The story behind this is that clerks (pronounced “clarks” in British English) in the City of London used to wear Nobby hats, a type of bowler hat. Photo via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628530412943-4F2R3LILRV8K2R85PGWL/Duisberg13.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Young George Clarke as a recent recruit with the RCAF—a photograph likely taken in his parents’ backyard. Photo via Veterans Affairs Canada—Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532167581-Q218JS0KVEBEFEJPN9VK/Duisberg23.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out A typical Bomber Command operational briefing was tense and smoke-filled. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532289799-UJTYSPF6DX7C7A71KUCE/Preparing-For-Duisberg.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out “The last streaks of sunlight had all but vanished from the western sky. Now, from around the vastness of the airfield, the sound of revving aero engines drifted across to them on the dusky air. The first aircraft were taxiing out to the take-off point.” Photoshop illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532429200-MUI2WNPWJO90EYOKMH1P/Duisberg21.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out The forward crew positions in a Handley Page Halifax were extremely tight—no place for a claustrophobic airman. One can only imagine how terrible this tight space would have been on a dark night in blacked-out conditions. The single pilot peers down from his seat on the left side of the aircraft, while behind and to his right stands the Flight Engineer. Les Fry would have stood here, monitoring his instruments in a minuscule compartment behind Nobby Clarke’s pilot seat or, when the aircraft was taking off or landing, sat in a fold-up seat (visible at lower left) next to and slightly aft of the pilot, from where he could manage the throttles for the four Bristol Hercules engines. Under the pilot, facing us, sits the Radio Operator in another tiny compartment. Photo: Imperial War Museum, HU 107799 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532499087-3WK2RO2IX2NOXNXWNI5P/Duisberg22.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out A view looking forward from the Flight Engineer’s position. Directly below the pilot sat the Radio Operator, not visible in this angle. To the right sits the Navigator with his back to the starboard fuselage wall. Beyond him, in the gloom of the forward compartment, peeks the Bomb-aimer. It’s hard to imagine Fry, Clarke, Manchip, Paré and Short all jammed in this tiny, desperately uncomfortable space, in the dark, over enemy territory for 6 hours. At bottom right is the folding seat for the Flight Engineer. Photo: Imperial War Museum, HU 107798 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532579133-XQKCWA1HEBGA2UNQ60CO/Duisberg02.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out A dashing looking Sergeant Les Fry, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, the author’s cousin, was the flight engineer—and the only Englishman—in Clarke’s otherwise all-Canadian crew. He is pictured here with his brother George. Photo via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532643160-87I4ITTEWF1E9E6UBKHC/Duisberg07.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Handsome Pilot Officer Robert Floyd “Bobby” Nimmo (left), one of Clarke’s gunners, was just 19 years old. The son of Robert and Rose Helen Nimmo, he hailed from the tiny hamlet of East Coulee, near the Badlands of Alberta. Pilot Officer Scott McCrury Ogilvie (right), another gunner, was just 18 years old. He came from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island, the son of Sinclair and Barbara Ogilvie. It is very interesting to note that all five Canadians in Clarke’s crew were commissioned officers. Given that Nimmo and Ogilvie were gunners (usually crewed by NCOs) and still teenagers, it is rare to see them as officers. It was common practice in the RCAF to award a posthumous commission to NCO aircrew who were killed on operations. There was no official policy that determined this and it was not universally applied, but it was fairly common after 1943. This would explain why Fry was not an officer, as he was the only non-RCAF member of the crew. This is not to say that living gunners could not be commissioned. In fact, many gunners were made officers for exceptional service, gallantry, volunteering to do additional tours or for the destruction of enemy aircraft. Photos via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532780566-JIHOSWULLC915JCYRUJ3/Duisberg08.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out The Clarke Crew Navigator was 21-year-old Pilot Officer Clarence William Faraday Short (left), known as “Shorty”. Clarence was from Dundas, Ontario, the son of William and Lily Winifred Short. Right: Wireless Operator Pilot Officer Gerrard “Jerry” Paré was, like pilot Clarke, from Windsor, Ontario, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Evariste Paré. Photos via Jonathan Falconer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532850229-QU9BXP1SYCH5GT3OTDQY/NightTakeOff.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out “With both hands firmly grasping the control column, Nobby eased it back and the engine note changed as the big black bird clawed its way into the sky at 110 mph, leaving the runway to slip away beneath.” Photoshop illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628532951295-M0JFOGTD8BWWO0M1KGPV/Duisberg24.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out ‘Paul [the bomb aimer] had just said “Bombs gone”, when a shell hit the kite...’ Photo: HistoryofWar.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533084104-F89NYW6JLF21CHR5SIT9/Duisberg03.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Flying Officer Vincent Mathias, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and his 578 Squadron crew, pictured at RAF Burn during September 1944. L to R: Flight Sergeant Robert Brown RAF, Wireless Operator; Sergeant Basil Hudspeth RAF, Mid-upper Gunner; Sergeant Roy W.H. Harvey RAF, Navigator; Pilot Officer Vincent Mathias RNZAF, Pilot; Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Lionel Lovegrove, Bomb-aimer; Flight Sergeant Albert Oswald Parry, Flight Engineer; Sergeant David Evans, Rear gunner. The ages ranged from Navigator Harvey at 20 years to Engineer Parry at 36 years. Photo via nzwargraves.org.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533136737-V6DTZF6DWFW7T8XWWPZ4/Duisberg20.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Lit only by the dials of their various instruments, the crew huddled in the darkness, as the Halifax droned toward its destiny. Photoshop Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533185828-HKHGJ8L4D0HM68MXZ01K/CloseQuarters.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out “Navigating with the aid of ‘Gee’, landfall in France was made over the Somme estuary in the inky blackness at 6:35 pm.” Photoshop illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533266428-AWDVS1YS1J01UTGTQ7PE/Duisberg11.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out “At about 8:00 pm over the Dutch town of Weert, Nobby had almost certainly just turned on to the final leg that ran into the target when something went very badly wrong.” Photoshop illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628533332700-LU6OQNUG0KYS1Q27RK19/Duisberg12.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out “The gut-wrenching sound of rending metal high in the sky that night was nothing out of the ordinary for them. Not, that is, until shards of razor sharp metal, heavy engines, iron bombs and the pitiful remains of what moments before had been two four-engine bombers and 14 men, rained down about their farm in the meadow.” Photoshop illustration by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535767988-OPRC721FOIGIWPN342DF/Duisberg05.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out The starboard wing section from one of the Halifaxes lies in the field where it fell. The wing centre section has been torn away from the centre fuselage, and the engine bearers have been removed, exposing the front spar. There are holes in the alloy stressed skin surface of the upper mainplane. Photo via Blok family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535821243-080JNFVZRMXNSL0LZBIB/Duisberg04.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out The tangled remains of Halifaxes MZ314 and NR193 at Altweerterheide photographed in July 1945 by the Blok family on whose farmland they crashed. In the foreground is a propeller from a Bristol Hercules engine and what appears to be part of an exhaust collector ring to the right of the propeller hub. To the left of the prop are oxygen bottles, control cables, what appears to be part of a throttle quadrant, part of the front wing spar, and another engine and propeller. Photo via Blok family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535865122-S8ACB8E0ARX8G5NKZSJV/Duisberg06.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Salvaged aluminium wing sections from the crashed bombers are driven away on a lorry to be melted down for scrap. Photo via Blok family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628535999122-L2VMQZBRDX28S9FVRNC9/Duisberg25.jpeg The Stories - ONE WAY TICKET TO DUISBERG - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Paul Roy’s headstone at Pas-de-Calais https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/donsheppardepisode1 monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628523992940-Y3V61NND5D1BRJV8B3L7/SheppardTitle2.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524084562-W6ZT1IOU9RG1XH0ZBRFK/Sheppard04.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The Illustrious-class carrier HMS Victorious was Don Sheppard’s home from the time he went to sea in March 1944. Like her sister ships Illustrious, Formidable and Indomitable, Victorious was a workhorse of the Royal Navy, seeing action in critical operations in theatres around the globe. Designed to carry 36 aircraft, by the time Sheppard joined ‘Vic’ she was operating more than 50 which, with the additional crew required to fly and maintain them, imposed great stress on her organization and systems. The outstanding feature of the class turned out to be the armoured flight deck, which allowed them to shake off damage that would have forced other carriers out of action. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524118098-8AMW155MGM1CP1EU1P5S/Sheppard01.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Victorious pounds through heavy seas while working with the Home Fleet in northern waters during 1942. Her deck park features Fairey Albacore TBRs and a Fulmar fighter, both typical of the obsolescent aircraft the FAA had to rely upon at that stage of the war. The screen across the fore end of the flight deck was meant to block the wind, which could cause damage to the fragile biplanes and made it difficult for sailors to wrestle them around deck. The high seas and wind evident in this image demonstrate well the significant challenges naval aviators routinely faced when operating aircraft from the pitching deck of a carrier. Photo: courtesy Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524271300-LTH4A6J1JVHQECBQEWVT/Sheppard53.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The armed merchant ship HMS Alcantara. Prior to joining the navy Don Sheppard had never been outside Ontario, but after taking the long journey by train to Halifax, he found himself crossing the North Atlantic in a convoy that came under attack by U-boats. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (FL 386) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524344130-ON1K8CVB1RHIG219YR5D/Pawson64.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Naval Air Station Grosse Ile was located on the southern tip of Grosse Ile, Michigan, just south of Detroit. During the Second World War, NASGI was one of the largest primary flight training stations and it was there that more than 5,000 pilots, mostly naval cadets, received their introduction to flying. On 15 September 1942, Sheppard soloed at Grosse Ile in a Spartan NP-1 primary trainer. Image via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524400131-VZKOELA120ZDAX2UVG4Z/Sheppard51.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524443065-DW5K4LI1ATB2PSNHLH9L/Sheppard52.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out USN Brewster Buffaloes cavorting over NAS Miami. Although the Buffalo had earned a terrible reputation, they were the first fighters flown by young trainees like Sheppard, and a real step up from training aircraft. Canadian Don MacLeod probably put it best: “all we wanted to do was go 300 miles an hour...” The bullied, baffed-out Buffalos gave them that chance. Photos: US Navy via Warbird Information Exchange https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524530804-AYWP2B0OENX35JXL8KKC/Sheppard66.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The Grumman Martlet was a Godsend for the Fleet Air Arm since it was the first truly modern high performance fighter in their stable that was designed to operate from aircraft carriers. As it turned out Don Sheppard was not prepared for the Marlet’s power. Interestingly, the Royal Navy changed the names of the Grumman aircraft acquired through Lend-Lease: thus, Wildcats became Martlets; Avengers, Tarpons; and Hellcats, Gannets. To avoid confusion, they later reverted to their original American monikers. Photo: wwiivehicles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524588678-J0YJT3TSQDS6CKVB51VF/Pawson53.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524626598-ESBMWYML4DCLBPN4OL4X/Pawson58.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out These two images show Mark I and Mark II Chance Vought Corsairs cruising over Maine in 1943. The most obvious difference between the two was the latter’s “improved-visibility canopy”—it is easy to see how the pilot’s view improved from the Mk I’s ‘bird-cage’, and it also helped give the Corsair its classic look. One can also discern the Mk II’s shorter, squared-off wing. Note the Canadian Maple Leaf nose art on the Mk I. Photos: courtesy Howard King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524677650-3SGVE91GKZUYF5ATLBSB/Pawson59.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Prangs were common at Maine as the young, inexperienced pilots learned that it was a big step to the high performance Chance Vought Corsair. Don Sheppard recalled his first hours flying Corsairs “were a mixture of trepidation, fear and excitement.” Here, a little heavy footwork on the brakes by another pilot results in a nose-over at NAS Brunswick. Photo: courtesy Howard King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628524979046-W594X2B6AX948SV4HGYP/Sheppard60.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out A number of Royal Marines saw distinguished service with the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War, and Lieutenant-Colonel ‘Ronnie’ Hay was amongst the most illustrious. He saw action in virtually every theatre of the war, early on against terrible odds, and finished with a DSO, DSC and Bar, and an estimated four victories with nine shared (his original logbook went down with HMS Ark Royal, preventing a precise total). A skilled, inspirational and outspoken officer, Hay’s leadership and commitment to training were instrumental to the success of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing and Don Sheppard. Photo: courtesy Tony Holmes and Osprey Publishing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628525061434-UC5KHPMB4FGF49JGQ9RR/Sheppard100.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The newly formed 1835 Squadron pose with a Corsair at Brunswick, Maine. Sheppard is at right in the back row, Barry Hayter next to him. Next to Hayter is Peter King in the summer uniform. Photo via Howard King. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628525496457-2WWEPK8Q4429ELPRQPG9/Pawson49.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out A mixed formation of Corsair I and IIs flying over the New England countryside. Sheppard and his squadron mates were airborne constantly during the autumn of 1943, fine-tuning all aspects of fighter combat in preparation for operations overseas. Photo: courtesy Howard King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628525544831-RNCYDQQEO2CUN20EI02V/Sheppard24.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out A Corsair landing on; its tail hook grasping for a wire. The Corsair’s high landing speed and long snout—Sheppard said it was “like riding on the tail of a torpedo”—made it a challenging aircraft to get on deck. Whereas the USN was initially reluctant to operate Corsairs even from its larger carriers, the FAA, desperate for modern fighters, made it work. Photo: courtesy Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628525577998-HCMOE95KDII0BTLR9RHO/Sheppard41.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out HMS Atheling; the escort carrier (CVE) that took Sheppard and 1836 Squadron across the North Atlantic. Atheling was similar to USS Charger, the ship upon which Sheppard met his carrier qualification. Commanded by a Canadian, Captain Ian Agnew, RCN, Atheling went on to serve in the Indian Ocean with the Eastern Fleet. Photo: Royal Navy via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628525987122-UFQB63ZYH0FTNYVBT5YX/Sheppard39.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526031342-YNXTCSQHI9NBQZSMZBHX/Sheppard36.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out An aerial reconnaissance photograph (above) of Tirpitz snuggled behind torpedo nets in a Norwegian fiord. The image below shows the classic lines of the battleship, and also how the high mountains and cliffs helped to shelter it from attack. As long as she remained operational, the powerful Tirpitz with her 15-inch guns posed a dangerous threat to Allied shipping that could not be ignored, and tied down British forces that could be used elsewhere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526013771-VVGB53D0YW3OAF7PHUC1/Sheppard29.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526160502-NPL2S46HO6752IJCXWXG/Sheppard31.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The two above images show the bombing-up process for Operation TUNGSTEN. In the first, Seaman Bob Cotcher lovingly scrawls a personal greeting to Tirpitz on a 1,600 lb bomb, while in the second, officers carefully fuse bombs on the flight deck of Victorious. Cotcher would undoubtedly have been pleased to learn that an estimated 16 bombs hit Tirpitz during TUNGSTEN, causing serious damage. Photos: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526217740-XXIEX54ZZ3VPQPTNAZMF/Sheppard37.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Grumman Hellcat pilots of the CVE HMS Emperor take a last look at a large scale model of Tirpitz’s anchorage before launching on Operation TUNGSTEN. Four escort carriers joined the fleet carriers Victorious and Furious in the attack on Tirpitz. The FAA regularly operated Hellcats from CVEs like Emperor, and although Corsairs trained on the smaller carriers, they seldom flew from them operationally. Photo: Imperial War Museum via ww2today.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526342254-HR1FH9EH71XIP7OKUPOG/Sheppard61.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out A Corsair begins its launch run. The combination of “figure-letter” recognition markings, in this case “7L”, was utilized for all RN carrier borne aircraft at that time. Note the two flight deck barriers in the ‘down’ position. They were controlled from a stand-up panel operated by the Flight Deck Control Officer who is visible standing to the right of the Corsair’s tail-planes near the edge of the flight deck. The sailor in the right foreground scrambles for safety with his wheel chock in hand. Photo: via Fleet Air Arm Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526406674-K2W1FDL1I99B0LD2ORG7/Sheppard40.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526444434-TAYHC5ICIRPZ9MXPK8QQ/Sheppard32.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Fairey Barracuda dive-bombers from Victorious on their way to attack the Tirpitz. Although they had mixes success as torpedo-bombers, Barracudas were effective in the dive-bombing role. Note the two German destroyers observed by Lieutenant-Commander Turnbull are getting under way in the fiord below. Photos: Imperial war Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526482199-YN6GJTL6EVWJTJXUC6AH/Sheppard30.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Smoke generators were an important element of the defences protecting Tirpitz. On some subsequent raids, advance warning of the attack allowed smoke to shield the battleship before the strike arrived, but on TUNGSTEN they were too late, leaving Tirpitz vulnerable. Photo: Imperial War Museum A 22634 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526611959-83OUPUPNSIP7EIRP3U3N/Sheppard05.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Circling above Tirpitz, Sheppard “counted hit after hit, perhaps a dozen or more. The Tirpitz? It was smoking and burning…just taking it.” Note the wake of a fast moving motor boat scurrying away as a huge cloud rises from an early bomb hit. The battleship suffered multiple hits, over 130 crew members were killed and 270 wounded. Most of the damage was caused to her superstructure and, despite initial assessments to the contrary, it was not long before Tirpitz was again operational. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526839941-DJGE22UE8CVKH71Y2NZP/Sheppard33.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out They arrived home “with a unanimous broad grin.” A Barracuda lands on HMS Furious after Operation TUNGSTEN. Notice the close gap to the next Barracuda approaching to land. Because carriers had to steam into the wind while conducting flight operations, sometimes taking them off their prescribed course, tight landing and launch cycles were a must. The cruiser HMS Belfast is seen on the starboard quarter of Victorious. Photo: Imperial War Museum A 22644 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526884920-QPB6IVU609LE5J64IWUE/Sheppard64.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The three Canucks of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing: Sub-Lieutenants Barry Hayter, Don ‘Pappy’ MacLeod and Don Sheppard pose proudly on Victorious’ flight deck shortly after TUNGSTEN. Other Canadians joined the wing later in the war, but they were the three originals. Hayter did not pilfer his Irvin jacket from the RAF; it was standard FAA issue. Photo: courtesy Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628526992694-W473WVFUZVO2EUZG46FS/Sheppard63.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out “They covered the Bombers”, trumpeted the public affairs caption for this image of a group of Victorious’ fighter pilots after TUNGSTEN. Standing on the right is Lieutenant-Commander Dick Turnbull, leader of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing and first off Victorious’ deck early that morning. Sub-Lieutenant Barry Hayter is next to Turnbull while ‘Pappy’ MacLeod kneels second from right in the front row. Note the variance in flying dress may be due to the fact that those in Mae Wests may have just returned with the second strike, while the others had been onboard for a while. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527103709-LW2V33MNW2Y7Z8MTR99H/Sheppard07.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Monty onboard. The legendary Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Montgomery visits Victorious in Scapa Flow on 8 May 1944. Photo: HMS Victorious Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527174127-S84F8TTO7AEOZDD68C79/Sheppard02.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Monty talks with Don Sheppard—note how relaxed the Canadian appears in contrast to the nervous aviators in the image above. Captain Michael Denny is third from the left, accompanied by Commander Sam Little, the Commander (Flying), and Lieutenant-Commander Bill Sykes, the Flight Deck Control Officer. Lieutenant-Commander Dick Turnbull, leader of the 47th NFW, is obscured by the General. One cannot ascertain what Montgomery and Sheppard are talking about but the look of consternation on the faces of Denny and Little indicates a degree of concern, if not alarm. Note the pilots are literally ‘toeing the line’. Photo: courtesy Sheppard papers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527237938-8OF5TPWKGW67BAY2TD3Q/Sheppard06.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Flanked by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet, and Captain Michael Denny, King George VI strides up Victorious’ flight deck on 11 May 1944. Photo: HMS Victorious Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527282888-QTBOFAQB6TPT4XU4DO0V/Sheppard62.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Victorious departs Scapa Flow to demonstrate flying operations to the King, while the ship’s company of HMS Striker mans the side. George VI was no stranger to Scapa, having served there in battleships during the First World War. Photo: royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527336085-XY3X5SO197YICFJ6MIWK/Sheppard09.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Commander Sam Little, Victorious’ Commander (Air) explains flight deck evolutions to the King. Photo: HMS Victorious Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527467930-QSLQ87OPCSQTE1MT3DZ7/Sheppard68.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527708789-EK3F1O50JQ1ZWRO6X1T1/Sheppard16.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out The battleship HMS King George V plows through Arctic seas off Victorious’ starboard bow during operations with the Home Fleet. Battleships, the former kings of the seas, played a subservient role to carriers during fleet operations in the latter years of the war. However, even though their big guns were usually silent, their anti-aircraft armament played a critical role in defending carriers during air attack. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527761660-GJJYAF4HWBIRHZWZ96X6/Sheppard12.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527782603-EM38HZCYUNTPH64VLRP0/Sheppard22.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527804334-2LDQHJWV4I6FBPS2ASPO/Sheppard23.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628527901029-PTYY2FTITVVLN19XQD5N/SheppardTitle3.jpg The Stories - NAVY BLUE FIGHTER PILOT – Episode One - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/mother-of-all-drones monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518663922-WHUO5X8PXLW7IEVVU97B/QueenBee-copy.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518718565-NWX75YIC12GJFPRJWYST/QueenBee26.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The Kettering Bug, designed to deliver a nasty mix of phosphine gas and high explosives, had many design flaws and by the time the weapon had achieved even a modicum of success, the war had ended and production was never begun. Click here to see the Kettering Bug’s development comical failures and eventual but erratic flying success. Photo: US Army https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518792671-TG527A2RTXC9Q9P799C7/QueenBee27.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Two views of the Larynx pilotless and radio-controlled aircraft on the forward deck of HMS Stronghold, showing its high visibility paint scheme designed to keep it in view as long as possible. The first launch ended in disaster with the Larynx crashing into the Bristol Channel after only a few minutes. The second flight was far more successful, with a Larynx flying more than 100 miles before it was lost. The third flight went 112 miles and came down just five miles from the intended target—a promising result. Photos via AirWar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518852878-PFGRI84UZBNS4YG3SBFG/QueenBee01.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The limply-named Fairey Queen aboard HMS Valiant is cocked and ready for launch from her stern. While somewhat of a failure, the Fairey Queen led directly to the de Havilland Queen Bee, the mother of all drones. Photo: Royal Navy. Reference: Fairey Aircraft Since 1915 by H.A. Taylor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518909065-GENLCZXG7KS9G011JU3O/TenStories23.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Two photographs of de Havilland Queen Bee K4227, one of the first 10 production models (Number 7), at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. We can clearly see the ram air turbine mounted on the port side of the fuselage aft of the engine, which powered the pump that provided compressed air to the remote control system housed in the space where the instructor pilot would have sat in a Tiger Moth. These views give us a good idea of how the early aircraft were configured for pilotless flight. Tonneau covers help streamline the cockpits, which were still required to do factory test flights and delivery to launch sites. It is believed that these early production models were painted overall in silver. Photos: Royal Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518944888-2ALK457LLXRXM5TT8VXM/TenStories24.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A photograph of an early example of a Queen Bee. This is quite possibly K4227, the early production Queen Bee featured in the previous two photos, but her serial numbers are hidden from the photographer. K4227 was very much in the public eye in June 1935 as she put on a flight demonstration at Farnborough, taking off, flying, manoeuvring and landing, all under remote control. The British Air Ministry did not allow pilotless aircraft to fly over populated areas, so test pilot Flight Lieutenant C.M. Vincent, DFC had to sit in the cockpit throughout the entire flying demonstration to guarantee control in the event of a loss of radio control. Researching the de Havilland Aircraft Production lists in the web, it is stated that K4227 crashed on 17 July 1935, just a couple of weeks after it was successfully displayed at the Farnborough Air Show. Photo via Gloucestershire Transport History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628518979888-UP7AFU7Z4SVPUO6J2RCA/QueenBee07.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The same aircraft as in the previous photograph has now attracted some airmen. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519034250-LAE0OC20VVQJ017NOQUZ/Shangrila3.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force corporal demonstrates the controls of a de Havilland DH-82B Queen Bee, while an officer pilot looks on. Flying the Queen Bee at such a low altitude using the control panel required considerable skill. In this photo we can see the wind generator or Ram Air Turbine (RAT) attached to the port fuselage just aft of the engine cowling. The turbine powers a pump which provided compressed air in flight to the pneumatic servo actuators in the fuselage, which in turn moved the controls. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519068779-68DGAKKPQP2OKP988H4E/TenStories20.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Though Tiger Moth Queen Bees had been in use for some time, Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited a launch site at the Weybourne Anti-Aircraft Artillery Range on the Norfolk coast on 6 June 1941 with Secretary of State for War David Margesson (behind). Here, the unpiloted Queen Bee L5894 is readied for launch from a steam catapult. Navy gunners were unable to or perhaps did not attempt to shoot down this particular drone during the demonstration, for L5894 was listed in de Havilland production logs as having been shot down off Weybourne 12 days later. Churchill made two visits to the range in 1941. During his first visit, a demonstration of projectile firing was carried out, but the result was most unsatisfactory. The Prime Minister gave the commandant just seven days to improve the standard. On the second visit, each demonstration repeatedly ended in failure until finally, a Queen Bee target aircraft was shot down and crashed close to the VIP enclosure. Local history has it that all the senior staff were replaced the following day. Photo via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519107934-SDNQ94FMGTWN2PSCPAPN/QueenBee13.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out An aerial view of Weybourne today, showing her grass runways where, 75 years ago, Queen Bees were flown in for launching either from the grass or from the steam catapult shown in the previous photo. There are several such coastal artillery ranges where anti-aircraft gunners were trained using both towed targets and unmanned Queen Bees—Watchet, Somerset; RAF Manorbier, Pembrokeshire; Burrow Head, Scotland; Aberporth, Wales; RAF Cleave, Cornwall; and many more. The circular concrete pad at centre left is one of two round bases for the Queen Bee steam catapults used at Weybourne. Photo: Daniel Nicholson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519145049-NS3L0JC2B4JDZMMOP8RB/TenStories26.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A profile drawing of the very same de Havilland DH-82B Queen Bee as used in the demonstration for Winston Churchill. Note the red undersides of the upper wingtips—applied to later production models and used to help gunners see the angle and direction of flight at a distance. A steam catapult was used when the aircraft was launched on floats. Image via WingsPalette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519185068-LM62HGVMTBOD595SMLR6/QueenBee06.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A restored de Havilland Queen Bee LF858 in England, the only flying example. Note the red undersides of the top wing tips, designed to assist controllers better visualize the flight of the aircraft—the pilotless aircraft had to remain in sight of the controllers to be effectively flown. The aircraft is now operated by Captain Neville’s Flying Circus. The website for this operator explains the history of this Queen Bee: “This Queen Bee, RAF Serial No. LF858, civil registration G-BLUZ, is one of about 70 machines built under licence by Scottish Aviation in Glasgow in 1944. It saw service in the Second World War at RAF Manorbier in Wales, and after the war changed hands several times before being involved in a landing accident at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, following which it was stored there by the Shuttleworth Trust for many years. In 1983, it was sold to Barrie Bayes of Cranfield, who over the course of the next four years undertook a full restoration of the aircraft, including a full rebuild of its de Havilland Gipsy Major engine. The rear cockpit has now been fitted with dual flying controls. This particular aircraft is believed to be now the world’s only airworthy example of its type. The Queen Bee is currently based at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, and has since 1995 been owned and operated by a six-man syndicate known as ‘The Beekeepers’ flying group”. Photo by Adrian Pingstone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519220146-QUO3C1KZCP6DFL3HSO28/QueenBee24.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Many of the same technologies and techniques are still employed by drones today including catapults and the painting of wingtips and control surfaces in bright red or orange to assist controllers in visualizing the orientation of the aircraft. Here we see the old Queen Bee paint technique applied to a QF-100 Super Sabre pilotless target drone at top and recently to the QF-16 Fighting Falcon target drone. Photos: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519269225-H9OLKHNNT84U77UKIPMU/QueenBee14.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The Queen Bee also utilized an automatic landing system, designed for when radio control was lost. This system employed a long trailing and weighted wire antenna which sensed when the aircraft was near the ground or water. If control was lost, then the aircraft would fly on until it ran out of fuel. Then it would glide to earth, sense when it was close and the onboard automatic system would take over, shut off the magnetos if they were still operating, select an elevator position for a landing flare and land the Queen Bee. Here we see a Queen Bee that has landed automatically at RAF Cleve in 1940. This aircraft (P-4700) survived this difficult landing and was eventually shot down into the sea at the gunnery range at RAF Manorbier on 5 March 1943. Photo via No2 A.A.C.U. at The Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519307028-K1MGYYGMJOM8CP7BF8FW/QueenBee17.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A Queen Bee on floats sits in the cradle on the steam catapult roundtable at the Burrow Head Anti-Aircraft Artillery range in Scotland. The catapult could be rotated to point the Queen Bee directly into the wind. This particular Queen Bee, serial number N1837, crashed into the sea off Burrow Head on 20 July 1939. Photo by Roy Eldridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519341445-7KNXRD3X1ZIA7EYKKUF4/QueenBee15.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The catapult at Burrow Head, used for launching Queen Bee pilotless target aircraft. The ram air turbine, used for generating power for the pneumatic pump, can be seen clearly on the port side of the fuselage. Photo by Roy Eldridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519383891-NJPTL71JKZYHNTMXI6ET/QueenBee16.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A dramatic photograph of a pilotless de Havilland DH-82B Queen Bee rocketing from the steam catapult at Burrow Head. From July 1939 to April 1942, a total of 46 Queen Bees were launched at Burrow Head, the bulk of them flown off the grass strip at nearby RAF Kidsdale. Photo: Roy Eldridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519430911-SE8SYMG9UI5YZIQ67Y6T/QueenBee18.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Another pilotless Queen Bee (L7723) leaves the cradle of a steam catapult at a firing range. Many of the Queen Bees were flown more than just the single time, some operating for months. It is hard to tell where this is, but L7723 was lost when its floats collapsed at Malta on 24 October 1939. Photo: everythingexmoor.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519474426-NQAAE8K7OB11CCNOJW80/QueenBee19.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The only remnant of the Queen Bee program at RAF Cleave in Cornwall today is the concrete base upon which the catapult was rotated into the wind. Image via derelictplaces.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519519143-FRZRDENGTU2O15THPKOO/QueenBee00.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out There are few photographs extant of Queen Bees in operation from the 1930s and 40s. The best ones seem to have been taken during formal visits of politicians to military facilities where the radio-controlled aircraft were employed, as in the previous image of Churchill and Margesson at Watchet. This photograph of Queen Bee N1841 was likely not taken during the demonstration put on in August of 1938 for Leslie Hore-Belisha, Secretary of State at the War Office. Hore-Belisha was accompanied by British military brass, 16 mayors of London boroughs and some 50 Members of British Parliament, a testament to the notion that the Queen Bee was considered leading edge technology at the time. For an amazing newsreel video of another Queen Bee (K6664) being launched for Hore-Belisha and shot down, click here. The anti-aircraft artillery gunnery range at Watchet was along the Somerset Coast, a few hundred metres to the east in Doniford. The gunners at the Doniford gun park shot at targets towed by aircraft flying out of RAF Weston-Zoyland and Queen Bee aircraft shot from the catapult shown in this photograph. At first, the Queen Bees were launched from the cruiser HMS Neptune anchored off Watchet, but were later catapulted from the Doniford range and could be flown remotely to avoid being hit. However, when hit they would crash into the Bristol Channel, there to await wreckage recovery by SS Radstock, operating from Watchet harbour. Queen Bee N1841, pictured here, was eventually shot down by gunners a year later on 7 June 1939. Photo/information via www.watchetmuseum.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519580256-JJF745R4XUO3ER1EYGEW/QueenBee11.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A de Havilland Queen Bee launches from the waist catapult of the Leander-class light cruiser HMS Neptune, which participated in tests and exercises in the Bristol Channel. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519625729-WO9CDPIBRVE5E25326H2/QueenBee04.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out HMS Neptune launches another Queen Bee. Note the sailors congregating on her decks to watch the launch as well as her quick-firing 4-inch Mk IV guns along her sides and trained aft. It is not known whether these guns were employed against Queen Bees, but they were highly capable naval, coastal defence and anti-aircraft guns—capable of reaching aircraft at 28,000 ft. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519675285-BQRAD2XJDTMB9H08SCT0/QueenBee02.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out The old Bristol Channel coastal steamer SS Radstock was employed at Watchet, recovering both the wreckage of downed Queen Bee drones as well as those that landed safely on the water. Here she ties up at Watchet with a recovered Queen Bee resting on her cargo deck. HMS Neptune could also recover her own Queen Bees directly with her own cranes. Photo: watchetconservationsociety.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519709120-OCBFII7IOB32WUL86ES2/QueenBee03.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out A Queen Bee takes off along a coastal scene that seems somewhere other than Great Britain. The Royal Navy operated Queen Bees from Royal Navy Air Yard (RNARY) Fayid on the Suez’s Great Bitter Lake, RNARY Dekheila near Alexandria and Ta Kali on Malta. Photo via topwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519769914-D5FP91UAUFXA00L6E0MU/QueenBee22.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out With the relative success of the early Queen Bees, Airspeed Limited designed the lovely Airspeed AS.30 Queen Wasp in 1937. Only five prototypes were built and, although intended for both Royal Air Force and Royal Navy use, the aircraft was fated not to go into series production due to lack of expected performance. She may have been too lovely to shoot down. Photos via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519899953-VEEFJ9GUFYLAXSPBP4M9/QueenBee25.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Radio-controlled pilotless aircraft were under development in more than just Great Britain. Some of the “early adopters” included the United States and Nazi Germany. The Germans investigated and eventually produced a number of small un-piloted target and reconnaissance aircraft called the Argus As292. Here a dozen or so of the more than 100 German-built mini-aircraft sit on a hangar floor. The type was fitted with a Zeiss cine camera for reconnaissance work and, when the mission was over, a radio signal shut the motor off and deployed a parachute to allow them to descend to earth. Photo: luftarchiv.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519941407-RPGAD21EVZR5OOL1MDQ3/QueenBee10.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Pilotless aircraft seemed to draw dignitaries in every country, perhaps due to the science fiction-like qualities. Here a group of Luftwaffe and Nazi big wigs, including First World War ace Ernst Udet, standing at centre, look rather unconvinced as they stare down at a diminutive Argus robot airplane. One would love to know what the great pilot thought of a future without him. Today, Germany is one of the great producers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Drones, as we have now come to know them. Photo: luftarchiv.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628519977981-TX5WL16ICISPAKUC1MEJ/TenStories34.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Jet-powered Firebee target aircraft are stored inside a Teledyne-Ryan service hangar in 1984. By this time, pilotless aircraft used for targeting and reconnaissance were now called “drones”. The Ryan Firebee was a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and one of the most widely used target drones ever built. In the late 1990s, Teledyne-Ryan configured two Firebees with cameras and communications equipment to feed real-time battlefield intelligence for targeting and damage assessment. In an ironic twist, these drones were named “Argus”, possibly as a nod to its diminutive German predecessor, the Argus As292. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628520031471-JTDCE1X3H3LKAC53HKTQ/TenStories33.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Typically, Firebee target drones were released near the firing range from motherships like this US Navy DC-130A Drone controller, capable of carrying four underwing Firebees. The US Navy’s Herc motherships operated from the Southern California Operating Area, flying missions from NAS North Island and Point Mugu. The DC-130 could launch, track and control the Firebees in flight. Photo: PHCS R.L. Lawson, USN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628520068931-DKS3II6D61GICHEI6BKM/TenStories36.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Two shots of Royal Canadian Air Force drone carriers hefting two Firebees at a time in operations at Cold Lake, Alberta. Photos: top: RCAF, bottom: RCAF via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628520110429-JD2WLLY20H7WXA4SUQSH/TenStories29.jpeg The Stories - THE MOTHER OF ALL DRONES - Make it stand out Today, the pilotless aircraft (a.k.a. Drone, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)), dominates the battlefield, the press and moral arguments with scores of designs providing attack platforms, stealthy reconnaissance, air quality monitoring and a myriad of uses from pizza delivery to Arctic sovereignty monitoring and firefighting. They range in size from 10 inches and a hundred dollars to the 130-foot wingspan, $130 million RQ-4 Global Hawk (above) from Northrop Grumman. Photo: Northrop Grumman https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/thunder-and-triumph monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628511984938-XJUUP2FI7ZMOTRDQI6P7/VRA00.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512059656-HOY4W0OJZQR6N6KJ8QBM/VRA55_1.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The CWHM's Mynarski Lancaster (left) follows the BBMF Lanc at the Little Gransden Children in Need Airshow. Photos: Harry Measures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512160407-6ZCF0Y2IJSILNVPGNR7Q/VRA01.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Rob Erdos communicates that he is winding up the starter by rotating his finger in the air, prior to starting the 12-cylinder Allison engine of the Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512224870-U1100UEZPJ2OXHJLZLOA/VRA46.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Mike Potter lines up with Erdos at the end of the Gatineau runway, waiting for him to start his takeoff roll. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512260571-A89R1PWIOH7YETCKQ38X/VRA02.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Climbing out from Gatineau, Erdos searches for his wing man, taking off from Vintage Wings’ home airfield. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512313524-2A50864RS1K9KN75V7SZ/VRA03.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out En route to rendezvous with the Lancaster east of Gatineau, Mike Potter in the Robillard Brothers P-51 Mustang slides into the right wing of Erdos’ Kittyhawk. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512379676-5W1O9T164H7C3ZBBOYTY/VRA47.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out From the vantage point of the Mustang, Ottawa Citizen photographer Darren Brown captures his lead. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512432242-0XAY9E2CZBO49N35J00R/VRA05.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Circling above the Ottawa River Valley with the village of Montebello, Québec in the background. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512466276-4IMGK541G3D82E0V60BZ/VRA06.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Mike Potter moves to Erdos’ left wing in preparation for meeting up with the Lancaster. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512505034-JA711GJWWMCWRQV8HD23/VRA07.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Erdos and Potter split up to join the Lancaster on either side as she heads towards the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512536400-0SZT2ALV7NW2C8CTOUEQ/VRA08.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Sliding down the Ottawa River Valley to the north of the river, the three aircraft are inbound for Ottawa. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512605489-BTSTAPJH3E7BB2SVD5XC/VRA48.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out From the left wing, Brown captures the distinctive silhouettes of the Kittyhawk and the Lancaster. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512637807-YY6T0ZTEPN1EC472MCCO/VRA49.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Lanc leads the flight along the Ottawa River near the Québec town of Masson-Angers, just a few kilometres from the Gatineau Airport. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512684674-6XSI8GE646UJRATR662L/VRA35.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out From the back seat of the Kittyhawk, Peter Handley asks for a crossover to get a few photos of the other side with the Mustang. Erdos obliges with a slide under the Lancaster (all briefed beforehand of course). Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512715832-WJJJO0Y457XNOPJZSMDZ/VRA36.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Erdos slides across to Potter’s left wing for an echelon-left formation photo. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512753447-ZM1S2VOEY54SLHKFPX2W/VRA11.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of the Robillard Brothers Mustang flying in escort of the Mynarski Lancaster—two old friends who have flown a lot together over the past decade. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512792387-ZR46E3ABXRCBR3NUT3HG/VRA09.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Back on the other side, Erdos snugs up close to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s Mynarski Lancaster as it runs down the Ottawa River after having flown from Newfoundland and after having previously crossed the North Atlantic. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512846691-N4ZGGIYOVLMRYXQU51N6/VRA50.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Mynarski Lancaster crosses downtown Ottawa to the south of the Parliament Buildings (the green roofed building just visible beneath her tail wheel is not part the Parliament Buildings, but rather the Confederation Buildings). The British took to calling her VeRA for her aircraft and squadron code VR-A (VR was the squadron code for 419 Moose Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force). For us, she is the Mynarski Lanc. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512896780-5063H1SVIO2Y5IWC6VAM/VRA51.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Having crossed the city of Ottawa from east to west, The Lancaster and her escort execute a wide right-hand turn over a widening of the Ottawa River known as Lac Deschênes to bring them back over the city. It was a perfect day for sailing on this day, but made all the better by this display of historic aircraft and their triumphant thunder. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628512939749-Y0YIP9LK3F6DUAH8YDHN/VRA12.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Having made the turn at Lac Deschênes, The CWHM Mynarski Lancaster leads the team right back across the city. The flight flew directly across my home, leading my neighbours to ask if they were flying over at my request... a rumour I did little to disclaim. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513018969-5YSDX6Q1I6TOANJZ4G6M/VRA13.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Mynarski Lancaster flies over Ottawa with the Parliament Buildings directly below her aft fuselage. It was here in 1942 that the Government of Canada created a crown corporation known as Victory Aircraft and expropriated the factories of National Steel Car (NSC) at Malton, Ontario. The government was worried about the production capabilities of NSC and its ability to meet demand for Lancasters. Once Victory Aircraft was set up at Malton, they built 430 Avro Lancaster Xs including RCAF Lancaster FM213, the Mynarski Lancaster. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513049627-FN0HMVZ81ZS7KKHIA0TQ/VRA53.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out After her second pass of downtown Ottawa, the Lancaster turns and heads toward a final, full stop landing at Gatineau. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513081175-UZISID5KU2XPVDA87OYM/VRA52.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Dave Rohrer, the pilot of the CWHM’s Mynarski Lancaster, begins a let down to the Gatineau airfield, home of Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo: Darren Brown, Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513113938-GNN9JHN3J6D4CHFEN2X2/VRA37.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out From the ground at Vintage Wings of Canada, spectators are treated to the thunder of five Merlins and one Allison engine as the three aircraft do one formation pass over the airfield. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513158928-PJQV2VF850ZV1JLMK1P3/VRA38.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out It’s a long way from Scotland to Gatineau, as witnessed by the white exhaust stains streaming back along the engine nacelles as VR-A touches down ever so smoothly on Runway 27 at Gatineau. A beer is gonna taste real good about now. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513192306-GCA2OLY5TLOU12EDWKSK/VRA39.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Lanc rolls out, then backtracks Runway 09 to the turnoff for the ramp while visitors machine gun away with their cameras. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513226465-1E7UD82XJQE525C5DFD3/VRA14.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Following the Lancaster’s landing at Gatineau, Erdos turns base leg heading to join up with the Lanc, now backtracking down the runway and to the ramp of the airport terminal building. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513267835-WP50KZ8LAE1071G0TNCP/VRA40.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Mike Potter executes a dramatic topside pass down the runway in salute of the accomplishment of the crew of the Mynarski Lancaster. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513342221-0TD4QCHPI2TLZBADM2LY/VRA41.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Lanc’s pilots trundle the big bomber along the taxiway to the airport ramp where she will be hooked up and towed to the Vintage Wings ramp. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513381576-SKJNBOU37E4AD9JP7Q7C/VRA42.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Standing in the weeds along a drainage ditch, Lapprand shoots a nice photo of the Lanc in the low autumn light on as it prepares to shut down. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513418237-I2RSWI70B6N63FKUUV3Y/VRA43.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Wing Commander Stocky Edwards P-40 Kittyhawk recovers, with photographer Handley beaming in the back seat. Along the rising hills behind the Gatineau runway, the trees begin their full fall colour riot. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513484332-ORR8H35EHZLDTPZ5242P/VRA44.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the Robillard Brothers Mustang rolls out after yet another successful mission to escort a Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum aircraft. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513526205-0001P2MQYSQU3HZ8P3HM/VRA15.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Down on the ground, Mike Potter grabs the Vintage Wings Jeep and heads to the airport ramp to greet the weary aviators. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513555746-TAS12IRRQCCEJM1IAROH/VRA16.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Rob Erdos, Kittyhawk pilot, greets Lancaster pilot Don Schofield as the crew deplanes. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513600428-1XURQU9A98CUNML9HH9U/VRA17.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out In the foreground, a beaming Lancaster crewman, Glen Manchester, smiles widely and shakes Erdos’ hand as Mike Potter greets Schofield after their history making journey to the UK. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513636073-93BS3UY0YFYF9DOEIWFA/VRA18.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Dave Rohrer, Lancaster pilot and President of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, and Mike Potter, Mustang Pilot and founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, speak to reporters. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513671368-3G4XWCVKHNZ9BLG25N58/VRA19.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Vintage Wings mechanics hook up the tail of the Lancaster for a tow over to the VW ramp. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513734764-R8EIKKF5KMOVPGJ27CEK/VRA20.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The VW mule pulls the Lancaster on to the ramp. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513775088-Y4GZ5ORLAM2AIFV6WDCM/VRA21.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Mike Potter gives some of the crew a lift to the ramp. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513803110-AWDYTVSZKCA9WA5P9EWL/VRA22.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out As the engines finally cool down to ambient temperature, the crowd gathers round to inspect the conquering Lancaster. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513832871-P9BVRRVLD6DVPWTXDTH6/VRA23.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The photographer’s two-and-half-year-old daughter meets a new friend at the Vintage Wings ramp and they race towards the 70-year-old Lancaster. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513871964-B4QHXHVY37MH1OUB4X7A/VRA24.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada opened its doors to visitors this day, so that they could get up close and touch and smell history in the making. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513963946-EEJVMCDYEH66904HC37M/VRA25.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The lead and sulphur found in the high octane avgas stain the Lanc’s engine nacelles, and clearly indicate the hard work they did to get the aircraft from Great Britain to Canada. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513944627-T0ZHQ7Q2P91AJESWINZN/VRA26.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Members of the crew pose with spectators in front of the Mynarski Lanc. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514036193-L200E3VB6NT5TBSREX04/VRA27.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Her 30-foot bomb bay doors open, the Lancaster makes an impressive sight. The Lanc could out lift the B-17 by a considerable margin and could lift a 12,000 lb. Tall Boy bomb. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514116535-JDFUIEP2PTJATV7T1LHT/VRA29.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out The Lancaster's crew for the flight across the Atlantic was (from second left to right) Dave Rohrer, Glen Manchester, Don Schofield, Craig Brookhouse, Randy Straughan, and Leon Evans. Their feat of airmanship is the equal of wartime ferry pilots, perhaps even greater as the aircraft was 70 years old. At far right is Jeff Cairns, a businessman from St. Catharine's, Ontario, who flew home with the crew after submitting the winning bid for the opportunity. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514096599-IKBE64YZWJOY04MVK4SJ/VRA30.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Dave Rohrer introduces his crew. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514170456-9FZCFC3LR9L8C0WOBVSD/VRA31.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out Rohrer thanks Glen Manchester, who paid for the privilege and trained to be a crew member of the Lancaster for the trip back across the Atlantic. Tropical rocker Jimmy Buffet once said: “You do it for the stories you could tell” and there’s no doubt Manchester has a good story to tell and a memory not many can share. Kudos to him for stepping up to the plate. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514233479-QSMKIHFRV3M4ETMYKR2J/VRA32.jpg The Stories - THUNDER AND TRIUMPH - Make it stand out And finally, Rohrer introduces Don Schofield, now the world’s highest time current Lancaster pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/operation-overlord-escort monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513862998-X8CAJ9RRO5XXHPVU1106/OVERLORD00.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513894115-ZPXUOQWUJIL1H5TO62DS/OVERLORD41.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out One look at the massive Hawker Typhoon from this angle and you understand why it struck fear into the hearts of German tank crews and infantry. It has all the appearance of a Great White Shark about to take a chunk out of its prey. Here, ground crews using hand cranks, upload 500 pound bombs to the wings of a “Tiffy” loaded for bear sometime on or after D-Day, as witnessed by the black and white invasion stripes. Along with the Russian-built Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, it was the most successful ground attack fighter of the Second World War. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628513951595-IKUJYN338DKB83SRTHP7/OVERLORD03.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Vintage Wings pilots Rob Erdos (left) and Mike Potter (right) brief the flight with Dakota pilots of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM)—Chief Pilot Leon Evans and Sten Palbom. Also in the photo (second from left) is Matt Lundy. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514031948-SI54T9CE93GVMUM2AOJB/OVERLORD04.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Mike Potter in The Robillard Brothers P-51D Mustang and Rob Erdos in The Stocky Edwards P-40N Kittyhawk show two thumbs up, indicating they are good to go. They will keep the thumbs up until acknowledged by co-pilot Sten Palbom in the cockpit of the Dakota. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514084503-RMGY6SXOG4DQ6BIS1XXY/OVERLORD06.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Mike Potter swings in behind the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s DC-3 Dakota as she begins her roll down Runway 27. This particular DC-3 never saw combat, having been built in 1939 for Eastern Airlines. In 1952, after 13 years with Eastern, it went to North Central Airlines, the former Wisconsin Central Airlines, which operated until 1963. The DC-3 flew commercially until acquired by Dennis Bradley, who then donated it to the Museum in 1981. This DC-3, painted as an RCAF Dakota, is one of the highest time DC-3s flying today. With over 82,000 hours in the air, the Dak has been aloft for about 9.5 years!—flying over 12 million miles, or the equivalent of 492 times around the world. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514116654-TDU1GL49E4OZN1TM43QQ/OVERLORD07.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Shortly after takeoff, Potter slides in on the starboard wing of the Dakota. The CWHM DC-3 Dakota is painted in the markings of No. 435 and 436 Squadrons of the RCAF. The two squadrons were sent to Burma during the Second World War, operating under the nickname of “Canucks Unlimited”. The Dak carries the dark blue/light blue roundels of the South East Asia Command (SEAC). The official roundel of the SEAC was the elegant dark blue/light blue roundel, which was used by units under South East Asia Command and in the China Burma India (CBI) theatre mid-1942–1946. As with earlier SEAC roundels, the red was removed to avoid confusion with the hinomaru. Initially, as in the case of the RAAF units, the red was overpainted with white but this compromised the camouflage and the normal roundel blue was mixed 50:50 with white. Many aircraft in the CBI theatre used roundels and fin flashes of approximately half the normal dimensions, perhaps because the amount of white in the normal sized roundels, when seen against a dark green jungle canopy, was too obvious to the enemy above. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514150562-20GMOR105G6H28RMV95I/OVERLORD08.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Looking across the wing of the Mustang, Handley captures the Stocky Edwards P-40 sliding into the left wing, as the Dakota leads the formation down the Ottawa River on the way to downtown Ottawa. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514188355-TRWE6UI6IL8EIFE08JTB/OVERLORD37.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out From the starboard side of the Dakota, CWHM photographer Annette Koolsbergen shows just how tight the formation was. Mike Potter is locked on his formation reference points and cannot enjoy the view at all, while Peter Handley machine guns away from the back seat. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514217419-OYBK3PU0K5OV231ZXGY6/OVERLORD38.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Over downtown, Vintage Wings pilot Rob Erdos, with Dave O’Malley as ballast, slides in close to the Dak and Koolsbergen’s camera. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514249958-RYOTDGJJQ6OHVM4Z1B7Z/OVERLORD09.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Having skirted the downtown area in a counter-clockwise circuit, the formation heads to a flypast of Parliament Hill. Here we see the P-40 over the University of Ottawa football field, with the Rideau River snaking by. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514285048-I64JXM0BYX5WI66F17XE/OVERLORD10.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Downtown Ottawa sits under a hazy and glowering sky as Leon Evans and Sten Palbom lead us toward Parliament before heading to the Ottawa International Airport. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514321206-ALK04JVMDLOMPLM0FZ2A/OVERLORD11.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Setting up on the crosswind leg, Evans brings the Dak close to Canadian Forces Station Leitrim (seen above fuselage), Canada’s oldest operational signal intelligence collection station. Established by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in 1941 as No. 1 Special Wireless Station and renamed Ottawa Wireless Station in 1949, CFS Leitrim acquired its current name in 1966. Today, 480 military and civilian work there collecting and analyzing radio and other communications from around the world. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514363839-AJ2S3F6ESFOI0RXEE637/OVERLORD12.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out After the Dakota and P-40 landed at Ottawa International, Potter breaks and looks for the field to begin his let down. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514392389-NLIEMARAVM3IBVKSUSJK/OVERLORD16.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out In the Esso Avitat FBO, veteran Typhoon pilots were catching up with each other as they assembled before boarding the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s Dakota, which awaits in the background. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514426394-MJQCDIEIX2QYB3IRRA0K/OVERLORD14.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant John Brown Friedlander, a Typhoon pilot with 181 Squadron RAF, greets an old friend at the Esso Avitat. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514463814-ZMZFP303C147PC2LZX0T/OVERLORD15.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out At the Esso Avitat FBO lounge, Mustang pilot and Vintage Wings of Canada founder Mike Potter stops to speak to an old friend—Flying Officer Ken Hanna, DFC of Ottawa. Ken was born in Prescott, Ontario on the St. Lawrence River, growing up in nearby Brockville in Loyalist country. Ken, an apprentice tool and die maker by trade, joined the RCAF in 1941. Ken flew Hawker Typhoons with the Royal Air Force’s 181 Squadron. This unit operated their Typhoons from several RAF airfields in England including RAF Snailwell, RAF Odiham and RAF Hurn. They were involved in operations against V-1 Buzz Bomb launch sites and in support of the D-Day landings. Following D-Day, they relocated behind the lines and followed advances across Europe and into Germany, seeking ground targets of opportunity. The citation that accompanied Hanna’s Distinguished Flying Cross reads: “This officer has completed a large number of varied sorties, including many armed reconnaissances over the battle area in the West. He has displayed a high standard of leadership, skill and courage and has contributed materially to the success of the squadron. In December, 1944, he flew one of a formation of aircraft detailed to attack enemy vehicles in the Saint-Vith area. In a most spirited engagement two tanks and 12 mechanical vehicles were destroyed. Throughout, Flying Officer Hanna set a fine example by his skill and resolution.” For an interesting video of Hanna speaking about some of his personal experiences, click here. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514501320-899J2TV90AS6S9U3UGO6/OVERLORD17.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Ken Hanna chats with an FBO attendant as he leads the group of Typhoon pilots out to the DC-3. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514534920-OUFLO8MN9ESDW7T4CVN0/OVERLORD18.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Heading out to the Dak and another date with history, the Typhoon veterans looked pretty proud. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514563760-2D0HFK6KDOIPKCIWPRM5/OVERLORD19.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Potter walks back to the Mustang to prepare for the escort portion of the flight. The Mustang is primped and polished for this honourable flight, but 70 years ago, the Typhoons of the RCAF and RAF would have been mud-splattered, oil-stained and patched. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514594718-XWQFEVL9OGWQQU393IRB/OVERLORD20.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Photographer Handley, squeezed into the rear seat of the Mustang, captures Mike Potter hooking up his parachute harness before firing up the aircraft. This day, only the four men in the escort aircraft would require parachutes, with the veteran fighter pilots borne aloft in relative and very deserving comfort. Photo: Mike Potter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514628261-CBWGA7UAFOTXGZEJYBL8/OVERLORD21.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out CWHM Dak pilots Leon Evans and Sten Palbom have both engines warmed up nicely on the ramp at Ottawa International Airport. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514659522-MYFKQ3VCCO3G8TU2P3HZ/OVERLORD22.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out The three-ship formation thunders over the City of Gatineau with Ottawa off their port wings. Below, people were no doubt curious as to what was the special event and if they paused to think what day it was, they would no doubt connect the aircraft with some sort of D-Day memorial. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514692766-NQ8VYMOJH42B6EZM5G7C/OVERLORD23.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Rob Erdos and Dave O’Malley pass to the northwest of Parliament Hill. The honoured guests in the Dakota were provided with a first class view of the very place where war was declared in 1939 and where, on 6 June 1944, Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King confirmed to MPs that the Allied invasion of France was under way. King repeated his radio address from earlier in the day, along with messages from Supreme Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. King and Opposition Leader Gordon Graydon also discussed expediting parliamentary business in the wake of D-Day. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514726940-OGJNIBUJBKACC1ZAY2F3/OVERLORD24.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out After escorting the Dak in a single flypast of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Rob Erdos and Mike Potter headed across to Gatineau and a short bit of formation practice. Here Rob slides in to Mike’s wing as they cross into suburban Gatineau coming out of Rockcliffe. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514765943-4D8KJOV1U3BQ9P5HNMSK/OVERLORD25.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out As Potter banks, Erdos rides up in the turn on a grey but easy flying day. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514794076-1HMQT2FHK1JSXYM6130Q/OVERLORD26.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out The two-ship heads back to Gatineau. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514827495-0H0S0QKUZB96YPR86J1L/OVERLORD45.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out At the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, the crowd awaits the arrival of the veterans, some of whom probably had never seen a Typhoon since the war was over. Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514866658-4NJBHCMTUG7DJCT3MH93/OVERLORD46.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out At the Canada Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe, the two escorting fighters broke away and let the Dakota do a solo pass on its own for the crowds below. Photo: Olivier Lacombe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514897990-0511EI91ZG5RJS6C6VQI/OVERLORD27.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out On the ground at Rockcliffe. Kudos to the dedicated volunteer crew of the Canuck’s Unlimited Douglas DC-3 Dakota from Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum—Left to right: Craig Brookhouse, Heinz Hormann, Leon Evans, Sten Palbom and Matt Lundy. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514937495-7YOKDSB9SX8893KJYAXN/OVERLORD28b.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bob Spooner DFC clearly enjoying the event at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe. Spooner, a 438 Squadron Typhoon pilot during the Second World War, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and was gazetted after war’s end, in July 1945. The impressive citation accompanying his DFC reads: “Since September 1944, this officer has completed numerous operational sorties including many low level attacks against heavily defended enemy transport, canal locks, railway sidings and bridges. On one occasion, Flight Lieutenant Spooner’s aircraft was hit by the flying debris of an exploding ammunition train. Despite this and intense anti-aircraft fire from the enemy’s defences he pressed home his attack on the remaining targets. As a flight commander this officer has always displayed brilliant leadership and a fine fighting spirit. This was particularly evident during the German offensive around Saint-Vith when he led his squadron on a number of low level attacks against heavily defended enemy transport convoys.” Photo: Annette Koolsbergen, inset photo of Spooner from FlyingForYourLife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628514974180-QG19VT6JO2F6DQUU7SXO/OVERLORD35.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bob Spooner poses with his old warhorse, the Hawker Typhoon. Spooner, a native of Victoria, British Columbia joined the RCAF in 1941. He did his Elementary Flying Training at No. 5 EFTS High River, Alberta, then his Service Flying Training at No. 10 SFTS, Dauphin, Manitoba. After getting his wings, he did a stint as an instructor pilot, returning to High River. Spooner wears his 438 Squadron Wildcat badge on his blazer. The motto of 438 Squadron is “Going Down”, the words often spoken by a Typhoon flight commander as he leads his men down for an attack. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515002172-77CLEN1RSSFHGKP3AN6V/OVERLORD30.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Craig Brookhouse of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum stands with Flight Lieutenant John Brown Friedlander, DFC. Friedlander was an RCAF Typhoon pilot with two RAF squadrons, 181 and 247. He wears the badge of 181 Squadron on his blazer. For an interesting video of Friedlander speaking about his experiences on Typhoons at The Vimy Memorial in France, click here. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515031539-R6GTM4QLW5752HH0V6ZG/OVERLORD29.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out D-Day veteran Typhoon pilots Flight Lieutenant John Friedlander, DFC, Flying Officer Angus Scott and Flying Officer Harry Hardy, DFC, join members of the Dakota crew for a group shot. Friedlander’s story is covered in the previous photograph. Harry Hardy was a typhoon pilot with 440 Vampire Squadron of the RCAF, flying a total of 96 ops from D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine. He named his aircraft Pulverizer and he must have lost a few aircraft through combat damage as the last one was called Pulverizer IV. For a fascinating video of Hardy relating his personal experiences and sharing his personal photographs from the war, click here and here. Angus Scott also flew with 440 Squadron RCAF. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515065448-P8S8PDTHUO7LMNHY84BP/OVERLORD40.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Harry Hardy taxies his 440 Squadron Typhoon Hawker Typhoon, “P” for Pulverizer, over steel matting at a forward airfield in Eindhoven, Holland in 1944-45. The Typhoon now on display at the CASM is painted in 440 Squadron markings. 440’s squadron code was I8 (Letter “I”, Numeral 8). Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515102181-KVCP89OB7UGI3DRXNYL1/OVERLORD31.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Ken Hanna and Flight Lieutenant John Friedlander smile for paparazzi at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515146134-RDW54HUJ1A9KBUHW6180/OVERLORD34.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Friends and family gather round the Dakota to greet the RCAF heroes of D-Day. Photo: Annette Koolsbergen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515176974-9H8TF35BWDQ6V38BDSHP/OVERLORD43.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out The only complete Hawker Typhoon in the world today has been brought to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. For the next two years, it will become one of the most asked for and photographed exhibits at the world-class facility. Prior to being put on display, the Tiffy was painted in the makings of I8-T, a 440 Vampire Squadron Typhoon. Photo: Greg Brooks, www.flickr.com/photos/ottcan_520/. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628515216124-MWSK09S7K2X39AU1EB92/OVERLORD44.jpeg The Stories - OPERATION OVERLORD ESCORT - Make it stand out Compare this photo with the first photo of a Typhoon from 1944—still looking impressive and deadly after 70 years. Photo: Greg Brooks, www.flickr.com/photos/ottcan_520/ https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fascist-flattops monthly 0.5 2021-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628197002988-8U1OCHQPR5P0SCY78TR3/FascistFlattop103.jpeg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468367406-6N7SSCG1NU8FY9OVL0WZ/FascistFlattop01.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out In December of 1936, the keel of the German aircraft carrier (Flugzeugträger) Graf Zeppelin is laid down on Slipway One of the Deutsche Werke shipyard in the city of Kiel, Germany. She was given the construction number 252 by Deutsche Werke. Photo: Bundesarchiv via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468417569-XKRYYQ5M9U39OUBYSP18/FascistFlattop02.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out By late March of 1937, progress has been made and the hull begins to take shape. Construction work on the mighty aircraft carrier took more than two years. Construction of capital ships of the Kriegsmarine, including failed projects like Graf Zeppelin, could only have taken place prior to hostilities as they would have been large targets exposed to bombardment for too long a time. All of the largest and most modern capital warships of the Kriegsmarine (Bismarck, Tirpitz, Admiral Graf Spee, Admiral Scheer, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, Prinz Eugen, Blücher, Admiral Hipper, Lützow, etc.) were constructed from 1931 to 1938. The German Navy was never able to build another large warship for the duration of the war, concentrating on the rapid building of U-boats instead. Photo: Bundesarchiv via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468463069-YQZQ20XDLGV130BI0DM8/FascistFlattop92.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Early wind tunnel testing of a Graf Zeppelin model—likely to test whether smoke from the stack would impact flight operations when the ship was turned into the wind for launch and recovery. Clearly, the design dispersed the smoke overhead any activity on the deck. These tests also were important to discover sources of turbulence generated by the bow, stern and superstructure which may have affected flying operations. Photo via dr.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468533189-8AR48AGH2X2YXXX38Q8M/FascistFlattop03.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Taken in March 1937, this photo, looking forward to the bow of Graf Zeppelin on the starboard side, shows she is beginning to rise from Slipway 1 at the Deutsche Werke Shipyard in Kiel. At the top of the image we can see two other dry dock chambers—desirable targets for Bomber Command aircraft when hostilities began. The hull at this point is simply known as Flugzeugträger “A”, meant to be the first of two carriers of the class. Grand Admiral Eric Raeder’s dream was to have four fleet carriers similar in size to Graf Zeppelin. She would not officially become Graf Zeppelin until the day of her christening two years later. Photo: Bundesarchiv via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468600345-V0F53IZZ29Y4XYC5GWR5/FascistFlattop05.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Scaffolding now rises with the hull as Flugzeugträger “A” takes shape at Deutsche Werke. Deutsche Werke was a large German shipbuilding company, owned by the government of the Weimar Republic, resulting from the merger of a group of Kiel-based shipbuilders in 1925. Its headquarters were in Berlin. From the outset, Deutsche Werke built merchant ships, but production shifted to large military vessels with the rise of the Nazi party and its military buildup. Photo: Bundesarchiv via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468648731-Z7KR2SXUH9ULTZ82E3E3/FascistFlattop09.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out On a rainy November day in 1938, just a few weeks before launch, with fresh paint applied and much of her scaffolding gone, crews rush to tidy her up for the big day. The rectangular opening visible in this image is for the exhaust stack from the boiler rooms below. Photo: Bundesarchiv via ww2db.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468690463-G4J3YA8K87CUYFCM4AXA/FascistFlattop10.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A photo taken a couple of weeks before her launch reveals her fine coat of paint and the steel base of her flight deck. The two square openings are for two of twin-barrelled 15 cm guns—the largest in her considerable weaponry. These guns were later installed, but when work was halted later in 1940, her guns were removed and used as coastal artillery in Norway. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468732474-SOPZ21ZES70ELR96SR1W/FascistFlattop13.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out On 8 December 1938, Adolf Hitler and his chiefs of staff (corpulent Goering on the right, Admiral Eric Raeder on left) visit Hamburg for the christening of Graf Zeppelin. Many thousands were on hand the day of the launch, while Hitler and his retinue enjoyed the scene on a raised and decorated platform. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628468779849-A2JHQBC0C8540FMI3H83/FascistFlattop12.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out On the day of the christening and launch of Graf Zeppelin, Hitler struts with a haughty looking bunch, between the dry dock where the ship awaits and a large honour guard of Luftwaffe soldiers. It is amusing to note that the group, in trying to be seen with Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, Martin Bormann, Field Marshal Keitel and Admiral Raeder, seems to be squeezing the SS officer on the left, forcing him to walk precariously on the top of the dry dock wall. At first I thought this guy was a Kriegsmarine officer, but reader Mark Neilans pointed out that is was an SS officer (possibly Sepp Dietrich who was there that day) and that he deserved it! This image was taken a few metres further on than the previous photo. Photo: Bundesarchiv via MaritimeQuest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469106481-XLY4GV6XQ2AUV2QOCXUO/FascistFlattop15.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Honoured Nazi military and political guests attend the christening and launch of Graf Zeppelin in Hamburg. Flugzeugträger “A” was christened Graf Zeppelin by Hella von Brandenstein-Zeppelin, the daughter of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, for whom the ship was named. As hopeful as this event was for the future of naval aviation in Nazi Germany, it was literally the high point. The great ship would not get much farther than a few hundred kilometres from the dry dock she was built in for the rest of the war. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469282776-6PY4XEZB7OCKUJJMSFSL/FascistFlattop14.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out To the Nazi salutes and “Sieg Heils” of many thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians, and with newsreel cameras whirring, Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin begins her slide down Slipway One at the Deutsche Werke shipyard on 8 December 1938. On her starboard side rests the hull of the Kriegsmarine supply ship Franken. After its launch in 1939, Franken was towed to Copenhagen for finishing. Franken was not completed until 1943. She operated only in the Baltic Sea, supplying the cruiser Prinz Eugen, and was broken in two and sunk by bombs from Soviet aircraft in 1945. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469316036-G8DB5QUZPLGQ4CLST8XL/FascistFlattop16.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The newly finished and just christened hull of Fleugzeugtrager Graf Zeppelin slides majestically down the ways while the dry dock is lined with sailors of the Kriegsmarine and families of the men who worked on her construction. Judging by the Nazi flag on her bow, which is blowing towards the stern, her progress down the ways was fairly gentle. A second carrier of the Graf Zeppelin class was already underway. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469359671-HGWY4CEIEKD3DRZKRCA6/FascistFlattop17.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Another photo, taken at the same moment as the previous photo, reveals the massive crowd of military and civilian spectators who were in attendance for this event. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469400584-J9ZX4CM1T4WIROMVS931/FascistFlattop69.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out As Graf Zeppelin slides into the water for the first time, diminutive but powerful harbour tugs surround her to slow her slide and nudge her toward a berth and the finishing dock. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469436074-FYQFOWIBOIKGPCOPE76S/FascistFlattop19.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Kiel harbour tugs nudge the colossus now known as the Graf Zeppelin towards a berth dockside where she will undergo transformation into a working aircraft carrier. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469469527-A5MG0K9VGA4VT9BX2AYW/FascistFlattop18.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out With timbers from her launch still floating in the launch basin at Kiel, tugboats manoeuvre the pristine and flag bedecked hull of the newly christened Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin to a dock where crews can begin her superstructure and systems fit up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469520648-1IT2OHIS73HP1JZF3Y7J/FascistFlattops67.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The Kiel harbour tugs, Auguste and Emil, pull the hull of Graf Zeppelin as another tug pulls amidships. Photo via battletankbelgie.be https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469570470-77ZB3KDI88O6CHIIGGQ8/FascistFlattop20.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A view of the shapely stern of Graf Zeppelin as she is manoeuvred to her berth. Note the garlands and rather old-style anchor, likely ready in case of an emergency. Just the previous year, when the battleship Gneisenau was launched from the same slipway, harbour tugs were unable to arrest her backward slide across the launch basin and the ship collided with the far embankment. The system for braking the launch worked well with Graf Zeppelin. The tops of her twin rudders can be seen in this image, but would be deeper with the additional weight of her superstructure, guns, systems and fuel. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469679905-8AF082REV4LCGGRMDMB9/FascistFlattop06.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin’s flight deck and catapult systems are added dockside at Kiel in 1939. Construction carried on apace throughout that summer and into 1940. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469718426-NPZ4OFCNG8BPQX8DBSLE/FascistFlattop07.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A close-up view of the work on Graf Zeppelin, showing the work offices and shelters. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469907118-IJ8TACGVLQSVKMCUCML4/FascistFlattop08.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A view showing progress late in 1939, with work beginning on the island superstructure on the starboard side. After hostilities began with France and Great Britain in September, however, further progress was stopped due to political pressures within the Kriegsmarine and without. Admiral Kerl Dönitz felt that the resources could be better spent elsewhere—namely on his U-boats and Hermann Goering wanted nothing to do with carrier aviation at all. By this time, naval air operation from carriers was still a concept that had not yet been proven in actual combat. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628469933865-SV667YSS37ITQ2Z5VX5F/FascistFlattop83.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The only photo I could find on the internet of Flugzeugträger “B”, the sister ship of Graf Zeppelin was the tiny inset above. This carrier would never be finished, and would be scrapped on the slipway at Deutsche Werke. Though she never got a name, it is widely believed that she would have been named Flugzeugträger Peter Strasser, after the commander of the Imperial German Navy’s zeppelin fleet in the First World War. Work began on Flugzeugträger “B” (Peter Strasser) in early 1939, but was halted in September 1939 when war was declared. Peter Strasser was completed up to the armoured deck. It sat rusting on the slipway at Deutsche Werke until late February 1940 and was ordered scrapped. The main image is of Graf Zeppelin, but represents the degree of completion her sister ship had reached before cancellation. The scrapping was completed in just four months. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470005945-EKB05UOB40F21NE1PB90/FascistFlattop101.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out An RAF reconnaissance photo of Bremen harbour in 1942 captures the half finished heavy cruiser KMS Seydlitz about to undergo conversion to an aircraft carrier. The decision was taken to provide accompanying air support for other already finished capital ships. Upon completion, she was to be renamed KMS Weser. In Bremen, work began to take down the superstructure so recently finished. The guns were removed to become coastal guns at Lorient on the Atlantic Wall. By the end of the year, all of her upper works had been removed and Seydlitz left Bremen for the Schichau Shipyards in Königsberg. At the beginning of 1943, recent naval defeats of large Kriegsmarine capital ships caused an angry Hitler to order the decommissioning of all capital ships and the cessation of work on future major naval projects. Not much work had taken place since her arrival at Königsberg and she stayed there until the Soviets threatened to capture her. German demolition crews scuttled her. She was refloated after the war with plans for the Russians to finish her. Eventually she was scrapped in 1950–51. Photo: YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470055160-8AAIQ6872RIZ9ROPZV69/FascistFlattop102.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out KMS Seydlitz (the future Weser) in Bremen with all of her superstructure, except her funnel, removed in preparation of the construction of a flight deck. The conversion would be done in Königsberg. Photo via YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470174955-OAGH5SD6WMIL2MGEQYRJ/FascistFlattop70.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The Luftwaffe experimented with arrested carrier landings using three modified and obsolete Avia Bk-534 biplane fighters which had been confiscated from the Czechs. The Luftwaffe Resource Center at WarbirdResourceGroup.org explains: “The aircraft were given spools for catapult launching, a folding hook for arrested landings and thus equipped they were tested in 1940 to 1941 period. The airframe structure was not designed to withstand the concentrated loads of arrested landings, and the A-frame hook got pulled out from the fuselage on several occasions and the carrier-borne career of the Bk-534 fighter ended even before the German aircraft carrier project was abandoned.” Photo: topsid.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470225016-O6C4GXVO9QFZUNVYWGRS/FascistFlattop98.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Also used for launch and recovery systems tests for the new Graf Zeppelin was the Arado Ar.96 advanced trainer. The six aircraft that were used for the tests were designated as Arado Ar.96B-1s. Not all were equipped with both the catapult attachment points and arresting hooks. A crane has hoisted this Arado to test its fit to a catapult cradle, which will be the system for launching from Graf Zeppelin. Two of the Arados (CD+OA (above) and PH+GZ) flew to Italy in 1943 and demonstrated the technology to the Regia Aeronautica at Perugia San Egidio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470265459-OQKV6IIQH4SQIQ1BGP5H/FascistFlattop30.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin’s primary weapons would be the aircraft of its carrier air group—originally designed to be 42 aircraft strong—12 Ju-87C Stuka dive bombers, 30 Messerschmitt Bf-109T fighters and Fieseler Fi.167 biplane torpedo bombers—all either specifically designed or modified for carrier use. Later on, during the building of Graf Zeppelin, the complement was redesigned to include 30 Stukas and 12 109s, with the promising Fieselers eliminated altogether. The Junkers Ju-87C Stuka (for Sturzkampfflugzeug) dive bomber, which would soon terrorize continental European countries under the boot of the Nazis, was chosen for its robust structure, which could be redesigned for carrier use—including wings that folded at the kink in the inverted gull wing and the addition of a tail hook for arresting landings. Photo via SinoDefenceForum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470302043-SD96WPMAXL1LVT5HCG0H/FascistFlattop57.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A navalized Stuka extends one of its folding wings. By September of 1939, as the war was just beginning, one aircraft carrier wing, known as Trägergruppe 186, had been formed by the Luftwaffe. It was composed of three squadrons equipped with Messerschmitt Bf-109 and Junkers Ju-87C aircraft. Photo via Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470334270-80NK9WIPUKC37SLMPZ45/FascistFlattop32.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A head-on view of the same prototype Junkers Ju-87C Stuka from the previous photo, showing clearly how much space would be saved if the dive bomber’s wings could be folded. The wings were hand rotated 90 degrees and then folded rearward. Photo via Pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470377326-9SV6VBKZGGUT99EMYH24/FascistFlattop40.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A navalized (with a tail hook) Stuka is flung into the air during a systems test from a barge off the Baltic coast at Travemünde, near Lübeck. Unlike American, British and Japanese carriers of the day, which actually flew their aircraft complement off their flight decks, the Graf Zeppelin was to utilize an overly complex cradle and catapult system similar to those systems used to launch reconnaissance aircraft from capital ships such as Bismarck. The launching aircraft had to be craned onto a cradle specifically designed for the type. The cradle was launched by a compressed air catapult and was arrested at the end of the stroke, allowing the aircraft to continue on in flight. The cradle would then be shuttled back, then down an elevator to be mated with another Stuka, while the next cradle was launched from the flight deck. Photo via wehrmacht-history.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470420451-VF2EBF6HPSRUH8VHJ7Z9/FascistFlattop33.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out With the construction of the Graf Zeppelin already underway in early 1937, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (the German Ministry of Aviation) issued a specification and request for designs for a carrier-based torpedo bomber for use on the two Graf Zeppelin class carriers. Two aircraft manufacturers, Fieseler and Arado, were issued the specification—requesting an all-metal biplane aircraft with a minimum top speed of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) and minimum range of 1,000 kilometres. The Fieseler designed Fi-167, which easily won over the Arado Ar-195, exceeded the specs in many areas. It was faster at 325 kilometres per hour, and could carry twice the required payload. Like its stablemate, the amazing STOL-capable Fieseler Storch, the Fi-167 could land almost vertically on a carrier underway. The crew could jettison the landing gear for an emergency ditching and flotation chambers in the wings allowed the aircraft to remain afloat long enough for the crew to escape to their life raft. Photo: Bundesarchiv via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470501901-WC9TSO44P49NG1G07YND/FascistFlattop41.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Only 14 Fieseler Fi-167 aircraft were ever built—two prototypes and 12 production aircraft. One gets a good idea of the size of the big biplane with these ground crew standing beneath the port wing while loading bombs. Production of the aircraft was halted when construction of Graf Zeppelin was stopped in 1940. The 14 constructed aircraft were absorbed by the Luftwaffe. When construction of Graf Zeppelin resumed in 1942, the Junkers Ju-87C assumed the air group responsibilities of the Fi-167 as a torpedo and reconnaissance aircraft. The small number of Fieselers built did however make an impact, serving with the Croatian Air Force at the end of the war, the Royal Romanian Air Force and post war with the Yugoslav Air Force. With the Luftwaffe, it was used as a test bed for landing gear configurations. The low landing speeds hampered true testing of gear, so the lower wings were removed outboard of the gear legs to allow a harder landing. Its STOL and rough field capabilities made it, like the Westland Lysander of the Royal Air Force, excellent for delivering ammunition and other supplies to besieged Croatian army units. One Fieseler Fi-167, operating on such a resupply operation, was set upon by no less than five RAF P-51 Mustangs. Before it was shot down, the rear gunner managed to shoot down one of the Mustangs, one of the last biplane kills of the war. Photo via warships1discussionboards.yuku.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470548266-I9TSNEHXSVEH7KEVNSPH/FascistFlattop86.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A prototype Fieseler Fi-167 with civil registration (Fieseler construction number 2501) shows us the large vertical stature of the aircraft. Photo: LuftArchiv.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470592731-XO4OR9C92O620GQ5DV0O/FascistFlattop91.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The Arado Ar-197 was the other contender for a ship borne torpedo bomber. It was rejected in favour of the Fieseler, but by the time the Graf Zeppelin was to be completed, both aircraft would have been outclassed by advanced monoplane fighters. Neither went into full production. Photo via sas1946.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470627726-GQKN8I2606T0MMOMLPLN/FascistFlattop51.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf-109T (Luftwaffe code WL-IECY, Werke Number 1781), the navalized variant of the ubiquitous German design, was first requested by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (the German Ministry of Aviation) in the fall of 1938, just months before the launch of Graf Zeppelin. The Messerschmitt Bf-109T (for Träger—German for carrier) was nicknamed “Toni” by its pilots. It was a highly modified 109E (Emil). The mods to the basic 109E included increasing the wingspan to 36.35 feet from 30 feet, adding an arrestor hook (attached directly to a strengthened frame 7 of the rear fuselage) and connectors for a catapult launcher. The flaps, ailerons and slats were all increased in size to ease carrier takeoff and landings. Photo via topsid.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470672889-J8GVV822NW4N3ZQ8VI8G/FascistFlattop53.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A blurry but informative view of the Messerschmitt Bf-109T, showing its enlarged flap and aileron areas and tail hook for arrested landings. Photo via topsid.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470718075-VDA3DFYQ1O09QIVG5EOZ/FascistFlattop56.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf-109T is catapulted from a barge during a test, with flaps set for takeoff. It nears the end of the stroke where the cradle will be arrested and the 109 will fly on over the Baltic. Messerschmitt Bf-109T TK-HM is a T-1 variant, without the tail hook as it would be landing at the test facility at E Stelle See (Test Centre Sea) at Travemünde-Priwall. Initial landing and arrestor wire tests were carried out in 1939 using the same aircraft. Photo via geocities.ws https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470758544-BKN9GVR99QZQZ9EI5UK7/FascistFlattop65.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A moment after its catapult launch from a barge, we see the Messerschmitt Bf-109T-1 Toni flung into the air, as the cradle comes to a stop at the end of the stroke and collapses. In this image we can clearly see the connector devices under the fuselage design to hook into the catapult cradle. Tests were carried out in 1940 in the same Travemünde area, on the Baltic Sea near Lübeck, in which the Stuka launches were conducted. Photo: Messerschmitt-Bf109.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628470790180-AT3SV9UCFFKFWOGCQZU2/FascistFlattop55.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Two profiles of carrier-based Messerschmitt Bf-109T “Tonis” with arrestor hooks and catapult cradle connectors. Images via wingspalette.ru; illustrations by Teodor Liviu Morosanu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508421804-PNK8KSBB6QWHO0WLTWBX/FascistFlattop21.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin receives a “clipper stem”, or Atlantic bow on the Kiel dockside where much of her fit-up was performed before construction was halted (for the first time) in 1940 soon after the outbreak of the Second World War. The bow was a modification to the original design to allow her better performance in the high seas of the Atlantic. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508456816-X2O7XENHBG43FW9AAWG7/FascistFlattop22.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin’s Atlantic bow nears completion at Kiel in late March 1940. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508488554-X4HOQHHK63ZUMP81V7GF/FascistFlattop68.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A photograph of Graf Zeppelin in June 1940 showing tremendous progress—with radio masts, island superstructure, gun tubs, casements and guns and other systems now in place. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508554628-TY0KH37BG0JRZ939M32Z/FascistFlattop23.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Beginning to show signs of neglect, the sad hulk of Graf Zeppelin rusts dockside at Stettin’s Hakenterrasse where she was towed for safekeeping. At this point, her gun casements and guns have been removed and sent to Norway for coastal defence. For most of her short life, Graf Zeppelin was manned by a skeleton crew who kept her internal systems oiled and in basic working order, hoping one day that the Kriegsmarine would find the budget, the time and the unmolested space to finish her and put her to sea. Her aggressive looking Atlantic prow would never see stormy seas of any kind and she was destined to pass her military career moored in backwater rivers and harbours. Photo via lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508597347-DM5L9E7HN31BNPHH94FK/FascistFlattop25.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A personal snapshot of Graf Zeppelin taken from the sidewalk on the Hakenterrasse (Chrobry Embankment) in Stettin in 1941. Photo via lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508690096-RZQVRUYE4AN5IKIZDA8X/FascistFlattop66.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Another photograph taken from the promenade at the Hakenterrasse as curious citizens come to take a look at the colossus. Photo via lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508723001-1MMUJPJQTEDAAP4LCAMB/FascistFlattop24.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A rare colour photo (possibly a postcard) of Graf Zeppelin on the Hakenterrasse at Stettin alongside training ships of another era. Even the sail-powered training ships have dazzle paint camouflage to help hide them, while the massive carrier Graf Zeppelin simply rusts, posing no threat to the Allies. Photo via MarineForum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508779595-SQONNKLY1LL8O1GLNSOV/FascistFlattop26.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A group of soldiers or perhaps naval cadets line the rail as their ship maneouvres to dock on the Hakenterrasse in Stettin. Judging by the massive shrouds coming down from the right, this is one of the tall ship training vessels tied up at the dock, which are visible in the previous photo. Photo via lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508827567-A0FD316AFT2V1EWT405N/FascistFlattop99.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Either this photographer did not want to be seen taking this snapshot, or perhaps he or she was just trying to make a pretty picture. In the following aerial photograph we can see the exact spot where the photo was taken—behind the trees seen off Graf Zeppelin’s starboard bow. Photo via geocaching.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508898484-VI5FKTZAR7E0Q29G0DQ8/FascistFlattops58.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A reconnaissance photo shows Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin moored on the Oder River at Stettin’s Hakenterrasse in 1941, sometime between June 1941 when she arrived and November of that year when she was towed to Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland). Photo via wwiivehicles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508864885-ECG8I7M5GMT4VR8IZ5GO/FascistFlattop100.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin docked in Gdynia, Poland (Gdańsk/Danzig) in 1942, covered in camouflage netting. Photo via wolneforumgdansk.pl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628508980792-K57A8YBJQ8SOOX5C2LK6/FascistFlattop11.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A view of the port side of Graf Zeppelin resting in a Deutsche Werke dry dock at Kiel in March of 1943 after work had resumed in early December of 1942. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509019542-O716Q4B7GOIXBT1IL6XQ/FascistFlattop28.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out An aerial view of Graf Zeppelin moored in a backwater of the Parnitz River in 1943, not far from the Baltic Sea coast. Her decks look as if they are being used for storage. Graf Zeppelin was, for a time, used as a floating storage facility for hardwood. This is the same spot where she would be found at the end of the war and where she would be scuttled and then raised by the Soviets. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509075829-L47GNVW8N2PFUGT8C7DC/FascistFlattop27.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A pilot and photographer fly over the forgotten hulk of Graf Zeppelin moored in the Parnitz River near Stettin. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509109538-PU9OE6OYXHEKX0QO4WZ6/FascistFlattop29.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Another photo, likely from the same aircraft as the previous photo, shows a very lonely Graf Zeppelin spending her last days in a shallow backwater surrounded by swampy country—a sad ending for a colossus meant for the open Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509225371-340OSGCJRTISAZ93DGED/FascistFlattop85.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A Red Army soldier explores the rain-soaked wooden deck of Graf Zeppelin after its capture in the Parnitz River near Stettin. As the Red Army neared the city if Stettin, in April of 1945, the skeleton crew assigned to the care of the carrier opened the sea cocks and flooded the lower spaces, causing the ship to settle into the muddy bottom of the shallow river. A demolition crew later rigged the ship’s interior with numerous explosive charges, ready to destroy vital equipment. The order was given on 25 April 1945, as the Russians entered the city, to detonate the charges. Smoke was seen to belch from her funnel for the first time, confirming that her boilers were now destroyed. The Soviets refloated the carrier and towed her to the Baltic and eventually to Swinemünde. It seems at this point they were not sure what to do with her—learn carrier technology from her or rebuild her and put her to the use she was intended for. In the end, they chose to use her as a target. Photo: lasegundoguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509315403-0527N0SHCGB5J5QG0N7T/FascistFlattop89.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin photographed by a Red Army photographer sitting on the shallow bottom of the Parnitz River near Stettin, scuttled by her skeleton crew. Photo via wonferwaffe.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509362742-T0IOYW0LP0UZFWR535CQ/FascistFlattop90.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin in the Parnitz River in 1945. It is not clear whether this is before or after she was refloated. Photo via wonderwaffe.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509397285-MJVBLSJ2GMMF852EM1H2/FascistFlattop88.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The floating hulk of Graf Zeppelin, once the epitome of Nazi militarism, rocks with explosions from Soviet bombers off the coast of Poland in 1947. Photo: lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509429502-PJQCD5XWR2VXHYVWUMHW/FascistFlattop87.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The last photograph of Graf Zeppelin taken by a Soviet Navy photographer shows her sliding bow down on her starboard side into the choppy Baltic waters off the coast of Poland. She would not be seen again for another 60 years. Photo via lasegundaguerra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509463017-KYPP2CCFSHSV7CDI0LXX/FascistFlattop37.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A haunting composite side scan sonar image of Graf Zeppelin lying upright on her keel at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, about 55 kilometres from Gdańsk, Poland (Danzig, Germany during the war). She was discovered in 2006, after 60 years, by the Polish petroleum company PetroBaltic, while sounding for oil deposits. For more photos of an Austrian diving expedition to Graf Zeppelin, click here. Image via Axishistory.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509551269-HC5AJLVKADNLMDHRVYZD/FascistFlattop36.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The only operational images that exist of Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin are from the imagination of naval artists, for she was never underway at sea and never had an aircraft anywhere near her decks. In this dramatic depiction, a Ju-87C Stuka is launched, while a Messerschmitt Bf-109T Toni flies down the port side. Painting via tiexue.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509582564-7X9J6125YYOHG9VUOHJK/FascistFlattop72.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Graf Zeppelin steams through a menacing sky in this painting by prolific and talented Polish naval artist, Grzegorz Nawrocki. She never was able to offer up any menace to Allied forces, naval or otherwise. She ended her Kriegsmarine service as a derelict hulk tied up in a backwater river near Stettin, of so little threat to the Allies that they never bombed her, happy to let her float and keep 30,000 tons of steel out of the hands of the U-boat manufacturers. Painting by Grzegorz Nawrocki https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509654806-SIWU0N2FMDY54O5DPKCE/FascistFlattop77.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A super-dramatic painting of Graf Zeppelin under attack by Russian aircraft (which seem to be getting the worst of it) whilst she spits two Focke Wulf 190 fighters off her catapults. The painting is from the box for Revell’s 1:720 model kit of Graf Zeppelin. Painting by D. F. via Revell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509623520-QKOT9Q8LM99F081NG4RI/FascistFlattop35.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Two different box designs for Revell’s model of Graf Zeppelin. The top image, though more dramatic, shows the wrong fighter aircraft being launched from her catapults—Focker Wulf Fw-190 fighters instead of Messerschmitt Bf-109Ts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509740387-BZ4FFMTJJLEQKX1S6IB5/FascistFlattop61.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out When it came to getting into the carrier game, Italy’s Navy, the Regia Marina, chose to go the conversion route on both of its aborted attempts to build an aircraft carrier. The Italian liner SS Roma, built for the shipping line Navigazione Generale Italiana in the Ansaldo Shipyards in Genoa, was selected in 1939 to provide the hull and propulsion for the new Italian fleet carrier Aquila (Eagle). When the Second World War broke out, Roma was laid up, taken on strength with the Regia Marina, and converted. It was a massive and ambitious conversion and might possibly have been a threat... one which, however, the Royal Navy would have eventually despatched. Photo via Egadi.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509780879-7WIQKQ2GJU2ZP5M1B2OL/FascistFlattops62.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Aquila under construction in Genoa. In June of 1940, not long after Italy’s entering the war with the Axis powers, Benito Mussolini approved the conversion of the ocean liner Roma into an auxiliary carrier, with a flush deck and a small hangar. He and the Regia Marina had a change of plans at the beginning of 1941, just a couple of months after carrier-based Royal Navy Swordfish wreaked havoc on the Italian fleet at Taranto, when they decided on a considerably more ambitious conversion of Roma to a full-sized fleet carrier with a bigger air complement and speed that kept pace with the capital ships of the fleet. Photo via agenziabozzo.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509816803-H1MWOG85ERE3N5TKY9AD/FascistFlattop43.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The nearly completed Aquila begins her slow decline after the capitulation of Italy. Though the sharp bow-like chine edge of the hull makes this appear to be the stem, it is in fact the round down at the stern of Aquila. Yard work on Aquila began in 1941 at the same Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa where Roma was built. Between the wars, the political and naval leaders heatedly debated the need for naval air capabilities and for carriers. In the 1930s it was thought that France would most likely become their future foe in a struggle for power in the region and paramount was parity with the French navy. The arguments against the need for carriers cited the fact that outlying islands in the control of Italy, such as Pantellaria and Sicily, would in effect be granite carriers. The aircraft carrier was, in those times, considered by more than just the Italians as an unproven concept, one however that would shortly demonstrate its worth in the Mediterranean Sea, when Royal Navy carriers supplied much needed defensive fighters to the beleaguered island of Malta. Photo: vetroplasica.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509850759-25DO8BK28J9MBR3LNMQG/FascistFlattop44.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A close-up of the port side of Aquila shows her anti-aircraft gun tubs, which never saw the installation of their heavy AAA weapons. By this time work had stopped and she was clearly in decline. Photo: vetroplasica.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509893386-0QS0LEHQNHQGHSGLRBOD/FascistFlattop50.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Photo via regiamarinaitaliana.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509942733-9KOY80YS7FS9VCZVKGD4/FascistFlttop80.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Despite the obvious near-completion of Aquila, she spent her life tied up in Genoa, blanketed in camouflage netting. Photo via alieuomini.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628511198925-Z2HYV2KDFPKOP36TLEBP/Aquila.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628509976909-RZHG23W0VC1RF809H7CR/FascistFlattop52.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Work on Aquila was stopped by 1943 and she rusted in Genoa harbour, with a half-hearted attempt to conceal her identity with camouflage nets. Photo: via geocities.ws https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510015229-ICFX7WKWLV79B5VU4SR9/FascistFlattop81.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A close-up of Aquila’s island superstructure draped with camouflage netting at Genoa in August 1943. Photo via alieuomini.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510078959-UOU39BO90F85YA4OK195/FascistFlattop49.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Aquila at Genoa in 1945, looking pretty rough, but free of her camouflage nets at last. Photo via agenziabozzo.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510114363-14IDVD0UEZ4NLX5I4VT3/FascistFlattop82.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Aquila’s rusted and never manned island superstructure after being raised. Aquila survived the war, but not the scrapper’s torch. Photo via agenziabozzo.it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510324175-NX41U2QDH3248PX07FN7/8lz5qbr69hn51.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Aquila in La Spezia in 1950 for breaking up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510728958-OMWYD9BADJGGJVQX7YCP/FascistFlattop45.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The rusted hulk of Aquila anchored at La Spezia in 1951, just before being scrapped. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510820729-MZ7N69LCNEVB99CMRU95/FascistFlattop64.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The SAIMAN 200 was one of the three aircraft being considered for aircraft carrier operations with the Regia Marina—as a trainer for carrier landings no doubt. The Regia Marina began searching for candidate aircraft for Aquila pretty late in the game. Throughout 1942 and 1943, aircraft evaluations were conducted at two air force test facilities at Perugia and Guidonia to find aircraft suitable for conversion to carrier use. The aircraft that survived this first round of development were the SAIMAN 200 (trainer), Fiat G.50 Freccia (Reconnaissance) and Reggiane Re.2001 Falco (Fighter) as potential candidates. Arrested landing tests with the Saiman 200 and the Fiat G.50 proved disappointing. Photo: avia-it.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510870205-LGXK8ZTJSUV0JMCX089R/FascistFlattop97.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out The Germans shared their technology and experience with the Italians—such as it was. Here a Luftwaffe Arado A.96.B-1 advanced trainer equipped with arresting gear demonstrates the technology for the Regia Aeronautica at Perugia. This aircraft (CD+OA) is the same aircraft pictured above in the section of this story dealing with German testing of systems. Photo via twelveoclockhigh.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510902770-5X7P68CMBOGYHRM4HKNU/FascistFlattop47.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out One of the fighter aircraft considered for carrier operations aboard Aquila and Sparviero was the Fiat G.50 Freccia ("Arrow"). First flown in February 1937, the G.50 was Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable undercarriage to go into production. Only one Freccia was modified, strengthened and tested for carrier use. It was intended for use as an armed reconnaissance aircraft. Photo: aaminis.myfastforum.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510936901-NYKYD5XK6Z67PIPC3LUF/FascistFlattop96.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Like many of Italy’s aircraft designs of the 1930s and 40s, the Fiat G.50 Freccia had a unique and strangely beautiful appearance. Of the nearly 800 Freccias manufactured, only a few were fitted with a tail hook for arrested landing tests. The results were disappointing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628510982227-A57Z8DQEMSJIOQLEF0D7/FascistFlattop48.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out A close-up of the Fiat G-50’s tail hook reveals that it was attached to the fuselage on either side of the tail—known as an A-frame arrestor hook. Photo via forum.1cpublishing.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628511014231-HACYZPDAK0ZXB8VKKWYT/FascistFlattop60.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Another failed attempt by the Regia Marina to build an aircraft carrier from a cruise ship was the auxiliary carrier Sparviero, built on the requisitioned hull of MS Augustus (above), the sister ship of Roma. Augustus was a combined ocean liner and world-cruise ship of 33,000 tons displacement. It was built in 1926 and operated by the Navagazione Generale Italiana which was forced by the Fascist government to merge with other line operators to become the nationalized Italia Line. Photo via histarmar.com.ar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628511040240-D5QAIHACFP30K4YYCYKL/FascistFlattop59.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Sparviero under construction at the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa, the same yard that had built her as Augustus. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Augustus and Roma were taken out of the line and then eventually taken over by the Regia Marina. Like her sister, the Augustus was converted into an aircraft carrier first named Falco and then later Sparviero. In 1944, both unfinished ships were confiscated by the Nazis—on 25 September 1944 Sparviero’s unfinished hulk was scuttled by the Germans, in an attempt to block Genoa’s harbour to the Allies. Following hostilities, what remained of Sparviero was raised and eventually sent to the scrap yard in 1946. The breaking up of Sparviero took until 1952. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628511088500-5B7YBLF07SDOR4TWLOWL/FascistFlattop79.jpg The Stories - FASCIST FLATTOPS - Make it stand out Sparviero was the only Axis aircraft carrier that was put to an actual military use – sunk as a blockade ship by the Germans at the mouth of the harbour entrance at Genoa. Photo via agenziabozzo.it https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/say-it-with-sailors monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298799178-PKCO3D8DQ6FEWME2EFDV/213BE7E6-7EC7-48EE-8A6F-247BBD3D71AA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628298828571-SJB2VFCQLA0N435K0GER/6B5FAFB6-2765-492C-A89E-0E1CA05BF74B.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out This is the earliest image I was able to find on the internet of an aircraft carrier carrying out a “flight deck spell-out.” Here, USS Lexington (CV-2), the first of the Lexington-class carriers, spells out NAVY—the most basic of words known to the United States Navy. It is possible, because of the simplicity of the message and the early date—17 September 1936—that we are looking at one of the first, if not the first, examples of the flight deck spell-out. Lexington is dead in the water off Long Beach, California. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 67420) via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299034292-IYDIIXTVOHDKEWGJNG3Y/3623CD88-4AEB-4298-9786-582EACB81A6B.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out When I started searching for aircraft carrier flight deck spell-outs, I was hoping to find a few that related to Canada. The Royal Canadian Navy operated only three carriers after the Second World War—Warrior, Magnificent and Bonaventure. While I found a couple of deck spell-outs on HMCS Bonaventure, I would also have to rely on American carriers for some Canadian content. Here USS Coral Sea (CV-43) pays a friendly visit to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1960, shortly after her recommissioning, and her crew makes us proud by spelling out a shout-out to their neighbours from the north. Photo: US Navy and usscoralsea.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299070107-65LGII7YI0A34F1EDH90/C1FE1819-DA9B-4360-962A-5367FCF0CFB9.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out I added this image of the same deck spell-out of USS Coral Sea in Vancouver to illustrate why 90% of the photographs in this story are taken from the port side of the carrier—the island superstructure blocks out the message, making for a poor photograph. Photo: US Navy and usscoralsea.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299102275-NUSDEAU4R2IPVQOU1YBM/694EE823-1623-4216-8461-17BF13FF8021.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Valley Forge (CVS-45) pays a visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her crew lined up in navy blue uniforms and white gob hats spelling out “HELLO HALIFAX” on her flight deck, 10 July 1959. Valley Forge, flying the flag of Rear Admiral John S. Thach (creator of the Thach Weave, a combat flight formation that could counter enemy fighters of superior performance, and later the big blue blanket, an aerial defense against Kamikaze attacks), was accompanied by the rest of Task Force ALFA, including seven destroyers and two submarines. Altogether, about 4,000 US Navy sailors were in Halifax for the six-day visit. The bars down by the waterfront must have been hopping during those six days. Photo: US Navy via history.navy.mil https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299135149-G3GLO4W9K2HUSPE2JNQC/97CAAB22-28D7-482F-8F15-4CF6A6BAE765.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In the summer of 1962, aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS-11) sailed up the St. Lawrence River and paid a port visit to La Belle Ville de Québec. Certainly the young sailors aboard must have enjoyed this most beautiful of all Canadian cities and its beautiful girls. On leaving, most of her crew turned out on deck to spell out MERCI QUÉBEC—even remembering to add the “accent aigu” over the first E of Québec. On deck are aircraft of Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 56 (CVSG-56). You can bet this photo was in Québec’s newspapers the next day! Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299169371-9E1BJPT47H10MMMW6NA7/8C37766C-CFB4-4658-AAEC-5E27F5D8E50A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Aboard the escort carrier USS Attu (CVE-102) members of her crew and perhaps Marines spell out an abbreviated greeting to the Fourth Marine Division as the ship enters San Diego Harbor in October of 1945 as part of the massive troop repatriation project called Operation MAGIC CARPET. In this complex logistical operation, US Navy ships (transport and combat units) brought home more than 3 million American troops and personnel from the European and Pacific Theatres by the end of March, 1946. Altogether, seven US Navy escort carriers were employed to bring home the more than 11,000 members of the Fourth Marine Division, who were veterans of many Pacific battles including Iwo Jima and Saipan and who were destined for demobilization at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California. Photo: NAS San Diego https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299221046-4Y0ENYO3JOL7EBG5G6DV/85A78395-F14F-4128-8737-D385B73FF775.png The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1951, following USS Bataan's reactivation for duty in Korea, the crew spells out its proud name. She has her Second World War configuration of four smoke stacks, but in the following photo, Bataan has been converted to a two-stack layout. Photo via BataanCVL29 Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299637491-6KTXTWC3AHR7POTWBEA5/CAF72564-45A8-408D-B4A7-A1CB49789EBF.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out One of the more emotional flight deck spell-outs found in my search. The light aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29), photographed on 22 May 1953, as she was en route to Naval Air Station San Diego, California, following a deployment to Korean waters. Note the crew paraded on the flight deck spelling out the word “HOME” and an arrow pointing over her bow. The aircraft on deck include 19 Grumman AF Guardian anti-submarine planes and a solitary Vought F4U Corsair fighter (parked amidships on the starboard side). Text: Wikipedia, photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299665224-PTRG75I32YAIO870V33R/5D8015DA-8529-4534-86C8-60E9AC5ABD2F.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The Essex-class carrier USS Tarawa (CV-40) uses every inch of her “long hull” flight deck to spell out a greeting to the state of Connecticut in July of 1951. She is likely running down Long Island Sound and about to pay a visit to a naval base such as New London or Groton. Tarawa was named after the horrific Battle of Tarawa in the Second World War where US Marines assaulted and eventually defeated the Japanese. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299691526-QNDGOJUHDOHO2PJ3R1TK/A1728333-7C60-4EAB-BEF7-0C413B276D88.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out While working from Pensacola, Florida as a training aircraft carrier, USS Monterey visited New Orleans, likely on more than one occasion. Here, 700 members of her crew in dress whites line up on her cleared deck to spell out a greeting to New Orleans, LA. USS Monterey (CV-26) was an Independence-class light aircraft carrier named after two previous ships of the line and the city of Monterey, California, captured during the Mexican War by a landing force of 250 Marines and bluejackets. As mentioned before, many carriers were named after American battle victories, preferably after those won by the Navy or the Marines. Monterey would end her career as an aircraft transport, carrying aircraft on her deck for delivery to overseas deployments and the like. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299715036-XNRAVX1FBHCR91T56QNT/8ADAA782-D618-4769-8C17-96BEBF7413E4.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (Swanky Franky, Rosie or sometimes Foo de Roo) arrives off the coast of Nice, France in October of 1951 and offers up a salute: VIVE LA FRANCE for all the beautiful French girls. I can’t think of a nicer (pun intended) port to call at than the beautiful city on the French Riviera. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299739487-YH1FYCZWYMJHW8BNLAGV/4966BB12-8288-4B21-8F98-FA54102D7553.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Hancock (CV-19), known as Hanna to her crew, quietly glides into San Francisco Bay, happy to be back in “OUR TOWN.” After a long cruise, carrier crews are grateful for the return to their families. For folks in San Francisco, the sentiment displayed by this spell-out must have been particularly warming. Returning ships were often photographed by the press from the Golden Gate Bridge—the likely location of this photographer. The crew is turned out in navy blue with white caps which makes the letters seem to float above the deck. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299768594-QUMFW835SF0DWURA326O/F7241243-5764-4955-B602-8A4B13D99982.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In a rather rough looking Pacific Ocean, USS Bon Homme Richard, the “Bonny Dick,” sends her crew out to spell a greeting to her home port of San Diego, California after her return from her 1962–63 Western Pacific Cruise. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299800255-388QTKAA1EDMZNEA8HBU/BBC15E98-4DC7-444D-8D35-F4AC47F0256E.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1992, the United States Navy was pulling out of their Subic Bay base in the Philippines. One of the last ships to leave was the carrier USS Independence (CV-62) as the US Navy relinquished control to the Philippines. Crew members stand on deck, using the angled flight deck lines to line up their goodbye message: “FAREWELL SUBIC.” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299833215-JOZCE1ZJOVQ6KQ43EHYT/122F780A-5EEC-4A5E-9B8C-5DEB29136748.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out It’s Fleet Week in NYC and USS Kearsarge, an Amphibious Assault Ship, steams off the brackish water of the Hudson River with a greeting for the next port of call—New York City. Some serious fun lies ahead for the crew. Note that the entire perimeter of the Kearsarge flight deck is lined with sailors alternately dressed in blue or white. Nice touch Kearsarge! Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299921575-AZLQD7KW5ROJO9GAJCKQ/48C3289A-FE57-4921-82CC-F29B381EA4AF.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The USS Kearsarge, an Amphibious Assault Ship, steams off the brackish water of the Hudson River with a greeting for the next port of call—New York City. A US Navy press release tells the story: New York Harbor (May 24, 2006)—Sailors spell-out the message “I Love New York” on the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) as they enter the harbor for Fleet Week New York City 2006. Fleet Week has been sponsored by New York City since 1984 in celebration of the United States sea service. The annual event also provides an opportunity for citizens of New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area to meet Sailors and Marines, as well as witness first-hand the latest capabilities of today’s Navy and Marine Corps team. Fleet Week includes dozens of military demonstrations and displays, including public tours of many of the participating ships. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299956615-5DCGGHH7DRUK327MUXPZ/036B7BD5-EC62-43C5-B40A-1E047EA8D6A3.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1955, just weeks after her massive refit at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard in Washington, USS Shangri-La paid a visit to San Francisco en route to San Diego. While passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, her crew spelled out the words “HELLO BAY AREA” for the assembled photographers. She docked at Naval Air Station Alameda on the Oakland side of the bay. During her refit, she received the first structurally angled flight deck in the US Navy, as well as other improvements which made her, for the moment, the most modern carrier in the fleet, if not the world. Photo: UP Telephoto via Utah Daily Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628299983215-2YUPI8XHJ3SEJ4883KKV/9678E9BA-7B1D-4A98-8D6A-D433FE0179F3.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In April of 1967, USS Bennington visited Sydney, Australia and offered up this accented greeting to the Diggers of the Land Down Under. For sailors touring the Pacific and the Far East, the most desirable port of call is Sydney or one of the big coastal cities of Australia. Photo: via uss-bennington.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300007560-YYEJH9MGP0A0T7SPXAAY/8A1FEA8D-1BFD-432A-9166-BC5EC37C8A5C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Hancock (CV-19), an Essex-class long hull carrier, was named after two previous ships of the US Navy, both sailing vessels named for John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress and first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Here, two days before entering the harbour at Sydney, Australia, her crew stands to on deck to spell out the name of her next port of call. There is no doubt that this photograph was supplied to newspapers in Sydney as a goodwill image, something which likely made their welcome even warmer. Hanna was moored at Sydney in May of 1971 during one of her Vietnam cruises. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org and Robert M. Cieri https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300031806-PV160QAY3G7SZFQRGHVR/4DE95930-7ABD-4F09-9946-5B0D28AAE31C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), heading into her future home port, makes an effort after a cruise to give a shout-out to the community by spelling out EVERETT 96 on her flight deck and smartly arranging the F-14 and F-18 aircraft of her air group. The photo was taken in 1994, but she knew she would be home-porting at Everett, Washington in 1996. At the time, her home was Naval Air Station Alameda in Oakland, California. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300054137-Q818AHUPXNAC79X8UR6K/2DF296BD-06A0-4164-AA62-42F7D15578DE.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In the summer of 1960, USS Wasp (CVS-18) sailed for the South Atlantic to offer assistance when fighting broke out in the newly independent Congo. She operated in support of the United Nations airlift and is seen here coming back from Dakar, Senegal in French West Africa on 29 July 1960. Photo: U.S. Navy via Navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300080319-9SCKOQH6ZONUJX95KX1D/DA352D8E-ECE7-4581-9DCA-4A6BBAE3276D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CVS-36), The Flying A, is seen arriving off Mayport, Florida, as the new training carrier in 1957. The crew is forming “Hi JAX” with a navy anchor on deck to greet the training base Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. The Gearing-class destroyer USS Forrest Royal (DD-872) is steaming alongside and being refuelled. Antietam was named for the Battle of Antietam, the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on Union or Northern soil—near Sharpsburg, Maryland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300110386-MGH9G890XXY8HQ8HIG3B/25158C9A-DE32-4E94-8875-58959F3D572A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) is accompanied by New York City tug boats as she passes under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on her approach to New York City in 1989 on the occasion of Fleet Week. On her forward flight deck crew members spell “WE LOVE (Heart) NY.” The Forrestal was named after James Vincent Forrestal (1892–1949), the first Under Secretary of the Navy and a First World War naval aviator. As I write this, Forrestal is in Brownsville, Texas being broken up and recycled. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300162690-Z0E1SITHXFBHPRMZ5WWQ/6E401420-CE30-4993-BB94-D115CFF2F7F2.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In early 1960, the crew of the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10) form Japanese characters reading “HELLO JAPAN” as she arrives in Japanese waters to commence another tour with the US Seventh Fleet. The transliteration of the Japanese characters is: “HaRo-NiHon.” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300210366-6O2YMB96ZQBGYBMQNXBL/EC82D4F7-CED6-496C-BA90-AD4278762BCA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out One of the favourite greetings in a language other than English seems to be the Hawaiian greeting “Aloha” with several examples shown in this story. The Australian carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) is seen here moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, her crew spelling out “Aloha” on her flight deck in cursive script. It is rare indeed to find examples of a deck spell-out in lower case letters. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300272161-58NSI1DMK3QV31L1VQEK/4D9E0260-2355-43DF-AABD-256B94E9A947.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A nice shot of USS Essex (CVS-9) and her accompanying destroyers, USS Miller (left) and USS Wadleigh of US Navy Task Group 83.3, tied up at the piers of St. Pauli Landungsbrücken, part of the harbour facilities at Hamburg, Germany. Soon the ships will be getting up steam to leave out the Elbe River and the North Sea. The crew has been mustered on deck to spell out “TSCHÜSS”—German for Good Bye. The date was 1962, at the very end of her “People to People” cruise to Northern Europe with ports of call in Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Greenock, Scotland. During the Hamburg visit, over one million visitors toured Essex. During her departure, Essex almost ran aground in the shallow Elbe River. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300307752-877M80C0PGAVVZFISTDL/C71C566F-5BAA-452F-B2F0-E5FF6E0C18DA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On the People to People tour of late 1961–early 1962, USS Essex also visited Rotterdam. Here she is gliding down the Maas River in the company of her escort destroyers. As Christmas was upon them, the members of the crew stand on deck and spell out GOEDE KERST—Merry Christmas in Dutch. It’s impressive if you can actually identify a font used in a spell-out. In this case, it’s the same as the one they used in the previous photograph—Eurostyle Light. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300343121-VH1ZHPYCR65D2N7OYAHP/C0F30EF1-61CD-4CD5-8C5A-D90BBAAF488D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On 25 April 1957, the Essex-class long hull carrier USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) is photographed with a special message to the people of Greece as she passes en route to join elements of the fleet at the scene of tension in the Middle East. The task force would cruise in the vicinity of Lebanon and back Jordan’s stand against the threat of communism. Ranged on her flight deck are aircraft of Air Task Group (ATG) 182. The message, roughly pronounced “CHAERE HELLAS” means “GREETINGS TO GREECE” in the Greek alphabet. Lake Champlain was the prime recovery ship for the first manned Mercury and for the third manned Gemini space missions. Unlike her contemporaries, she did not get upgraded with an angled flight deck and was the last American carrier in operation with an axial flight deck. The carrier was, in one of the traditions of the US Navy, named for an American battle victory—the Battle of Lake Champlain, sometimes also referred to as the Battle of Plattsburgh. It was fought on 11 September 1814 and helped to end the final British invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812. This region and era in American history resulted in a number of aircraft carrier names—Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Yorktown, Lexington, Bunker Hill, Bennington, and Princeton. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300366983-EFM2PTCAZG36ZXZ9DRL5/771E1703-C5E1-4698-8CA6-C231B59A3549.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out You say Hello, I’ll say Goodbye. Sailors, spelling out SAYONARA, form a message of farewell on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) as the ship heads out to sea after leaving US Naval Station, Yokosuka, Japan, for the last time. Midway, which had been based in Japan since 1973, was replaced by USS Independence (CV-62). Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300462375-HU61RRN4V693ACW71MNI/4504304B-7ED2-4C7F-93BB-62B100CBD9CB.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Crew members from USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63, alternately called Battle Cat or Shitty Kitty) had nearly finished their spell-out of SAYONARA when this photo was taken as they bid farewell to Yokosuka, Japan in May of 2008. Kitty Hawk was a forward-deployed aircraft carrier based in Japan. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300489767-PZC13LQXCN2TP249HGGG/E1C4696D-702A-4CB4-BEA6-EF5944847CBA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Pulling back, we see thrusters, fireboats and tugboats working hard to manoeuvre Kitty Hawk out of the harbour at Yokosuka, Japan. She would soon be replaced by USS George Washington (next photo). Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300517310-ZZR7ELD8XLNMRWL1WYBK/1B9BD59D-63C9-4C10-ABAC-C493C6F1C0F2.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out George Washington could never tell a lie. Here, her crew spells out in Japanese characters their joy at being in Japan. A US Navy press release with the photo explains: YOKOSUKA, Japan (Sept. 25, 2008) Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) form the phrase “HAJIMEMASHITE,” which means “GREETINGS–NICE TO MEET YOU” in Japanese, as they arrive at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan. George Washington and Carrier Air Wing 5 will be operating from Fleet Activities Yokosuka as the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300541757-BNBBFXE9TEHGGNRSJ52A/EE6CE970-0C74-414A-AE8C-09174F045B21.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Intrepid (CV-11), a short hull Essex-class carrier, wishes Italians BUON NATALE—Merry Christmas—while off Naples, Italy in 1961. The “Fighting I” can now been seen as a floating museum in New York harbour. Image via USS Intrepid Cruise Book 1961–62, US Navy/navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300568475-PQK7OUH5U30655AQ1WN3/5C5DAA6E-F50E-4F73-8A35-E0260CC9D4AE.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 2013, just a few days before Christmas, while on patrol on the Mediterranean Sea, the flight deck of the Italian Navy Anti-submarine frigate Grecale (F-571) was the scene of a particularly fun formation. Not a spell-out per se, but a seasonal greeting nonetheless. The pilot of the Agusta-Bell A212 that took the photo was Andy Bernardi. Photo: Italian Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300590568-SGNXGAD66CL2LOUHSYRL/E60294BA-8F39-4A6D-9BCA-329247E3B50A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A war weary USS Shangri-La edges into San Pedro Bay to tie up at Los Angeles, California at the end of October 1945. On her deck, her air group’s aircraft are smartly ranged and most of her 1,773 men crew are forming up to spell out the word ALOHA, an appropriate greeting from a ship and her Task Force 38 recently back from the Pacific War. This photo was carried in newspapers across the country. Photo via PicstoPin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300618890-3SGBIM5LM5T447XWJO30/CC82FEF3-2EA4-4056-BEA7-B4D11EBAF024.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Lexington underway with a deck spell-out ALOHA 59, possibly in Pearl Harbor in 1959. Commissioned in 1943, she set more records than any other Essex-class carrier in the history of naval aviation. The ship was the oldest working carrier in the United States Navy when decommissioned in 1991. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300670744-K5NNWL3762VASLP8J95J/1B7A2BB8-2A12-4062-9DDF-6C75112A1A2C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The crew of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant of the Indian Navy spells out her name, विक्रांत, which means Courageous in Sanskrit. She was a light fleet carrier of the Majestic-class, built in England (as Hercules) and commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1961. The Vikrant was decommissioned on 31 January 1997 after 36 years of service in the Indian Navy. She steamed 499,066 nautical miles, the equivalent of 15 times around the world. The carrier is currently subject to a campaign to preserve her for posterity—the only wartime-constructed British aircraft carrier to be under possible preservation. Photo and info from www.bharat-rakshak.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300693220-DXJODXNCL49U3QEI6F58/7228B448-9CEB-49EE-9E62-5C31561E5BAD.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The new Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning cruises while her crew spells out in the Chinese alphabet the words CHINESE DREAM. This carrier was originally laid down as the Admiral Kuznetsov-class multirole aircraft carrier Riga for the Soviet Navy, and was launched on 4 December 1988 and renamed Varyag in 1990. The stripped hulk was purchased in 1998 by the People’s Republic of China and towed to Dalian Shipyard in northeastern China. After being completely rebuilt and undergoing sea trials, the ship was commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Nany (PLAN) as Liaoning on 25 September 2012. Photo: Chinese Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300733633-XUAPPBRVHXBGYSBZAJ3R/A8F04C2F-6DF1-4B44-B462-A037B3149D65.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 2008, USS Kitty Hawk departed Japanese waters, where she had been based, and headed home to retirement. Kitty Hawk came into service in 1961 and supported US missions in Vietnam, Somalia, Afghanistan and the March 2003 invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime. The warship spent decades patrolling the Pacific and Indian oceans. The spell-out is Hajimemashite Nihon (Greetings Japan), probably from when the carrier first arrived on station in Japan. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300759528-P1JLX5IQMLAA89JIAZ4H/03D100CB-C117-46BC-AB10-02942F34B8F5.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On the 50th or golden anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy, sailors of HMCS Bonaventure (CVL-22) spell out a tribute: 1910 RCN 1960. While Bonaventure never saw action during her career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles, she was involved in major NATO fleet-at-sea patrols during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Photo: Royal Canadian Navy courtesy Dan Linton and www.carrierbuilders.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300795630-3SAP9B0NOB23TC2HO9BS/5A8F36A5-5B7B-4D89-9564-EBA60EDB49C8.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS John F. Kennedy pays tribute, 1949–NATO–1969, to 20 years of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1969, just one year after she was commissioned. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300860864-BMQJ80HP3NBXES9ZV9PF/63CF53B1-6044-4370-9509-3644784070FA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On 6 August 1988, USS Forrestal (CV-59) made her way through a rather oil-seamed Suez Canal, while her crew at the catapults forms the number 108, signifying the number of consecutive days the ship has been at sea. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300883881-5E5612GGUCW4IAY3LPCK/5710066C-8392-4E84-9B25-7A10CEF91483.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out One proud ship. A hovering close-up view of the flight deck of USS Constellation (CV-64) shows crew members forming the “Battle E” awards for Battle Effectiveness which their ship has received. The Yellow “E” is for “Commander, Naval Surface Forces (CNSF) Ship Safety Award” and is formed by the yellow shirts of Connie’s Flight Deck Officers and Plane Directors. The Red “E” is for her Engineering/Survivability Excellence Award and is formed by the red shirts of her aviation ordnance crews. Each hash mark beneath letters represents an additional “Battle E” award. The White “E” is an award for ships that win a Battle Effectiveness competition. The Green “E” is an award for Command & Control Excellence and is here formed by the green shirts of the Catapult and Arresting Gear crew. The “DC” letters are for two Excellence Awards for the best Damage Control crews and are formed by red-shirted ordnance crews. The Blue “M” is for Connie’s Excellence Award for the best Medical Department and is formed by the blue-shirted members of the Flight Deck crew. The crossed anchors at the start of the spell-out is for her Deck Seamanship Award. Finally, the black “W” is an Excellence Award for the best Weapons Departments on board the aircraft carriers. It looks to be formed by the purple-shirted members (called Grapes) of the aircraft fuelling teams. Despite her many awards, Constellation’s life would have to end. In 2003, after 41 years in service, she was decommissioned and today awaits her final fate, anchored at Brownsville, Texas. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300906653-GDD3ZI248LGUO6V1X0AN/3B82EC5C-3FCC-49C4-8CC7-7871F8A2C99A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Four for the “Gipper.” On 6 February 2009, sailors from Supply Department aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) stand in formation to spell an “E” for the Excellence Award the ship won on their behalf. The officers in the tan uniforms line up to show that the Ronald Reagan has won the award four times (one angled hash mark for each subsequent award). The Ronald Reagan’s nickname, like that of the President himself, is the Gipper. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300930313-ZM9NA8509BLVO9SBQAZB/19DB1ED1-C358-482D-88AA-694D39BAB043.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36) returns from her deployment to Korea in March 1952. The crew had raised US $15,000 for a fund for crippled children, and formed both the numbers “$15,000” on the bow, and the Shriners’ logo amidships. Photo: US Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300952315-83FMGTBQUKLIM9NVJH12/119AF324-A494-42DD-9CF8-544F01FD6CBB.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The crew of USS Boxer (CVA-21) celebrates 75,000 aircraft landings during the carrier’s deployment to the Western Pacific from 3 June 1955 to 3 February 1956 with Carrier Air Group 14 (CVG-14). The milestone landing was made on 19 November 1955 by Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Charles R. Smith and his crewman, Roland W. Parker, flying an AD-1 Skyraider of Composite Squadron 35. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628300983220-R74LL9RHOBA5LMXHGICE/0C076FDE-BCD1-45BB-862A-018721B5DA8C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1951, USS Boxer conducted a ship-wide blood donation campaign to collect plasma and whole blood for the soldiers fighting in the Korean War. They collected an astonishing 2,377 pints of blood. Who wouldn’t want to brag about that? So, the very same donors formed a blood bag on the deck, feeding blood to the island superstructure with the number 2377 inside. Though a black and white photo, I suspect that the sailors wearing the dark jerseys in this shot are wearing red. The photo appeared in the US Navy’s All Hands Magazine in December of 1951. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301009779-EYCV9VCDKV24S4FRNBRU/60BF8C64-5B07-4C57-BAA6-1DDFFFB0D704.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Independence (CVA-62), USS Saratoga (CVA-60), and USS Intrepid (CVA-11) join together to commemorate 50 years of navy aviation. Each carrier carries a component of the message for a very impressive three ship spell-out. The USS Intrepid still exists nearly 55 years since this shot—as a floating museum in New York City. Saratoga and Independence, both Forrestal-class carriers, still await final disposal as scrap or possibly as reefs for divers. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301050181-S3DPJ30N9Z1AK48LYHND/DD8E5E1D-05EA-4450-B26E-B8F7F6D2DC12.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On 25 June 1968, the US Sixth Fleet celebrated its 20th anniversary with a close formation in the Mediterranean, an air power demonstration, a 20-gun salute and a pass-in-review. The crews of (top to bottom) USS Independence (CVA-62), supply ship USS Sylvania (AFS-2) and USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) spell out “POWER FOR PEACE,” Sixth Fleet’s motto. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301074971-ECABBLLTBYDT1HHBWKOY/8C4654AD-7DEB-45D7-8996-204EA7D5D183.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Ranger (CV-61) was the seventh ship in the US Navy to carry that name. The first American Ranger was an 18-gun Continental Navy sloop, launched on 10 May 1777. Here, her crew spells out an ironic POWER FOR PEACE message and forms up to make a dove of peace on her angled deck. The occasion was her arrival in San Francisco after her first WestPac Cruise, Monday, 27 July 1959. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301102810-1OD0XIJCJ6U3Z11N83RD/396BB26B-04D7-4651-AB4E-EBC2ABFA9E8C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out One might assume that this image of USS Ranger (CV-61) has something to do with the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI program), more popularly known as Top Gun. However, USS Ranger’s nickname is Top Gun, and here she celebrated a quarter century since her commissioning in 1957 by having her crew creatively stand and spell out TOP–GUN 25. The image comes from a Navy calendar of the following year. Photo via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301126984-CQADH3MIJAMEAGGJEWMG/A2F23B81-7987-4EBA-9BB7-587C3FDAA1DD.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Ranger, along with USS Eisenhower, seemed to be the “spellingest” ship in the Navy with a half dozen spell-outs found on the internet. Here, during Operation Restore Hope off the coast of Somalia, she lets folks know why she is there. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301150466-M8Z5CU7R355RL45X6YR3/2D060CAA-D022-45EB-9E09-58FB66B3B5A4.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out More than 1,000 crew members spell out “RANGER THANKS AMERICA” on the flight deck of USS Ranger (CV-61) in 1987–88. This was done to send a message of thanks to all the people who sent letters and cards to the ship. The fan mail was the result of a letter which appeared in the newspaper column “Dear Abby” in December of 1987. The letter asked for mailed support for troops stationed away from families and Abigail Van Buren, the writer, gave a list of units and addresses that letters and cards could be sent to—including USS Ranger. The letter is as follows: “Dear Abby: For most of us, the Christmas season is a joyous time, but for the thousands of American servicemen and women stationed abroad and at sea, it can be depressing and lonely. As the national chairman of the 1987 America Remembers Campaign, I want to encourage the folks at home to send Christmas and Hanukkah cards and letters to servicemen and women who are far from home. Last year, through Operation Dear Abby II, your readers flooded the mails with more than 2 million pieces of mail, which we distributed to our troops. Abby, I spent Christmas in Germany with American GIs who received mail from Operation Dear Abby II, and I wish you and your readers could have seen the smiles and tears as the mail was distributed on Christmas Eve! This year, we need your help more than ever. We want our servicemen and women to know that the folks back home remember and support them. Can the troops count on you and your readers for Operation Dear Abby III? Please say yes.” Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301178739-PGMWHHYCKC3P6XOHGQIZ/70405279-3E7E-4E72-A442-FDB0A3AE8423.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Ranger (CV-61), keeping company with guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN-9), bottom, and the guided missile frigate USS Lewis B. Puller (FFG-23), spells out the phrase “WE THE PEOPLE” on her flight deck in May 1987, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was formally signed on 17 September 1787 and begins with the large handwritten words... “We the People.” Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301206778-DI21OJ040SI3L420FS7K/7399F4DF-4387-4DDB-B0AD-402AE3A8C0F6.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On 19 December 1992, on duty with Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, Ranger was relieved on station by Kitty Hawk and began her last journey homeward to San Diego. During that journey back home and to her eventual decommissioning in 1993, the Captain of Ranger had all her aircraft arranged up on deck and had the crew spell out one last and poignant message: “RANGER’S LAST RIDE.” As well, crew members hold open a large American flag. A fine and proud career comes to an end... with a spell-out. BRAVO ZULU Ranger. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301236343-QXQNWVLW4730P6HO0FFH/D6977A9F-EDA8-4092-A798-73119A007A30.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Intrepid, as said earlier in this article, has more aircraft carrier records than any Essex-class carrier. Here, she proudly lets the world know she has landed on 250,000 aircraft. The 250,000th arrested landing was made on the USS Lexington (AVT-16) on 17 June 1969, by CAPT Wayne E. Hammett and CDR Donald Jensen (CO of VT-4 training squadron) in a T-2B Buckeye. Photo and info: navsource.org/US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301265167-1E3442E5ZQ1JCYU794OX/07400B25-BC9F-44C0-BD3E-D87E50C3474E.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1972 and 50,000 landings later, USS Intrepid does a numerical spell-out on the deck—300,000 landings... on her way to 493,243 landings before she is decommissioned. Astounding! Photo: US Navy and navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301344822-KYDFW55DDD3JMCU7WY70/50C33F71-2386-4B4A-90AC-C73B715C6BEE.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1986, the crew of USS America and members of Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1) stood together for a spell-out commemorating 75 years of naval aviation with “75th FLY NAVY.” Four pairs of F-14 Tomcats create four diamond shapes surrounding the spell-out, reinforcing the fact that this was the Diamond Anniversary of aircraft serving in the Navy. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628301378502-UDILZ8V66HJ9NI0NSSAQ/548B2AAE-268E-4A31-91E7-2B62A13B0B8D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In the same year (1986), USS Carl Vinson (CV-70) also commemorated 75 years of naval flying with its crew and aviators forming up in the shape of a pair of US Navy “Wings of Gold.” They also used two groups of four Tomcats to create diamonds commemorating the Diamond Anniversary. Carl Vinson was the third United States Navy Nimitz-class super-carrier and is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the US Navy. Alternately, she has been called, by her crews, for good or bad, Cell Block 70, Starship Vinson, Chuckie V and USS Chuck Wagon. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337073371-ISNGKA038NA1KATVC4D4/30946AAD-5314-40C2-8D30-554F94AEA837.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out This is perhaps the most famous of all flight deck spell-outs of all time. At least, this is the first I remember seeing. The year is 1964 and USS Enterprise (CVN-65), in the company of USS Long Beach (centre) and USS Bainbridge, formed Task Force One (the first all-nuclear-powered surface ship group) and embarked on Operation Sea Orbit, the first un-refuelled circumnavigation of the globe—sailing 26,540 nmi (49,190 km) around the world in 65 days. Accomplished without a single refuelling or replenishment, “Operation Sea Orbit” demonstrated the capability of nuclear-powered surface ships. Here the Big E’s crew spell out Einstein’s famous E = mc2 formula which led scientists into the nuclear age. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337099138-SOB7BPIJH3P2LOZZH161/BC39D6B4-B405-4304-B93E-20B5EBC8A015.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 2001, USS Enterprise, the “Big E”, celebrates 40 years of nuclear-power in the United States Navy as she and her crew return home from a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The F-8 Crusaders, A-4 Skyhawks and A-4 Vigilantes in the previous photograph have now been replaced by new generation F-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337120967-4K2YJSC6HN6NR20FSZSF/0BB21033-A5DE-43EE-8E7E-6EB40A80D60F.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Ten years after the previous photograph, on 17 February 2011, Enterprise steams with a spell-out message to the world on the 50th anniversary of nuclear power in surface ships of the United States Navy. Enterprise is the first and oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and celebrated its 50th birthday on 25 November 2011. Enterprise was inactivated on 1 December 2012 at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia and will become the first nuclear-powered carrier to be decommissioned. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337147230-E3D70L5J1FQEI8FFDTJE/60FFC26F-807B-41DE-BE6C-1FB1192B2DA3.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Nassau’s sailors commemorate a quarter of a century since the ship’s commissioning. The date of the spell-out was 28 July 2004, the exact day of her commissioning in 1979. Nassau, a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship, was decommissioned in Norfolk, Virginia on 31 March 2011. Today, she sits in reserve in Beaumont, Texas. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337174661-3RBI3J8Z31THXIQ7U4JZ/7236A0FD-B91E-4C62-9DC6-E0E4565B1EB1.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out On the 25th anniversary of her commissioning in 1943, the second carrier to be named Yorktown (CV-10), makes good fun with a spell-out to her longevity 25 AND STILL ALIVE 43–68, while Grumman Trackers and Sikorsky Sea Kings of her anti-submarine air group do a flyover. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337201813-T2Q3HKIGK3D9WUTEPP0K/DED62B8E-4BFB-4CA7-AF2A-255A6C888CD3.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out HMCS Bonaventure (CVL-22) spells out her proud nickname in sailors: BONNIE. Photo: RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337228457-2SFAIH6Y5XZ90J0MI33N/7C56AED6-FADA-4B77-9A7E-8F0A324C1422.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) spells out her name in initials and that of her air group complement—Carrier Air Group Seven’s (CVG-7) Corsairs and Skyraiders. The photo was taken on 31 December 1952 off Pearl Harbor, as the ship was about to enter the harbor upon returning from a deployment off the coast of Korea. The name Bon Homme Richard might seem like an odd choice for an American carrier, however, her name is steeped in US history. During the Revolutionary War, Scottish-born American navy patriot and officer John Paul Jones was given a French warship named Duc de Duras by the King of France, Louis XVI. Jones renamed the former French East Indiaman Bonhomme Richard to honor Benjamin Franklin, the American Commissioner at Paris whose famous almanacs had been published in France under the title Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard. The nom de plume of Franklin, Bonhomme Richard, roughly translated to “Poor Richard.” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337259752-BSG1TCJY410T4GY8A8VP/9AB24815-6BD6-45BB-AA8A-4271568AC267.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Of all the nicknames of American fleet carriers over the years, by far my favourite is that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. As you will remember from your history class, Teddy Roosevelt once said that a man and indeed a nation should “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” The quote, speaking to negotiating peacefully while simultaneously threatening with the “big stick,” was first used by Roosevelt in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair on 2 September 1901, four days before the assassination of President William McKinley who died eight days later, which subsequently thrust Roosevelt into the presidency. There can be no bigger stick one could have in one’s arsenal than a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and her complement. I also appreciate the crew’s excellent penmanship! Doing a spell-out in cursive lettering definitely calls for some planning and laying out of the design on the deck. The aircraft carrier was transiting the Atlantic Ocean on her way home to Norfolk, Va., after a six-month deployment in the Adriatic Sea and Arabian Gulf. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337737011-ZFJ4GBFM6C472R50O2E6/14C5DE3E-DD6C-4563-8984-671D6B83C719.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The crew of USS Valley Forge (CV-45), an Essex-class carrier, has a little fun with their ship’s name while moored in their harbour, on 20 January 1956. The ship is named for the Continental army camp where General George Washington and his troops wintered in incredible hardship in 1777–78. The name Valley Forge is today synonymous with perseverance, patriotism and duty. The ship was paid for by a war bond drive in Philadelphia, PA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337758444-D31WU0NVDWL0CO9IKMDK/28CE03F7-1F23-4B55-A2DB-BEC2B1395A05.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Of the scores of photos I found on the web, it seems that the one aircraft carrier with the most spell-outs was USS Eisenhower. I found SIX individual spell-outs from the Ike and all were in honour of their namesake. Here the crew turns out in immaculate dress whites to spell out the famous slogan from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s (Ike) election campaign. The other Eisenhower spell-outs follow. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337782886-CL3BELZ6O1DAENDYO5RC/07CD8FF6-B61E-44C6-BB5B-656EDE7A1098.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The USS Eisenhower celebrates the year 2010 with the date and five stars created by organizing the coloured deck crew shirts. Eisenhower was one of only nine generals in the US Army, Navy or Air Force to receive a 5-star ranking. The 5-star rank was created during the Second World War because of the awkward situation created when some American senior commanders were placed in positions commanding allied officers of higher rank. US officers holding five-star rank never retire; they draw full active duty pay for life. The five-star ranks were retired in 1981 on the death of General Omar Bradley. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337806512-9AO070PIY1BJ5TJEM1AT/9D3D6D3D-ECCC-4ED4-805C-E43EE0D32C5D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Crew members aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) spell out “IKE IS BACK” on the ship’s flight deck, celebrating the carrier’s successful return to the fleet following a four-year mid-life refuelling complex overhaul. During the $2.5 billion overhaul, the 27-year-old aircraft carrier received state-of-the-art equipment and technology, enabling her to serve for another 25 years. Eisenhower was underway, conducting routine carrier operations, in preparation for fulfilling her role in the Navy’s Fleet Response Plan (FRP). Photo and press release: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337832649-J1FD0ULXLBJIZD9LFUZK/77593BA1-AAEC-4772-B817-460BA0B1706A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Millennium Falcons. While completing their six month deployment, the crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) display their teamwork and pride by spelling out their name and arranging their aircraft elegantly on deck. The Ike and Carrier Air Wing 7 were heading west toward the Atlantic after completing a successful six month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337880171-RNW8IU10TG3REC9PDT27/83A748AF-38F0-4256-BA40-C6C23977047F.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Like Eisenhower himself, the crew of the carrier bearing his name consider themselves true warriors. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628337936053-VLPNWJZL51WF1H6JR5ET/3BC6470E-92A0-4E60-B4B3-27180EDC373A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out When your nickname is just three letters long, spell-outs are a cinch... unless your font size required a letter thickness of ten sailors deep. Here, USS Eisenhower puts a thousand sailors to work to spell three letters. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628338017976-OBYN7XFQWOD0RI1FEUPB/21E9AB38-A62B-41A3-A4C9-800C0EDFD51D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out An overhead aerial view of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS America (CVA-66) between 1965 and 1968, when the ship operated the Douglas A-4C Skyhawk, visible forward. America was one of four Kitty Hawk-class super-carriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Wikipedia elaborates: America held the distinctions of being the last US super-carrier built not named after a person, and being the first large aircraft carrier since Operation Crossroads in 1946 (the nuclear test in the Pacific) to be expended in weapons tests. In 2005, she was scuttled southeast of Cape Hatteras after four weeks of tests, despite a large protest of former crew members who wanted to see her instituted as a memorial museum. She was the largest warship ever to be sunk. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628338042708-3DFHF6GJWP4T82QSQT0D/BDF77617-29AB-4E8E-811F-91BF3174DA38.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Previously, we saw USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CV-69). The President after him, John F. Kennedy, also had a super-carrier named after him. USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and her crew sailed on into the third millennium in 2000 and her crew stood to attention to celebrate, as did also Eisenhower’s crew that year. Kennedy’s nickname is Big John and her Latin motto is Date Nolite Rogare, which specifically means “Give, be unwilling to ask”— a shortened form of his famous inaugural statement: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Wikipedia notes: In November 2009, the Navy placed the Kennedy on donation hold for use as a museum and memorial. A report that showed up in the Boston Herald newspaper on 26 November 2009 mentioned the possibility of bringing the Kennedy to the Boston, MA area, as a museum or memorial at no cost to the city, if desired. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628338088289-91OXDQPY4TLCN1MPD6PL/21CA1A42-C1D0-43F7-AD8B-F330C0BE8D90.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), lovingly referred to as the “Gipper,” cleared of all her aircraft, sends out a birthday greeting to the late President Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, on the occasion of his 100th birthday on 6 February 2011. Reagan was first elected president in 1980 and again for a second term in 1984. He died on 5 June 2004 at the age of 93. The bare deck spell-out is not, in my mind, as impressive as when the message is combined with the aircraft of the air group aboard. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628338118633-0KVQR46KZ1TKBMN2UMLM/61914DD4-B6EB-4318-8644-7E30B6FBA3EA.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A simple message, but a proud one. USS Independence, known to her crew and air group as Indy, as she heads for a port visit at Freemantle, Australia, having served in the North Arabian Sea. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370322995-IZAHGFAUBY3SV87G3W8R/9C573773-F6A1-499C-8706-D1AEA566628C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A nice rendition of Ronald Reagan’s RR initials on USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370371955-0LDPYLCR0VGP0V9LSU26/0FAC20B3-202F-4605-A47A-224391BED79A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Every aircraft carrier has a few nicknames, some derogatory, some proud. Here, in August of 1951, the crew of USS Antietam (CV-36), known as “The Flying A,” does a deck spell-out on their way to Korea, spelling out “THE FLYING =A= IS ON THE WAY.” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370395342-0H4VWB6XFZBSHS24NXIV/F1788302-3A50-4C7B-B3CC-BD7C04257563.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Boxer (CV-21), with her crew spelling out her name BOXER on the flight deck, steams underneath the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay as she returns from her first Korean War deployment, November 1950. Photo: US Navy via navalwarfare.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370421992-X3Z6MXQR1JMB9PCMDX2G/37B82DB9-678A-4C96-934A-FFECE6E6993C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Not a particularly good photograph, but a rare one of the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Vengeance in a deck spell-out. In late 1952, Vengeance was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy by the Royal Navy as a replacement for the delays in the construction of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. She remained in Australian waters, operating as an aircraft carrier and training ship, for the majority of her three-year loan and was returned to the Royal Navy in August 1955. Photo: Royal Australian Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370453528-3MZSJXUDV8OHEFGFW0T2/DAA09685-FFCC-4339-A309-0D71A9D81A1B.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Adding a little colour to your spell-out gets you big style points, but makes the spell-out tougher to read. A US Navy press release stated: The conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) makes her way into historic Boston Harbor as some of her crew members stand in formation on the flight deck to spell-out “JACK IS BACK.” Kennedy’s Sailors, and embarked Marines assigned to Marine Expeditionary Unit Two Four (MEU 24), man-the-rails as the ship pulls into port. Kennedy and the 24th MEU are in Boston, Massachusetts for a scheduled port visit. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370475980-MPTQTA38L8END0YPK7JY/49B34B0F-F93F-40B7-9E94-295E3CE72A38.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The Royal Navy’s HMS Theseus (R64) glides into port at Sasebo, Japan after a cruise off Korea. Admiral A.K. Scott-Moncrieff, Flag Officer, Second in Command Far East, is on board inspecting the ship’s company who are formed up to spell out the ship’s name THESEUS for the photographer above. The aircraft was likely a helicopter from Theseus or an aircraft from another carrier or land base as there is no way to recover the aircraft. Theseus was a Colossus-class carrier, built in 1944 and involved in the Korean War and the Suez Crisis. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370504947-X5MO0VWZV86CBMAWJSI5/B820ACE2-7C45-4853-85EA-79A1F9C5BC42.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The crew of USS Leyte (CV-32), in sharp dress blues and white gob hats, spells out the name of the ship on the forward part of the flight deck while she lays at anchor at Sasebo, Japan, during her Korean War cruise in 1950–51. The best part of this image is the bristle of wings and propellers of Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3) in the background—Grumman Panthers in the foreground and Chance Vought Corsairs and others aft. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370529018-MGCY2DOPSRA4WD5UTI12/8CDFA8C1-075A-4117-8F51-FA3E5869D3EE.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Another shot of USS Leyte, this time underway, shows us that she liked to use her forward deck for spell-outs. Here, Leyte spells out her name and adds an anchor and wings to create a semblance of Navy Wings of Gold. Though built as one of 24 Essex-class carriers in the Second World War, she was commissioned too late to see action. She was named to commemorate the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which transpired in the Second World War. Unlike most of her sister ships, Leyte received no major modernizations, and thus throughout her career retained the classic appearance of a Second World War Essex-class ship. She was decommissioned in 1959 and sold for scrap in 1970. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370779002-U9L9NNUJADHZTVWPVW1F/8467BFE0-914C-448F-B59E-EB150A9747F0.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) spell out GW 18th on the flight deck while arriving in port at Yokosuka, Japan to commemorate the ship’s 18 years of naval service since her commissioning on 4 July 1992. George Washington, the Navy’s only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, was in Yokosuka to celebrate the 4th of July during its 2010 summer patrol. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370806581-BHIOGA8I67YV8CX4YK1H/FB6A43B6-C1DA-45D3-B5F0-052243EC978B.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In 1960, the crew of USS Coral Sea (CV-43), in dress blues, spell out her name as she cruises gracefully in Puget Sound. Photo: US Navy via usscoralsea.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370858265-HE1IA7CVEFBO8YBY4LM2/2D8D44DF-032E-46D5-879E-92623B26A291.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The escort aircraft carrier USS Sicily (CVE 118) pushes into San Diego Bay after her first deployment to the Korean War zone, 5 February 1951. Her happy and anxious for leave crew spells out the carrier’s name on the flight deck. On the aft deck is ranged everything from Corsairs to US Marine Corps OY-2 Sentinel spotter planes. This is one of only a couple of photos of spell-outs on smaller escort carriers that I was able to find. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370885861-NT1FLS3Y0K79YUXSZSVZ/3DE61513-0988-444D-B9BF-2C8B1090DB16.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Every carrier carries a nickname given to her by her crews. USS Valley Forge was known as Happy Valley, USS Enterprise as the Big E, USS Shangri-La as the Shang. In this photograph, the crew of USS Hancock spells out her nickname—Hanna—for an orbiting camera aircraft as she returns home safely from her seventh and last Vietnam War cruise. One can only imagine how happy these men were to be home. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org and Robert M. Cieri https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370909353-F866IQTFN0YNW1J2C0W4/E5C4BD85-1638-49A0-BC30-A790206E5E84.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The USS Monterey’s crew does a fantastic job of spelling out the words MARDI GRAS 1953 with perfectly formed letters, excellent kerning and elegant typeface. The Monterey was stationed at the time in Pensacola, Florida as a training aircraft carrier and the crew were likely caught up in the spirit of Mardi Gras. She performed training duties in Pensacola from January 1951 until June 1955. Mardi Gras is not just associated with the city of New Orleans, but is a cultural phenomenon of the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline from Texas to Florida. The French Acadians, having been expelled from the Canadian Maritime Provinces from 1755 to 1764, settled in the coastal regions of Louisiana and then spread their influence and Roman Catholic culture around the Gulf. This spell-out was two weeks before Mardi Gras Tuesday, 1953. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370930653-AKSURZ7HO4UO003AXZZC/C94A90F7-55EF-4C87-A653-F07DBFEFE96C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A great shot straight down onto the deck of USS Franklin D. Roosevelt at Christmas time with the crew spelling out MERRY CHRISTMAS... likely for the carrier’s Christmas card, which would have been given out to the crew and the image distributed. I found a couple of newspaper front pages with this image printed. Photo: via USSFranklinDRoosevelt.com and Rick Renner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370953826-F0CFD8NQIC5IDFKHSA0G/5DC76F85-E5E9-417B-9CDA-F3D53F112875.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Two weeks before Christmas 1970, the carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) returned to San Diego, California, at the end of her deployment to Vietnam which lasted from 14 May to 10 December 1970. On deck are Vought F-8 Crusader aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19) and the crew spelling out NOEL POWS, to show those pilots who were lost over North Vietnam that they were still thinking of them as Christmas rolled around. The Mighty O was not named for a man, as I had assumed, but for the Battle of Oriskany, something I had never heard of. The Battle of Oriskany, fought on 6 August 1777, was one of the bloodiest battles in the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign, at a town called Oriskany near present day Rome, New York. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628370983673-YRBXLYROWRA5C675F3VY/4B9E7EF1-9893-4017-9858-8C7C37D72A5C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out I could find only four instances of this image showing up on the internet, and none of them had an explanation of which carriers these were and where this was carried out, but the message is pretty clear. If anyone knows which carriers these were, or if this was faked, let us know. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628371043714-10JHTAL6B0E7460BSNC3/DEB7EF4D-3CCC-4581-BF89-F908A4C264DC.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The Army Navy Game is the biggest sporting event in the lives of midshipmen at Annapolis and soldiers at West Point. The expression “Go Navy, Beat Army” is one of the classic phrases associated with the football game. The US Navy, as they have done for 13 out of the past 15 years, beat Army handily in 2008... 34 to nothing. The US Navy press release associated with this photo explains the spell-out: PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 11, 2008) Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) spell out “GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!” on the flight deck to cheer on the midshipmen in the upcoming 109th Army–Navy college football game. Boxer, an Amphibious Assault Ship, was the 6th US Navy ship with that name. The first was originally HMS Boxer and was captured by USS Enterprise in the War of 1812. The fifth in line was USS Boxer, an Essex-class carrier of the Second World War. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628371069747-BMFO8T52HEFY15RLY506/8B96171E-6C72-4F88-AB18-50282E98837B.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out If you live in San Diego, you are a Padres baseball fan. In 1998, the hometown Padres went up against the baseball juggernaut of the New York Yankees in the World Series. Crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64) spell out “GO PADRES” to show their support for their hometown heroes, the 1998 National League Baseball Champions, while the ship leaved port on 15 October 1998. Sadly, the spell-out did not help and the Padres were swept in four games. It was one of only two times the team had made it to the World Series. They lost to Detroit as well in 1984. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628371094796-BD362R5R5MGASTLF2N9W/BAB5208C-F8FF-4BE8-810B-7E020F7C8F32.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out At first glance, I took this to be a patriotic encouragement for British sailors and soldiers related to some conflict. I was wrong... sort of. Here aboard HMS Illustrious, 500 members of her crew spell out what seems more of a threat than an encouragement for the English soccer team on the day of their first game against Ecuador in the 2006 World Cup. England did win that match, but lost to Portugal in the second round in Germany. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384509427-QETKC5OFDFYF6QKRPMCM/642F5811-FEFC-40C3-B937-BA0D8DC4D718.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out While not the most inspiring flight deck spell-out, USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) pays a written tribute to her Carrier Air Group 2 (CVC2) for all to see as she passes beneath the Oakland Bay Bridge. arriving at San Francisco and Alameda Naval Air Station upon her return from the Korean War zone, in June 1951. The air groups assigned to Philippine Sea worked tirelessly throughout her deployments to Korea and the ship received nine battle stars for Korean War service. During her career, she logged 82,000 launches, including 33,575 catapult shots, and 82,813 landings. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384641522-MP1ZXMWRC11ILT7GMUNS/24263181-6EB3-41E2-825A-25C5B067CDBD.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The sailors of USS Lexington (CV-16) spell out a big three-letter greeting to the USO in the summer of 1958 as she pulls into San Francisco Bay. The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO Show) is a non-profit organization that provides programs, services and live entertainment to American troops and their families. On her aft deck sit more than 100 automobiles, indicating this may be a relocation trip. Often, when a carrier, its air group and task force is relocating, say from San Diego to Bremerton, Washington or San Francisco, California, the personal cars of the crew would be hoisted aboard for the trip to their new home—eliminating the problems some families might have in getting their cars to their new base. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384678033-3T2MAYR3LD401WFNYG23/95789A89-6D54-461B-BB1D-BFEA4CD3DDC1.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In the summer of 1962, USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) (a sub-class of the Essex-class carrier) cruises off Seattle with a special spell-out (SEAFAIR 62) for the local music, cultural and marine festival, known as Seafair. Seafair began as a plan to celebrate Seattle’s centennial in 1951–52. The festival was designed to attract tourists and stress marine events in keeping with Seattle’s boast as the “boating capital of the world.” It is still going strong 65 years later! Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384701987-T5BBCUYUIENKB9VVCIS5/D8E92477-DA75-459F-8641-35F90FB2541A.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Red-shirted aviation ordnancemen stand together on the flight deck of USS Enterprise (CVN-65) for a simple yet powerful message to a young boy from Texas named “DYRK,” who was diagnosed with terminal pediatric cancer. The message was sent to Dyrk from the Arabian Sea, where Enterprise is deployed to the U.S. 5th fleet area of responsibility, conducting maritime security operations, theatre security cooperation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. One can only imagine how this raised the spirits of Dyrk and his family... knowing that the Captain used his multi-billion dollar carrier and her helicopter to send him an encouraging word. Bravo Zulu Big E! Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384751912-78BW2KY5MHZ6IGK5VJ8A/8C40B7EB-F9DB-491F-B03F-01226357FF66.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Enterprise’s plane guard helicopter offers young Dyrk a wider view of the ship and her message of support for him and his family. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384782553-NZIYWX67D2GYTWEPM62W/ED488B7D-272F-47A4-B1EF-891DF3F99286.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The carrier USS Bennington (CV-20), tied up at her home port of San Diego, was the billboard for a spell-out honouring the premiere of a film called John Paul Jones in 1959. The film is about the legendary American hero and naval officer whose ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, is also commemorated in the name of an American aircraft carrier. Jones, considered one of the fathers of the American Navy, was famous for his legendary reply to a taunt about surrender from the British captain: “I have not yet begun to fight!” The film debuted in June of 1959 and starred Robert Stack as Jones. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384806603-FSQ3PI5AMS7UJTJOVLZO/6FB78072-E683-4CD2-99E8-F223A6FBA78E.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In the previous photograph we saw USS Bennington (CV-20) stumping for a Hollywood production on the Silver Screen. But she also did some promotion for the small screen. Here, in August 1956, her crew spells out NAVY LOG, which was a television series that related the greatest survival war stories in the history of the United States Navy. The series ran from 1955 to 1958 with episode titles such as Blood Alley, The Butchers of Kapsan, Thach Weaves a Trap and Nightmare off Brooklyn. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384866220-G3CVMH70WGBW08MJFZGL/AB48558F-41FC-4EF4-9D0D-616817F25DC7.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A strange photo indeed, showing two USS Valley Forge carriers in formation. Obviously two different images combined into one in an early Photoshop-like image. Not sure what this is about, but it seemed worth putting into the story. If anyone can tell us what this was done for, we would appreciate knowing. Photo via Cynthia Shenette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384890710-FU58ITDZFVCULRGO71SO/3EA7D706-B420-4487-8AA4-5C7A4CB749C9.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In January of 1956, USS Forrestal’s crew members spelled out JOIN MARCH OF DIMES on her deck while she was being serviced in Norfolk, Virginia. This was to give a boost to the campaign which was started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise money for a cure and an end to polio, which he suffered from. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384915231-WX7GOYHVZWS1L0G4V81T/9FAAAA3C-6CCF-40EF-B033-C10645D36922.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Forrestal (CV-59) steams off the coast of Thira, Greece on 26 May 1973 and celebrates People Day with a spell-out followed by a number of events, including swim call, a fishing expedition, games, and competition on the flight deck and Hangar Bay #1, and a steak cookout on the flight deck. Photo and info via navsource.org and Robert M. Cieri https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628384955129-V5HMQYUOB83SX7ZS21I4/2F762E08-F46A-4C0B-9B08-2F5B155E5E91.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In one of the most powerful and emotional spell-outs imaginable, USS Bennington arranged 1,102 of her crew to spell out ARIZONA on her flight deck while sailing by the hulk of the sunken battleship. At the time, it was accepted that the final death toll in Arizona was 1,102. From high above, we see oil still leaking from the sunken battleship and we can see the beginning of the construction of the Memorial which now straddles the wreck. Bennington is almost at a standstill and we can see her perfect reflection in the still waters of the Harbor. Photo: US Navy via uss-bennington.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385150011-P0Y8BM3SV0P3Z1LD60F1/1CF33EB0-712C-4C14-9537-DF6EC4C495DC.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Another view of the same spell-out salute to the dead of the battleship Arizona by USS Bennington. The date was Memorial Day, 1958. I can’t say what is the light coloured object or material that seems to be coming from the ship’s port side, amidship. Photo: US Navy via uss-bennington.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385221523-8F0JGS5ZOF67LYNM4OA3/243B7302-26C4-4401-A61E-1A08303FE0A8.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Nimitz (CVN-68) entered Pearl Harbor in 2001, passing the USS Arizona Memorial as its sailors spelled “FREEDOM.” Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385313573-E8PIEVPXAIWISIXVVRVC/ED31A2CB-9EF6-4366-9C6C-FB43FEC67C41.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Yorktown tells the world that helicopters and frogmen from her decks picked Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot Bill Anders from the Pacific Ocean on 27 December 1968. It was 43 minutes after splashdown before the first frogman from the USS Yorktown arrived, as the spacecraft had landed before sunrise. Forty-five minutes later, the crew was safe on the deck of the aircraft carrier. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385349045-LNOLIHTH06UL96M4VF2S/DE1F1F1A-66C2-4221-9B92-50E8DD64EED3.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The crew of USS Randolph displays two Battle Efficiency “E” awards, one awarded to the best anti-submarine carrier, and one, the sixth consecutive Efficiency Award, presented to the Engineering Department. As well, attractively arranged on deck are aircraft of Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 58 (CVSG-58) including Sea King ASW helicopters on the forward deck. The year is 1963, just two years after the introduction of the Sea King to the USN, and 51 years later, the RCAF still employs the venerable Sikorsky Sea King. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385451078-KIVAK2E0IFSLW3UWHVSR/AAEEA832-843A-483D-8E63-3734121678E9.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out A poor but fascinating facsimile picture of the USS Hancock (CV-19) with ship officers and crew spelling out “MOON RELAY.” This picture was transmitted via the Moon from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Washington, D.C., on 28 January 1960. Photo: US Navy and NASA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385484642-UGHS747R6HKNJNJLAJ9R/93FBC818-AD66-407E-A4A0-A2FE5E5F3B50.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Some spell-out messages lack the emotion or creativity of others, but they mean something to the officers and crew involved. Here we see the US Navy 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group underway in March 1965. The ships are (l-r): USS Bexar, USS Princeton, USS Thomaston, and USS O’Bannon. Sikorsky UH-34D helicopters of Marine Medium Helicopter Transport Squadron HMM-365 fly above the ships while Princeton’s crew spells out the group’s designations “TG 76.5/79.5” on the flight deck. Organizing the ships, helicopters, photo aircraft and the crews must have been a complex task. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385521622-ISR8VD9EXXDYK4TC8BOT/FC919FEA-4503-45B4-B97A-9BE849CC0287.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) steams in the Pacific with a greeting to Tokyo, Japan, where the 1964 Summer Olympics were being held at the same time. Her crew assembled on deck to spell “’64 OLYMPICS” bracketed by the Olympic rings on the left and an Olympic torch on the right. Kearsarge, with assigned Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 53 (CVSG-53), was deployed to the Western Pacific and Vietnam from 19 June to 16 December 1964. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385553043-VVKFKCVRC8CBP18JM7KA/7E96EDD4-A8FE-4EBF-8BF5-5C219A9FDD7E.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The USS Kearsarge spells out a tribute to the MERCURY-9 spacecraft, including a silhouette of the capsule itself. Mercury–Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on 15 May 1963 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then an Air Force major. This spell-out took place before the recovery of the capsule by the ship’s helicopters and crew. Kearsarge was the recovery ship for the last two manned Project Mercury space missions in 1962–1963. She completed her career serving in the Vietnam War, earning five battle stars. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385603034-4RT0P5PU6JHJLLK2DPDD/0C8EF586-058F-4C8A-982F-E6D5F4E1C8B7.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out After the recovery of Gordo Cooper and his Faith-7 Mercury capsule, the Kearsarge’s crew spell out again—this time to Cooper’s name for the capsule FAITH-7. This photograph was presented to each crew member on the ship. The name Kearsarge comes from a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The Kearsarge was originally named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire. Subsequent ships, including this Essex-class carrier and today’s modern Amphibious Assault Ship, are named for the original sailing ship. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385723751-7WB8LOKOSDDAU4IEIC60/368262E6-B43F-4CB8-9512-FBDF0B66A90D.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out One of my favourite spell-outs is one of the simplest... maybe 100 sailors stand by the catapult tracks forward on the flight deck of USS Midway, spelling out HI MOM for all the mothers of crew members. One can only imagine what worried mothers must have felt with their sons so far away in the Pacific in 1981. Getting a photo in the mail or perhaps seeing it in a newspaper or magazine around Mother’s Day would have gladdened their hearts no doubt. Photo: US Navy via navsource.org and defenseimagery.mil https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385757708-3L13A43XIFJ2ER3UE5HO/4BE509A6-454E-4D11-B6FD-C2F56D0C2E33.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out An extremely powerful and haunting spell-out from USS Belleau Wood. Wikipedia gives a good description of the tribute: At sea with USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) Sep. 6, 2002 -- More than 500 Sailors and Marines assemble on the ship’s flight deck to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States by spelling out the now famous quote from Mr. Todd Beamer, “Let’s Roll.” Beamer was one of the heroic passengers on United Flight 93, which crashed in a western Pennsylvania field after he and several other passengers attempted to regain control of the plane from terrorist hijackers. Many believe the terrorists were heading for Washington, D.C.... The ship carries a crew of 1,000 Sailors and more than 1,300 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The ship can use a combination of helicopters, AV-8B “Harrier” II vertical launch attack aircraft, and amphibious landing craft to send and support Marines ashore during combat and humanitarian operations. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385805368-D9JAURS1MXFX8CEZ7FM9/8BBCF66A-E5D9-4207-ACF2-98152335AE5E.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out After the announcement of the birth of Prince George, who had yet to be named, some of the crew of HMS Lancaster, a ‘Duke’-class Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, spelled out the word BOY for want of a name. Lancaster was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 May 1990 and is known as “The Queen’s Frigate,” the Duke of Lancaster being an honorary title of the Sovereign. She sent the message last year on 22 July 2013 when she was on a counter-narcotics mission in the Caribbean. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385892084-S8K7IWAOQ6B19GOKB8BK/5D276E0F-448B-4327-9EB1-E50902C1CFF0.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out It’s always a good thing to conduct a flight deck spell-out, don’t get me wrong. But, some are well done, and some are just plain messy. While this spell-out on the USS Abraham Lincoln looks good at a distance and when you are distracted by the rainbow, the next photo shows us that it may not be the finest spell-out. The US Navy press release with the photo sets the scene: PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 27, 2008) The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) passes under a rainbow as sailors from Lincoln and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 participate in a “flight deck spell-out” [of “ABE CVW2”–Ed] while transiting the Pacific Ocean. The Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the US 7th Fleet area of responsibility. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385936419-YVAOI2XTC67L76VEK73J/12BB94BF-49F4-4355-B64C-09EF85E07300.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out As the photo aircraft or helicopter gets in a little closer on the USS Abraham Lincoln, we see that it’s a seriously haphazard formation with letters of various sizes and some pretty poor line work. Kudos for doing it while underway in the Atlantic, but if you’re going to, why not mark it off on the deck? As far as spell-outs go, this gets a D for poor penmanship, A for effort. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628385975459-MNG9LDWKC67F9QCEDP4G/81A7DB47-3C76-4348-9EDF-A1B1512EB440.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out It’s not always the working crew of a ship that is assembled to do a spell-out for the cameras. In this case the Marines, assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4), spell out “24 MEU PROUD!” Where normally we see white sailors in a spell-out, we now see mud-brown Marines proudly standing at attention. USS Nassau, the “Big Nasty,” was named after the Battle of Nassau (3–4 March 1776), a naval action and amphibious assault by American forces against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American Revolutionary War. It is considered the first cruise and one of the first engagements of the newly established Continental Navy and the Continental Marines, the progenitors of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Photo: US Marine Corps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386001246-PEHJFAN8GCZLWKR55J7I/7F4B3F05-B4E3-47FB-BDE1-AA818ABEAE2F.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Five hundred British sailors of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, cruising in the Adriatic, off the coast of the former Yugoslavia, get their act together Tuesday, 2 January 1996, to spell out their support of the frontline NATO troops serving in Bosnia as part of the organization’s Implementation Force IFOR. Photo: AP https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386049903-MGKHZHLSMJE2OHHBSKTB/E5F0737B-DDD3-471F-8447-133A023F2765.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out At first this looked pretty sloppy for sailors, but then when you understand that 1,000 of these folks are family members, you can grant them a little slack. In March of 2010, sailors and more than 1,000 friends and family members spell out the word “NIMITZ” aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during the ship’s 2010 “Tiger Cruise.” The Nimitz’s Tiger Cruise 2010 was the last evolution in the ship’s eight-month deployment to the Arabian Sea supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. A Tiger Cruise is the chance for family and friends to see up close what the US Navy does on a day-to-day basis. The family members (any family member except girlfriends, wives, husbands, or boyfriends are eligible) travel aboard a fleet carrier to observe sea operations. A Tiger Cruise might take the carrier from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. A deck spell-out would give the carrier’s guests an excellent memento of the experience. During the cruise, the carrier’s guests observed Flight Operations, an Air Power Demonstration, High Speed Ship Manoeuvring, Refuelling at Sea, Air Wing Fly Off and more. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386081633-EKW7Q6MNF7FJ6UDB8P1N/1618B14E-EDEE-4C57-A911-D8A5B087ADD9.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Tiger Cruise participants commemorate their voyage with a spell-out of TIGERS 2012 on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). In 2012 Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 completed a deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386134295-DKZE3UPBXHDCNSL1JEZ8/2E4F09BA-932C-49D4-B72B-76FA3E0F99BF.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out Civilian Tigers and their sponsors line the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for a large group photo spelling out the word TIGER!, taken from a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter. For an excellent article by warbird photographer Britt Deitz about setting up for this spell-out photograph, click here. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386156426-VIC5TLY3JHRVX1U803J6/EE5A34C8-0FF7-40AF-80F3-B66C79D18A32.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out There is an entire page on Wikipedia dedicated to the aircraft carrier spell-out. Here’s what it says about this image of HMS Illustrious and its shout-out to the Queen on her birthday: The Ship’s Company and Carrier Air Group of HMS Illustrious took time out of their busy schedules to wish Her Majesty The Queen a very Happy 80th Birthday. The Fleet Flagship and her Task Group were transiting the Red Sea on their way to the Indian Ocean for a 4-month deployment. The birthday message, which was spelled out on the 200m flight deck, required some 500 Sailors and Airmen, representing over half of the total ship’s company. HMS Illustrious has a strong Royal connection, having been launched by the late Princess Margaret, and Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh most recently visited her for an official reception during a State visit to Malta last November. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386219061-86R36DP8E8KCM2WMPSCW/68DF6DD9-085F-4142-9748-54128016D42C.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The caption accompanying this photograph from the US Navy reads “GULF OF ALASKA (June 24, 2009) Weapons department personnel [Ordnancemen] spell-out “John Finn” on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) to commemorate the 100th birthday of Medal of Honor recipient Naval Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn. John C. Stennis is participating in Northern Edge 2009, a joint exercise focusing on detecting and tracking units at sea, in the air and on land.” John William Finn was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the United States military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor. As Finn was an ordnanceman himself, it is fitting that the red shirts (ordnancemen) did the spell-out on Stennis. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386244698-MQ12S4718L3XKCDVDGM8/41FC0699-369C-4AA0-8258-2245CBC6F787.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out In response to President George Bush’s message “Be Ready,” after the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre, USS Abraham Lincoln’s sailors spell out “READY NOW” as the Lincoln Battle Group reports on station to conduct combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386274083-4OYZMOQH45FPUNVMP4G7/AD930354-D023-402A-97BC-4080F2160C78.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out The aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41) underway with the Ling Temco Vought A-7 Corsair IIs, Grumman Intruders and Hawkeyes assigned Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5). Midway was deployed to Vietnam from 10 April 1972 to 8 March 1973 at the very beginning of which this photograph was taken. The crew spells out “PSALMS 23:4”—“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” I know if I was strolling down the valley of death, I would fear no evil too, if standing behind me was this baby and her crew. Photo: US Navy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386303584-G1IQ4E5Q6AAF5Y5RSLZI/B1B5F900-BE5B-4DD8-AE6B-B2B3FFD6CF84.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out We all think of a super-carrier’s crew as somehow superhuman. When I saw the crew of USS Forrestal spelling out TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) on the flight deck when returning to its home port at Mayport, Florida, I knew they were working stiffs with the same dreams and needs as the rest of us. This is my favourite spell-out of all. Welcome home boys... now it’s Miller Time. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386322425-H67UKOD2IPAYGOO5OJLQ/E9719538-A492-4A5C-8E76-BAA6E32439B8.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious heads to New York in 2004. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386367204-0TG5HPHSA1P6OYE4YSZH/2E0ACD7B-8415-4F8E-B4FD-1CC2C8DC78C2.jpeg The Stories - SAY IT WITH SAILORS - Make it stand out HMS Illustrious salutes Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Photo: Royal Navy https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-with-the-professor monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386734272-YHPNJ5KBWQWSSAZ9C57X/D071CD5B-AB7E-4FF8-8C8D-9D54CA7C01F1.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386759762-NVJDA0LYXOJ2UFA3BAZV/5E85133F-6226-49D8-9123-4CD6A18C4DEE.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Always smiling, the soft spoken warbird aviator is a pilot's pilot... always honing his craft, always willing to share his experience and his beloved T-28 Trojan. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386798215-TTOAE0SPQ68V5YQXYFTS/73D65693-F144-4A7D-8BE7-D4433C21DBB6.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out A good portrait of Evans at the controls of his T-28 as he warms her up prior to departure for another flight a couple of days after our adventure. For great video of Bruce Evans sharing the “aero” experience with Vintage Wings volunteer Alan Shafto click here. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386897058-5X3A80911CX6OH8UXLLQ/F2550C7B-A840-4B58-8708-BA2A4E0EF41B.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out To some, it might be just another Westjet flight direct to Calgary, but to me it was carrying me up and away from the funk I was in, towards the setting sun and adventure. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386950334-RG9NEPQVKX8KJQHRU7V6/406BA45D-8F63-4797-9DB9-903C4B323C51.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out In the thoroughly modern Firefly Aviation hangar at Springbank Airport (CYBW), Todd Lemieux (Left) and Bruce Evans prepare the T-28 for the trip to Ottawa. Their casual, easy going attitude belies a professionalism born of many years of flying. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628386982291-XAHENBCQF5G8FKUIKUBW/DC22C33F-D35F-43EC-BA8A-D1849D2DF3BD.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Bruce Evens checks the oil in the big 1,425 hp Wright R-1820-9 radial engine. A foot peg can be extracted from the exhaust shield to allow maintainers to step up to the oil filling access panel. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387005735-YA5FWAXGRGOIEBDOKHUK/5B50E015-9DB8-444F-8B0C-9511A91942DB.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out The Wright R-1820-9 radial engine which powers Bruce Evans' T-28B Trojan would prove to be a steadfast friend throughout the crossing, never once faltering nor indicating strain in any of her myriad gauges. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387026393-H1KK35OUQAP0BK7UQ0HW/474077F9-0312-49B3-8948-67BE677F05CA.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Being in the Big and Tall category, Todd Lemieux had to do a little surgical adjustments with my parachute. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387078493-KDGKYTHRM9KJBYYWS1JZ/E07BDA7B-99B7-47D7-A4C2-DC23F7C169F6.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out After we rolled the Trojan out to the ramp, Bruce checked pressures (60 psi) in all three tires. Had we been recovering on a carrier, it would have been substantially more. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387106392-J0QMV2EWW13WMALJ4KKC/9842723B-99FF-4309-92F2-406314DE74CE.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Just before launch, I take a moment to allow Todd Lemieux to capture my excitement... but in a casual, devil-may-care sort of manner. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387159420-GZNZ4VG218RRGONN84RV/62B18A02-B750-4AE8-B898-EF9B1679FEEC.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Todd “Pepe” Lemieux walks out to the wing tip to take a photo of us before we depart. Only in Calgary would it be deemed OK to walk on the wing of a warbird in cowboy boots. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387194691-3ZPKJH1EBA8QG57XWR5S/A07F77B1-BBA4-4003-A802-61547EB5D210.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out And this is what Todd took at that very moment. Dave strapped in tight, yet Bruce is relaxing. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387216603-6CKY39SXZHK3EEECA3OX/8BF69712-395F-465E-8D07-BE44049BBE53.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Todd “Pepe” Lemieux, a.k.a. “Farmboy”, points to Evans and signals engine start. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387249717-LBWC9WYZCN8GDV3IKRYD/6647509A-D7EE-4569-9335-CBB7519CDD26.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Bruce Evans warms up the Trojan on the ramp outside the Firefly Aviation hangar. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387280585-YTI73HK50NOGPUGJGA1P/FF11B2CB-46F4-4003-B6A1-A6E64DEDEF2D.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Somewhere over the Alberta prairie, I take a self-portrait as we climb to 11,500 feet en route to Regina, Saskatchewan. The particular T-28B Trojan owned by Evans has a green sun-shade at the top of the canopy. This makes it very comfortable inside the cockpit on sunny days and casts a very dramatic green light throughout the cockpit. Life suddenly was a whole lot better. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387323195-VCSNG283KGVDH51AVU1U/214283F7-F77B-4575-9F0F-D86E5A115330.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Flying east out of Alberta we find ourselves over Southern Saskatchewan, where we come upon the long westernmost tendril of Lake Diefenbaker to our right. This part of the lake is more like a river and cuts eastward for almost two hundred kilometers. Seeing geography from this perspective is one of the finest attributes of flight. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387349032-6U1P45267IYEK5757Q1Z/6AE6AE4B-489D-4DC0-B865-673EB10522FF.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out We cut across Lake Diefenbaker. Moose Jaw lies now to the southeast about 85 kilometers away. One of the largest geographical features on the Saskatchewan prairie is Lake Diefenbaker, named for a Saskatchewan firebrand politician and Canada's 13th Prime Minister, John George Diefenbaker. Lake Diefenbaker, a reservoir and bifurcation lake, was formed by the construction of Gardiner Dam and the Qu'Appelle River Dam across the South Saskatchewan and Qu'Appelle Rivers respectively. Construction began in 1959 and the lake was filled in 1967. The lake is 225 kilometres long with approximately 800 kilometers of shoreline. Lake Diefenbaker provides water for domestic irrigation and town water supplies. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387376534-253N9VHX7SO77B2S1QTP/72D68B8F-61FD-4A81-9763-45514891C694.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Somewhere over South Saskatchewan, we got a kick in the pants from a strong tailwind. Normally cruising at 205 knots, the Trojan was scorching along at over 260 knots ground speed (300 mph) in cruise at one point. Here, just a tad east of Lake Diefenbaker, we are 98 miles from Winnipeg, steaming along at 249 kph (287 mph). Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387436138-X6ZM4TN1Z86JKO842ARQ/06D604CA-469E-41F3-ADD4-B5462C2A5152.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Coming into Regina, Evans asks for and is granted the left overhead break. The break is a military tradition designed to bring an echelon formation of two or more aircraft down the active runway at say 300 feet. Then the break is called and the first aircraft pulls a hard high-bank turn to bleed off speed and curve through base leg to downwind for the landing. Each successive aircraft would then break at predetermined intervals of one to four seconds. This creates separation between aircraft as they roll onto final for landing. When a single aircraft asks the tower for the break, it is either for practice or for show or both. In this shot, we can see the 80 degree bank. Great fun! Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387469431-W44BCBYYMHQSU4MB40X0/7B36836B-7168-43C5-8D4C-EAAC19E42C05.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Evans pumps 100 Low Lead into the wing tanks at Regina. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387498835-UO2J85I913WBT3MTYODO/280550AB-4DB7-4D1F-8975-B490B857559B.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out The 60 knot tailwind grin. Perfect flying conditions will bring a smile to any aviator's face. Zooming into Bruce's rear view mirror, I catch a glimpse of his ever present smile even wider than normal. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387527139-LGOW1SE7THYLDVNN5IBX/0C1899E3-A232-4369-9E45-D3306A09C348.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out At the end of a long day, Professor Evans takes control and lines up the runway at Winnipeg, foregoing the overhead break at the busy airport. The sweeping visibility offered by the T-28 is clearly evident on the image. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387548188-G7GCI5SVNFUL1184P6O7/A8F1EA80-D718-49FF-A9CB-30855E5EC218.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out In Winnipeg, we fuelled up and left the Trojan for the night. Time for steak, beers and more geology lessons. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387567439-TIVZ53JO87R2B384UPXR/327EA4A1-0ECC-4F1E-8433-47AAE7DE1730.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out In the grey light of morning, the plains city of Winnipeg passes beneath us as we turn to the east. Ahead, at 7,500 feet lay a heavy cloud layer mixed with forest fire smoke which stretched to the east as far as Kenora. To get to the open weather and better visibility we churned eastward though some frisky weather. While strapped to your passenger seat in the long humanity-filled tube of an airliner, this experience might be uncomfortable, but belted tightly to the seat of the T-28, this was simply joyful fun banging our way to Thunder Bay. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387587852-F0RYN56WJFYQVL5U61M6/36B5C032-19FD-43D4-8C3F-140B697CCB78.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Early on the morning of the second day, we leave Winnipeg on a choppy morning in a murk made of glowering cloud and forest fire smoke. We can smell the fire in the cockpit. Here, we overfly the endless lakes, bays and channels of the rugged Kenora and Lake of the Woods Region which straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border. Looking down on the watery landscape, I think about the emergency vests, out of reach in the baggage compartment. Bruce assures me that the T-28 can make any land visible in the triangle described by the line from the nose to the wingtip to the fuselage. Of course, all that land is covered by heavy forests and ancient rock formations, but he also assures me that the rugged airplane could take on any of Canada's boreal forests. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387732129-R6CLLJ8P84ZIWJGOCJ00/5101B721-4EA6-4F54-9F4C-AF4B04B815CF.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out On the left side, the lakes and bays are nearly obscured by a heavy haze. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387755772-VSWMS2A7NZXHSZPU3ET7/557070D4-95F1-4A73-B259-A64377AAA945.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out The “Professor” conducts his classes from the front of his T-28, while his student throws question after question at him from the back seat – a far better student-teacher ratio than I was used to in university where classes of three hundred students listened to a prof drone far below in a theatre of mediocrity. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387775713-87E9O11GUH5C7VXNFMZ1/AF2D5E34-01AB-497A-B79F-DFB3028669E4.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out The massive gaping maw of Barrick's Williams Open Pit Gold Mine at Hemlo, Ontario is an old stomping ground for Professor Evans. The mine, about 40 kilometers east of Marathon, Ontario, output an astonishing 227,000 ounces (more than seven tons) of gold in 2011. As we made a couple of turns overhead the three separate mines at the remote Northern Ontario location, he filled me in on the history of the operation and his experiences down on the ground during the wild and wooly early days of exploration. Gold was discovered in the Hemlo area in 1869 but it wasn't until the 1940s that trappers, prospectors, geologists and investors staked claims covering some newly discovered occurrences that, later on, turned out to be the claims from where gold would be extracted in modern times by the Hemlo mines. The object in the bottom of the photo is not a UFO, but rather part of the canopy defrost system. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387807736-6FFJBR8534KWJGJCXI82/71009F3D-9D7D-455B-93F1-458F16D3F121.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out In the break overhead Sudbury Airport. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387845652-ELWIJA3W9Z6FM5Q6TQ4M/40BCBDC8-DD15-43EC-B154-4F510D23CAC3.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out One of the best feelings you get during a long cross-country flight is the feeling of releasing your ass from hell when you shut down. Strapped down as tightly as you can endure on a hard parachute pack, you are unable to even lift a butt cheek for more than two hours. Unstrapping makes your tush very happy. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387871724-JSCRH7R0NWHPXGEMA1LV/09AD9A87-C17F-40D5-9B9C-CBB677415128.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out Beautiful airplanes attract beautiful women... it's a law of the universe. Here Sudbury FBO operator Christine Romansky checks out the T-28. Christine runs the Northern Aviation Services Shell FBO at the airport. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387889437-J3YE5S28OJ4ELBXGCCF3/F4DFFB3D-1BD3-4867-A39A-AC3CB9028356.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out By the time we reached Sudbury, Ontario, Kilo Kilo Delta was starting to get a little road dirt down her sides. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387907897-F2JEPWN2OG88LGYPB1GA/298AB62F-462F-4503-A6BA-BFF8078CE1C9.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out File this under “I never knew that!” A satellite shot of Lake Nipissing reveals the remains of two “deep-origin” volcanoes. The island archipelago on the middle of the lake, known as the Manitou Islands and the circular bay at the eastern end of the lake, known as Callander Bay were formed by eruptions from farther below the earth's surface than ordinary volcanoes. These bring near the surface some of the rarest minerals known to man... thus sating the world's appetite for apatite! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387945499-D3NS3GE0Y7QRUUNMU62I/0DFE7541-F4CB-4034-AF88-40A5BB57CF30.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out At the end of a long and glorious day of geological education from Winnipeg to the Ottawa Valley, Evans taxies the Trojan home to our Gatineau hangar with the long shadows of the late afternoon silhouetting the “Professor” on the port wing of his warbird. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628387960264-UF3VEUFQU8N8QAK5IY4Z/718BC8BE-2D68-490D-B3A0-31E2D7617BC8.jpeg The Stories - FLYING WITH THE PROFESSOR - Make it stand out The end of a great adventure... though my butt was happy, my heart longed for it to continue. Thank you Bruce. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/7000-feet-and-falling monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627654313085-P35CZLG05GFBME1QWVEA/Falling00.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454433487-5J7OF833L6FZJD6I3BWE/_Falling01.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Andrew Carswell (second from left, third row from the top) stands proudly for a group photograph of “G” Flight, No. 2 Squadron at the Royal Canadian Air Force’s No. 5 Initial Training School at Belleville, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The date was October 1941. Photo: Carswell Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454528347-POFSX4TOQBRFUORA22S0/Falling02.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out At No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School in Goderich, Ontario on Lake Huron, 18-year-old LAC Andrew Carswell stands beaming with pride next to a Fleet Finch (4581). Two years later, this particular Finch was lost in a Category A accident at Goderich. Photo: Carswell Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454578503-G978NZDJW8GD9Q7390CP/Falling05.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Elementary flying training students practice formation flying on Fleet Finches somewhere over Canada in the early 1940s. Photo: From copy print LAC-Canada. D&D-PL 4178 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454615511-8KKXUBICJIXVCH35G4HZ/Falling13.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Student pilots (white cap flash denotes a BCATP student) of Course 15 at No. 12 EFTS pose inside a flight line hangar with officers and a Fleet Finch. LAC Andrew Carswell is fourth from the left in the front row. The date was Remembrance Day, 11 November 1941. Photo: J. Gordon Henderson via Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454652574-7I63LXB6RYE8KIIH2WG2/Falling14.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photograph reveals the youth of the student pilots who will soon put their lives on the line—many still in their teens. Andrew Carswell is fourth from the left in the front row. Photo: J. Gordon Henderson via Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454719193-B3JPN0CZUCPC8FF91VQX/Falling15.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Number 5 Service Flying Training School, where Andrew Carswell did his Service Flying Training. This image, so typical of training facilities across the country, reveals several details of a typical base—crash truck, control tower and concrete gun butts for testing and aligning aircraft guns. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454760377-KJ99LKBDQRNF8H900QAU/Falling03.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Andrew Carswell flying an Avro Anson at three thousand feet on his second cross-country training flight, Canada, 1942. Photo: Carswell Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454806518-GG6KQ1D4JXOTV9MZ99QE/Falling07.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out An Avro Anson cruises over the shoreline of either Lake Ontario or the Ottawa River. Anson 7150 served with both the Test and Development Flight at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ottawa and the Test and Development establishment at RCAF Trenton, Ontario. Photo: From copy print LAC-Canada. D&D-PL 9658 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454869559-BFBG8TNK7JBI05R0PDAN/Falling11.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Andy Carswell (right) and his brother Jim pay a visit to their parents in Ottawa for Christmas of 1941. The Carswell boys’ father was an electrical engineer who had moved to Ottawa to work for the Department of National Defence. Andy was now a sergeant pilot with his new wings, while his brother was in the Canadian Army. Jim Carswell graduated from the Royal Military College and served in the Artillery. After the war, Jim worked in the U.S. space program (Nike, Titan, Mercury, Apollo, and Space Shuttle) where his specialty was trajectory analysis. Photo: Carswell Family Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454924957-SDPVFSUX6EYX39NC3FZW/Falling12.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out On a sunny day in England, likely at their Lancaster conversion course, Andrew Carswell (right) and a crew member pose with a Lancaster. We assume this is at the conversion course as Carswell was only operational for four ops before being shot down in mid-January. The weather in this shot looks decidedly warm—perhaps in the fall. Photo: Carswell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454958788-NIEJ574QFS6DQ64GALNZ/Falling10.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out A 9 Squadron Lancaster takes off from England. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455005738-F94V19TIYE9KVEUDXYED/Falling04.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Aerial view over the Schöneweide district of Berlin near the Landwehr Canal on 16–17 January 1943, the night of the attack. The white patches are from heavy anti-aircraft guns. Photo: C 5713 / Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942–45 / Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455051553-P2B4UVZ05CBNR8QBL8HL/Falling24.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out The exact Schöneweide suburb of Berlin today. It is ironic to note that Johannisthal (upper left corner) was the site of the first airfield in Germany, opened 26 September 1909, just a few weeks after the world's first dedicated airfield was built at Reims, France. Photo via GoogleMaps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455122061-J1LL8K4ZN7ZXL5U8LUON/Falling16.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out An Avro Lancaster Flight Engineer reaches back to flip a switch on his engine instrument panel during flight. He is sitting on a fold-down jump seat. It was this seat that Jock Martin folded up and out of the way to allow other crew members access to the forward escape hatch. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455156601-EI81CIL1ETE2JD1BVN0D/Falling17.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out A view forward from Eddy Philips’ position (Carswell’s Wireless Operator) shows the extremely tight space for crew members. The seat facing to the left was John Galbraith’s Navigator position. He and Andrew Carswell were the last to leave the aircraft. This and the following illustrations are courtesy of Piotr Forkasiewitcz, a Polish Digital artist of prodigious ability. To view more of his exceptional work, read A Terrifying Beauty or visit his astounding website at peterfor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455235280-UMUDW18DDPZ0NATDEHXF/Falling19.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out The pilot’s position in the Avro Lancaster. The crew would have to hold on to the yellow handrail and step down into the Bomb Aimer’s compartment and dive through the open hatch. Illustration by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455276363-1FUO25IMY07TF3KKLB92/Falling18.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out A view of the parachute escape hatch in the Bomb Aimer’s position down in the nose of the aircraft. Carswell’s Bomb Aimer, Paddy Hipson, was tasked with opening the hatch by pulling the release ring. All the forward air crew would then make their way to this small hole in the aircraft in their bulky gear and parachutes and, while the aircraft dove to the ground out of control, make their escape—in darkness. Illustration by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455347964-J4HC1W9PWFJ94UK5WZV2/Falling26.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Sergeant Andrew Carswell (fourth from right in back row) poses with fellow inmates at a German POW camp. The next chapters of Over the Wire together paint a powerful and emotionally draining image of defiance. Photo: Carswell Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455383665-E828NHU2QM3WPPBIKQO6/Falling23.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out A detail from a page of the 9 Squadron Operational Record Book (ORB) dealing with the crews that went out on the 17th of January. It shows that Carswell was flying Lancaster W4379 and took off at 1654 but did not return. Photo: 9 Squadron ORB https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455427665-D9JWQBB1KQSCJ7P1UW61/Falling25.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out To determine the aircraft code of the Lancaster W4379, we refer to the ORB pages from the previous night (16 January) in which he also flew W4379. The summary page indicates this was aircraft “A”. Photo: 9 Squadron ORB https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455483763-47TMQY0FQ81G6LZTZPX5/Falling20.jpg The Stories - SEVEN THOUSAND FEET AND FALLING - Make it stand out Andrew Carswell at Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in 2014. The ceremony took place with the Lancaster inside the hangar. Each of the seven crew positions was honoured with the attendance of a Second World War Bomber Command veteran of that position. Andrew Carswell represented the pilot’s role in the Lancaster team. He wears his Escaper’s Tie Pin, his Irving parachute silk worm pin, Bomber Command clasp and Air Crew tie. He did not get the Aircrew Europe Star. It was required that he fly operationally for two months to qualify... but he was shot down on his fourth operation. He also wears a peacetime Air Force Cross. Andrew Carswell went on to a peacetime flying career with the RCAF flying, amongst other aircraft, the Canso flying boat on Air Sea Rescue missions on the open water. Photo: John Carswell https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/one-last-fight monthly 0.5 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191915530-16ZVE77RO95JHD42D6HX/TheFight00.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192002076-Z33TNLPDX4B23J2QFONV/TheFight05.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out When the MiG-29’s travelling road show came across Canada in 1990, it paid a visit to Air Command headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There they were met by Lieutenant General Fred “Suds” Sutherland, who, 20 years later, would join the board of directors of Vintage Wings of Canada. L to R: Fred Sutherland, Yuri Bramkov, Roman Taskaev and Marat Alykov. Photo: Vic Johnson, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192124374-613SLW8R7JC81XJXCZT4/TheFight10.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out When the MiG-29’s travelling road show came across Canada in 1990, it paid a visit to Air Command headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There they were met by Lieutenant General Fred “Suds” Sutherland, who, 20 years later, would join the board of directors of Vintage Wings of Canada. L to R: Fred Sutherland, Yuri Bramkov, Roman Taskaev and Marat Alykov. Photo: Vic Johnson, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192194491-OW851DLKK9JMTIEE4HDC/TheFight30.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out A Canadian CF-18 gets an up-close view of the MiG-29’s mighty Klimov turbofans en route to Ottawa for the National Capital Air Show. Photo: Vic Johnson, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192240007-MOQ30ZZ5UBDZEV50CYEX/TheFight28.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out One of the most dramatic flypasts one will ever see. Through low scudding cloud and light rain, three CF-18 Hornets and two MiG-29s thunder west to east past the old terminal building at Ottawa’s Macdonald–Cartier International Airport. I remember this flypast well. I was standing, waiting for the arrival just to the right of the KC-135 Stratotanker seen in the upper right hand corner of this photo, where, in a few moments, the MiG-29s would shut down. The sight of two MiGs over Ottawa air space was awe-inspiring to anyone who had grown up in a Cold War culture with nuclear Armageddon seemingly right around the corner. Photo: Vic Johnson, DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192285336-X4Y5BIAIU7EX25KOJS45/TheFight27.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Here, the author (in trench coat) waits while the three MiG crew members discuss the flight from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The flight lead, Roman Taskaev (in dark green flight suit) chats with test pilot Marat Alykov (blue flight suit) and flight navigator Yuri Bramkov (partially obscured by Alykov). Photo: Author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628192433475-NV1ESH3OQE44WW1FAGOF/TheFight31.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Just moments after the Russians stepped out of their MiGs, I introduced them to some good old boys from Mississippi. The boyish Marat Alykov in the trucker’s cap turns toward me with three members of the 153rd Tactical Recon Squadron “zapping” his two-seat MiG. On the left is Squadron commander, Colonel Bob Soulé, to the right of Alykov is Lieutenant Colonel Mike McAdams and Lieutenant Colonel Greg Williams—the Duke Brothers if there ever were. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193002975-LSNDJQQV9KND2MTNW7OJ/TheFight32.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Left to right: Alexander Manucharov, Anatoly Belosvet, Mike McAdams and Valery Menitsky, at the end of the match. Photo: Mike McAdams Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193043788-QBJNMZQXP5AZ5E16ZIIC/TheFight33.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Same group, except with the author. We were all so young then. It was, on reflection, an honour to have met Menitsky and Belosvet and to call Mike an old friend. Photo: Dave O’Malley Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193101029-8HWQ68SSMF0FKWGUTE1U/TheFight09.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out The Russian to English interpreter for the MiG visit was a young aerospace software engineer by the name of Alexander “Sascha” Velovich. Sascha and I got along very well, and we maintained a brief contact after that summer, but like so many other things, the beauty of that summer weekend drifted off over time and contact with Sascha was lost. I was able to find one photo of him on the Internet, oddly on a website called Wings Over Kansas. It was part of an interview made for an issue of Lockheed Martin’s Code One magazine. Sascha clearly went on to a very successful career at Mikoyan and in the Russian aerospace industry. Photo: WingsoverKansas.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193507841-42RKBD4J6J7DUCOHOAY5/TheFight07.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out The boys from the Magnolia Militia, the Mississippi Air National Guard’s 153rd Tactical Recon Squadron of the 186th Tactical Recon Group on their arrival at Ottawa International Airport for the West Carleton Air Show the year before the MiGs’ arrival. Left to right (ranks as per 1989): Colonel Bob Soulé of Meridian; Major Sam Clark of Tupelo, Major Mike McAdams of Greenwood and Major Greg Williams of Ocean Springs. There have never been a finer bunch of warriors and aviators as the men who flew their Phantoms from Dixie to Ottawa each year. This was the Magnolia Militia, the boys from Meridian, from Ocean Springs, from Greenwood and Tupelo, Vicksburg on the Big Muddy and Waynesboro on the Chickasawhay River. They weren’t some dumb-ass rednecks, barbequed and axle-greased, bib-overalled and scary. They were lovers of the world and all its sunny mornings, its fine restaurants and red, red wines, snowy slopes, and green fairways. They appreciated effort, showed respect for all people, laughed at good jokes and loved our great country as well as their own. Photo: Author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193562598-72Q4ULEJJWEJR5FAPNN8/TheFight08.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out McAdams and Williams depart Ottawa in 1989. In 1990, after the visit of the Mikoyan Design Bureau to the National Capital Air Show, the 186th TRG made a major strategic decision that would affect its future for many decades to come—they got out of the jet fighter business and converted to flying the re-engined Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker—a decision that ended the careers of many a back seater. The move to the heavy and decidedly less sexy tanker was a decision that was not popular with true warriors like McAdams and Williams. Photo: Author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193622043-GF8GD6N770SNSNTUNX0M/TheFight26.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out “Hey, I bet this is me!”, jokes Mike McAdams at EAA’s AirVenture 1996 in Oshkosh as he points to a North Vietnamese “kill mark”. McAdams and Williams met me there for a few days of aero indulgence, when we spied this MiG-21 (“Bort Number” 4326) wearing the 13 victories of the mythical Colonel Tomb. During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese People’s Air Force painted victory stars on their aircraft for all claims made in that aircraft. The 13 stars here were likely the result of a number of pilots using that MiG to shoot down Americans. Photos of a MiG-21 sporting numerous red victory stars gave rise to the myth of Colonel Nguyen Toon or Colonel Tomb, who according to the legend, was shot down by Randall “Duke” Cunningham and William “Irish” Driscoll on 10 May 1972. While the two Navy F-4 crewmen may have in fact shot down 4326, the pilot was not Colonel Tomb, who never existed. North Vietnamese claim it was only a very successful propaganda fabrication. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193675777-06386RIBHB2758BP75Z1/TheFight15.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out A photograph of a Mississippi RF-4 Phantom II on approach to Aviano, Italy. While the unit never got the chance to show their mettle in combat during Desert Storm, they would occasionally deploy to Europe for extended periods. This Phantom still wears the camouflage from its days in Vietnam. Photo: Sergio Gava, Airliners.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193722447-KRLI12AG1ZVWIUTX6102/TheFight12.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out The Internet is a wonderful place... perhaps the greatest invention of all time. I was searching the Internet for information concerning the dogfight that resulted in Brooks and McAdams being shot down. I typed in the date and their names and the first thing that came up was a Wikipedia posting dedicated to Nguyễn Đức Soát, a North Vietnamese fighter pilot during the Vietnam War who became an ace—one of 21 pilots who can claim that title during the conflict—five Americans and 16 North Vietnamese. Of the five Americans only two, Steve Ritchie and Randall Cunningham were pilots, the other three being WSOs including Cunningham’s WSO Willie Driscoll and Ritchie’s WSO, Chuck DeBellevue. Soát’s victory over Brooks and McAdams was his fourth of the six he would end the war with. Soát was still active in the air force until recently, retiring as a Lieutenant General and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army. Soát now heads up an organization called The Vietnam Bombs and Mines Action Support Association, recently established in Hanoi to assist efforts to deal with a country plagued by unexploded ordnance from more than half a century of modern wars. Photos via Vietnamese Internet sites https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193756025-E9ZYUYV2SK8ZPN07MBC1/TheFight13.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Nguyễn Đức Soát (fourth from left) and other North Vietnamese aces (including Nguyễn Văn Bảy (7 victories) and Nguyễn Văn Cốc (9 Victories)) pose for a publicity shot during the war, wearing their very distinctive Russian-made VKK-6M G-suits and high altitude pressurized helmets. When I contacted Lieutenant Colonel Mike McAdams after finding Soát’s claim to the victory, he replied with a smile “Holy Shit!... at least he was an ace and not a rookie.” Photo via Vietnamese Internet sites https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193821218-7725MTBTY2969K1GAUGV/TheFight01.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out This group of hotshot Russian test pilots look like a bold bunch indeed. Valery Menitsky (second from left) stands with his fellow Mikoyan test pilots in front of the factory demonstrator MiG-31B, NATO-code named Foxhound. This MiG-31 prototype, designed by Anatoly Belosvet and test flown by Menitsky, was a developmental replacement of the earlier MiG-25 Foxbat supersonic interceptor. Photo: Mikoyan OKB (Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193854479-DTLZGZKBK0FZW6BPRBK0/TheFight23.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Two photos that span the full length of Valery Menitsky’s legendary flying career. Left: Young Lieutenant Valery Menitsky at the time of completion of flying training at the USSR’s Tambov Air Training Base, where he would have flown the Aero L-29 Delphin. Tambov is a small city 450 kilometres to the southeast of Moscow. On the right, he stands before a MiG aircraft, a living legend of Soviet and Russian aviation history. Photos via http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/MySkyLife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193902099-1UVE1U223FKE692VGPPI/TheFight20.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out According to the Google-translated caption that came with this photograph, it was taken on the “release” of Menitsky and his three friends from LII Test Pilot’s School in 1969. I’m assuming that this means “graduation”. Menitsky, always so identifiable with his handsome face, is at right. The other graduates are Mikhail Pokrovsky, instructor Yuri Sheviakov and Valery Stepanchonok. The date is 1969. Photos via http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/MySkyLife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628193948607-MBRIBZVUZ8359QJKN037/TheFight21.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out In October of 1983, Menistky was awarded, at the Kremlin, the title of Honoured Test Pilot of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The next day, after work, Menitsky and some of his esteemed friends celebrated over dinner and vodka. Left to right, the legendary Pyotr Ostapenko (now deceased), Roman Taskaev (travelled with Menitsky to Ottawa), the great Alexandr Fedotov (also deceased within a year of this photo), Valery Menitsky (deceased in 2008), the Kazakh astronaut Toktar Aubakirov, and test navigator Valery Zaitsev (who, within 6 months, would be killed in a crash while testing the MiG-31). Photos via http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/MySkyLife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194017265-DHJKZYE3M82MM3TJB8NW/TheFight19.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out The photo on the left appears to have been taken in October of 1983, likely at the same time as the previous dinner photo, as he is wearing the same jacket and tie and decorations. The decoration he wears on his right lapel is the “Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR” and on his left lapel he wears the Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the highest decorations of the USSR. On the right, Menitsky in the 1990s as a Mikoyan OKB test pilot. Menitsky’s test career is stunning to say the least, having test flown fighters such as the MiG-21 (Fishbed), MiG- 23 (Flogger), (MiG-27 (Flogger-DJ), the MiG-25PD (Foxbat-E), the MiG-29M (Fulcrum-E ), and MiG-31(Foxhound). Photos: TestPilot.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194055565-9L2Z6ZB7ZLH11VST4RHR/TheFight22.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Over many hours of searching on the web, it became apparent that there was not an abundance of photos of Anatoly Belosvet (right) and rarely any in the company of Valery Menitsky. I found this shot on My Sky Life, a website dedicated to the memory of Menitsky. It shows Belosvet and Menitsky back in Canada again in 1992, having just test flown a Jet Squalus, an Italian-designed light jet trainer, built by Promavia of Belgium. Only one was ever built, but Promavia had managed to partner with the Mikoyan Design Bureau—likely the reason behind the two MiG executives being associated with it, though they appear to be amused. Mikoyan, under Belosvet, lead the design of a next generation Squalus called the ATTA 3000, which, though capable, failed as the market favoured single engine turbo-props such as the Raytheon Harvard II. Later, the lone Squalus was sold to a Canadian creditor, Alberta Aerospace, where it languishes today. Photos via http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/MySkyLife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194088682-RWG6FMW8HD8FEEYIU7EU/TheFight24.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out There are even fewer photos of Alexander “Sascha” Velovich, a Mikoyan software and weapons systems designer when we met in 1990. He acted as the de facto interpreter for the MiG mission to Ottawa, and was surprisingly (to me) modern, liberal and outspoken in private. Here he hides behind Menitsky during another business trip to Texas in 1992. Photos via http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/MySkyLife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194127321-LGWJEEID6CM6OH6E3G7Q/TheFight02.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out This photo had no caption when I found it, but to those of us who follow such things, the three men in this image are unmistakable, just from the way they cut their hair—icons of Soviet aviation excellence and daring. Left to right: Valery Menitsky, Anatoly Kvochur and Roman Taskaev. They stand next to a MiG-29 Fulcrum at a Russian airfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194168466-1X49X2NFSWYUZ3JHP7VS/TheFight04.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Valery Menitsky was one of the test pilots on the MiG-105 concept aircraft. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-105 was part of a program known as the Spiral (aerospace system) was a manned test vehicle to explore low-speed handling and landing. It was a visible result of a Soviet project to create an orbital space aircraft similar to the space shuttle. This was originally conceived in response to the American X-20 Dyna-Soar military space project and may have been influenced by contemporary manned lifting body research being conducted by NASA. The MiG-105 was nicknamed “Lapot”, which is a Russian slang term for shoe, referring to the look of its nose. Only six Soviet test pilots were involved in Project Spiral, the test flying of the lifting body concept aircraft known as the MiG-105. Valery Menitsky was one of four Mikoyan pilots including Alexandr Fedotov, Aviard Fastovets and Pyotr Ostapenko. In addition, Ministry pilot Igor Volk and Air Force pilot Vasili Uryadov filled out the roster. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194243065-N1P5CWZI0BLWB09SXZJZ/TheFight16.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out Though he never worked for Ilyushin, his name is honoured on the nose of a cargo variant of the enormous Il-96 four-engined widebody jet. The Polet Airlines II-96 Valery Menitsky lands at Novosibirsk-Tolmachevo in April 2011. Photo: Valery Fedorov https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194292992-0CHHE6DOBGR4D0837PLY/TheFight17.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out A close-up of the nose of the Polet Airlines Il-96, Valery Menitsky. Though one day this aircraft will be sold or scrapped and his name erased, the legend and the true story of Valery Menitsky will live on in the bold hearts of men who knew him. Photo: Alex Beltyukov, via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628194328146-89PJ31VGYQZH65XZ4VIB/TheFight18.jpeg The Stories - ONE LAST FIGHT - Make it stand out The death of Menitsky followed a lengthy illness. My ability with Russian is pretty poor, and even relying on Google translate, I was unable to determine the cause of his death, but it is likely cancer, a disease that does not discriminate—taking down the good and the great alike. The headstone on his grave in Moscow celebrates his greatest aviation achievement, the test flying of the legendary MiG-29 Fulcrum. In the upper left is a depiction of his greatest honour—the Hero of the Soviet Union. He is also a hero of anyone he met in life—bigger than life, physical, charismatic, a man’s man. I will always remember him with awe... and a bit of fear. Photo: warheroes.ru https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/twice-lucky monthly 0.5 2022-01-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189022617-T2T8OPKAA3J09QDQP4YU/TwiceLuckyTitle.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189079176-6WYSXYY1V1OAD2NXXS4C/TwiceLucky01.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out An innocent-faced George Trevor Southgate (left) and former public school chum Stuart Trotter learn to fly on de Havilland Tiger Moths with the Royal Air Force at RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire—an experience not unlike learning to fly in Canada—cold and wet. Photo: Trevor Southgate Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189124002-UERE6HPFNKA5R27LKOM3/TwiceLucky48.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A photo of Tiger Moths in 1938 at RAF Yatesbury, home of No. 10 Elementary (and Refresher) Flying Training School (EFRTS) – the time, place and machine of Southgate’s initial flight training. Photo: Terry Fox - Air Britain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189170913-WIH9EWCINGAOIOOG9AP3/TwiceLucky04.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Trevor Southgate poses for a photo prior to a mess dinner at RAF Uxbridge, shortly after completing his elementary flying training on Tiger Moths at Yatesbury. Unlike the wartime RCAF where a cadet pilot would carry the rank of Leading Aircraft Man until he received his wings after Service Flying Training, the stripe on his cuff indicates that Southgate was promoted to Acting Pilot Officer on 16 May 1938. This came with a 1 year probationary period. The following 16 May 1939, Southgate was appointed to a full non-probationary rank of Pilot Officer. Photo: Trevor Southgate Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189220228-3RMP3C38GYNCDT4CNLTD/TwiceLucky03.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out At Number 8 Flying Training School (later No. 8 Service Flying Training School) at RAF Montrose, the Hawker Audax (similar to the Hawker Hart which he also flew at Montrose) was used for advanced wings-grade flying training. Here we see a young Pilot Officer (Acting) Trevor Southgate standing proudly in 1938 before an Audax, the aircraft he would soon win his wings on. More than 800 pilots, including a number of the RAF’s leading aces of the war, received their wings at Montrose from 1936 until 1942, when the school closed down. These names include Canadian uber-ace George “Buzz” Beurling as well as Irishman Brendan “Paddy” Finucane and New Zealander “Cobber” Kain. More importantly, this was the home of 612 City of Glasgow Squadron and our own Warrant Officer Harry Hannah, to whom our Boeing Stearman was dedicated. Photo: Trevor Southgate Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189260848-LBXNFKX18OAB5F18KJK4/TwiceLucky44.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Trevor Southgate earned his coveted RAF pilot’s brevet on the Hawker Hart/Audax, two variants of the same aircraft of the last group of high performance biplanes in the service of the Royal Air Force. The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater light bomber aircraft of the RAF. It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm, the future designer of the Hurricane. The Hart was a prominent British aircraft in the interwar period, but was obsolete and already sidelined for newer monoplane aircraft designs by the start of the war. RAF Photo via HawkerHind.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189298491-DTH6N1RBGK17GTPM3R5R/TwiceLucky05.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out At RAF Montrose, Southgate (right) and an instructor by the name of Buttery prepare for a cold weather (typically Scottish) flight in a Hawker Hart or Audax. Photo: Trevor Southgate Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189337333-B3AEV12CGQ5WUW15UPBB/TwiceLucky02.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out By now a seasoned pilot with 24 Squadron, Trevor Southgate, having flown in a Gloster Gladiator, was the centre of attention and the focus of good natured ribbing with these cadets at RAF Hendon. The photo appeared in an English newspaper in February 1941. The caption beneath the photo reads: “Their hero: An R.A.F. fighter pilot is every cadet’s ideal—and they’ve plenty of questions to ask him. The reason that the pilot looks bewildered is that he doesn’t know the answer to this one. So the boys have a laugh on their hero. The country’s future depends upon the immediate raising and training of like-minded lads like these, and they have answered the call in such vast numbers that there is ample reason to face the future with complete confidence.” The adulation on the faces of these boys is a powerful message about the inspirational draw of aviation in those days. Sadly, there was no thought given to the fact that some of these young boys would be dead by the end of the next four years. Photo: Trevor Southgate Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189382835-0KAWQCOIQQSYIVPMFTI8/TwiceLucky47.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Trevor Southgate looked every inch a hero to the young Hendon cadets in the previous photo as he stood in front of his Gloster Gladiator. Southgate qualified on several single-engine fighters from the Gladiator to the Spitfire. By the time he was regaling the cadets at Hendon, the Gladiator (above) was used largely for advanced single-engine training, having by then become obsolete at the front. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189433497-XMNDGZLOW3ZA5T0IQB5J/TwiceLucky06.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out During his service with 24 Squadron, Trevor Southgate flew many aircraft types from the 17,000 lb DC-3 to the diminutive 1,700 lb Percival Vega Gull (above) and its more common cousin, the Percival Proctor. Only 90 Vega Gulls were built as opposed to the 16,079 DC-3s and variants. Early constructed Vega Gulls were used in many air races and record attempts in the “Golden Age of Aviation”. 15 Gulls were ordered for the RAF, with 11 serving with Southgate’s 24 Squadron. The Gull was used for liaison flights and pilot repositioning—similar to the flight in which Southgate was shot through the back. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189483171-9Z1TXAKV8JDGYXZIFZM6/TwiceLucky15.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A Percival Aircraft Co. Vega Gull liaison aircraft in Royal Air Force all-silver livery. Southgate’s 24 Squadron, originally formed during the First World War as a fighter squadron, was reformed in 1920 as a VIP transport unit. During the Second World War, 24 Squadron operated the Vega Gull as well as the Lockheed Hudson, Avro York, de Havilland Flamingo and Dragon Rapide, Douglas C-47 Dakota, Airspeed Oxford and a myriad of very strange and exotic types. Photo: RAF via the Don Shumaker Collection, posted on 1000AircraftPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189522899-U75NIPDARY0HKNYCHR27/TwiceLucky45.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out 24 Squadron operated two types of Percival light aircraft—the Vega Gull and the Proctor. While the Vega Gull had a meagre production run of 90 aircraft, more than 1,100 copies of its follow-on cousin, the Proctor, were built. Trevor Southgate flew them both. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189624828-CRWX17UFFEI3U1PPBZO0/TwiceLucky20.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The pretty de Havilland DH.95 Flamingo, a high-wing, twin-engined monoplane passenger airliner of the Second World War period (also used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a troop carrier and for general communications duties) was one of the rare types on Trevor Southgate’s list of aircraft flown. Flamingo R2765 was, like many of the aircraft of 24 Squadron’s VIP service, given a name—in this case, Lady of Hendon. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189663174-5ALJUSIE4158JCH33X3D/TwiceLucky40.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out De Havilland Flamingos of No. 24 Squadron RAF at Hendon, Middlesex. In the foreground, an advance party of Russian officials disembarks from R2765 Lady of Hendon to be greeted by senior RAF officers and representatives of the Foreign Office, having been flown from Prestwick in order to prepare for the forthcoming visit to London by the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, V.M. Molotov. Parked in the background is R2764 Lady of Castledown, which perished the following day while undertaking a similar mission from Prestwick to Hendon. The aircraft caught fire and crashed near Great Ouseburn, Yorkshire, killing the crew and all six members of the Russian party on board. Although suspicions of sabotage were voiced at the time, it appears that a cylinder head in one of the engines broke away accidentally in mid-air, causing an engine fire and the loss of one of the wings. Photo and text via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189704501-MEKIC3RQKEVFJMY5TQAK/TwiceLucky28.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out 24 Squadron Flamingo (R2766), Lady of Glamis, flies majestically over England. Only 14 of the lovely all-metal aircraft were built, nearly all in the service of the RAF. Lady of Glamis was originally part of the King’s Flight. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189753094-6KYXL0HFRZGZ9VUH6JDL/TwiceLucky31.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out For much of his RAF service, Trevor Southgate was with the legendary 24 Squadron which, as it grew in size and importance, spun off both 510 and 512 Squadrons of the RAF. The home airfield of 24 Squadron’s central elements was RAF Hendon (above), one of the most important aerodromes in Great Britain. Located in North London, Hendon today is the home of the Royal Air Force Museum, one of the finest museums on the planet. Photo: RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189786797-JQ1LF9UT4NOB9VP0WVSO/TwiceLucky16.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Trevor Southgate’s list of some of the VIPs he flew included two flights in the DH.95 Flamingo with Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, first Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO and Bar, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Churchill’s most trusted advisor. Photo via German Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189822573-GRW5PCJQLRWXJXUQX9JT/TwiceLucky41.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The de Havilland DH.95 Flamingo was a pretty bird. Here, RAF AE444, (eventually Lady of Aye), wearing De Havilland test number E16, demonstrates single engine performance with its port Bristol Perseus feathered. This aircraft (E16) was the type test bed. Photo: RAF from the Ron Dupas Collection posted on 1000AircraftPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189859399-EFASHJJP191N3N9PR5B2/TwiceLucky21.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Whilst with 24 Squadron, Flight Lieutenant Trevor Southgate flew a wide assortment of transport aircraft, including the Art Deco-styled biplane transports of de Havilland—with nearly 300 hours total piloting time in the types (DH.84 Express, DH.86 Dragon, and DH.89 Dominie (Dragon Rapide)). The DH.89 Rapide and Dominie were used for both ambulance duties and VIP transport. Here we see DH.89 RAF Z7258 Women of the Empire and RAF Z7261 Women of Britain flying low over Hendon, Middlesex, the day before they were presented to No. 24 Squadron RAF by the “Silver Thimble Fund”. Originally civilian aircraft, Z7258 (formerly G-AFMH) and Z7261 (G-AFMJ) were impressed for the RAF in July 1940. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189913665-VM2CBE1CM1705S47D7H8/TwiceLucky22.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out On the ground at RAF Hendon, DH.89s Women of the Empire and Women of Britain present themselves for photographers. The DH.89 was known as the Rapide in civilian service and Dominie in the Royal Air Force. The RAF’s Hawker Siddeley HS125 jet transport of today is also called the Dominie. The word Dominie is a Scottish term for a schoolmaster. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189943581-G275VF80ZA4BVHHDBMR6/TwiceLucky23.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The Lockheed 10 Electra (RAF serial W9104) served with 24 Squadron on VIP duties. The aircraft was delivered new with British civil registration G-AFEB in 1938, but at war’s outbreak was impressed into service with the Royal Air Force on 12 April 1940, as were three others (G-AEPN (W9105), G-AEPO (W9106) and G-AEPR. W9104 was damaged beyond repair on 12 October 1941, just three months after Trevor Southgate flew Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and his wife Clarissa aboard a Lockheed 10 from Hendon to the city of York. W9105 was also lost the year before—in an air raid on Hendon in November 1940. Southgate flew 117.25 hours in command of the Electra. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628189988521-6NRNYPMSN3OYNA7QV1UF/TwiceLucky42.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Piloting a Lockheed 10 Electra, Trevor Southgate flew the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and his wife Anne Clarissa from Hendon to York on 7 July 1941. The sartorial Eden, with his signature Homburg hat, and his wife were the 1930s equivalent to Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Idolized by all of Britain, he was a softly outspoken opponent of appeasement of Hitler. He was the first choice of Tory rebel MPs who risked their political futures to remove the Nazi-appeasing and tyrannical Neville Chamberlain. Still, when he had the chance to speak up for the ouster, he wavered and declined the limelight. In the end, Winston Churchill, also a reluctant rebel and member of the Chamberlain cabinet, was pushed forward to replace the disgraced and marginalized Prime Minister. Lucky for England. Eden would remain as Foreign Secretary throughout the war and eventually become Prime Minister. His premiership lasted only 2 years, with the man impaling himself on the Suez Crisis. Photo via LynneOlson.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190026461-3OCXZAK0VGGIYUEGSK5V/TwiceLucky46.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out On 7 September 1941, Trevor Southgate took Russian General Fillipp Golikov on a flight from Prestwick, Scotland to London in a 24 Squadron Lockheed 10 Electra. Golikov, one of the most decorated and tough Soviet leaders of the Second World War, was in London for talks with the Allies concerning operations against the Germans. Just two weeks before, the Soviets had been an ally of the Nazis, having shared in the spoils of the invasion of Poland, but on 22 June, the Germans opened Operation BARBAROSA, an all-out assault on the Soviet Union along a wide front. The Soviets went from possible future enemy to important ally literally overnight. Photos: herdeirodeaecio.blogspot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190056161-YZWJ5QPXZK0391BDEI2T/TwiceLucky25.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The ill-fated Lockheed 10 Electra, W9104, of No. 24 Squadron RAF, taxiing on an airfield in the United Kingdom. Formerly G-AFEB of British Airways Ltd, this aircraft was impressed into the RAF and delivered to No. 24 Squadron on 18 December 1939. It was struck off charge after a landing accident at Clifton, Yorkshire, on 12 October 1941. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190099324-KELR39XET8S2KNTIUXY2/TwiceLucky26.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Douglas DC-3 Dakota Mk I, (RAF serial FD772) ZK-Y of 24 Squadron parked in dispersal at RAF Hendon, Middlesex, the home field of Southgate’s squadron for much of the war. This was the fifth Dakota delivered to the RAF, and like nearly all 24 Squadron aircraft, wears a dedication on its nose—Windsor Castle. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190138214-F1KJLA5DY3K8KKCNP2CM/TwiceLucky27.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The Airspeed Envoy and its follow-on development, the Oxford, were twin engine light transport aircraft—both were used by 24 Squadron for liaison and ambulance duties. Trevor Southgate flew both types with 24 Squadron—22.5 hours in the Oxford and .5 hour in the Envoy. Here we see an Oxford Mark II, (RAF serial P8833), known as Nurse Cavell” of the Air Ambulance Unit (operating within No. 24 Squadron RAF), on the ground at RAF Hendon. I include this photo for the interesting background behind her name—Nurse Cavell. Edith Louisa Cavell (4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested. She was subsequently court-martialled, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190168122-SMR8FFG494U9UUKY547Z/TwiceLucky24.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Whilst serving with 24 Squadron, Southgate flew single, twin and four-engined aircraft, including the DH.86 Express. Essentially a four-engined sister of the de Havilland Dragon, the early production models of the Express had stability issues which resulted in several fatal crashes. In this Royal Air Force photo, we see the snug cockpit arrangement of the Express. The type saw military service with the RAF, Royal Navy, RAAF and RNZAF. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190216280-Y85OSW8Q5864BLHAA4PC/TwiceLucky29.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Southgate flew a number of de Havilland types, including the elegant looking, but somewhat maligned, four-engined DH.86 Express. Flying the Express, his VIP passenger manifest included such luminaries as Lord “Boom” Trenchard and Field Marshal Allan Brooke. Here, we see a 24 Squadron DH.86 Express awaiting the imminent arrival of British Army brass including the Commander-in-Chief, Scottish Command at RAF Lerwick. Photo: Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190253700-NQUEOIGMO7LJFCSA0OAY/TwiceLucky19.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Hugh “Boom” Trenchard (left, seen here with Field Marshal Montgomery) is often described as the Father of the Royal Air Force. Learning to fly before the beginning of the First World War (his aviator’s certificate numbered 250), Trenchard rose to become Chief of the Air Staff by war’s end. He presided over the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, and commanded it for the next 12 years. He earned the sobriquet “Boom” for his loud, booming voice. By the Second World War, he was largely marginalized, being offered, but not accepting positions such as oversight of the BCATP in Canada or the task of camouflaging Great Britain. He was also offered responsibility for Air, Land and Sea forces for Great Britain should the Germans invade. Trenchard replied that this would mean he should have the powers of the Deputy Minister of Defence, which infuriated Churchill. Churchill then offered him the responsibility for reorganizing Military Intelligence, which he also declined. In the end, the stubborn Trenchard had manoeuvred himself from any real power in the war machine and spent the rest of his war years as de facto RAF ambassador and Inspector General. Regardless, he was considered RAF Royalty by his men and was accorded great respect. To fly him, as Trevor Southgate did, was an honour. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190314824-7AKOGREAVK188ID33C30/TwiceLucky49.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Searching the internet for hours, I could not find an image of a 24 Squadron Hudson and in particular AE581 – except this screen capture of the Spirit of Tobruk II from a Pathé News reel. Apologies for the quality. Photo: Via Pathé News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190654660-TMQ03Z7OEL30U5JOO5EO/TwiceLucky50.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A portion of the letter to the Under Secretary of State, Air Ministry relates the slender yet haunting connection between David Rouleau and Trevor Southgate. Though the writer, Sergeant P. J. Rogers spelled David Rouleau’s name as either De Roulean or De Rouleau, this is in fact David Francis Gaston Rouleau of Ottawa. Source: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190711587-08D7VXQLERPYPO3ZOQ1Y/TwiceLucky38.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A photo of a 512 Squadron Dakota shows it still with its 24 Squadron code NQ-1. 24 Squadron Daks would form the nucleus of 512 Squadron in June 1943. This particular Dak was lost at sea en route from Lyneham, England to Gibraltar on Christmas Day, 1943. Photo via incidentessgm.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190778202-7LTOCFAN92LLK3ZUIXDA/TwiceLucky10.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A Douglas DC-3 Dakota of No. 512 Squadron, RAF Transport Command, being refuelled from an AEC Type ‘A’ petrol tanker while in transit at Lagens Airfield in the Azores. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190836880-YBO7NKIBMB49UY5PX3N1/TwiceLucky51.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The morning after Operation MALLARD in which Trevor Southgate participated along with his Dakota crew and others of 512 Squadron, is depicted in this oblique photographic-reconnaissance vertical, taken from 800 feet, showing part of Landing Zone ‘N’, north of Ranville, Normandy, on the day following the airborne landing of the 6th Airlanding Brigade and the Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in the evening of 6 June 1944. Likely, one of these Horsa gliders is the result of Southgate’s handiwork. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628190904527-TUBY70AO03WE20782UC9/TwiceLucky11.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Shortly after the D-Day landings, Southgate’s 512 Squadron was in the thick of things as part of 46 Group, operating from an airfield known as B2-Bazenville. Here, Douglas Dakota Mark IIIs of No. 46 Group at B2-Bazenville, on the Normandy coast, are loading casualties for evacuation to the United Kingdom. Dakota KG432 ‘H’ of No. 512 Squadron RAF is at centre. When B2 first opened, the front line was only 9 kilometres away. The first aircraft to land at Bazenville were the Spitfires of 127 Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force on 11 June. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191020819-8ERVNBCOT4O6JMPTZ9XH/TwiceLucky12.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out The view from a glider pilot’s perspective of a Dakota towing his glider towards the North Sea en route to Holland and Operation MARKET GARDEN. The coiled wire is a telephone line direct to the tow plane. Photo: GlideToGlory.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191067488-F2UOD9VEQ23IU18QE3M0/TwiceLucky43.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out A dramatic photo taken by a Dutch AP photographer shows streams of American Dakotas towing gliders overhead Valkenswaard near Eindhoven during Operation MARKET GARDEN. Photo: AP https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191125893-H4XIYBTAO6HO79I79E5X/TwiceLucky13.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out DC-3 aircraft release their Horsa gliders over the Dutch countryside. Considering the altitude we see here, the gliders likely made just one turn into the wind before turning final and landing—a wise tactic to get the helpless gliders on the ground as fast as possible. The gliders at the bottom left are all grouped together at the end of a field, indicating they landed from right to left on that stretch of open farmland. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191168900-M74O2FSX28KT6ELUQBU1/TwiceLucky14.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out As many as 100 Horsa, Hamilcar and WACO gliders crowd farm fields near Arnhem, Holland on the opening assault. It is astonishing that they all look relatively intact and that none appear to have collided with another. A few are burning—one furiously at upper left. Photo via ArmyPhotos.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191377175-38SX4KBTAM4X8MOAFQSE/TwiceLucky52.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out On the ground, crews struggle to wrestle a 6-pounder artillery piece (above) and a Jeep (below) onto an Airspeed Horsa glider. These are the two major pieces of cargo that Southgate’s tow (HG759) was carrying when he was forced to drop the line. Once landed on the ground, the rear section of the glider could be removed for quicker extraction of the equipment. Photos: Warr44.com (top) and ww2research.com (bottom) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191455465-10XIM7OXUXGHTBJHDSD0/TwiceLucky55.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Dutch citizens examine the Horsa glider 759 where it came to rest at Indoornik. Moments later the tail was removed and the Jeep and 6-pounder artillery piece were rolled out. Both glider pilots and the two South Staffordshire Regiment gunners crossed the Rhine successfully by using the ferry/bridge at Driel, Holland and joined their own troops. Photo via Arie-Jan van Hees from Tugs and Glider to Arnhem – A Detailed Survey of The British Glider Towing Operations During Operation Market Garden, 17, 18, and 19 September, 1944 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191534014-3DFY1IT5SL9BU8UFSBET/TwiceLucky36.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out 512 Squadron Dakota Mk III, HC-AT (RAF Serial No. KG330), lands at the Brussels Airport to repatriate Belgian nationals from Germany—both slave labourers and former concentration camp inmates. This 512 Squadron aircraft brought in the infantry and airborne commandos that fought to free them and then brought them back home—an honourable history if there ever was one. And in an unlikely coincidence, KG330 is still flying today from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canadian registered as C-GWXZS and a television star flying for the cameras for the hit reality series Ice Pilots NWT. KG330 also flew paratroopers on D-Day, but Southgate’s logbook indicated that he did not fly KG330, but he flew the next in line, KG331. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628191580965-DIURIPNCW4W07V6J6FE8/TwiceLucky37.jpeg The Stories - TWICE LUCKY – the Trevor Southgate Story - Make it stand out Far, far away and seventy years after rescuing Belgians from Nazi concentration and forced labour camps, RAF Dakota KG330 thunders down an ice runway in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on Great Slave Lake. Photo: Jason Pine Photography https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/disparu-vers-louest monthly 0.5 2022-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5f51640-e2fe-4955-a9ec-a9acffd16d48/Stocky.png The Stories - Stocky Edwards nous a quitté à la veille de son 101e anniversaire. Il a « disparu vers l’Ouest » - Make it stand out La photo. De toutes les photos d’Edwards prises au cours de sa carrière militaire légendaire, aucune ne s’exprime avec autant d’éloquence que celle-ci. Elle a été prise quelque part en Italie en 1943. Il faut savoir que Stocky vient de passer de sergent de section à commandant d’escadre en deux ans. Remarquablement, son visage est calme, paisible et même amusé et ne trahit aucun stress ni manque de sommeil. Ses épaules sont détendues et ses mains sont enfoncées dans les poches de son pantalon kaki. Ses yeux ne reflètent ni la peur ni la perte. Une aura de conscience de soi et de détermination semble entourer son corps. Son regard porte vers l’extérieur, ses yeux sont fixés sur la tâche à accomplir, il est serein. C’est le vrai portrait d’un leader. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ff161b3-4cfe-4195-bb35-dd65d9ceb3d6/Wedding.png The Stories - Stocky Edwards nous a quitté à la veille de son 101e anniversaire. Il a « disparu vers l’Ouest » - Make it stand out Stocky et Toni le jour de leur mariage en 1951. Photo:Edwards Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0133ffea-f8be-4a33-b663-c0e0d558779e/Screen+Shot+2022-05-16+at+7.35.09+AM.png The Stories - Stocky Edwards nous a quitté à la veille de son 101e anniversaire. Il a « disparu vers l’Ouest » - Make it stand out Le temps n’avait fait que les rapprocher — Stocky et Toni aux Ailes d’époque du Canada en 2013. Toni porte une mouche de pêche fabriquée par Stocky, qui adorait la pêche à la mouche. Stocky porte une épinglette indiquant qu’il est membre du Temple de la renommée de l’aviation du Canada. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/skis-and-floats monthly 0.5 2022-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627609298033-ZOQ4T65P68SSE19VUKHG/SkisandFloats00.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627609400846-676AYYBKO2X64GLWSRV9/SunSnow16.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The joy of winter flying... taking off in cold dense air, directly into the wind and bound for ski-plane adventure. Photo: J.P. Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627644982951-4LKQ9MWQTMU64KR2EJ6J/SkisandFloats92.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Prior to the development of the Hurricane, Hawker Aircraft was a producer of some of the finest and fastest biplane fighter and light bomber aircraft of the interwar period—the Hawker Hector, Hardy, Hind, Nimrod, Hartbees, Hornet, Osprey, Audax, Demon, Fury, Super Fury and Hart. Nearly all were powered by Rolls-Royce V-12 engines like the Kestral. The Estonian Air Force purchased 8 Hawker Harts in 1932, four with floats, four on wheels. The float-equipped four were used in coastal defence by the Independent Naval Air Flight, but when this unit was disbanded, the float planes reverted to wheels. Photo: GoPixPic.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645034739-YJJA14V0QOH8TATXI6E5/SlisandFloats91.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Two Hawker Harts of the Independent Naval Air Flight of the Estonian Air Force (No. 151 in foreground, and just visible behind, another). Photo: Aeroflight.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645077046-6I1LEYZPE8LC9301STBL/SkisandFloats130.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out No one did float plane combat aircraft better than the Japanese Imperial Navy. With an empire stretched thin across millions of square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean, and a Navy that could not be everywhere at once, the Japanese took the art of the float plane and the flying boat to the highest levels. Many distant outposts were too small for landing strips or too far away to economically construct one. Japanese fighter aircraft like the Mitsubishi A6M Zero held the upper hand for the first part of the war, and its slower float plane development, the Nakajima A6M2.N (Rufe) had some success. Deployed in 1942 defensively in the Aleutians and Solomon Islands, they were effective against PT-boats on night operations. Here a flight of five Rufes makes an impressive sight. Photo via RCGroups.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645124432-6L28ZEE4Z6RDU0K99GCL/SkisandFloats88.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A pair of Mitsubishi/Nakajima Rufes in flight. The Japanese seemed to favour the centreline float with wing outriggers. The A6M2-N float plane was developed from the Mitsubishi Zero and was designed to support amphibious operations and defending remote bases. Photo via airpages.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645159837-4ZII943FDEE3LQOPDOGR/SkisandFloats129.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out If there is one photograph which demonstrates the commitment of the Japanese Imperial Navy to the float plane fighter concept, this is it. While this looks more like a beach front tiki resort than the Bougainville fighter base, we count seven Nakajima Rufe fighters ready for action, lined up like rental jet skis. Photo via zhjunshi.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645196709-02I0OO4SU175CJFRWKA3/SkisandFloats127.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Kawanishi N1K Kyofu (Allied code name Rex) was perhaps the hottest looking float plane of all time—a fighter grafted to a submarine. It was originally built as a float plane fighter to support forward offensive operations where no airstrips were available. This story is about combat aircraft converted to floats and skis. The “Rex”, purpose-built as a float plane does not qualify, but the conversion in this case went the other way. By the time this aircraft entered service in 1943, the war had shifted to defence and super-hot float plane had lost its importance. The Rex was then converted to a wheeled fighter, named George by the Allies. Photo: IJNAFPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645242055-W8M7LBOI9Z17LYDZQL3B/SkisandFloats83.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out One of the greatest looking float planes of all time, something that Mike Potter should consider for the cottage—the Supermarine Spitfire on floats. During the Norwegian campaign in 1940, when the British were attempting to drive the Germans from the west coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula, they were at a severe disadvantage to the Germans in that they had no access to airfields in the war zone. Short-legged fighters like the Spitfire and Hurricane could not operate from Scotland and still have usable time over Norway. The British Air Staff put out an emergency request to develop float plane versions of both the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The first attempt, by Folland Aviation, a major subcontractor to Supermarine supplying most of the rear fuselages for Spitfires, utilized a Spitfire Mk I and the floats from a Blackburn Roc. The mashing together of the Roc and the Spit was called the Narvik Nightmare. Before it could be properly tested, the Germans had taken control of Norway and the need for a float plane fighter had faded. Photo via tumblr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645317901-3CGYCY3V7K9YNO6F3L7O/SkisandFloats94.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The B-25 Roc was a ship-based carrier aircraft built by Blackburn Aviation. The wheeled version proved to be entirely inadequate as a fighter aircraft (only one victory was ever recorded by the type), and the float-equipped variant was even worse. The floats designed for the Roc, however, were to be utilized for the one-off Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I float plane known as the Narvik Nightmare. Converting a combat aircraft designed for wheels to float configuration was shown to be often wrong-headed right from the start, but militaries persisted all throughout the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645369294-O6WMWBTHBN87INE9PAPF/SkisandFloats82.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Despite the low priority for Spits on floats after the Norwegian campaign, Folland continued to play with the concept and in 1942 began testing a series of Spitfires modified with custom designed, high speed floats. In addition to the floats, the Spit sported a four bladed propeller and a highly modified tail, bearing little visual connection to the tail we have all come to know. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645402132-KU0QPU7UQ3JIWGA6KK5O/SkisandFloats13.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The first flight of a Spitfire float plane (W3760) took place near Southampton and showed that a larger ventral fin was needed. Further tests were flown near Glasgow, Scotland. Despite the mass of the floats, the aircraft weighed only 1,100 lbs more and the topside speed was reduced by only 40 miles per hour. The aircraft was surprisingly nimble despite the floats and test pilots were of the opinion that it could be a front line aircraft flown by line pilots. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645451742-X247K393JDS9FLUJJACX/SkisandFloats12.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645476820-I27UE06Q0RJERHXUZCJO/SkisandFloats86.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Two photos of Supermarine Spitfire Vb (W3760) taxiing on water. The photo at bottom, taken first, is different in that a Volkes filter (enlarged chin intake) was added to the carburetor air intake for the first tests. As well, we can see that the tail is largely the same as standard Spitfires except for the ventral fin. In the photo above, we can see that the Volkes filter intake has been changed to the Aero-Vee filter, similar to those found on later series Merlin-powered Spitfires. Also evident is the enlarged vertical stabilizer and rudder, added to gain back some directional authority. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645531795-G1UAZQTAF3WW6VJ9TOR1/SkisandFloats11.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Spitfire Vb EP751 looks strange indeed plowing through the salt waters of Great Bitter Lake in Egypt. Three float plane conversions (W3760, EP751 and EP754) were transported to Egypt for testing. It was hoped that if tropical operation tests proved successful, more Spits could be converted for operations from concealed bases in the Dodecanese Islands, disrupting German supply lines. However, the battlefront had shifted with the German capture of Kos and Leros, and no role could be found for the Spitfire float plane. The three aircraft languished in Egypt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645573672-MR0VCPG3QNGPRPD6XX3E/SkisandFloats84.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out One last kick at the can. Spitfire Mk IX (MJ892) being tested in Great Britain. In the spring of 1944, it was thought that the Spitfire float plane idea might yet still have life, with the possibility of facing war with Japan after the Germans were finished off. Test pilot Jeffrey Quill said of the Mark IX: “The Spitfire IX on floats was faster than the standard Hurricane. Its handling on the water was extremely good and its only unusual feature was a tendency to ‘tramp’ from side to side on the floats, or to ‘waddle’ a bit when at high speed in the plane.” It wasn’t long before the idea was scrapped for good and MJ892 was converted back to wheels. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645620890-WRGJH14NL3J7256Q8B25/SkisandFloats33.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645646450-16UYJWPFEQK1XMXBYNOH/SkisandFloats34.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Grumman F4F-3S Wildcat (BuNo 4038), jokingly referred to as the “Wildcatfish”, was an investigation into the viability of converting the little barrel-like ship borne fighter to a fighting float plane using Edo floats. The large ventral strake and tail plane fins were added to restore lost stability. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645675148-P9FHF337JS2T3BKTTI21/SkisandFloats40.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Wildcatfish (without the ventral fin), was first flown on 28 February 1943 and the results were less than promising. The heavy floats were so draggy, they reduced the maximum speed of the Wildcat from 320 to 281 mph. Given that the main Japanese fighters like the Zero already had better performance than the Wildcat, the benefit of the floats was far outweighed by the fact that it was a sitting duck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645711786-DCEECZ5SYRU1C2C5RZSM/SkisandFloats90.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A United States Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver leaps into the air from a choppy sea in September of 1943. The caption attending this photo indicates that it was “Take Off No. 6”. The Helldiver was a carrier based dive bomber, many of which were made under licence in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The fifth production aircraft (BuNo. 00005) was modified with two floats and a large ventral fin to become the XSB2-C Helldiver Seaplane. The Navy was considering purchasing up to 350 of the type. The second prototype was lost in water tests and the programme cancelled. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645749065-08QUOH6P782BR8QWOT2L/SkisandFloats95.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out While the Curtiss Helldiver XSB2-C2 Seaplane was a poor performer, it was an impressive looking aircraft, standing on amphibious floats. Note the “hydrovane” below the tail, offering increased lateral stability. Only the one prototype and a single SB2C-2 production aircraft were built. The second one was lost in tests. Photo: US Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627645923666-ORQLLII8FW1T0GHPYTUS/SkisandFloats96.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Curtiss Helldiver was not the only United States Navy carrier-based combat aircraft that received floats. One Douglas TBD-1A Devastator, the only other variant of the poorly performing torpedo bomber is seen here in Rhode Island undergoing torpedo testing with a high visibility torpedo slung beneath. During the Battle of Midway, the wheeled production of the Devastator proved to be utterly inadequate in terms of manoeuvrability and speed, so it doesn’t take much imagination to picture how inadequate the single float-equipped variant was. In this photo, it is difficult to tell whether the propeller is spinning or removed. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646006874-1YLILZ02U1XHY0GIF0N8/SkisandFloats97.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Vought SB2U Vindicator was the first monoplane dive bomber of the United States Navy, coming into service in 1937. In Royal Navy service it was known as the Chesapeake. One Vindicator, an extended range variant called the SB2U-1, was modified with a pair of Edo floats to become the XSB2U-3. Here we see it being tested in US Marines livery, pushed by a couple of Marines/sailors standing between the floats. Photo: U.S. National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646036664-DQ32LVAXEPYF22QDFLQP/SkisandFloats98.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The XSB2U-3 Vindicator in flight with US Navy markings. The aircraft proved a poor performer and was taken out of service, and returned to SB2U-1 standard. Photo: US Navy via WarbirdInformationExchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646075155-04GZRT42UIG7BCB8NVBB/SkisandFloats16.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The lumbering tri-motor Junkers Ju.52 utility transport was used in all fronts and in all situations—on wheels, skis and floats. As Germany began to lose air superiority later on the war, the Tante Ju (Auntie Ju) became a sitting duck for Allied fighters. Any Ju.52 on floats would not have had a chance without fighter escort. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646107381-W3KZCEI2O3H6WECZ67DR/SkisandFloats149.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Royal Air Force Northrop Nomad on floats in 1943. The squadron code GS on the side indicates that the Nomad is from 330 Norwegian Squadron. 330 Squadron was formed in Iceland in 1941. It was manned by escaped Norwegian pilots and aircrew who were trained in Canada. The Nomad N-3PB was built on floats to a Norwegian specification and used by them for anti-submarine patrol, torpedo bombing and coastal work. Photo: Flying Officer Woodbine, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646162813-DSJMAV6S2XWPO1VCPHIA/SkisandFloats155.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Ryan PT-22A Recruit trainer on floats. Recruit seaplanes were ordered by the Netherlands Air Force... to be powered by a 160 Menasco engine. The order was cancelled and then 25 were built for the United States Army Air Corps. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646193245-ZL6CFN5L9QS7HEJYK38D/SkisandFloats160.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Ryan Recruit flies over the Pacific off the coast of California, wearing the markings of the Netherlands Air Force. Note the difference in the engines between this shot and the previous—this one a Menasco in-line and the previous shot a Kinner radial. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646227952-XXFDOGNDKQPUKES9W3ZA/SkisandFloats39.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Bristol Bolingbroke was a Canadian variant of the Bristol Blenheim light bomber and patrol aircraft. They were built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd in Longueuil, Québec. Only a single Mk III was constructed (RCAF serial number 717). It was taken on strength by the Test and Development Establishment at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in Ottawa. It was immediately modified to a float plane and made its first flight just a month later from the Ottawa River. The scene depicted above looks to be the float plane base at Rockcliffe, with the paper mills at Gatineau belching in the distance. A ventral fin was added for stability after initial test flights, making this photo likely around the time of those first flights. Also, the aircraft and Edo floats look brand new. Photo: RCAF via WW2Talk.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646253276-YPU2DFBT6WC9HOY9IFBO/SkisandFloats115.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out In November of 1940, on floats, RCAF Bolingbroke 717 flew to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to join 5 Squadron (Bombing and Reconnaissance) for further tests on salt water until February 1941. There are several websites that claim these shots were taken at No. 5 (BR) Squadron in Dartmouth. But 717 was on floats with that squadron from 5 November until February. If this was Dartmouth, it would be likely be snowy, and it would definitely not have trees in full leaf. This is most definitely Rockcliffe. Photo: RCAF via WarThunder.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646411475-D6Y9R2EP90IWREOGNHDE/SkisandFloats116.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646435817-JMBBN3VEZL1XLAM73PGD/SkisandFloats117.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Canadian-built Bristol Bolingbroke was a good looking airplane on wheels, and on floats it looked even better. Photos: RCAF via IPMSCanada.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646515854-DB0LS7CY6N94YZJHPLHN/SkisandFloats132.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out One Avro Anson (Serial 3168-2RB) was converted in 1946–47 by the South African Air Force to a float configuration to help new 35 Squadron crews convert to the challenges of water operations. The Anson would help the rookie flying boat pilots adjust to taxiing on water before they graduated to the much more challenging Short Sunderland flying boat (one is just visible behind and to the right of the Anson in this shot). 35 Squadron operated from Air Force Station Congella at the Maydon Wharf in Durban. Photo via AirfixTributeForum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646544642-5EE1JAUJPK4KYNIIIDSC/SkisandFloats133.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The singular Avro Anson (former RAF N4927) equipped with floats is seen in Durban, South Africa’s harbour. We can see here the bow-hatch in the nose of the Anson, used for mooring. The gun turret was removed from the aft fuselage and as a result this particular Anson was not flyable and was simply used to teach pilots and crew seamanship and moving about on the water. Photo via saairforce.co.za https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646578401-AFUN53A5VEC9INX8TX1S/SkisandFloats29.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Douglas DC-3/C-47, often considered the most important aircraft of all time and in particular of the Second World War, was critical in delivering supplies and personnel on all fronts in every theatre. As the US Navy, Marines and Army began to have success island hopping on their way to Japan, it was thought a heavy amphibious transport would be needed, and the Gooney Bird got the call. Edo, the number one float designers and suppliers in America, designed for the C-47C a pair of one ton floats, the largest they had yet built. Each float was 42 feet in length! To put that in perspective, a P-51 Mustang was only 32 feet long. Photo: rccanada.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646609791-3OI3XFA90L0GRC5THWKL/SkisandFloats30.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Douglas C-47C float plane was a handful to fly—difficult to get off of and land on water. It handled poorly in a crosswind and, as one would imagine, sluggish compared to the wheeled variant. Photo via 1000AircraftPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646643854-7H069W6MNJNTRRPH220S/SkisandFloats165.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Canadian Army L-19 Bird Dog (16715) from the Light Aircraft School at Rivers Camp Manitoba sets up for a landing on a nearby lake (Lake Wahtopanah) during Army pilot training circa 1956. Photo via John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646678502-Q9283B8VIB09W6HDAF14/SkisandFloats164.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out In a very artistic image, another Canadian Army Bird Dog (16710) taxis in to shore after a successful landing on Lake Wahtopanah. Photo via John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646734079-AF1WPEP8PCMV8JSLN2YI/SkisandFloats01.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A one-off North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco on floats. The light attack and Forward Air Control (FAC) platform was a versatile twin turboprop light armed reconnaissance aircraft of Vietnam War vintage. It is not known how far the float-equipped Bronco got in testing. Photo via AFWing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646797087-X9RIKRTH03Y1YOXMC2TG/SkisandFloats138.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out We’ll start the combat ski-plane section off with the rarest of all fighter aircraft to be found on skis—the Supermarine Spitfire. In truth, the only Spitfire known to have been fitted with skis was Spitfire Mk XIV (TZ138), having been selected for winterization trials and shipped to Canada in late 1945. It was then shipped by rail to Edmonton and assembled there. After initial trials, it was sent to Fort Churchill on the coast of Hudson Bay for some deep cold tests. The 1,000+ mile flight from Edmonton required a fuel stop in Le Pas, Manitoba. On the return from Fort Churchill, the Spitfire swung on landing at Le Pas and struck a snow bank, seriously damaging the propeller. After a new propeller was installed, attempts to get the Spitfire off the snowy field (there was no snow clearing equipment) failed and rather than damage another propeller, the pilot (Mike Hayward of the Royal Canadian Navy) returned to the hangar. An excerpt from Spitfire Survivors Then and Now, Vol. II by Gordon Riley, Peter Arnold and Graham Trant explains what happens next: “Hayward noticed that the only other aircraft in the hangar was a de Havilland Tiger Moth on skis. Eyeing the skis, he set a plan in motion. It would have been beyond the limit of their rudimentary tools to install the skis on the Spitfire’s landing gear but they could build a wooden box structure on each ski and then place the aircraft’s wheels into the boxes. In theory they would fall away from the aircraft following take-off. At the risk of breaking another propeller, Hayward carried out a taxi test with the skis in place on 27 February 1947. Since there were no brakes, the aircraft moved forward even with the throttle at idle. The taxi test was exciting as the Spit slithered around on the snow but the idea seemed to work. By noon the next day, work was completed and the weather forecast was very good. Since the runway was completely covered by snow, Hayward and his crew had to guess and positioned the aircraft accordingly. Advancing the throttle, the Spitfire began to move smoothly but, just before flying speed, it hit a bump and one wheel came out of its box. The starboard ski did a backward somersault over the tail section, just as Hayward and his crew had feared, it made lots of noise but resulted only in some gouges in the aluminium skin. As TZ138 took off the other ski fell free as planned, Hayward flew for 2.5 hours before landing uneventfully at Namao. He later recalled that no one seemed thankful that the aircraft arrived at its destination nor was the RCAF even remotely interested in the temporary ski modification. He did, however, feel that all credit should go to the Royal Canadian Navy!” Photos: Peter Arnold Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41f55ceb-dc47-46e9-881c-f95f47cc8b48/265869709_10159987623699658_482939693417822474_n.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Hawker Audax on skis, RCAF (Serial No. K3100) during winter trials at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 17 Mar 1935. The aircraft is fitted with an R.A.E. heating bag with R.R. primus heater. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3580835) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646907322-1WK2EUUK9YCSQK1IDB17/SkisandFloats14.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Wikipedia pages for the Hawker Hurricane and its variants make little mention of the two Canadian Hawker Hurricanes equipped with skis. The first was a former Mk I from the Royal Air Force (AG310) which was temporarily converted with Noorduyn skis at Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William (Thunder Bay). Later, it was modified to Mk XII standard and taken on strength by the RCAF as 1362. The second (above), was a Mk XII modified with skis. It was lost, likely crashed in a lake near RCAF Bagotville, Québec. Canadian aviation historian Lee Walsh has been working for a number of years to track down witnesses and photographic evidence that will lead him to find the RCAF’s only ski-equipped Hurricane. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2f28e575-1fa0-45cc-8b5d-c9ba0ff555a3/60f9983d9e5ee807bde2c981_Hawker-Hurricane--RCAF--Serial-No--1362--on-Noorduyn-skis--CCF-Factory--1942--Griffin-Library-via-Fred-Paradie.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Hurricane 1362 being converted to ski gear at Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William (Thunder Bay). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627646943363-1B99GM9NFLQJELV8BD03/SkisandFloats15.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Hurricane XII, RCAF serial 5624 (above), was tested on skis in February and March of 1943 at RCAF Station Rockcliffe’s Test and Development Establishment. The following month, whilst flying with Number One (Fighter) Operational Training Unit at RCAF Bagotville, it went missing. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647169887-NK1RGLVZHJMSI43X4A0W/SkisandFloats22.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out North American NA-61 Harvard 1321 was one of the first batches of American-built Harvard trainers to be delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force, being ferried to RCAF Station Sea Island, British Columbia in July of 1939, two months before the declaration of war with the Germans. A few weeks later, en route to Trenton, Ontario over the Great Lakes, 1321 suffered some minor damage at North Bay on Lake Nipissing. For the next year, it bounced around Ontario flying schools including Trenton, Borden and then Ottawa (Uplands). In the winter of 1940–41, it was sent to Noorduyn for the installation of skis (the cost of the ski modification was quoted in R.R. Walker’s excellent RCAF Serials resource site as $3,263.34 ). From Noorduyn in Montréal, it returned to RCAF Station Rockcliffe in Ottawa for testing of the ski equipment as well as other winterized kit (extended exhaust and heater). These tests were conducted by Rockcliffe’s Test and Development Flight until the middle of March 1941. While many of the elementary trainers such as the Tiger Moth, Finch and Cornell did in fact operate on skis, the more powerful Harvard was perhaps too much of a handful on skis and none were put into service at advanced flying schools. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647214494-OBXSEM3ZBQ1HRFZWT035/SkisandFloats112.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A scan of a rare colour transparency of a Fairchild Cornell in skis at No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St. Eugène with Vintage News subscriber Peter Jenner standing in the late afternoon sun. Ski-equipped training aircraft seem to have been the norm at St. Eugène as Bob Kirkpatrick trained on ski-equipped Fleet Finches during his days at No. 13 EFTS. For young men from Great Britain like Jenner and for Americans like Kirkpatrick, taking off and landing on skis would be a novelty worthy of a photo or two for the folks back home. Photo via Peter Jenner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647262804-R1HJGRGQXJV6HPXCNWD8/SkisandFloats113.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out An RCAF de Havilland Tiger Moth gave little protection against winter—a weak cabin heater and only the thickness of fabric and Perspex to fend off -30C temperatures. Local Eastern Townships resident Yvon Goudreau was a civilian member of the Ground Crew at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills. Here he poses next to a winterized Tiger Moth (canopy and skis) on a lovely winter’s day. Photo: Johnny Colton Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647313512-4WXIPSI8QGUU4P1B4S57/SkisandFloats114.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out From snooping around the Internet, it seems that only two countries experimented with Lysanders on skis—the Finns and the Canadians. Here a National Steel Car-built RCAF Lysander sits not on a snowy runway, but the frozen surface of a lake or river. Since Lysander with RCAF serial 459 was used to test skis at Rockcliffe’s Test and Development flight, this is quite possibly the Ottawa River. The tests were also conducted at a place called Porquis Junction, Ontario, north of Timmins and close to the Iroquois Falls airport. Clearly it was there to do winter testing. One thing of note is the skis added to the Lysander’s already formidable vertical height and the angle of its stance. The Finnish example later in this story had skis that did not seem to add to the height. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647344751-50I9ULJP80IWCED65VCI/SkisandFloats108.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Avro Anson (RCAF serial No. 6195—Ex RAF W1631) sits on skis during tests with the RCAF’s Test and Development Flight at Rockcliffe in the winter of 1941–42. The ski equipment looks jury-rigged—a wooden platform that accepts the extended wheels of the Anson. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647422935-BBU4V3Q9678JDSZXWBUX/SkisandFloats21.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out In the early months of 1944, a P-51A-1-NA (Serial number 43-6003) was fitted and tested with lightweight and retractable ski landing gear at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The design was in response to the thought that maybe, as forces were pushing the Germans back across Europe in the months ahead, the Allies would need fighters that could operate from unprepared fields in winter conditions. When the gear was retracted, the skis were housed in a compartment formed when the P-51A’s centreline Browning machine guns were removed from the fuselage. The aircraft proved to perform quite well, with take-off distances around 1,000 feet. The gear package added 390 lbs to the overall weight and increased hydraulic pressure was required to retract the skis. The development of the long-legged P-51D eliminated the need for fighters to operate from forward areas in the winter. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647475881-0AV3VE1BZWQG8Z93SFKQ/SkisandFloats104.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out It seems that pretty well every fighter aircraft was given a chance on skis. With the war likely to run through the winter of 1944–45 and the lend lease program in full swing with the Soviets, even the massive P-47 Thunderbolt had a ski tryout. From what I can tell, this P-47C Thunderbolt is sitting exactly in the same spot as the P-51 Mustang in the previous photo—which I believe to be Winnipeg, Manitoba. Photo: P47.KitMaker.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647516220-9NKA7GPPC4BSIKA46XP2/SkisandFloats105.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out United States Army Air Force P-47C (Serial No. 42-24964) warms up on a Winnipeg airfield. Results were far from satisfactory, with the aircraft’s rudder unable to counteract torque on skis. It was put back on wheels and flown back to the US. Photo: forum.kepypublishing.com/Hank Dallinger Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647556776-EHMZYCCICCGX2NJJSNJT/SkisandFloats49.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Captain Randy Acord was the Project Officer and pilot of a P-38 Lightning cold weather experiment in Alaska in the winter of 1943–44. The Lightning was equipped with temperature sensors throughout that helped the USAAC and Lockheed to understand the temperatures reached for machine gun lubrication, engine lubrication, cabin heat, carburetor heat, fuel distribution problems etc. Photo and information via akpub.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647602576-L1JQJVEDHECROUMOX98J/SkisandFloats19.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Captain Randy Acord taxies his one-of-a-kind Lightning on snow in Alaska in 1943. Of the ski tests with the P-38, Acord had this to say: “The conditions were ideal for our tests, and I made 165 landings, with complete retraction and extension of the skis between each landing. The interest around the base was high, especially among the Russians based at Ladd Field. Every operation was successful, even the dive test, during which the plane reached speeds up to 450 mph. The advantages were small, though. The ski loading was 640 pounds per square foot, and regardless of the depth of the snow, the skis went to the bottom of it. The propeller clearance was only 14 inches and we could plow that much snow on wheels. The skis worked well on rough snow, covered ground, or ice with cracks, while on glazed ice the landing slide was 7,000 feet. With no torque involved and the engines idling at 500 rpm, it was easy to do figure eights on the ground in the width of the runway.” Photo and information via akpub.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647634957-DQD88WJWEFPVY2O80B03/SkisandFloats102.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out According to Captain Randy Acord’s account every operation was successful. This image of the ski-equipped Lightning belly down on Fairbanks, Alaska’s landing Field seems to indicate that at least one flight was not so successful. Photo: USAF via wwdb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647697448-9QZ5EPB0GR07U4254KEK/SkisandFloats120.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A P-63A Kingcobra (Serial Number 42-68887) taxies into a bit of trouble during trials. According to Wikipedia, it was the Soviets who conducted ski tests with the P-63, but this is clearly an American Kingcobra. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647733156-S3ARXN3JFKW1PZV5547C/SkisandFloats148.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Accident records on the Aviation Safety Network indicate that the single Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (42-106129) on skis was written off on 16 August 1944 in an accident on Andrews Lagoon, Adak Island in the Alaskan Aleutians. There is no telling whether this was a frozen lagoon and the aircraft was on skis, but by August, the Aleutians are free of ice as far as I know. The aircraft was flown by John Norman of the 11th Fighter Squadron of the 343 Fighter Group. Photo via shu-aero.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647763978-AHWKPVOV43CPZ6E0ZC5T/Skisandfloats103.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out At least two Kingcobras were fitted with skis as evidenced by Bell P-63 Kingcobra (42-68931) sitting on skis in a particularly unsuitable taxiing environment—at Wright Field in October 1945. Photo: USAF via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647881291-GVFCB95VLI0WG49FRUS2/SkisandFloats147.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony fighter on ski-equipped landing gear operating from Hokkaido in 1943. Photo via WarRelics.eu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647918634-F0B8XTKCYUSSOGPEV9CK/SkisandFloats154.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar as it was known by the Allies) on skis with a rare four-bladed propeller—testing for cold weather operations. The tests were conducted in anticipation of conflict with the Soviets in the Kuril Islands. Photo via allaircraftsimulatins.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647947119-3909GJCTHYMNT4YBK460/SkisandFloats157.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Mitsubishi Ki-51 “Sonia” dive bomber being tested on skis at Obihiru Airfield, Hokkaido, Japan. The aircraft was painted white, though it is not evident on this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627647994564-SVFFZE657X3XKUSHSS2V/SkisandFloats02.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out When the German army got bogged down in the brutal winter of 1941–42, following Operation BARBAROSSA, the Luftwaffe, flying combat support, found new challenges such as operating aircraft from constantly changing airfields in the worst winter in decades. Here mechanics show Luftwaffe officers a Junkers Ju-87B.2 Stuka being tested for ski operation on 22 December. Photo: Bundesarchiv.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648023536-NEH06LEHRRJYTMQ11HG2/SkisandFloats134.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Another Junkers Ju-87 set for winter operations. The skis look different on this D-model (Dora) Stuka (DJ+FU) than the previous photo, so likely several test aircraft were involved. It is not known if the ski-equipped Stuka was ever used operationally, but given the lack of photographic evidence on the web, it is unlikely. Photo: Asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648163192-YECG0G2W0N1J6JTC7CXN/SkisandFloats54.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf-109 had many different variants. One was the Bf-109W, a variant on floats of which there is little photographic record and this unknown variant on skis. Very little is to be found about this aircraft, so anyone with better photos or info is encouraged to email us. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648199229-PGOCYK6FB8V8AGVT28KM/SkisandFloats107.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out It was very difficult to get information on either the Bf-109 on skis or this Focke Wulf Fw.190 on skis. Doing a rather basic translation from a Slovakian Wikipedia page, it seems that in the winter of 1941–42, one Fw.190.A.2 (RI+KW) was fitted with non-retractable wooden skis, with tests conducted at Gardermoen air base, near Oslo, Norway (today’s Oslo Airport). Due to a significant decrease in performance, the ski-equipped Würger (Shrike) was abandoned. Photo via PakistanAffairs.pk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648228565-5ULHEP4JUX5PM524MK9E/SkisandFloats150.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Heinkel He-111 medium bomber is tested on retractable skis or “Schneekufen” at Gardermoen near Oslo. Note the wooden slatted structure upon which the skis sit in this photo and the previous one. Early on, it was found that as the aircraft were taxiing, the bottom of the ski would warm up from the friction of the snow. On shut-down, the skis would immediately freeze to the snow. When it came time to move off, it was quite a project to get the aircraft free of the formed ice. The answer was that the taxied aircraft were parked on a pad of some sort to prevent the freeze-up. In Canada, most bush pilots know of the problem (they learn quick, some of them), and resort to cutting fir tree branches and parking their aircraft on top. Photo: Asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648262161-7F8QFNG9ZSN7V1VVXK2S/SkisandFloats37.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out An Avia Bk.534 of the Slovakian Air Force warms up on a cold day at the Trencianske Biskupice airfield. The Avia was designed and built in Czechoslovakia in the interwar period, but in March of 1939, Nazi Germany forced the partition of the country and took over the Czech component while installing the Slovak half as the Slovak Republic. The Slovenské vzdušné zbrane (Slovak Air Force) was constituted from units of the Czechoslovak air force that were based in Slovakia. The new force was gifted about 70 B.534s and Bk.534s. Photo via Vrtulnik.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648323048-MQ1Z49I52IVL6GC7GGGC/SkisandFloats69.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Sweden, though a neutral country, was also preparing for the eventuality of a winter war. Here, a BT-17 variant of the Northrop A-17 Nomad dive bomber sports what appear to be retractable skis as well as rocket rails. Photo via WorldofWarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648399308-F1A2UE4FL28KOYGXO7VR/SkisandFloats93.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Pegasus-powered Hawker Harts of the Swedish Air Force warm their engines in squadron strength—in both wheeled and ski configurations. Photo via AviaDejaVu.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648456198-UJVGQHVSW4M6VUTV2X08/SkisandFloats140.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out There may be no colder place on the planet than 1,000 feet above the sub-Arctic forest of Sweden, sitting in Hawker Hart M in a 150 mph wind and no ability to move. The Swedes were a tough bunch though! Many of the Swedish Air Force aircraft used the same ski equipment as the Finns. The Hawker Hart M was a Pegasus-powered variant, with the engine and aircraft licence-built in Sweden. This aircraft was with Flygflottillj 19 (F-19), a volunteer unit that operated in northern Finland (Lapland) in the second half of the Winter War. In this photo, the aircraft and pilots have just returned from Finland and have painted over the Finnish markings they flew with in the combat theatre. Photo: WarThunder.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648493112-00GO8FWQMVA5NCRSFEQQ/SkisandFloats141.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Swedish F-19 mechanic readies a Hawker Hart as it waits patiently in the cold of a Lapland winter for night to fall (which, in the arctic winter, is most of the day). The Swedes have taken many winter precautions—skis, custom wing tarps to keep ice from forming, and covers for the cockpits and engine. At the Swedish Air Force Museum at Malmslätt, there is a Hawker Hart and Gloster Gladiator in the markings of F-19 during the Winter War. Photo: ww2aircraft.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648529803-HQB20LVJEQKXA411HEGD/SkisandFloats59.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Two shots of a Finnish-marked Swedish Gloster Gladiator in camouflage and ski gear in January 1940 during the Winter War. The photo at bottom shows ground crews standing by as F-19’s Wing Commander Kapten Ake Söderberg warms his engine prior to a mission. While the ski gear likely degraded the performance of the Finnish/Swedish Gladiator, they were fighting against Soviet aircraft on skis with similarly affected speeds. Photo: Hakans Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648560773-5K6NRNW7Q6R0BBLGFGWJ/SkisandFloats119.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Northrop designed the B-5 (A and B) dive bomber specifically for the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet). Based largely on the Nomad, they were built in Sweden and were powered by a Swedish-built version of the Bristol Mercury radial engine. Here we see a “Flottiljer” (flotilla) of Northrop B.5Bs on skis during an exercise in the winter of 1941. Photo via WorldofWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648612967-TV2NDM2TPQ0QS4GOS2GJ/SkisandFloats118.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Swedish Air Force operated almost 100 of the Northrop B-5A and B-5C. Given that it was likely winter when this photograph of B-5A “29” was taken, it seems that it was a miserable job being the rear gunner. The comfort of the gunner seems to have been completely ignored as there is not even a wind screen to divert the air flow for this poor bugger. Photo via RCGroups.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648645650-YGMMT2YLLF0BVQNR6ZNL/SkisandFloats121.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out This photo of a Swedish Northrop B-5A is testament to the fact that ski-equipped aircraft operations are difficult on everyone—even the ground crews. Photo via ww2photo.se https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648731602-KLCQHCJCRH60BP63IDXQ/SkisandFloats135.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out While Canadians were experimenting in 1943 with ski-equipped Hurricanes for defensive and operational training squadrons, all they had to do was consult the Finns who had played with the idea two years previously (on Hurricane HC454) during the “Continuation War” against the Soviets. They went as far as making the skis retractable, but the system was not practicable and the concept was dropped. Photo via warthunder.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648758857-OLOVDZOUBEDLTCOQ8GEQ/SkisandFloats57.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat) was perhaps the most experienced operator of ski-equipped combat aircraft in the world leading up to and through the Second World War. The tiny yet persistent and courageous air force operated aircraft designed in Holland, Great Britain, the United States and Germany. At the outbreak of the war with the Soviet Union on 30 November 1939, the primary fighter aircraft of the Ilmavoimat was the Fokker D.XXI, an inexpensive fixed gear fighter. Operating their aircraft on skis allowed the Finns to disperse them around the countryside rather than concentrate them at airfields which were easily bombed by the Soviets. The 50 D.XXIs built by the Finnish State Aircraft Factory (in Finnish, an unpronounceable Valtion Lentokonetehdas) were powered by a Swedish-built Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp engine. The little fighter produced its share of aces, with Jorma Sarvanto being its highest scorer with 12.5 victories. Given the clarity of this photo and the identical-to-the-last-detail museum example below, it is possible that this black and white shot in snow is in fact the museum’s restoration in a staged photo. Not sure. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648797788-4JFJCH0XDW49T29PUFL3/SkisandFloats100.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Finnish Air Force Museum (Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo) has a beautifully restored Fokker D.XXI (FR-110) on skis. While not familiar with the type, I find it a handsome aircraft. It would be a marvelous thing to see one of these old warbirds fly from snow once again. Photo: Jukka Kolpannen, Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648823599-K3UT07KAPQ3X4BSRABKB/SkisandFloats151.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out In a more peaceful time, Finnish Bristol Bulldog Mk IV on skis visit an airfield at Sortavala, a town near the Russian border in 1936. The town of Sortavala was in an area ceded to Russia after the Winter War. The Finnish Karelians evacuated the town and today it lies in Russia on the northern shore of Lake Lagoda, populated by Slavic Russians. Photo via slon-76:livejournal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648860593-UEJBYFZIQOQSI1GO3B84/SkisandFloats63.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Much maligned by American and British pilots, the Brewster Buffalo was, in the hands of the determined Finnish, an effective fighter. The Wikipedia page dedicated to the Buffalo explains it best: Several nations, including Finland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, ordered the Buffalo. Of all the users, the Finns were the most successful with their Buffalos (known simply as the Brewster or Taivaan helmi (“Sky Pearl”) or Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi (“Pearl of the Northern Skies”)), flying them in combat against early Soviet fighters with excellent results. During the Continuation War of 1941–1944, the B-239s (a de-navalized F2A-1) operated by the Finnish Air Force proved capable of engaging and destroying most types of Soviet fighter aircraft operating against Finland at that time and achieving in the first phase of that conflict 32 Soviet aircraft shot down for every B-239 lost and producing 36 Buffalo “aces”. Photo via WW2Aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648891076-B46M1E5ZDT6D1KYRL7XF/SkisandFloats64.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Finnish Lysander on skis taxies as a snow covered airfield. The Finnish Ilmavoimat had 4 Mk Is and 9 Mk IIIs. They were used during the Winter and Continuation Wars against Russia and then against their former ally Nazi Germany. They were mostly used in an observation or reconnaissance role but also for dropping light bombs as evidenced by the bomb racks on the stubs protruding from the wheel pants. Photo via ww2Photo.se https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627648937826-39ZGVQQM1OS3OKWJZIAV/SkisandFloats23.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The ski pants on this two-seat Fokker C.X dive bomber (FK-81) give it a comical look, as if from some Pixar animated film. FK-81 was stationed at Lappeenranta in December of 1939. The Dutch-designed Fokker was licence-built by the Finns up until 1942, with 35 Bristol Pegasus-powered examples being built. The Finnish C.Xs served with distinction in the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. The last of the seven Finnish C.Xs that survived the war crashed in 1958. Photo via Go2War2.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650664101-JBMWASBCDXOEM4M42RA4/SkisandFloats36.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Another Fokker C.X dive bomber on the Finnish/Soviet front shows that the Finns were used to winter operations. The engine shroud appears to have a connector at the bottom for heated air to warm its Bristol Pegasus engine. It also has a cover for the cockpit canopy to prevent icing. As well, this Fokker (FK-100) has the addition of a tail-ski. Photo via WW2Aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650698925-CN40W1EZHTFR4CHPBHM1/SkisandFloats51.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Three Avro Anson I aircraft (RAF serial Nos. K8738, K8739, and K8740) were purchased by the Finnish Air Force in 1936 for bomber crew training. In this photo we see Anson AN-102 on skis in the winter of 1937–38. The aircraft was painted overall dark green with sky grey undersides and bare metal cowlings. AN-102 crashed in 1943. Photo via GoPixPic.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650726650-6KNNQ7WTW6MNCHUY1G7U/SkisandFloats35.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out At the beginning of the Winter War in November 1939, the tiny Finnish Air Force was equipped with only 17 bombers and 31 fighters. The most modern aircraft in the Finnish arsenal were the British-designed Bristol Blenheim bombers that had been licence-built in Finland. Some of these, such as BL-106 (above), were equipped with skis covered in special fairings which prevented snow and ice from building up on the ski equipment. It is clear that these were never meant to retract. Photo via mybb.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650759275-6DDBHT2Y9NRTDNJNVV75/SkisandFloats52.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Another Bristol Blenheim with what appears to be retractable ski undercarriage. Photo via theMiniaturesPage.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650800052-1FRR5X3SDLLEFAZZDOIO/SkisandFloats73.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Gloster Gauntlet of the Finnish Air Force basks in the short-lived winter sun at Vesivehmaa in the winter of 1941–42. Photo via slon-76.livejournal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650827861-RHK7PD5L7M85A0GYNRKD/SkisandFloats142.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Finnish Gloster Gladiators are readied for a mission on a frozen lake near the Finnish–Soviet front during the Winter War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650867433-WGYK6F7NTFNTL31HHC2O/SkisandFloats71.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Finnish Gloster Gladiator in the Finnish Air Force Museum in the same camouflage and ski gear as the previous photo. 22 Gladiator pilots claimed a total of 45 kills with the type, but after the Winter War, it was mostly outclassed by modern Soviet and German aircraft. It lingered on in service until 1945, but in recce and liaison duties mostly. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650950900-VJI18MW1369O5BDN35RS/SkisandFloats143.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The first aircraft designed by Pavel Sukhoi was the Su-2 light bomber. It performed well enough in the Winter and Continuation Wars, but was obsolete by the time of the Great Patriotic War. Su-2 No. 15116 is photographed with ski landing gear, during trials in the Research institute of Air Force in March 1942. Photo: Sukhoi.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627650994947-ZNMFWR5LKMCGZ7CP2N8C/SkisandFloats144.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Lisunov Li.2 was originally a licence-built Soviet version of the DC-3. Built in fairly large numbers (6,157), it was modified for ski operations in Arctic regions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651039596-8Y09NLPZ4X0FY1W28ZB5/SkisandFloats55.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out An entire squadron of Lavochkin Gorbunov Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters are lined up with propellers in sync for a parade on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1942–43. While Canada is equally blanketed in snow during the winter, there was little incentive to get fully operational on skis. Only the Soviets, Swedes and the Finns really put skis and combat aircraft together in an organized and successful manner. Perhaps if the front was in Canada, there would have been more pressing impetus to deploy aircraft on skis at the squadron level. Photo: SovietWarplanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651077763-4QODHXA6XENKOG4X1RQF/SkisandFloats125.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A close-up of a ski-equipped LaGG-3 with sophisticated retractable ski undercarriage. Photo via AviaDejaVu.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651112216-SE6RSLW7D43UAOK0KESD/SkisandFloats65.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Yakovlev Yak-7V on the Eastern front in the winter of 1943–44—looking pretty comfortable on skis on a bright snowy day. The Yak-7 was a development of the Yak-1. It was originally meant to be a fighter-trainer, but then was redesigned as a fighter, and finally, reverted to its original role as a training aircraft. The two-seat trainer was designated Yak-7V, with 510 being built as such and 87 converted from a fighter variant. Both the Yak-7V and the two-seat Kay-7UTI (and earlier communications and training variant) were equipped with skis. Photo via SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651340562-UR1CN0PFBSPT48GXV8JL/SkisandFloats72.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was a heavily armoured Soviet ground attack aircraft of the Second World War, and at more than 36,000 copies built, the most manufactured aircraft in aviation history. Here an early variant undergoes non-retractable ski testing in January 1942. Later examples had retractable ski gear. Photo via Mig3.SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651366327-FMMX4V28BH1B3532OPXR/SkisandFloats137.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Another Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik shows us the difference with retractable ski equipment, retracting into an enlarged gear fairing. Photo via Mig3.SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651393684-41GMDR7S1OQFT1JETCOQ/SkisandFloats44.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Another Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik shows us the difference with retractable ski equipment, retracting into an enlarged gear fairing. Photo via Mig3.SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651419494-Y6W43OHCLUNH3FP8WMMU/SkisandFloats43.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out This view of the Yak-1 demonstrates the wide and stable stance of the aircraft on skis... slightly lower than the wheel configuration. The skis, similar to those used on the LaGG-3 and the MiG-3, had a bottom surface that was only good for about 70–80 take-off and landing cycles. Some Yaks used “take-off” skis which were simply sliding platforms with a ramp like rear. The Yak-1 pilot would roll forward on wheels, up the ramps and into the skis. The skis were then left behind as the aircraft took off. Photo via Ram-Home.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651449357-O1P23AX8D20Y4U4BQTVV/SkisandFloats50.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Kamov-Skrzhinsky A-7 Autogiro, designed by Nikolaï Kamov, was the only armed autogiro in history to see combat action—in the Winter War with Finland. In this photo we can see a defensive machine gun in the rear cockpit and hard points for bombs under the wings. One assumes that the gun had detents that prevented it from shooting off its own rotor. Designed in 1934, it was used primarily for observation and artillery spotting. Photo: Bellabs.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651480098-ZC2EYY89DW4OLRSI5UM0/SkisandFloats128.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Tupolev SB (also called the ANT-40) thunders across an icy airfield (or perhaps a lake), lifting its tail-ski off the ice as it gathers speed. It was used during the Winter War against the Finns. At this time, virtually every bomber (94%) in the Soviet air force was a Tupolev SB. Photo via asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652047022-OO80GMMUSI6SSJYU5W6A/SkisandFloats53.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Tupolev SB 2M-100A fitted with non-retracting skis during the Winter War against Finland in 1939. The suffix SB stood for Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik—“high speed bomber”. SBs, fitted with skis for operation from snow covered airfields, were slower and more vulnerable, while the need to wear heavy winter clothing made the gunner’s job even harder. By the end of the 15-week war, at least 100 SBs had been lost, with the Finns claiming nearly 200 shot down. Photo via Mig3.SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627651520179-J6XT5BTTAR23PDXC7CR6/SkisandFloats136.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Here, in a highly staged propaganda photograph, no less than 12 airmen prepare a Tupolev SB twin-engine bomber for a mission on non-retractable skis. Photo via Mig3.SovietWarPlanes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652154585-6O7ZGGVR20IQFH755QM2/SkisandFloats81.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652115682-VJBIO3HOHZO1OM8CP8KE/SkisandFloats80.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out File this under You Learn Something New Every Day. Prior to compiling this photographic study, I had never heard of nor laid eyes on the Bolkhovitinov S “Sparka”. The Sparka was powered by two Klimov M-103 engines positioned in tandem in the aircraft’s nose, each powering one half of a counter-rotating twin propeller. The version shown here was a single engine variant (S-1), which was tested on skis in early 1942 but was considered underpowered with a single Klimov M-105P, attaining a top speed of 249 mph (400 km/h). Regardless, she was a hot looking machine. Photo: Bernhard C.F. Klein Collection via 1000AircraftPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652384689-O723RQ5AFYXYMKZJ1JTW/SkisandFloats152.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Petlyakov Pe-2 Peshka (Pawn) was a Soviet dive bomber introduced in 1941 and still in service in 1952. It was very successful as a ground attack aircraft, a night fighter, reconnaissance platform and heavy day fighter. The designers at Petlyakov worked on perfecting a retractable ski gear that would not affect its performance, but the system degraded it speed considerably and the ski-equipped Pe-2 was cancelled. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652412800-SDRGSBSXU2FX26J8X1ZY/SkisandFloats153.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The retractable ski equipment for the Petlyakov Pe-2 Pawn utilized the same struts and oleos as the wheeled version. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652442297-WWCN6ZS804HFDIR3UU1G/SkisandFloats122.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Polikarpov I-16 fighter, the bantam cock of Soviet fighter aircraft, carries tail code “White 11” and the banner “Freedom of the Oppressed”. This aircraft was flown by Major George Petrovich Gubanov, Hero of the Soviet Union and the Commander of the 13th Squadron of the 61st Brigade of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force. The Polikarpov I-16 was, at its introduction in 1934, a revolutionary design being the world’s first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to have attained operational status. Photo: Bellabs.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652472243-D4MDJHXW02YERPAB87DS/SkisandFloats123.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out This I-16 Ishak (Donkey) Type 10 was a ski-equipped variant. One wonders if the Soviet pilots of the late 1930s were true Communist Party members, writing jingoistic slogans like “For the Constitution of the USSR!” on the sides of their ski-plane fighter aircraft. Were these banners heartfelt or did the unit’s political commissar force the ground crews to paint the slogans on the side for propaganda photos in newspapers. Anywhere else, young testosterone-fired fighter pilots would have painted a scantily clothed pin-up girl and named their aircraft Hot Mamma or Sack Time. Photo: Bellabs.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652507650-KU0K7P87WI90L5XTOTO8/SkisandFloats124.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out This I-16 Ishak (Donkey) Type 10 was a ski-equipped variant. One wonders if the Soviet pilots of the late 1930s were true Communist Party members, writing jingoistic slogans like “For the Constitution of the USSR!” on the sides of their ski-plane fighter aircraft. Were these banners heartfelt or did the unit’s political commissar force the ground crews to paint the slogans on the side for propaganda photos in newspapers. Anywhere else, young testosterone-fired fighter pilots would have painted a scantily clothed pin-up girl and named their aircraft Hot Mamma or Sack Time. Photo: Bellabs.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652536756-S7VEFUVZASXYASWNV4Y0/SkisandFloats139.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Polikarpov I-180 during tests in the Winter War of 1939–1940. The I-180 was the ultimate development of the smaller I-16. The early testing and failure of the type proved fatal to test pilots and to the career of Nikolaï Polikarpov. Photo via ww2aircraft.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652628641-XJPGTY0CN1HNGCZP2PXA/SkisandFloats78.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Lockheed P2V-2N Neptune “Polar Bear” touches down on an Antarctic ice field. Two United States Navy Neptunes were modified as Polar Bears (strange choice of a name as they were designed for Antarctic service, where there were no polar bears) as part of Project Ski Jump. Their weapons were removed and they received skis and Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) rockets. The skis were 16 feet long and could be retracted into fairings under the engines. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652666995-ETUQMMIMEZ20PONM8S3K/SkisandFloats79.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out With JATO bottles on her sides and belly blasting 30 seconds of rocket assistance, a Polar Bear Neptune takes off from Antarctica. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652704988-B3R9FSAY2XRRAIM1A9VU/SkisandFloats163.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Canadian Forces Cessna L-19 Bird Dog (16703), ski-equipped, in flight near Petawawa, Ontario circa 1968. 703 would have been on strength the Artillery Air Observation (Air OP) Troop based at Petawawa. 703 would be lost to a fatal accident on 13 July 1989, while with the Air Cadet League of Canada, towing gliders at Princeton, BC. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652737560-FH4THDGPFOCGRFOI843U/SkisandFloats167.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out Perhaps one of the best known and most successful military aircraft on skis is the Lockheed LC-130 Hercules of the United States Navy. These heavy lifters of the Navy’s VX-6 squadron first landed at the South Pole in 1960–61. The aircrfat pictured above (JD321) was the first to accomplish the feat. The US Navy continued the Polar service until the late 1990s when the task was transferred to the New York Air National Guard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652770749-597VIQ8K57DNAEDAIYW9/SkisandFloats159.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out A Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing. The 109th Airlift Wing’s mission is to provide airlift support to the National Science Foundation’s South Pole research program by flying specialized LC-130H Hercules airlifters, modified with wheel-ski gear, in support of Arctic and Antarctic operations. The 109th Airlift Wing is now the only unit in the world to fly these aircraft, but it was the Navy that did the pioneering. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652800082-804YE5JO5PSHEFVXE6ZV/SkisandFloats145.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out We end on perhaps the most unlikely ski-equipped aircraft, the Sukhoi S-26. The grammatically incorrect sign in front of this Monino Museum exhibit explains: “Two prototypes were successfully tested under development and state tests in 1963–1966. The aircraft provided capability of being operated on soft airfields with low density ground (down to 4–5kg/cm2). The aircraft had been approved for putting into volume production which, however, has not been commenced. Experience gained from the tests was used to develop the Su-7BKL aircraft with wheel-ski landing gear and the Su-17 aircraft had provisions for ski installation.” Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627652824482-6ALWI3K4OVJX2ZC4LBQ9/SkisandFloats146.jpg The Stories - SKIS AND FLOATS — Anything but Wheels - Make it stand out The Sukhoi S-26 ski/skid test bed aircraft led to the development of the Su-7BKL Fitter with a unique ski-wheel landing gear that enabled it to operate from wet and rough field conditions. Photo: Wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flugzeugabwehrkanone monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608187731-0RNWWB4BCY3E30LT60IU/Flak00.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608232962-3K17CQC6NU58E7GKY1HX/Flak14.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae, 401 Ram Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo via Marilynn Best (née McRae) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608304271-BBIX35CWHRYMBWUASXSZ/Flak08.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out A gun crew for a German 88 mm anti-aircraft gun, known simply as the Eighty Eight, have a lunch break in France during the Normandy campaign. In the First World War, a similar 88 mm gun was used for anti-aircraft defence - German soldiers and airmen called them by a similar name—Acht-Acht (Eight Eight)—which likely gave rise to the nickname used by the British at the time—Ack Ack. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608378571-VEDXX9W9J4PCMDW5MJZ9/Flak11.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out German anti-aircraft gunners with a “light” flak gun called the Flakvierling 38—combining four 20 mm Flak 30 guns on one mount. Despite its smaller size, it required a crew of eight. Like all mobile flak guns, it could also be used against ground targets—with devastating effect. The gun fired 800 rounds per minute. No wonder Bill McRae and his fellow Spitfire pilots of 401 Squadron feared “light” flak most of all. Photo via fhsw.wikia.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608419113-7DJM0HX2N9XMQ87KVV8P/Flak21.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out In this story, Bill McRae speaks of flying the squadron Auster liaison aircraft to pick up Art Bishop, whose Spitfire had been shredded by flak. William Arthur Christian Avery Bishop (right) was the fighter pilot son of one of the greatest aces of the First World War, Canada’s Air Marshal William Avery “Billy” Bishop, VC, CB, DSO, and Bar, MC, DFC, ED, LL.D (left) who had 72 aerial victories to his name. Photos: TheStar.com (right) and WarMuseum.ca (left) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608485099-BFZB2QNF9QD9S0PU6MPU/Flak20.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out An RAF Auster light utility aircraft similar to that flown by the author when picking up Art Bishop. McRae was likely flying 126 Wing’s liaison aircraft or “hack”. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608550525-DZ14JDJKYWIKU7FMQHY1/Flak22.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Escorting both RAF and USAAC Martin Marauders on bombing missions against heavily defended V-1 and V-2 launch sites, McRae witnessed the devastating effects of heavy flak at altitude. Here, on Valentine’s Day 1945, B-26 Lafayette, We Are Here II (serial number 42-95900) falls from the sky. The official, but dramatic, caption from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHEAF) censor, typed on the back of this photo reads in part: “A Martin B-26 Marauder, aflame from engine to tail, hurtles earthward during a 9th Bombardment Division attack against a German front-line communications centre in the path of the advancing First and Ninth Armies. A direct hit from enemy anti-aircraft artillery penetrated the left engine. Flames, starting at the point where the cowling has come off, engulf the wing, fuselage and tail from both sides.” Such scenes had a powerful effect on pilots like McRae. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608620415-MQY0UKYZD1BALNVFO500/Flak01.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out A pilot (left) and two ground crew inspect the flak damage of a 332 (Norwegian) Squadron Spitfire Mk Vb. Close calls like this were commonplace, but flak near the engine, fuel tanks or even the radiator could cause the total destruction of the aircraft. Photo: WarAlbum.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608654077-77XGQB0W6S72BAT78FAY/Flak05.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Arthur Sager of 416 Squadron RCAF was clobbered by flak while flying on a “Rhubarb” over Holland on 13 November 1943. Despite a damaged aircraft, destroyed radio and injuries, he was able to get the Spitfire back to their base at RAF Coltishaw. Rhubarbs were defined by the RAF as operations when sections of fighters or fighter-bombers, taking full advantage of low cloud and poor visibility, would cross the English Channel and then drop below cloud level to search for targets of opportunity such as railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft on the ground, enemy troops and vehicles on roads. As such, they were very susceptible to small caliber flak. Photo via spitfiresite.com and flyingforyourlife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608687936-MSSPCG9ENU7WYOG90PWU/Flak06.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out RCAF Flight Sergeant Mehew Zobell, of Raymond, Alberta, was hit by flak while supporting the Canadian–British raid at Dieppe on the north coast of France on 19 August 1942. His Spitfire was struck both around the engine cowling and the rudder. Despite wounds to his head and face, he was able to get the aircraft home and safely on the ground. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608741543-A74PDGWH98XPH79RF53S/Flak10.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Though not an RCAF Spitfire, this photograph of a USAAF P-47 Thunderbolt powerfully demonstrates the shredding effect of a close call with a flak detonation. Luckily the pilot, who is being attended to by the airman on the wing, was able to get his aircraft back on the ground. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608721977-Q6VGSGRPHCC6RY49C8T7/Flak12.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out Flak was the bane of all flying operations, fighter or bomber. The image of a B-17 Flying Fortress that managed to return bears testament to two things—the devastating power of heavy flak and the incredible ability of the “Fort” to sustain damage and continue. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627608794753-ZEJPW9XTDLHEWJ6U00H4/Flak16.jpg The Stories - FLUGZEUGABWEHRKANONE… AKA Flak - Make it stand out This story and many others, Bill McRae wrote for the Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) over many years. He sent this and several other stories to Vintage Wings before his death in 2011. Precious gifts that they are, we dole them out one at a time, hoping to extend the connection to Bill into the future. Bill was witness to history and a gifted, humble and humorous writer of his and his fellow pilots’ experiences throughout the war. He believed deeply in the importance of the CAHS and its goal to record for all time the powerful aviation heritage that is Canada’s. To find out more about the CAHS, visit www.cahs.ca https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lifting-the-dead monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627604656836-TOG7GT7ZU8CPH3ROJMIA/Larson00.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627604746685-YJEASLQNJ94826NJG399/Larson06.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out The 405 Pathfinders Squadron operations and planning room at RAF Gransden Lodge, about 16 kilometres west of Cambridge, England. In this busy and smoke-filled room, missions were planned down to the smallest detail, taking into account all variables such as fuel, daily signals, meteorology, intelligence, German defences and bomb fusing times. After planning, the squadron assembled for a briefing before being driven to their aircraft. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627604797753-AIVQ4WC495CLLD25P74L/Larson25.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out A fully loaded 9 Squadron Avro Lancaster Mk III struggles into the air on a night raid to bomb the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, Germany. Losing an engine at this point is the worst possible time—with a full load of bombs and incendiaries, seven hours worth of gasoline on board, all three of the other engines already making full power, no more runway and obstacles ahead. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627604873823-1QYMMVKWGCPKMYTCIYBO/Larson01.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out As Larson climbed out of Gransden Lodge with his No. 4 engine about to pack it in, he would have been focused on maintaining his climb and monitoring his airspeed indicator and the RPM and Boost on his No. 4 (starboard outer) engine. During climb out, his Flight Engineer, Al Potter, would have been sitting right beside him on a fold-down jump seat, giving him readings and information. Just above the throttle quadrant, and in front of the engineer in this digital recreation, we see numerous dials and switches, set up in banks of four. Digital recreation of the cockpit of a Lancaster by Polish digital art phenom, Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627604958410-D2VT09J03V2X99DAVM5E/Larson21.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out The No. 4 engine of a Lancaster bomber, like its three wing mates, was a powerful, sophisticated and complex machine. A myriad of electrical wires, fuel and glycol lines, twelve pistons and a heavy camshaft thrashing about in oil. As good as the engine was, there was much chance for something to go awry. The last place aircrews wanted a problem was at the end of the takeoff roll. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605006137-MC8RJRMF0FS4CB3BBW8W/Larson28.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Bud (in civilian clothes) and his brother Lloyd pose in the front garden of the family home in Saskatchewan. Lloyd joined the RCAF and qualified as a Navigator, but a diagnosis of stomach ulcers resulted in the loss of his flying status. He sat out the war in Cabri, helping to run the Larson family butcher shop. Bud Larson could not be much older than 20 in this photograph, but looks much older than his age. Today, well into his 90s, he looks much younger than his age. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605055204-FOFBPXM4ZFGFYP1N51GT/Larson32.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Bud Larson (left) and two of his flying training classmates pose rather self-consciously with a De Havilland Tiger Moth at No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. For Larson, doing his training (both Elementary and Service Flying) in his home province meant he could go home the odd weekend to visit family and friends. Most of these men would be far from home—from across Canada, Great Britain and even Australia and New Zealand. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605107122-GFO573PB2W96VC3DUG2Z/BCATPPrinceAlbert.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out An aerial photograph, looking to the south, of No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, situated to the north side of the Saskatchewan River. Flying over Saskatchewan farm fields was like flying over home to young Bud Larson. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605166648-GGVRMLZA42NXDKD34YGJ/Larson51.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Cessna Cranes of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan over the Canadian Prairie. It would be this training at No. 4 SFTS that turned Bud into a true professional, capable of handling the Lancaster under less than ideal conditions. Photo: RCAF via Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605218354-ZQTE2W14I13Y29IEUQHP/Larson07.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Two Bomber Command armourers make final checks on the bomb load of an Avro Lancaster Mk I of No. 207 Squadron at RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire, before a night bombing operation to Bremen, Germany. The mixed load (Bomber Command executive codeword ‘Usual’), consists of a 4,000-lb HC bomb (‘cookie’) and small bomb containers (SBCs) filled with 30-lb incendiaries, with the addition of four 250-lb target indicators (TI) in the centre ahead of the cookie. The cookie was regarded as a particularly dangerous load to carry. Due to the airflow over the detonating pistols fitted in the nose, it would often explode even if dropped, i.e. jettisoned, in a supposedly “safe” unarmed state. Safety height above ground for dropping the 4,000 lb “cookie” was 6,000 ft; any lower and the dropping aircraft risked being damaged by the explosion. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605271718-PC3BFPAXUSI201P2OUKJ/Larson02.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Polish master artist Piotr Forkasiewicz painted this digital masterpiece of Bud Larson’s Lancaster LQ-D releasing its bomb load safely in a pre-designated jettison zone east of the mouth of the Thames Estuary. The 14,000 pounds of high explosive and incendiaries can be seen at lower left falling to the English Channel, where they remain to this day. Behind LQ-D, the rest of the bomber stream thunders towards their target. For some of these boys, this was their last sunset. Digital art by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605311427-FDXV7M4BAECRJNO2WLF5/Larson30.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out As Larson, in the left seat, bends a course for home, Flight Engineer, Sergeant Al Potter, turns to check the feathered No. 4 Engine. Note the heat blur coming from No. 3 Engine—the artist has thought of everything. Digital art by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605346094-97V8KI0N4KVG22FDFH5A/Larson31.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out A close-up of the dramatic moment when the Larson crew could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Their 14,000 pounds of explosives drop harmlessly to the waters of the English Channel. The propeller blades of No. 4 engine can be seen stopped and feathered and the bomb doors begin to close. Digital art by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605395464-UAO0OYU7IWE5WTSLEOKL/Larson26.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Bud Larson (right) relaxes with his fellow crew members, Flight Sergeant Bill Little (left) and Sergeant Stan Ford (centre) during a break between missions at RAF Gransden Lodge. The strain of constant operations made fast friends of crew members, while friends in other crews could be lost when their bombers were shot down. Crews tended to build strong bonds. That being said, the crew lists accompanying some of the photos in the Larson collection indicate that many of his crew changed over the period of his full tour. Both Little and Ford were gone by March of 1945 when the Larson crew was attacked and nearly shot down by three night fighters on the night of 7–8 March 1945. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605451170-RKI1QCSW1QLSRUEAM2AF/Larson03.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out When young Canadian boys left their loving families and sailed the U-boat gauntlet to England to fly in combat and risk their lives, their families, especially their mothers, worried endlessly about them and their welfare. It was common in England to find local families who would “adopt” a Canadian aircrew and invite them into their homes for a much-needed home cooked meal and a friendly atmosphere—even if the family had little of their own. Bud Larson (back left) and his crew are pictured here with their adopted family—the Browns, who lived near 405 Squadron’s base at RAF Gransden Lodge. Pictured at the front are John, Renee and Edna Brown, whose kindnesses towards Larson’s crews help alleviate, in many ways, the powerful homesickness felt by the young aviators. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605724532-NW5GZ6GMR1C6JZI8BR61/Larson04.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out The Larson Crew was every inch a Bomber Command crew with the crushed mission caps, swagger and camaraderie one would expect from a Pathfinder unit. Here we see them posing in front of their Lanc at RAF Gransden Lodge, and judging from the kit, it’s before or after an “op”. Back row, left to right: Unknown; Davies, Navigator; Bud Larson, Pilot; Whitworth, Gunner; Roy Van Metre, Wireless Operator; Front row, left to right: John Bolen, Bomb-Aimer; Oliver, Gunner. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605762575-97GJLVU99ZF4A67TU6GI/Larson14.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Another more formal photograph of Larson’s crew. Having flown two full operational tours, some of the faces may be different than the previous shot, but we can identify some: John Bolen, Bomb Aimer (left, sitting), Bud Larson (second from left, sitting), Michael Allan Potter, Flight Engineer and Roy Van Metre, Wireless Operator (right, sitting). Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627605804458-WHGPXRYNW9JYN186YF0B/Larson48.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Another crew shot from an unknown time, but likely at Gransden Lodge, including members of the ground crew. Some we can identify: Left to right: Unknown, Unknown, Davies the navigator, Van Metre the Wireless Operator, Larson (looking relaxed and proud of his men), Michael Allan Potter, Flight Engineer, Bolen the Bomb Aimer, unknown, unknown, unknown. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627606900321-APE20OF3LOFRUGE9I979/Larson40.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out The Larson crew received a rare Target Token certificate for a night raid on the German seaport of Emden on the coast of the North Sea. These certificates were not common and were given out specifically to 6 Group bomber crews for a direct hit on a target. This attack took place on the night of 6 September 1944 and the certificate includes a post raid reconnaissance photo of the target showing heavy smoke. The Larson crew at this time was comprised of Flying Officer Bud Larson, Sergeant Hobbs (Gunner), Sergeant J. Bolen (Bomb Aimer), Warrant Officer R.B. Van Metre (Wireless Operator), Sergeant Michael Allan Potter (Flight Engineer), Flight Sergeant Little (Navigator), Sergeant Ford (Gunner). Larson has obviously written in by hand their later promotions. The certificate is signed by none other than Air Vice Marshal C.M. “Black Mike” McEwen, Air Officer Commanding, 6 Group, one of the most loved and respected Canadian Bomber Command leaders. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607004697-14TXKQ0901F9GQJM3KWH/Larson12.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out In a photo taken in Regina, Saskatchewan on Larson’s cross-Canada promotional tour with another Lancaster crew, he poses in front of the port main gear and No. 2 Engine. The Lancaster in this photograph however does not appear to be the same aircraft (FM122, LQ-L) which he and his crew flew during their tour. Looking at this face, it is hard to believe he is just 25 years old in this photo—a year and two tours of Bomber Command Operations lines his face. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607038931-HR0NMSLDW8AU4WUFITPZ/Larson11.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out A close-up of Bud Larson’s tunic from the previous photograph reveals some decorations any man would be extremely proud of—earned by flying through some perilous “adversity to the stars.” At the bottom is the RCAF Operational Tour Wings given to aircrew who have completed a full operational tour. The chances of surviving a full Bomber Command combat tour of 30 ops were, at one time, down to 16%. Above his pocket button he wears his Pathfinders Force Badge, demonstrating his above average skills as a pilot and a combat crew commander. His ribbons include a Distinguished Flying Cross (diagonal purple and white striped ribbon) at left. Above that, perhaps his proudest—the wings of a Royal Canadian Air Force Lancaster pilot. What is not shown here is the “bar” to his Operational Tour Wings. After the war, Bud was awarded a certificate from the RCAF which gave him a bar to hang from the bottom of his Wings, meaning he successfully completed two tours with Bomber Command. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607078632-CDKZIDHTQ719F7T08UL9/Larson50.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out A full-page ad appeared in the Monday, 13 August 1945 edition of the Regina Leader-Post advertising an air show the following day, starting at 1400 hrs and running, oddly, until midnight. The show promised Action! Drama! Explosives! For a boy who grew up not far from Regina, this was a powerful and emotional homecoming. Just the week before, the Americans had dropped two atomic bombs on Japan—on Hiroshima on the previous Monday and on Nagasaki the following Thursday. This ad appeared on the 13th, the air show was on the 14th and on the 15th, Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s voice was heard by Japanese citizens for the first time on radio—urging the nation to lay down their arms. The 15th was VJ-Day. Scan: Regina Leader-Post https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607133953-MMPJ57IPQKAKBLZZ4GCB/Larson15.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out They say any press is good press anytime they spell your name right. Larson’s press was all good despite having his named spelled incorrectly in this Winnipeg newspaper story about the Victoria to Winnipeg dash which won them a speed record. Judging by their DFCs and ranks, these men were hand-picked for the public relations tour, possibly a reward for exceptional service. A quick scan of this newspaper clipping reveals that everyone of these men is wearing either a Pathfinder badge or Operation Tour Wings or in the case of most, both. The crew is comprised of co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Jim Hartley, DFC of St Catherines, Ontario; navigator Squadron Leader Jack Roberts, DFC of Toronto; rear gunner Warrant Officer Thorburn Christie, DFM of Ottawa; wireless operator Flying Officer Roy Van Metre DFC of Calgary, Ontario; mid-upper gunner Flying Officer “Pop” Tennyson of Timmins, Ontario; navigator Flight Lieutenant Bill Fraser of Flin Flon, Manitoba and pilot and commander Bud Larson, DFC of Regina. The joy and pride on their faces is a thing of beauty. Clipping: Larson family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607173225-SE2HAU0OP4SHLAFB9T6N/Larson13.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bud Larson, DFC (right) and two of his record setting crew (Flying Officer Roy Van Metre, Radio Operator (beside Bud) of Calgary and Flying Officer “Pop” Tennyson, the Mid-upper gunner). Of the group flying across the country on a public relations tour, only Van Metre was a member of his wartime combat tour. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607230924-P37ZZD6E7PEZU6NEI831/Larson27.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out The hero returns to Regina, Saskatchewan during Larson’s tour of Canada in the Lancaster. One might expect to run into some pretty girls doing a cross-country, public relations tour in a big impressive airplane. Pictured on the ramp, in front of what is now the Regina Flying Club, are Bud’s future wife Edna (left) and Bill Fraser’s wife. Flight Lieutenant Bill Fraser, of remote Flin Flon, Manitoba, was the navigator in Larson’s crew for the victory lap across Canada. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607277275-QQT65DSZGJ4UD5M5231Y/Larson19.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Last summer (2014) Flight Lieutenant Bud Larson was invited to handle the throttles of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada’s Lancaster during a four engine run-up. Here we see him reflecting on his formative, terrifying and life changing career as a Bomber Command Pathfinder pilot, feeling the vibration coming through his hands and seat one more time. This time, all four engines were running nicely. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607308406-O9IFRSUPER1BMZBS168P/LARSON20.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out In his 90s, Larson still looks every bit a warrior and someone you don’t mess with. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607339443-O81SY83ZY96U3KWO2D69/Larson08.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out A happy Flight Lieutenant Bud Larson poses in front of a Lancaster nose section on display at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta in the summer of 2014. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607374666-76KKGN7TESBY41G07YHK/Larson17.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Lyle Erling Larson, along with members of his family, poses with his sister Isabel, in front of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada’s Lancaster during a visit in the summer of 2014. Photo: Larson Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627607401422-71XT05UU9Q2VNNRDQUAL/Larson29.jpg The Stories - LIFTING THE DEAD — The Bud Larson Story - Make it stand out When Bud Larson paid a visit to Nanton to sit in the cockpit of the Lanc and to feel the power of her four Merlins in his hand once more, the author had the honour of doing a flypast in his honour in his vintage T-28 Trojan. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-prelude-to-disaster monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595918100-R6HMT9CHKI840TFY4LC5/Midway00000.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627596108618-8JIRVWXENJN4V4ZNTRFH/Midway15.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Mori Juzo’s autobiography, The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron, is a rare first-hand account of Japanese Navy carrier operations at Midway in the Second World War. Photos via Nick Voge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627596142286-YOVYBH4F72TGE47C7ID7/Midway13.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out The tiny twin-island speck of Midway Atoll, sometimes referred to as Midway Island or the Midway Islands, stands, as the name suggests, at a point halfway between the land masses of North America and Asia. The 6.2 square kilometres was, when this photograph was taken in 1941, home to two airfields under the name of Naval Air Facility Midway. Control of the islands has always been in the hands of the United States, but on 4–6 June 1942, the Japanese Imperial Navy and its aircraft carriers made a play to attack the islands, rendering the Americans another humiliating defeat and giving them an excellent base from which to launch attacks against the Hawaiian Islands. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627596240903-V9HR6PPYLMEXUGZ0Z0PV/Midway14.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Midway Atoll is part of a long chain of atolls, volcanic islands and seamounts extending from the Hawaiian group in a general northwest line ending near the western tip of the Aleutian Archipelago. This formation is called the Hawaii-Emperor Chain. There are several smaller sand bar islands, but the two main islands are Sand Island and Eastern Island. The former US Navy airfield on Eastern Island is now long abandoned while Sand Island now houses a closed airfield and harbour. The coral reef which surrounds the lagoon traces the outline of the volcanic island which once rose from this spot. Photomap via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627596294009-7E64DMI4OH822DY06ZYZ/Midway11.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out In this diorama, the first wave of attacking Japanese Navy level bombers (the Kates of Mori Juzo and his squadron) and dive bombers are intercepted by the Grumman Wildcats of Marine fighter squadron VMF-221, based at Midway. In this “Vee of Vees”, Juzo’s Kates took the lead. The Fighting Falcons of VMF-221 were scrambled after radar picked up these attackers. They paid a very heavy price taking on the 36 highly experienced Japanese Zero pilots who flew cover for the bombers. The Zero fighter escort was “stepped up” behind the dive bombers; this disposition gave the pilots of VMF-221 a clear shot at the bombers for the first few passes as corroborated by Juzo’s description. Once the Zeros were able to engage the Marine fighters, the tables were effectively and terribly turned. Fourteen of the Squadron’s pilots had been killed in action, four others had been wounded and only two of the remaining Wildcats were serviceable. Diorama by Norman Geddes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627597611328-OPKZ1U34D7S0AI6BP4CD/Midway10.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Mori Juzo and his squadron mates aboard Sōryū flew the Nakajima B5N (Allied reporting name “Kate”), the standard torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of the Second World War. At Pearl Harbor, Juzo flew the aircraft as a torpedo bomber which was its primary role. At Midway, torpedoes would not be needed in this attack on the island’s airfield and so the Kates were armed with 1 × 1,760 lb bomb or 2 × 550 lb bombs or 6 × 293 lb bombs. Primarily a carrier-based aircraft, it was also occasionally used as a land-based bomber. The B5N carried a crew of three: pilot, navigator/bombardier/observer, and radio operator/gunner. By 1944, the Kate had been replaced by the Nakajima B6N (Jill) torpedo bomber but a few Kates stayed in service until the end of the war as trainers and target towing. Photo: IJN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627597696783-HINMH0ZPK9LIRRX8FTNW/Midway02.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Shortly after 8 AM on 4 June, the Japanese aircraft carrier IJN Hiryū zigzags under high speed to escape bombs from US Army Boeing B-17s which fall aft and to starboard of her course. It’s possible that this is at the moment described above by Mori Juzo. Photo: USAAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627597746546-RNE9DVV02G9WZRMZMN6O/Midway07.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out Juzo’s IJN Sōryū scribes a near perfect circle as she attempts to avoid falling bombs (centre) from Midway-based B-17s. Attempting to hit a moving target from a high altitude bomber was, at the best of times, a poor strategy. To sink a carrier, smaller dive bombers and torpedo bombers would have to get in much closer. Photo: USAAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627597811558-Y8V53IL3WYYGRMNICXC0/Midway01.jpg The Stories - MIDWAY — A PRELUDE TO DISASTER - Make it stand out The carrier Sōryū under heavy attack during the battle. The Battle of Midway did irrevocable damage to the strength of the Imperial Japanese Navy, gutting much of its carrier force capability—something the IJN would never recover from. Emboldened by the heavy losses of the Japanese, the Americans began in earnest their extremely costly, but ultimately successful, island hopping campaign to push back the Japanese to their homeland. Just two months after Midway, the Marines started by landing on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, some 3,000 miles to the southwest. Three years later, they would force an end to the war by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagazaki. Photo: Wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/selling-valour monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627594852885-RL1APBZJWNYI7J9Z7FV5/ValourTitle.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595011655-6UHWK6LAE1E0WHG45JUO/SellingHistory.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out The first in the series of eight postcards. The image featured on the front can be found in the photo archive of the Imperial War Museum with the attached caption: HMS Aurora, escorting Victorious in dash to get within striking distance of Bismarck, finds difficulty in keeping up in poor weather. The back side of the card carries a point form description of the front from a man who, from the various cards, appears to have been on board Victorious. The inscription reads: Pursuit of Bismark. [Sic – The writer spells the ship’s name incorrectly throughout] 1) Commencement of the chase. 2) The wake of “Victorious” denotes tremendous speed at which she was travelling. 3) A heavy sea bridge – High, breaking over escorting cruiser. The bows of which are just emerging thro’ the spray, like the head and shoulders of a man. 4) Note in right half of photo, on horizon-line two of our destroyers screening “Victorious”. Although Aurora looks small in this image, she was in fact a 6,600 ton light cruiser. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595063845-BROLXSPZ4FLX4RZHMI58/SellingHistory03.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out In this dramatic shot of the bows of Victorious, we see the raw Arctic and North Atlantic weather that hampered making contact with the German battleship. The flight deck of Victorious is some 50 feet above the water, so she is diving deep in a trough to take water over her deck. The inscription on the card’s back reads: Pursuit of Bismark 1) “Victorious” in heavy seas off “Iceland”. 2) Receding plume-like spray of a wave, in front and on both sides of bows. 3) Measure off one inch in front of the ship, and you will have the formation of another heavy-wave, about to break over the flight-deck. To the right we see one of her long range radio antennae, normally lowered to horizontal for flying operations. Photo: Admiralty Official Collection, Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595106632-KRYFG6811S2LV2FQKIQ8/SellingHistory04.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out Although this photograph from the Imperial War Museum’s Admiralty Official Collection seems like simply another Swordfish taking off from Victorious, it is in fact the first Swordfish to take off in an attempt to find and attack Bismarck. The three men in this “Stringbag” are at the very pointy end of a massive operation involving dozens of Royal Navy ships of the line. It would be these three men who would make first contact with the German raider. The notations on the back give clear indication that the writer was on board, for some of these details would not be available to the general public after the fact. Pursuit of Bismark 1) The first plane to attack, rising off the flight-deck. 2) The ship was brought up to the wind, and made “steady”. 3) So strong was the wind, ship’s speed was reduced for steadying-purposes. Normal speed and lifting force of wind required for such a take off = 40 miles per hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595143591-HSNIGOAEX21NCP643SNM/SellingHistory01.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out In one of the hardest to read, yet immensely dramatic, photos in the collection and of the Bismarck pursuit, a Fairey Swordfish observer of the Fleet Air Arm photographs Bismarck, the pride of the German Navy, steaming in heavy seas beneath a heavy wet sky on 24 May 1941. We have added the arrow to better spot the obscure form of Bismarck. The postcard offers the same view but closer in to the German battleship. The inscription on the back by the author who begins to show a love of the exclamation mark, reads: Pursuit of Bismark 1) In the gathering darkness of an artic-night [sic]. Bismark! Was sighted! 2) You can see her in the centre of the picture. 3) She is at the end of an arc like evading turn. This photo was taken I believe, by the first plane off. to attack. And register a hit. Looking at this image one can only imagine the powerful sense of excitement and dread going through the minds of the 825 Squadron Swordfish’s three man crew. One can feel the frigid Arctic air, the dampness; hear the roar of the Pegasus engine and the wind in the wires, feel the threat of the mighty battleship and the deep cold waters upon which she ploughs her way home—a home she would never see. Photo: Admiralty Official Collection, Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595172271-SSGJTBIQP2YXO3JTSN0U/SellingHistory05.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out The postcard at lower left depicts the smoke rising from Bismarck when she was struck by a torpedo from one of Victorious’ Swordfish. While I could not find that exact photo on the Imperial War Museum’s online photo records, I did find a similar one from an article on the UK’s Daily Mail Online newspaper dated 12 December 2012. Coincidentally the article was about the sale, at auction, of a similar set of postcards from another Victorious crew member’s collection. These cards all had similar inscriptions on the back, but the postcard of the torpedo strike smoke on the horizon had a photo taken a few moments later (above). A surviving Bismarck crew member describes the torpedoing; “They came in flying low over the water, launched their torpedoes and zoomed away. Flak was pouring from every gun barrel but didn’t seem to hit them. The first torpedo hissed past 150 yards in front of the Bismarck’s bow. The second did the same and the third. Helmsman Hansen was operating the press buttons of the steering gear as, time and time again, the Bismarck manoeuvred out of danger. She evaded a fifth and then a sixth, when yet another torpedo darted straight towards the ship. A few seconds later a tremendous shudder ran through the hull and a towering column of water rose at Bismarck’s side. The nickel-chrome-steel armor plate of her ship’s side survived the attack ...” This attack put Bismarck down at her bow and had slowed her speed. Days later, another Swordfish would cripple her rudders with another torpedo, allowing capital ships of the Royal Navy to catch her up and despatch her. The inscription on the back of the postcard reads: Attack on Bismark! “Element of surprise!” “The best method of attack.” 1) The first torpedoe [sic]. Well and truly laid. Finds its mark. On the Bismark. 2) Note the smoke of explosion. 3) An inch to right of Bismark, is I think, the plane escaping “low over the sea”. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595201761-DWNBXLC2J8S2BABE8CWM/SellingHistory06.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out The postcard at lower left depicts the smoke rising from Bismarck when she was struck by a torpedo from one of Victorious’ Swordfish. While I could not find that exact photo on the Imperial War Museum’s online photo records, I did find a similar one from an article on the UK’s Daily Mail Online newspaper dated 12 December 2012. Coincidentally the article was about the sale, at auction, of a similar set of postcards from another Victorious crew member’s collection. These cards all had similar inscriptions on the back, but the postcard of the torpedo strike smoke on the horizon had a photo taken a few moments later (above). A surviving Bismarck crew member describes the torpedoing; “They came in flying low over the water, launched their torpedoes and zoomed away. Flak was pouring from every gun barrel but didn’t seem to hit them. The first torpedo hissed past 150 yards in front of the Bismarck’s bow. The second did the same and the third. Helmsman Hansen was operating the press buttons of the steering gear as, time and time again, the Bismarck manoeuvred out of danger. She evaded a fifth and then a sixth, when yet another torpedo darted straight towards the ship. A few seconds later a tremendous shudder ran through the hull and a towering column of water rose at Bismarck’s side. The nickel-chrome-steel armor plate of her ship’s side survived the attack ...” This attack put Bismarck down at her bow and had slowed her speed. Days later, another Swordfish would cripple her rudders with another torpedo, allowing capital ships of the Royal Navy to catch her up and despatch her. The inscription on the back of the postcard reads: Attack on Bismark! “Element of surprise!” “The best method of attack.” 1) The first torpedoe [sic]. Well and truly laid. Finds its mark. On the Bismark. 2) Note the smoke of explosion. 3) An inch to right of Bismark, is I think, the plane escaping “low over the sea”. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595237561-COZN6ZSZI6MM8U6CZD3B/SellingHistory07.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out When I checked the progress of the sale of the cards on eBay, I was saddened to see that all but the last card were sold, likely to the same bidder as they disappeared at the same time. I was sad, because it was fairly obvious that the buyer did not care to purchase that last card as it had no military hardware portrayed, no action, no Royal Navy ship working her way to and from battle. In fact, the last postcard, a shot of the chapel aboard Victorious, looks as if it was taken in a land-based building. Only the ship’s structure, piping and emergency lights give it away. My guess is that the buyer did not think this was as important historically as the others. It breaks my heart that this may have happened, as for me, this shot has as much immediacy and importance historically as the rest, largely because of the inscription on the other side: The Church of “St Christopher”. H.M.S. “Victorious”. “Wherein I sometimes dwell.” Padre: - The Rev; Dixon. M.A. R.N. Here clearly, the writer expresses with his honest Heart of Oak, that old adage: There are no atheists in a foxhole. That the writer cared enough to include it in his 7-card memoir of the Bismarck adventure is proof enough that it belongs in the set, yet the buyer did not purchase it. And so historical mementos become a sort of emotional diaspora, scattered on the winds of time and whim, broken down to component pieces, to be sold off according to a scale of value. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595394128-2NOVLHVBA4A055TJJIR2/SellingHistory10.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out Lieutenant Albert “Tiddles” Brown was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Corsair pilot flying from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious during the Second World War. When Brown’s great nephew, Phil Grimwade, spoke recently of his uncle, he said “Albert has always been an enigmatic character for us, my late Grandfather would sometimes speak about their childhood but any mention of his service in the FAA was generally discouraged and his death was never spoken about. We think that Albert’s death affected him quite deeply, and his of course was the generation that ‘didn’t talk about things’. Personally I think it’s really important to share this information before it is lost—the WWII veterans are dwindling now—so have taken it upon myself to find out as much as I can.” Grimwade went searching for information on the internet, he found not much information but was astonished and delighted to find his Great Uncle’s war service medals for sale on eBay! After Brown was killed in the line of duty whilst strafing the Japanese-held oil refineries at Palembang, Sumatra, his service medals were sent posthumously to his widow. Brown’s widow and young son left the UK after the war and moved to Canada along with his medals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595418440-C4KT7NH3BOJM6A39O8JM/SellingHistory09.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out When Phil Grimwade entered Lieutenant Albert “Tiddles” Brown’s name in the Google search window, he was both shocked and delighted to find that the war service medals of his long-lost great uncle were up for sale on eBay. It was sad to realize that Brown’s widow’s second family had not truly treasured these priceless mementos, but Grimwade jumped at the chance to bring them back home to Brown’s family, where his memory was so greatly respected. Clockwise from upper left: The War Medal 1939–1945: a British medal awarded to those who had served in the Armed Forces or Merchant Navy full-time for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. It would be paired with the ribbon at right above (Red, white and blue stripes). The Burma Star: awarded for service in the Burma Campaign between 11 December 1941 to 2 September 1945. It was also awarded for certain service (specified by dates) such as China, Hong Kong and in the case of “Tiddles” Brown, Sumatra, where he was killed. Because Brown was a recipient of the Burma Star, he could not receive a Pacific Star. Instead, he was awarded the equivalent: The Pacific Clasp, the small horizontal bar which was to be affixed to the ribbon of the Burma Star. The Burma Star ribbon, reputed to have been designed by King George VI himself, is the one second from left above (The broad dark blue stripes represent British forces, the red stripe Commonwealth forces, and the bright orange stripes represent the sun). The 1939–1945 Star: was a campaign medal issued to servicemen and women of the British Commonwealth for any period of operational service overseas between 3 September 1939 and 8 May 1945 (2 September 1945 in the Far East). It required a minimum of 180 days afloat for Navy personnel such as Brown. It was suspended from the dark blue, red and light blue ribbon second from the right above. Finally, at bottom, The Atlantic Star and its gorgeous ribbon (upper left) which was awarded for no less than six months afloat in the Atlantic or Home Waters. The 1939–1945 Star must have been awarded BEFORE commencement of qualification for the Atlantic Star. The beautiful ribbon from which the Atlantic Star hung was also said to have been designed by George VI and the gradient watered-blue, white and sea-green stripes denoted the colours of the Atlantic Ocean. It is telling to note that the medals themselves came in their original wax-paper sleeves and that the ribbons had never been attached, nor the Pacific Clasp sewn to the 1939–1945 Star. While Brown’s medals were in pristine condition, it was clear that they had rarely seen the light of day. Photo: Phil Grimwade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595485228-74EU7GABFGXFHUJIVF2R/Pawson3.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out A group photograph from the Second World War shows 30 pilots of the 15th Fighter Wing of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm at Surabaya with Albert Brown (second from right in middle row). The pilots in the Wing group photo are as follows: Back row: Harry Whelpton, Reg Shaw, Matt Barbour, Tony Graham-Cann, Jock Fullerton, R. Quigg, Steve Starkey, Pete Richardson (wing observer), Jake Millard, Eric Rogers, Hugh MacLaren, Colin Facer, Stan Buchan, Gord Aitken, Hugh “Moe” Pawson; Middle row, seated: S. Seebeck, Johnny Baker, Alan Booth, Bosh Munnock, Norm Hanson, Mike Tritton (the unit’s new commander), Bud Sutton, Percy Cole, Don Hadman, Albert “Tiddles” Brown, Les Retallick; Front row, sitting on deck: Neil Brynildsen, Jimmy Clark, Mike Ritchie, Brian Guy. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627595520249-NAL3MXDGG0CGMLESYTVF/Pawson26.jpg The Stories - SELLING VALOUR - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photo reveals Albert Brown second from right on middle, resplendent in his Navy whites and tropical shorts. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bitten-by-a-mosquito monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591362042-LU6JMSLX0PT6WHMF2CT7/633-Title.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591426246-EOLLDYW2GU3ZI9B12B0D/633-21.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out One sheet posters for 633 Squadron heighten the drama of the already dramatic plotline. Five Mosquitos in trail squeeze themselves into an impossible crevasse while pilots embrace blondes and deal with flaming events—so typically 1960s. The purple prose that accompanies the images is even more over the top—The greatest adventure since men fought on Earth... or flew over it! ... A million legends have risen up about the lusty, daring breed of raiders known as 633 Squadron... as the Earth is engulfed in titanic battle... 633 Squadron strikes! Images from author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591496822-X8EHLWIGR1BSVIAIZWPZ/633-28.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out 633 Squadron won wide acclaim for its drama and authentic flying sequences. These posters reflect its international appeal (clockwise from upper left): Mission 633 (France), Escuadron 633 (Spain), Squadriglia 633 (Italy), Zadatak Eskadrile 633 (Yugoslavia-Croatia) and Flyver-Eskadrille 633 (Denmark). Various posters from the internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591573591-HO4G211X116K3ZE7EN65/633-19.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out The actual cover of the Air Classics magazine issue that featured a review of 633 Squadron and the flying done for the film. Image from author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591638157-NHDTYRLVPLW4KXGSFIG2/633-30.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out 633 Squadron author Frederick E. Smith (inset) sent the author a personalized copy of his novel in paperback form, autographed by himself and three rather famous airmen of the Second World War. At top is the autograph of Warrant Officer Norman Cyril Jackson, VC, who received the Victoria Cross for an act of astonishing bravery and determination. As a Flight Engineer on a 106 Squadron Lancaster, he was on the first op of his second tour of operations, when his aircraft was attacked by a night fighter which set the starboard inner fuel tank on fire. Wounded by shrapnel and donning his parachute, he grabbed a fire extinguisher and stepped OUT onto the wing of the Lanc whilst it was still flying at 140 mph. Gripping the air intake on the leading edge with one hand, he fought the fire with the other, receiving severe burns to his face and hands. The fighter made another pass and burst of machine gun fire. He was hit by two bullets, and lost his grip, being swept off the wing. Despite a smouldering parachute, he managed to land, but broke his ankle in the process. Surviving members of his crew were able to tell his story after release at the end of the war. In green ink on the side is the autograph of Flight Lieutenant William Reid, a Scotsman, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his utter determination to press on despite extensive damage to his Lancaster and injuries to himself and crew members. The last line of his citation accompanying the award sums it up very well: “Wounded in two attacks, without oxygen, suffering severely from cold, his navigator dead, his wireless operator fatally wounded, his aircraft crippled and defenceless, Flight Lieutenant Reid showed superb courage and leadership in penetrating a further 200 miles into enemy territory to attack one of the most strongly defended targets in Germany, every additional mile increasing the hazards of the long and perilous journey home. His tenacity and devotion to duty were beyond praise.” The autograph at the bottom is that of the legendary Hamish Mahaddie, DSO, DFC, AFC, a Pathfinders Force pilot and “wrangler” of the aircraft in 633 Squadron and Battle of Britain. As a young lad in Michigan, receiving such a remarkable gift in the mail would have been a powerful and formative moment in his life. Images from author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591691683-X4CTO8ADNVW771DU6FEN/633-02.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Black and white images of four of the key “driver-looker” (Pilot/Navigator) crews featured in 633 Squadron. These are different than the pairings as written in the novel (many names and nationalities are different). Clockwise from top left: Flying Officer Hoppy Hopkinson, Navigator (Angus Lennie) and Wing Commander Roy Grant, Pilot (Cliff Robertson); Flight Lieutenant Bissell, Navigator (Scott Finch) and Flight Lieutenant Gillibrand, Pilot (John Meillon); Flight Lieutenant Jones, Pilot (Johnny Briggs) and Flight Lieutenant Evans, Navigator (John Church); and Flight Lieutenant Singh, Pilot (Julian Sherrier) and Flight Lieutenant Frank, Navigator (Geoffry Frederick). Production still from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591789820-BTYDE4MQAFLJLI0405AX/633-01.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A detail from the film shows the altered nose of one of the Mosquitos flown in the film. The angled Perspex nose window of the Mosquito TT Mk35 (target tug) was painted over to make the ship appear to be a different type. The TT Mk35 Mosquitos were RAF target tugs and were the last operational Mosquitos in service with the Royal Air Force, flying with No. 3 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (CAACU) at RAF Exeter. After retirement, they starred in 633 Squadron. Screen capture from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591822732-JPX4QF4SXKLN2MQZ0RA9/633-31.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out One of the aircraft destroyed in 633 Squadron crash scenes was TA724, a former Target Tug Mosquito TT Mk35 from No. 3 CAACU. Here we see it in better days at an air show at RAF Biggin Hill in 1957. Photo by a young Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591853097-POLV9SW0QBN9ETKIIWG2/633-04.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A screen capture from 633 Squadron showing the nose of a TT Mk. 35 Mosquito painted over to hide its Perspex nose and with the addition of fake quad machine guns. Screen capture from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591888247-RO0KC7T2Y25GQK9A6QPH/633-03.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A 633 Squadron Mosquito low over the sea. Note the painted over Perspex nose and false guns. Screen capture from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591944420-4EG04N5OSWWXK3CXRLPP/633-16.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A black and white production still from 633 Squadron shows painted on bullet holes stitched across the engine nacelle and the tail of a de Havilland Mosquito (RAF serial No. RS709) playing the part of 633 Squadron’s HT-D (fake RAF serial No. HR113). Though these holes look faked in this shot, during the film, they were glimpsed very briefly and looked authentic. Production still from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627591975922-2P8S82KAFRLHQ0ZT2KF2/633-09.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592004094-65Z1LO9WV0WTGD7N10MU/633-08.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A 633 Squadron Mosquito crew inspects the damage to their aircraft after landing. This aircraft was the real-life Mosquito (RAF Serial No. RS718) which played the part of two aircraft in the filming—HJ898 and HJ662 (HT-C) and was scrapped in a crash scene. Production still and screen capture from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592042128-IKRWC6R1Z3O9PRG25IBT/633-32.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out One of the RAF aircraft that took part in the filming of 633 Squadron was TA639, which was taken on strength at No. 3 CAACU in September 1959. It flew there irregularly until it was flown to the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington with its target towing equipment removed. It was then loaned to Mirisch Films for flying in 633 Squadron. When filming moved to the Scottish Lochs, based at Inverness, the RAF would not allow TA639 to be used since the flying there was considered too dangerous. TA639 was used extensively for filming up to mid September, being at Tern Hill as late as 14 September 1963. After filming was complete, TA639 returned to Little Rissington for personal and display use by the base Commandant, a Air Commodore Bird-Wilson (who incidentally did the flying in it for 633 Squadron), and made one display flight over the Mosquito Museum at Salisbury Hall. After a period of storage, it was given to the RAF Museum. At one time in 1968, it was on static display at the Horseguards Parade near the Mall in London. It is now displayed at Cosford Aerospace Museum as the 627 Squadron Mosquito Mk XX in which Group Captain Guy Gibson, VC was killed in September of 1944. Photo: Wikipedia/Ozz13x https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592074776-T70PYT28N5OYTZVCYNLA/633-33.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Mosquito RS712 was another 633 Squadron flyer that still exists today. It was a flying star in both 633 Squadron (as RF580/HT-F) and the later (and much lesser) imitator—Mosquito Squadron. It was acquired by Kermit Weeks in 1981, and registered N35MK, and obvious nod to its designation as a Mk 35 Mosquito. It is now on static display at the EAA museum at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Photo via Brendan Deere https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592106148-QZ7WSJ2G7P4HKAAPX6HZ/633-34.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Mosquito TA719 also starred in 633 Squadron, playing the part of HJ898/HT-G. It also played a bit part in Mosquito Squadron, used for ground and crash scenes. It is now on display in its Target Tug markings and hanging from the ceiling of the Imperial War Museum’s Airspace hangar at Duxford. Photo via sonsofdamien.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592187361-KL7JXIQRJ5ETIOKG1SBR/633-27.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out In a scene inspired by 633 Squadron, producer George Lucas has Luke Skywalker piloting an X-wing Starfighter through the massive canyons of the Death Star in the closing scenes of Star Wars. Image via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592225916-IKBFSR47NYIETLSPGF1D/633-29.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Scenes and poster from another Mosquito feature film The Purple Plain, starring Gregory Peck. It seems the wooden airframe of the Mossie was just too much for producers to resist, for in this film, as they did in 633 Squadron, one was set on fire. Images collected on the web https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592284874-2Q95HNLURKZ6FDWQXE93/633-35.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Despite the wild and furious Nazi-busting action promised by the poster and the huge popularity of the brooding David McCallum (Illya Kuryakin of The Man From Uncle fame), Mosquito Squadron was nothing more than a late cash in on the success of 633 Squadron and McCallum’s recent career. Images: United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592369270-OCSE4NZJJWE0Q6R49CKQ/633-22.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Nash-Kelvinator was an amalgamation of Nash Motors and Kelvinator, a manufacturer of large appliances such as refrigerators. The alliance allowed them to become one of the largest war manufacturers in America—licence building everything from binoculars to radial engines to helicopters. N-K supplied the Hamilton-Standard propellers used on the Mosquito. According to this period advertisement, the propeller made by Nash-Kelvinator for the Mosquito was “an engineering masterpiece – so beautifully machined that a puff of a man’s breath can set it turning.” Image: from author’s collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592421881-KWBXXQMA9I8X8GGUYBM1/633-12.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592453456-FYLOLQKSMLTUQHQFUAS7/633-13.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A production still (top) and a screen capture from the film itself show the real life tragic end to one of the former TT. Mk 35 Mosquitos. Being a “wooden wonder”, the Mosquito burned with lots of camera appeal. Production still and screen capture from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592495130-5QZ2EK3EGT4EFVJZND0E/633-18.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out A 633 Squadron still in black and white depicts Flying Officer “Hoppy” Hopkinson, played by Angus Lennie, pulling an unconscious Wing Commander Roy Grant, played by Academy Award winner Cliff Robertson, from the burning wreck of their badly shot up Mosquito. Production still from United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592546758-WRF67UOK09XI9X40V4LZ/633-37.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out For many years there were no Mosquitos flying anywhere in the world. But three years ago, in New Zealand, Avspecs completed the restoration of Mosquito KA114, a Canadian-built Mossie. It now flies for the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Photo by Luigino Caliaro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627592591527-VHFT9J5NE5FUX70B90B2/633-36.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out In 2014, a second flying Mosquito took to the skies in Victoria, British Columbia, restored by Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd. It commemorates F-Freddie (with 213 combat missions, Freddie had more ops than any bomber of the war), which was lost in a tragic crash at Calgary airport in 1945, during a victory tour. For more about the tragic and powerful story of F-Freddie click here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627593783327-OLEH90Y19QBYHPRTCFJ8/633-25.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out The box art for the Airfix 1/24 scale model of the Mosquito, available in October of 2015. Image from Airfix https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627593829003-9HC3V9X59KVD3EPU3NA8/633-05.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Like many successful blockbuster films of the day, 633 Squadron inspired some spin-off merchandise like these collector bubble gum cards depicting the heroes and villains of the film. If the film was made today, there would be action figures, McDonald’s giveaways and video games. Images via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627593865319-1BKBKL36BPW03497K3MV/633-07.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out The plot line of 633 Squadron had the crews attempting a very dangerous attack on V-2 rocket fuel plant hidden deep in a Norwegian fjord and protected by a massive overhanging cliff that precluded high altitude bombing. The inbound flight path took them past heavy anti-aircraft defences similar to these Luftwaffe gunners in the film manning a quad 20 mm Flakvierling cannon. This scene however is from another attack in the film where Cliff Robertson and Angus Lennie’s characters take out a Gestapo HQ where the Norwegian Erik Bergman is being tortured by an “Ilsa-esque” female Gestapo interrogator. Screen capture from film, United Artists https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627593912129-IGWNMDE1JKODG2TK8BS7/633-14.jpg The Stories - BITTEN BY A MOSQUITO - Make it stand out Four of 633 Squadron's Mossies return to base after a training mission. Production still: United Artist https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/shutting-down-history monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627588710284-R2NYA6ZRY3CNP73MUPI9/Viscount000.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out CF-THS rests at Gimli, Manitoba after her arrival there in October 1982. Though she would fly one more time the following year, this image of a prairie sunset silhouetting one of her Rolls-Royce Dart engines symbolizes the end of a grand, yet transitional, era in Canadian (and indeed the world’s) airline history. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627588894922-TQPS9RAQXTZHRG7KX2OE/Viscount07.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Vickers Viscount CF-THS has her tail removed at Gimli, Manitoba after her arrival from Winnipeg, in late October 1982, in order to facilitate getting her inside the maintenance hangar. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627588923510-5O6LW2VJCE4O18XZC7TT/Viscount08.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Another angle on the tail removal. We can also see that the former CF-THS now sports a new format Canadian serial for her ferry flights to Gimli and from Gimli to Winnipeg. Her Air Canada livery is in pretty poor shape at this time. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589038940-66079G6FA32MMFLUB0JI/Viscount02.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627588986176-FMKCJY9O20UKV2060W2G/Viscount01.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589070155-9LKSFD77D1G11C667D86/Viscount03.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Not something you see every day. Captains Jim Griffiths and Gerry Norberg light up all four of THS’s Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops and get her rolling at higher speed than her normal Vr (Rotation Speed) down the runway at the former BCATP base which once housed No. 18 Service Flying Training School. This was the summer of 1983, and Gimli made world headlines just the month before when an Air Canada Boeing 767 forced-landed there when it ran out of fuel at altitude. The story of the “Gimli Glider” was made into a feature length motion picture. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589146397-5UF4LONJV5ZDB809ZJA8/Viscount04.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out After her short flight from the former RCAF Station Gimli. Jim Griffith and Gerry Norberg taxi THS on her last ride before taking centre stage at the Western Canada Aviation Museum (WCAM). Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589186981-40A54X12DPC0EWGPIUPF/Viscount05.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Griffith and Norberg prepare to shut down THS for the very last time in front of the hangar at WCAM. Standing by the nose is John Davidson who was the President of the museum at that time. Anyone knowing the ear-splitting howls of those four Darts would consider him either a brave man or an already deaf man for not wearing sound attenuators! The museum building is on the right and was formerly used for maintenance by Air Canada and before that, Trans Canada Airlines. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589258894-Z6L41VJ8429U9VESNO5C/Viscount06.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out It was short, but (bitter) sweet. After the short hop from Gimli, the three members of the ferry crew stand for a photo. Left to right: Captain Gerry Norberg, WCAM engineer Robert Palmer and the author, Captain Jim Griffith. Photo via Jim Griffith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589317991-6G40JWMZ1PKC0BX77VD8/Viscount25.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out The last photograph ever taken of CF-THS in flight... wheels down, making a stately pass over the Winnipeg airport. Photo: J. Owen Griffith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589377601-CC046874570FM9SQQ3BL/Viscount14.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out After a few years at the hands of the volunteers at the Western Canada Aviation Museum, CF-THS stands in the sunshine once more in the summer of 1986 with her paint freshened and livery reapplied. Photo: Richard Vandervort https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589422485-I0XF2LLPXOK0T1UHY8BU/Viscount12.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out In June of 1960, well-known aviation photographer Richard Dumigan (father of Eric Dumigan, one of Canada’s finest aviation photographers) captured THS about to touch down at Dorval Airport in Montréal. Photo: Richard Dumigan via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589457317-9U3R2HTLS4B9XJMXWUSH/Viscount10.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out CF-THS in her original Trans-Canada Air Lines livery is seen parked at the TCA maintenance ramp at Montréal’s Dorval airport, 31 July 1963. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589495861-1RRIBE9CAC1ILGMSO83H/Viscount23.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out A superb colour photograph of Vickers Viscount CF-THS in her first generation Air Canada livery, at Montréal’s Dorval Airport (YUL) in 1974. Photo: George Hamlin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589534048-W58OE0EXZBT2O12AF5JL/Viscount13.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out By 1979, CF-THS was languishing in the punishing cold of a Montréal winter. She had her Air Canada logos and wordmarks removed and a Zaire civil registration applied, awaiting sale to that country. The sale fell through and she was ferried to Winnipeg for long-term storage. Photo: Mike Ody Collection via George Trussel and VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589574139-Y1ZT9PGU5D6ZM7NQAUSA/Viscount19.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out Though she will never fly again, CF-THS’s fate is that of a very tiny fraction of historic aircraft types. The vast majority met the salvor’s torch as did her sister ships like CF-TIE, seen here being eviscerated at Winnipeg in 1989. Photo: Robert Arnold Collection via VickersViscount.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627589603282-A6D0PXOU531YXLWRBDXE/Viscount24.jpg The Stories - SHUTTING DOWN HISTORY - Make it stand out CF-THS lives on in the flesh at WCAM, but also in miniature form as a 1/200 scale diecast model from HobbyMaster. You know you are an important part of aviation history if you are so honoured. Photo: HobbyMaster https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/lucky-lindy-and-unlucky-thad monthly 0.5 2024-04-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584403603-AZNCO84TWXOWL4K3M0T4/LindberghTitle.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584490766-1S3S7ORD875C47TUXWYN/Lindbergh54.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out The scene on Parliament Hill on the 60th Canada Day/Diamond Jubilee weekend of 1927. It is not certain if this photo by Hy Gould was taken on 1 July or the following day when Lindbergh had arrived. In this scene, we see all the military trappings and dignitaries necessary to greet a hero like Lindbergh, or in the case of one of his escort pilots, put together a state funeral. Photo: Hy Gould, part of the Hyman and Lilian Gould Family fonds, Ottawa Jewish Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584528602-Z9QE311FY3EHSKS1ZAYU/Lindbergh53.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Colonel Charles Augustus Lindbergh, The Lone Eagle, the most popular and revered man in the world, flies his Ryan NYP Monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, over Parliament Hill on 2 July 1927, just weeks after his triumph over the Atlantic. Photo: Hy Gould, part of the Hyman and Lilian Gould Family fonds, Ottawa Jewish Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584578243-CFULZ1TGLP9PNI1BJ4HZ/LINDBERGH05.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Twelve Curtiss P-1 Hawk fighter aircraft of the 27th Squadron of the First Pursuit Group of the US Army Air Corps accompanied Lindbergh along with three Rockcliffe-based RCAF aircraft. Here the Yanks are seen arriving over Ottawa in four Vee formations, led by a Major Lanphier. There could be a number of reasons that the 27th had this incredible honour. Lindbergh himself was born in Detroit, Michigan, and the 27th trained for its part in World War One in Canada – Likely at Borden, Ontario. The squadron's commander in those training days was Harold E. Harteny – a Canadian. Today, the unit, known as the 27th Fighter Squadron, USAF, is the oldest active fighter squadron in the United States Air Force, flying the F-22 Raptor from Langley AFB, Virginia. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584628276-DDK20TPX8FVKO64DHIVD/LINDBERGH01.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Lieutenant John Thaddeus Johnson, of the 27th Pursuit Squadron, was piloting a Curtiss P-1 Hawk, the latest in US Army fighter aircraft. The type was in service with the US Army from 1924 to 1929, with a total of 202 being built in a number of variants. It was the first US aircraft to be given the “P” for Pursuit designation. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/29cedf25-ac00-4407-bb9d-8426efe0af1c/368705499_10159226936865896_650714698555343305_n.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Crowds of spectators and hundreds of cars await Lindberg’s arrival along Hunt Club and Bowesville Roads. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584673784-X0XY0X7CEYLFWAN146HD/LINDBERGH29.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out The Spirit of St. Louis trundles along after touching down at Ottawa’s Hunt Club Field. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584720277-LHM0ESJH6SDNN3I8F4C7/LINDBERGH30.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Gunning his Wright Whirlwind radial engine and raising dust, Lindbergh is surrounded by running men eager to help the great conqueror of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo via Canada Aviation and space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584768558-HET97YHR4I75BK3T3HSQ/LINDBERGH19.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A press photographer in a straw boater hat scrambles to stay ahead of the taxiing Spirit of St. Louis as members of the RCAF and others reach out to touch the most famous aircraft in the world and help guide its pilot. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584812590-OXXOIGOYB8AAQXKOWO40/LINDBERGH06.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out After landing at Ottawa’s Uplands, Charles Lindbergh taxies his Ryan Monoplane past the first of thousands of onlookers. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584948730-V2F0QFEB0LSQCI571UGY/LINDBERGH02.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out The scene of Lindbergh’s arrival as photographed after Lindy’s Spirit of St. Louis shutdown. The location is where today we would find the North Field at Ottawa International Airport and the Ottawa Flying Club. To the left is the Rideau River. The road which angles from lower right to mid-upper right was called the Bowesville Road in those days and ran through the site of today’s modern Ottawa airport. The dark cluster of trees at right centre is the Ottawa Hunt Club and we can just make out its new 18-hole golf course which was built just three years previously. We can also make out thousands of Ottawans who have come out to catch a glimpse of the world’s most famous human being—lining the Bowesville Road and the River Road which runs to the lower left. Lined up on the eastern end of the shorter runway we can see the lighter colour of Lindbergh’s Ryan Monoplane as well as the remaining eleven US Army scout planes which had accompanied him. If one looks even closer, at the very bottom of this photo, we can see a cluster of gawkers surrounding Thad Johnson’s crashed aircraft. Also, given the mass of automobiles found at the intersection of Bowesville and River Roads, it is likely that this is Lindbergh’s motorcade leaving for downtown Ottawa. Photo: Ottawa Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627584987651-RIYCC0IMFFLZ920JJY6R/LINDBERGH03.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Zooming in even closer to the scene at Uplands, we see a crowd gathered around Thad Johnson’s crashed aircraft, showing us the power of a tragic event over the draw of the most famous man in the world. Photo: Ottawa Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585027264-BVHWPUWQ5GUTCTIM53IR/LINDBERGH38.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out The twisted wreckage of Johnson’s Curtiss P-1 Hawk sits forlornly in a field next to the runways prepared for Lindbergh’s arrival. Photo via André Audette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585089711-H6GES5VY08BVY6P6E9MA/LINDBERGH20.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Looking more like 15 than his 25 years, Lindbergh looks decidedly concerned as he sits in the cockpit of his Ryan Monoplane. It is not known if he had yet been told of the mishap involving Lieutenant Thad Johnson, but the look on his face, which should have been one of delight, lends credence to the possibility that he is now aware of the death. Newspapers reported that he was informed of the accident after he had climbed into a car. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585136183-EG8VF06K0ZPOYS3Y7YLV/LINDBERGH32.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out After shutting down and climbing out of the Ryan Monoplane, Charles Lindbergh allows himself to pose for the cameras. In the background stands Walter Deisher, who would chauffeur him in a Franklin Sport Runabout car for the drive into Ottawa along the Bowesville Road. Lindbergh should have been smiling for this photo, but it is likely he has just been told of Johnson’s death, minutes before. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585185696-RYVNH7JJKHTN7OAILCHU/LINDBERGH15.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Charles Lindbergh, still wearing his flying goggles, is escorted across the grassy infield of the landing area near the Ottawa Hunt Club to the spot where Thad Johnson had crashed. Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Army officers surround him as he is whisked away in a Franklin Sport Runabout driven by Mr. Walter Deisher, who was not only an enthusiastic proponent of aviation, but also a Reo car dealer in Ottawa. The car was described in the local papers as light grey in colour. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585355971-O7AWWKI7SEPKRKLE683Y/_Lindbergh47.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A formal US Army portrait of Lieutenant John Thaddeus “Thad” Johnson. Johnson was born in Texas in 1895. His early plan for a career was to be a minister and a preacher. He was educated at Trinity College in Waxahachie, Texas. When the First World War finally drew the Americans into the fight in April of 1917, Johnson volunteered, doing his initial army training at Leon Springs, Texas. After commissioning in May of 1917, he was sent for flying instruction at Rockwell Field (now known as NAS North Island in San Diego). He made it over to France while the war was still going on, but it seems he did not see combat. After the war, as a member of the US Army Air Corps, he participated in the first transcontinental flight (from New York to San Francisco) in 1919. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585396238-LZZMUEJ8AH0E2ME67G1N/Lindbergh42.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Lieutenant John Thaddeus Johnson with a Curtiss P-1 Hawk, likely taken at Selfridge Field, Detroit. The eagle symbol of the 27th Pursuit Squadron (Nicknamed The Fighting Eagles) is still in use today, with the squadron in continuous operation for almost 100 years. Johnson died when his parachute failed to open in time, but two years previously, he survived a 10,000 foot jump from a P-1 Hawk at Eagles Mere, PA when his fuel line caught fire. Lindbergh himself had survived 4 parachute jumps prior to Johnson’s death—two as an Army Air Corps pilot and two as a US Mail pilot. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585447216-5BNQ6KB74EUBPLNY1595/LINDBERGH23.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out One of the other US Army Air Corps pilots who accompanied Lindbergh poses with his Curtiss P-1 Hawk at the Hunt Club Airfield. All 12 aircraft were from Selfridge Field in Detroit, Michigan. This particular Hawk is not from the 27th, but rather ther 17th Pursuit Squadron of the same First Pursuit Group. It is possible that 17 Squadorn pilots were part of the flying entourage, or possibly the aircraft was “borrowed”. This particular pilot appears to be somewhat unconcerned or perhaps unaware of Johnson’s demise. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585498441-Z6AL86RM2A8U6V5BQUS1/LINDBERGH31.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out As soldiers and airmen move in close for a better look at the Ryan Monoplane known as the Spirit of St. Louis, two young Ottawa ladies pose with the famous ship that crossed the Atlantic. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585573953-GR6UK00F8B1H1ADYJLJ4/LINDBERGH21.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A corporal of the recently formed Royal Canadian Air Force stands guard over the Spirit of St. Louis. The RCAF had just been formed from the nascent Canadian Air Force three years previously. There are several photographs in this collection from the Canada Aviation and Space Museum that were clearly taken by a photographer whose camera shutter had some defect that caused the tear-like black shape at right. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585621378-4BORCSTY5388HNBBAQYZ/LINDBERGH28.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A sombre-looking Lindbergh and Walter Deisher ride in the Franklin car arranged for the motorcade. Though he seems to be averting the adulation, he is mobbed by youths on bicycles and adoring fans. This photograph can easily be placed on the Bowesville Road, half a kilometre north of the Ottawa Hunt Club’s pine tree copse. After landing at Uplands, Lindbergh went to the Ottawa Hunt Club to change and freshen up, which explains the difference in clothing from earlier photos. Police on motorcycles were having a difficult time keeping the crowd in check. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585670950-TDMV7RS3P6QQB3M22AAO/LINDBERGH16.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A clearly disturbed and brooding Lindbergh on his way to downtown Ottawa. His driver, Walter Deisher, an American-born business man, is one of the most important early figures in Canadian aviation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585712011-JZGPH2XAEXNQ0NMVK2MW/Lindbergh49.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Lindbergh and his driver Walter N. Deisher ride into town in silence. Deisher’s 1956 obituary in Toronto’s Globe and Mail reads: “Walter Nice Deisher, 65, former vice-president and general manager of Avro Canada, Ltd., died in his Thornhill home, yesterday after a lengthy illness. Mr. Deisher, an aviation pioneer, remained director and advisor of the aircraft company after his retirement in 1951. He was Avro’s general manager from 1945 when the firm was formed, until 1951. Born in Shenandoah, Va., he was educated as an automotive engineer in Shenandoah and in Cleveland where he worked for the White Motor Co. In 1912 he came to Toronto to handle sales and services for the company. His experience in aviation goes back to the early days of flying. He became a pilot in 1912 and held a license signed by Orville Wright. In 1919, he bought a Curtiss Jenny and barnstormed throughout Eastern Canada. In 1929, he was elected chairman of the first national convention of flying clubs at Ottawa. In 1930, he joined the Fleet Aircraft Co., where he was vice-president and general manager from 1943 until he moved to Avro. He founded Laurentian Air Services Ltd., and purchased a section of land just outside Ottawa for flight operations [this is actually on the same spot as Lindbergh landed–Ed]. Mr. Deisher was a director of Leyland Motors Canada Ltd., a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers since 1917, and a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. He was a member of the Ottawa Flying Club and the Empire and Canadian Clubs of Toronto”. Photo: Bill Mains Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585778883-V88F7S7DWQ8OQ5DQSL46/LINDBERGH11.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Lindbergh, looking far less happy than he should be, is squired through adoring crowds on Parliament Hill by American Ambassador William Phillips. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585832508-ELAEVSB1WKGSCBUENAL9/LINDBERGH24.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out From a dais on the lawn of Parliament Hill, Lindbergh addresses the crowd of Ottawans out to see the world’s greatest hero. It is likely that few on the Hill that afternoon were aware of the tragedy which had taken place earlier south of town. To the right of Lindbergh we see Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who would remain as Canada’s Prime Minister for more than 20 more years. The three microphones carried live the messages of dignitaries across the breadth of Canada in a bilingual broadcast of speeches, songs, poems and peals of the carillon bells in the newly inaugurated Peace Tower, the likes of which had never before been heard. Click here for a recorded radio broadcast on Canada Day, the day before Lindbergh’s appearance. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627585984101-0PC0W3VVF0QWNOZMQGQO/LINDBERGH10.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out One can read a couple of important things in this image of Lindbergh addressing the crowd on Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. The first thing that strikes you is his undeniable youth. At the time, Lindbergh was just 25 years old. Secondly, we can sense that he is haunted by the realization of Johnson’s death and that the joy that was meant for this occasion of celebration has vanished. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586058261-U4BTUH3WRF8KNIM9058E/LINDBERGH14.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Following Lindbergh’s appearance on Parliament Hill, he was driven the two kilometres to Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada, for a reception in his honour. There was no shortage of people hoping to get their photograph taken with Lindbergh. Here, at Rideau Hall, he stands with the Honourable Vincent Massey (right) and William Phillips. Massey, a decorated veteran of the First World War, would become Canada’s first native-born Governor General. In 1927, Massey was known as the Canadian Envoy Extraordinaire and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States for his Majesty’s Government in Canada (now called the Canadian Ambassador to the US) and William Phillips was the first American Minister to Canada (now known as the American Ambassador to Canada). Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586184606-C4SZZ6ARVYYGSM3XNU3R/LINDBERGH27.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A respectful Lindbergh shakes the hand of Governor General Lord Willingdon at Rideau Hall, the historic residence of the Vice-Regal. At far left is Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King with William Phillips. Behind Lindbergh, Vincent Massey smiles broadly. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586295012-N8YHXI12OPC28TJXVQ1Q/LINDBERGH39.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Escorted by black arm-banded members of the new Royal Canadian Air Force, the gun carriage bearing Johnson’s body rolls slowly down the east driveway of Parliament Hill after he had lain in state in the Centre Block. To the left in the background stands the newly completed Peace Tower (inaugurated 1 July 1927), from which the Belgian Master Carillonneur Lefèvre, punched out Chopin’s “Marche Funèbre” dirge, as the procession moved down Wellington Street towards Union Station. It appears that the pallbearers all have RCAF pilot’s wings and plenty of “gongs” from the First World War. Photo: Ottawa Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586364111-YQZJI1HQT0U40U42WNSC/LINDBERGH18.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A black-draped truck carrying the floral tributes to Thad Johnson follows the gun carriage from Parliament Hill. The funeral truck carries the letters R.C.A.S.C.L.L.548—which stands for Royal Canadian Army Service Corps Light Lorrie 548. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586447270-9JW0LX2V8WI1XFOX5HXH/LINDBERGH13.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out An artillery gun carriage bearing the flag-draped coffin of Lieutenant Thaddeus Johnson makes its way down Wellington Street in Ottawa. In the background stands the grand Victorian facade of Ottawa’s Central Post office, which stood where, today, we find the National War Memorial. Its facade is decorated with bunting and the numerals 1867–1927 in celebration of the 60th birthday of a young nation. The state funeral has drawn many dignitaries who were likely in Ottawa for the birthday celebrations on Parliament Hill. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586497386-2TKVHMSHMB4X43LZR4MM/LINDBERGH26.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Thad Johnson’s funeral cortege drew thousands of mourners and spectators. This photograph is likely taken from the roof of the entrance of the Chateau Laurier Hotel. It shows members of the funeral procession walking behind the casket as it turns right toward the side entrance to Union Station. The front entrance to the station is just to the right and out of view in this photograph. Nearly all the buildings in this photograph have long since vanished, including the Chicago-style Daly Building at left, which housed Lindsay’s Department Store. The only building visible in this shot that is still standing is the taller structure in the background, which sits today at the southeast corner of Rideau Street and Colonel By Drive. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586585954-WE7ZRGBG1BVENJ2IF26P/LINDBERGH12.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out At the side entrance to Ottawa’s Union Station, Johnson’s casket, draped in the Stars and Stripes, is lifted into the great hall by pallbearers of the newly formed RCAF. Mounties on horseback draw the gun carriage away, while busby-wearing members of the Governor General’s Foot Guards Band play a sorrowful tune. The scene is flanked by dignitaries, soldiers and sailors, while the curious watch from station windows. The truck bearing floral arrangements follows the entourage. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586659704-YQHNUUE5BUBFHF15SJN7/LINDBERGH25.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Red-coated Guardsmen fire their rifles in salute to Thad Johnson as his casket is carried away by the train. Sadly, the buildings in the background were all raised decades later to make room for the Rideau Centre shopping mall. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586720714-Z570MACGXVNRKU6O8PV5/LINDBERGH08.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Later (possibly after the funeral) with the Ryan tied down and suitable stanchions and ropes in place, two guards allow three spectators to pose for a photograph with the world’s most famous aircraft. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586783427-LNC5FHOVZZ0ZWBNRX9ZR/LINDBERGH09.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Spectators at the soon-to-be-named Lindbergh Field at Uplands stand somewhat quietly to view the Spirit of St. Louis as Lindbergh runs up the Whirlwind. Given the cloudy conditions, the subdued crowd and the larger aircraft behind Lindbergh’s Ryan, I believe that this photograph and the next were taken as he departed Ottawa. I studied this larger aircraft for quite some time trying to identify its type. Thanks to Tim Dubé for suggesting it was likely a Douglas O-2 observation aircraft. The aircraft would have come after Lindbergh had left for Parliament Hill and likely belonged to the US Army, in Ottawa after the crash to help the investigation. Perhaps one of the oddest features of the airfield was the 60-foot-tall pine tree at the edge of the shorter of the two runways (approximately in the same direction as today’s Runway 32). Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627586934756-KI5M3TMXWOWLBRFZWIRR/LINDBERGH22.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Charles Lindbergh taxies the Spirit of St. Louis along the line of eleven Curtiss P-1 fighters of the United States Army. I believe, given the direction he is travelling and the lack of accompanying runners or large crowds, that this is a photo of his departure—either to drop flowers over Johnson’s funeral train on 3 July or his ultimate departure to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. On this final flight, Lindbergh circled overhead Ottawa for 35 minutes. We can see men discreetly waving to Lindbergh as he taxies by—possibly the pilots of the Curtiss P-1 Hawks. Photo via Canada Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587132675-AGHUKK2NMEX1G5E7V7FT/Lindbergh40.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Despite several glaring typos, the local Fenton, Michigan newspaper paid tribute to their hometown hero, Thaddeus Johnson. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587276159-KVHLZ74Y23GAFHLWG06F/Lindbergh41.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Emotional headlines clipped from the Ottawa Morning Journal. Though well-deserved, it’s hard to believe that they would have been so large and dramatic if Johnson had not been escorting the most famous man in the world at the time of his demise. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587326161-D4CYIZ3SPYBGQHSLYT0M/Lindbergh43.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out It appears that Johnson had more than one aerial mishap, something common to all pilots in the early years of flight. Here, he and his wife Fay Adams Johnson smirk as they pose with a flipped P-1 Hawk. Johnson was also forced to jump from his burning aircraft in Pennsylvania, just two years prior to the Ottawa accident. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587395098-V9HKK2XAR58SCF6XBPIN/Lindbergh46.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Johnson (right) was involved in lengthy winter testing of the Curtiss P-1 Hawk fighter in the 1920s at Selfridge Field near Detroit. The Wikipedia entry for the 27th Pursuit Squadron states: “Under extreme and austere conditions in the 1920s they tested the effects of cold weather on their aircraft. At times it was so cold, the engines of their P-1 Hawk aircraft would not start until steam was forced into the engines to thaw them.” Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587427039-PU7CANTFL2LTA7MNIIGZ/Lindbergh44.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Thaddeus Johnson, likely during winter trials of the P-1 Hawk in the 1920s. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587467027-0T1OYIHDLPYF8YHK0AVO/Lindbergh45.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Lieutenant Thaddeus Johnson, commanding officer of the 27th Pursuit Squadron in better days. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Johnson Special Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587572192-87DH6BW7JMOG7LW4B1J6/LINDBERGH33.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out A Franklin Sport Runabout car similar to the one which carried Lindbergh to the soon-to-be-cancelled celebrations on Parliament Hill. Photo by A. Wittenborn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587616103-CJOSY2UIPBKBXFOH6CZQ/Lindbergh50.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out In 1928, the H.H. Franklin Company of Syracuse, New York presented Lindbergh with a luxury sedan, which they christened the “Airman”. Though Lindbergh had been bestowed many gifts, the Franklin was a favourite. He later wrote: “The Franklin car was a present from the Franklin Company because, they said, my flights in the “Spirit of St. Louis”, with its air-cooled engine, had increased the sales of the car – the only car built in the United States with an air-cooled engine... I drove this car a great deal in connection with my flying activities... I drove my wife in it on the first date we had—to Long Island for a flight in a de Havilland Moth—and on a good many dates thereafter, both before and after we were married. I like the car very much and it gave us excellent service.” In 1940, Lindbergh donated the car to the Henry Ford Museum. Photo and text from Henry’s Attic: Some Fascinating Gifts to Henry Ford and His Museum, by Ford R. Bryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587660564-TK7HNQOSWN6DQ9OXY9PO/Lindbergh37.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Because Franklin cars featured an air-cooled engine, Franklin advertisements of the late 1920s strove to make a connection with the exciting and revered world of aviation. Images via the internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587913382-ZKSE6QZ0FASYJNKW93YQ/Lindbergh56.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587849041-22179E9MWJB5EI4MNQXO/Lindbergh57.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out All that remains to remind people of the dramatic events that happened 88 years ago are two street names at the Ottawa International Airport. Thad Johnson’s street was downgraded from Drive to Private a few years back. People come and go all day, but very, very few know the source of the street’s name and the tragedy that it memorializes. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627587939957-4NGRV3RH5C7O92BLZLIH/Lindbergh58.jpg The Stories - LUCKY LINDY AND UNLUCKY THAD - Make it stand out At the other side of the airport from Thad Johnson Private is another short street, commemorating the visit of Lindbergh. The street is not much further than 100 metres from the place he parked his aircraft after landing at Hunt Club Airfield. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/all-the-thing-never-done monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575630635-2EEQ6AK2TXUBD2XH1Q84/ROULEAU.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575857205-3B1CEAGGT5XQOSZWT9SX/Eagle.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out HMS Eagle showing her unique high foremast with gun spotting platform (two of her six inch guns can be seen in turrets beneath the flight deck) and long round down at her stern where the Navy ensign waves proudly. Built on a hull originally destined to float a battle cruiser for the Chilean navy, Eagle was, in many respects, a one-off. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627576124871-N9I6JU3IZX34UEWS757P/Plagis4.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out The Greek-Rhodesian Flight Lieutenant Johnny Plagis was already an old Malta hand when he met David Rouleau in Gibraltar. He would go on to claim 11 victories in Maltese skies. This would be the first time that pilots from a Malta-based squadron would be employed to guide replacement pilots and their Spitfires into Malta. It would also be the only time that they were intercepted, leading some to speculate foreknowledge. Photo via Greeks in Foreign Cockpits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627576770327-068WHTU4RT3ITQYKNFMC/Personal35.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A very boyish David Rouleau poses in a winter flight suit before he makes his first flight in a Fleet Finch at No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St-Eugène, Ontario, just 60 miles due east of his home in Ottawa. The pure joy and excitement can be seen on his young face. Many made the same first flight and many thousands paid for this joy with the supreme sacrifice. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627576839331-P26DBBEI6EDC3L7CRW8G/RouleauGroup.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A group photo of Rouleau’s Course Mates taken at Ottawa’s No. 2 SFTS. David Rouleau is fifth from the left in the second last row. Some of his course mates became well known aces and individuals in the RCAF: Wally Conrad, George Keefer, Ian Ormston, Frank Sutton (an American who was killed on 7 December 1941, the U.S. named an airfield after Frank ‘Stuffy’ Sutton in North Carolina), Stu Buchanan (whose father was a Wing Commander in Ottawa when these boys were training in various parts of Quebec, Ontario, etc.), also Joe Crichton, Don Edy and Creighton Lowther. Pilot Officers Don Edy, Don Lush and Creighton ‘Crabby’ Lowther, all in this photo, all served together with RAF No. 33 Squadron as Hurricane fighter pilots. Don Edy, Don Lush and Joe Crichton also all became prisoners of war together at the infamous Stalag Luft III, in Sagan, Germany, during the era of the Great Escape. Don Lush passed away in 2005 in Scarborough, ON. Joe Crichton died in 2011 and had served in the desert in 112 Sqn, and was also POW at Stalag Luft III. As of January 2012, Don Edy, 94, survives. Photo via Barb Edy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627576946093-SJN21H6Y42BIB9TEIQQL/Personal33.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out David Rouleau receives his wings indoors at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, at Uplands where today Ottawa’s International Airport lays. Rouleau had the unique good fortune to do both his Elementary Flying Training on Fleet Finches and his Service Flying Training on Harvards just a short drive from his Ottawa home. David’s mother Gertrude and his grandfather Dr. Francis Gisborne were most likely in attendance. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627577000369-QSQ8PRBSPGCQWKNL1TUP/RouleauXX.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A couple of years after writing this story, I came across this story in an online copy of the 11 July 1941 edition of the Ottawa Citizen. Rouleau would spend the next year as a front line fighter pilot based in England. All but one of these men (Ogilvie) would die on active service before war's end. Herbert Wolf, also a Lisgar Student, died 5 months later in Libya with 109 Squadron; Rouleau the following year; Hall three months later with 405 Squadron and George Smith a year later with 61 Squadron. Smith, Rouleau and Hall have no known graves. Photo: Ottawa Citizen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627577127369-ZQCWZMALH9XQPJ983LIQ/HMS-Eagle-595x334.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A Spitfire launches from the deck of HMS Eagle during a similar operation two months earlier. At the rear Spitfires have their tails resting well below the mains on the long round down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627577241082-B75RPABLAALJGIFSJGZE/h-m-s-eagle-sinking.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out If you needed proof that Eagle and her gallant crew were sailing into extreme danger on these operations, witness Eagle sinking two months later on “Operation Pedestal”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627577350680-L9Q1N50NP13IMGCHIOTX/RouleauX.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A number of years after writing this story, I came across a photograph of five airmen leaning against a 131 Squadron Spitfire (NX-Q, serial number AD554). Immediately, the face of the young man second from the left leapt out of the photograph, seemingly calling to me. I cannot be certain, but the hairs standing up on the back of my neck tell me this is David Rouleau. The photo filled in a void of more than a year between his wings parade and his death. He seems confident and relaxed. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627583481173-GF65VRCOSFPD0GS7SET3/Rouleau9.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out A Messerschmitt Bf-109 of 11/JG 53 sits in the sun on Sicily a few months before the attack on Rouleau’s flight. “Yellow 2” as it would have been called also sports the “Pic-A”’s Ace of Spades emblem on its snout. When David looked over his shoulder in his final moments he would have seen an aircraft like Yellow 2. Photo via Howard Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627583655128-DGZW5YVUZ9TJQFLH869A/16265501_1108359929293798_2379999327762179172_n.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out The great Malta ace Gerhard Milchalski offers up a few nuggets of his experience to the rapt attention of a fellow pilot. Some of his experience was gained at the expense of David Rouleau’s life. Note the Piq-As symbol in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627583782617-PQP6XA78UYNO5VGSEZOY/Rouleau10.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out The actual telegram that a stunned Gertrude Rouleau held in her shaking hands two weeks later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627583868459-7TS5L78D4326MSG0ERPD/Rouleau2-1.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627583889367-KEZ7N4NOPFPYCS64XRVS/Rouleau3-1.jpg The Stories - ALL THE THINGS NEVER DONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/crossroads-of-courage monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574098921-EY149BJJFOOMXQXBR8M6/BarklowMcKnightTitle2.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574148579-EMRR1R8WZUJ508D5TPNR/BarklowMcKnight04.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Calgary Transit System’s C-Train connects the east, south and west parts of the city and railcars bearing McKnight’s name roll through town on a tight and busy schedule. Business men and women use the light rail system every day, but I wonder how many, if any, think of the handsome, wild-spirited and tragic triple ace known as Willie, as they step on board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574404351-DLLQW57EBOUA0JC6XJZX/BarklowMcknight14.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Douglas Bader sits on the canopy rail of his 242 Squadron Hawker Hurricane LE-D. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574443424-BW2W7B13XDNBYOVSO0ZU/BarklowMcKNight13.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Group Captain Douglas Bader heaves an artificial leg into the cockpit of a Supermarine Spitfire. This was after the end of the Second World War, as Bader was promoted to that rank in 1946. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574552494-IMD63QH91LZGAV7VSN1U/BarklowMcKnight15.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Hawker Hurricanes of 242 Squadron rise above the clouds during the Battle of Britain. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574657004-8QGSNS4MQSRV0LBTDHJG/BarklowMcKnight09.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out McKnight’s brashness, dark humour and medical background found artistic outlet in his idea for “fuselage art” on LE-A. The laughing skeleton Grim Reaper pointed towards the enemy who was about to be scythed down by the young knight of the air. The artwork appeared on both sides of the Hurricane. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574800238-EAAION2BAZQGZ9D6IK0B/BarklowMcKnight03.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Today RAF Duxford is home to the Imperial War Museum, some of the finest warbird restorers on the planet and one of the greatest air shows in the warbird world—Duxford’s Flying Legends. During the Second World War and the Battle of Britain, it was the home to the Royal Air Force’s 242 Canadian Squadron and real flying legends like the three pilots shown here: (left to right) Willie McKnight, Douglas Bader and Eric Ball. All three are decked out in full dress and two are sporting the very same flight boots which kick Hitler’s behind on the noses of their Hurricanes. Bader, of course, did not need heavy flight boots as he had no legs and his artificial legs sported shoes. All three are wearing ribbons—McKnight and Ball the DFC and Bader the Distinguished Service Order. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574861342-DGJB4JCX9624K142DI6W/BarklowMcKNight12.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Two of the greatest portrait artists of the Second World War were Eric Henri Kennington (an infantryman in the First World War) and Cuthbert Julian Orde (a Royal Flying Corps observer in the First World War). Kennington drew both Bader and McKnight, but he chose to put McKnight’s portrait on his 1942 book, Drawing the R.A.F. (left). Cuthbert Orde published a portrait of Squadron Leader Douglas Bader (right) in his portrait compendium Pilots of Fighter Command - 64 Portraits by Cuthbert Orde – an album of portraits of Battle of Britain pilots. Images: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574943123-J8AT23G3SW5NAHD7AN45/BarklowMcKnight49.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Both Noel Barlow and Willie McKnight made their way to Liverpool, England aboard the same ship – Canadian Pacific Steamships' CPS Montclare. McKnight sailed in January of 1939, while Barlow did so in December of 1937. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575052252-T7E54QEZOKYDGKTS677A/Relic18.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out A No. 5 OTU B-25 Mitchell in the skies over the Vancouver area. The photograph was taken by Noel Barlow during his training there. Photo by Noel Barlow, DezMazes Collection, via No. 5 OTU Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575107706-OCJD6REM0M93943SHKLT/BarklowMcKnight01.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Two photographs of a retired and aging Noel Barlow. At right he holds a photograph likely taken during his flight training days at No. 3 British Flying Training School in Oklahoma. At left, he holds another photograph of himself as an officer pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photos via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575159468-ONOQ3VYBS1S9MN2TOOHD/BarklowMcKnight08.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out Barlow’s headstone at the Strathmore Cemetery in Alberta shows that, despite the fact that the RCAF made him a pilot and an officer, his true allegiance was to his squadron mates in 242 Canadian Squadron and to his beloved leader Douglas Bader. Photo by Ancaster at FindaGrave.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575197366-0DOYATR8YKK5I74P03JR/BarklowMcKnight05.jpg The Stories - CROSSROADS OF COURAGE - Make it stand out A highway sign in Calgary, Alberta bears the name of a simple corporal fitter in the Royal Air Force, a tribute to history, loyalty, determination and friendship. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ghost-in-the-house monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571169696-UVH8AV2BPQ7BJ762K8JM/GhostStory00.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571322275-38BU0XW9Z99JGLFFH6SV/GhostStory17.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The author found this short but very glowing obituary for Scotsman John Maider Wilson who lived in his home before and during the Second World War. It was clear he was much loved and highly respected with floral arrangements being sent by colleagues and the “boys of Adelaide Street”. He seems to have died suddenly, perhaps a heart attack, on 22 August 1941. Clipping—Ottawa Journal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571388304-GKU5QMXI4LBDNWW2PNCS/GhostStory18.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The author discovered two poignant Ottawa Journal newspaper clippings during his research—one announcing his commission and the awarding of his RCAF wings on 27 July 1941; the other announcing his death on 26 November 1942, while on operations with the RAF’s Coastal Command. Reading the death notice, we learn that he was on a troopship bound for England when his father died suddenly. This of course would not be the kind of news he was expecting when he landed in Great Britain. His mother, Jean, would lose her husband and son within 15 months of each other. Clippings—Ottawa Journal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571477460-2DLJVMA42V4030ELPSNU/GhostStory09.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571522114-080ZIDX62DUWMBTFOHWS/GhostStory03.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The Avro Anson Mk II was the mainstay of multi-engine Service Flying Training in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, used as well in navigation, bomb-aiming and radio operation training. Two other twins were utilized—the Airspeed Oxford and the Cessna Crane—but “Faithful Annie” did the bulk of the work. Anson 7521, seen here, served with No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario near the shores of Lake Erie. Jim Wilson learned to fly the Avro Anson at Moncton, New Brunswick in anticipation of multi-engine combat operations. For most young pilots who earned their wings on twins, Bomber Command lay ahead. Wilson would have considered himself fortunate to go on to twin-engine fighter operations on the Bristol Blenheim and then the mighty and formidable Bristol Beaufighter—the “Beau”. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571722166-HUV2F25802DS9MMZF43S/GhostStory11.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out A detail from the Course 27 graduation photo at No. 8 SFTS in Moncton, New Brunswick. In a ghostly twist of fate, Robert Benjamin Moulton of Brockville, Ontario is seen in the lower left. Moulton's death in a Wellington crash in Holland would inspire Dutchman Jay Pinto to create the Gramophone Project, a memorial tribute to Canadian airmen, in which the author is taking part on Remembrance Day, 2015. Photo via rcafmoncton.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571769231-4CTH04I078N9808EGKDH/GhostStory20.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Jim Wilson had the good fortune of travelling to Great Britain in a Troop Convoy, a specialized convoy of three fast-moving ocean liners and escorted by fast and powerfully armed destroyers from the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Navy. There were no other cargo ships or tankers to slow them down and make them sitting ducks. The three troop ships were Stratheden of P&O Line (top left), the relatively new QSMV Dominion Monarch (top right) of the Shaw, Saville and Albion Line and Canadian Pacific’s RMS Empress of Russia, the grand old lady of the trans-Pacific routes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571821487-W970L5UN4PDHZMCVSYC1/GhostStory01.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out A Bristol Beaufighter of 235 Squadron (Squadron code LA) warms up at RAF Chivenor. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571872574-YHIQ3NPQLX1PERZSG489/GhostStory07.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out A Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter of Coastal Command. It is clear in this photo why some wags called the magnificent aircraft “a fuselage in hot pursuit of two engines”. The Beaufighter was a versatile aircraft used in service initially as a night fighter, and later mainly in the maritime strike and ground attack roles; it also replaced the earlier Bristol Beaufort as a torpedo bomber. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627571907117-QPNF0TXFYH4UG682J51E/GhostStory05.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Beaufighter pilots of Coastal Command hammer the German mine-detecting ship Sauerland later in the war. This image shows just how low the Beau pilots took their attack. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572008084-YQ0J95UZ8H4MDNFTKZRS/GhostStory19.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Looking at this photograph, one sees just how dangerous the Beaufighter operations were—for the target ship and for the attacking crews, who risked mid-air collisions operating in close proximity with each other. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572038086-7KV3ZG8VL3BS8PHDXSK4/GhostStory06.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Bristol Beaufighters were the bane of any German ship’s crew that dared to conduct operations on the North Sea. The splashes show the fire power of attacking RCAF Beaufighters as they walk their cannons up to the target. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572284828-Y59VNRJB22JNA3XBT8WK/GhostStory21.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The telegram from the RCAF delivered to Jean Wilson (though addressed to her now-deceased husband—likely because his name was on record) just one day after her son failed to return from a routine patrol. Note that the date, the 28th, was scratched out and corrected to the 26th, whereas the 235 Squadron ORBs indicated that the operation was on the 27th. Regardless of inconsistencies in the bookkeeping, Jim Wilson, the young lad from Adelaide Street, had died. Scan of telegram via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572645382-Y540YYC7IZVA7WIO58Z2/GhostStory22.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The page on the Canadian Book of Remembrance, Page 125 — remembering 21-year-old James Bennett Wilson of Adelaide Street, Ottawa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572685800-KKL1W9MGEANP163OYXGG/GhostStory14.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out The former Wilson family home on Adelaide Street in Ottawa, now the home of author Peter Rudin-Brown and his family. The house received a third storey sometime in the 1990s. Adelaide Street, only one city block long, is a decidedly unassuming street with a strong identity, many young families and a reputation for neighbourliness and great fun. Photo: Peter Rudin-Brown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627572724198-32BQLOKOMB3W4EF9BO8Y/GhostStory15.jpg The Stories - GHOST IN THE HOUSE - Make it stand out Jean Wilson lived to be a 100 years. It is likely that she thought of her beautiful son Jim every day for the last 56 years of her life. Photo: Peter Rudin-Brown https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/every-picture-tells-a-story monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508189459-RQCDCAZD9KTCYHOMDNTY/RightPlace000.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508287093-G6B766Y821DFBSP94WXI/RightPlace02.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508321626-3AGEDY6QHOA1RXGDYXRO/RightPlace110.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A story to be told. Some photographs don’t have to be overly dramatic to deliver an emotional blow. This photo of an Eighth Air Force B-24H Liberator in the haze and about to make a forced landing at RAF Eye in Suffolk hits me hard. It speaks to the fact that the six remaining men aboard are now all alone, encased in a wounded metal machine and about to attempt an uncertain landing with heavy damage. The aircraft had been mauled by enemy fighters over France with severe damage to its tail turret, fuselage and hydraulic system. The tail gunner had been killed instantly, and the two waist gunners had bailed out. The training for the pilots is now kicking in, the only means by which they can save themselves. There is something about the haze, the church steeple and the distance that speaks to their plight. It looks misty and silent and it seems their trial is near its end—but this is the most dangerous time, and those young American men we can’t see inside that shape are scrambling to save their lives. The Ford-built (Willow Run factory) Liberator (42-95025) of the 579th Bomb Squadron of the 392nd Bomb Group, piloted by Lieutenant Harry A. White, crashed at Eye on 15 June 1944. The six men survived. The following 392 BG intelligence report demonstrates the severity of the damage—something you cannot see in this photo: “On the mission of 15 June 1944 to a bridge at La Frillière, near Tours, A/C #025, piloted by 1st Lt Harry A. White, Jr, was attacked by E/A. The exact time and place of the attack could not be ascertained from Lt White’s crew, who had their hands full dealing with battle damage and flying the plane home. From interrogation of the crew in the hospital the next day and from crew reports of A/C nearby in the formation, the attack is estimated to have begun at about 0658 hours in the vicinity of (4749N-0119E) [59 km/37 mls northeast of their target – editor]. Five or six Fw 190s, from a group of 20 or more, attacked our formation. Three of these attacked Lt White’s plane—one from either side and behind, one from the rear and below. The plane was badly hit by 20-mm shells and machine gun fire. The tail gunner, S/Sgt J. Wehunt, was killed, and the waist gunners, S/Sgts Braccioforte and Weitkemper, bailed out. The tail structure and turret were ruined. Shells and bullets entered the fuselage near the waist windows on both sides. Oxygen bottles exploded, and a 20-mm shell burst on the flight deck, wounding the engineer, T/Sgt Glenn M. Barnes, in the face and neck. Smoke filled the plane. The hydraulic system was shot out, rendering the bomb-bay doors inoperative, and escaping fluid poured through the plane, freezing to the floor and sides. Bombs were salvoed through the bomb-bay doors. No. 3 engine ran away. Rudders and trim tabs were out, and the plane was flown home (with the 93rd Bomb Group) by main force and the skill of the remaining crew. The intercom was out. S/Sgts Braccioforte and Weitkemper, at the waist guns, presumably bailed out when fire from attacking planes came into their positions. It should be emphasized that in the confusion of the attack their own crew did not see them leave the plane. In fact, when the plane was again brought under control the open bomb-bay and the frozen hydraulic fluid made it impossible for the rest of the crew to investigate conditions in the rear of the plane. They did not know that the waist gunners had bailed out nor that the tail gunner was dead until they crash-landed in England [at Eye, home of the 490th Bomb Group]. Neighboring A/C reported seeing the two chutes of S/Sgts Braccioforte and Weitkemper at the time of the attack. Witnesses were the crews of A/C #343 (1st Lt C.L. Bell, pilot) and A/C #544 (2nd Lt H.W. Prouse, pilot).” In the bottom photograph, the six men who did make it home, pose with their crash-landed bomber shortly after their safe return. Left to right: 2nd Lt William Forde, navigator; TSgt James Reynolds, Radio Operator; 1st Lt Harry Whyte, Pilot; 2nd Lt John Martin, Co-pilot; TSgt Glenn Barnes, Engineer; 2nd Lt Harry Green, Bombardier. In the background can be seen the damaged tail turret where Wehunt was killed. Photo: Top: Imperial War Museum; Bottom: AmericanAirMuseum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508381653-WZR50IJ45MF6CXLZRQTK/RightPlace89.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Designers and operators of military aircraft expect to have to deal with things like battle damage, rough handling by inexperienced pilots and the odd snow or hail storm—but being weighted down by thousands of pounds of hot ash was not in the manual. Between 18 and 23 March 1944, Mount Vesuvius, the one-time destroyer of Herculaneum and Pompeii, erupted and spewed ash, rocks and hot cinders southeast across a wide swath of the coast of the Bay of Naples, all the way to the Gulf of Salerno. Here a B-25 of the 340th Bomb Group at Pompeii Airfield sits forlornly under many inches of heavy hot ash following the eruption. There was nothing the 340th could do until the eruption had ended. Embers burned away fabric-covered control surfaces, etched Perspex in turrets and cockpits, entered interiors and caused considerable damage. The weight of the ashes on the horizontal stabilizers caused many of the B-25s to tilt aft, burying their tail guns even deeper under ash. The soldier in the foreground is wearing a helmet and heavy jacket to protect him from falling ash and rocks. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508429688-DP51B4RJGARHTDWANEFZ/RightPlace01a.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508462037-4MG12GB6O4371TWJKFJ8/RightPlace01c.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out The nose gunner of this England-bound Heinkel He 111 (Top) in the summer of 1940 had the best view of the action ahead possible, but he must have felt pretty vulnerable sitting at altitude in a glass bubble with angry Spitfires and Hurricanes rising to meet him like wasps from a disturbed nest. The pilot, navigator and bomb aimer sat well back of the nose gunner in this big glassy greenhouse cockpit, an iconic design long-associated with the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. With the big Jumo 211 V-12s turning three-bladed Jumo wooden props, it must have made for a noisy flight for the man in the nose. The He 111 was the most numerous of Luftwaffe bombers in the early stages of the war and was built from 1935 through to 1944. The bottom photo shows us just how great the Heinkel’s gunner’s forward visibility and vulnerability really was. Photo: Top: Pixtale.net; Bottom: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508501140-GPJ2CG03GASQ9YOEW1JW/RightPlace83.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out There’s something about this photo that has always drawn me in. Perhaps it was the earnest and cheerful good looks of the five young men crammed into the forward compartment and cockpit of this Avro Anson trainer—young men who are clearly competent and proud of what they are doing. It’s difficult to find information on the image, but I found one post on Pinterest that claimed the pilot (in hat) was Harold Craven Billerwell of the Royal Australian Air Force and the date was August of 1945. If this is the case, then this is a shot of the one Avro Anson operated by 99 Squadron of the RAAF, a heavy bomber squadron raised late in the war for service against the Japanese. The squadron was stood up at the beginning of February 1945 at Leyburn in Queensland and equipped by March with B-24 Liberators. The squadron owned a Tiger Moth and an Anson, for liaison purposes most likely. The unit was transferred to Jondaryan, Queensland in June of 1945, but the war was over soon after and the squadron flew mostly transport duty until stood down in June of 1946. Some of that transport duty was repatriating Australian service people after the war. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508536737-9D5E4TWS8CV7AMYVHVRJ/RightPlace91.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Preparing the place from which Japan’s end will come. In July of 1944, the crew of a Grumman Avenger of the United States Navy flies past the Japanese-held Ushi Point Airfield, which they have just attacked on the island of Tinian in the Marianas chain. The black plumes of smoke from burning Japanese aircraft signal the coming wreckage of the Japanese empire and homeland. As soon as the US Marines had secured the field, Navy Seabee construction battalions began work on constructing an airfield capable of B-29 Superfortress operations. A year after this photo was taken, a B-29 named Enola Gay would take off from here, bound for a city hardly anyone had heard of —Hiroshima. A week later, another B-29 named Bockscar also lifted off from this place, bound for Nagasaki. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508598336-Z9QTIL8IOIUW337JVT54/RightPlace03.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Almost didn’t make it home. While this well-timed photograph of a landing P-51 Mustang (F-6 Photo Recce variant) ground-looping and crashing into a parked aircraft is powerful enough to make it into this story, it’s the date of the crash, 8 May 1945, that makes it truly dramatic for me. This pilot, likely having fought his way across Europe, very nearly kills himself on VE Day at a captured German airfield (Bad Aibling, Bavaria) when he slams into a wrecked Luftwaffe fighter (a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4). The scene is stranger still as, according to the Imperial War Museum notes with this photo, the German fighter had just crashed a few moments before. Since it was after the German surrender, the Luftwaffe fighter was possibly being flown by another American pilot having a little fun with a Nazi aircraft. Bad Aibling was a postwar boneyard for hundreds of Luftwaffe wrecks. These boys were lucky to get home alive—the Mustang pilot, Captain Fred Buell of the 22nd Tactical Recon Squadron walked away with cuts and bruises… and possibly a major chewing out by his commanding officer. Photo: Associated Press via imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508665892-DHYRRSN9E50FCZ01RL73/RightPlace67.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out It was a small aircraft, but a large hat! A curious Finnish soldier pokes his head inside the cockpit of a nosed-over Russian Polikarpov I-16 on the Finnish-Russian front. This was during the second war between the two nations, known as the Continuation War. The Soviet pilot of the I-16 had made a forced landing near the village of Riiska on the shores of Lake Suvanto in Karelia. The diminutive but pudgy I-16 was a target for many nicknames, mostly mocking. The Russians called it the Isak (Donkey) or Ishakok (Burro) while their Finnish opponents called it the Siipiorava (Squirrel). It was used during the Spanish Civil War, where it was known as the Rata (Rat) by the Nationalists and the Mosca (Fly) by the Republicans. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508694000-JH16GNEPXKR8380U7MAX/RightPlace47.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out “Not a total loss Chief… we brought the prop home with us!” Master Sergeant James Smith, the Crew Chief for a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress named Patches, inspects the damage to “his” ship after a 379th Bomb Group raid to Pas de Calais on 8 May 1944. The prop, blown off after it was struck by flak, embedded itself in the wing and fuselage, just missing the head of Staff Sergeant Jack Guill, Patches’ radio operator. The pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Walter Miller of Louisiana, nursed the busted Fortress home to RAF Kimbolton, but we can only imagine the worries they had about damage to the wing or the possibility that the prop might fly off and strike the horizontal stabilizers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508732414-PGCXP5FAQKS5FA07HGC2/RightPlace79.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out If you read enough memoirs from Battle of Britain pilots, you will come across numerous descriptions of the standard Luftwaffe bomber formations that came across the Channel from France. They were often described as massive “stairs”, “escalators” or even “cascading waterfalls” with succeeding flights of bombers stepping up and back from the lead group over great distances. In the book The Spitfire Luck of Skeets Ogilvie, Ogilvie describes the formation being “all piled up like… the moving staircase at Piccadilly Circus”. This is sometimes hard to grasp, but this is the first photograph I have seen that illustrates this standard Luftwaffe formation perfectly. Viewing from the dorsal gunner’s position in a leading Heinkel He 111, we can find 20 aircraft in this one compact photograph. Can you find them all? Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508776650-BTZHPBBS2I20SSFU7CRK/RightPlace96.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out There is a moment in battle, a breathtaking pivot when pilots move from getting to the target to attacking it—a moment when they change from drifting albatrosses to swooping hawks. It is a dramatic moment, which today we can see in a battle break over an airfield where warbirds or modern fighters are arriving. A peacetime break over the field enables wide separation between landing aircraft as they enter the downwind leg of the circuit—it’s called “coming off the perch”. In battle, aircraft come off the perch one right after the other without pause and it always makes for a determined and dramatic warrior moment—the battle engaged, the lives put on the line, the avenger come down to mete out punishment. Here, four (five if you count the camera ship) Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-2 Zerstörers roll into the attack on the Russian front in 1943, loaded for bear with nose cannon, massive 21 cm. rocket tubes and belly panniers with machine guns. What a frightening sight these would have made, coming toward you as you huddled nearly frozen to death in your trench. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508852825-VHR16BSTY4NWYC1MPL89/RightPlace100.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out There were many ways to die flying from aircraft carriers during or, as in this case, after the Second World War—on operations, running out of fuel, getting lost out on the ocean or just getting back on board after a dangerous mission. Here a Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver of US Navy Squadron VB-92, The Battling Beasts, stalls and rolls inverted after having missed the wire aboard USS Lexington (CV-16). The fates of the pilot and his gunner are sealed. The squadron took their nickname from the nickname of the Helldiver—The “Beast”. The Helldiver that replaced this particular Number 208 airframe was on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida but now has returned to the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Photo: National Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508911575-7OA3K4VR5WFXKDGRWFBH/RightPlace53.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A radar operator/navigator of 125 Squadron RAF settles into his position in the aft fuselage of a Bristol Beaufighter prior to launching a night operation from Exeter in September 1943. The Beaufighter, an exceptionally effective aircraft developed from the heavier Beaufort torpedo bomber, proved to be well-suited to the night fighter role, for which the Royal Air Force (RAF) initially deployed the type during the height of the Battle of Britain, in part due to its large size, allowing it to accommodate both heavy armaments and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties. I like to imagine what men like this would experience from as they flew into action—the view at 15,000 feet over a blacked out London, the sweeping blue-white beams of searchlights, the cathode-ray light within the Perspex bubble, the moonlight shimmering off the arcs of the propellers ahead, the blue suppressed flames flickering from exhaust ports and the high-pitched talk and directions given to his pilot. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508945892-PZLO9QIJ9LXFR75R0SL8/RightPlace46.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Perhaps a little too close for comfort, yet comforting still, a yellow-nosed Republic P-47D Thunderbolt piloted by 1st Lieutenant Vernon R. Richards slides in close to an Eighth Army Air Force B-24 Liberator en route to Ludwigshaven. Known as “Little Friends”, fighter escorts like this beefy P-47 nicknamed “Tika” from the 374th Fighter Squadron at RAF Bottisham were a welcome sight to bomber crews who began their war in the summer of 1942 without adequate fighter escort cover for daylight missions. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627508989485-3386CD6KFKTN0U2CWKKQ/RightPlace85.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out One story leads to another. In researching the story behind the previous photograph showing a P-47 sidling up next to a Liberator, I was able to determine the pilot’s name—1st Lt. Vernon R. Richards. That name rang a bell. Vern Richards was the pilot in one of the most well-known and ubiquitous portraits of an American fighter pilot of the Second World War. The image, with notes for his mission inked on his cigarette hand depicts the stress, the exhaustion and the steely resolve of Allied fighter pilots in the Second World War. He went on to fly Mustangs by the end of the war. His “Tika IV” P-51 Mustang is also the subject of one of the best-known P-51 photos of the war. This fellow was somehow a magnet for photographers! Richards, an ace, survived the war and died at age 72 in July 1989 at Felts Mills, New York. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509027789-20FV51QR9ZFBJ2MMLJ2I/RightPlace66.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out At first quick glance, one might think this was two Fairey Battle light bombers flying in very tight formation or even an aerial rear-ending, but it is a dual-cockpit, dual-control Battle trainer known as the Battle T. About 100 of the strange looking aircraft were built, many being converted versions of standard Battle aircraft. The Battle has long been maligned as one of the worst aircraft of the Second World War, underperforming as a light bomber and swept from the skies over France by the Luftwaffe. Regardless of its failures in a combat role, it saw journeyman service as a target tug and gunnery training platform in Great Britain and across Canada with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. This Battle T (R7365) was with No. 1 Service Flying Training School at RAF Netheravon, Wiltshire, which is today the oldest military flying training school in the world. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509074421-S6J1879QZ6FE859ILRX3/RightPlace68.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out “Unleash Hell”, as Maximus said in the movie Gladiator. Here, a Hawker Typhoon pilot, guided by the splashes of his four 20mm cannon, toggles off a full salvo of rocket projectiles at a hapless tugboat caught in the open in the Scheldt Estuary in the Netherlands in September of 1944, prior to the Battle of the Scheldt. The crew of the tugboat could look over their shoulders, but there was nothing they could do about the oncoming death. One wonders if the rockets and the boat met at some point just in front of where the boat is now, or if these men lived to see another day. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509111932-B258LDHDNKA0P6QAP2Q7/RightPlace101.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509145089-V9243HLTP4CG8FXIZTLF/RightPlace103.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Oil leaks come in many sizes, but I have never seen one that caused this sort of damage. Standing on the wing of his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is 1st Lieutenant Edwin L. King of the 347th Fighter Squadron of the 350th Fighter Group based in Pisa, Italy. On the web, I came across differing stories as to how this happened. One place stated that during a sortie escorting a formation of B-25s of the 12th Air Force, he was attacked by a small number of Messerschmitt Bf 109s from the 2nd Gruppo and the combat resulted in a blown cylinder and a geyser of pressurized oil gushing back. In another, it seemed he was strafing ground targets when he was hit by flak. Either way, it’s a stunning piece of airmanship. The shear amount of black oil that has blown back across the fuselage and canopy is staggering. With the loss of so much oil (28 gallons according to the P-47 Pilot’s Flight Operating Manual) and a cylinder, he likely did not make it back to Pisa, which was more than 250 km away—he must have landed at a forward operating base. Sliding the canopy back, he would have landed with his head in the slipstream and a good crab on. Thankfully, he had an oxygen mask. We can just see the emblem of the 347th FS on the nose. King, who had enlisted in the Army Air Force in Ohio the day after Pearl Harbor, survived the war with 125 missions completed. He went on to a career in corporate aviation, once flying for Walt Disney. He died last year at the ripe old age of 95 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Photos: waralbum.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509186216-CHRQZO5UOSSV78M0G601/RightPlace104.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out While we are on the subject of guys named Edwin who had a brush with death in a P-47 Thunderbolt, how about this shot of Lieutenant Edwin “Lucky” Wright of the 404th Fighter Group. Lucky Wright’s propeller blade was hit by flak in October of 1944 over Münster, Germany, and despite what must have been severe vibration, Wright pressed home his bombing attack, managed a “spot” of strafing and then returned to base at St. Trond, Belgium where he found a nine inch hole in his 11-inch propeller blade. Had the flak struck an inch on either side, the blade would have been severed and the aircraft lost. It was the sixth time that Wright had been struck by flak, hence the name “Lucky”. It was his 39th mission and his luck continued, eventually surviving 88 missions in his trusty “Jug”. Wright was called up again to fight in the Korean War and left the USAF as a major. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509215715-R7I2GT61PRJ9TXCADTL6/RightPlace102.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out During the Second World War, many tens of thousands of aircraft crashed into the sea, out of fuel, lost or shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft fire, but few of them were ever recovered. There wasn’t time nor benefit from the expense and difficulties faced. This Japanese Imperial Navy Nakajima B5N Type 97 torpedo bomber was an exception. It was from the aircraft carrier Kaga and was flown by Lieutenant Mimori Suzuki with his two crew members—Warrant Officer Tsuneki Morita (bombardier/navigator) and Petty Officer Second Class Yoshiharu Machimoto (radio operator/rear gunner). Mimori’s “Kate” was one of five that failed to return to Kaga on that “Day of Infamy” and was shot down as it flew over Pearl Harbor’s submarine pens. It was determined that a single bullet or cannon round struck Suzuki’s suspended torpedo and detonated it. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509294762-T5X22UI4ZG5M79YM0A40/RightPlace82.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509324564-LL79IVTW2I35CH2L7RA0/RightPlace04.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out At first I thought this was a shot taken in winter. The pilot of this P-47D Thunderbolt nicknamed Greek, had propeller control failure and crashed at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk, England on 5 September 1943. The aircraft was flown by Lieutenant Warren M. Chapman at the time. In the top photo, we see Greek in better times (LM-G at rear of formation), flown by Lieutenant Harry Coronios of Lowell, Massachusetts (likely the Greek American who named her) with other aircraft of the 67th Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group. Though Corionos was not involved in this crash, he was killed two months later on operations as a result of bad weather. Photos: Top: Pinterest; Bottom: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509360476-YNPO3VTS8V01BUBPCKS7/RightPlace74.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Two crewmembers of an American Douglas A-20 Havoc (Uncle’s (Sam) Fighting Females) pretend to do maintenance of the four 50 Cal machine guns in the nose of their ground attack version of the type. Each gun bears the name of a women’s service unit operating in Great Britain at the time: WACS (Women’s Army Corps), WAAFS (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force), WAVES (United States Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve), known under the acronym WAVES as Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) and SPARS (United States Coast Guard Reserve). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509392245-F1ENGQOKI582O6UK2XZD/RightPlace05.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out The war stops for no one… not even God. As deck crew bow their heads during Divine Service aboard the escort carrier HMS Fencer in February 1944, a Wildcat pilot sits alone in his cockpit in case the air boss needs to launch defensive fighters against attacking aircraft. The Wildcat is strapped to the bridle and the catapult, ready to go. Given the time stamp, this Wildcat would have been with 842 Squadron, Q Flight. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509475054-D5P5J0WROHT2C1F9OU9A/RightPlace06.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out As a group of Air Force officers looks on in May of 1943, a test “bouncing bomb”, code-named Upkeep, bounds out of the water and on to shore at the Reculver Bombing Range in the county of Kent. The nonchalance of the men in the scene belies the importance of these tests. Closer than anyone, the man on the left is Barnes Wallis, famed inventor of a number of secret British aerial weapons including the Upkeep bouncing bombs, as well as the Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs that were used to destroy difficult targets like submarine pens, viaducts and the battleship Tirpitz. Shortly after these tests, Lancasters of 617 Squadron (including 32 Canadians) took off on Operation CHASTISE with one bomb each to take out the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe Dams in the industrial Ruhr region of Germany. Looking at this photo, I can hear the heavy thudding splash, the roar of the Lancaster overhead and the cheers of 56-year-old Wallis as he urges it on. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509511377-NE48QL33D24G2XB0I2UA/RightPlace07.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Camo Cameo. A Bristol Blenheim Mk IV of 226 Squadron, Royal Air Force hides among the fields and roadways of England at haying time in August of 1941 (note the hay bales in tidy rows below). Though the Blenheim was not as capable as the Havocs and Mitchells that the squadron would soon operate, it was far better than the Fairey Battles with which they entered the fray during the Battle of France in early 1940. The unit suffered heavy losses, their Battles being no match for the Messerschmitt Bf 109s and 110s of the Luftwaffe. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509543165-6W8B3Z5H1YP45C6EZWKM/RightPlace12.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out I love when camouflage seems to work—at least in a photograph. This Lockheed Hudson of 206 Squadron, Royal Air Force seems to disappear into the rural British landscape below. Interestingly, 206 Squadron was a Coastal Command unit with over-ocean patrols where forest camouflage might actually be a detriment. I suppose it was good for when returning to base. The squadron operated the type from RAF Bircham Newton with detachments at RAF Carew Chariton and RAF Hooten Park (could there be more British-sounding bases?) for two years before the summer of 1942 when they converted to Fortresses and Liberators for long mid-ocean operations. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509578608-2FDI7Y71X0BSE3H74UY4/RightPlace08.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out In addition to camouflaging aircraft, the RAF tried to hide entire airfields amidst the clutter of surrounding farm land. Here the large grass airfield (no runways meant aircraft could always take off and land into wind) at RAF Feltwell in East Anglia, England can be seen “painted” with a mimicked farm pattern. While many airfield perimeters encompassed actual functioning farmlands, it was never in the actual flying area. We can see the dispersal pads or perhaps munitions magazines at lower right. Feltwell was home to medium and heavy bomber squadrons throughout the war and was near more famous airfields such as Mildenhall, Bury St Edmunds and Lakenheath. Today, you can still see the field via Google Maps, but it is now home to the Feltwell Golf Club. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509633078-YKMPI4YCYZVJ4Y8HHBK7/RightPlace27.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Some efforts at camouflage were more elaborate than others. Here, at a captured German air base at Melsbroek, Belgium, Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons of 124 Wing, Second Tactical Air Force undergo maintenance at a hangar facility disguised as a row of apartment and shops. The disguise included mansard roofs, windows and chimneys and likely looked pretty real from the air. One wonders if attacking pilots ever asked the question: “What is a row of houses and shops doing at an airfield?” In the foreground, a rocket-rail equipped 247 Squadron Tiffie gets some engine work done, while in the background, a 181 Squadron Typhoon is up on jacks. In the foreground are stacked auxiliary fuel tanks for the thirsty Typhoons. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509661920-0FCZR9T7VTZ5D5XHF1PT/RightPlace76.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Even a Royal Air Force combat photographer is an artist at heart. This artistic shot, taken at British airfield near the village of Bétheniville, France (in the Champagne district) during the winter-long “Phoney War”, frames a British soldier standing guard in the snow over a parked and camouflaged Bristol Blenheim Mk IV of 139 Squadron. The photograph was likely taken around the time that the squadron was moved from Great Britain to France in December of 1939. The Blenheims of 139 Squadron were the first aircraft to engage the Germans—one day after war was declared on 3 September 1939. It was on that same raid against German ships at Wilhelmshaven that the first Canadian died during the war—Albert Stanley Price, a Blenheim pilot with 107 Squadron, Royal Air Force. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509708182-729JSDDZUUQVSYKHBYHT/RightPlace09.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Elephant power replaces horse power. At Royal Naval Air Station Puttalam in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) during the Second World War, Fifi the “Duty Elephant” was a legend who brought smiles to the faces of Fleet Air Arm aviators long after the war. With fuel at a premium, roadways and taxi strips almost impassable after monsoon rains and tow vehicles prone to breakdown in the humidity and tropical temperatures, Fifi and other Indian elephants saw plenty of work towing fuel bowsers and aircraft like this Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Corsair fighter. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509775477-5XEDIDFG57LAOHMRA4YW/RightPlace10.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Imagine finding one of these in the rear view mirror of your Nakajima Hayabusa. There’s something about the curious cropping of this LIFE magazine photograph of a United States Navy Corsair that speaks to me… raw, spirited, powerful, bloody dangerous and sneaking onto frame. Back in the Second World War, camera equipment was not as capable as it is today, but this shooter, obviously sitting in the tail gunner’s position of a bomber, did an admirable job worthy of John Dibbs. The brutish and unpolished look of that big 18-cylinder radial speaks to the original intention for the Corsair—a tough but expendable tool of war. Photo: LIFE via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509836892-LIJWDD4L5KR2X4OSS7VD/RightPlace13.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out With weather being constantly scorching hot and humid at Royal Naval Air Section (RNAS) Cochin on the Malabar Coast of India, many laborious tasks were jobbed out to unskilled locals, including stripping newly-delivered Fleet Air Arm aircraft of their sprayed-on coating used to protect them in transit. Many of the delivered aircraft, like this Chance Vought Corsair, were lashed to the flight decks of light aircraft carriers and subject to saltwater corrosion during delivery voyages. The Corsairs were wrapped in a strippable coating called Eronel and travelled without outer wing panels and empennage—these were assembled at Cochin and supplied to replenishment carriers or to squadrons based at Cochin for training. “Eronel Spraypeel” was a plastic, sprayed on and peelable product made by Eronel Industries in Connecticut. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509743091-VKDOFPAWAJIJMBKJRU0N/RightPlace14.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out If it floats, is powered and carries an aircraft… is it still an aircraft carrier? Here in Colombo, Ceylon (or in any anchorage near a Royal Navy repair depot or replenishment centre), a purpose-built motorized barge takes a Fleet Air Arm Corsair out to a waiting British carrier. The barges were needed when either the carrier could not tie up to a pier for offloading and uploading or when the confines of the harbour and other ships at anchor prevented the aircraft from “landing on”. The Royal Naval Air Station at Colombo was called HMS Bherunda and was established in 1943 at the Colombo Racecourse. The big Royal Navy base at Colombo was called Lanka and perhaps the boat was used for transferring aircraft from a replenishment carrier directly to a fleet carrier. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509923782-EO4QEHNKE5TPDFZDGC8P/RightPlace15.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Contrails forming off the tips of propellers are a common yet always fascinating visual display of physics and meteorology. Here, a Fleet Air Arm Corsair aboard the carrier HMS Formidable begins its takeoff roll at sea in July of 1944, spinning a tidy spiral of vapour from her prop that wraps around the pilot in his cockpit and disappears behind. Despite it being at the height of summer, deck crew and pilot wear warm clothing—suitable for the cold waters near the Arctic Circle where Formidable was taking part in yet another operation (Operation MASCOT) against the German battleship Tirpitz. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509969276-N1KWGRAODZ4EVQAX4A2L/RightPlace11.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627509992757-MQXRH08R2US60GHDRZ5K/RightPlace81.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out “Undies Boost Mustang Morale” reads the title on the back of this photo (above left). The Second World War may not have been the birthplace of the Pin-up Girl, but this cultural phenomenon is largely associated with the fighting men of that time. Testosterone-fired young men, oceans from their families and “gals”, found titillation and some degree of solace in a sexy Vargas-girl or Hollywood starlet pin-up—taken from magazines or even hand-painted on mess walls and aircraft. In the photo at left, Major John Brooke England pins a satin slip autographed by actresses Faye Emerson (top right) and Delores Moran (bottom right). The pilots of 357th Fighter Group had written to a number of starlets, requesting that they donate unwanted under garments to decorate their squad room. Several young ladies agreed, if only the men would “knock down an enemy plane and shoot up a few targets for them”. In the words of the excited fighter pilots, “we shot up everything that looked like a target.” Then the underwear started to come in. Film actress Marjorie Riordan (bottom left) sent a pair of autographed panties, while Fay Emerson sent the boys one of her satin slips with her signature and that of Delores Moran. John England, an ace with 18 victories, was killed in 1954 when attempting to make a dead-stick landing in an F-86 in bad weather in France. England Air Force Base in Louisiana was named after him. Emerson had just recently been married to Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, the son of FDR. Known as the “First Lady of Television”, she went on to a stellar career in the early years of TV broadcasting. Delores Moran had a short career in films, but was best known as a sexy pin-up girl and for her affairs with producers. Riordan, on the other hand, was no bimbo. After a short period of acting in the 40s, she found the life unrewarding and she went back to graduate school to study speech pathology. The one-time pin-up became a clinical psychologist. Moran died of cancer in February of 82, Emerson died of cancer in March of 83 and Riordan died of cancer in March of 84… all of the same disease and each one year apart. Photos: Top Left: Imperial War Museum; Top Right: findagrave.com; Bottom Left: Amazon.com; Bottom Right: wikiFeet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627510067936-H5PW48RBEDUAY1JO00FL/RightPlace61.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A nice portrait of a navigator aboard a Handley Page Hampden medium bomber of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command early in the war. The Hampden, along with the Vickers Wellington and the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, was a mainstay of the RAF’s Bomber Command in the early months of the war. Though Hampdens were involved in the first night raid of Berlin and the first 1,000-plane raid in Cologne, they proved to be the least capable of the three bombers and increasingly unsuited for modern bomber operations. It was withdrawn from Bomber Command service in late 1942. One can imagine the frightening view afforded this fellow on a night raid over Berlin, sitting at a table in essentially a glass dome while flak bursts all around him. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516268087-3MV1TG3492BCLDWET249/RightPlace20.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Into the Battle in Battles. The gunner in a Fairey Battle captures a photograph of Wermacht soldiers running for their lives (just above horizontal stabilizer) after their convoy was strafed by his pilot. After the Phoney War, a period of some eight months after 3 September 1939 when the Germans and Allies did not engage on the Western Front, the Germans finally began their Blitzkrieg war, slicing into Belgium and France. This was the Battle of France. Against them, the RAF employed untested types like the Westland Lysander and Fairey Battle in combat with the Nazi invaders. Sadly, while they functioned somewhat as hoped when unmolested (as above), they were hopelessly out-classed by Luftwaffe frontline fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Battle squadrons were soon decimated, while Spitfire and Hurricane squadrons were pulled back to husband those resources for a possible invasion of Great Britain. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516300625-CM582QCICW9VEN4OWLZJ/RightPlace22.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out If you have never flown in formation in an open cockpit aircraft, you have missed one of the great joys of aviation—wind buffeting your face, heat blasting back from the engine, its howl drowning out that of aircraft just feet away, the thrum of wires slicing the air, aircraft rising and falling like fish in a fast moving stream. It’s all so dramatic and purposeful. Here we see a formation of Hawker Audax biplane fighters of 28 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at RAF Kohat, India (now Pakistan) on their way to an outpost at Miramshah on the Waziristan Frontier. The Audax was a variant of the Hawker Hart light bomber used for army cooperation. Though the Audaxes were outdated by the beginning of the war, 28 Squadron would not get a replacement aircraft until September of 1941 when they received their first Lysanders—hardly the type of aircraft needed to fight the Japanese in Burma. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516354326-VLG7ZNMFHPWHM6L3EEQB/RightPlace70.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out From swords to ploughshares. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators await destruction on death row at Kingman Air Force Base, Arizona after the Second World War. Within a year of the end of hostilities, some 34,000 military aircraft of the US Navy and Air Force had been flown in to storage facilities at 30 locations across the USA, including Kingman, which was known as Storage Depot No. 41. In all, more than 117,000 aircraft met their end in a similar fashion by the time the program was finished. The process of turning these old warbirds back to aluminum is best described in this excerpt from the website airplaneboneyards.com: “The contractor for aircraft scrapping at Kingman was the Wunderlich Contracting Company of Jefferson City, Missouri, who received an 18-month contract from the federal government for $2.78 million to reduce 5,400 aircraft to aluminum ingots. Active duty military personnel typically flew the aircraft into Kingman, and civilian employees would handle parking and classification. To accommodate the large numbers of employees, tent cities were erected on site. In subsequent months, brand new aircraft directly from assembly lines were even disposed of at Kingman. Fuel was drained from the aircraft and sold. Aircraft engines were then removed and placed in rows on the desert floor. By the time the planes reached Kingman, most of the ordnance (predominantly .50 cal machine guns and Norden Bombsights) had already been removed at other temporary storage depots. However, a few planes did arrive with some machine guns and a few Norden Bombsights, which were temporarily and securely stored. The guns were retrieved by the government, but the Nordens were ‘demilled’ using a sledgehammer. Interior items of the aircraft such as radios, oxygen equipment, handguns, manuals, life rafts, fire extinguishers and instruments were removed. The main aircraft airframe was then sliced into major pieces using a guillotine. Some hand cutting of smaller parts was also done. The final step was placing parts into the smelter, or furnace, for melting. Three furnaces were operated at Kingman for melting about 70% of an airplane’s metal components into ingots. The furnaces were run 24 hours a day, and could consume up to 35 aircraft a day.” Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516408441-NO6LCWGVMMXSI5OLF9EX/RightPlace87.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A peaceful silhouetted shot of a Dewoitine D.520 fighter aircraft of the Vichy French government flying over the coast of Tunisia that belies the turbulence of the French Air Force at the time—the summer of 1940. The beautiful Dewoitine, designed and built by Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Midi (SNCAM) was a contemporary of the Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109, but failed to take its place in that pantheon of the great aircraft of the Second World War, due in large part to the capitulation of France. With its cockpit sitting far aft, behind the trailing edge of the wing, it offered great downward visibility to its pilots. Note the foldable ventral antenna mast protruding downward far beyond the length of the extended landing gear. One wonders if it was slaved to the landing gear sequence—the gear goes down, the mast comes up? The lower antenna was for reception while adjustable length antenna on the top was for transmission. The D.520 was used by both the Free French and the Vichy government. Photo: picssr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516483873-LT4F1TSAYEO4Y3OE3XPV/RightPlace88.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out In retaliation for the D-Day invasion, the Germans unleashed an angry fusillade of V-1 flying bombs from sites inland from the Normandy coast. Here, on 14 June 1944, one of the missiles finally runs out of fuel over London and in silence falls toward an unfortunate neighbourhood of that great city. The white steeple at the left is the famed James Gibbs-designed St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square. So long as you kept hearing the V-1, you were safe from its explosive detonation, but when the buzzing racket of the Argus pulse-jet ceased due to fuel starvation, it was smart to find cover, for the missile would stall, pitch over and head towards whatever lay below it. At its peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at southeast England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was taken by Allied forces. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516527664-FQ52K59QL9T0XZ9G3OAS/RightPlace90.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out There are many photographs of fighter aircraft test firing tracer rounds from their guns during nighttime, usually jacked up on a test bed and shooting into a gun butt. It made for a dramatic publicity shot. Here, however, an American Republic P-47 Thunderbolt lets loose with its fifty cals while flying tight formation on the photo ship. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516585114-MLHWVX8I1I0FWD4MLPBQ/RightStuff108.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516625894-ZQZK3A7L6MB3JEO90GPP/RightPlace105.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516690691-BQ44XYHK3KFC7ND4V428/RightPlace108.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516734935-7GWJR729SYDKPST7LWOT/RightPlace93.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516760941-VM9T2R7QSD8ANFJ64DNT/RightPlace94.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516801161-TB92YAP6IQHZ438CKGHM/RightPlace106.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516868838-LKEE5TOYHARLFX9X5H5T/RightPlace86.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516916428-5OXH2EZJQAWEJUT32HVK/RightPlace78c.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517051570-699Q4T5EVNPXALXZI0NR/RightPlace69.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517084546-14HVPSSHI0J9KY2Y95EM/RightPlace80.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627516651775-XBALRSTY02M9EIOE8WUM/RightPlace32.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517133430-3GZRJACN8HN8I38AMEMZ/RightPlace84.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517165058-7RZIAAW37N3FXWKQNLMZ/RightPlace35.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Attacking a formation of Martin B-26 Marauders in the first months of 1945, this long-nose Focke-Wulf FW 190D of Jagdgeschwader 51 “Mölders” II. Gruppe just escapes the fate of the B-17 Miss Donna Mae II in the previous photograph. The speeds at which he was flying and the bombs were falling means he likely never even saw them as they flashed by. Photo: aviadajavu.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517205606-04R8RLH59ON6VW9XWM0V/RightPlace34.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out With hundreds of townsfolk watching, and swimmers in the water ready to give assistance, Avro Anson K6166 floats in shallow water at Whitstable, Kent on the south coast of the Swale where it enters the English Channel. On 25 June 1936, K6166, a 48 Squadron Anson, flying out of RAF Manston, experienced a port engine failure during a routine coastal patrol and was ditched six miles off the coast. The four-man crew was safely rescued but the Anson remained afloat. Enterprising coastal men towed it back to Tankerton Harbour in Whitstable, but the ditching and saltwater damage to engines and frame meant that it had to be written off. With 48 Squadron being the first to operate the type, beginning in March, this was in fact the first-ever operational accident involving an Anson. Photo: Aviation Safety Network https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517233362-AJPTNO5RCPRNVTRRPF7S/RightPlace21.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out When legends meet. Winston Churchill, upon watching a Spitfire demonstration in the summer of 1941 at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, asked to speak with the demonstration pilot, the legendary Alex Henshaw, “The Extraordinary Mr. Spitfire”. Henshaw, a former air racer and the Chief Production Factory Test Pilot for Supermarine, is known to have flown more that 10% of all Spitfires ever made… this representing 2,360 individual Spitfires flown! He also test flew Lancasters, 350 of which were constructed at Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory. He is the only confirmed person to barrel roll a Lancaster, something he did several times. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517267238-7JI89260K0P811VEGRZY/RightPlace39.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out On the deck of an aircraft carrier you better have your head on a swivel. A Grumman Avenger of Naval Torpedo Squadron VT-31 “Night Owls” misses the arrestor wires and drifts dangerously over the port catwalk of USS Cabot during operations, as quick-acting sailors try to get out of the way. VT-31 was part of Air Group 31 along with fighter squadron VF-31 and joined the ship at her East Coast commissioning and stayed with her for the better part of a year in the South Pacific. It is not known whether this Avenger managed to climb away safely. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517304584-DEAYFNIYGG9Y4FGVI6L3/RightPlace41.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A shadow of a low-flying Avro Vulcan, a cold war icon, crosses over the remains of a tragedy from another war and another time. On 4 April 1943, after attacking targets in Naples, a Consolidated B-24D Liberator nicknamed Lady Be Good disappeared while returning to base in North Africa. It was assumed that the Liberator and its crew had crashed after overrunning their base perhaps out of fuel or suffering fatal battle damage. It was the very first mission for pilot Lieutenant Bill Hatton and his crew. Nothing was learned about their fate until, in 1958, a British petroleum exploration crew came upon the near intact wreckage of Lady Be Good some 700 kilometres inland in the Libyan Desert. There was no evidence of any of the crew—it was clear that they had all bailed out. In 1960, an effort was made to find the remains of the crew and all but one of the nine-man crew were found—the farthest remains were 200 miles from the crash site. It seems, according to a diary found with the body of the co-pilot, that eight of the nine had survived the bail out. Without water, the group of eight, which had assembled after shooting off flares, survived together for more than a week. The wreckage, pin-pointed on the map, became somewhat of a curiosity for RAF aircraft, such as this Avro Vulcan, operating on the area. The story of Lady Be Good would become the basis for a Twilight Zone episode called King 9 Will Not Return. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517341389-EJM71EPQJSQF5AKE9NTY/RightPlace42.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Fearsome angels of death—three Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmoviks of a Red Army Ground Attack Unit unleash hell on German positions on the Eastern Front during the Battle of Kursk. I love this photo because the bright flash of the cannons blow the aircraft into stark silhouette as the section appears to dive though smoke and cloud (actually, they could be in a more level flight and the photo cropped to make them appear to be diving at a more extreme angle). Regardless, it is one of my favourite images of the “Ilyusha”. Ugly as sin, built like a tractor, the Sturmovik was successful (if inaccurate) against wide-open German positions, convoys, tanks and artillery. Equipped with 20-23 mm cannons, 82-132 mm rockets and dumb bombs, the Il-2 was the bane of the frozen foot soldiers and tank crews of the Wehrmacht. Il-2s at Kursk used the “circle of death” tactic: up to eight Sturmoviks formed a defensive circle, each plane protecting the one ahead with its forward machine guns, while individual Il-2s took turns leaving the circle, attacking a target, and rejoining the circle. Sturmoviks drew nicknames like flies—the Flying Tank, the Flying Infantryman, NATO (postwar) code-name Bark and my favourite, the Hunchback. One of its greatest claims to fame is the fact that it remains uncontested at the top of the list for most-produced aircraft of all time, with 36,183 built and, if you include the later variant Il-10 “Beast”, that number climbs to an astounding 42,330 aircraft. That’s a large host of angels of death. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517378361-7MELAA26RFOPDQ79AIJO/RightPlace43.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out While there is no aircraft shown in this photograph, an aircraft is the focus of these Soviet Red Army trainee snipers. Hopefully, there are more aircraft in the sky above them than just one, since they are not all pointing at the same target. I’m assuming they are sniper students as they are all using Mosan-Nagant M91/30 PU rifles, made famous by Red Army snipers like Vasily Zaytsev at the Battle of Stalingrad. Of the top ten snipers in history, all but one were Soviet soldiers and, using their Mosan-Nagants, claimed an astonishing 3,624 Germans killed. The most successful sniper of all time was a Finn by the name of Simo Häyhä who had 705 confirmed kills of Soviet Red Army soldiers. While sniper rifles do not make an adequate anti-aircraft defence, it’s not impossible to bring down an aircraft with a single shot. This was likely a public relations photo as all of the men have somehow managed to keep their caps on. Photo: forgottenweapons.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517407130-6WQLJH6UJCU98QIZ6JXT/RightPlace109.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out The diminutive Pilot Officer Vernon Charles “Shorty” Keogh may have been the smallest pilot of the entire Royal Air Force, but he had the heart and courage of a giant. At 4’-10”, Shorty had to use two seat cushions when flying his Spitfire with 609 Squadron. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he was an air show pilot and had an astonishing 500 demonstration parachute jumps to his credit. He first travelled to Europe to join the Finns in their fight against Russia, but by the time he got there, that fight was over. He then attempted to join the French Air Force during the Phoney War, but was shunted about without ever getting into a squadron or flying an airplane. With the fall of France, he managed to get to England aboard the last boat leaving, was accepted in the RAF and joined 609 Squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain. Following the end of that great aerial battle, he joined two American friends from 609 Squadron (the burly Andy Mamedoff and Eugene “Red” Tobin, both of them having been with him in France) and joined the newly-formed 71 Squadron, one of the famous all-American Eagle Squadrons in which heroic Americans fought for the RAF long before America was pushed into the war. Here we see the three men (Tobin on the left) together at RAF Church Fenton where the squadron was forming. Mamedoff (right) is pinning an Eagle Squadron badge on Shorty’s sleeve. During the Battle of Britain, Keogh participated in the shooting down of the Luftwaffe’s only flame-throwing bomber—a Dornier do 17—on 15 September 1940, the day we celebrate as Battle of Britain Day. He was killed on operations with 71 Squadron the following year. His body was never recovered. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517457087-YK5D3NOXC4F5UHKJVWRB/RightPlace58.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out During an attack on the Japanese island of Sakishima during Operation ICEBERG, the Allied attack on Okinawa, a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Grumman Avenger is forced to ditch next to the Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Smiter after its engine failed on takeoff. I love to stop and look around these images, to see the story they tell—in this case a dramatic story of a crew scrambling to survive, but looking out for each other. The turret gunner runs along the port wing while the pilot stands on the starboard wing and is possibly looking at the radio operator and ventral gunner who can be seen swimming aft of the port side tail plane. It looks as if the Avenger would stay afloat for a long time, but it was matter of just seconds before the 18,000 lb fully-loaded aircraft heads toward the bottom of the ocean. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517528478-3DTHX2YKSJSAUZCRKQ6B/RightPlace62.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out D-Day Typhoon? I’d bet that most people looking at this shot of a Hawker Typhoon IB of 486 (New Zealand) Squadron banking away from the camera in October of 1943 would think it was flying with the famous D-Day stripes or “wasp wings”, but they would be wrong. D-Day identification stripes, painted on to help Allied anti-aircraft gunners tell friend from foe during the chaos of the Normandy landings, were two black and three white stripes of equal thickness wrapped around each wing and the aft fuselage. The stripes in this photo are four thinner black stripes enclosing three wider white stripes. While the purpose of these stripes is the same, they predate Operation OVERLORD, the D-Day landings, by years. When the Typhoon was first introduced in combat in September of 1941, its wing shape and heavier nose in silhouette at altitude led some Allied gunners and even fighter pilots to mistake it for a Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The first two Typhoons that were lost in aerial combat were shot down by Spitfires. In December of 1942, the Royal Air Force introduced the stripes underside the wings after trying other schemes such as the entire nose painted white and a single yellow stripe. The success of the striping led the Allies to adopt a version of it for D-Day—the stripes known as “wasp wings”. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517569491-XD14ZMHNTLSO4Y26BIQC/RightPlace65.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out A blurry photograph of a pilot edging his Spitfire’s wing tip under a German V-1 Flying Bomb (Doodlebug, Buzz Bomb) taken at a distance from the ground, provides a dramatic and haunting image of courage. While the photo is ghost-like, we can only imagine the stark and absolute clarity of the scene from the Royal Air Force pilot’s point of view. A mindless, swastika-emblazoned malevolent weapon flying just 15 feet from his left shoulder, the crackling of the Argus pulse jet likely heard over the roar of his own Merlin, throttled up as high as he could get it to catch the primitive cruise missile. Initially, Allied pilots tried to take out the threat by shooting it down, but being a flying bomb, the results were often tragic for the attacking pilots. Many Spitfires were seriously damaged and many brave pilots were killed. Pilots had no option but to fly straight through the explosion. Later, pilots began placing their wingtips under the stub wing of the V-1, then lifting their own wing sharply. This would topple the gyros of the V-1’s guidance system and the weapon would enter into a spin, but it also often resulted in damage to the wing tips of the Spitfire. Soon, the pilots learned that all they had to do was just leave the wing tip in place under the airflow beneath the V-1’s wing and soon the disturbed air flow did the job without contact. I have high regard for the courage of these men, flying tight formation with evil. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627517604687-HJHKP49JTOVYLN41B7R5/RightPlace28.jpg The Stories - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Make it stand out Stirling Service. When the war was done, most of the bomber pilots of the Allies were taken off operations and began the process of demobilization. They went straight from offensive and deadly operations to home without much decompression. Some pilots however, had the opportunity to fly missions of mercy that would give them a sense that all was not horror in the world; to do something good for a change. American B-29 crews dropped supplies to Prisoners of War in Japan. Canadian Lancaster crews dropped food to starving Dutch citizens in Operation MANNA. In this photo, taken at RAF Crosby-on-Eden, Czechoslovakian orphans who lost their entire families in Nazi concentration camps and were flown to England for rehabilitation and adoption, are lifted down from a Bomber Command Short Stirling four-engined bomber. The long flight in the cold and noisy bomber does not appear to have dampened their excitement and joy. Only one, the lad at the right, seems to have the tension and mistrust one would expect still evident in his face. One wonders what happened to these three boys and girl. For the crews, this was perhaps the best way they could have ended their war—one that, in a small way, helped offset all the destruction they had wrought. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/canadian-spitfire-update monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518084427-6KBLA9MIPWAA5SLUC74F/SpitfireUpdate000.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518117326-42S9WS7HW7Y4ENZ7G2E8/SpitfireUpdate19.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out It has been five years since work on the wings began at Vintage Wings of Canada. Beneath those extraordinarily sublime and elegantly simple elliptical Spitfire wings ran a labyrinth of ribs, supports, straps, wells, access panels, bays, channels, spars and linkages—held in place by thousands of rivets, each part with specific requirements for gauge, strength and hardness of material. Ken Wood’s methodical and unhurried pace ensured that mistakes did not build upon each other, rendering weeks, months or even years of work scrap. To be in the company of Wood near his wing build throughout this period was to be in a sort of Zen-like zone where voices were lowered, decisions were made only after checks were made and remade, and where craftsmanship and quality of work became a fetish. Photo: Ken Wood from GoPro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518147020-N89M4FRRFO6LM3JYKUX3/SpitfireUpdate21.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out The finished Spitfire will be dedicated to and carry the name of Flight Lieutenant Arnold Roseland of 442 Squadron. Roseland was one of only a handful of Canadian fighter pilots who fought both the Japanese and the Germans during the war. “Rosey” Roseland was a member of 14 Squadron, a P-40 Kittyhawk unit flying in home defence of Canada’s West Coast and in combat operations in the Aleutian Island chain against Japanese Army and Navy positions on the island of Kiska. Later in the war, 14 Squadron became 442 Squadron, reforming at RCAF Station Rockcliffe here in Ottawa before going overseas and transitioning en masse to the Supermarine Spitfire. Recently, there was a brief article in Aeroplane magazine that stated Roseland had flown more than 65 operational Spitfire ops. That’s not quite correct. In fact, Roseland flew 65 operational flights just in a Spitfire with the letter “K” on the side—“K” being used by at least three aircraft he had flown since 18 March 1944. Roseland’s record in the Spitfire was considerably higher, with 117 flights totaling 130 hours and 10 minutes. He flew more than 50% of his Spitfire operations in a Y2-K–marked aircraft, making that aircraft in the squadron truly “his”. In his nearly two years on P-40s and P-40 Kittyhawks before going to Europe, Rosey had 220 flights and 348 hours. For more on the life and death of Flight Lieutenant Walter Arnold “Rosey” Roseland, click here. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518212791-EUBVC3F8SKDU2Y7X9HZK/Stocky04.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Mike Potter (left) with Second World War fighter pilot legend Wing Commander James “Stocky” Edwards at the Vintage Wings hangar in Gatineau. Potter, a highly experienced Spitfire pilot himself, has provided the massive financial backing that made this project possible. Edwards, living in Comox, has been an encouraging supporter of the project from the beginning. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518246557-FBL765WEANFUSXCGKHIJ/SpitfireUpdate15.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out In September of 2014, the fuselage of the Roseland Spitfire arrived at Vintage Wings of Canada, having been delivered from the Vintech Aero team at Comox, British Columbia’s Air Force Museum. It was unveiled at a special dinner where Roseland’s great-grandson Aidan had a first-hand look at the cockpit. Today, Aidan is now Corporal Roseland-Barnes of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518355137-TPCOU9GTSTO2O5WLNBTR/SpitfireUpdate20.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out The multi-dimensional complexities of building a Spitfire in the Castle Bromwich factory during the Second World War were overcome by jigs, custom tools, forms, molds, templates and thousands of employees. To build Spitfire wings, controls and fuselage components in Canada in the Third Millennium—70 years after the factories were closed—took some ingenuity on the part of Wood. In many cases, he needed to first build tools that would enable him to build the parts or to form three-dimensional magic in metal—tools like the “Fuel Bay Sumptuator”, “Wing-Rib Former 2000 Max”, “Fairey Fastener Locator”, and the world-famous “Bearing Dust Seal Flangetron” (patents pending). Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518420658-9TAUGL5YMIP0S2MXU45E/SpitfireUpdate23.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out It takes a village to raise a Spitfire. Some of the mechanics involved today with the Roseland Spitfire project: (standing left to right): Pat Tenger, Ken Wood, Mark Dufresne, Gerry Bettridge. At right is Mike Irvin, who has just joined Vintech Aero. Taking a knee: André Laviolette and Paul Tremblay. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518481253-LK9BYYPG6VEE5TEFRPK7/SpitfireUpdate16.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Last year, with the major components completed, Wood began work on the wing tips—a combination of cabinet-work and extreme sheet metal work. The Spitfire’s wing tip structure was made from wood to save vital war materials, then covered with aluminum. Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518509560-ZBE5UUOIMABH797Y81QP/SpitfireUpdate22.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Last July, the mechanics at Vintech Aero pushed the Roseland Spitfire outside and ran the engine for the first time with Gerry Bettridge at the throttle. A second engine run a week later was conducted by Mike Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada. Screen capture from video by Vintech Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518556378-UMLOH68QVYT2ILPPXA1I/SpitfireUpdate01.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Lead structures engineer on the Roseland Spitfire, Ken Wood preps the aluminum skin panel for the port side engine cowling. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518606728-8CIBW9K5G6F42SC6P6DW/SpitfireUpdate02.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out The starboard engine cowling panel is now fully shaped and perfectly fitted, ready for riveting to its underlying structure. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518634441-X8GJ6ZWU11SYBZX2O9HS/SpitfireUpdate03.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Ken Wood (left) and mechanic Pat Tenger place the top cowling panel over the engine bay to assess work needed to create the perfect fit. At this point the cowling panels lack structural integrity and need further shaping and trimming before being backed by structural stiffeners. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518670001-XG4TQ0TUVOJ94VHUQ3JG/SpitfireUpdate05.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out A nice view of the recent wing-root fairing work. Once all the remaining skin panels are complete, they will all go to the paint bay where paint specialist Korrey Foisy will match colour, pattern and finish to complete the final paint scheme for Y-2K. Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518709039-8HO8V24SXRE8RCGX9F8E/SpitfireUpdate06.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Wood contemplates his next step as he fits the port engine cowling to the Spitfire’s frame. As beautiful as the polished aluminum is, her final coats of primer and camouflage paint will tell a Canadian story of heroism that will outshine anything. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518734210-MK5UBL4QP06DTLRBGNLS/SpitfireUpdate08.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Paul Tremblay (right), Director of Maintenance at Vintech Aero, the AMO responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft of the Michael U. Potter Collection, is the man who assigns the talented mechanics of Vintech Aero to work on the Spitfire’s systems—engine, fuel, controls, landing gear and propeller. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627518967819-KX7XBD0C4R2COC9C32V6/SpitfireUpdate09.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Never hurried, Wood contemplates his next move when re-attaching the Spitfire’s propeller. More than half a year ago, the Spit was towed outside and its big Rolls-Royce Merlin was ground run—twice. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519037120-ULPHNT5IWKAY8FC2HSJU/SpitfireUpdate24.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out The Spitfire’s cowling substructure is prepared to receive the finished cowlings. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519009947-6TDIZW57RYXVGUVNS22N/SpitfireUpdate11.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out Two beautiful roses. The Roseland Spitfire, Y2-K (in background), now shares the hangar with Spitfire XVI (AU-J in foreground), once known in the warbird world as the Rose Garden Spitfire. Actually, there are three beautiful roses associated with TE294. Rose is also the name of the wife of the late Mark de Vries, the man who recognized the potential in the pile of deteriorating Spitfire bones that he found in a wrecking yard in South Africa. Soon, these two Spitfire Roses will fly together over Gatineau skies, telling the world of Canada’s fighter heroes of the Second World War. Also in the hangar is the Robillard Brothers P-51 Mustang (Y2-C), also painted in the markings of 442 Squadron, which had converted to the Mustang by war’s end. We will also see two 442 Squadron fighters together again for the first time since the days of the Canadair Sabre. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519084806-GUVXANCB4R1MF0L0TCBP/SpitfireUpdate25.jpg The Stories - CANADIAN SPITFIRE UPDATE - Make it stand out The mechanics were quick to point out that there was to be no photos of the work in progress... so I made sure to grab a shot of that sign too. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/bottle-of-heartbreak monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569744018-EDFWDI8WGF8I6RP46W3Z/Wine.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569818091-L6GPALQ30SJ4ANY273DW/Tiddles02.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out In the winter of 1941–42, nineteen-year-old Albert Henry Brown, wearing flight boots and navy issue clothing, relaxes at the home of his Canadian relatives in Canada. Photo: Phil Grimwade Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569865006-WZVQK2BT870U7K6383NN/Tiddles03.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Albert, smartly dressed in Royal Navy uniform and great coat, at the home of relatives in Canada, poses with Aunt Nellie (right photo) and another relative, possibly a cousin, by the name of May (left photo). The author is not sure where in Canada these photographs were taken. Photo: Phil Grimwade Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569912399-A5XP4CVOCUGEGZGD9GY9/Tiddles04.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Albert, looking dashing with his pipe, poses with Bristles, the family dog of Canadian relatives. Despite the mature look, Arthur was just 19 years old in the winter of 1941–42. Photo: Phil Grimwade Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569967485-BB2PSUZDAMPMMHKASTTA/Tiddles08.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Young Albert Brown after getting his wings. Photo: Phil Grimwade Collection, tinting by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570013534-RBMD8ZDGXG8PUYKGMGIB/Tiddles15.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Albert landed aboard the escort carrier HMS Slinger for the Atlantic Crossing, flying off at Belfast. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570067987-RA3Y7IOWK4E21NMC4G1W/Pawson10.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Albert landed aboard the escort carrier HMS Slinger for the Atlantic Crossing, flying off at Belfast. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570118468-KA28QACO774SCRO8IOQU/Tiddles06.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Another photograph from the same sitting as the previous shot shows 30 pilots of the 15th Fighter Wings of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm at Surabaya. Albert sits second from right in middle row. Mike Tritton, the Wing’s new Commander sits dead centre. The pilots in the Wing group photo are as follows: Back row: Harry Whelpton, Reg Shaw, Matt Barbour, Tony Graham-Cann, Jock Fullerton, R. Quigg, Steve Starkey, Pete Richardson (wing observer), Jake Millard, Eric Rogers, Hugh MacLaren, Colin Facer, Stan Buchan, Gord Aitken, Moe Pawson; Middle row, seated: S. Seebeck, Johnny Baker, Alan Booth, Bosh Munnock, Norm Hanson, Mike Tritton, Bud Sutton, Percy Cole, Don Hadman, Albert “Tiddles” Brown, Les Retallick (another Southend boy); Front row, sitting on deck: Neil Brynildsen, Jimmy Clark, Mike Ritchie, Brian Guy. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570154868-EC6PN85ULOL4W8YGHT6M/Tiddles07.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out A close-up of the previous photograph—Albert “Tiddles” Brown is second from right in middle row, while Vintage Wings of Canada’s own Hugh “Moe” Pawson stands at right. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570185739-SP68XOE57NX21KXIY1IY/Pawson25.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out A gorgeous photograph of an 1830 Squadron Corsair overflying China Bay (which actually lies to the left of this photo) near the important northeastern port city of Trincomalee, Ceylon in December of 1944. The spit of land that juts out into the Indian Ocean is the site of Fort Frederick. Prior to the Second World War, the British had built a large airfield to house a permanent RAF base called RAF China Bay along with a fuel storage depot and support facilities for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy’s base there was called HMS Highflyer. After the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, Trincomalee became the home port of the Royal Navy’s Eastern Fleet. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570248710-YM4GOKORB3UDIBVVX7RZ/Pawson11.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out 1830 Squadron pilots mill about the deck of HMS Illustrious prior to a launch. Left to right: Eric Rogers, Les Retallick, Albert “Tiddles” Brown, Alan Broth, Mike Tritton, Hugh Pawson, Bosh Munnock (cut off in this shot.) Mike Tritton was Lieutenant Commander (acting) AM Tritton, DSC, RNVR who commanded the squadron for all of its operational life aboard Illustrious—from December 1943 to July 1945. Photo via Pawson Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570302120-9KSB6PQ287CHZU2AYAZL/Tiddles05.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Albert’s campaign medals were sent to his widow after the war—War Medal 1939–1945, Burma Star with Pacific clasp, 1939–45 Star, Atlantic Star. Ribbons behind are out of order, L-R Atlantic Star, Burma Star, 1939–45 Star, and War Medal. They were sold upon her death and a collector purchased them on eBay. The author would like to purchase them and bring them back to the family. If you know of the whereabouts of these family treasures, contact us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570373537-2NTBSVF54KCOFA4X5078/Tiddles09.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out The bottle of Albert Porte sparkling wine, unopened since December 1941. Photo: Phil Grimwade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627570454752-JIHKUOC12A9NLIYP0J24/Tiddles.jpg The Stories - BOTTLE OF HEARTBREAK —The Story of Albert “Tiddles” Brown - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/long-way-to-the-war monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627563188453-RBAM8GQ65P4NIRIPS65H/LongWay00.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562526422-U5ZDBNQGBT0E725OLXLQ/LongWay6.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Two photos of the author Hugh Bone before joining the Royal Air Force in September of 1941. At left, Bone in 1940, at age 17 looking like a fine young gentleman. Before he was eligible for military service, young Bone joined the Local Defence Volunteers (soon to be called the Home Guard) at age 17, though there were no guns made available for many months. When he did get one, he made sure it was recorded in a photo in the summer of 1941—still at the age of 17. Photos: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562571001-DEB2W63GW3W9WR8BC2JV/LongWay7.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Two photographs from the first two months of Hugh Bone’s RAF career. At left, Bone (second row, third from left) in a photo of his 2 March 1942 intake group at the Air Crew Reception Centre near Lord’s Cricket Ground. It was at his call-up at Lord’s that Bone would meet Geoff Baker who would become a great friend and share with Hugh many of the joys and tribulations of training over the next two years. At right, a composite of photographs taken of Bone and Baker at a Blackpool photo studio. They wear the white cap flashes of air crew trainees. Photos: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562722690-PYKMZH90TBG9FUQOGZST/LongWay02.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out His Majesty’s Troopship (HMT) Highland Princess was a 14,000-ton passenger/cargo vessel built in 1929 in Belfast for the Nelson Line. By the time of the Second World War, Highland Princess was in the employ of the Royal Mail Line. Despite her less-than-favourable shipboard conditions, she survived the war and was broken up in the 1960s. Photo via Shipspotting.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562814306-DY6KJK65S2280BM9SI41/LongWay5.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Perla Siedle Gibson, a South African soprano and artist, greets servicemen and women dockside in Durban, South Africa. Wearing her signature white dress and red hat, she became internationally celebrated during the Second World War as the Lady in White. She sang to more than 5,000 ships entering or leaving the harbour, amounting to about a quarter million men and women. She even sang on the day she learned that her son Roy had been killed in combat in Italy. She sang through a hand-held megaphone given to her by men from one of the ships. In 1995, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a statue in her honour in Durban harbour. Photo: DurbanInMotionWebsite https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562877339-TWV1FI8BLN9D7US5NDHK/LonWa78.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out A photograph of No. 3 Flight, No. 6 Course, Initial Training Wing ITW Hillside at Bulawayo, Rhodesia in front of “the lines”—Bone is second from left in second row. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562926425-6UUA34KA9Q0FIT43NLK6/LongWay9.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out The Initial Training Wing at Hillside was not like other RAF training bases back in England and Scotland. While the accommodations were Spartan and makeshift, the weather was balmy and comfortable. After the hardship of “the lines”, Bone and his course mates moved into barrack huts. Four photographs, taken in August 1942, from the author’s collection tell the accommodations story of ITW Hillside very well. Upper left: Barrack huts. Upper right: Hut 12 which housed Bone and his mates. Lower left: The interior of Hut 12. Lower right: Hugh Bone’s cot and gear in Hut 12, Hillside. Photos: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627562976567-950PLBIUPRIN7RGZJ2IC/LongWay14.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh Bone (right) with two course mates on the Rhodesian grassland check their bearings and course during a “bundu bash”, an orienteering exercise that exposed them to the real Rhodesia during their time at Initial Training Wing Hillside. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627563022001-I6EXWDPP6SUET3OOSOZX/LongWay21.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh Bone (drinking from canteen) and friends (left to right Derek Ashton, Geoff Baker, Bone, Jim Beadle) take a break for water and sandwiches during another bundu bash. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627563051880-QNDUHDVZ9BUMUSV9502Q/LongWay26.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Hugh Bone (left) outside his barracks hut at Hillside, wearing spiffy bush jacket and shorts and (at right) drilling with rifle and bayonet in dress tunic. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627563118443-WJ9X8YOVBA9EQ1C8DD5C/LongWay27.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out A photograph of Leading Aircraftman Hugh Bone shortly after his first solo. At No. 27 EFTS Induna, Bone took elementary flying training on the de Havilland Tiger Moth. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568532155-ZXMIPFU73ARBBFRGQG6S/LongWay22.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out A lovely and evocative photo of the crew room at No. 21 SFTS Kumalo. In the foreground, Hugh’s maps and gear show he is planning a flight, while out the window on the flightline a pair of Airspeed Oxford training aircraft await their pilots. A sharp eye will note that these “Oxboxes” appear to have dorsal gun turrets, making them Mk Is. After finishing his flight training syllabus, Bone and his course mates did not immediately receive their wings. Bone explains: “Once we had qualified for our wings they were not awarded immediately as we did further advanced training such as navigating and bomb aiming plus a stint out in the bush under canvas at a relief landing ground, Marony”. Bombing, low and high level, was practiced at the ranges known as Miasi and Mielbo. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568573604-RBL7BKVSFXAS8E5HYVBF/LongWay31.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out At Kumalo, Bone took flying instruction on the Airspeed Oxford multi-engine trainer. The Bomber Command Museum of Canada states: “Known to hundreds of R.A.F. aircrew as the “Ox-box”, the Oxford first appeared in 1937 as a military development of the 1934 Envoy feeder-liner, and was the first twin-engined monoplane trainer in the Royal Air Force. the first Oxfords joined the Central Flying School in November 1937, and by the time of the outbreak of World War 2 nearly 400 were in service. Production was subsequently stepped up, Airspeed building nearly four and a half thousand Oxfords, and with sub-contracts placed with de Havilland, Percival and Standard Motors the total number of Oxfords completed came to 8,751. Although used most widely in its intended role as aircrew trainer, the Oxford gave valuable service on communications and anti-aircraft co-operation duties, and was also used in some numbers as an ambulance, particularly in the Middle East. As a trainer, it served in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Rhodesia as well as in the United Kingdom. Outwardly there was little difference in appearance between the various mark numbers, the principal variations being in power-plant and internal equipment. the Oxford I was a bombing and gunnery trainer, and featured a dorsal Armstrong-Whitworth turret—the only Oxford to do so”. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568623613-EZM3SIR648WQXSQFREHD/LongWay23.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out June 1943—Members of Hugh Bone’s course at Kumalo, Rhodesia turn out for their wings parade having completed the flying syllabus and additional advanced courses in bomb aiming and air navigation. Bone explains the additional work:“After we had done 80 hours on the Oxford and passed our classroom studies we were eligible for our wings but in Rhodesia we had yet another 80 hours of training. Now we were coupled with another pilot and one day he would pilot the aircraft while I did a navigational exercise, or acted as bomb aimer and we took it in turns throughout the rest of the course. Then we had to do two weeks under canvas out in the bush and finally we went on an exercise bombing mission to be intercepted by Harvards from the SFTS near Salisbury. And finally we were awarded our wings on June 2nd 1943”. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection, quote from Mossie.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568663577-JFBFWFQUPEAZ8XKX1O44/LongWay24.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Sergeant Hugh Bone (far left) leads a squad of newly-minted Sergeant Pilots at Kumalo, following their wings parade. His good friend Derek Ashton is third from left. Hugh would be made a Flight Sergeant on 22 June 1943. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568695397-L385SFBXU91RKGNRFSHK/LongWay18.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out In addition to the new pilots, the Wings Parade included a company of Ashanti guardsmen. Photo: Hugh Bone Collectio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568730901-5Q8LFUYWYGC7J36B1WWZ/LongWay25.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Two photos of the author at Kumalo—in summer kit (right) while visiting the Hardy family’s garden and (left) following their wings parade, Hugh Bone (left) and Fred Harris are proud to be sprog pilots. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568799099-SUL0KY7M37Z2KP0R4COP/LongWay03.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh boarded Highland Chieftain in Capetown for England, but it would not be a direct journey by any stretch of the imagination. His Majesty’s Troopship Highland Chieftain was identical to Highland Princess. She was built in 1929 by Harland and Wolf of Belfast, and made her maiden voyage on the London to River Plate service, on the 21st of February of that year, later transferring to the Royal Mail Line in 1932. She commenced wartime trooping duties in 1939, but was damaged on the 11th of October 1940, during a bombing raid on Liverpool. She was sold in 1959 to the Calpe Shipping Company of Gibraltar and used in the whaling industry under the name Calpean Star. She suffered rudder damage off Montevideo in 1965, followed by a boiler room explosion. She settled into the muddy bottom of the River Plate estuary. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568863236-QLNB5CFGV4IRY996FTQU/LongWay13.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out The Miramar Hotel in Uruguay was a popular social hotspot in the 1930s and 40s, with big band music nightly and a popular and elegant outdoor terrace behind the main entrance—a spectacular resort to find themselves in after the long and crowded Atlantic crossing. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568897301-GZWS4OMQYNQ3LQOWWHSN/LongWay11.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Upon arrival in Montevideo, Uruguay, Hugh Bone and other Commonwealth servicemen formed up in front of the Miramar Hotel for inspection and greetings from Mrs. Juan José de Amézaga Landaroso, the First Lady of Uruguay. At far left stands the Officer in Charge of Troops aboard Highland Chieftain—the man known as “Free, Gratis and For Nothing”.Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627568971858-UWUGZ83NNTN2QRFR44V4/LongWay32.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out The exceptional quality and quantity of the food at the Miramar Hotel in Montevideo is something Bone remembers with a smile to this very day. Hugh Bone is sitting last in the line on the right hand side of this breakfast table. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569010002-S756ZKJ2QVLHUISZXD56/LongWay12.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh Bone strikes a worldly pose at the edge of the Miramar Hotel’s swimming pool. While the newly-minted pilots were chaffing to get into the fighting war in Europe, they made the best of every moment in Montevideo. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569043508-FSWHOCXZ8TURWQ9AZ43N/LongWay19.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out The unexpected arrival of British servicemen heading to the war was cause for celebration by the British community in Montevideo. Here, the guests at a reception put on for officers from Highland Chieftain pose for the camera. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569073314-I1YI9UAF4PCSVWAJZ200/LongWay20.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Wherever the airmen went, they were the centre of attention among Uruguayans. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569164164-3HJIQJQ0PYWSJQ3WA5CZ/LongWay30.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh Bone’s course photograph from No. 13 OTU at Bicester, England where he and his mates converted to the de Havilland Mosquito after having just completed a Beaufighter course. Hugh Bone’s lifelong friend Bob Kirkpatrick sits in the front row, second from right, while his navigator Wally Undrill stands directly behind him. Of Kirkpatrick, Bone says: “Kirk is a great guy and a natural pilot. He did things with both a Beaufighter as well as a Mosquito that experienced pilots with many hours on the type would never have attempted.” It is clear that each pilot on the OTU is sitting in a chair in front of his navigator, as the man behind Bone is Ken Guy, part of the Bone/Guy Mosquito crew. Sadly, Bone lost contact with Guy sometime after the war. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569242020-3PCWH2ITVGSIEE4N7U2E/LongWay42.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh Bone (squatting at lower right) joined 487 Squadron after his Mossie OTU, joining them at RAF Thorney Island. In the memoir he wrote to share with his family, Hugh spoke of his first days with the squadron — “The flight commander of B flight was Squadron leader Bill Kemp, DSO and bar, DFC and bar. He was a good two metres tall, broad shouldered with a rugby nose. Through the months that followed I came to respect him as one of the finest men one could wish to serve under. He appeared to have no nerves at all, one of the few that actually enjoyed operational flying, yet never asked as much from those serving under him as he himself undertook. Whenever there was a particularly hazardous patrol to be made he always did it himself. He never chased after “gongs”, he avoided wearing the medal ribbons that he was entitled to, and was contemptuous of his rank. He accepted “Sir” when on duty but wanted to be known as Bill to those he was friendly with regardless of their rank. I am proud to say that by the end of the war I was considered as one of his friends. This then, was the man that welcomed we new “sprog” operational aircrew to his flight. He explained that most of our work would be night intruder operations. This meant operating immediately behind the “bomb” line, the line separating the opposing forces, where we would search for any troop or transport movement and attack it with bombs and cannon and machine gun fire. The Mark 6 Mosquito was armed with six machine guns and six 20mm cannons, as well as carrying a bomb load of four 500lb bombs. As we would often be operating over occupied territory we must not be indiscriminate in our attacks. If we could find no troop movement then we should drop our bombs on bridges or rail junctions and if visibility was too bad then we should bring our bombs back unless we were over Germany. Operational height was usually 1,500 to 2,000 ft, which was the best height to make observations. On returning to base, a truck would take us to the interrogation room to be debriefed by an Intelligence Officer. We’d be given a couple of days to settle in and do some local flying to acquaint ourselves with the local landscape, after which we should be ready to start operating. It was after only a couple of orientation flights that we saw our names on the battle order for that night and I must admit that my heart missed a beat as I realized that the moment of truth had come.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569278306-PYII4FU7Z6XKB5OA424N/LongWay15.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Pilots and navigators of 487 Squadron, RNZAF pose with a squadron Mossie at Rosières-en-Santerre, France in March of 1945. Hugh Bone is in the front row, 5th from the right. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569314750-ML3OZ2FX7Z6DEQH9NSDF/LongWay16.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out On squadron with 487 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Hugh and his “looker” (navigator) Ken Guy stand proudly in front of “their” Mosquito, nicknamed “Willie”. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569340409-DKJ1YWFHN112QQ4UMQMD/LongWay17.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out Hugh and Guy (front) pose with the mechanics who maintained “Willie”. Photo: Hugh Bone Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627569403382-12E2HGNPZGLZ1OX6EYE3/LongWay43.jpg The Stories - LONG WAY TO THE WAR - Make it stand out In the months after the war, Hugh Bone was rapidly promoted to Flying Officer. Though he was an Englishman by birth, Bone served the bulk of his combat flying with 487 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force and therefore proudly wore the “silver fern”, worn as an unofficial decoration by many New Zealanders, especially aircrew, on the left breast pocket (seen here at the bottom of the right photo). Photos: Hugh Bone Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/kandahar-skies monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561909991-IR05DGRWSPZXE5ZY1RIQ/Kandahar30.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560934722-GUHP2PJQ9KXBEDID8XEF/Kandahar25.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Students and instructors of the Big 2 practice formation flying in their CT-114 Tutors over the Saskatchewan prairie. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560981426-FN87Q2J8C0VTDRP0Z5TM/Kandahar26.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out The crowded CT-144 Tutor flight line at Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw when the type reigned supreme. Each carries the crest of the Big 2 on its rudder. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561044686-HYLSO3PHTUWF94JU142H/Kandahar28.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out In 2000, the CT-156 Harvard II replaced the Tutor as the aircraft used in basic military flight instruction with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photos: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561109805-JX9BG74DMRV0BXBYDBM2/KANDAHAR01.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Burt (with face obscured for security) and his Griffon. The RCAF’s Bell 412 Griffon is used in the Combat Support role by 417 Squadron (4 Wing Cold Lake) and 439 Squadron (3 Wing Bagotville) and in the primary Search and Rescue role by 424 Squadron (8 Wing Trenton). The tiger stripes on the tail boom reflect the fact that 439 is known as the “Sabre-Tooth Tiger Squadron”. For the first 60 years of its life, it was a fighter squadron—Hurricane, Typhoon, Sabre, Starfighter and Hornet—with almost all of those years on RCAF stations in Europe. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561162066-MZ5BMJA372D3DGUKU8H7/Kandahar33.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561179273-BSSZNPN2FYNIVB9TTAR3/Kandahar08.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out In 2009, during pre-deployment training, all aircrew participated in a comprehensive exercise held indoor, inside a large hangar (top) at CFB Wainwright, Alberta. This exercise had little to do with flying simulation, aircraft performance or flying skills. Its purpose was to enable us to work as a team through the entire mission cycle; from receiving the tasking, planning the mission, pre-mission brief, flying the mission (simulated on computer stations), debriefing and reporting incidents including Flight Safety incidents, simulated losses, etc. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561280024-IM02YEKJJEO591GR73A5/Kandahar32.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out As is often the case in large military deployments from the Vietnam War to the Gulf War to Afghanistan, part or all of the delivery of fresh troops to the battle area is accomplished by contract airlines. In Burt’s case, the first and longest leg, from CFB Trenton on Lake Ontario to Cyprus, was flown by Air Italy, a small charter airline subsidiary of Meridiana of Milan. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561306320-ET6RRIUJ2HVWF2XUOMRU/Kandahar13.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Inside an RCAF CC-177 Globemaster, en route from Cyprus to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561359822-XV9EBEGEZUX535LTNUSO/Kandahar29.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Kandahar Air Base is one of the largest and busiest military airfields in the world, a veritable city that is insulated from the country that hosts it. The author’s tent was similar to those seen at middle right in the above photo. Photo: Aviation Gallery by Will. A. Nijhuis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561419369-22W79NJ920GGX21B6GAD/Kandahar09.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Inside one of the three BATs (Big Ass Tents); our home for the first two nights in Kandahar Airfield. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561450914-H9YOU2C8T9KC3CGIMT5A/Kandahar16.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Our modest abode for the duration of the deployment. Each half-moon tent housed sixteen people, each in a small six feet by six feet private space cordoned off by curtains. The personnel from 408 Squadron were only occupying a few of the hundreds of tents and other types of accommodations on this 23,000-strong beehive of a base. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561508885-C1YAYOADIIOJF9R6YX8A/Kandahar12.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out My personal 6’ x 6’ space. Like many of my colleagues did, I raised my bed using whatever I could use (in my case, I had used cases of bottled water) so as to be able to store some personnel effects under the bed. A number of short range radars had been installed around the base so as to detect the launch of rockets aimed at the base. The instant the radar detected the rocket, the alarm sounded. This gave us a few seconds (the flight-time of the rockets) to take cover before impact. We all knew the drill, drop to the ground and wait for the “all clear”. Because attacks sometimes occurred in the middle of the night, most of us had perfected the art of rolling off the bed and falling on the floor, almost subconsciously. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561560105-Z93Y10RY5STNAS932W04/Kandahar05.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out At Kandahar, where Burt’s deployment would last nine months, mail call was a very happy event, often bringing packages of goodies from home. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561642244-M847ZW65EFKSIC5AUHEI/Kandahar15.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out Signposts telling soldiers and airmen the distances back to “the world” have been a tradition in semi-permanent military encampments since before the First World War. On days when the dust was this oppressive, it was best to remain in your “hooch”. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561675685-0GLT538YW95BJJIZA533/Kandahar14.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out The newest dining facility, located on the north side of Kandahar Airfield. All of the other four dining facilities were located on the south side of the airfield and it took twenty minutes at best to drive from the north side, around the runway to the South side. This new dining facility made life so much easier for all those working on the flight-line on the north side. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561721820-BGLD054KXPPHUYS748SU/Kandahar22.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out While the main food service building had a somewhat industrialized approach to feeding the troops, Canadians could avail themselves of an honest-to-goodness Tim Horton’s Donut and Coffee shop—a truly comforting taste of home. It’s difficult to explain the emotional importance of this place if you are not Canadian. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561775176-MQS5347A5M9FPK7GDNUA/Kandahar21.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out A CH-146 (Bell 412) Griffon in the hover at Kandahar. Flying the helicopter in Afghanistan, while a dangerous hardship, was a great privilege for Burt. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561827869-OLN04I5WWGZJJV4J2N7W/Kandahar18.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out For the next nine months, the strange, dangerous and cocooned Apocalypse-Now-like environment of Kandahar Air Base would be Burt’s home. Photo via the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627561863906-00U9J5CTSZEF7EP4KOQA/Kandahar17.jpg The Stories - KANDAHAR SKIES — LIFE ON HOLD - Make it stand out The author, Captain “Burt”, takes a kitted-out selfie on the Kandahar ramp with a brace of Griffons in the background. Burt follows protocol by not showing his face, to reduce security risks to his family. Photo via the Author https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/an-honest-man monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559406559-JMA5V1LULAE2CHHMB70N/McCurdy000.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559289178-CPNBA33MS3PNXRM712T7/McCurdy03.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Aerial view of Beinn Bhreagh (pronounced “ban vreeah” and meaning “Beautiful Mountain” in Scottish Gaelic), the 1,600-acre country estate and 37-room mansion of Alexander and Mabel Bell at Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Bell and his wife came across the Bras d’Or Lakes while on a vacation cruise north to Newfoundland and fell in love with it, the place, with its landform and local Scottish culture, reminding them so much of Bell’s native Scotland. From 1888 to Bell’s death in 1922, they would spend much of their time here. Photo via brasdorpreservation.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559373571-JGCQKSV3UN1W6FCF2WD1/McCurdy04.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out At the outset, Beinn Bhreagh was largely a summer home for the Bells, but in his later years, Bell and Mabel would live there year-round. Being far from busy urban centres, the estate relied heavily on its own vegetable gardens. Here, kitchen staff are seen selecting produce for their table in 1910. Photo via cbisland.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559430440-YRR5P6Z3I1573HUMLSI0/McCurdy09.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Bell’s estate was blessed with the steady and constant winds of a Maritime Province. Alexander Graham Bell (left) observes the performance of a kite of his design on the grounds of Beinn Bhreagh, Baddeck, Nova Scotia. In the background is one of Bell’s grandsons, Melville Grosvenor (the future president of the National Geographic Society and editor of The National Geographic Magazine) is doing what boys everywhere will do, running after a kite. Between 1895 and 1910, Bell experimented with many strange kite forms, from circular to tubular to tetrahedral; kites that would look like advanced NASA experiments even today. This circular kite is made from tetrahedral cells joined with two fabric-covered discs. For a look at Bell’s stunning work with kites, click here. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559480364-1ZOJCEJW5IKRRAA29GHT/McCurdy23.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out The McCurdy’s relax at Baddeck, Nova Scotia in 1947 on their summer house lawn overlooking the place of his first flight. Left to right: J.A.D. McCurdy, grandson Gerald Haddon, son Robert, wife Margaret, daughter Diana Haddon and with Gerald’s twin sister Donna. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559576648-HKQ13P897590SR65K4VX/McCurdy26.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Members of the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). The AEA came into being when John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (top right) and his friend Frederick W. “Casey” Baldwin (top centre), two recent engineering graduates of the University of Toronto, decided to spend the summer in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. McCurdy had grown up there and his father was the personal secretary of Dr. Bell (left). He was close to the Bell family and was well received in their home. One day, as the three sat with Dr. Bell discussing the problems of aviation, Mabel Bell, Alexander’s wife, suggested they create a formal research group to exploit their collective ideas. Being independently wealthy, she provided a total of US$35,000 (equivalent to $920,000 in 2015) to finance the Association, with $20,000 made available immediately by the sale of property. They were joined later by Glenn Curtiss (lower right) who was recruited for his knowledge of gasoline engines and Thomas Selfridge (lower centre), an American Army officer who was assigned to the AEA by the US Army at Theodore Roosevelt’s behest. Photos via internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559611415-OSXXF8XIKGDN0T6JYKO0/McCurdy01.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Members of the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) pose along with famed American balloonist Augustus Post (right). Each person in this grouping would become, in their own way, aviation pioneers. Left to right: Frederick Walker “Casey” Baldwin became the first Canadian to pilot an airplane—the AEA’s White Wing, which he himself designed and flew at Hammondsport, New York in 1908. Though the first Canadian to fly, his milestone accomplishment unfortunately did not receive the same national acclaim as that of McCurdy who flew the first flight inside Canadian borders. He was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 in its first induction ceremony, as was McCurdy. Next to him stands Lieutenant Thomas Etholen Selfridge, a West Point graduate from the same class that gave us Douglas MacArthur. Selfridge designed the first successful powered aircraft of the AEA, known as the Red Wing (for the red fabric of its wings), which was flown by Casey Baldwin in a short flight of about 300 feet. He became the first American military officer to successfully pilot an aircraft solo when he flew White Wing at Hammondsport. He also became the first person to die in a crash of a powered aircraft when he was killed in September of 1908 while flying as a passenger in a Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright. Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan is named for him. Next to Selfridge in the dashing hat is Glenn Hammond Curtiss, the soon-to-be-legendary American aviation pioneer and a man widely recognized as the godfather of the U.S. aircraft industry. Curtiss was responsible for designing and piloting the AEA’s third aircraft, nicknamed the June Bug. On Independence Day, 1908, he flew a mile in June Bug, in what is thought to be the first pre-announced public flying demonstration of a powered aircraft in the USA. He was the holder of US Pilot’s License No. 1 (Wilbur Wright was No. 5). Each aircraft of the AEA was powered by an engine designed by Curtiss. He and his company were responsible for many iconic American aircraft such as the Jenny, the P-40 Warhawk and the C-46 Commando. His name still survives in the corporate persona of the aerospace giant Curtiss Wright Corporation. Next to Curtiss stands Bell and then McCurdy, who is on crutches following a motorcycle accident. Finally Augustus Post stands at right. Augustus Post was a pioneer aviator, author, and lecturer on aeronautics. He started ballooning in 1900 and was one of the first heavier-than-air pilots after the Wright brothers. He was a charter member of the Aero Club of America and served as its secretary for twenty years. In 1919, he drew up the regulations for the New York to Paris flight contest that Charles Lindbergh won in 1927. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559642028-FJPSA4CBDE1DVIWBX6HQ/McCurdy10.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Contrary to popular belief, the first flight of the Silver Dart in Canada was not its, nor McCurdy’s first flight. McCurdy made the first flight in “his” aircraft in Hammondsport, New York after it was completed at Glenn Curtiss’ shop. The aircraft got its name from the silver rubberized fabric designed for balloons which covered its wings. Behind him the V-8 engine designed by Glenn Curtiss turns over the large hand carved propeller. Note the trousers tied down to help keep out the cold. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559676331-XA0EB4DP6V7E692FBXDP/McCurdy02.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out At the same wintry week that McCurdy flew his Silver Dart from the frozen surface of Bras d’Or Lake (22–24 February 1909) the AEA also flew Bell’s tetrahedral contraption called Cygnet II, a powered version of his earlier towed kite Cygnet, which flew for the first time in December 1907. It used the very same engine that took McCurdy and the Silver Dart into history on the 23rd of February. Unfortunately, the powered flights met with no success. Photo via carnetdevol.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559713528-MHX8FO9QNLVG05UQKOF1/McCurdy14.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out In preparation for Canada’s first recorded flight of a powered heavier-than-air craft, the Silver Dart is towed by a one-horse sleigh belonging to John MacDermid onto the frozen surface of Baddeck Bay, helped and guided by eight of Bell’s staff and friends, 23 February 1908. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559743546-93SPDUSGDAOPWHCLWTK6/McCurdy18.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out McCurdy, in stocking cap, is seen at the controls of the Silver Dart minutes before his historic flight. With fuel and McCurdy aboard, the Silver Dart weighed just 860 pounds. Bell had long been recording and photographing his kite experiments and the AEA’s flights, always careful to put the dates on the photos (in some cases the dates were written on signs that were included in the shot, to offer unquestionable proof of the date of the event. Some, who claim that other earlier aviators, such as Richard Pearse and Gustav Whitehead, had bested the Wrights have no such photographic proof to back their claims of a successful flight. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559788157-4OX85P7ZZ4C4L8YSHALG/McCurdy15.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out In a decidedly Canadian scene, the Silver Dart is positioned on the ice of Bras d’Or Lake by skaters, with McCurdy at the controls in preparation for making the first flight by a British subject within the British Empire. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559812891-ZEU86XOSTYJ37249QWZ1/McCurdy17.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out In the now-iconic Canadian image, J.A.D. McCurdy makes the First Flight within the British Empire in the Silver Dart, followed by skating Cape Bretoners. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559846813-APB8PVLNTMA8LG8W0I8V/McCurdy16.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Moments later, McCurdy descends gently to the ice as he passes the photographer. The first flight was approximately half a mile at an altitude between three and nine metres. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559892999-J08UI919Z49ELX2SP240/McCurdy12.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out On 24 February, assistants position the Silver Dart on the ice on Baddeck Bay, readying it for a second flight. After this picture was taken, McCurdy flew 4.5 miles. After its first tentative flight, McCurdy extended the Silver Dart’s range. On 10 March, he flew the aircraft some 22 miles over a circular course. By August, the AEA knew enough about the Silver Dart and controlling flight to offer ride to a passenger—the first passenger flight in Canada. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627559948989-48GCOWNV0WLNUV5NCNYG/McCurdy13.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out J.A.D. McCurdy, in his Montréal apartment in 1959, holding a model of the Silver Dart on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight. In the same year, he was awarded the prestigious McKee Trophy—awarded annually since 1927 to a Canadian citizen who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of aviation in this country. McCurdy died two years later. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560012104-CDL2NDFWQ37MGX40HKOD/McCurdy06.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out The blue-tinted bronze portrait bust of The Honourable J.A.D. McCurdy, unveiled at a ceremony in Government House, Halifax, Nova Scotia on 5 August 2016. Photo: Michael Creagan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560037963-DB214LAWXMN6Z4K3Y7WG/McCurdy08.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Amanda and Gerald Haddon with the bust of Gerald’s grandfather, J.A.D. McCurdy, at Government House, Halifax, Nova Scotia. One can see the strong facial similarities between McCurdy and his beloved grandson. Photo: Michael Creagan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560078438-GC6DPDLQUUNQZ9I23VGG/McCurdy11.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out A photo of McCurdy at the controls of a Curtiss biplane in Florida prior to a demonstration flight. By 1910 McCurdy, after a number of demonstration flights across the continent, was skilled enough at piloting an aircraft that he would consider an attempt at the first crossing of the Caribbean from Key West, Florida to Cuba. Of this attempt he said: “Being young and having the spirit of romance and adventure in my soul, to say nothing of the prize involved [$8,000.00], I decided to attempt the flight.” He was successful in getting to Havana, but was never able to get the prize money from the Cuban government. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560125125-KVEBBHVGEDQ8OAS6LW11/McCurdy22.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out RCAF Air Marshal Campbell (left) helps J.A.D. McCurdy (centre) and Air Marshal (Ret’d) Wilf Curtis cut the celebration cake with all three men using ceremonial swords. The dinner, held on 23 February 1959, was in celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Flight in Canada and the British Commonwealth. Campbell was Chief of the Air Staff from 1957 to 1962 and Curtis was at that time the President of the RCAF Association. A lot had happened in the 50 years since the Silver Dart’s first flight. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560151622-ESEJFPPME7O0P3MK5LY4/McCurdy24.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Nicholas de Grandmaison’s magnificent portrait of J.A.D. McCurdy when he was 45 years old. De Grandmaison painted or sketched almost exclusively portraits of Aboriginal people, and rarely of those of other cultural backgrounds. McCurdy’s pastel portrait, completed in 1931, was one of only a small number of his works featuring non-native people. Painting by Nicholas de Grandmaison https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560180156-KB176GJXOD5KCOPV3MTP/McCurdy19.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560204802-H5HHUHYXVLEKWNYBLT1S/McCurdy20.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560231563-3I9712EBVSK0VFA3ZHTL/McCurdy21.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out 100 years to the day and the hour, retired Canadian astronaut, Bjarni Tryggvason, pilots a replica Silver Dart over the frozen surface of Bras d’Or Lake, Baddeck, Nova Scotia to celebrate the Centennial of Flight in Canada. Photos by Janet Trost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627560268513-XUEVBG7T9M07JFYS35V8/McCurdy25.jpg The Stories - HONOURING A MODEST MAN - Make it stand out Author Gerald Haddon, kneels beside his grandfather’s grave which faces the expanse of water where McCurdy made his historic flight. Photo taken on 28 July 2009 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/shut-out-in-shannon monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519477289-NBWV0RM0SGMCQU7TV8AD/ShannonComet00.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519596081-FSZJO1I3KZNZEL9UZWKJ/ShannonComet11.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out A beautiful shot from 1953 of the newly acquired de Havilland Comet 1A (RCAF serial 5301) in fresh Royal Canadian Air Force “white-top” livery. We can see the rectangular windows which marked the early Comet 1As and which were the Achilles heel of the Comet design. One can only imagine the prestige that would go along with flying such a spectacular aircraft at a time when no other air force in the world had a jet transport. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519686653-RYMWMHRGMF41AMKZ59WT/ShannonComet10.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out After the Comet’s tragic early problems, the two Canadian Comet 1As were modified at de Havilland in England, returning to Canada as Comet 1Xs. With new oval passenger windows, the Comets looked even more beautiful. Here we see Comet 5302, the second of two Comets of 412 Squadron. In addition to these two flagship aircraft, 412 also operated the DC-3, Canadair CL-5 North Star and, in the last two years of Comet service, the massive Canadair CC-106 Yukon and CC-109 Cosmopolitan. 412 Squadron was then, and is still today, based at Uplands in Ottawa. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519758358-JYEZFU0BSODCM23X1F6Q/ShannonComet06.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out From this photograph, one can see how difficult it would be to attempt to enter the rear passenger door of a de Havilland Comet without the aid of a stairway. The door appears to be a full eight feet above the tarmac. With the sailors in this photograph and the design of the hangars, it is likely that this is at Royal Canadian Naval Air Station Shearwater, Nova Scotia. Note the old Canadian ensign on the tail. The Comets went out of service in 1963, while the present day maple leaf flag came into being two years later. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519796073-Y76VJ1GCXGLYX73HV7Y2/ShannonComet08.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out A nice shot showing the in-wing intakes for the Comet’s four Rolls-Royce Ghost engines. The Ghost turbojet had a fearsome reputation for an unbearable shriek at idle—standing behind them when they were running while you were trying to balance on the roof of a truck was not advised—for many reasons! Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519869395-X2X2GCNBW0D33X4Z3BZU/ShannonComet09.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out Two Comet pilots prepare for flight on the ramp at RCAF Station Uplands, Ottawa. The standard seven-person operating crew for the Comet included pilot, co-pilot, engineer, navigator, radio operator and two stewards in the passenger compartment. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519897393-0KC6EWP3U2U0Q3885TM8/CometInterior.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out In the passenger compartment, things were exceptionally roomy, if a little smoky in 1953 and 54. Here we see officers and enlisted men of the RCAF bound for or coming home from service with the Air Divisions in France and Germany in one of the earlier Comet 1As of the RCAF (the rectangular windows tell us this). These were some of the first people to enjoy the benefits of jet-age flying over the Atlantic, as the RCAF was the world’s first air carrier with jetliner service across “the pond”. An RCAF Comet 1A flew non-stop, Goose Bay, Labrador to London, England, on 4 October 1953, in just under 6 hours—a distance of 2,500 miles. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627519976072-VII0TV1F1FZ1YXTGMR95/ShannonComet01.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out A gorgeous period photograph of RCAF Comet 5301 in flight over Canada. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627520009778-UBP03CJT81MVT32CY3FR/ShannonComet02.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out Close-up of the previous photograph. It was a huge feather in a transport pilot’s cap to be flying one of the RCAF’s Comets. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627520057740-LMNQ9SYOGU87EL8U2TBC/ShannonComet03.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out Another nice angle on the Comet. The aircraft was a very photogenic creature, and the Royal Canadian Air Force took plenty of photographs, both in the air and on the ramp. The badge on the fuselage below the pilot’s window is that of 412 Squadron. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627520086778-8B9E0Y08RBZKIJJEP8CF/ShannonComet04.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out The Comet had a unique engine layout with her four Ghost engines set tight to the fuselage and embedded in the wings. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627520127437-YMPA0QQ4UD6YJHNW1L1Y/ShannonComet07.jpg The Stories - SHUT OUT IN SHANNON - Make it stand out Comet 5302 parked at the door to the 412 Operations Room at RCAF Station Uplands, Ottawa. Photo: RCAF https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-sun-or-the-moon-or-the-stars monthly 0.5 2021-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491425625-ZXK3AKL1D8V8Q73UF295/AandBTitle.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491500984-WYQEPX8V9MA31UVF6YSB/AandB_21.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Captain Sir John William Alcock, KBE, DSC, a 27-year old former flying instructor, fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service and Turkish Prisoner of War during the First World War, was born in Stretford, England in 1892. Following the war, he was employed as a factory pilot with Vickers, where he took up the challenge to attempt the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491535642-RXT1UCKB9X9E0K3EC2U3/AandB_38.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Lieutenant John Alcock (front and centre) was a pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491577381-OHMBAW4X153SYTHQX71N/AandB_37.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491605522-3IXZPB6QVNVLG1V221B8/AandB_39.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock had a one-off aircraft type design to his name—the Alcock Scout, (called the Sopwith “Mouse” by Alcock), was a curious experimental fighter biplane flown briefly during First World War. It was assembled by Flight Lieutenant John Alcock at Moudros, a Royal Naval Air Service base in the Aegean Sea. Alcock took the forward fuselage and lower wings of a Sopwith Triplane, the upper wings of a Sopwith Pup and the tailplane and elevators of a Sopwith Camel, and married them to a rear fuselage and vertical tail surface of original design. It was powered by a 110 hp Clerget 9Z engine, and carried a .303 Vickers machine gun. Alcock never got to fly his creation as he was shot down and captured on a bombing raid over Turkey on the 30th of September 1917 and his scout took flight for the first time on October 15th. It was flown most often on offensive patrols by Alcock’s squadron-mate Flight Sub-Lieutenant Norman Starbuck. In early 1918, the Scout was written off in a crash and never rebuilt. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491873424-L9ASOV3C1OBOLUAD7IN9/AandB_29.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, KBE, 23-years, was born in Glasgow in 1896 to American parents. During the First World War, he first served as an infantry officer at the front before joining the Royal Flying Corps' 2 Squadron. He too was shot down (twice) and spent some time as a prisoner of war, interned in Switzerland. After the war, Brown, an engineer, came to the attention of Vickers and was asked to partner with pilot Alcock as the flight's navigator. Photo: Margaret Carter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627491912450-STROMVRSRDF9BHO743RG/AandB_35.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The Vickers Vimy aircraft used in the crossing was a repurposed heavy bomber developed during the last year of the First World War. Vimy bombers did not play a part in the war, but would soldier on with the Royal Air Force until 1933. The Vimy used by Alcock and Brown was transported aboard the steamship S.S. Glendevon to St. John's, Newfoundland in wooden crates, then brought from the docks onward by horse-drawn cart to a landing field at Quidi Vidi, where competitors Raynham and Morgan had just recently crashed their Martinsyde Raymor (a one-off aircraft which got its name by combining the first letters of Raynham the pilot and Morgan the navifgator) during their attempt. Judging by the dimensions of this crate, it contains the fuselage assembly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627492046521-OAM8IJ081EPGBZDVVT53/AndB45.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Local muscle, including excited children, move the massive cart and crate containing the four wings. The crates first arrived at Quidi Vidi Lake on May 26, 1919. The field was too short to attempt to take off in a fully loaded Vimy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627492100158-5WPI6ZFDZ1GM85C84ACV/AandB_20.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The Vimy is assembled at Quidi Vidi. Vickers and Rolls-Royce mechanics travelled across the Atlantic aboard the same ship that brought the crated Vimy and were helped by local tradesmen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504455861-R5C4KL36WYXK62YVWP99/AandB_03.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Mechanics and helpers built two large wooden trestles to hoist the wings into place and hold them while riggers set the bracing wires and struts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504493853-G6ZLBD2278XYDB9ZT4Y0/AandB_12.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Fuel or oil is pumped by hand into tanks aboard the Vimy. The Vimy carried a total of 865 Imperial gallons of petrol (3,900 litres) and 40 gallons of oil at take-off. Note the large funnel in the foreground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504521154-3WUI6IB3KGGUX3Y6JW6V/AandB_07.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Curious St. John'sers lounge on the grass at Lester's Field as final preparations are made in the days leading up to the attempt. This photo was possibly taken shortly after or before the previous shot as the fuel barrel and funnel are in the same spots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504566920-O9VTMZFP6Z6Z5EERBAXN/AandB41.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out A great shot of the ground crew—the aircraft riggers and mechanics from Vickers and Rolls-Royce who helped get the big aircraft ready https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504603388-YTI2SYGYZRX0QNMQ470N/AandB_10.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock (left) and Brown pose with the Vimy during its final assembly at Quidi Vidi Lake. Each appears to be carrying a box camera. One wonders if they took photos during their flight, though none came to light in my searches of the internet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504684562-GLV6UJT2N8CJQC1DQ4NP/AandB47.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock (left) and Brown discuss details with an engineer from Rolls-Royce or Vickers as the aircraft nears completion. Photo: Newfoundlandlabrador.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504728394-MGNX1Z6G8ZHNWDX9H0JK/AandB_14.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out On the same occasion in the days leading up to the flight, Alcock (cigarette in hand) poses for a publicity shot and hands a bag of St. John's, Newfoundland Post Office mail up to Brown in the cockpit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504807847-XM4I06AAZY8I9ZEU58R6/AandB_04.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Propellers appear to be turning in this shot—it's not known whether this is just prior to the take-off or if this was an earlier engine test before the flight from Quidi Vidi Lake over to Lester's Field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504842175-S9HYOL6P3UWEED70T393/AandB_18.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out This view with Alcock and Brown climbing out is often used to represent the actual attempt, but the landscape looks more like Quidi Vidi Lake than Lester's Field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504875641-7GL34AUXU6MHMFT57IWR/AandB_32.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out With Alcock at the controls and Brown navigating, the Vickers Vimy lifts off. Once again, this appears to be the small field at Quidi Vidi Lake where the Vimy was assembled. In this shot, we see the clear evidence that the nose skid was not installed for this flight—perhaps to reduce drag. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504926107-J6K3H9N27G2NJEHEKWYY/AlandB48.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Children and adults alike throng view the Vickers Vimy and rub shoulders with history. Since the aircraft was assembled at Quidi Vidi Lake, then flown to Lester's Field for the attempt at the crossing, it's difficult to assess at which field many of these photos were taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504954760-9AI8ZK3OZDO7B5OD63UC/AandB_02.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Children and adults alike throng view the Vickers Vimy and rub shoulders with history. Since the aircraft was assembled at Quidi Vidi Lake, then flown to Lester's Field for the attempt at the crossing, it's difficult to assess at which field many of these photos were taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627504994186-H6D5TZ7K8IDWWL89IIQP/AandB_28.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock relaxes on a barrel of oil or petrol prior to the flight. Photo: Margaret Carter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505019708-7HB29R0SQYRQ798EXIVE/AandB_05.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock (right) and Brown relax and picnic on a grassy slope overlooking the inner harbour at Lester's Field on the day of their attempt. Photo: Margaret Carter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505056967-9U0WJAPOZFFAD2NZPBKR/AandB_06.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Dignitaries or friends join Brown (left) and Alcock (facing) before their flight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505137798-E2GNTFBZAVKZND4YJYNF/AandB_15.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The Vimy awaits take off —possibly at Lester's Field as the people sitting on the ground (in silhouette) at lower right could be the picnickers from the previous photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505179559-74HAALPE75B6VNRG78YR/AandB42.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505208888-COQZ01Z9M35I104C9QR8/AandB_34.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out A thermos of something hot is handed up to Alcock (lower photo) as they begin final preparations for the flight. Most Vickers Vimy aircraft were equipped with a nose skid to prevent the nose from striking the ground (upper photo), but the airframe that Alcock and Brown used did not have this feature. Had it been installed on this Vimy, it's possible that they would not have ended up on their nose as they eventually did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505239262-ONTFW1OJX8FBM2EASDD8/AandB_27.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out With its starboard engine warming up, Alcock is assisted with something by a member of the ground crew standing on a saw horse. Note the translucent wing fabric which reveals the ribs inside. Photo: Margaret Carter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505273573-7I8EOVA1886IIAKP0RV0/AandB_24.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock and Brown climb out of Lester's Field near St. John's, Newfoundland at 1345 local time, bound for Great Britain where they made a rough landing 16 hours later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505316196-MUZPOCG3UCILRGL0OLHS/AandB_13.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Another view of the Vickers Vimy lifting off from Lester's Field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505347559-2OHQ2LW6CS6IH1LV5SWS/AandB_11.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out After a harrowing 16 hours in bad weather, Alcock and Brown nosed over after touching down on Derrygimlagh Bog in County Galway near the town of Clifden. Had the Vimy's standard nose skid been in place, perhaps the outcome would have been better. Here British Army guards stand watch to prevent souvenir hunters from vandalizing the wreck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505372413-5GPJ9KHAR35GDL6FL3QT/AandB_17.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Locals around Derrygimlagh and Clifden come to stare at the wreck—for many the first glimpse at an aircraft up close. With the steady winds blowing in off the North Atlantic, the wings and tail of the Vimy had to be tied down to prevent more damage to the now-historic aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505405159-WXVMNDES8ZR8IT12REEL/AandB_33.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Guards are placed at the wreck of the Vimy. Brown and Alcock would most certainly been ejected had it not been for the fact that they were wearing safety belts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505449362-M6WRMTFKEXJBGAVY5PUC/AandB_16.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out John Alcock and Arthur Brown, likely at the wreck site (there appears to be upturned wings in the background) following their historic flight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505492095-QPR5SR3CZSEEJBAKK9F7/AandB_26.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The two aviators came down in a Galway bog very close to a Marconi radio station. Because of the boggy land, the station was supplied by its very own narrow gauge railway upon which this strange little rail car was operated. The car was used to bring the two aviators out of the bog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505738600-NTHDO1PIBG7086FP19VI/AandB43.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Today, all that remains of the Marconi radio station are the foundations in the foreground. The bullet-like white memorial in the distance marks the exact spot where Brown and Alcock came down 100 years ago. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505795928-Z5F4IVBDN2FR8YO7IZVW/AandB_22.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock and Brown (in uniform) pose with the bag of mail which they carried aboard the flight. The small amount of mail that was carried aboard made this also the first transatlantic air mail flight. Perhaps the bag of mail was small because of the great risk that it would not make it. Alcock holds a model of some sort of biplane... but not one of a Vickers Vimy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505839098-8OX9JTMAY1QN2DWE6WSY/AandB44.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Put on display in Ireland after their ordeal, Brown (left) and Alcock look tired and a little embarrassed. Alcock holds the model airplane from the previous photo and with them are their two good luck mascots. Alcock is holding “Lucky Jim” while Brown's “Twinkletoes” sits on the St. John's, Newfoundland mail bag. Twinkletoes was donated to the RAF museum at Cosford, Shropshire. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of their flight, the RAF flew Twinkletoes back to Newfoundland in a McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. This time the trip took just 6 hours and the landing was uneventful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505882102-JY2RN433VHZI8LV75QEG/AandB49.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Purple headlines in the Montreal Gazette the following day proclaimed that the “Atlantic is shrinking.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505915111-JU1MW95S81W8ZMYOUEMH/AandB51.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The New York Times reported that “they looped the loop unintentionally at times”. Image via New York Times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627505948077-LPCPQ6WDCOCTDYW3BZB6/AandB_31.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Judging by the damage to the aircraft in the background, this image was taken after the recovery of the Vimy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506032708-HFOPP2FH60D3PR5W1ETE/AandB_25.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out The recently knighted Sir John Alcock (second from left, front row) and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown (third from right) pose with executives of the Humber Limited after their successful flight. Photo via thehistorypress.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506062605-1LF89E2QVDBT3YXWT3TO/AandB46.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Like Lindbergh eight years later, Alcock and Brown benefited from their fame with endorsements—here the two aviators ride in a new Humber motor car (note same building as previous photo). The caption reads: “A FAMOUS AIRMAN AND HIS CAR. SIR JOHN ALCOCK MOTORING. This 10 h.p. four-seater Humber car is the property of Captain Sir John Alcock, KBE, DSC, the pilot of the airplane which flew the Atlantic. He is seen at the wheel, and next to him is Captain Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, KBE, who was his navigator in the great flight. The photograph was taken outside the offices of the Humber Works, at Coventry.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506093859-5TRN7AM5N2ZQ71FW4V7U/AandB.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Then Secretary-of-State for War Winston Churchill presents John Alcock and Arthur Brown with the promised £10,000 prize money (approximately £145,000 or $245,000 today) from the Daily Mail during a dinner in their honour. Churchill said: “I do not know what we should admire the most—their audacity, their determination, their skill, their science, their Vickers Vimy airplane, their Rolls-Royce engines or their good fortune.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506124369-A2OOQ2W10KDK5D5QRU11/AandB_30.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out Alcock and Brown pose with their repaired Vickers Vimy at an aviation event at Brooklands, in August, 1919. In many of Brown's photos, he is carrying a walking stick. This was not an affectation but rather a necessity as he suffered permanent and painful leg injuries when he was shot down the second time during the First World War. Photo: Public.Resource.org via flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506158286-RZI1VIS7H9ALQGOBG9CY/AandB_40.jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out On 18 December 1919, just days after he and Brown were in attendance at a dedication of their aircraft to the London Science Museum, Alcock was piloting a new Vickers Viking amphibious flying boat to the first post-war aeronautical exhibition in Paris when he crashed in fog at Cottévrard, near Rouen in Normandy. Alcock suffered a fractured skull and never regained consciousness after being transferred to a hospital in Rouen. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627506185484-WY3HHF0GIVY31PWYD5TR/AandB50..jpg The Stories - THE SUN OR THE MOON OR THE STARS - Make it stand out For anyone wanting the full story of Alcock's and Brown's harrowing and improbable flight across the Atlantic, I highly recommend Brendan Lynch's Yesterday We Were in America, the most definitive and most recent of all the books on that doughty pair of aviation pioneers. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-right-place monthly 0.5 2021-11-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627474535366-2S9Z8KAG1Z3AYAU7BPY1/TheBestofIWM48.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Not since some of the flying shots in Catch-22, have I seen such a revealing image of the tight confines of one of America’s medium bombers. Here one of my favourite aircraft of the era, a Martin B-26 Marauder, closes in tight to the photographer, while members of the crew get a real close look - and I mean real close! Given the quality of the lenses back in the 1940s, this was probably a lot closer than it looks. The mid-upper gunner cranes his neck between the pilots (who look like twin brothers), while the bombardier in the nose blister hauls nonchalantly on a fag. It’s a surprisingly intimate photo of men at work in a flying world where we almost always see only the aircraft. This Marauder is specifically a Martin B-26B-20-MA Marauder 41-31765 Fightin' Cock [Squadron Code ER-X] of the 450th Bomb Squadron of the 322nd Bomb Group of the 9th Air Force. Fightin’ Cock was written-off after crash-landing on August 12, 1944 at RAF Great Dunmow. It had received flak damage while over France and had its electrical system, generators and hydraulic systems shot out. The crew nursed Fightin’ Cock back to the base in Essex County, UK and got the gear cranked down after the pilot ordered the unessential crew to bail out. While trying to land, the plane skidded off the runway and into the control tower, killing both pilots. It is not known whether these two men— 2nd Lt. John R. Walker and 2nd Lt. Bruce Taylor—are the men we see in this photograph. Image via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627474591291-CJENQ3LH90DVYYX1KZ75/TheBestofIWM01.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out In July of 1944, the weather was extraordinarily hot, even in the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, a Fleet Air Arm Grumman Wildcat pilot reads a book and sits alert duty under the shade of an umbrella on the flight deck of the Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Fencer. The date is 30 July and at the time, Fencer was providing anti-submarine air cover for Convoy SL164/MKS55. Thanks to such escort, the slow-moving convoy of 34 ships safely made Liverpool three days later. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627474629558-2DT0043RZACVRY87MCK1/TheBestofIWM02.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out One of my favourite aircraft carrier photographs of all time, taken from an escort destroyer, shows a range of operations going on aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10) in 1943. On the upper flight deck, a Grumman Hellcat of Navy Fighting Squadron VF-1 is about to launch, while below on the open hangar deck, off duty crew relax in the shade and watch the escort vessel. The hangar deck catapult can be seen bisecting the hangar deck at mid-photo. At the bottom of the photo, the sea is churning with the combined wakes of Yorktown (known as The Fighting Lady) and her escort. In the distance stands the coastline of an unknown island of the Pacific or possibly the Caribbean where she carried out her shakedown cruise. I like this image for the contrast it demonstrates—up top, the pilot of the Hellcat is no doubt anxious and excited—with an elevated heart rate—while below, officers (likely pilots) relax in the shade and take a break from operations. Photo: US Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627474690007-HM82X0B24MFS9DSZHHZA/TheBestofIWM03.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A Supermarine Walrus flying boat is launched from one of the aft catapults of HMS Pegasus, a seaplane training and convoy defence vessel of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. The unique angle of the photo, taken from below on the aft deck, speaks of the speed of the launch which sent the Walrus from zero to 70 mph in less than a second. Pegasus was the world’s first purpose-built aircraft carrier (actually a seaplane tender), and was launched as HMS Ark Royal in the First World War, but renamed Pegasus in 1934 when the wartime fleet carrier we know as Ark Royal was first laid down. At the time of this photo, September 1942, Pegasus was a catapult training ship, training pilots for CAM ships (Catapult Aircraft Merchantman) and for Walrus rescue duty. She was operating near Lamlash, Scotland. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (A 12032) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475287168-T6I0A4N6779OVD5J43ZB/TheBestofIWM04.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Flying from aircraft carriers is a very dangerous business at the best of times, with any number of ways to die—all of them visually spectacular on camera. The New Zealander pilot of this Grumman Avenger aboard HMS Shah stalled on launch and rolled hard to the left, which was a good thing—the aircraft hit the water to port of the oncoming carrier. Death was cheated in this instance—the pilot, Sub Lieutenant J. Delany and his crew being rescued. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475240837-JXXFH3UXT1LBFJ12M38P/TheBestofIWM05.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Hanging by a thread. A Supermarine Seafire has landed poorly, catching the edge of HMS Ravager’s flight deck and getting snagged in safety netting and the hoist mechanism. In most cases like this, damage to the aircraft and the difficulties in recovery mean the fighter is cut loose to drop into the sea, never to be seen again. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475358774-OSTT0XRIQ4IAVCLILDHY/TheBestofIWM06.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A fight for life. Photographers aboard Royal Navy aircraft carriers were daily witnesses to life and death struggles as exhausted airmen brought their aircraft home after long and demanding missions. Here, the three crewmen aboard a Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish from HMS Tracker struggle to release their harnesses before their “Stringbag” sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic and takes them with it. A series of photographs in the collection of Richard Allnutt starts with this image, likely taken as the Swordfish (from 816 Squadron) slid down the starboard side of the carrier past the island superstructure and ends with a number of images that show that the aircraft sank within 100 metres of the ship and that the crew got out safely. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475398431-C8FMWYGN7BQDRU5O1YF5/TheBestofIWM07.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out As I write this, yet another snowfall descends on Ottawa and I dread having to shovel my 25-foot driveway. I can’t imagine how daunting the entire flight deck of HMS Tracker must have seemed to these sailors with coal shovels and brooms. It is not known on which of the North Atlantic convoy escort runs done by Tracker that this photo was taken, but at the end of March of 1944, she operated as escort to Convoy JW58 bound for the Kola Peninsula and the city of Murmansk. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475426220-9C9JDPLSNR8NUUV9DPI9/TheBestofIWM08.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Turkey in the soup. The timing of this photograph of an HMS Tracker-based Avenger (either from 853 or 846 Squadron) striking the water is impeccable, if rather frightening. The Avenger’s propeller is just striking the surface of the water as the large torpedo bomber and its three-man crew hit the surface inverted. It is not known the exact circumstances of the crash or if the crew survived. Avenger’s were nicknamed “turkeys” by their crews. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475452704-E8O1MB8ONVVCEJHPOABM/TheBestofIWM09.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out I always appreciate a photograph taken from a different angle, such as this shot taken from the forecastle of HMS Vindexof a Fairey Swordfish launching and “sagging” into view beneath the flight deck edge. Vindex was one of only three Royal Navy escort carriers of the Nairana-class built in Great Britain, the others being Nairana and Campania. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475588591-KMQVL98N0YB3I7A6G42Y/BestofIWM45.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out On half a wing and a prayer. The day before the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima, the starving and doomed Japanese garrison on Chichijima, the next island in the archipelago, came under attack by carrier-based aircraft of the United States Navy. The island was used as the primary site for Japanese long-range radio relay operations and surveillance activity in the Pacific. Avengers were used to take out the two radio stations on the island, but they faced anti-aircraft fire. This Avenger from USS Bennington, flown by Lieutenant Robert King, was one of three Avengers attacking Chichijima’s airfield. Another of the Avengers was hit by flak which blew its right wing off. That Avenger rolled hard right and into a spin, hitting King’s Avenger. The left wing of the dying Avenger struck and crumpled the rear fuselage of King’s “Turkey” and its propeller chewed off half the port wing. With the aircraft out of control at 9,000 feet, King ordered his two crewmen (Jim Dye and Grady York) to bail out, but, as he was attempting to get out himself, the aircraft righted itself and he regained control. The other Avenger spun out of control into the sea, killing all on board. The two crewmen landed close to the shore of Chichijima, waded ashore and were captured. Sadly, they were later executed by the desperate and unstable Japanese, as were six other US Navy airmen shot down in the same period. King made it back to the carrier, escorted by squadron mates, ditched and was picked up. He was, however, devastated by survivor’s guilt. In this photo we can see the tension in his shoulders as he fights the controls with both hands. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475667187-3Y0QEI013S9NI7HKFQX1/TheBestofIWM11.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out We’ve all seen the few ghostly photographs of a Spitfire “tipping a doodlebug” and been in awe of the courage and skill of the pilots. The technique of destroying a V-1 flying bomb required a pilot of a fast fighter to spot one coming across the English Channel, execute a turn to a parallel course and edge close enough to place a wingtip under the wing of the missile. With a quick jab of the control column, the Spitfire pilot could lift the wing tip of the rocket and topple its gyro, sending it into an uncontrolled dive. Though the technique is much talked about, it accounted for only 16 V-1s destroyed. The old fashioned method of trailing them and shooting them down accounted for hundreds of V-1s destroyed, though it could be a very dangerous business with the possibility of the warhead exploding. One can only imagine what it was like for a twenty-something young man to look off his port wing to see an unmanned, sinister, swastika-emblazoned, flame-spewing vengeance weapon just twenty-five feet away and flying along with you. Peter Middleton, the grandfather of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, was one such courageous pilot. At the height of the V-1 attacks, more than 100 V-1s were launched each day against London and southeast England. A total of around 9,500 “doodlebugs” were launched at England in this four-month period, killing nearly 23,000 people, mostly civilians. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CH 16280) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475729819-BD25HPP7DE5F0ZHBW9WF/TheBestofIWM12.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out One of my all-time favourite photographs of Second World War aviation is not of an aircraft, but rather this shot of an exhausted Canadian Halifax pilot of Bomber Command’s 405 Pathfinder Squadron, RCAF. The physical and mental toll of a night mission to Germany can be read in his face as he stares at nothing while drinking a hot cup of coffee. It is hard to imagine this stress, but this short description by James MacIsaac, another Canadian pilot with Bomber Command, comes closer than any I have ever read. MacIsaac, a Wellington pilot with 37 Squadron, RAF explains: “To a person wanting to visualize how intense the strain could become, how suppressed fear could swell and gnaw inside, I offer the following as a comparison, perhaps easier to imagine than the unfamiliar surroundings of a darkened bomber cockpit framed in faintly luminous dials. Imagine yourself in a building of enormous size, pitch black inside. You are ordered to walk very slowly from one side to the other, then back. This walk in the dark will take you perhaps five or six hours. You know that in various nooks and crannies along your route killers armed with machine guns are lurking. They will quickly become aware that you have started your journey, and will be trying to find you the whole time you are in the course of it. There is another rather important psychological factor: the continuous roar emanating from nearby machinery. It precludes the possibility of your getting any audible warning of danger’s approach. You are thus aware that if the trouble you are expecting does come, it will burst upon you with the startling surprise one can experience standing in the shower and having someone abruptly jerk open the door of the steamy cubicle and shout over the noise. If the killers stalking you on your walk should happen to detect you, they will leap at you out of the darkness firing flaming tracers from their machine guns. Compared with the armament they are carrying, you are virtually defenceless. Moreover, you must carry a pail of gasoline and a shopping bag full of dynamite in one hand. If someone rushes at you and begins firing, about all you can do is fire a small caliber pistol in his direction and try to elude him in the dark. But these killers can run twice as fast as you, and if one stalks and catches you, the odds are that he will wound and then incinerate you, or blow you into eternity. You are acutely aware of these possibilities for every second of the five or six hours you walk in the darkness, braced always, consciously or subconsciously, for a murderous burst of fire, and reminded of the stakes of the game periodically by the sight of guns flashing in the dark and great volcanic eruptions of flaming gasoline.” Bloody brilliant! For more on James MacIsaac visit his website. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CH 6627) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475761456-AR6XX5SLVXGHH2LZNVUK/TheBestofIWM13.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Boys will be boys… especially in the testosterone-filled messes of Bomber Command. Clearly this extremely low-level beat-up of the airfield at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire in 1943 was a planned stunt, what with the camera man in the perfect spot and these airmen standing on the horizontal stabilizer of another Halifax (KN-M). Every last one of the appreciative ground crew ducks as Halifax II KN-X of 77 Squadron thunders just a few feet over their heads. Other photos in the Imperial War Museum collection clearly show that this was done more than one time this day! Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CH 10593) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475798267-L47T30UHVDUWVCVDDYR9/TheBestofIWM14.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Are we looking at “Winkle”? Another wonderful and perfectly timed photograph of a Hawker Sea Hurricane taking off from HMS Avenger, with its wheels at the very edge of the flight deck, indicating the pilot has used every inch of deck available to him. The date in the IWM caption indicates 27 June 1942, just a few weeks after Avenger arrived in Great Britain after her completion in the United States. Records also show that at this time a small number of former RAF Hurricanes had been converted into Sea Hurricanes and tested aboard Avenger by none other than Royal Navy test pilot legend Eric “Winkle” Brown. Avenger was sunk by U-155 just five months later in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of 516 sailors and officers. Only 12 survived the rapid sinking. Brown was not aboard at the time. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475824485-FX21QTLBCO4GZ0WW5K69/TheBestofIWM15.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Seeing double? A first glance, this simple but powerful photograph of a Short S.25 Sunderland flying boat looks like two aircraft flying one on top of the other; such is the size of the behemoth. The massive Sunderland had many compartments, including a galley, bunk room and a “bomb room”. Bombs and depth charges were loaded here, and run outboard on a tracked rack beneath the wings. After one run, the crew pulled the racks back inside the aircraft through fold down doors, loaded them with more bombs and ran them out again in case a second run was required. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475853765-V8ZHX13HVCMMFTP444TV/TheBestofIWM16.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A stunning image of the deaths of three brave airmen of Bomber Command was recorded by the camera on the following aircraft. The date is 16 June 1941 and the location is near the island of Borkum, in the East Frisian archipelago off the coast of Holland. A Bristol Blenheim Mk IV of 21 Squadron, piloted by Sergeant E. Lever, has pressed its attack so low, that its port wing has struck the mast of an enemy radio-equipped picket ship, known as a “squeaker”. Lever’s Blenheim has shed twelve feet of its wing and spun completely around to face the oncoming aircraft. In the distance, the lead Blenheim can be seen flying away. A moment later, the Blenheim hits the water killing Lever and his two crew members, Sergeant I. Overheu and Sergeant J. Phelps. The “squeaker” was sunk. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475908732-Z6MZZF6MBPADJUJE9GMA/TheBestofIWM17.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A Lib takes a selfie. Another of my favourite photographs of the Imperial War Museum’s collection depicts a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombing a bridge at extreme low level. We don’t see the Liberator, but its shadow tells us just how low it is, and if one looks very carefully, a stick of bombs can be seen dropping just off the port side of the shadow’s nose. The wooden road bridge was between the towns of Pegu (now known as Bago) and Martaban in Burma. For more extreme low-level flying images, read our article about the subject. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475935773-GG31SM51URZCVBJXLQHE/TheBestofIWM18.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A sheepdog keeps watch. Perhaps not as dramatic as other photographs in this story, nonetheless, this image of a B-24 Liberator of Coastal Command’s 120 Squadron above a convoy speaks volumes to me. For the three short hours that the Liberator patrolled over the convoy far out in the Atlantic, the merchant marine sailors below must have felt less fear and stress from imminent U-boat attack. The ships themselves, pushing on through heavy seas, speak to the determination and courage of her crews. The Liberator had made contact with the convoy after a long journey from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland out over the Atlantic at low level to avoid icing in the cloud. The coverage offered by Coastal Command Liberators, combined with ASDIC (sonar) and High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF), signalled the end of U-boat supremacy after 1943, though the U-Bootwaffe continued to harass and kill until the last day of the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627475965387-7OKIKB0WHUXY45HYOPB5/TheBestofIWM19.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out This stunning photo of a single Supermarine Spitfire in flight on 19 May 1941 is one of the finest I have seen, and for many reasons. Firstly, it depicts the classic elliptical wing form of the Spit to perfection, light glinting from the wing roots and blisters. Secondly, it is a shot of a Mk Vb, arguably the quintessential Spitfire. Thirdly, it’s a 92 Squadron Spit from RAF Biggin Hill banking hard over the nation it came to symbolize. This particular airframe (R6923/QJ-S) was originally a Spitfire Mk I, having served with 19 Squadron and No. 7 Operational Training Unit. Four weeks after this photo was taken, R6923 was shot down over the English Channel by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476034390-CJHUW3TFIILJHJ95ACWX/TheBestofIWM85.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out File this under “You Learn Something New Every Day.” Some carriers, like the Essex Class carrier USS Yorktown (above) could land aircraft from the bow while steaming in reverse. Who knew? It makes some degree of sense however, if the aft flight deck is on fire from a bomb or crash and aircraft need to get down. Essex Class carriers could steam 20 knots in reverse and had arrestor wires on the forward flight deck. Here, a Grumman Avenger lands on over the bow, while Yorktown steams in reverse in the summer of 1943 in the protected confines Gulf of Paria (between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago) during her shakedown cruise. A rarely practised procedure. Photo: warships1discussionboards.yuku.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476081575-I5RMFZUF9M2R63D2AYUN/TheBestofIWM20.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The silhouetted aircraft is a classic photographer’s trick still in use by every aviation photographer today. Something about this Short Stirling Mk III from the Empire Central Flying School (ECFS) at RAF Hullavington in Wiltshire speaks of getting home safely after a night op, even though it is just returning from a training mission. The ECFS’s main purpose was to teach flying instructors and to maintain standards of teaching and course content in the flying training system. Here pilots who would become instructors learned to fly in a wide variety of types. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476177819-H1X8TNJIVE6F4RWY6LWV/TheBestofIWM21.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A moody and mysterious photo of a DC-3 Dakota of British Overseas Airways Corporation on the ramp at Gibraltar preparing for an overnight flight to Great Britain. Being the major military fortress that it was, Gibraltar bristled with anti-aircraft and anti-shipping artillery as well as scores of searchlights. Though they are seen here probing the nighttime fog, it is possible they were turned on for the benefit of the photographer to create a powerful image, since no one could attack from the air in such meteorological conditions. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476213337-127FHQ3XPVP2GXHX1A9E/BestofIWM64.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Signed, sealed and delivered. While smaller and shorter range newly-constructed aircraft like fighters were shipped to Europe on freighters in slow moving convoys, bombers and transport aircraft made their way to the war via the RAF’s Transport Command (earlier called Ferry Command) and civilian-run ATFERO (Atlantic Ferry Organization run by the Canadian Pacific Railway) which hired the pilots, oversaw route selection and coordinated with weather organizations. Here in Prestwick, Scotland, at the end of the ferry run from Canada, Canadian-built Lancaster Xs, Consolidated B-24 Liberators in Coastal Command colours, Douglas C-47 Dakotas, Boeing B-17s and B-25 Mitchells jam the aprons. Soon they will be dispersed and replacing losses throughout Bomber and Transport Command. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476289604-56KB6KM57N4NYB5J67NX/TheBestofIWM89.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Things happened extremely quickly during a deck landing, particularly when landing a high-performance Corsair on a smaller escort carrier. No more than one or two seconds would have elapsed from the time this Corsair from 1836 Squadron missed the arrester wire until it settled on its back after crashing into the barrier. One can only guess what the pilot might be thinking as his aircraft tumbled over, but he would have been powerless to save the situation. Judging from the damage, he came down hard on his port landing gear, which snapped. The incident occurred in February 1945 aboard the escort carrier HMS Striker off Jervis Bay, Australia when replacement pilots for 1836 Squadron were conducting Deck Landing Training. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476322305-LY6CEZ0QPZFEEKKCRWQA/TheBestofIWM22.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Gentlemen, start your engines. Fifteen Douglas Boston medium bombers of the South African Air Force run up their engines simultaneously at a forward air base somewhere in the North African desert prior to their “famous” mass takeoff. The takeoff commences with the aircraft at far right beginning its roll, followed shortly by the aircraft to its left and so on down the line, each avoiding the dust plume from the one before. It’s clearly a staged photo, but nonetheless an interesting one. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476399630-WPHSSCTKGTW27UPN1XN6/TheBestofIWM23.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Venn Diagrams of Death. The Japanese Imperial Navy’s escort carrier Shimane Maru, lying dead in the water, takes a steady pounding from Royal Navy Avengers from HMS Victorious on 24 July 1945. Though we see several near misses, Shimane Maru’s back was broken by numerous hits by bombs and rockets, causing her to break in two and sink in shallow water. The dot pattern visible on her flight deck is actually made from potted trees, which were used in an ineffectual attempt to camouflage the carrier (hey, look at that aircraft carrier-shaped island!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476462465-5UI1S1BWBZNM040TTDV1/BestofIWM43.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what exactly is going on in this photograph of an accident aboard the Ruler Class escort carrier HMS Emperor, but whatever it is, it’s violent. Bits of airplane are flying about and deck crew are ducking instinctively. It’s also hard to tell exactly where we are on the flight deck. The crash barrier is up in the background and it looks intact. If we are aft of the barrier, then the aircraft at left is facing the wrong way, perhaps spun around in whatever has happened? Or perhaps we are forward of the barrier and an aircraft has bounced and cleared the barrier, crashing into aircraft forward. If anyone knows, please write. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476515575-1JZB5FBZ0EV7ZX3CINU4/TheBestofIWM78.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The Supermarine Spitfire is much loved by people of the British Commonwealth countries who participated in the Second World War, largely because of its extraordinary beauty as an aircraft. The defining visual characteristic of this iconic pulchritude are its wings, often described with the adjective “elliptical”. This photo depicts this elliptical quality better than any image I have ever seen, or even than seeing the aircraft in person. The image, of a 19 Squadron Spitfire Mk I, was taken at RAF Fowlmere in Cambridgeshire, England. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476564208-F1KMV6JS64HM16E7RMKI/TheBestofIWM24.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Why us? In the midst of a tight formation of Martin B-26 Marauders of the 386th Bomb Group, one is hit by flak and blow torches across the sky over Pas de Calais, France. One can only imagine what is going on inside the medium bomber, but also in the minds of the crews of the other aircraft who are most assuredly watching the demise of their friends. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476763382-7LO44D45I4QGPWPWN5I8/TheBestofIWM80-1.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A powerful two-frame sequence of a Japanese A6M5 Zero executing a stern kamikaze attack on the escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66). In the first frame, the Japanese pilot swings in from the starboard quarter, lining up as if to land, while a deck crewman hits the deck. The captain of White Plains had her in a hard right turn (as seen by the angle of the deck), trying to escape the oncoming fighter. The aggressive turn threw the pilot off at the last minute and the Zero clipped the port edge of the carrier, crashing into the sea. In the seconds between the first and second frames, something explodes out on the horizon, possibly another kamikaze striking the water. Photo: US Navy via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476845247-RGW9VARDV2P87V9FNS5H/TheBestofIWM81.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Speaking of point of view, this fine shot of off-duty crew members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bennington takes the cake. One sailor sits at the end of a service catwalk beneath the forward edge of the flight deck, legs dangling while behind him, 36,000 tons of steel and 150,000 shaft horsepower push him along at flank speed. Others line the rails watching flying operations as Bennington ploughs through the water. Lowell Love, the US Navy photographer who took this shot, climbed out on the forward antenna mast (in the down position) to take this remarkable shot of the forecastle and the anti-aircraft gun tub. Photo by Lowell Love, PH2, US Navy via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476911091-TPI17DHOLL35POD81Q92/TheBestofIWM62.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Photos with unique points of view always get my attention, whether they are candid or contrived. Here, a photographer standing at the back of the port catapult on the stern of USS South Dakota (BB-57) captures a Vought OS2U Kingfisher pilot as he walks toward his floatplane. The catapult mechanism would be swung outboard for launch, but all the sailors who would man it seem to be standing back behind the other Kingfisher, letting the pilot have his moment in the sun. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (A 16989) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627476971287-IWCLY8KJYB2PQ3JQ4VJG/TheBestofIWM26.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out I wouldn’t want to be a sitting duck when Coastal Command’s Beaufighters are hunting. At anchor or possibly without power, this German “Sperrbrecher” (magnetic mine detonating vessel), near Royan in the south of France on 12 August 1944, is taking a terrible beating from “Beaus” of 404 Squadron RCAF and 236 Squadron RAF. This shot, taken from the automatic nose camera of a 404 Squadron Beaufighter, demonstrates the heavy blows from cannon, machine gun and rocket projectiles. The 6,128 ton Magdeburg sank shortly afterward. Sperrbrecher vessels had unenviable jobs—steaming ahead of convoys to detonate magnetic mines. The ships often had their bows strengthened and their empty holds filled with buoyant material to keep them afloat should they be holed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627477041811-DA2IQ0U59A9EWDXT3UZQ/TheBestofIWM27.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A glimpse of hell. A Handley Page Halifax bomber of 4 Group is silhouetted by the glare of incendiary fires burning below in the city of Leipzig, Germany during a night raid. The Halifax’s bombs can be seen falling away to add to the nightmare for the citizenry. Some people might look at this aircraft and see a machine. I see seven young men doing the job they are trained to do under extreme stress. I see courage and a bond of brotherhood. I see suffocating fear. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627477075633-1Q7511HYUZ8VOUGLAIVT/TheBestofIWM28.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Some airmen are lucky to survive a certain brush with death, such as the crew of this 614 Squadron RAF Handley Page Halifax which survived a direct hit from an anti-aircraft rocket. Shrapnel from the exploding missile tore hundreds of holes in the fuselage, yet the crew managed to nurse the crippled bomber back to their base at Celone, Italy (part of the more famous Foggia Airfield complex). It’s a frightening image of the shredding effect of anti-aircraft detonations. The aircraft was written off. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627477126275-RSSLGMYM0NVS1K0LJP6I/TheBestofIWM68.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627477156221-0T2FJ9LZ8FR4GZWCYX2B/TheBestofIWM67.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Sometime, it pays to look a lot closer at an image. The top image of a formation of USAAF B-24 Liberators shows the far Lib trailing smoke and flame—a dramatic image in anyone’s mind. But, if one zooms in as tight as possible (bottom photo), we see that the Liberator is blowtorching flame from the area on her back where she carries her massive supply of oxygen cylinders. Look forward to the hatch behind the cockpit and you will see a crewman sitting half in and half out of the cockpit. I can only imagine the scene he beheld and how many years that image stayed in his mind—200 mph winds, the heat of the flames at his back, his airplane sitting and vibrating beneath his ass, the thunder of the still screaming engines and all the others in the formation spread out around him and 20 thousand feet of air below him… my God. This Liberator, a pathfinder aircraft of the 15th Air Force, was apparently shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Austria with some of the crew surviving after bailing out. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627477235263-S4IBJX8EXZYXY64ADM2M/TheBestofIWM29.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Showroom condition. I include this image of fresh-off-the-line Handley-Page Hampdens being inspected by factory technicians at Radlett, Hertfordshire, not because it is dramatic or emotional, but because it tells us that every aircraft was, at the moment of its birth, a perfect, clean and tidy machine in perfect working order—no oil stains, gunpowder burns, footprints, crazed Perspex or chipped paint. During the Second World War, aircraft could be relied on to last perhaps a few hundred hours before damage, destruction or ham-fisted handling rendered them unfit for service. If you look closely at photographs of combat aircraft of the war, it seems that all have been through some pretty rough treatment, yet by any standards, they are practically brand new. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627478611422-MAQOABZ0FY9ECKUYYP69/TheBestofIWM69.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A tragedy and burial at sea. Loyce Deen, the turret gunner aboard a Grumman Avenger from USS Essex, was killed instantly when a flak shell burst next to his turret while attacking a Japanese Imperial Navy Cruiser in Manila Bay. The pilot, Bob Cosgrove, managed to get the heavily damaged Avenger back to the carrier. Assessing the damage to the aircraft and the state of Deen’s body (covered by a blanket in the top photo), it was decided to bury him at sea in the Avenger immediately without removing his remains. In the lower image, Deen and his Avenger are tipped over the round-down on the carrier after members of the crew heard a service by the ship’s chaplain To see a video of this sad farewell, click here.. Photos: NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627478700942-EU0XLBNMMWZI2ZRYG5P8/TheBestofIWM82.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627478741370-F0WFWRZMQ25MWSVEJG3W/TheBestofIWM86.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out While most of us are familiar with aircraft taking off from or being catapulted from the flight deck of Second World War carriers, it’s a little known fact that some of these carriers (Essex-class in particular) also had a starboard hydraulic catapult (known as the H-IV-A (H-4A) catapult which could launch an 8-ton aircraft to 85 mph in 72.5 feet) from which fighters could be launched in the event of an emergency in which the flight deck was completely fowled, or simply to increase launch rate for standard operations. In the top photograph, a Hellcat is launched from USS Hornet (CV-12) in February 1944. Photo: Top: Murdoconline.org; Bottom: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627483731913-PS3LLM6NW0QYCTCP84WI/TheBestofIWM84.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Desperation is also the mother of invention. The Second World War was one of the greatest periods in history for the development of technologies, no matter how strange. For every success, such as the Barnes Wallis’ bouncing bomb of Dam Busters fame, there was a failure, such as the two-man high-speed air ambulance—a pair of man-pods slung beneath the wings of a Lockheed P-38 F5 recce aircraft. While the idea looks like fun, I hate to think of the chances for the poor casualties in the event of a gear-up forced landing, an attack from an enemy fighter, or prolonged flight above 10,000 feet. However, the idea would be a terrific amusement park ride. Photo: theaviationist.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627483775279-WYG3M4EVRCN94REOSZNG/TheBestofIWM75.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Like some scene from a Great War movie with far too many aircraft in view to be real, this image of Coastal Command Bristol Beaufighters swarming a minesweeper escort to a German convoy off the coast of Holland is very real indeed. The “Beaus”, from a number of different squadrons including 124 and 254 RAF, 455 Royal Australian Air Force and 489 Royal New Zealand Air Force, use rocket projectiles (note smoke trails) and cannons. There are no fewer than 13 Beaufighters trying to hit the M-Class minesweeper while avoiding hitting each other. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627483824998-51RXHYELA3LOFWRI007M/TheBestofIWM76.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out An emotional toll. This is, without a doubt, the single most powerful photograph of a Bomber Command crew, or indeed any Allied bomber crew, that I have ever come across. All seven men of a Lancaster crew leave their Lanc in the low light and long shadows of an early morning following a tough night operation, carrying their gear, cigarettes dangling from grim faces. It speaks to both the toughness and the fragility of their spirits, each man with his own thoughts, yet collectively they seem to exude masculinity and disdain for the photographer, as if he could not possibly know what they know. Beautiful and terrifying at once. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627483867978-AAX0D6KVONHOTGI77PLY/TheBestofIWM79.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Another of my favourite photographs of the Second World War, taken at the very end, tells a powerful story of courage in the face of humiliation and utter failure. Hostilities in the Second World War ended when the Japanese surrendered, doing so by sending a delegation by specially-marked, pre-agreed-upon “Green Cross” aircraft (see tail of aircraft) to the American-held island of le Shima off the coast of Okinawa, where they were received by thousands of suspicious American troops and dignitaries and then flown to Manila to meet General Douglas MacArthur. One of the first men off the first “Green Cross” Japanese Betty bomber was this poor young man above, bearing two bouquets of flowers as a gift. As he got off the aircraft he proffered them to the officers and MPs waiting, who outright refused to take the peace offerings. Clearly, after the hundreds of thousands of Allied dead, wounded, imprisoned and the citizens of the countries they subjugated, it was too early for niceties and for being polite. Here we see the young Japanese soldier looking for somewhere to hide after the rejection of his flowers. Looking more than a little worried and even terrified, the young Japanese soldiers look about in the blazing sunlight to see only angry, disdainful faces. For more on the extraordinary story of these Green Cross flights, click on this link. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627484594725-CPTQLE9T15WR321I3154/TheBetsofIWM74.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out On a cold Scottish day, a 240 Squadron Supermarine Stranraer (K7295, BN-L), skips along the surface of Loch Ryan, the deep bay that leads to the aircraft’s namesake—the town of Stranraer, Ayrshire, Scotland. The image perfectly captures the moment when the big biplane stops being a boat and becomes an aircraft. 57 Stranraers were built, some of them in Canada. Among the type’s many humorous nicknames, the “Whistling Shit House” is a favourite, this because the toilet opened directly to the airstream and when the seat was lifted, the tube whistled. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (CH 2363) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627484626913-4QFPTW53Q01H2ARDF6JO/TheBestofIWM31.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out With ominous storm clouds forming over RAF Scampton, the crew of 617 Squadron Dam Busters Lancaster “T” for “Tommy” gather for a photograph two months after the attacks on the Ruhr dams that reveals their bond as crew members and their extraordinary determination to press on until the job is done. The Lanc’s captain, Flight Lieutenant Joseph “Big Joe” MacCarthy (third from right) remains today a larger than life legend with the Royal Canadian Air Force both during and after the war. There were three Canadians in “Tommy’s” crew, and none was McCarthy, for he was an American, but rather Pilot Officer D. MacLean, the navigator, second from left, Dave Rodger (not in photo), and Bill Radcliffe, the Flight Engineer (right in back row). The others are: (front row, left to right) George “Johnny” Johnson, Bombardier; MacLean; McCarthy; Sergeant Len Eaton, Wireless Operator; (back row) Sergeant Ron Batson, Gunner; Sergeant W.G. Radcliffe, Engineer; Missing: Flying Officer Dave Rodger. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627484664866-25FDAM9XJ9NZL4MAGSOZ/TheBestofIWM32.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Affectionately known as the Hawker “Hurricat”, the ship-based, catapult-launched Hurricane was boosted into the sky by a cluster of 13 solid fuel rockets. Given that this launch would take place far out at sea, there was the likelihood that the Hurricane pilot would face a ditching. This was a job for volunteers only and seeing this fiery launch (a test launch at Greenock, Scotland in May 1941 from the bow of Empire Rainbow) we can see why—clearly the crow’s nest was no place to be during a launch either. The Hurricat concept was created to counter the long-range Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor anti-shipping bomber. The first successful encounter between a Hurricat and a Condor on 3 August 1941 ended with the demise of the German bomber and the successful recovery of the RAF pilot, Lt. Robert Everett. Hurricane pilots signed on to the manifest of the merchant ships as civilians under the control of the ship’s master. The aircraft was launched only on the sighting of a marauding enemy bomber and after agreement from both the master and the pilot. If the Hurricane was not used during the crossing, the pilot was then launched at the destination point, recovering at a land base to practice flying until the return trip. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485264565-TT34O89813YVG3DMHP52/TheBestofIWM33.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Flight deck aircraft handlers scramble to get out of the way of a Supermarine Seafire that has completely jumped the barrier and slammed into Grumman Avengers and Fairey Fireflys parked at the forward end of the flight deck of HMSIndefatigable. Though the caption with this photo in the Imperial War Museum archive does not state the ship’s name, we can see that both the crashing Seafire and the Firefly in the foreground carry the letter “S” on their tails. The letter “S” was the deck code for Indefatigable, a large letter she had painted on her round-down and her forward flight deck to tell pilots her identity without the need for a radio call. Her aircraft would also carry the same letter. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485333712-2SY3GJZSFFUGMCLNQEVM/TheBestofIWM83.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The crash in the previous photo, though dramatic beyond a doubt, was not an uncommon event in carrier operations during the Second World War, nor was it isolated to the aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. Here, a Grumman Hellcat misses the barrier wires and ploughs into a group of other Hellcats on the forward aircraft park of escort carrier USS Cowpens in an identical accident scenario in January of 1945. Note that there are pilots sitting in the other Hellcats. Photo: US Navy via NavSource.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485370103-E316YTZFVH0W88OV5JY0/TheBestofIWM34.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Know thine enemy. Anti-aircraft gunners destined for service on Defensively-Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) practice aircraft identification using projected slides at the DEMS training facility at Cardiff, Wales in 1943. There would be few types met on transatlantic convoys, but learning to know a four-engined Flying Fortress (projected) from a four-engined Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor may save the lives of an Allied bomber crew, not to mention their own. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485408915-GG4O6HHY15G50SM9FH0J/TheBestofIWM72.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Yeehaaw! Two flight deck handlers grab hold of the wings of a Fleet Air Arm Fairey Albacore landing in gale force wind conditions aboard HMS Victorious as she steams from Iceland to Scapa Flow in November of 1941. Their added weight was a precautionary technique to stop gusts from lifting the torpedo bomber back into the air. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485471641-LSYI89XKP1T3MMI09E4D/TheBestofIWM37.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Vertical night aerial photograph taken during a Bomber Command raid on Berlin, showing bombs exploding in the vicinity of the central cattle-market and railway yard (middle right), east of the city centre. The broad wavy lines are the tracks of German searchlights and anti-aircraft fire can also be seen. Also illuminated by the flash-bomb in the lower half of the photograph are the Friedrichshain gardens and sports stadium, St. Georgs Kirchhof and Balten Platz. A mixed force of 49 aircraft took part in the raid, of which 5 were lost. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (C 2056) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485513676-40IUNWISXU6IX5LILHIC/TheBestofIWM40.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The 617 Squadron Lancasters that bombed the Ruhr Valley dams as part of Operation CHASTISE were using a skipping bomb that had, just weeks before, been tested for the first time. Here a test Lancaster is engulfed by the splash of the first bounce of the spinning bomb, code-named “Upkeep” at the range at Reculver on the south coast of England. The Lanc was damaged by the impact of the water and the rear gunner was drenched. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485584858-P01UE5VGFDAN4YGDH7Y2/BestofIWM44.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The beat goes on. Despite wartime and weather, Royal Navy traditions must prevail, and that includes Sunday Divisions at HMS Sparrowhawk, a Royal Navy air station also known as RNAS Hatston, an airfield near the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow, Scotland. Despite the snow, sailors and “Wrens” of the Women’s Royal Naval Service march past the base commander in March of 1942. There is something about this photo that is comforting, perhaps the rule of tradition over inconvenience. With only one aircraft seen in the far distance, this is hardly an aviation image, but I come back to it over and over. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485611195-PB036FY3ZXRLL9ER84AS/TheBestofIWM42.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber of the Royal Air Force was one of a number of medium and light bombers developed in Great Britain prior to the Second World War, with over 1,800 being constructed. While performance was unremarkable, they became a stopgap aircraft and did their part. By 1942, they had been taken out of front line service and used as glider tugs and paratroop transports. Most Whitley paratroop transports had their ventral turrets removed so that parachutists (who crowded the cramped fuselage sitting on the floor) could drop through the floor. Unless the parachutist could get totally vertical in the cramped fuselage and stay rigid through the fall, they often struck their faces on the aperture. This was known as “ringing the bell”. At least one Whitley had its rear turret removed so that paratroops could be literally shit out the aircraft’s anus—standing up in the slipstream and leaping aft. When I see this image, I am not sure whether to laugh or applaud their courage. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485694180-R9R7DLPUHQ4XO4QPRBW6/TheBestofIWM43.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Royal Air Force mechanics add ballast to a Hawker Hurricane while either its pilot or another mechanic test runs its engine. It was common, for instance, for a fitter to sit on the tail plane when a Spitfire was taxiing on rough terrain as the aircraft was tail-light and nose-heavy. To prevent the tail bouncing up and the propeller striking the ground, fitters often rode the tailplane all the way to the takeoff point. This practice had a freak outcome on one occasion when a pilot took off without first allowing his female fitter, Margaret Horton to get off. As strange as it may seem, Horton rode this way, clinging to the vertical stabilizer all the way through a circuit after the pilot suddenly realized what he had done but was too high to land straight ahead. The story on the BBC People’s War website, written by Mary Blood, states that the story “… involved a W.A.A.F. flight mechanic, ACW Margaret Horton, and a veteran Spitfire. When an aircraft engine had been serviced, the practice was for the training instructors to run the engine and do a particular test. Margaret had finished work on the Spitfire, when the pilot began this test. It was necessary, if it was windy, for a mechanic to sit on the tail of the aircraft while it taxied to the end of the runway ready for takeoff. The mechanics were given the order, ‘Tails’. Having got to the runway, the aircraft would pause for the mechanic to drop off. This time the pilot did not pause. Whether he was unaware that the order to ‘tail’ had been given, nobody knows. He just carried on with Margaret Horton hanging on for grim death, and him unaware that he had a ‘passenger’ on the tail. ‘I thought the aircraft was tail-heavy’, he said later. The Spitfire had risen to 800 feet or more when the strange shape of the tailplane was noticed from the ground. The emergency services were called out and the pilot talked back in without being told what had happened. The aircraft landed safely with Margaret Horton still in one piece. Just how daft the [bureaucratic] machinery of the R.A.F. could be was shown when she was reprimanded for her unofficial flight and charged for the loss of her beret! She was posted later to West Raynham and, despite her ordeal, survived into her eighties.” This particular 17 Squadron Hurricane (P3482) was lost during the Battle of Britain when it crash landed. Its pilot survived. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485752068-5OFJ8Z4SBP0MBOGBM14C/TheBestofIWM77.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out I’m a sucker for a unique point of view in photography, such as this photograph, taken from the navigator’s position, of a ground crewman backing a tug up to a Handley Page Hampden on a muddy airfield in England. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485815032-D8OJM82UPEKGN3IQ2Q3F/TheBestofIWM44.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out While the Piper J-3 Cub may have been a relatively small airplane, it still took up a lot of room in a storage hangar. For efficiency’s sake, they are tilted up on their noses using the steel frame device shown behind the closest Cub. This photo is possibly taken at Piper Aircraft’s factory at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania where the Piper Museum stands today or possibly at Wiggin Airways of Boston, a major dealer for the Cub. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485852487-IRJTZOHCBHVDDSW322K1/TheBestofIWM46.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out There are many photos on the internet of Second World War bomber crews from similar angles. All of them tell a similar story—of youth, confidence and terrible loss. This is one of my favourites—a portrait of two pilots on a Vickers Wellington of 149 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall in 1941. The fresh-faced aircraft captain is Flight Lieutenant David Donaldson (on left) who, at 28 years old, was promoted to Wing Commander. The photographer, Cecil Beaton, had Donaldson stand for a better composition. Beaton was one of the most important fashion and portrait photographers in Great Britain in the 20thcentury. To view more of his extraordinary work from the Second World War, click here. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (D4737) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485917265-Z8LJJVH0TC9KANGU1ADX/TheBestofIWM90.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Speaking of Cecil Beaton’s extraordinary body of work from the Second World War, this portrait of a 249 Squadron pilot putting on his parachute next to his Hurricane is a standout, for it exposes the invincibility of youth. The placement of the head in front of the roundel reminds us of religious iconography and the near-saintly role these young men took on in defence of the free world. The 20-year old pilot, Flight Lieutenant Tom Neil would not only survive the war, but go on to become Wing Commander, achieve near triple ace status with 14 victories and be awarded the DFC and Bar and Air Force Cross. He flew an astionishing 141 combat sorties during the Battle of Britain alone. But the best achievement of all is the fact that he remains today (February 19, 2017), at 96-yearss old, one of the few surviving pilots of the Battle of Britain. On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, he flew in a two seat Spitfire in a mass formation of more than 40 aircraft. Photo: Cecil Beaton via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627485967897-36RHC8TJ3FKLO0D7XGOM/TheBestofIWM71.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A terrible choice. The rear gunner of this Japanese Nakajima Kate dive bomber stands up in his cockpit and looks over the side to assess his chances of surviving a fall without a chance for his parachute to open. Smoke streams from the engine, engulfing his crew mates and likely incapacitating them. The photo was taken from a US Navy PBY Catalina which had just shot them down. The pilot of the Catalina, Lieutenant Commander William Janeshek, watched with fascination as the gunner sat back down in his seat and rode the aircraft to his death when it struck the water and exploded moments later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627486010088-X47KR32WPB37FIBHRJ7U/TheBestofIWM50.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Achtung Hurrikane!!! A great shot of three Hawker Hurricane Is of 73 Squadron based at Rouvres, France in line astern above the clouds and about to break left and right behind the camera aircraft. During the Phony War and the Battle of France, 73 Squadron was part of the RAF’s Advanced Air Striking Force, patrolling first the Cherbourg Peninsula and then moving to Rouvres near the Belgian and German borders. One of the great 73 Squadron pilots from this time was the New Zealander Flying Officer E.J. “Cobber” Kain, the first Allied ace of the war and who would not live past the Battle of France. Knowing his history, I would not be surprised if he was one of the pilots horsing around in the skies in this shot. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489075146-XAFL2N5JYB4TNGP2EYO1/TheBestofIWM55.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out The reaching fingers of death. Anti-aircraft gun emplacements surrounding the airfield at Maison Blanche in Algiers pound away at German aircraft during an air raid on the night of 21 November 1942. Operation TORCH, the Allied invasion of North Africa had just begun two weeks earlier. Algiers was the central point of the easternmost invasion area. Eastern Task Force landed on 8 November at one beach to the east of Algiers and two to the west. The airport was one of the most important targets. On the night of the invasion, Maison Blanche was manned by the French, who, under orders from the Vichy French commander Admiral Darlan, surrendered pretty well immediately. Maison Blanche is today the site of Algiers Houari Boumediene International Airport. The long-exposure photo shows us how dangerous flying through a flak barrage can be. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (NA 176) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489118217-YIBWIG550GAWXFTV0BNS/TheBestofIWM51.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Caught! Escaping the grip of a single searchlight required violent evasive action, but to be “coned” by a dozen searchlights was a death sentence. Here, over Bremen, a Bomber Command aircraft is caught by the converged attention of numerous searchlights while flak is concentrated around it. The chances of escape were small. Photo: Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489155468-SS49MG5GUZ4UTO7XTXEE/TheBestofIWM52.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Wake-boarding, 1920s style! A Naval Aircraft Factory NO patrol floatplane smacks a wave and bounds into the air. This dramatic shot is enhanced by the dazzling sunlight playing off the splashing water. Only six of the type were built. Photo: sciencepole.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489186279-JDWIGMBLB3AU4VFUL35R/TheBestofIWM60.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Some photos in this collection may not be Pulitzer Prize-worthy, but they speak to me on other levels. This portrait of Canadian Spitfire fighter pilot Sergeant Georges Nadon of 122 Squadron with his CANADA shoulder flash sends a ripple of pride down the back of my neck. The RAF photographer was tasked with following the movements of one particular pilot (Nadon) through his typical day at RAF Hornchurch in May 1942. When asked what his hobbies were, 27-year-old Nadon responded “Girlfriends and beer.” Nadon survived the war with 277 operational sorties, many with 403 “Wolf” Squadron RCAF, and lived a long life. Though Nadon did not participate in the Battle of Britain, this photograph was used as a reference for an airbrush illustration on the tail of the RCAF’s demo CF-18 Hornet commemorating the Battle of Britain. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489217959-S8AEXYKOGE8FEPSYV0Q7/TheBestofIWM61.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Nothing about this photograph is extraordinary, save for the fact that it is not common to see an image of a Hawker Hurricane Mk I with the fabric covered wings of the early production runs clearly visible. The fabric covered wings did not last long as the metal covered versions could endure more stress and added 80 mph to the diving speed. This Mk I also has the two-bladed wooden propeller. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489271597-WFYV51UVMG2K8OHO2KP2/TheBestofIWM53.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out As with many new aircraft designs, a wooden mock-up of the Grumman J2F Duck was created to test accessibility, visibility, roominess for crew, fuel and stores and proof of concept. The photo tells us how aircraft manufacturers begin their design process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489305222-UGEJ1NOWXE0XRB09OSHK/TheBestofIWM54.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out One associates the Hawker Hurricane with the hot summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain, and perhaps the swelter of the North African Campaign with the Desert Air Force. Snow hardly comes into the imagined image. Over 1,400 Hurricane Mk XIIs were built by Canadian Car and Foundry in Port Arthur during the war, many of which served with RCAF fighter squadrons of the Home War Establishment on both coasts (Western Air Command and Eastern Air Command) and No. 1 Operational Training Unit at Bagotville, Québec. As you might imagine, Canadian fighter operations involved brutally cold winters, icy runways and drifting snow. Here, Hurricane 5501 of 128 Squadron has come to grief in a snowbank at RCAF Station Torbay, Newfoundland (not part of Canada at the time) in January of 1943. The pilot, Pilot Officer W.O. Young, lost control in a strong crosswind and ground-looped into the snowbank. A typically Canadian trick, small fir trees have been cut and stuck in the snowbanks to indicate the edges of runways, and entrances to taxiways, often hard to distinguish in poor light conditions. Photo via rcafno128squadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489332697-AF13DFJA72WTC878HNWT/TheBestofIWM73.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out A dramatic image of the first production Fairey Battle peeling off from the photo-ship in 1937. With an all-black underside emblazoned with its RAF serial number K7558 and no roundels, the shot is surely a factory promotional image. In June 1937, K7558 conducted its maiden flight and was later used to perform a series of official handling and performance trials in advance of the wider introduction of the type to operational service. During these trials, it demonstrated the type’s ability to conduct missions of a 1,000 mile range while under a full bomb load. Though the Battle had early promise, it proved underpowered and exceedingly vulnerable to German Messerschmitt Bf 109s during the Battle of France. While the aircraft was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin engine as the Spitfire, it weighed nearly 1,500 pounds more. It was soon withdrawn from frontline service and relegated to target towing and gunnery training. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489390706-PQNSQK51UYE0GRX8YD3M/TheBestofIWM56.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out When the system works. An 827 Squadron Fairey Barracuda, engulfed in smoke with its engine on fire from a flak hit while attacking the German battleship Tirpitz in Alten Fjord, northern Norway, strikes the barrier aboard HMS Formidable. While the front of the aircraft was heavily damaged, the barrier saved the rest of the aircraft and more importantly, the crew. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489424207-VTY10NV929ZDMPIQB848/TheBestofIWM70.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out We are used to Allied scribblings on bombs delivered to targets in the Reich, with British humour and American bravado done up for publicity shots, but the Germans did it too. Here, they make a joke about Churchill’s preference for Cuban cigars, promising to deliver an “Extra Havanna”, an exploding cigar of larger proportion than his favourite 7-inch-long Romeo y Julieta cigar from Havana, now known as the “Churchill”. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627489460096-BYF9P3X4VJXL26JGR2RB/TheBestofIWM57.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out Hoping for the best, planning for the worst. Not a particularly interesting photo unless you know what is going on here. On 22 August 1944, HMS Nabob, a Royal Navy escort carrier manned largely by Canadian sailors and officers, was operating in the Barents Sea as part of Operation GOODWOOD, one of several attempts to take out the German battleship Tirpitz holed up deep in a Norwegian fjord. On this day, she was torpedoed by U-354 and was saved through quick action by her crew and the fact that one of her escort frigates, HMS Bickerton took a coup-de-grace torpedo meant for Nabob. Bickerton’s surviving crew was rescued and she was scuttled. Though Nabob was down heavily at the stern and listing to starboard, her crew stabilized her and she began a 1,070 mile, five-day journey to Scapa Flow for emergency repairs, at a reduced speed of 10 knots. Many of her unessential crew had been taken off by the Canadian tribal class destroyer HMCSAlgonquin, but those that remained lashed pre-inflated life rafts and wooden rafts to the flight deck for quick release should Nabob’s situation worsen or she be attacked by a submarine. In the background, she is escorted by HMSTrumpeter, which likely had aircraft in the air patrolling for submarines during the journey. U-354’s euphoria for nearly sinking an Allied carrier did not last long—she was hunted down and sunk with all hands just two days after torpedoing Nabob. Photo from the Collection of Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627490729142-1KD8TBDIIQITDKMAFFEW/TheBestofIWM58.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out An Avro Anson (top) rests atop an Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley at No. 19 Operational Training Unit, a Whitley conversion base at RAF Kinloss, Morayshire, Scotland. On the night of 19 October 1943, the pilot of the Anson (XF-K) misunderstood the light signals from the control tower and proceeded with a landing whilst the pilot of the Whitley (UO-O) was still warming his engines for a takeoff. The Whitley was damaged beyond repair but the Anson was soon back in the air. Accidents like these were not common, but there are other photos of similarly mated aircraft at training bases from Canada to Australia. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (HU54488) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627490770051-KQBZQLVJ0MSTES74RFIC/TheBestofIWM59.jpg The Stories - THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME - Make it stand out An Avro Anson (top) rests atop an Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley at No. 19 Operational Training Unit, a Whitley conversion base at RAF Kinloss, Morayshire, Scotland. On the night of 19 October 1943, the pilot of the Anson (XF-K) misunderstood the light signals from the control tower and proceeded with a landing whilst the pilot of the Whitley (UO-O) was still warming his engines for a takeoff. The Whitley was damaged beyond repair but the Anson was soon back in the air. Accidents like these were not common, but there are other photos of similarly mated aircraft at training bases from Canada to Australia. Photo: Imperial War Museum, © IWM (HU54488) https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/resurrection monthly 0.5 2023-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627436586410-Z5R8B671SFLC2LP6K932/Resurwrecktion.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472055142-FTVOV2Q5EK6A8YT3J8K0/Resurrection34.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out The only known photograph of Halifax LQ-B, taken from a period newsreel as she takes off at dusk for another night mission. Blurred but powerfully evocative. Photo via Jay Pinto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472104260-RLWW139KEADMMWQDOF0U/Resurrection26.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out The Phillips Crew poses casually with a newly-delivered Halifax LQ-B (HR871) which would become “their” kite for many of their ops before losing her over Sweden. Left to right: Flight Sergeant John Alwyn “Pee Wee” Phillips, DFM, DFC, RAFVR, Pilot; Sergeant Wilfred H. “Joe” King, RCAF, Mid-Upper Gunner; Sergeant Vernon A. Knight, RAFVR, Bomb Aimer; Sergeant R.A. “Ron” Andrews, RAFVR, Wireless Operator; Sergeant Herbert C. McLean, RCAF, Flight Engineer; Sergeant Lloyd D. Kohnke, RCAF, Rear Gunner; and (squatting) Flight Sergeant Graham William Mainprize, RCAF, Navigator. Photo via John Alwyn Phillips, DFM, DFC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472200823-9DMFJDP4NONCK9JN6SMY/Resurrection06.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A rare colour photograph of a 405 Squadron Halifax II being serviced and “bombed-up” prior to a raid. Photo: CanadianWings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472254487-0AGFWQQUF9NKDO76X8PL/Resurrection02.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Armourers of the RCAF’s 405 Squadron of Pathfinder Force, pushing carts of 1,000 lb. bombs, “bomb up” a Merlin-powered Handley-Page Halifax Mark II (LQ-Q) in Yorkshire. At right another armourer is fitting the release gear to Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) filled with 30 lb. incendiary bombs. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472288251-S46JWV0CZO5V4ILQZSNL/Resurrection33.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Pathfinder Force target indicators (TIs) drop from a Bomber Command PFF aircraft on their way to Berlin. TIs were also used to mark the route into the target to help lost or off-course aircraft find and align with the proper attack course. Photo: Imperial war Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472361806-ND4PMGI21P0CSSRZT12I/Resurrection07.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A port side profile drawing of Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered Handley Page Halifax LQ-B (HR871). Illustration by Paul Charland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472423633-INN2U9OWZF9D1TSBYTD4/Resurrection17.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A sonar screen capture with notations showing the displacement of HR871’s body parts. Most of the Halifax is buried deep beneath silt and sand deposits. The team will begin this summer vacuuming away large volumes of sand and sediments to expose the historic artifacts beneath the surface. Photo: via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472470829-GLNDODKKZZ3QO1CMECPR/Resurrection13.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out The dive team from Havsresan and Swedish Coast and Sea Center discuss the dive. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472495149-F4KRR4ID6AAHZYZ8B7A4/Resurrection10.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A few miles off the coast of Sweden, team members and divers from Havsresan and the Swedish Coast and Sea Center get ready to descend to HR871, lost to the world for nearly 73 years. The location is kept very secret to foil souvenir hunters and disreputable historic artifact dealers from looting the site. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472524070-20AD191UILNKHJ44IELG/Resurrection03.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out An astonishing photograph. After nearly 75 years at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, belted .303 ammunition looks intact and ready to fire sitting on the surface of the silted and sandy bottom. Likely this belt of ammo was carried aboard in a wooden box and the wood was eaten away leaving the folded belt. The Halifax bomber was defended by eight Browning .303 machine guns in fours—four at the dorsal turret and four at the tail. Some Halifaxes had twin .303s in the nose as well. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472569549-ZUJQ282CDWV9ZQYIW4YA/Resurrection08.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out One of Halifax LQ-B’s two rudders lies partially exposed above the sand at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Once mapped, and after silt and sand are removed, the rudder will be brought to the surface where it will be assessed and treated. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472600583-AHWWJKDZ0NZYORQBYZPU/Resurrection15.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out It’s a long way from Nanton, Alberta—Karl Kjarsgaard of Halifax 57 Rescue, project lead on the Canadian side, thrills to see the first photos coming in of component pieces like this Halifax rudder, lying on the sea floor. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472631184-KMPGH86JPMLBJQGM4EF1/Resurrection04.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out The first task for Havsresan’s divers, after assessing the displacement of the wrecked Halifax, was to lay down a grid on the sea floor to enable the entire site to be mapped prior to removal of sand and silt. Though Havsresan and The Swedish Coast and Sea Center, the Swedish partners of this aircraft recovery, are investing so much time and effort to recover a long-lost Canadian Halifax bomber, they rightly consider the site and the events that led to the wreck to be part of their Swedish heritage. While it might not be of the same national importance as the recovery of Viking artifacts, these dedicated men and women feel it is imperative to discover, record and, in this case, recover the archeological data and physical remnants of LQ-B. Knowing that these components will be absorbed into the rebuild of a functioning Canadian Halifax bomber will enable the Swedish history to be shared with the world. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472669739-FVIBZOXB8XZ82P27O845/Resurrection18.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A well-preserved Browning .303 machine gun on the Baltic Sea bottom with its breech cover open. Last fired by either Lloyd Kohnke or Vernon Knight, HR871’s two gunners. Photo: Havsresan via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472719947-1CCAZ3WWERLDJAR4IHG2/Resurrection05.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Havsresan diver Tobias Melin strikes a Rambo-esque pose at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, holding one of the eight Browning .303 machine guns carried aboard Halifax LQ-B—in two electrically-operated quad turrets, one in the tail and one on her back. Photo: Andreas Vos, Havsresan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472765914-NCLTO1PUBQ0ZVNEXJJFT/Resurrection23.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A graphic representation of the progress made by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada acquiring parts needed for the rebuild of a working Handley Page Halifax. Parts shown in red have been acquired; parts in green/yellow have been located. Image via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472832092-CBTGGHFUY4GB2VUV049O/Resurrection19.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Kjell Andersson (second from right, front row), the Jacques Cousteau of Sweden, is seen with his arm around Halifax 57 Rescue Canada representative Karl Kjarsgaard. Photo via Jan Christensen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627472954108-AJAOMXT822MXPE87B0UJ/Resurrection32.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627473038475-AS248QMZJT64ZVCIQHFH/Resurrection25.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Pilot John “Pee Wee” Phillips (Left, back row) stands with his crew and two Swedish chaperones inside the gates and barbed wire of Franby Internment Camp at Falun, Sweden. The crew had relative freedom if not much comfort. While the food was of poor quality and they were forced to sleep on a straw mattress, they were free to roam outside the gates by day, so long as they slept inside the wire at night. Front row, left to right: Unidentified Swedish chaperone, Ron Andrews, Graham Mainprize, and Lloyd Kohnke. Back row, left to right: John Phillips, Vern Knight, Herbert McLean, Joe King and unidentified chaperone. Photo via John Alwyn Phillips, DFM, DFC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627473070283-XQJ1QMQIC9O8SIQ9MZC1/Resurrection31.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out Another photo of the crew in Swedish captivity, perhaps wearing clothing they were given by the Swedes. John Phillips occupies his favourite position in any group photo: far left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627473114761-O9N7XPHWNX3QZIRT0MKF/Resurrection28.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out A “civilian” BOAC “Mossie” (G-AGGD) that worked the Stockholm to RAF Leuchars route. After several months at Framby, the conditions became overcrowded with American B-17 and B-24 crews who had diverted to Sweden due to battle damage or inflight emergencies. The Phillips crew was transferred to an old mansion in a nearby forest, which had one time been an old age home. The conditions there were considerably better than at Framby. Eventually, he was told by a British military attaché that if he managed to get himself to Stockholm, they could manage his flight back to Great Britain. It was all very “hush hush” as Phillips recalled in an interview for the Imperial War Museum, but he was placed in the bomb bay of a civilian registered de Havilland Mosquito, operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC—the predecessor of British Airways), which was ostensibly used for high altitude, high speed delivery of quality ball bearings from Swedish manufacturers. He quickly found himself at RAF Leuchars in Scotland, but had to face lengthy interrogation from MI5 in London as he had arrived without passport, dog tags or any identity papers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627473140083-UU10ZZEYMOXRER8ANK6L/Resurrection27.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out The bomb bay “cabin” of one of BOAC’s Mosquitos was not what we would call first class. The passengers, like John Phillips, were given an oxygen mask and strapped down inside the bay, which was lined with felt in an attempt to insulate the cavity. They were given a thermos of coffee and told to “hope for the best”. It was a good thing to be slight of stature like Phillips was, for the space was cramped and the flight long and uncomfortable. The Mossies were high flying blockade runners which could outrun any German aircraft at the time. Photo: RAF via “Merchant Airmen”, prepared by the Ministry of Information https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627473200738-Y8KXKII65KHJBNS5M2EQ/Resurrection29.jpg The Stories - RESURRECTION - Make it stand out RAF/RCAF Lancasters of Bomber Command over Wangerooge, Germany. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-breaking-point monthly 0.5 2023-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433758341-KTOH6NAJ5MGLD1WTYJ2K/MiGStory.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433816175-OSTLHXBDVPXL1PXB9JLX/MiGStory2.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out To most Canadians except the blind, the cranky and the revisionist, the Avro Arrow was a heartachingly beautiful and breathtakingly futuristic symbol of a nation imbued with a new technological persona. Feeling the thrill of standing at the very edge of scientific advancement, Canadians were abruptly yanked backwards from the precipice the day the Arrow program was cancelled. Though Canada's aerospace industry today is one of the most successful in the world, many Canadians who were alive that day still feel the sting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434485621-C7KED1HE8DY54DG3EW0X/MiGStory13.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out The butchering of a dream. Rumours of an impending cancellation of the Avro Arrow program had been in circulation and written about for months leading up to the decision to end it. Still, many Canadian were shocked at the announcement. In a matter of days, 14,500 Avro employees were out of work as well as 15,000 additional workers down the Arrow supply chain. Within two months of the project cancellation, all aircraft, engines, production tooling and technical data were ordered scrapped. Officially, the reason given for the destruction order from Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff was to destroy classified and "secret" materials utilized in the Arrow/Iroquois programs. The action has been attributed to Royal Canadian Mounted Police fears that a Soviet "mole" had infiltrated Avro, later confirmed to some degree in the Mitrokhin archives. However, many mid- and high-level bureaucrats at the Department of National Defence's Directorate of Systems Procurement were convinced that American political pressure had been strongly applied to get the Canadian project cancelled in order to sell new the F-104 and F-101 fighters to Canada - then one of the largest air forces in the world. Their disgust at this apparent meddling in Canadian affairs led many to lobby hard for European or even Eastern Bloc fighter aircraft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434565697-TM0471PZG8V49KUQKRX4/MiGStory14.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out How to anger a Canadian. This photo purportedly shows President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice-President Richard Nixon reacting to a question from a Canadian reporter during Eisenhower's visit to Ottawa on July 21st, 1958. His question: " Mr. President, would you care to comment on the fact that many Canadians now believe they have the world's most advanced military aircraft in the CF-105 Avro Arrow and that the United States might consider purchasing a number to equip some of your units." The laughter could be heard all the way to 24 Sussex Drive and all the way to 2011. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434635707-2JP0TFZ6MMLCBKB2ZTB4/MiGStory3.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Prime Minister John Diefenbaker shoots a withering look of anger at a Russian Doukhobor photographer who captured him in discussions with Anastas Mikoyan (left) and Segei Volchenkov at the Mikoyan Gurevich display at the Halle von Technologien during the Neue Wissenschaft, Neue Welt technology showcase in West Berlin, November 1959. “Dief the Chief”, as he was known by Canadian wags, was very careful to keep a low profile while negotiating the purchase of Eastern Bloc technologies such as Soviet-built MiG-21 fighter aircraft. The photographer "Nudi" Nudistavinka was manhandled by KGB agents and his camera confiscated - the photo, which surely would have alarmed the United States at the time, would not be made public until the fall of the Soviet Union thirty years later. Photo by Peytor Nudistavinka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434683124-TSBE73B3A4CHV43LJBV3/MiGStory4.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Americans should have been tipped off very early on to the discussions between the USSR and Canada over the acquiring of MiGs when Nikita Khrushchev let it slip during the now-infamous 'Kitchen Debate" of June 1959. While arguing face to face about the relative qualities of technologies from East and West, Khrushchev was insulted by Nixon's insistence that Americans were far ahead of the Soviets in modern conveniences. He was overheard to whisper to Nixon at one point, "In Kalinovka (his birthplace) we have a saying - Beware the mule next door, for he sleeps in your barn.” Perplexed reporters hounded the Premier for days trying to determine the meaning of the old Russian saw. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434741873-PB4QL09HH4ZSLOOT6AYZ/MiGStory17.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out In the USSR, Soviet MiG-21 pilots had lovingly nicknamed their new MiG-21 fighter the "Balalaika" in reference to its angular plan form's resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument. Of course, 441 pilots needed something a little less Ruskie, and a little more Rock 'n Roll. American rock legend Buddy Holly was a favourite of many young Canadian fighter pilots of the day. RCAF fighter pilots had a particular connection to the Lubbock, TX rocker for he died in an airplane crash on February 3rd, 1959 just two weeks before the Avro Arrrow was cancelled. 441 pilots took to calling the CF-121 Redhawk the “Stratocaster” after Holly's Fender Stratocaster guitar seen here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434821674-IGWC6U71R3VLE4O7SLQ2/MiGStory15.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out In the early morning of June 23, 1960, a Montreal aviation enthusiast named P.J. Ninob on his way to work was attracted by sirens sounding at RCAF Station St. Hubert in the community of Longueuil east of Montreal Island. His Leica camera was always at the ready and he pulled over to the side of Chemin de la Savane where it edges closer to the threshold of Runway 06. Getting out of his car, he was drawn to a circling aircraft south of the station - a type he had never seen before. To his left, a pair of CF-100 Canuck all-weather fighter aircraft of 425 Squadron, les Alouettes, were at the same time thundering down runway 24 converging on his position on the fence line. With little time to react, Ninob managed to shoot only a single somewhat blurry photo of the lead CF-100 and the strange new fighter that was circling to the south. It was the last frame on his roll, but it was all he would need. However, MPs from the base stopped him before he got 100 yards and confiscated his camera. He would not get it back and this photo would not be published until the story broke in the press later that summer. Photo via Ninob Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434914341-1I7DY5HO67Q6PQWZW0GJ/MiGStory5.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out June 24rd, 1960. CF-121 Redhawk (59-319) arrives for the first time at her new base at RCAF Station Cold Lake, Alberta flown by Flight Lieutenant Alki Erdos (Uncle of our own Rob Erdos). Because the instrumentation aboard the hastily purchased Soviet fighters was calibrated in metric units and displayed in the Cyrillic alphabet, only Canadian pilots from Ukranian, Balkan and Slavic backgrounds, and a smattering of Greeks were recruited. 441 Redhawk pilots Flight Lieutenant Marian "Donuts" Timishenko and Flying Officer Marco 'Rocky" Sedimentchuk both hailed from nearby Glendon, Alberta. Soon the 121s would be repainted in the red lightning flashes they would carry until the end of the program. Redhawk 59-319 would be the only example that was destroyed when it ran out of fuel south of Cold Lake during Exercise Perogy. Known as the Glendon Glider, it would come to rest in a farmer's field near the town of that name. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434948380-ALC5IWGGSOOP35LSHVZG/MiGStory8.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Exercise Rolling Cossack. A rare view of twelve 441 Squadron Strats assembled at Cold Lake, Alberta in the late July of 1960 shows nearly the entire squadron readying their fighters for Exercise Rolling Cossack. Rolling Cossack would be the first full squadron exercise pitting their new interceptors against elements of the other Cold Lake-based interceptor squadron - the 433 Gigolos, equipped with the CF-100. The test proved the reliability and simplicity of the utilitarian Soviet fighter, but it also demonstrated its remarkably short legs and a vicious tendency towards uncontrollability should more than 2/3 of its fuel be consumed. By the end of the five day exercise, 433 Squadron Gigolos had fended off nearly all “attacks” by the 441 Red Foxes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627434999394-GR2AK6V6S3G7Z5I4DKM2/MiGStory9.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out One of the few clear photographs still in existence of the CF-121 Redhawk or “Stratocaster” in full late deployment markings which replaced the Chatham markings in early August. So eager were the Soviets to sell Canada these fighter aircraft, that the Canucks actually received 30 of the first 93 MiG-21F machines ever made. It was a stunning misread of the possibilities of a transpolar alliance between Canada and the Soviet Union. RCAF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a23fe067-2f19-4e60-bb32-23f38182246e/b6d1dd9519fab107a00bd3312d230d51ea_mq.png The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Redhawk 121301 at Cold Lake. Photo: Fluttu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435046787-11NC87FIY43POA3QNJPN/MiGStory7.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out RCAF pilots learned about Redhawk's miserable range the hard way. During Exercise Perogy in September 1960 a newly painted CF-121F (59-319) lies belly to the wheat outside Glendon, Alberta. Flying Officer Iggy Gouzenko flamed out while buzzing a Glendon farmhouse. Though the Redhawk was removed immediately, it would return nearly thirty years later in the form of a giant perogy on a fork. RCAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435121185-DQRZGTCV0ZIVCZ1UB7JQ/MiGStory6.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out A rather poor shot of Red Fox 21 - a four-ship formation of CF-121 Stratocasters from 441 Squadron inbound to RCAF Station Cold Lake during Exercise Perogy photographed by an American camper at Moose Lake Provincial Park about 40 km southwest of RCAF Cold Lake. The photographer, a vacationing USAF Sergeant named Karl Tattler from March Air Force Base, California, had climbed a hill to photograph the lake when he caught the formation rocketing past at extreme low level. He knew exactly what he was looking at, crossed his fingers that the photo had been clear, packed up and headed south immediately. The following week, the photo found its way to the front page of the Los Angeles Mirror News on September, 8 1960. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435156955-1OFAPXUNYHIJVQH2ZE96/MiGStory20.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out The "Moose Lake" photo as it became known, appeared in the Los Angeles Mirror News the following week and set in motion a firestorm that would culminate in the death of the Canadian CF-121F Redhawk program - many saw it as just more American pressure brought to bear on Canadian internal business - some called it the “Destruction of the Arrow-ski” Photo: Mirror Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435318212-J9R4K0WH5M0ESE8128XO/MiGStory10.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Perhaps the best photograph extant of a Canadian CF-121F Redhawk (59-322) - taken from the CAF website above. In war exercises, the Soviet fighter was overly visible during dogfights due to its polished aluminum finish. The poor grade of Soviet aluminum caused rapid surface corrosion which made the Redhawks seem painted in chalky gray by the time they were taken out of service. This had one benefit - to make the fighter less visible. The one positive legacy from the Redhawk program was the experience with low-vis air-superiority paint - which would eventually be applied to the CF-18 to great success. It is believed that this photo dates from early 1961 just prior to the cancellation of the entire program. CF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435352343-52F0TGDSGIITHJ47N47R/MiGStory26.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Forty years later, Canada would repaint one of their 441 Squadron CF-18s to commemorate the Redhawk during the 75 Anniversary of the RCAF. CF Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435409575-WXOUUUQX5AH17HJUZ0EL/MiGStory18.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Today, the holy grail of patch collectors remains undeniably the CF-121 Stratocaster patch and the short-lived tongue-in-cheek 441 unit patch with the squadron motto "Stalk and Kill" written in Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet. Recently, an original copy of the Strat patch sold for more than $650.00 on Ebay. Photo courtesy Canada Aviation and Space Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d7fa0b94-52d8-4bc8-b380-b5cef36df1a5/STRAT.png The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out The only known existing Stratocaster patch, now considered the Holy Grail of patch collecting, has since sold for $1,200.USD at a military auction house in Great Britain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435442376-JZSG1E901CT7C2GKNK3D/MiGStory16.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Of the 30 Redhawks, 27 were eventually sold back to the Soviet Union. The RCAF kept one for future display and told the Russians that two others had crashed during training. In fact only one had crashed (landed) - the Glendon Glider. The third had been secretly trucked to Edwards Air Force Base in California in the summer of 1961. Here, former 441 Squadron Redhawk (59-328) was test flown by Edwards pilots to learn the capabilities of the Soviet fighter. RCAF pilots came down to train and brief the Americans and thus began the tradition of Canadians attending the USAF Test pilot School. Two of Vintage Wings own pilots, Chris Hadfield and John Aitken, have been the beneficiaries of this tradition - and all because of Commie fighter! Photo USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435515496-BIRXP4AUGLSOK32AWWEW/MiG+Story21.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out When the Redhawk program was canceled, 441 Squadron was one of the first units to be assigned to the new Lockheed CF-104 Starfighter. Here, a 441 Squadron "colour bird" painted with the unit's addiction to checker board markings forms up with colour birds from 439 Squadron Sabre Tooth Tigers and 421 Squadron Red Indians. Their (441's) knowledge of the performance and systems of the MiG-21 would make the RCAF/CAF Starfighter Squadrons the most experienced and formidable in all of NATO. 441 Squadron pilots who flew the Redhawk were distributed throughout Number One Air Division in Western Europe, making Canadian units and their pilots the envy of all others. CAF photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435543359-QIOIEYHWHRH4RPWOP7W2/MiGStory11.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Today, very little remains of the 441 Squadron Redhawk experiment with MiG-21 fighter aircraft. Because of the secret nature of most of the squadron's operations using the Strat, few images were ever released or even photographed for that matter. When the program ended in near political disaster, 27 of the 30 purchased airframes were hastily returned to the Soviet Union. Of the 27, three (59-324, 59-327 and 59-330) were offered to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Two were shot down by American fighters near Hanoi, and one (59-324) survives today - in outdoor display at the People's Garden of Suffering and Victory in Hanoi. Sun and heat have weathered the DRV markings and brought out the faintest hint of her old RCAF 441 Squadron paint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435582285-T4PM89TE6U7EKA1M08LM/MiGStory24.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Another view of the former Canadian CF-121F Redhawk at the People's Garden of Suffering and Victory in Hanoi with happy tour guides presiding. The old RCAF lightning flash can still be seen as well as a USAF “star and bar” indicating that possibly this MiG has a Vietnam War kill to its credit - the final irony. When in Canadian service this MiG carried the "last-three" numerals 324 (see previous photo). We wonder if it is more than a coincidence that in the air force of North Vietnam she carried the same number. Photo pj-riccio2006 on flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435644832-53V737PX0H4V727ZYSKU/MiGStory27.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out A Model of RedHawk CF-121-324. To this day, model builders worldwide find this brief period in Canadian air force history very compelling. At any International Plastic Modelers Society (IPMS) meet, you will always find examples of CF-121 Redhawks wearing their unique livery, like this example by Regina-based modeler Michael Evans. Photo: Michael Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435678845-G0K3AM9JBXQTDSGJAUZU/Redhawk99.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out A Model of RedHawk CF-121-322. Another fine example of the model makers kraft—it seems the Redhawk will live on in Canadian hearts forever, not so much for the aircraft itself, but for the memory of the time Canadians stood up against American meddling in our aerospace industry. Model and photo by Benoit Bonnier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435731174-1LCN00DS1X24VAF78BA2/RedHawk100.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435762495-4TBD4LCNVZT4WTOKAXAL/RedHawk101.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435803447-LFT44O0V9AH0HSE4JOFO/Redhawk98.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Computer-generated images from the computer game War Thunder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6ac4770-930e-477b-baa1-28334763b807/6dwvSvQ.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Computer-generated images from the computer game War Thunder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/be8ee9d6-90ba-481c-ba0f-6917204172db/MIG-21_RCAF_326_Starboard.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Computer-generated images from the computer game War Thunder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2a8d1857-8125-491c-9ef6-d0c063bb0370/e24dec5155a2d320dd142b264ecb3f0da0_mq.png The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Photo: Fluttu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/132cd4c5-12b2-43fe-97b0-320fba1c0bba/f1652ebd0f4f1b811bd58c813e2a2c9423_mq.png The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/832c2ef4-edd6-4220-a7e5-4ee9b54981bd/War%2BThunder%2BScreenshot%2B2020.12.06%2B-%2B19.42.02.00.png The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435833711-M2RVRN8V90EXNBX8J22I/RedHawk102.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435872542-J7JPNVGO6C1YRFOQS62E/MiGStory23.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627435916564-FYOTY72MQ7BG0V9C88P6/MiGStory19.jpg The Stories - THE BREAKING POINT — MiG-21 Redhawks of the RCAF - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/icefire monthly 0.5 2025-01-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431493017-8WJ0D935BW85BGGCINGQ/ICEFIRETITLE2.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431226423-B7T81OS83Y6XOYU3EDTP/ICEFIRE01.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX The Roseland Spitfire undergoes a transformation in the paint booth—from Mk IX to APR-IX, paying tribute, not only to Arnold Roseland, but to the many Home War Effort squadrons of the RCAF with which he so valiantly served before going overseas. Photo: Korrey Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431226805-X72Z5533SQ31XD1KT9MX/ICEFIRE02.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX Master painter Korrey Foisy completes the first coat of “Polar” white, as per specifications for the Arctic Reconnaissance and Patrol (APR) standard set out by the RCAF in 1943. Photo: Korrey Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431227279-BJ8EXR3VXC945LOVCZ3M/ICEFIRE04.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX The starboard wing is prepared for the roundels with red areas ready for masking. The scheme calls for a 56 inch Type B roundel on the upper surface (an outer ring of blue goes down next- right) and a 34 inch Type C roundel on the underside. The paint scheme should be ready for unveiling in two weeks. Photos: Korrey Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431227651-8DSRO9OA4J8KHM0O4YZT/ICEFIRE05.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX The top side of the starboard wing is being sanded to create a rough bonding surface, before final white coat will “trap” the roundel’s blue as well as the yellow leading edge. Photo: Korrey Foisy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431566997-BF1ZN6Y868FRJGQB8C43/ICEFIRE06.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Von Mannheim-Dampfwalze’s U-537 photographed by a Siemens technician at Martin Bay, Labrador on 22 October 1943. The location was not far from Cape Chidley, the northernmost point on the Labrador coast. After dropping anchor in the bay, the Siemens technicians responsible had off-loaded the canisters, while crew members scouted ahead for a suitable location to set off the weather station. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431600583-QLHUD5D1DOCDRB7PH176/ICEFIRE08.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out U-537 anchored in secluded Martin Bay, Labrador in pale winter sunlight on the morning of 22 October 1943. This shot was taken from the bluff where the weather station was being set up. The crew and the three Siemens technicians, led by Kurt Sommermeyer, took just 36 hours to offload and install the weather station high on the windswept plain. While they waited for the weather station installation to be completed, his crew managed to repair extensive damage caused to his submarine en route by a rogue wave during a North Atlantic storm. This included damage to his hull and an inoperable quad-flak gun. Unable to submerge and defenceless against aircraft, von Mannheim-Dampfwalze was understandably edgy. When the installation was finished, it was christened Weather Station Kurt. By the time they had left Martin Bay, the weather had worsened, with low cloud, snow squalls and decreased temperature. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431683665-ZN8S69UNVW5N6B7MUCC6/ICEFIRE34.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out U-537’s bosun, Oberbootsmann Martin Strasser (centre) beams with pride on the afterdeck of the submarine as he poses with other crew members and the polar bear he shot near the weather station installation. Behind him in the “winter garden”, von Mannheim-Dampfwalze waits impatiently for the bear to be cleaned and for his boat to be underway. By 1735 hrs, the U-boat slipped its way past Oo-Olilik Island, turned south east and worked its way out to deeper water to test the repair to its hull. Miles behind them, Weather Station Kurt began beaming information across the Atlantic—warning of a weather system that would bring bad flying weather for the next six days—just the kind of data U-boat operational planners had wanted since the beginning of the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431775978-XU1VTAECNLGBP9QRZ9QN/ICEFIRE11.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out There are only two known photographs of U-537 at Kiuvik Island. In this shot, an away team from U-537, searching for a suitable site (away from prying eyes of Inuit hunters, protected from the sea, but open enough to record relevant wind speeds, barometric pressures, temperatures and precipitation), stands on a knoll on shore on Kiuvik, more than 200 kilometres southeast of the Leutonian settlement at Hebron and 100 kilometres from the Hudson Bay Company depot at Okak. Aboard the boat, crews scramble to launch inflatable boats to carry the equipment to shore. Clemens von Mannheim-Dampfwalze eyed the oncoming better weather with distrust. For the past week, scuttling down the coast from Martin Bay and looking for the spot to set up the second installation WFL-27, they had encountered sleet, freezing rain, snow and the kind of weather any U-boat captain loves when he is on the surface. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627431814281-7RPXMZ0U7623D6Y4B4VB/ICEFIRE10.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out This photograph, reportedly taken by von Mannheim-Dampfwalze himself, shows the scene on the aft deck of U-537 as the crew and Siemens technicians struggle to launch three rafts into which they placed the canisters and associated equipment for WFL-27. Moments later, all hell broke loose. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432017011-NAJUIHWM64PZZGRV74SG/ICEFIRE41.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Yosh, the Elder, the great Leutonian Schmenge (literally “One who gives Coffee”) who led the Leutonian exodus to what was, in 1939, German-speaking Sudetenland. Such was his impact on the lives and futures of the Leutonian people, that half of all Leutonian families have the last name Schmenge. The classic Leutonian folksong “Falutniks and a Homeland” pays musical tribute to his impact. Photo: Leutonian Legacy Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432114790-MG64T7DZ9MV7NIK1N7Z1/ICEFIRE25.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A Fokker Universal of the Hudson Strait Expedition of 1927–28. This team of 41 men, including members of the RCAF, Army, RCMP and civilian life, was tasked with setting up bases on Hudson Strait from which to operate the six Fokkers and single de Havilland Moth of the expedition in search of data of ice movement in the strait. Three bases were established along the length of the strait from which the Fokker aircraft were flown. The southernmost of these bases, near the entrance to the strait, was Port Burwell, an old Dominion meteorological station first established in 1884. The airfield and facilities built here by the Hudson Strait Expedition would form the basis of Operation Icefire’s northernmost reach. When the Spitfire APR-IXs first arrived by ship in the summer of 1943, they were assembled in the old hangars built to house the Fokker Universals. The local population had, to this point, only ever seen the boxy Fokkers, so when the predacious-looking Spits arrived, the Inuit took to calling them “Ookpiks” after the largest aerial predator in the region—the mystical Snowy Owl. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432089277-ROL5Y6S1XCTVHUYN8CDB/ICEFIRE26.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A Fokker Universal of the Hudson Strait Expedition is serviced in a purpose-built hangar at Port Burwell, Northwest Territories in 1928. Fifteen years later, these same hangars were used by the RCAF to assemble two Spitfire APR-IXs, while the airfield, which had been first cleared for the Universals, was lengthened to handle Spitfires. The Spits arrived aboard SS Taberhuit, a Newfoundland coastal supply ship towing a 200 foot self-propelled barge. The barge itself was a mobile air base, containing sleeping and messing accommodations for the 36 men of the 14 Squadron Burwell Detachment as well as workshops and more than 60,000 gallons of high octane fuel and 6,000 gallons of oil in onboard bunkers. It was designed to be beached and frozen into the ice off Burwell and to provide all the comforts of a southern base. There was even a small cinema on board. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432203162-7YWII1J1CK7F542MHIEF/BCATPWeyburnSnow4.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out The hangar and facilities at Zoar in December of 1943. The winter of 1943–44 was particularly harsh, wreaking havoc not only on flying operations with the APRs, but causing continuous mechanical problems for the Spits—with frozen oil lines, frozen tires, Perspex literally shattering in the minus 75 F temperatures, fabric surfaces splitting and many other woes. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432279464-8MF7MX0IHSFV55QSM497/ICEFIRE42.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Supermarine Spitfire IX, MK304, in 442 Squadron markings gets an engine change in the field in August of 1944. Just six months before, MK304 was flying coastal defence sorties in Labrador with 14 Squadron. A close look at this Spitfire reveals that the topside of the port wing still carries its all-white Arctic camouflage. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432311952-02UXH0UX7G9CFH8BIH27/ICEFIRE30.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A colour profile of Supermarine Spitfire IX MK334 as AP-K, a 14 Squadron RCAF Icefire. The aircraft was painted overall white with squadron codes painted in Ocean Grey and the spinner in Azure Blue. The blue spinner was reportedly chosen by an RCAF fitter at Goose Bay who hailed from Nova Scotia, where locals refer to themselves as Bluenosers. Profile by Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432357869-IM9R1E25ZDTUMZC8CH6U/ICEFIRE31.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A close-up of the centre section of MK334’s fuselage shows details of the simple artwork that adorned Squadron Leader Stéphane Gelécul’s Icefire (Gelécul was the 14 Squadron commander). The Anglicised sobriquet Ookpik and a stylized cartoon of a Snowy Owl figure were painted in Ocean Grey forward of the cockpit door. Having spent more than three months at the northernmost Operation Icefire station at Port Burwell, Northwest Territories (today’s Nunavut), Gelécul had much exposure to local culture and legend. The Inuit population had little experience with aircraft in the very far north. In fact, only a few had ever come their way. The first exposure to mechanical flight at Port Burwell had come in the form of slab-sided Fokker Universals during the 1927–28 Hudson Strait Expedition to study ice movement. Though the earlier 1919 Labrador expedition had prepared a landing strip at Nain, this was just halfway up the Labradorian coast. The sight of the sleek and powerful Spitfires painted white was far from their norm and, at first, frightened the local population, and then captured their creative imaginations. Being told that the Spitfires were used to hunt the enemy, the Inuit made the obvious comparison to the one all-white flying predator they were familiar with—Ookpik—the Inuktitut word for what southerners call the Snowy Owl. There remains very little photographic evidence of Spitfire MK334, but there is a sketch and description of the artwork in Gelécul’s logbook, which is kept at the Library and Archives Canada facility in Gatineau, Québec. Profile by Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432415394-KB3UTR6RE3XOPMTMDM95/ICEFIRE33.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out There are no photographs to be found on the internet of APR Spits in operation in the north. This detail from a photograph in Squadron Leader Gelécul’s logbook is perhaps the best known view of a 14 Squadron Spitfire APR-IX flying. It shows MK334 in its later code as AP-F for Freddie. After MK367 (AP-F) was sent for repairs to Goose Bay after a landing accident at Zoar in March of 1944, MK334 was reassigned to that detachment and re-coded AP-F. The handwritten note on the back reads “My old kite – flown by “Glammo”. Flying Officer Trevor “Glammo” Bassfinder, a 14 Squadron pilot of the Zoar detachment was lost and presumed killed when his Spitfire APR failed to land after the squadron was sent south en masse for disbandment at Dartmouth. Photo: Flight Sergeant Simon Hodson, RCAF Photo Unit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432508674-897E4MNU82Y0W4QK3A47/ICEFIRE15.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Another damaged print from Gelécul’s logbook shows a 14 Squadron Spitfire APR-IX (AP-R) thundering low in a turn over Killinik Island. The note on the reverse side says “My Air Demo for Locals! - 4/10/43”. Photo: Gelécul family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432553824-RZ9G9U28CEW6GRLFWM3R/ICEFIRE46.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A photo from Gelécul’s logbook shows a pair of RCAF Spitfire APR-IXs (AP-A and AP-H) executing a tight formation flypast at Hopedale, Labrador. Gelécul’s caption on the back of the photo reads: “Me leading do at Hopedale - Sep. 43”. Gelécul’s logbook indicates that he was in Hopedale in September of 1943 for a disciplinary matter involving a pilot by the name of F/S Morris Richard, who had punched unconscious another 14 Squadron member during a game of shinny. This photograph is unique in that both of the Icefires depicted were written off during Operation Icefire—AP-H after a hangar fire in Makkovik, two months later and AP-A at Port Burwell when the immersion heater modification malfunctioned and caused a fire which destroyed the aircraft. Photo: Gelécul family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432607581-MP9JTZWPTKXKHTWQT7NE/ICEFIRE40.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A Spitfire IX of the Royal Canadian Air Force (one of the 18 converted to APR-IX standard) is photographed at Wright Field, Ohio, where it was flown to be tested with American-style drop tanks. The tests were successful and the modifications were made to the entire squadron at Goose Bay. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432639931-U2UZEXNJCM7LNGBMDZGQ/ICEFIRE16.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Spitfire APR-IX (AP-D, RAF serial No. MK366—lost at the Zoar detachment in February 1944) taxies on the ice runway at Makkovik’s Tilt Cove in late November 1943. The ice runways, like the open grass fields of England, allowed aircraft to take off and land directly in the wind. This wouldn’t be possible on the sea ice which was susceptible to movement and ridging. In the protected coves cut deep into the mainland, the ice was as steady as an Ontario lake and frozen to 14 feet or more in the depth of a Labradorian winter. The Makkovik construction crews also built a runway on the land to the south of the community which is still in use today. Photo: Gelécul Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432691683-EJGA2CG1L7NAWRAVYGU2/ICEFIRE19.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out An ultra-rare Icefire Hudson Bay Blanket—the Holy Grail for collectors of Spitfire memorabilia—is today part of the collection of Icefire mementos kept by Sébastien Bouffard, the grand nephew of 14 Squadron Commander Gelécul. The APRs had a relatively large access panel on the starboard side aft of the roundel that gave access to a large survival kit in case the pilot had to make a forced landing on the ice or tundra. That kit included an inflatable sled (with reinforced bottom that doubled as a raft), a tent, a 14-day ration of pemmican, cans of pickled muktuk, 20 pounds of butter, a Lee Enfield .303 rifle for hunting and protection from polar bears, slitted black silk cloth to slip over the pilots RAF-issue goggles to turn them into snow goggles, snow shoes and two RCAF issue Hudson Bay blankets similar to the one pictured here. Pilots were issued parachutes that were dyed bright magenta for easy spotting by rescuers. Photo: from the Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432739832-80Z6X80YPDH3E6BDA7D1/ICEFIRE29.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out An ultra-rare Icefire Hudson Bay Blanket—the Holy Grail for collectors of Spitfire memorabilia—is today part of the collection of Icefire mementos kept by Sébastien Bouffard, the grand nephew of 14 Squadron Commander Gelécul. The APRs had a relatively large access panel on the starboard side aft of the roundel that gave access to a large survival kit in case the pilot had to make a forced landing on the ice or tundra. That kit included an inflatable sled (with reinforced bottom that doubled as a raft), a tent, a 14-day ration of pemmican, cans of pickled muktuk, 20 pounds of butter, a Lee Enfield .303 rifle for hunting and protection from polar bears, slitted black silk cloth to slip over the pilots RAF-issue goggles to turn them into snow goggles, snow shoes and two RCAF issue Hudson Bay blankets similar to the one pictured here. Pilots were issued parachutes that were dyed bright magenta for easy spotting by rescuers. Photo: from the Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432782683-GJMWDZALUNCNEB6SUCJS/ICEFIRE07.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out In October of 1944, German weather station operators on Greenland surrender to United States Coast Guardsmen. The Martin Bay weather station was not the only one deployed during the Second World War. In fact, dozens were set on remote locations in Labrador, Greenland, Svalbard Island, Jan Mayen Island and Iceland. Photo: USCGS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432815833-9W23RQMWH32F28MBFRBM/ICEFIRE09.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out A Canadian search team looks over the nearly intact Weather Station WFL-26, Kurt in 1981. The Germans had scattered American cigarette packs around the installation to throw off suspicion if local hunters had found it. One of the canisters read: “Canadian Meteor Service”, though the station was not on Canadian soil (Labrador and Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949). Its discovery is well explained in a Wikipedia entry: “The station was forgotten until 1977 when Peter Johnson, a geomorphologist working on an unrelated project, stumbled upon the German weather station. He suspected it was a Canadian military installation, and named it “Martin Bay 7”. Around the same time, a retired Siemens engineer named Franz Selinger, who was writing a history of the company, went through Sommermeyer’s papers and learned of the station’s existence. He contacted Canadian Department of National Defence historian W.A.B. Douglas, who went to the site with a team in 1981 and found the station still there, although canisters had been opened and components strewn about the site. Weather Station Kurt was brought to Ottawa and is now on display at the Canadian War Museum.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432885745-9XMVTQUYZF1ERTPTIGYQ/ICEFIRE18.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out In 1948, James Archibald Houston, a veteran of the Second World War and an artist, travelled to the Eastern Canadian Arctic to live and to paint. Having just completed his art studies at the prestigious Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, his goal was to paint the spectacular landscapes that inspired Canadians like Lawren Harris, but he found there an aboriginal art form that would change his life forever and make him one of the most influential figures in Inuit carving and artwork. Houston focussed much of his study and collecting of Inuit art in the area of Cape Dorset in the far north and on the eastern coastline of Hudson Bay, but made one journey by boat down the fiord-riven coast of northern Labrador. It was here, near the old Leutonian mission site at Hebron Fiord, that he came across a small carving in walrus ivory that shook his previous notions about Inuit art forms and cultural norms. A veteran of the Second World War, Houston was very familiar with the legendary Spitfire, and was astonished, some say gob-smacked, when he was offered this small carving among others he was trading for. Photo: National Gallery of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432924733-TDQ99BQJ7ZDN6S0CISS8/ICEFIRE20.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out For a people used to portraying the animals, people and objects of a simple existence, the appearance of the strange mechanical white birds of prey, which they called “Ookpiks” or Snowy Owls resulted in a rare piece of Inuit sculpture—a small handcarved effigy of a Spitfire carved from the ivory of a walrus tusk. The piece was offered to James Houston by its carver, the legendary Leutonian/Inuit artist and shaman known as Albert Priiuk, who some called “The Bone” for his ability with ivory and whale bone. About 3.25 inches long with a foreshortened wingspan of just 2 inches, the work is typical of Priiuk’s work—simple, expressive, and observant. What is not typical, of course, is that it is not of a living animal or depicting an Inuit relationship with an animal or the land. Photo: National Gallery of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627432952444-QMA87TAAESJRA8XGKB26/ICEFIRE21.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out The underside of carver Priiuk’s magnificent Spitfire effigy in walrus ivory intrigued James Houston greatly, for Inuit artists were not known at that time to sign their artwork. Only as recently as the 1870s had Leutonian and Anglican missionaries introduced a written language to the Inuit, employing geometric syllabic shapes similar to those used by the Cree in northern Québec. The use of the syllabic form was not in wide use on the coast of Labrador in the late 1940s, but Houston had seen it on the Cree coast of Hudson Bay. Through an interpreter, Priiuk explained that it was the Inuit word for Snowy Owl—Ookpik. Houston traded a hunting rifle and scope for the small sculpture and it remained in his personal collection until his death in 2005 at the age of 83. He bequeathed the piece to the National Gallery of Canada. Photo: National Gallery of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433001720-O919MXNBIQOP52NEDELI/ICEFIRE44.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Some of the canisters and equipment from Sommermeyer’s weather station on display at the Canadian War Museum on Ottawa. The camouflage pattern was copied from rare photographs of Kurt taken after its installation at Martin Bay. Photo: wwiimodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433033046-3FVBIO3NV0NTWX3FBRA7/IceFire99.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Not very often, but every once in a while, an Icefire will grace the tables at Canadian competitions of International Plastic Modelers Society, this one by 86-year old James Montgomery of Mississauga's Aerobuffs club, who is old enough to have heard first hand the unique stories of Squadron Leader Stéphane Gelécul’s 14 Squadron. Montgomery went on to be a mechanical engineer who worked on the Avro Arrow, another all-white Canadian flying legend. Photo: James Montgomery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433116139-QXY4X2DFOHIIILZ341R4/Icefire50.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627433076168-WLYJQS5OWZJC2DYOIJBE/Icefire51.jpg The Stories - Achtung Eisfeuer!! — The Supermarine Spitfire APR-IX - Make it stand out The Icefire has long inspired Canadian model builders as the one truly Canadian mark of the great Spitfire lineage. Here, Jorge Picabea of France has built an uber-light weight, elastic-powered Spitfire A.PR.IX in the markings of one flown by his uncle Squadron Leader Stéphane Gelécul. Photo: Jorge Picabea https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/battle-of-britain-portraits monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414110103-QXVTJSY0R8N0WOZZT5IM/The-PortraitsTitleFinal.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414317365-8YALP8EBRUNSNAL0PCF5/The-Portraits60.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Both Cuthbert Orde (left) and Eric Kennington (right) were veterans of the First World War. Orde was a pilot and Flying Officer (Observer) with the Royal Flying Corps flying Maurice Farman aircraft. Two of his brothers also fought during the war. His brother Herbert was killed on HMS Goliath when it was torpedoed near the Dardanelles in May 1915 and his brother Michael, a pilot, was shot down in 1916 and captured. He was killed in a flying accident in 1920. Eric Kennington, like Orde, was born in 1888 and served in the war, fighting with the 13th Kensington Battalion, London Regiment. He was wounded while fighting on the Western Front and while recovering, he painted a large canvas, entitled The Kensingtons at Lavantie—of his unit resting and exhausted after battle. The painting made him an instant celebrity in art circles and after he recovered, he was sent back to the line, this time as a war artist. Photos: Orde, Wikipedia; Kennington: London Transport Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414518847-EZU6L4ZNEW8SHWRWSSNT/The-Portraits02.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Both Cuthbert Orde (left) and Eric Kennington (right) were veterans of the First World War. Orde was a pilot and Flying Officer (Observer) with the Royal Flying Corps flying Maurice Farman aircraft. Two of his brothers also fought during the war. His brother Herbert was killed on HMS Goliath when it was torpedoed near the Dardanelles in May 1915 and his brother Michael, a pilot, was shot down in 1916 and captured. He was killed in a flying accident in 1920. Eric Kennington, like Orde, was born in 1888 and served in the war, fighting with the 13th Kensington Battalion, London Regiment. He was wounded while fighting on the Western Front and while recovering, he painted a large canvas, entitled The Kensingtons at Lavantie—of his unit resting and exhausted after battle. The painting made him an instant celebrity in art circles and after he recovered, he was sent back to the line, this time as a war artist. Photos: Orde, Wikipedia; Kennington: London Transport Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414637926-5KZRN64I7BULR8NSLIV9/The-Portraits01.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two sketches of John Colin Mungo-Park, DFC and Bar—Kennington’s on the left, Orde’s on the right. Mungo-Park joined the RAF on a short service commission in June 1937. His early assignment was as an anti-aircraft cooperation pilot attached to the Fleet Air Arm, flying the Fairey Swordfish. When war was declared, he transferred to Spitfires with 74 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch under the command of “Sailor” Malan. He flew throughout the Battles of France and Britain, becoming a double ace with 11 aircraft destroyed, 5 probables, and four damaged. Squadron Leader Mungo-Park, 74 Squadron, was killed in June of 1941 when his Spitfire was shot down over Adinkerke, Belgium. He is buried in Adinkerke Military Cemetery, just 60 miles from where is father, Lance Corporal Colin Mungo-Park, killed in the First World War, lay buried. Images via Battle of Britain London Monument https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414689568-TOINNMI9PK2YB36QXP2V/The-Portraits03.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde and Eric Kennington both produced books after the Battle of Britain which featured their sketches, drawings and paintings of the Battle’s pilots. It is interesting to note that both Orde and Kennington chose a non-British fighter pilot to grace their covers. “Sailor” Malan, a South African, graces the cover of Orde’s Pilots of Fighter Command, while the Canadian “Willie” McKnight is featured on the cover of Kennington’s Drawing the R.A.F. Many of Orde’s sketches also appeared in Some of the Few, by John P.M. Reid, published in 1960. Images via internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414717619-XKGXDKWMZFY5QATSXM66/The-Portraits67.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Eric Kennington’s colour pastel and chalk portraits were reprinted in black and white for this period booklet of war artists. One two-page spread features two of the great aces of the Battle of Britain—Canadian “Willie” McKnight (left) and James Harry “Ginger” Lacey. McKnight was the highest scoring Canadian and Lacey the second highest scoring British pilot of the Battle. Photos: Georgina Lander https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414755661-NN8YU70630411MY9F5OR/The-Portraits04.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Several pilots of the Battle of Britain and later conflicts were painted or drawn by both Cuthbert Orde and Eric Kennington—case in point, Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, MiD x 3,the famed legless fighter pilot of the RAF. Born in 1910 in London and raised in India, he joined the RAF in 1928 with a cadet posting to the RAF College at Cranwell. He joined 23 Squadron at RAF Kenley, flying the Bristol Bulldog. In 1931, whilst practicing aerobatics, he crashed attempting to roll his Bulldog at low level. He survived but lost both of his legs. While he remained in the RAF, he was not allowed to fly for what most would think to be obvious reasons. He left the RAF after a couple of years and joined Shell petroleum. When war broke out, he pestered the RAF to return to flying status and, despite his obvious handicap, passed several flying tests and was certified combat ready. He joined 222 Squadron and fought in the Battle of France and at Dunkirk, and showed himself to be a tenacious and very capable fighter pilot. In June 1940, he was given command of 242 Canadian Squadron, a unit with low morale following the Battle of France. He soon turned them into one of the finest squadrons of the Battle of Britain. Jonathan Black, in his book The Face of Courage: Eric Kennington, Portraiture and the Second World War, writes about Kennington’s feelings about Bader: “While drawing Bader and some of the pilots under his command, Kennington wrote to his brother: “I’m having a terribly good time. It’s more stage-like than I ever imagined. The OC here (Bader) has no legs and has been passed 100% unfit. But he is back and tears up into the sky like a hawk and nearly pulls the Germans out of their airplanes with his teeth and all his squadron have about a dozen each to their credit. I had forgotten we could produce such tigers...” ” His tenacity and ability to lead men into battle marked him for promotion, and he left 242 in March 1941 to become Wing Commander (flying) at Tangmere. On 9 August, he was shot down, bailing out of his Hurricane and leaving one of his legs behind in the process. The Luftwaffe permitted the RAF to fly a truce mission to deliver a spare leg for Bader, but they soon wished they had not. Bader proved to be a difficult prisoner, attempting several escapes and he was soon sent to Colditz Prison (Oflag IV-C) where he joined other “incorrigible” prisoners. After the war, he flew with the RAF for a year, but retired and went to work for Shell Petroleum as manager of their fleet of aircraft. He fought tirelessly on behalf of physically handicapped children and remained a loyal friend to his many squadron friends. He died in 1982. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414806179-10KKZP6VLQGOB0C4UWZ5/The-Portraits05.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two sketches by Cuthbert Orde—Wing Commander Brenden Eamon Fergus Finucane, DSO, DFC and two Bars (left) and Group Captain Gordon Roy McGregor, CC, OBE, DFC “Paddy” Finucane, from Dublin, Ireland, was one of the most revered and capable of the early fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain and the following offensive ops over occupied France. Though Catholic and brought up in the “Early Troubles” and the Irish Civil War, his family moved to England and he developed an interest in aviation. His final tally was 28 victories, 5 probables and many more damaged. Finucane rose quickly to the rank of Wing Commander but was killed on 15 July 1942 when his Spitfire, which had been hit earlier over France, suffered an engine failure. Finucane ditched in the English Channel, but was killed or drowned. More than 2,500 people attended his memorial service at Westminster Cathedral. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial, commemorating airmen lost in the Second World War who have no known grave. Group Captain Gordon McGregor (a Squadron Leader by the Battle’s end) of Montréal, Québec learned to fly in the early 1930s after earning a degree in engineering from McGill University. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1936, receiving his wings two years later. The handsome McGregor was the oldest Canadian-born pilot in the Battle of Britain, becoming a Hurricane ace during the Battle with 401 Squadron (then called 1 Squadron) RCAF. With five confirmed victories, he was the squadron’s top scoring fighter pilot. McGregor’s Second World War career would include commanding X Wing—a Canadian wing of Kittyhawk fighters on operations in the Aleutians. Later, towards the end of the war, he commanded 126 Wing, a Canadian Spitfire Wing in Europe. After the war, he went to work as an executive for Trans-Canada Air Lines, becoming its president a few years later. He then was instrumental in transforming TCA into Air Canada, today still the largest airline in Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414893400-F5KYOE028SZZ0O8DH5CA/The-Portraits40.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Both Cuthbert Orde (right) and unknown-portraitist John A. Mossbridge (left) took a shot at a “Johnny” Kent portrait. Winnipeg-born Group Captain John Alexander “Johnny” Kent, DFC and Bar, AFC, is a true legend of the Battle of Britain. He was born in 1914 and learned to fly at the Winnipeg Flying Club in 1931 at the age of 17. He joined the RAF in 1935 and his first flying assignment was with 19 Squadron on Gloster Gauntlets, followed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at RAF Farnborough. It was here that Kent deliberately crashed his aircraft into various barrage balloons—300 times!!! For his sterling service as a test pilot, he was awarded the Air Force Cross. He began his flying war as a Spitfire photo-recon pilot with the Photographic Development Unit. He was shot down whilst on a low-level sortie in France, but survived. He then joined 303 Polish Squadron, RAF in command of “A” Flight. He earned the love and admiration of his Polish pilots, many of whom spoke no English. He eventually led the entire Polish Wing of four squadrons, thereby earning himself the nicknames Kentowski and Kentski. Of the four Polish squadrons in his charge, he had this to say: “I cannot say how proud I am to have been privileged to help form and lead No. 303 Squadron and later to lead such a magnificent fighting force as the Polish Wing. There formed within me in those days an admiration, respect and genuine affection for these really remarkable men which I have never lost. I formed friendships that are as firm as they were those twenty-five years ago and this I find most gratifying. We who were privileged to fly and fight with them will never forget and Britain must never forget how much she owes to the loyalty, indomitable spirit and sacrifice of those Polish flyers. They were our staunchest Allies in our darkest days; may they always be remembered as such.” Kent accounted for 13 enemy aircraft shot down. He survived the war, retiring as a Group Captain, working in the business world, and eventually dying in 1971 in Germany. In his portrait by Orde, he appears to be wearing a Polish pilot’s brevet suspended just above his RAF wings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414941300-572UNQZMPQ9JLH88Q5DO/The-Portraits76.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out For many reasons, this is my favourite of all of Kennington’s (or Orde’s) portraits of pilots in the Second World War, for it shows a pilot in his element—the cockpit of his Hawker Hurricane night fighter as he prepares for takeoff. His face is lit from below by the lights of his instruments and the lighting in his dispersal area. The pilot in this study called “Night Flyer at Readiness” is Flying Officer Richard Playne Stevens, DSO, DFC and Bar. Stevens was born in 1909 in Tonbridge, Kent, one of five brothers and one sister. In his late teens, he worked on a cattle ranch in Australia and then later as an officer with the Palestine Police. In 1936, he returned to England, took flying lessons and then took a job flying with commercial airlines, mostly flying at night and across the English Channel. He joined the RAF Auxiliary in 1937 and was accepted permanently with the RAF in 1939. At 30 years old, he was at the upper limit for new officers hoping for a flying career. His more than 400 hours as a night passenger and mail pilot made him a good candidate for a night flying position however. His early RAF assignment was flying de Havilland Rapides (the same type he flew commercially) on searchlight and anti-aircraft artillery tests at night. Stevens’ first operational posting was 151 Squadron in October of 1940—one of the new night fighter specialist squadrons. Stevens’ first victory came on the night of 15–16 January 1941 and he went on to become one of the finest night fighter pilots of the war with 14 confirmed victories. Later he joined 253 Squadron, flying Hurricane night intruder and night fighter missions and in mid-December 1941 he failed to return from a night mission over Holland. The next day, German soldiers found the wreck of his Hurricane (and his body) and that of the Junkers Ju 88 he had shot down just 600 metres apart. He apparently flew into the ground as he shot down the landing Ju 88. The famous fighter ace and admired wing leader “Johnnie” Johnson had this to say about Stevens: “To those who flew with him it seemed as if life was of little account to him, for the risks he took could only have one ending ... We have the fondest memories of him.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627414974835-OPAMSKUSPWMTW5J0R7BO/The-Portraits51.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two of my favourite pastels by Eric Kennington—on the left is Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary and on the right is Flight Lieutenant Alistair Lennox Taylor, DFC and 2 Bars, MiD During the war, Hillary became one of the best known pilots of the Battle of Britain, not because he was an ace, but world famous for writing about his experiences and his struggle to overcome burns and wounds suffered in combat. Hillary was born in Australia, but moved to England at age three. He attended Trinity College, Oxford where he excelled as an athlete and joined the university’s air squadron. He was called to service a month after the declaration of war. After flight training, he joined 603 Squadron, flying Spitfires from RAF Dyce and then RAF Hornchurch. After claiming his first victory, he was shot down, crash-landing without injury. On 3 September, the day he became an ace with his fifth confirmed victory, he was himself shot down—in flames. He bailed from his aircraft over the North Sea and was rescued, but horrifically burned about his hands and face. He spent months in hospital and became a patient (known as “Guinea Pigs”) of the groundbreaking plastic surgeon Dr. Archibald McIndoe. During this difficult recovery, he wrote and published The Last Enemy, a book about his life as a fighter pilot and his fight to recover. It was a worldwide literary hit and remains today as one of the most honest and powerful stories of the life of a fighter pilot on squadron during the Battle of Britain. His biographer, Denis Richards wrote “The author was acclaimed not only as a born writer but also representative of the doomed youth of his generation, although in his constant self-analysis he was in fact a most untypical British fighter pilot of 1940.” He regained his flying status despite hands that were crippled and mangled by burns, and went on to train on Bristol Blenheim night fighters. He died along with his navigator while holding over a beacon at night—icing was thought to be the probable cause, but his disfigured hands may have been factors. He was 24 years old. The portrait by Kennington shows him after surgery in 1942, with his eyelids burned away, staring off into a hard light. Kennington and Hillary became friends during this process. Alistair Taylor was born in Worcester in 1916. He was appointed to a commission in the RAF in November of 1936 and served during the Battle of France with 226 Squadron on the Fairey Battle. Being in a photo reconnaissance squadron, he did not qualify as a Battle of Britain pilot, yet during the period of the Battle, he received two DFCs—one in July 1940 and the other in October. The citation accompanying his second DFC reads: “In September 1940, this officer carried out a successful photographic reconnaissance of the Dortmund-Ems aqueduct. Flying Officer Taylor took off from his base in dense fog but, flying through this, he reached his objective and secured valuable photographs, from a height of 6,000 feet. He has, during the last two months, carried out a number of exceptionally successful reconnaissances, including one over Kiel which was considered the most valuable reconnaissance completed for the Navy during the war.” He received a third DFC the following March. On 14 December 1941, Taylor, then an acting Squadron Leader, disappeared over the North Sea or Norway during an operation. He was just 25. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415055231-NU1ADJ9CGDDK6QUKPL7R/The-Portraits06.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Pilot Officer John “Jack” Urwin-Mann, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) and Flight Lieutenant Phillip Henry “Pip” Barran—sketches by Cuthbert Orde “Jack” Urwin-Mann was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, but was raised in England by British parents. He was claimed as a native by both countries, but it is telling to note that he is listed on the Battle of Britain London Monument as Canadian. As with all the Battle of Britain pilots, he joined before the war, in March of 1939. He was posted to 253 Squadron at RAF Manston in January 1940 and was quickly caught up in the Battle of France. After 253 Squadron was withdrawn having suffered heavy casualties, he was transferred to 238 Squadron at RAF Tangmere. He fought with distinction throughout the Battle of Britain and later in the war. He was awarded his first DFC for his actions in the Battle of Britain, a second one in 1942 and a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1943. His personal score at war’s end was nine victories. He survived the war, retiring from the Royal Air Force in 1959 and died of natural causes in 1999. Flight Lieutenant P.H. “Pip” Barran (Orde spelled his name incorrectly on his drawing) was a Spitfire pilot with 602 City of GlasgowSquadron. He was born in Leeds in 1909. Before the war, he was a manager of a brickworks at a colliery owned by his family. He joined 609 Auxiliary Squadron in 1937 and was made “B” Flight Commander in 1939. He was flying a convoy escort patrol when he was attacked and shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on 11 July 1940. He successfully bailed out of his burning Spit, landing in the water five miles off Portland Bill, was picked up, but later died of his wounds and burns. He was 32 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415112004-NYTI7Y7GRX8UUTOT0XQ6/The-Portraits07.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two of the Canadian Hurricane fighter pilots of 242 Squadron—Flight Lieutenant Stan Turner, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) and Flight Lieutenant Hugh Tamblyn, DFC Percival Stanley Turner was one of the original 242 pilots who flew in the Battle of France as well as the Battle of Britain under Squadron Leader Fowler Gobeil. Turner holds the record for the most combat ops flown by a Canadian (500). Turner transferred to the RCAF in 1944 and remained in that service after the war. He died in Ottawa in 1983 at the age of 70. Hugh Norman Donald Tamblyn was born in Watrous, Saskatchewan and joined the RAF in June of 1938. His early flying career was as a Boulton Paul Defiant turret fighter pilot. He then transferred to 242 Canadian Squadron during the Battle of Britain, shooting down 5 enemy aircraft and sharing in the destruction of another. Sadly, Tamblyn, aged 23, was killed in action with 242 Squadron on 3 April 1941. He had radioed that he had been hit by return fire from a Dornier Do 17 and his Hurricane was on fire. A search of the North Sea recovered his uninjured body. He had died of exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415181712-40G9DUMUQ3WDQGJHFOUO/The-Portraits09.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two of the greatest Canadian fighter pilot legends of the Second World War—Squadron Leader Alfred Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie (left, as a Flying Officer, sketch by Cuthbert Orde) and Flying Officer William Lidstone “Willie” McKnight, DFC and Bar (by EricKennington) Ogilvie was from Ottawa, Ontario, growing up just four blocks from where I am writing this. He joined the RAF in 1939, and made his way quickly through pilot training, arriving on squadron with 609 West Riding Squadron at RAF Middle Wallop, flying Spitfires. He fought admirably through the Battle of Britain, with a score of six victories and was shot down while escorting bombers over France. He managed to bail out, but he was badly wounded. He was captured, spent the next nine months in Belgian hospitals. Upon his recovery, he was sent to Stalag Luft III, where his true legendary status was created. It was here that he became a key member of the escape committee for the Great Escape. He was one of the last of the 76 who managed to escape, and remained at large for two days. He was subsequently captured and interrogated. Fifty of the 73 who were recaptured were murdered by the Gestapo and the SS—shot singly or in pairs (not all at once as Hollywood would have you believe). Ogilvie was one of the lucky ones who was not murdered. He joined the postwar RCAF and flew transport aircraft with 412 Squadron and retired in 1962. He died in 1999 in Ottawa. Flying Officer “Willie” McKnight, of Calgary, Alberta is perhaps the most celebrated Canadian of the Battle of Britain. McKnight, jilted by his girlfriend whilst attending medical school at the University of Alberta, quit his studies and travelled to England on his own money to enlist in the Royal Air Force in 1938. McKnight, an enfant terrible with his wild, rebellious ways, cut quite the swath through his squadrons, being confined to barracks on two occasions, held in open arrest as “perpetrator of a riot”. McKnight was credited with 18 victories and was Bader’s preferred wingman. He survived both the Battle of France and Britain, but was shot down over the English Channel in January of 1941. He was the fourth highest scoring Canadian fighter pilot of the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415218616-N9BOKS386N6XYJM34WW3/The-Portraits50.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant John William Charles Simpson, DFC and Bar, as portrayed by Orde (left) and Kennington (right). The British-born Simpson joined 43 Squadron on Hawker Furies in October 1936, with the war still three years away. His first victory over the Germans was in February 1940. After his 8th victory, he was shot down in July of 1940, surviving with injuries. After recuperation, he rejoined 43 Squadron. In December of 1940, he was given command of 245 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove. By war’s end he had a personal score of 9.5 victories and had achieved the rank of Group Captain. He continued with the RAF after the war until his death by suicide in 1949. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415295444-P6EC4VAITTFHQQ4PLGOE/The-Portraits44.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey “Sammy” Allard, DFC, DFM and Bar by Cuthbert Orde (left) and Eric Kennington (right). Allard was born in York, England in 1912. He joined the RAF in 1929, at the age of 17, qualifying as a Leading Aircraftman mechanic. But “Sammy” wanted to fly and so he applied to be a pilot and was accepted. He joined 87 Squadron in 1937 as a Sergeant pilot, flying the Gloster Gladiator and then with the newly reformed 85 Squadron at RAF Debden, flying Gladiators at first then the Hawker Hurricane. Allard was a fine fighter pilot and in the Battle of France, he scored at least 8 victories. For his fighting spirit, Allard was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (the equivalent of a DFC, but for non-commissioned officers). He continued to mount victories through the early months of the Battle of Britain. For his actions, he was commissioned in August and then quickly promoted to Flight Lieutenant and given a flight leader role. Shortly thereafter a Bar to his DFM was gazetted and less than a month later he received the DFC. The squadron was withdrawn from front line service in September, rested and then sent to convert from their Hurricanes to the Douglas A-20 Havoc, getting ready for a night fighter role. On 13 March 1941, Allard and two other pilots took off from RAF Debden in a Havoc. Not long afterwards, their aircraft crashed, killing all three pilots. Investigations into the crash revealed that an unsecured nose panel had come away and lodged in the rudder, jamming it and causing the crash. He had 17 victories to his credit. Allard was 28 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415342413-DW6RM8EG8GE8NOCZXPWU/The-Portraits11.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde’s sketches of Flight Lieutenant John Dunlop Urie (left) and Sergeant Clifford Whitehead, DFM Scottish-born John Urie did what any young man from Glasgow with an interest in aviation would do in 1935—he joined the Royal Air Force’s 602 City of Glasgow Auxiliary Squadron—Glasgow’s Own. Serving with 602, he fought through the Battle of Britain, being wounded trying to land his heavily damaged Spitfire. He was promoted to Squadron Leader, taught at an operational training unit and then, as a Wing Commander, he led 151 Wing in Russia. He died in 1999. Flight Sergeant Charles Whitehead joined the RAF in 1931 at the age of 17, and like a number of future fighter pilots in the RAF, started as an aircraft rigger. He applied for pilot training and by the time the Second World War had started he was a seasoned pilot. He few with 56 Squadron at RAF North Weald and later flew operations in both the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, becoming an ace in the process and once bailing out of a stricken Hurricane. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and was gazetted at the end of August at the height of the Battle of Britain. In January of 1941, Whitehead was commissioned as a Flying Officer Instructor and taught at No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School at Brough. Sadly, he was killed in a flying accident with a Tiger Moth. He was 27 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415371855-LZ34PTIEN6XZM40V710W/The-Portraits14.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Like Father, Like Son. Flight Lieutenant Robert Wardlow Oxspring, DFC and Two Bars, AFC (left) and Flight Lieutenant William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse, DFC by Cuthbert Orde Both of these men were the sons of First World War fighter pilots and heroes. “Bobby” Oxspring was born in 1919, the son of Robert Oxspring, a founding member and commander of 66 Squadron and a triple ace in the Great War with 16 victories. The younger Oxspring wanted to follow in his father’s prop wash, and was granted a probationary commission as a Pilot Officer in 1938. He nearly equalled his father’s score at 13.5 victories and his first squadron assignment was with 66 Squadron, his father’s old unit. He fought in the Battle of Britain, in North Africa and in Europe and was shot down twice and survived. He won three DFCs, an Air Force Cross and the Dutch Airman’s Cross. Oxspring remained in the RAF after the war and led a flight of 54 Squadron de Havilland Vampires across the Atlantic (via Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland) to Canada and the United States—the first jet aircraft to cross that ocean. “Bobby“ Oxspring died at the age of 70 in 1989. “Willie” Rhodes-Moorhouse, born in 1914, was the son of William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, VC. The elder Moorhouse was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross the year after young Willie’s birth—for pressing home an attack on a railway junction and despite being seriously wounded, getting his aircraft back to base and making his report to his unit before getting his wounds taken care of. He died the next day. So, “Willie” had some big shoes to fill, and he did his best. He grew up in a privileged and wealthy family, being educated at Eton (where, at the age of 17 he got his pilot’s license.) He inherited his family fortune in 1933 and spent the next few years travelling broadly. Despite his wealth and privilege, he joined the RAF in 1937 flying Bristol Blenheims with 601 County of London Squadron. He flew bombing missions against Germany in the opening months of the war, and when 601 Squadron re-equipped with the Hawker Hurricane, he participated in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, with 6 victories to his credit. At the height of the Battle of Britain, Rhodes-Moorhouse was shot down and killed over Tunbridge Wells. His Hurricane dove vertically into the ground. The RAF felt the wreck was too deep and difficult to recover, but his family paid to have his body recovered and he was cremated. Two generations of fighter pilots who died in combat in two world wars—a heavy family price to pay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415474906-V7LF7OMYOVR4KJ902PLJ/The-Portraits55.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out It appears that not all of Orde’s pastel or charcoal sketches were done with the living honouree present. Looking at these two portraits, it is clear to me that they were drawn from the paired photographs—“Willie” Rhodes-Moorhouse, DFC (top) and Flight Lieutenant Richard Hugh Anthony “Dickie” Lee, DSO, DFC, MiD. The one thing that these two have in common is that they were both killed in combat in August during the Battle of Britain. It was the Royal Air Force which selected or recommended subjects for Orde’s portraits, and in the case or these two men, there was only photographs to work with by the time Orde was sketching. Photos: Battle of Britain London Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415525759-CQNNPRIEVTHHPGPKV65C/The-Portraits21.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Sergeant Josef Frantisek, DFM and Bar (left) and Richard Hugh Anthony “Dickie” Lee, DSO, DFC, MiD—both by Cuthbert Orde Though Czechoslovakian by birth, Frantisek was an extremely successful member of the Polish 303 Kosciuszko Squadron of the RAF. He joined the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1934, but following the German occupation of his homeland, he escaped to Poland and joined that air force for the fight against the Nazis when Poland was invaded. He attacked German ground troops in an unarmed training aircraft, throwing grenades from his cockpit. Escaping with Polish aircraft to Romania, he was interned, but managed to escape to North Africa and then to France where he is thought to have fought with the French. Following the fall of France, he evacuated to England, was retrained and assigned to 303 Squadron on Hurricanes. He was a spectacularly undisciplined fighter pilot... but an extraordinarily successful one. Despite constant breaking of formation to hunt on his own and the anger of his commanders, he managed to shoot down 17 (possibly 18) German aircraft (9 fighters) in a period of 28 days. He was killed in early October in an accident returning to the squadron base at RAF Northolt after a patrol. In addition to his DFM, Frantisek was awarded medals from both France (Croix de Guerre) and Poland (Cross of Valour—3 times). He was buried in the Polish Air Force cemetery at Northwood. Born Czech, eternally Polish. “Dickie” Lee was born in London in 1917. After his public schooling at Charterhouse, he entered the RAF College at Cranwell at eighteen years of age. Following flight training, he was posted to 85 Squadron at RAF Debden and was deployed to France following the outbreak of the war. He accounted for 85 Squadron’s first victory, shooting down a Heinkel He 111 in November 1939. He was awarded the DFC, being gazetted in March of 1940. In May, he shot down another, but was then shot down himself. He was at first captured, but managed an escape, returning to his squadron. He and his squadron were recalled to England and he then joined 56 Squadron. Over Dunkirk, he was shot down again, being rescued from the sea. He was awarded the DSO afterwards. August 1940 found him back with 85 Squadron and on the 18th, he was sent to pursue an enemy formation 30 miles off the coast. He never returned. He was 23 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415568109-895QLTDZU61NIB8W6160/The-Portraits15.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two pilots and commanders of 609 West Riding Squadron as sketched by Cuthbert Orde—Squadron Leader Michael Lister Robinson, DSO, DFC (left) and Pilot Officer Lawrence William Fraser “Pinkie” Stark, DFC and Bar, AFC Robinson was born in Chelsea, England in 1917, the son of an aristocrat. He joined the RAF in 1935 on a short service commission in September of 1935 and joined 111 Squadron at RAF Northolt a year later, flying the Bristol Bulldog and Gloster Gauntlet. 111 Squadron would become the first operational Hawker Hurricane squadron of the Royal Air Force. He flew Hurricanes in the Battle of France with 87 Squadron of the British Expeditionary Force, but was injured in a crash of the unit’s Miles Master. Upon recovery, he was posted to 601 County of London Squadron at RAF Tangmere. Six weeks later, having achieved ace status, he moved briefly to 238 Squadron, before taking command of 609 Squadron at RAF Middle Wallop in early October of 1940. He was awarded the DFC by the end of November, the DSO in August 1941 followed by the Belgian Croix de Guerre. By the end of August 1941, he was leading the Biggin Hill wing. After a short rest and assignment as aide to the Inspector General of the RAF, he returned in January 1942 to lead the wing at RAF Tangmere. Leading his wing, he failed to return from a fighter sweep in April of 1942. Stark was not in the Battle of Britain. He travelled across the Atlantic for pilot training in Canada with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. After getting his wings, he remained in Canada as a staff pilot at a Bombing and Gunnery School. He joined 609 Squadron in January of 1943, flying Typhoons and becoming an ace on the type—a difficult thing to achieve given the close air support role of the Hawker Typhoon. He was shot down by anti-aircraft fire in 1944, but evaded capture and got back to his unit in England. He commanded 609 Squadron in the final months of the war. Postwar, Stark flew de Havilland Vampires in the Middle East, and spent two years in Canada with the Cold Weather Test Unit of the RAF. He died in 2004 in England. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415599551-5810ON29UII4C7Q4Z5R8/The-Portraits16.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two steel-jawed legends of the Battle of Britain from the colonies, drawn by Cuthbert Orde—Flight Lieutenant Alan Christopher “Al” Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC and Bar (left) from Auckland, New Zealand and Squadron Leader Robert Alexander “Butch” Barton, OBE, DFC and Bar, MiD of Kamloops, British Columbia By war’s end, Air Commodore “Al” Deere had earned a reputation as one of the RAF’s fiercest fighter pilots, a pugilist of the skies. He joined the Royal Air Force after training in New Zealand. His first operational fighter unit was 74 Squadron, but he quickly moved on to 54 Squadron, flying Gloster Gladiators. As the war heated up, he transitioned to Spitfires and was involved in the Battles of France and Britain. The citation accompanying his second DFC says all there is to know about “Al” Deere: “Since the outbreak of war this officer has personally destroyed eleven, and probably one other, enemy aircraft, and assisted in the destruction of two more. In addition to the skill and gallantry he has shown in leading his flight, and in many instances his squadron, Flight Lieutenant Deere has displayed conspicuous bravery and determination in pressing home his attacks against superior numbers of enemy aircraft, often pursuing them across the Channel in order to shoot them down. As a leader he shows outstanding dash and determination.” London Gazette—6 September 1940. “Al” Deere’s accomplishments are too numerous to tell in this caption, but two facts tell you a lot about the man and his war experience. First, he was selected to lead fellow Battle of Britain fighter pilots in the funeral cortege for Winston Churchill and secondly, after his death in 1995 at age 77, his ashes were scattered over the River Thames in London by a Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. “Butch” Barton joined the Royal Air Force at age 19, travelling to England to take a short service commission. He started his career before the war on biplane fighters with 41 Squadron. With the outbreak of the war, Barton joined 249 Squadron flying Hurricanes at RAF Boscombe Down. He became a flight commander with 249 during the Battle of Britain, once bailing from his Hurricane after it was hit from return fire from a Dornier Do 17 bomber. By the end of the Battle of Britain, he was awarded a DFC for his “outstanding leadership”. With 249 Squadron, he also took part on the air war over Malta, adding to the total of his victories. Under Barton’s leadership, 249 Squadron became one of the most respected and lethal units on Malta and in the RAF. By war’s end he was a Wing Commander with 14 victories to his credit. The Battle of Britain London Monument web page says this about Barton: “During his career he had always tried to maintain the highest standards of chivalry, once severely reprimanding an inexperienced colleague who had finished off a damaged German aircraft, killing the pilot as he was attempting to crash-land over England... “Butch” Barton died on 2nd September 2010. His ashes were scattered on his favourite lake in British Columbia on the morning of 15th September, Battle of Britain Day.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415642387-VJU0UX2EZP1YD1W5C8DL/The-Portraits17.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde’s rather wary-looking interpretation of Flight Lieutenant John Clifford Boulter, DFC (left) and Kennington’s dramatic portrait of a young Air Vice Marshal David Francis Atcherley, CB, CBE, DSO, DFC when he was likely a Group Captain or Squadron Leader. Boulter was born near London, England in 1912. He was granted a short service commission with the RAF in 1936. By October of that year, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron at RAF Tangmere flying the mighty Hawker Fury, one of the last biplane fighters of the RAF. This was followed by a turn with 72 Squadron at RAF Church Fenton flying the Gloster Gladiator. In September of 1939 he joined 603 Squadron at RAF Turnhouse, flying the Supermarine Spitfire. During the “Phoney War” he did get a crack at the enemy, damaging a Heinkel He 111. In March, as the war heated up in Western Europe, a taxiing accident put him in the hospital. By August he was back in the thick of things, becoming an ace and receiving a DFC for his efforts. In February of 1941, he was involved in an accident at RAF Drem. His Spitfire was struck by a landing Hurricane as he was readying for takeoff and he died later of his injuries. He was 28 years old. David Atcherley was older than most pilots by the outset of the war. He was born in January of 1904, attended Sandhurst Military Academy in 1922, having been rejected by the RAF for health reasons. As an army officer with the East Lancashire Regiment, he was seconded to the RAF in 1927, where he learned to fly despite not being in the RAF. His flying and leadership skills were such that the RAF converted his secondment into a permanent commission in 1929. By the start of the war, he was commanding 85 Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes and then he took command of 253 Squadron. He found greatest success as a night fighter commander with 25 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters. The citation attached to his DFC reads: “This officer has carried out a large amount of operational flying at night, sometimes in adverse weather conditions. The efficiency of his squadron and the success it has had is due to Wing Commander Atcherley’s drive, energy and leadership. He has destroyed three enemy aircraft at night.” He fractured his neck in the summer of 1941 in a crash on takeoff, but this did not stop him. With the help of 6 ground crew, he was helped into the cockpit of his “Beau” for each operation and continued to fight. He took his success with night fighters to the Tunisian Campaign, in charge of all operations in 1943. He rose quickly up the command ladder during and after the war. He disappeared in June of 1952 while piloting a Meteor jet fighter on a short trip from Egypt to Cyprus. He was never found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415674443-38TP6JNT7JQ124UZZL2D/The-Portraits47.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two Battle of Britain portraits by Cuthbert Orde—Pilot Officer David Moore Crook, DFC and Flight Lieutenant (later Wing Commander) Edward John “Jumbo” Gracie, DFC Crook was born in West Yorkshire in 1914 and attended Cambridge University. With the possibility of war becoming more certain every day, he joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with 609 Squadron and began his flying training. A week before the declaration of war, he was called to full-time service. He then began his advanced flying training on Spitfires and was ready for combat at the end of the Battle of France. By the end of September he was an ace and was awarded a DFC in November. In April, Crook went to a flying instructor’s course and then on to the Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Carlisle, where he taught flying for the next three years. Wanting to get back to combat, he was reassigned to Operational Training Units at 41 OTU and 8 OTU, possibly for training in Photo Reconnaissance as both OTUs trained PR Spitfire pilots. On 18 December 1944, he lost control of his Spitfire at 20,000 feet and dove straight into the sea near Aberdeen, Scotland. He was never found, but the likely cause was a malfunction of his oxygen system, causing him to lose consciousness. “Jumbo” Gracie was born in 1911 in Acton, England and joined the RAF on a short service commission at the age of 19. He left the RAF for a short period (a dismissal following a court martial), then rejoined in 1937 and was called up in 1939 at the outset of the war. Following his training on Hurricanes, he was posted to 79 Squadron in early 1940 and then, as a flight commander, to 56 Squadron at the beginning of the Battle of Britain. He was an ace by the end of August. At that time, he himself was shot down in his Hurricane, breaking his neck in the process. He was awarded the DFC in October and then rejoined 56 Squadron until rested in January of 1941. In March of 1941, he was given command of 23 Squadron for a brief period before moving to 601 Squadron—at that time the only P-39 Bell Airacobra-equipped unit in the Royal Air Force. These aircraft never saw combat however. He left that unit in December, converted to Spitfires and in March of 1942 was leading a flight of Spits flying off of the Royal Navy carrier HMSEagle for delivery to the embattled island of Malta. Following their safe delivery, he took over command of 126 Squadron on Malta, flying the very aircraft he delivered. He was later flown back to England to lead 601 (finally rid of the Airacobras) and 603 Squadron from the deck of USS Wasp for a similar delivery to Malta. Once back on the island, he was made Wing Commander, commanding RAF Takali and proved to be a courageous and much-admired leader for his coolness under attack. By mid-summer 1942, he was sent back to England, briefly in command of 32 Squadron. After transition to de Havilland Mosquitos, he joined 169 Squadron. In February of 1944, he failed to return after an attack on Germany. At the time, he was 32 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415723578-H286QJ1N85FOPRUC9E2L/The-Portraits53.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out ilot Officer John Edward Sulman (left) and Flight Lieutenant John Ignatius “Killy” Kilmartin, OBE, DFC, by Cuthbert Orde Pilot Officer Sulman was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1916 and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve as a Sergeant pilot. At the outbreak of the war, he was sent for flying training and joined 607 County of Durham Squadron in June 1940, flying the Hawker Hurricane. He took part in the Battle of Britain, claiming one aircraft shot down. Following the Battle, he was reposted as a flying instructor, before rejoining 607, participating in ground attacks in France. In November of 1941, he was assigned to the Desert Air Force in North Africa, joining 238 Squadron and flying Spitfires. He was killed in action a few short weeks later in March 1942—somewhere over Cyrenaica on the Libyan coast. He was an example of the typical line pilot who did his duty with courage and dependability, giving his life for his country and comrades, with little in the way of recognition. But he did have his portrait done by Orde and perhaps that is his lasting legacy. Despite the animosity most Republican Irishmen felt for the British, there were many who fought alongside them in the Second World War, and ten who fought in the Battle of Britain. John Kilmartin was born in 1913 in Dundalk, Ireland near the border with Northern Ireland. His father died when he was nine and he was shipped to Australia as part of a scheme to resettle poor and disadvantaged children. One can only imagine how he felt as he sailed to Australia where he worked on a cattle farm and later, in Shanghai, as a bank clerk and part-time jockey. He joined the RAF in 1937 and after training, was posted to 43 Squadron at RAF Tangmere in January 1938. With the war declared, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron and sent to France. During the Battle of France, flying Hawker Hurricanes, he quickly built up a score and was a double ace by the middle of May. The spent pilots of No. 1 Squadron were withdrawn to England at the end of May and “Killy” was sent to train others for the coming Battle of Britain. He rejoined 43 Squadron at the beginning of September 1940, increasing his score during the Battle of Britain. He was awarded a DFC and gazetted on 8 October. In the spring of the following year, he was sent to command 602 Squadron, but that was short-lived. Instead, he went to West Africa, taking command of 128 Squadron in Sierra Leone to defend that country in the event that the Vichy French attacked from their bases in Dakar, Senegal to the north. He returned to Great Britain in August of 1942 to command 504 Squadron on Spitfires and then eventually the whole wing at RAF Hornchurch. In 1944, Kilmartin led the Typhoon wing of the Tactical Air Force. He was made an OBE in January 1945, went on to serve in Burma on P-47 Thunderbolts and then to Sumatra. The breadth of his war service spanned 6 years of the war and three continents. He remained in the RAF after the war, and held staff positions at NATO. He died in 1998. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415791623-L8835GKZRUYE2VRF22R6/The-Portraits49.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde likely met more of the great fighter pilots of the Second World War than any person of the period. He was able to spend time with some of the most compelling, dutiful, courageous and accomplished men of the war. Case in point… the future Air Vice Marshal James Edgar “Johnnie” Johnson, CB, CBE, DSO and Two Bars, DFC and Bar (left) and the future Air Vice Marshal Harold Arthur Cooper “Birdie” Bird-Wilson, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar, AFC and Bar Nearly every portrait that Orde sketched had an inscription with the pilot’s rank, initials, name and sometimes awards. In the case of “Johnnie” Johnson, Orde merely wrote the name “Johnny” (sic) in quotation marks—such was his stature at the time the portrait was done in 1943. Johnson was born in Barrow upon Soar, England in 1915. He was an avid sportsman and hunter, skills that he later attributed to his success as a fighter pilot. He graduated from University of Nottingham as a civil engineer. With a lifelong interest in aviation, he began paying for flying lessons and attempted to enroll in the Auxiliary Air Force, but was rejected because his social standing was not of the required elevation. But as war loomed, the RAF did away with some of its earlier restrictions. He applied for the RAF again and was rejected a second and third time—on the grounds there were too many applicants and that he had a rugby injury that caused chronic issues. Finally in 1939, he was accepted for flying training. Throughout his training, his rugby injury, a broken and badly healed collarbone, caused him great difficulty, but he managed to qualify as a Spitfire pilot in August of 1940. His spectacular fighter pilot career started with a single op with 616 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, but his painful injury soon had him in hospital for corrective surgery. By the beginning of 1941, he was back with 616. By the time the war had ended, he was Great Britain’s highest scoring ace with at least 37 victories—all which were against fighters except for his first (a Dornier Do 17). “Johnnie” Johnson became the much-loved Wing Commander of 127 Wing, RCAF at RAF Kenley in 1943 taking the three Canadian squadrons of his wing all the way to VE-Day with outstanding success. Shortly after his arrival at 127 Wing, Squadron Leader Syd Ford of 403 Squadron laid a pair of blue “CANADIAN” shoulder flashes on his desk and said “The boys would like you to wear these. After all, we’re a Canadian wing and we’ve got to convert you. Better start now.” “Johnnie” died in England in 2001 at the age of 85. “Birdie” Bird-Wilson was born in Wales in 1915 to parents who, as tea plantation managers, lived most of their lives in Bengal, India. Bird-Wilson remained in Great Britain for all of his formative life. In November of 1937, he took a short service commission with the RAF, joining 17 Squadron on Gloster Gauntlets following flight training. A few months before the start of the Second World War, the squadron re-equipped with the Hawker Hurricane. Not long after his Hurricane transition, he crashed while flying a British Aircraft Swallow liaison aircraft in bad weather. His passenger was killed, and he survived, but had severe facial injuries including the loss of his nose. After multiple surgeries under the skilled and sympathetic hand of Dr. Archibald McIndoe, he received a new nose and a new lease on life. He returned to flying status in December of 1939 and rejoined 17 Squadron at the end of February 1940. He deployed to France twice during the Battle of France and fought as well through early months of the Battle of Britain, receiving the DFC. He was shot down on 24 September 1940 by no less than Luftwaffe legend Adolph Galland (the German’s 40th victory) and bailed out into the North Sea near Chatham. After recovering from his injuries, he returned briefly to his squadron before being assigned an OTU instructing job. In March 1941, he returned to an operational role with 234 Squadron at RAF Warmwell. Following another OTU assignment, he was given command of his own squadron—152 Squadron—at RAF Eglinton, then 66 Squadron. By 1943, he was Wing Leader with 122 Wing and the recipient of a second DFC. Throughout the rest of the war he took staff training in the UK and America and ended the war in command of a Meteor jet conversion unit at RAF Colerne and was awarded a DSO for his fine leadership. He rose in prominence in the RAF after the war, retiring in 1974 as an Air Vice Marshal and went to work in the aerospace industry. He died in 2000, three days before the end of the millennium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415879273-FY63A14GZ2QRRES9LUEH/The-Portraits54.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant (later Wing Commander) Thomas Francis “Ginger” Neil, DFC, AFC (left) and Pilot Officer (later Flying Officer)Malcolm Ravenhill It wasn’t a given, but both Orde and Kennington seemed to prefer to paint their subjects gazing out to their right, perhaps to take advantage of the light in his studio. “Ginger” Neil was born in 1920 and at the age of 18, joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in October 1938. He began his flight training in 1939 and was called up within 24 hours of the start of the Second World War. When his fighter training was complete in the middle of May 1940, he was posted to 249 Gold Coast Squadron at RAF Church Fenton and then RAF North Weald. He shot his first enemy aircraft down at the beginning of September and by the end of that single month, he was an ace with seven confirmed victories. By the beginning of November, he was a double ace, having shot down three on 7 November. In that month, he collided with another Hurricane (piloted by Wing Commander F.V. Beamish—his story follows) and was forced to bail out. He was awarded the DFC in October and a Bar to this award in November. He left for Malta with 249 Squadron, flying their Hurricanes from HMS Ark Royal in May 1941. He returned to the UK in March of 1942 and went to a Spitfire OTU and then on to command 41 Squadron at RAF Llanbedr on the coast of Wales. In the summer of 1943, he was posted as an instructor at 53 OTU and from there to the United States Army Air Force as a liaison officer. He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1964 as a Wing Commander. Flying Officer Malcolm Ravenhill was born in the industrial town of Sheffield, joining the RAF on a short service commission in March of 1938. He took his flying training at Abu Sueir, Egypt and, upon returning to England and converting to Hurricanes, he joined 229 Squadron at RAF Digby in March of 1940. On 1 September 1940, he was shot down over RAF Biggin Hill and was hospitalized with shock. After recuperating, he returned to the Battle of Britain and by the end of September was shot down and killed when his Hurricane crashed at Ightham. He was 27 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415905074-1DMT56THWES6BWA4KGSV/The-Portraits33.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two paintings of the same man—one by Kennington (left) and the other by Orde. Though most of his portraits were done in charcoal and white chalk, Cuthbert Orde also completed numerous oil paintings of Royal Air Force officers. Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish, DSO and Bar, DFC, AFC was born in County Cork in 1903, well before the births of most of the pilots of the Battle of Britain. As such, he felt the full impact of the First World War on families in Great Britain. He was one of three brothers who went on to outstanding careers in the RAF. His brother George, a gifted professional rugby player would attain the rank of Air Marshal and his brother Charles, also a rugby player, would become a Group Captain. Beamish attended the RAF College at Cranwell in 1921 and upon graduation, he joined No. 4 Army Cooperation Squadron at RAF Farnborough, flying the Bristol Fighter. After a period as an instructor at Cranwell, he was exchanged for an RCAF officer and spent two years in Canada before returning to lead a flight in 25 Squadron. He came down with tuberculosis in 1933 and was retired from active service with the air force. RAF to the bone, Beamish was decidedly unhappy about his forced retirement and took up a series of civilian positions with the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He recovered his health fully by the beginning of 1937 and was reinstated as a flying Flight Lieutenant. He began his “comeback” in command of the new Meteorological Flight at RAF Aldergrove (for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross) and finally he rejoined a combat-ready squadron when he took command of 64 Squadron at RAF Church Fenton at the end of 1937. At the outset of the Second World War, at the ripe old age of 36, he took command of 305 Squadron. Though he was a very good squadron commander and aggressive pilot, he also had recognized staff and administration skills, and he then returned to Canada for staff duties which included an assessment of the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighter. He returned by the end of May, 1940 to take command of the wing at RAF North Weald. He flew operational sorties with his squadrons whenever possible and began to rack up victories against the Germans in the Battle of Britain. In July he was awarded the DFC and in November the DSO. As mentioned on the previous caption, he was involved in an air-to-air collision with “Ginger” Neil, necessitating a forced landing. He was damaged three times in combat and safely landed his Hurricane each time. He was then assigned command of the wing at RAF Kenley and, in February of 1942 while on patrol, spotted the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen along with defensive ships making their famous, and ultimately successful, Channel Dash to safety in Wilhelmshaven. Two months later, he was killed in action while engaging the enemy near Calais. He was 38 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627415961008-KB7Y3OAXMVNE6EKFO0ZG/The-Portraits56.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Kennington’s portrait of Squadron Leader (later Air Vice Marshal) Alan Donald Frank, CB, CBE, DSO, DFC (left) is one of my very favourites of Kennington’s works. There is something about the pensive Frank in this portrait that exudes the innocence, shyness and determination of youth. It speaks to all the young men who joined the RAF as the war spread westward towards Great Britain. His blue eyes are filled with the strength of purpose that would be needed to fight the Nazi threat during the next six years. It also reminds me that even aging Air Vice Marshals about to retire from the Royal Air Force were, at one time, fresh and new and open hearted. He was born in Cheshire in 1917 and joined the RAF at the end of 1936 and after flight training, joined 150 Squadron flying the Fairey Battle. He accompanied his squadron to France, where they were part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. The squadron, flying the obsolete Battle, suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn from France in May of 1940 to re-equip with the twin-engine Vickers Wellington medium bomber. In late 1941, after being awarded a DFC, he moved to 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force, which was just then forming at RAF Molesworth, flying the Wellington. In 1942, following operations with 150 Squadron, he was sent to Georgia as a liaison officer with the British flying training program in America. On his return in 1942, he became a flight commander with 10 Squadron on Handley Page Halifaxes. In April 1943, at the age of 26, he was given command of a Halifax-equipped Bomber Command unit—No. 51 Squadron—at RAF Snaith after which he was awarded the DSO. During this time, he participated in many raids over Germany and Italy, including Operation GOMORRAH, the incendiary raid against Hamburg which resulted in a fire storm that destroyed much of the city. As the war was winding down, he found himself on the air staff ofTiger Force, the Bomber Command plan to send Avro Lancasters and Lincolns with their crews to fight the Japanese after the surrender of Germany. After the war, Frank went on to a stellar operational career including forming and leading 83 Squadron, the first Avro Vulcan-equipped nuclear strike squadron of the RAF. He commanded a wing of Handley Page Victor nuclear bombers, and ended his RAF career as an Air Vice Marshal, and as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Air Support Command of the Royal Air Force. Flight Lieutenant John Joseph “Joe” Atkinson, KCB, DFC joined the RAF from the Oxford University Air Squadron in 1938 and completed his pilot training in England. His first operational posting was in 1940 to 234 Squadron at RAF St Eval, Cornwall, flying Supermarine Spitfires—a very appropriate aircraft for a squadron with the motto “Ignem mortemque despuimus—We Spit Fire and Death.” Later, he moved on to 609 Squadron at RAF Warwell, Dorchester. In 1942, he converted to Typhoons with 609 Squadron at RAF Duxford, and from there to Biggin Hill and Manston, launching fighter operations over France. When his tour of operations ended in 1943 he was awarded the DFC and went on to become a Flying Instructor until the war was over. Released from the RAF in 1945, he went on to have a successful career in the civil service, and was knighted in 1979. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416001994-6N46MXRL1Q7LGEX8I58Z/The-Portraits18.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde’s portraits of two men from opposite sides of the Earth who came to fight in the defence of Great Britain: Canadian Squadron Leader Lionel Manley “Elmer” Gaunce, DFC (left) and New Zealander Flight Lieutenant James Chilton Francis “Spud” Hayter, DFC and Bar, MiD. After Great Britain and Poland, who were in fact fighting for their futures, New Zealand and Canada were the countries that supplied the most pilots during the Battle of Britain. Gaunce came from the wide open Canadian Prairies at Lethbridge, Alberta near the Montana border, but was educated in Edmonton. He started out in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment of the Canadian Army, but soon applied for a short service commission with the Royal Air Force. He was accepted in 1936 and embarked for England and flight training. His first squadron was No. 3 at RAF Kenley. Here he flew the Bristol Bulldog, Gloster Gladiator and then the Hawker Hurricane. Gaunce was appointed a Flight Commander with 615 Churchill’s Own Squadron in France, flying the Gloster Gladiator. As the Germans invaded France, Gaunce and 615 were recalled to England for Hurricane conversion. During the Battle of Britain, he was shot down on 18 August, suffering slight burns. At this time he was awarded a DFC for “excellent coolness and leadership” among other things. He rejoined his squadron in a few days, but was again shot down in flames on 26 August. He was rescued from the sea, but sent to hospital suffering from shock. At the end of October, having recovered, he was given command of 46 Squadron at RAF Stapleford Tawney where he fought a rare Italian force attacking Great Britain, shooting down a Fiat CR20 fighter. He left 46 Squadron in December due to ill health, and upon his return to operational status, took over 41 Squadron at RAF Merston. He continued to fight and increase his score to ace status but was shot down by flak over the sea and killed in November of 1941. He was 25 years old. In Jasper National Park, Alberta, 7,500-foot Mount Gaunce is named in his honour. “Spud” Hayter was born in an entirely different world—in the port town of Timaru, South Island, New Zealand—in 1917. He took private flying lessons at Marlborough, and joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in 1938 on a short service commission. While flying as an “observer” in a Vickers Vildebeest, he crashed on two occasions, but avoided major injury. With war looming, he sailed for England in July 1939, and was posted to 98 Squadron at RAF Hucknall, flying the Fairey Battle. In November, he crashed again after some low flying, but escaped injury for the third time. He was posted to 103 Squadron in France. During the Battle of France he was shot down on 16 June, attempting to land. Shortly thereafter, the squadron and the hapless Battles were withdrawn to England. He volunteered for Fighter Command, joining 605 County of Warwick Squadron (after a brief assignment to 615 Squadron) in September. By the end of the month, he had been shot down again—this time, descending from 25,000 feet by parachute, he landed on the grounds of an estate where a cocktail party was in progress—and was invited forthwith. After 605, he was rested as a flying instructor starting 1 May 1941. However, he was on board during two separate crash landings (by the same student pilot) and he was made operational again (finding no rest in instructing!) He joined 611 Squadron, continuing to increase his score, but crash-landing his damaged Spitfire yet again (his eighth crash). He was awarded his first DFC and was given command of 247 Squadron in North Africa. Following this he instructed Turkish pilots on the Hurricane then joined 74 Squadron in Iran and Egypt, then back to France, leading the “Tigers” against the Germans until the end of 1944. When Cuthbert Orde sketched his portrait in 1941, he said this of Hayter: “... tough, steady and a damn good type. He is one of the chaps who make me grin when I meet them.” He survived the war and eight crashes and died in 2006 in the small farming town of Takaka, New Zealand near the southern shores of Golden Bay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416036550-W2KA76T03PU3P76OZLI9/The-Portraits19.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two men who fled the Nazi invasions of their homelands to fight with the RAF—Adjutant Émile François Marie Léonce Fayolle, DFC and Sergeant Karel Miroslav Kuttelwascher, DFC and Bar—both by Eric Kennington. The Gallic and dramatic Fayolle was born in the middle of the First World War into a family with deep military roots. He joined the French Armée de l’Air in 1938 and was just finishing fighter school in Oran when the Germans invaded. He took an aircraft from his base and fled to Gibraltar, then took a ship to England and joined forces with the RAF. Having converted to Hurricanes, he was posted to a series of units—85, 145, 242, 611 and 340 Squadrons. In July 1942, he took command of 174 Squadron at RAF Warmwell. Shortly after taking command of 174, he was hit by anti-aircraft fire while supporting the Canadians during the Dieppe Raid (Operation JUBILEE). He is buried alongside the 907 Canadians killed that day. Karel Kuttlewascher was born in Svätý Kríž in Czechoslovakia, just two weeks after Fayolle’s birth in 1916. He joined the Czech Air Force in 1934, qualifying as a pilot in early 1937. When the Nazis occupied his homeland, he escaped to Poland and then to the Baltic coast, where he took a ship to France. Being a foreigner, the only French unit he could join was the French Foreign Legion, so he journeyed to Algeria to become a Legionnaire. When France declared war on Germany with Great Britain, he was released and accepted into the Armée de l’Air. During the Battle of France, he claimed to have shot down 6 enemy aircraft. He escaped to Casablanca and from there to England where he joined the RAF and converted to Hurricanes. He joined No.1 Squadron at RAFWittering in October, but he did not claim an enemy aircraft until February 1941. He converted to night intruder Mosquitos with 23 Squadron at RAF Ford in 11 Group. He claimed 18 aircraft shot down by war’s end and was awarded the DFC twice. After the war he spent a year with the new Czech Air Force before joining British European Airways as an airline pilot. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1959 at the age of 43. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416056700-6PW40XHF51BCN30AREH4/The-Portraits22.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Earlier portraits by Cuthbert Orde showed men in flying gear—like Corporal (later Flight Lieutenant) Colin Beresford Graham Knight, DFM, (left) of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Wing Commander (later Group Captain) Horace Stanley “George” Darley, DSO Knight was born in 1912 in the tiny community of Tolaga Bay on New Zealand’s North Island. He was originally in the New Zealand Army, but transferred to the RNZAF in 1937 as a Wireless Operator/Gunner. He flew with 99 Squadron and was awarded his DFM for his effective and diligent radio work under fire during a very difficult operation in December of 1939 in which half of his attacking force of 12 was lost. He later served as Signals Leader, 40 Squadron RNZAF and was also attached to an RAF Transport unit working out of Montréal flying Liberators across the Atlantic. He survived the war, dying in 1998. “George” Darley, born in November of 1913, was Commanding Officer of 609 Squadron in 1940 during the early stages of the Battle of Britain. He joined the RAF in 1932 and began his flying career in relatively little known and ungainly biplanes known as Fairey Gordons, Vickers Vincents and Fairey IIIBs. He flew these aircraft in Yemen and British Somaliland. He fought in the Battle of France and then with 609 Squadron at RAF Northolt in the Battle of Britain. In the three months that he commanded 609, the pilots scored 85 victories with the loss of just 7 of their own aircraft. Darley was awarded the DSO during this period, the first to be awarded for leadership in the Battle of Britain. During his 27-year career with the RAF, he commanded 11 RAF Stations and flew 65 different types. He died at the age of 86. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416094238-897VATH8ISU2H8UWOI2W/The-Portraits27.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out As far as fighter pilot legends of the RAF go, you don’t get much bigger than Group Captain Adolph Gysbert “Sailor” Malan, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar. Both Kennington (left) and Orde completed portraits of Malan, both of which clearly display the man’s strength of character and charismatic good looks. Later in the war, Orde would complete a colour oil painting of Malan as well. Like Orde’s portrait of “Johnnie” Johnson, his rendition of Malan is captioned with a simple name—“Sailor”. Malan was born in South Africa in 1910. At the age of 14, he joined the South African Training Ship General Botha and then went on to a brief career as a merchant naval officer aboard the Lansdowne Castle. It was this foray into the marine world that earned him the nickname “Sailor” amongst his fighter pilot comrades. He joined the RAF in 1935 and completed his flying training by the end of 1936. His first squadron assignment was to 74 Squadron flying Gloster Gauntlets. He was still with 74 Squadron when they re-equipped with the formidable Supermarine Spitfire in February 1939. Malan and 74 Squadron saw action only 15 hours after Britain entered the war against Germany—but it was not the kind they wanted. They were scrambled to intercept what was thought to be incoming enemy aircraft. Instead they ran into the Hurricanes of 56 Squadron and shot two of them down during an incident that has become known as the Battle of Barking Creek. One of the 56 Squadron pilots, Pilot Officer Montague Hulton-Harrop was killed—the first RAF pilot to die in the war. The ensuing court martial pitted Malan against his own pilots. The two 74 Squadron pilots, including future ace John Freeborn, were acquitted, but much bad blood had been spilled in the process. Following the squadron’s covering of the British Army withdrawal at Dunkirk, Malan was awarded a DFC. In August of 1940, at the height of the Battle, Malan was given command of his 74 Squadron Spitfires and, on 11 August, he and his pilots shot down a total of 38 aircraft in four separate battles. Malan is quoted as saying “Thus ended a very successful morning of combat.” Malan would go on to command the Biggin Hill Wing, to be the station commander at Biggin Hill, to command the 19th Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, and finally to command 145 Free French Wing, taking them over the Normandy beaches on D-Day. He finished his fighter pilot career with 27 victories and with the rank of Group Captain. After the war, he resigned his commission and returned to South Africa, joining the Torch Commando, an anti-fascist and anti-apartheid group. He was the first president of the organization, dedicated, in his words, “to oppose the police state, abuse of state power, censorship, racism, the removal of the coloured vote and other oppressive manifestations of the creeping fascism of the National Party regime.” In one 75,000-strong rally in Johannesburg, Malan said “The strength of this gathering is evidence that the men and women who fought in the war for freedom still cherish what they fought for. We are determined not to be denied the fruits of that victory.” Malan died in 1963 at the age of 53 from Parkinson’s disease. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416148809-U4IDFEY9TBITF1HNLIHZ/The-Portraits32.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Peter Frederick Jackson, DFM by Eric Kennington (left). Jackson was born in London and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1937, finishing his pilot training before the onset of the war. He was called up on the first day of the war and assigned to 604 Squadron at Hendon, flying Bristol Blenheim night fighters and then Beaufighters. As he pressed home an attack on a Junkers Ju 88 on the night of 22 December 1939, he was fired on and hit by the rear gunner. Severely injured about his face, he was blinded in one eye and badly cut. Fearing he might lose control, he ordered his gunner/wireless operator to bail out. Somehow he managed to get his aircraft back to RAF Middle Wallop and crash-land it without further injury to himself. He was awarded the DFM for his determination and flying skill. He was made a Pilot Officer in April of 1941 and one month later he was killed along with his two crew members when his Beaufighter slammed into high ground in cloud after an air-sea firing exercise. After his death, his 604 Squadron Commanding Officer wrote in his memorial card: “I have only been in command of the Squadron for three months but during that time I saw how loved Peter was by both Officers and all Ranks of the Squadron. For my part I felt I had an Officer and a Pilot in whom I could place implicit trust. At all times Peter went at any job that he was given with quiet and thorough efficiency. He is a man that we can ill afford to lose and one whom we all deeply miss.” Flight Lieutenant (later Wing Commander) John Connell Freeborn, DFC and Bar (right, by Cuthbert Orde) was born in Middleton near the city of Leeds in December of 1919. He joined the RAF in 1938 at the age of 18. Following his training, he joined 74 “Tiger” Squadron at RAF Hornchurch in October of 1938. Within days of the declaration of war, flying Spitfires, Freeborn and other members of his squadron engaged what they thought was an enemy force. Sadly, it was a Hurricane Squadron and Freeborn and another pilot of 74 Squadron shot down the first two British airplanes of the Second World War. The ensuing court martial absolved Freeborn and his mate, but caused deep wounds within the squadron when their Flight Leader, “Sailor” Malan testified against them (see Battle of Barking Creek—in previous Malan caption). Despite the outcome, Freeborn continued with 74 Squadron as did Malan, and when Malan became the squadron commander he often let Freeborn lead, such was his respect for his fighting skill. Freeborn became an ace in the Battle of Britain, and was awarded a DFC in August at the height of the Battle. Throughout the rest of 1940 and into 1941, he increased his score and led the squadron on occasion. In February of 1941, he was awarded a second DFC and then went on to an instructor’s course. This was followed by an appointment as an RAF liaison officer with the RAF’s training program in the United States—specifically in Alabama and Florida. It was here that he test flew the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt. In December of 1942, he returned to England to take command at RAF Harrowbeer and then Bolt Head. In February 1943, he was added to the already full strength of 602 City of Glasgow Squadron, leading the squadron escorting bombers. Later that year, he took command of 118 Squadron at RAF Coltishall and led them for six months. He returned to an Operational Training role, and then took command of 286 Wing in Italy. After the war, he remained connected to the RAF until 1954, and then went into the business world. He died in 2010. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416220295-5W5HSR8UP5DKHPVWB9NG/The-Portraits57.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Adrian Hope Boyd, DSO, DFC and Bar and Flying Officer Frank H. Ziegler Adrian Boyd was born in India in 1913 and when he came of age at 13, he joined the Senior Service (the Royal Navy) as a cadet. After schooling, he served in the Navy as an acting Sub-Lieutenant for a year before leaving to join the Royal Air Force in 1936. After flight school, he was posted to 65 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch, flying the Gloster Gladiator. In 1939, he transferred to 145 Squadron a month after the beginning of the war and began leading one of its flights. In one 10-day period in May during the Battle of France, he shot down six enemy aircraft along with probably two more and was himself shot down. For this fierce period of flying activity he was awarded the DFC. By the beginning of August during the Battle of Britain, he had shot down a number more—including one stunning day of air fighting on the 8th when he shot down two Bf 109s, two Bf 110s and Ju 87 Stuka (and damaged another)—in one day! Throughout the Battle, he continued to mount victories, receiving another DFC. In December, he was rested as an OTU instructor, and was then sent to command 501 Squadron at RAF Ibsley in June of 1941. He was made wing leader in charge of the wing at RAF Middle Wallop and by year end, had been awarded a DSO. He retired from the RAF in 1947 and died in 1975. Ziegler was the 609 Squadron Intelligence Officer, the man each pilot would report to after a mission. In 1971, he wrote a book about 609 Squadron’s history in the Second World War entitled The Story of 609 Squadron: Under the White Rose. In searching for information about Ziegler, I found an interesting notation in the squadron diary: “Captain Orde, one of 609’s 2 honorary members (if the Hon. Air Commodore, the Earl of Hareward, be excepted) arrives on the instructions of Air Commodore Peake (who shows an unflagging and beneficent interest in the squadron) to embark on a new set of squadron portraits. In the course of the week the following members are depicted: S/L Beamont (in oils), F/Lts Atkinson and Wells, F/Os Evans, Lallemand, Raw and Ziegler.” I had wondered why Orde had painted and sketched so many 609 Squadron portraits—he was an honorary member of the squadron! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416266517-J0YHFKAYU51P3F8G5YL5/The-Portraits58.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Sergeant (later Pilot Officer) Ralph Wolton (left) and Flying Officer Charles Detal, DFC, both by Cuthbert Orde Ralf Wolton was born in 1914 and joined the RAF in 1932 at age 18, taking instruction as an aircraft fitter, torpedo technician and wireless operator. He was posted as a wireless operator with 58 Squadron and then to 142 Squadron where he was deployed to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to help with the crisis brought on by the Italian aggression there. From there, he was moved to 45 Squadron in Egypt. He volunteered for pilot training, was accepted and completed his training by the beginning of the war. His first pilot posting was 152 Hyderabad Squadron, just then forming at RAF Acklington. During the Battle of Britain, he was shot down in August, but was able to bail out of his Spitfire and swim to a rescue buoy. In September after having shot down his second aircraft, the wing of his Spitfire broke off and he was thrown from his cockpit at 15,000 feet. He managed to get his parachute opened only at 1,000 feet, but landed safely. In December, he went to an instructing course and then on to instruct at RAF Newton. He was commissioned in March 1941 and continued instructing, but now at a night fighter OTU. He was briefly attached to both 153 and 96 Squadrons and then on to train American pilots converting to Bristol Beaufighters. He ended the war flying Mosquitos with 239 Squadron. He remained briefly with the RAF after the war, retiring as a Flight Lieutenant in 1948. He died in 1993. Charles Detal was born in Profondeville, Belgium in 1914. At the age of 20, he joined the Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Air Force) and was made a Sergeant pilot in 1935, joining the 2nd Régiment d’Aéronautique. He flew against the Germans during the Battle of France, but flying the hopelessly outclassed Fairey Fox biplane, he and his mates were shot from the sky. Seriously injured, he was hospitalized in Maastricht for a lengthy period. When he was strong enough, he fled the country (along with his wife) through Switzerland, Spain and then to England where he joined the RAF. Following retraining and conversion to the Hawker Typhoon, he went to 609 Squadron, as did many Belgian nationals. During a rocket firing exercise on 23 March 1944, his aircraft crashed and he was killed. The citation accompanying his DFC read: “Flying Officer DETAL has served with his present squadron since March 1943, and has consistently displayed skill, courage and keenness which has greatly inspired his fellow pilots. F/O DETAL has destroyed at least five enemy aircraft and inflicted very severe damage to the enemy.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416295986-45I0EMPM1ZGSFWP9QROW/The-Portraits59.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Wing Commander Michael Nicholson “Red Knight” Crossley, OBE, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) by Eric Kennington and Squadron Leader Archibald Ashmore McKellar, DSO, DFC and Bar, MiD by Orde Michael Crossley was born in 1912 in Halford, Warwickshire and educated at Eton College and the College of Aeronautical Engineering in Chelsea. He joined the RAF in 1936 and, following his flight training, joined 32 Squadron flying Gloster Gauntlets. He was promoted to Flying Officer in 1938 and in October of that year transitioned to the Hawker Hurricane. At the outset of the war, Crossley was an acting Flight Lieutenant and a Flight Commander with 32 Squadron. During the Battle of France, Crossley showed his gifts as a fighter pilot, shooting down six enemy aircraft including four Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. He was awarded a DFC for his outstanding work in France and during the Battle of Britain, he was given command of 32 Squadron and continued to increase his score (which totalled 21 victories by April 1941). In August of 1940, he was awarded another DFC. The citation accompanying his award reads in part: “This officer has led his section, flight and squadron with skill and courage and has flown almost continuously since the commencement of hostilities... He has displayed rare qualities as a leader; his example of courage and tenacity of purpose have proved an inspiration to other members of his squadron.” Unlike many pilots who were moved to various squadrons for short periods, Crossley remained with 32 squadron from 1936 until April 1941. He was then sent to America as a test pilot to look at new types. He returned to England in 1943 as a Wing Commander and became the wing leader at RAF Detling. Sometime after that he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and his flying career ended. After the war, Crossley moved to South Africa to farm and died there in 1987. “Archie” McKellar was one of the most beloved, meteoric and accomplished fighter pilots and leaders of the Battle of Britain. With 21 victories in just a few short months, he is often thought of as the “forgotten ace”. McKellar was born in Paisley, Scotland near Glasgow in 1912 and, after his education, worked in a stockbroker’s office, but he longed to work with his father as a plasterer. While he worked for his father, he took private flying lessons without telling him and joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with 602 City of Glasgow Squadron—Glasgow’s Own. He was commissioned in November of 1936. By the time he was called to service in 1939 prior to the outbreak of the war, he was a Flying Officer. In October of 1939, McKellar shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 bomber. This particular bomber was the first enemy aircraft to fall on British soil during the Second World War... there would be many to follow. In June 1940, as the Battle of Britain was set to begin, he was transferred to 605 Squadron at RAF Drem, where he took on flight commander duties. His actions in the early part of the Battle earned him a DFC. Throughout July he led the squadron into battle, as the actual commander, Walter Churchill, had health issues. Soon McKellar was given command of 605 Squadron and he continued to lead them successfully against the Germans in the Battle, increasing his own score nearly every mission. In October, he was awarded a Bar to his DFC and was selected for a portrait by Orde. He was killed in action on 1 November 1940 in an action over Faversham. The details of this last flight were not witnessed, but sometime later he was seen circling the town of Adisham, seeming to be looking for a place to land. Not long after, low to the ground, his Hurricane suddenly flipped onto its back and crashed into a wooded area. McKellar’s funeral was a large affair in Glasgow with more than 100 wreaths being laid, and he was posthumously awarded the DSO and also Mentioned in Despatches. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416386824-TCUKTCX6XXFT42CM6FKE/The-Portraits62.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Alan P. Rabbidge (left) was one of the few 609 Squadron ground crew portrayed by Cuthbert Orde. I was able to determine that he joined the Squadron in 1936. He was one of the original “A” Flight riggers. It was common for the Royal Air Force to select the subjects of each of Orde’s portraits, and they almost always chose flight crew, especially pilots with awards, ranks and victories. Likely Orde, as an honorary member of 609, took it upon himself to draw some of the senior NCOs within the ground crews. Flight Lieutenant Edgar Norman Ryder, CBE, DFC and Bar, MiD, like Adrian Boyd, was born in India—in 1914. He “returned” to England at the age of 10. At seventeen, he joined the British Army, serving with the Royal Fusiliers for three years before being accepted in the RAF with a short service commission. Following a year of flight training, he joined 41 Squadron at RAF Catterick flying the Hawker Demon, Hawker Fury and then Supermarine Spitfire. In April 1940, flying a Spitfire, he shot down a Heinkel He 111 over the sea. The crew was rescued but he himself lost power and ditched in the sea as well. His aircraft sank immediately and he only just managed to get out of the cockpit, deep beneath the surface. He was awarded a DFC. During the Battle of Britain, his score grew to over five victories, but at the end of September he was shot down, bailing out unhurt over England. He rejoined the Battle and continued to increase his score. In January of 1941, he took command of 56 Squadron at RAF North Weald and the following June was leading the Kenley Wing. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC in July. In October, Ryder was shot down again (by anti-aircraft fire) and was captured. He made an escape from prison, but was recaptured in Poland in 1943. Because of his escape attempts, he was Mentioned in Despatches and after the war, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He retired from the RAF a Group Captain in 1960 and died in 1995. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416412145-HQQNXL1805CMBACFP9UQ/The-Portraits75.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flying Officer (later Group Captain) Peter Gerald Hugh Matthews, DFC and Flying Officer (later Wing Commander) Roland Prosper “Bee” Beamont, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, MiD—both portraits by Orde There is little about Peter Matthews that I could find on the internet. He is mentioned in the Battle of Britain London Monument website, but there is no biography or content relating to his service. Some posts elsewhere indicate that his flying career included time with 1 Squadron, 73 Squadron (as commander), 74 Squadron (as commander), 145 Squadron (as commander) and 111 Squadron. Matthews, flying Hurricanes with 1 Squadron, joined the Advanced Striking Force in France at the outset of the war. He was with 74 Squadron as commander from 7 February to 10 July 1942, while the unit was in the Middle East. During much of his time with 74 Squadron, the unit was short of Spitfire aircraft when their replacement aircraft went down with a torpedoed cargo ship. He suggested that the pilots of 74 Squadron should be seconded to 73 Squadron until aircraft could arrive. He went on to command 73 Squadron. Bee Beamont was born in London, England in 1920, but was raised in Chichester. Flying for the RAF was a lifelong ambition and he took private flying lessons to better his chances with the RAF. In 1939, at the age of 18, he was granted a short service commission and completed flying training in time to join 87 Squadron on Hurricanes as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France. While air fighting in France, he scored three victories against enemy aircraft before his unit was withdrawn. During the Battle of Britain he had three more confirmed victories. He was later involved in the testing of all-matte black Hurricanes on night intruder and operations. In June 1941, he was both decorated and court-martialled—a DFC for his combat and test flying and a severe reprimand for transporting a young woman in his Hurricane to a dance at another station. At the end of 1941, he became a production and experimental test pilot attached to Hawker Aircraft Limited, test flying the Typhoon. Then in July of 1942 he was with 609 Squadron, flying Typhoons. From October to May of 1943, he was the commanding officer of 609 Squadron, helping with early teething problems with the challenging ground attack aircraft. During this period he was awarded a Bar to his DFC and a DSO. The citation accompanying his second DFC reads: “This officer is an exceptionally skilful and courageous leader. Recently, during a period of 5 weeks his squadron has damaged 22 locomotives and rolling stock and destroyed at least 4 Focke Wulfe 190’s; 12 of the locomotives were damaged by Squadron Leader Beamont. By his fine fighting qualities and great ability, this officer has contributed in a large measure to the success of the squadron he commands.” Following his time with 609, he returned to Hawker, flying the new Tempest fighter-bomber. After this, he returned to operational flying, this time commanding 150 Squadron, the new all-Tempest wing of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. He continued to increase his score, and when the unit was reassigned to shoot down V-1 “doodlebugs”, he himself accounted for 32 (according to Wikipedia). In October of 1944, he was shot down by flak during an attack on a troop train. He was a POW for the rest of the war. His career after the war was largely as a test pilot, flying such notable types as the English Electric Canberra and Lightning, and for British Aircraft Corporation, the TSR-2—a beautiful all-white aircraft which suffered a fate similar to that of the Avro Arrow. Beamont died in 2001 at the age of 81. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416470811-2AVMTS450XJ74CLYQX60/The-Portraits64.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Squadron Leader (later Air Commodore) Harold Arthur “Jim” Fenton and Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) John Christopher “Johnny” Wells, DFC and Bar—both by Orde Fenton was born in Argentina in 1909 and grew up in Ireland, being educated at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1928, he was accepted as a pilot trainee with the Royal Air Force. By 1929, he was flying with No. 4 Squadron at RAF Farnborough. In 1930, he travelled to India to join No. 5 Army Cooperation Squadron on the frontier. Not long after he was back in England as a target-towing staff pilot at a Bombing and Gunnery School. Not particularly happy with this situation, he left the RAF and took a job as a chief flying instructor at a civilian organization called Air Service Training. In February of 1940, he was recalled by the RAF and sent to instruct at RAF Montrose. As the Battle of Britain began, it was clear that pilots with his experience would be sorely needed and he was given command of 238 Squadron, which he led throughout the Battle. During the fighting, he was once forced to ditch in the Channel after chasing a German seaplane at wave top level and being hit by return fire. Following a brief respite, he returned to his squadron, which at this time was barely on fumes with only five serviceable Hurricanes. Back in charge, Fenton quickly rectified the situation and 8 factory-fresh Hurricanes soon appeared. In fact, one of the hallmarks of Fenton’s leadership was his ability to scrounge, acquire, trade and generally make things happen. In May 1941, Fenton and his 238 boys were sent to the Middle East. Fenton, the squadron pilots and the Hurricanes were loaded onto HMS Victorious at Scapa Flow. Then Victorious was ordered into the hunt for Bismarck and the RAF lads had to sit back and watch the goings on from the carrier and when the German battleship was despatched, they continued on their journey to Egypt via Gibraltar. They flew off Victorious near the Mediterranean island of Majorca, refuelled at Malta and finally arrived in Egypt. “Jim” Fenton and his squadron were highly successful in the Western Desert and he soon was promoted to lead 243 Wing, the wing his squadron was part of. In July of 1942, Fenton was a Group Captain in charge of 212 Group and its 12 Hurricane squadrons. In 1943, Group Captain Fenton returned to England and was made commander of the Kenley fighter sector. Throughout the remainder of the war, he rose to one high-level staff position after another. He retired from the RAF as an Air Commodore at the end of the war and became an executive, first with Deccan Airways then British Overseas Airways Corporation. He died in 1995. “Johnny” Wells was born in the town of Sheringham, Norfolk in 1912, the son of a fisherman. At the age of 15, Wells applied for an apprenticeship with the Royal Air Force, training as a ground crew technician—the beginning of an air force career that would span four decades. Later, Wells would train as an air gunner and then qualify as a pilot in 1934. He was posted to the Middle East, flying operationally in Egypt and Palestine until the outbreak of war when he returned to Great Britain to become a flying instructor. In early 1942, his repeated requests for an operational combat assignment were heard and he joined 609 Squadron, one of the first units to fly the new Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber and ground attack aircraft. Along with “Bee” Beamont, he helped to turn the Typhoon into a powerful weapon at a time when it was threatened with removal from service. In his first months with the squadron he earned a DFC. He left the squadron for a time, but returned as the squadron commander at the end of 1943 and led it until a month after D-Day. Following this he took command of another Typhoon unit—198 Squadron. After the war, as a Group Captain, he was posted to a series of staff assignments in Libya, Germany, France and Iraq. In 2011, author and historian Peter Cornwell wrote a book about Wells’ career and legacy entitled: To Scale the Skies – The Story of Group Captain J.C. “Johnny” Wells, DFC and Bar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416539442-CJJV51WNOOJ0ECBFSANO/The-Portraits65.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Walter Myles Churchill, DSO, DFC by Cuthbert Orde (left) and by Eric Kennington (right). The aristocratic looking Churchill was born in Amsterdam in 1907. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1932. After flight training, he joined 605 County of Warwick Squadron, flying the Westland Wapiti general purpose biplane, then later the Hawker Hart. He was transferred to the Auxiliary Air Force Officers’ Reserve, but was recalled to full-time service as a Gladiator pilot with 605 as the war was looking imminent. In November of 1939, he was transferred to 3 Squadron at RAF Croydon and made a flight commander. In May 1940, he found himself in France and in command of the squadron. He shot down a number of enemy aircraft in May before the squadron was withdrawn to England. For his leadership and his flying skills, Churchill was awarded both the DSO and the DFC, gazetted at the end of May. He then returned to his 605 Squadron as its commander at RAF Drem. He must have been a very competent leader, for he was shortly asked to form 71 Squadron, then being reformed, and take command of it at RAF Church Fenton. In January of 1940, he lost his flying status and his command due to chronic sinusitis. By July 1942, he was once again fit for flying combat and was sent to Malta to command the station at RAF Takali. To get there, he flew a Spitfire off HMS Furious. Less than a week after taking command, his Spitfire was hit by flak while on a fighter sweep over Sicily and he was killed when it crashed in flames. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416567224-C6VIXKGE0XOI0LNE0I5J/The-Portraits28.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out One of the finest of the 145 Polish fighter pilots of the Battle of Britain, Flying Officer Marian Pisarek, DFC was portrayed by both Orde (left) and Kennington. Pisarek was born in a small town near Warsaw in 1912. At the age of 20, he joined the Polish Army, spending two years with the infantry. He volunteered for the Polish Air Force in 1934, joining the 6th Aviation Regiment at Lviv, following a year of flying training. When the Nazis attacked his country, he was with 141 Fighter Squadron, flying the obsolete high wing PZL P-11. Despite having an inferior airplane, he managed to shoot down two enemy aircraft. As Poland was overrun, he escaped to Romania and then to France where he helped train Polish airmen. As the Nazis rolled through France, he escaped again by commandeering a twin-engine transport and flying to Oran. From there he made his way to the UK via Casablanca and Gibraltar, arriving at the end of June. He joined 303 Polish Squadron under Canadian “Johnny” Kent. On the day of his first Battle of Britain victory (7 September), he himself was shot down, bailing out unhurt. Sadly, his crashing Hurricane smashed into a garden in Loughton, Essex, killing three Air Raid Precaution (ARP) wardens in an air raid shelter. In January of 1941, he moved to 315 Squadron, another Polish unit in the RAF. He was awarded at this time the first of his four Krzyż Walecznich (Polish Cross of Valour). In March, he was posted to a third Polish squadron (308) as a flight commander. By October, he had been awarded three more Polish Crosses of Valour and a DFC. On 17 April 1942, Pisarek was made Wing Leader of the Northolt Polish Wing; two weeks later he was shot down over France. His body was never recovered. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416598597-CL5U1GIBQK86GTX4C4QX/The-Portraits29.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Second Lieutenant (later Colonel) Jean É. François “Moses” Demozay, DSO, DFC and Bar was one of the few pilots of the Battle of Britain painted by both Orde (left, in 1941) and Kennington (right). Born in Nantes in 1915, he joined the Armée de l’Air in 1936, but left due to medical problems. He went to work as a commercial pilot until 1939, when he assisted the RAF in France as an interpreter and liaison officer with No. 1 Squadron. Along with ground crew, he was left behind when pilots withdrew their Hurricanes to England in advance of the German occupation. Though not a pilot with the RAF at the time, he commandeered a Bristol Bombay troop transport that was left behind with a minor technical problem, got it fixed and flew himself and 15 RAF ground crew back to England. He reported to the Free French Headquarters where he asked to be able to stay with the RAF. He converted to Hurricanes in time for a brief participation in the Battle of Britain with 1 Squadron. He fought tenaciously throughout the war with 1 Squadron, 242 Canadian Squadron and 91 Squadron. He was credited with 21 victories in over 400 combat missions. In addition to his DSO and DFC he received many decorations from other air forces. He died in December 1945 in an aircraft accident. His portrait by Orde carries not his real name, but rather his “nom de guerre”—Moses Morlaix—used to protect his family in France from retaliation and retribution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416630481-JD5024I94C0J3JCHS0L2/The-Portraits30.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two colour portraits by Eric Kennington. Big-jawed Pilot Officer Michael James Herrick, DFC and Bar (left) was born in 1921 in Hastings, New Zealand in the Hawke’s Bay area. While in high school, he learned to fly at a local civilian flying club and then applied for and was accepted at RAF College, Cranwell in England. He was just beginning his studies when war broke out and he was fast-tracked to fly night fighters, joining 25 Squadron flying the Bristol Blenheim. He was 18 years old. By September of 1940, he had three victories and a DFC and was the first successful night fighter pilot of the war. By the summer of 1941 he had become a night fighter ace. In October of that year, he was posted back to New Zealand where he was an instructor for a while before being posted to the newly formed 15 Squadron, RNZAF. He went with them to Tonga, where they took over the P-40 fighters of the United States Army Air Force. He took command of 15 Squadron on Guadalcanal and shot down the first enemy aircraft by a RNZAF fighter in the Second World War. He became a double ace at Guadalcanal and then shepherded 300 Kiwi aircrew trainees as they sailed for Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. He left the young lads in Edmonton and then travelled across Canada and on to the United Kingdom where he joined 302 Polish Squadron as a Flight Commander on Mosquitos, flying on night operations. In May of 1944, the squadron began Day Ranger operations and on the first of the unit’s such operations, Herrick’s Mosquito was shot down near Jutland. Herrick was killed, and after five years of operational flying, he was still only 23 years old. Michael was one of five brothers who fought in the second world war—himself and two others being killed—Brian, lost in the Battle of Britain flying 272 Squadron Blenheims and Dennis, flying Hurricanes with 53 Squadron—shot down off the coast of France in June 1941. Kennington’s portrait of Flight Lieutenant George Gordon “Kewp” Hyde shows a man who looks to me to be remarkably similar to Herrick. Hyde, the son of a prominent Québec Liberal politician, was born in Montréal in 1914 and educated at Westmount High School and Trinity College. He joined the RCAF in 1938, and following flight training, was posted to No. 1 Squadron RCAF—later this unit would be renamed in the 400-series RCAF numbers as 401 Squadron. Along with the members of 1 Squadron, he made the transatlantic crossing and joined other squadrons of the RAF in June 1940 as the only RCAF squadron yet deployed in the war. At the end of August, he was shot down by Luftwaffe fighters over Staplehurst, England. He managed to parachute to safety, but was injured and burned. After his recovery, he was transferred to the newly arrived No. 112 Squadron, RCAF (soon to become No. 2 and then finally 402 Squadron) at RAF Digby. No. 112 had arrived with Lysanders, but since they were at a distinct disadvantage in aerial battle, they were relegated to coastal duties until December of 1940 when the unit converted to Hurricanes and started calling themselves No. 2 Squadron RCAF. It is thought that Hyde joined No. 2 at the time of this conversion. On 17 May 1941, Hyde took part in a flying display at the small town of Metheringham. The digital archive for RAF Digby remembers the event: “402 Squadron (sic) Flight Lieutenant George Hyde gave an outstanding and long remembered display of aerobatics over Metheringham.” Following the display, which was part of Metheringham’s War Weapons Week, Hyde crashed and was killed on his way home to Digby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416663453-A2NV1BNEQ7TQCC9NA76L/The-Portraits31.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant John “Cat’s Eyes” Cunningham, OBE, DSO and 2 Bars, DFC and Bar, by Cuthbert Orde (left, in 1940 during the Battle of Britain) and Eric Kennington (right, in 1941 as an ace). Cunningham was one of the most decorated pilots involved with the Battle of Britain. He was born in 1917 and at the age of 18 became an apprentice at the de Havilland Aircraft Factory at Stag Lane. At the same time, he joined 604 Auxiliary Squadron and learned to fly. Geoffrey de Havilland asked him to test light (sports and utility) aircraft, and in short order, he was assistant test pilot for de Havilland. Cunningham was called up as the war looked imminent and became a flight commander at 604, flying Blenheim and Beaufighter night fighters and scoring multiple victories with both. His score was 13 by mid-April of 1941. By war’s end, his score was 20, with 19 of his victories coming at night. It was said he fed himself a steady diet of carrots to help him see better at night, eventually earning the nickname “Cat’s Eyes” for his extraordinary vision at night. In fact, his aircraft was equipped with an airborne radar system. In August 1941, he took command of 604 Squadron, and honed the art of night fighter operations. In 1944, he was selected as Group Captain, Night Operations, 11 Group at RAF Uxbridge. After the war, he continued leading 604 Squadron in the RAFVR, and following the death of Geoffrey de Havilland Jr., became chief test pilot at de Havilland. His major project was the development of the de Havilland Comet. After the early tragic in-flight breakups of the Comet, he played a pivotal role in getting the Comet program back on track. In December 1955, he took the new Comet III on a world tour, during which President Eisenhower presented him with the Harmon Trophy for his major contribution to jet transportation. While piloting a Hawker-Siddeley HS125, both engines quit following bird strikes. The resulting crash killed four people in a car. He suffered a broken back, but returned to flying. He retired in 1980 and died in 2002. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416695192-RXQ9WSMZ0J7P8CKEXCI9/The-Portraits34.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Kennington’s dramatic portrait of Pilot Officer (later Squadron Leader) Robert Chippindall Dafforn, DFC. On the right is Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Gerald Richmond “Gerry” Edge, OBE, DFC by Cuthbert Orde (one of two portraits of Edge sketched by Orde). Dafforn was born in Windsor, England and was educated at the prestigious Harrow School and for a time worked in the Bank of England. Looking for something more adventurous, he attempted to join the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1936. RAF doctors rejected him because he was six foot six inches tall and very thin. Not to be deterred, he went through a physical training regimen and re-applied in 1937 and was accepted. He began flying training in October of that year. He was posted to 501 Squadron at RAF Filtonat the start of the war and began training on the Hawker Hurricane. He went with his squadron to France in April 1940 and acquitted himself well, shooting down three enemy aircraft in May and other probables. During the Battle of Britain, he shot down another three aircraft. He himself was shot down in mid-August, bailing out unhurt over RAF Biggin Hill. He continued to harry the Germans, but was attacked in December of 1940 and, wounded, was forced to crash-land. By the next year, he was a flight leader. In October 1941, he was transferred to instructing at an OTU—the last of the original 501 Squadron pilots. The following January, he was posted to the Middle East, ferrying his Hurricane to Cairo. He assumed he would be fighting the Germans in the Western Desert, but found himself at 229 Squadron on Malta at the very height of that massive aerial battle. Shortly after his arrival, he took command of the decimated squadron. On his second op with the squadron, he was shot down and crash-landed at Hal-Far. Though he was not seriously wounded, it took him more than three months to recover with fever and infection. In August 1942, he left for Hendon to fully recover. He went on to instruct as a Chief Flying Instructor at Sutton Bridge. While flying a Spitfire and returning to base after an air-firing exercise, his aircraft caught a wingtip at low level. He was killed instantly. Edge was born in 1913 in Staffordshire and educated at Oundle School. He began his working career in the family metal business. He joined the RAF, earning a commission in 1936 and eventually was posted to 605 County of Warwick Squadron. For a couple more years, the squadron flew the Gloster Gladiator and the Hawker Hind but, with the war only weeks away, they transitioned to the Hawker Hurricane. Deployed to France along with 605, Edge racked up an impressive 10 victories (double ace) in the Battle of France. By the time of Dunkirk, however, attrition had decimated the squadron with only Edge and one other remaining from the original group sent to France. During the Battle of Britain, Edge was given command of 253 Squadron, a unit that was suffering from incredible recent losses—three commanders and 11 pilots in three days. Despite the damage to the unit’s morale and experience, Edge kept them in the Battle and turned them into an effective and tenacious group, employing an aggressive frontal attack tactic. Of his frontal attack idea, Edge once said: “They didn’t like that head-on attack, you know, but you had to judge the break-away point just right. If you left it to the last 100 yards then you were in trouble, due to the fast closing speeds, but once you got the hang of it, a head-on attack was a piece of cake. When you opened fire, you’d kill or badly wound the pilot and second pilot. Then you’d rake the whole line as you broke away. On one attack, the first He 111 I hit crashed into the next.” (from The Final Few, by Dilip Sarkar). Edge was shot down over the English Channel and he bailed out at 23,000 feet with serious burns. It was a while before he recovered and returned over a year later to command his old squadron—No. 605. In September of 1942, he was posted to Aden, Yemen to lead an OTU. Later he was invalided back to the UK where he acted as Air Operations Controller for 84 Group. Following the war, he went to Kenya to farm. He died in 2000 at the age of 84. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416777362-2YKN6XCD4IDHZ2TR47UP/The-Portraits35.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Robert Finlay Boyd, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) and Pilot Officer Arthur Charles Cochrane, DFC—both by Cuthbert Orde Boyd, a Scotsman from East Kilbride, joined the Glaswegian 602 Auxiliary Squadron of the Royal Air Force. He was called to military service at the very outset of the war. His score mounted during the Battle of Britain and his two DFCs came one month after the other in September and October of 1940. After the Battle of Britain, Boyd was rested at 58 Operational Training Unit at RAF Grangemouth, training day fighter pilots until December of 1941. He then was assigned to lead the Spitfire wing at RAF Kenley. He survived the war as a triple ace and was released from the RAF in 1945. Postwar he was a commercial pilot with Scottish Aviation for a short term, then tried pig farming and herring fishing. He moved to Skye and became an inn keeper. He died in 1975, at the age of 61. Arthur Cochrane was born in 1919 in the mountain town of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. He received a short service commission in 1939 and joined 263 Squadron in April of 1940. At this time, 263 Squadron was flying Gloster Gladiators against the Germans in Norway. The squadron suffered terrible losses in that campaign, and with its records lost, it is hard to determine if Cochrane had, for certain, participated. However, by 23 May, he was posted to 257 Squadron which was reforming on Spitfires at RAF Hendon. Operational in June, the unit moved to RAF Northolt and began fighter operations against the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. Cochrane was seriously injured in a car crash, spending considerable time in hospital and it wasn’t until August of 1942 that he returned to operational flying, this time with 87 Squadron, a Hurricane unit at RAF Charmey Down. He then went to North Africa with 87 Squadron and was awarded the DFC in March of 1943. He failed to return from a fighter patrol near Tunis on 31 March 1943. He was 24 years old. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416831187-WEQ7JZED4ZD3AOAJHFWN/The-Portraits13.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two colour works by Kennington—Staff Sergeant Malcolm Frederick Strathdee (left) and Sergeant J.M. Harrison (right) Though not a member of the Royal Air Force, Strathdee was indeed a pilot—a glider pilot of the Army Air Corps. The painting appeared in The Face of Courage: Eric Kennington, Portraiture and the Second World War, by Jonathan Black. Croydon-born Strathdee joined the Royal Armoured Corps at the outbreak of the war, but soon transferred to the First Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment. He took part in the failed Operation FRESHMAN, the attempt to land special operatives in Norway in 1942 to sabotage the German development of an atomic bomb at the Vermock heavy water plant. The two Horsa glider pilots (Strathdee and Sergeant Peter Doig) were killed when both the Halifax tow aircraft and their gliders suffered severe icing and crash-landed in Norway. The survivors of the crash were executed by the Gestapo. Sergeant J.M. Harrison was painted by Eric Kennington at RAF Ludham in 1941. Harrison was a member of 82 Squadron, a Bristol Blenheim unit at RAF Bodney. Harrison’s portrait is one of three executed by Kennington on a day when the squadron had just returned from sinking shipping along the Dutch coast. The others sketched in pastel that day were Sergeants R.G. Arding and H.D. Parker. In Jonathan Black’s book about Kennington’s portraiture during the war years entitled “The Face of Courage”, he quotes Kennington as saying that these three men were “... entirely easy and calm, absolute masters of themselves... Harrison very precise and sensitive,...” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416876649-68QWH6B9NMUQIHGX5JSN/The-Portraits37.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two Kennington portraits of sergeant airmen in the RAF: Sergeant H.D. Parker (left) and Sergeant John Hannah, VC (right) The portrait of Parker was one of three portraits he did of Sergeant pilots immediately after Parker (Harrison in the previous image was another) and his mates had returned from a daylight bombing attack in May of 1941 on coastal shipping off the Dutch and French coasts. The pastel is now in the collection of the Tate Museum in London. I could find little else about Parker. John Hannah was born in 1921 in Paisley, Scotland and was educated in Glasgow, joining the RAF in 1939. He trained as a wireless operator, air gunner and joined 83 Squadron on Handley Page Hampden medium bombers. At 18, he was the youngest person to win the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. The citation accompanying his Victoria Cross explains everything: “On the night of 15th September, 1940, Sergeant Hannah was the wireless operator/air gunner in an aircraft engaged in a successful attack on an enemy barge concentration at Antwerp. It was then subjected to intense anti-aircraft fire and received a direct hit from a projectile of an explosive and incendiary nature, which apparently burst inside the bomb compartment. A fire started which quickly enveloped the wireless operators and rear gunners cockpits, and as both the port and starboard petrol tanks had been pierced, there was grave risk of the fire spreading. Sergeant Hannah forced his way through to obtain two extinguishers and discovered that the rear gunner had had to leave the aircraft. He could have acted likewise, through the bottom escape hatch or forward through the navigators hatch, but remained and fought the fire for ten minutes with the extinguishers, beating the flames with his log book when these were empty. During this time thousands of rounds of ammunition exploded in all directions and he was almost blinded by the intense heat and fumes, but had the presence of mind to obtain relief by turning on his oxygen supply. Air admitted through the large holes caused by the projectile made the bomb compartment an inferno and all the aluminium sheet metal on the floor of this airman’s cockpit was melted away, leaving only the cross bearers. Working under these conditions, which caused burns to his face and eyes, Sergeant Hannah succeeded in extinguishing the fire. He then crawled forward, ascertained that the navigator had left the aircraft, and passed the latter’s log and maps to the pilot. This airman displayed courage, coolness and devotion to duty of the highest order and by his action in remaining and successfully extinguishing the fire under conditions of the greatest danger and difficulty, enabled the pilot to bring the aircraft to its base.” Sadly, he contracted tuberculosis a year later, likely brought on by his weakened condition having suffered severe burns. He was discharged from the RAF on full disability pension, but this was not enough to sustain him. Unable to keep a full-time job due to his health, he took up taxi driving during the war. He was increasingly unable to support his family and he fell in to even poorer health, spending the last four months of his short life in a sanatorium bed. He died in 1947 at age 25. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416943118-0MVYW8JVEKOREVQOVO3A/The-Portraits52.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two portraits by Kennington in 1942 portraying men who led Norwegian fighter pilots into battle in the Second World War—Flight Lieutenant (later Air Vice Marshal) Francis David Stephen Scott-Malden, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) and Captain Wilhelm Mohr (later Lieutenant General) Wilhelm Mohr Scott-Malden was born in 1919 in Sussex, the son of a prep school master and a student at Kings College, Cambridge where he studied Greek literature and the classics. Like many men of that generation who attended England’s most prestigious universities, he joined the University Air Squadron. He was selected for fighter training after attending a course on Army Cooperation. In June of 1940, he joined 611 Squadron at RAF Digby, flying the Supermarine Spitfire. He then went to 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron as a flight leader. Though an ace and a highly capable fighter pilot, he was best known for his superb leadership abilities. After commanding 54 Squadron for two months in late 1941, he was given the task of preparing two new all-Norwegian squadrons (331 and 332) for inclusion in a new Norwegian wing for which he was selected as Wing Commander. During the war he was decorated by King Haakon VII of Norway with the Norwegian War Cross. At age 23, he was given command of the RAF station at Hornchurch—leading 1,000 airmen and 600 WAAFs. The citation accompanying his DSO concluded that “The splendid success achieved on this and other occasions is largely attributable to the magnificent leadership displayed by Wing Commander Scott-Malden. He is a brilliant pilot and a fine tactician, whose thorough knowledge and personal example have proved worthy of the highest praise.” After the war, he took a permanent commission as a Squadron Leader and then joined the Ministry of Transport. He retired in 1978. Mohr was born near Bergen, Norway in 1917. He grew up fascinated by aviation and spent his summers working for Norwegian airline Wideroe. In 1936, he joined the Royal Norwegian Air Force and learned to fly. As the Nazis invaded his country, he was flying as a fighter pilot, but managed to escape to England. He travelled to Canada and, as an instructor, assisted in the development and training of Norwegian pilots at an airfield on Toronto Island, which came to be known as “Little Norway”. Mohr returned to Great Britain in 1941, flying with the RAF and then, in 1942, took command of 332 Squadron, one of the RAF’s squadrons manned entirely by Norwegian pilots, most of whom trained in Toronto. He survived the war, eventually becoming a senior member of the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s general staff and one of the most respected Norwegian veterans of the Second World War. For a long time I thought that perhaps this image was inverted as his wings are on the opposite side to those of the RAF and RCAF, but Eric Kennington’s signature is not backwards, so it is clear the Norwegians did things differently. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627416975428-2LIYJBZWKVNRBUE5NCHC/The-Portraits39.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out In my mind, two of Kennington’s most powerful portraits—Flight Lieutenant James Archibald Findlay MacLachlan, DSO, DFC and Two Bars (left) and Sergeant Marius Eriksen Jr., DFC, DFM MacLachlan was born in England in 1919. At the age of 20, he joined the Royal Air Force on a short service commission. After flight training, he joined 88 Squadron on Hawker Hinds in November 1939. The unit made a quick transition to Fairey Battles and MacLachlan and 88 Squadron took the already-obsolete aircraft to the Battle of France. The squadron was withdrawn from France at the end of that battle and the beginning of the Battle of Britain. He was awarded the first of his three Distinguished Flying Crosses at this point. He quickly volunteered for fighters and he was posted to 185 Squadron at RAF Drem and then 73 Squadron at RAF Castle Camps. After the Battle of Britain, he joined 261 Squadron at Malta. A month later he was severely wounded in combat, bailed out of his Hurricane and landed on the island. His arm was amputated, and following in the footsteps of Douglas Bader, he was fitted with a “special detachable forearm and hand, suitable for use in a Hurricane”. In November 1941, he returned to operations, commanding No. 1 Squadron at RAF Redhill. Following many more victories, he was awarded a DSO. He became an instructor at a Hurricane OTU, then went on a lecture tour in America in late 1942. Once again he returned to operational status, with the Air Fighting Development Unit of the RAF at RAF Wittering. While flying ops over France in a Mustang in June 1943, he was shot down by small arms fire, crash-landed in an orchard and was once again severely injured. He was taken to a German hospital, and died there on 3 July 1943. Marius Eriksen’s portrait shows a young Nordic man of Brad Pitt-style matinee idol good looks. Eriksen was born in 1922 in Kristiania (now called Oslo), Norway. He was an avid and competent alpine skier—his father was an Olympic calibre skier and his brother was Stein Eriksen, the notable Olympic gold medal downhill and slalom skier of the 1950s. When the Second World War began, Eriksen escaped Norway ahead of the Nazis, came to Canada and took flight training at the Norwegian Army Air Service flying school on Toronto Island (called “Little Norway”). He did his Service Flying Training at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When he returned to England, he joined 332 (Norwegian) Squadron under Wilhelm Mohr (previous image) and had become an ace with 9 victories. He survived his bail out, and was interned as a POW. After the war, he continued until 1950 with the Norwegian Air Force, flying the de Havilland Vampire. Later he became a Norwegian alpine champion, an actor and a fashion model. He died in 2010. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417069337-3118E37F4F3NGUFZBH00/The-Portraits41.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Wing Commander Reginald Sawrey-Cookson, DSO, DFC by Eric Kennington (left) and Pilot Officer John Francis “Elk” Elkington by Cuthbert Orde Reginald Sawrey-Cookson was born in Radwell, Hertfordshire in 1914. After joining the RAF in 1937, he flew Vickers Wellingtons with 149 Squadron. It was here that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He commanded 75 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942, but was killed on operations flying a Wellington. The 75 Squadron website says this about Sawrey-Cookson: “The night of 5/6 April saw the squadron going to Cologne. The operation was led by Wing Commander Reginald Sawrey-Cookson, DSO, DFC RAF and commanding officer of 75. Wing Commander Sawrey-Cookson was a young determined commander who led from the front, never expecting of his crews what he was not prepared to undertake. He was not to return from this operation, being killed with the rest of the crew.” Pilot Officer John Francis “Elk” Elkington was born in 1920 in Warwickshire, England. He was accepted at the RAF College at Cranwell in the first month of the Second World War. He was granted a permanent commission as a Pilot Officer in July 1940 during the Battle of Britain. He joined No. 1 Squadron at RAF Northolt that day and the very next day he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The next day, he was shot down in flames on the coast of England. After brief hospitalization, he joined his squadron at RAF Wittering and fought to the end of the Battle of Britain. In April 1941, he rested as an instructor at 55 Operational Training Unit, then joined 601 Squadron at RAF Manston. In July 1941, he joined 134 Squadron at RAF Leconfield, training up for service in Russia. He sailed to Murmansk in August, taking part in bomber escorts and then returning in late 1941. He joined the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit at RAF Speke (Liverpool). This was a catapult-launched Sea Hurricane fighter unit. Following that, he then served with 539 Squadron, a Turbinlite Havoc Unit. This squadron employed twin-engine Douglas Havoc night fighters with 2,700 million candela searchlights to illuminate enemy aircraft for accompanying fighters to shoot down. He ended his varied and lengthy war career on Typhoons with 197 Squadron and then Spitfires with 67 Squadron in India. He retired a Wing Commander in 1975 after a lengthy RAF career. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417105702-9D42KAK6GLNIKNMEVQ5X/The-Portraits42.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two portraits by Cuthbert Orde—the romantically-named Flying Officer Noël le Chevalier “Aggy” Agazarian (left) and Flight Lieutenant Sir Hugh Spencer Lisle “Cocky” Dundas, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC, MiD Agazarian, the son of an Armenian father and French mother, was part of a family of four boys and two girls. Three of the boys would serve in the RAF and one of the daughters in the Air Transport Auxiliary. Agazarian belonged to the Oxford University (Wadham College) Air Squadron. He joined the RAFVR and was commissioned in 1939. As his training began, he befriended Richard Hillary, future author of The Last Enemy, and went through flight training with him. Hillary described him as “...cosmopolitan by nature, intelligent and a brilliant linguist.” His first operational posting was with 609 Squadron, where he became an ace by December 1940. He volunteered for the North African campaign and was posted to 274 Squadron in the Western Desert, flying Hurricanes. A month after his arrival in Libya, he was shot down and killed. He was 25 years old. “Cocky” Dundas was born in 1920 in Doncaster, England into an aristocratic family. By the age of 19, he was a qualified Spitfire pilot with 616 South Yorkshire Squadron. His first taste of combat was over the beaches of Dunkirk. During the Battle of Britain, he was shot down over Dover in August, later writing about the event: “White smoke filled the cockpit, thick and hot and I could see neither the sky above nor the Channel coast 12,000 feet below. Panic and fear consumed me and I thought: “Christ, this is the end”. Then I thought: “Get out you bloody fool, open the hood and get out.” ” He and 616 Squadron joined Douglas Bader’s Big Wing at Duxford in September. In the summer of 1941, he sat for a portrait with Cuthbert Orde, who told him he would leave room in the portrait to add a DFC, which, he said, all his subjects seem to have or to eventually get. Four days later he was awarded the DFC. He was promoted to Squadron Leader at age 21, to Wing Commander at age 22, Group Captain at 23. He was awarded a DSO in 1944 and a second in 1945. Postwar, he remained in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as a Squadron Leader and had tremendous success in business. He was knighted in 1987 and became the High Sheriff of Surrey in 1989. He died in 1995 at the age of 74. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417264734-VAX7EQ9RHCIO44OBR6R0/The-Portraits23.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Cuthbert Orde painted many, if not most, of the Spitfire fighter pilots of 609 Squadron, including Pilot Officer Michael John Appleby (left) and Flying Officer Peter Edward “Slosher” Raw, DFC. Appleby joined 609 Auxiliary Squadron in December of 1938 and awaited his call-up. With war looming large on the eastern horizon, he was called up on the 24th of August, as German and Russian troops amassed on the borders of Poland. He joined No. 6 Flying Training School and from there to squadron service with 609 in May 1940. Following his active service during the Battle of Britain, he became an elementary flying instructor until his release from the RAF at the end of the war. “Slosher” Raw, an insurance broker before the war, was one of four Raw brothers who served in the Second World War, only one of which survived—his brother Michael. Raw (by this time a Flight Lieutenant) transferred to 183 Squadron and was killed in action over Holland in March of 1944 during a fighter sweep of six 183 Squadron Typhoons. He was hit by flak and struck the barge he was strafing at the time. The citation accompanying his DSC speaks to his courage and determination: “P/O. Raw is a pilot of exceptional courage and ability, and is always eager to hunt and engage the enemy. During a period of three months he has attacked and immobilised 17 locomotives, 11 by day and 6 by night, during offensive operations over France and Belgium. Recently he has taken part in two attacks on enemy shipping, and in the face of intense Flak has severely damaged two and scored hits on two more enemy motor minesweepers. He has also damaged a FW 190 raider.” His brother, Squadron Leader Anthony Raw, DFC, AFC, was killed a few months later flying with 156 Squadron Pathfinders, Bomber Command. A third brother, Pilot Officer John Frederick Raw had died in 1941, during night flying training, when his Miles Magister crashed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417316098-TPV0D0K6932LVBPVFR2R/The-Portraits48.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flying Officer John Charles Dundas, DFC and Bar was “Cocky” Dundas’ brother. He was both drawn and painted by artist Cuthbert Orde. Like his brother, he was an aristocrat and after his studies (at Oxford, the Sorbonne and Heidelberg) he became a journalist, covering the Munich Crisis of 1938 as well as other international stories. Dundas joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1938, paying his own flying training expenses before joining 609 Squadron. He was fully involved with his squadron in the Battle of France, Operation DYNAMO and the Battle of Britain. By the end of September, he was a double ace and was awarded a DFC. After shooting down two more enemy aircraft, he himself was shot down after being chased out over the English Channel. He was never seen again. He died at the age of 24. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417390384-8UGJUWSIMV6TZ107BLWR/The-Portraits43.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two portraits from the 609 Squadron series by Cuthbert Orde—Pilot Officer John Derek “The Bishop” Bisdee, OBE, DFC(left) and Flying Officer Raymond “Cheval” Lallement, DFC and Bar—both surviving the war and living long lives. Bisdee was born at Weston-super-Mare in 1915. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1937 and was called to service on the very first day of the war—1 September 1939. Following his short service commission in December of 1939, he joined 609 Squadron, fighting over Dunkirk in support of Operation DYNAMO, and in the Battle of Britain. He became an ace with 9 victories to his credit and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was rested with a short stint as an instructor at 61 OTU, and then returned to service in command of 601 County of London Squadron. He led twelve 601 Squadron Spitfires off the deck of the USS Wasp en route to the other big RAF aerial battle of the war—the Siege of Malta. The very next day, he shot down a Ju 88 and then was himself shot down into the sea. He managed to bail from his crippled Spitfire, inflate his dinghy and paddle 6 miles back to Malta. He continued to fight from Malta until the end of June, when he went with 601 to the war in the Western Desert. He left 601 Squadron to become the Military Governor of Lampedusa (an island not far from Malta). He left the Royal Air Force in 1945 as a Group Captain. He succeeded in business, retired in 1977, and died in 2000 at the age of 85. Lallement (spelled incorrectly by Orde) was a Typhoon pilot with 609 Squadron, and eventually its commander. He was born in 1917 in Blicquy, Belgium. As a student pilot in May of 1940, his base was overrun by Germans and he and six of his classmates escaped to Morocco through France. Continuing his training in England, he was assigned to 609 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill as a sprog Flight Sergeant. He soon became an ace, was promoted, awarded the DFC and eventually made squadron commander. He was considered to be one of the finest Typhoon pilots in the Second Tactical Air Force. He crash-landed his Typhoon named “Winston Churchill” in France after having been hit by ground fire while flying support for Operation MARKET GARDEN. It took him several months to recover from his burns and wounds. When he returned to service, the war was over, but he was given command of 349 (Belgian) Squadron, flying Spitfires over occupied Germany. He flew jet aircraft (F-84 Thunderjets) after the war with the Belgian Air Force. After a 30-year career, he retired in 1973 and died in 2008. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417450346-JOEAZ9MG1BIDTSLWA2T1/The-Portraits25.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Paul Henry Richey, DSO, DFC and Bar (left) and Flight Lieutenant Frank Jonathan Howell, DFC and Bar from Cuthbert Orde’s 609 Squadron Series Richey was born in Chelsea, London in 1916 to an Irish father and an Australian mother... likely contributing to his fighting spirit. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in 1937 and was first posted to No. 1 Squadron, flying Hurricanes at RAF Hawkinge. Immediately after the declaration of war, he went to France with the squadron. On 11 March 1940, he shot down two enemy aircraft, but was shot down himself, suffering a concussion bailing out of his Hurricane. On 15 March, he shot down two more enemy aircraft, but was shot down again, bailing out. On the 19th he flew his last mission in France, shooting down yet another enemy aircraft and was shot down again, seriously wounded in the neck by the rear gunner of the Heinkel He 111. His wounds forced him to crash-land his aircraft and he was hospitalized for a lengthy period. He was awarded a DFC at this point. During his time recovering from the bullet wound to his neck, he wrote a book entitled Fighter Pilot about his experiences on squadron in France. It is said that Fighter Pilot inspired the TV series Piece of Cake. After his recovery, he went back to fighter operations with 609 Squadron. In four months he flew 53 sorties. He took over command of 609 Squadron through its transition to the Hawker Typhoon, then left for the South East Asia Command as a Wing Commander, Fighter Ops at Bengal. He was sent back to Europe and the 2ndTactical Air Force. He died in 1989, just as Fighter Pilot went into its 10th edition. Frank Howell was born in London at the beginning of 1912. His early employment was as an insurance clerk and a car mechanic. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in late 1936. Completing his flying training, he joined 25 Squadron, a twin-engine unit at RAF Hawkinge in November of 1937. From there, he was posted to Egypt. He returned to Great Britain in 1939, and was admitted to hospital. Following recuperation, he joined 609 Squadron at RAF Drem, flying Spitfires on operations over Dunkirk. By October, he was an ace and was awarded a DFC for his effort and leadership and by November, he was awarded a second DFC. After having taken the first command of 118 Squadron in February of 1941, he scored the unit’s very first victory after it was re-formed. He was awarded a second DFC that year. After handing over command of 118 Squadron, he headed to the Far East. There, he took over command of 243 Squadron on Brewster Buffaloes—a real disappointment for a Spitfire pilot. He was shot down and made a POW of the Japanese, suffering greatly until his release in 1945. After the war, he flew Vampire jet fighters with 54 Squadron at RAF Odiham. He was struck in the head by a landing Vampire while filming landings at Odiham. He died from his injuries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417506916-S02DIP9LDQE1NUJU8OV9/The-Portraits26.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two more 609 fighter pilots by Cuthbert Orde—Flight Lieutenant (later Squadron Leader) Idwal J. Davies, DFC (left) and Flying Officer George “Moose” Evans. I have found very little about either Evans or Davies save for a few random posts on the internet. Davies, an Englishman, would go on to command 609 Squadron following the death of its previous commander, Squadron Leader J. Niblett and then another Typhoon-equipped unit—No. 198 Squadron, RAF. He took over 198 in June of 1944 and was shot down near Cherbourg by flak and killed that same month. He was 29 years old. I found only a single post for a Sergeant pilot named G. Evans of 609 Squadron who was forced to bail out of his Spitfire over the English Channel in July 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417543669-AAO8DQ57VMRMMUAL8G1S/The-Portraits45.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant (later Squadron Leader) Lloyd Watt Coleman, DFC and Bar by Eric Kennington (left). Lloyd Coleman, as far as I can tell, was a New Zealander and a pilot with the RAF. He was born in the Hawke’s Bay area of the North Island. From what I can lift from the internet, he was a bomber pilot around the time of the Battle of Britain. The citation accompanying his first DFC reads: “In November 1940, this Officer was Captain of an aircraft detailed to attack the railway yards and locomotive sheds at Munich. In spite of the fact that on his arrival, he found considerable anti-aircraft activity and that he had been warned of the presence of balloons, he glided down to a height of 3,500 feet and straddled the target with his bombs. He then circled the town and ordered his air-gunners to put out as many searchlights as possible. Since June 1940, Flight Lieutenant COLEMAN has carried out twenty-five raids, fifteen of them as Captain of aircraft, during which he has displayed skill, persistent determination and devotion to duty and has set a magnificent example to his Squadron.” The citation with his Bar to the DFC reads: “One night in May 1941, this officer was Captain of an aircraft which carried out an attack on the aerodrome at Benina. He displayed great skill and tenacity in locating his target and carried out his attack with great determination, bombing and machine-gunning the aerodrome from different heights sometimes less than 1,000 feet. He destroyed at least two Junkers 52s on the ground and damaged others. Just after he had returned from his attack an incoming aircraft crashed and caught fire. Though the petrol tanks and bombs on the crashed aircraft were exploding, FLTLT Coleman ran to another aircraft standing nearby, started the engines and taxied it away to safety. He has continuously displayed outstanding courage and devotion to duty.” I have not yet determined what squadron he was with or the type of aircraft he flew, but I have been able to determine that his aircraft was hit by flak over Essen and he crashed and was killed on the night of 10–11 March 1942. Since he is buried in England, it is likely he managed to coax his bomber home. Flying Officer Lodewijk-Emmanuel “Manu” Geerts by Orde (right). “Manu” Geerts was born in April 1907 in the Belgian town of Duffel. At the age of 19 he joined the Belgian Air Force (Aviation Militaire Belge) and took flying instruction at the Wevelgem military flying school. After completion of his flight training, he was assigned to a fighter squadron at Schaffen in the northeast of the country. In the early 1930s, Geerts spent some time as a flying instructor and then, after Belgium was overrun by the Nazis, he evacuated to Marseilles, France. He was captured along with other members of his flying school and sent to a POW camp in Germany, from which he was able to escape in 1942. Through a series of countries and adventures, he made his way to England and joined the RAF, qualifying as a fighter pilot in September of 1942. He moved through a series of squadrons and ended up with 609 Squadron on Typhoons, eventually leading the squadron following the Normandy invasions. In his late 30s he was one of the oldest active fighter pilots in theatre. After the war, he rejoined his Belgian Air Force and rose in authority as a flight training expert. He died in 1999 at the age of 85. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417583729-XGRDHZAU0ZDL7MMMTPQR/The-Portraits72.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two Titans of the RAF during the Second World War—Air Chief Marshal Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory, KCB, DSO and Bar and Marshal of the Air Force Sir Arthur Travers “Bomber” Harris, GCB, OBE, AFC. There are not many whose impact on the air war in Europe can compare with Leigh-Mallory and Harris. Leigh-Mallory was born in Cheshire in 1892, more than ten years before the Wright Brothers took to the air. His younger brother George, a gifted mountain climber would captivate all of England and the world in the 1920s with his repeated and ultimately fatal attempts to climb Mount Everest. Trafford Leigh-Mallory was studying to be a lawyer when war broke out in 1914. He joined the British Army and was wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres. When he recovered, he joined the Royal Flying Corps and became a reconnaissance pilot. His first command was with No. 8 Squadron in the RFC. He remained with the RFC-turned RAF after the war and rose through command to become an Air Commodore prior to the Second World War. During the Battle of Britain he took command of No. 12 Group and, along with one of his commanders, Douglas Bader, created the “Big Wing” concept which utilized large formations of fighters to hunt enemy bombers, largely without success. He fought regularly with other group commanders like Keith Park and Hugh Dowding and following the Battle of Britain, when these two great leaders were removed from command, Leigh-Mallory was given command of Dowding’s 11 Group. With aggressive fighter sweeps and offensive tactics as his style, he soon rose in favour in the RAF, despite the high casualty rate these “rodeos” caused. In November 1942, he was given command of Fighter Command, which he led until after the Normandy invasions. In August of 1944, he was made an Air Marshal and given command of the South East Asia Command (SEAC). En route to Burma, he was killed along with his wife and other passengers and crew when the Avro York he was aboard crashed in bad weather in the French Alps. The investigation into the accident cited the weather conditions and Leigh-Mallory’s insistence, despite the advice of the York’s commander, that the flight continue. The man who replaced him was Air Marshal Keith Park, his old adversary. Harris was born 1892 in Cheltenham just three months after Leigh-Mallory’s birth. In 1910, he emigrated to Rhodesia at the age of 17, his passage paid for by his father. Here he worked a series of hard labour jobs and then, when war broke out, he joined the 1stRhodesia Regiment as a bugler. In 1915, anxious to get into the war, he returned to England and joined the Royal Flying Corps, having failed to find a spot in the cavalry and the artillery. He learned to fly at Brooklands and then went on to serve and fight with distinction. His first command was as CO of 45 Squadron, flying the Sopwith Camel pursuit aircraft. He remained with the RAF after the war, taking on a number of command positions in faraway places like India, Persia (Iran) and Mesopotamia (Iraq), commanding a heavy bomber squadron and a flying boat squadron. At both these units, he developed night flying techniques and tactics. In 1937, Harris was given charge of No. 4 (Bomber) Group and in 1939, at the outset of the war, No. 5 (Bomber) Group. In 1941, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command. If anything, he was an effective commander, albeit a stunningly ruthless one, cut from the same cloth as American Curtis LeMay. In his own words, he said this about Bomber Command’s mission: “The aim of the Combined Bomber Offensive... should be unambiguously stated [as] the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and the disruption of civilised life throughout Germany. ...the destruction of houses, public utilities, transport and lives, the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale, and the breakdown of morale both at home and at the battle fronts by fear of extended and intensified bombing, are accepted and intended aims of our bombing policy. They are not by-products of attempts to hit factories.” Under Harris, combined fleets of bombers from the RAF and the USAAF burned Dresden and Hamburg to the ground as well as much of every major industrial centre and city in Germany. After the war, politicians and RAF leadership denied a separate campaign medal to Harris’ crews despite the fact that their war started on day one and lasted until the last day. Bomber Command aircrew suffered, by far, the highest casualty rate of any service in any country save the German U-boat crews—44.5 % dead, 55,573 airmen lost. Harris refused a peerage because of this snub of his men. Harris died in 1984 at the age of 92. A statue of Harris was unveiled by the Queen in front of the RAF Chapel of St. Clement Danes on London’s Strand in 1992. The Queen was surprised when she was jeered by protesters who felt he was a war criminal. The statue was put under 24 hour guard to stop people vandalizing it. Like the statue of a saint, today he stands alongside another statue of Hugh Dowding, Fighter Command leader during the Battle of Britain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417644333-D23HRHOCVYUFOZ3FMURU/The-Portraits71.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Pilot Officer John Lawson-Brown and Wing Commander (later Air Marshal) Geoffrey William Tuttle, KBE, CB, DFC, MiD x 3 (right – detail from painting) John Lawson Brown was from Leeds, England and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in late 1937. He was called to service on the first day of the war, and after completing his training, was posted to 64 Squadron at RAF Leconfield in September of 1940. The squadron was equipped with Bristol Blenheim twin-engine fighters and did duty patrolling the East Coast of England up until December of 1940, when the unit was despatched to Scapa Flow to defend the Royal Navy fleet anchorage. The unit converted to Supermarine Spitfires in April of 1941, but Lawson-Brown was struck by appendicitis and he died on the operating table in May. Wing Commander Tuttle was born in October of 1906. He joined the RAF in 1925 on a short service commission. Completing training, he joined 19 Squadron, flying the Gloster Grebe. In 1928 he was posted to 605 Squadron, RAF Auxiliary as adjutant. He took aircraft engineering courses during this time and left for India to join the Engineering Staff at RAF Aircraft Depot. Back in England by 1937, he was given command of 105 Squadron at RAF Hardwell on the Hawker Audax. The Fairey Battle arrived later that year and Tuttle’s 105 was one of the first to be operational on the new and soon-to-be-obsolete type. The unit was sent to France on reconnaissance duties along the border of France and Germany. The unit suffered heavily during the Battle of France and was returned to England. Tuttle would go on to command the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit in 1940 and then No. 324 Wing, Northwest Coastal Air Force, RAF. He would later command the RAF’s Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force, the Balkan Air Force and the Air Force Administrative Headquarters in Greece. He continued in the RAF after the war, commanding among other things, Coastal Command. In 1956, he was Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. He retired in 1959 to work in the aerospace industry and died in 1989. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417716955-JVUZ83XQS04CWSRJIQL0/The-Portraits24.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Polar ends of the RAF officer corps—Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur “Mary” Coningham, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC, DFC, AFC and Canadian Pilot Officer (later Wing Commander) Wilfred J. Lewis, DFC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417766263-7GSLOHY3MS556HDVG3U1/The-Portraits46.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Group Captain Peter Woolridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar and Flying Officer George C. Bliss (right) by Eric Kennington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417807391-DJ39D9R1BMT1AF7TEB7M/The-Portraits38.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd, VC (left) and Squadron Leader Wojciech Kolaczkowski DFC (right)—both by Eric Kennington. The Citation accompanying Learoyd’s Victoria Cross reads: “This officer, as first pilot of a Hampden aircraft, has repeatedly shown the highest conception of his duty and complete indifference to personal danger in making attacks at the lowest altitudes regardless of opposition. On the night of 12th August, 1940, he was detailed to attack a special objective on the Dortmund Ems Canal. He had attacked this objective on a previous occasion and was well aware of the risks entailed. To achieve success it was necessary to approach from a direction well known to the enemy, through a lane of especially disposed anti-aircraft defences, and in the face of the most intense point-blank fire from guns of all calibres. The reception of the preceding aircraft might well have deterred the stoutest heart, all being hit and two lost. Flight Lieutenant Learoyd nevertheless made his attack at 150 feet, his aircraft being repeatedly hit and large pieces of the main plane torn away. He was almost blinded by the glare of many searchlights at close range, but pressed home this attack with the greatest resolution and skill. He subsequently brought his wrecked aircraft home and, as the landing flaps were inoperative and the undercarriage indicators out of action, waited for dawn in the vicinity of his aerodrome before landing, which he accomplished without causing injury to his crew or further damage to the aircraft. The high courage, skill and determination, which this officer has invariably displayed on many occasions in the face of the enemy sets an example which is unsurpassed.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417851240-5NFYVT6QCKEBG8RHH7K6/The-Portraits36.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two portraits by Eric Kennington: Flight Sergeant A. West, DFM, (left) a Wireless Operator–Air Gunner and Squadron Leader Athol “Ethel” Stanhope Forbes, OBE, DFC and Bar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417884077-43D7W6MLOEF4YY3A1N1S/The-Portraits69.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Sergeant Pilot Robert William Gellard, DFM and Flight Sergeant R.G. Arding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417912537-M9TKXUS0B278YGL1J3XE/The-Portraits73.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Two portraits of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, DSO and Bar. Photo via RAF Museum, London https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627417952131-0JGJI353RU15FXQF4VQZ/The-Portraits74.jpg The Stories - THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN PORTRAITS - Make it stand out Squadron Leader John Aloysius “Johnny” Siebert DFC (right) https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/back-to-our-roots monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413015601-GZCBU6MSPOBLUK3W60YM/BacktoBasics000.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413217979-SSX3OOR7GKSFH0CTZWJC/BacktoBasics04.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out A living Spitfire has the power to inspire emotions and teach younger generations about the long lost values of duty, honour and sacrifice. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413319752-BOU3F1QVSCGB0AABMTQF/BackToBasics.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out The Michael U. Potter Collection continues to develop its strengths with a solid commitment to restorations like the Roseland Spitfire Mk IX Project which looks forward to completion and first flights this summer. In addition, the McKnight Hurricane XII restoration continues and soon work on the Hawker Fury will begin in earnest. Photos: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413354498-N1WECZ4WCZQ7MN8AQMMW/BacktoBasics02.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out Two months ago, the Michael U. Potter Collection welcomed the addition of an immaculate de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (C-GFRX) on amphibious floats. This summer, we look forward to seeing the Canadian icon in the hangar, on the ramp and at events. Photo via Mike Potter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413392538-4WSV95S28L7V0GMH9QIW/BacktoBasics03.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out Volunteers will take on leadership roles in Vintage Wings’ innovative outreach programs such as Yellow Wings, a program that takes Second World War training aircraft to Air Cadet youth camps and shares the stories and even the skies with them. Photos: Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413462731-5MA9EMB1Z8WXTRI07SO3/BacktoBasics05.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out For 14 years, Vintage Wings of Canada has been the meeting place for dedicated aviation enthusiasts whose skills and passion have given life to the aircraft of the Michael U. Potter Collection. Their commitment to the future of vintage aviation operations in Ottawa will continue to drive outreach in the future. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413510725-MO1IMCZ85G5L2909TMBK/BackToBasics09.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out Mike Potter (centre) discusses future plans with volunteer Don Buchan (right), who will spearhead the creation of a new not-for-profit organization that will showcase the collection through outreach and education programs, and Paul Tremblay (left), Director of Maintenance at Vintech Aero. Vintech is the Approved Maintenance Organization that maintains the aircraft of the Michael U. Potter Collection. Photo: Kathryn Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627413551458-NE99H7J9NDAMUHWN3M55/BacktoBasics06.jpg The Stories - BACK TO OUR ROOTS — 2017 - Make it stand out In 2017, la Patrouille de France, France’s spectacular military aerobatic team, will join the Canadian Forces Snowbirds at Vintage Wings and the Gatineau–Ottawa Executive Airport for their only Canadian public show of their 2017 North American tour. Not since their last Canadian visit for Expo 86, have Canadians seen this astounding team on the same card as the Snowbirds. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/avian-fusion monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408297274-G2GSD06ZZ3UYNWQA2SVE/AvianFusion00.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408170588-RST8B4T0DLQRDHARZ9JP/AvianFusion01.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408197291-BHQ3M6BS7AL7NLIWKZFC/AvianFusion04.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Though Krete’s duck decoy projects are done at life size, he has won worldwide acclaim for avian sculptures known as miniatures. Here, three North American-native pintail ducks flash low over water in a piece called “Pintail Trio”—a World Championship-winning sculpture. In the tiny world of woodcarving miniatures, anatomical detail and accuracy are a must, but keeping true to the character of the species is a challenge indeed. While wings are constantly in motion and can be said to be accurate in any position, the head of the bird is where the judge’s attention will focus. It is here, in face of the lead pintail (a female), that we read the sleek determination and flashing speed of the species. The whole piece is just 20 inches high. Photos: The Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408256951-IB2NYT3SLUQPNJ0EN0AN/AvianFusion02.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete’s miniatures always include a base or context that illuminates the habitat of the species he is carving. In the case of the cattle egret, Krete decided to tackle the symbiotic relationship between the elegant white bird and the Cape buffalo. An avian purist at heart, this was Krete’s only mammalian sculpture to date, and it presented a powerful statement about animal behaviour and habitat. The piece measures 12 inches across at the horns—making the egret itself not much more than four inches in height. Krete worked with taxidermy experts to provide accurate photographs of all aspects of the head. The scaled glass eyes of the Cape buffalo were made for the piece by a glass eye specialist in the United States. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408338344-JTTWV6B01975MPKB90CM/AvianFusion03.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete, a biologist with Ducks Unlimited, shares a deep concern with his entire organization for shrinking waterfowl habitat. To express this fear, Krete tackled a carving of a species that has not been seen on this earth since the 1930s—the pink-headed duck. Krete is passionate about his mission at Ducks Unlimited, stating “… The story of the pink-headed duck’s habitat loss (conversion of habitat to agricultural use) is similar to what has/is happening here in North America. This why we work at Ducks Unlimited to protect, secure and restore wetland habitat for our native waterfowl.” Finding research material (images, habitat and dimensions) for an extinct bird that is native to Borneo and Malaysia was a challenge. Krete’s spectacular success in international competition gave him the credentials to approach world-class museums like the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto and the American Museum of Natural History in New York for access to their extremely rare specimens (skins)—receiving measurements and photographs. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408402809-3L7UC77CBDAT6JDTTPEQ/AvianFusion05.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out A threesome of widgeon ducks (two males and a female) fly as one, banking hard and low across a wetland surface, eyes looking out ahead for open water upon which to light. One can almost hear the rapid whistling of their wings. Another challenging miniature, this piece took Krete to a whole new level in achieving anatomical perfection and describing the complexities of flight dynamics. Krete accomplishes a powerful sensation of flight by assembling the pieces and supporting them on the thin blades of wetland grass, made from steel rods. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627408502042-BHMHG9NVX0UKPZFJQKUU/AvianFusion07.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The artist in his studio, surrounded by inspiration in natural and man-made forms. The P-51 Mustang was Krete’s first work of an aviation, rather than an avian, subject. It was the first of a series of aircraft bronzes that will take Krete a decade to produce. It is a daunting task and one for which he had to relearn his craft: “Although I had carved a few aircraft pieces in the past and spent my youth modelling aircraft, nothing had really prepared me for the challenges of carving the Mustang bronze project.—The P-51 Mustang was a man-made object assembled in a jig to be perfectly symmetrical and I was used to carving organic pieces, not necessarily with perfect symmetry. Sounds simple, but was very challenging. As someone with a passion for aircraft myself, I knew that my customers (airplane people and pilots) would really pick up on anything inaccurate in the form, missing details, etc. in my interpretation of the Mustang.” Photo: via Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410279326-1EID3R081FAH2MNER0O8/AvianFusion06.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out While Krete is a naturalist to his very bones, he is, like you and me, an inveterate aero geek—transfixed by the brute power and muscular technology that mankind has invested in its interpretation of nature’s elegant avian beauty. What it lacks in efficient, delicate and evolutionary optimization, the Vintage Wings of Canada P-51 Mustang compensates with speed, mass, noise, and a man-made beauty that cannot be denied. Artist Krete is a long-time friend of Vintage Wings, where he took measurements and made photographic studies of our Mustang for a bronze sculpture of North American Aviation’s most beautiful creation. Photo: Marna Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410314977-TEETH0ARX9D90SYY10ZF/AvianFusion08.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Details of the basswood sculpture of the P-51 Mustang and its vanquished quarry (FW-190). “I conducted much research, photographing real P-51s at air shows, at Vintage Wings of Canada and at Florida’s Stallion 51 for this.” said Krete, “I purchased a full set of P-51 blueprints, 3-view drawings and assembly/repair manuals to help with the lines and details of the aircraft. In my experience, I find that working in miniature is every bit as difficult as carving something full-size. The further you get into the details, the larger the piece becomes. It’s kind of like you have to ‘zoom in’ as you carve and add detail. The more you zoom in, the more detail there is to put into it. The challenge is to know when to stop or how much detail is appropriate or is enough. I obsess over the details and often have trouble knowing where to stop. There are also limitations for the bronze process to follow so that has to be a consideration. I feel I have achieved a standard of accuracy beyond what you may have seen in the past with similar work. At the end of the day, the work still has to be a piece of sculpture, not a model.” Photos: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410357678-TLL788ST2MPX50WWFFGW/AvianFusion09.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Details of the process of creating a mould of the Mustang carving. Each step of the process was a learning experience for the artist, who has the moulds and bronze castings made in a foundry in Japan. “I find the ancient ‘lost wax’ bronze casting process fascinating.” says Krete, “Recreating an art piece in metal and all of the steps necessary to complete it is very interesting. Moulding, casting wax, chasing the wax (restoring lost detail), making the refractory mould, metal casting and chasing the bronze (repairing lost detail) are all very labour intensive steps. Each finished piece cast requires all of the same steps and number of hours to complete. There is little in the way of ‘economies of scale’ when casting bronze pieces. Interestingly, the P-51 itself is cast in one piece.” Photos: via Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410393105-CXKZGSAHWFWELVZ9BRAO/AvianFusion10.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out There is much work in the finishing of the cast sculpture. Welding components, cleaning and re-detailing areas affected in the casting and welding process and then patina application. “Patination” is a craft with a long history. Many secret recipes and techniques are used to achieve a variety of colour and visual textural differences in the finish. The colour palette is somewhat limited but is traditional and the very nature of this process. Photos: via Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410429022-M4J4R4DWXAQ7IP3F7ZDK/AvianFusion12.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The stunning complete work of art, titled “Cloud Dancer” stands 22 inches high, mounted on a granite base. The smoke streaming from the Mustang pilot’s quarry—a Focke Wulf FW-190 sculpted in abstract detail—forms the attachment point for the Mustang as she rolls and dives to follow her foe to the clouds below. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410470658-47E810G96QK2D29193VQ/AvianFusion13.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The detail on bronze is astonishing, but Krete has to pull back from adding too much, as this not only becomes too difficult for the bronze technique to hold, but it could take the piece from the realm of fine art to a meticulously and overly detailed model. The patina created by the Japanese artisans is exquisite, highlighting the beautiful form of one of the greatest aircraft of all time. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410510317-OOHDN86Q8N6RPTFNTBIF/AvianFusion14.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out So as not to detract from the powerful detail of the Mustang, the true star of the piece, Krete chose to render the burning Luftwaffe Focke Wulf in a more abstract form. The patination techniques applied by the Japanese foundry artisans highlighted the flames streaming from the cowling as the wounded BMW engine breathes its last. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410644843-V0SWONYYM3M0LPF5S5QE/AvianFusion50.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out In 2010, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, Michael Potter thanks Krete for his donation of a copy of Cloud Dancer to raise funds for the organization he believes deeply in. Photo: Marna Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410706869-E4AS2YJJQMENTRWP4UNH/AvianFusion51.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete looks on nervously as P-51 Mustang mechanic Paul Tremblay takes a close look at the detail and accuracy of the bronze Mustang sculpture. Tremblay, now Vintage Wings of Canada’s Director of Maintenance, gave it his seal of approval. Photo: Marna Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410759399-TBH1DU16LUG2JUTQ0P72/AvianFusion11.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete’s next fighter aircraft in bronze will be the Messerschmitt Bf-109E. The 109 “Emil” was the most highly produced and most valuable fighter of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War and the nemesis of many an Allied airman. The famous fighter’s many fairings, protuberances, and brutalist form gave it a deeply menacing appeal. Nowhere near as lovely as the Mustang or Spitfire, the 109 captured the imaginations of young boys on both sides of the war for its mean, Teutonic and industrial qualities. If any aircraft represented the enemy, it was the evil lines of the Messerschmitt. Photos: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410852188-E6ZHV2C9B08ES2060L9M/AvianFusion49.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out During the 15th century, the man who gave a face to the term “renaissance man”, Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first to begin to contemplate how man-made materials might someday be used to make a wing which produced the ability to fly. By the 19thCentury, men like Otto Lilienthal were realizing da Vinci’s dream in machines that were surprisingly similar to this da Vinci sketch from 400 years earlier. Image: Leonardo da Vinci https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410896762-ASWQYR8W0PF9RXDCT9OQ/AvianFusion48.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out For eons, man has longed to fly like the birds around him. Ancient myths from all cultures made god creatures that could fly and those other mythic characters that were killed in the attempt, like Icarus, were destined to become symbols of hubris and folly. Here, in a melodramatic, late 19th century painting called “Lament for Icarus” by Herbert James Draper, water nymphs weep for the fallen youth. Icarus is the subject of literally thousands of paintings over the years. When man would eventually fly, it would be with wings of a different nature. Image: Tate, London https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627410955041-XH9B4ESH18762TXG0AGE/AvianFusion41.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out A pair of frigatebirds in flight near the Galapagos showing their distinctive, uber-efficient and dramatic wing form. It was images like this that energized Krete to turn a carving of a frigatebird in flight into a powerful statement of man’s progress in emulating avian ability with sustained and unpowered flight. Photo: wsgpete at deviantart.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411025366-A62H25IKP4U4RJQHYMH9/AvianFusion46.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The frigatebird’s wings are a result of eons of evolutionary development, trillions of hours of in-flight testing, and nature’s brilliance—the perfect wing to express man’s ancient desire for flight in art form. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411056035-Z5IXEO15915M8SEJAPEJ/AvianFusion42.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The female frigatebird on the wing. These huge yet light animals got their name from their piratical practices of stealing chicks from other bird’s nests and engaging in kleptoparasitism—stealing prey caught by other birds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411102006-T26GK8CMWKS218VP71OO/AvianFusion38.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete took inspiration for his bird-to-aircraft sculpture from one of the finest and most extreme of all early gliders—the “Fafnir”glider by famed German aerodynamicist Alexander Lippisch. The name Fafnir comes from Norse mythology—the son of a king who is cursed and becomes a dragon. The fine detail, extreme fairing and sleek lines emulated the great soaring birds of the world’s oceans. Its structure would be the basis of the frigatebird’s transition to aircraft form. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411167223-FT91L2YEKQKK4ZCJTYQS/AvianFusion39.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Lippisch’s work not only inspired Krete’s work, it had some impact on the Supermarine Spitfire. Canadian aerodynamicist Beverly Shenstone, the designer of the Spitfire’s most famous feature—its elegant elliptical wing form—apprenticed with Lippisch’s design studio in the early 1930s. Here we see one of Germany’s great glider pilots, Günther Groenhoff, wedged into the highly faired cockpit of the Fafnir. Groenhoff, a rising star in the world of pre-war gliding and test flying, was killed in an accident with the Fafnir—at the young age of 23. Image via www.scalesoaring.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411221814-E3178A5FODZEZH0EG12I/AvianFusion40.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Günther Groenhoff, shortly before his death in a gliding competition in 1932. Photo: www.scalesoaring.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411249830-UYPLPZ0LOJ4ZZU1S8HTD/AvianFusion16.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out A purchased set of plans of another famous glider, the Slingsby Petral inspired the structural components of a new sculpture which would push Krete’s artistry to new levels of technique and whimsy. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411309498-M6XOI70O1GJLP9RTDCRC/AvianFusion17.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out With drawings reminiscent of da Vinci’s early sketches of a flying machine, Krete works out the details of a very ambitious new project—to portray the avian roots of manned flight in the form of a half bird/half mid-century aircraft. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411402017-5XHNFP6732AUV5XX7ZP8/AvianFusion15.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The outer wing structure and control surfaces owe their inspiration to the structural elegance of the Fafnir’s unique wing. Photo and sketch by Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411440889-S4EPP0KZRYZSGUZLQ6YY/AvianFusion18.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete’s rough base carving of the wing is attached to the frigatebird’s more detailed body to enable the artist to carve the transition of the wing to body. One can understand the scale by comparing it to the pencil in the image. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411470274-Z8FB2BPCHILVLPDAR8MY/AvianFusion19.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Using a Dremel power tool, Krete carves the surface of the avian wing of the bird-machine. The detail includes every vane and rachis of every flight feather. Though all of the artist’s works look appealing in bare basswood, they are all destined to be hand painted to depict the exact markings and tones of the real birds they portray. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411500807-TOVKH9HDC8TDOU0FQP0D/AvianFusion20.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out On the aircraft side of the sculpture, the wing has the same proportions as the avian side but resembles an exposed wing structure. Here, Krete carves the solid leading edge of the wing, or D-box, and lines it up with structural sketches he has made for the wing—a blend of a frigatebird’s dramatic wing form and the structural layout of Lippisch’s Fafnir glider. Note the size of the stickpins—indicating the small scale at which Krete works. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411543433-K2760Y67OQGSKZL03GO8/AvianFusion21.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out On the avian side, feathers and wing warping enable controlled flight, while on the aircraft side, Krete’s frigatebird aircraft will need ailerons. Here the artist begins the time consuming construction of the control surface. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627411583590-507RZRWS6R1CU4WOPD2I/AvianFusion22.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The artist begins building out the wing structure, with space for the attachment of the aileron at a later stage. In the background stands the carved avian right wing. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412050689-SJUZWPU9WWYV0LHLL5TY/AvianFusion23.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out With special tools he has developed himself, Krete works detail into the wing—rivets, seams, access panels and fuel filler caps. The aileron is now in position. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412088057-IYEQ8QNNIZJW1CYHXKGG/AvianFusion24.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The gorgeous natural shape of the bird-machine’s left wing is nothing short of breathtaking. The trailing edge connection piece presented difficulties to the artist who steamed the wood to conform to the complex curves. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412132378-UTW483KQM9W5P97HXVRS/AvianFusion25.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The lines of rivets are made with a special wheeled tool that scores the surface in a regular pattern. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412174501-2WIHACHW7MKIVV4M1MDQ/AvianFusion26.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The right wing is not fully an avian wing, with the bird character giving way to the surface of an aircraft wing. The sense of the aircraft structure is exquisitely portrayed while keeping true to the frigatebird’s natural form. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412246387-XV7BMIKYPMZPYOX4519V/AvianFusion27.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Carved from a solid block of basswood, the body of the frigatebird is hollowed out to represent the internal structure of an aircraft fuselage. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412293640-08TYPE7TXH6IT7BRNLHB/AvianFusion28.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The detail of the frigatebird’s body includes a blend of feather and aluminium. The bird’s skull has carved details of a cockpit canopy and even the addition of a P-51-style flare tube outlet behind the eye. The artist is clearly having fun imagining a frigatebird-inspired aircraft in all its detail. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412324247-C2PE084WMEKX1FFDP63S/AvianFusion29.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The early stages of the painting process. Here, the colour differences in the wood and the dremel burning disappear beneath a covering of dark acrylic artist’s paint. Note the subtleties of how the feathers transform from natural detail to pure shape and then to aluminium. Photo: Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412359100-FIE1H0GCEHPW4T363MO1/AvianFusion30.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The finished piece, entitled “Anatomy of Flight”, depicts a greater frigatebird in a sustained glide—half aircraft, half bird. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412390174-KT1NFOGMVGWB4EF3CVB1/AvianFusion31.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Detail of the completed left wing—an elegant structural interpretation of one of nature’s finest flying geometries. In contrast to the natural black feathers of the right wing, the left wing is portrayed in a darkened metal finish. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412429462-W7GNAULD3RZ9G54TT4Q4/AvianFusion32.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out A close-up of the wing’s leading edge reveals the dirt and staining of a working aircraft and slipstream streaking of oil and fuel leaking from filler caps. This creates a patina of reality which balances perfectly with natural detail on the right wing. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412460645-LACGYK637OD4Q585Y7CV/AvianFusion33.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out From the low aft quarter, we see the fuselage structure and the contrast between the aerospace wing and the natural wing. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412499922-DHWSIJFQA12AAJMPF6IP/AvianFusion34.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The bird-aircraft has both types of landing gear. The single centreline wheel, typical of early gliders, contrasts almost humorously with the frigatebird’s natural foot. The leg and toes on the bird’s right foot are carved in steel rod, brazed together and formed into an accurate avian structure grasping onto the aluminium support piece. No other hardware is used here. The foot is literally holding on and supporting the entire sculpture. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412574836-OWAWJHBTU02ZRMHXBXU4/AvianFusion35.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out Krete strove to include a human element in the piece and whimsically demonstrates this with cockpit canopy windows, carved in the fenestration style of the 1930s and 1940s. The frigatebird was the perfect canvas for all of the aircraft elements Krete wanted to replicate in the final piece. Note the P-51-inspired pilot’s flare tube on the face just below the canopy. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627412602221-QPHCUK41A1LHWO089YN0/AvianFusion36.jpg The Stories - AVIAN FUSION — Where Nature, Technology and Art Meet. - Make it stand out The resulting Anatomy of Flight work was caused quite a stir at the recent 44th Annual World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival in Ocean City, Maryland. Krete was awarded World Champion status with a First Place in the Interpretive Wood Sculpture category. The upwardly sweeping support piece is cut from 5052 aircraft grade aluminium. Photo: Bill Einsig, courtesy of the Ward Foundation https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/gunfight-over-westminster monthly 0.5 2024-04-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390776260-M4DRXT334KQJJ9SFE4MC/Skeets00.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390833222-LTIZ1UDSD1C6P8K9FHH3/Skeets01.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out In this shot by the legendary portrait photographer Cecil Beaton, taken at RAF Biggin Hill in April of 1941, Keith Ogilvie’s charisma, good looks and feisty nature are evident. Skeets was one of the few RAF aircrew who were both photographed by Beaton and sketched by Cuthbert Orde. 609 Squadron pilots all had their surnames printed vertically up the right side of their Mae Wests. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390878096-ZEAUC9NC0UQ2CL5IZYGO/Skeets40.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A 609 Squadron Spitfire Mk II from around the time of the squadron’s deployment to RAF Middle Wallop in the summer of 1940. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391028798-6H0SYE3N66G011GQKGAN/Skeets02.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Famed wartime portrait artist Cuthbert Orde made sketches of many Battle of Britain pilots at the request of the RAF. Though Skeets Ogilvie was a Battle of Britain veteran and ace, his portrait was not done until Orde was sent to 609 Squadron at Biggin Hill the following year, where he did portraits on many of 609’s pilots. Drawing by Cuthbert Orde https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391366027-EA236L09P1A2BO4M2SDW/Skeets09.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A formation of Dornier Do 17 Z medium bombers make their way towards England in 1940. The Dornier Do 17 Z, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift or “Flying Pencil”, was, along with the Heinkel 111, one of the main bomber types arrayed against England during the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz. On the day we now know as Battle of Britain Day, Skeets Ogilvie and his 609 Squadron pilots would tear into a formation of the type from the Luftwaffe’s Kampfgeschwader KG 76. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391403167-7U4JXITUC3FCZSY2SSV9/Skeets41.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A digital rendering of Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe’s Dornier Do 17 Z (F1+FH) of KG 76, based at Beauvais-Tille, France.Image via Asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391501635-H1JQYGKG6L0LFJBPTA1D/Skeets05.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391523359-YKPQ6PXVZANGUBLE5YOL/Skeets06.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Blurry and ghostly screen captures of gun camera footage from Skeets Ogilvie’s Spitfire on 15 September 1940 shows the Dornier Do 17 Z piloted by Luftwaffe Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe manoeuvering wildly and trying desperately to avoid being hit. The entire gun film from Ogilvie’s Spitfire lasts about 18 seconds. Since the gun cameras are activated only when the firing button is pressed by the pilot, Ogilvie fired absolutely all of the ammo he had available (350 rounds per gun at 1200 rounds per minute). To watch Ogilvie’s attack on Zehbe’s Dornier, you can watch it on the Imperial War Museum’s archival website. Go to: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060013903 . Ogilvie’s footage starts around the 12:30 minute mark. Images via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627391569324-9UW5TGXZ8BYOL6NU5LCC/Skeets37.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out In the last two seconds of the Ogilvie “cine-gun” footage, a large chunk (or possibly the pilot Zehbe) comes spinning off the port side of the Dornier and tumbles past Skeets’ Spitfire. Image via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627393878761-N3FJ20FGE5ZZVSP0FLI9/Skeets08.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out What’s left of Zehbe’s Dornier falls from the sky toward Victoria Station while hundreds watch from the streets below. Because of concerted attacks by Ogilvie and others, Zehbe’s observer Hans Goschenhofer and gunner Gustaf Hubel had been killed and the aircraft was abandoned by Zehbe and the remaining members of his crew. The Dornier, now flying on autopilot across Central London, was spotted and attacked by Sergeant Ray Holmes of 504 Squadron who, out of ammunition, rammed the empty Dornier slicing off its tail. Subsequently, the spinning wreck shed its outer wing panels and dove to the forecourt of Victoria Station. In the photo at left, we can see what is likely Holmes’ Hurricane in the lower right. Holmes seriously damaged his aircraft and was himself forced to bail out over London. Photos via Author Keith Ogilvie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627393925601-J0ROU20HB4KHG19CT9YN/Skeets22.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out The front page of The Daily Telegraph for the following day, September 16, 1940, depicts the damage at Victoria Station. If you read the other headlines on the front page of this paper, you would think that Britain had the Axis on the ropes, which of course, was far from the truth. Image via The Telegraph https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627393964755-KGCTR8OM73VJK2XEUKO8/Skeets14.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out London firefighters work to put out the fire at Victoria Station (at left). The Dornier seriously damaged shops such as James Walker, a jewelry and gift shop along Wilton Road. Photo: Stephen Hunnisett blitzwalkers.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394264301-R2ERR2YQU6DVSOGJZW27/Skeets15.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out With the crash site secured, police and military inspect the wreckage of the aircraft and James Walker’s Jewelry shop. Photo: telegraph.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394329185-7V6QWFI0EFILKB9RADDX/Skeets18.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Military and police officers inspect the wreckage of Zehbe’s Dornier after the fire was put out. In the bottom right, dozens of mantle clocks lay scattered across the sidewalk along Wilton Road. Photo: dailymail.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394361352-Q67UP7NYIYEQ2AA8T5UR/Skeets38.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Today, the shops in the forecourt of Victoria station along Wilton Road have gone, but the patio outside The Iron Duke Pub marks the exact spot where the Dornier impacted. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394408232-YTU7M9XE3WTENHX51T12/Skeets19.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out The empennage from Zehbe’s Dornier came to rest a few hundred metres away on a rooftop along Vauxhall Bridge Road. Here, soldiers inspect the damage and the remains of the aircraft. Photo via aircrewremembrancesocety.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394457383-JSEN6QKO3SBUV15QPTR5/Skeets21.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A British Soldier stands guard over the port vertical stabilizer of Zehbe’s Dornier on a rooftop along Vauxhall Bridge Road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394979189-6JHE0NBU85TIFA8CSS4E/Skeets16.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out The amputated hulk of Zehbe’s Dornier plummets like a dying falcon toward the forecourt of Victoria Station, followed by the eyes of London’s citizens. Photo: saak.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395051891-TRIOGREBGCU6WCJ4EFB7/Skeets24.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Author Keith C. Ogilvie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395105097-HXBPMEEB3OXUR81M3PH3/Skeets11.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Two 609 Squadron pilots from the colonies. A pipe-smoking Pilot Officer Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie (left) and American Pilot Officer Eugene “Red” Tobin (note map stuffed in his boot top) sit in beach chairs, likely at RAF Middle Wallop in September of 1940 and look rather bemused by the photographer. Red Tobin would survive another year before being shot down and killed in September of 1941 while on a fighter sweep over France flying with an all-American unit—71 Squadron, RAF. Photo: AcesofWW2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395139650-UEEO1YB6DLW1NA4Q6HHL/Skeets27.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out In October of 1940, with the Battle of Britain winding down, 609 Squadron celebrated their 100th confirmed enemy aircraft shot down. They cut the swastika from the tail of the Ju 88 in question and painted a tribute panel for their mess at RAF Northolt. Here, the pilots of the squadron pose with the panel while sitting on one of their Spitfires, with Skeets sitting right next to the propeller blade at the top right. The panel reads: “Salved from Ju 88. The 100th enemy aircraft shot down by 609 Squadron, 21st October 1940. F/Lt. Howell, D.F.C. and P/O S. J. Hill” Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395186426-JKLOKGL8TH97TZG72AHF/Skeets42.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A great shot of pilots of 609 Squadron in conference—likely at Middle Wallop. A mustachioed Skeets Ogilvie peers toward us at centre. The photo did not come with a caption, but the man with his back to us looks to be Squadron Leader Mike Robinson, while the blonde-haired pilot is most certainly Flying Officer Frank Howell. Second from left is Flying Officer John “Dogs” Dundas. The others, I am still attempting to identify. Robinson was killed in April 1942 during a fighter sweep, while Dundas was killed in November of 1940 near the Isle of Man, not long after this photo was taken. Howell was killed after the war in 1948. He was filming his Vampire pilots of 54 Squadron, when he was struck in the head by the wing of one jet. Flying fighters was indeed a dangerous business. It is interesting to note that, in those days, pilots flew combat missions in shirt, tie and tunics. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395234680-3695X3MBEUJ0SH3R8TX2/Skeets26.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out According to the 609 Squadron Association website, this photograph was taken at RAF Biggin Hill. Since Skeets only spent one operational winter with the RAF, and was shot down in July of 1941, this is likely a photograph taken around the time of the Squadron’s arrival at Biggin Hill in February of 1941 (judging by the heavy clothing and bare trees). Skeets is fourth from left in casual Canadian style with hands in pockets, wide toothy smile, open flight jacket and silk scarf. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395286951-YHV4FP0QIJXF8IL89OCU/Skeets31.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A photograph taken in the dispersal at RAF Biggin Hill in the spring of 1941 shows 609 Squadron pilots at the ready and warming themselves in the weak rays of the sun. Skeets sits in front, intent on cleaning something with a rag. Left to right standing behind him are John Curchin and Willi Van Lierde. Sitting in rattan chairs to his left are Ferdinand Baraldi, Francois Xavier de Spirlet and then Victor “Vicky” Ortmans. Flight Lieutenant John Curchin, DFC would die a few weeks later when his Spitfire collided with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 near Dover. Pilot Officer Willi Van Lierde, one of many Belgians on squadron, was posted to 609 on 7 April 1940 as was de Spirlet, dating this photograph after that time and before Curchin’s death (an 8-week window). After his 609 service, Van Lierde became a flying instructor and survived the war. Pilot Officer Ferdinand Henry Raphael Baraldi, who remained with the squadron when it moved on to North Africa, survived the war as a Squadron Leader. Ortmans also survived the war but was killed while demonstrating an Auster light airplane in 1950 while in the service of Sabena Airlines. De Spirlet was killed at RAF Duxford a year after this shot was taken. While taking off in formation, the left main tire of his Typhoon burst and his aircraft careened across the runway hitting another 609 Typhoon. He was killed, but the other pilot was uninjured. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395319174-CIWPSVH0GOCH5EHQQSBZ/Skeets32.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out 609 Squadron pilots do what all pilots have done since the beginning of combat flight—describe the action with their hands. Skeets is at left with his sunglasses on, while his friend John Bisdee is hidden to his left in this after-action photograph taken at Biggin Hill sometime after their arrival in February. The Belgian Bob Wilmet looks on from the right with Mike Robinson listening with hands in pockets. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627394946141-E468OTJ2W5ODQ8BF20IR/Skeets33.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Another 609 Squadron pilots photo taken at Biggin Hill, the occasion unknown. Skeets Ogilvie is standing casually, fifth from the right, with his broad white smile beaming like a beacon. The warmer clothing indicates the first few months of their stay at Biggin Hill, which started in late February. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395436155-2T0EKCOON4FERKHHEVCQ/Skeets35.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out This photograph appears on the 602 West Riding Squadron Association website and shows Skeets with “Bish” Bisdee and two other pilots, all rather formally dressed, pressed and relaxing in a garden. At least three of the men have DFC ribbons, which leads one to suppose this was on the actual occasion of the award of their Distinguished Flying Crosses. Both Bisdee and Ogilvie were awarded theirs on the same day—11 July 1941. Bisdee, once called “a cheerful blonde mountain of confidence” was a close friend of Ogilvie who was similar in spirit. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395488208-PRTKM83C9IQLBLGXVKQX/Skeets36.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Scouring the 609 Squadron website for images of Keith Ogilvie, all were uncaptioned. But like most images, certain things can be deduced. Skeets is seen here at left with his usual uber-relaxed smiling Canuck vibe, open coat, cap pushed back and hands deep in pockets. The heavy clothes lead one to think of late winter—perhaps March or April of 1941. It’s the men next to him that draw your attention however, as both are in civilian clothes. One of them, the smirking fellow with the dark hair is the American RAF pilot legend Flight Lieutenant Andrew “Andy” Beck Mamedoff. Mamedoff had been posted to 609 Squadron during the height of the Battle of Britain, but had left in mid-September of 1940 to help found 71 Eagle Squadron along with Red Tobin at RAF Kirton. It’s possible that this was a simple social visit to 609 to catch up with old friends. The following October, the 29-year-old Mamedoff was killed while ferrying a Hurricane in inclement weather from RAF Fowlmere to RAF Eglinton, Northern Ireland. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395587485-KJK0MU9PH92X3DV4BUXI/Skeets34.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A great but damaged shot of Skeets sitting on the wing root of a 609 Squadron Spitfire at Biggin Hill. This was Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa (P8381) Stroud, a presentation Spitfire from the people of “Stroud and District”, a market town on Gloucestershire, England. This helps us date this photograph, as the “Stroud” Spitfire arrived new at Biggin Hill and with 609, direct from the maintenance unit that accepted it from the factory. A presentation aircraft like the Spitfire was a war fundraising vehicle and there were hundreds such aircraft in the RAF. A company, group or community could raise money (about 5,000 £ for a single-engine fighter) and have their name written on the side. Usually, squadron pilots would pose with it and the RAF would have prints sent to the donors. It’s possible that was the purpose of this shot. The Stroud Spitfire was delivered to 609 on 5 May 1941. This aircraft was then sent on to 452 RAAF squadron on 20 June, so we can date the photo to that 6-week period. Given the gloves and warm clothing, it’s likely early in May. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395616466-G6OGF4KQ8NJ1SU7XXZHT/Skeets28.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A gorgeous photograph of a 609 Squadron Spitfire V taxiing at sunset at RAF Biggin Hill. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395643657-2N78JG56PJ6WZJDL0X32/Skeets30.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out On the 28th of June 1941, a newspaper photographer visited Biggin Hill and 609 Squadron and took a series of rather playful images—the pilots playing cricket, clowning with a hay wagon and chumming with the squadron mascots. Here we see a staged game of cricket (though the batter appears to be swinging more of a baseball bat). Skeets Ogilvie can be seen squatting at right and laughing. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395673128-W4LP0YX3KAGA2SX55PW9/Skeets20.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out A quirky public relations photograph dated June of 1941 shows Spitfire fighter pilots of 609 Squadron, all with their “Mae Wests” on, pitching in to help with the farm harvest on the grounds of RAF Biggin Hill. A staged photograph if there ever was one. Pilot Officer Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie is in the middle with his tunic on under his Mae West—not exactly proper farm work wear. To the left is John Derek “Bish” Bisdee, so identifiable with his mop of thick blonde hair, while at the right is Belgian Pilot Officer Baudouin Marie Ghislain de Hemptinne of Ghent, Belgium. Standing on the hay truck are (l to r) Sergeant Bob Boyd, Pilot Officer Peter MacKenzie and Tommy C. Rigler. With the rake at left stands another Belgian, Pilot Officer Victor “Vicki” Ortmans. Photo: Evening Standard, collection of A.K. Ogilvie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627395743103-NUS7V4UK8T751ZGMXTB7/Skeets13.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Another wonderful Public Relations shot taken on that day in June 1941 at RAF Biggin Hill shows a group of pilots with a Spitfire and three of their squadron mascots—a puppy, a dog and the newly arrived “William (Billy) de Goat” who would become the chief and legendary mascot of the squadron. Historian Martin Waligorski, in The Amazing Career of Officer Billy de Goat (Spitfiresite.com), writes: “In February 1941 the squadron was relocated to Biggin Hill. It was there that Billy de Goat was recruited to the unit. He was a kid given to one of the Belgian pilots, Vicki Ortmans by the landlady of Old Jail, the local pub in Biggin Hill (which still exists today). Christened William de Goat, he would remain with the squadron for four years, through all its various postings, firstly in the UK, then into France, the Low Countries, and finally into Germany and the victory in Europe. During that time, he patiently tolerated all Squadron members and their foibles, watched the new pilots come and go, spent long evenings at the bar with them, was cared for and spoiled, exercised his great appetite for Things Eatable and generally became essential to everyone’s morale.” Skeets sits second from right in front with his arm around “Petie”, Sailor Malan’s dog (the legendary Malan was the Biggin Hill Wing Commander). The others in this shot are, left to right, standing: Sergeant Bob Boyd, Pilot Officer Baudouin de Hemptinne, Pilot Officer Peter MacKenzie, Flight Lieutenant Paul Richey, Flight Lieutenant John Bisdee, Pilot Officer Jean Offenberg and Flying Officer Jimmy Baraldi. Sitting: Pilot Officer Victor Ortmans, Sergeant Tommy Rigler (with a squadron dog named “Spitfire”), Skeets and finally Pilot Officer Bob Wilmet. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627396269629-RLSGDEX73LPLSPKLVD9J/Skeets29.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Another close-in photograph of 609 pilots with Billy de Goat and other mascots at Biggin Hill. Left to right: Belgian Flying Officer Victor “Vicky” Ortmans, DFC, Flight Sergeant Tommy “Hair Wave” Rigler, DFC (eventually a Squadron Leader with a DFC) with “Spitfire”, Skeets Ogilvie with Sailor Malan’s dog “Petie” and the Belgian Robert “Bob” Wilmet. Ortmans was an ace who survived POW camp, but died in an airplane crash after the war. Rigler, a highly-decorated ace having shot down 8 Bf 109s, survived the war. Wilmet later transferred to 349, an all-Belgian Squadron forming up with Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks at RAF Ikeja, near Lagos, Nigeria. He died in unknown circumstances there in 1943. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627396312603-PFYTKE5DA4QO24TLSKPZ/Skeets03.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Skeets (left) hams it up for a Public Relations shot at RAF Middle Wallop in the summer of 1941 with Tommy Rigler and Sergeant Ken Laing (right). Laing, another Canadian, would be shot down the following November 1941 and like Skeets, spend the rest of his war in a POW Camp—Stalag VII. Photo: Collection of A.K. Ogilvie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627396351126-TXMLA5483Y4MHEP7HWBL/Skeets04.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Left: Pilot Officer Skeets Ogilvie in September 1940 around the time of the battle with the Dornier over London. He is standing in front of a Miles M.9A Master I, a British advanced trainer. Right: A photo of Flight Lieutenant Skeets Ogilvie, possibly heading home to Canada aboard Queen Elizabeth. He wears the stripes of a Flight Lieutenant, a rank he achieved while he was a prisoner of war. He wears his DFC and service ribbons and carries perhaps one of his diaries that told us so much of his time in the RAF. Photos: left: Collection of Keith Ogilvie; right: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627396398652-Q614XSNHJF8ZIR3K4KEQ/Skeets23.jpg The Stories - GUNFIGHT OVER WESTMINSTER - Make it stand out Skeets Ogilvie joined the RCAF after the war and entered the jet age. Photo: Collection of Keith Ogilvie https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-first-and-the-last monthly 0.5 2024-02-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389264161-8ZM9TZ4K3CB446BHZ131/FirstLastTitle2.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389302724-6QFQQ3CU6YFOS9RRIFWF/The-First2.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389422751-38717SPG7A3RSOZOMEMO/Andy4.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Two photos of Sergeant Albert Stanley Prince—as a student pilot (right) and as a Sergeant pilot. He was born in Montréal in 1911 and, following the end of the First World War, he moved to Great Britain with his family. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389456238-8VH470Y3S0L1HY0FPSB9/Andy3.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out During his time at the Martin School of Air Navigation at Shoreham, young Albert Prince (right) takes a sighting through the window of a de Havilland Dragon Rapide. When the RAF was expanding, there was an increased requirement for pilot training and the Martin School of Air Navigation was contracted to train pilots for the RAF Volunteer Reserve. The facility became No. 16 Elementary and Refresher Flying Training School (E & RFTS). The school was initially equipped with Tiger Moths and then Hawker Harts and Hinds and Battles as well as Dragon Rapides for navigation training. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389503246-VVAE2DFO9OLWI2NBQGB9/FirstLast17.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Bristol Blenheim Mk IVs of No. 13 Operational Training Unit (Buckingham, Oxfordshire) in formation. From the earliest operations such as those of 107 Squadron until early 1942, the Blenheim IV served in a variety of roles. The Blenheim enabled Bomber Command to carry on offensive operations over Europe for almost two years before they were replaced by superior aircraft. Blenheim IV’s also served in North Africa, the Middle East and in the Far East against the Japanese. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389559807-76UOTQ90VCWJIO4ZZV0A/FirstLast15.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out The Kriegsmarine light cruiser Emden was built by the then Reichsmarine and came down the ways in 1925. She served largely as a training ship before September 1939, but with the war about to be declared she was involved in mine laying on the German coast. In the attack in which Sergeant Prince was killed, she was damaged when another Blenheim from 107 Squadron crashed into her bows. Ironically, the RAF pilot of that Blenheim was Flying Officer H. L. Emden. Neither he nor any of his crew survived. Though nine of her crew were killed in the Blenheim crash, Emden survived to take part in the invasion of Norway and was still operational in May of 1945 when she was scuttled. While she did not survive, part of the propeller blade of F/O Emden’s Blenheim remains on display at the Kriegsmarine Museum at Laboe near Kiel. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389590663-PGAZ45TB7162O4FJPGLX/FirstLast16.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out The other large warship in Wilhelmshaven, when the five Blenheims of 107 Squadron made their attack, was the 13,600 ton pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, named after the German admiral commanding the fleet at the Battle of Jutland. She was completed at Wilhelmshaven in 1934 and was involved as a bombardment platform during the Spanish Civil War two years later. Admiral Scheer was the most successful capital ship surface raider of the war, sending more than 113,000 tons of shipping to the bottom. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389624187-ZOUX5VITBR2HGOHS5FZD/Andy5.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out A German naval officer inspects the wreckage of Prince’s Blenheim bomber dockside at Wilhelmshaven. Prince’s aircraft was badly damaged, but he managed a successful ditching. All three crew members survived, but Prince succumbed to injuries in hospital the next day. The aircraft was salvaged and craned onto the dock. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389678630-ZJQTDC1BQ6IXE70KERFY/Andy8.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out A painting by artist John Rutherford depicts the events of 4 September 1939. It was unveiled at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in 1999 by Bill Prince, the son of Albert Prince, the pilot of OM-K. Prince had travelled from Stoke-on-Trent, England for the occasion and presented the Museum with the wings and squadron crest worn by his father during his last flight. Image via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389727593-QWKGTJXKBD6KK7Q1HXKO/OneCup.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389774053-HYWVITRT2PLFG6UGAGJK/Andy2.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out It was very difficult to locate a photograph of Gerald “Andy” Anderson. Thanks to Canadian Naval Historian Michael Whitby, I was sent a few scans from Stuart Soward’s excellent book, A Formidable Hero, his definitive record of the life of Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC, who died on the same raid as Gerald Anderson. The photograph is pretty poor, but it is the only image of Anderson that I know of. Gerald Anderson, of Trenton, Ontario is on the left with Lieutenant William Bell Asbridge of Edmonton, Alberta on the right. Both were Canadian Fleet Air Arm pilots with 1842 Squadron aboard HMS Formidable. Asbridge, shot down near Tokyo on 18 July 1945, was the first Canadian pilot to die in combat over the Japanese home islands, while Anderson was the last Canadian to die in the Second World War. Scanned from Stuart Soward’s A Formidable Hero, which credits the 1841 Squadron Line Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627389944812-TTK7TU6Y4W612K6TIN4V/Andy1.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Perhaps one of the saddest photographs of the Canadian experience with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. All that is required of the pilot Gerald Anderson to finish his fighting war is to get his Corsair back on to the deck of HMS Formidable. Here we see Anderson’s broken Corsair slipping back off the round down having almost made it home. The batsman at right is slumped in helplessness as Anderson slides backwards and into history as the last Canadian to die in combat during the Second World War, nearly six years after Albert Prince became the first. The killing ends with this image of “almost home”. Photo scanned from Stuart Soward’s A Formidable Hero, acquired from Alarm Starboard, by G. Brooke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390064283-73WGTD50INSDPW1YC408/Andy12.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Corsairs and Grumman Avengers warm their engines on Formidable’s deck in preparation for a raid against Japan. The white propeller spinners on these Corsairs indicate they are from Anderson’s 1842 Squadron, also aboard “Formy” during this period. Photo via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390101645-5N2B3U0LYUZIXIFNTRKO/Andy13.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out A Corsair from Gray’s 1841 Squadron taxies forward over the wooden deck of USS Shangri-La. There were two squadrons of Corsairs operating from the carrier—Robert Gray’s 1841 Squadron and Anderson’s 1842. The latter had white propeller spinners, to differentiate their aircraft from those of 1841. The letter “X” on its vertical stabilizer is Formidable’s “deck code”. All aircraft assigned to this ship wore an “X” in this spot, while the carrier itself had a large “X” on her deck. This helped prevent aircraft landing on the wrong ship when carriers operated in close proximity to each other. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390131064-FJ40K1JJHOP5YPUL47CU/Andy14.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out A Corsair of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm launches from the deck of HMS Formidable in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390163632-GY2KBZ1J0X6SWEYHNDLF/Andy10.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Anderson survived many things as the war wound itself down in the western Pacific Ocean, including two kamikaze attacks on HMS Formidable off the coast of Okinawa. The first, on 4 May 1945 (seen here), killed 8 men and wounded 55 others as well as destroying a number of aircraft, but it did not put the carrier out of action. Five days later, the carrier was struck again by a kamikaze, and though the casualties were lighter (one dead and four wounded), there remained only four Corsairs and eleven Avengers with which to conduct operations. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390194636-FDWW7XRCQOKS2HZH0DJ5/Andy9.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out The damage to HMS Formidable following the kamikaze strike on 4 May 1945 during Operation ICEBERG. The snarled wreckage next to the ship’s island is the remains of a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero that had strafed the deck and then crashed into the ship along with a bomb it had just released. Many of Formidable’s aircraft were aloft at the time of the strike and would operate their Corsairs from the decks of other Royal Navy carriers until their ship was operating again the next day. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627390237432-GLL65259XXEHBWX0J5JT/Andy11.jpg The Stories - THE FIRST AND THE LAST - Make it stand out Five days after the first kamikaze strike, Formidable was struck again. Her complement of aircraft was severely depleted and the British Pacific Fleet withdrew for repair and replenishment. Over a week later the guns of an Avenger were accidentally discharged into a Corsair, igniting a fire on the hangar deck that destroyed most of her aircraft. It was time to come off the line and head to Sydney, Australia for repairs. This would have been Anderson’s last chance for rest and relaxation—enjoying the sights and the pretty Aussie girls of Sydney. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-canadians monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627387536638-OZCDCGX9J85HUTENSA66/The-CanadiansTitle.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388025487-M6TXI7N0PAEZDB9QYV8D/The-Canadians13.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out SCRAMBLE!!! Fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force grab their kit and run towards their aircraft. There are many evocative photographs taken in the summer of 1940 of young men like these, running to their possible deaths in the skies over England. During the Second World War, it is noted that, while fighting the Nazi onslaught, pilots wore shirt and tie. Many of these photos were staged for propaganda purposes, and if you look closely at any one of them, you are likely to find a pilot smirking sheepishly. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388070039-MG2W6ILMJ0N28JCNEC38/The-Canadians11.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Among the greats. Douglas Bader (fourth from right), the English flying legend, commanded 242 Canadian Squadron RAF. At the beginning of the war, the RCAF had not yet equipped and assembled squadrons for deployment in Europe. There were however many Canadians who were either in the RAF, or who were RCAF in the Royal Air Force. In order to show Canadians back home that their boys were fully engaged in the war, it was decided to create a special squadron (242) manned by Canadians already in the RAF. This squadron assembled some of the finest talent of the war—young fighter pilots from across the land, now seen fighting the Nazis as a cohesive unit. This photograph was taken at RAF Duxford in September of 1940. Left to right: Future Air Marshal Sir Dennis Crowley-Milling, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar, AE (Wales), Flight Lieutenant Hugh Tamblyn, DFC (Watrous, Saskatchewan), Stan Turner, DSO, DFC, CD (Collingwood, Ontario), Sergeant Joseph Ernest Savill (on wing, British), Pilot Officer Norman Neil Campbell (St. Thomas, Ontario), Flying Officer Willie McKnight, DFC and Bar (Calgary, Alberta), Douglas Bader, Flight Lieutenant George Eric Ball, Pilot Officer Michael G. Homer and Flying Officer Marvin “Ben” Brown (Kincardine, Ontario). Within a year, McKnight, Tamblyn, Campbell, Homer and Brown would be dead. Bader would be shot down and captured and Ball would die in a flying accident having just survived the war. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388148002-SRUB8FE3HF3H1ZBU06KK/The-Canadians14.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out On 30 October 1940, at the end of the Battle of Britain, surviving pilots of No. 1 Squadron RCAF pose in more formal dress with one of their Hurricanes at Prestwick, Scotland. No. 1 Squadron RCAF left for Great Britain in June of 1940, with the Battle well under way. After a short period of training in England, they became the only RCAF Squadron involved in the Battle of Britain, first engaging the enemy on 23 August 1940. The following year, No. 1 became 401 Squadron. 401 Squadron ended the war as the RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force’s highest scoring fighter squadron with 186.5 victories—29 of which were earned during the Battle of Britain. Left to Right: Frank Hillock, Toronto ON; Frederick Watson, Winnipeg MB; Robert Norris, Saskatoon SK; Norman Richard Johnstone, Winnipeg MB; Joseph A. J. Chevrier, Saint-Lambert QC; John David Morrison, Regina SK; Gordon McGregor, Montréal QC; Arthur Yuile, Montréal QC; Paul Pitcher, Montréal QC; William Sprenger, Montréal QC; and Dean Nesbitt, Montréal QC. It is interesting to note that all five men on the right are from Montréal. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388252412-JN9K625RJ0YYYTR2HEEK/The-Canadians12.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe fighters and bombers are knotted in combat high above Maidstone, England in 1940. The condensation vapour trails in the high altitudes trace the battle as it unfolds. Many of the contrails can be seen in pairs as either “lead and wing” turn, wheel and fight together or a fighter is locked on another in mortal combat. This chalkboard of the fight could be seen on many days through the hot humid summer of 1940. Photo: Gullands-Heritage.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388344939-ME0PEQ5ZHHJPD0WTL1C4/The-Canadians01.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Group Captain Gordon Roy McGregor, OC, OBE, DFC (a squadron Leader by the Battle’s end) of Montréal, Québec learned to fly in the early 1930s after earning a degree in engineering from McGill University. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1936, receiving his wings two years later. The handsome McGregor was the oldest Canadian-born pilot in the Battle of Britain, becoming a Hurricane ace during the Battle with 401 Squadron (then called 1 Squadron) RCAF. With five confirmed victories, he was the squadron’s top scoring fighter pilot. McGregor’s Second World War career would include commanding X Wing—a Canadian wing of Kittyhawk fighter on operations in the Aleutians. Later, towards the end of the war, he commanded 126 Wing, a Canadian Spitfire Wing in Europe. After the war, he went to work as an executive for Trans Canada Air Lines, becoming its president a few years later. He then was instrumental in transforming TCA into Air Canada, still the largest airline in Canada today. Photo: AcesofWW2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388382076-TXRRF5AEB0LVEVC5772N/The-Canadians03.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Mark Henry “Hilly” Brown, DFC and Bar (left) was born in the tiny farming town of Glenboro, Manitoba in 1911. Given the flat prairie landscape of his hometown, it’s a wonder where he got his nickname. He received his wings from the Royal Air Force in 1938, and following actions in both the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, he became the first Canadian ace of the Second World War. By the time of his death in November 1941 while on a fighter sweep from Malta, he had achieved Triple Ace status. The citation accompanying the award of his first Distinguished Flying Cross reads: “Since the beginning of the war Flight Lieutenant Brown has destroyed at least sixteen enemy aircraft. On 14th June, when leading his flight on patrol, he encountered nine enemy bombers, two of which were destroyed. Later he attacked nine Messerschmitt 109s, destroying one and driving the remainder off. As a result of bullets entering his aircraft he force landed near Caen, and was unable to rejoin the squadron before it withdrew from France. Flight Lieutenant Brown has shown courage of the highest order, and has led many flights with great success and determination when consistently outnumbered by enemy aircraft.” The citation for his second DFC reads “This officer has commanded the squadron with outstanding success. He has destroyed a further two enemy aircraft bringing his total victories to at least 18. His splendid leadership and dauntless spirit have been largely instrumental in maintaining a high standard of efficiency throughout the squadron”. The pilot next to him in this photo is named Pilot Officer Chatham. The photo was taken at RAF Huntingdonshire. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388639331-E4IADHZPYAADUFBQQ1LK/The-Canadians04.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Flying Officer William Lidstone McKnight, DFC and Bar, of Calgary, Alberta is perhaps the most celebrated Canadian of the Battle of Britain. McKnight, jilted by his girlfriend whilst attending medical school at the University of Alberta, quit his studies and travelled to England on his own money to enlist in the Royal Air Force in 1938. McKnight, an enfant terrible with his wild, rebellious ways, cut quite the swath through his squadrons, being confined to barracks on two occasions, held in open arrest as “perpetrator of a riot”. McKnight was credited with 18 victories and was Bader’s preferred wingman. He survived both the Battle of France and Britain, but was shot down over the English Channel in January of 1941. He was the fourth highest scoring Canadian fighter pilot of the Second World War. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388670888-DFIKBG2106Y76QZ1K9ME/TheCandians15.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Sir John Maxwell “Max” Aitken, 2nd Baron of Beaverbrook, was the son of Lord Beaverbrook, the prominent Second World War politician. Aitken was born in Canada, but was educated in England. He became the commander of 601 City of London Squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain, flying Hurricanes and ended the war with 14 confirmed victories. He flew with and was a friend of the famous fighter pilot memoirist Richard Hillary. He was featured in Hillary’s famous book The Last Enemy. This photo was taken of him in front of a Mosquito fighter-bomber later in the war when he commanded the Banff Strike Wing. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388703616-OQLV4CF2EVRZGCL5JB2Z/The-Canadians06.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Winnipeg-born Group Captain John Alexander “Johnny” Kent, AFC, DFC and Bar, is a true legend of the Battle of Britain. He began his flying war as a Spitfire photo-recon pilot with the Photographic Development Unit. He was shot down whilst on a low-level sortie in France, but survived. He then joined 303 Polish Squadron, RAF in command of “A” Flight. He earned the love and admiration of his Polish pilots, many of whom spoke no English. He eventually led the entire Polish Wing of four squadrons, thereby earning himself the nicknames Kentowski and Kentski. Of the four Polish squadrons in his charge, he had this to say: “I cannot say how proud I am to have been privileged to help form and lead No. 303 Squadron and later to lead such a magnificent fighting force as the Polish Wing. There formed within me in those days an admiration, respect and genuine affection for these really remarkable men which I have never lost. I formed friendships that are as firm as they were those twenty-five years ago and this I find most gratifying. We who were privileged to fly and fight with them will never forget and Britain must never forget how much she owes to the loyalty, indomitable spirit and sacrifice of those Polish flyers. They were our staunchest Allies in our darkest days; may they always be remembered as such.” Kent accounted for 13 enemy aircraft shot down. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388732685-TWLJY29P0I6XBOHYR897/TheCanadins16.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Hugh Tamblyn, DFC was born in Watrous, Saskatchewan in 1917. Twenty-one years later, he joined the RAF on a short service commission. He started his flying career as a staff pilot for No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School in England. Following this service, he joined 141 Squadron. The unit flew the Boulton Paul Defiant turret-fighter, which, while somewhat effective against bomber formations, was hopelessly outclassed by German Bf-109s. On 19 July, in the Battle of Britain, he was one of only two pilots in a flight of nine Defiants to survive a mauling by Messerschmitt Bf-109s. His turret-gunner claimed one of the Messerschmitts. In August, he joined 242 Canadian Squadron and in September 1940, claimed 5 victories. In April of 1941, he was shot down by return fire from a Dornier Do. 17. He crashed into the sea and got out of his Hurricane, but died of exposure and hypothermia before he could be rescued. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388769574-SVJV8DS3YURCBFPF9A4U/The-Canadians09.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out While Percival Stanley “Stan” Turner, DSO, DFC and Bar, was born in England, his parents emigrated to Toronto, Ontario when he was a small child. While enrolled at the University of Toronto in engineering, he enlisted in the RCAF auxiliary. In 1938, he sailed the Atlantic and joined the Royal Air Force on a short service commission, completing his flying training in 1939 at the outbreak of the war. He joined 219 Squadron on Hurricanes, but when the idea of a squadron of fighting Canadians took hold, he moved over to 242 Squadron a month later. Turner survived the war with 12 victories and the distinction of being the Canadian pilot with the most combat tours. Stan Turner is a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388798087-1C0G7TO23MEW2H6CATNP/The-Canadians10.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out At the time of the Battle of Britain, the diminutive but feisty Ernest Archibald McNab, OBE, DFC of Saskatchewan was, at 35, much older than the pilots in his No. 1 Squadron, but he flew with youthful abandon. He enlisted in the RCAF in 1926, earning his pilot brevet in 1928. He took command of No. 1 Squadron in November of 1939 and took his squadron overseas to join the fight in June 1940. Between the wars, McNab was a member of Canada’s fort military aerobatic demonstration team—The Siskins. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388828572-AB294I3IPZXQZEQP61G6/The-Canadians08.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Joseph Paul Larichelière was bilingual, elegant and university educated, one of a large group of Canadian pilots who called Montréal home. Throughout the 1930s, he watched as the war loomed over the horizon, and when it seemed imminent in 1939, he joined the RAF, at age 26. By the time of his death, Larichelière was an ace with 6 victories. He and his fellow 213 Squadron pilots were scrambled to intercept enemy aircraft on 16 August. He did not return. Like many young men of the RAF and RCAF, he has no known grave. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627388891770-9UFNZM4G8E6UEM1UJPTV/TheCanadians17.jpg The Stories - THE CANADIANS — In the Battle of Britain - Make it stand out The photogenic Pilot Officer Alfred Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie, DFC of Ottawa, Ontario was a former bank teller who joined the RAF on short service commission the summer before the Battle of Britain. His wish was to join 242 Canadian Squadron, but the unit was not in need of another pilot, so he joined 601 Squadron. He became an ace during the Battle of Britain. In 1941, while flying a Spitfire, he was seriously wounded and forced to bail out. He was captured and spent the next nine months in hospital before being transferred to Stalag Luft III POW camp. He helped plan the Great Escape, and managed to evade capture for 2 days. After recapture, he was interrogated and then sent back to prison—50 of his fellow escapees were not so lucky. When they were recaptured, they were executed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/first-love monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627346407843-7XCPGASVYLMH1R90GAGD/FirstLoveTitle.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627346475988-P9BOBNUKZK4BDAQPILL0/FirstLove55.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out An actual photo of RCAF 9767 under the command of F/O Tom Cooke attacking U-342. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627346541901-CR05A3BT2W0UPNSPNO7F/FirstLove2.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out After landing at Sandspit, passengers from the PBY were transferred to either a DC-6 or a Convair 240 for the flight down to Vancouver. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627346592845-ZD0YKTJ6ODZGBH3RC18X/FirstLove59.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Aboard the fishing vessel Nanceda following another fishing vessel out to rescue the survivors of the crash of CF-CRV, engineer Bob Tara photographs the aircraft in the distance, still floating somewhat horizontally, but minus everything forward of the wing. Photo by Bob Tara https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384446736-UNL2PCH8P6LE3EIIP5JJ/FirstLove58.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out In an image and scenario vaguely reminiscent of a more recent ditching on the Hudson, surviving passengers stand on the still floating wing, while a small vessel begins taking them off. Photo by Bob Tara https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384481372-G1YPHGEYMKRHSMQFTD5F/FirstLove56.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Shortly after Canso CF-CRV nosed over at speed and crashed, stunned survivors stand on her huge wing while she floats off Prince Rupert in 1953. The photograph was taken by Bob Tara, the engineer aboard the Nanceda, one of the fishing vessels that rushed to save the survivors. The accident report indicated that “It would appear that through misuse of the controls in the air after the aircraft touched down on the water, it bounced several times, the final bounce being so severe that the nose section was torn off.” Photo via David Bartle, Aviation-Safety.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384565473-RLFGCSQX2IRGO5GVBXKP/FirstLove57.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Nothing speaks to the dangers of operating an amphibious aircraft in waters known for logging and bad weather than the sight of CF-CRV’s tail rising poignantly from the waters off Seal Cove in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Though the two pilots were ejected and eventually returned to productive aviation careers, the stewardess and a passenger were killed – here survivors await rescue on the wing of the Canso. Photo by Bob Tara, via David Bartle, Aviation-Safety.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384632162-FS068GLDFAMMGJZWSM8N/FirstLove61.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A salvage barge comes alongside, while an RCMP constable stands on the wing. Photo by Bob Tara https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384666409-1H74ZABZZ7B0NZDTKYSV/FirstLove60.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out The Nanceda’s own winching machinery is employed to hold the tail of the downed Canso to stop her from taking on more water. Photo by Nanceda’s engineer Bob Tara https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384697507-BZ11SACKN6BQR1JDRTZE/FirstLove21.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out The wreckage of Canadian Pacific Airlines Canso CF-CRV hauled out to the dock at Prince Rupert. The stewardess and a passenger were killed while the two pilots, Wally Jennings and F/O Ev Abbey, were thrown free. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384735697-45G726B7YOMZLCEQHNO9/FirstLove9.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out An aerial view of Prince Rupert showing the area where the author would land and take his PBY off from the water. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384780729-54FXZUPTR7U1JV1PKWN3/FirstLove20.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Back in 1958, Flight Attendants were called Stewardesses. Why this ever became a word with negative connotations, one will never know. At Prince Rupert, the youngest and most junior of “stews” did a tough apprenticeship with grace, good humour and professionalism as can be seen on the face of Stewardess Beverly Rose, seen walking to CF-CRR at Prince Rupert in an 8mm film made by the author. For a video by Baxendale about his days with CP and the Canso, click here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384868600-CPUYAO6GMSD6VC2QDSMK/FirstLove3.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Canso/PBY/Catalina/Landseair CF-CRR sits beautifully on the ramp at the Canadian Pacific facility at Seal Cove, Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384971354-BZACMYPEHYLZIUSGB131/FirstLove4.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A side view of CF-CRR at Prince Rupert, showing the wingtip pontoon floats lowered as well as her rear boarding stairs. The Canadian-built Canso was retrofitted to take up to 20 passengers. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627384996514-H8MHQ33NLGMS9D7YKB0X/FirstLove19.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A young passenger gets ready for the short but exciting trip to Sandspit on Vancouver Island. Passengers enjoyed the excitement of a roll down the ramp to a long taxi by water to the takeoff position and then the joys of a high speed water launch. Finally, at Sandspit she got to experience a runway landing as well. Not many of the 20 passengers aboard would have such an excellent view of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the coast of British Columbia as did this woman. With 20 passengers aboard, the lavatory was used as a baggage compartment. Luckily it was a short flight. Photo from 8mm film shot by author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385020142-LSTDW01JK7YM6Y94XRW8/FirstLove40.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A Google Maps view of Sandspit today shows us where it got its name from. Landing at Sandspit, there are few options other than the water if an aircraft runs off the end of the runway. Photo from Google Maps with additions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385137112-BDUIQHNJSJ68A76IRU5C/FirstLove6.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR up on the step while taking off from Prince Rupert. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385206211-NG3TJG4XG2V78YM2V24E/FirstLove8.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR at Terrace after landing without a nose wheel as a result of losing a gear door when attempting a landing at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385258336-5CW8UHZ7Y5B0UG4KAE5S/FirstLove5.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Amphibious CF-CRR powers up the ramp at Prince Rupert’s Seal Cove Canadian Pacific seaplane base. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385300968-4RK8Q8IG6S15Z3VKEB18/FirstLove7.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR skimming low over the water at Prince Rupert just before landing. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385370667-W99KH3UXS2PVKQS7HPQ0/FirstLove41.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A nice group shot with CF-CRR at Prince Rupert in 1958. The author, Captain Dennis Baxendale stands at left. Next to him are agent Lou Burtsch and two of the CPAL mechanics. In the front kneel First Officer Denny Denman and dispatcher Lou Burchell. Photo via the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385435439-XVC6LFBLR4Q8RMOAX5OW/FirstLove10.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A Google Maps view of the proximity of Kitimat and Terrace and their relation to Prince Rupert in upper left. Photo from Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385584388-BW7C2JOFZ9Q9KGGG8SES/FirstLove42.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A photograph of CF-CRR at Port Radium in the Northwest Territories. The Canadian Pacific Airlines name has been removed from the side, but she appears to still have her beautiful red and blue markings and cheat lines. Most likely, this was after the author brought her to Edmonton to take her out of scheduled service, and before the following photo was taken. Photo: The Ron Dupas Collection at 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385613830-ESK320XUUTGXH2X8E8B8/FirstLove39.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A shot of CF-CRR sometime between when Captain Baxendale and his crew brought her to Edmonton and when she was sold to Midwest Airlines of Winnipeg. She is seen stripped of her beautiful blue and red paint and with her waist blisters removed and faired over, but still wearing minimal Canadian Pacific Airlines Markings. Photo: Eddie Coates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385676098-ZWKSUP9C7ARO4ZB6FODP/FirstLove23.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR was purchased in 1960 by Northland Airlines of Winnipeg, Manitoba and operated by them until 1968 when she was purchased by Midwest Airlines also of Winnipeg. By 1973, she was in the hands of Ilford Riverton Airways also of Winnipeg. Photo: Tim Martin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385727120-OE16LF31VI0NPQ3CZLYP/FirstLove16.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out From 1977 until 1979, she was operated as a fire fighting tanker for Avalon Aviation at Red Deer, Alberta. Here we see her in Avalon’s bright orange colours as Tanker 791. In ’79, she moved with Avalon to Parry Sound, Ontario and was owned and operated by them until 1989. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385787968-BWG2MZVJ0XOEBNHMH8BS/FirstLove13.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR sits forlornly in a grassy field at Parry Sound where she was put out to pasture in 1988, remaining there until 1992 or longer. In 1995, she became the property of Powell Corporation of Parry Sound who sold her to Franklin Devaux of France’s Flying Legends. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385816162-N5UOA15X1X1B0W6G3YUG/FirstLove18.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out In October 1995, after a long maintenance program in France, it departed for Africa equipped as a flying TV studio for use in a French TV natural history series called “Opération Okavango”. Its initial destination was Djibouti, followed by the Comoro Islands, then Kenya and Ethiopia. After a period at Harare in Zimbabwe, CF-CRR returned to France. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385854474-VBBGATXX5M9R68BC5GQT/FirstLove29.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out In October 1995, this “French” PBY departed for Africa equipped as a flying TV studio for use in a French TV natural history series called “Opération Okavango”. Its initial destination was Djibouti, followed by the Comoro Islands, then Kenya and Ethiopia. The operations in Ethiopia were not without incident whilst being filmed taxiing out of the water after a lake-landing, the bow became stuck fast in mud and the Catalina had to be ignominiously lifted out of its predicament by the Mi-8 support helicopter that was accompanying it on the trip. Even this was not straightforward, as the downdraught damaged the Cat’s port aileron in the process! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385885134-FPYQZZZ4DT8JM4506U1V/FirstLove44.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A spectacular shot taken from a camera mounted beneath the starboard wing of the Opération Okavango Canso CF-CRR banking over aquamarine waters in Africa. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385922562-ZMLWVP3T2T2TSBIXYD9Y/FirstLove45.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Another stunning shot of the Opération Okavango version of CF-CRR low over some of the most beautiful water anywhere. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385968173-GHFCVFQWVELXPARJH84I/FirstLove32.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR at Dijon Longvic in September of 1997 with her Opération Okavango markings removed. Photo: A. Roy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627385996735-BJ4A39VGLZ3DA7WWF9LS/FirstLove46.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out It was later repainted in an Air France colour scheme with the name Princesse des étoiles and flown to Le Bourget, Paris, on 23 August 1998, where it was dismantled by the British firm Edwards Brothers Aviation, previously involved in the African filming, and trucked to the Place de la Concorde on the Champs Élysées. There, it was placed on public display during September, along with a great number of other vintage aircraft, to celebrate 100 years of Aéro-Club de France. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386278227-4YN2IQHLZM59D608E7R5/FirstLove14.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386315446-91CSWKSVX7MR60LGLDPX/FirstLove15.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Princesse des étoiles sits at Oshawa undergoing maintenance at Enterprise Air still sporting her Air France and TAM blended livery. Photo: Eric Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386208334-AE0VULWOGE5WX0DBELTF/FirstLove35.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR parked at Orly in December of 1999 with Air France markings as Princesse des étoiles. Photo: A. Roy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386233286-ZEEZZOSS9BNXFGQJ0US1/FirstLove52.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Another shot, but this time of CF-CRR flying as Princesse des étoiles, in Air France livery, low over sand dunes in Africa, quite possibly near Dakar. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386416694-RV8ONE2OPY430OR29MZH/FirstLove43.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out As Princesse des étoiles, CF-CRR flies low over coastline somewhere on her many storied journeys. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386448883-Y71WWZ17BXNLBX0RGSUZ/FirstLove47.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Cruising the African coast en route to Brazil. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386509411-C0LN8O2NPWFQJN2Y1Q03/FirstLove48.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Taxiing on a river in Africa. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386786469-SGX4FZIDYTZISIBI192K/FirstLove49.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR made quite a spectacle for citizens of every community that she visited both as Okavango and as Princesse des étoiles. Here she taxies on a river in Africa. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386811052-PEBLK0052FFFLGR6UX6V/FirstLove50.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A spectacular view from the port waist blister looking forward into the setting sun on her journey to Brazil. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386847943-A7MJZPPVG06S50GQDOZE/FirstLove51.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR, Princesse des étoiles, drops down into the harbour of Rio de Janeiro with spectacular Sugar Loaf Mountain in the background. Photo via The European Federation Historic Aviation (EFHA) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386872317-JOY2F5M39OITHMMZUQ4O/FirstLove37.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out The Princesse des étoiles undergoing major overhaul and repair in a hangar in Orly. Photo via Swiss Aviation Photography Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386896638-QC40BF4BDA94WZ3XDSFX/FirstLove38.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out CF-CRR as N9767 getting her most recent overhaul at Orly prior to December 2010. Photo via Swiss Aviation Photography Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386918780-HJE7BL5DY5EYISP562S6/FirstLove33.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out On 22 December 2010, CF-CRR, now N9767, was photographed taking to the skies again after an extended period of overhaul. She was overhauled at Orly and was then heading to Melun where she would be based. Photo: Jacques Guillem via Swiss Aviation Photography Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386946992-26Q5RB0EQMGQJJ43KN5T/FirstLove54.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Photographed in September of 2011 at the Fermanagh Seaplane Festival at the former RAF Killadeas, Canso N9767 came from its base at Melun–Villaroche near Paris. N9767 now sports a mixed livery—selling Bertaud Belieu wines from France and Irish Tourism. Photo: Fergal Goodman, Irish251 at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386971587-35INLMOXJAVA9H0ZGVDU/FirtsLove25.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out Now touting for Ireland Tourism and French wines, CF-CRR/N9767 still wears her Princesse des étoiles name at the tip of her nose. Photo: Fergal Goodman, Irish251 at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627386999547-73W1RIPM40MRG9P8P5NY/FirstLove28.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out RCAF 9767 flying as the Bertaud Belieu Catalina at an air show in Lausanne, Switzerland commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Lausanne-Blécherette Airport in 2011. Photo: Stéphane Mutzenberger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627387034058-2UOADJT5UIPX7WC4WKF9/FirstLove27.jpg The Stories - FIRST LOVE — The Canadian Pacific Canso - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of N9767 at the Centennial air show at Lausanne in September of 2011 showing off that beautiful wing and her military bearing. Photo: Jean-Charles Sautaux https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-ghosts-of-southern-alberta monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624473061640-U1YZL62HVNH2QY6L37EO/GhostsFlash.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627262860307-XPVXNV5P0QE06H4P4GOB/Ghosts1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The long and short dashes of history—the hangar line at Vulcan aerodrome today as seen from Vulcan County Regional Road 163. Photo: Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627262963438-YFBSRPKA9SW22Z6WP1S1/BCATPTrain.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The men who would populate the schools across the country were brought there by the trains of the CNR and CPR. Overnight, the great railway system of Canada was primarily in the employ of the war effort. Here, a recently graduated class of observers/navigators from No. 31 Air Navigation School pose with the train that will take them from the small town of Goderich, Ontario, to their uncertain futures at the war front. Photo via Phil Wilson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318036765-VO08DJX5T644QSAHCV02/Todd.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux on the stick and Lori Fitzgerald on the camera in search of the old ghosts of Alberta. In April of 2019, the two veteran pilots made a flight plan that would take them over many of the Southern Alberta airfields to capture what could still be seen. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318110461-XN6IR7LKUZYP1122T761/HighRiver5.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A wonderful hand-notated flight map of part of Southern Alberta, likely used by a student or perhaps an instructor. I believe that the ovals surrounding the aerodromes were added later to highlight them on the web. However, there are handwritten notations pinpointing the instructional flying areas for High River—dual (instructor-student) flying to the east, low-flying close to the aerodrome, and a solo aerobatic practice area to the west. On this map, Calgary is about 10% the size it is today. Map via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318208745-A8JLRRR5MUYT5L9NAJJE/Claresholme00.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Number 15 Service Flying Training School at Claresholm, Alberta. No other photo demonstrates the extraordinary flight training environment of the western Canadian provinces than this old black-and-white photo of RCAF Station Claresholm in the war years. Flat and obstruction-free, the wheat fields of Southern Alberta offered plenty of opportunity for young pilots to screw up and still have a chance at survival with a forced landing. The town of Claresholm can be seen a couple of miles to the north and east in this photo and appears to be about the same size as its airfield. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318237686-ZKBQHAUQYBKI17DI9GFV/Claresholme23.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A view of No. 15 SFTS shot in the spring of 2019 from a similar angle, with the town of Claresholm off in the distance and the broad prairie sailing to the horizon. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318294839-VW6M549H9VSGV66NHVZZ/Claresholm01.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite photo of Claresholm today. The airfield serves double duty as the local airport (Runway 03-21 remains in operation) and as a sort of industrial park with six of the original flightline hangars still in existence. Several of these hangars are in terrible disrepair and most of the base ancillary buildings have been taken down. Still, if you drive the old streets of the base today, it feels somehow alive—a pale shade of its former vibrancy, but with an undeniable pulse. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318427467-P0I6SNQG3DYRZNTRSPPU/Claresholm03.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318362316-6YF68GHLCOLCD6LDXDSS/AlbertaClaresholmA.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Fading into history. When I first began this story more than three years ago, one could clearly see the remains of the No. 15 SFTS relief field at Woodhouse, Alberta, on the satellite view of Google Maps—top image, right hand side. The remains of its three distinctive runways were still visible. But just three years later, I checked it again and there exists only the faintest discolouration to mark the spot where so many trained. Images via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318499735-EJFVNM6NPE4Y2877KDVU/Woodhouse.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux and Lori Fitzgerald set out this spring to find remnants of many of the southern Alberta airfields. In this shot of Claresholm's relief field at Woodhouse, looking north, we can still just see the faint fossil of the old runways. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318549989-CG57S0AKI3E3PA9631RQ/Pulteney.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A few of the relief fields had grass runways and of those, like Pulteney, Alberta, Claresholm's other field, not even the faintest trace exists. Transports and tourists roll down Alberta Highway 2 (left is north), past the old site and there is no sign that, 75 years ago, young men trained here for war, many of whom did not come home. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318609436-A5FFCF384U4P6XIRIHD1/AlbertaClaresholmB.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Like all of the BCATP training schools, Claresholm had its share of accidents and tragedies. In the war years, there was a higher tolerance for loss of life and equipment than what would be acceptable today. One striking accident captured in this image had a happier outcome that the photo would indicate. The website of the Bomber Command Museum in nearby Nanton explains: “The school was the site of a rather spectacular accident. A Cessna Crane aircraft with two students aboard had an engine failure over the aerodrome and while trying to go around again after a single engine approach, lost altitude and dived right into barracks block 11, occupied by the Service Police. Crashing through the roof and landing on top of the bunks, it pinned down one man sleeping in the lower bunk so that he could not move. It was rather fortunate that the man in the top bunk, a few minutes before, had retired to the washroom. Needless to say, the remainder of the men were rather startled to find a Jacobs engine in bed with them, or in the close vicinity. Injuries were sustained by some seven servicemen in and by the two airmen. The remarkable thing about the accident was that there was no loss of life, and when the crash crew arrived on scene, two very scared looking pilots were extracted from the jumble of aircraft, beds, and building with hardly a scratch on them.” Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318643180-56ILASLXJLT0QXNOQYIR/Claresholm04.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Many former training airfields of the BCATP have memorials to the field and to the young men who were killed in training. Claresholm had more than its share as this plaque attests—21 in all. Three of the Australians from the base—McKittrick, Bennet, and Baker—were killed in the same accident on July 20, 1944, when the Anson they were in crashed near the small town of Arrowood, Alberta, some 100 kilometres north of the Claresholm field. In those days, foreign airmen were buried near their bases, while the bodies of most Canadian and American airmen were transported home by train. The plaque and memorial were raised in 1997, more than 40 years after the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318690383-VLBNBDLFCOIKTOZ0DNFI/Claresholm05.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318717652-C8FOYE4P1SMWLEX1U619/Claresholm06.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Scenes from the military funeral of McKittrick, Bennet, and Baker. They were laid to rest in the Claresholm town cemetery with local ministers and chaplains in attendance. Across Canada there are as many graveyards like this as there are training bases. In them are buried the remains of hundreds of Commonwealth and Allied airmen who never got to fight in the war. In many cases, their families would never be able to journey from Australia, New Zealand, and other places to visit their son's final resting place. Many would never really learn the circumstances of their deaths. But one thing is certain, these graves were and still are well tended by local volunteers. I have visited many of these graveyards and have never seen a headstone or plot in disrepair. Photos via Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318759958-WWWOL07SKZ9E50M8LG2G/Claresholm07.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A photo of a wartime graduating course of pilots at Claresholm's No. 15 SFTS posing in front of hangar doors. The pilots are all wearing their brand-new wings and sergeant stripes. We know this is right after their wings parade because they all still have their white aircrew training cap flashes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318813143-KUVVT4P9OX412RZUIE98/Claresholm40.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flying Officer Pat Donaghy, reader and contributor to Vintage News, sent me a series of photographs from his post-war time training on Harvards at Claresholm. This formal group photo is of his flying training cadre—Course No. 44 NATO Air Training Plan which assembled at No. 3 FTS, Claresholm, Alberta early August 1952. This photo was taken August 6, 1952 at the very start of the course. Trainee pilots were from the RCAF, RAF, Netherlands Air Force and L'Armée de l'Air (French Air Force). The French pilots were there only for a few weeks and then sent to a School of English. Back Row: Peter Aarts, Jackie Vegtel (Netherlands Air Force (NAF)); Al Hesjedahl of Bengough, Saskatchewan, Gord Vincent from Nova Scotia, Malcolm Bayne of Ottawa,(RCAF); Theo de Jager (NAF); Harry Jordan, Johnny Lidiard, Tony Loftus, Tim Carter, Lawrie, (RAF); Centre Row: Pat Donaghy of Flin Flon, Manitoba, (RCAF); Noel Van der Haar (NAF); LaBarthe, (FAF); Jacques Desmarais, (RCAF); Shim Folkers (NAF); Larry Forbes of Montreal, (RCAF); Pearce,(RAF); Gerry Thorneycroft from Swift Current, Sask. (RCAF); "Tinker" Bell (RAF); Front Row: Simmonet, DeNeve (FAF); Eric Das (NAF); Gerry Coles, Taff James, Bert Conchie, Ron Evans, "Tank" Martin, (RAF); Johnny Glover of Guelph, Ont., Keith Armstrong of Richards Landing, Ont.Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627318856199-U29BQ67K8X4RVOCGNFWA/Claresholm41.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Pat Donaghy (Left, Middle row) and his fellow Canadians on Course No. 44 at Claresholm pose in their best uniforms and white aircrew trainee cap flashes in front of an H-hut entrance. Top Row (L-R): Malcolm Bayne, Gordon Vincent, Gerry Thorneycroft; Middle Row: Pat Donaghy, Al Hesjedahl, Keith Armstrong, Bottom Row: Larry Forbes, Jacques Desmarais, Johnny Glover. There have been a number of Thorneycrofts in the RCAF since the war. Jacques Desmarais is better known in the RCAF and Canadian flying circles by his nom-de-plume—Ace McCool. Ace McCool was a much-loved humour column written in Canadian Aviation magazine and accompanied by cartoon illustrations. E.E. “Al” Hesjedahl went on to fly CF-100s as an air show performer just four years later. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319184218-UYGD0UFKO34O2J6MEB1Y/Claresholm42.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flying student Leading Aircraftman Patrick Donaghy is “rarin' to go” as he gets set to climb into a North American Harvard II, one of hundreds built in Canada by Canadian Car and Foundry at Port Arthur, Ontario. Donaghy flew both Mk II and Mk IV Harvards at Claresholm. He was part of a test group that began primary/elementary flying training on Harvards right out of the gate. During the Second World War, pilots started out on much less complex aircraft such as the Fleet Finch, de Havilland Tiger Moth or Fairchild Cornell and then went on the earn their wings on Harvards at a Service Flying Training School. Donaghy and his cadre started on Harvards but when they had mastered this demanding aircraft, they did not get their pilot's wings. Instead they went on to a T-33 jet course from which they would graduate with their brevets. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319225071-N3SB42LSZS4HSGFR4RUE/Claresholm43.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out In contrast to the glamour shot in the previous photo is this image that it wasd not all fun at Claresholm. Here Larry Forbes (left), Malcom Bayne and Donaghy (right) take out the trash from the classroom at Claresholm. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319261847-QORPJYOK91QN4I0QKL19/Claresholm44.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out During his training on Harvards, student pilot Donaghy executed a textbook dead-stick, wheels-up landing in a wheat stubblefield west of the airfield in October of 1952. Dongahy explains: “ SOP [Standard Operating Procedure-Ed.] was on the first start of the day we were to give the engine 30 seconds of oil dilution. The theory being it provided better scavenging and cleaner running engines. So on this particular day I flipped the spring loaded switch UP for 30 seconds, released it and it snapped down and OFF. The circuit was very busy and I spent 10 or 12 minutes in the line-up before getting clearance for T/O. I was climbing out and about 400 feet oil and smoke came pouring out under the engine cowling and some flames could be seen. The windshield became partially obscured. I immediately shut down the power and the oil and smoke decreased. There were no end of level stubble-covered fields and I concentrated on maintaining the proper glide speed. I called, "Claresholm Tower, 346, I have an fire in the air off the end of 20!" Just before I shut OFF the battery master switch a casual reply, "346, understand you have a fire in the air?" There was one lone cow or steer in the field I had selected and my thoughts were, "Move, damn you animal, cause I'm not making any turns at this altitude!" It sensed or heard me and headed yonder. The touchdown was relatively smooth and before I knew it I was about 50 feet away fumbling at the 'chute Quick Release. I went back and checked in the cockpit to make sure ALL the switches were in their correct position. Within minutes there were a couple a/c orbiting overhead. What I hadn't noticed on the approach was a farmer riding a tractor along the fence-line bordering my landing field. He stopped and climbed over the fence and strolled up to the Harvard and said to me, "Well you sure scared the shit outta my cow!" An investigation discovered that while the dilution switch did go OFF, the solenoid controlling the dilution pump failed and continued to RUN pumping gasoline into the oil tank all the while I was waiting for T/O clearance. When T/O power was applied the now excessively diluted oil forced its way under the rocker box gaskets and onto the hot exhaust pipes. A repair was made and a new prop installed and a few months later I again flew 20346.” Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319301191-PB6IQPWKJLODWGNC2D76/Claresholm45.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Wings level and little damage—about the best outcome possible for a dead-stick and wheels-up landing. They trained them well in those days! Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319342886-IJ0DL5BU1YQHD3R94S9M/Claresholm46.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The gasoline-diluted oil was forced out and caught fire on the hot exhaust pipe. Thanks to Donaghy's training and quick action, the damage was minimal. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319387422-Y0QPKNSKVJJ7202QXD0L/Claresholm47.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Harvard 20346 was recovered and fixed in time for Donaghy to fly it again during his training course. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319423593-TGKY2TC3XM7BOR1G65QV/Claresholm48.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Donaghy's Course No. 44 graduation picture. Instuctors are in the front row (Left to right): Flying Officers Bullis, Webster, Ledgerwood, Gray, Flight Lieutenant Josh Linford (RAF exchange officer & Flight Commander Course 44.) Flying Officers Mitchell, Stevenson, Molyneaux, Campbell, Grant, and Abell. On the Wing: Conchie, Vander Haar, Heffernan, Martin, Steer, Lidiard, Aarts, Armstrong, Forbes, McDonald, Bell. Standing: Coles, Thorneycroft, Glover, Donaghy, Hesjedahl, Carter, Garland, DeJager, Jordan, Folkers, Vincent, Das, Vegtal, Desmarais, Evans, James. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319496064-0RUS90XT3DEXLU9Q2AR0/Claresholm49.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flight students at Claresholm: Back row: Tim Carter, "Tinker" Bell (with his distinctive RAF mustache), Larry Forbes, John Glover, Al Hesjedahl. Front Row: Pat Donaghy, Gerry Thorneycroft, Ron Evans, "Tank" Martin, Keith Armstrong. Photo: Pat Donaghy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319540521-KRRQT10Z6CQWG80K6101/Claresholm09.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A good photo of Claresholm after the war with runways well marked for NATO pilot training. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319581200-83UKDQQA8UH7SZ253P5U/Claresholm30.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319609158-JEA2ZY9PJDLMWWAASSR5/Claresholm32.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out For a while after NATO training left for Gimli, Manitoba, and the base was abandoned by the RCAF, Claresholm became known for having, of all things, the finest restaurant in all of Alberta—The Flying “N” Inn Restaurant, run by chef Jean Hoare from one of the old BCATP structures. People made the 1.25-hour drive from Calgary for their legendary steaks and smorgasbord. Even Bing Crosby found himself at one of Hoare's tables, ordering her signature “Chicken In The Gold” dish. Here we see some locals (top) leaving on January 1, 1981, after a big New Year's bash (bottom photo) following a year-long celebration in Alberta for its 75th birthday. Politicians, dignitaries and business people were in abundance and Jean Hoare's fame was at its peak. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319646720-HZTCRWJ74DZJMGRMZDDH/Claresholm31.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Jean Hoare's cookbook of recipes from the Flying “N” and a matchbook that touts her Famous Smorgasbord and her specialty in Alberta beef steaks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319702821-S2EB61VFX5F3H9VUCROG/Claresholm12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The high cost of maintaining these old wooden structures means that they have little value for most modern businesses. Claresholm is a rather fortunate old base. Six of the original seven hangars on the line are still being used—although mostly for businesses other than aviation. One has been taken down to the slab and this one is close to death. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319730153-EOH1UW7R9YS8FCIST9JX/Claresholm13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Another sad view of one of the large flightline hangars shows a deplorable state of deterioration. Though this one is up for sale, it is really the land that it's on that retains any value. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319784024-LWZOT3409R3E3ML6Z0VY/Claresholm14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The street names on the old Claresholm station have aviation-based names—Harvard Drive and Tiger Moth Way being two of them. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319810360-NND1ABCD9XSBRX4JRZGS/Claresholm16.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The impact of RCAF Station Claresholm on the town was enormous. Six years after the BCATP base closed in 1945, the school was reopened as No. 3 Flying Training School for the purpose of training NATO pilots using the single-engine Harvard IV. During the 1950s there were more than a thousand RCAF personnel stationed in Claresholm, including Canadian and international pilot trainees who learned to fly there. The base was officially closed again in 1958. A Harvard aircraft, much like the ones used during the training, can be found on display at Centennial Park along Starline Road—the road that leads out of town to the airport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627319912510-V5E9URII5LTLJ2GR4FQM/Pearce00.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The impact of RCAF Station Claresholm on the town was enormous. Six years after the BCATP base closed in 1945, the school was reopened as No. 3 Flying Training School for the purpose of training NATO pilots using the single-engine Harvard IV. During the 1950s there were more than a thousand RCAF personnel stationed in Claresholm, including Canadian and international pilot trainees who learned to fly there. The base was officially closed again in 1958. A Harvard aircraft, much like the ones used during the training, can be found on display at Centennial Park along Starline Road—the road that leads out of town to the airport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627327262989-337H1UO3ISEFQDL70HV6/Pearce05.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The muddy Old Man River curves around the site of the former No. 36 Elementary Flying Training School at Pearce. One gets a good sense of how large the centre-pivot irrigation circles are—with diameters as long as a runway. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627327318382-6ZXYIDUB2XDL35IZ5WF9/Pearce03.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Pearce, Alberta, was a very small place as was witnessed by the size of its train station. Here a group of young Royal Air Force Leading Aircraftmen, with their white aircrew training cap flashes, pose as they wait for a train—perhaps to take them to a bigger centre like Lethbridge or Calgary where they might find some fun. In the distance on the left we can see the grain elevators that once marked every community on the prairies. The men, station, the track, the elevators, and even the town have all since vanished. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627327372944-9S58NRBFHOOTXO1CEQ3E/Pearce01.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out As an Elementary Flying Training School run by the Royal Air Force in the early part of the Second World War, Pearce was home to the magnificent but entirely unsuitable Stearman Kadet. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan acquired 300 of the sturdy and powerful trainers, but they arrived without the required winter-weather equipment, primarily a coupe-top canopy for winter flying. Within only a few months, they were deemed inadequate for Canadian winters and were returned to the United States in groups over the next few months. The Stearman Kadets were used only in Alberta, and only to train Royal Air Force flight students. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627327406006-4US3I0Z6MGNCB1VAH8G1/Pearce02.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flying instructors, staff officers, and other staff at Pearce posing in front of a Cessna Crane. Front row (centre) Wing Commander Sharpe (Chief Flying Instructor); on his right S/L D. L. G. Jones; on his left S/L E. L. Gosling. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627327482171-VCY2LJRT6CJQLMKZTO5O/Pearce19.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Winters in Southern Alberta are tough enough, but when one is isolated on a remote air training base with nothing to do, sport takes on a life all its own. The bases in the south formed an extremely competitive ice hockey federation known as the Southern Alberta Air Force Hockey League (SAAFHL), with teams such as the Pearce Professors, Fort Macleod Playboys, Vulcan Hawks, Claresholm Falcons, Lethbridge Gunners, and the Lethbridge Bombers (No. 8 B&GS). The league actually started in January 1942 as the Southern Alberta Service Hockey League and included an Army team from Lethbridge. The Pearce Professors were one of the more accomplished teams. The caption with this photo in the Lethbridge Herald explains: Yes, you're right! There was plenty of room for more fans to watch this power play of Claresholm Falcons against Pearce Professors the other evening at the local arena. Profs won the game 9-7, but it took a sustained battle to do the trick. Dishing up fast and bruising hockey at every stand, the five teams in the Southern Alberta Air Force Hockey League merit much better attendance than they have been playing before in most games. (Note to the reader: these seats will be waiting for you tomorrow night, when Professors entertain Lethbridge Bombers in the local ice palace.) Photo via Lethbridge Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330325620-IXV37PMPN9GQNCL3PSEM/Pearce18.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out You win some, you lose some. From digital records of the Lethbridge Herald, it was obvious that the Pearce Professors were a dominant team, but the league was highly competitive. Back in the day, the name Professors had perhaps a tougher cachet than it would today. These teams were mostly made up of base personal and staff pilots rather than students, who were transient and extremely busy with course work and flying. Image: Lethbridge Herald clippings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330356906-ZZ1UB0EKRP9EKJHK61A1/Pearce04.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Scores of Avro Anson trainers await their fate at Pearce in October of 1945 after an early winter snow. Within a couple of years, they would all be gone to the scrapyard or to the odd civilian buyer. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330387548-L26X20M5Y6EMKGWZHZ51/Pearce08.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The only known photograph of a Lancaster arriving at Pearce in 1945. Pearce was closed down and vacant by January of 1945, and then officially reopened on 7 September 1945 to accept incoming Tiger Force Lancasters. The very next afternoon, 83 Lancaster Mk 10 bombers arrived and landed at the old base. This shot was taken by Ray Wise, an RCAF mechanic who was tasked, along with a Corporal Edge, LAC Cook, and LAC Wyers, to take care of a large number of Lancaster aircraft that were soon to land... and land they did. Ray Wise was 92 years of age when he was interviewed by Clarence Simonsen, Canada’s leading authority on nose art, and Jim Blondeau, a documentary filmmaker with Dunrobin Castle Productions. Blondeau remembers, “... he still spoke with excitement about the spectacular arrival and low flying air show they witnessed at Pearce on that one single fall afternoon. Out in the middle of nowhere the ferry crew pilots showed their low-level flying skills, terrifying nearby farm animals and the local Alberta farmers. Ray Wise also helped to record and save Canadian history when he took along his camera. His collection shows Anson ferry pilot aircraft, the rows of Lancaster bombers, and most of all, the Canadian Nose Art, painted on our most famous Lancaster aircraft. Just 18 months after the photos were taken, some of these aircraft were unceremoniously scrapped without any due thought by Canadian authorities. Once the Lancaster bombers had arrived they were parked in long rows and each morning the four mechanics were ordered to start each of the four Merlin engines on all the 83 aircraft. Over the next six months ferry crews arrived at Pearce and the Lancaster aircraft were flown to various long-term storage areas in southern Alberta. The mechanics were also ordered to prepare as many bombers as the Pearce hangars could hold for long-term storage.” Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330420621-AGA9ZZ04WVSSSJYL71XD/Pearce09.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Some of the Pearce ground crew, tasked with the daily upkeep of the grounded Lancasters after the war, stand on a scaffold next to a combat veteran Canadian Lancaster with 51 sorties—clearly on a warm day in the fall of 1945. Photo by Ray Wise via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330459959-B1Z4094YVUX4ZJ5BXRC2/Pearce12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A few Lancs and an Anson stored at Pearce after the war. It is interesting to note that the bomb doors seem to be open in most of these photographs from the storage operation. One would think that they would have been closed to keep birds from nesting in the bays, but the stress on the hydraulic system was reduced by dropping them open. As well, John Coleman says, “Since the engines were started daily, that they were left open on purpose. When we start our Lanc the bomb doors ALWAYS must be open. Early in the Lanc’s career they lost a few to massive explosions. It turns out that fuel vapours tend to collect in the bomb bay.” Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330489169-S2KLTOIKNQ26AR9ON4Q5/Pearce13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Lancasters at Pearce in the final days, with collectors and mechanics picking over the bones. The 70 or more, which were selected for Cold War patrol, were the lucky ones—but just for a few years more. This is the sad end of many of the Canadian Lancasters: rotting and crumbling, being picked over, shat on by pigeons, fading under the prairie sun. Canada’s leading aviation historian and publisher summed it up perfectly: “Barnyard bombers were well worth the fifty dollars asking price. To begin with, a farmer could count on recouping his investment by simply draining gas and antifreeze from his plane. Tires were just fine for a farm wagon. A tailwheel fit the wheelbarrow. For years to come the carcass would be a veritable hardware store of nuts and bolts, piping and wiring. In the meantime, it made a suitable chicken coop or storage shed. One farmer converted the nose of his Anson into a snowmobile.” Photo via Larry Milberry, Aviation in Canada, Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330532764-BNXK13H1NA5AKR6RH5GT/Pearce14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Looking at this photo of the last Lancs at Pearce, there is nothing more to say. Photo via Palsky Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330575994-8YTFC36IDU09YVEF8CUF/Pearce20.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux circles the ghost of Pearce, Alberta in 2018. The cows and milking machines of the Airport Dairy Farm now occupy the land that once housed men and flying machines. The sun and winter snows have broken the pavement and the runways are well on their way to be absorbed back into the land Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330612646-CUX24RAQ74D1WMPMNNJ3/Pearce21.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The runways of Pearce in the spring of 2019. more than 70 years ago, these ramps and grass aprons were crowded with hundreds of aircraft: Ansons bound for the scrapper, Lancasters home from the war and awaiting a second life as maritime patrol aircraft. Her long-gone barracks were once occupied by maintenance crews to look after the aircraft and ferry pilots overnighting before moving on. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330649988-JFDBERZNY4N0K58K3KS6/Pearce06.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The front gate of Pearce in 2004. The website for Alberta Milk, an association representing Alberta's dairy farmers, says this about Airport Dairy: “Honoring the Past. Harvey Van Hierden grew up on the family dairy farm just east of Fort Macleod. After marrying Bernita (who grew up on a dairy farm in Chilliwack, BC), Harvey purchased property on Pearce Road, which had been the site of the RCAF Aerodrome Pearce, a Second World War training air station of the British Commonwealth. Here they began dairy farming in 1984 and in honour of the history of the site, named the farm Airport Dairy.” Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330691279-FTVEJK5PA0HZK55OHKCS/Pearce07.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The old concrete hangar floor slabs from Pearce's days as a Second World War airfield now make great dry hay storage areas. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330883646-A19WM2JRKQV6A0IOST25/FortMacleodZ.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A wartime aerial photo of Fort Macleod's No. 7 Service Flying Training School looking north with the fertile Oldman River valley rolling west to east in the distance. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330931574-CI2ED6B6859J61JYZ2QG/FortMcLeod_A.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Warbird pilot Todd Lemieux circles the Fort Macleod Airport in the early morning in the summer of 2018, looking southeast. The original and classic triangular runway pattern can just be seen, but none of the runways is operational today, nor is any part of the original base. The new 3,000-foot runway (06-24) cuts across the southern apex of the old triangle. A housing subdivision now sits in the infield, surrounded by history. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627330974259-W0Q7I1PFROLG4YJQNJ3M/Pearce22.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux circles Fort Macleod airfield in 2018. RCAF Station Fort Macleod had six runways in an overlaid triangle configuration. All of these runways were abandoned but can be seen clearly in aerial photography. Many wartime RCAF training stations had this triangle configuration in order to allow for takeoff and landing in a range of wind directions. The modern runway 06-24 is not one of the original runways. It was newly constructed approximately parallel to one of the existing runways, but cutting across the other four near their apex. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331031929-P0M1VXTCZ6537K9RSKER/FortMcLeod_G.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite view of the Fort Macleod municipal airport today. Only the runway at the south end of the field functions today, but it was not one of the original runways of the wartime site. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331064097-0944PHJXHZOLPCHH8Y3N/FortMcLeodP.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331088406-SQTFXODHQE6CRJ02YXY8/FortMcLeodO.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Any relief airfield that had grass runways has now long ago faded into the earth, but many that had paved runways can still be seen scarring the wide prairie. Granum airfield is one of the most intact of these fossils, with its three asphalt runways clear and almost usable. The top photo, taken in 2018, shows Granum looking northwest with the village of Granum itself off in the distance along Highway 2. The bottom photo, taken in the spring of 2019, shows cattle roaming west of the field. Top photo: Todd Lemieux. Bottom photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331126216-OHOMZE2Z1QCJ50QE5W4K/FortMcLeod_B.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Accidents, some fatal, were almost weekly occurrences on training bases across Canada in the Second World War. On 31 January 1941 at 0930 hours, two Avro Ansons on final at Fort Macleod collided with each other at a height of 50 feet. The two trainee pilots, LACs John Sully McKeown and John Boli, throttled their engines back and made a coupled landing (none of the four propellers appear to have been damaged). The bottom Anson (RCAF serial 6220), flown by McKeown, was damaged beyond repair and struck off charge with just 100 hours total flying time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331180015-7LQF30VQ2795M4XGXODM/FortMcLeod_D.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A pilot looks over the right nacelle at Fort Macleod aerodrome, top right. The utter flatness of the Southern Alberta prairie is striking. Since I can't see a pattern of fields, I suspect this photo was taken in winter with fields covered in snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331617407-CAGFWA11IRXV2BTQ5VIL/FortMcLeod_E.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A pilot looks over the right nacelle at Fort Macleod aerodrome, top right. The utter flatness of the Southern Alberta prairie is striking. Since I can't see a pattern of fields, I suspect this photo was taken in winter with fields covered in snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331855479-R4IOKIAI07RQB70ZRAUG/FortMacleodx.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Members of H-Flight, Course 93 at No. 7 SFTS, Fort Macleod, pose before the beginning of their service flying training syllabus. Sergeant Mike Pawlowski of Spedden, Alberta, was killed 15 November 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331929245-M370MLW9PDSRASM4XY0Q/FortMacLeodS2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out One of Fort Macleod's flying instructors was Flight Lieutenant William “Bill” Anderson. He lived off base with his wife and, in 1943, he and his wife Myrtle had a daughter named Roberta Joan. When that young girl began a life of music, she would change her name to Joni Mitchell and become perhaps the greatest singer/songwriter of all time—certainly, the finest to come from Canada. Following his RCAF career, Anderson moved to Saskatchewan, where he managed a grocery store and raised his daughter. He died in Saskatoon in 2012 at the age of 100! Myrtle passed away in 2007 at 95. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627331975996-NX1M6LT7HFZTFQGNF638/FortMcLeod_H.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332089125-ZABS8FTNOVP6IAZ8JLWA/FortMcLeodM.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Top photo: In 2004, when this photo was taken, one of the old barracks buildings on Primrose Avenue was in poor condition. Google Maps Streetview in 2019 (bottom photo) offers a close-up look at the present worsened state of the structure. Top photo: Bruce Forsyth. Bottom photo: Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332194417-UDA66C3GRU05SEWLKEMF/FortMcLeod_I.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The old taxiways and runways at Fort Macleod are well on their way to being subsumed by the prairie. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332151024-18V9VPAIJWRY9IRYYUF4/FortMcLeod_J.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A ramp-side view of one of the remaining hangars along the abandoned flight-line, taken in 2004. Today, the building remains much the same, but with windows boarded up. It is not known what use this structure is put to today. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332237712-GVH5ATQUND7F0SQFD8HO/FortMcLeod_K.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out There were more Lancasters coming in from RCAF Scoudouc on the East Coast than could be accommodated at RCAF Pearce, Alberta. Many more were in semi-permanent storage at Fort Macleod, including this Lancaster X from 419 Squadron. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332267483-RUNZR77VZI346KDQBWPB/LastCall39.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The Lancaster ground maintenance crew at Fort Macleod, Alberta. Macleod was one of the former BCATP airfields where the Lancasters were dispersed, and though its first resident unit, No. 7 Service Flying Training School, had shut down in November of 1944, it housed No. 1 Repair Equipment and Maintenance Unit after the war, and a slew of Lancasters awaiting their fates. This greasy but happy crew were tasked with upkeep of the Lancs stored at Fort Macleod. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332299841-Y83UAFGYVFYUQ05NWR5A/FortMcLeod_L.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332387743-Y0QIZ8MWYHFSRT2UF2K0/FortMacleodR.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out In June of 1944, officers of the RCAF lead members of the Women's Division west down Main Street, Fort Macleod, in front of the Queen's Hotel. In the bottom photo, we see the scene as it exists today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332418651-CU4WVMRWZ3UHKMDIFGYL/FortMacleodT.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flying from No. 7 SFTS (out of frame to the bottom), RCAF pilot Eddie Frisk took this photo of Fort Macleod during his time there in the Second World War. The Queen's Hotel can be clearly seen centre left. Photo: Eddie Frisk via Macleod Gazette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332526284-8YLRUZ9NL4YPZK3TP4NS/HighRiver20.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Canadian Airco DH-4B (G-GYDN), part of the “Imperial Gift” (has there been a more condescending term?) of 114 surplus RAF aircraft, and operated by the Civil Operations Branch of the Air Board, taxies at High River in 1925. The aircraft, formerly RAF F2708, was taken on strength by the Air Board in 1921, converted for photo work, assigned to No 2 Operations Squadron at High River and struck off charge there in 1925. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332590392-4AEFY1FGPBD1ZRPU2YQE/HighRiver22.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out An aerial of High River looking northeast from the wartime. Today, the four lanes of Alberta's divided Highway 2 scar the landscape, but it 1942, there was nothing but farmland to the horizon. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332637059-3ZH2PBLFYCDD0AKSSXV2/HighRiver1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out I had to adjust the contrast and hue of this screen capture from Google Maps to bring out the faint outlines of the old familiar runway pattern. Today, only a single Second Wold War vintage hangar still stands, used by a building contractor. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332679972-FH0B6EZF61295T04A0BE/HighRiver17.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A very rare shot of Tiger Moth training aircraft being maintained in a hangar other than the standard RCAF structures designed specifically for the BCATP. These smaller hangars were built at High River in 1921, when the High River Air Station opened. The Canadian Air Board began operating the High River Air Station after having moved the station from Morley, Alberta, where the weather was discovered to be too erratic and dangerous for flying. In the early days, the station had an entirely civil function and was the largest in Canada with ten war-surplus aircraft that were part of the “Imperial Gift” provided to Canada by Britain after the First World War. In late 1922 when the Air Board and the fledgling Canadian Air Force was reorganized, operations at High River became the responsibility of the Canadian Air Force. And when the Royal Canadian Air Force was formed in 1924, the station became a Royal Canadian Air Force station: RCAF Station High River (Wikipedia). These old hangars were a design from the First World War known as Bessonneau Hangars and were transported to Canada along with the “Imperial Gift” of aircraft and assembled in Alberta. Tiger Moth 4972 suffered Category C damage in an incident at High River in September of 1941, so likely this is an image of it being repaired. Note the car sharing the hangar with the Tigers. RCAF Photo via http://www.timothyallanjohnston.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332716270-9HMPC8BH3KV0L06T24A2/HighRiver21.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Two High River-based Tiger Moths fly across the Southern Alberta landscape. Can you spot the problem with this photo? Well, single pilot operation of the Tiger Moth should always be from the back cockpit, yet this student or instructor is sitting alone in the front. Perhaps he has cargo in the rear cockpit. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332750920-FVPP20KSAE4NH9IAEETA/HighRiver16.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out De Havilland D.H.82C Tiger Moth, serial number 5091 spun and crashed after takeoff at 20:00 hrs, on 13 May 1942. The aircraft came down 5 miles north of High River aerodrome. One of Gordon Jones’ fellow instructors, Flight Sergeant Phillip Hayne Chapman was killed and his student, LAC R.B. Thompson seriously injured. The accident reports states: “A/C took off with Sgt. Chapman in front seat giving instruction to LAC Thompson. Shortly after a/c made a gentle turn to the right then went into a spin to the right and continued to spin until it hit the ground totally damaged. Propeller was not turning when a/c crashed. Though injured, Russell Bennett Thompson, of Winnipeg, went on to complete his training and to join 158 Squadron as a Pilot Officer. Sadly, he lost his life on the night of 2–3 June 1944 on ops to the French city of Trappes, southwest of Paris. He is buried in the Ecquetot Communal Cemetery in the town of Eure.” Photo via Museum of the Highwood, High River, Alberta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332790481-KKGW8HXC5HIA99ACPKAT/HighRiver4.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A shot of Tiger Moths at High River during the war. All of them have their coupe-top canopies for cold weather flying, a necessity in Alberta winters. This was likely taken in the springtime before the weather warmed enough aloft to remove the canopies which would have been uncomfortably warm in summer. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection` https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332833315-ITRRT42GD1SHMUU8E471/HighRiver3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out An early shot of the EFTS at High River with only the single BCATP hangar finished along with the three older pre-war Bessonneau hangars. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332884641-3MB2JDN614KX2NFLFAQJ/HighRiver6.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A great airside shot of High River looking west toward the Rockies, just visible on the horizon. The pre-war “Bessonneau” hangar line is on the right and the ramps are filled with dozens of new Fairchild Cornell elementary trainers and one twin-engined aircraft, possibly an Anson at left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332934983-7B23I2GZ6VDRDL5NF5TB/HighRiver2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Another view of the High River aerodrome, this time looking east. Though the quality of the scan is poor, I suspect it was taken at the same time as the previous photo as the twin-engine aircraft is still there in the flightline (top) with 11 Cornells lined up to the left—same as the previous image. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627332971190-HRVMKAN161Y1QDCJT52V/HighRiver12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A typical class from No. 5 EFTS High River—Course 92, “E” Flight. Since none of the students have their wings, this photo was likely taken when E flight was formed during Course 92 Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333004152-8R5OO567OLFUF6YVYQH4/HighRiver18.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out During the war, ladies of the RCAF's Women's Division are seen gathered at No.5 EFTS at High River. Judging from the number of women in this photo, they are all here possibly for some course, as there usually would not be this many on one station. This looks like the same spot as in the previous photo, with similar benches. Perhaps this was the preferred group photo location on station. Women were critical to the operation of a flying training station like High River, performing a wide range of administration, transport, parachute rigging and maintenance work. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333064982-286K1C8R5U1V3329PRNZ/HighRiver13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The last of two original Second World War hangars of No. 5 EFTS, High River, now houses equipment and storage of a home building company. Photo: Don Molyneaux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333103594-4KFIZ6RIP86F470CUUOO/HighRiver14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Inside the more than 70- year old hangar, the wood structure looks in relatively good condition. This photo shows us just how much light the hangar's windows bring in, as there are no electric lights on in this interior shot. Photo: Don Molyneaux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333145634-MZAY16CIMUYMKKCXOD20/HighRiver11.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out One of the great legendary characters of No. 5 EFTS was flying instructor Pilot Officer Gordon Jones. After the war, Jones lived in the High River area and maintained a vintage de Havilland Tiger Moth at the High River Airport—one he actually flew at No 5 EFTS! Jones’ de Havilland Tiger Moth was originally one of 200 ordered and built for the United States Army Air Corps, designated PT-24 DH (Serial Number 42-1078). Then it was listed as a Lend Lease aircraft with RAF serial number FE214 and then sent to High River as RCAF 1214. Photo via Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333181143-6W547NI2UZA3G5PKPS6M/HighRiver15.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A group of flying instructors known as the “High River Clan” and their wives: Ralph and Lois White, Ernie and Goldie Snowdon, Bob and Marie Spooner, and Linora and Gordon Jones. Photo via Gordon Jones Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333215879-9JC27A1TSTX34Y6Y49U0/HighRiver19.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out In the previous map, we can see the Frank Lake relief field for High River, southeast of the town. Frank Lake was a very different kind of landing field than all other BCATP airfields— a series of shallow alkaline lakes that were bone dry in the 1930s and 1940s after the Dust Bowl weather of the Great Depression. Instead of building a standard relief airfield, the RCAF simply used the flat dry lake bed as a landing field. It is not known if there were any structures. Today the lakes are no longer dry and are controlled by Ducks Unlimited Canada for wildlife management purposes. The water in Frank Lake is treated waste water from High River and from a nearby meat packing plant piped in. Not conducive to swimming I imagine. Top photo: Todd Lemieux, Bottom: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333247764-TTUGAS7G40CIK19LWFNV/HighRiver8.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A great diorama of No. 5 EFTS High River at the height of its contribution to the war effort. This wonderful diorama was built by Larry, Debra and Bryce Kunz St. Gregor, Saskatchewan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627333275272-B6MRM0BW8O28GO23KOT4/HighRiver9.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Tiger Moth instructor and student at High River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334503026-BRVMQ7RXMIGYQCNIX2NM/DeWinton-24.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Dozens of Stearman Kadet aircraft line the ramps of De Winton in 1942. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334665381-XZ7MGNUKUP7M7O3ZOL9V/DeWinton12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Occupying a flat expanse of land near the confluence of the Bow and Highwood Rivers, De Winton's No. 31 EFTS must have seemed like the middle of nowhere to the Royal Air Force student pilots who came from Great Britain. It was named for the nearest community in 1940—the hamlet of De Winton, some 12 kilometres to the west. Today, the southernmost suburbs of the city of Calgary are beginning to encroach. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334727206-LOOZT4EW1KQ4Z5150I1M/DeWinton-13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Today, only the runways, taxiways, ramps, and floor slabs of the hangar line remain from the old No. 31 Elementary Flying Training School. The airport was still functioning as the “De Winton/South Calgary Airport” with only a single runway in fair enough shape to land aircraft. The airport has been closed for a number of years. The only remaining structure from No. 31 EFTS is the concrete gun butts—seen here as the deeply shadowed structure to the left of the two hangar pads. During the 1970s and 80s, the runways and taxiways were used for safe-driving courses and auto racing. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334754186-RA2SJUO1UK94SD5FHSU9/DeWinton-16.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Lemieux and Fitzgerald visit De Winton in early June of 2019 and capture the silence and emptiness of the once-teeming aerodrome. The Bow River snakes away to the southeast in the upper corner. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334789218-0YNWOZ15HL9Z2D8W89K0/DeWinton-17.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Lemieux circles to the north of the field, with the Bow River at upper left. In the distance the Highwood River valley comes into view on the right. The yellow arrow points to a small cluster of buildings that is a permanent western town movie set known as Albertina Farms. The Netflix period-piece series Damnation, set in the 1930s, was filmed here along with many other films and TV scenes from series such as such as Hell on Wheels and Fargo . The fictional town is set in the valley so that there are no modern visual distractions in the background. As a result, the “circus,” that large caravan of trailers, tents, cafeterias, and generators that accompanies large productions, was always assembled on the airfield, out of site on the plateau above the valley. Some scenes from Fargo were shot on the airfield itself as well. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334830178-NB2UGAT1BLB7OCX0W5HY/DeWinton-18.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The town of “Albertina—a film production set that sits in the Highwood River Valley south of the former De Winton airfield. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334862332-WYK98A8CZKPZATHIKOJE/deWinton-2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Twelve yellow Stearman Kadet trainers are lined up next to a hangar at De Winton in the fall of 1942. De Winton's No. 31 EFTS was a Royal Air Force flight training school, one of several in Alberta. As such, it was also one of the three BCATP schools in Alberta to offer elementary flying instruction on the Stearman Kadet. The Royal Air Force purchased 300 Kadet aircraft and began training at No. 31 EFTS De Winton, No. 32 EFTS Bowden, and No. 36 EFTS Pearce. The Stearman Kadet was a much-loved and excellent training aircraft—until winter arrived! The open cockpit Kadets did not arrive with the planned winter equipment, the most important of which was an enclosed cockpit. Flying in an open cockpit aircraft in an Alberta winter was a misery one can only imagine. Despite these problems, they were employed until the much better equipped Fairchild Cornell trainers could be supplied. Pennie and his fellow students considered themselves amongst an elite group of BCATP airmen who trained on the Stearman Kadet—a larger, more powerful biplane than the Tiger Moths and Fleet Finches also in use at the time. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334897140-774EVVEA8ODDV1XVT84V/DeWinton-3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out For the men and women who operated the airfields of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, the metrics of success were men trained, aircraft serviceable, accident-free days, and runways operational. To fly the “E” pennant for efficiency from the staff at the front gate was to show that the efforts you made to the war effort had achieved important results. The Efficiency Pennant was like a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for an organization. Here, the Efficiency Pennant is held aloft by Mr. E. O. Houghton, manager of the Malton Flying Training School (the Toronto-based civilian operator of No. 31 EFTS) and Air Vice-Marshal G. R. Housam RCAF, air officer commanding No. 4 Training Command. Looking on is Squadron Leader R. E. Watts RAF, base commander. The date is 27 May 1943. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334935462-EHQW2DLD6Q2ZCATVYC4U/DeWinton27.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Another angle on the raising of the RAF's Efficiency Pennant at De Winton with Houghton, Housam and Watts at right. in 2015, this very flagpole was discovered laying in the long grass at De Winton and salvaged by a team from the Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC). Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627334972491-LLVABDCTR12ANDLEYU80/DeWinton25.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A team of volunteers from the Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC), headed by Tim Johnston recovered the De Winton flag pole in 2015. According to the BCMC, “a round piece of wood caught Tim’s eye through the tall grass. As he brushed away more of the grass to expose its full length and three large clamps, it became obvious that this could only be RAF De Winton’s flagpole -simply the thirty-three foot long trunk of a Douglas Fir, painted white. Tim recalled having seen the flagpole as the focal point in a photo of station personnel assembled on 31 EFTS’s parade square as officers proudly raised an ‘Efficiency Pennant’ on 27 May 1943. It was a very special day for the school as their School was being recognized as one of the very best in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. There it was, almost completely hidden in the tall grass and rotting away.” Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335014839-YUKIO8M96HNPU9DNSDYH/Dewinton26.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Today, the fully-restored De Winton flag pole hands on the wall at the BCMC, awaiting some future and higher purpose. Photo: Bomber Command Museum of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335082196-OHT230RLQ7KK3FHXMH2C/DeWinton-19.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out At the same time he awarded De Winton the Efficiency Pennant (previous photo), Air Vice-Marshal G. R. Housam RCAF, air officer commanding No. 4 Training Command, also presented the flying school with the the RAF's “Cock O'the Walk” award, stating, "Your station has been awarded the Minister's Pennant and in addition the 'Cock O' The Walk' trophy as being the most efficient elementary flying training school in the British Commonwealth Air Training Scheme and the winning of the double award means much. You have achieved the highest standard of efficiency of any elementary school in the world and there is no other flying training organization compared to your own." That's saying something given the high quality of every facility in the BCATP. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335123557-4ED5Z19OPIXRE6OQ7LB2/DeWinton-4.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out No. 31 EFTS De Winton put together an elaborate float in the 1943 Calgary Stampede parade. The theme of the float was “We teach the world to fly.” On the side of the float are listed the countries from which its students had come—China, Czechoslovakia, Ceylon, Canada, Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Poland, Norway, Tahiti, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, United States, Russia, Belgium. At the front of the float are the flags of Canada, Great Britain, and the USA and above those, the Efficiency Pennant. The flags at the back appear to be those of Australia, New Zealand, and possibly Norway. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335194451-OZJ61Y8KCOBSOH4K32Y5/DeWinton-5.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Ronald E. Watts of the Royal Air Force (third from left in front) poses with his administration staff. By the look of things, it was a cold day at De Winton. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335219079-Z8EQ8YBI3AQR3UJSPF4Y/DeWinton-9.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Like all BCATP bases, De Winton was a source of much local employment, needing many civilian workers from the surrounding area to carry out myriad tasks—from kitchen work to transport and maintenance to administration. Here four young ladies (left to right: Connie Eastcott, Evelyn Patterson, Isabelle Hall, and Jean O'Leary) from nearby Okotoks, Alberta, in crisp white coveralls pose at De Winton on a bright summer day. Photo: Connie Eastcott Bodkin Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335250725-DURT4KXJT0D0WEQODJTJ/DeWinton-20.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The great Albertan fighter ace, Lieutenant General Don Laubman, DFC and Bar, AOE, CD and 2 Bars was, for a time, a flying instructor at De Winton. Laubman, whose personal tally from the war includes 15 destroyed and three damaged, was born in Provost, Alberta, and got his wings at No. 3 SFTS Calgary. Laubman did his Flying Instructor training at Vulcan, Alberta, before serving at De Winton. Following his time at De Winton, Laubman served with 133 Squadron RCAF on the West Coast as part of the Home War Establishment. He then went overseas where he was posted to 412 Squadron, the same unit that John Gillespie Magee had served with before he was killed. Laubman was shot down on his second tour, commanding 402 Squadron. He became a prisoner of war... but for just a few weeks as the war was almost over. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335277672-BE36QY161BCNNZ0M3IGB/deWinton-1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out De Winton soldiered on after the war as an auto racing track—the fate of more than one former BCATP base. Later is was reopened as a small private airport known as the South Calgary Airport. Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection and Tim Johnston https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335328051-ULMB0VNTK4MYJGW5QGXP/DeWinton-22.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out In June 2016, a brass plaque commemorating De Winton's extraordinary contribution to the war effort was unveiled on the 75th anniversary of the school's opening, with an officer of the Royal Air Force in attendance as well a veteran BCATP instructor: Squadron Leader Rae Churchill, and Susan Cowan, the daughter of the base's former Commander, Squadron Leader Ron Watts. The plaque reads in part: “Formed at Kirkham, England on April 16, 1941, this school was one of six Royal Air Force (RAF) elementary flying training schools (EFTS) sent to Canada to train British aircrew. These and other RAF schools in Canada operated alongside the schools of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCAT) and graduated 5,296 aircrew prior to the reorganization of the Plan in July 1942. Canada was the lead nation in the BCATP, a massive undertaking that saw 131,553 aircrew graduate from 110 training schools. During its operational life, No. 31 EFTS De Winton trained aircrew from 20 free or occupied countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Poland, Belgium and Holland. Under the terms of the reorganization, this school, along with all other Royal Air Force schools in Canada, was fully incorporated within the BCATP. The Toronto Flying Club took over management of the school with flying instructors provided by the RAF until the school’s closing on August 26, 1944. De Havilland Tiger Moths were the first training aircraft used on the base. Supplementing these were Stearman PT-27s provided to Great Britain by the United States through the Lend-Lease Act. Following the return of the Stearmans to the United States, the school eventually transitioned to Canadian-built Fairchild Cornells. No. 31 EFTS De Winton was recognized for its outstanding performance by the award of the Efficiency Pennant on April 30, 1943. On May 7, 1943, under command of Squadron Leader R.E. Watts, the school was awarded the “Cock of the Walk” trophy in recognition of having achieved the highest standard of efficiency of any elementary flying training school in the British Commonwealth. Placed on June 15, 2016, this memorial is dedicated to the memory of those who trained and served at No. 31 EFTS De Winton and to those who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of their countries and democracies.” Photo: Anne Gafiuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335374926-7T4KLELVO00SI30R0LMS/DeWinton-8.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out In 2004, Bruce Forsyth found the airfield recently closed to operations as an airport. A painted farm gate signalled the entrance to the “South Calgary Airport”. At this time, there were no active flying operations at the airfield. These trees look too young to have been planted during the operation of the airfield by Royal Air Force under the BCATP. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335403290-1Q799RDZKS95K1TS6HJU/DeWinton-6.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Aviation history writer Anne Gafiuk visited the De Winton site on a sunny day in 2016 and found the gates replaced by metal farm gates and the entrance road in obvious disuse. From this entrance gate we would have seen the guardhouse, barracks, administration, and maintenance buildings of the once-active station. Now only the gunbutts remain—seen on the horizon at right. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335455124-RUQLW9NRR16YR3CIY0ZK/DeWinton-14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Google Maps Streetview screen capture in 2019 shows that the site is still maintained with the gates repaired and repainted. Most of the site is farmed today, but its proximity to the outer ring of suburban development means that it will soon disappear entirely, consumed by residential land development. Sad, but inevitable. Image via Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335544162-CUU7CFU9A5V6Z4GDZG11/DeWinton-10.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Because of their mass and indestructible construction, the gun butts are usually the last remnant of the structures built at BCATP bases across the breadth of Canada. Here, long prairie grass waves in the light of a setting sun at De Winton in 2004. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335504241-MZ2KY13QBHWIZGH89UU2/DeWinton-11.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The old north-south Runway 34-16 at De Winton has not been in use for many decades and grass had grown wild through the cracks in its aging asphalt surface. In 2004, the white runway numerals at the southern end signalled the compass heading for any aircraft overflying the abandoned base. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335639982-71GX3MW3OQW0RDJ16959/DeWinton-15.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The same runway intersection as in the previous photograph of De Winton, but as a satellite view 15 years later. The numbers are barely visible, the runways are useful only in an emergency, and the process of subsumption is underway. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335677800-SHPSYK99TYSTQD7GQ6O1/DeWinton-21.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Though De Winton's structures have long since been demolished, we can still see the faintest evidence of their existence from a satellite. At centre, we can just make out the outline of an “H” Hut barracks building and to the right we might be looking at the old firehall and transport sheds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335728459-4CWD38VEY8YKZ784VUWO/DeWinton-7.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Not much remains of the structures that once made De Winton a small town in its own right. Here, part of the guard house, garage, and an administration building have been joined near the main entrance to make a private residence (photo taken in 2004). Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335760718-B8OZNLQXARVA95N5P1EU/Gladys1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out When Todd Lemieux punched in the known co-ordinates for De Winton's relief field at Gladys into his GPS, they brought him in his Citabria to this wheat field, looking north along Range Road 280, 400 metres south of where it intersects with the east-west Alberta Highway 547. The site of Gladys lies in the present-day Municipal District of Foothills No. 31, a few kilometres east of Okotoks, Alberta. At first, I thought I could identify the diagonal runways of the old grass strip relief airfield, but I believe this is merely the way the wheat fields were plowed when this photo was taken. Photo: Lori Fitzgerald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335818195-H3HAA1FPJBZ9MAOISRRT/Gladys2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The view Lori Fitzgerald photographed (previous photo) while flying with Lemieux is shown in white at left. However, when I dump the known coordinates for Gladys into Google Maps, it is pinned a kilometre to the east (red pin). Unfortunately, on close examination by satellite, neither location revealed even the faintest hint of the long-ago existence of the airfield.Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335878589-ZZLE18SOD0BGI0BXFM96/Shephard1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A great shot of a North American Yale on the ramp of the detachment at RCAF Station Shepard during the war years. Closer to the hangar is a Fairey Battle. As Gladys was a relief field for No. 31 EFTS, these two aircraft must be visiting, as De Winton was home to first Tiger Moths, then Stearman Kadet trainers, and finally Cornells. This photo might also come from an earlier period when both Gladys and Shepard were relief airfields for No. 3 SFTS Calgary. Photo via Abandoned Alberta Airfields at militarybruce.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335911071-2F6JOQWVJN8SPZK2J830/Shepard4.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Google Maps satellite pin for Shepard's known co-ordinates drops right in the middle of a South Calgary landfill known as the Shepard Landfill. The neighbourhood (former town) of Shepard, for which the airfield was named, lies three kilometres to the east (left in this photo), so it's likely the landfill was named after the airfield and not the town. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627335949838-LFL5XMHIOABGI7QYU4SQ/DeWinton-23.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out There is still flying being done at the old Shepard site today... but of the shite-hawk variety. In the distance, the skyline of modern Calgary can be seen. The landfill is one of the saddest reuses of former BCATP bases that I have seen. If these airfields are taken back, I prefer that they be retaken for farming or possibly residential uses. Photo: K. Lee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336058629-ULE6RWM1LFYL0N7ZYKJY/MedicineHat25.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Many came... and some never left. Most of the 50 Commonwealth airmen who were killed at No. 34 SFTS during its three and a half years of operation are today buried in the military graves section of Hillside Cemetery across the road from the airport. Google Maps Streetview allows you to drop into the shady lanes of Hillside to view the entire cemetery. I highly recommend you drop Streetview into Hillside and walk around until you find these young men who gave so much. Perhaps a cyber-moment of silence for their sacrifice. Photo: Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336105184-Y7BDEC58S20PD7RRJODB/MedicineHat1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Today, Medicine Hat Regional Airport (YXH) occupies the former site of No. 34 SFTS. In 1947, the Department of National Defence transferred ownership of the airport to the City of Medicine Hat. The airport continues to be owned by the City of Medicine Hat and operated by the Municipal Works Department, Airport Section. In the early 1960s, the primary runway was relocated, strengthened, and lengthened. A larger combined Air Terminal Building/Flight Service Station was built in 1980. Over the years, the airport has completed various electrical, pavement surface, infrastructure, and terminal improvements, primarily with funding from the Federal Airports Capital Assistance Program. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336137151-U959IH1Z0ILXIANZPLRA/MH_MAP.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A period flying chart depicting the Medicine Hat aerodrome and its two relief fields at Whitla (lower left) and Holsom. Detail from Map: Juno Centre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336169705-LMCJO98GYHV0IMLH7Y62/Whitla.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Lemieux overflies Whitla in August, 2019 and finds no trace of the relief field. . No. 34 SFTS operated two relief landing fields to reduce congestion at the main aerodrome. One of those was in farmland near Whitla, Alberta, 25 kilometres southwest of Medicine Hat. Today, not one shred of evidence exists to tell the tale of the young men who once bounced their aircraft on Whitla's grass runways or lounged on the grass eating boxed lunches. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336208680-9WPPOUTPY0R2940BIHBP/MedicineHat2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out An aerial photo of the paved runways of the relief field for No. 34 SFTS at Holsom, Alberta. Today, nothing can be seen of Holsom's three 100-foot wide, 2,800-foot long runways. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336279547-N2FT1ACOWYVRU7N72QJY/Holsom.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The second relief field was along the Holsom Road, just a few kilometres west of town. In August 2019, Todd Lemieux found non trace of the airfield that once was here. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336315620-XA4KCH7H5Y8T2CBX61M7/MedicineHat3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Medicine Hat-based North American Harvard II, piloted by Englishman Leading Aircraftman Owen Fauvel, flying over the prairies in the Second World War. Flying from a Royal Air Force-controlled SFTS, the Harvard sports RAF-style serial numbers—FE6??—two letters and three numbers. The late R.W.R. Walker, the leading expert on Canadian military aircraft serials wrote “When the BCATP started, the RAF manned and operated a number of training units in Canada, all identified with 30 series numbers (for example, No. 34 Elementary Flying Training School at Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and No. 33 Air Navigation School at Mount Hope, Ontario). These units were gradually absorbed into the RCAF through 1942 and 1943, with their aircraft being transferred to RCAF ownership then, generally keeping their RAF serial. ” The pilot, Fauvel went on the Flying Instructor School at Trenton Ontario, and then back to Alberta to instruct on Cornells at DeWinton and High River. Photo: The Memory Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336351956-JEMBBVNL0UVU0CDBNPEV/MedicineHat23.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Every flying school in Canada would output pilots during the war who would make their marks on RCAF history. No. 34 Medicine Hat was no exception. Two Alberta boys from Nanton, the twin Warren brothers Bruce and Douglas, both did their EFTS training at High River which was just up the highway a few miles from their home. Following EFTS graduation, both men went on to earn their pilot's brevets at No. 34 SFTS, Medicine Hat. For the rest of the war, they remained inseparable—first as Spitfire fighter pilots with 165 Squadron RAF and then as twin flight commanders with 66 Squadron.In March, 1945 the two Warren twins received Distinguished Flying Crosses by King George VI himself, who was heard to say “I don’t believe I have ever done this before.” Following the war, both men continued with the RCAF. By 1950, Bruce was a test pilot with Avro Canada. In 1951, he was killed while test flying the prototype of the Avro CF-100 Canuck all-weather jet interceptor. Doug Warren had a long career with the RCAF that included commanding an F-86 Sabre squadron (410) and flying combat missions in the Korean War attached to an American squadron. Douglas' career was long and stellar. He died in 2011. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336391874-DLR2B3M1VE6B9UUQB54D/MedicineHat4.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Medicine Hat was known for its wonderful dance parties for Commonwealth airmen. Here, scores of pretty girls swirl on the dance floor with uniformed airmen to the strains of a big band and a chanteuse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336423524-M8D6ZYE1D1ICBMQ1H9G2/MedicineHat6.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out After the war, the old base administration building and control tower at Medicine Hat served as a radio station for Trans Canada Airlines (Air Canada), manned 24 hours a day. The airfield was abandoned by the RCAF and handed over to the municipality of Medicine Hat and continues to this day as Medicine Hat Regional Airport. Photo: Milt Watts via radioalumni.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336453207-YKQM3YVPINKYODK36XFD/MedicineHat5.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A large gaggle of NATO training Harvards out of RCAF Station Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, gathers at Medicine Hat in the 1950s to refuel enroute to Calgary. Trans Canada Airlines radio operator Milt Watts relates what happened: “Winnipeg ATC was giving Edmonton ATC information on a large flight of RCAF Harvards from Portage La Prairie to Calgary with a stop in Medicine Hat. Wondering why they were stopping I called Winnipeg and got the response they were planning on refuelling here. Someone in the RCAF must have forgotten we were no longer an RCAF base. They should have checked. I knew the local IOL agent had only a small quantity of avgas at any time. I called the agent and gave him the information and he arranged to have a tanker of avgas sent out. Eventually the flight staggered in, parking all over the ramp. One pilot kept calling for Medicine Hat tower. I replied there was no tower and gave him the necessary info. Not good enough. He kept calling for the tower, even requesting a green light. Eventually he landed, I think! When TCA arrived they had to park some distance away and the passengers and crew had to wander through the Harvards.” Photo: Milt Watts via radioalumni.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336483419-830FZVLM5QL2YYEHIASH/MedicineHat24.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Only a few of the many wartime training bases have their histories compiled into a book. No. 34 SFTS Medicine Hat is one of them. Thanks to author David J. Carter, the activities, names, and incidents at Medicine Hat's aerodrome have been recorded in “Prairie Wings.” To hear Carter speak about the history of No. 34 SFTS, click here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336562402-KQI4RZ55WMD5B1E2D3JM/Lethbridge15.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out An excellent aerial photograph of No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School at Lethbridge with freshly painted centrelines and perimeter markings. It also appears that an Avro Anson is perhaps making a low-level pass (at bottom above Runway 30 letters, though the shadow of the aircraft is missing). Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336662176-AHFEVQKHIX2EX5RVCG0C/Lethbridge12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out I'm not saying there is a relationship, but the flag of the Blood Tribe bears a resemblance to the RCAF's ensign of the Second World War. Images: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336713139-EJJVAUMFTVFQ750ZX3X2/Lethbridge11.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite view of the Lethbridge Airport, the site of Kenyon Airfield and the former No. 5 EFTS and No. 8 B&GS. To the left, the Oldman River Valley snakes past the city of Lethbridge. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336757575-W1859DEP47SNV2SM4T3M/Lethbridge13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Most steel west of Winnipeg! The original hangar built at Kenyon Airfield in the 1930s to support the route system of Trans Canada Airlines still exists, housing an FBO operated by Air West. The Air West website acknowledges its proud history, stating: “Our distinctive brick and steel hangar was built in 1938 for Trans-Canada Airlines using the largest amount of steel in any building west of Winnipeg at the time! Trans-Canada Airlines used this hangar for nine years to house and service their Lockheed 10 & 14 series aircraft. This made Lethbridge Airport the Airline Hub of Western Canada in the 1940’s. So next time you visit Lethbridge please stop at AIR WEST Flight Support and enjoy the numerous articles, photographs and artifacts at our main lobby that keep our heritage alive.” Image via Google Maps Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336795670-82NYGWB0UH1NFHEIZGZW/Lethbridge.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Two Fairey Battle bombing and gunnery trainers of No. 8 B&GS fly in formation over the Alberta landscape near Lethbridge. In the background is the ancient cut of the Oldman River, which, in its tortuous journey, has wound its way past the BCATP airfields at Fort Macleod and Pearce on its way to Lethbridge. From here, the twisting oxbows snake their way north and east to Medicine Hat and the most easterly of Alberta's many Second World War training bases. The Fairey Battles of the BCATP were meant and built for front line service, but soon proved their worth (or lack of it) in the Battle of France. They were all withdrawn from service and relegated to training roles, including hundreds that were shipped to Canada as gunnery training platforms. Most, like these two examples, were kept in the operational camouflage they wore when they came out of the factory, but with the addition of bright yellow painted panels on the wings and fuselage. We can clearly see the yellow panels on the wing roots and empennage of these two aircraft. Photo: Glenbow Archives, PA-3458-7 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627336872828-D0J3YD0VNFTKR4OPK3LR/Lethbridge1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A Fairey Battle target tug in the distinctive black and yellow “Oxydol” paint scheme sits forlornly on collapsed gear after a hard landing at Lethbridge. Staff pilot Flying Officer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344351349-X3TBRJMDU3NB2IRBF4PV/Lethbridge7.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Vintage felt patches from No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School at Lethbridge. These are definitely not regulation items, and were likely purchased for personal use. Unlike the USAAF, Commonwealth pilots did not generally adorn their flight jackets with patches and artwork. Perhaps these were used by members of the station hockey teams—the Lethbridge Gunners and the Lethbridge Bombers—who played in an inter-station league across Southern Alberta. Photos via J. F. Chalifoux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344380740-OPGNN8CGALCDU49XROFZ/Lethbridge14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out During the war, there were many war bond drives across the nation. Hollywood film stars did there bit for the war effort by visiting cities across the country. Here, on 13 February 1942, film star Ian Hunter (fourth from right) poses after a flight from Mossbank, Saskatchewan, with an RCMP honour guard, and local dignitaries including the base commander at No. 8 B&GS, Wing Commander W. A. Jones (second from left). The following day, Hunter, who was visiting stations throughout Southern Alberta on a Victory Bond tour, lunched at the officers' mess and was introduced to the station officers. That afternoon, he attended a wings parade for Air Gunners' Course No. 25 (21 students). Hunter was a South African–born British stage and film actor. In 1940, he starred with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable (as unforgettable benign guardian angel–like Cambreau) in Strange Cargo, but then returned to England to serve in the war effort. Photo: Lethbridge Herald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344411318-5MO0SCIJGTLTM685T0IR/Lethbridge5.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Airwomen of the RCAF's Women's Division were employed across the BCATP and were an important part of the training plan. Here we see station photographer Georgina Harvey (in shirt sleeves) socializing with fellow staff airmen and women at Lethbridge's mess during the war years. It was on a flight between Lethbridge and Claresholm that Section Officer Rose Jette Goodman from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, was killed in January 1943 at age 23. She was aboard a Cessna Crane (RCAF Serial 8739) on a cross-country flight when it crashed eight miles southeast of the aerodrome at Claresholm. S/O Goodman was the only casualty and she was the first member of the Women’s Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force to lose her life on active service. Section Officer Goodman is buried in the Outremont Hebrew Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec. Photo via ElinorFlorence.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344459856-0TUBEPFMVUEGVVZIYS2B/Lethbridge3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Dances were an important part of the culture of Canadian aircrew training bases across Canada. Here airmen and civilians mix at Lethbridge. Photo via ElinorFlorence.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344498055-CQ56WSEXX3IFJBYXM5BU/Lethbridge6.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Lethbridge's station photographer Georgina Harvey captures Avro Anson 11272 flying over the snowy Rocky Mountains on a cross-country formation trip from Lethbridge. Anson 11272 was built by Canadian Car and Foundry in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and taken on strength by the RCAF at the end of March, 1943, and survived the war with 1,068 hours of flying time in her books. Photo via ElinorFlorence.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344533254-R5E0N4UMC7YE2QD0BU39/Lethbridge8.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Bombing and Gunnery trainees from New Zealand and Canada (Course 104B) with their white cap flashes pose with a station Anson at Lethbridge. Photo via hillmanweb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344561575-SSJ86NXCRPNJQ4EBC9EM/Lethbridge9.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out One of the first courses to graduate from No. 8 B&GS was pictured in the Lethbridge Herald in January 1942. The story proudly lists, among the many graduates, three local boys—John Armitt (age 31), William John Reid of Lethbridge, and Victor Bellagente of Medicine Hat. Sadly, neither Lethbridge man survived the war. Reid died a year later with 9 Squadron, a heavy precision bombing unit similar to 617 Dam Busters. Armitt died on operations with 405 Squadron Pathfinders on Valentine's Day, 1945 after three years of war fighting. He was nearing the end of his second full tour when he died. He did get home on leave between his first and second tour. It is a tribute to the training they got at Lethbridge that these two men were with two of the most elite squadrons in Bomber Command history—specialized units that relied heavily on their navigators and bomb aimers to carry out their missions. Victor Bellagente seems to have survived the war, dying in 2002.Clipping from Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344735117-ZSZQZPMSMXINRCDO8NSJ/Vulcan5.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A view directly over No. 19 SFTS Vulcan during the war with north at the top. Forty-four yellow Anson aircraft can be seen parked along the flightline and between hangars. Judging by the shadows, this photo was taken around midday. Vulcan was one of the typical larger airfields with seven large hangars—six hangars still stand today. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344763686-MLSEA3D4YK1J73NIN2DW/Vulcan27.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A dozen bright yellow Anson Mk Vs lined up perfectly under a blue sky at Vulcan's No. 19 SFTS. Photo: via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344811719-6XXLWYQ71WZFNRQUONRC/Vulcan10.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite view of Vulcan today in the same orientation as the previous wartime photo with north at the top. From this height, the runways still look serviceable and, in fact, all three are in use, including an aerial spraying operation operated by Air Support Alberta. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344846106-ULX2XIN3HVCLWPLD93O5/Vulcan20.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The runway intersection at the southeast corner of the field reveals the condition of the old paved surface—deteriorating but serviceable. On the horizon, the low bulk of the hangar line looms. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344878169-K5ISTF4JZQVYU0B4XQMD/Vulcan17.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Passing to the north of the flightline we see that even though some of the buildings are in disrepair and the bulk of the base ancillary buildings (administration, barracks, transport, and messes) have vanished, the airfield grounds are kept mowed and relatively trim. Photo: John Sands via militarybruce.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344905980-X886C6TMG9NLKGJ0J3D4/Vulcan9.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The old Vulcan aerodrome is named for the town of Vulcan, Alberta, some nine kilometres to the northeast. During the Second World War, the Vulcan Aerodrome was the biggest economic driver in the town, but today Vulcan celebrates its Star Trek connection and has forsaken the old base. The town's website states “In the Star Trek television and feature film series Vulcan is the name of the home world of Spock and his fellow Vulcans. Capitalizing on this coincidence, the town has become a worldwide known tourist attraction with the building of Star Trek themed tourist centre and replica of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek V.” Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344933917-YZB9RDLLLFLXG8W7K6ZN/Vulcan22.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A tight satellite view of the last vestiges of the Old Ensign relief field, which can still be seen on Google Maps in a section of land eight kilometres due east of town. By adjusting the hue and contrast in Photoshop, I was able to bring out the old runway pattern. The old hangar pad and entrance road are still very much in evidence and used for a farming operation. Photo via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627344977008-OG3WF5Q0XOYBMU035JGK/Ensign.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux circles the concrete pad that once lay beneath Ensign's hangar, now used for farming equipment. The faint outline of the triangular runway pattern is just visible to the right of the pad. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345006370-616MS09IHAYUWWX9A4LI/Champion1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out I spent a lot of time in Google Maps looking for any evidence of Champion's old aerodrome... and found nothing. But Todd Lemieux has a set of coordinates for the airfield and put them into his car's GPS and drove there. Then once its location and existence were confirmed, he flew there and took these photos. The diagonal tree lined road was likely the entrance and the trees planted to protect the aircraft parking area from the winds. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345094874-F4JGBQI3H7FUKH8SMTK4/Champion2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A close-up of the one surviving relic of the old BCATP airfield at Champion—likely a maintenance building. I suspect the runways were in the lower left of this image. Photo: Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345183320-IA1KYRJE7NH5NSYJQCVW/Champion4.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite view of the proximity and relationship of the Champion aerodrome (in frame at lower left) to its namesake village. Champion was named for Henry Thomson Champion (1847-1916), a Winnipeg banker and onetime chairman of the Winnipeg Stock Exchange. Born in Toronto, Champion came west during the Manitoba Insurrection of 1870 as a sergeant in the Wolseley Expedition, then remained in Winnipeg for the rest of his life. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345264879-5LJMW0QH9QFCF8BVPNEH/Champion3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A satellite view of the farm photographed by Lemieux above. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345296080-RWEWMH1N8RHI8BP13UHQ/Vulcan21.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out References to the powerful and poignant RCAF history of Vulcan in the Second World War are hard to find today. Instead, the town of Vulcan chooses to celebrate its connection in name to the wildly successful Star Trek television franchise. A few businesses in Vulcan have Trekky names—Galaxy Yards, Quark's Consignment and Books, Tribbles Small Pet Grooming, Warp Speed Wash. Vulcan doesn't even use the old aerodrome as their municipal airport and had built a newer one on the outskirts of town. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345324374-QUR8TQL384FP3JTZGY86/Vulcan18.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Today, the old main gate at No. 19 SFTS Vulcan has none of the buildings, guardhouses, and fencing that made it a busy base in the 1940s. The gate is marked by a large granite stone (centre-left) with a plaque dedicated to the memory of the men who served here in wartime. The hangars can be seen in the distance and the firehall, with its garages for pumpers, ambulances, and emergency vehicles, still stands at left. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345368077-YLTBNZ4RJD5MABG6L2WI/Vulcan3.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out One day, all that will be left of the once-great aerodrome at Vulcan will likely be this plaque, which was erected and dedicated in July 2000 by the No. 2 FIS and No. 19 SFTS Millennium Memorial Committee of the County of Vulcan Economic and Tourism Guild. The stone monument with its bronze plaque sits atop a stone foundation made with stones from the original Guard House foundation, upon which site it now sits. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345393995-5OHF9ZRK2YZ05FRX1F0G/Vulcan8.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Eyes right! Graduating airmen are led by the base band in a wide oval in front of the reviewing stand where the base commander and other visiting dignitaries take their salute. Judging by the shadows and the warm coats, this is late in the day in autumn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345420854-I6DL1BXNHBUUJQ40SMR8/Vulcan13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A graduating airman at Vulcan has a private moment with the Governor General of Canada. His Excellency, Major General the Earl of Athlone, Governor General of Canada, presents certificates to the last class of No. 2 Flight Instructor Course graduates. The graduating pilot is different from those who get their wings at Service Flying Training Schools in that he is already a pilot and officer. Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, in the uniform of a commandant of the RCAF (Women's Division) is seated on the dais with Wing Commander Fraser, Officer Commanding No. 19 SFTS and Wing Commander Harvey, Officer Commanding No. 2 Flight Instructors School (standing). Princess Alice, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was the wife of the Earl of Athlone (who was in turn an uncle of King George the VI). Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345528825-BTYA2GU4OYFGNLBT5ZYO/Vulcan11.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A great shot of the hangar line at Vulcan from the corner of the workshops attached to the back of Hangar 7. Photo: Tracy Harms, The Road Trip Hound https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345575820-RGTN81LNPYDMG65COTFP/Vulcan12.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out If these walls could talk, what would they tell us of those young men who worked and trained here during the war years? Little remains even in the relatively intact hangars of Vulcan. Once these spaces were offices for maintenance staff, workshops, records storage, and tool cribs, but today they hold only memories. Photo: Tracy Harms, The Road Trip Hound https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345609336-DSYSO7ZNDL6UULFYLDIR/Vulcan1.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out A view from a broken window into the second-last hangar on the flight line at Vulcan. This hangar is not far from derelict with its roof full of gaping holes and rain water covering much of the floor. It is testament, however, to the quality of the design that these old wooden structures and trusses have stood for nearly 80 years without upkeep, but soon even these hardy old buildings will see their last days. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345660020-QME1Y2X5FRVDZOGAX6HM/Vulcan16.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Several of the hangars at Vulcan have been bought and are maintained by private individuals and companies who have worked hard at repairing the roofs. This home-built aircraft is covered in old bedsheets to keep the corrosive effects of bird poop at bay. Photo: John Sands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345688193-N6VY5LHGQM72QKXXVGM0/Vulcan19.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Nearly all of the many ancillary buildings at Vulcan have long since been demolished, but the old firehall remains. This building housed garages for the fire reels and ambulances dispatched to both the base buildings and accidents involving aircraft. Photo: Bruce Forsyth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345719129-S8FWTPIVKWOG60VKO1A6/Vulcan6.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out One of the iconic structures common to every BCATP airfield where airmen lived in barracks is the concrete gun butt, where airmen practiced shooting small arms—rifles and pistols. These structures often survive long after all other wooden and brick buildings collapsed or were demolished. This concrete backstop would normally have a mound of earth in front to absorb fired projectiles. Photo via Emerald22 on Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345758355-NV0Z9TAO1DXMQPTIEKC0/Vulcan7.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The hangars were the largest buildings on the base, towering over you when you're up close, but approaching from a distance you are overwhelmed by the vastness of the prairie sky and the expanse of the land. Vulcan is missing quite a few bits (people, aircraft, and most of its buildings) but if you squint, you can just imagine what it was like nearly 80 years ago out on the prairie. If you drive east out of Nanton on Highway 533, past the golf club and keep on for about 13 kilometres, you come to Vulcan Township Road 163A. Turning onto this road, you head toward Vulcan. About six kilometres along this road, the prairie rises to the south. Upon this high ground to the right and outlined against the blue Alberta sky, the long low hangars of Vulcan's aerodrome appear like an apparition—a dashed Morris code of memory, out of place and out of time on these ancient steppes. Photo via Emerald22 on Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345783640-7X4H2GTUUFCB8AYUKIT4/Vulcan23.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out These days, flying training is still carried out at Vulcan in the summer with the tow-planes and gliders of the Air Cadet Gliding Program of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Here, two Schweizer SGS 2-33A gliders await the next students and tow plane, with Vulcan's hangar line off in the distance. Every year, 320 hard-working and deserving young cadets receive their gliding wings at regional gliding camps across Canada. Photo: Ashley Gaudet, RCAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345808130-VGXBNSKP6T97C7R5W7FI/Vulcan24.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out Flying southeast of the airfield, a young cadet's image is reflected inward on the Schweizer's canopy, mirroring something that happened a hundred thousand times in the Second World War. Photo: Ashley Gaudet, RCAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345840948-S8T4NHP8JIXW183L3FYJ/Vulcan25.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out An instructor looks down from the back seat of a Schweizer glider at the westernmost hangars on the line. Note the rough condition (many large holes) of the roof in the upper hangar. Far out on the slender wing, we see the spring-loaded wingtip wheel bogie (or whatever it's called). Photo: Ashley Gaudet, RCAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345865683-7BLVAI5B05UOBJCC8OY4/Vulcan2.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out The years have not been kind to some of the hangars on the flightline. Kids with stones and a few hunters had made short work of every window pane on several of the hangars. I wish they could really understand what went on at Vulcan those many years ago. If they did, they might think twice about desecrating such a holy place, even if it was abandoned by the people who built it. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627345903327-Y4N2GNT6MFC48YLMRJZZ/Vulcan26.jpg The Stories - THE GHOSTS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA - Make it stand out To view 2 minutes of drone footage of Vulcan today, click here. You can see the roof damage on two of the hangars that means they are not long for this world. More drone footage here as well. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ghost-the-first-flight-of-the-roseland-spitfire monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065325193-KE8R5ES0I0PWG1EZ8PS1/FirstFlight00.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065371752-6G66KXB6D5J9778V94L7/FirstFlight01.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out After many years, Spitfire Mk IX TE294, wearing the markings and serial number of Y2-K, a 442 Squadron Spitfire, sits in the morning sun on the ramp at Vintage Wings of Canada, ready to go flying for the first time in many decades. The build is finished, the engine tested, taxi tests complete and the weather is gorgeous. Nothing left to do now except go flying. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065419665-087R6HHSGMT7Q6I9PWY6/FirstFlight02.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out After a restless night, Vintech Aero aircraft structures wizard Ken Wood continues to stress about the upcoming flight. Wood has personally built the wings from the spars up and oversaw the completion of the build project. The fuselage was largely completed by Vintech Aero’s team in Comox with ground work laid by Comox volunteers and staff. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065477352-DTB5CTSURWRWOF43QVW1/FirstFlight03.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Vintage Wings test pilot John Aitken (right) will fly the full test program for the TE294, the Roseland Spitfire. Here he talks with Mike Potter about what will happen in the next hour or so. It cannot be overstated enough that this project would never have come to fruition in Canada without the financial commitment and constant support of Mike Potter. Mike more than bankrolled the millions of dollars necessary to keep both the Comox and Gatineau work moving toward the finish line, he was there at all stages showing his support and fuelling confidence. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065525191-MISTJE7CIPB7LDLWHWPC/FirstFlight04.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Potter and Wood, perhaps the two men who have invested the most in this project, talk about the upcoming test flight. Both will chase the Spitfire in Mike’s Extra 330 LT and see the results of their lengthy commitment first-hand and up close. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065573517-C8YAHB1F52SOTB6H9HRU/FirstFlight05.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Briefing time. Since Potter and Wood will fly alongside Aitken in the Spitfire, the test pilot briefs the team about the join-up and the test flight profile. Aitken, a highly-experienced military and civilian test pilot and a Canadian aviation legend, was relaxed and in the zone, instilling confidence and calm as he described the upcoming first flight. Aitken worked alongside Ken Wood and the Vintech Aero team for the final months of the build project as both the aircraft and the pilot were preparing for the test program. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065607419-0QTBPGF8F8VFCRSI9EBP/FirstFlight06.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Despite the solid preparation for the flight and Aitken’s calm demeanour, Wood was as worried as an expectant father. It was understandable as he has poured his heart and soul into the project. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065648648-HAERQEIGGDDOC0P9KIH3/FirstFlight07.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Vintech mechanic Gerry Bettridge accompanies test pilot Aitken out to the awaiting Spitfire. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065727294-YOZQYKIWC22B0NLDEN0D/FirstFlight12.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out The two ships are set for the first flight—the Spitfire Mk IX and the Extra 330 LT. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065760545-XZSSTLNVGCDWT2BR58VF/FirstFlight08.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken turns the propeller through a few blades and begins his walk-around inspection. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065795999-ZUWQT7L6IYUJW953X0ZT/FirstFlight09.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken turns the propeller through a few blades and begins his walk-around inspection. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065828951-NK02VLPNYU4NISQ4QRR1/FirstFlight10.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken turns the propeller through a few blades and begins his walk-around inspection. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627065872679-R7382XTMGCQ8IR27VYN0/FirstFlight11.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Mike Potter with Ken Wood roll first in the Extra 330 LT, to be in the air when the Spitfire begins its takeoff roll. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068112013-4Y3UAH9DIC15EMRLZV2S/FirstFlight14.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken runs up the Merlin and checks that everything is set for the first test flight. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068144668-CMUADD3LMOPKKM8V0DEJ/FirstFlight15.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out The two aircraft taxi to the single 6,000-foot runway of the Gatineau–Ottawa Executive Airport. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068176201-6XZFXL3Q69PGCK7V3W9Q/FirstFlight16.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken is all business now as he rolls out to the main runway. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068204221-XCZQOIHKK3Z9WHLQFNGW/FirstFlight17.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Aitken is all business now as he rolls out to the main runway. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068256545-RODDBGU0G4MYKMHLO9CW/FirstFlight18.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out A good look at the post D-Day markings of Spitfire Y-2K (MK304). The sun is shining, the winds are light and down the runway. Let’s go flying. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068324782-JIJ7O2R0Y2AXGDLT61IB/FirstFlight19.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068369276-66UIH2PZU3IMCGSGEU12/DearRosey19.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out As Aitken climbs Y2-K out on this perfect day, we are reminded of a day 73 years ago when a pair of 442 Squadron Spitfires climbed to do battle. This photo, supplied by Spitfire guru Peter Arnold, was crucial in helping us determine the markings we would paint on TE294. Photos: Top Peter Handley; Bottom: from the Collection of Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068413799-FIOKHZF4MZGKRI63VNDC/FirstFlight21.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out A great shot of the Roseland Spitfire as she climbs back into the sky. The first flight would be carried out a low speed with the landing gear extended throughout. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068445025-6I0PCJORIOI02E3QPQ1J/FirstFlight22.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out On a second pass of the airfield, Potter and Wood in the Extra come in close to look over the aircraft carefully, checking for leaks and any telltale signs of a problem. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068472853-FEE69VNH006A03TWX3RV/FirstFlight23.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out On a second pass of the airfield, Potter and Wood in the Extra come in close to look over the aircraft carefully, checking for leaks and any telltale signs of a problem. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068518749-VW6J0Y9W7TOAHHK1HXIU/FirstFlight24.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Home safe and very sound, Aitken taxies back. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068556191-ID1T84TIVWN5VUWKSMV7/FirstFlight25.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Mike Potter and John Aitken shake hands after the historic flight, while steadfast Vintage Wings volunteer “Taff” Williams looks on. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068582012-5UHRHKWT5APEQWSIB6K7/FirstFlight26.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out After the flight and its unmitigated success, Wood chats with Aitken, but can’t seem to hide the raw emotion he feels from watching her take to the skies and come home again safely. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068627439-Z8M0XEEAXB2NC60KPW3A/FirstFlight27.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Just some of the people who worked to bring the Roseland Spitfire across the finish line. Left to right at back—Gerry Bettridge, Mike Potter, Pat Tenger, John Aitken, Ken Wood, Mike Irvin, Mark Dufresne, Guy Richard. Kneeling in front: Paul Tremblay and André Laviolette. Of course, it took more than just these men to build this aircraft. This includes the dedicated Vintech Aero team at Comox who worked on the fuselage—Ken Hazell, Dean Sept, Kaven Tremblay, Henry Bukach, Terry Chester, as well as Bonn Svensson, Andrej Janik, Korrey Foisy, Mario Guèvremont, Ian Ward, Rob Fleck, Dave O’Malley, Stocky Edwards, and of course Mark DeVries who started it all 20 years ago or more. A special mention goes out to all the volunteers at the Comox Air Force Museum who began this project at the beginning of the new millennium—people like Irv Fraser, Pat Murphy, Dave McLeod, Mike Forbes, Tom Quibell, Harold Mulder and many more. We should also mention the help of people like Peter Monk, Guy Black, Martin Phillips, and Brenden Deere as well as the folks at Cunningham Aero, Supermarine Aero, Airframe Assemblies, Retro Track and Air. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068657454-2V0E6DWGQK7NL2FN3IW2/FirstFlight30.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out John Aitken was very satisfied with the flying qualities of the Roseland Spitfire and the atmosphere in the debrief room was relaxed and happy afterward. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627068706096-ODSBXQ0CS1NTN3HQ8HS9/FirstFlight31.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Director of Maintenance at Vintech Aero, Paul Tremblay displays the feeling of the entire team—relief and great joy at the success of the first flight. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261581744-WPZ7WN0NDWTWVKNQH19T/FirstFlight32.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Mechanic Gerry Bettridge takes a closer look at the Merlin post-flight, checking for leaks and any signs of a problem. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261608458-OFXEJA4K77VHZPA3VUKN/FirstFlight33.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out The engineers discuss the flight with Mike Potter. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261643871-YS4F4PAAOMIMBU49U9L9/FirstFlight34.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out With pride of ownership in his work, Ken Wood personally crawled under the Spitfire to wipe her down after the first flight. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261696316-VAUV46ITIIJBWGT3UK3M/FirstFlight35.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Mike Potter, Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, was the man who made this all happen. Despite setbacks, years of restoration and major cost overruns from earlier work, Potter never lost sight of the idea of a Canadian-built Spitfire flying in Canadian skies, paying homage to a Canadian hero. Without his determination, support and encouragement, this event would not have happened here in Canada. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261724486-3B8D8X7BH3I24L3FU4UU/FirstFlight36.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out The Spitfire was started up later that day, but a hydraulic issue scrubbed the second flight. Since that day, the Roseland Spitfire has made two more flights. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261883245-2RPQS1KABFZVNT6104XV/FirstFlight41.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Watch the official video of the first flight. Video: Jonathan Edwards, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261753180-T5MKQ114HTKY601N9UPH/FirstFlight37.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261792559-IPFMISND9UNG2LKTS6NS/FirstFlight38.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261814751-HFCFKJJ4RU4WT55R0OCL/FirstFlight39.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627261835177-97W9FTBK9RHNO3MTAH01/FirstFlight40.jpg The Stories - GHOST — The First Flight of the Roseland Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-in-the-service-of-peace monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627054492632-SJVH2QQZA5JCZ13J37RZ/Peace000.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627054210249-D9JSU3Z3EP83H5GHU04B/Peace16.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The author as a young Pilot Officer in Her Majesty’s Royal Canadian Air Force wearing regulation summer-weight khaki uniform. Even a Canadian summer uniform would be too much clothing for where he was headed in Egypt. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627054328099-3BRS9TPNWI1SO98JF8WM/Peace23.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out When he arrived at Winnipeg for his tour of duty as a staff pilot at the Air Navigation School, he had just completed a conversion course to the Beech C-45 Expeditor, lovingly known by its pilots and navigators as the Wichita Wiggler or Bug Smasher. George’s role would be to fly the Expeditor around while in the back, student navigators would attempt to get him to the destination and back home again without getting lost. Of course most staff pilots would come to know the area and landmarks well and were not about to be truly lost. Photo via Graham Reeve Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627054442654-YJBAYNFKAKXOS2FZNWGE/Peace20.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Following his staff pilot duty at Air Navigation School, George proceeded to get checked out on two of Canada’s most iconic aircraft from the 1950s. The first was the de Havilland DHC-2 Otter, the beefy and highly capable bigger brother of the DHC-2 Beaver. The Otter, in both radial and turboprop forms, remains a hard-working bush aircraft in Alaska and the Canadian North—nearly 70 years after its first flight. Known as the CC-123 in RCAF use, it saw service as a liaison/utility, search and rescue, and light transport aircraft, flying on skis, wheels and floats. Here we see Otter 3743, one of the first four Otters provided by the RCAF to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) at El Arish, Egypt and to the United Nations Yemen Observation Mission (UNYOM) at Sana’a, Yemen. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627055137009-1G7IH49CJ3K7REAI17QL/Peace30.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The Royal Canadian Air Force contributed four DHC-3 Otters (along with DC-3s and Caribous) to the United Nations mission known as UNEF, which were delivered by the Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent to Port Said and flown off to El Arish. In this photo we see one of the four taking off Maggie’s flight deck at Port Said. Three more Otters would rotate through later but they would arrive and go home via RCAF CC-119 Flying Box Car or CC-130 Hercules. Photo: RCN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627055083334-XTCSPZ85GWILNP7JIDLX/Peace17.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, RCAF serial number 5322, in the markings she wore during the period of her service with the United Nations Emergency Force at El Arish, Egypt. She is seen here, freshly painted, flying over a distinctly Canadian landscape before being ferried to the Middle East. George Mayer flew this particular aircraft along with others that were rotated through. After 5322’s service with the RCAF, she was sold to the Tanzanian Air Force as JW9014. She ended her career in Malta at Hal Far airfield as a fire training hulk, finally being scrapped in the 1990s. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627055226852-WOWGKWW12IPJF7VD7U3S/Peace05.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The author’s accommodations with 115 Air Transport Unit (ATU) at El Arish, decorated in local bric-a-brac and embellished with moose and elk prints from home. In the window hangs George’s Distinguished Fucking Around Cross (DFAC), awarded for meritorious screwing around—more on that later. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627055286595-1TJ1GTBE880SL7QJSXVP/Peace31.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out In a sandy expanse of desert, the Egyptians built a monument to commemorate a post-Suez Crisis prisoner exchange that brought home 5,500 of their soldiers in exchange for 4 Israelis. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056215562-WCLFFH1NH695QFFL41FP/Peace32.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The author, Flying Officer George Mayer, showing off his finest Royal Canadian Air Force tropical kit at El Arish—a blue UN cap atop light weight cotton shirt and shorts. As can be seen here, the heat, humidity and dust made it difficult to turn out for duty in a fully-pressed parade-worthy condition. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056252192-05N00GCWFFBB1EWG1KGA/Peace19.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out With his RCAF Otter in the background, the author (right) poses for the public relations photographer as he and a Yugoslavian senior army officer go over flight plans on the hood of the officer’s white United Nations Jeep. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056299063-EHGYYCZYLFM5R7JJHFNO/Peace06.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out A view of the Egyptian/Israeli frontier from an RCAF aircraft. In the early 1960s, the Egyptian–Israeli border was a bleak and, for many reasons, an inhospitable place to operate. Sometimes, the boredom just had to be broken with some shenanigans. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056748071-V95IT3OPVX5D8EF3U8SD/Peace33.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out George’s DFAC “gong”, awarded for flying so low that he cut the radio antenna from a UN jeep, which, unbeknownst to him, was carrying an Israeli Defense Forces general officer. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056790480-SOPZ7A8WT6E33ALH986M/Peace24.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627056815426-DU8SABLFIXTBBD1RHTTP/Peace25.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The old workhorse Douglas C-47 Dakota KN511 (RCAF serial 12926), a veteran of the Second World War was employed by George Mayer and his fellow El Arish-based pilots to do the work of an entire fleet of de Havilland Caribou for more than a month. The top photograph shows “Old 511” in her early postwar RCAF livery in 1949, while the lower photo shows her in 2003 awaiting refurbishment at Middletown, Ohio. Fitted by Basler with turboprops, “Old 511” soldiers on to this day with the United States State Department. Photos: Top: Library and Archives Canada; Bottom: Mike Powney via aerovisuals.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627057943709-MLD7DXHW4Y3EEDGGXFB4/Peace27.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627058018975-T7CJYHGISUEOZTKRNYWG/Peace34.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627058067363-TEEBVHMKA5EACNM53KCV/Peace10.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627058105860-RXHTQ8X9HJSEZ7QGUETR/Peace29.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627058153245-0B5ZNL801CQ3K4EIHCHT/Peace08.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627059326923-CF8UF45KU0T3I7MIR7X6/Peace12.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Flying in and out of Sana’a and other remote Yemeni airfields had many challenges—gravel runways with obstacles, dust storms and high density altitudes. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627059388961-XD7BWXHMBUJLFWO33F14/Peace11.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Living in UNEF outposts in Yemen in 1963 was roughing it in the extreme, but the challenges and professionalism of the RCAF crews and pilots made the posting an adventure worthy of many mess tales in the years to come. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627059423262-BIF8M2NBZKPAR2DXGGJN/Peace21.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out Conditions in Yemen were particularly gruelling—extreme heat, dust and lack of proper facilities. Maintenance personnel working in these conditions also suffered from the scourge of swarms of flies, requiring the men to wear meshed hoods over their heads as Mayer’s flight engineer, Leading Aircraftman Daniel Vodden had to on this day. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627059536663-XZSZZCUV1TRPAJYEL7XA/Peace28.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out It wasn’t all Hell-on-Earth at El Arish. Though Mayer and the other RCAF contingent at El Arish considered it tough duty, UNEF volunteers who were stationed in Yemen, and were sent there for R and R, thought of El Arish as a sort of paradise. Being close to the blue Mediterranean Sea had its benefits as well. In this photo, some of the locals stroll near the coast. Photo: 115atu.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627059582426-CJXD1M43W8AWL9KZTVF7/Peace14.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The bar tender and resident psychologist at the El Arish officers’ mess was an amiable and blind Greek by the name of Mr. Nick who found his way around his bar through feel and sound. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627063299211-NDXCZM7S5H0U5MEA185C/Peace18.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The officer’s mess bar at El Arish was a stylish place in 1963. Pilot Officer George Mayer (right) with friend Bjorn, a Norwegian Army radio officer with UNEF. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627063345911-DSPH1D4202H6NYAPZS14/Peace15.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The Caribou ferry flight to El Arish from RCAF Station Trenton was worthy of a send-off party at Air Transport Command and some formal photos, Trenton. Here Flying Officer George Mayer (standing second from left) poses with Flight Lieutenant D. Scott (fourth from left), bound for his tour of duty at El Arish, along with well-wishing members of RCAF Air Transport Command staff. Photo: Author’s Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627063432518-4COFVVVN7EUDA2VBNDMQ/Peace04.jpg The Stories - FLYING IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE - Make it stand out The UN flag in the Mediterranean Sea breeze at El Arish in 1963. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/ghost-lakes-of-manitoba monthly 0.5 2022-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044455568-SSNWN32367ZUJIS87VNM/GhostLakes00.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044502686-UA6HP7NMF1YEKPM2HXR2/GhostLakes25.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The Manitoba Memorial Lakes were dedicated in 1947 to Manitoba-born members of the armed services who had lost their lives in combat during the Second World War. The practice to name lakes and other geographical features after those who gave their lives to protect our way of life is now quite common in several provinces, and many more of Manitoba’s lakes have been dedicated in the same manner since this first group. In fact, there are more than 4,200 lakes, bays, islands and other features named for Manitoba’s war dead from the Second World War, the Korean War and Victoria Cross recipients from the First World War. Sat-image: Google https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044534081-H95ZRJCNV9A912BU2PZ3/GhostLakes28.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Rectangle shows the location of the Memorial Lakes dedicated to the 15 airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Sat-Image: Google https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044603568-WRTCZ3RNMU7BV1QQIGVL/Ghostlakes06jpg.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Photos of the two Tod brothers appeared in many Canadian newspapers when their aircraft was reported Missing in Action. Photos via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044699138-7IYKGWJ90KJGFPX3I6RP/GhostLakes08.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War, designed by Short Brothers to meet an Air Ministry specification from 1936. This required it meet a wingspan dimension of 100 feet to save on overall weight. The Stirling’s performance would be hampered by this specification and it is thought that had the wings been longer it would have been just as good a performer as the Halifax or Lancaster. It entered service in early 1941 but had a relatively brief operational career as a bomber, being relegated to second line duties from late 1943, when other more capable four-engined RAF bombers, specifically the Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster, took over the strategic bombing of Germany. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044903419-XTV2NLZ6ZDTAP2V2T8M0/GhostLakes07.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The headstones of the Tod brothers are side by side in well-tended graves in Medemblik Cemetery. Photo via 75nzsquadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627045066391-UXALP7CZHDXHYD6RTLIF/GhostLakes01.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Pilot Officer George Vandekerckhove (back row at right) with his flight crew (wearing Mae West life vests) and his ground crew with their 427 Squadron Halifax (Squadron code ZL) in the background. Photo via rootsweb.ancestry.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627045132922-0II6SF1KNW7LOI20GOC8/GhostLakes24.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out I couldn’t find an image of Mackie on the internet, but I did find this clear map of the lake named in his honour. Image: Geographical Names Board of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627045202654-3VKVD70PYX6F5PUO9X1J/GhostLakes03.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out I could not find a decent photograph of Mack Chepil—only this low resolution image from his Service Flying Training School Course No. 53 at Brantford, Ontario. Chepil, who is third from the right in the back row, trained there from 11 April 1942 to 30 July, when he was awarded his wings. Photo via RCAFBrantford.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b410bd8-3999-4616-b878-06d82fb02a83/1084354_10.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out More recently, this photo of Mack Chepil has come to light. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627045291196-EMJ2LU6XI4ARSAKP4V3Z/GhostLakes04.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Flying Officer Lawrence “Lorne” McMillan in his service file photograph (left) and with fellow PR Spitfire pilots of 542 Squadron, Royal Air Force (McMillan is second from right). Photos via VirtualWarMemorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627048759109-KPC2AHMN1T78D7J35IVJ/GhostLakes05.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The German troop ship Ubena was identified as one of the four ships observed by McMillan and Wigle carrying German troops from Denmark to Germany at the war’s end. During the war, it was commandeered by the German Navy for use as a U-boat supply ship and then later as a hospital ship. Photo via 7SeasVessels.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627048889502-66K4Q62I7FX5Z7VG7UAA/GhostLakes11.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Craig’s Lancaster (ND640) crashed into farm fields near the small town of Münchholzhausen, southwest of the city of Wetzlar. It left a sizable crater that drew many locals to gawk at the demise of seven fine young men. Here, one of ND640’s Rolls-Royce Merlins rests at the edge of the impact crater. Photo via AirCrewRemembranceSociety.uk.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627048927295-M7F7S42C4WJ008AMYJWX/GhostLakes10.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Local citizenry and Luftwaffe officers look down into the large crater at the remains of ND640, its payload and its seven crew members. The depth and compact nature of the hole in the ground indicated a near vertical vector for the falling Lancaster. Photo via AirCrewRemembranceSociety.uk.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbe816ee-9418-4528-86f2-34a628f9c337/Screen+Shot+2022-05-09+at+4.34.35+PM.png The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out 22-year-old Flying Officer James Craig, DFC. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049032302-KB0DVIDVQ6GG8NA7RSY1/GhostLakes14.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Left: A formal portrait of Flight Lieutenant Roderick James Dunphy, DFC. Right: Dunphy (squatting behind turret) inspects damage to the fuselage and mid-upper gun turret of his 426 Squadron Lancaster at the end of October 1943. Though this had the same squadron code (OW-D), as the aircraft he would be shot down in two months later (LL630), it was in fact a different Lancaster (RAF serial DS686). The three men are George Andrew (gunner), Dunphy and Flying Officer J. Dodge. Photos via Murray Peden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049122211-9L6NAEXNS90S6R64TG9K/GhostLakes13.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The official certificate showing the position of the lake and certifying its connection with Dunphy. Photo via Murray Peden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049181600-AYA35VT8XO4P0QAHNA4F/GhostLakes15.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Inset: If any photo of a young man would embody the word “eager” it was that of William Eager. While searching the Imperial War Museum collection of wartime photographs, I came across one of Eager and his 61 Squadron crew—the air and ground crew of Avro Lancaster B Mark I, W4236 (QR-K), of ‘A’ Flight, No. 61 Squadron RAF, grouped by the nose of the aircraft at RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire, after it had completed 70 operational flights. Air crew, standing left to right: Flying Officer F.L. Hewish, bomb aimer; Pilot Officer W.H. Eager RCAF, pilot and captain; Sergeant F.R. Stone, wireless operator; Sergeant L.S. Vanner, rear gunner; Sergeant H.T. Petts, navigator; Sergeant F.R. Sharrard, mid-upper gunner; and Sergeant L. Lawrence, flight engineer. Ground crew, sitting left to right: Leading Aircraftsman W.A. Long, flight mechanic (engines); Corporal C. Bowyer, fitter; and Leading Aircraftsman J. Blackwood, flight mechanic (airframe). Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049236835-5CNFMCDB8S46WL0TBMWT/GhostLakes16.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out A send off from the women of RAF Syerston. WAAF and other ground crew members wave off Pilot Officer W.H. Eager RCAF and his crew in Avro Lancaster B Mark I, W4236 (QR-K), of No. 61 Squadron RAF, as they begin their take(off run from Syerston, Nottinghamshire, for a night raid on Hamburg, Germany. This was W4236’s 74th mission, from which it returned safely: it was lost, however, during a raid on Mannheim on 10 August 1943. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049346068-BXPSWBUOBTDOTHO0C4BF/GhostLakes17.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Left: Squadron Leader Brian Wilmot of Winnipeg—a photo that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press with the announcement of his death. Wilmot’s headstone at Harrowgate Cemetery in Yorkshire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049399015-DA5AE5SGKUQOGGU5Z093/GhostLakes18.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out A photo of Halifax QO-O, Oscar the Outlaw, the aircraft Wilmot was ferrying to RAF East Moor when he collided with another in cloud. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049492148-V3WS7PGJROSN2JSNJIBC/GhostLakes19.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Flying Officer John Joseph McGavock beams with pride in this studio photograph with his new DFC ribbon. One of his commanders said he had “a physique and bearing which inspires confidence in his crew.” Photo via AirCrewRemembranceSociety.uk.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049569800-SFDE03GYFITZT3UHEOEI/GhostLakes20.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out A 13 Squadron Blenheim is readied for a sortie at Canrobert airfield in Algeria. Likely a posed promotional photograph.Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049633587-DKUHECHLFIMVPTNN3HJ3/GhostLakes21.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out The members of Dobbyn’s (centre) crew in a formal studio photograph. Photo via AirCrewRemembranceSociety.uk.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b39724f0-5f7d-4422-9431-5f3b4c7d2ab0/Screen+Shot+2022-05-09+at+4.25.45+PM.png The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Joseph Moore Runner, DFM. Photo via Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049779477-EWBOCSXJE6KZATL4Y6SV/GhostLakes23.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Though a photo of Joseph Runner could not be found in the internet, I did find this image of his medals which are on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon… in the same place as those of Guy Gibson and other icons of Bomber Command. Photo: Paul Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627049858923-VJ32EOD9W3PSYDIWEPWU/GhostLakes35.jpg The Stories - THE GHOST LAKES OF MANITOBA - Make it stand out Today, the remains of the Dakota in which Robert Watt lost his life are still as they were when the site was first discovered by forest rangers. All of the bodies were removed by toboggan and Watt’s body was returned for burial in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. There is also a video on YouTube that pans the crash site. Photos: Chris and Connie, Off the Beaten Path https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/of-goats-and-men monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042380129-KW8Z90RNZBUKJI4CLACF/BillyGoat00.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042636269-O88TXTRIIA4847SRKM48/BillyGoat01.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Famed author and Pulitzer Prize recipient John Steinbeck (in trench coat) meets 609 Squadron mascot Wing Commander Billy de Goat at RAF Manston on June 29, 1943. Steinbeck, a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, was there to meet and cover stories of 609 Squadron's Hawker Typhoon pilots, then the highest-scoring squadron on the type in the RAF. Photo via ManstonHistory.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042672457-VC4P154JQRSMPNLHH4I0/BillyGoat02.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Officially, Steinbeck was there to write about the squadron and Typhoon operations. Here, he gets briefed by Squadron Leader Alec Ingle, DFC, AFC as Flying Officer Peter Raw, DFC, in the cockpit of a Typhoon nicknamed Mavis (named after Raw's wife), explains instruments and controls. Ingle would be shot down a few months later, surviving the war as a PoW. “Slosher” Raw, an insurance broker before the war, was one of four Raw brothers who served in the Second World War, only one of whom survived—his brother Michael. Raw (by this time a Flight Lieutenant) transferred to 183 Squadron and was killed in action over Holland in March of 1944 during a fighter sweep of six 183 Squadron Typhoons. He was hit by flak and struck the barge he was strafing at the time. The citation accompanying his DFC speaks to his courage and determination: “P/O. Raw is a pilot of exceptional courage and ability, and is always eager to hunt and engage the enemy. During a period of three months he has attacked and immobilised 17 locomotives, 11 by day and 6 by night, during offensive operations over France and Belgium. Recently he has taken part in two attacks on enemy shipping, and in the face of intense Flak has severely damaged two and scored hits on two more enemy motor minesweepers. He has also damaged a FW 190 raider.” His brother, Squadron Leader Anthony Raw, DFC, AFC, was killed a few months later flying with 156 Squadron Pathfinders, Bomber Command. A third brother, Pilot Officer John Frederick Raw had died in 1941, during night flying training, when his Miles Magister crashed. Photo via ManstonHistory.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042745935-EWTSQW5C8X1T7YC0OYHA/BillyGoat20.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042788537-VKW9PMPD41I5175AW43C/BillyGoat18.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627042856703-DEMR8PZLWH7VDANCRDC5/BillyGoat16.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043110974-ON7XN50KEZVVCIM38K95/BillyGoat21.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out The Old Jail Pub today is not much different today than it was during the Second World War. It was here nearly 80 years ago, that William de Goat became the mascot of 609 (West Riding) Squadron—likely after a night of exuberant drinking by Belgian fighter pilot Victor Marcel Maurice Ortmans, better known as Vicky. An article in the Yorkshire Post from 2008 explains: “The Old Jail Pub was just beyond the perimeter fence of RAF Biggin Hill, along a leafy Kent road. It was a popular haunt for the Belgian pilots on 609 – by this stage of the war the aircrew came from many different nations and the squadron was popular with those Belgians who had escaped the occupation in their home country. The landlady of the Old Jail was a Belgian woman named Biddie, who apart from providing excellent wine, had access to news from home. Biddie also had a kid goat, which, for reasons that only the two of them knew, she presented to Vicki Ortmans, one of the Belgian flyers who won the Distinguished Flying Cross and was shot down three times in three months.” Photo: John A. King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043246230-MIQKVYB2NMDPPP0CI1A7/BillyGoat05.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Billy the Kid. A wonderful Public Relations shot taken on June 28 1941 at RAF Biggin Hill shows a group of pilots with a Spitfire and three of their squadron mascots—a puppy, a dog and the newly arrived “William (Billy) de Goat” who would become the chief and legendary mascot of the squadron. Skeets Ogilvie, of the Glebe neighbourhood in Ottawa, sits second from right in front with his arm around “Petie”, Sailor Malan’s dog (the legendary Malan was the Biggin Hill Wing Commander). The others in this shot are, left to right, standing: Sergeant Bob Boyd, Pilot Officer Baudouin de Hemptinne, Pilot Officer Peter MacKenzie, Flight Lieutenant Paul Richey, Flight Lieutenant John Bisdee, Pilot Officer Jean Offenberg and Flying Officer Jimmy Baraldi. Sitting: Pilot Officer Vicky Ortmans who brought William de Goat to the Squadron, Sergeant Tommy Rigler (with a squadron dog named “Spitfire”), Skeets and finally Pilot Officer Bob Wilmet. Photo: 609 Squadron Association https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043313814-25L1OJN770P18P1E1RZV/BillyGoat13.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out An unknown Flight Lieutenant of 609 Squadron feeds a young Billy de Goat as he browses the long grasses at Biggin Hill in the early days. Photo: gahp.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043432916-YX7WJVJ9OOTF5Y8SUUN2/BillyGoat03.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Ground crew of 609 Squadron and a mature Billy de Goat pose with one of their Typhoons. Photo via The Spitfire Site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043477082-CZ12E27K3BRX83QZ9BY4/BillyGoat17.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out William's “Boys” — Pilots of 609 Squadron celebrate a squadron operational milestone and pose with William de Goat. Photo via 609wrsquadronassocation on Twitter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043528963-F0YG1YFJUMYT10NLXSPQ/BillyGoat04.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out When Flight Lieutenant Peter Raw joined the squadron in July 1942 and was promptly given responsibility for the care and feeding of one-year old Billy de Goat. It seems that Raw and Billy had become fast friends and enjoyed performing a few tricks like having Billy stand on Raw's shoulders for the entertainment of the men and photographers. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043576834-D8QTA7LHF1HVZHHXXXS4/BillyGoat07.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Peter Raw, a competitive boxer, demonstrates not only Billy's ability to balance but his own considerable strength. The Biggin Hill revetments can be seen in the background. There was a brief 35 mm film shot of Billy the Kid, probably around the time of Steinbeck's visit. It is presently stored in the imperial War Museum's archives, but is not available to be viewed on line. However, the events depicted in the film are described and are quite hilarious: “An officer feeds the goat through the nozzle of an oxygen cylinder; a W/O sits on the bonnet of a lorry feeding the goat, the goat puts its front feet on the Squadron's sign to reach more food; the W/O tries to coax the goat to jump from the roof of the lorry onto the bonnet (unsuccessfully); the goat eats a cigarette, but is less interested in a newspaper (proffered by an airman); the goat wanders, on a long tether." Photo: AircrewRemebered.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043610580-FUZV29CD94BQWBWSHYUO/BillyGoat09.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Peter Raw and Billy de Goat. Sadly, Billy outlived his best friend when Raw was lost on operations on 21 March, 1944. The classic Biggin Hill revetments can be seen on the background. Contributor “Martok” on the website HobbyFarms.com writes about the rank stripes on Billy's horns: “William sniffed oxygen bottles and consumed innumerable cigarettes along with top secret maps, files and records. William was shot at but never hit. He did, however, bloat badly after pigging out on mattress stuffing, and he almost died of slow poisoning. That happened because as William rose through the ranks, his boys used blue “aircraft dope” to paint bars denoting his rank on his horns. William, who liked the taste of the paint, would swipe his horns across his front legs and lick the paint off. Just prior to deployment to Europe, he became deathly ill. That’s when the airbase’s medical officer determined that the blue paint on William’s horns was toxic. After that William’s horns remained unadorned.” Photo: PlaneHunters.be https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043671040-T8Z344I5AHK5LHTGCO42/BillyGoat06.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out One of the most published photos of William de Goat. Billy, by this time a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force, was addicted to cigarettes. Here, 22-year old Pilot Officer Don “Buck” Buchanan, RCAF shares a dart with Billy. Buchanan was a Canadian who grew up not more than 50 meters from where I am writing this story. Buchanan was one of more than 475 young men from the Glebe neighbourhood who were killed in the Second World War. He was shot down and killed on July 27, 1944 while attacking German tanks in the Calvados region of Normandy. Buchanan was one of two 609 Squadron pilots from the Glebe, though they never served on squadron at the same time. While Buchanan would die on operations, the other, Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie would survive the Battle of Britain, being shot down, years in a PoW camp and the Great Escape and live a long and good life in Ottawa. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043830358-XUYH9QXI9Q0TXW0W11QR/BillyGoat15.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out A group of pilots of 609 Squadron pose with Billy, one holding some document that obviously pertains to the squadron ungulate. The man on the left is Charles Demoulin, and I believe the man next to him is possibly Belgian ace Remy Van Lierde. The man holding the document in his leather-gloved hand is Squadron Leader Lawrence “Pinky” Stark. The man at right is possibly John Baldwin (eventually Wing Commander John Baldwin DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, AFC). Miraculously, considering their line of work as Typhoon pilots, all four men survived the war along with the goat. “Windmill” Demoulin, eventually commanded the squadron in 1944 and wrote his memoir Firebirds—Flying the Typhoon in Action in 1987. Van Lierede became a colonel in the post-war Belgian Air Force and died in 1990. Pinky Stark, DFC and Bar, AFC continued in the RAF after the war as a test pilot. Upon retirement in 1963, he became manager of the Rochester airport and died in 2004. Baldwin was killed on operations during the Korean War when he was attached to the USAF flying the F-86 Sabre. Photo via 609wrsquadronassocation on Twitter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043872168-RFRL63D3M7WIHAF4YT3K/BillyGoat14.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Although William de Goat was well-trained to do tricks, he was a goat after all, and a stubborn one at that. Here, he drags his hooves as Peter Raw attempts to get him moving. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043919442-OFNYXVEZR04LC1LXAAVI/BillyGoat08.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Billy faces off with Blitz, the squadron dog while tethered to the tail wheel of a 609 Squadron Typhoon in France. Photo: cambridgeairforce.org.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043950178-MH743NCVJK335MYZYKNK/BillyGoat10.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out As 609 Squadron pushed north from Normandy, through Belgium and into the Netherlands, William accompanied them from one forward base to another. During Operation INFATUATE, the Anglo-Canadian effort to secure the port of Antwerp, 609 Squadron Typhoons flew in support of Canadian troops fighting the vicious Battle of the Scheldt Estuary. They flew from a forward airfield near the Belgian village of Ursel (northeast of Ghent) known as B-67. In 2009, a group of Ursel citizens and amateur historians wanted to commemorate the 65th anniversary of 609's residence there and the many Belgian pilots who participated. They invited present members of 609 (now a reserve unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force) to attend and the squadron brought with them a life-sized effigy/stage-prop of William de Goat. They pose in front of a restored RAF battlefield control tower, dedicated to the squadrons of 123 Wing — 609, 164, 183 and 198 Squadrons. Photo: b67ursel.be https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627043994753-QZLBONFBG3JW8DC1YXLI/BillyGoat11.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out Members of 609 Squadron and the people of Ursel pose with William's effigy. The memorial mass was held at Saint Medardus church (Sint-Medarduskerk) in Ursel, but the church in the background of this photo is not Saint Medardus. It is Saint Willibrord Church (Sint-Willibrorduskerk) in nearby Knesselare, Belgium. Both Knesselare and Ursel are situated close the B67 airfield. For a wonderful video of Ursel's commemoration and William's effigy's part in it, click here. Photo: b67ursel.be https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627044021851-5OL68O1QPLD8TJO0SGMX/BillyGoat19.jpg The Stories - OF GOATS AND MEN — John Steinbeck and the Legend of Billy de Goat - Make it stand out In 2010, a year after Billy's effigy attended the Ursel B-67 commemoration, the squadron got permission to get another live Toggenburg goat to renew the tradition. This one, named Jeffery de Goat or “Jeffers”, lives at a nearby farming museum, but attends squadron functions. At his first big event, he was promoted from Officer Cadet to Pilot Officer. By 2014, he was already a Flight Lieutenant, rising in rank almost as fast as the great William de Goat himself. Photos via YorkPress.co.uk https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/personal-effects monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040038324-3SQ72D7YEE8F490A1F0A/Personal000.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040097582-KVBK2VYGKK80VCDG8OOQ/Personal35.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out A smiling David Rouleau during happier times, learning to fly at No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St. Eugène, Ontario—judging by the excited look on his face, likely his first ever flight. When contemplating this image and the following two photographs, one cannot help but see the innocent boy in Rouleau, the sweet and only child of a mother about to sacrifice her heart to the war effort. Immediately upon graduating from the University of Toronto, he volunteered with the RCAF, arriving at No. 13 EFTS on 29 November 1940. Three months later on 28 February 1941, he graduated to Service Flying Training and was transferred back to Ottawa and No. 2 SFTS at Uplands. Looking closely at the Finch in the background, it appears as new to flying as Rouleau was—not a mark or stain on it anywhere. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040158487-BACNC5KLHZXKSGJ5EVLC/Personal33.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out A rather boyish David Rouleau accepts an awkward handshake from Group Captain Frank Scholes McGill, the Station Commander of RCAF Uplands at his Wings Parade on 4 April 1941. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040227952-RXBUUTWNL75D5JSZGTCM/Personal34.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Rouleau, shortly after the April 1941 ceremony in which he was awarded his pilot’s wings. He still wears the white cap flash of a student pilot, though by this time, he is entitled to remove it. Gertrude Rouleau was more fortunate than most mothers of airmen of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in that David did both his Elementary and Service Flying Training within 60 miles of home. Uplands is just a short 30 minute bus ride from the family home along the Rideau Canal and No. 13 EFTS St. Eugène, where he learned the rudiments of flying, was just 60 miles to the east and on a rail line to Ottawa. That meant she likely had the benefit of having him home on many weekends and at Christmas. She was also able to attend his Wings Parade. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040273747-9ED2H3DUDMB7K9HFPKXM/Personal50.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Spitfire Vs of 131 County of Kent Squadron prepare for battle. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040722088-HCLSPEUVK4KK6BAP9LYM/Personal31.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out The very telegram that Gertrude Rouleau held in her shaking hands on the evening of 6 June 1942, given to the author by his cousin and dear friend Peg Christie—a treasured artifact that holds the tears of a gentle woman whose sacrifice was almost unimaginable. The Rouleau/Gisborne family learned that their son David was missing in action just 72 hours after he was shot down off Malta. It is a testament to how well the system worked and how much the RCAF cared about the families of their airmen, that all efforts were made to get them the news as fast as possible, regardless of the outcome. There is little in this telegram that would help Gertrude understand what had happened to her son, only the knowledge that he was missing. Scan from actual telegram https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627040810643-ZX416H2TPXT0L5GGCVO8/Personal08.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out A list of David Rouleau’s personal effects found in the cartons in the Middle East. Two letters of introduction had been removed along with a pistol, a diary, a pay book and two log books. Copy of list sent to Gertrude Rouleau via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041149663-X3TTJSHTE1A2X2UPKFGI/Personal06.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Three years and three months after her son died, Gertrude finally received a box and suitcase filled with his belongings. The emotions that must have been running through her heart and mind as she took the clipboard from the DND Estates Branch delivery man and signed her name, we can only imagine. It is interesting to note that she signed her name as Gertrude Rouleau, though the contents of the delivery were apparently delivered to the home of Kenneth Harris. Signed delivery slip via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041260133-VMMNB5UMX8OLCJ037D8E/Personal36.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Sometime in the winter of 1940–41, Gertrude’s son David poses with his flying instructor and a Fleet Finch at No. 13 EFTS, St. Eugène. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041306216-M5GWEY4206BR1UYHA055/Personal32.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out A photo of Leading Aircraftman David Rouleau at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Uplands, Ottawa. He wears a pair of leather gloves and carries a Kodak Bantam camera. These both were mentioned in his list of personal effects. This camera was with him through his training and through a year of operations with 131 Squadron, Royal Air Force. One can only imagine what photos he took with it during his time in the RCAF. Though they were returned to his mother, they would disappear into the mists of time when she remarried and moved out of her father’s house. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041344452-W3RPM8543HHMBG7WNZLC/Personal01.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out After the initial telegram, Gertrude Rouleau received this letter from the RCAF two weeks after the death of David. It states the only information she would ever be given about the circumstances regarding the death of her only son. While it explains little, it does not yet confirm that he is dead, leaving the door open for news that he may have been captured or rescued. The RCAF would often wait months for some sort of confirmation from the Red Cross and other agencies that downed aircrew were in prisoner of war camps. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude (Gisborne) Rouleau via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041376182-WCD5BOVKFNBJZ1XGT6CM/Personal38.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out A note from Flight Lieutenant I.D. Corcoran, an RCAF Casualties Officer in Ottawa sent to Gertrude three months following David Rouleau’s Missing In Action report. Though nothing new had been learned, Corcoran was at least letting her know that “no news is good news”. The sad thing is that, upon seeing the letter in her mailbox, she likely held out hope of good news only to have her heart broken again. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude Rouleau via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041431206-SKKNG5AG2VNFPC6UGE57/Personal00.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out During the Second World War, the pain of learning that a loved one was possibly killed was often compounded month after month, with hope held out for survival. In this letter to Gertrude, dated 9 November 1942, the RCAF tells her that they believe that there is little hope, but they tell her also that it will still be another month before they officially say so. While this must have wounded her deeply, it likely still gave her a modicum of hope—futile as it was. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude (Gisborne) Rouleau via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041467780-OHTYCARSTT7Z5VGQPGJE/Personal39.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out In early February 1943, Gertrude received a letter written from Air Vice-Marshal N.R. Anderson, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, with the RCAF’s final statement about the fate of her son. She surely had been holding out hope until now that David was alive and in a POW camp. This must have been a crushing blow to Gertrude. The letter was sent “care of” Captain W.D. Burden, a family friend and a man who had written a fine letter of recommendation on behalf of David Rouleau when he enlisted in the RCAF. Records show that Burden, an Army Captain in the First World War and a Branch Manager with the Canada Life Assurance Company, had asked that letters of this type be sent to him at his home on Monkland Avenue (a few blocks from the Gisborne home) that he may deliver them in person to Gertrude—a very thoughtful gesture that guaranteed that there was someone on hand to comfort her in the event of bad news. She had been living with her father at an address only a few blocks from this address. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude (Gisborne) Rouleau c/o Captain Burden via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041590873-K9IPGJOLK2RC7B8SL3XT/Personal14.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out By the following year, no news had been heard from or about David Rouleau. Though they did not have a body with which to confirm his death, for the purposes of closing the file, a Certificate of Presumption of Death was issued on 9 February 1943, eight months of silence having elapsed. Copy of Certificate from Rouleau’s service file via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041618851-8FOQ9G0EUDQ7LN011Z43/Personal02.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out By May of the following year, Flight Lieutenant Milton A. Foss, the Casualties Officer for the RCAF, signed a note confirming what she had not dared to think all these months—David was now presumed and certified as dead. Foss did a tough job in tough times and his name is signed or stamped in many a letter to a mother or father. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude (Gisborne) Rouleau via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041663512-PY1N9NPKMB71BOZEZ5FM/Personal09.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out On the 6th of June 1945, the RCAF is informed of the finding of the Personal Effects of David Rouleau, which have been in storage for more than three years. A Gladstone is a leather satchel, similar to a doctor’s bag. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041694162-50IVS7IDU9ZGCCTWX2YM/Personal07.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out By September of 1945, the widow Rouleau had met and married a government architect by the name of Kenneth D. Harris. They lived on King Edward Avenue on what was once a tree-lined boulevard. The Estates Branch still had her old name and address, but it was likely redirected there by her father who still lived at 114 The Driveway or perhaps family friend Captain Burden. The address indicated here is the home of Harris. It is doubtful that Gertrude would be living with Harris without being married, given the time and Harris’ station in life. Letters over the next year would still be addressed to and even signed with the name Gertrude Rouleau, though she and Harris were married on 30 June 1945. Copy of letter sent to Gertrude (Rouleau) Harris via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041738695-77T3WDWZ7W4EL7KK0MJ6/Personal05.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out Two months after Gertrude took delivery of David’s personal effects, she received another letter from the DND’s Estate Branch informing her that shortly they would be sending her David’s diary, which was not included in his personal effects in the first delivery. One can imagine the opening of the wound in her heart one more time, combined with the trepidation and excitement of knowing that shortly she would be reading her son’s very thoughts and actions covering the time from when he boarded the train for Halifax and the day he sailed for Malta. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041785073-QXKRU69H1G8PBY2CFV9N/Personal04.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out The original contents of David’s personal effects included a Smith and Wesson revolver, which likely he acquired personally while with 131 Squadron. This was not standard issue for RAF fighter pilots, so it was kept back from the original delivery. Gertrude was then sent a letter asking if she cared to have this pistol, to which she replied that it was not wanted. One can imagine the horror of a Canadian woman at the sight of such a thing—so uncommon even today in Canadian households. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041825711-86V8K6VP2CSRVEPNXAE8/Personal40.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out By May of 1946, Gertrude was now properly being addressed as Mrs. H.G. Harris. The words of Group Captain Walter Allen Dicks, a career air force administrator, showed both compassion and patriotism. The author is now proudly in possession of the Operational Wings mentioned in this letter, a gift from Peg Christie, David’s cousin and close childhood confidante. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041872054-V5PWYU4IZJI2OMYGPI6L/Personal16.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out The pain of David’s death would never go away, but it could be numbed in time. Letters such as this one three years after the war, would have brought back the pain and sorrowful memories of a beautiful son lost forever, but his log book would have been a cherished memento. I only wish that I could see the contents of this log book and follow the year of David’s life in Great Britain that heretofore has been a mystery. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041919920-8NHTE1A96OXD04Y9KR8C/Personal15.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out One of the last letters received by Gertrude must have reopened a wound that had begun to heal, ten years after the death of her son David. The RCAF Casualties Officer, Wing Commander W.R. Gunn was particularly kind and heartfelt. It was important that David’s final resting place be certified as “no known grave” so that his name may be chiselled into the Malta Memorial. This memorial was built on a site generously provided by the Government of Malta, and commemorates those who lost their lives while serving with the Commonwealth Air Forces flying from bases in Austria, Italy, Sicily, the islands of the Adriatic and Mediterranean, Malta, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, West Africa, Yugoslavia and Gibraltar, and who have no known grave. The memorial was unveiled two years after this letter to Gertrude. There are nearly 2,300 names of airmen who lost their lives in the campaigns of the Western Mediterranean and who have no known grave—David Francis Gaston Rouleau who lived at 114 The Driveway, just a few blocks from my house, is one of them. God rest his young soul. Copy of letter via Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627041977302-QZT8XIHB5CVIF4DFHGKP/Personal37.jpg The Stories - PERSONAL EFFECTS - Make it stand out David Rouleau (second from left at back) was somewhat of a writer at Lisgar Collegiate High School. Here he is with the school’s yearbook staff in the late 1930s. One of the items found in his personal effects and returned to his mother after the war was a copy of The History of English Literature as well as several other books. With his year book activities, his study of the arts at University of Toronto, and these books, it seems he had a creative bent. Later, Gertrude would take receipt of a diary which was sent after she received his personal effects. I think often of what it may have contained—what the creative, lonely young man with the prematurely receding hairline may have put down on those pages. I will never know. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/flying-the-westland-lysander monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003194539-OCWB6IB5DVUFZ14JA7C0/LizziePR00.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003253727-FCXH2357VGJ0NTG15K56/LizziePR22.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out House of Dreams Come True—Dave Hadfield photographs his other radial-engined high wing vintage aircraft, the Fairchild 24W Argus as it communes with its new big brother, the Westland Lysander at the Vintage Wings hangar. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003299752-DJEMJ4W958HLEPB8Z6PF/LizziePR01.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Veteran warbird pilot Dave Hadfield sits in his “throne for a day”—the lofty pilot’s seat of the Vintage Wings of Canada Westland Lysander—following his first flight in the rare aircraft. Photo via Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003347432-SB6SMFZ8EX7HKCU3VP1O/LizziePR13.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings Lysander is painted in overall silver to represent National Steel Car-built Lysander No. 416, the first built by the company in 1939. Photo via the Tucker Harris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038307552-70OTGDF32BWFJDOTK23F/LizziePR07.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander was purchased by collector and founder Michael Potter from Saskatchewan collector and restorer Harry Whereatt. Here we see his Lysander nearing completion in 1993. Whereatt chose to paint the Lysander in the famous and ultra-bold yellow and black scheme that was employed by target tugs of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Known as the “Oxydol” scheme for its resemblance to the laundry soap flakes packaging of the day, the markings were meant to make the aircraft as visible as possible to gunnery students. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038372032-ZZTT1USYE5YWR1MYG3VE/LizziePR08.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Harry Whereatt never flew his Lysander, but he did fire it up at aviation events. Here we see the first engine run in July 1996. With Harry at the controls, the Bristol Mercury engine coughs to life with a farm pickup truck supplying the ground power to crank the engine. Despite the successful engine start, the Lysander never flew for Harry—qualified Lysander pilots being in short supply in Southern Saskatchewan at the time. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038436970-8OK4AYN0PSIGY5TZPH2Z/LizziePR23.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out They don’t make ’em any better than this—John Aitken, Aviator-Emeritus and Dave Hadfield’s mentor for his first flight in the Lysander. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038483873-SJ58H1HKGZXAVKF3ECKC/LizziePR03.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out There are 24 complete Lysanders in the world today, most of which at one time were owned by the RCAF. Only three are flying examples—all built in Canada, two of which are in Ontario, the other in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, Cambridgeshire. This wartime photo of Lysander with RCAF serial 1589 shows the typical RAF livery of the day. After the battle of France, Lysanders were being shipped to Canada to be used for training purposes and to keep them safe from destruction by German fighters. In the 1960s, 1589 was partially restored in Canada then gifted to the Indian Air Force in the early 1970s. The aircraft today can be seen at the Indian Air Force Museum. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038525504-VITR9EQ73FNN62NQ2DXF/LizziePR05.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out In an exercise of army cooperation at RAF Odiham, Lysander pilots of No. 400 Squadron RCAF rush to climb into the cockpits of their Lysanders, having just received their operational orders from an Army Liaison Officer standing at the desk at left. In the combat arena, the Lysander proved to be capable, but also vulnerable, resulting in a quick withdrawal from front line service. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038600925-DFETFOQNKP3BTA2RUGW4/LizziePR09.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Four seemingly brand new Lysanders of the Royal Air Force’s 16 Squadron form up smartly over English countryside—likely in 1938 or 39, before the beginning of the Phoney War and the Battle of France. Four regular squadrons, including 16 Squadron, were equipped with Lysanders and accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France in October 1939, and were joined by a further squadron early in 1940. Following the German invasion of France and the low countries on 10 May 1940, the Lysanders were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe even when escorted by Hurricanes. The squadron continued using the Lysander on air sea rescue duty until April of 1942. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038663171-PU2KO0LS1M7EWB5V5O1M/LizziePR16.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out A rather fanciful depiction from the start of the war shows a Lysander tearing into a formation of “Heinkel Planes” and sending a couple to their demises. The image is wrong on two accounts. The aircraft burning in this scene is a Messerschmitt Bf-109, not a Heinkel, and the Lysander did not stand a chance against such a powerfully armed fighter as the 109. Whatever hopes were placed on the Lysander’s performance in combat were soon dashed during the Battle of France. 118 of the 175 Lysanders deployed were lost in combat or on the ground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038751820-PEWW03BDTTI0QTF2NVFA/LizziePR28.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out This big brass nut must be unscrewed and the screen removed to confirm that proper pre-start lubrication has taken place. (Hint: don’t wear new clothes.) Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038812212-YKS7IX59XMFC17X0OBWB/LizziePR27.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The carb air intake—This is where the pre-flight lubrication oil emerges, and pours all over your shoes. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627038878457-46PYCATRMVQTHA4MZUQI/LizziePR25.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The selector on the right routes fuel to either the carburetor bowl or the cylinders for starting with the Ki-Gass primer on the left. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039038423-OTKPZGB0XQP9TGXY9NYL/LizziePR21.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out A true, old-fashioned rudder bar, pivoting in the middle. (Note to pilot: don’t drop anything. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039103192-JEBZHIL8FUO08YWZH9PG/LizziePR24.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The infamous Lysander pitch trim wheel and indice. You need this plus the joystick to control the aircraft’s movements, and it takes 20 sec. to wind it from one end to the other. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039180000-Z126XOADWT6MAYEYXKVF/LizziePR04.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out A photo of famous Lysander K6127 demonstrates the three-point takeoff attitude particular to the type. K6127 was used to explore many modifications to the Lysander including engine changes, defensive guns and was famous for being converted to the Delanne twin tail variant. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039223411-Y4ZYKFSP7M2H2P99G2OS/LizziePR18.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The Lysander’s failure to protect itself from the enemy in the Spring of 1940 led to the development of a prototype called the Delanne Tandem Wing or Lysander P12. Westland designers worked with Frenchman Maurice Henri Delanne to develop more lift at the back of the aircraft to allow for a heavy defensive machine gun turret at the rear. Only one prototype was constructed—from test bed K6127. The large yellow P in a circle roundel on K6127 denoted a prototype. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039272234-T16Y5RD6DY1GDU9PS8FE/LizziePR14.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Lysander N1256, a RAF Odiham-based 225 Squadron Lysander shows the bomb racks suspended beneath winglets cantilevered off of her wheel pants. Note the wheel of a second Lysander, visible beneath the fuselage of N1256. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039304961-7TUXKXG70W9BXQMWSGEK/LizziePR20.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Perhaps the best-known role for the Westland Lysander during the Second World War was its use as a “spy taxi”, an aircraft capable of flying low under the radar and delivering secret agents, weapons and radio equipment to resistance fighters in France and Belgium. The Lysander’s robust landing gear and short field landing capabilities made it perfect for the task. The Lizzie was modified somewhat for the task with the addition of a large centreline fuel tank for extra range and a quick access ladder for the fast planing and deplaning of agents. The variant was called the Lysander III SCW for Special Contract Westland. The SCW Lysanders were painted matte black overall and flew with 138 Special Duty Squadron and 161 Squadron of the RAF. In all, Lysanders transported 101 agents to and recovered 128 agents from Nazi-occupied Europe. Photo: Nigel Ish https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039337060-6T8B5FFTRLE938VW8BWA/LizziePR17.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Perhaps one of the most unsung roles that the Lysander was well suited to was that of Air Sea Rescue (ASR) operations over the English Channel, North Sea and waters surrounding Great Britain. Lysander crews would respond to an emergency call from airmen about to ditch or take to a parachute over the Channel. Their mission was to find the airmen in the sea and drop them a life raft, then vector a fast RAF patrol boat to pick them up. Fourteen squadrons and special flights were formed in England to the ASR role. Here an ASR Lysander drops a life raft from a pod slung from its wheel pant bomb rack winglet. As it falls, the raft begins to inflate. Note the defensive twin machine guns to fend off attacking fighters. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039394666-8IFIB4O77V3ER2UK29N3/LizziePR19.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Canadian-built Lysanders at a Bombing Gunnery School in Canada wear the distinctive “Oxydol” paint scheme of yellow and black diagonal stripes. The Lysander of Hamilton’s Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flies in these very colours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039431496-LMN8CST8Y3Z4Y7PC3VCC/TypeA_6A.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out A National Steel Car–built “Oxydol” Lysander, employed as a gunnery target-towing aircraft in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo via Etienne du Plessis’ Flickr site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039497715-B92LUQR99J9KDP1EC9A0/LizziePR06.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander in flight over her home in Gatineau, Québec. The aircraft is dedicated to Sergeant Cliff Stewart, a Canadian Army soldier who trained as a secret agent at the infamous Camp X on the shores of Lake Ontario. Stewart is the only non-airman to which a Vintage Wings aircraft is dedicated. Stewart once related that he once found himself smoking a cigarette while sitting on a case of dynamite in the back of Lysander, flying at night, low level, deep into Nazi-occupied France... not knowing if it would be the Gestapo who would greet him on the ground. With just a hint of irony, he also said: “If I had known smoking was bad for my health, I would never have started!” Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039593170-RIGSW1BWTIBNI165W2O8/LizziePR10.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Throughout the summer of 2015, the Lysander will fly at air shows and aviation events throughout Southern and Eastern Ontario and possibly Eastern Québec, sponsored by an investment fund known as the Lysander Fund—a group of highly experienced boutique investment managers, retail distribution arm of Canso Investment Council Ltd, one of Canada’s premier corporate bond managers. The Lysander Fund chose the unique Westland aircraft to represent their offering, stating: “Known for its utilization in covert missions, the Lysander was advanced with a unique wing design embodied in our logo. The unique wing design enabled it to take off and land on very short runways and provided excellent visibility from the cockpit. This made the Lysander very flexible and it was utilized in many reconnaissance missions. The Lysander was involved in many successful covert missions and became an air force stalwart. Lysander Funds’ mission in bringing superior investment returns to investors holds true to its namesake.” Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039650675-2P6LORIO6NUHF0FQ5JJ4/LizziePR11.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out Look for Dave Hadfield and the Lysander Fund-sponsored Lizzie at aviation events throughout Ontario in the summer of 2015. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039694792-1G4EPQ8FV50FRQ9I16G8/LizziePR12.jpg The Stories - FLYING THE WESTLAND LYSANDER - Make it stand out A nice colour image of a restored Canadian-built Lysander in flight over England in the 1980s. Photo via FleetAirArmArchive.net https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/snipe-a-centennial-story monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000361271-3OTDTN3916OQE0TNK2ED/Snipe000.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000506956-369QPEG99VHTAM11HVFO/Snipe14.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000602781-L0KLOAFOADJTP3RPNN84/Snipe07.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out On 23 February 1959, the 50th anniversary of powered flight in Canada, Wing Commander Paul Hartman flew a replica of the Aerial Experiment Association’s Silver Dart aircraft (above), Canada’s first successful powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The original pilot, J.A.D. McCurdy, was on hand that day to witness the re-enactment and shake Hartman’s hand. Top: airmen of the RCAF ready the Silver Dart replica on the frozen surface of Bras d’Or Lake, Cape Breton. Bottom: Hartman flying the Silver Dart. Photo: Flight Magazine, 6 March 1959 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000694583-WQJ684G0DUD32O6DGO70/Snipe11.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Sopwith Snipe (E6938) of the National Aeronautical Collection (now the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM)) on the grass at Rockcliffe in 1967. Not more than 100 Snipes reached France before the end of First World War. After the war the Snipe was adopted as the standard RAF fighter, and production continued into 1919. A total of 497 were built by the end of 1918. While 4,500 had been ordered, 2,056 had been completed by the end of 1919. Many went straight to storage and never saw service. The Snipe is considered to be the ultimate development of the small rotary-engined fighter. While almost as manœuvrable as the Camel, the Snipe was much less tricky to fly. One of the outstanding single-handed air battles of the war occurred when Major W.G. Barker, a Canadian pilot, fought off a formation of fighters. After shooting down a two-seater, he was set upon by 15 Fokker D.VIIs. Although wounded in both legs and one arm, he managed to destroy three of his opponents before crashing. He survived and was awarded the Victoria Cross. The fuselage of his aircraft, complete with bullet holes, is part of the Canadian War Museum collection. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000667693-OSHQMEXPURLFTVWJQS1B/Snipe08.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Wightman flies the beautiful Sopwith Snipe over parkland near RCAF Station Rockcliffe, wearing his RCAF bone dome helmet after witnessing the injury sustained by fellow pilot Bill Long in the Nieuport 17. In this photograph we see the excellent range of vision afforded the pilot of a Snipe who sat rather high in the airframe and had the benefit of a cutout in the upper wing to further improve visibility. This Snipe was manufactured in 1918 by Nieuport and General Aircraft Limited of England. Details of its RAF history remain unknown, although it probably served abroad, as did most RAF Snipes. Photo: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000759528-895TY19QPWTUU4269EMG/Snipe36.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out There are few photos of the Sopwith 2F.1 Camel performing at the 1967 show with Wightman; however it still occupies a place of honour at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe. The Sopwith Camel was developed to replace the Sopwith Pup. Camels began to enter the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the middle of 1917 and met with immediate success. Although mainly used in western Europe, Camels also served in Italy. Some Camels were assigned to home defence, with the cockpit positioned further back and guns placed on the upper wings. The 2F.1 Camel was produced for the RNAS with more powerful engines and modified armament. A total of 5,490 Camels were built. The name “Camel” was derived from the hump-shaped cover over the machine guns. In order to combat Zeppelins, Camels were flown from barges towed behind destroyers, from platforms on the gun turrets of larger ships as well as from early aircraft carriers. A Camel successfully flew after being dropped from an airship, an experiment testing an airship’s ability to carry its own defensive aircraft. An armoured trench-fighting version was flown, but did not go into production. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000818909-LJ2OLK5AIWVJHUPDH3JJ/Snipe37.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Museum’s Camel (a variant with a shorter wingspan used on ships such as HMS Furious and HMS Pegasus ) was manufactured by Hooper and Company Limited of London, England in late 1918. One of the last Camels to be produced, it was not completed in time to serve during the First World War. It was, however, used by the RAF until 1925, when it was transferred to Canada along with six other Camels. The Camel was used by the RCAF for demonstration flights and as a training airframe. It was loaned to the Canadian War Museum in 1957, and was later stored and displayed at the National Research Council in Ottawa. Restored between 1958 and 1959, and made airworthy between 1966 and 1967, the aircraft was flown between May and June of that year before being transferred to the Museum. Photo: Nieuport Ace at Flickr.com; text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000864034-8COESC2WF6UIQI6Q6JCF/Snipe12.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Nieuport 17 in flight with either Paul Hartman or Flight Lieutenant Bill Long at the controls in 1967. The Nieuport 17 was one of the classic fighters of First World War. It reached the French front in March 1916, and was adopted by the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service because of its superiority to any British-designed aircraft then in service. Nieuport 17s also served with the Dutch, Belgian, Russian and Italian air forces. Italy built 150 under licence, and Germany was so impressed it asked manufacturers to use some of its features. Six RFC squadrons and eight RNAS squadrons used the Nieuport 17. Even though its lower wing could twist off in high speed dives, the Nieuport became the favourite of the leading allied air aces. The Canadian ace, W.A. “Billy” Bishop, was awarded the Victoria Cross while flying a Nieuport 17. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000847489-VU8GXYLDVXU227OPRDLY/Snipe23.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Nieuport 17 of the National Aeronautical Collection at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in 1967 warming up with Bill Long in the cockpit and Danny Jones about to pull out the chocks. In the background the driver of a flagged RCAF staff car waits. Perhaps a general officer was there to witness and approve the display. For anyone familiar with Rockcliffe, this area is easily recognizable as the east end of the airfield with the road to the Rockcliffe Flying Club. This Nieuport 17 was built by American amateur airplane-maker Carl R. Swanson in 1961 as a flying replica. A generous donor purchased the aircraft for the Museum in 1963. It was refinished to match the airplane in which the famous Canadian ace William Avery “Billy” Bishop earned the Victoria Cross. Wing Commander Paul A. Hartman took the aircraft on its first flight in May 1967, at Rockcliffe airport. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627000926287-WIIXWR75H8S0MW016LDP/Snipe13.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Sopwith Triplane photographed in the pre-Second World War hangar facility that housed the National Aeronautical Collection at the time of the flights as told in this story. The Triplane was a successful attempt to produce a fighter with outstanding manœuvrability and excellent visibility for the pilot. Records of procurement are very confused, but the Royal Naval Air Service received all of the small number of Triplanes available. Even though the Triplane remained in front line service for less than a year, it was so successful that it inspired several German triplane designs. Only 150 Sopwith Triplanes were built. The all-Canadian B Flight of No. 10 (Naval) Squadron, equipped with Triplanes, downed 87 enemy aircraft between May and July 1917. Called the Black Flight because of the black markings of their airplanes, their aircraft were named: Black Maria, Black Sheep, Black Prince, Black Roger, and Black Death. Black Maria was the Triplane flown by Air Vice Marshal Raymond Collishaw, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, DSC, DFC, the great Canadian ace of the First World War. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001337334-K2Y6JQGF4JEJL5BL7CWT/Snipe19.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Sopwith Triplane known as Black Maria being flown by Flight Lieutenant “Fitz” Fitzgerald prior to the 1967 air show. Unfortunately, following an accident with Snoopy Squadron’s Nieuport 17, the National Aeronautical Collection museum staff were worried about structural integrity of the Triplane and would not allow it to fly. Photo: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001379259-192DOCD81DR748JLQBJT/Snipe31.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The National Aeronautical Collection’s Aeronca C-2 (CF-AOR) in the skies over Rockcliffe in 1967, flown by Flight Lieutenant Neil Burns. The diminutive high wing monoplane was designed to be a cheap and simple flying machine for the amateur pilot. Built at the beginning of the Great Depression, it appealed to those who could not afford larger, more expensive airplanes because of its relatively low price. After the C-2 appeared at a Montréal air meet in 1930, the Aeronautical Corporation of Canada was formed in Toronto. This company imported and sold 17 C-2s and C-3s during the 1930s. Approximately 515 C-2s and C-3s had been made when production stopped in 1937. A C-2 was flown higher than 6,000 m (20,000 ft), and one fitted with special fuel tanks remained aloft for 26 hours. The C-2 was dubbed the “flying bathtub” due to its unusual fuselage contour. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001411088-5UC5USYRX6YDOY12YNKF/Snipe30.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Members of Snoopy Squadron’s ground crew prepare to start the collection’s Aeronca C-2 at Rockcliffe, as a photographer prepares to capture the scene. Pilot Neil Burns leans from the cockpit (likely shouting “Contact!”) as a mechanic prepares to swing the propeller. Manufactured in 1931, the collection’s aircraft was the eighth C-2 built by Aeronca. It was originally sold to G.A. Dickson of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then passed through the hands of several owners. A more powerful engine was installed prior to the National Aeronautical Collection acquiring it in 1967. The NAC replaced the original vertical tail with that of a late-production C-3. Photo and text: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001498352-X2YJQJGNM3VA2VOK9DAS/Snipe25.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Bob Deimert’s Hawker Hurricane Mk XII at Rockcliffe that same summer. The nose art depicts a black leather flying boot kicking Adolph Hitler in the arse, the much celebrated nose art of Hurricanes belonging to 242 “Canadian” Squadron in the Battles of France and Britain. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001575958-L7H36Z1KDEBDD8BHQFSX/Snipe06.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Dave Wightman flies the Sopwith Snipe eastward in 1967 along the shore of the Ottawa River north of RCAF Station Rockcliffe’s three runways. The single remaining runway still in operation today is the one that runs right to left just beneath the Snipe’s fuselage. The present day Canada Aviation and Space Museum, sits in the central triangular grass area in the middle. Photo via Dave Wightman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001621020-QB3KNS6E24WJKW5JN60C/Snipe05.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out A member of the Snoopy Squadron ground crew holds down the Snipe’s tail while Wightman runs up the Bentley rotary engine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001734846-SV2192VJGTLD7SINEG3A/Snipe02.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Wing Commander Dave Wightman ponders the complexities and eccentricities of the Bentley rotary engine. Photo via Dave Wightman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001686617-T89ODAOGXAAH4DM6JK8M/Snipe04.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001796864-6NATETGR0QWMCIS6CQKR/Snipe35.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001915447-7MBJU6AV6L61O05U4T4J/Snipe10.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The primitive cockpit of the Sopwith Snipe with the complicated engine control levers at lower left and the “blip” switch in the centre of the circular spade grip. Photo: CASM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627001997944-SLK6LKDAT8B57OATL6H5/Snipe03.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Wing Commander Dave Wightman in the Sopwith Snipe (left) leads Wings Commander Paul Hartman in the Sopwith Camel over early spring landscape along the Ottawa River with Kettle Island and the Province of Québec behind them. Photo: Canadian Aviation and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002041903-OHIHMY9MQS8WJUD3V7UQ/Snipe33.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Sopwith Triplane running up its engine at Rockcliffe with members of Snoopy Squadron’s ground crew holding her steady. In the background can be seen a privately-owned Blériot monoplane (once owned by the legendary Cole Palen of Old Rheinbeck), which took part in the aerial display. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002091096-LQ8QFTXM7PNEFIE9FCZL/Snipe01.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Dave Wightman poses for his obligatory hero shot in front of a CF-104 Starfighter on the snowy ramp at 4 Wing, Baden Soellingen, Germany two years later in the winter of 1969–70. At the time, he was Commanding Officer of 422 Strike/Attack Squadron. The squadrons of the wing were taken from the nuclear bomb delivery role the following year and 422 was disbanded, but Wightman remained as CO of 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron, one of only three squadrons that remained in Germany. Wightman racked up 890 hours in the Starfighter out of his 6,717 total flying hours on about 35 different types of aircraft. Photo: Dave Wightman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002232936-FHVKVXVOEJW1IYKRTPEJ/Snipe22.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Members of Snoopy Squadron tow the Sopwith Camel out to the grass alongside the active runway at Rockcliffe. The machine’s tail skid would have been damaged dragging it over the concrete ramp, so the tail was lifted and strapped onto a wheeled cart which was towed by a base Jeep. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002275400-SFBPT55X0TK13OWD3EAV/Snipe39.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Sopwith F7.1 Snipe E6938 looking worse for wear at the Ontario, California airfield—likely before it was purchased from Reginald Denny by Jack Canary. There is a hand-painted sign in the cockpit but it’s impossible to determine what it says. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002303489-1S7KWLS59XFBEQ8YX2J4/Snipe38.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out The Snipe with tail number E6938 flown by Wightman in the 1967 air show at Rockcliffe was previously owned by Jack Canary who restored it between 1953 and 1960. Since it was sold to the National Aeronautical Collection in 1964, after restoration, this is likely taken at the time it was first purchased by Canary. The lineup of aircraft—the all white P-80 Shooting Star, B-29 Superfortress and Super Constellation in the far distance—are right for that time period of the late 1940s/early 1950s. Photo via San Diego Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002344464-S4PPSPBIE3V83H3SSW9H/Snipe40.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Following its immaculate restoration in 1964, Jack Canary (middle back) proudly shows off the Snipe to Reginald Denny (left) and his son Reginald Denny Jr. (right) and TV broadcaster Clete Roberts (in dark jacket). In 2002, Denny Jr. wrote: “Actually my father brought three Sopwith Snipes into this country. Two were used in movies and crashed. The third was left on display at the Los Angeles Museum and was kept in near perfect condition. During 1952 the L.A. Museum advised dad they no longer had room for the plane and he should make arrangements to have it removed. My father ignored this notice and the plane was sent to the Ontario Airport east of Los Angeles where it was left to rot in the weather. Sometime during the sixties a WW-1 aircraft buff by the name of Jack Canary discovered the rotting plane and using funds from the Airforce Association restored it to better than new, flyable condition…he even went to England and received information and permission to use the original insignia from the squadron to which the Snipe was attached. When Canary attempted to find a home for the plane and receive reimbursement of the money he personally invested, he found he was unable to do so because my father still held title. My father signed over the title and The Museum of Aviation in Canada paid Canary $25,000.00 for the plane which covered Mr. Canary’s personal cash outlay. At the time, this was the only flyable Sopwith Snipe remaining in the world. I believe another has since been put together somewhere.” Photo: ctie.monash.edu.au https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002402918-1747BI7HCH4TYHZKYQNH/Snipe20.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Along with the incident with the Nieuport 17, one of the Golden Centennaires’ Avro 504s (G-CYCK) also had a landing incident at Rockcliffe. The pilot Gord Brown (left) was executing a rolling landing two-pointer when the weighted skid struck a hummock and the aircraft pitched up onto its nose. Luckily the Golden Centennaires team had a second Avro 504 (G-CYEI) to fill in for this one. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002432889-650TL06SUFKAAK4F3062/Snipe24.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Bob Deimert in his Hurricane XII warms up prior to his display at the Centennial air show at Rockcliffe, with the second Avro 504 (G-CYEI) belonging to the Golden Centennaires team in the foreground. Photo: Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002477676-H8S6Y7RY5PNHUOV6KLQ1/Snipe16.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627002499957-FJT4EC1I2I8B6LC0IM4X/Snipe17.jpg The Stories - SNIPE — a Centennial Story - Make it stand out Two very fine formal shots of the National Aeronautical Collection’s pristine Nieuport 17 at Rockcliff. The Nieuwport was damaged in the accident prior to the air show. One of the accident investigators, Bruce Burgess, recalling the investigation recently said “The lower left of the four engine mounts on the Nieuport 17 had failed according to my metallurgist at the MAT Labs. When the aircraft was purchased by the museum, a certificate was received vouching that engine mounts had passed x ray testing. It’s my opinion that if Bill hadn’t cut the ignition as quickly as he did, the powerful torque of the rotary would have ripped the engine off of the aircraft.” Photo: CASM https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/magee-boy-hero-and-poet-legend monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626990591483-2BEOMNWVZGAHA26YQ1PP/HighFlight75_000.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997530228-EW19OMD2QLEIICWHX6X6/HighFlight75_03.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Introducing… John Gillespie Magee, Jr., born 9 June 1922 in Shanghai, China. He snoozes in the humid nursery, his umbilical area wrapped and his cloth diaper rather low-slung. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997589237-GCCB778JKDERI4W2YPEL/HighFlight75_02.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out John was the first-born child of the Reverend John Gillespie Magee (b. 1884) and Faith Backhouse Magee (b. 1891). Magee, from a prominent family in Pittsburgh, PA, went to China in 1912 as a missionary; likewise, Faith, a British-born missionary, had arrived in 1919. The two fell in love within weeks of meeting and were married in Kuling, China in July 1921. Through marriage, Faith became an American. The four Magee children, born in China, Japan, and England were American citizens by virtue of their father’s citizenship. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997658731-KZ5BAJ4OYK3N55HDOC7J/HighFlight75_04.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The first-time parents filled a “baby book” with a record of John’s early days: photographs, lists of gifts received, and the names of family friends. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997694364-T7B7HNXDGUE2U7INGSJY/HighFlight75_06.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Faith has written “Baby’s Baptism Card in Chinese” at the bottom of this family document. John Jr. was christened in 1922 wearing a handmade gown stitched by his aunt Ruth Backhouse. The gown was shipped from England and arrived in time for the ceremony in China. While hundreds of Magee documents have been donated by the family to the Yale Divinity School Library, the gown remains in the hands of the family. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997734211-4JUZTCY418DISP88Y28K/HighFlight75_01.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out John Magee’s early years were spent in Nanking (Nanjing), China, then the capital. The Magees lived in a compound built in the 1920s by the Reverend Magee in Hsiakwan (Xiaguan), a poor area outside the ancient walls of Nanking. The chapel, school for local Chinese children, and homes of the Magees and other staff, were near the Yangzte River. The Magee children watched the shipping on the Yangtze from the walkway on the roof of their home. This early photograph shows the school and chapel buildings in the 1920s; the chapel is now a school library named for the “first principal,” John G. Magee Sr. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997769491-C9M3TGY7X81RFRORDMIW/HighFlight75_41.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The Reverend John G. Magee is a hero in China for his work with the International Safety Zone Committee, a group of businessmen, doctors, and clergymen who saved over 200,000 Chinese civilians during “The Rape of Nanking” in 1937. While Magee and the others struggled to keep the invading army of Japan at bay, his children were safe in England with their mother. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997809796-U7KJ26EZP22E60Q8ESV9/HighFlight75_07.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out On a rainy day, father and son visited the Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the father of the Republic of China, established in 1911. Sun Yat-sen, whom John G. Magee met, died in 1925. His tomb was built between 1926 and 1929 atop Purple Mountain in Nanking (Mount Zijin, Nanjing). This photo was taken in 1928 or 1929. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997856576-BRMQ4AXNUPSO9SI7RYR7/HighFlight75_44.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A passport issued to 11-year-old John Magee on 10 April 1934 describes him as 4’ 11” tall, brown hair and eyes. Place of birth: China. Student. A later page is stamped in New York, on 18 April 1934—John is in transit to England, “returning to St. Clair [Clare] School, Walmer, Kent.” John G. Magee, both father and son, have signed the passport photo. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997905804-SVDRMP189360MMYDT0E9/HighFlight75_08.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The entire Magee family poses for this photograph taken in February 1933 in Deal, Kent, England. From the left are David, John, and Christopher. Also “present” is Frederick Hugh who will be born that August. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997940657-DPLZ54KX18YBFDYIHH3U/HighFlight75_05.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The Magees decided that their children’s early schooling would be in Britain and university studies would be in the United States. In this way, both parents’ heritage, traditions, and families would be part of the children’s lives. The first three children moved to England with Faith; John Sr. sailed from China during his furlough years. The fourth Magee son, Frederick Hugh, was born in London in 1933. John, the eldest, holds Hugh on his christening day (there’s the Magee gown again.) With him are brothers Christopher (1928–2005 born in Japan) left, and David (1925–2013 born in China) right. Hugh Magee is a retired clergyman living in Scotland. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997983254-0T6UJ3XBHQOS94H69HIZ/HighFlight75_50.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out This photograph, believed to have been taken in 1937 at Tunbridge Wells, England, captures the boldly confident adolescent and cheeky trickster in one snapshot. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998018281-FRT9YG6KPG67BM3HSJ3Z/HighFlight75_12.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out One of the few coloured (hand-tinted) photographs of John. It was taken in the spring of 1938 when John visited family in Mortehoe, a village in Devon, England during lambing season. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998071897-WK550Z6TAIGPEU4JZJWP/HighFlight75_10.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998100469-Q3ICFFSPO0GBCXBDW3FF/HighFlight75_09.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The jacket (from previous photo) reappears in the family photo taken that same year, during the Reverend Magee’s furlough spent with the family in England. Given the nature of Magee’s missionary work in China the family was rarely fully united during the 1930s. John revisited his grandmother in Mortehoe in 1941, just weeks before his death; during this visit, he wore a new uniform “which fits a great deal better than the old one!” he noted. (Left to right in bottom photo: John G. Magee Sr., Hugh, John, Christopher, David, Faith.) From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998152255-OXAV1GH8M3J3Z6NIT4M1/HighFlight75_14.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Cool shades! Sailing, in fact, anything to do with boats of any sort, was a favourite pastime. Here, John’s paddling at Rugby School in 1938. Trevor Hoy, John’s study partner, described him as a “genius daredevil.” While he excelled in Latin and Greek (“which dialect?” he’d cheekily ask) and wrote for the school literary magazine, he was also a prankster who climbed up the side of the school clock tower and took his punishment in “the Birching Tower.” Much to the teachers’ dismay, John would exit the tower smiling! At Rugby, John was also a member of the Officers Training Corps. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998234284-E8XMYC8UNHEKLGZAQM4Y/HighFlight75_15.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Before he left for his summer holidays in Pittsburgh, 16-year-old John welcomed his mother to Rugby School’s Speech Day, 1939. He was presented with the Rugby School Poetry Prize for his piece “Brave New World.” Rugby alumnus Rupert Brooke, the famed poet who was killed in the First World War, had won the prize in 1905; Brooke was idolized by John and he later wrote a Sonnet to Rupert Brooke. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998283698-SDC3HD0GWNBUR34Q5BEA/HighFlight75_42.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out In the garden photograph, taken on Speech Day, Faith Magee is sitting on the bench; John is standing, facing her. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998312451-OLKANZ7YSDCXC7IPHDZP/HighFlight75_13.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out When the Second World War broke out in 1939, John Magee was visiting his aunt, Mary Scaife, in Pittsburgh. He had sailed with a friend from England, and while in the United States they visited the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. However, when the summer’s end arrived and it was time to travel back to England for his graduation year at Rugby School, John could not leave the U.S. As an American citizen he could not be issued a visa; his English-born friend returned to Rugby alone. John’s last year of high school was spent at Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut. One can only imagine what it would be like to unexpectedly attend a new school, bereft of close friends, separated from his parents (father John was still in China; mother Faith was in England with his brothers), and having to quickly get in tune with different curriculum expectations. Nonetheless, John graduated in June 1940 and had been accepted at Yale University. He asked to postpone the beginning of his Yale studies so that he could join the war effort. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998352452-XJSUGHZ77Z028FMKXB3L/HighFlight75_11.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out While at Avon Old Farms School (1939–1940), John continued to write poetry. In fact, as part of a school assignment he produced a bound collection of his poems. He set the type and printed the pages on the school’s printing press. He also bound the volume in light blue paper. The book of poetry, of course, predates “High Flight” (1941) and so does not include that poem or “Per Ardua,” considered the last poem he wrote before his death. Approximately twenty copies of Poems by John Magee were printed by John; it is a rare volume. This yearbook photograph captures John as “the poet” in nature during his final high school year. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998385770-8F5C734TZC208VVBEB7X/HighFlight75_16.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out John mentioned to a newspaper reporter that in September 1939 he “had to get into it [the war.]” He said that he “was too young at 18 to qualify for the British Ambulance Corps [so] he packed up and left for Montréal. He was about to enlist in the Canadian army when he ran into some friends who persuaded him to join the air corps.” The New Paramount Portrait Studio in Toronto (still in operation) photographed many of the Royal Canadian Air Force recruits. In 1940, John Magee, sans moustache, sat for his first military portrait. Via Manning Depot No. 1 in Toronto, he’d soon be acquainted with the “Horse Palace Cough,” as he slept with hundreds of others in bunk beds set up in the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds near Lake Ontario. The nearby boardwalk and dance halls provided diversions for John and his new air force friends. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998563689-02JAX5DZ85RSEULF5W3W/HighFlight75_18.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Aircraftsman Second Class Magee. Photograph taken in late 1940 during John’s first weeks in the Royal Canadian Air Force spent on guard duty in Trenton, Ontario. Eighteen years old and flush with the excitement of being away from family, John spent time off socializing in nearby Belleville. His Initial Training School (ITS) in Toronto followed. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998598864-URVSH8SN0F08YOR9A814/HighFlight75_37.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out When John arrived at Uplands in Ottawa in April 1941, he paid a visit to a local clergyman, the Reverend Frank Fidler, whose wife had been, since childhood, a friend of the nurse at Avon Old Farms School. John arrived early on a Saturday morning, Mrs. Marguerite Fidler recalled, and it appeared he’d had “a late night” on Friday. As Mr. Fidler was completing work on the next day’s sermon, John was asked to wait in the living room. Mrs. Fidler went about her work in the kitchen. After a few minutes, she poked her head around the corner to check on John; he was stretched out on the couch, fast asleep. When five-year-old Joan Fidler peeked in at the snoozing teen, Marguerite implored her “to let the boy sleep, he's tired." Eventually, John awoke, enjoyed some food, and the Reverend Fidler and John left the house for a quick car tour of Ottawa. John was dropped off at the base. But before he left the Fidler residence, John signed their guest book. Years later, the Fidlers learned that the young fellow who had napped on their couch was the teen pilot who wrote “High Flight.” The guestbook page became a family treasure. And Joan, in 2016, notes "I still have a vivid picture of him asleep on our chesterfield in the living room. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998662981-CO7IX2KFACE9OK6BQPRT/HighFlight75_19.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A wonderful photograph of John Magee looking dashing, standing next to one of the Canadian Car and Foundry-built Harvard 2s of No. 2 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Uplands, Ottawa. Around his neck, he wears a helmet with Gosport speaking tube attached which was used in lieu of an intercom system to speak to the instructor in flight. The date is the early summer of 1941. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998714699-GHKO7RRUP4P0VXUSRW13/HighFlight75_21.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A posed photograph of American student pilots of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan at No. 2 SFTS Uplands, Course 25 in the spring of 1941. This was in the weeks leading up to the filming at Uplands of major sequences of Captains of the Clouds, Warner Bros.’ largest production to date. Starring James Cagney, the producers of the film looked to a premier in New York early in 1942. Contrary to some stories, Magee was not part of the filming of the famous wings parade scene in Captains of the Clouds. By that time, he had left for England. At left is Leading Aircraftman John Magee pointing to some lofty goal with posed determination and perhaps a bit of embarrassment. Perhaps this promotional shot was destined to inspire Americans to step up and get behind the Allies in the expedition of the war. While the film was in post-production, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor eliminated any need for the film to encourage the Yanks. Captains of the Clouds opened in February of 1942 but America hardly noticed, preoccupied as it was with war preparations. The pilots are (L to R): Aircraftmen John G. Magee of Washington (J5824); Arthur C. Young of Cleveland, Ohio; Claiborne Frank Gallicher of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Curtis Gilman Johnston of Chicago, Illinois; Arthur Bernard Cleaveland of Springfield, Illinois; and Ober Nathaniel Leatherman of Lima, Ohio. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998762670-3D616N23IK01ZVQXE4AJ/HighFlight75_22.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out 16 June 1941—Leading Aircraftman John Gillespie Magee, still wearing the white cap flash of an airman in training, beams with pride and delight as he is pinned with his RCAF wings by Group Captain Wilfred A. Curtis, DSC and Bar at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, Uplands. It was one week after Magee’s nineteenth birthday. Curtis was a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service in the First World War. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998811664-X0AZ7I96VHTRC04RA0FE/HighFlight75_17.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Shortly after receiving his wings at Uplands, Ottawa, John traveled to Washington D.C. to visit his family before leaving for England. His father, no longer performing missionary work in China, was serving at St. John’s Church, “The Church of the Presidents,” across from the White House. In an interview for The Washington Post, John mentioned that in September 1939, he “had to get into it.” He told the reporter that he “was too young at 18 to qualify for the British Ambulance Corps [so] he packed up and left for Montréal. He was about to enlist in the Canadian army when he ran into some friends who persuaded him to join the air corps.” The day after the article ran in the Post, silhouette artist Florence Browning cut this portrait of John G. Magee Jr.; the “Errol Flynn” mustache so many of the Second World War air force service members sported is clearly shown. It is interesting to note that silhouettes are generally cut in pairs, with the black side of the two paper pieces facing one another for a picture and a reverse-image. Both of the silhouettes, never framed, are in the Magee holdings at Yale. One wonders for whom John intended them, if they had been held aside for him rather than mailed or delivered to an admirer, perhaps? The Washington visit before he left for England was the last time the Magee family saw John. Six months later he was dead. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998855076-SEWOLG7HKBK2IPTOL6KQ/HighFlight75_23.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A casual moment at the barracks, England, 1941—likely at RAF Digby. Photo RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998932387-6OB4V7R1ABV9MFGDLO6N/HighFlight75_24.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out John Magee’s personal photograph album includes this image of him and a Spitfire. “Big Shot!” is the caption John wrote—with all the humility a teen pilot can have! In an interview for The Washington Post just before he left Washington D.C., John said he was “happy at having won his wings, more so at the prospect of flying a Spitfire—the ultimate dream of every British flier, he said—and the prospect of ‘a little action.’ ” From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999018518-V7IEDYAUCEM2W1RXP03W/HighFlight75_28.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A poor quality photo, but a proud image of John nonetheless. Here we see him in the cockpit of a 412 Squadron Spitfire as indicated by the squadron code VZ on the aircraft’s fuselage. This would have been sometime after he left No. 53 Operational Training Unit at RAF Llandow, Glamorgan, Wales in August. Magee joined 412 Squadron at RAF Digby, Lincolnshire on 23 September 1941. For the next two and a half months he mostly trained, but did participate in several combat ops and even got a shot at a Messerschmitt Bf 109. He flew the Spitfire on 80 occasions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999052598-9K4Z2T69RMYBHM9T3D3P/HighFlight75_26.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out John selected this image from a photographer’s contact sheet with multiple portrait poses. It is the official Royal Canadian Air Force photograph most often seen accompanying “High Flight” materials. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999102535-PSR3PRJTT4AX7QDAX9JM/HighFlight75_27.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The fragile original copy of “High Flight,” in John’s handwriting. The poem appears on the back side of a page of a September 1941 letter sent to his parents in Washington D.C. The letter/poem was loaned to Archibald MacLeish, the Librarian of Congress, for an exhibition called “Poems of Faith and Freedom.” The loan became a gift to the American people from the Magees and “High Flight” is permanently housed in the Library of Congress. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999134982-KPL8T8D2EIK4MCPJIAPF/HighFlight75_29.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Magee leans casually and confidently against 412 Squadron Supermarine Spitfire Vb (VZ-B, nicknamed Brunhildë). Spitfire Brunhildë (AD329) was damaged by Magee on 5 November, suffering wing tip damage during a dodgy landing at RAF Wellingore. Photo via Stephen Fochuk/Robert Bracken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999170419-G2GIXK9RNDZ06QB2RQG5/HighFlight75_38.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out No one knew why John had named his Spitfire Brunhildë—that is, until a cache of his letters to “Regine” was sent to Rusty Maclean, the librarian at the Temple Reading Room, Rugby School, England. Historian Linda Granfield was asked to transcribe the letters because of her familiarity with Magee family handwriting. “I actually gasped aloud as I was typing this letter into the computer,” she reports. “There was the Brunhildë explanation right in front of me. Mystery solved!”—“I have called my Spitfire—not after you [Regine]-(nor for that matter after any other girl I know) – but Brunhildë, because if you’ve ever seen a Spitfire you are struck with two things about it—Power and Grace. Hence the Teutonic goddess. I am painting it in large German lettering along the side of the cowling so that if Jerry ever sees it he will realize that even the German deities are on our side now.” The remainder of the text on the same page is also interesting. It reveals what’s going on outside his window as John writes, and also reveals what’s important to a teen pilot. “While we were away on manoeuvres the Eagle Squadron took our place here. They are a grand bunch of fellows, but they are practically deafening me now. Their whole squadron is taking off in formation as I write. The sky is full of Hurricanes. Lovely formation, too. Incidentally I haven’t forgotten about those drink(s) you were going to have waiting for me on my return. I live in anticipation! Meanwhile be good, dear heart, and keep the home fires burning, Always Yours, John P.S. If you ever have a cigarette that you don’t know what to do with put it in an envelope and mark it “Magee” as we can’t get them over here!” Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999269345-IP61FK4XYFIO7123NTTT/HighFlight75_30.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Aviation artist Michael Martchenko’s vast collection of military pieces lent authenticity to this painting, one of the illustrations in High Flight: A Story of World War II, a biography of John G. Magee Jr. by Linda Granfield. The book was published in 1999. A teenage boy served as the model; he wore the clothing and carried the equipment, and chuckled when told who and what a “Mae West” was. Illustration: Michael Martchenko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999367684-CWMTOCNHB5NIA16WC8JS/HighFlight75_39.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out “High Flight” was published in the St. John’s Church bulletin in December 1941, shortly after John’s death. For decades, the bulletin copy was believed to be the first public printing of “High Flight”; however, in 1998, Linda Granfield discovered the poem had been previously published, with errors, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on 12 November 1941. Proud aunt Mary Scaife had sent it, with a note about John’s Royal Canadian Air Force service. The search continues for a possible, earlier, publication of the poem. Note: the 3 September 1941 date printed with the poem is the date of John’s letter to his parents; the poem was written on 18 August, according to flight information in John’s log. Did John Magee know the public had read “High Flight” in November? We don’t know. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999391158-GKN9MLHE2UE6XQX4ZSCI/HighFlight75_31.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Michael Martchenko’s painting depicts the collision of John Magee’s Spitfire and Ernest Aubrey Griffin’s Oxford, 11 December 1941. John had hurried into the war, fearing, as other youths did, that the war would be over before he could do his bit. The United States joined the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii just days before John’s death. This illustration, based on reports of the actual collision, appears in Linda Granfield’s High Flight: A Story of World War II. Illustration: Michael Martchenko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999447816-J4MPB7NW8EI3AAY8OME0/HighFlight75_32.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out RAF Leading Aircraftsman (LAC) Ernest Aubrey Griffin, like John Magee, was only 19 years old when he died. He had only been in the Volunteer Reserve for six months. His mother and Faith Magee corresponded when each learned the identity of the other’s son. Griffin is interred at the Oxford Crematorium, Headington (formerly Stanton St. John), England. There his name appears on a Memorial Wall panel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999519160-OMO2WJ35W3YJSRIGW6T4/HighFlight75_33.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The telegram received by the Magee family in Washington D.C. The censored portion is the street address of the family, a house rented while the Reverend Magee served at “The Church of the Presidents” during the Second World War. Within weeks of being notified of John’s death, the family received letters of condolence from the general public, and from others, more famous, who also had been touched by their son’s poem. Among those who sent notes were Helen Keller, actresses Katherine Hepburn and Merle Oberon, and members of the American government. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999558173-96MIB4WX3QKSDZ0ST1PX/HighFlight75_34.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out The Magee family received this photograph of John’s grave in England. The simple cross in Scopwick Cemetery in Lincolnshire was later replaced by one of the uniform Portland stone grave markers installed by the Imperial War Commission (now known as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.) John Gillespie Magee Jr. is buried with other Royal Canadian Air Force airmen who died while serving at the Digby aerodrome. As did other parents, the Magees selected the inscription to be carved on their son’s stone—two lines from “High Flight.” “Oh, I have slipped/The surly bonds of Earth…/Put out my hand/And touched the face of God.” From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999586573-HT4C6I7CXM1AXQALV32M/HighFlight75_36.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out In June 1943, artist Jere Wickwire, a Yale classmate of the Reverend Magee, painted a portrait of young John based on his RCAF portrait. The Magee family posed with a preliminary drawing for the portrait, a gift to them from the artist. Faith Magee is wearing the purple-ribboned “Mother’s Cross” (Memorial Cross). David had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Christopher (back) served in the Combat Merchant Marine during the war. Hugh (left) was a student. In 2012, David Magee gave the signed artist’s sketch to the Canadian War Museum (Ottawa) as a gift from the family to Canada where John had trained and whose uniform he wore. The finished oil painting hangs at Rugby School in England. From the Magee Family Archive/Yale Divinity School Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999633256-OZNNPLNVSQKBW7XX21E4/HighFlight75_35.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out “High Flight” has inspired creators in many disciplines. It has been set to music, used in fiction and film, and written on walls, furnishings, and paintings. During the Second World War, the Citizens’ Committee for the Army and Navy commissioned artists to design and execute altar triptychs. These collapsible screens could be carried into the field or on board ship in order to make a “pop-up chapel” for the troops. This “High Flight” triptych was painted by Alfred James Tulk (1899–1988) for the existing chapel at Bolling Field, Washington D.C. It was unveiled by the Magee family in 1946 but was, unfortunately, destroyed in a fire just a few years later. Rumour has it that a photograph of John Magee served as the model for the young Christ’s face; however, no confirmation of this has been found. Image source unavailable https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999678022-KDW7HS47MQ82L4NLCWBN/HighFlight_45.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out For many Canadians, the Grade Five reader entitled “High Flight” was their first encounter with the teen pilot’s poem. The publishing company, Copp Clark Co. Limited in Toronto, received written permission from “[the] Reverend and Mrs. John G. Magee” to include the poem in the 1951 publication. Lines from “High Flight” appear on the frontispiece and the entire poem is on page 8, in a section called “Growing Up in Canada.” An asterisk (*) indicates Canadian authors; John’s name has no asterisk. That said, he is in the immediate company of Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, Rt. Hon. Vincent Massey (“On Being Canadian”) and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. And that’s just the author list of the first section. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999729992-BSPSUJA9LX2JAELXVEQ5/HighFlight75_40.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Another example of “High Flight” inspiration is the altar in the Trinity College Chapel at the University of Toronto. Gordon Peteran’s 1994 design includes lines from “High Flight” etched into the top surface. The altar was a gift of the class of 1944 in memory of their fellow students who died in the Second World War. It is apt that within a Gothic room filled with soaring stained glass windows and a palpable peace, where students and faculty pray and weddings and lives lost are celebrated, the timeless words of a young pilot who never had the opportunity to attend university wing their way into hearts and souls. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999709079-TVROXYL6U5D2YHBHOHVI/HighFlight75_43.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out A graduate of Yale University, Frederick Hugh Magee (Hugh) trained for Ordination at Westcott House, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1959 and has since served parishes on both sides of the Atlantic, and as Dean of Wenatchee in the Diocese of Spokane. Recently retired, Hugh remains an Honorary Canon of the Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee, Scotland, where he served for fifteen years. In addition to his priestly duties, Hugh has for the past thirty years been a student of A Course in Miracles, a teacher, and a writer. He lives with his wife Yvonne, a fine artist/painter, in Scotland. Photo: Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999786390-29QZ8QRG16KO9MF2HEUS/HighFlight75_47.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out In December 2011, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of “High Flight” and John Gillespie Magee Jr.’s death, ceremonies were held at his grave. Among the tributes placed on the grave were a poppy wreath, flags, and a pressed maple leaf sent from Canada. Hugh Magee attended the ceremonies at the Scopwick Church Burial Ground, in Lincolnshire, England. Photos: Left and centre: via Hugh Magee; right via Panaramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999853177-H3L9VUTNEUE5M9N8SR61/HighFlightPoem.jpg The Stories - MAGEE — The Boy Hero and the Poet Legend - Make it stand out Initial Training School classmate and Uplands contemporary of John Magee Jr., Flight Lieutenant Fred Jones climbs his all-blue Spitfire PR into the burning blue in England in 1944. Jones was one of the first cadre of young pilots to know and cherish Magee’s poem. High Flight was read at his funeral by his son-in-law, Dave O’Malley in 2007. Photo via Rosemary Jones https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/canucks-in-the-zone monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624470778577-K7RYJKODHVYUOH80ORV4/MaggieFlashMedium.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626986816995-7UXEVUW3K6K03NDP1FWY/PamanaMaggie17.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Lieutenant Pat Whitby (left) and Lieutenant-Commander Jim Hunter were experienced pilots, typical of those who formed the nucleus of Canada’s naval aviation branch in the immediate postwar years. Whitby had joined the RCAF in 1942, but to his frustration was assigned to instructor duties in the Canadian West with the BCATP. In December 1944, after accruing hundreds of flying hours, he responded to a notice from the Royal Navy seeking experienced RCAF instructors to transfer to the navy to fly with the British Pacific Fleet. One of several that volunteered, he became one of the original members of 803 Squadron, which was working up to join HMCS Warrior, Canada’s first carrier, when the war ended. He was accepted into the permanent force after the war. Jim Hunter joined the RCNVR in October 1939 and, after serving as an Ordinary Signalman in HMCS St Laurent on North Atlantic convoys, transferred to the Fleet Air Arm. He eventually specialized in night fighters and, while undergoing familiarization ‘training’ with the RAF, flew more than a dozen intruder missions over occupied Europe in deHavilland Mosquitos. He was appointed to command an RN night fighter squadron flying Fairey Fireflies but the war ended before he, too, could deploy to the Pacific. Hunter went on to become perhaps the most respected aviator in the postwar RCN, serving in critical operational, development and policy appointments. Photos via author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626986873269-XEOTMKNOTRO7VQ1RDU49/PamanaMaggie16.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Newly commissioned into the RCN, HMCS Magnificent sits alongside at Sydenham outside Belfast, Northern Ireland in May 1948 with a deck load of brand new Sea Furies. The crane is about to hoist a rare twin-engine deHavilland Sea Hornet on board, which was being taken to Canada for a series of demonstration flights. Photo via royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987074438-KV7K0EFOXN0J938O8MHR/PamanaMaggie12.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987099188-0VXFOD1Z1XN88VYZMSKH/PamanaMaggie06.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Two photographs that highlight the classic, powerful lines of the Hawker Sea Fury. Derived from the Hawker Typhoon, Tempest and Fury family of fighters, the Sea Fury proved to be a superb naval aircraft, capable of fulfilling both fighter and fighter-bomber roles. It was the fastest piston-engined naval fighter of its generation, had good endurance and was well armed with four 20mm cannons and the ability to carry either bombs or rockets. Photos: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987162402-MBH57HWQ8BSE37MR3RRZ/PamanaMaggie04.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out HMCS Magnificent. Canada’s second aircraft carrier was a Majestic class Light Fleet Carrier (CVL) built at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast Northern Ireland—Admiralty Confidential Fleet Orders defined a CVL as a carrier with a hangar capacity of 20 to 30 aircraft and a speed between 21 and 25 knots. Displacing 18,000 tons full load, with a length of 695 feet and a complement of 1,100, ‘Maggie’ gave the RCN eight years of steady, dependable service carrying out a variety of operations, including numerous NATO exercises and the 1956 UN mission to Suez. Photo: US Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987237948-CPEM5X3K7QRBQZW3P7QG/PamanaMaggie26.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out The ships of the 1949 Spring Cruise. Together, they formed the ingredients of a capable, balanced naval Task Group, which spoke to the stature of the RCN at the time. Ontario, Haida and Antigonish were veterans of the Second World War, while Magnificent, Nootka and Athabaskan were of postwar vintage. Antigonish, Nootka and Athabaskan were all constructed in Canadian shipyards. Photos: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987294490-U04N24R4MTAMVEWQ7T7M/PamanaMaggie03.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out A Fairey Firefly FR.I launches from HMCS Warrior with a load of practice bombs under the port wing during the carrier’s West Coast cruise in the winter of 1946–47. Unlike, her successor Magnificent, Warrior was not “Arcticized”, or fit out for Canadian winter conditions so had to spend her winter in Canadian waters on the more temperate West Coast. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987369343-ZXYHJ6TDS9FKJLDZF7V0/PamanaMaggie08.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Sea Fury FB 11s of the 19th CAG on the tarmac at Shearwater. Canada selected the Sea Fury as its replacement for the Supermarine Seafire, and due to fears that the RCN might procure American aircraft, the Royal Navy provided the RCN with early production Sea Furies. This meant the RCN had to work out the teething troubles typically associated with a new aircraft, which in the case of the Sea Fury, involved significant problems with its powerful 2,550 horsepower Bristol Centaurus engine. This process was not helped by the fact that the RCN was operating the aircraft across the North Atlantic thousands of miles from the Hawker factory and suffered from a shortage of maintainers and engineers. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987412615-KNMT5TFYI0IO9FHFCTXH/PamanaMaggie13.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out A Sea Fury and Firefly Mk 5 prepare for launch from Magnificent. Although both Warrior and ‘Maggie’ had catapults, they usually utilized “free” launches, which took less time and effort. The destroyer in the background is probably serving as plane guard, ready to move in to rescue the pilots if a mishap occurred during launch. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987473277-AG44EEG7V7HXX1YEUGKQ/PamanaMaggie19.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out When landing on, pilots followed the directions of the Landing Signal Officer. Here, Lieutenant Barry Hayter looks embarrassingly uncomfortable in this obviously posed shot—a sailor would not be strolling casually down the flight deck in the midst of flying operations! Photo: Bryan Hayter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987657258-X4EB45049P0UC2FP4GLZ/PamanaMaggie09.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987708103-F0STCU57DYBPGA0DHOSC/PamanaMaggie10.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out The “controlled crash” associated with landing a high performance fighter on a carrier took mere seconds, but they were filled with risk. Ideally, a Sea Fury approach ended in a level attitude touchdown at 90–95 knots with a good trap on one of the 10 arrestor wires that stretched across the axial deck. Too fast and the aircraft would float over the wires and slam into the barrier; too slow and it could hit the ramp with catastrophic results. Missing the groove to port or starboard could result in a plummet over the side or an unceremonious perch on the catwalk or gun mounts. With their good visibility forward, wide undercarriage and stable handling, Sea Furies gained a reputation as a dependable aircraft on deck. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987761828-RRQ6670U6O3TLEUH19VC/PamanaMaggie27.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987792981-8QFIL9XXYLFTHIKCATAE/PamanaMaggie28.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out With aircraft landing on at low speed close to their stalling point, a last-minute wave-off could have disastrous consequences. In these spectacular images of a Firefly and Sea Fury stalling into the sea off Magnificent—which could well be of the two accidents on 12 March 1949—the pilots were either slow to react or the wave-off signal from the LSO came too late for them to respond safely. On that date, all aircrew were rescued by the plane guard HMCS Nootka. Photos: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987901513-OM6E8JSDGEE02592O0H5/PamanaMaggie29.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Photoshop recreation of Whitby and Hunter’s “attack” and tour of the Canal Zone, showing them returning from Gatun Lake over Miraflores Locks towards Colón. Recreation by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987968721-O2NR5XE9BELYPTORO8R7/PamanaMaggie02.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626987995768-9GZ8H8XS76IJO9UFU5JE/PamanaMaggie14.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out From cocoon to fallen butterfly. In the first photograph, BC-C sports gear to protect it from the elements. Note the temporary guard rails surrounding the open elevator and the barriers stretching across the flight deck in the distance. The second photo was taken moments after the Sea Fury nudged gently into the barriers—there is no obvious damage to the aircraft which meant it only suffered a mild collision, perhaps caused by the aircraft snagging the last wire. The result was similar to Pat Whitby’s barrier incident on 7 March 1949. Note the small ad-hoc maple leaf stencilled into the roundel. Photos: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626988071433-WECDNKXX6V3R86RFST4C/PamanaMaggie15.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out A beautiful photograph of a Sea Fury wheeling over its carrier. Despite its early teething troubles, the Sea Fury ultimately gave the RCN a high performance front line fighter that could fulfill the roles assigned to it. Most pilots thought it was a delight to fly. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626988180100-7Z88WJ06W9SCOQUVMVYS/PamanaMaggie18.jpg The Stories - CANUCKS IN THE ZONE - Make it stand out HMCS Bonaventure. Magnificent’s successor was of about the same size and performance but was modified to support the next generation of naval aircraft, which were larger and faster than those before. But even featuring an angled flight deck, mirror landing system, steam catapult and many other improvements, Bonaventure’s F2H-3 Banshees and CS2F Trackers operated under very fine tolerances, and it is testament to the dedication and skill of Canada’s naval aviators—seasoned by their experiences in Magnificent–that they got so much out of the carrier. Photo: DND https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/witness monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626983211139-0SU6PTSG1AKICEL93KQW/GunfightTitle.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out Image by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626983595476-PF2VR6IIXSQ1ZI1EZL7D/Gunfight01.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out A mother’s terrible sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Mrs. Elsie May Pearce, of Toronto, Ontario, lost both of her sons in the Second World War—Stewart (left) and Jack (right). The oldest, Flight Sergeant Stewart William Pearce was a Spitfire pilot of 412 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed on 12 December 1942. He was 22 years old. Flight Sergeant Jack Gordon Pearce, RCAF, an air gunner with 619 Squadron RAF, was killed two years later on the night of 26–27 July 1944 over the village of Maisontiers, France. Such was the sacrifice that Elsie May Pearce made to the war effort, that she was chosen as the 1990 Silver Cross Mother* for the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. Sister Ruth (centre) would become Ruth Trumley. Her son, named for brother Jack, would bring this story to our attention 70 years later. Photo via Jack Trumley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626983744408-37DR4JJ42CLXXH3ANCA7/Gunfight24.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out All across Europe, dawn would reveal yet another terrible harvest of broken metal and human flesh, as quiet rural communities would become the unwanted place where young men paid the ultimate price. This photo is typical of the tragic rain which fell upon Holland during the war—Lancaster ME858 of 514 Squadron RAF. None of its crew, returning from a raid on Homburg, was able to exit the doomed Lancaster and all seven were killed in the crash. This crash happened just one week before the loss of Jack Gordon’s Lancaster in France. Photo via Dutch historian Tom Bosmans and Regina’s Balfour Collegiate website (http://balfour.rbe.sk.ca) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626983830464-IT0VOAML8268BWE9ZJXA/Gunfight05.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out By war’s end, Elsie May Pearce had only memories of her two beautiful sons. She requested from the RCAF the logbooks belonging to each of them and was finally granted possession a year and a half after war’s end. Each logbook, written in the familiar hand of each of her sons, told her of their movements and actions and even thoughts as they fought the war far from their home. There is no doubt they brought some solace to her agony, sad as they were to read and hold in her hands. Image via Jack Trumley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626983922827-B0A2E5D2S491D59O8XWV/Gunfight12.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out The grave marker for Flight Sergeant Jack Pearce in the war cemetery at Pornic, France. For years, he has lain here, waiting for his story to be told. Image via Jack Trumley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984213336-96PZIOIUJ9DVFD6MATD2/Gunfight08.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out A hard luck Lanc—Lancaster (PG-H) of 619 Squadron RAF in flight over England. On the night of 26–27 July 1944, Flight Sergeant Jack Pearce of the Royal Canadian Air Force was the tail gunner with the crew of a similarly marked Lancaster (PG-H), bound for a low-level raid on the rail assembly yards of Givors, France. The Lanc in this image, RAF serial number LM446, would fail to return from an attack on the Gnome–Rhone aero-engine factory at Gennevilliers, France, on 9–10 May 1944. It would be replaced by Lancaster LM484, the aircraft in which Pearce and his crew were killed two months later. Fourteen airmen lost their lives in the two losses of PG-H. Photo: Royal Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984260097-F8HQUUDPE494O4VSG1AE/Gunfight21.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out The crew of 619 Squadron’s PG-H (LM484) was comprised of (clockwise from upper left) Flying Officer Ronald George Turvey (Pilot, Royal Australian Air Force, aged 20), Flight Sergeant Len Rothwell (Radio Operator, Royal Australian Air Force, aged 20), Sergeant Joseph Harry Gilliver (Bomb Aimer, Royal Air Force Volunteer reserve, aged 31), Warrant Officer Second Class Thomas Francis Galbraith (Navigator, Royal Canadian Air Force, aged 29), Flight Sergeant Jack Gordon Pearce (Tail Gunner, Royal Canadian Air Force, aged 22). Not pictured here: Sergeant Edward Graham (Flight Engineer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, aged 36), Sergeant Reginald James Thair (Mid-upper gunner, Royal Air Force Volunteer reserve, age unknown). Photos via Maurice LeBrun https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984425163-AVHUJQHURK1IGLU26I9N/Gunfight17.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out Eyewitness Gabriel Cailleau, a 16-year-old boy at the time of the aerial battle, woke to the sound of 619 Squadron Lancasters flying low over Maisontiers and outlined by the moon. The images of that night would be burned into his memory for his whole life. Photoshop image by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984509277-B7PVWB2VY507RQK1VO1S/Ginfight15.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out Maisontiers is a very small village between the towns of Bressuire and Parthenay in the west of France, situated in the region of Poitou-Charentes. On the night of 26–27 July 1944, part of an RAF bomber stream, en route to the city of Givors, some 250 miles to the southeast, passed over the village along with attacking Junkers Ju88 night fighters. This map gives approximate positions of the towns mentioned in this eyewitness account. Map: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984580933-6JILZ1LYGT05QB11U1MK/Gunfight22.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out The night fighter which brought down Lancaster LM484 was a radar equipped Junkers Ju 88. By all accounts, the two gunners of the Lanc, Canadian Jack Pearce and Englishman James Thair gave as good as they got, for it caught fire and crashed as well. The Luftwaffe pilot, Leutnant Otto Huchler was killed in the crash, but his radar operator, Unterfeldwebel Brukner, and gunner, Unterfeldwebel Gebert, managed to parachute to safety. The Junkers Ju 88 ended the Second World War as the most important German night fighter, despite being developed as a bomber. Early in the development of the Ju 88 it became clear that it would be just as fast as the Bf 110 heavy fighter, and Junkers worked on producing a fighter version of their fast bomber. By the end of 1943, new radar equipment had been developed that was unaffected by British jamming with “window”. This allowed the night fighters to adopt a new system—Zahme Sau (Tame Boar). This was designed to set up long running battles by directing night fighters against the bomber stream as soon as it crossed into German territory. Carrying FuG 200 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar (above), the Flensburg system, which could detect the RAF’s Monica tail warning radar and Naxos, which detected the H2S ground radar used by RAF pathfinders, and armed with upward firing Scräge Musik guns that allowed the fighter to destroy the British bombers from below, the Luftwaffe began to inflict unsustainably high losses on RAF Bomber Command. During the Battle of Berlin of early 1944, losses rose to around 10% per mission. Text via historyofwar.org. Photo: via falkeeins.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984655846-AQOMIRI45X92ONN65S1E/Gunfight16.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out A close-up of the area to the northeast of the village of Maisontiers showing the bomb craters filled with ground water that bear witness to what transpired overhead 70 years ago next week. The bombs were released at low level by bomb aimer Flight Sergeant Joseph Harry Gilliver as the aircraft was on fire going to crash land. Image: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984700596-OZWCS9L426X0NWCK58EW/Gunfight19.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out In late August 2011, a farmer found one of Gilliver’s bombs still intact under the surface of a field he was cultivating. Previously, the field had not been plowed since the bombs fell in 1944. It was removed by explosive experts and detonated near the town of Viennay, a few kilometres to the south. Here we see explosives with the bomb at Viennay prior to detonation. Photo: lanouvellerepublique.fr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984858530-BVFM0EOLMQEIIAC013CX/Gunfight20.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out The chard yard of Église Notre-Dame at Maisontiers, close to where the bombs from LM484 were jettisoned. There is a large plaque dedicated to the seven crew members, seen just to the right of the church’s front door. Although the church in Maisontiers was built in the 19th century, the original church on this spot was built in the 1400s, but was burned in the 1700s during the French Revolution. Photo: Stephane Mace de Lepinay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984900439-AG26NM7RMR0XSJ28AU4S/Gunfight26.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out In 2009, Gabriel “Gaby” Cailleau (right) stands with the young grandnephew of Len Rothwell, Lancaster LM484’s radio operator. They stand next to the plaque commemorating the end of the Battle of France, and the memory of the aviators who died with Rothwell. Photo via Maurice LeBrun https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626984951931-NMCFIG3T6662MB7G325U/Gunfight03.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out In the forecourt of Notre-Dame de Maisontiers stands a plaque which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the end of the Battle of France and, particularly, the resistance fight of the Commune de Maisontiers on the region of Deux-Sèvres and the deaths of the seven crew members of H for Harry on the night of 26–27 July 1944. Photo Marc Bonas / Aérostèles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626985016888-WU1OWLEB2QW2R8KMTFGN/Gunfight13.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant Stewart William Pearce of Toronto, Canada poses casually in front of Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) at Great Britain’s Parliament in the summer of 1941. Photo via Jack Trumley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626985058683-54T3S6J3K7XQBNFVUPMO/Gunfight11.jpg The Stories - WITNESS — Gunfight Over Maisontiers - Make it stand out This photo of Stewart Pearce reveals the youthful exuberance, personal pride and the fact that he now wears the single stripe of a Pilot Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial shows that Pearce was a Flying Officer at the time of his death in December of 1942. Photo via Jack Trumley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/blast-from-the-past monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980453298-6GKW19HLYABT9AHHFUVC/UXBTitle.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Painting by Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980480808-8X40VV0T88J97H25J3VD/Larson06.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The 405 Pathfinder Squadron operations and planning room at RAF Gransden Lodge, about 16 kilometres west of Cambridge, England. In this busy and smoke-filled room, missions were planned down to the smallest detail, taking into account all variables such as fuel, daily signals, meteorology, intelligence, German defences and bomb fusing times. After planning, the squadron assembled for a briefing before being driven to their aircraft. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980553932-00RLCUDT4DHXJP8S8J78/UXB19.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Luftwaffe ground crew refuel a Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighter of the famous Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Of all the night fighter squadrons in the Luftwaffe, NJG-1 was the most successful, shooting down an astonishing 2,311 enemy aircraft. The unit paid a heavy price for this reputation with 676 aircrew killed in action. The high number of victories by NJG-1 was testimony to the terrible dangers faced by Bomber Command aircrews every night. The unit’s emblem was a diving white falcon with a red lightning bolt striking a map of Great Britain. The pilot of the night fighter that shot down JB280 was Leutnant Friedrich “Fritz” Potthast, an ace with 11 kills to his name (8 at night and 3 by day) when he was shot down nearly five months later on the night of 21–22 May 1944 near Sourbrodt in eastern Belgium. Lancaster JB280 was his fourth kill. Night fighter Bf 110s had a crew of three—pilot, rear gunner and radio (radar) operator. It is not known who was with him the night he shot down the Donnelly crew, but on the May night he died, his two crew members were Feldwebel (Sergeant) Albert Kunz and Obergefreiter (Aircraftman) Hans Lautenbacher. Photo via Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980630706-XA5RLRMCDRNDJEEOC7FQ/UXB09.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Dutch citizens come by to look at the wrecked fuselage of Lancaster JB280 lying in a farm field near the town of Nieuw-Schoonebeek. The framework at the right of the fuselage is the floor above the bomb bay with doors gone. The faring around the hole in the centre of the fuselage section is for the H2S Radar, the antenna housing having been destroyed. These wrecks would soon be loaded on to trucks and driven away to be melted down for German production. Photo via drentheindeoorlog.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980719734-8TR3OGKOZ0FWS5SOC79J/UXB10.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The same Lancaster JB280 fuselage section as above, but viewed from the other (top) side. We can clearly make out the letters LQ-K. The Fraser-Nash power-operated dorsal turret glazing framework lies crushed at centre. Photo via drentheindeoorlog.nl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980844238-BWOMQJZV91COA863FK1A/UXB22.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The pilot and aircraft commander of Lancaster JB280 was Flying Officer Thomas Henry Donnelly, DFM, MiD (J/17137), a highly experienced veteran Bomber Command pilot. He was on his second tour of operations, and judging from this photo, he was a charming and confident young officer. Donnelly was the 23-year old son of Thomas and Jessie Donnelly of Sprotbrough, Yorkshire. Thomas was born in Toronto, Ontario. Donnelly was awarded his Distinguished Flying Medal as a Flight Sergeant with 57 Squadron, RAF and was gazetted in August of 1942. The citation accompanying his DFM reads “Flt. Sgt. T.H. Donnelly, No. 57 Sqn.—As captain of aircraft Flt. Sgt. Donnelly has carried out many successful sorties over enemy and enemy occupied territory, including targets at Essen, Kiel, Cologne, Hamburg and Brest. Many of these bombing attacks have been carried out at below 10,000 feet and in adverse weather. He has often remained in the target area for long periods, making several runs over the target to ensure accuracy of his bombing. On several occasions Flt. Sgt. Donnelly’s aircraft has been damaged by enemy anti-aircraft fire, but he has at all times pressed home his attacks with vigour, and by his skill and determination he has succeeded in flying back to base safely.”—(as published in FLIGHT magazine, 20 August 1942.) In 1957, as part of a program to honour Canadian veterans and units, Donnelly Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories was named after the young pilot—(61° 34’ 1” N, 106° 24’ 3” W). Photos via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980893112-JDIC29TE31QN5BM1YW4R/UXB14.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The Navigator aboard JB280 was Flying Officer Alexander Jerry Salaba (J/14787) of the small town of Willow Bunch in Southern Saskatchewan (population 325). He was the son of two Czech immigrants, James and Mary Anne Salaba (nee Slawich), and had one sister and four brothers, one of whom (Philip) was his twin. He was 28 years old. Like Donnelly, he has a lake named in his honour. Salaba Lake (57° 45’ 0” N, 103° 41’ 2” W) is in Northern Saskatchewan. Nearby Wollaston Lake Lodge has this to say about Salaba Lake: “Salaba Lake is near Morell Lake and offers the same type of Northern Pike and Walleye fishing. It is basically unexplored, but trophy Pike have been caught here – large weed beds were found to be full of the toothy critters. Shore lunch size Walleye were not a problem to catch throughout the season as well. So far, it’s known as a great “action lake,” but has big potential for trophy fishing. Three 16-ft. boats are based here.” No doubt, Alex Salaba would have been proud. Photos: Left: Canadian Virtual War Museum; Right: via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980934053-BOQ2L62VY109INPURSV5/UXB23.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Sergeant Ronald “Ron” Zimmer (R/186556), the top turret Air Gunner aboard Lancaster JB280, was, at 20, the youngets of the crew. Like many Saskatchewanians who died in the war, he was honoured by naming a geological feature (a Geo Memorial) after him—Zimmer Island in eastern Lac La Ronge (one of the largest lakes in Saskatchewan.) Photos: Left: Canadian Virtual War Memorial; Right: via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626980975936-M05V0HL2NWM0R99ML2K9/UXB24.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Flight Sergeant William Leonard John “Jon” Clark (R/157740), JB280’s Bomb Aimer, was born in Brentford, England, but moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia. The eldest child of William and Isabel Clark, he had three sisters (Phyllis, Eileen and Joan) and four brothers (Jack, Bob, Gordon and Harry.) Clark trained at No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School in Lethbridge, Alberta. While stationed in Edmonton, he met his fiancée, Alice Grosco, with whom he corresponded nearly daily. He wrote a poignant poem for Alice while serving with 405 Squadron: “If death should come by moonlight / I shall not be afraid / He comes, a friend, to blot out hell / Man made / And when the pain’s forgotten / This I know I’ll do— / In that long and endless sleep / I’ll dream, my love, of you.” On New Year’s Eve 1943, he met up with his brother Jack (also in the RCAF) and enjoyed some time together. A few hours later he was shot down and killed in Holland. He was just 22 years old when he died. Photos: Left: Canadian Virtual War Memorial; Right: Via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981032586-YM4YOD1MY41A4JRBNBRW/NewWatts.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Rear Gunner Sergeant Ronald Everest Watts (1818766) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Watts was 33 years old, the oldest of the crew. He was the son of John and Florence May Watts of Market Harborough, Leicestershire and was married to Kathleen Mary Watts. Unlike most aircrew in Bomber Command, he had children. Photos via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981055639-4DI7RHB1Z5AP9WA2CM1M/UXB30.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Flight Engineer Sergeant Leslie George Robert Miller (1603616), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Photos via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981126277-6V84QJ6D61TUVA0YW8Z1/NewWest.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Flight Engineer Sergeant Leslie George Robert Miller (1603616), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Photos via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981167804-YRKR5A11P31J5NPSKTDX/UXB18.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The story of JB280 and the Donnelly crew did not end with their burial. Throughout the seven decades since that terrible, but all-too-common, event in the opening hours of 1944, the townspeople of Oud-Schoonebeek have tended the graves and paid homage to the seven fallen men of JB280 as well as several other young men whose lives came to an end along with their aircraft near Schoonebeek. Like many village cemeteries throughout Europe, the original white crosses have been replaced by the now tragically ubiquitous granite tablet headstones of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Like many such beautiful places throughout Europe, the headstones of Donnelly’s crew have been meticulously tended and loved by the people of Nieuw-Schoonebeek. Here, on Christmas Eve, 2015, the members of Study Group Air War Drenthe (SLO Drenthe), a society dedicated to the preservation of the stories of men like those aboard JB280 and their brethren, light votive lights at each of the fallen’s headstone. Photo via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981248874-WHG4FJO2NTFGPXOG2Y3S/UXB01.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Dutch military history enthusiast Rob Wethly and his two sons (Yannic, 12 and Yde, 9) use their metal detectors to search for fragments of metal that connect them with powerful events that happened in this field long ago. It was on just such an outing that the three made a remarkable, and very dangerous, discovery which would bring to light a long forgotten story of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981280141-QNU9OGW8I2UEV59DPDC0/UXB05.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Rob Wethly, his sons and friends have unearthed metal bomb fragments (shrapnel) and small parts from JB280. Photo via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626981324137-UF93SV75W3KE5KW1ZLJM/UXB06.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Other Lancaster components found by Rob Wethly and his young boys. Photo via Rob Wethly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982318695-JZZW2UATJ6T7RB5IGOE4/UXB28.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out An RAF propaganda photograph from the Second World War showing the various types of bombs carried by Lancasters—from the 40 lb. General Purpose (on the shoulder of the armourer at centre) to 500 lb. bomb to the massive 12,000 lb. Tallboy and the 22,000 lb. Grand Slam. The 1,000 lb. MC bomb found on Huser’s farm is similar to the one shown in the foreground. The fins at the back were no longer attached to the bomb found by the Wethlys. Photo via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982353929-09KEDF2CV9LDAKP660C2/UXB02.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out The 1,000 lb. Medium Case, General Purpose bomb from Lancaster JB280 exposed to the light of day for the first time since the night of 2 January 1944. These bombs came with one of two types of fuses—an instantaneous contact fuse in the nose and a long-delay (up to 144 hours) fuse in the tail. As the nose of this 1,000 pounder is smooth, this was a long-delay fused bomb. The fusing was clearly damaged in the crash and the bomb was never fused, lying dormant but very much alive for more than 70 years. This type of iron bomb was used for Area Bombing Raids (Industrial demolition.) Photo: Geert Bos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982402626-B3HT2H8O4HR6HJWFTG5A/UXB04.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Dutch explosive experts and Rob Wethly (left) discuss the tragic events of 2 January 1944 and try to piece together just how the bomb they are about to excavate came to rest in this spot. Photo: Geert Bos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982441776-T5BVDXDD0F3B7NP1WBJU/UXB03.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Demolition experts from the Dutch Army fully expose the Lancaster’s bomb prior to moving the bomb to an open field. Though this bomb looks more like a 500 pounder than a 1,000 pounder in terms of scale, but the 405 Squadron ORB clearly states that LQ-K was loaded with four 1,000 lb. MC and one 4,000 lb. HC (cookie) bombs. The Unexploded Ordnance crew covered the bomb with a pile of earth and detonated in situ. Photo: Geert Bos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982532787-ALXH9ZYJGB21PEZ62AK2/UXB12.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982559773-D1Q1YH0TB9EAPSBUW95S/UXB13.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Two photos of the explosion of the 1,000 pounder clearly show that its lethality was very much intact 70 years after it was manufactured, loaded and then lost. Photo via Rob Wethly, Geert Bos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626982596453-0112XQK5QASJCE4QKN5J/UBX27.jpg The Stories - BLAST FROM THE PAST - Make it stand out Additional photographs of some of the crew of LQ-K. 1. A studio photograph of Navigator Salaba. Studio photos were invariably taken in order to give loved ones a high quality image before heading off to combat. 2. A studio photograph of “Jon” Clark, sporting a pencil-thin mustache and his correct Bomb Aimer’s brevet. 3. An RCAF photo of Clark showing his service number—taken after his promotion to Sergeant and receiving his wings. He is wearing the winged “O” brevet of a trained Navigator, instead of his Bomb Aimer wings. Earlier in the war, “Observers” were trained in multiple disciplines — navigation, bomb-aiming, radio and gunnery, but specializing in one area. Later on, crews were trained in specific skills such as bomb-aiming or navigation or gunnery and received wings for that specific skill. Pilots preferred bomb aimers or navigators who had been trained under the old method as they had multiple skills and understood all roles in the aircraft even if they operated solely as a navigator or bomb-aimer. 4. Pilot Donnelly’s temporary cross erected by the people of Oud-Schoonebeek days after his death. 5,6. Photos of Clark before and after his successful completion of the Bomb Aimer’s course at Lethbridge, Alberta. Left: With the winged “O” on his battle dress jacket and Right: as a young student wearing his aircrew in training white cap flash. 7. RCAF photo of Ronald Zimmer after earning his Air Gunner brevet. 8. The temporary cross erected by Dutch citizens for Zimmer’s burial. 9. A studio photograph of Zimmer looking well coiffed.Photos via Canadian Virtual War Memorial and/or Rob Wethly https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/permanent-ink monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626953648904-ZC48S1FG93ZTSR509JVX/TattoosTitle.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626953839373-U7II4Q8D05V1N2UIRKUO/Tattoos54.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out One does not have to tattoo an image of an airplane on one’s body to qualify as having an aviation tattoo. If the concept of flight represents, for you, the notions of freedom, exhilaration, unbounded joy and release from the daily grind, then, in fact, you are an aviator, whether you own an airplane or have earned your wings of gold. Perhaps there is no purer display of the appreciation of all that flight can be than to tattoo the opening lines of the greatest poem ever written about flight—John Gillespie Magee’s High Flight, written in the winter of 1941 after flying a Spitfire at 30,000 feet. This young lady wears on her back these immortal words in memory of her deceased and missed father. The young woman explains, “My dad, who passed away six years ago, was an avid pilot. I grew up hanging around the airport and flying with him in our Cessna 310, a Diamond jet, and the B-25 Mitchell “Fairfax Ghost” (he once flew it with Travis Hoover* sitting in the co-pilot’s seat). He was a Quiet Birdman, and so the poem “High Flight” was read at his funeral. I remember him reading it to me when I was 4, and a framed copy of it was my last Father’s Day present to him. I chose to use only the first two lines to make it my own. I’m a classical flutist, and those words evoke the feeling I get any time I perform, but also the memory of the man who encouraged me to go for my dream.” Her tattoo in memory of her father was created by tattoo artist Jason Jones of Kaleidoscope Ink in Springfield, Missouri. (*editor note: Travis Hoover was one of the original crew members of the Doolittle Raid.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626953916282-FCU10XWMVVCOCHCTNASQ/Tattoos71.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Of all the tattoos about aviation, the ones that strike a resonant chord with me are those beautiful portraits of aviators that have passed away and are honoured by a family member or enthusiast with a black and grey tattoo. Usually a favourite vintage photo is used and, with a quality tattoo artist, the result is powerful, emotional and poignant. Here is a grouping of nine tattoos I found, that for this viewer, really nail it. They are (L-Right, Top): Rib Tattoo of Josh Duffy’s pilot grandfather by Mike DeVries of MD Tattoo Studio in Northridge, CA; Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin by Jason Butcher of Immortal Ink in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, United Kingdom; WWII fighter pilot by Aaron Bell of Slave to the Needle in Seattle, WA; (L-Right, Middle): Soviet fighter pilot of WWII by Corey Miller of Six Feet Under Tattoo Parlor in Upland, CA; a portrait of Charles Lindbergh by Jason Riggs of Lazy Lightning Tattoos of Indianapolis, IN; an F-101 Voodoo pilot from the 81st Fighter Wing, stationed at RAF Bentwater by Christian Masot at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, NJ; (L-Right, Bottom): Another tribute to the owner’s grandfather, this time by Russ Abbott of Ink & Dagger Tattoo Parlour of Decatur, GA; a portrait of a crop dusting pilot who was lost in an accident commissioned by his sister and done by Oak Adams of Painted Temple Tattoo and Art Gallery in Sugarhouse Utah; “Flaps” Fowler, Mustang pilot by Tiger Rose Tattoo and Piercing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626954312625-GVFVJCB101WB8GWDZA82/Tattoos10.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Whenever I see a three-dimensional cutaway drawing of a complex engine in a book or on a poster, I am always amazed by the artist/draftsman’s ability to think in such depth and complexity. As an artist myself, I think of how difficult it is to do such a thing and how easily it could all go south, causing the artist to start over. Then I think of doing the same thing on the inside of a man’s arm with its soft, giving compound curves and I offer up the highest of kudos to artist Brett J. Barr for this stunning piece. If you make a mistake here, there is no starting over. This tattoo exudes power, imbuing its owner with traits of strength and reliability. Brett Barr, clearly a gifted artist, also did the B-24 Liberator tattoo in the next photo. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626954348785-9T779H5DJNP4N3W6ZODT/Tattoos44.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Undoubtedly, tattoo artist Brett Barr is one of my favourite of all the wonderful artists I have seen doing research for this story. While both the engine cutaway and this Consolidated B-24J Liberator in flight over “undercast” are extremely detailed and beautifully crafted, his other work is dramatic and passionately stylistic. It must be extremely difficult to draw the soft, hazy and transparent blurs associated with spinning propellers, for many artists simply freeze the props in motion or handle them in a different way from the rest of the work. Here, with subtle low-light and highlight blends, Barr nails it down perfectly. Barr was working for Built 4 Speed Tattoo of Orlando, Florida when this work was completed. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626954401331-YWMFPP7RVKAFUNZNIA62/Tattoos13.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Canadian tattoo artists prefer Canadian subjects like this colourful calf tattoo of a pair of Spitfires in flight over a field of poppies. If you can’t afford to buy your own Spitfire, you can at least have a permanent homage to the famous fighter tattooed on you! This work was completed by tattoo artist Derek Dufresne of Fleshworks Tattoos in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626955883861-REQCBSNG7EEYG2I4OI77/Tattoos53.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Spitfire tattoos are definitely harder to find on the web. Here we have a 127 Squadron Spitfire in D-Day stripes and a shark’s mouth done by Kasbah Tattoo Studio in Leicester, England. The details here are very accurate. I checked with the great website spitfires.ukf.net and determined that, indeed, Spitfire ML185 flew for 127 Squadron from May 1944 until July of 1944 when it went to 313 Czech Squadron and then on to 118 Squadron. Photo via BigTattooPlanet.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626955942699-HPUGU36LDCJ8LKR3GD2V/Tattoos91.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out While in Calgary in July of 2017 for a memorial air show for our friend Bruce Evans, I had occasion to chat with his sister Donna who sported a Spitfire tattoo and the first line of the poem High Flight—first placed there to honour their father, a lifelong aviation man. But a year before, on 17 July 2016, Bruce was killed while performing low-level aerobatics at the Cold Lake Air Show. Now the tattoo reminds the lovely Donna of both of them. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959777138-Y2CBH56T2Z6B99K78WKF/Tattoos52.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out The best Spitfire tattoo I came across was this fabulous arm sleeve of two Spitfire Mark Vs (one large glycol radiator on the starboard wing and a small oil heat exchanger on the port) overflying a gorgeous British-style locomotive belching vast quantities of smoke and steam. It was designed by Otto-Aspirin Tattoos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959840946-92OYYXZ4BD3F85QXX0YR/Tattoos70.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A well executed tattoo of an RAF 58 Squadron Spitfire by Gonzalo at Taste the Rain Tattoo Studio. Photo via CheckOutMyInk.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959879928-2RQFUU7YPVPXHLZQ8AEP/Tattoos67.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Derek Rust took this photo of his friend Rachelle, an aeronautical engineering student at the Ohio State University who was recently apprenticing at Boeing. She sports a beautiful, yet somewhat ominous, black and grey tattoo of a B-2 “Spirit” bomber on her right shoulder blade. Photo: Derek Rust https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959922806-O3URPTGM30WKJCVVYN4D/Tattoos65.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out When Chelsea Hicks had this simple solid black image of a delicate monoplane tattooed on her shoulder, she had a compelling desire to do so. Chelsea explains, “This is a tattoo of the Blériot XI monoplane designed by French aviator and inventor Louis Blériot. Despite crashing his other model and badly burning his foot from a gasoline leak, Blériot remained determined to win the “Daily Mail’s” prize for the first successful crossing of the English Channel by plane. On July 25th 1909, after his two competitors had failed to succeed, Blériot took to the air from France and though a developing storm took him slightly off course and essentially blinded him from all that surrounded him, Blériot landed 37 minutes later on the British Coast. After completing the first successful crossing of the English Channel, Blériot had this to say, “for more than 10 minutes I was alone, isolated, lost in the midst of the immense sea, and I did not see anything on the horizon or a single ship”. This story had me enamored from my first encounter with it and for me this tattoo is an inspiration and reminder to be bold and brave, to continue propelling myself forward as a traveler and to never stop getting lost amidst the sea”. Photo: Chelsea Hicks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959959754-ZW4YY4JGCQRB86LV6CMK/Tattoos15.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out “Mustang—Cadillac of the Skies”, as the young Jim Graham says in the movie Empire of the Sun. This tattoo wearer learned how to fly at a back-patio flight school at the famous Van Nuys Airport in the Los Angeles area. The airport, featured in the 2005 documentary One Six Right, remains the World’s busiest General Aviation airport and has been home to many aircraft, including many P-51 Mustangs, over its history. During his training, our subject became friends with a fellow student pilot at the club, a Russian native who also happened to be a talented tattoo artist from Hollywood. His name is Konstantin Nossatchev. Since both were aviation fans, they talked about a deal to create an elaborate piece for the subject. As both loved the P-51 Mustang, the design was a perfect fit. Also incorporated into the design was the tail-number of the Cessna 172 he first soloed in, his lucky number as the squadron number on the fuselage and his last name as the nose art. The entire piece took Konstantin three sessions to complete. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626959999382-D341FIQFKLYA1S0Z0OWE/Tattoos11.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out One of the things that makes tattoos featuring aircraft so challenging is the amount of detail that many aircraft require to look accurate. As a result, airplane tattoos generally work better when they cover a larger part of the body rather than small areas… backs and torsos seem to work especially well. This tattoo of a North American P-51 Mustang ripping dramatically out from a man’s back is a perfect example of the artist and wearer giving a tattoo plenty of room to look its best! The proportions of the P-51 are right on the money! He got the tattoo in honour of his grandfather who flew as a crew member aboard a B-29 Superfortress during the war. The “S2” on the nose of the P-51 symbolizes both he and his wife as their initials both begin with the letter “S.” The tattoo was created by an artist named simply C.W. of Royal Street Tattoo located in Mobile, Alabama. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960062588-EF29EWIWI72747OI3SJ3/Tattoos23.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A dramatic black and grey arm tattoo of a P-51 Mustang shooting down a Luftwaffe adversary with guns blazing away and empty machine gun cartridges tumbling from the ejectors. Artist David Newman-Stump of Skeleton Crew Tattoo in Columbus, Indiana created this beautifully shaded and highlighted image—in fact his first aviation themed tattoo. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960129647-5PUU4JNWVYON9DA5BWBL/Tattoos38.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This British man had a leg wrapped in a montage honouring the legendary P-51 Mustang—a most favourite of subjects for aviation tattoo artists. Though almost always associated with the United States Army Air Corps of the Second World War, the Mustang is in fact a design response to an RAF design specification and request for proposal. This colourful and glorious leg tattoo montage of USAAC P-51 Mustangs was created by Oliver Jerrold, a tattoo artist at Hope and Glory Tattoo in Swaffham, Norfolk, England. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960206773-BX8IJKEEN53CN5U2T8WO/Tattoos59.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A colourful back piece of a P-51D Mustang covers this man from shoulder to shoulder. “Babydoll” was created by tattoo artist Carlos Rubio of Club Tattoo in Mesa, Arizona. The flatness of the upper shoulders and back makes it easier to appreciate the straight lines and edges of the wings of the P-51. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960249902-9M9WKXTQJ75FAIZ79W12/Tattoos30.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A crowded and busy scene of a European Theatre dogfight with North American P-51 Mustangs and German aircraft loosely based on the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190—with propellers thrashing, bullets flying and aircraft zooming everywhere. This forearm sleeve, dramatically tattooed in black and gray, was created by Jeremiah Barba of Outerlimits Tattoo in Long Beach, CA. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960283943-DHQYU3URB2A0HO1N3NF8/Tattoos46.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A P-51 Mustang leg sleeve viewed 90º to horizontal. This is one of my favourite tattoos I found during my search—a North American P-51 Mustang with a Vargas-style pin-up nose art figure. This magnificent masterpiece was created by tattoo artist extraordinaire Kevin Patrick of State of Art Tattoo at the Arizona Tattoo Expo 2012. The image features exquisite weathering and riveting on the metal skin and makes spectacular use of the leg shape of “collector” Matthew Nelson of Buckeye, Arizona. Tattooing is indeed an art form whether you are too old to accept it or not. The tattooing community knows it and folks who have tattoos on their bodies think of themselves as collectors in the same manner as a wealthy art collector. Photo: Kevin Patrick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960326345-UP4D7XVZLPZW8M0U9THK/Tattoos16.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Tattoos have been used to demonstrate intense loyalty to certain quality brands and manufacturers for years. Companies like Harley-Davidson, John Deere, and Playboy have reaped the benefits of enthusiastic fans who forever pay homage on their skin. This tattoo, on the inner and rather large bicep of this man, was created by artist Lelo at Gatto Matto Tattoo Studio in Campinas–São Paulo, Brazil. The wearer had been waiting to get the tattoo for 15 years, and finally made his dream come true at the age of 30. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626960368529-X3149I7MSHJC0YX2UKYW/Tattoos72.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Speaking of loyalty to a brand, our own volunteer extraordinaire, Stéphane Ouellet, who had our logo tattooed on his calf. Stéphane expresses his loyalty in other ways too, on hand at all times to help. It was Stéphane’s tattoo that first got me thinking that this story should be done. Photo: Josée Lavictoire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974514261-G01CH6ACOE0H49KL61O8/Tattoos74.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out As the last three images have shown us, not all aviation tattoos have aircraft in them. Jerry Fielden, author of 438 Squadron RCAF’s squadron history called Le 438e Escadron Tactique d’hélicoptères, 1934-2009, wears this Second World War 438 Squadron Wildcat cartoon, drawn originally by artists at Disney. Photo via Jerry Fielden https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974569050-JS06PPL50PORCS6T4371/Tattoos18.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out It’s a common practice for those in the armed forces to permanently commemorate their service in the form of a tattoo. Just as sailors collected tattoos for centuries on their visits to exotic ports of call to remember their travels, today’s soldiers, sailors, and airmen (and women) do the same to remember that part of their life which helped shape their adulthood. This shoulder tattoo, created in black and gray shading, was created by artist Erik Payne of Inkvision Tattoo Studio in Boise, Idaho. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974600639-4U3L98UPU22753QFEAJ6/Tattoos19.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This colorful tattoo of the curious choice of an Ayres S2R-T “Thrush” crop duster as a subject with the inscription under it translated from Portuguese as “Trust in God” was created by artist Mauricio Huber of Dermografite, located in the coastal city of Balneário Camboriú in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974637393-KTHYTXGDB4VYKE8D3TAZ/Tattoos2.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A powerful image of a man in Borneo who left to go to work in Seria (Brunei) in 1974, and he commemorated his first trip ever on an airplane (a Malaysian Airline System flight from Kuching to Miri) with this tattoo. This crude, yet powerful, image is reminiscent of the “pick and poke” tattoos of prison inmates from Brazil to Los Angeles. Homemade tattoos when done with commitment as this one is have a singular menace to them yet clearly this is only a celebration of an important event. Photo: D. Lumenta at Flickr.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974678658-7YEK50UA2XBJXGFTPHH0/Tattoos20.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This tattoo of a DC-10 was created by artist Eddie at Skin Factory Tattoo in Las Vegas, Nevada for a client who wished to commemorate his father’s service with Northwest Airlines and his inspirational fatherhood. As Eddie’s client said, “My Father, a 39-year Northwest Airlines Captain, passed away after a four and half year battle with cancer. He has been my greatest inspiration to follow my dreams and take to the sky to leave my own contrails. The DC-10 was his favourite aircraft and I could think of no better way to represent that than on my chest!” No better reason for a tattoo. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974717072-EHWLTYOJJ08LQ6RW84Z6/Tattoos21.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out The Il-2 Shturmovik was a Soviet ground attack aircraft of the Second World War built in mind-boggling numbers—more than 36,000 in all. While there is only one recently finished flying example in the world today, its story remains iconic of the determination and sacrifices of the Great Patriotic War. Retreating German Wermacht and SS troops grew to fear this simple killing machine. This tattoo was created by artist Kris Witakaye of The Inkwell in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Its wearer, an Airman First Class with the USAF working as an Air Traffic Control specialist, chose the tattoo after finding the story behind the Il-2 fascinating—an aircraft feared by the most feared army was “too much to pass up” according to him! Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974744757-NTGR23AW2R52CM7XTIB4/Tattoos37.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out The Curtiss P-40’s aggressive looking nose with chin intake makes it one of the most popular subjects for aircraft tattoos. Created by tattoo artist Phil Garcia at Ink Philler Studios in Port Hueneme, California, just north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, this P-40 Warhawk tattoo, according to Tattoos in Flight, is “a clear example of how far tattooing as an art form has come in modern days. The vibrancy of the piece, the level of detail, and the amazing use of layered and blended colors and negative space to define the tattoo make this piece stand out”. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974789181-T07RQPQ215ETW5FWLSXW/Tattoos25.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A Flying Tigers P-40 Warhawk with shark mouth and Nationalist Chinese markings blazes away at a Japanese adversary, after dispatching another Mitsubishi Zero fighter. This tattoo, by Chris Stans of Kapala Tattoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba was created for a client in mid-2008. She wanted the classic P-40 and the quote “Hold Your Ground” was important to her. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974835648-LS0U9DJZ3A7HIU9Q2VV6/Tattoos56.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out To get the “fighting spirit” essence of a Second World War fighter, it is not necessary to include the entire aircraft. Here the artist has combined the classic shark-mouthed P-40 Warhawk image with hot rod custom flames for a super aggressive look on this man’s forearm. It looks like a punch from this dude would really hurt. Photo courtesy of www.tattoojoy.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974877079-QPI38PALS4C12QVFPUE9/Tattoos40.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This inner arm tattoo shows that famous AVG P-40 Warhawk snarl to great effect. Similar in concept to the one above, it was tattooed by Hawk Chait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974924567-QJ8FBQPCCPO89NYZSFFB/Tattoos43.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This great half sleeve featuring two B-24 Liberators working their way through heavy flak, while dropping their payloads, was created by tattoo artist Travis Grabhorn of Patriot Tattoo located in Spring Valley, California. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626974968877-XR15QAABI3NNKXK1CW2O/Tattoos26.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out There are many reasons for tattooing an image of an aircraft on your body. One could simply be a lover of vintage aircraft or history like me or perhaps one only thinks it looks cool. But many of the tattoos featuring Second World War fighters and bombers are created and the pain endured to honour the memory of a father or most likely a grandfather who flew or was aircrew during the war. Because of its iconic status, the Chance Vought F4-U Corsair remains a common yet powerful theme in aviation tattoos and this memorial tattoo pictured here is no exception. This fantastic black and gray version, tattooed by Phil Young of Hope Gallery Tattoo in New Haven, Connecticut, perfectly depicts the famous inverted gull-wing bird with all its dark reflections. Ironically, the Corsair is the “official state aircraft” of Connecticut due to the fact that many were manufactured in Stratford during the war. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975035307-YULD9TF26DDYBPBA9Q0P/Tattoos61.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out The simple ethereal light in this massive tattoo of a B-24 Liberator makes it one of my favourites. This particular tattoo, of a D-Model “Lib” (with the greenhouse style nose), was created by artist Hector Cedillo of Skin Graff Tattoo in Worcester, Massachusetts. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975077771-81HWVX56ASKQHY8TJJSD/Tattoos64.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Jonny Breeze created this tribute tattoo for a client whose grandfather was a gunner on Lancasters during the war. A little sleuthing paid off with some good information about this aircraft and its fate. I think it important to know the details as this lends power and meaning to the tattoo. I am not sure what the letter “G” stands for in this inscription, as NE141 had aircraft code AR-P, not AR-G. 460 Squadron Lancaster “G” is, however, the most famous Lanc of the squadron and is still in existence and on display in Australia. 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force Avro Lancaster NE141 was shot down on the 21st of November 1944 during a night raid to Aschaffenburg, Germany. 460 was a hard bitten Bomber Command Squadron and lost 200 aircraft and 1018 airmen over the course of the war, out of a total of 2730 men who served with the Squadron. A further 200 or so crew were captured as prisoners of war. Photo and tattoo: Jonny Breeze Lancaster NE 141 took off from RAF Binbrook at 1537 hours on 21 November to bomb Aschaffenburg, Germany. Bomb load 1 x 4000lb and 16 x 500lb bombs. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after takeoff and it did not return to base. Twenty three aircraft from the squadron took part in the raid and two of these, including NE141, failed to return. Following postwar enquiries it was established that the aircraft crashed on 21 November at Damm, a suburb of Aschaffenburg. All the crew were killed. The names of PO McMaster, FO Pettiford and FO Stewart are recorded on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK. Flt Sgt’s Herbertson, Jones and Chandler are buried at Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany. Crew: PO McMaster, R F Captain (Pilot) / FO Pettiford, F J (Navigator) / FO Stewart, K R (Bomb Aimer) / Flt Sgt Herbertson, W (Wireless Operator Air) / Sgt Day, H (Flight Engineer) / Flt Sgt Jones, M A (Mid Upper Gunner) / Flt Sgt Chandler, R S (Rear Gunner) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975415142-U0R3JA299VFGU3JZK84R/Tattoos45.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Despite being done in classic black and grey, this tattoo seems to leak colour. The attention to detail and craftsmanship in this piece is simply breathtaking—especially so when you realize the extreme curvature of the man’s shoulder. One of the best works I have run into, this RAF B-25 Mitchell was done by Mark Lazio of Ground Zero Tattoo in Riverside, CA. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975687795-GNJYEB709ZD0QW2YEB45/Tattoos27.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A stunningly powerful, massive and detailed image of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Yankee Doodle” tattooed in a massive sweep across this young man’s rather buff canvass. Part of its power lies in the fact that there are no other tattoos surrounding it. This is a spectacular piece which, if the young lad stays in shape, will continue to impress everyone. Perhaps, later in life when he is carrying a beer and wings belly and a coat of mid-life hair, this will lose some of its lustre. The artist Hayley Lakeman from North Carolina works at Fu’s Custom Tattoo in Charlotte. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975729922-TJEW277DZA361LK101DA/Tattoos24.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Every tattoo artist, like his or her oil painting, watercolouring or bronze sculpting colleagues, has a unique style, a sense of form and palette. Artist Matt Maguire of Witch City Ink in Salem, Massachusetts has a bright, chalky and illustrative style reminiscent of war bond and recruiting posters of the Second World War. Here, the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses depicted carry the markings of the RAF Bassingbourn-based 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975766362-7LTFYCWXJAHQTVJC3ARH/Tattoos55.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out One of my favourite types of tattoo is the simple heavy black ink silhouette like this top-lit Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress done in the style of legendary British graffiti artist Banksy. This one was created by Simone Lubrani of New York’s Rising Dragon Tattoos studio. Photo: Simone Lubrani https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975878603-7QSZ08HUWEJ6PRUXBN5P/Tattoos29.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Colourful aerial combat in the Pacific theatre combined with an image of a sultry blonde speaks volumes about the testosterone-charged world of aerial combat in the biggest war ever fought. Illustrated here is a very colourful collage of a Second World War dogfight over the Pacific between two US Navy Grumman F4F Wildcats and two Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters. The inspiration for many pieces of “nose art” on bombers and fighters, the pin-up and the magazines they came from were as much a part of a serviceman’s boot locker as… his boots! The tattoo was created by Lea Vendetta of Dave and Lea Tattoo. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975912794-NCB2ZE7J4N5MIUDNGZNR/Tattoos3.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Mez Love of San Francisco’s Tattoo Boogaloo created this Second World War and Vietnam War dual tribute entitled “Heroes” for a client who wanted to honour his aviator grandfather and father—a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and a Huey gunship. The red hue in this and other images of tattoos in this story indicates that the tattoo has been recently worked on. Photo via Mez Love https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975941319-5X6VC9WLGHNMOIOI7SE7/Tattoos42.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out This beautiful back piece tattoo featuring a pair of olive-drab USAAF P-38s in formation is done on a young woman’s back as a tribute to her grandfather. The work was done by Jeff Croci at Seventh Son Tattoo in San Francisco, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626975992240-QVF2PL35DF6PTN30MJZ8/Tattoos31.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out I just love the rendering of sparkling sunlight on this tattoo of Baron Manfred von Richthofen’s Fokker Dr.1 Dreidecker triplane. The Red Baron lives on today as an icon of icy skill and colourful dash. This work was created by tattoo artist Chris Chubbuck of Venom Ink Tattoo in Sanford, Maine. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626976764550-M6LD546G0A773GASQ1IF/Tattoos5.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out “Beware the Hun in the sun” went the old fighter pilot’s caution from the First World War. Here, in this simple yet evocative black and white tattoo by Christen Shaw, a British pursuit plane tumbles down in flames while the Red Baron in his Fokker triplane looks for his next victim. Photo: Christen Shaw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626976808268-OLEG7BDK5TJ664E7VGF8/Tattoos32.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A super clean, perfectly rendered tattoo of a MiG-29 Fulcrum by Ukrainian tattoo artist Denis Sivak shows the fighter appearing to execute the famous “cobra” manœuvre. The Fulcrum is powered by two massive Klimov engines, each putting out more than 18,000 pounds of thrust—very evident in this view. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626976870965-G5WMBSCXEWKGKZGLARJC/Tattoos12.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Now that the Top Gun superstar F-14 Tomcat has gone the way of the dodo, the only way to be reminded of the mighty Grumman fighters is to see them preserved in museums, immortalized in history books or, as in this case, as a permanent tribute tattooed within easy sight. This highly-detailed inner arm tattoo is the work of legendary artist Shotsie Gorman, who now applies his trade from the West Coast near Sonoma, California. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626976919042-Q83ZP15G2QAGJTAL7RIS/Tattoos68.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out While the F-14 Tomcat may be history, its Air Force contemporary, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, is alive and well and flown by several air forces around the world. This highly detailed and perfectly drafted F-16 tattoo was created by artist Craig Beasley. We can make out the golden end-of-day light on the fuel tanks and fuselage. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626976977228-FUA6BOIM6U77QSWMXL9D/Tattoos73.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Scantily clad bombshells and Navy Corsairs combine to create a colourful tattoo with depth and loads of testosterone. Cecil Porter, the artist, works from a private studio at Under The Gun Tattoo in Hollywood. This particular tattoo won Best Tattoo of the Day at the Body Art Expo in Pomona, CA in January 2009. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977005920-67YBDRJ5RZBP2EYGS38B/Tattoos34.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Aviation tattoos, a growing genre in the ink world, are truly universal. Here we see a young Ukrainian man sporting a well drawn image of an Antonov An-2 “Annie”, a sturdy and reliable postwar transport, now operating worldwide. Perhaps its characteristics of reliability, simplicity and strength are admired by this young man. The work was done by Ukrainian tattoo artist Denis Sivak. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977040671-WRYLAMDXB4E6CP1K7BWW/Tattoos35.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out I have made no bones about the fact that the Martin B-26 Marauder, built near Baltimore, Maryland during the war, is one of my favourite aircraft designs of the Second World War. Its broad shouldered, somewhat overpowered look makes it a true muscle car of medium bombers. And like the thundering muscle cars of the 1960s and 70s, it can be a lot to handle for an inexperienced driver. These aircraft developed a well-earned reputation for separating the men from the boys, earning for themselves some pretty harsh monikers: the Widow Maker, the Baltimore Whore and One-a-Day-in-Tampa-Bay. This detailed B-26 Marauder tattoo was created by tattoo artist Carlos Rubio, owner of Disciple Tattoo in Chandler, Arizona. Not only is the Marauder one of my favourite aircraft, this work by Rubio is also one of my favourites, with its somber light, chalky camo paint and nicely rendered paneling. It is designed to be the centrepiece of a B-26 leg “sleeve” tattoo. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977083268-09L1GXEHY3Q98I16KU1E/Tattoos58.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Though the top three aircraft preferred by collectors of tattoos are surely the P-51 Mustang, the P-40 Warhawk/Kittyhawk, and the B-17 Flying Fortress, this black and grey B-26 Marauder makes for a very individual choice. The nearly photographic work was completed by artist Pows One at Starlight Tattoo in New Jersey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977144781-JN0P7N4BB2JBMM0G2I22/Tattoos39.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out The Vought F4U Corsair is one of the most frequently tattooed warbirds out there, but seeing an example painted in the markings of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm is rare indeed. This tattoo was accomplished by Vincent Meyer for a client in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977173816-TAHQO742R5KYFGEE6QQO/Tattoos50.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A pair of identical USN Corsairs adorn this person’s shoulder blades. Here we see the Corsair on her right shoulder. Tattoo was by Christel Perkins, Robot Tattoos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977226797-75TPU52JL8YTYKZTPGOT/Tattoos41.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out While the image of that first flight of the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills is forever tattooed in the memories of any aviation-loving person, it is certainly reinforcement when one has it tattooed on his inner arm forever. This seems a tribute to the boundless possibilities of invention and creativity. In honour of this historic aircraft and historic flight, this beautiful black and gray inner arm tattoo was created by tattoo artist Hoffa at Ascension Tattoo in Orlando, Florida. We wonder if it is a coincidence that Hoffa is also from Dayton, Ohio, the hometown of Orville and Wilbur. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977287797-AYNAKJQISU70O9EIYXCS/Tattoos63.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out While the Mustangs and Warhawks dominate the dermis of aviation fans, less common types are still to be found. Here a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt overflies a mountain range. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977343950-OVMY818M2ZJB0EDVU64T/Tattoos83.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Nothing goes together much better than fighter aircraft and bombshell pin-up girls. Tattoo artist Johnny Gage created this whimsical interpretation of a scantily-clad aviatrix in red, riding astride the turtle deck of a shark-mouthed Hawker Hurricane... obviously in a state of ecstasy. Johnny works at The Tattoo Studio, Crayford, Kent. Photo and tattoo: Johnny Gage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977368520-ZPRV7MQJDSWU3URZCMK1/Tattoo200.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Near where I work is a place called The House of Barons where a man, a real man, can get a shave and a haircut while watching war movies, westerns and old episodes of Dogfights. My friend Devon “Red” Hayter, a Harley-riding, dog-lovin’, remarkably tattooed, warbird savvy barber, trained in the old ways, will give you a close shave and a half hour’s worth of Corsair facts. Trained at our Corsair ground school, Devon can expound on hydraulic systems and wing folding as well as body piercing and Harley maintenance. Devon spotted this tattoo on a client and sent it our way. On the inner arm of Greg Diamond, this skull and Spit was created by Jimmy at Lotus Land Tattoos in Vancouver, British Columbia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977440034-N0SEBAC08MXA5Z5LLN92/Tattoos8.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Dustoff in the Dermis. Even though the end of the Vietnam War was nearly four decades ago, when many people think of the war, one of the first images that comes to mind is that of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, more commonly known as the “Huey”. Its widespread use throughout the war by every branch of the U.S. military solidified it as a symbol of military service in Vietnam and, as a result, many tattoo tributes for Vietnam veterans feature the Huey such as this half-sleeve upper arm piece. This tattoo depicts a scene that perfectly illustrates the two most common uses of the UH-1 Huey: large-scale troop insertion into a combat landing zone (or “LZ”) on the outer arm (left side of image) and a “Dustoff” casualty extraction by UH-1 medivac on the inner arm (right side of image). Also included in the tattooed scene is the ribbon of the Vietnam Service Medal over the crossed rifles of the Infantry Branch of the U.S. Army at the top and the insignia of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) under it. The tattoo was created in honour of the father of the wearer, who is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War and served his tour of duty from 1966 through 1967. The tattoo was completed in May 2010 and she proudly showed her father the completed tattoo on Memorial Day. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977473236-DK8K63GJAVOPOEJWPPAI/Tattoos9.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Some more complex tattoos are in fact complete tableaux depicting aerial battles and grouping elements into a thematic montage. This beautiful full arm sleeve tattoo, created for the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation in 2011, depicts some of the most famous American naval aircraft of the Second World War including (from the wrist upwards), the Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina Patrol Bomber, the Grumman TBF (TBM) Avenger torpedo bomber, the Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter aircraft, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber, and the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber at the very top. The artist, Matt Geiogamah, is well known for his realistic colour tattoo work, unique and vibrant colours and fantastic composition… attributes perfectly seen in this piece. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977513023-JJEE5BMLXFGS6PQ7T9UY/Tattoos36.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Not forgotten. The CF-105 Avro Arrow is a legendary interceptor design that captured Canadian imaginations during the cold war in the same way that the Spitfire spoke to the British a decade and a half before. The government cancelled the massively expensive project for the RCAF with only a half dozen or so prototypes built and in so doing set back the Canadian aerospace industry by years. Canadians never forgot the damage to their national esteem, eventually creating a mythic personality with overblown potential for the big, beautiful delta winged fighter. Still, probably more so than if it had survived, it has become a national icon and symbol of dreams almost achieved. This tattoo by Canadian tattoo artist Derek Dufresne of Fleshworks Tattoo Studio in Victoria, British Columbia pays tribute to the aircraft legend that pains many today... even this young man who no doubt was born a quarter century after the cancellation of the program. Photo via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977537022-5IQIP7OXM63F1PNRIA7F/Tattoos6.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Airplane tattoos don’t always have to be about heavy bombers, flame covered shark-mouthed fighters or mayhem, they can celebrate the joy of the ordinary aircraft and the achievement of becoming a pilot. Tattoo by Dave Kruseman of Forever Yours Tattoo Gallery in Douglasville, Georgia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977581406-5G3GAVKZV1NLUMINNTBJ/Tattoos62.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out Finally, we end on the image we started this story with, perhaps the most striking of all the tattoos in this genre. This, in many ways, shows us just how far tattooing has come. One can no longer just say this is a tattoo, but rather, this is an ink portrait on a man’s back, no different than an ink portrait on canvas or art board. This tattoo of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh by famed tattoo artist Shotsie Gorman was featured in countless magazines and exhibitions after it was completed. We’ve found a video clip where Gorman speaks about the tattoo and the challenges it presented—click here to view it. Shotsie Gorman is in Sedona, Arizona with Shotsies Soul Signing. Photo: Bill DeMichele of Proteus Press via Tattoos in Flight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626977656749-XLOV4IOZR665CUVREN53/Tattoos100.jpg The Stories - PERMANENT INK — The Art, the Pain and the Glory of the Aviation Tattoo - Make it stand out A year after this story was published a young French warbird enthusiast, Gauthier Boucher, came upon this story and was inspired to go ahead and create a tattoo of a P-51D Mustang. The design is pure Mustang and beautifully crafted. Clearly he chose his artist with great care. Here is his letter. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/dear-arnold monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626894277763-0T1S6V2GB5DX5EZZGFHH/Screen+Shot+2021-07-21+at+3.04.18+PM.png The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626894362874-OM8HW7A4QK6F0GO18W03/DearRosey01.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out The hangar is empty. The back door open to the late afternoon sun. Your Spitfire awaits the day she will fly again. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626898987748-7VN7VLGZ0BE4QI6UEPGZ/DearRosey15.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out A copy of the telegram Audrey received more than a month after receiving an initial one stating you were missing in action. Pretty tough news. It was happening like that all across the country. Ron keeps it now, a reminder of the full debt he and all of us owe to you and to Audrey. Photo via Ronald Roseland-Barnes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899052608-UMF7VVZ79CB7EHFMOF3I/DearRosey29.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out The German pilot who finally got you over St. Martin de Mailloc was Oberleutnant Paul Schauder of JG 26, a very experienced fighter pilot having fought on the Eastern Front, North Africa and Mediterranean. A few months later he would become the commander of II Gruppe, 26 JG and finish the war with 19 victories other than you. Post war he would go on to command an F-86 squadron with the newly redesigned Luftwaffe. The Balkenkreuzes of Nazi design were gone and the Luftwaffe reverted to the old Eisernes Kreuz of the First World war. Things changed rapidly with Germany after the war Arnold. They quickly became an ally against the Soviets. This photo sort of proves that. It's Schauder talking and laughing with Douglas “Duke” Warren, the surviving half of the famous Warren Twins – two RCAF Spitfire pilots from Nanton, Alberta. You probably heard of them even back then. They are smiling, but I can see they are talking about a serious business... the business of fighter pilots. Thanks to Pat Murphy of Comox, and his passion for Spitfires and history, this photo came to light. I feel you won't mind seeing him. Like you, he was just doing a fighter pilot's job. Photo via Pat Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899133222-WOANQ8SZUZ686YB9RGQ4/DearRosey16.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out My favourite photo of the night we unveiled the Comox-built fuselage was this one... your great grandson Aidan looking respectfully inside the cockpit of your Spitfire. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899222388-5GNEE9R4ERD61QCP4Z9R/DearRosey17.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out At the end of that evening, we raised a banner to the rafters of our hangar—piped in style by Graham Batty, the piping pilot. A banner that pays tribute to you Arnold. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899270410-HCDIWTJ37XLKEUA96RSI/DearRosey04.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out Now, with just one year left in the project, Ken Wood (left) and Andrej Janik are tasked to take her that last mile—Ken completing such things as cowlings, wing tips, fairings, elevator, gear doors and more and Andrej responsible for getting the plumbing, wiring, engine work and everything else done. These two represent the best Canada has to offer the warbird world. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899358969-6VLX4SLTIIWKBVAYDZ2S/DearRosey12.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out Spitfire Mk IX, MK304, marked as Y2-K gets an engine change in the field in Normandy in August of 1944 by fitters of 421 Repair and Salvage Unit. We knew we would paint D-Day invasion stripes on the sides of your tribute aircraft, but, though it would have been uber-authentic, we didn’t paint them as we see them in this photo – largely removed except the forward white stripe—because we would be just guessing if we assumed the stripes were identical on the right side. Instead we went with a standard prescribed placement and size for the stripes. The next big question that had me sleepless at night was whether we should paint the gear doors of your Spitfire with white and black stripes so that when the gear is up, the invasion stripes were continuous. I held that the exigencies of war would preclude mechanics jacking the Spitfires and other aircraft up and swinging the gear closed so they could paint the stripes continuously. I believed that they should be the regular grey underside of the Spitfire. And I thought this photo proved this as the gear doors have no stripes. Here’s where it was so helpful to have experts like Chris Thomas to rely on. It seems, though some Spits had grey doors, the norm was to paint the stripes (apparently no great care was taken to make sure they aligned with the paint on the wings when closed). Chris drew my attention to the Shacklady (Spitfire: The History) entry for MK304 and it shows that Y2-K suffered Category E damage on 2 August 1944. This photo is alleged to have been taken on 19 August. Category E damage is in fact serious damage which usually leads to the airframe being written off. Clearly, from this photo, it is not written off. Chris Thomas suggested that MK304 suffered a serious landing accident on 2 August and perhaps the repair included new gear, engine and more—possibly new wings. Looking closer at the photo, it does seem that the gear doors are brand new as do the tyres (with wheel covers (usually later discarded by ground crews as more trouble than they were worth) and alignment marks) and the wing looks oddly coloured (this could be just the omnipresent Normandy dust but possibly a replacement wing from a PR Spit). Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899521348-1OXTUR8DQD727NGNODZT/DearRosey08.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out A detail of the markings on TE294 as 442 Squadron Spitfire IX MK304. It was at this time that I discovered the mistakes made in previous Y2-K provenance. Painting the Spitfire involved many other types of markings such as W/T Wire Terminus stencils, Technical Directorate paint type stencils (Cellulose and Synthetic), and factory/Civilian Repair Organization contract stencils—all of this so complex, detailed and interesting to a geek like me, but far too complicated to explain here. Suffice it to say that the complex numerical stencils one sees on Second World War RAF aircraft are UNIQUE to each aircraft and cannot be simply copied from a previous aircraft—long story for another day. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899597897-0JAR7HSH3MN2ZYZ4XLOI/DearRosey19.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire - Make it stand out We have chosen to paint your aircraft in a scheme that is closer to this one of Y2-Y, seen here taking off from the forward operating base B-4 at Bény-sur-mer, France in August. Thinking about it now, it is likely that any “K” Spitfire you did fly, would look like this as opposed to MK304, whose D-Day war paint was painted on by 310 Squadron and not 442. We also see proof that 442 painted their gear doors with the D-Day stripes. Photo via Peter Arnold https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899708798-6P4LTZZPEBLSJRBVK0OZ/DearRosey25.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899708966-IWKFMSS8I96JMHA75EQH/DearRosey24.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899709241-KI1UAF5J3PBOTG46CEBG/DearRosey23.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899709346-VOC0NH51XYUX78KZE9JZ/DearRosey22.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899709676-3DIYD8707275D2RVHE0N/DearRosey21.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899709841-BMAZBDDH1CN2EPCSXSV3/DearRosey20.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899710117-B0MAYUG8MYCDLTUR53DU/DearRosey06.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899710266-3YBNU1H52IKAOF3IH16S/DearRosey07.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899710562-MKWO3GRAEELHGVVBV935/DearRosey05.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899710695-LIYW8R0GLRJLIHN1AH9Z/DearRosey02.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire Ken Wood begins the complex structural work on the Spitfire’s elevator. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626899710972-6OPLJGN7OI4JA4RA75P3/DearRosey03.jpg The Stories - DEAR ARNOLD — A Letter to the Soul of a Spitfire Ken Wood begins the complex structural work on the Spitfire’s elevator. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/inn-of-the-divine-wind monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892122200-QIOP0GSQT3FM4KC7NKD2/TheInn.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892175447-W3861QNBRRZD2BHFA9WZ/Kamikaze08.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out The Tomiya Inn, Tome Torihama’s small hotel and restaurant exists to this day, though it is now a memorial and museum to the events that took place there nearly 75 years ago. It is curated by Tome’s grandson. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892277466-GRM3221TAWB56DAS3PI0/Kamikaze05.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Innkeeper Tome Torihama poses with a group of young kamikaze pilots at the front door of her inn in the town of Chiran. In this photograph, she looks happy and relaxed, but she knew it was her job to never show sadness or fear in front of the young boys and men who were soon to go to their deaths. When we look at this image it is hard to see through their charm and boyish delight to the underlying desperation they all must have felt. Photo: WarbirdForum.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892347612-UPN0J3T5O0B5K8TA9OBL/Kamikaze03.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out At 28 years old, Wataru Kawasaki was much older than most kamikaze or Special Attack pilots. This photo shows us just how young they were. The image shows five pilots of the 72nd Shinbu Squadron at Bansei, Kagoshima, formed on 30 January 1945. They are (left to right) in front row: Tsutomu Hayakawa (19), Yukio Araki (17), Takamasa Senda (19) and back row: Kaname Takahashi (18) and Mitsuyoshi Takahashi (17). All five died the following day (9 May 1945) attacking Allied ships off the coast of Okinawa. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892419526-IR0P9KSMBRM3AE6VQK0T/Kamikaze11.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out 25 October 1944: kamikaze pilot in a Mitsubishi Zero A6M5 Model 52 crash dives on escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66). The aircraft missed the flight deck and impacted the water just off the port quarter of the ship. Photo: US Navy, via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892667345-L5Q3JPRJ2EJPC3D28CJR/Kamikaze09.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892694784-DQERK72EIP3TT0VG2QOK/Kamikaze14.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892717332-T4T9ZE4LBPV2HV5YXNF1/Kamikaze17.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626892761909-XVL2NJQENSOL6F6ER6OD/Kamikaze04.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893068239-16RMHMV8TK5A3A62W0CN/Kamikaze26.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893154751-AKIPMP99CRKQSKUYJFM8/Kamikaze25.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893174800-TOYORD4M93M4UC3ONY5P/Kamikaze20.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893266433-OGWU02XTDPQ7WY57CGO8/Kamikaze19.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893210473-7O9GIBAXSTBUACKQY6EQ/Kamikaze24.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893711839-VDH97BK827MDWDCRFZYY/Kamikaze02.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Cast members of the 2001 Japanese feature film Hotaru (Firefly) pose in front of a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa. Japanese actors played the parts of pilots and in the centre, innkeeper Tome Torihama. Photo: SirringConstantly.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893757154-I155ETFI94NH1UN79NS1/Kamikaze13.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out A haunting mural at the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots shows six angelic female phantoms lifting the body of a kamikaze pilot from his burning aircraft to take him to heaven. Photo: stripes.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626893789388-R49SNZGG81Z8QEEOJJLK/Soryu29.jpg The Stories - THE INN OF THE DIVINE WIND - Make it stand out Aviator and a passionate translator of rare aviation-related Japanese works, Nick Voge poses with an L-19 Bird Dog at Dillingham Airfield, the former Second World War training field on the North Shore of Oahu. He flashes us the Hawaiian “shaka” sign, offering us the “hang loose” interpretation of the “Aloha Spirit.” Photo via Nick Voge https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/propaganda-poster-finds monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626870561006-UIU4FTSF29R1CFNHL9EZ/PostersLead.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626870632123-TZMO9OS41CMCRX5948CN/Posters15.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out In 2000, a single copy of the now-famous Keep Calm and Carry On “home publicity” poster was found in a box of used books at a bookstore in Northumberland, England. Of the 2,500,000 that were originally printed in 1939, it was thought to be the only copy in existence until a block of 15 more was found in 2012. The poster was one of a series of three that were meant to bolster national confidence during the expected air raids and possible invasion of England. While the other two less-memorable posters in the series were used, the Keep Calm posters were put into storage and then, following a decision to scrap them, were pulped and recycled to make new posters during the wartime paper shortage. The poster became one of the most successful memes of all time and the value of any original posters is extraordinarily high due to this popularity. While the Cassandre Collection of posters is almost entirely made up of unique and “last-remaining” posters, the true value will be determined in years to come. Images: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626870700723-AKDEUBJ7OE99Y5MB4NB3/Posters10.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out As the European war was winding down in March of 1945, the National Rifle Association was beginning to see that three years of training and combat had created a massive new demographic of young testosterone-fired, city-dwelling men with easy access to guns (much like it is today). While many soldiers, airmen and sailors were from small towns where hunting was the norm for young boys, the majority were from cities where opportunities to shoot guns were limited to armed robberies and such. Not wanting to squander this massive windfall for their membership plans, the NRA created, in cooperation with the Treasury Department, a series of posters (one for each service) designed to let these men know they didn’t have to give up “shooting stuff” when they returned to city life. This example is the only known remaining US Navy poster other than the single complete set now on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The value to collectors of guns and gun paraphernalia puts this poster, in its excellent condition, at more than US$800. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626870833126-U3UCLJQR3A35BQ35HYIK/Posters4-.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out While the Irish Republic was neutral during the Second World War, a period referred to as “The Emergency”, Northern Irish companies like St. Donard Old Irish Whiskey of Castlewellen, County Down took full advantage of the war footing to sell their whiskey for its calming medicinal qualities. Popularity of Irish coffee has never waned since it was first introduced in 1941. These posters were all over London in 1941–42, though few can be found today. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626870990795-7CJVQVYSLD8P0HUBM32R/Posters11.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out While the Navy and Army Air Force in America were attracting young men with fancy uniforms, aircraft, fighting ships and the promise of seeing the world, the Army itself found recruitment slackening as the war ground on in Europe and the Pacific. They resorted to some pretty creative ideas to attract young men including the 1944 Yodel-ay-ee-ooo Campaign of the Tenth Mountain Division. The emergence of singing and yodelling stars like Gene Autry and Riley Puckett of “Sauerkraut” fame had created a sort of craze in America’s southwest, with young men impressing the gals with their yodelling prowess. Many were having difficulty mastering the singing style and were embarrassing themselves. The Tenth Mountain Division, which until just recently had been the 10th Light Division (Alpine), capitalized on this desire to improve yodelling skills. The unit needed more recruits as they ground their way north through the Apennines towards Austria and the Southern Alps. Spending much of their combat time in the high alpine regions, yodelling became second nature to these hardy men who fought under the motto “Climb to Glory”. With Gene Autry himself as their singing spokesman, the 10th promised improved yodelling chops to any who would join. The campaign was a huge success in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, where yodelling was huge, but mountains were not. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871058513-S6K04L7P8XCZ20EZ21SJ/Posters23.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out From liquid courage to courage in a pill form. Original German propaganda posters in good condition are rare—largely because much of Nazi influence and culture was scrubbed from existence after the total defeat of the Reich. There are few collectors who buy them though, as no one wants to be thought of as a Nazi sympathizer. That being said, there is a single German advertising poster in the Cassandre collection—for the “designer-drug” known as Pervitin (methamphetamine) which was created by German pharmaceutical scientists and liberally and continuously distributed to frontline soldiers and airmen as well as German High Command to keep them jacked up, stimulated and feeling good about their coming demise. This poster reminds Luftwaffe airmen to keep a full bottle of Pervitin with them at all times—as it “Makes Death Seem Better than Life”. It portrays a pilot clearly freaked out when he finds his Pervitin bottle empty. Known as “Pilot’s Salt”, Pervitin helped Luftwaffe night fighter pilots keep awake, but made them agitated and overly aggressive on the ground. Designed by famous German graphic designer Walter Heisenberg, this poster is thought to be one of a kind. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871279278-4KPNGTIZ1YX1L6RGGPFW/Posters24.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Propagandists in Great Britain were not above working with local businesses to deliver both a civic message and a commercial one at the same time. Posters like “Big Sale” are particularly rare in that it was used only before a particular date for a sale at Harrods and only in the immediate areas of Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Mayfair, Kensington and Westminster. Known as “Prodding the Posh”, these campaigns had little effect on whether high society was more careful about talking in public, but Harrods department store and others that used the campaign idea reported increased sales. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871323467-5QBOU2T92FS1RI1F9C23/Posters22.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out The now-infamous “No Vichy For Me” poster is a classic example of corporate greed disguised as patriotism. After the fall of France in 1940 and the division of the country into its occupied and so-called “free” zones, distaste for Marshal Philippe Pétain and the puppet French government ensconced in the town of Vichy was like acid in the mouths of true Free Frenchmen like Charles de Gaulle and members of the French résistance inside France. De Gaulle worked with propagandists to come up with a number of posters to discredit the Vichyists, and even the word Vichy itself. Some of the world’s most popular mineral water was from Vichy, and de Gaulle urged the French people and the people of England to refrain from drinking any of the brands from that region. It wasn’t until after the war that it was discovered that the campaign was paid for by Perrier, a British-owned competitor selling waters from Les Bouillens in Vergèze in the South of France (ironically… in Vichy). Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871361705-IDU0GKXNZWD4FIL82NFS/Posters18.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out After countless attempts to dissuade the general population that careless talk was being monitored by German spies who were mining tidbits of information that, when assembled, could paint a clear picture of a convoy’s departure, a regiment’s deployment, VD epidemics or a new type of radar. We are all familiar with the old classics like “Loose Lips Sink Ships”, but, by 1944, the British Army was pushing for tougher public awareness campaigns as the soft approach was just not working. The “What are you? Stupid” poster campaign was extremely controversial as one would imagine. They were not used in public places as were the more traditional posters, but appeared in 1944 in British, Canadian and American barracks, air bases, ships and encampments across England—reinforcing the call for secrecy about the buildup prior to the Normandy invasions. Very rare, and because of the harsh and somewhat humorous wording, very collectible. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871400706-FUOZTR3F94HW4LWG90ZA/Posters13.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out From the very beginning of the war, industrial and military planners understood that, in order to put more men on the front lines, they would have to rely heavily on women for just about everything that happened behind those lines—from riveting in shipyards to administration to ferrying aircraft. Throughout the war, they pushed women to step up and do “men’s work” so that men could fight. Rightly so, women began to believe they were considered equal to men, even if their pay packets did not offer up proof for that assumption. Sadly, one thing America did not want was a generation of uppity women taking over men’s jobs… even for half the pay. The recruitment campaign that began in 1942 with a grease-smeared Rosie the Riveter rolling up her sleeves ended in disillusionment for hundreds of thousands of women when the “Make Dinner for Your fightin’ Man” campaign put them back in the kitchen, making open-faced beef sandwiches with canned peas for their “Fightin’ Man” come home to be the Workin’ Man he always was. Things were looking up for women’s equality during the war years, only to be set back to square one when the radioactive dust settled at Nagasaki. Women decried the campaign, with Eleanor Roosevelt putting an exclamation point on their anger when she famously said: “Don’t they realize it’s 1945?” Things don’t look that much better in 2017. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871473944-AHL0OGE6O55KF46DSU7G/Posters7.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out It’s all about the marketing. When Boeing first introduced the B-17 long-range heavy bomber in the late 1930s, it had no naming convention. While Lockheed always knew that their next aircraft would have a celestial moniker (Constellation, Lightning, Loadstar, Vega, etc.), Boeing had no such titular lineage. Knowing that the thousands of employees at Boeing’s Seattle plant had contributed so much to what was about to become the company’s greatest success (until the 707), management decided to leave it up to the assembly line to pick a great name for what previously had been known as the Model 299 or B-17. This turned out to be a mistake that they regretted for months, as the entries were somewhat short of inspirational. Employees, not used to be asked their opinions on anything, did not respond for fear of losing their jobs. Only twelve entries were received, and as it later turned out, they were all from the same guy. The selection included the Seventeener; the Bomb Machine; the Renton; the Sea-Tacker; the Bombastion, the Sky Whale, the Heavy Hitter, the Tondalayo (apparently the nickname he had for his wife) and the Load Dropper. Knowing they would have a morale problem if they cancelled the contest, they went with Load Dropper. Posters were printed up and plastered throughout the plant, but the reaction was less than favourable. When the posters began disappearing from assembly line locations and re-taped to the men’s washroom toilet stall doors, Boeing had had enough. The posters were removed, save for a few that went home with employees. Few remain today, and this example was acquired by the Cassandre Foundation in 1992 from an antique store in Walla Walla… still attached to an outhouse door. In the end, Boeing went with the words of a Seattle Times reporter by the name of Dick Williams who exclaimed at the B-17’s rollout: “Why, it’s a flying fortress!” And the rest, as they say, is history. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871506434-2TY5Z6J2RAJXJISNOWZH/Posters29.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Today, it is not widely known that, when Oscar Hammerstein wrote the words to the now iconic “Sound of Music”, he was plagiarizing the message from the famous British “The Mills are Alive” Industrial propaganda poster which encouraged English women to seek employment and training for war work. At the time of the opening of the original Broadway play in 1959 however, some people remembered the posters from the war and whispered behind his back. The old propaganda poster would later inspire the iconic image we have all come to associate with Maria von Trapp and this classic musical tale. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871546237-F8RXDP5LQYQS4KYAVRY4/Posters32.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out The Second World War officially began on 1 September 1939, when Nazi armoured divisions and aircraft attacked across the Polish border. While the rest of the world thought about how they should and would act, Poland’s air force and army fought a near suicidal and courageous series of losing battles against the might of the world’s most militarized country. The contribution of Poles in the RAF and in particular during the Battle of Britain is legendary. The romantic, daring and tragic Poles were the darlings of London society for the early years of the war, but victory brought about a new reality—one that had to account for the Soviet-backed and communist-ridden “Provisional Government of National Unity” in Poland. Perhaps the gravest symbolic injustice handed down to the Poles was their exclusion from the miles-long postwar Victory Parade in London, which took place a year after the war ended. The parade included fighting men and women from all of Britain’s allies including such loyal stalwarts as Nepal, Brazil, Trans-Jordan and Mexico, yet the Poles were deliberately not invited. While 25 Polish pilots were invited by the RAF to march with them, the Soviets used these men as an excuse not to participate. Though the Poles were not in attendance in the numbers their wartime contribution warranted, Londoners and international parade spectators could not help but notice the hundreds of “First to Fight, First to be Forgotten” posters plastered along the parade route. Photo: the Author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871603277-YFUI8Y9OM7RUMS04FPLC/Posters28.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out When the largest wave of production propaganda posters first hit the factories and ship yards of America, it wasn’t long after the Great Depression when any American would have been grateful for any sort of employment. Industrial giants like Ford, Boeing, and Seattle–Tacoma Shipbuilding were hiring new workers, skilled or not, by the hundreds of thousands, but they weren’t about to listen to the complaints of workers about safety, equality or compensation. Posters like “Any Questions?” from the Labor–Management Coordinating Committee played on factory workers fears of unemployment, especially those of women who were just beginning to enter the work force en masse. The poster, with its smiling manager, was purposely ambivalent and malevolent. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871662046-F3MXEMY17YANZ255V3A7/Posters20.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out An army on the move in the terrible winter conditions found in the Ardennes Forest in 1945 was an army beset by hemorrhoidal piles and the odd sergeant’s boot to the arse. The US Army, following their plan to put medical specialists in the field where they were needed, began recruiting doctors and medical students of all sorts for front line duty. The 32nd Urological Regiment of the US First Army (the Big Red One) fielded a full company of Combat Proctologists, trained in combat arms and digital examination—not all of whom were actual doctors. The company commander, Captain Mort Keester of Des Moines, Iowa once famously said: “Combat proctology is not for the faint of heart. Some guys would rather take on a machine gun nest than do what we do” This poster is valued at US$1,550 as it is the only known copy of a very limited run poster used only in stateside hospitals and medical schools. Very rare. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871696402-JN8UUONZSD1DSYH7A553/Posters2.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out In the 1960s and 70s, there was Dean Martin as Matt Helm, the charming, slightly boozy and always wisecracking playboy secret agent. The Matt Helm series was not a new concept, but rather a spy takeoff of the earlier Pepe LaDouche series of films—Stick Man, Through the Detentes, Yippee-Ki-Air Force, SAC-time and Cockpit Cowpoke. LaDouche made a name for himself as the enigmatic, always smiling, slightly drunk test pilot known as Whitey Cockshutt who left behind the smoking wrecks of girls’ hearts from Edwards to Pawtuxet River. His aerial hijinks and flashing smile always got Cockshutt in trouble with the “brass and the ass” as he was fond of saying, but his farm boy aphorisms and Moose Javian drawl always seemed to redeem him. Cockpit Cowpoke is one of the funnier of the series, where he meets his nemesis, Sally Cardinal, the trick-riding, six-gun shooting beauty queen played by Cerise Palomino. Born Elvin Gunbutz in Saskatchewan, Canada, LaDouche is legendary for his Cockshutt persona, but in real life he was much the same as his character—rowdy, randy, and rambunctious. He died in 2010 at age 79 of a sildenafil-induced myocardial infarction. The poster is the only one in the Cassandre collection that is autographed—by no less than LaDouche himself. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871750844-ODOS5ASVXS1HQM51DF84/Posters3.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out A close-up of Pepe LaDouche’s signature on the Cockpit Cowpoke poster. LaDouche rarely gave out autographs due to a condition known as rodeo dystonia. The signature more than doubles the value of the poster. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871790546-P516S1WTJSMKQIE1Z5Q3/Posters4.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out In the 1950s, Hollywood motion pictures of the Second World War were all of the heroic, Audie Murphy variety, playing on America’s and the Western world’s image of themselves as winners, saints and heroes. By 1961, when 666 Zombie Squadron had its premier in New York, war films were taking on a darker personality, due in large part to America’s obsession with and utter fear of the impending nuclear apocalypse. Atomic mutant, horror and post-apocalyptic themes crept their way into films in every category. 666 Zombie Squadron was about a Staffel of undead Nazi pilots who are freed from their graves near an abandoned Luftwaffe base in Belgium after an Allied engineering unit, lengthening the runway, plowed their graves to make room. The partially decomposed and now angry undead Nazi pilots head to the airfield’s boneyard, climb into seemingly un-flyable wrecks of Bf 109s and Fw 190s and take to the skies. The unstoppable force of zombie pilots, known as Luftflotte Z, apparently needs no fuel (and in some hilarious cases, no propellers) and the aircraft stay aloft throughout the movie until the final dramatic confrontation between the last two zombies, known as Hauptmann Zeejäger (played by Erwin Luger) and his wingman Leutnant Rath (Hans Kanonen) and the American Mustang pilot Lieutenant Norman Reedus. It isn’t until three quarters of the way through the film that American pilots realize that no amount of damage sustained by the German aircraft will bring them down; that they need to shoot the pilots in the head to stop them. The film is a joke by today’s zombie film standards, but despite corny makeup, lamentable use of cheesy aircraft models and the fact that it was in black and white, the film was a box office hit. This poster is one of the most desirable for collectors of zombie, horror and aviation memorabilia. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871852089-T4YEFY14R47C5NEMKPI2/Posters16.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out During the Second World War, popular acts like the comedic duo of Abbott and Costello were grinding out new feature films every month. The quality was dubious and the production values low, but with the co-operation of the United States Navy, Task Farce Jokinawa made these two comedians the darlings of the South Pacific. Once the film was premiered in late March 1945 in San Diego on the hangar deck of USS Bon Homme Richard, the “Bonnie Dick” sailed for the South Pacific war with Abbott and Costello aboard. The ship stopped at Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein in the Marshalls, Truk in the Carolines, and Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, with viewings of Task Force Jokinawa on board and live stand-up with Abbott and Costello performing their legendary “Who’s on first” routine for troops and a company of real hula dancers who had joined the ship at Pearl. Posters for the movie were handed out to anyone who wanted them, making these fairly rare since few made it home stateside and the film was never shown in American theatres. While it was a box office flop, it was a huge boost for the morale of lonely sailors, marines and soldiers in the South Pacific. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871885434-RZL89L0Y70K89FBGKRM6/Posters19.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Following the release and extreme popularity of the now-classic drama God is my Co-Pilot, starring Dennis Morgan of Captains of the Clouds fame, Hollywood’s “Comic Genius of Plagiarism” Stan Goldbond confected the lightweight Gord is my Copilot which opened to lukewarm reviews, except for the child star, “Little Gordie Walker”, who played the part of protagonist pilot Gordon Simmons as a child. The story is about Gord, as well-meaning Forrest Gump of the Golden Age of Flying, played with some suavity by the enigmatic Wally Athlone and revolves around several not very well woven story lines about childhood dreams, espionage, Nazi arrogance and beautiful women. Simmons stumbles from one ridiculous and impossible scenario to the next, but always flies his way out of danger and always with a beautiful dame on his arm. His hot tandem scenes with the luscious Cyd Carmelle had to be cut from the original edit in order to satisfy the censors. A poster of great interest to collectors of the obscure films of the 1940s. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626871943202-EEIVPFS0LZL9VIWKZ2WA/Posters5.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out The movie-going public has always been captivated by films of derring-do and commando raids deep into the heart of enemy territory such as The Dam Busters, Guns of Navarone and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo. Combine that sort of story line with the classic “what if” scenario and you get 30 Seconds over Toronto, a plagiaristic war film about Canadians siding with the Axis Powers after a fascist takeover of Parliament by German-Canadian Ernst Zündel and his “Hard Hats”. Jimmy Doolittle (played almost comically by Pratt Whitney) is recalled from the 8th Air Force in England to reprise his Tokyo Raid, after Canadian Fairey Battles attack the American training carriers USS Wolverine and Sable in Lake Michigan, just six miles off the coast of Chicago. In order to put the “dirty Canucks” in their place straight away, Doolittle gathers his remaining “Raiders” from across the Army Air Force, and begins training them for another attack. While the film is hardly believable, the scenes with Doolittle and his men studying maps to learn where this “Canada” is are hilarious, and the sight of 500 lb bombs falling on Toronto City Hall is strangely gratifying. The film was a big hit in Canada, where people were just happy to see the country mentioned in a Hollywood production. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626872025295-LOIFS3XJE0VSECJ6WIEC/Posters12.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Growing up in Ottawa, I recall the Triple Bill restricted movies on Saturday afternoons at the Rialto Theatre—a weekly event I was far too young to enjoy other than the lurid lobby cards and one-sheets. Titillating titles abounded—House of a Hundred Girls, Penal Queen, Cycle Nymphs of Reno, Captured by Amazons and Wife for a Night. When a rare copy of a “one-sheet” lobby poster for The Crap Dusters, Unchocked came up for sale in Nevada, the Cassandre Foundation bid successfully for it on line in 2005. While The Crap Dusters, Unchocked was a, well… crap feature film, it has become somewhat of a cult classic, combining lurid sexual innuendo, Stag magazine-style storyline and dramatic flying/dusting sequences. Filmed in Texas in 1954 with Second World War forward air controllers doing all the low-level work, the film was banned in every state except Nevada. The National Agricultural Aviation Association spearheaded the campaign to get it removed from theatres, not because of the white slavery storyline and titillating sexuality in the film (tame by today’s standards), but because the flying in the film made crop-dusting seem connected with criminality and evil. There wasn’t an aerial application pilot in America who didn’t love it though. It was shown in theatres in Canada, billed as a sort of documentary on the dangers of tobacco and heavy petting. It did appear at the Rialto in Ottawa along with The 1,000 Panty Raid and Geisha Girl Riots. There are no known copies of the film in existence, and few copies of the lobby posters. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626872056772-L4Q39Z1CW22AYCK0A13E/Posters27.jpg The Stories - WWII PROPAGANDA AND AVIATION MOVIE POSTERS ACQUIRED - Make it stand out Released in 1950, following the worldwide acclaim for the gritty 8th Air Force drama Twelve O’Clock High, Samuel Beerstein’s Twelve O’Clock High School follows the senior year of three high school students—Slacker, Bonehead and Gooch— who are trying to get laid before joining the air force in the Second World War, telling girls that they are probably going to die, and that it would perhaps give them hope if the girls would put out… maybe even save their lives and if they did come home, they would marry them, honest. All the flying is done as flash-forwards as the boys, now sporting Errol Flynn mustaches, fly through heavy flak in their B-17s named Miss Manookie, Iza Vailable and Sheeza Goer. The flying sequences are much more satisfying than the love scenes, and the final act at the Class of 44’s 20-year reunion is rather poignant. Photo: the author https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-maltese-falcons monthly 0.5 2025-11-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868061147-HVN4NK65XXJ62XAFLJ0S/MaltaAces000.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868095662-8ZK3KHE83ZQUSQO5LXUV/MaltaAces01.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Supermarine Spitfire Vbs of 249 Squadron, RAF, stand at the ready in the blinding sun at Ta’ Qali airfield, Malta. 249, a veteran Hawker Hurricane squadron of the Battle of Britain, was transferred en masse on 21 May 1941 aboard HMS Ark Royal in a club run known as Operation SPLICE, landing at Ta’ Qali in the middle of a Regia Aeronautica bombing raid. The squadron transitioned to Spitfires in February of 1942 and remained stationed in Malta for nearly two and a half years. It produced some of the most legendary fighter aces of all time—Flight Lieutenant George “Buzz” Beurling, DSO, DFC, DFM; Wing Commander Percy “Laddie” Lucas, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC; and Squadron Leader Robert “Buck” McNair, DSO, DFC and Two Bars, to name a few. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868126706-PLDQ8WM977FO1KT3E6EA/MaltaAces22.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Ta’ Qali airfield (spelled Takali by the RAF) on the island of Malta, seen here in 1941, was named after a small village nearby—an honour the villagers likely wished had not been bestowed upon them as the field was one of the most bombed airfields of the Second World War. It remained an operational RAF base into the 1950s. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868178626-XIINLO4ZE1VZ2ISR1237/MaltaAces16.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out In March of 1942 off the coast of Algiers on a bright and windy day, HMS Eagle readies to launch the first Malta-bound Spitfires as part of Operation SPOTTER. The Spitfires were destined to reinforce the already depleted numbers of 249 Squadron which had just the month before transitioned to Spits. Ahead, the battleship HMS Malaya pushes through heavy chop. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868630057-7TCQTH8FLY5I69F9LD37/MaltaAces17.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out There were great risks to operating aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean—both below and above the water. Carriers were always vulnerable to attack from land-based Axis aircraft, but on 11 August, north of Algiers in the Western Mediterranean, Eagle was struck by four torpedoes from U-73. She rolled over and sank in less than five minutes, with the loss of 131 officers and men. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868694311-Q1ZZ2RPAJSMXT82ZCUHZ/MaltaAces21.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out A Supermarine Seafire is readied for takeoff later in the war. Even though Seafires were modified for carrier operations, they still lacked takeoff flaps (until the Seafire 47.) The Royal Navy opted to keep the simple wooden block system employed by Spitfires in the club runs to Malta. The blocks that keep the flaps down for takeoff can just be seen in this photograph. There are two per side as Spitfire flaps are split into two sections. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868751914-WFFMX0NOYPL0ZUJN2SE0/MaltaAces13.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out A Supermarine Spitfire Mk VbT “Trop” with 90-gallon slipper tank just visible beneath her fuselage, thunders at full power down the flight deck of HMS Eagle during a club run. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868803994-7QIQA4B7QEENVER7E99B/MaltaAces14.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out The greatest of all the Malta-tested fighter aces on either side was Oberstleutnant Gerhard Michalski of Jagdgeschwader 53, the Pik-As (Ace of Spades.) He shot down 29 Allied aircraft while based on the island of Pantallaria and was the greatest threat to the ferrying of Allied fighter aircraft to Malta. By war’s end Michalski had scored 73 victories in 652 combat missions, only to die in 1946 in an automobile accident. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868852219-YU2BIB2CRNLQ55DL1MHW/Personal35.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out A smiling David Rouleau during happier times, learning to fly at No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St. Eugène, Ontario. For every ace at Malta there many who would, like Rouleau, pay the ultimate price to join the fight. Photo via Peg Christie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868910500-CEL66ON7IR30KZH9HLES/MaltaAces10.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Henry Wallace McLeod would claim 13 aerial victories in the skies over Malta. While he is the RCAF’s highest scoring ace in its history, his final total of 21 would be bested by the Canadian George Beurling’s 30+, but Beurling’s were largely with the RAF. McLeod was shot down in late September of 1944 while chasing a lone Messerschmitt Bf 109 near Nijmegen, Netherlands. Though no one saw exactly what happened to him, his commander, the legendary Johnnie Johnson, said this: “I feel certain that he wouldn’t have let go of the 109 until the issue had been decided one way or the other. There was no other aircraft in the area and they must have fought it out together, probably above the cloud. To start with he would have been at a disadvantage, for the 109 was already several thousand feet higher. I think the Messerschmitt got him. It was always all or nothing for Wally.” The fate of McLeod’s Spitfire remained a mystery until 1949, when it was found near the outskirts of Wesel inside the German border. McLeod’s remains were still in the wreckage. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626868983782-N3HK4FRJF7GA22HSWAWB/MaltaAces02.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Frederick George Beurling was in his career alternately called “Buzz” and “Screwball” by his colleagues, whose business it was to kill German airmen using the most sophisticated weapon of the time—the Supermarine Spitfire. Of all the Canadians who engaged in this grim business, Beurling was the most accomplished of all. There would be no one better at war’s end. Beurling was then, and is today, a figure that inspires conflicting impressions, opinions and feelings and the subject of legend, hero worship, bureaucratic manipulation and conspiracy theory. There is no denying the power of those ice-blue eyes that could spot the enemy long before he was spotted. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626869046096-R917U91VU73S0LL0M9DA/MaltaAces06.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out During the war, Saskatchewanian Ian Roy MacLennan was a skilled warrior, dispatching the enemy as he was trained to do, but after the war he wanted nothing more to do with killing. He shunned publicity and spent the rest of his life as an architect. He arrived on Malta a week after Rouleau’s loss and on the same club run that delivered George Beurling. He died in 2013 at the age of 94 in his home town of Regina. Photo via telegraph.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626869129138-7L37P3EM5B1IMM3L7N2I/MaltaAces23.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Jerry Smith attempts to land on USS Wasp after his 90-gallon slipper tank would not feed fuel. It is not known if this is his first aborted landing or his second successful attempt. He ultimately brought the Spit to a full stop just few paces from the forward edge of the flight deck. Photo: imodeler.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626869174164-4RIH483PYS3OMK9K85OP/MaltaAces11.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out Rod Smith (left) shared an aerial victory over Malta with his brother Jerry (right), perhaps the only brothers in history that were fighter pilots who combined their skills to shoot down a single adversary. Following Rod’s death in 2002, his younger sister Wendy took his ashes to Malta and a visiting Spitfire pilot deposited them in the Mediterranean Sea over the spot where Jerry was thought to have crashed. The ashes were delivered in much the same way as the flaps were set for takeoff on club runs. They were placed inside the flap cavity and the flaps were lowered in flight allowing Rod’s ashes to fall away into the sea to join his brother. Photos: Left: via AcesWarriorsandWingmen.ca; Right: via Pierre Lagacé, georgesnadon.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626869238401-GS91TZZ969DU9P8QKO5J/MaltaAces20.jpg The Stories - MALTESE FALCONS — The Canadian Aces at Malta - Make it stand out These 32 Canadian fighter pilots either made ace status in the Maltese skies or added to their list of victories there. This may not be a full selection of the fighter aces who fought in the skies over Malta, but it’s close.Jerry Smith is included though he was one short of ace status, because he belongs in this story for his accomplishment on Wasp. Top row (Left to Right): Squadron Leader Irving Farmer “Hap” Kennedy, DFC and Bar; Flight Lieutenant Ian Roy MacLennan, DFM; Squadron Leader Wilbert George “Turkey” Dodd, DFC; Squadron Leader George Urquhart Hill, DFC and 2 Bars; Flight Lieutenant Bruce Johnston Ingalls, DFC; Squadron Leader John Frederick “Mac” McElroy, DFC and Bar; Squadron Leader Roderick “Rod” Smith, DFC and Bar; Flying Officer James Hamilton “Jimmy” Ballantyne, DFM. Second Row: Wing Commander Robert Alexander “Butch” Barton, OBE, DFC and Bar, MiD; Group Captain Robert Carl “Moose” Fumerton, DFC and Bar, AFC; Flight Lieutenant George Frederick “Buzz” Beurling, DSO, DFC, DFM and Bar; Squadron Leader Henry Wallace “Wally” McLeod, DSO, DFC and Bar; Squadron Leader John Ronald “Jack” Urwin-Mann, DSO, DFC and Bar; Wing Commander Eric Norman “Timber” Woods, DFC and Bar; Wing Commander Geoffrey Wilson “Jeff” Northcott, DSO, DFC and Bar; Squadron Leader Esli Gordon Lapp, DFC. Third Row: Group Captain Robert Wendell “Buck” McNair, DSO, DFC and Two Bars; Group Captain Percival Stanley “Bull” Turner, DSO, DFC and Bar; Flying Officer George Noel Keith, DFC; Squadron Leader Milton Eardley “Milt” Jowsey, DFC; Pilot Officer Jerrold Alpine “Jerry” Smith; Pilot Officer Claude “Weavy” Weaver, DFC, DFM, MiD; Flying Officer Frederick Albert “Freddy” Wilson, DFC; Flight Lieutenant Garth Edwards Horricks, DFM. Bottom Row: Flight Lieutenant Dallas Wilbur Schmidt, DFC and Bar; Pilot Officer John William “Willie the Kid” Williams, DFC; Flight Lieutenant Philip Marcel Charron, DFC; Squadron leader Leslie Cyril "Goose" Gosling, DFC and Bar; Pilot Officer Donald George “Shorty” Reid, DFM; Flight Lieutenant Rodney Thirsk Phipps, DFC; Flight Lieutenant John Fylton Mackie; Flight Lieutenant Frank Everett “Spitfire Man” Jones, DFC. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/at-your-service-anywhere monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830217793-OH4VLOJI7XA1ET1OJGYZ/Supertest00.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830396277-TIX88Z7WPLIK3TWZYFX4/Supertest01.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out At the time of their accomplishment with the Key Brothers of Meridian, Mississippi, these two men were the most experienced aerial refuellers in the world. James Keeton (left) and Bill Ward flew another Curtiss Robin monoplane and made more than 100 aerial rendezvous with the Key Brothers in Ole Miss. Keeton did all the flying, while Ward handled the refuelling and the resupply. They used a hose with a specially designed nozzle and connector which shut the flow of fuel in the event of a disconnect, which happened many times. That basic design was the type used by USAF KC-97 Stratotankers and is still in use today. Photo via flyhistoricwings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830477640-684M6GQNS734C4SRE2QQ/Supertest26.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Algen and Fred Key, decked out in their snappy Key Brothers “Flying Keys” uniforms. Photo via flyhistoricwings.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830545382-K1FLA05J1MUUC4VFK6W5/Supertest06.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Fred Key, tethered to Ole Miss, walks out on the catwalk to do some preventative maintenance on the engine. Photo via itinerantneerdowell.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830577137-MLV4ELTGC0LBS848P619/Supertest02.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Today, the Key Brothers’ Curtiss Robin Ole Miss hangs in a place of honour at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Mannequins demonstrate exactly how maintenance was achieved during the flight, with Fred Key walking out on the catwalk, securely tethered to the aircraft. Photo National Air and Space Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830629226-U45VYYYZG346E06GPCCL/Supertest05.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out While their air-to-air record was achieved as civilian aviators, Algene (left) and Fred Key became military fliers when the Second World War broke out. Both men flew multi-engine bombers. Fred received a Distinguished Flying Cross (American) and Al became the commanding officer of a Liberator unit (66 Squadron, Eighth Air Force) with a DFC, a Distinguished Service Order (American), DSO (British), and seven Bronze Stars. Photos: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830701134-5HJI5WM6FJU1EFPWYV8R/Supertest12.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A great shot of Boeing KC-97 Superstratotanker Pepe Lemieux (52-2781) flying over St. George’s Bay, Newfoundland during crew training at Harmon AFB, Stephenville. While the Newfoundlanders were a bit apprehensive about the jobs that would be lost in Gander should the project be a success, they nonetheless welcomed the Canadian crews of the Supertest tankers. Following the end of the Superstratotanker experiment, Stratotanker 55-9595 was returned to the United States Air Force and then assigned to the Wisconsin Air National Guard, where it was flown on occasion by EAA founder Colonel Paul Poberezny. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626830747830-MFSB5K8S0QX7RCQJ8V2S/Supertest15.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out One of the two Superstratotankers leased by Supertest (52-2781) was named after deceased and legendary Supertest wildcat drilling foreman Todd Pepe Lemieux. Lemieux (centre front row) is seen here with the drilling crew that found Grand Coq No. 3 in the Turner Valley—the highest producing crude oil well in Supertest history. His best friend and preferred rigger, Bruce “The Uke” Evanchuk (left front row) said of his drill foreman, “That f----r could drill the arsehole out of a rat snake from twenty thousand feet wearing a blindfold and still find viable snake oil!” It was at Grand Coq that Lemieux was killed shortly after the discovery when a blow-out sent three forty foot lengths of drill pipe a hundred feet in the air following a blow-out preventer malfunction. His rigger and floor hands were momentarily stunned and deafened by the concussion and did not see the pipe blow out of the ground. Lemieux pushed the three men on the floor out of the way before the pipe returned. Unfortunately he slipped on the oily deck and fell face first. A length of returning pipe skewered him like a perogie on a fork to the platform, killing him instantly. His last words were: “That’s going to cost the company.” The resulting fire from the blow-out lasted more than six weeks and became known as the “Devil’s Zippo”. The Uke suggested that Supertest name the tanker after Lemieux, explaining that the fuel we’ll be pumping will more than likely come from his Grand Coq. Evanchuk became one of the first class of new civilian boomers trained by Supertest—a tribute to his old friend. Photo: history.alberta.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866191734-MWAW0P9AE0VCERXVBWCE/Supertest11.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Boeing Superstratotanker KC-97-02 (53-0189) James Keeton during a training flight from Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland. Crews, including Canadian and American pilots and all-Canadian boomers, navigators and flight engineers were trained by the USAF’s 376th Air Refuelling Squadron based at Harmon. Following the failure of the Supertest Mid-Atlantic Air Refuelling Program, James Keeton would be upgraded by Boeing to a KC-97L with the addition of podded turbo-jets outboard of the radials. Stratotanker 53-0189 would then be sold to the Spanish Air Force where it served with Escuadrón 123, Ejército del Aire. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866286406-NA4T1QPW7DVCJ2UVOYFE/Supertest34.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A profile of Supertest’s Superstratotanker No. 01 (C-FSUP), known as Todd “Pepe” Lemieux, or simply Pepe Lemieux. Profile by author Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866328472-ZKCHDH243XCWX1JZD0M2/Supertest20.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A close-up of the Pepe Lemieux, with cartoon nose art of Pepe Lepew, the amorous Parisian skunk. Lemieux earned his sobriquet for his amorous pursuits—“Laying pipe is my life—on and off the job,” he was fond of saying. Profile by author Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866376021-UC03VE9Z44QJ4S9IRJRX/Supertest35.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A profile of Supertest’s Superstratotanker No. 02, (C-FSTS) known as James Keeton, or simply the Jimmy K. Profile by author Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866476443-PK9MK2Z0CBT5I9AYASS6/Supertest31.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Detail of the James Keeton. Profile by author Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866524867-VDEJZ1M5PRGPP95S1Z6S/Supertest38.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A rare shot of the two Supertest KC-97s together at Harmon Air Force Base as company tanker trucks arrive to refuel them. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866598892-S7NZ2MC4AQKMOLA2WFDF/Supertest13.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Supertest employed a KC-97 simulator at Harmon AFB to train flight crew. Here the front of the cockpit has been removed so that cameramen can get a better view for publicity shots. All flight crew were required to wear the same orange uniforms and patches that service station attendants across the country wore. This was hard to swallow by pilots who thought they were a higher life form. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866702798-DIUUPHW1WS40IH7E4RMY/Supertest37.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A great shot of Supertest KC-97 James Keeton and her crew working up with a United States Navy Lockheed Constellation at Stephenville, Newfoundland in March 1960. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866772574-9NXPF33N0QZ6JAHO294L/Supertest42.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Supertest Junior Pump Pilot wings. These inexpensive plastic wings with pin-back were popular with Canadian kids during Bayer & Zeller’s promotional campaign. Today, they are a petroleum advertising collector’s holy grail. From the collection of Albert Prisner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866866724-1HCMAQDJM2PEFHJ3QW6X/Supertest018.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Eastern Airlines would loan a Lockheed L-049 Constellation airliner (N86516—actually a wet-leased TWA ship) for the American portion of the Supertest Superstratotanker promotional tour of 1960. Supertest had permission to replace the Eastern titling and winged bird. The promotional tour which featured a recently-modified Stratotanker (the Pepe Lemieux) also involved James Keeton flying the famous Key Brothers’ Ole Miss to destinations across the Eastern Seaboard for appearances together. Here we see the two aircraft together on the ramp at New York’s Idlewild Airport prior to a press conference with Mayor Robert F. Wagner and famed First World War fighter ace Eddie Rickenbacker, Chairman of the Board of Eastern. Though there were dignitaries aplenty, it was James Keeton that stole the show with his relaxed demeanour, common sense and Alabaman charm. He made headlines when he quipped: “New York’s a fine place with fine people, but they are sorely missin’ some boiled peanuts, what we in Pickens County call Country Caviar.” Two days later, Eastern shipped 100 cases of the finest Hardy Farms boiled peanuts, and they were served at all the goodwill tour stops after New York—Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. Photo via itinerantneerdowell.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866914086-PZVEIGZVHBCSH4KD5Y2J/Supertest28.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Supertest Petroleum billed itself (if somewhat redundantly) as “Canada’s All-Canadian Company” and in this much-publicized shot taken during the Superstratotanker’s 1960 publicity tour, it is well and truly all-Canadian. In the foreground, Bob Hayward pilots Miss Supertest III, the company’s famous, record-holding and three-time Harmsworth Cup winning hydroplane. The photo, taken on the Ottawa River below RCAF Station Rockcliffe during Air Force Day celebrations, shows Superstratotanker KC-97-02 James Keeton leading an RCAF Canadair North Star transport from 412 Squadron, flying out of RCAF Station Uplands. The North Star was “borrowed” for the day by Supertest to demonstrate how the RCAF might one day use Superstratotankers to speed up the crossing of the Atlantic. The North Star had no air-to-air refuelling capability, so this flypast was solely for show. By this time, however, 412 Squadron de Havilland Comets had been flying scheduled jet service across the pond since 1953. Both the North Star and Miss Supertest III were powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12. Sadly, Hayward was killed in 1961 piloting Miss Supertest II, a month after winning a third straight Harmsworth Cup in Miss Supertest III. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626866982531-3HBLSNEEM1DTCT8BXQBK/Supertest17.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out In the summer of 1960, at the request of Supertest Petroleum, one of their largest advertisers, the iconic Canadian weekly magazine MacLean’s sent reporter June Callwood to Stephenville, Newfoundland to report on the progress of the “Mid-Atlantic Gas Station” which, following the Avro Arrow disaster, was now the biggest positive aviation story in Canada. Her eight-page feature article drew plenty of attention and a nervous reaction from many Newfoundlander politicians who were worried that aircraft would now be bypassing the traditional fuel watering hole at Gander. They needn’t have worried. Image via internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867047960-RLJLPZXTU6RYTHIQ23HR/Supertest33.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out The star of June Callwood’s feature story in MacLean’s was former Afrika Corps combat barber Gustav “Gus” Gazzler, one of a select group of Supertest employees who were chosen to train to become air-to-air refuelling boom operators, or “boomers”. Gazzler is seen here giving the windscreen of his boom operator cab a shine at Harmon AFB. “Ya… old habits die hard,” quipped the former service station pump jockey. “I offered to check the oil and tire pressures, but the crew chief declined.” Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867104767-VETAU8S540D674A64ILD/Supertest09.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out During June Callwood’s flight aboard Supertest’s Superstratotanker Pepe Lemieux, she photographed German-Canadian Gustav “Gus” Gazzler, one of a new breed of civilian KC-97 boom operators or “boomers” being trained by American military instructors for the upcoming transoceanic fuel service. Here, Gazzler deftly edges the refuelling probe towards a USAF Lockheed Constellation over Prince Edward Island during a three-hour refuelling training flight from Harmon AFB. Gazzler, a former German POW, was selected from over 300 applications from Supertest employees and station managers across the country. Over the noise and buffeting of the refuelling cab, Callwood reported that he said, “Well, at least I don’t have to ask them if they want regular or high test, and I can’t very well clean their windshields!” In addition, MacLean’s sent a photographer to cover the refuelling training from the receiving end. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867161469-YE6JV7Z9FMLSI7CCF5R1/Supertest27.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Standing in the astrodome bubble of a USAF Lockheed Constellation, photographer Cannon shot this image of Gazzler’s “poke.” 12,000 feet below, the seas looked a little rough and Callwood shuddered to think what would happen if something went wrong or the airliners failed to find the flying gas station. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867221500-RZJQLWMR4WL5A1MGQB8B/Supertest23.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Gus Gazzler was interviewed by the author in 1997 at the age of 79. At the time, he was living in a senior’s containment facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His health was in jeopardy with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which he attributed to a life of breathing petrochemicals and smoking Chesterfields. “I was a Supertest man, through and through. I owed a lot to Canada and working for ‘Canada’s All-Canadian Company’ under the orange maple leaf was a great honour for me.” Gazzler had been a German Prisoner of War, held in the infamous POW camp at Red Rock, near Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay). Gazzler had been a combat barber with the Afrika Corps and had been General Erwin Rommel’s personal hair stylist. “The general liked it high and tight, with just a touch of pomade on top.” said Gazzler back in 1997. He was captured at the First Battle of El Alamein along with a 40 gallon drum of Ludendorf’s Feinste Haar Pomade. Gazzler was sent to Canada, the pomade was sent to Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, commander of the Allied forces. Following his release in 1945, Gazzler returned to his destroyed home in Dresden, but longed for the peace and quiet and rugged beauty of the Lakehead region. He returned to Canada a year later and worked as a barber in Port Arthur until he had saved enough money to buy a small Supertest Service Station. “After that, I never charged for a haircut again,” said Gazzler, “But I would give anyone who wished, a free hair cut with any fill-up. I only did one style though—‘The Rommel.’ If people didn't like it, tough.” Photo: Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867287357-CYCU9N9CZGX33KB6L5HZ/Supertest24.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Gazzler’s Supertest Service Station in Port Arthur, now a protected national historic site. Note the barber pole at left. Photo by John Flanders via Gustav Gazzler Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867366527-RBZUY4ZWUA18XJQCMNLR/Supertest30.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A photograph from one of the last tests of the Supertest Mid-Atlantic project showing another USAF Constellation refuelling from Superstratotanker James Keeton off the coast of Newfoundland. Not long afterward, Supertest pulled to plug on the entire idea, claiming lack of commitment (read interest) from airlines and the now obvious unstoppable paradigm shift to all-jet operations. While it would take more than a decade to fully clear the skies of piston-pounding propliners, the writing was on the wall. Or perhaps it was skywriting in the form of the jet vapour trail captured in this photo… heading across the sea at 35,000 feet and over 500 mph. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867405766-GCPX5URI49H2IO2SLTJG/Supertest41.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out A sad shot of KC-97 Pepe Lemieux in storage in the fall of 1960. Her last flight with Supertest would be her ferry flight back to Seattle in October 1960. Photo: Harmon Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867479018-S8B3K15CS5GGOKFGNVD0/Supertest03.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Today, the concept of a civilian run air-to-air refuelling service is not as farfetched as it seems. Virginia-based Omega Aerial refuelling services has now done over 5,000 missions and delivered 180,000,000 lbs of fuel in 49,000 separate “plugs”. Their website claims “Since 2000, Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc (OARS) had been the leader in commercial in-flight refuelling services completing more missions and delivering more fuel than any other carrier in the world.” The take-away here is that there are others. Not so farfetched after all Uncle James. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626867521743-M8MCXWQN99WO86ST7VL0/Supertest43.jpg The Stories - AT YOUR SERVICE ANYWHERE - Make it stand out Researching the web, the author found this 1/72nd decal sheet for KC-97 Stratotanker models featuring Supertest decals along with other Stratotanker markings. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/for-the-record monthly 0.5 2022-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626816864781-92579GZSRF4OUI50ED9W/Picton00.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626816902982-Z5A9IIIJWZYI80QUI65W/Picton71.png The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Following a signed agreement with the Royal Air Force to train aircrews for combat in Canada, architects and draughtsmen got down to the business of designing standardized hangars, messes, barracks, repair facilities, gun butts, guard houses, classrooms, administration facilities and all the infrastructure a station might need. Every base across Canada had a unique footprint made up of these standardized structures set next to a runway layout that was almost always triangular. This gave all the bases a similar visual quality. Thanks to Pierre Burton, many Canadians look upon the construction of the national railway as the largest engineering and public works project ever built in Canada. It was eclipsed however by the BCATP’s extraordinary size and rapidity. Within a couple of years, scores of large airfields were built. Instructors and support staff were recruited; aircraft, vehicles and equipment were purchased and delivered; syllabi were developed; and doors were opened. Of all of these bases, many were dismantled, many remain as municipal airports and only a handful still retain some of the original BCATP buildings (usually hangars). Only one—the BCATP station at Picton, the former home of the Royal Air Force’s No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School—still has all or most of its wartime structures still intact. Camp Picton is today the Picton Airport and a time capsule worth the trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626816971835-8R8VZVIYWP8EDR2LR7KK/Picton50.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out With the administrative building in the background, this is a shot of “Oak Gate”, the main gate at No. 31 B&GS, Picton. Note that the speed limit throughout the station was 10 mph, likely a difficult limit to stay within for testosterone-fuelled transport drivers like Arthur Norris. Designed only to last a few years, most of the BCATP fields have disappeared or long lost their structures, save for hangars at some bases. Picton is the only relatively intact base left in Canada, with these lightly constructed wood structures now over 75 years old. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817015257-NY94QS6P8VZ695XEG8FE/Picton21.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The photos in this story come from an album belonging to Aircraftman Second Class Arthur Norris of the Royal Air Force, seen here (at right) with a friend warming in the sun on the steps of their H-Hut barracks at Picton’s No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817058999-KCBMPRO0RHSVSUY880SP/Picton64.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A contemporary photo of the same H-Huts at Picton, Ontario’s No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School. It seems that the cedar shake siding was likely natural and unpainted. The metal roofs in this photograph were added recently. Photo: Bruce Forsyth, MilitaryBruce.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817096619-0Y9G0OCUAKN8NTS4EF58/Picton38.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Serving in the Royal Air Force in Canada meant extreme variations in the type of clothing required. These two shots, taken outside his H-Hut demonstrate the extremes. The winter coat at left seems to be tied firmly with wick cord, perhaps an adaptation required for a poor design. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817195385-27K84ZQGRU6QIEZZ9VSD/Picton70.png The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The young man is this photograph appears a number of times in the following Norris photos, but he is never identified. After a heavy snowfall, he and Norris took turns photographing each other in the brilliant white stuff, likely to send home to Great Britain as evidence of their hardships in the Great White North. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817254159-29NZ4JFYHCPNSJ9R1VQ2/Picton65.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out An aerial view of the Picton Airport, the former BCATP station for No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School, with certain buildings highlighted that feature in the Arthur Norris Collection of photographs. Photo: David Edward https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817302853-E0NZEFH24G16AVS6Z8MJ/Picton80.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The interior of Norris’ H-Hut barrack building reveals a crowded and overly-lit interior where privacy was non-existent. This would be just one of the four wings of an H-Hut and looks to accommodate about 40 junior ranks airmen in two tiers. No doubt, the airmen looked forward to their occasional leaves and trips to places where privacy could be restored. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817349726-202NKYRL9Z20976C6GO9/Picton96.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out All the airmen in each H-Hut shared common toilet and bathroom facilities. No doubt, these facilities would have been very crowded before lights out and first thing in the morning. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817390656-7X3SC67ZTCI9LQAMVNPG/Picton114.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris (right) and friend patiently await their turn. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817440877-AZZ95QGUGHQMLAZ4DK7V/Picton48.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris (left) clowns for the camera on the doorstep of an H-Hut barrack building called Airmen’s Quarters No. 10. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817481575-807UIO25B5QU3PVG10TD/Picton04.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris crossed the Atlantic to work at No. 31 B&GS in Picton, Ontario as an all-purpose transport driver in the motor pool. Most of the images in his collection relate directly to his job as driver. It was evident that he was very proud of his work as witnessed by several photos of himself with various pieces of equipment he was required to master. The smallest of the vehicles that he operated was this 1940 Ford 6N tractor, likely used as an all-purpose tow and utility vehicle, seen here in the summer of 1941 in front of one of the flight line hangars. Note the silhouettes of four Fairey Battles in the dark depths of the hangar. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817518222-LEWMCF29OWNFLEDDANUT/Picton14.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris poses in October of 1941 with a yellow 1940 Ford 3-Ton fuel bowser (No. 198 P.C.). RCAF Ford 3-Ton trucks usually had dual rear axles, but this fuel truck had only a single axle. The long arms at top rotated outward and held the fuel hoses up and away from the wings when refueling. Drivers like Norris towed, fuelled and recovered aircraft from crash sites. They also drove buses and ambulances. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817617597-B83ATKBWBQKSXTFYEAUR/Picton12.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris poses with a 1940 Ford 1-Ton Ambulance (No. 35 P.C.) outside the motor pool sheds. In addition to driving the various vehicles, Norris and his mates were required to keep them clean and do a little light maintenance. The pride in his work as a driver is clearly evident in this suite of photos. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817654818-HG3YEWD79RF3JMG3XXJ2/Picton94.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur (front) and a friend clown for the camera with what appears to be the front end of the Ford 1-ton Ambulance pictured in the previous photograph. Clearly, work was being done on the front end requiring the removal of the grill and fenders. The canvas snap-on cover seen here was a common sight in Canada back in the days of ineffective radiators. The cover would limit the amount of freezing winter air flowing through the radiator vanes and helped keep the engine coolant at a reasonable temperature. Many long distance trucks still use them today. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817715079-89QP073DNZGEAE0YQBH0/Picton109.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Down at the motor pool quadrangle on a hot summer’s day, Arthur Norris (right) and other airmen chat with the driver of an RCAF Ford stake truck making a delivery. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817754045-SPUMSTQYM055V02VJE7U/Picton13.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris at the helm of an International fire truck (No. 62 P.C.) outside the motor pool sheds at No. 31 B&GS Picton. Following the war, many RCAF vehicles were sold locally for municipal volunteer fire departments. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817826440-IBL92K8UY8ISKMRTZ4DI/Picton101.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Taken at another time, Arthur Norris sits proudly in the driver’s seat of the same International fire truck as seen in the previous photograph. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817907311-9260RB0EIY89ZUXGI2AE/Picton03.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817937815-74RSMTMZT3MP2KGQE66W/Picton06.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626817985428-UONNU00VYYMTZ1KPA9VM/Picton24.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818030850-KZDOS4Y2EKJKOM3M3F68/Picton27.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818091901-4WVJSE7KPZ4223HCSQ5X/Picton44.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818172854-N14YNQMSQEM0N5YT553T/Picton26.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818268280-U52PA1WVI33GEU3UU5GT/Picton28.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Late afternoon cleanup after the motor pool fire. Perhaps it was fortunate that the fire fighting vehicles were also parked in this building. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818336940-J1O7R91ZEQXXWCE6RQ67/Picton49.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A gauntleted Arthur Norris leans out of the cab of a Lorain mobile crane, grinding its way along the flight line after lifting a wrecked Fairey Battle onto a flatbed truck from Trenton’s No. 6 Repair Depot. The small Lorain Crane was used by both Canadian and American militaries during the war for construction and general heavy lifting. Most bases that had extensive flying operations would have one for crash recovery. These cranes saw heavy use as hardly a week went by without an accident—either flying or taxiing. The date on the back of the photograph tells us this was October of 1941. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818422680-HB3K0LGXXN1Z3K35GZMP/Picton02.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The caption in Arthur Norris’ album indicates that this crash of a Fairey Battle occurred in October of 1941. Could this be the Battle that Arthur Norris lifted with the Lorain tracked crane in the previous photo? During his time at No. 31 B&GS, Arthur Norris would have attended scores of these crashes—some less destructive, others horrific and fatal. Reading through the lists of nearly 800 Battles transferred to the RCAF in R.W.R. Walker’s superb website Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers, I found scores of Battle crashes at Picton, but only three from October of 1941. On 13 October, Battle R7473 suffered Category C3 damage when it crashed at 11:45 in the morning. Three days later on 16 October, Battle L5573 suffered Category A damage from a forced landing at 12:30 PM when its engine failed during a bombing run. Then on 28 October, Fairey Battle K9323, being flown by Wing Commander MacDonald, suffered Category C damage. Category C Damage occurs when the aircraft sustains damage to a major component requiring repair beyond field level resources (C3 damage means that the repair is carried out by a mobile repair party from a depot). Category A Damage means the aircraft is written off. I believe that the incident of 16 October happened away from the base at one of the ranges. Likely, the aircraft in this photo was either R7473 or K9323. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818460710-5TT3KLDT8TQ12RYXGD4H/Picton22.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Crashes of station aircraft were part of daily life at any BCATP base during the war. The losses of aircraft, staff pilots, instructors and students were the norm back then because a war was on. But now, this astonishing rate of attrition would be entirely unacceptable. Here, in the winter of 1941–42, a Fairey Battle has come to an untimely end in a farmer’s field near the small hamlet of Cherry Valley, about eight kilometres south southwest of the station. With the propeller blades bent backwards, we know the Battle had power on but was throttled back. If the blades were to strike the ground while the throttle was advanced, the blades would bend forward. It is likely he was attempting to land and perhaps struck an obstacle such as a tree. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818494115-GPBJWTF9A02QLMU957YK/Picton23.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A close-up of the damaged port wing. Perhaps the Battle struck an obstacle or ground-looped heavily and tore the wing and gear off. Most likely Arthur Norris was called to attend the crash with recovery vehicles and equipment. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818532119-T0J6I5TERXJ3CQWR1TZO/Picton108.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris and his crash recovery team head toward a Fairey Battle that has just made a forced landing in a field of post-harvest stubble. The frequency of such accidents was high and men like Norris were called to operate all sorts of crash recovery equipment—ambulances, cranes, bulldozers and various trucks. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818612699-3CBPHUTNB2H3KXBWAP63/Picton20.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Though the caption accompanying this photo states that this is a crash of an Avro Anson, it is actually a Cessna Crane, a multi-engine trainer used by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in far less numbers than the Anson. The wooden propellers do not seem to be damaged, indicating a power-off wheels-up landing. Checking the serial numbers for all the Cranes in the RCAF, I cannot find a record of a Crane with a serial number that ends in 86 or 06 (as this seems to have) having been damaged at Picton. If anyone can find the accident report for this wreck, let me know. Judging by the trees in the background, it happened in the spring of 1942, before the leaves came out. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818661079-H3ZJYKXS0SU2Z8IGTEO1/Picton07.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris poses with a Fairey Battle in front of one of the six flight line hangars at Picton in 1941. Helping to service, tow, fuel and recover these aircraft made Arthur and other motor pool drivers essential to the training of bomb aimer and gunners. As such, they were much appreciated and from time to time, offered rides in the various aircraft assigned to the station. The delicate looking devices hanging down at an angle to the landing gear are hydraulic rams to actuate the gear cycle. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818702303-982AZ1RB7Z5T4LA6R7JI/Picton11.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out It is most likely that this young man, a friend of Norris, took the previous photo of Norris, as this is the very same Fairey Battle as evidenced by the number 14 on the gear doors. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818752100-6HS4R0UO5R9MBPM6KQH4/Picton17.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Judging by the rounded tank caught in the mirror of this truck, Arthur is driving a fuel bowser out to the flight line where a number of camouflaged ex-RAF Fairey Battle are parked with a couple of yellow Harvard trainers, possibly visiting from No. 31 SFTS Kingston, No. 2 SFTS Uplands or the Central Flying School at Trenton. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818802557-IS5N1SKT2VRJZY6BE36B/Picton35.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Beating up the field. The caption with this photograph states “Canadians Leaving Picton—November 1941” and shows an Avro Anson (possibly) leading two flights of three yellow Harvards at very low altitude across the airfield as they say goodbye after a visit. Though the nearest Harvard SFTS was Kingston, that was a British facility, so it’s likely that these Canadian boys were from Ottawa or Trenton. Judging by their formation skills and the mix of aircraft, my bet would be that these aircraft came from the Central Flying School at Trenton, where some of the best fliers coming out of the BCATP were sent to learn to be instructors, staff pilots or generalists. Despite the constant flying activity at Picton, such a formation beat-up was still a wonderful and inspiring site for the ground crews. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818842521-F4WOTGLUFSLUD6WGRW3F/Picton15.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A Fairey Battle taxies along the flight line at Picton. Note the size of this aircraft relative to the man in the cockpit—the Battle was powered by the same Merlin engine as the Supermarine Spitfire, but was 1,500 pounds heavier and uncomfortably underpowered as a result. It made some sense and had some benefit as a training aircraft, but most definitely not as a combat type. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818873547-96ZLVT6W9XRNN5WLTUV9/Picton18.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out An Airspeed Oxford from Trenton trundles along the flight line at Picton in the summer or fall of 1941. That summer/fall there were three accidents involving “Oxboxes” at Picton—all of which were assigned to something called the Composite Training Squadron at nearby Trenton—on 31 July, 20 October and 28 October. The Royal Canadian Air Force ordered 25 Oxford Is in 1938. They were taken from RAF stocks and shipped to Canada in 1939 and assembled by Canadian Vickers at Montreal. Issued to the Central Flying School at Trenton, they were later joined by large numbers of RAF aircraft to equip RAF-managed Service Flying Training Schools, mostly on the Canadian Prairie (Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat, North Battleford, Penhold, Calgary, and Swift Current). Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818916300-DV92F8BOWI84H5UU4IN7/Picton19.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Two Ansons visiting Picton on a possible cross-country training flight. The two Avro Anson Mk Is in this photo were assigned to No. 8 Service Flying Training School in Moncton in 1941 when this photo was taken. The one closest to the camera, RCAF serial 6274, was built for the RAF as R3451 and taken on strength in December 1940 by Eastern Air Command in Amherst, Nova Scotia where the Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) shops assembled it after delivery by ship and rail. It was damaged in a Category 5 incident at Moncton in April 1941. It survived the war after being converted in 1943 to Mk IV standard. The Anson in the background, RCAF Serial 6366, was built for the RAF as well, with RAF Serial number W1976. It was delivered to the RCAF in January 1941 after assembly at CC&F. Both these aircraft did solid journeyman service with almost identical total flight hours—2,009.5 hrs for 6274 and 2,060 hrs for 6366. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626818953462-DG9ZVPI26T5GLDPNFU2D/Picton56.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A Fairey Battle is refuelled at the hangar door on the flight line at Picton. It is clear the drivers from the motor pool were also required to fuel aircraft. This Battle has an RAF serial number (K9476) painted on one of its propeller blades, something I have never seen before. I am not sure why this was done—perhaps to identify it on the flight line when parked. I am also not 100% positive that the prop with K9476 on it is attached to Battle K9476. That particular Battle did indeed serve at Picton, so it’s very likely. It was originally taken in strength at No. 6 Repair Depot in nearby Trenton on 8 May 1941, then on to Picton nine days later after assembly. In July of 1941, it was converted to a Battle TT (Target Tug). In March of 1942, it suffered Category C Damage whilst taxiing when it struck another parked Battle (P2304) and tearing off 5 feet of its starboard wing tip. Sent back to 6 RD, it was never fully repaired and was reduced to spares. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819042735-8RAAJIDQPONMIX8WNEUK/Picton09.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Fairey Battle T R7480 climbs away from the runway at No. 31 B&GS while Arthur Norris photographs from the rear seat of what is likely a similar Battle T. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819080086-LHMAZ76XKCOOII4BLYOA/Picton10.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Battle R7480 flies across Prince Edward County farmland in 1942. The strange dual cockpit configuration made the Battle T look like it had been rear-ended by another Battle. The bright white patches on wings, fuselage and tail are actually bright yellow, designed to make the aircraft more visible and painted over the original factory camouflage. Had the type been designed and built as a training aircraft in Canada, they would have been painted overall yellow in the factory. R7480 was built along with 99 others as a dual-cockpit trainer and delivered to Canada and taken on strength at No. 6 Repair Depot, Trenton, Ontario on 1 July (Canada Day) 1941. It was taken out of service at No. 31 B&GS on 24 February 1943, sent to No. 6 RD where it was eventually scrapped in March 1944. Of the 2,185 Battles built, 802 were shipped to Canada as target tugs, gunnery platforms or, like R7480, dual pilot training. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819125279-TMYUFSOYVCRBLBKJIWXJ/Picton01.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A nice shot of Battle T1 R7480 climbing out over Prince Edward County in the late afternoon. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819170635-6Q0973GIDSXMOLNOFF45/Picton53.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out From down in the gully alongside the Iejima airstrip, another photographer takes a colour shot A poor photo, but a great visualization of the proximity of Picton’s airfield (right) to the town (upper middle). The big white area next to the runways is actually the roofs of the six hangars at Picton. The easily descernable white looping road is today’s County Road 22. Put that into Google Street view and follow 22 until you come to the airport and the main gate—a bit like driving back in time. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819258235-NS8HTLD065TZAZ3Y8MBG/Picton16.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Likely from the same flight, the Fairey Battle climbs over downtown Picton with Main Street fairly evident. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819302557-8RE96E7ZIQM0ZLL5TSVW/Picton29.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out In the hard and snowy winters of the Lake Ontario North Shore, snow ploughing and removal would be an important part of what Arthur and his mates did, especially in the days after a major “dump”. People who live in Ontario are familiar with the bright snow-blind sunshine that reveals the wonderland the morning after a major blizzard and which is evident in this photograph. No doubt this would be amazing to Brits like Arthur Norris. This shot looks southwest down Ubique Avenue from the intersection at Royal Road. To the left we see the H-Hut barracks where Arthur lived and the low building at right is where some of the vehicles he drove were parked. Up the road comes a snow-clearing bulldozer. A classic scene from a Second World War training base in Canada. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819377693-6SPLCE7Y7EOIVTIQHK7H/Picton30.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out After a heavy snowfall, Arthur takes a photo looking past the H-Huts where he lived to the hangar line in the far distance. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819425667-EY7GR6VVNL35MRVQJMUQ/Picton31.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A ploughed road at Picton. It appears this was taken in the afternoon judging by the long shadow, with Norris looking northeast up Ubique Avenue, likely standing right outside his H-Hut 10. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819469095-J5GTTDFQLK9FLEH7G0YU/Picton32.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Judging by the state of the shed in the background, this looks to be the same garage gutted by the fire shown earlier. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819510003-N1EQQR6VRBXLXQB8U0UX/Picton33.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Snow clearing at the motor pool, airmen shovel snow into the bed of an RCAF dump truck wearing chains. The men are forced to do it all by hand with heavy steel coal shovels—hugely inefficient by today’s standards. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626819546551-SC7HDFHMP0FHMSYOVO1F/Picton34.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Out on the airfield itself, considerably more efficient equipment was employed—like this purpose-built Walter snow blower photographed in action by Arthur Norris in the winter of 1941–42. Here in Ontario, massive snow blowers are a common thing yet still attract the slack-jawed attention of people as they chew their way down the street on a winter night. The Walter Motor Truck Company was an American truck manufacturer specializing in heavy duty all-wheel drive trucks. The company also built snow removal equipment and fire apparatus being particularly well known for its aircraft crash trucks. Top photo: Arthur Norris Collection; Bottom: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826429983-HV6XMJMA6E6T0YWBTM8X/Picton61.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out In this official RCAF photo of a similar Walter truck we can see better detail of the snow blower attachment seen in Norris’ photograph. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826468199-JXSN31QXKEUERFPHODV8/Picton78.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A hard Canadian winter was clearly a new experience for Norris, one that soon wears on them. Like all us Canadians at the first sign of a warm late spring sun, Norris and his chums throw down some blankets and take off their shirts on the lawn outside their H-Hut and warm their weary bones. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826518908-WBKM7ZAMHPSX7V7VC56O/Picton79.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Another shot of the lads enjoying the sun at Picton. I believe the man at left is Norris. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826587065-MKR6WZ5HFOIF8OLL9L0Z/Picton120.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out I do not know who this fellow was, but he is in many of Norris’ photos, leading me to believe this man was perhaps his closest mate. Here he relaxes at Picton amidst the dandelions. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826640695-E2FEZDIKNL50KXGZ6QBK/Picton117.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Being a Royal Air Force training base, soccer replaced the traditional Canadian sports of hockey in winter and baseball in summer. Arthur Norris (in white uniform) poses with members of the No. 31 B&GS Headquarters soccer team. Many of the boys on the team can be seen in other Norris photos in this series. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826686873-A2QZVU9FXDT7B1OBVVDG/Picton100.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Eleven Royal Air Force airmen, perhaps equipment operators from the motor pool, pose for a group photo outside one of the H-Huts on the barracks line in July of 1942. Arthur Norris is standing third from right. The rock-walled flower boxes look like they were added as a personal touch perhaps even executed by these men, as they seem pretty proud of them. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826777939-6IMXIKJEGV9BYR80UT8F/Picton36.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A Canadian National Railway (CNR) K-3-B locomotive idles at the Picton train station, likely bringing in more student gunners and bomb aimers from the United Kingdom. In today’s world of cheap and total coverage airline travel, it’s easy to forget the importance of the train to the deployment of the 155,000 airmen who were trained under Canada’s British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Each man took the train to Manning Depot, then another to Initial Training School, then others to Elementary and Service Flying Training or schools for bomb-aiming, flight engineering, gunnery, radio or navigation and then on to Halifax to ship out. During all these steps, recruits would also use the train for leave, either to visit family or bigger cities for entertainment. This particular locomotive (5595) was built in 1911 for the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) at their shops in Stratford, Ontario and then bought by the CNR when the GTR collapsed in 1923. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826837374-S6F2TGZ2XSLVRIT9FIFK/Picton63.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out I found a clearer photo of CNR locomotive 5595 idling at nearby Belleville, Ontario ten years earlier. I include it here to show that these short haul locos likely operated on the same lines most of their operational lives—5595 running up and down the north shore of Lake Ontario and parts of Southern Ontario until it was scrapped in June of 1957. Photo: City of Vancouver Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826893831-U4J8HRJP32OF2RI7BBS0/Picton37.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out On their time off, Norris and friends could take in a film in Picton or venture farther afield. Lucky for them, Picton was close to some of the most beautiful country in all of Canada—the Thousand Islands—an archipelago of ancient and spectacular islands midstream in the St Lawrence River. On one of their adventures in the region, the lads seem to have suffered a breakdown. With the simple engines of the day and a car full of motor pool drivers, it was likely a quick fix before they were on their way. To me a late 1920s Chevy or Ford look too similar to make a call here, but I’m guessing this is an old Ford Model A. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826936649-A0PKGX9F9ESQJDAZOTFD/Picton05.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out At first, I wasn’t sure what this vehicle is that Arthur Norris is driving. The vertical post behind the seat is puzzling and it does not look like any of the vehicles in the photos that follow. Of note is the wood lathe headliner, the horizontal wood aft the post, driver’s side vent window and the sharp corner of the driver window—possibly a 1941 Ford Super Deluxe “Woody” Station Wagon. According to Hanno Spoelstra of Maple Leaf Up Forum, The Canadian Ministry of Defence placed orders for Station Wagons in various variants at Ford. The Station Wagons came in several variants, many with right-hand drive for overseas use. The Station Wagon that Arthur Norris is driving is clearly a left-hand drive vehicle. So this is one of the vehicles ordered for domestic use, and since these were not to be used overseas, the level of militarisation usually was restricted to military paint and lighting. Those ordered for overseas /combat use had uprated suspension and wheels, roof and petrol can racks, etc. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626826982190-V08VOFWFIJTIR7WEYUI9/Picton97.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Another photo in Norris’ album backs up my guess at the vehicle in the previous photograph. This is definitely a 1941 Ford Super Deluxe Woody Wagon. Here we see one of Norris’s friends pumping gas at a base motor pool pump, so possibly this was actually an RAF vehicle. Perhaps he was allowed to purchase gas from the base. If anyone has heard of a Woody being used by the RAF or RCAF, let me know. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827021777-DOO8QYKWAHKTQ2LEIEVK/Picton39.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A photo of Arthur Norris, suitcase in hand walking through the famous gateway to Gananoque, one of the most beautiful towns along the length of the Thousand Islands. There were then and are still today, two such gateways leading into the town. Gananoque also had a substantial BCATP relief airfield that took some of the heavy traffic from No. 31 SFTS in Kingston, Ontario. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827050000-WE5H6RX7XOA7PPNYROPH/Picton40.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A postcard of the same Gananoque (pronounced Gan-an-ock-way) gateway through which Norris is walking in the previous photo. Photo: HipPostcard.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827087474-TBJSKBFJN6YS1FIC6WF8/Picton72.png The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The same Western Gate to Gananoque today, heading out of town. Definitely rebuilt to accommodate a more modern highway and larger trucks, this would have been exactly where Arthur stood more than 75 years ago. Photo: Google Street View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827141484-H8305FRGTHRYDM44KOEA/Picton93.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out I have always said that, no matter how short the crossing or how bad the weather, one should always get out of one’s car on a ferry and enjoy the voyage. It looks like Arthur (left) and a friend are doing just that onboard the ferry MV Quinte. The ferry leaves from a quay just 7 kilometres from No. 31 B&GS and crosses a short channel to the Loyalist Parkway (Hwy 33), the quickest route to the city of Kingston, Ontario. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827180258-MF37KGZ21CYBIX5SNACN/Picton125.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A Second World War-era photo of the ferry MV Quinte shows us exactly where Norris was sitting on the rail in the previous photograph. The 70-foot Quinte, a 12-car platform was in continuous service at Glenora from 1939 until 1974. The ferry landing at the Glenora Mills is one of the most picturesque in Ontario. Photo: RussellBrothers.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827217494-S3T39RNP00BE3UZMOQXK/Picton42.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out While sitting in the back of a stake truck rolling through town, Arthur took a photo of the Globe Hotel in Picton, which, with three ladders in sight, seems to be undergoing a renovation or at least was being painted. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827270013-MD08TNFTWRICHU6VFDCR/Picton43.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A post card from the early 20th Century showing the Globe Hotel before its renovation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827329807-BG9O1U1AUUEPUS97KP72/Picton45.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The economic impact of a nearby BCATP station cannot be overstated. When word of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan’s need for scores of new training airfields across the country got out, towns and cities from coast to coast lobbied hard to get them in their communities. The town of Picton was no exception. To start with, the station construction jobs alone could jump-start an economy still in the grips of the great depression. Settled in the 1780s by Empire Loyalists coming north after the American Revolution, Picton was named after General Sir Thomas Picton, Wellington’s Second-in-Command at the Battle of Waterloo. It was here also that Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald first managed a law practice. As with most BCATP Bombing and Gunnery Schools, Picton was chosen for its relatively flat terrain and proximity to a large body of water—Lake Ontario—to be used as an over-water gunnery and bombing range. In this photograph taken by Norris in 1941, we see a very busy Main Street, crowded with automobiles. In 1941, the population of Picton was listed as 3,901 which most certainly did not include the Royal Air Force staff and students at No. 31 B&GS. The influx of RAF personnel meant plenty of jobs at the station and increased business for cafés, retailers and movie theatres like The Regent, seen at the centre of this photo taken from the back of a station truck. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827368817-13VQFLMNINRK22YPO5NJ/Picton46.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris would be happy to know that not much has changed in Picton’s high street in the 75 years since he was walking its sidewalks and taking in a picture show at the Regent. These days, Picton is as active and energized as it was in Norris’ time. It is the commercial centre for a strong summer tourism industry, a growing and high-quality wine region as well as a mecca for artists and artisans who operate shops on Picton Main Street. Photo: Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827410960-H1S1XNIOJPQ6287QQ7KL/Picton47.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The Regent Theatre still has the same neon signs and marquee that it had when Norris enjoyed its pleasures. The Regent, in its present configuration, opened its doors for the first time in 1922 as both a cinema and a live 1,000-seat playhouse, showing a Canadian production of the play Mademoiselle from Armentières. Today, it has been restored and is a regional centre for live theatre and entertainment as well as first-run motion pictures. For more on the Regent’s history watch this short video. Photo: Prince Edward County Chamber of Tourism and Commerce https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827465359-NEGWTYN5UITJY576AZ0F/Picton60.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The caption accompanying this photograph states simply “Wanpoo”, but I believe that this is a shot of the lads down by the St. Lawrence River at the small community of Waupoos (the word is derived from the Ojibway word “waabooz” meaning “rabbit”) on Smith Bay. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827508144-PQQW5RG2QJH08WENMEU4/Picton54.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Another view of downtown Picton. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827559325-H272Z0FUORA40JFOAXUA/Picton55.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A shot from Google Street View of where I believe the previous photo was taken in 1941 or 42. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827614546-D00ALBF012BN28EXAWGE/Picton82.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out During one of the winters of Arthur’s time in Canada, he took a trip to Ottawa, the Nation’s Capital. Here he stands, as all of us Ottawans still do, on Sapper’s Bridge looking down on the eight Ottawa Locks at the northern terminus of the Rideau Canal. From here, in warmer months, commercial boats could be lowered the 80 feet to the Ottawa River. To the right of this image stands the Chateau Laurier Hotel, to the left Parliament Hill. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827678165-MVO5MFDIMMHW80VXVN4U/Picton85.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Standing in Major’s Hill Park along McKenzie Avenue, Norris photographs the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings. In the valley between the snow-covered park and the heights of Parliament Hill lie the eight locks of the northern terminus of the Rideau Canal some 80 feet below. The scene has changed very little in the 75 years since then. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827719841-WDH80P6EVJZ8I103OB09/Picton83.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Standing before the Cenotaph known as National War Memorial in the centre of what is known as Confederation Square. In the background stands the Chateau Laurier, the grand Canadian National Railway hotel. The famed Canadian photographer, Yousuf Karsh, who took that most famous of photographs of Churchill, maintained his studio and home in the Chateau Laurier. As well, scenes from the motion picture Captains of the Clouds, starring James Cagney, were shot in there. Norris was also seeing the National War Memorial only a couple of years after its completion and dedication by King George VI in 1939. The memorial’s statuary had been finished in England (by sculptor Vernon March) and put on display in Hyde Park before being transported to Ottawa. On the pedestal were only the dates of the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and the First World War (1914-1818), though it was not called that then. Following the global holocaust in which Norris was then presently serving, the dates of his war (1939-1945) were added and the wars became known as the First and the Second. In 1982, it was belatedly rededicated to those who served in the Korean War (1950-1953) and then recently those Canadians who served and died in Afghanistan (2001-2014). Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827767419-GT9MKCPFVN90IHHKEQ0P/Picton84.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out If you were the stand on this spot along Wellington Street today, you would not see anything different except the style of the cars and the low building in the distance (the Daly Building, which once housed Ottawa’s first department store) has been replaced by a condo. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827811177-5TJ5RGHNF6O9E6TZBINH/Picton88.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Clearly, Arthur Norris had to step out into traffic on Wellington Street to snap this view of the East Block of the Parliament Buildings—taken from approximately the same spot as the previous photo. In the Second World War when gas was rationed, standing in the middle of Wellington was not as life threatening as it is today. In the distance we see Mackenzie Tower, the centrepiece of the West Block, presently undergoing extensive renovations. To the right of centre, standing on his plinth is a statue of Canada’s seventh Prime Minister, Sir Wilfred Laurier. My grandfather’s name was Wilfred Laurier Ashe, named after this man. My great grandfather was a Dominion Atlantic Railway engineer, driving Laurier’s train somewhere in the Maritimes when my grandfather was born. He learned of his son’s birth by telegraph, and then at the next station, asked to see the Prime Minister. He then asked permission to name his first-born son after the great man. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827921512-F4889O190UPM9446P1NY/Picton86.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris photographs Parliament Hill from the Chaudière Bridge as he crosses over to the city of Hull in Québec. Beneath him run the swirling waters of the Ottawa River as it tumbles from the Chaudière Falls. The shed-roofed building in the right middle distance is the Carbide Mill (only the vertical part at the right still exists). To the right of the Carbide Mill is one of the white clapboard “Temporary Buildings” that were built to house the rapidly expanding need for government office space because of the war. Bottom: The same view today includes the modern Portage Bridge downstream which was constructed 40 years after Norris’ photo was taken. Photos: Top: Arthur Norris Collection Bottom: via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827877960-0I8GH2QA3G4NGCF0JV9B/Picton89.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris photographs Parliament Hill from the Chaudière Bridge as he crosses over to the city of Hull in Québec. Beneath him run the swirling waters of the Ottawa River as it tumbles from the Chaudière Falls. The shed-roofed building in the right middle distance is the Carbide Mill (only the vertical part at the right still exists). To the right of the Carbide Mill is one of the white clapboard “Temporary Buildings” that were built to house the rapidly expanding need for government office space because of the war. Bottom: The same view today includes the modern Portage Bridge downstream which was constructed 40 years after Norris’ photo was taken. Photos: Top: Arthur Norris Collection Bottom: via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626827959087-W3G42K3X2SV5HNYQHFPB/Picton87.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out From where Norris was standing in the previous photo, all he had to do to take this one was cross the street and point his camera west to take in the thundering cascade of the “Chaudière”. A crescent-shaped dam holds back the torrent of the Ottawa River to extract power from it as it drops over an escarpment. The name “Chaudière” derives from the French word for cauldron or kettle. The roiling vapours, especially in the winter and spring, that hang over the falls brought to mind the idea of a kettle or “kanajo” as the local first nations people called it. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828012399-16LKGVSSKUKIH8LRS673/Picton90.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Explaining the previous two photos. To put you where Norris was standing 75 years ago on his visit to Ottawa, I composed this shot of the Chaudière Bridge with Arthur’s position in it as he turns first down river to the Parliament Buildings, then upstream towards the falls. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828075455-Y75KTYK2X858KPIZD9VF/Picton76.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out On his way to visit Buffalo, Arthur and his pals visited Hamilton, Ontario on the shores of Lake Ontario, a thriving industrial city with a magnificent business district. Today, that beautiful downtown is a much rougher area than it was in 1942. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828113320-FV968EC15GP3V681JZSD/Picton51.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out During his trip to New York via Hamilton, clearly the weather was not good for garden and fountain viewing as this photograph of Hamilton’s famous Gage Park testifies. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828151681-83BESIV0H1T0ZZJ513CU/Picton52.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out This is what Gage Park actually looks like in more appropriate weather. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828188056-9NSF3RGT4ALNGIPDBO95/Picton75.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris’ application for entry into the United States without a passport. Back in the 1940s, Brits wishing to travel to Canada did not require a passport. And Canadians traveling to the US did not require a passport. But, undocumented people travelling to the US during wartime via Canada needed some sort of document. Five days after getting his leave from No. 31 B&GS, Arthur was given a permit to visit the United States for pleasure for “about 3 days”. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828282657-TQVOWDZ0UTS6V7RYKJAF/Picton77.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out From the back seat of a more modern car than the old flivver of their previous adventure (perhaps it is the Ford Woody wagon), Norris photographs the view as they drive across the Peace Bridge near Niagara Falls, Ontario towards Buffalo, New York. It seems likely that a mate has dropped down in the front seat so that Norris could capture the moment. In a world where most young men like Norris would never travel far from home, to be on his own with friends, travelling by car from far away Canada to New York City must have been quite the adventure. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828320340-DKUKHO9X9J3UPBHWODIX/Picton118.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A photo of the famed Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York. I suspect that this is where Norris and his buddies stayed while touring the city. With 1,100 guest rooms, three restaurants, a ballroom and numerous meeting rooms, the Hotel Statler was once the largest hotel in Buffalo, New York. Constructed in 1923, by Ellsworth Statler, it featured more guest rooms than any other hotel in Buffalo. With eighteen stories, it was the second-tallest building in the city. Hilton Hotels purchased the hotel in 1954, and it became known as the Statler Hilton. Today, the lower public spaces are still operating as Statler City, while plans are being made to create condos on the upper floors. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828396288-TZQ5XNMD89WIC1ZP1JAW/Picton121.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828426857-WDQ5A6L7L1YKYDA0Z8OL/Picton122.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out In the upper photo, the magnificent art deco bulk of Buffalo’s City Hall looms over Norris during his trip to that city. In the lower shot, the building as it is today. Photo: Top: Arthur Norris Collection, Bottom: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828458882-3R8T264MFUQNQ87VKUEE/Picton92.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out In August of 1942, Arthur (right) and a few of his Picton pals made another, deeper foray into New York State, this time to New York City itself. Here, in their tan summer uniforms, they pose before the Statue of Liberty. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828531073-CWCFG4QODH8LUJC51AOR/Picton57.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out During his stay in New York City, he did what many touring military men with an intimate knowledge of troopships might have done that summer—visited the capsized wreck of the SS Normandie. He photographed her surrounded by scrappers’ barges, having already lost her superstructures. Normandie had sought safe haven in New York in 1939 as the war situation in Europe grew more ominous. When war broke out in September, the Americans interned her as neutral countries do to prevent her from being used in the war. In December 1941, five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Americans removed the French captain and crew (who no doubt were living in the lap of luxury) and took possession of the massive ship under “right of angary” and renamed her USS Lafayette. She then began a rushed conversion to a troopship—removing the luxury components, mounting of guns and painting her grey. On 9 February 1942, sparks from welding ignited a stack of flammable life jackets and started a fire that spread quickly. The fire raged throughout the day with fireboats and firemen on shore pouring so much water into her hull, that she began to list. During the following night, she capsized. Arthur’s photos were taken just five months later. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828584066-J5N2JK7PG1T3O4TDYBZ5/Picton74.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Another photo by Arthur Norris shows the massive 982-foot hull of Lafayette. After the hull was righted in August of 1943, she was towed to a berth, there to await further conversion as an aircraft transport and ferry. After assessing the damage to her hull and equipment, the US Navy decided it wasn’t worth the effort and laid her up until the end of the war. She was broken up for scrap in New Jersey in 1948 by Lipsett Inc. There are many great videos of the fire, the salvage and the scrapping on the web, and I highly recommend you watch them as this is an astonishing end to one of the most beautiful ships ever designed and built. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828757551-EZ9IQ3RBL16XP2YEWQCT/Picton58.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828622427-NJFFUO8QNS2Y7N9JYKIG/Picton59.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The day of the fire and the day after the fire. Photos: via the web https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828824633-UOLYQ9OQEV047N1SL7RI/Picton95.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris stands on West 50th Street to capture the marquee of Radio City Music Hall, no doubt there to take in a film and a performance by the leggy Rockettes chorus line. The marquee and hall have not changed at all since the war, though a quick look on Google Street View will show you just how colourful this corner really is. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828880052-Q3EYGBUZWOTZ4WC64V8O/Picton99.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The caption on the back of this Norris photo reads “RCA Building”, or as we know it, Rockefeller Centre. Here, he stands in the middle of the Channel Gardens looking toward, in the distance, the famous golden statue of Prometheus on Rockefeller Plaza. At the very back is the RCA Building. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828944345-8X7TQAN2AZQU6NQUE6GX/Picron124.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A modern view of where Norris was standing when he took the previous photograph. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626828987986-YMCESIH0KJBJHVR7DXT5/Picton112.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out A classic shot of Times Square with pretty girls, skyscrapers and plenty of bustle. The Loews State Building on the left was the headquarters for MGM motion pictures, while across the street, Gary Cooper in the Pride of the Yankees, the story of famed baseball player and unfortunate namesake for ALS, Lou Gehrig, is playing at the Gaiety Theatre, while the Hotel Astor looms at the right. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829035052-IDS9YGJV2K5D152A1EWR/Picton115.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris stands at the corner of East 50th Street and Madison Avenue, looking towards the unmistakable limestone monolith that is the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center (now the GE Building) in the distance. One can only imagine how thrilling this must have been for a young man from England where skyscrapers had not yet taken root and who, because of the war, was visiting a city he otherwise may never have visited. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829084200-IBZ5I3HLJ34YSS8GJ8BE/Picton106.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur Norris stands in Riverside Drive (The stone wall is still there) in Hudson Heights, Upper Manhattan to take this picture of the then 10-year-old George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River to New Jersey. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829194420-2H8ZHKVYM47M7URVJUY2/Picton104.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out At first, I did not recognize which city this was, but the radiating avenues hinted at Detroit. A close look at signs in the photo tells us for sure that it is Detroit. In the centre you can read Detroit Leland on the roof of one building, while at bottom, the Hadley Finsterwald Co. department store at 219 Michigan Avenue sign is also a dead giveaway. In the lower right is the mass of the Book-Cadillac Hotel, now a Westin Hotel, while the tower at upper right is the stunningly-detailed 36-storey, Italian Renaissance Book Tower. The bulky 19-storey building at centre-left was then the SBC Building on Cass Avenue and is today the Michigan headquarters of ATT. The Detroit Leland Hotel at centre is still operating—at 90 years old, the oldest continuously operating hotel in downtown Detroit. What is truly amazing is that most of these historic architectural gems are still in existence despite Detroit’s hard times. There is no doubt that this photo was taken from the observation deck of the Penobscot building, then the highest in Detroit. For a news article about that observation deck re-opening recently and a look at just where Norris was standing when he took the photo, click here. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829263944-ZX5TRV0R4GO3296DL8DN/Picton111.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The 36-storey Union Trust Building (now called the Guardian Building) in Detroit as photographed by Arthur Norris from an even loftier height—the observation deck of the Penobscot Building. The Union Trust Building is recognized as one of the finest art deco architectural masterpieces of the 1920s. Hidden by bright reflection in the upper right is the Detroit River. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829319500-BWIY42FQBJV385XWNEUG/Picton105.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Norris takes a dramatic shot of Campus Martius Park in Detroit with the majestic Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the centre right. I think this is from another building than the Penobscot Building, possibly his hotel room but I may be wrong. The park is at the confluence of four avenues in Detroit—Monroe, Woodward, Michigan, and West Fort. Of the buildings in this scene, including the one from which he is shooting, only the building at upper right remains today. This park was the centre of a very prosperous and upscale Detroit when the automobile was king. For Ford and GM truck and vehicle drivers like Norris and his friends, this must have been like a pilgrimage to Mecca. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829377782-G4F1IAAPI96GLS15LYDW/Picton127.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out In May of 1943, after years in Ontario, Arthur Norris was transferred to the China–Burma–India Theatre of War. As he was getting set to go in June, Arthur collected the names and addresses of fellow RAF and RCAF airmen who he had gotten to know in Picton. In his note, W.A. Gamble poignantly writes: “Maybe I shall meet you in Blackpool some day and when I do, I shall tell you to “get your Canadian hours in” Alright.” It seems they never did meet again. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829430713-CO4U1HSVXWKCZ47FZYEQ/Picton131.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out It seems to me that every base, every barrack in fact, had a gifted illustrator who could draw in the flourishing cartoon style of the day. I can’t read this fellow’s name, but he offers up this loving sentiment on the opening page of Arthur’s autograph book: “I write this first page to you, Arthur, and hope it brings you luck, also health and happiness always. I do not want to say Cheerio! Because I feel sure we shall meet again in “Blighty”, and again share the happiness we found in Canada”. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829546427-TN40T8VWAILFWOWJINVW/Picton128.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Here, a George Pasfield of Romford, Essex writes promisingly: “You leave me here. We say goodbye. But we’ve met before. And we can do it again.” I tracked one record of two Pasfield brothers, John and William, who lived at 81 George Street, Romford, Essex and apparently both were killed in the First World War. Sacrifice in war was evidently great in George’s house. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829598057-24QN95COE4HZS7IEV483/Picton129.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arnie from Ravensthorpe, an area of the city of the industrial city of Dewsbury in North Yorkshire, England writes: “We’ve been together for quite some time and now that the time has come for us to part, I’m sincerely hoping that we shall meet again. All the very best.” Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829643768-Y8AJQSXQC2TT8POP9QG7/Picton130.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out They may have been young inexperienced lads when they left England for Canada in 1941, but two years later, they were seasoned travellers and men of the world, as well as experienced drinkers. A.W. Terry, a Canadian boy from Toronto, pens a poem for Arthur: “Little drops of Whiskey. Little drops of Beer. Make you see white Elephants if you percevier.” (I imagine he meant persevere). As life would have it, it was only the Terry family who would maintain the connection with Arthur after the war, for it was Terry’s parents who became a second set of parents for Arthur during his time in Canada, with Arthur staying at their home on Woborn Avenue in Toronto from time to time. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829679492-Y76G1BUAHPID7QP9SI6H/Picton91.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out Arthur (right) and a friend pose in their Southeast Asia kit at the Worli Transit Camp near Bombay on their way to Burma. Airmen and other service personnel coming to the China–India–Burma Theatre of War passed through here after debarking their troopship, sometimes languishing for months. Arthur seems much older now or perhaps just exhausted from the heat, the travel and being away from home and family for years. While in Burma, Arthur taught the locals how to drive. Photo: Arthur Norris Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626829709505-OJ8I4JVYPRNR36XVKE6W/Picton132.jpg The Stories - FOR THE RECORD — No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario - Make it stand out The last known photograph of Arthur Norris, taken in 2015 at the age of 95. He holds his newborn Great Granddaughter Eva in his arms. No happier place to leave the story than right here. Photo via Mike Norris https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-ashram monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626815683425-HASQ2HLTUDXNO0GTQHIY/Ashram00.jpg The Stories - THE ASHRAM– Meditating on Jet Fuel and Decibels - Make it stand out A WestJet 737 lights up a darkening sky on final at YOW’s Runway 32. Photo: Ben Senior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626815855775-KSNHQJOGNPMG73OV1WWN/Ashram02.jpg The Stories - THE ASHRAM– Meditating on Jet Fuel and Decibels - Make it stand out On a sunny day in 1977, my friend Albert Prisner and my then girlfriend Janis Jones sit on the trunk of “Little Blue Jay” my first car and watch the DC-8s, Dakotas and T-33s rolling in. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626815928541-KTVI3KZGAUYHWS1K1LWC/Ashram01.jpg The Stories - THE ASHRAM– Meditating on Jet Fuel and Decibels - Make it stand out A plane-spotting photographer braves later afternoon winter weather at the end of Runway 32 as an Air Canada jet swoops overhead. Photo: Ben Senior https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/no-logical-reason monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806147791-AY9EQALY76AZGJOUXSHB/HUSTitole2.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806177199-Z6HUUYTU7QXPSMBR4SO5/HUS42.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out The single prototype XN3N-1 (BuAero No. 9991) sits on a trolley that enables dry-land taxying. The first of a long line, 9991 was the only one of nearly 1,000 N3Ns to be powered by nine-cylinder Wright J-5 Whirlwind motor, putting out 220 horsepower. The prototype first flew in the summer of 1935, followed by a production run of 179 N3N-1s. By the end of the first production run, the powerplant was changed for a 235 hp Wright Whirlwind R760-2 radial. Photo: Airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806214856-ZWPVXQQ5Q989ZVHZQPZS/HUS46.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out In 1940, a student pilot and instructor thunder across the water-soaked grass at Naval Reserve Aviation Base Oakland, California in one of the 179 production N3N-1 trainers (BuAero No. 0692). The N3N-1 was designed to be used on wheels or the big centerline float, and it was even adapted for skis in the northern states. In my mind, the aircraft looked much more attractive on the floats. Photo: Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806251444-SA7RBC78JR3V8KFM8SK5/HUS41.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out In 1940, a student and instructor take off from the waters of the Detroit River at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan. The engine cowling in intact on this photo, but mechanics preferred to remove them for easy maintenance since they did not offer much improvement in drag reduction. At Grosse Ile, N3Ns were used in both the float or wheel configuration. The float version was used to train Navy pilots for flying boat and ship-borne reconnaissance aircraft operation. Photo: NASGI.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806287777-Y7ZP2UBHKNFN6B3RVFDR/HUS35.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out A photo of a float-equipped N3N-3 on a trolley at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida in January 1942. Typically, the N3Ns were painted yellow with a silver or yellow centre-line float. Note that the factory-supplied engine cowling has been removed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806329016-WZ1ECH61Z74GH9AEX3ZL/HUS38.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out A US Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-1 (BuNo 1759) flies at altitude over Pennsylvania during the war years. The big tail, massive float and outriggers were the defining characteristics of this solid performer. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806394866-ISRI0DELDXU2ES6CL0ON/HUS40.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out An instructor and student taxi their N3N Photo on a trolley to the launch ramp at the Annapolis Naval Academy with ground crew “walking the wings”. The website for N3N Owners states: “Most N3N-3 aircraft were declared surplus during and immediately after the war. But about 100 airframes were kept by the Navy. The N3N was no longer used for primary training but stayed in service to provide orientation rides for midshipmen at the Naval Academy in the seaplane configuration. They continued in use until 1959, with the final airframes stricken from military inventory in 1961. Operation until 1959 makes the N3N-3 the longest serving (and last serving) biplane in the U.S. military”. Photo: N3Nowners.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806435369-T14JTGWR6OXHNLFD98A1/HUS43.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out A mobile crane lifts an N3N-3 (BuNo 2920) belonging to Naval Training Squadron VN-7D8 from its trolley into the Gulf of Mexico at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida in 1944. You can just make out the white trolley just to the left of the crane's track. The number 2 is painted on the trolley, leading me to think that each N3N-3 had its own specific trolley as the aircraft is also No. 2. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806517582-MMIQ7V5HVPSWM4EPAG17/HUS44.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out While the N3N was not built in the numbers that the Stearman attained (997 vs 10,621), but at the beginning of the war it was a successful and common training aircraft at bases on both coasts and in the Gulf Of Mexico and the Great Lakes. Here, in a publicity shot, the pilots of a flock of six N3Ns warm their engines prior to taxiing to the water ramp on their trolleys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806558122-YSDI2V8ZTJ3CBZ634SBM/HUS47.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Many surplus N3Ns were bought up by crop dusters after the war. Airplane geeks watching the iconic scene from North by Northwest where Cary Grant is chased by a crop duster think that it is a Stearman that hunts him down, but it is in fact a Naval Aircraft Factory N3N. They can be forgiven though, for in the scene where the crop duster hits the side of a fuel truck, it is a flightless Stearman that explodes and burns. Photos: MGM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626806630411-VZ37205A4FLSL08584YL/HUS29.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out “The northern lights have seen queer sights”. Poet Robert Service's The Cremation of Sam McGee comes to mind as Buffalo Joe McBryan's bright yellow N3N Canary sits buttoned down for the night under a restless aurora borealis. The idea of an open cockpit biplane in a sub-arctic community does seem a little out of the ordinary. Too bad the N3N needs water to land and take off, as an open cockpit view of the Northern Lights at night would be a wonderful experience. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626807155690-EIV6OVZOSFZW6SV94YSL/HUS07.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan makes a flypast of photographer Fochuk displaying the aircraft's very best angle—with float and outriggers nicely silhouetted. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626807233844-HGRJPVU5B1T3BIBSMVPI/HUS21.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out In June 2017, prior to a first flight of the year in his N3N, Buffalo Joe McBryan (left) and Buffalo Airways engineer Chuck Adams (back to camera) check the Wright Whirlwind engine with the aircraft still on its dolly at the airport. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809112832-AAIZDU5MSRUGODJNAHFY/HUS11.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out The Yellowknife sun shines warmly on the big doors of the Buffalo Airways hangar as Joe McBryan gets set to fly his N3N after some winter work. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809143812-Q0Y0DMXH3D61ZH09J4TY/HUS12.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe intently reads the owner's manual for his new radio before trailering his N3N to the launch ramp in Yellowknife's Back Bay. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809280391-XJX16FPBY2LT4WFMH3IG/HUS13.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan (in front student's seat) goes flying in his N3N for the first time in the summer of 2016. Joe would spend a short time learning the idiosyncrasies of his new aircraft before venturing solo. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809307053-FTVR47L852IZU3M4Y4T4/HUS22.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Another great shot of Joe taxiing on Back Bay in colder weather. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809471848-1JSFX9RER30NWAN79X5M/HUS28.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out After just a couple of hours of dual check ride time, McBryan, one of the planet's most gifted pilots, took his N3N into the beautiful skies of the Northwest Territory. Here, following his first flight, Joe lands solo for the first time on the surface of Yellowknife's Back Bay. Since then, Joe has flown hundreds of times, almost always sharing the experience with another lucky pilot or passenger. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809519262-YF6E4Z5VCVCQFLEIRS2R/HUS06.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan looks quite satisfied after one of his first check rides in his new N3N in the summer of 2016. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809619559-EKKZ1XP4KGWSU174OX5D/HUS09.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out The best times for open-cockpit flying in a biplane with light wing-loading are early morning and late evening when the air is smooth, the light warm and the shadows long. At the end of the day, Joe ties up at the Buffalo floatplane dock on Back Bay. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809686807-4JWANQNUH8XUPM7XXXF6/HUS32.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe taxies on Back Bay with Royal Canadian Air Force test pilot Major Ian MacNeil (Callsign Tuna) in the front seat, excited for a little stick time in an open cockpit aircraft—different from his day job as a test pilot with the RCAF's Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment (AETE). Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809753970-QKOK9UBZ2HQLJMUGNIQ7/HUS03.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Buffalo Joe jumps down from his N3N as Major Ian Tuna MacNeil gets set to follow him after their flight. MacNeil and fellow AETE member, flight test engineer Mike Dion, were in town for a celebratory flypast on the town site in honour of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Coincidentally, the only Battle of Britain-era military aircraft in town that day was Joe's bright yellow N3N. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809806657-0TWFLPBHW8B5W4937GM5/HUS30.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out After his flight with Joe McBryan (right), Ian MacNeil (second from left) poses with flight test engineer Mike Dion and Buffalo Airways General Manager and TV personality Mikey McBryan. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809857449-K40SALDF1E5PI59HWZ28/HUS23.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan, who is depicted on the Ice Pilots TV series as a crusty, demanding man of few words, but in real life, he demonstrates his generosity by sharing his passenger seat with people from all over the world, taking them for a flight they won't soon forget. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626809918840-HSWWUPUDAQDVYIJI3OCI/HUS24.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out The joys of open-cockpit flying over the beautiful northern landscape are evident in this passenger's smile and handshake. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626810009039-LDSYLBOTZI5D8871APZB/HUS16.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe swings into his take-off line in Yellowknife's Back Bay. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626810085498-U9P6VTO0ZD8ABSXWSLBI/HUS17.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe climbs off the surface of Back Bay, heading south. Behind him his wake traces his curving taxi path into the wind and his short take-off run. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811355235-NZQ1Q8VU82TUB4N2SJC8/HUS18.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe, in his Second World War vintage leathers, climbs out to the south. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811388425-K1MV0GJ1WBDEXWOHPAPY/HUS20.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out A magnificent view of a solitary Joe McBryan experiencing the sublime joy of open cockpit flying. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811437715-KSCCRC0X2YRV5XQS7UUJ/HUS08.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out On a sunny autumn afternoon, Joe glides back to his base on the calm waters of Yellowknife's Back Bay. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811482753-XEAQBSGE7Q36X2CEZBAS/HUS50.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out As the sun sets over Back Bay this summer, Joe brings HUS home for the night. It's evenings like this that make Joe's decision to purchase an open cockpit float plane in the Arctic a beautiful choice. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811522038-ZRF57M7G21ZM39638PM6/HUS10.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811558566-IB9L87MLU3M764K5D1KM/HUS05.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan sitting proud in his N3N as he taxies back home on a quiet evening. Photos: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811602653-2KTCG3Z0S35GUWEE19OM/HUS15.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out The family welcomes him home. Mikey McBryan (left) and his brother Rod get ready to catch and guide Joe to the Buffalo floatplane dock on Back Bay. Handling a heavy fabric-covered vintage aircraft with 12-foot long poles requires some experience to prevent puncturing the skin. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811649760-D7SOO6WAME8UF0OY2EDE/HUS26.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Legendary Joe McBryan humours his son Mikey by donning some authentic gear, knowing he'll soon be Tweeted and Instagrammed. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811683580-C0Q3BCMJUH5UMLRFUZWD/HUS27.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe in his leather flying jacket looks a tad uncomfortable “posing” as a pilot. It seems like he'd rather don his every day gear and go flying without having to look the part. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811738470-C0MFY1GNA8DG4SOM5XYT/HUS33.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out As the summer sun sets on Back Bay, Joe and his crew manhandle the more than 3,000 lb N3N to a safe tie-down in front of Joe's house on Back Bay. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811780553-19EB8Y1D8ELFRS01S2WP/HUS34.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe returns to the dock with a passenger who was even older than his N3N— an adventurous woman celebrating her 85th birthday. Joe was worried that she would be too infirm to get in and out of the cockpit, but she proved spryer than Joe. He told her that if she comes back next year she could do some wing-walking. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811824250-75LDPY5RDM0M6PWNSQUV/HUS02.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Taxiing the big N3N requires a lot of side-to side-head movement with the pilot sitting up out of his seat. Here Joe taxies around to the Yellowknife airport where he will meet a truck towing the N3N's trolley. It's time to take it out of the water. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811867371-ZBX3H439HJP2WZYFO4XB/HUS04.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out Joe McBryan shuts down the Wright Whirlwind and glides toward the ramp at Long Lake near the Yellowknife Airport. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626811925691-06XNXAIRYG2CS93SI5WB/HUS01.jpg The Stories - NO LOGICAL REASON - Make it stand out A Buffalo Airways crew has backed a custom-built trolley into the water at the base of the ramp to take the N3N out of the water for maintenance and winter storage at Buffalo's Yellowknife airport facility. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/eat-and-get-gas monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804029220-6M8US1SHSN3TLDQMI1LQ/PoutineTitle2.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804232819-2A40G35V2O729V2RHV5Y/Pountine15.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Revolutions begin in the most unlikely places. The first tentative steps toward a sustainable warbird future were taken here at the Casse Croûte Chip Chip Hooray near Templeton, Québec, just a few kilometres from Vintage Wings of Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804310671-7FJO8M0VO0EXHCWIYU01/Poutine02.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out For years, the warbird-industrial complex has ignored the elephant in the room—toxin-emitting warbirds are killing our planet. Air shows, though honourably intended, are no better than Soviet-era nuclear dumping grounds, Bangkok traffic jams or the electronic waste dumping capital of the world, Guiyu, China. Zhong Nanshan, the president of the China Medical Association, warned in 2012 that air pollution caused by Canadian pilots over-priming their engines on start-up scored the highest of environmental worries for China’s citizens. “End the over-priming problem”, says Nanshan, “and China will follow suit with tougher environmental standards. Get the lead out of your fuels and maybe we can talk about getting it out of our children’s toys. First things first”. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804446941-AW3JNWNLOSL2A203FTII/Poutine01.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Poutine... the bane of Canada’s national healthcare system. Wikipedia describes this national Canadian dish as a common Canadian dish, originally from Québec, made with potato fries, topped with a brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds. This fast food dish can now be found across Canada, and is also found in some places in the northern United States, where it is sometimes required to be described due to its exotic nature. National and international chains like New York Fries, McDonald’s, A&W, KFC, Burger King, and Harvey’s also sell mass-market poutine in Canada (although not always country-wide). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804566506-AEEXEK365YZ7X15LL0WG/Poutine14.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out The volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada who put thousands of hours into the Future Fuels project assemble in front of the eco-friendly Fleet Finch on the ramp at Gatineau after the historic first flight. The pride and elation of the team is evident on their faces. This team of volunteers, not one professional chemical or petroleum engineer in the lot, have set the course for warbird and vintage aircraft operation for the next century. Left to right: Michael Virr (oil collection and distillation), Pierre Lapprand (fuel chemistry), John Longhair (oil collection and distillation, lubricants), Terry Cooper (fuel systems), George Mayer (fuel test manager), Graeme Goodlet (fuel chemistry), Luc Cloutier (engine test stand engineer) and Claude Brunette (Senior Project Manager-test). Missing is Team Lead Tim Timmins, still in rehab. Originally called the Future Fuels Team, after the success of the project the group of volunteers on the project have taken to calling themselves Team Poutene. After the Finch was rolled onto the ramp, Wallace the hangar dog had to be restrained from licking the fuselage aft of the exhaust stack. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804920991-N7JEQIA7QOTTITHG2KKL/Poutine03.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Liquid gold. The Future Fuel Team took advantage of the fact that maple sugar operations are largely shut down during the coldest months of a Canadian winter, as the industry awaits the warmer late winter/early spring days when the sap flows in maple sugar bushes across eastern Canada and the United States. Using the vats of Cabane à sucre Ange-Gardien in nearby Buckingham, Québec, the team boiled the oil collected, filtering and straining over a period of three days. Seven batches of “croustillinate” were then blended with tractor vaporizing oil (TVO) and 20% corn-based ethanol from Ottawa Valley farms. The cooking oil/ethanol distillate was given the name “poutinol”. Photo via Team Future Fuel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804774690-SI1W6BV4S1OCMJVAIEJ6/Poutine04.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out After distillations, screening, filtering and skimming, each batch of poutinol distillate left behind about 20 kilograms of a golden brown sludge, made from particulate matter identified as part potato, part onion, part corndog, and part chicken fingers, all infused with a blend of vegetable oils. The team called these tailings “cretonite” and found a very creative use for the material. Photo via Team Future Fuel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804841269-VIE1YHTWOVH3DP2UAI66/Poutine05.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out The leftover cretonite was simmered in large pans over open fires, cooled, rolled into meatball-sized balls and dipped into maple syrup. This tasty delight, called creton-suprêmes by the team, are served warm and are, I assure you, an acquired taste. Photo: Team Future Fuels https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626804970902-CAP8AAJY66LM2JJKRPJM/Poutine06.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out The resultant distillate called “poutinol” had a relatively high flashpoint, making it unsuitable as an engine fuel at first. By mixing it further with 20% additional kerosene (TVO-tractor vaporising oil is also made from kerosene). This had the effect of greatly reducing the flashpoint and the viscosity. The nearly 500 litres of poutinol collected were blended with 100 litres of kerosene to create “poutene”. Three 200-litre drums of poutene were then stored outside the Vintage Wings hangar (for safety) through the month of February and most of March as samples were used to test the fuel’s performance on an engine test stand—a moped engine donated by the Moped Army. Each drum of poutene had to be warmed indoors for two days before it could be decanted and pumped by hand into the fuel tank of our Fleet Finch. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805030788-46WXR7I8GQUAWY08QWMB/Poutine07.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out While the Future Fuels Team was working creating a new kind of fuel from discarded cooking oil, the mechanics at Vintech Aero disassembled the more-than-70-year-old biplane trainer and prepared it for repainting. Vintage Wings historian, Dave O’Malley was quick to point out that poutine was purported to have been invented in 1964 in the town of Drummondville, Québec, in the Eastern Townships by a man named Jean-Paul Roy. Drummondville is just 58 kilometres from Windsor Mills, Québec, where our Fleet Finch served with distinction during the Second World War at No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School. So, both poutine and the first poutene-powered aircraft are from the same small rural area of Québec! Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805104524-HSWZKPD52L9ELUIUYRY3/Poutine08.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out The medium is the message and the message is that the world is transforming, much the same way that this venerable old Finch, which once taught our fathers and grandfathers to fly, will now teach a new generation of Canadians that the future holds great promise, provided we consume fast food at the same rate we do now. Sadly, you can’t please all the people all the time. Vintage Wings has received praise from both Transport Canada and Environment Canada, but a sharp rebuke from Health Canada! Health Canada has spoken out against the idea of connecting environmental stewardship with the consumption of fries, poutine and chip wagon fare. The CACC praised the initiative, issuing a statement just last week saying: “Vintage Wings of Canada’s new poutene fuel has provided a solution to two environmental issues at the same time. This new future fuel technology kills two birds with one stone, and both warbirds and poutine will continue to be enjoyed by Canadians far into the future”. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805161862-B4FHHQOXTPTBPN8RN5L0/Poutine09.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Even the oil circulating and lubricating the engine components is made from casse-croûte by-products. Some of the filtered poutinol was set aside before the adding of tractor vaporizing oil, ethanol and kerosene. This is used as a lubricating oil, but the Finch could not be left more than an hour outside in the winter with the engine off before the oil congealed and refused to flow. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805206006-JA3TLK1S8UW7O21PAI0C/Poutine10.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out There were many who decried the Fleet Finch’s new lime green paint scheme, stating that it made a mockery of the history of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Some just said it was ugly. Again, at Vintage Wings of Canada, the medium is the message, and the message is green. We admit that we had our head stuck in the sand over low lead high octane fuels in the past, but no more! We are bright green and proud of it!!! Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805245760-B5S4BIK1A8GZZ2G8C3TE/Poutine11.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out A close-up of the Finch’s glass fuel gauge shows her tank is full of golden poutene prior to her first flight on 22 March 2014. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805308688-GJ0YTLJM3YXD3G0MEXW8/Poutine13.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out Test pilot George Arborpremo, wearing a hooded parka against the 80 mph winter gale that is an open cockpit in March, lifts off Runway 27 in the future-fueled Finch, the world’s first eco-friendly warbird. A pale plume of exhaust trails from her stack and folks on the ground were soon craving a big plate of poutine to celebrate. Of his historic flight, Arborpremo said: “That little Kinner radial ran like never before. While it didn’t have the get up and go it used to have, it ran more smoothly than I ever recall, and it smelled a hell of a lot better.” Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626805402952-SMTBJAE44D545EPC2NO2/Poutine12.jpg The Stories - EAT AND GET GAS - Make it stand out We are proud to announce two new corporate sponsors who were introduced to us by the CACC – McCain Foods Canada, the largest producer of potatoes in the country and local cheese curd manufacturer St-Albert’s Cheese Co-operative/Fromagerie St-Albert, purveyors of the finest cheese curds in the province of Ontario. In celebration of the accomplishment and its future fuel demonstration program this summer, the aircraft received a custom registration C-FPFF for “Fries, Poutine and Fleet Finch”. It’s all about the marketing! Photo: Evad Yellamo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/turbofish monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784151112-WJEJK5JL8HN4YXOBXE69/TurboFish001.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784264730-Q070SC5E9LZULG9Y27NS/TurboFish18.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Basler BT-67s can now be found all over the world, from gunship variants in the Philippines to workhorses in the Far North such as this Kenn Borek Air example photographed at Yellowknife. Operating from the high arctic to Antarctica, the nine Basler BT-67s are the largest workhorses in the Kenn Borek fleet. Along with Kenn Borek and other commercial operations, are government operators such as the US Forestry Service, US Air Force, US Department of State and the Mauritanian, El Salvadoran, Guatemalan and Columbian Air Forces. The South African Air Force has a native-designed version of the BT-67. Earlier attempts at a turbine powered DC-3, such as Conroy Turbo Three and Tri-Motor Super Three had very limited success. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784318285-3FYYG9E928RDQ4MEIZJF/TurboFish19.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out During the 1960s, de Havilland Canada recognized the performance and maintenance benefits of a PT6 turboprop-powered Beaver. A total of 60 were constructed by de Havilland Canada at Downsview, Ontario and today Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia continues to convert old radial Beavers to a new DHC-2 Mk. III Turbo Beaver standard. The success of this idea led Vintech Aero to study the possibility of upgrading the Swordfish in the same manner. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784359215-U48SN8HVHH3VFWZGMRA2/TurboFish20.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The turboprop de Havilland reached its zenith with the beautiful DHC-3-T Turbo Otter. As in the case of the future TurboFish, turbine power detractors and radial-philes still admitted that it was a good-looking aircraft. Photo: Stephen Fochuk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784459393-M4GFUNJZKP3Z6VXLPN6Q/TurboFish14.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The Fairey Swordfish, slow and archaic even when operational, still went on to a historic career with the Royal Navy. Today, it remains one of the rarest Second World War warbirds in the world, with only two of the 2,400 built still in flying condition today. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784531240-QAX1QSGSSWP7YW668ROS/TurboFish09.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out When the “Fish” arrived from Southern Ontario on the fall of 2006, Vintage Wings of Canada staff and volunteers had great hopes that it would be one of the stars of the collection. Unfortunately, due to problems with parts acquisition and engine overhaulers and the quality of their work, she would only fly a total of 36 hours in eleven and a half years—and nearly all of that expended on a single trip to Oshkosh in 2011. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784559493-LK54RXAPU8TO4TKBFKGW/TurboFish13.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The wrapping of the Swordfish carried this note from her former owners and restorers, the Spence family from Southern Ontario. Despite the Spence family’s best wishes, Vintage Wings of Canada did not have good luck when it came to getting her airborne. The Post Script—Don’t forget about Ernie—references Ontario farmer Ernie Simmons of Tillsonburg, who had purchased a number of Swordfish airframes after the war and had stored them and a large number of North American Yales in the open for decades. After his death, his collection of rare Second World War airframes, including HS 554, was broken up and sold at auction. For more on this venerated man, his extraordinary collection and his tragic death, click here. Photo: Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784605296-IY8UQF1X8K7H92TP3MIF/TurboFish11.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The Grey Ghost Naval Centennial Flight crest for the Swordfish. With the upcoming centennial in our sights, we designed this crest and put it on the fuselage of our Swordfish. Sadly, while she wore the crest proudly for two years, she did not have an engine to go with it. While we waited anxiously for news about our overhaul, the Pegasus engine languished in England at a repair facility with other priorities. When the centennial came and went with the Swordfish collecting dust at the back of the hangar, we sadly stripped the crest from her sides. Design: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784648765-LTE6R807DE8RN303MSRO/TurboFish16.png The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out For much of her life with Vintage Wings of Canada, this has been the state of our Fairey Swordfish—beautiful, stout-hearted, flyable… but without a serviceable engine. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784687801-UZV4R91IEDCU3RNSBMDL/TurboFish04.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out In the 1930s and 40s, the 690 hp Bristol Pegasus IIIM.3 radial was both reliable and ubiquitous. Today, a dearth of companies qualified to maintain and modify the nearly 85-year-old Pegasus design has meant that our Swordfish has languished at the back of our hangar without a working engine for 11 of the 12 years she has belonged to the Michael U. Potter Collection. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784800234-VD8R62PYOHWX12EBKA45/DownandBack31.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Bob Childerhose (left) cleans out spark plugs before takeoff at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario en route to Oshkosh. The Bristol Pegasus engine was “nine cylinders of ass-pain” say Vintech mechanics. From a mechanic’s perspective, the TurboFish is a dream machine. Gone are the testy Claudel-Hobson carburetor, the short lives of 18 sodium-filled Burt-McCollum exhaust valves, and of course, the complexities of the Farman epicyclic gearbox. Photo: Doug Fleck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784919103-HIOJMM62NKTMZN217LDA/TurboFish01.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Artist’s profile rendering of the Fairey Vintech TurboFish. While many decry the use of a modern turbo-prop engine, nearly everyone admits the aircraft looks pretty good. Computer modeling done by Forbes, Stynchman and Schoolie indicates that the Swordfish will have top-end speed increase of 77 knots due to streamlining and additional power. The native Bristol Pegasus produced 690 hp, but the new Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-67G turbine found on AirTractor and Ayres Trush agricultural aircraft outputs a healthy 1,294 equivalent shaft horsepower (eshp). Profile: Dave Merrill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626784964032-SJVUPIBRZLGF609WRI6W/TurboFish21.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada Chief Pilot John Aitken looks over the Swordfish’s new PT6 turbine at the conversion course given at Vintage Wings’ Gatineau facility by turbo-prop guru Günther “Kowboy” Sterchi of Nanton, Alberta’s Flying Four-Up Air Spray. Flying Four-Up is a world leader in radial to turbine conversions having converted more than a dozen of their Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior radial-powered Air Tractor AT-300s to AT-400 standard with the switch to a PT6-A-67G turboprop. Photo: Günther Sterchi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785078578-75VRY1TJWNHYK2U6G3XH/TurboFish26.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out An important development like the turbine-powered Swordfish needed not just a name, but a new logo. Keeping in character with the Disney-inspired mascots of the Second World War, we came up with a turbo-powered swordfish by the name of “Windy” after the TurboFish’s unofficial second name, “Windbag”. “Windy’s” image is now carried on the port side of the TurboFish. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785111878-F0E817TNE9GE3URK7FTO/TurboFish02.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out With the switch to a turbine engine, we have done away with these smoky and polluting engine starts. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785167726-190YWB8XY7CTA77ZUDFF/DownandBack17.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Gone will be the tedious hand-cranking of the massive inertia starter that requires the combined strength of two brawny Vintech engineers; replaced by a 28-volt electric wet-spline starter-generator with a maximum peak of 800 amps of current. Photo: Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785224685-WSHY5TV8BURIL8IYNVFC/TurboFish25.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The TurboFish warms in the weak winter sun on the Vintage Wings of Canada ramp prior to the first of her two test flights on 7 March 2018. Gone were the back-breaking inertial starts, the dripping oil and the dirty spark plugs. Photo: Evad Yellamo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785278517-X9M68ME08GN591O9OO4G/DownandBack7.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out The old Bristol Pegasus-powered Swordfish was an extraordinary warbird experience for those lucky few who have had a ride in ours. The only other flying Swordfish in the world is operated by the Royal Navy in England and civilians are not able to experience its historic significance first hand. The TurboFish however will allow paying aviation and history enthusiasts to experience what it was like for Royal Navy Swordfish crews in the Bismarck action and the Battle of Taranto, minus the continuous spray of hot engine oil. The sound of the Pegasus engine will be added electronically via headsets along with recorded advertisements for sponsors. Photo: Adam Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785371745-0AYG7ZO13GNTJCPBS1XB/TurboFish24.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out In anticipation of vintage aviation enthusiasts decrying the loss of that clattering old Pegasus radial, the TurboFish will carry a single “Tannoy Torpedo”, a fibreglass replica of an 18-inch Mark XII air-launched “Redhead” torpedo mounted with two Bose speakers. This system allows spectators on the ground to get the full auditory experience. The Bose system has turbine noise reduction, cancelling the sound of the PT6 while emitting the more throaty and historically accurate “nine cylinders of ass-pain”. Passengers in the back will wear Bose headphones to hear the same sound as well as commercial announcements. For those who want a more historically correct experience, an aerosol dispenser in the aft cockpit will spray warm oil in their faces and on their clothes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626785434064-OV448RGIAQ7YUAG3ZDK6/TurboFish22.jpg The Stories - THE FAIREY-VINTECH FV.1 TURBOFISH - Make it stand out Vintage Wings of Canada chief pilot John Aitken test flew the TurboFish for the first time in early March of this year. Aitken, a veteran test pilot with the RCAF and the Flight Research Laboratory of the National Research Council, had flown HS 554 for the first time in 2011 after her Bristol Pegasus was reinstalled after “overhaul”. He is the only pilot in history who has flown both the radial-powered and the turbine-powered variants of the Swordfish. Commenting on the performance difference, Aitken said it was like “the Fish was holding on to its engine for dear life.” Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fire-in-the-heart monthly 0.5 2024-02-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783738179-YTO2CZK21XV22XDMVUSE/Ward19.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626781612237-5I29YBAX1RYRXUF72TBR/Ward01.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out In a well-known propaganda photograph from the Second World War, air crew members of 75 (New Zealand) Squadron, Royal Air Force at RAF Feltwell walk self-consciously en masse for the camera prior to a night raid. 75 Squadron was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron during the First World War. In 1939, the Kiwis had purchased 30 modern Vickers Wellington medium bombers to replace their aging Vickers Vildebeests. The New Zealand crews who were to operate them travelled to England to train on their new aircraft and then fly them back to New Zealand. Instead, with the war in the offing, the New Zealand government put the machines and their crews at the disposal of the RAF. The RAF gave them the 75 Squadron number, and the rest is history. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626781649242-O3PWPAH0ERLPJAJ7PDIX/Ward13.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out An aerial view of RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, the home base for 75 Squadron at the time of Ward’s eventful evening—showing the hangar line to the left and dispersals off the airfield (lower right). Typical of many British airfields of the time, the landing and takeoff areas were not runways, but rather large open fields where aircraft could always take off and land into the wind, eliminating cross wind operations. The field is camouflaged to look like farmland from above and appears to be quite convincing. The photo was taken by No. 1 Camouflage Unit, whose task it was to take aerial photos of factories, vulnerable points (VPs) and other military installations deemed important enough to be camouflaged from the air. Prior to the war, this task was carried out by a civilian operator, but following the outbreak, the task was taken over by aircraft of 24 Squadron—Stinson Reliants and Leopard Moths. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626781690918-4CTIHO74YAIPUHHY6A1W/Ward07.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Vickers Wellington Mk.Is of 75 Squadron (RNZAF) from RAF Feltwell fly in loose formation. The Wellington was nicknamed the “Wimpy” after Popeye the Sailor’s hamburger eating chum J. Wellington Wimpy—the “bloviating hamburger glutton” my friend Alex MacQuarrie would say. The lead Wimpy—AA-A (RAF Serial P9206) was often flown by the unit’s commanding officer, Squadron Leader Cyril “Cyrus” E. Kay, DFC. Photo: Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782537908-7IHTL05GGU6QANXBDAFS/Ward05.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Two photographs of James Allen Ward, both taken after 7 July 1941 and the events that led to his award of the Victoria Cross. At left, he stands in the cockpit of the same 75 Squadron Vickers Wellington AA-R (RAF Serial No. L7818) in which he was flying that night. In the more formal photograph at right, he is wearing his Victoria Cross ribbon below his RNZAF wings. In this photograph, he looks much older than his 22 years—a testament to the stresses of Bomber Command night operations and the terror of that particular night. This image was taken after his award on 4 August. Five weeks later he was dead—killed on operations during a night raid on Hamburg, 15 September 1941. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782614775-6WN96SRMQUYSLYDM1HCR/Ward06.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A dramatic depiction of Ward’s battle with the engine fire. The image from the National Archives indicates the artist’s name was “Sax”, but I can find no other information about the artist or the work. Image: National Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782656399-UQSJ0OQ4A5G9G3AC1L8H/Ward18.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Another artistic dramatization of Ward on the wing of his Wellington. In the astrodome hatch opening navigator Sergeant L.A. Lawton holds onto the Wellington’s dinghy painter, likely little help in the event that Ward was swept away, but something which gave him a modicum of security. Image via arrase.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782704585-35KGQSV8N52WJMQE0XFV/Ward25.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out An overly dramatic illustration of Ward’s action accompanied Alan White’s story. The battle with the engine fire on the wing most certainly did not happen in a tight bomber stream with searchlights and heavy flak all around, but the drawing does convey very well the almost unbelievable events that night over the North Sea coast of Holland. Image via Severnside Aviation Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782762549-JOZL5VEZOOYJAZQQ9T7T/Ward03.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A photograph of Wellington AA-R (serial no. L7818) showing the condition of the aircraft following a safe return from the Munster raid. A—Hole caused by damage from the attack. B—the opening for the astro-hatch and 1, 2 and 3—foot and hand holds created by Ward as he crossed over the wing towards the starboard engine. The larger hole at the wing root was likely where Ward, Lawton and Mason had ripped away fabric to use fire extinguishers and their coffee flasks in a fruitless attempt to put out the fire from inside the fuselage. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626782954905-IU3TRTIVJJDFHIFM3SKA/Ward17.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A shot from the engine nacelle looking at the fuselage of Wellington L7818 reveals the damage caused by the night fighter attack (A) as well as footholds and handholds created by Ward. The large hole in the fuselage at right was torn by Ward and Lawton and through which they had emptied their fire extinguisher and coffee flasks to no avail. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783002703-8WBVPAGGPAAGLUGIW06F/Ward20.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A post-mortem photo of the starboard wing damage caused by the attack and the subsequent fire. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783042161-YPOKEMWYIN4EVE6TTVJV/Ward04.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A photograph of Ward’s Wellington (AA-R, serial no. L7818) after a safe landing back at RAF Newmarket in Suffolk 22 miles away from Feltwell. It shows cannon and machine gun damage from the attack by a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf.110 night fighter. One can see how the geodesic nature of the Wellington’s structure absorbed the blast well. The Wellington’s bomb bay was divided into three separate bays, each with a separate door. It appears that the starboard bomb door is missing, perhaps torn off by the cannon shell explosion or when it was, due to hydraulic failure, hanging in the slipstream on the trip back home. Note as well the bullet hole in one of the blades of the starboard propeller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783085630-EWFHHH6ZZVHOAPQ8I04Z/Ward24.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out A poor quality photograph from a scan of White’s pamphlet shows the Widdowson Crew tracing on a map the route taken on the night of 7–8 July 1941. Ward is in the middle with the Canadian Widdowson standing next to him. At left is Sergeant Box, DFM, while the others are Lawton the Navigator and Mason the Wireless Operator. Evans, the front gunner, was recuperating in hospital from the wounds to his foot sustained during the attack. Photo via Severnside Aviation Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783159540-WMX1303VVXRDJ4K6SEID/Ward23.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Two photos of young Ward following his awarding of the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace. There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that Winston Churchill, a lover of exploits of derring-do, had invited Ward to 10 Downing Street after the ceremony. In total awe in the presence of the great Prime Minister, Ward was struck dumb, unable to answer Churchill’s queries. Churchill, understanding the unhappy hero’s predicament, said “You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence.” “Yes sir.” squeaked out Ward. “Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours.” said the Prime Minister. Photos: Left: Imperial War Museum, Right: Via SimHQ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783200918-P10S3KYWB5O61Y5V7NM0/Ward16.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Following his Victoria Cross award ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 4 August 1941, young Ward is greeted exuberantly by his fellow crewmen at the railway station. For a British Pathé newsreel clip of the shy Ward and his crew being congratulated by Commanding Officer Cyril Kay, click here. Photo via www.feltwell.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783346382-J35CG25Q4AJBC7OIJ0BG/Ward21.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out The pilot of Wellington AA-R that night was a Canadian from Winnipeg by the name of Squadron Leader Reuben Pearse “Ben” Widdowson, standing second from left in this shot of combat ready crews of 75 Squadron. Next to him at far left is the squadron’s commander, Squadron Leader Cyril “Cyrus” E. Kay, DFC. Squadron Leader (later Wing Commander) Reuben Pears “Ben” Widdowson, DFC, was born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1915. He learned to fly at Winnipeg Flying Club, before moving to England where he joined the Royal Air Force in 1934, and was appointed Acting Pilot Officer on Probation. Later that year he was posted to No. 3 FTS, Grantham, and then as Pilot Officer to 2 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, RAF Manston. He flew Westland Wapitis in Waziristan, prior to his promotion to Flight Lieutenant in 1938. He then served with No. 1 OTU, until being posted for operational flying to 75 (New Zealand) Squadron at RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, just four months before the events of July 1941. He flew in 20 operational sorties with the squadron, prior to his epic flight to Munster and back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783395727-CSX0GST318FOR0S5Z3BG/Ward08.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783434814-WGDRL6XT8ML2357SE83H/Ward10.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783466143-3DTGS1ZYQDJ876QBV8L7/Ward12.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626783519484-NFKNTR7YT9YJ9OV6PU9P/Ward15.jpg The Stories - FIRE IN THE HEART - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/triumph-over-tyranny monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626730876340-FO5XJ036WDHZP55PVBHB/TriompheTitle2.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734428013-5WW6W693KYFED1F1J3MN/Triomphe33.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out The goal of Operation Squabble was to fly down the Champs-Élysées during a daily parade of German troops firing 20 mm cannon shells all the way. One can only imagine the propaganda coup that would have been had the Beaufighter flown down the Champs-Élysées with guns blazing at thousands of parading Nazis. Photo via LIFE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734507866-H953K6U7BP5RY6S5OXS9/BuffaloSoldier11.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Four Bristol Beaufighters of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 404 Squadron practice formation flying in Scotland. From this photo we can clearly understand why the Beaufighter or “Beau” was referred to as “a fuselage in hot pursuit of two engines”—those engines being Bristol-designed and manufactured Hercules 14 cylinder radials. Photo: Imperial War Museum via Terry Higgins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734554649-8GLWN10Z804ZBL1DFYAR/Triomphe02.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Gatward and Fern’s aircraft for Operation Squabble was reportedly the 236 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Mark IC, RAF serial number T4800. Here we see the famous aircraft (Squadron code ND-C) of Coastal Command on the ground at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk. Photo: RAF via the Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734598877-VB8CXFCQTHH4CKKZIVEH/Triomphe31.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Gatward and Fern’s aircraft for Operation Squabble was reportedly the 236 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Mark IC, RAF serial number T4800. Here we see the famous aircraft (Squadron code ND-C) of Coastal Command on the ground at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk. Photo: RAF via the Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734734454-J8GHJBD5H8OD6Z17PN77/Triomphe01.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out An artist’s impression of Gatward and Fern banking over the Arc de Triomphe and dropping the French flag on the monument was used as part of an advertisement for the Bristol Aeroplane Company Ltd, who I must admit, was in need of a better logo. The Champs-Élysées is the broad boulevard to the left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626734781705-MSE9QVJ3734KCWUYZ9J3/Triomphe26.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out I superimposed a photograph of a Bristol Beaufighter on this shot of the Champs-Élysées to demonstrate what it would have looked like from the ground. This photograph was actually shot just four weeks after Gatward and Fern’s legendary flight down Paris’ most storied boulevard. This photograph, taken on Bastille Day, 1942 shows Nazi officers taking in the sun on the Champs-Élysées, ignoring the salutes of enlisted men. One can imagine that the Nazis would be scrambling to get out of the way if they saw and recognized a Beaufighter coming down the “Champs” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741230380-JT2SDW20OD73XCH0GT54/Triomphe19.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out One of Flight Sergeant George Fern’s amazing photographs taken at extreme low level as he and Gatward rip down the Champs Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe. Armed with a heavy F24 aerial camera, and shooting from the navigator’s blister half way down the fuselage, Fern snapped this shot of the entrance of The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées exhibition hall and museum. The sign at the entrance reads “LA VIE NOUVELLE” and the irony of a sign saying “The New Life” was not lost on Gatward. In the book Nazi Paris–The History of an Occupation, 1940–1944, there is mention of this exhibit: “For the most part, exhibitions created in Paris during the occupation were dedicated to didactic purposes with the aim of encouraging acceptance of Nazi ideology, as a brief listing —“Le Bolshevisme contre l’Europe,” “La Vie Nouvelle,” “La France Européenne,” “Le Juif et la France”—makes perfectly clear.” In the extreme right we see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. At first I wondered if this was a doctored photo to put the Eiffel Tower into the shot to make it more Parisian for the British or for its eventual publishing in LIFE magazine, but I did a little triangulation in Google Maps, and this angle of the front door of the Grand Palais would indeed include the Eiffel Tower (See map below). Photo: RAF by Flight Sergeant George Fern, DFM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741321601-DHS1SL8FUA33QRR0OCEO/Triomphe23.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Now, THIS is an exhibit that Parisians really wanted to see at the Grand Palais. Nearly three years later, American Army armour parades down the Champs-Élysées directly in front of the same entrance to the Grand Palais. Photo via Lenfer Normand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741363642-BRRX2RSQ8IHDB33FDVVJ/Triomphe35.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out A map showing the flight path of Gatward and Fern’s Beaufighter over Paris that day. Flying in from the west, they lined up on the Eiffel Tower and flew past it to the south, banking hard round it to the northwest and on to the Arc de Triomphe, where they swung round and lined up with the Champs-Élysées. Down the Champs-Élysées they lowered down somewhat to below rooftop level, flying past the Grand Palais museum and exhibit hall. I have not quite been able to determine the exact flight path of the Beaufighter’s turn after the flight down the Champs-Élysées. The yellow dotted path indicates what it would have been if Gatward did not shoot up the Ministère de la Marine immediately, instead turning 270º to the right, which would have given him a good angle on the Ministère coming out of the turn. The image taken by Fern (below) as they flew over the Jardin des Tuileries leads me to think this was their path. Marked here is also the view angle of Sergeant Fern’s camera as they fly by one of the entrances of the Grand Palais museum. Image via Google Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741453656-FU3LHEVZ4NIYF5LL6FTC/Triomphe28.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Place de la Concorde during the Second World War with the Pont de la Concorde crossing the Seine in the foreground. The long portico-faced building facing us is the Ministère de la Marine where the German High Command had their French headquarters. Also we see the Luxor Obelisk rising from the centre of the Place de la Concorde, something Gatward would have to avoid at the height he was flying. Photo from French postcard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741537447-9DS7SYP2JXSWMK27W9PR/Triomphe15.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out At the end of Gatward’s run down the Champs-Élysées, he shot up the Ministère de la Marine which was then being used as German High Command headquarters. Whether he shot up the headquarters before or after his turn is not known by this author, but he hooked round the Jardin des Tuileries to the west of the Louvre, executing a 270º turn, which probably took him over the Seine before heading to the North and then west towards home. There was one other obstacle that Gatward had to keep in view at—the famous Luxor Obelisk which rises 75 feet from Place de la Concorde, just to the left of this photo. It appears they are to the east and to the south of this obstruction. Photo: RAF by Flight Sergeant George Fern, DFM, published in LIFE magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741597050-XXKUKIYJZ7UE8ABIFU3J/Triomphe21.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out The Jardin des Tuileries today via Google Earth’s 3D feature providing an approximation of the angle flown by Gatward. The Google Earth program cannot be lowered enough to simulate the altitude flown by Gatward. Not much has changed in the intervening years. Image via Google Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741665576-C1Y4ASDIEOBTNNXWSPI9/Triomphe32.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Beating feet for home, Fern captures their exit to the north of the spires of Église Saint-Augustin de Paris, with the Eiffel Tower off the Beaufighter’s port wing. The long horizontal structure below and to the left of St Augustine’s is likely some of the sheds at the train station at Saint-Lazare. From here, Gatward and Fern headed directly home to RAF Northolt near London. Photo: RAF by Flight Sergeant George Fern, DFM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741703435-BRTB0JN3NSGIVJKBPH5D/Triomphe09.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Following landing and congratulations by operational planners, Gatward, like many of his peers at that time, made an understated and laconic entry in his logbook: “Paris – No cover – 0 ft (feet). Drop Tricolours on Arc Triomphe [sic] & Ministry Marine [sic]. Shoot up German HQ. Little flak, no E.A. (enemy activity) Bird in STBD (starboard) oil radiator. Returned Northolt and on to Command 61 photos. Heavy rain over England. France fair to light. Northolt to Thorney, Thorney return base. Air Test”. Though it was written up as just another op of many he flew during the war, it was certain that there were not many that had this degree of difficulty and this effect on the war. Photo via Reeman and Dansie auctioneers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741757820-5D36NGD958ZCO96H29VG/Triomphe08.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out A French illustration depicts a rather fanciful version of the event with a massive French flag perfectly draped over the Arc de Triomphe already in place as a huge Beaufighter (relative to the size of the Arc) flies just inches from the top of the monument. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741840504-8O535PJL86KWIS2OZZ2Z/Triomphe07.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out The group of Gatward’s medals went on sale recently, bringing the Operation Squabble story to the attention of the world once again. The medal group—all official replacements, the originals having been irretrievably lost—comprising DSO dated 1944, DFC with bar dated 1942 on reverse of medal and 1944 on reverse of bar, 1939–45 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Defence, War Medals and Air Efficiency Award. Photo via Reeman and Dansie auctioneers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741886222-505FX89PSRPK7C5OWE4K/Triomphe03.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out After the war, the French Government presented Gatward (and we assume Fern) with a magnum of Lanson Champagne in a special presentation case with dedication. This case was auctioned off along with Gatward’s medals. The bottle was empty... as it should have been. Photo via Reeman and Dansie auctioneers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741933810-M5SY4ME00QIOQXDJYEGG/Triomphe04.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out An English newspaper cartoon from the period immediately after the daring mission tells exactly why Operation Squabble was conceived—to provide a morale boost to the citizens of Paris and all of France. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626741985845-4ECOIWIX5HKP7EA36RYH/Triomphe10.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Later in the war, the now Wing Commander Gatward took over command of RCAF’s 404 “Buffalo” Squadron. Here he poses with his personal Beau, as witnessed by the double red stripes in his command pennant on the side of his aircraft, signifying a Wing Commander. All Royal Air Force flags of rank are comprised of red stripes on an “air force blue” background with dark blue borders at the top and bottom. Senior officers have rectangular flags, whereas junior officers’ flags are either swallow-tailed or pennant shaped. Photo via 404Squadron site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626742039866-LTN4Z3QFKFIUBJ2E3ENC/Triomphe24.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Another shot of Gatward, likely taken on the same day as the previous photograph. Note the periscope mirror above the canopy. Photo via 404Squadron site https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626742104011-7SMT1VDH8P70CZYHVGDN/Triomphe11.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out A very evocative image of Wing Commander Gatward after his return from leading an anti-shipping operation with 404 Squadron RCAF—coffee and cigarette in hand, hair disheveled and oil stains on his battle trousers. This photo was reputedly taken after Gatward’s final op with 404. Note that his tie has been clipped in honour of the occasion and that it’s possible the cup does not contain coffee as he seeks a refill. It is also interesting to note that, back in the day, warriors donned shirt and tie to go to war. Photo via 404Squadron.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626742138146-KIXUNB1Q052T78X3S7TE/Triomphe25.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out A great and dramatic photo of 404 Squadron RCAF’s Beaufighters attacking a ship. On 12 August 1944 the Sauerland, a heavily armed Sperrbrecher (mine-detector ship), was hit off La Pallice by Beaufighters of 236 Squadron and a detachment from 404 Squadron RCAF. The aircraft flying overhead in this photograph is reportedly that of Wing Commander Ken Gatward, the CO of No. 404 Squadron and one of the RAF’s leading anti-shipping “aces”. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626742220978-ZW519IVFHMWKPUSI6SS7/Triomphe17.jpg The Stories - TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY - Make it stand out Lastly, a dramatic and breathtaking painting by famed aviation artist Lucio Perinotto captures Gatward and Fern’s historic flight. For more on this gifted and prolific aviation artist visit lucioperinotto.com. Image via weaponsandwarfare.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/deja-vu monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574429612-D5ZYFK5C2WYT6DQMF4RX/FBF18DDB-1F61-4956-B62D-7FB2044E6EA9.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574618190-9NG65MNX9OPPDSOJZ4AK/9B8A7550-FADA-4B7B-B1AF-5EE7734C7D0B.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An early service file/ID card photograph of Donald Scratch, possibly taken at Manning Depot when he was just beginning his career—as an Aircraftsman Second Class (AC2). Photo: via Moose Jaw Express https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574690884-QA9TPEND25FN0UQY75CE/7213762C-0AF5-47F8-ACFC-A07DD8354F07.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An early photograph of Sergeant Don Scratch, most likely taken shortly after his graduation from No. 1 Service Flying Training School in Camp Borden, Ontario. He seems a rather mild-looking man in this portrait which contrasts strongly with one taken later in his career. Photo: Library and Archives Canada via Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574729812-A243PT9KXC7AVBMWWHZ7/76748A9D-26A0-4018-84B2-E4C58270FAF6.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Grumman G-23 Goblins of No. 118 Squadron RCAF in formation. Canadian Car and Foundry license-built 52 Goblins in Fort William, Ontario at the outset of the war. Most made their way to Spain, but 15 were reluctantly accepted by the RCAF and supplied to 118 Squadron as a stop gap measure in the first months of the war. In the summer of 1941, Scratch joined 118 at RCAF Station Rockcliffe only to be deemed not “fighter pilot material” within the month. Given his future illegal displays of piloting skills, his flying ability was not the reason for his being cut from 118 Squadron. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574786868-DP2QCR4JYC8V6TR74JBI/04C590C7-035A-4ADF-AED1-2DDB81319904.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out 119 Squadron Bristol Bolingbroke Mk IVs in formation over Nova Scotia. The “Bolly” was a Fairchild Canada licence-built variation of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV with Mercury XV radial engines. Fairchild built 626 “Bollys”, most of which were employed in anti-submarine and coastal patrol by Home War Establishment fighter squadrons on both coasts or as multi-purpose trainers at Bombing and Gunnery Schools of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574830319-4OML4AHC6PFKQ9KUFCNV/D7048EEB-3D83-474C-90A0-9593DAEC35C2.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A computer-generated illustration of a 119 Squadron Bollingbroke identical to the Bolly that Scratch was flying on March 16, 1942 when he crashed near Sydney, Nova Scotia. Photo: asisbiz.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574864188-K30FRF6MFKUD755PF1MD/C10EF7E7-DDEB-4EE9-A65D-BB70E80825F7.png The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A newspaper clipping from a Winnipeg newspaper. Following the Bolingbroke crash near Grand Lake, Parker's body was recovered and returned by train to Winnipeg where it was buried in St. John's Cemetery. I believe that Parker's death impacted Scratch's mental state throughout his recovery. Perhaps he wondered if there was anything he might have been able to do to get the aircraft on the ground safely instead of stalling and spinning in. Should he have aborted the take off when he first heard the starboard engine missing? If he had been wings level instead of in a right bank when the right engine failed, would he have been able to check the right roll and land the airplane as most assuredly he had been trained to do? I am sure these are things he would have thought about in the endless and pain-filled hours, days, weeks and months of his recovery. Though his actions that day were not mentioned as relevant in the resulting crash investigation, he had to answer to himself I am sure. Clipping: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574901100-74TKEQ12WDVCULWDPZVM/5A495395-56EF-43C6-A4D4-9B15A7E68FED.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Though there is no instance of Service No. R70052 in Scratch's service file, it appears on the “crash card” for the Bollingbroke crash and this administrative mistake is likely how that number entered Scratch's story. Image via Jerry Vernon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574931873-EO864YB5621VI81CQGBS/A6D0DA7A-B8CC-4D4D-AAE0-6F5B69126AC5.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A terrific ID photo of Flying Officer Donald Palmer Scratch—taken after his recovery from his grievous injuries and after his promotion to that rank on 24 September, 1943. One thing for sure, Scratch was a well turned-out officer in His Majesty's Royal Canadian Air Force. He exudes confidence and looks every inch a competent pilot. Photo: Library and Archives Canada via Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574956199-T2W0ED937F0EB4WQID6X/9D5E2534-394E-4883-83E3-C2172C5890A0.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A Consolidated B-24 Liberator of No. 10 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force parked on the ramp at Gander, Newfoundland. When they arrived on the scene, shore-based Liberators had a powerful impact on U-boat operations in the North Atlantic. Combined with shipborne ASDIC (sonar) and high-frequency direction finding (“huff-duff”), the end was near for Admiral Dönitz' submarines. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626574984106-2IAAM96FHZWC73YAURSI/152EF8ED-40E7-4294-A027-6EE37F729EFC.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out This page from the 10 Squadron Operations Record Book (ORB) shows us the type of mission that Scratch was flying in the summer of 1944. Up at probably 02:30, briefing and then launching at 04:20 in darkness. He flew convoy escort as second pilot out over a featureless ocean at a time when there was much less U-boat activity in the Western Atlantic, then returning after 15-long and gruelling hours. When one takes into account his isolation at Gander, his family woes, his mental health following the accident and these long stultifying missions with no hope of advancement, one can find sympathy for Scratch's mental perspective, especially in light of what we now know about PTSD. Scratch had also come through a particularly harsh winter at Gander, with long hours of darkness and little sunlight during daylight hours. In the month of January, 1944 alone, the base administered 860 “ultraviolet lamp treatments” (photo therapy designed to treat a wide array of maladies in lieu of sunlight). Even back then, doctors in Canada and Newfoundland recogized the deleterious effects of prolonged periods without sunlight in northern climes—which we now call Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder. Photo: Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575023682-3K4K0X4VV5MUZ0DF2X16/8984CAD9-5350-4750-8763-9F0A953D1CE4.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of Gander, Newfoundland's massive facility with its wide ramp, through which Runway 27-09 runs. It is clear from this photo that all Scratch would have had to do was pull out straight to the runway and backtrack to the threshold. The USAAF and the Royal Air Force each developed sections of the triangular base for their own use, but the airport remained under overall Canadian control despite its location in the Dominion of Newfoundland, not yet a part of Canada. During the 911 attacks on 2001, 38 massive airliners were forced to land and take refuge here. One look at this ramp and you know they had room! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575057707-MJ3PH7M1K0O5Y8X610UY/B27967DE-E4B1-493D-B928-BAE35B108655.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out “Fit for all duties”. The final thought on the consulting psychiatrist's report to the RCAF concerning Scratch. Photo: Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575082390-88JXQWXCEM2091FTAGSD/193C3AF0-E7AC-464F-9F23-91EF57DE676A.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A remarkably telling photo of now-Sergeant Donald Palmer Scratch. This identity card photograph was attached to a document that was dated 26 August, 1944, during the time of Scratch's incarceration at Gander and a week before his dismissal. This same document also noted him as still an officer with his old commissioned Service Number J26269. He remains well-groomed, more handsome than before, but the knot in his brow, the firm set of his mouth and cold look in his eyes tell a story of a troubled young man. Photo: Library and Archives Canada via Hugh Halliday https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575107055-OSJALHIJYAF4NM291SL2/E3BA9A0C-FC59-4118-B997-BC9032B07FCE.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out North American B-25 Mitchell bombers of the Royal Canadian Air Force line the flight line at No. 5 Operational Training Unit, Boundary Bay. By August of 1944, before Scratch arrived on station, there were 41 Mitchells and 36 Liberators2 on the flight line. It was here, in late 1944, that Sergeant Don Scratch stole one of each. Photos by Noel Barlow, DezMazes Collection, via No.5 OTU Facebook Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575291554-U0X6BAB0FH3IAUT2A06W/3B960F27-B015-488D-912D-731F2EEBA1D1.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of RCAF Station Boundary Bay from about 10,000 feet during the Second World War. Scratch took a Liberator from the flight line at top, and drove it into the ditch along the service road on the right of this photo. Line of taxi and likely location of wrecked Liberator indicated. The road led to the station's magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575322032-ACM46JAFPFROYJVX95B1/F1DD71FE-C405-470E-9802-61A6CE8F0028.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An aerial view of the airfield today showing that the runway and taxi plan has remained the same since the Second World War, though not all runways are functioning today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575355410-KKTBMT0VY928Y3DPI46U/467C9254-6D98-47D4-9E73-807382E4D705.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out The scene at Boundary Bay after Sergeant Donald Scratch's fatal escapade on 6 December, 1944. In the pitch black of a December night, a drunken Scratch missed the turn for the runway and taxied Liberator EW282 at speed right off the tarmac, across a wedge of infield and came to grief in a drainage ditch. It wasn't until 0815 hrs that anyone discovered it out on the field, and this was likely because the station was fully occupied by Scratch's illegal flying display in the B-25. Judging by this photograph, he must have been moving very fast, for the front half of the Liberator has cleared the ditch and is lying on the road. The nose wheel of a Liberator is just forward of the cockpit, but EW282's nosewheel oleo had to have been sheared off in the ditch while the forward momentum of the aircraft took it well past the ditch. The fabric-looking pile just to the left of the propeller on the road I believe to be inflatable rubber bladders which will be used to lift the starboard wing of the Liberator. Photo by Rohovie, DezMazes Collection, via No.5 OTU Facebook Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575383862-03WQOI0G5LZFIZBFM6TA/9BBBBA71-09F1-4DF4-A7FC-A6930C893FC6.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Liberator EW282 with its badly damaged No. 1 and No. 3 engines covered by tarps and the starboard wing lifted through the use of a stack of inflated rubber bladders. Crews at training bases had plenty of experience recovering damaged aircraft on the airfield itself as well as from off-base locations. They had the equipment they needed on hand and had this Liberator extricated by 8 December and towed to the hangar for assessment of the damage. The recovery crew that was sent to the crash site where Scratch finally crashed in another aircraft 5 hours later had a far grimmer job ahead of them. Photo by Rohovie, DezMazes Collection, via No.5 OTU Facebook Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575410027-ZE5G3M7T7PYTTCJJNPRF/3E887F51-831F-4DD2-82BB-7E099B6B25A5.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A good look at the work required to pull the Liberator out of the drainage ditch. Six rubber bladders have been inflated beneath the starboard wing (the air compressor stands on the road) and bridges have been made to span the ditch for work and to roll the aircraft out. The damage to Liberator EW282 was extensive. It was hauled away 2 days later to the base maintenance hangar. A repair crew from Canadian Pratt and Whitney arrived on New Year's Day, 1945. The repair work was not completed until eight months later and by then the war was pretty well over. The aircraft flew only one more time—to nearby Abbotsford for storage and eventual scrapping—cost to the tax payers of Canada was approximately $300,000.00 not including repairs ($4.5 million today). Photo by Fenwick, DezMazes Collection, via No.5 OTU Facebook Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575441516-YY2N7ZP6N8IN7FMOQJAM/DD441FDE-49FB-46F2-93A8-97143BA40959.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out An amazing photo taken on the morning of December 6, 1944 shows Scratch beating up the flight line at RCAF Station Boundary Bay. We can see the blurry silhouettes of a few airmen in the tower, one of whom is likely Group Captain Bradshaw. In the dim light of that early morning, we can see still see the light from the beacon on the roof. Photo: Boundary Bay station photographer Sergeant Herbert Shaw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575467312-MP3MVC6OFSRRB57TV3UR/559A650F-B6C4-4E2B-8F64-A8B0DE45407B.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Another powerful shot of Scratch ripping across the airfield at Boundary Bay. I can't help thinking of Scratch sitting alone in the Mitchell's cockpit—knowing his career is now definitely over, that there is prison time and a court-martial ahead. Having likely sobered up, he has run out of options and knows it. One can't help feel a little sympathy for a man whose decision-making abilities have utterly failed him, if his flying skills have not. Photo: Boundary Bay station photographer Sergeant Herbert Shaw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575505175-A6JILHTHN7XJUD9Y5SR2/8D6EE36B-9D64-44D0-9864-30CA3E7BB8F6.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A dramatic if poor photograph of Sergeant Donald Scratch thundering over the rooftops near Boundary Bay followed by Flying Officer James McBain in a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk in hot pursuit. Just this month, in an eerily similar episode, F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to deal with Richard Russell in a stolen Horizon Air Q400. Photographer Unknown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575533011-5X1WNKXGUPYSZMQP8CR7/06E789D1-95CD-4D22-9C62-EF11DFF069EC.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out The shattered remains of North American B-25 Mitchell HD343 in a field on Tilbury Island (an estuarial island around which Fraser River flows) about six kilometers north of the Boundary Bay airfield. Photo: Boundary Bay station photographer Sergeant Herbert Shaw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575570410-CJ785YKZSBCCYUEYJNVB/C62288B7-AD62-4BB0-99B9-8A191B7AC962.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Luckily, the area where Scratch finally came down was largely farmland in 1944. Today, it is a much more industrialized island. Photo: Boundary Bay station photographer Sergeant Herbert Shaw https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575607286-AFN0SHEI38WT1PKIDH9I/C75AECEE-19B2-43DD-8AE0-CCCCC69585C6.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out A satellite view the area around the Boundary Bay airfield (bottom) and Tilbury Island. Image via google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575638549-GUDHOC4DBW4ZN0G6YJ19/BAFC9425-E285-4430-A410-46899404B088.jpeg The Stories - DÉJÀ VU - THE DONALD SCRATCH STORY - Make it stand out Donald Scratch’s grave marker in his home town of Ashmont, Alberta. The inscription at the bottom, RESTING WHERE NO SHADOWS FALL, perhaps references the darkness and pain he felt in the months following the crash of the Bolingbroke, his painful injuries and the loss of his friend Parker. Many of his colleagues said that his failure to achieve aircraft commander status was the root cause of his frustration, anger, and bad decisions. Certainly Scratch himself expressed this in interviews and affidavits. But I believe that the fractures in his confidence and emotional stability were just as much a part of the damage to the Bolingbroke as were the twisted propellers and crumpled wings. Photo: Thelma Gamblin, Find-a-grave.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/big-bad-and-not-very-beautiful monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611007241-RU08YC4HY6MZ3LBCX949/676DC69F-2484-4423-8207-6A69C6164E8A.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611091096-9XALULP6A7GB9AD1VNN2/AD864EA4-2A16-4906-BE93-66F6A97B2EC6.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The list of futuristic and leading-edge German aircraft designs during and at the end of the Second World War is long indeed—many of which were just on paper. Even so, the ones that did reach prototype or production stages shattered paradigms, pushed boundaries and changed the trajectory of aerospace design for all time. Just a sampling: Left to Right: Top row: Horten Ho 229 Jet Flying Wing, earlier Horten flying wings—Ho IIm and Ho V, Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe; Second Row: Arado Ar 234, Bachem Ba 349 Natter; Third Row: Blohm und Voss Bv 141, Heinkel He 162 Salamander, Vergeltungswaffe V-2 rocket; Bottom row: Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, Vergeltungswaffe V-1 Flying Bomb, Lippisch DM-1 glider test bed. Photos via internet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611120911-JFDF7PAKUZD70WXIQNP9/31373219-DC39-4245-8A37-B5C9C2B34909.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The spoils of war—advanced technology. The Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Reaper transports captured Luftwaffe fighters and reconnaissance aircraft of immediate interest to American designers back to the United States. These aircraft were then ferried to Wright Field, Ohio and Freeman Field, Indiana for test and evaluation. Photo: Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611148325-HX4ONF3KQWH5YUFTTNCO/0E29A978-1C58-464E-820E-D1663410AF99.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Working throughout the war with Junkers, Baade was, along with Dr. Hans Wocke, involved in the development of one of the strangest aircraft of the Second World War—the Junkers Ju 287. First flown in August of 1944, the Ju 287 was realistically a flying test bed for a new four-engined jet bomber concept. While the forward-swept wing was unique, the rest of the aircraft was built from scavenged components of other aircraft (the fuselage of a Heinkel He 177, the tail of a Ju 388, main landing gear from a Ju 352 and nose wheels from crashed USAAF B-24 Liberators). The wing design gave increased lift at slower speeds—a critical period in the flight envelope, when the early Jumo turbojets were slow to respond to the throttle. In the lower image, the three Jumos are joined with three RATO (Rocket-Assisted takeoff) bottles to assist in takeoff. As weird as it looked, the aircraft proved to have some good handling qualities and some future promise, but was developed too late to make an impact on the outcome of war. The first prototype was destroyed in a bombing raid at the Luftwaffe’s test facility at Rechlin. The second and third prototypes were nearly finished when captured by the Soviet Red Army in April 1945, along with Baade and his fellow engineers. The Soviets took over the area in July of 1945 and promised to allow the rebuilding of an East German aeronautical industry. Baade remained and contributed. Photos: Top: Britmodeller.com, Bottom: strangemilitary.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613560246-B5QSUN3ZATFX8GUB4CFK/67C8381D-D903-490B-A76C-EFB3176E1306.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out With its forward sweeping wings, weird engine configuration and comical double nose-wheels (salvaged from crashed B-24 Liberators) and spats, the Ju 287 was unique among aircraft of the Second World War. Photo: Reddit.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611334431-RNK2YBA5O4KUWLXMBJ80/A7F52FB2-4259-406C-99B7-EAE2EFAFD2A3.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Baade and his designers at OKB-1 turned the Ju 287 into an aircraft that at least looked like it had possibilities. The unfinished prototypes of the Ju 287 were reconfigured as the six-engine EF-131 (upper left) with two pylons, each with three Jumo engines. After the EF-131 program was scrapped, the former Junkers engineers focused on the simpler EF-140 (upper right and bottom) which also had the same forward sweeping wings, classic Junkers crew compartment, pronounced dihedral, all new fuselage and two, more powerful, Klimov engines. The result was a rather attractive if problematic aircraft design. Like all of the aircraft in the Junkers Ju 287 line, it was deemed an interesting but dead-end concept. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613607414-N1HFZR228INHR8FXR1YI/3E4A36C8-289E-4C1E-9221-895562D80BAB.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611387350-RJ8SJNS6QD6OPC9P7NPR/941655D3-DBB8-4FBD-8E63-399415377CB8.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The underlying concept for the Baade 152 was based on Brunolf Baade’s last military design—the OKB-1 “150”, a jet bomber from the early 1950s. This aircraft was developed in the Soviet Union using experienced German aircraft designers like Baade, who was the design chief at OKB-1 (Opytno-Konstrooktorskoye Byuro – Experimental Design Bureau). Wikipedia picks up the story: “Despite the high priority given to the actual aircraft, progress was slow during the design and construction phases due, in no small part, to the low priority given to the foreign OKB-1 for resources. Baade was in constant contact with the ‘powers that be’ defending the slow progress but falling short of blaming the paranoid administration system. As well as the bureaucratic setbacks, the aircraft had a steady stream of system and structural failures which needed to be addressed before the aircraft could fly. Flight trials finally began in September 1952, but progressed slowly due to the weather and rectifying the defects discovered during the trials. The seventeenth flight on 9 May 1953 proved to be the last, when the pilot Yakov Vernikov misjudged the flare on landing, the aircraft ballooned and stalled into the runway from approximately 10m. Extensive but repairable damage was caused, but the ‘150’ was never repaired, with test rigs, airframe components, and other parts dispersed to other OKBs. OKB-1 was disbanded and the German engineers were repatriated to the German Democratic Republic.” Photos: Top via pilotinfo.cz; bottom: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613698893-LFUTK1G2FW6JI6TIDCPP/5EC23121-A8ED-4D7A-8574-08CD64E491AE.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 was named after its designer, Brunolf Baade (centre), a German aircraft designer who worked with Bavarian Aircraft Works (BFW) and then Messerschmitt in the late 1920s, assisting in the design of the M.18, M.20 and M.24 single-engine passenger aircraft series. Baade then spent a few years in the United States before the war, working for aircraft manufacturers such as North American and Goodyear as well as Fokker. Before the war started, he returned to Germany and went to work for Junkers where he worked until the end of the war. He was involved in the design development of a series of Junkers military aircraft from the ubiquitous Ju 88 to the really strange Ju 287 four-engined jet bomber. The other two men are Ferdinand Brandner (left) and Günther Bock. Brandner, an aerospace designer and SS Standartenführer (Colonel) during the war, was the designer of the Kuznetsov NK.12, the most powerful turboprop engine ever built and which powers the famous Tupolev Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber. He oversaw the development of the Pirna 014 engines which were to power the Baade 152. Bock, another German aeronautical engineer, was the director of the “Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt” (the East German Institute for Aeronautics). Photo: PilotInfo.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611415227-GYCESA33WPV0BN3XKBOW/4F06E8D1-B6D8-4E6C-8BE7-2DC87A1BF952.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A tough act to follow. Everything about the Boeing 367-80 exuded promise, glamour and revolution—from her sleek tail to her dolphinlike nose. These lines would define airliner design for decades. Photo: Boeing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613646449-1EGDJ75LT62YPXU0XX4Z/781F2AC5-3FC3-412A-A9FE-BC69579FD878.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A fanciful and highly airbrushed image of an aircraft that never actually flew. The engine pods (Looking more dominant in this illustration than they were in reality) are similar to those of the 2nd and 3rd prototypes, but the glazed nose is that of the first and ill-fated Baade 152 V-1. Photo: Flugzeug-Lorenz.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611442388-9TPCMCCMVWKES36WU8Z0/4EBF3FAF-26AE-48B6-8E6A-1F5B8510E2E3.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out An Ilyushin Il-14 Crate, licence-built in the German Democratic Republic, was the flying test bed for a scaled mock-up of the Baade 152’s horizontal stabilizers. This same Il-14 Crate (DM-ZZB) is preserved in Interflug livery at the airport in Reichenbach, Germany. Photo: flugzeug-lorenz.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611473548-DZ75F4EFQHAM5OPE8JQ7/BE1FAF51-90C2-4E02-9233-4039D6ED43FE.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out In Dresden’s May Day parade in the spring of 1958, a float featured a model the Baade 152 dramatically posed over a globe and the Northern Hemisphere. The big jet was in stark contrast with the horse drawn float following. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611505215-MTML76MEDWDTGZXVC6FV/7F353F26-B1A0-4EDC-AFA6-CD617CC4C731.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Even before its public debut, the Baade 152 represented the modernization of East German technology and manufacturing... perhaps this stamp was a bit premature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611534282-U7D3JP5JKMT9K7O2QMQO/4CC62809-8854-489D-AC1B-9C90CA406F8E.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out At the enormous Spring Leipzig Trade Fair in early March 1958, VIPs are given an up-close view of the Pirna 014 turbojet engines which were designed for the Baade 152. The fair, a yearly event since 1165, was renamed the Peace Fair in 1946 and showcased the industrial production of East Germany, fellow socialist countries and even western nations. In 1958, there were 9,600 exhibitors from 43 countries. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613900411-T8EK83J5SRQYL6CRGNFB/229FAD08-84A8-4D28-8508-4214A511F214.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The fuselage of the first prototype Baade 152 Dresden is suspended from overhead cranes of the VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Flugzeugwerke factory in Dresden. In many of the promotional photographs from her development, there always seems to be a group of trench-coated VIPs getting a tour. Photo: Catawiki https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613930008-H8IKC7T4Z7Q88YSHIOJD/82C4B4AD-8651-4D18-8C85-C3F3DFDAC381.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The first prototype (DM-YZA) nears completion in the jigs at VEB Flugzeugwerke. From above, the aircraft looked considerably more attractive. The vertical stabilizer in the bottom left of this photograph belongs to an Ilyushin Il-14 Crate, an aircraft which appears in several photos of the Baade 152. The Crate was licence-built at the same facility under the designation VEB.14. Photo: forumforuma.freeformums.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626613955853-MF0BI47KOU0K32LAHGCJ/F4BB48B0-FA62-4188-8D6D-48F9F020DDF5.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The first Baade 152 prototype (DM-ZYA) stands in the VEB Flugzeugwerke assembly hall while VIPs mill about the floor. The aircraft being worked on at the bottom right is an Ilyushin Il-14 Crate, a Soviet design built under licence at the same factory. The Il-14 and Il-14P transports manufactured in East Germany were designated as VEB.14s and VEB.14Ps. The East German air force operated 30 Crates, 19 of which were constructed in Dresden. Photo: www.thom-blog.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614028313-T2ISD8EO4UHJ5WZLGUY8/96606327-A1ED-4043-8AFF-4476EFC50399.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out To the accompaniment of an orchestra, the Baade 152 is pulled on stage by a tractor in Dresden on Wednesday, 30 April 1958. The choice of April 30th is clear—the next day was May Day, the great holiday celebrated by communist regimes worldwide. The red inlet plugs are in place to cover the fact that the aircraft was rolled out without its four Pirna 014 turbojet engines... or any engines for that matter. The first flight would not occur for another seven months, and with engines other than those with which it was designed to be powered. Photo: fdra.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614062501-J3ULF5WH2NB88LZHI2QA/E53B9746-B3B3-41D0-8910-C469FADD53FA.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out As hangar doors begin closing behind her, the Baade 152 stands proudly at her coming-out party, flanked by formations of military men and VIPs. Clearly this was a big moment in East Germany’s attempt to re-establish its once-great aviation industry. This photo gives us a great view of the strange tandem landing gear configuration and the excellent visibility forward provided the navigator sitting in the nose. Rather than give the sense of speed, the blue painted “cheatlines” serve only to emphasize the big blunt nose of the Baade 152. The symbol on the blue cheatline just aft of the nose glazing is the logo of VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614112816-Z6NBHZ4SU87MSJTNYNJ1/655CE967-6068-4E94-876A-15475175D0CE.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out With the hangar doors now shut behind her, the tug released and the band at ease, it is likely that it’s time for some speeches from dignitaries. The men at left sitting in lawn chairs are part of a television crew filming the event. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611565799-65Z0SLUN05Z1OT91P2W0/5B1C7858-FF3F-4CA7-B081-FDDF89EDE66A.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Perhaps it’s shallow to even consider the way an aircraft is presented, but this was a very big day in the short life of the Baade 152. Nearly three years previously the Boeing 367-80 had been presented to the world in a paint scheme reminiscent of the great Raymond Loewy, one that remains a classic to this very day. Here, in communist East Germany, the Baade 152 sports an uninspiring even amateurish livery. But, in a paranoid society far beyond the borders of style, perhaps this was the height of design. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614172920-P7WKJBV332T3Z96ZZR92/1030FF4A-1B75-491A-9CDC-0A757EFC55BD.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out In a view taken from the top of the VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden hangar at about the same moment as the previous photograph, we see the mass of VEB employees and general public who turned out to witness the rebirth of the once-great East German aircraft industry. In addition to the orchestra, the rollout included a small choir (in the stands at left in white shirts) and was quite possibly televised live. Photo: dresden-airport.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611594392-0W0RR2E4S1X4YG1JG0QH/1FAD4D56-5FD8-437E-9770-675F5C20631B.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Following its public debut on 30 April 1958, VEB Flugzeugwerke employees inspect the Baade 152. Photo: forumforuma.freeforums.org/kurioziteti https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614213868-6ONBMM89YFLUVEA4G4HQ/BC1F3C50-74B8-466F-A624-10F26D1B697B.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out On May Day, 1958, the day after its official rollout, the Baade 152 is presented to spectators young and old, eager to see the powerful new image of a rejuvenated East German aviation industry. In this photo, we see just how high the Baade 152 stands on its centre line tandem gear. Photo: forumforuma.freeforums.org/kurioziteti https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611631438-N4TDQBM5J6ZBOPO1HYXX/73840889-01C7-41CE-A58C-A2795536A8EB.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The simple and very well-organized control panel and throttle quadrant of the Baade 152. Judging by the debris on the floor, this photo was taken during fit-up or possibly much later on inside the one surviving hull. Photo: airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611659592-2HYDAG2FYBW2EXQZOZ7G/3DEB074F-92DF-45E9-BCAE-4397FC5A6C81.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The planned interior of the Baade 152—decidedly roomy if utilitarian in an Eastern Bloc sort of fashion. It is not known whether this interior was built in the second prototype of if this was a mock-up (likely). Photo: airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611684353-7A71OESZLYKVPJ2VV5U4/5B86F9F3-56F2-4446-801D-A87C903A117B.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out From atop the VEB Flugzeugwerke hangar in Dresden we see the first prototype (DM-ZYA) under tow to the runway for a test flight. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611739804-DEYQCXCNJRF6ZKJ7LXPJ/A030D360-FA9F-4C95-9E3E-B8383EB803F2.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A close-up of the cockpit and navigator’s position of the first prototype as it moves toward the runway. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614390184-CK6O3NJGM8WKXTJ1GX93/64ED4AFB-F3D4-4B87-8027-6BA51113E31A.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A photographer standing on the roof of the VEB hangar captures the Baade 152 being pushed out onto the ramp at Dresden. Of all the angles for photos, it seems the Baade looked best from above. Photo: ig-luftfahart152.jimdo.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614421177-F2ZFITG8KQPDCYNDKF7V/BAE76444-F71E-4950-96AB-9D3020949553.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out In the winter of 1958–59, arm-banded VIPs get a close-up look at the starboard engine pod, which was originally designed to house two of the Baade’s Pirna 014 turbojets, each rated with approximately 7,000 lbs of thrust. From the configuration of the inlets, this is clearly the first prototype, which did not have its Pirna turbojets installed, but rather Tumansky DR.9 engines (similar to those found in MiG-19s). The Pirna 014, which was being developed for the Baade, was not ready to be flight-tested for another nine months, even though the first test run had been three years earlier. The only aviation use of the Pirna was with the second prototype Baade 152 (though one was mounted under the belly of an Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle for testing), but the engines found wider use on East German Volksmarine vessels. Photo: PilotInfo.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611767952-H9BH8J6PQ8GNZUV1CRY7/45FA6914-E39B-4C69-8EDD-5597998F06A1.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden pretty well constituted the entirety of the East German aircraft industry in the 1950s, developing and building the Baade 152, its Pirna 014 engines and licence building soviet designs. In 1961, when the Baade and other VEB projects were discontinued, the Pirna engines that were already produced at VEB Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde were put to other uses, including emergency power generators and gas-turbine components for East German Navy ships. Photo: aviationcuriosities.blogspot.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611789802-C32RTEGPMP2WIIHPJED8/2D2E3AC7-D135-441E-A38C-394F640D56A6.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The first prototype (V-1) on the rainy and foggy taxiway in Dresden. Photo: causa-nostra.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614565184-CYDMXMG61QBVCM9919JG/A2461DC1-E9C1-4E41-BE87-2B584774E169.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 prototype, with four Tumansky engines installed in lieu of the Pirna 014s, sits on the ramp at Dresden. Photo: www.airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614596463-O8CID7BZA3NX0KPT5D3J/93DDA003-5ED1-49AC-B6C7-49861DDCFBDC.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Company gawkers on bicycles check out the progress on the first prototype Baade 152 on the ramp at Dresden. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614637599-7YUBJWZRZHA4TJTDUVFO/18A6D04A-5CAF-416A-8408-DA0A06151512.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 thunders down the runway during takeoff—one of only two that it was able to make. Unfortunately, it only made one landing. No Western commercial aircraft had a similar landing gear configuration (tandem bogies and outriggers), but they could be found on military aircraft such as the USAF’s B-47 Stratojets, B-52 Stratofortresses and Lockheed U-2s as well as British Hawker Siddeley Harriers. From an aesthetic point of view, the thin shape of the engine pod, the oversized mass of the engine pylon and the blunt nose all served to make the Baade rather unattractive and uninspiring. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614731074-W57ATM4G9IC4RRCLCHA0/272CD7A6-B001-4E2D-816B-7037AC19D50E.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Another fine colour shot of the first prototype of the Baade 152 taxiing at Dresden with outriggers keeping her balanced. Photo: www.airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611818349-UAX0OS4ZOTHHP1M7M7JI/EAD341CF-A6A4-4952-BB16-A0096950D970.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611848972-5GGQ0ZNNLPXZBCFOOQ8M/72927198-A6A3-4749-B750-FC9851BE42F0.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Photographs of the Baade 152 in flight are hard to come by on the web, and when found are usually like these images of the Baade 152 taking off—poor in quality. For a great period Eastern-bloc-style video of the design, construction, rollout and testing of the Baade 152, click here. Photo: Top: avia-museum.narod.ru; Bottom: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611877322-WJF850T16GNR1P42CNTP/B7CF1FA1-4390-4A25-8647-4ED0EF7E5370.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 passes overhead Dresden airport during the 35-minute test flight on 4 December 1958. During this flight, the landing gear was not retracted. Photo: flugzeug-lorenz.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626724220045-T5D9IAHQMOKHALO16WUC/Baade08.jpg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out With flaps down, the Baade 152 prototype comes in for a landing. This is clearly during the first test flight, as the aircraft never landed following its second flight, crashing instead and killing the crew of four. There were 12 weeks between the first and the fatal second flight, indicating to this writer that the first flight highlighted many technical problems with the Baade 152. Photo avia-museum.narod.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611908248-LB9WD4ZTLLAXV001MLOP/A87E65A2-E8F5-44A4-AAB3-CAA6AA20D330.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611941515-TOX56BOWKU51H378HAB8/C8BB05A5-E210-4F57-A270-551C541146BA.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out VEB Flugzeugwerke engineers and staff welcome back the test flight crew after the first test flight on a chilly 4 December 1958. Co-pilot Kurt Bemme gets a warm reception as he leaves the Baade 152. Photos: flugzeug-lorenz.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611970823-22PY3CMZRPJWEDXVXU9L/E69AD22F-48A2-4C2C-B2C8-018A9DD34470.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The first prototype flies overhead Dresden-Klotzsche Airport, climbing to an altitude of 20,000 feet on its second and fatal test flight on 4 March 1959. Not long after this photo was taken the aircraft crashed and all on board were killed. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614792610-1WKHFPA5HD7YETN02X9F/32FFF0F4-D664-4E80-8E8F-49B109254F8D.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The remains of the first prototype of the VEB Flugzeugwerke Baade 152-V1 Dresden after its disastrous second test flight on 4 March 1959. During this flight the landing gear was to be raised for the first time. The flight departed at 1255 hrs from Dresden–Klotzsche Airport and climbed to 20,000 feet where a series of flight tests was carried out. The plan was that, while descending back towards Dresden, the flight crew was to add power at 10,000 feet, slow the descent and test the aircraft’s response to power settings. However, the descent was continued without adding power. Instead, the crew requested clearance for an unplanned low pass with gear and flaps up. During the descent the airspeed dropped to a value close to stall speed. At an altitude of about 2,000 feet, the crew lowered the gear down and added power. The engine spool up time was insufficient. The airplane stalled and crashed in a field at an angle of 70 degrees. Although the crash was officially attributed to “pilot error”, it is thought that the fuel flow to the engines stopped while descending towards Klotzsche. This was a recurring problem that was detected on a later test flight with another prototype. Photo: baaa-acro.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626611996417-XMHMWTV5W7PKP6VMG62F/11826B67-66FD-4091-9330-752736D55760.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out VEB Flugzeugwerke technicians run up (judging by the man in the lower left distance who seems to be covering his ears) the Pirna 014 engine mounted in a ventral gondola beneath an Il-28 Beagle (reconnaissance/bomber) test platform. The Beagle had a civilian registration (DM-ZZI) and the test engineer for the engine sat where the navigator would normally sit (beneath the open hatch in this image). The navigator moved to a new position behind the pilot. Photo: ruslet.webnode.cz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614859121-3KDES9JQ13G1LUZR9OWD/C9AC3EF4-4E8E-4DFD-B1C5-F78D7569BC73.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A partially complete fuselage of a Baade 152 sits on the ramp outside the VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden hangar. Not sure what the occasion was... perhaps the fuselage was constructed elsewhere in the factory and was being delivered for final assembly. Photo: www.flugzeug-lorenz.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612044592-TCPXGRL315JGVOP3E2PE/51917689-BD71-4BCB-8142-52089F7CCB54.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Another shot of the VEB factory manufacturing facility showing at least six partially completed Baade 152s. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612066413-CBDI96W41ZLEAL6ACFWW/175CF29F-182D-4A35-ACFD-0F6AA7670207.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The just-finished and unpainted second or third prototype Baade 152 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612106232-31KR3MSPGLUTAVA32VT1/9AF5EDDE-87CC-4009-AEA1-DF7D7381B095.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A great comparison between the landing gear configuration of the first (top) and second prototypes of the Baade 152. Both systems offered untraditional designs that would likely have been problematic for many reasons. Photo: Bottom: www.airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626614918801-RWSEPWTTM6BATFX9HMK4/19D6EA7C-8177-4207-A302-9AFF6BBFBF60.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden assembly line with two nearly complete airframes and several partially complete airframes in the back and along the sides of the main production line. In all, VEB had had 12 airframes in various states of completion when the program was shut down. All airframes were eventually scrapped except for one fuselage (No. 011), which remains and is presently under long-term restoration by EADS EFW (Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH) the direct successor of VEB. It is clear from this image and the facility that East Germany had invested heavily with money, resources and time to re-energize their once highly-regarded aircraft industry. Here we see very clearly the more attractive nose and engine pods housing the Pirna engines. Photo: dresden-airport.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612133031-4TX8E2VQQHCXR6OCPDX5/5FC62B07-B915-4C85-ADC7-C4946A8EF32F.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The second prototype of the Baade 152 II is set to be towed from the VEB assembly hall and hangar. The airframe was ready for engine testing and flying a year and a half after the tragic second flight of the first prototype. It now has the Pirna engines and new landing gear and the nose glazing has been eliminated. Photo: dresden-airport.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612154467-Q9XUJKON0V0RSJ53VV59/CFE213F4-3FF4-44EF-A94F-1FC60701413C.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The impeccably clean floor of the VEB Flugzeugwerke factory in Dresden with three nearly complete Baade 152s visible, all with the second generation landing gear. Photo: planes.cz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612174771-WFE16ZRP09S1B65DASS4/C06836A2-9CA2-4949-BE2C-73CF69CEBF30.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out Ground crew walk the Baade 152 under tow before a test flight. Photo: fdra.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626619361683-5NLS0VE1WAWCP7CUKKID/FA5FE112-F1B9-4523-865F-6B1B038252D0.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 is towed across the Dresden ramp on her entirely new and equally-complicated landing gear configuration—four-wheel bogeys that descend from the engine pods. Photo: fdra.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612199640-HD73UCSW7D4A014K4WEA/331E82B8-3488-44A2-B3C0-48C7F21868F1.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The second prototype of the Baade 152 taxies at Dresden. Almost a year and half has passed since the tragic second flight of the first prototype. Compared to the Baade’s fabulous contemporary, the Boeing 707, it lacked the kind of visual qualities that would inspire the public and even its Soviet clients. At the risk of upsetting my German colleagues and Baade 152 fans, the aircraft was simply ugly. There... I said it. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612224177-HQWX8Z2AV7FL36FHKTTX/9F508E3B-0FA1-45D8-9FD4-7510F64616A9.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A close-up of the engine/landing gear arrangement of the second series of prototype Baade 152s. It seems to this writer that the designers had made a compromise when they determined that the original centreline tandem system did not work. One can’t help but think that a particularly hard landing with the new system and the heavy aircraft would damage considerably more than the gear set. Also, should there be a catastrophic engine failure, it is possible that the landing gear might also suffer damage—not a good thing if an emergency landing was required. It was the choice to build the aircraft with a shoulder-mounted wing (an inherited flaw from the OKB-1 150 heavy bomber) that took wing-housed gear out of the equation. Photo: www.airwar.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626619514940-P3WPHU5JOUUK7RQJ8L5I/5D4EC9D2-183E-4E78-81D7-9D26298738AF.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A photograph of the second prototype (Baade 152/II V4—DM-ZYB) taking flight. This aircraft flew only twice (26 August and 4 September 1960) for a total of 45 minutes. These two flights were more than a year and a half after the flights of the first prototype. Photo: Wallstreetonline.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612248838-ALYIH9A77T3BWED4PECY/CC75C3FC-C232-432F-80E4-30C65041DB44.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The second prototype Baade 152 (DM-ZYB) comes in for a landing after one of its two very short flights. From this angle, I will acknowledge that she looks much better. Photo avia-museum.narod.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612272603-EUZEUYLUZDWPBIEJWE2T/016C4498-A42C-49F3-99D2-6C0849D10AD8.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out It seems that landing gear was a constant problem. Here the second prototype has suffered a nose wheel collapse, likely on its second and last flight. Photo avia-museum.narod.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626619566273-QY063LDI5ODT87GHBHHJ/1022B95C-7385-4253-8FFF-8C576CF19DA6.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out A period advertisement/poster for the Baade 152 depicts the later variant with Pirna engine pods and landing gear sets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612296819-ZR625TTZF8AMXDZTHUW0/E8CC9675-111A-4818-A58C-F799285E9D85.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The great Baade 152 experiment ended as all failed projects end—with the destruction of all built prototypes and production models as well as jigs and tooling. One hull, Construction Number 11, did in fact survive and was apparently found being used as a chicken coop. In 1995, it was moved to Dresden airport and restoration was begun. There is a renewed interest in the Baade 152 in Germany, perhaps not so much for its flying history and potential, but because it was the one and only example of the great East German aircraft industry standing up proudly and pushing back at its Soviet subjugators. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626619660083-N3KI7Z2QAZKHVAHVM1CS/7D169C92-2C27-4A59-90C0-28426C4D05D7.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The Baade 152 survives today only in toy and model form. Here, toys of the Dresden demonstrate one of the first approved outputs of West and East German industry after the Second World war—tin plate toy manufacturing. The larger image appears to be a facsimile of the first Baade 152 prototype, while the inset image is a later model Baade 152. Photo: ChristosV, Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626612324777-8WNIG9P9IDL0TIW0TIYC/793AF11C-C59D-4255-A3E0-8472BBD2E106.jpeg The Stories - BIG, BAADE AND NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL - Make it stand out The graves of the four lost test crew members are close to the airport where they flew from when they were killed. Along with the deaths of pilots Kurt Emme and Willi Lehmann and flight test engineers Paul Heerling and George Eismann, can be added the death of a great dream. In time, the East German aviation industry would rise to prominence again, but the loss of this aircraft was certainly a hard blow. VEB Flugzeugwerke would continue after the cancellation of the Baade 152 project, but only as a maintenance facility for MiG fighter aircraft and Mil helicopters. After reunification, the company became Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the highly respected EADS, employed in major conversions of Airbus aircraft. Photo: Wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/around-the-world-around-the-corner monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626575973351-4X8QCLDKAAFKJUIR2G00/27FD5977-B193-4703-A665-714F5B87AEC1.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576002900-4WSOJ5BZSDF2WQMMGM4P/64185EEA-AB3E-4778-869D-819AA6F400DD.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The beautiful Silver Spitfire, sponsored by the luxury watch brand IWC. Photo by the John Dibbs, one of the world's top aviation photographers. Photo: John Dibbs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576029984-ESBB2U3A82G3T8BHMUH3/1FD8715B-C8AB-4B3C-BE9B-AEF7A3B63C18.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out Another beautiful shot by John Dibbs. The Spitfire was stripped of all its paint in order to save the 300 lbs of paint it would normally carry—an idea that, combined with additional fuel tanks in the leading edge D-boxes, extended the range of the aircraft to 900 miles. Photo: John Dibbs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576088667-238OQYPZ2RFVR4I5H7DB/5055BD6B-0590-41ED-BAA0-4ADAC5AB135D.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The sponsor, IWC Schaffhausen, was a natural connection since they have been using a Silver Spitfire in their marketing campaigns for some years—witness this shot of a 15-foot wingspan Spitfire model at the IWC Schaffhausen display at the Zurich, Switzerland, airport in 2016. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576150569-BKP19ASTYWDUSLCKLVQH/419F2A70-4ED5-4A7C-B60D-870349F3031E.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A typically fine photograph by the world-renowned John Dibbs reveals her British registration G-IRTY. Photo: John Dibbs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576212861-V7Y2PJ28S7ZHWNXUB7UH/DE4BEE33-3A6F-4AEF-A3C4-FE8CBD562F6C.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The only known photo of Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX MJ271. It is unknown when this photo was taken, but since there are no squadron markings and it looks freshly painted, it might be during a post-manufacture or post-maintenance test flight. This could have been taken either following its construction and delivery to 33 Maintenance Unit at RAF Lyneham where it was fitted with combat equipment and readied for frontline service, or perhaps after it emerged from the repair hangars following its wheels-up landing at RAF Ford while flying with 132 Squadron. Sadly, the 132 Squadron ORBs were not as detailed as those of 401. The squadron adjutant responsible for keeping the ORBs and records of events did not record any aircraft serials and in the events summary made no mention of the wheels-up landing, making it difficult to determine who flew MJ271 the day it was so seriously damaged. It is curious to see the pilot wearing his officer's cap rather than a helmet. This leads me to believe that this photo was taken during the delivery flight from the Supermarine factory at Castle Bromwich to 33 Maintenance Unit for installation of radios and guns. There would be no need for a helmet with radio headphones as there was no radio. The hat badge seems larger and brighter than a typical RAF pilot would have, and matches more that worn by most Air Transport Auxiliary pilots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576247116-K6R7S6AGZCCIDJ4KA5SF/CD75236E-0227-4CD1-910E-CF0B8B7DC29B.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out There are no known photos of MJ271 in service with 401 Squadron, but she would have been painted like this Spitfire—with the squadron's “YO” code. The 401 Squadron ORBs recorded the RAF serials (MJ271) and pilot's name for each sortie, which was extremely helpful in tracing the Canadian combat record of the Silver Spitfire. Unfortunately, there is no record of which aircraft code she was painted with (“Y” in the case of the above Spitfire). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576277013-CMR0GXJI1BN101LKCO70/63442CA8-9624-411C-9307-A10B6468BA85.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out One of the four 401 Squadron pilots who got to fly MJ271, the first was Flight Lieutenant Harry Furniss of Montréal, seen here in civilian flight training before the war. Photo via Comox Air Force Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576331248-JZHPO7L7R4W3Z9X79I72/B0645407-1D39-48A3-B512-99E773170C16.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A newspaper clipping from the Ottawa Journal on April 17, 1941, announces the graduation of two Ottawa boys from Service Flying Training. John Carson Lee, who would go on to fly MJ271 on six combat sorties, grew up just three blocks from my home in the Glebe and survived the war. Sadly, William Finlay did not. He would not even make it to the end of the year as he was killed just five months later. He was “lost on operations at sea,” so it's possible he was with Coastal Command. Image via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576364793-YEY155THQYVQVSIG2SPV/EE35A9EE-2C95-4221-AFC3-DFC896949ACA.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A 126 Wing Spitfire IX from 412 Squadron taxies at B-80, near Volkel, Netherlands, in October of 1944 on a dive-bombing sortie over German rail yards with two 250-lb bombs slung underwing and a 500-pounder on the centreline. MJ271 was armed with two 500 lb. bombs (one under each wing) on all of her 10 combat sorties with 401 Squadron. Without dive brakes, the Spitfire was not a great dive-bomber and the wings could easily be overstressed. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576391712-0TWWOGKCT140XZRYZBG6/D05AB1C5-6891-4821-B825-3CEEDB77CFC5.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out After attending Flight Instructor School at Trenton, John Carson Lee became a flying instructor at No. 2 SFTS Uplands. There, in his first summer instructing, he taught my former father-in-law, Wing Commander Frederick C. “Fred” Jones (above) how to fly Harvards. Photo: Jones Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576423756-U7HI047BE3EGKCT9849P/1D9E247A-4699-472F-88F7-523FF80C8370.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out John and Betty's engagement notice in the Ottawa Citizen, August 29, 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576451399-ZQDX80PWBXQO5A5YCVD2/3F79A782-DD45-4210-B224-5F64F6C68AA3.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out Mr. and Mrs John Carson Lee on the day of their wedding. John had been demobilized after his return to Canada but was still in uniform for their wedding day. Elizabeth, known as Betty to her friends, and John were both 23 years old. According to the Vancouver Sun's society pages, Betty wore a “Queen's blue crepe afternoon-length frock and chapel veil of matching blue held by a floral halo in matching tones,” while her bridesmaid, Miss Nora Moody, wore a “maize crepe tunic model.” Wing Commander F. K. Belton, RCAF chaplain, presided over the marriage. Lee's best man was none other than RCAF Spitfire pilot and double ace Squadron Leader Don “Chunky” Gordon, DFC and Bar, DFC (American), who shot down 12 enemy aircraft in the war. Lee would have known Gordon from their time at 83 Support Group Unit or possibly they met when Gordon was with 442 Squadron, 144 Wing in the same area of the Netherlands. According to Betty, now 97, Lee ran into Gordon in the streets of downtown Vancouver the week before they were to be wed and asked him to stand as his best man. Always up for an adventure with an old flying pal, Chunky happily agreed. Lee's formal RCAF portrait (in engagement notice above) shows a man of steely eye and square jaw, but here we see him as the man Betty married—an often funny and happy spirit who is clearly delighted with his new situation. Photo via Brian Irwin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576476557-D06TDLITYLW67VMYZXZV/C5622C1A-B8B4-4D6F-AD88-227A941174F7.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A great shot of "Chunky" Gordon in the cockpit of a 274 Squadron Hawker Hurricane in North Africa. Photo via acesofww2.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576495721-ZQOAYFWRRSRNZ0YS39CQ/FEAD2A9E-A6FA-41BC-B4BA-758053ECBF33.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A great photo of Marana Air Force Base in 1956 during its heyday showing the barracks complex and parade ground and the flightline in the distance. Operated by Darr Aeronautical Technical Company from 1951 to 1957, the base was closed by President Eisenhower along with 29 others. It was a shame to close this particular base since, according to former USAF pilot Dale Elliott who trained in the area, there was not one flight cancelled due to inclement weather during its years of operation. Photo via tucson.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576514067-ER1TGP9RXDTANBSJBOQL/83C38F7F-A773-4993-ACE2-7550A67E0E2F.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A train car–load of flight training cadets from Norway, Belgium, and France arrives in Tucson in 1951 and are greeted by officers from Marana. Photo via tucson.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576547623-MIZ0PWU4TDIGVCRB2D9E/2B5237DE-7928-4157-88F3-4DAFC5658415.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The T-6 Texan flightline at Marana where John Lee spent his days training younger pilots. It was Lee's long-term hope to get into the lucrative airline flying business. Photo via tucson.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576570885-CA1G61DMDHQ5YMJ7Q9GK/CC5298CB-AF04-432A-B090-C6701A44533F.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The Beech T-34 Mentor, along with the North American T-28 Trojan, was a replacement trainer for the T-6 Texan of Second World War vintage, which was being phased out of USAF use in the last half of the 1950s. Betty remembers that John Lee conducted flying training on more than one different type, so it is likely that he was also current at the time on one or both of these two more advanced training aircraft. Photo via tucson.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576592631-QRTRRXDWSWRH9T5POVNX/24EAD806-4463-4981-87E2-0DAA30CFBFEE.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out The Douglas DC-6 in National Airlines livery flies for a glamour shot over the hotel-lined West Palm Beach, Florida, around 1953. The DC-6 and its bigger sister, DC-7, flew with National well into the 1960s. Photo via EdCoatesCollection.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576609893-ZO6GFOGPBSQ9X45F1582/C8B5C378-38FF-434E-8B4B-1629587212F3.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out A photo of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress N131P (USAAF serial 44-83439) during its short time (October 1959 to late 1962) with Paramount Aquariums Inc. of Vero Beach, Florida. Paramount acquired the Fortress and had it converted in Tucson, Arizona, to carry tropical fish. It carries what looks to be a graphic of a Siamese Fighting fish on its tail and the title PARAMOUNT AQUARIUMS aft of the cockpit. The aircraft was white over a pale blue underside and the tail gunner's position was fared over. The white over light blue with a red cheatline was a paint scheme used at one time in the civilian aerial spray/fire-fighting role. This photo was shot at Oakland, California. Photo via Milo Peltzer Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626576635265-WKZHYH833KOKNHQGV8V3/7DF08D3B-FF2A-4AF6-8B29-C8FD009A2687.jpeg The Stories - AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CORNER - Make it stand out High in the arid alpine heights of Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, near the shores of tiny Lake Uldumindia, lie the last remains of John Carson Lee. The remote and sacred spot connects with Holmwood Avenue in the Glebe and to the Silver Spitfire's journey to 27 countries around the world. Photo: https://www.gobernacionkogui.org https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-boys-of-ste-annes monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626701794576-77XEFJAYF6B2I5JR8A09/BoysFlashHigh.jpg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626703788123-0U5E0UDRKF37VQHWMQ3E/StAnne59-1.jpg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out At the end of the First World War, the military hospital at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue had its own railway siding (above) where invalided soldiers were off-loaded on stretchers right from the train, which likely was loaded at Halifax. It says much about the number of wounded expected, to have a dedicated rail siding for their efficient delivery. Photo via Ste. Anne’s Hospital https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026491288-H4MJGKHV2KUU1V87NACZ/StAnne53.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out By the Second World War, the multiple wings of Ste. Anne’s Hospital were ivy-covered, and from the outside, seemingly idyllic. Like the Rideau Veteran’s Home I used to pass on my bicycle as a child, the care and therapies provided to long-term veteran residents was, while well-meaning, more primitive than it is today. Photo via Ste. Anne’s Hospital https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026567071-G47ZRMAG7U29HA5P7IFM/StAnne54.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out On the outside, Ste. Anne’s Hospital was friendly and welcoming. On the inside from the outset, the atmosphere was, according to the Veteran’s Affairs website “friendly but disciplined. In 1916, the Military Hospitals Commission imposed military discipline on the institutions under its jurisdiction to improve attendance at trades training programs, and to reduce the risk of bad behaviour by some of the Veterans. Military districts were transformed into Hospital Commissions Command Units, thereby placing staff and patients alike under military authority. Military discipline was the order of the day until Ste. Anne’s Hospital moved to its new premises in 1971.” Photo via Ste. Anne’s Hospital https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026633106-IVWEA9YL6AO0NXM3IAJ2/StAnne56.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste. Anne’s Hospital around the time of the Second World War. Many Canadian wounded were invalided back home via hospital ship and then train to this facility. Photo via Ste. Anne’s Hospital https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026671632-9TBDLJW4FD58QJVOPJOA/StAnne57.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out A photo of Ste. Anne’s Hospital during the same period as the previous photograph shows that, as far back as the Second World War, accessibility was important as witnessed by the ramped sidewalks. One of Vintage News subscribers, Sandy Sanders, had this to say about his memories of Ste. Anne’s Hospital in these days, and it says a lot about the science of dealing with veterans in those days before the Second World War: I went to Macdonald High School in Ste. Anne’s from 1939 and remember the hospital very well. We used to see patients walking around Ste. Anne’s and they were dressed in Blue or Grey clothing. My memory fails here because one of those colours was not assigned to regular patients. One color was not to be served alcohol in any of the local watering holes at all. Some of those had a red circle or cross painted on the back of the shirt area. One of those so marked were not supposed to be able to leave the hospital grounds. Photo via Ste. Anne’s Hospital https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026722836-ZMU5CDPN0C6G18K92R7M/StAnne55.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out A brand new and modern facility was built in 1971. Recently however, it was completely overhauled, changing older open concept wards into wards of all private rooms. Photo via MemorableMontreal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026787878-LVQVA5GSL41MPLIUEBHT/StAnne73.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste. Anne’s Hospital with its new Remembrance Pavilion at left. Photo via MemorableMontreal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026898520-K89FMJDFSTZK04DH6YJ6/StAnne19.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste Anne’s Hospital Foundation development coordinator Andrée-Anne Desforges and ward nurse Marc Lessard visit veteran Monsieur Rosaire Gaston Ouellette in his room. Each veteran is encouraged to hang pictures and bring in mementos to make the rooms their own. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027658478-QZY5H98C8HLFB2O1ITKB/StAnne20.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Long-term residents settle in and make their rooms an individual statement, surrounding themselves with memories and personal items that provide comfort. In this way, residents turn their hospital rooms into their homes. The pole on the right of the bed provides support, allowing aging veterans to better rise safely from their beds. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027724442-S1I42UHUH8ZQ0C076QKD/SteAnne75.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out For patients with dysphagia, swallowing food is difficult enough, but liquefied and puréed foods become unappetizing. However, simply reforming the puréed components of this meal (ham, pineapple, asparagus and beets) in their original shape has profoundly positive psychological effects on veterans who have to deal with the problem. Photo: Prophagia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027786713-2QFNPAG2M9HNDSERJDBJ/StAnne03.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste. Anne’s Hospital has many aging veterans whose health issues mean they will likely spend the rest of their lives as residents. The hospital looks after their well-being in many ways beyond ordinary therapeutics. The woodworking shop is a favourite with the male veterans, many of whom require the assistance of Pierre Groulx, the workshop’s technician who helps them with dangerous power tools and offers a second set of hands. The veterans work on small projects such as wooden toys for their great grandchildren and Groulx says it’s not a miracle cure or anything, but it helps veterans deal with the stresses of a changed life and the loneliness that comes with the loss of wives and most of their friends. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027833688-GGKCGWVGLAWEFOSJDG2C/StAnne04.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out The workshop is equipped with many tools from large power tools to traditional brace and bit. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027883928-574YZZLAFCE7XD385YW7/StAnne05.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Anthony Ozanick, a quiet and elegant RCAF veteran, was a ground crew mechanic with 408 “Goose” Squadron. He served with 6 Group at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Today, he finds relaxation and companionship in the woodworking shop. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027923860-AVLGIEXZUYY56KKDZOL4/StAnne66.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Anthony Ozanick flew operations in Avro Lancasters from the big Bomber Command base at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, one of 11 stations allotted to 6 Group, RCAF. It is still today one of the busiest of the RAF’s airfields, used for fast jet pilot training. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027958098-9R34ZJF01YXHKL40KTM5/StAnne06.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Many male residents love to hang out in the woodworking shop with Pierre Groulx, making doll houses for great grandchildren or birdhouses as gifts for visiting relatives. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624027995752-9O8HCRDGJIVKH1VFFH0P/StAnne14.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out An arts and crafts studio with abundant natural and overhead light provides a popular place for residents to while away the day in creative pursuits ranging from oil painting to weaving to doll and toy making. Here, art advisor Diane Martineau helps a resident at one of the many tabletop looms in the studio. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028670568-T7915K9ARY7AXFYVE2VN/StAnne12.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Mme Lacasse, one of about 30 female residents at Ste. Anne’s Hospital, weaves place mats and table runners, projects which are popular gift items for family and friends. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028713422-YW829F7IG7UPSJ7FPEUG/StAnne72.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Mme Hélène Lacasse slides the loom’s shuttle drawing weft threads through the warp. Working on such devices as looms, residents keep their minds active and creative and their coordination sharp. An afternoon with a friend at the looms provides a strong social experience as well as resulting in creative work. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028749254-YEVBZN541LNNY0J76PF3/StAnne11.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out The art studio is lined with all sorts of finished projects (stuffed animals, birdhouses, pottery, picture frames), all of which are for sale at extraordinarily low prices. The profit from the sale of any of these items is given directly to the veteran who created it. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028787881-55CM3VQWPRM6OY3YSAZE/StAnne15.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Colourful snakes made from felt adorn the arts and craft studio. Simple, repetitive arts projects like weaving and toy making provide mental stimulation, social intercourse, artistic outlet and the simple satisfaction of creating something. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028897406-0UZMT88HSU4W6EP5QLNI/StAnne80.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out While interviewing the staff and veterans at the arts and crafts studio at the hospital, I found that one could purchase any item on display (and there were many), and the profits from the sale would go directly to the veteran who made that item. While this may not mean a lot in terms of money, it certainly would provide warm confirmation that their work was appreciated and yes, valued. I bought two white stuffed lambs for my granddaughter and was able to give them to her the following week. The look on her face tells it all. I also sent this image to the Foundation and they showed it to the veteran who had made the two lambs... it’s always good to close a circle. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029104990-G24JMRPPY9VU7DXOI6CO/StAnne07.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste. Anne’s Hospital staff go the extra mile to customize mobility and accessibility devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, canes and others to fit each resident. This ensures the highest degree of comfort and utility, and demonstrates to the veterans that they are considered unique and important. Mobility workshop technician Tony Pednault is much loved and respected for his creative modifications to mobility devices that provide maximum comfort and utility, all customized to the requirements of each resident. These requirements are of course constantly changing, so residents often drop by for an adjustment. Fellow Foundation staff tell me that he can, and will, do just about anything for one of his residents. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029155823-YGX6RMZ8KUJZ2IDBO1Z1/StAnne08.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Stacks of wheelchair cushions. The Hospital and its Foundation supply all the devices and activities that make life at the hospital a positive experience for aging veterans. Storage rooms are packed with all sorts of chairs, cushions, attachments and technical aids that can be combined to increase comfort and mobility for men and women in their final years. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029230234-DWPKXLEO16A9SLY7V7GX/StAnne16.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Ste. Anne’s Hospital Foundation understands that many of our Second World War veterans grew up and remained deeply religious, finding solace in the spiritual community of their choice. Here we see two simple but effective details in the hospital chapel that speak to the constant concern for the well-being of the minds and hearts of veterans. The chapel is a multi-denominational chapel, easily converted to contain services of any Religion, be they Jewish or Christian or Islamic. The fourteen Stations of the Cross, found in any Roman Catholic church, are housed in shallow doored alcoves in the walls, which can be closed for events and services in another denomination. Higher on the wall, we see a television camera, which automatically follows the movements of the celebrant in any service. Residents can attend a service in person, or, if their mobility or memory issues prevent them from attending, they can have it broadcast on the television in their hospital room. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029271985-7FNYV237JRVX9WMV61FY/StAnne18.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Simple techniques assist healthcare workers to better serve their veterans. Each floor of a wing of the hospital has a dining room for its residents. Place settings are set for each resident and a place mat for that individual tells the story of each resident’s health needs—using icons for specific requirements and food issues. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029382251-RLLDA718E298GRSPAZO9/StAnne21.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Volunteers with Ste. Anne’s Hospital provide residents with a large library of books with titles of great interest to the “Greatest Generation”. The volunteers at Ste. Anne’s Hospital are vital to the quality of life for our veterans. In addition to organizing the library, they organize activities and outings and accompany the veterans who attend. They also make bonds with veterans on palliative care who have no families or have families too distant to pay regular visits. Having a friend visit as they face death is a critical part of the palliative process. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029423525-6QK3AKJ3HUZLDUJF5VE4/SteAnne69.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out The new Remembrance Pavilion at Ste. Anne’s Hospital is a residence specially designed for veterans with memory problems. The modern facility was created especially for the issues facing patients with cognitive deficits. For instance, there are no dead-end corridors where a wandering patient might find himself or herself. Instead all corridors allow patients to move freely, yet always bringing them back to the heart of the building. Rooms in the Remembrance Pavilion are sunny with lots of window area. Bedside bulletin boards in each room utilize a system of symbols to tell staff of the specific needs for each resident, similar to the system used in ward dining rooms. Photo: Jean-Guy Lambert de Jean-Guy Lambert Photographie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029662112-P5DQG5MK06ZDT5GS9PYZ/StAnne23.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out The Foundation is always in search of therapies and programs which enhance life for residents and their families, especially programs that give high emotional and well-being return on just a small investment. In the Remembrance Pavilion, the hospital volunteers and staff have adopted a unique and powerful idea... one that creates lasting feelings and memories for family members of dementia patients. As loved ones slip away one memory at a time, family members are greatly comforted by the Holding Hands Forever Project. The idea is simple, elegant and deeply emotional: the resident and a loved one clasp hands for a just few minutes with their joined hands immersed in a non-toxic material the consistency of pudding—clasping hands for about five minutes. Then, using the mold which is created, a cast is made in plaster, capturing every wrinkle, fold and even the emotion of the moment. The clasping or holding of hands, either spouses or great grandchildren is a powerful act of affection, one which family members can keep forever. I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to have a cast of the hand of my grandfather, a veteran of the trenches in the First World War. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029702095-2G352Q664W4XF1ELRNCZ/StAnne24.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Toute personne est une histoire sacrée—“Every person is a sacred story.” reads the artwork at the entrance to the group lounge in the Remembrance Pavilion. Many of the veterans who live here have forgotten their stories, but the love and respect shown them by the hospital staff grants dignity for the ending of their story. The handmade decorations which line the walls of the Pavilion are created by a volunteer who changes them up frequently and seasonably. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029750390-QJO1XMK6AV7O1OVU4PP1/StAnne26.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Each week, a piano player will visit Ste. Anne’s Hospital and play the old songs these aging warriors sung when they were young men and women. There are usually two singalong sessions—one in the main hospital tower and one in the Remembrance Pavilion. The songbook includes the lyrics for hundreds of songs for both French and English veterans. Singing was once the only entertainment for young airmen in faraway places, fighting for their lives. In those war years, messes from Scotland to Ceylon rang with songs of longing, love and hope and yes, bawdiness. It’s appropriate, as these men and women reach their nineties, that singing brings them the same joy and solace. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029840317-7JMXPN5WC1N8XIXMV68N/StAnne28.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out No welcome at Ste. Anne’s was warmer than that of Flight Lieutenant (Ret’d) Leonard Allistair Fuller, a Bomb Aimer who completed a full tour on Handley Page Halifax bombers with 415 Squadron. Each veteran that the Vintage Wings team interviewed this day had been asked ahead of time if we could speak to them. That morning, we ran into Fuller in the hospital’s physiotherapy gym, where he said, with a twinkle in his eye: “I’ll be seeing you later.” When later that day we visited him in his room he crossed the hall to invite other airmen to come in for a bit of old time hangar flying and to get some chairs to handle all four of us. It was clear that our visit was a highlight and that these veterans would love the chance to speak about their experiences. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029880949-SMZLQUMP51NQD0W56GJL/StAnne29.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out The Boys of Ste. Anne’s Hospital, Flight Lieutenant (Ret’d) Leonard Fuller (left) and Sergeant (Ret’d) Gilbert Prévost (right), host Vintage Wings volunteers Claude Brunette, Dave O’Malley and Peter Handley for a wonderful afternoon’s hangar flying. With the sun pouring in on a late summer morning, the Vintage Wings visitors were delighted by the warm welcome provided by the Second World War airmen. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029920728-NWI754044DZ116NZQOBQ/StAnne30.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Gilbert Prévost relaxes in a wheelchair, answering the many questions of the author (left), while fellow airman, Everett-Paul Firlotte, a Rear Gunner on Lancasters, joins in the discussion. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029976970-Y4N2K6ODYXBNFBE5P0MB/StAnne31.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029994855-RGENNLZVPT3DQUMH0OEN/StAnne35.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030061392-BUB69MCO9U1A4ANC3S8O/StAnne61.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030107655-LO4HIRPRJAYKPCUAE4GV/StAnne62.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030164052-JVLSPE1XHTVT30LRXDNR/StAnne02.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030212011-L0OSFPBLWHUG996NWJMJ/StAnne64.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030256681-RAPEA5ITZTOZUIUU486C/StAnne32.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030358541-BRHXH6SEIY9F0RPPRWSE/StAnne27.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030417686-SIOQ9HQPLKMFZ81WOXSP/StAnne60.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030490728-CGUVR4FEWVL3B65053ZY/StAnne34.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030515361-8BOY9B07SFC04YRUWPEX/StAnne68.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030574081-C3TWQRUY6B19CVHJYGXC/StAnne37.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030614111-2POI3Q542800WHUXQPCF/StAnne42.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030658532-GLB9X5UHALYGQO3GLHGE/StAnne39.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030703769-IH9WFUMHYLUW3A2QID2T/StAnne38.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030751408-P6DYDRS6E1ZFD9MFVDHP/StAnne41.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030795713-3FXE083HBTZBY5NDWIII/StAnne40.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030841093-HP67EIFT75T0D7LA6GSC/StAnne43.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030888937-DXVAH2O8LEGRY8VIDLBY/StAnne44.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030939636-273APCH0TF80KZGE632G/StAnne50.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031001008-VQK851U42APMXN8U1Q9L/StAnne51.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031045170-HSFEZ6FVCDR39K2BXI5Q/StAnne46.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031112594-73IIJK6KAFIVGSJ6YQI7/StAnne52.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031217317-2UQE8OBEUJ0368Y2G6J5/StAnne47.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031293758-IF96J21STY8615L4K1P6/StAnne17.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031355016-SM7WFKJN18SSK270PJMO/StAnne48.jpeg The Stories - THE BOYS OF STE. ANNE’S - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/goodbye-arch monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626720586958-8S1NJROPFWBBVL53OKST/Goodbye-arch.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384043521-2TKBV7UTNTKU1MKSUXV8/GoodbyeArch2.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out At one of the dispersal bays at Hollandia airfield on Papua New Guinea, Arch Simpson (in cockpit) poses with his ground crew and his own Kittyhawk - A29-401 HU-R. While landing in this aircraft on January 2, 1944, Arch endured a landing gear collapse, but walked away uninjured. The aircraft was repaired and re-entered service with 78 Squadron, but was shot down on June 3rd with her pilot, F/Sgt William “Happy” Harnden, being killed. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384161372-3N4DW06IBPQNMJJE35M1/GoodbyeArch4.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Robin, Arch's son, re-enacts the scene from Simpson's old photo at Hollandia while visiting the Wings over Wanaka air show in New Zealand, back in 2002. It would be a rare day indeed for a Second World War pilot to come across a single old warbird he once flew. Arch found two... this one (A21-448) and ours (A21-414) Photo via Robin Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384242835-R92J07E8BMKTK73LYAG6/Tadji12.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out A close up of the artwork on the fuselage of P-40N A29-414 Come in Suckers! Arch Simpson flew this particular aircraft on a number of occasions and then witnessed her destruction while landing on a boggy airfield at Tadji, Papua New Guinea. This Kittyhawk survives and flies today at Vintage Wings of Canada. Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384411950-CHQ3GYSRXTADZQWNVBD4/Tadji14.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out The sad end to the battle veteran Come in Suckers!. Dripping with fire fighting foam and surrounded by rescuers on April 25th, 1944, the Kittyhawk had just been be bulldozed out of the way (with Jim Harvey still inside it!) of pilots desperate to land. The entry in Harvey's logbook for that day states "Aircraft crashed and overturned after landing short of strip - pilot OK". The whole misadventure was witnessed by Simpson while orbiting overhead. Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384501574-A1OXMDVYWI2EYJL576PM/Tadji4.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Arch Simpson, far left, always spoke of his "mates" with much kindness, love and reverence. For him, this was the most powerful legacy of his time during the war as a fighter pilot. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384564434-2BO1PWK3XCL0FEXKR74R/GoodbyeArch15.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Arch was a warbird and vintage aircraft pilot. He helped restore Royal Australian Air Force Auster A11-53, seen here leading another at Canberra in 1953. Known affectionately by Arch as "My Bloody Aeroplane", A11-53 was owned by the Gliding Club of Victoria and registered then as VH-MBA. Photo via Arch Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384625402-O7CA4JWZIG2CGHECM4GY/GoodbyeArch3.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Arch Simpson sits in the cockpit of another P-40 Kittyhawk in New Zealand while Pioneer Aero mechanic Martin Hedley strikes the historic pose. Talk about just 2 degrees of separation. Martin visited Vintage Wings for a month in 2009 to help up work out technical snags on our Kittyhawk, which he helped build in New Zealand. Photo via Robin Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384669787-CV021PDEVBPEUW8MCVHR/GoodbyeArch5.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Arch sits once again in the cockpit of a Kittyhawk and recounts a few old memories. Arch was a pacifist at heart, not given to agression and fighting. Like most warriors of the Second World war, he put down his tools and went to do the job that was asked of him. When it was over and he had survived, he went homne to resume the life he dreamed of as a cattle and sheep rancher. Photo via Robin Simpson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626384696034-5BIHMRTKIGQ3W079BLPR/Tadji18.jpg The Stories - GOODBYE ARCH - Make it stand out Arch Simpson's granddaughter Penny throws a comforting arm over his shoulder as he gets up close to a P-40 Kittyhawk at Wangarratta. Arch lost mates and shared profound life experiences during his time fighting the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. Vintage Wings of Canada wishes to express their support and condolences to the Simpson family who have lost their gentleman patriarch - a decent, honest and hard working man, who risked all for his country. Photo: Arch Simpson Family Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/heartache monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626200221275-A0OXVI2KC84VD4RM60OM/Heartache00.jpg The Stories - HEARTACHE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626200331477-S25914174M0K9N9NLB09/HarryTrip19.jpg The Stories - HEARTACHE - Make it stand out Bruce Evans (second from left) was the kind of man who would fly across the country just to have dinner with 93-year-old Spitfire pilot Harry Hannah, the namesake of the Vintage Wings Stearman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626200446631-D02PF8O21XZ0KNFA1DPD/Heartache05.jpg The Stories - HEARTACHE - Make it stand out Photo by Fancis “Belly” Bélanger https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/getting-it-right monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366617373-P8BF0E75TM5R5ZYUP6RQ/GettingItRight1.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366708126-IZ0KUTADOWM0CJP97XP1/GettingItRight_B.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Pilot Officer William “Willie” McKnight, left poses at Duxford in 1940 with his 242 Squadron commander Squadron Leader Douglas Bader (centre) and Flight Lieutenant Eric Ball. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366748136-B4TP30A4Q8BXXU1VA8JQ/GettingItRight_C.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out The handsome Flying Officer William Lidstone McKnight, DFC, a Canadian fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, was that country's leading ace during the Battle of Britain. McKnight survived the Battles of France and Britain, only to die in combat in January of 1941, when his Hurricane failed to return from a sortie over the English Channel. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366795453-OTN20WV2TX6NISHGKVWX/GettingItRight_D.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Once the fuselage is complete, we will be hand painting McKnight's famous artwork depicting a skeletal Grim Reaper with a sickle pointing towards the enemy as well as, on the lower engine cowling, the image of Hitler being kicked in the arse with a black leather 242 Squadron flying boot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366846317-3RW3QTU080I3PHL08LSF/GettingItRight_E.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out McKnight leans confidently against the starboard wing of LE-A. This extremely poor photograph, along with the previous one, are the only two photographs known to exist of McKnight's Gloster-built Hawker Hurricane P2961. Every other detail concerning P2961's paint scheme — fin flash, roundel sizes, stencilling and serials — remains today only conjecture. After months of research by us at Vintech Aero and the much-appreciated assistance of Canadian aviation historian and artist Terry Higgins of Aviaeology and others, we have managed to get closer to what we believe McKnight's Hurricane looked like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366920281-1AY5HK62AI38PLS778JG/GettingItRight_F.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out This and the following photographs, which came to light towards the end of our search, have solidly informed our final decisions regarding how LE-A might have actually looked. It depicts Gloster-Built Hawker Hurricane P2959 being inspected by a German airman in an airfield junkyard at Nantes, France. P2959, just two airframes ahead of P2961 on the Gloster assembly line is probably the closest we will ever get to a definitive answer as to how P2961 was painted. There seems to us a high probability (though not 100%) that there were no changes in the standardized paint scheme employed by Gloster at the time between the two airframes. Photo via RAFCommands.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366960705-NNDU833OYZ6EFDV82NMG/GettingItRight_G.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Another look at P2959. From these photos we made the decision to use a similar 35-inch Type-A roundel in the standard position with 7 inch bands but with an outer yellow band of just 5 inches. As well, the fin flash extends from the horizontal stabilizer to the upper rudder break. P2959 was to be delivered to 501 Squadron at nearby Le Mans. It appears that the aircraft did not survive long enough to get 501 Squadron codes applied. Perhaps it was seriously damaged on delivery as it does not appear to have damage caused by combat. To make it useless to the Lufwaffe, the retreating RAF have removed its wings outboard of the box spar (possibly taking them back to England) and have lopped off its propeller blades and empennage. In the background sit two forlorn Fairey Battles, part of the ill-fated combat debut of that poor-performing light bomber. Photo via TD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367026951-6CKFZ72S5VDI1IJWWWCO/GettingitRight_N.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Positions of Sky Band (left) and Squadron/Aircraft codes and stencils were first roughed in with tape to get best alignment and sizes. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367065413-9OPGYMG42ITZQYDJNMN0/GettingItRight_M.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Once we sized the squadron codes (30 inches) and roundels (35-inch Type-A with outer yellow ring of 5 inches), we carefully positioned the letters and discussed the final details. The cost of a top paint job is such that there was much discussion and measuring before we committed. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367110005-GNWH40NN00MTDFQE2JJB/GettingItRight3.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out The port side of the McKnight Hurricane showing the 18-inch fuselage band painted in “Sky” colour (the spinner is also to be painted in “Sky”). These two paint scheme additions were mandated by the Royal Air Force and were painted on P2961 in November of 1940 following the Battle of Britain. There are plenty of photographs in the web of Hawker Hurricanes from the period with these later addition “Sky Bands” painted on over the aircraft's serial number. But there are also plenty of examples where the serial number is either repainted over these Sky Bands or the Sky paint is carefully painted around the serials. We couldn't find an example of a 242 Squadron Hurricane Mk 1 with these bands, but we painted the RAF serial over the Sky Band for two compelling reasons—there is a photograph of 242 Squadron Hurricane IIs with the serials in painted black over the band (quite possibly painted this way at the factory) and at the time of P2961's operational history, 242 Squadron always used the aircraft serials when reporting unit activity and sorties in their Operations Record Books. We felt that the serials were of some importance to the squadron adjutant who was tasked with filling out the ORBs and squadron diaries and therefore were likely to not be painted over. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367178166-8CQ4XWN52PSV7BQBFM47/GettingItRight2.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out The underside of Hurricane P2961 changed three times in its 7-month operational history. It came from the Gloster Factory painted in the standard of the day—“White/Night”. The aircraft was split down the centreline with white on the starboard half and a black colour called “Night” on the port side. The “White/Night” scheme was designed to enable easy identification between friend or foe by England-based anti-aircraft gunners, but on June 6, 1940, operational squadrons (in England and on the continent) were ordered to paint the entire undersides of their fighters in “Sky”. However, Sky was a recently-introduced standard colour and had only been issued to factories and post-factory maintenance units and had not yet made its way down to operational squadrons. Another order ensued the very next day directing squadrons instead to paint the underside a “Duck-egg Bluish Green” — not an official colour and something that was open to interpretation. The following day (June 8), 242 Squadron was ordered to France along with its aircraft. That left just a few days for the unit to ready their aircraft and get them painted. We believe that, if they had followed this order to the letter, the aircraft underside could not be “Sky”, but possibly one of two “similar” paint colours available to them (“Sky Blue” or “Eau-de-nil”) OR a custom mixed colour that approximated “Duck-egg Bluish Green”. As “Eau-de-nil” is a rather ugly colour and “Sky Blue” was very susceptible to interpretation, we opted for the latter option — a hand mixed shade of “Duck-egg Bluish Green”. The colour itself is very similar to that depicted by Aviaeology, the acknowledged experts on the markings of LE-A, in their documentation for a set of 242 Squadron Hurricane I decals. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367257160-HL0WLUES76PMPJIAXT4W/GettingItRight4.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Another view of the underside of LE-A showing the non-standard “Duck-egg Bluish Green”—a colour which is just slightly different from the “Sky” band which was painted around the rear of the fuselage as ordered by the Air Ministry in November of 1940. By this time, “Sky” was readily available to squadron riggers and was almost definitely used (the previously black propeller spinner was also repainted “Sky” at the same time). At this time, all squadrons were also ordered to paint the underside of the port wing in “Night”— not like the original split down the centreline, but just the wing from the centreline outwards. Photo: Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367312859-26RP2IGMBO8DXVPD5GV1/GettingItRight6.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Another view of the port side with RAF roundel and RAF fin flash. Photo: Korrey Foisey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367387038-HR2QP8US7E77J703LLIW/GettingItRight5.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626367411515-CU3U71KUE6D3I1AS8JY6/GettingItRight_O.jpg The Stories - GETTING IT RIGHT — A Sneak Peek - Make it stand out There are many ways in which the classic RAF “fin flash” could be applied (Three alternates shown in lower image). We chose to stick to the fin flash worn by P2959, making the assumption that not much changed between the two aircraft on the assembly line—in this case three vertical 10-inch bars ending at the rudder break. Top Photo: Pat Tenger https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/godspeed-john-bennett monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626383211138-49IG73Q3Y9YUZF5LN1CX/Godspeed.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED JOHN BENNETT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626383339457-T1ZXHSY3PZCG9GHUC1G5/Godspeed2.jpg The Stories - GODSPEED JOHN BENNETT - Make it stand out The volunteers and staff Vintage Wings of Canada offer their sincerest condolences to John's wife Robina and his children Karen and Mark and their families https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-long-line monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626382211175-J1ZQSQSGPMMVHV90PZOG/LongLineTitle.jpg The Stories - NATHAN CIRILLO, PATRICE VINCENT AND THE LONG LINE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626382293216-TK9RWYX33K3XC4CP14CE/LongLine3.jpg The Stories - NATHAN CIRILLO, PATRICE VINCENT AND THE LONG LINE - Make it stand out Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent (left) and Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Photos via the web https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626382409656-Y0Y67OPT5I0QM625HDRQ/LongLine2.jpg The Stories - NATHAN CIRILLO, PATRICE VINCENT AND THE LONG LINE - Make it stand out The 16 men whose names are carried on our aircraft. Like Cirillo, all were in their early 20s. Top (L-R): William Harper, Stocky Edwards, Bill McRae, Arnold Roseland, Willie McKnight and Archie Pennie. Middle: Rocky Robillard, Harry Hanna, Tim Timmins, John Magee, Cliff Stewart, Larry Robillard. Bottom: Fern Villeneuve, Terry Goddard, Bunny McLarty, Hart Finley and Robert Gray. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-war-years monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370151068-BPZNXXZ8Y27QJPX87ZCI/Beaune00.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370516084-A082MQ7KFOVVOYE022IT/Beaune03.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out Left: A young Leading Aircraftman Raymond Beaune stands on the sidewalk outside 825 Belle Isle Avenue, his parents’ home in Windsor, Ontario. He proudly poses for a family photo in his new uniform with its white aircrew cloth flash sewn into his cap. This was likely during his time at No. 6 Initial Training School in Toronto. He was posted there in November of 1942 and was granted leave for Christmas at home in Windsor, 370 kilometres to the southwest. The photo on the right is LAC Beaune in his winter flying kit, back home again during his Elementary Flying Training at No. 12 EFTS Goderich, on the shores of Lake Huron. Photo via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370569922-4Q0D6AAR7YDY2TR42ER1/Beaune04.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman Raymond Beaune leans proudly from the left seat of Avro Anson 7557 at No. 9 Service Flying Training School at Centralia, Ontario during his training on multi-engine aircraft, which started in April of 1943. Beaune was fortunate in that all of his training from ITS, through EFTS to SFTS, all happened within a few hours’ train ride from his home in Windsor, Ontario. This enabled him to visit his family on his leaves. Anson 7557 survived the war as did Beaune—it accumulated 2,185.25 hours of flying time and was struck off charge in August 1946 and likely scrapped. Photo via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370609115-QPBTO0LXXVA021K9N5XD/Beaune05.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out Beaune was promoted to Sergeant after his successful completion of Service Flying Training at Centralia. This photo shows him likely leaving for the next stage of his training, saying goodbye to family and friends, possibly forever, yet he beams with pride and youthful excitement for the task ahead. Photo via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370663718-U4WKP1E67L62T1LBL7TC/Beaune09.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out “I dropped the plane into the clouds with only the cockpit sticking out above the clouds. Any enemy planes that would come looking for us would find it difficult as the clouds hid us effectively. As the sun came up at the correct angle, the clouds all around us turned into a beautiful gold colour” – excerpt from Ray Beaune’s memoir, The War Years. Photoshop image by Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370727699-KDQZDGJHJXIIXZ27WO3W/Beaune11.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out Mic and Mac. Beaune’s two air gunners were best mates and similar in many ways, not the least of which was visually. Sergeant Louie “Mic” McGuire (left) was from Windsor, Ontario, Beaune’s hometown, while Sergeant Walter A. “Mac” McWilliams was a farm boy from Manitoba. On 6 October 1944, Mac failed to bail out of the flaming Lancaster and was killed. Mic was grounded due to a cold, but when his crew did not come home, he cried deeply all that night. Photo via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370786212-Q7MAUS2NCPT43XMK1QGM/Beaune06.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out The Beaune Crew. It is not known whether this crew photo was taken when Beaune was with 90 Squadron or later with 7 Squadron, Pathfinder Force. We can identify a few of the men from images in Beaune’s memoir, The War Years. Beaune is in the front row with cap. We believe that Sergeant Louie “Mic” McGuire, the crew’s Mid-Upper Gunner, is at the left in the front row, while Beaune’s Rear Gunner, Sergeant W.A. “Mac” McWilliams, stands at right. Bomb Aimer, Gordon Garvie was a Warrant Officer, so likely he is the one with his arm around Beaune. Beaune’s son identified the fellow standing in the middle as Flight Sergeant Archibald “Junior” Davidson (RAAF), Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. For the rest of the crew, their aircrew brevets are not clear enough in this image to tell who they are, but their names and positions are as follows: Sergeant Fred G. Etheridge (American), Navigator and Sergeant J. Forester, Flight Engineer. Beaune’s first Flight Engineer was named Jamieson (from Vancouver), but the 90 Squadron Operational Record Books (ORB) clearly show multiple times that the crew’s Flight Engineer was Forester. At some point early on, the man in that crew position must have changed. From the 7 Squadron ORBs, the entire crew was intact on the night Beaune’s Lancaster was shot down, except that Gord Garvie had left and was replaced by a Flight Lieutenant Milligan and Mic McGuire was grounded with illness. He was replaced that night by a Flight Sergeant W.A. Sweet. Photo via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370844570-1N26XZN2JNML5KT2FWZS/Beaune02.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out A newspaper clipping from the Windsor Star carries a news item about several missing service men. Beaune’s photograph reveals the typically youthful countenance of the day. [Looking at this photo, there is no doubt that Ms. Steph Beaune is his granddaughter—the resemblance is astonishing. Clipping via Raymond Beaune Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370879437-IXWW5O4OXQ9L038S93MO/Beaune07.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out In his 80s, Flying Officer Raymond Beaune got the chance to fly a Tiger Moth from the student cockpit one last time. Photo via David Beaune https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626370921654-S9W0IZN8OIDK4IVCQU61/Beaune08.jpg The Stories - THE WAR YEARS - Make it stand out A rather humorous and obviously altered photograph shows Beaune’s official RCAF portrait superimposed on a production still from the 1960s television hit series Hogan’s Heroes. Beaune spent the remainder of the war in Stalag Luft 3, the camp from which the Great Escape took place the year before. Beaune’s face replaces that of Colonel Bob Hogan, while the ridiculous Sergeant Schultz and the frustrated Colonel Klink give their signature expressions. Image via Raymond Beaune Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/wombat-and-weasel monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626364868697-DC7GAS4DBUELJWIC1P6I/Brothers00000.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365080022-1SBRDZNY0JBRLZFVPCOS/Brothers08.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Photos of Pilot Officer Patrick Phillip Woods-Scawen are even harder to come by on the web. At left, Weasel (or Woody as he was also called) is seen smiling and wearing his recently awarded Distinguished Flying Cross. In the photo at right, Woody is second from the left, with a Guinness in hand likely outside the squadron mess. Photo RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365165548-98IKRRVMKPC79REOVZ1L/Brothers06.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out There are but a few images of the Woods-Scawen brothers available on the internet, all of which are rather poor quality. Nicknamed “Wombat” by his 43 Squadron mates, Tony Woods-Scawen was described by Squadron Leader Peter Townsend as “brave as a lion and blind as a bat”. His poor eyesight, so seemingly obvious in these photographs, may have been the reason he was shot down four times. Photos, clockwise from right: Alchetron; IntoTheSwarm.blogspot; Cieldegloire.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365238210-ASW5DT6OMQMBJB6F0JQV/Brothers16.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out While the winter of the Phony War in France was cold, boring and frustrating for Weasel Woods-Scawen and the pilots of 85 Squadron, they all turned out smartly on 6 December 1939 for a visit by King George VI (in light coloured coat riding boots and jodhpurs), Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester and Field Marshal Vereker Viscount Lord Gort, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), to their airfield at Lille-Seclin. The first three two-bladed Hurricanes are from 85 Squadron while the other three are from 87 Squadron. The hexagonal marking, seen here on the tails of the 85 Squadron “Hurries”, was adopted by the unit in the First World War. On the other side of the ramp sits a Bristol Blenheim and two Gloster Gladiators from 615 Squadron. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365368816-0K4E9BS8YJF658LP1ZYQ/Brothers17.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out 85 Squadron Hurricane Is and their pilots and ground crew await orders to scramble at Lille-Seclin, France in May of 1940. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365408650-RZQXV3Y57BCN1X5M04WH/Brothers01.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Defence of Scapa Flow. A boyish Pilot Officer Charles Anthony Woods-Scawen (second from left) poses in front of a Hawker Hurricane Mk I at RAF Wick, Scotland in 1940 for an RAF promotional photograph with other pilots of D-Flight, 43 Squadron, the Fighting Cocks. Left to right in this group: Sergeant James A. Buck, Pilot Officer Woods-Scawen, Flight Lieutenant Caesar B. Hull (soon to be Squadron Leader), Pilot Officer Wilkinson, Sergeant Geoffrey A. Garton. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365468473-KZ00BYNP6EHPIO3SWK1X/Brothers11.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Another photograph taken at the same time as the previous photo reveals a squinting Charles Anthony “Tony” Woods-Scawen second from left. Known as “Wombat” to his fellow pilots for his poor eyesight, Woods-Scawen had reportedly memorized the eye examination chart in order to pass his medical. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365524448-W221G8UU0FAW5X1E64ZR/Brothers04.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out An 85 Squadron pilot grabs his parachute and helmet from the tailplane of his Hurricane Mk I as his ground crewman leaps into the cockpit to fire up its Merlin. The scene, set up for a promotional photograph, was at RAF Castle Camps where “Woody” Woods-Scawen and 85 Squadron had a detachment until the middle of August 1940, after which the entire squadron moved there… but for just three days! Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365571987-0709SO34WVW0H9VJVFU3/Brothers12.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Hawker Hurricane Mk Is of 85 Squadron, on patrol during the Battle of Britain, October of 1940. Though this photo shows the Hurricanes at squadron strength, Weasel Woods-Scawen would not have been one of the pilots, as he had died the month before. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365633570-SRUGBCU9N1IKQ2RVZ6OL/Brothers30.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Tragic grouping—six 85 Squadron fighter pilots and a medical officer relaxed and happy outside the RAF Debden mess in the summer of 1940, each with a mug of Guinness in hand. Left to right: New Zealander Pilot Officer John Laurence Bickerdyke (killed shortly after this photo was taken); Pilot Officer Patrick Phillip Woods-Scawen (killed a couple of months later); Flying Officer James Lockhart (who would be shot down by a Japanese fighter and killed in 1942 in Ceylon); the redoubtable Flight Lieutenant Richard “Dickie” Lee, DSO (killed in action a few weeks after this photo was taken); Sergeant Leonard Jowitt (killed just days after this photo was taken. In this photo, his head is shaved, having lost a bet during another boisterous squadron party); Flight Lieutenant “Monty” Bieber, Medical Officer; and Sergeant Earnest Reggie Webster, the only Hurricane pilot in this photograph to survive the war. Photo RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365741341-KD8GQ6UH1NGBXLGITKO7/Brothers02.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out A 43 Squadron Hawker Hurricane Mk II. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365798670-6K38KWSE3DURL7LWJWRS/Brothers10.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Pilots of 43 Squadron Fighting Cocks at RAF Tangmere in the summer of 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain. Charles Anthony “Wombat” Woods-Scawen is at centre front. Left to right: Sergeant Mills, Pilot Officer Gray, Wombat Woods-Scawen, Sergeant Jefferys, Sergeant Deller and Australian Flight Lieutenant Richard Carew Reynell. Jefferys was killed two weeks before Woods-Scawen (in Hurricane V7442). Reynell was killed a week before Jefferys along with the South African Caesar Hull. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365901283-593RNKOX1D2C8UQEQTB6/Brothers14.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out A 43 Squadron Hurricane after a wheels-up landing. Tony Woods-Scawen would make several similar emergency landings of his damaged Hurricane in his short career. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626365980882-1GQBSS84GA5QE1GKGYO6/Brothers15.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out A year following the deaths of his two sons, Phillip Woods-Scawen looks defeated as he accepts their Distinguished Flying Crosses from King George himself at Buckingham Palace. Accompanying him to the ceremony was Una Lawrence, the boys’ heart throb and their cousin, 18-year-old Sergeant Gerald Edgar Francis Woods-Scawen, a 92 Squadron Spitfire pilot. It is hard to tell in this photograph exactly what the tragic Woods-Scawen is holding, but the inset photo shows the case and medal from the photo. It is interesting to note that Una, known as Bun-Bun or Bunny to the two lost brothers, is at this time wearing a wedding or engagement ring. In a particularly tragic epilogue to this story, cousin Gerald was shot down over the sea and killed four months later on 3 October 1941 by Hauptmann Johannes “Hannes” Seifert, commander of 1/26 Jagdgeschwader. It was Seifert’s 21st victory of 57. Woods-Scawen had just turned 19 years old. His body washed up on the beach near Noordwijk, Holland in mid-October. Photo via intothestorm.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626366068916-2DGOFLRMMA6KYQBS4147/Brothers09.jpg The Stories - WOMBAT AND WEASEL - Make it stand out Together throughout life; sixty miles apart for eternity. The Royal Air Force headstones for Weasel and Wombat. Tony is buried at Hawkinge Cemetery in the County of Kent. Patrick is buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard, Caterham on the Hill, Surrey. Across the North Sea in Zuid-Scharwoude, Holland lies the body of their cousin Gerald in Noordwijk General Cemetery https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/read-and-remember monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352784244-N51BWWTLKUAV3QRK09NW/NotForgottenTitle2.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352381049-87QJCU8A3CVZGQCLNPZA/AngelTitle5.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352380992-UBM3YY54D8XQWAAGGK2Y/BarklowMcKnightTitle2.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352381620-SWZC6YP5PRS1U6BVLWY1/Beaune00.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352381638-TY6RSH62Q4CUZKSM6Z5B/BlackBuffaloTitle7.jpg The Stories - 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READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352403691-UEERXAMMRZR1AZ8TNXK0/NotForgotten48.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352404251-EI9HH22KVDHDLU62BQO5/NotForgotten49.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352404232-OLLL7UD43J8HP0S3QXPT/NotForgotten50.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352404820-VNT9PCYAIA9XW0IKLYOX/NotForgotten51.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352405252-M66YYQZCZLVRTXUKQA5Z/NotForgotten52.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352405927-P25OJUYUWNE8SMFOAH97/PawsonTitle2.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352406393-C9G2GR1D5N404XLVPBC5/Relic00.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352406533-LBL6390WNRSEKC1LBEQS/RoseyTitleFinal.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352406954-FIJRBSIB6X01FARH6839/ShellHouse44.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352407099-F5Z8SXDX3SYHUJ5E6WXD/SheppardTitle2.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352407519-Z5CMNHWKRJF260X2EQ4P/SheppardTitle3.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352407706-QC4WXCM8KG5NW1UPZRXO/Stocky01.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352408152-9RII5RPZEJ2HFMQG5QG0/Tityle3.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352408379-BPNW4YA4GBKRSYJ22ZBG/TwiceLuckyTitle.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352409037-HGJJ53OJK9JLYQ1WQKAS/Undaunted0000.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352409148-6FXU3X5ULJ0HNPDZ45SM/Ward19.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626352410082-19X6LADCYQ2TBYZSLMC9/Wine.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f83261ed-f1d4-48dd-83fc-c28b6ef1c454/Goodbye-arch.jpg The Stories - READ AND REMEMBER https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/heart-as-big-as-an-empire monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626296498032-EXC7B7SF3WTY1UWZ58LT/Diva00.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626301633261-CFKOUEINON5919C7OM75/Diva02.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out The docks of Durban, South Africa as seen from the deck of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn. As Unicorn made fast to the dock this day, she would have been serenaded by Perla as a welcome to the city and to remind her crew of home and what they were fighting for so far from it. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626301712154-VD07EMMWQE4PP7P3MVQJ/Diva03.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out A photo from an unknown photographer aboard HMS Unicorn captures the welcoming sight of Durban Harbour and the city beyond. Photo via Richard Mallory Allnutt Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626301772198-74HHW0747XHNWOL5HOF0/Diva04.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Two wonderful photos by the same unknown photographer of the previous images show Perla standing next to a bollard and singing or perhaps calling out to men on a troopship, and then later (right) enjoying the warmth and admiration of young men off to war. The look on her face shows the joy she found in her goal to sing to every ship entering and leaving the harbour during the war. There must exist hundreds if not thousands of photographs of Perla from this perspective hidden in personal and family photo albums around the world. One wonders how many have gone to the landfill. Photos via Richard Mallory Allnutt Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626301876267-166OJ42DCV463HNZCSLU/Diva06.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out A photo from the March 1944 LIFE magazine article about Perla Siedle showing her waving farewell to a cargo-troopship as it slides past her with its rails lined with admiring sailors and soldiers bound for the war. Photo: LIFE magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302125222-7ASAN8D8YGT0U50JZQU0/Diva07.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out A joyful scene. Sailors cheer and Perla laughs as she shouts a few “cooees” to an arriving ship dockside at Durban Harbour. Note the faces smiling out from the portholes along the bottom of the photo. One can only imagine the emotional effect of seeing the Lady in White for the first time after having heard of her throughout the journey to Durban. Photo: LIFE magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302250815-NKN0EAO7P1V1HQQDYLG7/Diva01.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Commonwealth soldiers line the stern rail of a troopship in Durban Harbour as Perla belts out a song while standing at the edge of the pier. Photo via rememberussa.co.za https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302331189-8ZG5C95YWODAD14IFJTH/Diva08.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Another troopship arrives or is about to depart dockside at Durban. While Perla would sing them into and out of the harbour, she also spent considerable time chatting to the young men and women, getting to know where they came from and where they thought they were bound. In many respects she was a mother of a quarter million children. Photo via remeberussa.co.za https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302528046-SZLVWH1VL71FVN4B0ICY/Diva05.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Perla Siedle Gibson meets with that other inspirational chanteuse of the war—Dame Vera Lynn (left). Here both ladies meet after the war at the Warrior’s Gate MOTH Shrine and Museum (MOTH—Memorable Order of the Tin Hat) in Durban. They pose with Moth Harold Clark. Perla wears her South African Legion and MOTH Tin Hat badges on her signature white dress. Photo: Travers Barret via moth.org.za https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302572735-3VBY5PNRO1151D4YX15Y/Diva09.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out By war’s end, Perla was indeed a world celebrity. Here, in 1957, she appears to be reprising her act while surrounded by soldiers in summer kit. It seems as though she had acquired a number of different loud hailers/megaphones during her “wharfside work”, this one being somewhat larger than the one she was often pictured with during the war. Photos via 35-ofp-kluang.co.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302616476-VZKBU8T9J45OEYU1EG11/Diva10.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out In 1995, a statue of Perla Siedle Gibson was erected dockside in Durban Harbour and unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II. It stands near the Ocean Terminal pier, where she spent the war years bringing cheer and warmth to ships full of lonely young men and women. The statue was designed by Perla’s niece, and it seems she may have been kind to her aunt in the weight department. Photo: Allan Jackson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626302659297-UX1MABLN654IAEANS2LG/Diva11.jpg The Stories - HEART AS BIG AS AN EMPIRE - Make it stand out Two book covers from Perla’s biography. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/glorious-and-free monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267008581-WM3UYZ2CFFXGLT33VI11/Oh-Canada00.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267073762-0YZ1GKZMB976Q7YA5XLO/Oh-Canada48.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out For an outstanding and short video about the air traffic control chess game necessary to hold, collect and queue dozens of extremely dissimilar aircraft for the flypast, click here or on the image. The planners of this event did a stellar job. Image: RCAF Facebook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626286289058-RZHM3XLOQUJP9YT2EN4V/Oh-Canada01.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out First to depart, Paul Kissmann wheels the High Flight Harvard down the runway, with uber-excited Peter Handley in the back. While Kissmann will position the aircraft well, the visual outcome of the entire mission rests on the skills and experience of photographer Handley. If he fails to achieve excellence, there will never be another chance like this. The outcome, however, was never in doubt with this author. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267143579-AQRHU5W51G6DXA94LK1R/Oh-Canada01.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Pilots participating in the Canada Day flypast of Parliament Hill and who were based out of Gatineau, gather for a briefing in the board room at the Gatineau–Ottawa Executive Airport. Other commanders from aircraft based at Ottawa International were conferencing in. Out in the rainy airport ramp can be seen the CT-141 Tutors of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267369597-ZVLW5YT6VDO5YIOJV3U3/Oh-Canada02.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Back in the lounge at Vintage Wings of Canada’s hangar, the four fighter pilots go over procedures and look at the weather conditions on-line. Clockwise from left: Mike Potter, Spitfire pilot and founder of Vintage Wings of Canada; Rob Erdos, National Research Council (NRC) test pilot and Hurricane pilot; Paul Kissmann, NRC Chief Test Pilot and Corsair driver; and John Aiken, former NRC Chief Test Pilot and Mustang pilot for the flypast. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267415417-I6KB8D6PSO5BAFLGAR26/Oh-Canada03.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Four aircraft of the Michael U. Potter collection are readied for the flypast by Vintech Aero engineers Ken Wood and Paul Tremblay. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267454694-EA4KJNAFAOB64Y7BJR3F/Oh-Canada05.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Mike Potter goes over his checklist prior to starting up the Roseland Spitfire Mk IX, which would be making its first public appearance as part of this flypast. Mechanics, friends and photographers know well enough to keep their distance from these warbird pilots as they prepare themselves for their flights, allowing them to be alone with their airplane and their thoughts. Interrupting them with idle chit-chat can break their concentration at a crucial period. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267511028-3Z4DLY7G1UCMBXYHVQCK/Oh-Canada06.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out John Aitken does his pre-flight walk-around, inspecting the rudder and trim tabs of the Robillard Brothers Mustang IV. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626267590714-BINJ0DJIZV2AAZ311AQN/Oh-Canada07.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Potter and Erdos follow the others onto the single 6,000-foot runway at Gatineau, while in the distance, the weather holds no promise. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287328727-04U9V17K42TZH3WN2ZN0/Oh-Canada08.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Formation Lead Kissmann leads the group above the scudding cloud, and below the high overcast. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287370018-0D7ZR3W0Q0BMP3T3A8A4/Oh-Canada09.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Though the weather was far from optimal, the atmospherics were gorgeous. Most air-to-air photo shoots are done early in the morning or late in the evening on sunny days to take advantage of the low angle and warm light offered by the sun near the horizon. While the results are often wonderful, the light is always the same, and the feel far from tactical. The white-grey cloud and intermittent openings on this day gave a powerful period feel to Handley’s images, reminiscent of the photographic style of true rolled-film shooters of the war. If you are familiar with Ottawa, you will note that the formation is flying southeast over Rothwell Heights just east of the facilities of the National Research Council at Blair Road. At the far right of the opening in the cloud we glimpse the Ottawa River. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287428741-V4LW1QA6IIDZLBCD84CC/Oh-Canada10.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The flat light of a rainy day makes this image feel like an early period colour photo. Montreal Road can be seen at bottom left. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287475528-SKP229S12SC4G21EMOH7/Oh-Canada11.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The Roseland Spitfire in magnificent profile above the scud of an uncertain day with the Flight Lieutenant Bunny McLarty Hurricane IV holding station on far right of the “finger-four” formation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287542807-VEFBZFG8MG5BCLNTA4A8/Oh-Canada12.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out When Peter Handley first looked at the previous shot, he saw something familiar in its composition and clouds that reminded him of a famous shot from the Battle of Britain. A little aging and mono-toning of the recent photo shows highlights and eerie resemblance to the following photo from that famous aerial battle. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287707110-U35G1ATL8663CQIJ2OBR/Oh-Canada19b.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The previous photo brought this famous photo immediately to mind. Supermarine Spitfire Mk Is of 610 County of Chester Squadron, based out of RAF Biggin Hill, fly over Southeast England during the Battle of Britain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287843996-56HULYH7RR83KGEWIH0I/Oh-Canada20.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out In a slow left turn, Potter and Erdos rise against a leaden sky. You can see Potter concentrating on his lead in the Corsair. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626287940535-8PDD7AA1B2FUCX8K84UG/Oh-Canada21.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out A gorgeous shot of Potter in the Roseland Spitfire, taken as the formation makes a right turn over lush green woodlands in Québec. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626291845386-ZEP2T26ZA5RZOUK4W0V3/Oh-Canada23.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The formation (with the Spitfire and Hurricane moving from “finger-four” under the Mustang to “echelon-left”) passes the intersection of Boulevard Lorrain and Autoroute 50 as Kissmann heads toward home. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626292325138-ODZ1WCF1061E19T9K474/Oh-Canada24.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Now on Kissmann’s port wing, the three fighters follow him home over deep green Québec countryside. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294181855-Q3D32Z8L73FJ02LIBLCG/Oh-Canada25.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The cream of the crop—four of Canada’s top warbird fighter pilots, all of whom live in Ottawa. Left to right: Rob Erdos, a senior test pilot, first with the military and now the National Research Council (NRC), is also a test pilot for Skies magazine. John Aitken, former senior test pilot with the RCAF’s Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) in Cold Lake, Alberta and Chief Test Pilot at NRC, is now Chief Pilot at Vintage Wings of Canada. Mike Potter, founder and funder of Vintage Wings of Canada and former Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, is a high-time civilian pilot with a wide range of experience on everything from high-performance sailplanes to corporate jets to vintage aircraft and warbird fighters. Paul Kissmann, a former operational fighter pilot and squadron commander with the RCAF, was also Chief Test Pilot with AETE and is now Chief Test Pilot at NRC. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294256796-MBAZYSURENTWFNNS5F1J/Oh-Canada26.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Prior to turning props, the pilots go over reference points on Kissmann’s Corsair for alignment during the formation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294291277-SMI4BNQNGWHQCMKK6IR8/Oh-Canada27.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Aitken watches Potter and Erdos to his left on the Vintage Wings ramp, waiting for hand signals to confirm they are ready. To fly with John Aitken is to fly with one of Canada’s finest and most respected pilots. Soft spoken, thorough, hard-working and enthusiastic, Aitken is much loved by all who fly and work with him. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294432482-Y9OX6T8FVAN450LB3LYH/Oh-Canada46.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out 40 years ago, a thirty-something Major John Aitken was one of Canada’s test pilots on the Northrop YF-17 evaluation program. The YF-17 was the progenitor of today’s CF-18 and was never flown operationally. Here is a rare photo of Aitken taken at Edwards AFB in October of 1977. He is chatting with two other RCAF legends—Colonel Dave Wightman (centre) and at right Al Dequetteville, future Chief of the Air Staff. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294357921-8HQ3QF4S6ISI23EVXFP4/Oh-Canada28.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Mike Potter in the Spitfire goes through his run-up checklist as the four fighters line up on the taxi way prior to takeoff. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294494582-1RVWHOZQ7DZAI1CJRKTW/Oh-Canada29.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Now this is more like it! Kissmann in the Corsair leads the team east over the Outaouais Region north of the Ottawa River. The day before, “finger-four” formation was reversed, with Aitken and the Mustang on the left side of the formation. Today, he was on the right. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626294547148-RK0DAHNQFPNMWZPF5IUA/Oh-Canada30-.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Potter pulls up on Aitken’s left wing. The Laurentian Mountains can be seen in the distance while sunlight begins to warm the forested landscape. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295263773-NDJMQE0HJUHYC5TEDFNV/Oh-Canada31.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The formation in a gentle turn to the right. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295310417-1OJMTMSZ35LILLY2QR7L/Oh-Canada32.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Heading back west. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage With sun dappling the Québec countryside, Potter overflies a bucolic scene reminiscent of the Normandy countryside where Y2-K once flew with her tragic pilot, Flight Lieutenant Arnold Roseland. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295379552-FVO0JRVVAUZGXGJHDEUR/Oh-Canada34.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The formation on its way to take its position in the flypast of Parliament Hill. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295431478-YAOFZ888SE8HWXAHS2LN/Oh-Canada36.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The broad and flat Ottawa Valley spreads to the south as Mike Potter is lined up perfectly with Lead and Aitken. An observant eye will note that beneath the Spitfire we can see the nine white aircraft of the Snowbirds transiting to their hold location. On board one of them is Handley’s lifelong friend and fellow photographer Andy Cline, also on a flight of a lifetime. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295518983-ZBFQS41R6Z70XY3BK5K9/Oh-Canada38.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Kissmann takes the formation through a series of turns designed to put the group in the right place at the right time. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295587153-QRM9RNID7FJ6GK94EC1E/Oh-Canada39.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Kissmann, Potter, Erdos and Aitken are now inbound from the east with the sun shining. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295664411-X6FOIWJK5GFT7HRRTEYX/Oh-Canada40.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Just a few seconds from Parliament Hill, we can see the historic Rideau Canal (paralleled by the Rideau River at left) below with Lansdowne Park immediately below Kissmann’s nose and Ottawa University campus at bottom right. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295712064-NEHIKO0TXHZIG8Q9DKVR/Oh-Canada49.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out From the ground on Parliament Hill. Photo: Patrick Cardinal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295781495-394MDXNH7L0XN8QB74T8/Oh-Canada42.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out The formation heads home with light bouncing off the underside of Potter’s wings on the downwind of the pattern. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295820188-BX163LRC8ADCRIZ6IWND/Oh-Canada43.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out One last turn in formation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295870410-KLEW3R930RHCN0CIA7EE/Oh-Canada44.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out Coming upriver for the overhead break. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626295914174-I7LUTWJVCYP3JTED3ZR5/Oh-Canada45.jpg The Stories - GLORIOUS AND FREE - Make it stand out A job well done. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/fire-twirlers monthly 0.5 2021-12-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631299512591-IVOPM9ZZ3FVESIDC4A15/firetwirlers01.jpg The Stories - Fire Twirlers at Angels Forty - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631299554860-VM934H9BJVBEDOK6FTHH/firetwirlers02.jpg The Stories - Fire Twirlers at Angels Forty - Make it stand out Life on board a mid-Atlantic weathership was far less glamourous than that of the RCAF pilots flying 7 miles above them in air-conditioned, humidified comfort with stewards serving sandwiches and a cabin load of baton-twirling show girls and guitar-strumming troubadours. You can’t blame the Comet crew for rubbing it in. Rest assured that the talk of the weathership wardroom that night was the sexy-sounding jet pilot and what was the world coming to? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631299901450-TQ4PDDDAO1G20AACP2LF/firetwirlers03.jpg The Stories - Fire Twirlers at Angels Forty - Make it stand out While the storm-tossed weathership radioman was thumbing through worn copies of Argosy and For Men Only, far above the murk in bright blue skies , Bob Fassold was strolling through the cabin charming showgirls and chatting up celebrities. Above is the brochure for CBC’s USO-like tour autographed during the flight by the likes of some of Canada’s big TV stars like 6‘-5” cowboy booted Tommy Hunter, The Rythm Pals and Alexander “Rag Time’ Read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631300008239-36L1QALIOAY1EQGINCDT/firetwirlers04.jpg The Stories - Fire Twirlers at Angels Forty - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631300045242-5B9UYB3UYE9NCRIZ3S99/firetwirlers05.jpg The Stories - Fire Twirlers at Angels Forty - Make it stand out Elegant and shapely on the outside, all business on the inside. NO, not the Lounsbury Sisters, the de Havilland Comet! Two pilots of 412 Squadon start their checklists in preparation for “lighting the Ghosts” - the Comet’s four engines. DND photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/at-the-going-down-of-the-sun monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4f067d2-6986-4403-b3e0-904ec4386c46/GoingDownFlash.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626263795735-54ID0BE2N4QZ781C161S/GoingDown40.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264017773-ZB7NI4EGQPRNPO9VQ5KZ/GoingDown48.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out First to depart, Paul Kissmann wheels the High Flight Harvard down the runway, with uber-excited Peter Handley in the back. While Kissmann will position the aircraft well, the visual outcome of the entire mission rests on the skills and experience of photographer Handley. If he fails to achieve excellence, there will never be another chance like this. The outcome, however, was never in doubt with this author. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264067601-SHJBJLCD2RSGMVZXY4M5/GoingDown45.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The practice begins. Mike Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada, in the Spitfire Mk IX, The Roseland Spitfire, takes off with the sun dropping. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264107615-NY4Z9YKNSAMI6HYT219T/GoingDown46.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out John Aitken, Chief pilot at Vintage Wings, thunders from the Gatineau runway in The William Harper Spitfire Mk XVI. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264165887-LXZI4T6KTGB81YW5TV6C/GoingDown01.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Paul Kissmann in the Harvard closes in on the formation. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264212272-NZNRQ5QXAV8EV7YXYN55/GoingDown02.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Flying under the formation we see a perfectly spaced group of British-designed fighter aircraft of the Second World War flying into the setting sun. In the lead is Mike Potter in the Spitfire Mk IX, followed by Aitken in the Spitfire Mk XVI and Erdos in the Hurricane IV. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264266398-3L7SQ8LS7GU46PYZH582/GoingDown03.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Heading to the east, Aitken leads now, in echelon left. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264318652-6GHEMBGC9BFK7VON59GF/GoingDown04.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out In echelon left formation, Aitken leads the group in a southerly turn over the green forested hills of the Ottawa Valley. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264387333-XQTVHI7O3D2EUUXGS8GD/GoingDown05.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Swinging round to the west to complete the 360-degree turn, the formation tightens up and looks spectacular with the Ottawa River and the town of Rockland, Ontario in the distance. It was in this very area that Canadian Spitfire ace Irving “Hap” Kennedy, DFC and Bar was born and raised. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264456346-5LY1D8C6UQ0DEXW3H4KB/GoingDown06.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Stacked up in echelon with the setting sun directly off their noses. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264502951-4Q5J4H7BPBI614Q5X6TS/GoingDown07.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Repositioning above the formation, Kissmann and Handley capture the fighters as they fly over the shaded depths of valleys and lakes in the Outaouais region. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264556727-TKF9G1U6JBX8EMRTPMIZ/GoingDown08.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The formation, with Potter now in the lead, thunders in silhouette back to the east again with the hazy rolling hills of the Outaouais misting into the distance. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264612318-23WUV9D2C5PRZS030RI8/GoingDown09.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Using Adobe Lightroom technology, Handley is able to change the feeling of the previous photograph, coaxing detail and light from the silhouettes that one would think was not there. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264652362-RY9SC30ESXPY8W65C45B/GoingDown10.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out As the sun headed to the horizon, the lighting got better and better. Handley captures the formation at its absolute best—perfectly spaced. You could draw a straight line from Potter’s wingtip to Aitken’s and then to Erdos’. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264696602-E2FR9YI5JNCTLPYS0N44/GoingDown11.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Kissmann drops below the formation, while Handley twists round in the Harvard’s cockpit to look back. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264749620-K1RATKVJ7FB7X4O3F4SM/GoingDown49.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Heading northwest, the sun flares from the fighters, while below the shadows begin to deepen. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264867474-S0EIC7RBA6Y22FCB6HZE/GoingDown13.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Long shadows over Outaouais farmland and woodlands gives a soft and hazy backdrop as the formation turns toward the sun once again. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264807668-56FY56LP8IDP08RVH3IT/GoingDown14.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Enough said. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626264971294-UYO55J6UQ8UGQUFPW5I6/GoingDown15.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out As the photo shoot progressed, the sun dipped lower until it began to light up the underside of the aircraft. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265021517-SVECCCBVB0O6US2903E6/GoingDown16.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Now heading southeast, the formation flies over classic cottage country north of the Vintage Wings hangar. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265056750-B0WZQL082N9P5ZRQIK1X/GoingDown17.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out As they swung through turns the sun, the lighting provided constantly changing effects. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265093231-07MFK6W1YMM9XMJP2NC1/GoingDown18.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Potter, in the Roseland Spitfire Mk IX, leads a picture-perfect formation in an easterly direction. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265141300-6MCOPX2RLMIJPMU6UONI/GoingDown20.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The sun’s last rays burst from a lake’s surface and flare from the wings. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265182977-WHG6ZNSTPNX3ER021B4P/GoingDown21.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Heading back west. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265230861-MJ1I9BZS29W8E2J4CE10/GoingDown23.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out A pair of roses. A rare photo of the two Vintage Wings Spitfires together—in front, the Roseland Spitfire, dedicated to Canadian Spitfire pilot Arnold Roseland and in back Spitfire Mk XVI (SL721) once known as the Rose Garden Spitfire when it was on display for seven years in the 1960s at Lord Montagu’s Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265269167-LXSIUTYITPRONAM5UR8Q/GoingDown24.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Kissmann positions the Harvard below. From this angle, the sky is startlingly blue and cloudless. In the lower left corner, an airliner at altitude leaves a contrail as it heads south. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265357486-IEC670MWR1XN7GXW7ZSM/GoingDown25.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Potter leads them to toward the sun, while the sun heads toward the horizon. Seeing this, one could imagine three fighters heading home after a sortie over France in 1943. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265415537-UHGHW27DGC2I2B3LE8ZL/GoingDown26.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out A gorgeous shot of the formation, this time in dying light with the angled propeller blades picking up the sunlight. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265488389-QIKVABGCWSMS7DWRBGQV/GoingDown27.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The sun now lights up the underside of the fighters as they head towards its setting orb. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265544566-FHC8RDHW6Y7WGBXVTLGD/GoingDown28.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out A lovely shot of Potter in The Roseland Spitfire lit from beneath by the dying sun. Here the elegance of the Spitfire wing and its filleted connection to the fuselage are highlighted in beautiful relief. Master structures man Ken Wood can look at this image and see five years of his life. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265588039-DGLABM9X5VGTTETFB13D/GoingDown29.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Enough said. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265630849-Q1Z9JUTW6XLMGMXN7SCR/GoingDown30.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Handley takes a selfie… with the Harvard photoship in the picture for the first time. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265668903-AVNUA16R1F0EDZTMAJSS/GoingDown31.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The Roseland Spitfire over a typical Canadian lake. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265717125-D9ZISHLDKLUNSZVN5O70/GoingDown32.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Returning to base, this time lead by Erdos. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265758277-TA9UIA0UC2KSYLRI4IJV/GoingDown51.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Just seconds before Erdos breaks to the right, the formation overflies the ramp at Vintage Wings. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of CanaDA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265790615-MRKPYGDJVTPPZZENJKMW/GoingDown33.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out The overhead break begins with Erdos from an echelon left formation. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265331088-ENLPYZWDVG4SLU5UQ0SS/GoingDown50.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out First to land was Erdos, seen here rolling out. The large landing flaps of the Hurricane are evident in this image. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265849950-SLZ6OOBTXX4CC0K2DQ2S/GoingDown34.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Mike Potter, in The Roseland Spitfire Mk IX, executes a picture-perfect curving approach to Runway 27 at the Gatineau–Ottawa Executive Airport in the last light of the day. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265889011-X88XK8YJFCK83M1L8QL6/GoingDown52.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Mission accomplished, Potter backtracks to the taxiway. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265922176-57VA7QSZ1RZA6K0QMQ2X/GoingDown35.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Kissmann brings the Harvard close under Aitken in the William Harper Spitfire Mk XVI to inspect the undercarriage at Aitken’s request before landing. All good. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265959595-4Z9W813MEXUIKUH3IEO1/GoingDown36.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out And now it’s Miller Time! Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626265993516-36S49Q6R6RDH8SPDQ9N1/GoingDown53.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out Aitken rolls out on landing. Photo: André Laviolette, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626266028793-GP5SHXC2RFZY60VH8LC1/GoingDown37.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out First to take off, last to land, Kissmann is on base leg of his landing at Gatineau. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626266078175-TUZ66MFUB1Z7SCRT5W0O/GoingDown38.jpg The Stories - AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN - Make it stand out MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Kissmann touches down as the sun sets. Photo: Peter Handley, Vintage Wings of Canada https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/big-silver-kite monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626218666741-AI3995Q4UT250HRHVQJ5/Title.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Photo: Doug Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626218996378-QD860ARITZUA71Q9LQWI/Kite07.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out The big silver Westland Lysander has been “campaigned” by Vintage Wings of Canada pilot Dave Hadfield on behalf of sponsor Lysander Funds of Toronto, Canada for the past three years. It was Lysander Funds’ goal from the outset that this aircraft and the stories of its pilots and support crews should reach people in small and medium communities across Southern Ontario. From his base at Edenville, Ontario, Hadfield branched out to events across the province and by all reports, the “Lizzie’s” summer tours were hugely successful. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219444945-E4QFZQVAXU7WM62O07YW/Kite08.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Whenever the Lysander was on static display at air shows and other events, Hadfield and support crew were proud to display the simple banner that told the history of the aircraft type and paid a little homage to sponsor John Carswell’s Lysander Funds. Note that the logo for Lysander Funds is the iconic and unique wing shape of the Lysander. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219494415-YYFQGA497GRG6F91GWID/Kite14.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Wherever we brought the Lysander, especially at cadet camps in Ontario, it was a big hit with the youth, some of whom were lucky enough to hitch a ride with Hadfield. This particular scene was at Trenton, Ontario where Vintage Wings of Canada also provided a Fleet Finch and a Harvard for rides for deserving young boys and girls. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219636620-DCNOR1ZT6N4FVEYLGAM5/Kite13.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Trundling along a taxiway on a sunny day at Midland, Ontario, the Lysander appears easy to handle, but that’s not really the case. It was designed for wide-open grass fields. With a pitifully poor braking system prone to failure, extreme interior heat, and surfaces that catch every breath of wind, flying the Lysander is nothing compared to taxiing it. Photo: William Tickle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219679837-JC09030ZSAMXM0ILMEAJ/Kite18.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out A true, old-fashioned rudder bar, pivoting in the middle. (Note to pilot: don’t drop anything). Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219753065-48DRIFES3LW09VT4FK1P/Kite27.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out A selfie by Hadfield reveals the superb all-around view afforded by the Lysander, designed from the ground up as an observation aircraft to be used for army co-operation (artillery spotting and reconnaissance). What it doesn’t show is the oppressive heat felt by the pilot at all times, but especially at low altitudes on a hot summer day. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219840040-9Y7PRBWS3BHBHA4IG2F3/Kite35.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out As the aircraft’s speed increases after takeoff, the slats and flaps begin to retract—all on their own. Photo: Bruce Craig https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219910809-0K3A6WTXDZV7D3HR72QC/Kite15.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out “We accelerate to 110 mph and I glance along the line of my shoulder at the slats: fully up, a clean wing. I crank the gills a couple of turns to cruise climb and off we go”. Photo: Anita Thomas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626219971467-JAQYBFUCVWNGX7J1INXT/Kite28.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out A rest prior to start up, the position of the flaps and leading edge slats are not in the control of the pilot. Photo: unknown, via author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220037666-GRVVWRDP7CN7EJVY4GXN/Kite30.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out The infamous Lysander pitch trim wheel and index. You need this plus the joystick to control the aircraft’s movements, and it takes 15 seconds to wind it from one end to the other. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220079840-4DM7BHUVBB37MP5456B3/Kite17.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Most of the control panel is quite original. Note the location of the brake air pressure gauge at upper left—there is a reason it is so up-front-and-prominent. Photo: Dave Hadfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220134596-3C8DA3SZ2QHIYKS3K47T/Kite04.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out A lovely photo of Hadfield in the Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander flying over the western tip of Lake Ontario near the small city of Grimsby, Ontario. Photo: Doug Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220178076-HD5EOUQXZ2LH1TW7IRWN/Kite05.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Hadfield flying over the Niagara Region of Ontario, an agricultural region that, on the surface, has not changed much since the days when Lysanders were coming off the National Steel Car factory at Malton, about sixty kilometres away. Today, the region is famed for its wine production but during the Second World War the area was known for its fruit orchards and farms. Photo: Doug Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220240237-2CQNHARPH24YHHTU33M1/Kite25.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out The Bristol Mercury: 850 horses, geared and supercharged. It was a sturdy, dependable workhorse for two barnstorming seasons. Photo: Gus Corujo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220351387-LY9NL2FUEXMZ05XEEPAN/Kite24.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Photographer Eric Dumigan helps Dave Hadfield turn the Lysander’s prop through three blades. The lower cylinders of a radial engine may fill with oil during a prolonged sit. If this happens, and the engine is started, cylinders will be damaged and a very expensive overhaul will result. Solution: pull the prop through by hand before start, and if the prop won’t turn, pull some sparkplugs and let the oil out. Photo: Bernadette Lebarre Dumigan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626220416218-IS85IGIZ7H2MBHS2WKNQ/Kite26.jpg The Stories - BIG SILVER KITE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/dinner-with-harry monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212131665-UT152X6DC41VOCCXVWZ4/HarryTripTitle.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212275755-6EWLV9YKMKNKHI4NQGJ9/HarryTrip21.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out At the age of 92, Harry Hannah got back in the saddle one more time. Here, pilot Todd Lemieux straps him in and gets set to hand the controls over to one of the Greatest Generation. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212327471-IJ1B9V9X418NEIISSGU1/HarryTrip10.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out The dedication panel on the side of the Vintage Wings of Canada Boeing PT-27 Stearman. In 1941, Harry Hannah, then a young fitter with 602 City of Glasgow Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force, sailed to Canada on a troopship, and rode by train, first to Toronto and then to Fort Erie, Ontario, where he crossed over to Buffalo, New York. As the United States was not yet a combatant in the Second World War, Harry could not cross in the uniform of the Royal Air Force. He was given a cheap grey suit and a cardboard suitcase and he entered the USA as a student. From the border city of Buffalo, he travelled by rail to far-off Mesa, Arizona to begin a year of flight training at the desert airfield known as Falcon Field. Falcon was an “all-through” training facility. Pilots, like Harry, would not only learn primary flying skills and solo here for the first time, they would go on to advance flying training on T-6 Texan aircraft (known as the Harvard in Canada) and graduate as fully winged pilots, ready for an Operational Training Unit (OTU) flying fighter aircraft. Photo via Yellow Wings website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212399453-5ZNG6SX08WAG2TROOWHA/HarryTrip23.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Harry Hannah flying the Yellow Wings Stearman over the Gatineau Hills in May of 2012 . Photo by Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212469193-P5J0RQNU3ZCCOYW3540O/HarryTrip11.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out On 5 May, the very beginning of our 2012 flying season, Todd Lemieux took Harry flying in “his” Stearman. Here, Harry walks toward his wife Yvonne (out of frame) after landing. Lemieux tells us that, at 400 feet above the ground, he handed over control of the Stearman to the old Falcon Field hand. From that point to 500 feet in the landing circuit, Harry flew the big biplane, stripping away 70 years in a few minutes and making beautiful coordinated turns all over the sky. Photo: Someone needs to remind me where I got this photo. I would like to credit it properly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212591307-8JDM830FZGY20B9TRRF3/HarryTrip2.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out The day after the 2012 Vintage Wings of Canada end-of-year Members Gala, we loaded up the car and headed down Highway 401, bound for glory. There was a time when I thought my Volkswagen Touareg was a large vehicle, but once we were loaded with three Calgary cowboys, one sleepy supermodel-esque flight attendant, tiny little me, and all our gear, it seemed less so. Left to right: Bruce Evans, Todd Lemieux, Riki Lane Beal, and Dave Maric. iPad photo by Bruce Evans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212637940-5FGQZYEOILVSS715GD59/HarryTrip3.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Having been on the road all summer with the Harry Hannah Stearman, the Vintage Wings West crew know what fine dining was all about. Left to right Riki Lane Beal: (WestJet Flight Attendant and Yellow Wings ground support), Dave Maric (Stearman pilot and WestJet First officer), Todd Lemieux (Stearman pilot, oil magnate, Chairman of the Board of Vintage Wings, and Vintage Wings West director) and Bruce Evans (Stearman pilot and CEO of Calgary-based Firefly Aviation). iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212755109-QGPCD0F6IZDJHJR8QJJ8/HarryTrip4.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out At dinner, Harry was presented with a few memorable gifts from 602 Squadron Museum Association in Glasgow, Scotland. They made sure he had the latest 602, City of Glasgow Squadron tie, a publication outlining the remarkable history of this famous unit, and finally, a beautiful certificate, proclaiming Warrant Officer Harry Hannah a lifetime member of the Museum Association. The Museum Association's Honorary Secretary Roddy MacGregor told us that they had wondered for a long time what had happened to Harry and were delighted when the story of our Stearman's dedication reached them. iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212899296-9329PA5825F6O7ZKYYKB/HarryTrip5.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out At the restaurant after dinner, Harry and his wife Yvonne display Harry's certificate of lifetime membership. Left to right: Todd Lemieux, Bruce Evans, Yvonne Wales, Harry Hannah, Dave O'Malley, Dave Maric and Riki Lane Beal. iPad photo by waiter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212981053-XVCOTDB1LDAETY36VD1O/HarryTrip6.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Stearman pilots unite! Three of Vintage Wings Stearman pilots pose with Warrant Officer Harry Hannah after dinner at a restaurant in Burlington, Ontario. Left to right: Todd Lemieux, Bruce Evans, Harry Hannah and Dave Maric. Photo by our waiter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213094325-F3B31X4CK78JELPXMB0R/HarryTrip19.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out After dinner, out on Burlington's cold Brant Street near the shores of Lake Ontario, things got pretty emotional. Here the crew bids farewell to the legend whose story they will tell for years to come. iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626212953585-K5ZNJ58MYSR6JBYIYWEP/HarryTrip8.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Knowing Harry personally means an emotional connection to the man. For the past summer, pilot Dave Maric spoke to hundreds of school children and spectators about Harry's experiences in the war. He had, however, never met Harry until this night. Two hours in a warm Italian bistro with friends and Harry would mean a lot to Dave. Here, he embraces Harry in a sidewalk farewell while Yvonne starts the car. To know Harry personally, to hear his Glaswegian accent, to read his quiet demeanour, to see his sartorial elegance, to feel what this means to him – these are things Maric will take aloft with him next year. iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213193781-B8EXUVATO8XK2ZU9H1UX/HarryTrip9.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out The closest thing you will ever see to a Southern Gentleman in Canada is a Prairie farm boy. While the others say their farewells to Harry, Lemieux escorts beautiful Yvonne to her car and says goodbye. iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213266074-1T7G7BEUD6DX10NLPF4M/HarryTrip20.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out During the summer of 2012, Harry and Yvonne wrote an encouraging word for the boys out West who worked very hard every weekend to put as many people into the aircraft as possible and to tell the story of Harry Hannah and his fellow RAF pilots. iPad photo by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213318778-BTMWMNE80BRXWRTJS7LC/HarryTrip12.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Todd Lemieux (left) and Dave Maric give each other a good-luck handshake as they prepare for take-off on 6 May, flying out of Gatineau bound for Calgary to tell the story of Harry Hannah. Photo via Yellow Wings Website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213402779-89GZ511U1R2QXY6EVTQI/HarryTrip13.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out One of the most experienced pilots of the Harry Hannah Stearman cadre is enigmatic, yoga-loving Bruce Evans, who operates Firefly Aviation, one of Canada's most experienced geophysical survey companies. In addition to his Firefly aircraft, Bruce owns and operates a North American T-28B Trojan. Photo via Yellow Wings Website Update: We lots Bruce, our magnificent friend in an airplane accident at Cold Lake Alberta in 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213462527-7AKR9EGEYFYAYJV0Q8PB/HarryTrip22.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out On their western swing in the summer of 2011, both Gord “Gordo” Simmons (left) and Todd “Pepe” Lemieux were Fairchild Cornell pilots. This photo was taken at the former CFB Penhold, Alberta, in front of the row housing where Lemiuex, Maric, DuJohn andSsimmons all lived during their summers instructing other air cadets oon gliding courses. Photo via Yellow Wings Website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213497233-TIAC9D5K0455JGKBP1UW/HarryTrip24.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out All of the Vintage Wings West pilots have been friends for many years and a few are WestJet B737 pilots. Every once in a while, they get to pair together. Here, Dave Maric (left) and Ron DuJohn pose for a camera-phone image on one such pairing. Photo by Ron DuJohn. Update: Both Dujohn and Maric are now B787 Dreamliner pilots https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213641813-DEM0CVHG4B7AVQ2VY8JB/HarryTrip26.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Harry Hannah Stearman pilots Liam O'Connell (left) and Dave Maric enjoy a moment at the Princeton, BC, air show this summer. Photo via Vintage Wings West Facebook page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213705556-QY9P4PHGS1JEASY7IZVF/HarryTrip15.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out Like Harry Hannah himself, the Harry Hannah Stearman is a pretty girl magnet. Here Dave Maric thanks his lucky stars he got into aviation in the first place. Left to right: Jamie Kidd, Riki Lane, Dave Maric and Chelsea Exton – Vintage Wings West volunteers. Photo: Charlie MacKenzie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213779000-7YSB2ZMEX1Z6R26092SF/HarryTrip14.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out In the cool days of late spring, Bruce Evans prepares for take-off at the Vintage Wings West base at Calgary's Springbank Airport. Photo via Yellow Wings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213957390-M4ODTHE3V773JP1RM3W0/HarryTrip16.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out At a 2012 air show at Princeton, British Columbia, pilot Dave Maric waves to the crowd of spectators during a low flyby. Photo by Lacey Hartje https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626213999923-A16V4LWDMRXPK42LT9A8/HarryTrip17.jpg The Stories - OUR DINNER WITH HARRY - Make it stand out A beautiful shot of the Harry Hannah Stearman at the Princeton, British Columbi,a Air Show in 2012. The Stearman is a very solid aircraft with wonderful flying characteristics. Pilots are fond of saying it's built like truck, but flies like an angel. Photo by Lacey Hartje https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/my-childhood-obsession monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626210840227-A2YDPL15T3N5BVBUMTJH/Coins00.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626210929452-8K5RU7X5M1CTW7PQ44F6/Coins07.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out The first category in the collection was entitled “Pioneers” and listed some of the most important flying craft in history. The first numbered coin in the collection was the Greek legend Icarus falling to his death after getting too close to the sun—while his father Daedelus watches helplessly. Icarus was the more famous of the two, but of course he failed where dad succeeded. While Daedalus may have been a fictional aviation pioneer, the last in the category at No. 25 was the Mercury capsule of real life hero John Glenn, entitled “Glenn” and not Mercury. No. 24 was entitled just “Gagarin” and depicted the Vostok 1 capsule in which the Soviet hero made the first orbit of Earth. The illustrator Watt must have been guessing at what that capsule looked like as it does not resemble any image of the Vostok 1 that I have seen. The year was 1962–63, and the Avro Arrow was by then considered a “Pioneer” when just three years earlier, the Arrow was on the verge of becoming a frontline fighter with then RCAF. By all rights, the Arrow should have appeared with the red coins of fighter aircraft, but its cancellation in 1958 relegated it to the “Pioneer” list. The group included the DC-3, an airliner, but most certainly worthy of being called a pioneer. Also on this category was the Canadian-built Avro Jetliner, North America’s first jet-powered airliner, nearly eight years ahead of the Boeing 707 and just 14 days after the British de Havilland Comet 1. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211022097-4VN9UJKS2FTPFA8WQ91Z/Coins03.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out The red-disced Fighter grouping included a number of aircraft operated at the time by the Royal Canadian Air Force such as the Sabre, Starfighter, Voodoo, Vampire, Avro CF-100 Canuck and even P-51 Mustang. Also included were aircraft previously flown by the RCAF and RCN including the Spitfire, Hurricane, Banshee, and Siskin. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211159089-N4K1WT7FWUBZDBEY4GM7/Coins02.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out The bomber category came in menacingly black discs and featured everything from the First World War Gotha to the Convair B-58 Hustler, which in 1962–63 was the sexiest aircraft a young boy could ever imagine. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211252489-EGYOUWYY7F44E5M021NV/Coins05.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Transport aircraft, both military and civilian were in blue discs and included many types of rotary and fixed winged aircraft. Most were cargo or utility aircraft and some, like the Canadair 540 Cosmopolitan and Merlin-powered Northstar, were primarily airliners that also had cargo capabilities. I suppose that if it was a military airliner, then it was deemed a transport. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211220022-HGDOTBC2AKQXYDJG741R/Coins08.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Silver was the colour of the Airliner category, bringing to mind the piloted aluminum of many of the day’s passenger aircraft. Wherever possible, the curator James A. Hornick chose to include aircraft flown by Canadian airlines and illustrator Don Watt depicted them in Canadian liveries such as the Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada) Vickers Viscount and Vanguard. The Airplane Coins were introduced at the transitional period of commercial aviation when both piston engine and jet powered aircraft were in very common use. Watt was always careful to place the aircraft in authentic scenes—an American Airlines Douglas DC-7 over New York and the Statue of Liberty, a TCA Viscount over Montréal Island, a Sud-Aviation Caravelle over Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211430626-XLF81GOYOSH15Y5XAI3E/Coins01.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out The Bush Plane category was coloured appropriately green. Being a Canadian, utility aircraft used in the north were quickly becoming part of my heritage. So many of the types depicted in this category were Canadian designs and are among the finest aircraft of the type ever designed—de Havilland Canada’s Beaver, Otter and Caribou, the Noorduyn Norseman, Fairchild Husky and Sekani and Fleet Freighter. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211495530-3B7HO8KETWKO1KP6RW6O/Coins04.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Yellow of course was the most logical colour for the trainer category with most of Canada’s training aircraft up to that point being painted in the yellow of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The category included the Link trainer, not an aircraft per se, but the world’s first full motion simulator. Vintage Wings of Canada operates or has operated six of the aircraft in this grouping. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626211558772-CZWPS2A3C1YCD80JL187/Coins06.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Any aircraft that did not fit nicely in any primary category was deemed to belong to the catchall “Other” group. The Grumman Tracker and Avenger are in this category rather than with the Bombers likely because they are anti-submarine aircraft. This category included flying wings, gyroplanes, X- planes, flying boats and cars and observation aircraft. As well, the large number of rockets demonstrates the 1960s belief that soon fighter and bomber aircraft would be obsolete and that rockets were the future. The last aircraft in the collection, No. 200 was the Hovercraft, portrayed hovering rather impossibly over the water. Photo: the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631287622428-8E4MR2NMDXGUBBHJ54X7/boyswilldream_header.jpg The Stories - MY CHILDHOOD OBSESSION - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/spitfire-tugs monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201162203-BSJILC47T66CREBJPFTL/SpitTugs00.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201255068-NMKEHKOUNYZIXWAJV9K3/SpitTugs11.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae, 401 Ram Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo via Marilynn Best (née McRae) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201374773-WP3PD0EN8KDLNG9FQSPA/SpitTugs12.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out The General Aircraft Hotspur glider was sleeker than most combat gliders of the Second World War. The author likened it to a de Havilland Mosquito without the engines. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201445768-D24E17J0JTHLCLE7M4KT/SpitTugs05.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out The General Aircraft Hotspur glider was sleeker than most combat gliders of the Second World War. The author likened it to a de Havilland Mosquito without the engines. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201546333-ISB87LG3UMU0GF09PNY2/SpitTugs03.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out British Army airborne soldiers get a lesson from an RAF pilot on the controls of the Hotspur. There were two pilots sitting in tandem and while the instruments and controls were rudimentary, it sometimes took both pilots to operate the glider safely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201722537-6ZBN3TP1RAHEX1WIEAVV/SpitTugs02.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out Two views of the Hotspur showing the landing gear configuration. The gear could be jettisoned for a landing with a skid which is seen running under the length of the fuselage in the top photo. Bottom image: Hotspur Mark I, BV136, on the ground following completion at the Slingsby works, Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, before delivery to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, Wiltshire. Photos: RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201775050-PG5OUGANA1VG545CX84T/SpitTugs07.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out A pair of Hotspurs of No. 2 Glider Training Unit based at RAF Weston-on-the-Green, gliding in formation over Oxforshire farmland. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201853335-06UF6H2UBPR814Q0HBSP/SpitTugs04.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out Lengthy image searches of the internet resulted in no photographs showing a Spitfire actually connected to a glider or even in the proximity of one. Only one image specific to the Spitfire tug program could be found—of the specially designed hitch and release mechanism integrated with the Spitfire’s tail wheel. Photo via The Aviation Forum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626201957345-II6WHI5JAVGS6DYSTU88/SpitTugs09.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out At RAF Netheravon, British Army paratroops board a General Aircraft Hotspur during a training exercise. It was hoped that the gliders would carry all the ground crew, support staff and even spare pilots of 126 Wing RCAF to Normandy. If caught by enemy fighters or forced to ditch in the channel, one can only imagine the impact on the wing. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626202003429-R9C16PNFYFS9POFCQ6XV/SpitTugs14.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out It’s a good thing that Don Laubman, whom the author shared a Hotspur cockpit with, did not have to waste his considerable skills as a Spitfire pilot flying gliders after D-Day. Laubman became a celebrated ace with 15 destroyed, and 3 damaged. 14 of those 15 were between June and October 1944. His decorations include the DFC and Bar as well as the Canadian Forces Decoration with 2 Bars. He is the fourth ranking RCAF ace. Photo via flyingforyourlife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626202057131-NBRMB2UQ2N777HZV8H1V/Bill9.jpg The Stories - SPITFIRE GLIDER TUGS - Make it stand out This story and many others, Bill McRae wrote for the Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) over many years. He sent this and several other stories to Vintage Wings before his death in 2011. Precious gifts that they are, we dole them out one at a time, hoping to extend the connection to Bill into the future. Bill was witness to history and a gifted, humble and humorous writer of his and his fellow pilots’ experiences throughout the war. He believed deeply in the importance of the CAHS and its goal to record for all time the powerful aviation heritage that is Canada’s. To find out more about the CAHS, visit www.cahs.ca https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/a-lake-called-victory monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626196198907-6LMH87HI7778YMLV1SYH/Lake000.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626196269715-WB0B7E4MAM3VI8NZIQTS/Lake09.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out When we think of Victory over Japan Day, 1945, we see crowds of thousands deliriously happy Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Brits jamming central plazas like Times Square, but for veteran fighter pilot Bill Carr it was an entirely different experience. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626196336702-BOT9U7FM7RBGACJU172F/Lake01.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out With nearly 400 combat operations and sorties between them, Flight Lieutenant Bill Carr DFC (left) and Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae were highly seasoned Royal Canadian Air Force Spitfire pilots. Carr was a Spitfire photo reconnaissance pilot with 683 Squadron RAF at Malta and McRae was a Spitfire fighter pilot with 132 Squadron in Scotland and 401 Squadron, RCAF at Normandy. Photos via Bill Carr collection and McRae family collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626196854580-EY66B2A4ZH78OHFHR6X9/Lake07.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae in Norseman 372 flies over a Northwest Territorial landscape that includes Carr Lake in August of 1945 around the time of the Japanese surrender. The photo was taken from Bill Carr’s Norseman 2496. Photo: RCAF via Bill McRae Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626196780551-AR1J09WVUC7BUM8M39NQ/Lake03.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out The author, Bill Carr (left) and fellow pilot Bill McRae (right) join two members of a film crew sent to record their northern mapping activities. Photo via Bill McRae Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626197217704-JTBAXPB9OQ3NZGVNZKHR/09.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out Along with McRae Lake, Carr Lake (above) remains a lasting memory to two fine young men who fought in the Second World War, who helped map the north, and whose humble voices have helped keep our aviation heritage alive. Image via Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626197270618-21S42H1GU6G821BKYE90/TRAGEDY29.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out Bill Carr’s Norseman 2496 is seen tied to the shore at a site known simply at Pt. 3. Carr’s Norseman was painted in standard RCAF camouflage and Type C-1 Roundels. Photo: Bill McRae Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626197305074-GO8CQP7K56RK30TAXLFF/TRAGEDY14.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out A magnificent photo from August of 1945—a beach on Windy Lake, a tent, two float planes, pristine water and a wonderful reward for two weary fighter pilots. Carr’s Norseman 2496 is at right. Photo: Bill McRae Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626197352498-KS3W3TNT913HVLV2BZ8G/Lake05.jpg The Stories - A LAKE CALLED VICTORY - Make it stand out Bill McRae (left) and Bill Carr after arriving back at RCAF Station Rockcliffe on 5 September 1945. It seems they have cleaned up well after roughing it for the summer, likely at Kapuskasing before their 6-hour-long flight south to Rockcliffe. While McRae’s beard gave him the look of a swashbuckling submariner and was an effective shield against black flies, it was decidedly wrong for the RCAF. He was required to shave it off shortly after this photo was taken. Despite years of combat operations and participation in the mapping of Canada’s uncharted North, both men were still under 25 years old. Photo: Bill McRae Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/letters-from-home monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137135650-IIA538NYDFMSSYMBNA1V/51E0E0CD-8C6C-491C-88E8-96A0B9BC44FC.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137330676-X569MHVWVNQZHBZR5J8E/73757BFE-9F21-469E-84A1-15DD71579192.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Far from home, often lonely and missing family and sweethearts, soldiers, sailors and airmen alike looked forward to every mail call to find some connection with the life they had left behind. Here, airmen gather round a Flight Sergeant at mail call in North Africa, as he hands out parcels and envelopes—perfumed love letters, family updates, favourite cookies, knitted scarves, photos from home and a connection with a former life. Out of curiosity, I checked the fate of Vickers Wellington (HF795) in the background and learned that it was lost on operations 10 April 1943 when it was seen on fire before crashing near Sainte-Marie du Zit, Tunisia. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137588332-8GF32FVFXYUNNBEAW4DE/E01FA107-6331-4A92-AA69-6F11DCBE85BF.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out The first Atlantic crossing mail flight was flown by Wing Commander Robert Bruce Middleton, a native of Fort Francis, Ontario, and a highly experienced aviator and officer of the Royal Air Force. Middleton was the commanding officer of 168 Heavy Transport Squadron and piloted the first flight to Europe and North Africa. He is a member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. Photo: DND\ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137792396-FCPWKP4YYD9XCQLY3ZGP/CA0176E2-D634-4D78-B54E-319BA7E5A19D.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A quick look at this photograph allows us to pinpoint the date... if you know what to look for. The key to the time-stamp lies in the numeral “101” seen on the nose of this dark camouflaged Boeing B-17F. When RCAF Flying Fortress 9203 arrived at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in the first week of December 1943, it still carried its United States Army Air Force markings and serial—42-6101. The “101” on the nose is the “last three” of the former USAAF 42-6101. Given that the RCAF would have removed her American identity before her first Mailcan operation, this is likely the delivery flight to Rockcliffe and this is the Canadian ferry crew—Pilot, co-pilot, navigator and radio operator. The typical bitter cold December weather of Ottawa, Ontario is evident in this photograph, giving credence to the claim of the arrival of the ferry flight. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137828727-EST5VEZU6MF51QKAFIQR/66A75AB7-E72F-4577-AB4D-BE9779AA59B6.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out An RCAF Flight Sergeant checks his manifest as an airman stacks Canada Post Office mailbags under the watchful and mistrusting eyes of a pair of armed guards. The diagonal siding of this structure indicates that the photo was taken indoors in one of Rockcliffe’s flightline hangars. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137858888-GDLR26JD6A0DDI0CTV3E/1F16BAA0-95A5-4100-94A9-9978BAD29DD6.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Airmen unload a truck-full of mailbags and feed them through the waist gunner’s window in the fuselage of a 168 Heavy Transport Squadron “Fort”. The weather is decidedly December in Ottawa, leading me to surmise that this photo op was set up for one of the first Mailcan flights to Europe to help promote the new mail service. Lending credence to the idea that this is an image of the inaugural flight for this aircraft is the fact that the roundel is clearly freshly painted. Had this aircraft had just one flight across the Atlantic and back, the paint would have been in rougher shape. Also, there are 14 airmen in a bucket-brigade-style loading, which, to me, seems overkill for the work required, but perfect to show the manpower the RCAF was throwing at the project. The Flight Sergeant with the clipboard is the same fellow from the previous photo. In the distance, we can clearly see the administration building for the seaplane and amphibian base along the Ottawa River, and beyond that we see the smokestack of the pulp and paper plant at Pointe-Gatineau, Québec across the river. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137889590-DI3PJTBZE4WWNKYD2H3A/94F9C971-C6B7-4A80-AC60-B14B4782E8F2.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out The end result. A Canadian soldier at an airfield near Foggia assists the unloading of the first flight of airmail for Canadian soldiers in Italy—from a 168 Squadron, RCAF Boeing B-17 aircraft on 30 December 1943. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137916954-BO4VRS1KVP84DH2P6YOR/E6D5DABE-0C7F-4765-8111-B8459407CFF0.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out On 15 December 1943, Fortress 9204 had the honour of being the first Boeing B-17 to take off on an operational mission in the employ of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was filling in for 9202 when that “Fort” went unserviceable prior to the inaugural mail flight across the Atlantic, bringing Christmas parcels to Canadian fighting men in North Africa and Europe. On this first of many Mailcan flights, 9204 flew with two passengers and 5,500 lbs of Christmas mail. More than a year before being taken on strength with 168 Squadron, RCAF B-17F Flying Fortress 9204 was built under license by Douglas Aircraft at Long Beach, California for the United States Army Air Force as 42-3369. This Fortress did not last a year with 168 Squadron, having suffered unknown Category A damage at Rockcliffe in September of 1944. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626137944241-Z28PAR5I0C2S1JASZRY0/DB210739-A7C4-4B56-B61E-D7FB7F2CE2B5.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Somewhere in Europe, 168 Heavy Transport Squadron’s Flying Fortress 9204 unloads its payload of mail to an awaiting truck. In the earlier photograph it appeared it took 14 men to load the Boeing, but it seems five will do for the unloading. Looking forward along the top of the fuselage, we can see the circular discolouration where the “Fort’s” original top turret has been removed, faired over and painted. As well, we see the insert and window where the waist gunner would have stood, and if you look really closely, you can make out the area around the roundel where the old USAAF “Star and Bar” markings were painted out. The Fortresses of 168 Squadron had their guns removed to save weight and because they were thought safe from attack flying from Ottawa to England or North Africa. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138005654-LGZD8WC254ZJ8U2L1QAN/39C16C3D-228E-4B8F-A4B8-DBC0D5DE1595.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Drawings of two of 168 Squadron’s B-17s show model makers the specific colours for painting their aircraft. We can see 9204 at top in the same paint scheme she wore in the previous photograph, while at the bottom we see 9205 in the bare metal finish that the last of the “Forts” were wearing at the end of their short but productive service life. Here we can see that 9205 had a black anti-glare panel on the forward fuselage. Diagram for plastic modellers (source unknown). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138035080-UELRYYS13A5Y4MEU4I5T/32C6738A-5022-4D41-AC7E-E03332453770.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Flying Fortress 9205 survived her many brushes with death, and was one of only two to survive the war and subsequent relief efforts. Here we see 168 Squadron airmen loading penicillin and other relief supplies prior to heading to Prestwick and Warsaw. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138067526-S6LWOQGYZXMHV2DR84ED/76D3AA8F-5875-43BD-AAA9-B196078CF231.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out 168 Squadron pilots swing their Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 9203 around on the ramp at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, loaded with mail for Europe in the summer of 1944. A close look at the photograph shows she is stuffed with mailbags, filling the Perspex nose and visible through the starboard side cheek gun port. Fortress 9203 was built for the USAAF in 1942 as 42-6101. For a full year, she lumbered back and forth across the Atlantic on mail runs, but met a tragic end somewhere between Morocco and the Azores in December of 1944. She was last seen on 15 December taking off from Morroco with mail, five crew members and three passengers. No traces of the Fortress were found save a few floating mailbags. The dead included Flight Lieutenant Horace Hillcoat (pilot) of Ottawa, Flight Lieutenant Alfred John Ruttledge (co-pilot) of Simcoe, Ontario, Flight Lieutenant Frederick La Brish (navigator) of Regina, Flying Officer Cecil Dickson (wireless operator) of Edmonton, Alberta, Corporal Robert Bruce (aircrew/loader) of Victoria , British Columbia and passengers William Pullar (pilot) of Delta, Alberta, Douglas Sharpe (navigator) of Montréal and William Wilson (admin) of Chatham, Ontario, all Flight Lieutenants. It is interesting to note that the B-17’s crew was comprised of highly seasoned and experience multi-engine airmen. Hillcoat, 31, had an Air Force Cross and Air Force Medal. Ruttledge, 30, had 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses and a Flying Cross from the Netherlands and La Brish an Air Force Cross. This was clearly a crack crew. Even passenger Pullar, a Bomber Command pilot had a DFC. Sadly, it is likely that the passengers were returning home after completing their tours. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138103106-N1F7AU7ZWS8V1KSN4M1Z/D9C52B09-96A2-4FB4-AD8A-1AFF85BEFDBD.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out The previous photograph was actually a cropped copy of this image, forwarded to us by Jim Bates. Here, at Rockcliffe we see a Westland Lysander target tug in bright yellow and black “Oxydol” paint scheme and an Avro Anson. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138128910-BOZ3BI17W4U0N03YH81D/FEB06D38-2DE3-4038-9CE2-A8C183D1CC34.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out When Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 9203 was lost over the Atlantic, Canada lost some of its most decorated and experienced flying heroes. I tried to find images of all eight men who were lost, but managed to find photos of only these four men. Clockwise from upper left: Flight Lieutenant Frederick La Brish, AFC; Flight Lieutenant Horace Hillcoat, AFC, AFM; Flight Lieutenant William Pullar, DFC and Flight Lieutenant John Ruttledge, DFC and Bar, Flying Cross (Netherlands). Photos via Veterans Affairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138159814-JAURV15GBD0GZEJR98QO/3D16A667-48F6-489E-901E-82A4ED8323A4.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Under the watchful eyes of an officer, a Leading Aircraftman paints a mailbag mission marking on the nose of Fortress 9202, celebrating its fifth Mailcan mission across to Europe and back with the return mail. Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 9202 was originally built for the United States Army Air Force as USAAF serial number 42-3160. It was taken on strength with the RCAF on 4 December 1943. It arrived at RCAF Station Rockcliffe still wearing its American markings and was assigned along with five more, soon-to-arrive Fortresses, to 168 Heavy Transport Squadron. The goal was to get the upcoming Christmas mail to Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen overseas as quickly as possible. However, Fortress 9202 went unserviceable at the last minute and the honour of the first flight went to another recently arrived Fortress, 9204. Fortress 9202 finally got back on line and was soon flying to North Africa with a belly full of mail on 22 December—just in time for Christmas. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138185708-OU22TENSOXY7RL3MEB0W/D2290334-004E-436E-A32A-63BB6FC42BCB.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out An image of Fortress 9202 at Rockcliffe showing 16 mailbag mission markings on her nose, indicating trips across the Atlantic. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138221379-T6S5IBJHKAPDAP94STXC/BC2632FC-6EA6-4470-B352-27B462537D96.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A rare colour photo of a 168 Heavy Transport Squadron Fortress (9202). By this time, 168 had made some improvements to the Fortress to make it more suitable to the task of transporting the mail and passengers—this included fold-down nose cargo access and removal of paint overall. The weight savings on the paint meant that several hundred pounds more of mail or fuel could be carried or the range extended accordingly. In this photo we can see a member of the ground crew relaxing in the pale sun of late winter as he fuels 9202. The massive tail of the B-17F is clearly seen in this shot. Photo: Etienne du Plessis, Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138254240-8EA85VJSJXPK73X23NXT/BC95CD53-A6DC-43FB-8720-81F8492D7A10.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out 168 Heavy Transport Squadron learned a lot from their experience bringing mail back and forth across the Atlantic. Ground crews stripped paint to lighten the aircraft, and maintenance people modified the nose of the B-17 to fit a hinged fairing to allow the valuable space in the nose to be stuffed with the mail. Here, ground personnel swarm one of the Fortresses preparing it for her next flight. Judging by the other “Fort” in the background and the clearly North American-style trash bin in the foreground, this is likely at Rockcliffe on a sweltering summer day and a rare photo of 168 Squadron when it wasn’t snowing or freezing. We know that 9202 and 9205 (and possibly others) were in bare metal finish and both were involved in transporting penicillin and other medications to Warsaw in November of 1945. It was 9202 that crashed, killing the crew of five. The man standing at the top of the Fortress is LAC Clarence Seifried of Guelph, Ontario. He had an interesting story to tell about one delivery flight to Great Britain. His son Wayne fills us in: “One of the best stories he tells is the one where a plane carrying cigarettes from Canada was flying into the UK and its landing gear would not lock down (or could not confirm they were locked down from the cockpit). The plane dropped its load on the airfield by opening the bomb bay doors to lighten itself before landing. All of the field crew scrambled to grab the “free” cigarettes! Needless to say a search was done of barracks later that day to recover the load! The plane landed safely!” Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138285747-AO0UP7M52XDNGUWINGR0/D1AE3F12-6536-42A0-BB19-20B51F31444B.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A photo of Fortress 9205 running up its engines at Rockcliffe with what appears to be a newly installed nose cone for easy loading of mail. This image depicts the ultimate configuration of a 168 Heavy Transport Squadron Flying Fortress. I suspect that this photo and the previous image, as well as the image of 9203 taxiing (further above) were taken on the same day. Photo: DND via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138311689-BNKE0E2F7251D6T6TKID/715529D3-1610-4C93-8F3D-E63BBC3E32FC.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out 168 Squadron Fortress 9206 sits tarped against the elements on the grass at Rockcliffe. Arriving on strength at Rockcliffe December 21st of 1943, she was one of only two Forts to survive service with the unit. By war's end, it was in bare metal finish with the hinged nose with the two letter code “QB”. Photo via Jim Bates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138330005-FVCU5PNI6M1T7SVSHCJV/5D931E98-CFC3-4E61-8D46-685B0C0E0966.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Using a set of air stairs, RCAF airmen at Rockcliffe load boxes of Red Cross penicillin and other medications destined to help the people of Warsaw, Poland avoid famine in October and November of 1945. Once again, there is evidence of snow on the ground at Rockcliffe, not unknown for early November, but not unheard of either. Here we get a good close-up of the 168 Mail Squadron crest—a bald eagle holding two mailbags on a circle of light blue. We also see the simplicity of the fold-down nose cone for getting packages into the forward compartment. In the background, we see a Consolidated PBY Canso and several Ansons. The Fortress in the photo is identified as RCAF 9205 (Formerly USAAC 41-9142) Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138348859-108Z4X9OH9JJ06IHMSL9/A6DA0029-B9AC-4584-B32E-CC5153201E07.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out In addition to the B-17s, 168 Squadron also operated eight Consolidated B-24 Liberators on the same mission. Here 168 ground crew are seen loading mail in a typically cold Rockcliffe scene. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138367334-FXNCEO1HTJLNYSQJOAGY/4A0CD6C8-6D2B-4B24-9953-AB98C30CE8B1.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Prior to leaving on their mercy flight to Europe, the crew of Flying Fortress 9202 assembled at the tail for a photograph—likely the last taken of these men alive. Left to right: Flight Lieutenant Norbert Roche, Squadron Leader Alfred Webster, Flight Lieutenant Donald Forest Caldwell, Flight Lieutenant Edward Harling and Sergeant Edwin Erwin Phillips. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138391336-7PYNPWCTKW181OPT2GJI/9FEA507D-61D6-45DE-BF63-AE0C344E92FC.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Sergeant Edwin Erwin Phillips enlisted in the RCAF in 1942. Being black in the RCAF may have been rare at the time, but a number of black Canadians served with high distinction, including Phillips who was completing his eighth crossing of the Atlantic. Units and squadrons of the RCAF were not segregated as they were in the USAAF. His and the service of other African Canadians is celebrated on the Veterans Affairs website. Photo via Veterans Affairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138420201-DF7RQ7K3ICMRUU92KNPZ/82E9D60E-1E69-49E2-AAD6-AEFDC1CD68A4.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Former RCAF Flying Fortress 9206 is seen in a very poor scan from a publication as the Argentine LV-RTO, prior to her eventual scrapping in 1964. 9206 was flown to Morón, Argentina in 1948, to be used as a VIP transport. After that, a legal dispute had her grounded at Morón (above) from 1949 to 1964. Prior to her RCAF service, this B-17 (USAAF serial 41-2438) flew missions from Hawaii, then was sent to Australia, flying combat missions based at Mareeba Airfield. On 23 June 1942, while with the 19th Bomb Group, and flown by Frederick Eaton on photo reconnaissance mission over Rabaul, British Papua New Guinea, it was attacked by nine Japanese fighters, but managed to return—with damage to the wings. When the 19th Bomb Group began leaving Australia in October 1942 41-2438 was reassigned to the 93rd Squadron for the flight home. It remained in the 93rd as a trainer at Pyote, Texas. In January 1943, one B-17 from each of the 19th’s four squadrons was sent to Kirtland for the filming of Bombardier. 4102438 was one of the four. It was truly one clapped out “Fort” when it arrived in Ottawa. Photo: via AeroVintage.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138447381-3JNZXN2XDJ6LNXONQU3T/7926A3B3-5842-4A05-A959-36A92D83B8E6.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out While Fortress 9206 was the last of the Mailcan flight Fortresses when it was scrapped in 1964, it can still be seen today in reruns of the Hollywood propaganda feature called Bombardier, starring matinee idol Randolph Scott and Pat O’Brien. The movie trailer held the promise that you would see Tokyo Bombed... before you very eyes!! The film was actually nominated for an Academy Award for special effects, and was shot at Kirtland Army Airfield in New Mexico. Poster: RKO Pictures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138506035-105WRL8JKFFKTR556FYX/F7169A2E-ABAE-4C99-9FD0-B13DB109595A.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A print of a hand lettered poster showing the Headquarters command structure for 168 Heavy transport Squadron – created before the Fortresses arrived. This image cme from David Russell, one of our contributors, whose father Arnold Russell served with 168 Squadron throughout the postal service. Image via Russell family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138540066-QD8X95VMD2E4CJL36Q75/430D5DFD-8213-4052-A401-DCC3CF0135ED.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Another very evocative artifact – the entire aircrew strength of 168 HT Squadron, the “Flying Postmen”. Those mentioned in this story are Horace Hillcoat (top row, 4th from left), Eli Rosenbaum (4th from Left, Second row down). Fred La Brish (5th from left, third row down), Cecil Dickson (second from right, 4th row down), Edwin Phillips (2nd from left bottom row) and A. Demarco (second from right, bottom row). Note the last photo of the squadron mascot - a Dalmatian known as “Stupid”. Image via Jane Oltmann Ellis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138561950-B4J7JAKJ7GVAOY9H45XO/0691DF61-E363-42EA-8766-F682758296B8.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A page from the log book of then-Warrant Officer Arnold George Russell, showing typical routing of the B-17 Mailcn flights. Russell's son Dave, states: “After some experimentation with routing it was decided to use a southern route through the Azores – rather than over the North Atlantic. As you know, Lagens is in the Azores. The C-47’s were used to transport the mail from Gibraltar. or Rabat to the troops moving up through Italy while the Forts, on arrival in Gib. or Rabat, off-loaded then loaded mail for Canada and returned within 24 hours.” Image via Russell Family Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138587018-W43AEB1APYO42M51Z9P4/F4134D48-269E-4080-B310-613D25BFC424.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Here we see Arnold Russell (right) and other members of 168 HT Squadron, probably taken in Gibraltar or Rabat Sale Morocco (he and 168 was stationed in both places) or perhaps Naples where he flew on occasion. This was probably taken in 1945. Wing Commander Fraser (CO at the end of the war) commented on Arnold's skill and dependability, saying: “... [Russell] has completed a very excellent job of setting up our overseas Detachment at Gibraltar and who also maintained 100% serviceability for almost 5 months overseas” . Writing home to his wife, Russell spoke about the challenges of the older Fortresses: “Just a note in a hurry again. Another a/c arrived last night, -----I am still busy on 9205 lots of trouble and expect to have it cured today if lucky. Had to go to Port Lagustey [sp] yesterday afternoon for spares, quite a trip by jeep, about 60 miles roundtrip. Nice country but old looking. We were back at 5 o’clock and no spares”. Photo: Russell family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138608815-FKBVHI5ZKJGM6K879DYJ/DFFAAFE6-4540-41CB-A614-C6538F2A116E.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Here we see Arnold Russell (right) and other members of 168 HT Squadron, probably taken in Gibraltar or Rabat Sale Morocco (he and 168 was stationed in both places) or perhaps Naples where he flew on occasion. This was probably taken in 1945. Wing Commander Fraser (CO at the end of the war) commented on Arnold's skill and dependability, saying: “... [Russell] has completed a very excellent job of setting up our overseas Detachment at Gibraltar and who also maintained 100% serviceability for almost 5 months overseas” . Writing home to his wife, Russell spoke about the challenges of the older Fortresses: “Just a note in a hurry again. Another a/c arrived last night, -----I am still busy on 9205 lots of trouble and expect to have it cured today if lucky. Had to go to Port Lagustey [sp] yesterday afternoon for spares, quite a trip by jeep, about 60 miles roundtrip. Nice country but old looking. We were back at 5 o’clock and no spares”. Photo: Russell family archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138633497-NVXBDXABWT52MSYQATQJ/543B1D5C-CE21-4E14-A057-0463197B66EA.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out Clarence Seifried (second from left in front row) and members of 168 Squadron pose for a group photo outside their Nissen hut at Rabat. Cold weather of hot, the Nissen was inadequate in every way. Photo via Clarence Seifried https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626138665478-Z0E5X3D5USU0P6QB7OM4/D03FFBD8-3250-45A7-B3F1-F8DE2FA31ABC.jpeg The Stories - LETTERS FROM HOME - Make it stand out A photo of LAC Clarence Seifried in front of the Sphinx, probably during a milk run with the mail from Rabat to Cairo, then on to Paris, France and finally Biggin Hill. Photo via Clarence Seifried https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/death-came-knocking monthly 0.5 2021-12-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f274199-237f-41b1-bb7a-46fc52c990a0/DaeathCameKnockingFlash.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626129693440-295Z6SAJSX3KLZ3CRXCX/GlebeLosses16.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out Pilot Officer David Francis Gaston Rouleau. Lost in the summer of 1942 trying to get to Malta after launching from HMS Eagle during Operation STYLE. Though Rouleau did not live within the recognized boundaries of the Glebe, he lived just a few blocks north of the neighbourhood along the west bank of the Rideau Canal. It was the proximity of Rouleau's home to mine that first inspired me to research his story, pull his service file from the archives and build a picture of his training, operational history and his final tragic day. It's Rouleau's death that eventually led to the stories of more than 470 others who died in the Glebe and surrounding neighbourhoods during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626129752273-AR1CD74RKV3BMCC0UO5V/GlebeLosses14.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out In May of 2018, on the 75th anniversary of the legendary Dam Busters Raid, I learned that one of the 19 hand-picked elite pilots from that night was Pilot Officer Lewis Johnstone Burpee, who lived in the Glebe, just four blocks from my office. I found his story in an archived page in the Ottawa Journal newspaper from May of 1943. The story included the names of his parents and the address of his family home. I came to understand that when an airman, soldier or sailor was featured in the newspapers of the day, the address of his next-of-kin was nearly always mentioned. Stories of these men were short and usually, but not always, included a photo. These stories fell into several categories—about the serviceman's completion of training, his arrival overseas (telegramming his parents), his awards, medals and promotions, his appearance in casualty lists, reports of being missing in action, his death or capture, his release from prison after the war and eventually his arrival home. The result was thousands of stories over 5 years of the European war and beyond—and half a year of scouring the pages of the now-defunct Ottawa broadsheet daily newspaper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626129945520-2YI53HFQAAPGWM712JX4/Map2.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out This simple map, which I built for my Dam Buster's story six months ago demonstrates the locations of the homes of some of the heroes that grew up in my neighbourhood. These men are just the ones I have come across in my research of disparate stories. It would soon become apparent that there were several hundred others in the area covered by this map. However, in this small sampling, we have an extraordinary representation of some of the most famous and pivotal events and campaigns of the war—a Dam Buster pilot, a Battle of Britain pilot and Great Escape participant, a Spitfire pilot lost during aircraft carrier resupply of Malta, a Coastal Command Beaufighter pilot lost at sea and two men lost on Bomber Command night operations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130063117-EYHGC9MOI1TI1C83A08C/GlebeLosses15.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out As I began to collect the images, stories and addresses of young men who lived in the Glebe or who went to Glebe High School and were killed on active service during the war, I began to see that the research and time required to tell the full story was going to be massive. I began to wonder if I should just cut my losses and focus on writing another story. Then something extraordinary happened. While following the stories of former Glebe High School students, I came across this story that appeared in the Ottawa Journal in February, 1943. Zino Manford Niblock and Carl Caldwell, two boys who grew up together in what was then Ottawa's West End, were killed on active service in the same 24-hour period—Niblock, a Handley Page Hampton wireless operator in an accident with 415 Squadron, RCAF of Coastal Command, and Caldwell, a fighter pilot killed on operations the next day. Both men were just 20-years old. Niblock lived on a street called Faraday, which I had not heard of before. The name stuck in my mind as did Niblock's uncommon names. Later that very same night, I attended a party to celebrate the recent wedding of two dear friends of mine—Peter and Gerry. There were only 20-25 people in attendance and I found myself chatting with Peter's trim, lovely and 80-something mother. We were talking about growing up in Ottawa and I asked her where she had lived as a child, and she said, “On Faraday Street.” Surprised by the coincidence, I explained how I was researching this story and that I had run across a story about two young friends who had died in the war and one was from Faraday Street. Her face turned wistful, and there was a look in her eyes I could not explain. She asked, “What was his name?” “Niblock” I replied. Her eyes widened a bit, maybe turned a bit melancholy and she said, “That was my brother.” I was struck almost speechless by the stunning coincidence. “I don't remember much from the time he died,” she said, “because I was only four years old. But after the war when I was older, I remember my mother in her room, crying.” It was the mystical quality of this serendipity that fueled the next four months of research. But it was also the fact that Niblock's mother never quite got over the death of her young son. It helped me to realize that those who died made the supreme sacrifice, but it was the families that continued to pay the terrible price for a generation or more. Image: Ottawa Journal via Newspapers.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130128197-ZU72TA12YHKL7XQ6IGSO/GlebeFisher.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out One of the hundreds of young and vibrant young men from the Glebe to die in the Second World War was Lieutenant Harold Crawford Fisher, a Glebe Collegiate Institute graduate. His son, Kenneth Fisher (the child above) was just two years old when his father died in combat in Hooftplaat, Netherlands in October of '44 as his unit, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, was fighting to liberate that country. It is important to understand that the deaths of men like Fisher would break the hearts of and impact the lives of their families to the end of their lives—even those, like Ken, who were too young to comprehend the tragedy. Of his father's death, Ken would say: “His death on October 9th, 1944 has been the single most influential fact of my life, even though I was only 2 at the time. The trauma on my family at 36 Muriel never went away. My mother brother and I moved to 38 Muriel on VE Day sharing the duplex with my grandparents as I grew up. At nearly 77, I can say that I have lived an extraordinarily rich life, full of profound and wonderful experiences, in some sense influenced by being made fatherless in such a brutal fashion. We all get to choose how we relate to our fate.” Ken would grow up in the Glebe and attend Glebe Collegiate Institute as his father had done. There he would meet another boy named Lewis Burpee Jr, the son of the famed Dambuster who was killed on that epic raid. Inset is a photo of Fisher that was with the story in the Ottawa Citizen about his loss. I include this as it contrasts powerfully with the other image. At right, we see him in formal military dress, with a wistful yet distant countenance—every inch an officer of the “Glengarrians”. But beside him is another man entirely—25 years old, hatless, youthful, vibrant, happy, and caught in warm fall afternoon sunlight in front of his parents' home on Muriel Street. In his face a see the boundless love he has for his son, and the faint hint of worry. Photo via Ken Fisher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130215355-HIH051IXOMM5JM5XF6F8/GlebeLossesMap6.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out A map of the fallen showing the homes of men who died in Second World War and who lived in the Glebe or who went to Glebe High School. In the age of “infographics” this map reveals the terrible truth about the numbers who died in the war—more so than just a number like 472. In this map of downtown Ottawa, I have pinned the addresses of next-of-kin at the time of each serviceman's death—either their parents' home or that of their wives and children if they were married. If both addresses were available in the records, I opted for the parental home—only one pin for each fallen serviceman. Air Force deaths are in red, Army in black and Navy in blue. The area in yellow depicts the traditional boundaries of the Glebe neighbourhood, with the area in pink being the expanded Glebe “Annex”, which was largely undeveloped during the war years—occupied by J. R. Booth's Fraserfield lumber storage yard. Glebe High School is marked by the larger orange circle (the centre red pin is for Bruce Pollack who was a teacher at the school). The red and black triangles represent men who attended Glebe High School but who lived outside the edges of this arbitrary map. They point in the general direction of that man's home. The large cluster of pins at the top right of this map can be explained by the fact that this part of town was and still is occupied by many three, four and five storey apartment buildings. Areas where there seems to be fewer pins are areas that were more fully developed after the war (to the east). In 1941, there were still 152 vacant lots in the Glebe, many of them on the west side next to the Glebe Annex where there are fewer pins (First, Second, Third and Fourth Avenues). Map created by Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130279171-EDTLW2QG511PMKUINE73/GlebeLosses01.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 1 Pilot Officer David Francis Gaston Rouleau, 2 Pilot Officer Peter Gordon Anderson, 3 Sergeant James Blaine Anderson, 4 Pilot Officer Lewis Johnstone Burpee, 5 Sergeant George Earnest Armstrong, 6 Pilot Officer Douglas James Arniel, 7 Leading Aircraftman Arthur Wellington Ault, 8 Aircraftman 1st Class William Harold Beasley—ROW 2: 9 Flying Officer Joseph Ronald Beasley, 10 Flying Officer William Stewart Bonell, 11 Flight Sergeant George Arnold Booth, 12 Flying Officer Philip Bosloy, 13 Flight Sergeant Peter William Bisset Box, 14 Flying Officer John Greer Boyle, 15 Pilot Officer Robert Joseph Bradley, 16 Flight Sergeant Arthur Allen Bussell—ROW 3: 17 Flight Lieutenant Gerald Harry Cheetham, 18 Flying Officer Peter Bryson Code, 19 Pilot Officer David Edward Crockatt, 20 Pilot Officer Donald Seymour Dadson, 21 Squadron Leader William Henry Baldwin, 22 Warrant Officer Kenneth Lyle Dale, 23 Flight Sergeant Gordon Johnston Darling, 24 Warrant Officer 1 Francis William Darragh—ROW 4: 25 Pilot Officer William Scott Findlay, 26 Flying Officer Charles Eric Dewar, 27 Pilot Officer William Edmund Dubroy, 28 Wing Commander John Sydney Dunlevie, 29 Pilot Officer Thomas Edwin Dunlop, 30 Flying Officer James Lyman Eagleson, 31 Flying Officer Donal Mervyn Eastman, 32 Pilot Officer Dennis Fitzmaurice Foy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130376753-M1FC0XD9AK6VGK1VYRLU/GlebeLosses02.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 33 Sergeant George Joseph Goodwin, 34 Pilot Officer George Clarence Goold, 35 Pilot Officer Robert MacFarlane Graham, 36 Flying Officer William Donald Graves, 37 Flying Officer Harold Garfield Handley, 38 Warrant Officer 2 Harold Arthur Healey, 39 Flight Sergeant Leslie Nellis Hodgins, 40 Warrant Officer 1 Calvert Hamilton Hunter—ROW 2: 41 Flying Officer David Lloyd Irwin, 42 Sergeant George Wilbert Jeffrey, 43 Flight Lieutenant John Alfred Johnson, 44 Flight Sergeant Edwin Herbert Kingsland, 45 Flight Sergeant James Kelleher Player, 46 Sergeant Wilfred Robert Little, 47 Pilot Officer Herman Mervyn Lowry, 48 Flying Officer John Scott MacIntyre—ROW 3: 49 Flight Sergeant James Garfield MacKay, 50 Sergeant Andrew Kenneth MacLean, 51 Flying Officer David John MacMillan, 52 Flight Sergeant Harold Ernest Magladry, 53 Flying Officer Eric William McCann, 54 Warrant Officer 1 Leonard Myles McCann, 55 Flying Officer Raymond Norman McCleery, 56 Sergeant Charles John Frederick McCrum—ROW 4: 57 Pilot Officer Alexander Ian McFarlane, 58 Flight Lieutenant Donald Joseph McKenna, 59 Flight Sergeant Charles McKerns, 60 Flight Sergeant William McIntyre McLachlin, 61 Flying Officer Harry Dwaine Merkley, 62 Pilot Officer Allan Murray Minard, 63 Flight Sergeant Perry Lawrence Mitchell, 64 Flying Officer James Lambert Moore https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130419921-IAKX83RAQ226F87UA2JK/GlebeLosses03.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 65 Pilot Officer Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison, 66 Flying Officer William Robinson Morrison, 67 Flying Officer Thomas Baillie, 68 Pilot Officer Gregory Ross Bourdon, 69 Flying Officer Donald Lloyd Breadner, 70 Pilot Officer William Kenneth Colfe, 71 Group Captain Herbert Reginald Carefoot, 72 Pilot Officer Thomas Gordon Nettleton —ROW 2: 73 Sergeant Donald Lawrence Moulds, 74 Flight Lieutenant William Joseph Bernard Murphy, 75 Pilot Officer Earl Hector Atkins, 76 Flight Sergeant John Joseph Kincaid, 77 Flying Officer Charles Robertson Olmsted, 78 Pilot Officer Frank Kerr Orme, 79 Pilot Officer John Sumner Owens, 80 Flying Officer Douglas Rendall Parker—ROW 3: 81 Pilot Officer John Richard Patterson, 82 Warrant Officer 1 William George Pavely, 83 Flying Officer Samuel Alexander Phillips, 84 Flying Officer Bruce Leroy Parkinson Pollock, 85 Flight Sergeant David Haynes Barcham Powell, 86 Pilot Officer Bruce Andrew Power, 87 Flying Officer David Mayson Price, 88 Corporal David Alexander Rennie—ROW 4: 89 Flying Officer David Brownlee Robertson, 90 Pilot Officer John Noble Rombough, 91 Pilot Officer Thomas Ross Williams, 92 Pilot Officer Donald John Sterling, 93 Pilot Officer Warren Oliver Slack, 94 Flight Sergeant Francis Joseph Hogan, 95 Flight Lieutenant Gerald Barclay Snow, 96 Flying Officer Arnold Irwin Watterson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130467161-DIVKEJG97CQEJZJ21AJE/GlebeLosses04.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 97 Leading Aircraftman Linley Douglas Wetmore, 98 Flying Officer James Bennett Wilson, 99 Flying Officer William James Windeler, 100 Flying Officer Allen Garnett Wright, 101 Flight Lieutenant George Percival Wyse, 102 Flight Sergeant Gordon Gerald Hart, 103 Warrant Officer Zino Manford Niblock , 104 Pilot Officer Robert John McCallum—ROW 2: 105 Squadron Leader Emerson Weldon Cowan, 106 Flight Sergeant Robert Henry Cowley, 107 Flying Officer Peter William Lochnan, 108 Squadron Leader James Easson Hogg, 109 Flight Sergeant Harold James Beattie, 110 Flight Sergeant Douglas Gordon Ide, 111 Warrant Officer 2 Carleton Ernest Caldwell, 112 Warrant Officer 1 Eric Douglas Ralph Botten—ROW 3: 113 Flying Officer Robert Stuart Butterworth, 114 Wing Commander John Despard Twigg, 115 Flight Lieutenant James Angus Francis Halcro, 116 Flying Officer John James Earls, 117 Flying Officer Robert William Clarke, 118 Sergeant Harry George Hydes, 119 Pilot Officer Thomas Lloyd Bennett, 120 Warrant Officer 1 Leonard Norman Fresque—ROW 4: 121 Flight Lieutenant Charles Tom Cantrill, 122 Pilot Officer Ashton Irving Cohen, 123 Pilot Officer Kenneth George Cummings, 124 Flight Sergeant Charles Howard Cobbett, 125 Squadron Leader Eric Thomas Garrett, 126 Pilot Officer Kenneth Robert Grant Millar, 127 Sergeant Donald Murray Smith, 128 Pilot Officer Owen Arthur O'Leary https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130509261-EELIT9ELU1RSNOLZ1PU5/GlebeLosses05.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 129 Corporal Cecil George Heeney, 130 Flying Officer Robert Tilton Heeney, 131 Warrant Officer 2 Clement William Hall, 132 Gunner Winston Hart Morehouse, 133 Pilot Officer Francis Henry Leaver, 134 Sergeant Dominico Guiseppe Calderone, 135 Pilot Officer James Lorne Kenneth Daly, 136 Sergeant Ian Alistair MacDonald—ROW 2: 137 Sergeant John Gregory O'Gorman, 138 Flight Sergeant Albert Thomas Bradly, 139 Flying Officer Williard Irving Post, 140 Pilot Officer John Robert Marriott, 141 Flying Officer Donald Ross Gilchrist, 142 Flying Officer Fred Charles Allen, 143 Warrant Officer Class Daniel Joseph Somers, 144 Pilot Officer Grant Alexander Fletcher—ROW 3: 145 Pilot Officer Gerald Henry Armstrong, 146 Flying Officer Francis Wilfred Moffit, 147 Flight Sergeant Leo John Labarge, 148 Pilot Officer Bernard Henry Labarge, 149 Pilot Officer Benjamin Victor Starrup, 150 Flying Officer Lester Ferguson Blakeney, 151 Squadron Leader Kenneth Arthur Boomer, 152 Flight Sergeant Arthur Ernest Charron—ROW 4: 153 Pilot Officer Ellard Alexander Cummings, 154 Flying Officer William Burton Ernst, 155 Flying Officer Joseph Vincent Collingwood, 156 Pilot Officer James Elliot Schwerdfager, 157 Flight Lieutenant Saxon Millis Cole, 158 Pilot Officer Wincell Henry Dugmore Spence, 159 Flight Sergeant Douglas Harrison Stewart, 160 Pilot Officer Denis John Richardson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130582877-MA9V14X8XZYV0PJ9KVIH/GlebeLosses06.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 161 Flying Officer Patrick Blake Dennison, 162 Flying Officer Arthur Bebbington Long, 163 Flight Lieutenant Stewart Foster Garland, 164 Flight Lieutenant Wallace Dicker Stroud, 165 Sergeant Albert Richard McWhinney, 166 Pilot Officer Gordon Douglas Hay, 167 Flying Officer Louis Eber Eldred Robinson, 168 Leading Aircraftman Joseph Harold Golding—ROW 2: 169 Warrant Officer 1 James Augustus Smart, 170 Pilot Officer Charles Donald Mison, 171 Pilot Officer John Nathan Treadwell, 172 Flying Officer Donaldson Rendal Holloway, 173 Pilot Officer Joseph Henry Yvon Albert, 174 Flight Lieutenant John Alfred Malloy, 175 Squadron Leader Francis Evan Robert Briggs, 176 Sergeant Alexander Angus Cameron—ROW 3: 177 Flight Sergeant Edward Lawrence Armstrong, 178 Leading Aircraftman George Hamilton Crawford, 179 Pilot Officer Gordon Robert Day, 180 Flight Lieutenant Richard Nicholas Ferris, 181 Flying Officer Douglas Emerson Geldart, 182 Pilot Officer Martin Allan Knight, 183 Flying Officer Gordon Patrick James Kimmins, 184 Flight Lieutenant Richard Chilrose Lawrence—ROW 4: 185 Flying Officer George Murray MacLean, 186 Flying Officer Richard Gerard Mansfield, 187 Warrant Officer I Michael James Doran McGuire, 188 Flying Officer Lynden Arnold McIntyre, 189 Flying Officer Donald Rae McLean, 190 Flying Officer David Bernard Lawrence McMahon, 191 Flight Sergeant Robert Learmonth Melville, 192 Warrant Officer I Alan Hubert Andrew Morris https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130654346-JNM0RNRXJ93UAEOUYKAX/GlebeLosses07.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW:193 Leading Aircraftman John Wellesley Munro, 194 Flight Sergeant Davey William Newman, 195 Pilot Officer Robert George Hill, 196 Warrant Officer 2 Harold Jason Thurston, 197 Sergeant Eric James Post, 198 Pilot Officer Henry Eric Rath, 199 Flight Sergeant Stanleigh Lowry Reid, 200 Flying Officer John David Lindsay—ROW 2: 201 Flying Officer Ronald William Alexander Rankin, 202 Sergeant Raymond Reid Riddell, 203 Sergeant John Donald Robertson, 204 Leading Aircraftman Joseph Theodore Arthur Schryburt, 205 Pilot Officer William John Hope, 206 Flying Officer Walter Young James Soper, 207 Flying Officer William Hector Thompson, 208 Flying Officer Howard Pearson Ralph—ROW 3: 209 Leading Aircraftman John Harold Whalen, 210 Warrant Officer1 Godfrey Phillip White, 211 Sergeant Ross Thomas Murdie, 212 Warrant Officer 2 Harold James Langford Copping, 213 Sergeant Joseph William Du Broy, 214 Sergeant Walter Alexander Hill, 215 Sergeant Roy Kennedy, 216 Flying Officer Robert Ernest O'Heare—ROW 4: 217 Flying Officer Lawrence Francis O'Brien, 218 Flight Lieutenant William Meredith Sterns, 219 Pilot Officer Thomas Gerald Boucher, 220 Flight Sergeant Verne Arthur Joseph Poulin, 221 Warrant Officer 2 Roy Frederick Shattock, 222 Pilot Officer John Donald Buchanan, 223 Leading Aircraftman Robert Harold Prosser, 224 Flying Officer Gordon David Bowes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130706861-V0N91E9LXTCQQY1P7XGA/GlebeLosses08.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 225 Flight Sergeant Donald Malcolm Moodie, 226 Flying Officer George Douglas Spencer, 227 Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey, 228 Flying Officer Douglas Nugent Donald, 229 Corporal Cecil Adrian Hale, 230 Flight Sergeant John Bourne Jamieson, 231 Corporal Hugh Allan Powers, 232 Flying Officer Donald Daubney Connor—ROW 2: 233 Pilot Officer Thomas Edward George Howe, 234 Sergeant Edward Hinchey Hodgins, 235 Flying Officer Ernest Stuart Guiton, 236 Warrant Officer 1 Richard Barnett Blake, 237 Sergeant Joseph John Francis Holland, 238 Warrant Officer 2 James Millar Brownie, 239 Flight Sergeant Samuel Lewis Silver, 240 Sergeant Jack William Irish—ROW 3: 241 Pilot Officer Gerard McKee Beech, 242 Flight Lieutenant Douglas Elliott Berry, 243 Flying Officer Donald Arthur Willett, 244 Pilot Officer James Donald Alexander Foley, 245 Pilot Officer Allen Bruce Pattison, 246 Warrant Officer 2 Angus Daniel MacDonald, 247 Warrant Officer 2 Jack Cooper, 248 Sergeant Stuart Frank Beeching Bott—ROW 4: 249 Private Lloyd Duncan Aitkenhead, 250 Private John Lloyd Russell Bradley, 251 Private John Carrwon Coburn, 252 Warrant Officer 2 Richard Albert Bradshaw, 253 Quarter Master Sergeant Earle Warwicker Cameron, 254 Lieutenant Sidney Darling, 255 Signalman Thomas Malcolm Dean, 256 Lieutenant Elbert Watson Dowd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130790635-33417GVUOLXIJZVJA04Y/GlebeLosses09.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 257 Lieutenant William Mills Foster, 258 Lieutenant Harold Crawford Fisher, 259 Lieutenant William Hague Harrington, 260 Lieutenant Clifford William Kerr, 261 Captain Gerald Albert Lidington, 262 Able Seaman Ashley Kilburn MacDonald, 263 Lieutenant Colin Stone MacDonald, 264 Lieutenant John Albert MacDonald—ROW 2: 265 Sergeant Neil Richardson MacDonald, 266 Lieutenant Charles Richard Maundrell, 267 Captain James Stewart Watt, 268 Captain John Arthur Watt, 269 Ordinary Seaman James Ralph Millar, 270 Private William Sydney Cable, 271 Private Gordon Howard Colville, 272 Private Stephen William Wallace—ROW 3: 273 Lieutenant Commander Clifton Rexford Tony Coughlin, 274 Sergeant Wallace Wilfred Ducharme, 275 Guardsman Earl Abner Steen, 276 Sergeant Joseph Hugh King, 277 Able Seaman Robert Ansley Cavanagh, 278 Private William Russell Smith, 279 Trooper Norman Richard Hayter, 280 Private Walter Douglas Gardner—ROW 4: 281 Lance Sergeant Ray Wallace Beaton, 282 Sergeant George Jackman, 283 Corporal Edward Albert Langman, 284 Captain Walter Lloyd Hutton, 285 Private Arthur Campbell Wilkinson, 286 Private Charles James Williams, 287 Sub-Lieutenant Keith Francis Wright, 288 Private David Thomas Moffatt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130835352-B2IR737FPM80VSIQF1FQ/GlebeLosses12.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 289 Lieutenant James Patterson Day, 290 Private Joseph Louis Kenneth McCann, 291 Lieutenant Lionel Mariner (Fritz) Palmer, 292 Lance Sergeant Fabien Fleury, 293 Captain Walter James Williamson, 294 Lieutenant Emmett Patrick Joseph O'Dell Finn, 295 Trooper Edward McBain Stroulger, 296 Lance Sergeant John Lloyd McGuire—ROW 2: 297 Captain Grant Frederick Amy, 298 LAC Joseph Raymond Stuart Earl Dority, 299 Lieutenant Pitman Elwood Scharfe, 300 Private Robert Thomas Watson, 301 Trooper Lenard Wilfred Meryle Barclay, 302 Captain Edward Gordon Jamieson, 303 Captain Joseph Leslie Engler, 304 Sapper Kenneth Sheehan—ROW 3: 305 Corporal Charles Rolland Lecompte, 306 Trooper Kenneth Edgar Smith, 307 Signalman Ernest Albert Boyce Laidlaw, 308 Sub-Lieutenant (acting) Arthur G. Byshe, 309 Lieutenant Fernie Bemister Stewart, 310 Private Harold Sandford Angel, 311 Corporal Mike Myer Litwack, 312 Major Keith Elwood Richardson—ROW 4: 313 Private Earl Alwyn Delmer, 314 Master Petty Officer Norman V. Dority, 315 Sapper Edwin Cowley, 316 Sergeant Sydney Vincent Gerald Partridge, 317 Warrant Officer 1 John Albert Pollock, 318 Gunner Arthur Swartman, 319 Captain Joseph William Courtright, 320 Lieutenant Robert Bruce Murchison https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130880338-66NS9RI8LYT80K629Q0D/GlebeLosses13.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 321 Private William Glen McAllister, 322 Private Ervin Lawrence Dunn, 323 Sergeant Eric George Midgley, 324 Private Edward J. Major, 325 Lieutenant John Lawrence Morgan, 326 Lieutenant Commander Digby Rex Bell Cosh, 327 Flying Officer Clarence Sydney Robson, 328 Lieutenant Warwick Edwin Walmsley Steeves—ROW 2: 329 Sergeant Frank Charles Stevens, 330 Private Archie Clark, 331 Sergeant Frederick Irwin Stata, 332 Flight Sergeant John Lorn Rochester, 333 Lieutenant Richard Norman Stewart, 334 Lieutenant Francis Lewis Joseph Arnett, 335 Lance Corporal Stuart Alexander MacDonell, 336 Sapper Donald William Spence— ROW 3: 337 Private Paul Edward Riffon, 338 Private Robert Edward Rayner, 339 Flying Officer Ronald William Alexander Rankin, 340 Flying Officer George Daryll McLean, 341 Private Donald Sutherland McAngus, 342 Supply Assistant Francis Quinlan, 343 Corporal William Leslie Hemming, 344 Captain Thomas Emmet Clarke—ROW 4: 345 Sergeant Thomas Leslie Stuchbery, 346 Lieutenant Robert Louis Richard, 347 Corporal Harold Frederick Montgomery, 348 Lieutenant Francis Wilfred Doyle, 349 Sergeant Gerald Clelland Nichol, 350 Corporal Michael James Cleary, 351 Private James Davidson, 352 Leading Aircraftman Edwin Drake https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130922412-UYFHIWL5NYC6OZAZHDAJ/GlebeLosses20.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 353 Sergeant Gerald Richardson, 354 Private Leonard James Hunter, 355 Flying Officer Robert Jamieson Gray, 356 Private Arthur Stewart, 357 Pilot Officer William Lysle Buchanan, 358 Sergeant Joseph William Dubroy, 359 Corporal Donald Fraser Shearn, 360 Flight Sergeant Robert Slessor Geddes—ROW 2: 361 Pilot Officer Donald Frederick McCorkle, 362 Warrant Officer 2 Robert Laird Cameron, 363 Staff Sergeant Douglas Raymond Gardner, 364 Sergeant Farrell James McGovern, 365 Corporal Charles James Johnstone, 366 Walter A. Garvin, DND, 367 Leading Aircraftman Douglas Ernest Paul, 368 Private James Cochrane —ROW 3: 369 Trooper Homer Charles Courtright, 370 Sergeant Donald George Hutt, 371 Leading Aircraftman Edwin Drake, 372 Warrant Officer 1 Ernest Hayes, 373 Pilot Officer Robert Joseph Miller, 374 Guardsman Robert Roy Burns, 375 Sergeant John Robert Maynard, 376 Leading Aircraftman William Mossop Taylor, 377 Sergeant Harold Ernest Boyce, 378 Flight Sergeant Vincent Brophy, 379 Pilot Officer Donald John MacFarlane, 380 Private John Gerald Patrick Wellington, 381 Lieutenant (SB) Leslie, 382 Private James Dempster, 383 Private Kenneth Neil Joseph Rozak, 384 Lance Sergeant Donald Norman MacLeod https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626130973596-PIG9WOOP07R45XNMQTA9/GlebeLosses22.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 385 Sergeant John Lamb, 386 Sergeant Edward Alexander Baldwin, 387 Lieutenant Arthur Griffith Waldron, 388 Sergeant Percy Edward Gibson, 389 Lance Sergeant Alexander Hannay, 390 Private Joseph Skillen, 391 Warrant Officer 1 Michael James Doran McGuire, 392 Warrant Officer 2 John Willard Jamieson, ROW 2: 393 Lieutenant Ernest Wilson, 394 Private Arthur Larocque, 395 Flying Officer James Earl Sauve, 396 Private Richard Thomas Burnside, 397 Corporal Frederick William Corbin, 398 Staff Sergeant Henry Thomas Cahill, 399 Lance Corporal Gerald Harold Flynn, 400 Flying Officer Russell McIntyre Monck, ROW 3: 401 Warrant Officer 2 Duncan Archibald Campbell, 402 Flying Officer Joseph Patrick Leonard Cullen, 403 Pilot Officer John Edwin Gardiner, 404 Lance Sergeant Percy Clarke, 405 Sergeant John Andrew McKenna, 406 Flight Sergeant Clarence Joseph O’Grady, 407 Flight Sergeant John Millar Joint, 408 Trooper Elmer Dawson Brouse, ROW 4: 409 Flight Sergeant Sydney Stephen Lang, 410 Major Douglas MacDonald, 411 Sergeant Emerson Masher Leftly, 412 Flight Sergeant Nelson Leftly, 413 Pilot Officer Franklin Burton Grundy, 414 Flying Officer Orville Stuart Peck, 415 Stoker Leonard Edmund Gauthier, 416 Pilot Officer Donald Young Claxton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626131024759-IZ84OSUCVYFHARM274XP/GlebeLosses40.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out TOP ROW: 417 Warrant Officer 2 Donald Alexander Watson, 418 Flight Sergeant Joseph John Edward Coté, 419 Signalman Leo Joseph Allen, 420 Sergeant George Francis Casey, 421 Pilot Officer Sidney Wallace Follows, 422 Warrant Officer 1 Lorne James Lemoine, 423 Warrant Officer 2 Calvert William Leng, 424 Signalman Ira Leslie Milks, 425 Warrant Officer 2 Lawrence Robert Moffatt, 426 Lieutenant Gerald Ward Swale, 427 Stoker Allan Ernest Wight, 428 Sick Berth Attendant James Clifford McConnell, 429 Trooper Jacques Joseph Bisson, 430 Trooper Edward George Flanagan, 431 Pilot Officer Francis Wilbert Henderson, 432 Gunner Arnold John Higgins, 433 Private Walter Paul Krzyzewski, 434 Flight Sergeant Byron Jeremiah Becker, 435 Signalman Keith Lloyd Marsh, 436 Private Ray Joseph Quinn, 437 Private Earl Springett, 438 Guardsman Emil Victor Henry Murdock, 439 Flying Officer John Edmund Nevins, 440 Signalman Robert Lyons Whyte, 441 Private Peter Adams, 442 Flying Officer Royden Garfield Bradley, 443 Corporal Firle Everard Naylor, 444 Pilot Officer Frank Prosperine, 445 Flying Officer Clyde Russell Scollan, 446 Flying Officer John Francis Edward Tabor, 447 Warrant Officer 2 Herbert Mitchell Lane, 448 Able Seaman Earl Frederick Davis Huson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626131054709-NVDPFKNR51SBE7P8S8XV/GlebeLosses41.jpg The Stories - DEATH CAME KNOCKING - Make it stand out 449 Able Seaman James Earl Young, 450 Private Donald Patterson, 451 Company Quarter Master Sergeant Joffre John Barlow, 452 Fireman and Trimmer Patrick Collins, 453 Signalman Joseph Leonard Dubroy, 454 Flight Lieutenant Thomas Edmund Du Broy, 455 Flight Sergeant Orville Martin Kileen, 456 Captain William Ward King MacPhail, ROW 2: 457 Trooper Jack Joseph Manoney, 458 Sapper Daniel Michael Nigras, 459 Private Harry Edward Nolan, 460 Flight Sergeant Lawrence Joseph Piché, 461 Warrant Officer 2 Francis Paul Desmond Quinn, 462 Sapper Howard Watson, 463 Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Lawrence Michael Sheridan, 464 Lance Corporal Lucien Decarie, ROW 3: 465 Pilot Officer William Johnston Fenton, 466 Flight Sergeant Earl Stewart Rheaume, 467 Corporal Lloyd Reid Fry, 468 Flying Officer Gordon Richard Presland, 469 Private Edward George Spittal, 470 Pilot Officer Thomas Albert Kidd Watterson, 471 Corporal William Henry Cowling, 472 Lieutenant Norman Alexander MacNeill https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/green-cross-to-bear monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625859871573-D44O0OHFV2CP0E85M1CL/GreenCross.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625859925892-SPUEF67OFZX8E6NEFVPU/GreenCross84.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Though the Japanese had been violently gobbling up parts of China and the Far East for the better part of five years, the first true glimpse the western world got of the aerial might of Japan was when the hinomaru flashed in the morning sun over Oahu on that December day of infamy. Image of Aichi Val dive bombers over Pearl from model box by Cyber-Hobby https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625860041157-T5OJMVWNYDN6ZHJB0YFI/GreenCross57.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Let the surrender begin. B-25J Mitchell bombers of the 345th Bomb Group (The Apaches) lead two Green Cross Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” medium bombers into the island of Iejima (called Ie Shima by the Americans). The 345th Bomb Group (the 498th, 499th, 500th and 501st Squadrons) was based on Iejima and was given the task and the very special honour of escorting the Bettys from Tokyo to the rendezvous with United States Army Air Force C-54s, which would take the Japanese officers and envoys on to Manila to meet with no less than Douglas MacArthur himself. Photo: USAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625860112551-1LNQI4VMTWKNIWC4PHZK/GreenCross58.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The two Bettys (ironically and deliberately given the call signs Bataan 1 and Bataan 2 by the Americans) fly low over the East China Sea, inbound for Iejima wearing their hastily painted white surrender scheme and green crosses. One can only imagine what is going on in the conflicted minds of the Japanese airmen as they fly over their own territory in the company of the hated enemy, headed for an event of profound humiliation in front of thousands of enemy soldiers. These two Bettys would become the most photographed Green Cross surrender aircraft of the end of the war. Photo: US Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861401566-O9D8BGZKP1LZH3ZBRDRU/GreenCross43.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A photograph taken from the same 345th Bomb Group Mitchell that is depicted in the first photograph, looking back at another B-25 Mitchell and a B-17. Above, P-38 Lightnings provide top cover. The top cover was needed because some Japanese officials had ordered the remnants of the Japanese Army Air Force to attack and bring down their own bombers rather than surrender. Instead of flying directly to Iejima, the two Japanese planes flew northeast, toward the open ocean, to avoid their own fighters. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861449196-H8TJHE2TFNC7V87R3J60/GreenCross44.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The Betty was officially known as the “Type-1 land-based attack aircraft”, but to its Japanese Navy crews, it was lovingly known as the Hamaki (Cigar), the reason for which is obvious in this photograph (also because one could light it up fairly easily). The Betty was a good performer, but it was often employed in low level, slow speed operations such as torpedo attacks and it had a tendency to explode into flames when hit by even light enemy fire, leading some unhappy pilots to call them the “Type One Lighter” or “The Flying Lighter”. We can clearly see that the Betty’s traditional armament—nose, tail, waist and dorsal guns—have been removed as demanded by the Americans. The B-17 in the distance is from 5th Air Force, 6th Emergency Rescue Squadron carrying a type A-1 lifeboat. The A-1 was dropped by parachute and was motorized. It seems that American authorities did not want to lose these men in the event of a ditching. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861507269-1UH92P7KTM9GZB0SL2WW/GreenCross23.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out As thousands of American soldiers, airmen, sailors, dignitaries and press photographers on the island of Iejima look to the sky, the two 345th Bomb Group B-25J Mitchells escort the two white Green Cross Bettys over the airfield before setting up for a landing. Photo: James Chastain, 36 Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861538928-ESK80V0FOOUJ28UZXIOK/GreenCross41.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out As thousands of suspicious, curious and anxious young men look on, the Japanese pilot brings his Mitsubishi Betty down on to the bleached coral airfield of Iejima. Note the all-metal Douglas C-54 waiting for their arrival. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861583508-OPQ17W5SWQEQMFZZTRYY/GreenCross01.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out It is plainly obvious that in August of 1945, on the island if Iejima, it was brutally hot the day the Green Cross Bettys landed. Here one of the two aircraft drops on to the runway as soldiers, the formal welcoming committee and pressmen wait, finding shade where they could. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861645643-485B471KO507EL4Q8LKR/GreenCross22.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The second of the two Green Cross Bettys makes its final approach while press photographers and reporters capture the long-awaited moment. Photo: James Chastain, 36 Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861692421-GMU5Q8Z31PZFEWVCU0V5/GreenCross70.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out As the second Betty alights on the coral airstrip, every eye on the island is trained on them. One cannot even imagine what this scene looked like to these Japanese as they looked out from the aircraft windows at a sea of mistrust and a new, grim reality. Photo: James Chastain, 36 Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861732929-71IAQ3AYS0F3741CAE44/GreenCross81.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another view taken farther back at Iejima shows the two massive and beautifully kept Douglas C-54 aircraft waiting for the passengers of the landing Betty. Image via wwiivehicles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861764318-7AX43KVCUUPRJXJQ2WFX/GreenCross34.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out With its clamshell canopy open and her Captain standing up to direct his co-pilot through the crowd, the first Green Cross Betty to land at Iejima taxis past a seemingly endless line of enemy soldiers. The scene is one of abject humiliation and intimidation. That pilot must surely have felt the mistrust of the thousands of pairs of eyes burning as he rolled by. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625861804206-HN1S1UEGJYMYKCQKX1Z8/GreenCross80.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A close-up of the Betty taxiing along in front of the thousands of suspicious American servicemen. This had to be intimidating to the Japanese, especially to the lone pilot standing up and accepting the glares of all. Photo: USAAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625862052441-NKM6KJ3LOQM1RN10FC5R/GreenCross72.jpg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The captain of the second Mitsubishi Betty also stands up to direct his co-pilot through the crowds waiting and watching. We can tell this is a different Betty as the previous one has a window panel just behind the nose glazing under the chin of the aircraft. This one does not have that particular window pane. Photo: Fred Hill, 17th Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876312012-R0ZZEOR0ZZQGQE8C3RDI/805E2FB0-A393-47B9-AFE4-00F5DAF863BB.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out With his twin Kasei 14-cylinder engines thundering, the Japanese pilot guides the Betty through the crowded taxi strip. Photo: Fred Hill, 17th Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876582786-3VRF1X27MHZDXD8502IR/8C4B3D2E-B426-4914-AA79-D75F51BE1AED.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Guiding his co-pilot from his perch above the Betty, the commander of the second Green Cross Betty commands him to swing round into position near the awaiting C-54 transports of the Americans. In doing so he blasts the crowd of American sailors and airmen. We can see in this photo that all of the men in the background have their backs turned against the dust storm. Perhaps this was the one satisfying moment for the Japanese crews in this most humiliating of days. Photo: Fred Hill, 17th Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876627648-ZMDQSEK6SMJCX1LAAE3K/18F1A381-393B-4357-B639-28976476FDE1.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out One of the two Bettys comes to a stop across from the waiting Douglas C-54 aircraft that will take the envoys to Manila. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876660158-IFPBW5Z2SKFUVNBNS3V1/7E83D088-3BEC-4809-A7A4-D0F40E0DC6EB.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The second Green Cross Betty to land at Iejima begins to unload its passengers and crew, while American soldiers crowd around. The distinguishing features that help us tell this Betty from the other are the different glazing panels on the nose and the fact that this does not have the Radio Direction Finding (RDF) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage. Photo via leighrobertson.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876714675-JSMYI18NJRV5AH14LS7L/587CC2CA-1BA4-4187-B340-2157A8306CC8.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The two Green Cross aircraft are stared at by thousands of American soldiers, who watch from the gullies surrounding the airstrip, hoping to get a close look at the once hated, now defeated, Japanese airmen. Note the RDF loop antenna at the top of the fuselage. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876750512-5E7X9W5N6241EN8HR4EG/971E57B7-CF08-4C03-AF05-A3326AC40440.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out American soldiers and airmen, in daily working gear, gawk at the once-hated Mitsubishi G4M Betty painted white like a flag of surrender and no longer wearing her proud red rising sun roundels known as the Hinomaru. Instead they are required to wear green crosses—Christian symbols if there ever were any. With her RDF loop, this is clearly the first of the two Bettys. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876787576-JT0JXWOFSCJ1T3SGT0D6/E29F6BC2-3F50-4E77-AC5E-2E16464B7742.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Moments after the second all-white Betty shuts down on the leshima ramp in the blistering sun, she is surrounded by airmen and plenty of Military Police (MPs). While some of the Japanese stand on the ground, a young airman steps out of the doorway carrying two large bouquets of flowers as a peace offering to the American delegation. The offer of the flowers was rejected by the Americans who felt that it was too soon to make nice with the once haughty Japanese who had treated Allied POWs so roughly. It would be like Auschwitz survivors accepting flowers from the SS, but you have to feel sorry for the young man bearing the gift. Photo via warbirdinformationexchange.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876815379-GXNSQGZCP6ZSDAV5EVW7/471019EA-4715-4CBB-A420-3BBBAA33731F.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Looking more than a little worried and even terrified, the young Japanese soldiers look about them to see only angry, disdainful faces. The soldier on the left is the one who has just had his gift of flowers rejected and is no doubt looking for a place to hide. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876853960-XYPM754LH5JUUCBGHRJ0/48DBA934-59B8-4FF9-830C-09237F0772B3.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Japanese officers and leaders, with a mandate to negotiate their surrender, cross from their Mitsubishi Betty to awaiting C-54 aircraft which will take them to Manila. The truth is there were no negotiations. Surrender was unconditional. But they were there to accept the orders of surrender. The formal signing of the surrender would take place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 (two weeks later). Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876883444-5V0TA7BFFSRKRGQQEXUW/66E24BC5-A24E-43AE-82ED-A288DE51E893.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Formalities on the ground were quickly performed and within 20 minutes, the eight official commissioners were guided up a ladder into a massive Douglas C-54 transport aircraft, a luxurious accommodation when compared to the Japanese Bettys. They were then flown to Manila in the Philippines to meet with MacArthur. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876918486-51Y48O6D2QASEM9HC3TS/A3315BDD-0C40-4641-B3EC-58F60A042346.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out After the Japanese delegates boarded the American C-54 Skymaster at Iejima, they were flown 1,500 kilometres over the South China Sea to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Here, we see General Douglas MacArthur watching the arrival of the Japanese entourage from the balcony of the ruined Manila City Hall. Most of the city’s fine old Spanish-style buildings were destroyed in the battle to retake the city from the Japanese in February and March of that year. Americans and Filipino citizens look on warily. More than 100,000 Manilans and 1,000 Americans were killed battling the Japanese, so this crowd would not be considered to be welcoming. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625876944626-X8CYAP3BO8FMRNRIAGPC/0C2FC65A-D3E3-408D-BA31-81EF6B421FD8.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The aircrew from one of the Green Cross Bettys shelter from the sun under the wing of their aircraft. With such extreme sunlight, white coral airstrip and white airplane, it is easy to see how the photographer, exposing for the men, had the entire background washed out. However, we can just make out the green cross on the fuselage and one higher on the tail. Notice how none of the airmen are looking directly at the photographer, indicating submission. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877183090-Y30MNWIOM3QRRWVAUO8F/8861FF3C-A4C3-4B31-B51F-CB7AA5371072.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Chief Warrant Officer James Chastain, an air force photographer/photo lab technician, with camera in hand, gets one of his buddies to snap a photo of him with a Green Cross Betty. Of that day, Chastain remembers, “Prior to the envoys landing, GI troops had been positioned approximately six feet apart on either side of the landing runway. One of the Betties [sic] had part of the Plexiglas of the tail gunner’s position missing and the person in that position could be plainly seen. As the Betty settled to the runway for a less than perfect landing the person in the tail gunner’s position saw all of the people standing behind the GIs that lined the runway and it appeared that he wasn’t sure what action our guards were going to take, he immediately scurried forward out of sight. Massive rolls of barbed wire prevented us getting in position for close up shots of the Envoys transfer to the awaiting C-54s. Later when we were able to view the Betties more closely, one could see that paint jobs were slightly streaked as if they had been hurriedly applied by brush. One could even see the old red “meat Ball” through the thin white paint. However the green crosses had been applied with more care.” Photo: via James Chastain, 36 Photo Recon Squadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877228955-OQ4B98JWIMRV1LXTW0UP/B6C6C9B1-F67F-4DC9-8747-A5B3C735DAA6.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another view of the first two Green Cross aircraft at Iejima—Bataan 1 and Bataan 2. Photo: John F. DeAngelis, via bristolpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877255718-8G1J2L59MKXG5MI0Y7HV/AFC8AA1D-7077-4D29-BDEE-CF3FE8AF3245.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The two Green Cross Bettys would stay until the delegation returned the next day from Manila. During that time a group of airmen, sailors, and Seabees gathered for a victory photograph like no other, on top of the first Betty to land. The baffed-out Bettys were in rough shape compared to the C-54s the delegation used to get to Manila and we can see pools of oil and fuel beneath this one. Photo via axis-and-allies-paintworks.co https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877295423-3EEG47X9Y8LHOIFIZLOJ/CF2408DA-1EC5-4452-9C6D-3DBDCCB5DF1F.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out As if being humiliated in surrender, painting over your proud symbols and having your airplane walked on by victorious American boys wasn’t degrading enough, one of the Bettys ran off the taxiway the next day, delaying departure while exasperated Japanese airmen tried to extract the aircraft from the soft coral, earth and embarrassment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877323008-JWBC1IGYFA136UM0NSFX/F7DDC8D0-7182-4D80-816A-838883C7A12B.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A modeller shows us exactly what the Green Cross Betty would have looked like. One can only imagine the emotions running through the ground crews who were required to paint over their much-adored hinomaru markings and remove her defensive armament. This is the bomber variant of the G4M Betty, while the second aircraft to land was a transport variant. Photo via network54.com, model by Terry aka braincells37 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877347549-AS10Z1ZL2T4JCKJNUWJ2/69EC1F3A-91DB-4F24-BB22-F9079E7E6C3F.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out From down in the gully alongside the Iejima airstrip, another photographer takes a colour shot of Betty known as Bataan One. Photo via axis-and-allies-paintworks.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877371329-NT3MHINMNFJLFXAU884X/E38F010A-46CA-40B3-9759-156141588E40.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A colour profile of the Green Cross Mitsubishi G4M Betty bomber (Bataan One) used for the Iejima rendezvous. This gives us a truer sense of the colour of green used. Image via Wings Palette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877395784-JCRYN0IKIKJ94HNYB229/6268301A-BC4A-40D3-A345-99C3E216619D.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The island of Iejima today. In 1945, it was the place where the Japanese and the Allies met in peace for the first time in nearly four years. Today, the 9-square-mile farm island is sometimes called “Peanut Island,” for its general shape and peanut crop, or “Flower Island,” for its abundant flower production. Photo via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877420102-FVHGTMJ1YM750DR26JUM/7D7A1E0C-AB13-48C0-B76C-0A2C3F00AD68.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Even training aircraft like this Kyushu K11W1 Shiragiku (White Chrysanthemum) bombing trainer were painted white with green crosses if they were used to transport emissaries to surrender and peace talks somewhere. Here we see that the thin coat of white paint is barely enough to cover the Hinomaru in this hangared Shiragiku. The pinkish Japanese roundel is covered by a green cross, as this aircraft was somehow used to transport a surrender delegate. Photo via Illinois Institute of Technology Downtown Campus Library as part of the Library of International Relations Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877445245-5M2YO4F3YCYBPWNMA9D7/83A1D464-0349-4377-82FB-D8956276C0F8.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out From Kamikaze to Green Cross. The same Shiragiku from the previous photograph is pushed outside by American ground crews. The Kyushu K11W Shiragiku, or White Chrysanthemum, was a land-based bombing trainer aircraft, serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in the latter years of the Second World War. It was designed to train crews in operating equipment for bombing, navigation, and communication. A total of 798 K11Ws were manufactured and these aircraft were also used in kamikaze missions during the last stages of the Pacific War. Photo via mission4today.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877477822-RY7AWMDEVB6FXUK8IAIF/73F0A962-4C6F-4921-B65E-D8400018B35C.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out K11W Shiragiku in postwar markings of white overall with green crosses. The aircraft was so obscure and little known to the Allies, that it never got an allied code-name like Betty, Zeke, George or Tony. This one wears the numeral “1” on its tail. Image scanned from The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II by David Mondey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877507699-1IX64T7LBKC3PY70WECL/D14B40EC-7C39-434C-A80E-9D34C20089D3.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another Green Cross K11W Shiragaku with the numeral “2” on its tail but with very similar painted-out markings beneath its canopy as are seen on the hangared Shiragaku previously depicted. This particular aircraft was photographed at Shanghai in late 1945. One wonders if this is the same aircraft or at least from the same training base in Japan. Note the American C-46 Commandos in the background. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877532323-974DDO8C1KRQC3EL16HO/89E313BD-1D20-45A3-9465-A6E96B85CAC1.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A Nakajima B5N2 Kate in near perfect Green Cross markings seems discarded and shoved haphazardly together with other Japanese aircraft. Photo via H.J. Nowarra, The Bill Pippin Collection, 1000aircraftphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877569331-NDK9BA2XTYDSZVG4G5H1/5783D166-C130-433A-840A-82F8962DA5E9.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out One of the most attractive Japanese aircraft of the Second World War was the Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah. Here we see a Green Cross Dinah leaving the plateau airfield of Vunakanau, outside of Rabaul with a delegation to work out the details of the surrender of the Japanese Army and Navy to the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. The Japanese who painted this aircraft either misunderstood the order to paint out the Hinomaru marking or just plain couldn’t do it, as the aircraft carries both the red “meatball” and the Green Cross of surrender. Jacquinot Bay Airport (IATA: JAQ) is today an airport near Jacquinot Bay in the East New Britain Province on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The airstrip was liberated by the Australian Army in 1944. Following the Japanese surrender, several Japanese aircraft were flown from Vunakanau Airfield to Jacquinot Bay Airfield. Photo via Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877645159-NB7TBA3DTRJB7IUXW6O8/A6A4E682-295D-4CF5-ADF7-37BFAD9240DB.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another shot of the Ki-46 Dinah from the previous photograph—this time at her destination at the RNZAF field at Jacquinot Bay. In this photograph we can see much more clearly the dual markings of aggression and surrender. Photo via Woody01 at Kiwisim.net.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877678681-VNTBUF40TSIYQDHYZ7C5/383C4D24-DBC0-4DE6-A932-A211BBDB3547.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Four surrendered Japanese aircraft after arrival at the RNZAF airfield at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, on 18 September 1945 (a full month after the Iejima Green Cross flights). The formation consisted of three Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zero fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and one Ki-46 Dinah reconnaissance aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Army (see previous photograph). The aircraft were flown by Japanese crews, and departed Vunakunau Airfield at Rabaul with an escort of RNZAF F4U Corsair fighters. All the Japanese aircraft wore Green Cross surrender markings. Image from Australian War Memorial via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877706914-HD85PQGOY78CS6V25YNB/61C85250-FDF4-4261-86D9-5A0BF3EF1F55.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Royal New Zealand Air Force officers and airmen take a good look at one of the Japanese Zeros flown to Jacquinot Bay, New Britain by Japanese pilots under guard from RNZAF Corsairs. Photo via Woody01 at Kiwisim.net.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877730586-NVQDGUJX7D4IUQQA2FAU/91075968-41BE-4025-87AE-358F398275B6.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out In the background, RNZAF ground crew work on one of the three Jacquinot Bay Zeros, while in the foreground we see one chocked and waiting for a test flight perhaps. Photo via Woody01 at Kiwisim.net.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877763419-7CFXLWCCNJ31XVYTVZLC/A73E3274-32AE-46BE-ADD4-CAC63650D9D1.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out RNZAF ground crew inspect and work on one of the Green Cross Zeros surrendered at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. Photo via Woody01 at Kiwisim.net.nz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877806229-G7N3ANEJPMJSRXHHOML7/2552F1FF-8C2C-43AD-8D41-F60580965F21.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out With Japanese soldiers watching, one of the Jacquinot Bay Mitsubishi Zeros rolls for takeoff while another warms up in the background. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877833215-5R9NZGBVXUV5EI7IRA8M/D9E0ECFD-EFAA-4191-B397-C2CE5BA5C88F.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out I guess it’s fair to say that the markings on this Mitsubishi Ki-57 passenger transport aircraft are, well... Topsy Turvy. The allied code-name for the type was Topsy. The Topsy was the main personnel transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War, and was developed from the Ki-21 twin-engined heavy bomber. The Ki-57 was used as a communications aircraft, for logistical transport and as a paratroop transport, and served on every front where the Japanese Army was involved. Photo via wwiivehicles.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877859132-C88YSYAJ3J3GLCZ6O4ZU/A2CAD528-2777-4BDB-AD27-92AFE71D28B5.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A Green Cross Jake is readied for takeoff from Jacquinot Bay, New Britain in October of 1945. This Aichi E13A1 Jake long-range reconnaissance float plane was surrendered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel after it landed on the surface of Jacquinot Bay. While floating there, it developed a leak in a pontoon and sank. It was not recovered. Photo: RNZAF via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877879711-4BG5XTXCDQ8L6K48QN1X/47D6E24E-7EFA-4700-A90F-20D22F1FCC57.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Nattily dressed Japanese surrender envoys including General Numata Takazo are escorted by RAF and British Army officers to the interrogation building after their arrival at Mingaladon airfield, Rangoon for their surrender of the Japanese Southern Army in Burma. The date was 28 August 1945. The Green Cross aircraft used for this flight in the foreground is also a Mitsubishi Ki-57 Topsy. The aircraft in the background is possibly a Dinah. Photo: Pilot Officer Ashley, RAF via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877904811-N4HQJCZZQ9U6JAVJRN3Q/CBED715D-6AA9-4307-99DB-6541EC5A80BD.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A rather tall and fearsome-looking Commander S. Kusumi (with Samurai sword), a naval officer on the staff of Field Marshal Terauchi, Supreme Commander of Japanese Forces (Southern Region), arrives at Mingaladon airfield, Rangoon, via the hastily marked Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah in the background to take part in the surrender negotiations. Photo: Sergeant Bradley, RAF Photographer via Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877931316-J9FED6SXNH78CT0TODZ3/1AC62EC4-9704-4B60-9D57-7E21065AE116.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A photo of two hangared Green Cross aircraft, possibly at Seletar Airfield in Singapore. The one in the foreground is a Mitsubishi Ki-57 Topsy, while the larger aircraft (likely also in Green Cross markings) at the back is a Showa/Nakajima L2D, called a Tabby by the Allies. The Tabby was a license-built copy (with modifications like the extra cockpit windows) of the Douglas DC-3, though it is unlikely that the Japanese continued to pay the license fee once the war started. Photo via aviationofjapan.com and Tadeusz Januszewski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625877953870-RXN0RRRYUYGQZ1GX25D9/921F14F7-40A4-4BC3-B867-1D86E20B0385.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another photo from Seletar, Singapore, showing a Mitsubishi G3M Nell and another Tabby aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s 13th Air Fleet. The Nell, one of Japan’s earliest heavy bombers (introduced in 1935) was also a transport aircraft like this variant. From 1943, most of the remaining Nells served as glider tugs, aircrew and paratroop trainers and for transporting high-ranking officers and VIPs between home islands, occupied territories and combat fronts until the end of the war. Note the blunt-looking forward turret which was retractable, but is extended in this shot. It was considered too “draggy” and was rarely extended. Photo via aviationofjapan.com and Tadeusz Januszewski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878020013-J4U4B5LEAP9GM7L26Y5N/04360684-1F8E-4498-A4B8-A510E3BDF07F.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The Japanese ground crew tasked with painting this Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah either had only a small amount of white paint or they didn’t have time to paint the whole aircraft. The Dinah was photographed at Atsugi Airfield. Atsugi is a naval air base located near the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Photo via flickriver.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878046014-VO3AQ92R12DED4KH3T54/BBA37742-81F9-4AAD-9D03-8C012D9F94F5.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A Mitsubishi Ki-57 Topsy with markings that make her appear to be more Red Cross than Green Cross in black and white. Photo via forum.axishistory.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878072483-PJ56XT315J631TSXB1G5/CBA5CC36-67E3-4F69-96B9-906753156EAA.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Followed by jeeps of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero, flown by a pilot of the RNZAF lands at Piva airfield in Southern Bougainville, New Britain in September of 1945, after having been flown from Kara. It was discovered there in close-to-flying condition nearly two years before. Not trusting the Japanese pilot who assisted in getting it airworthy, the RNZAF pilot, Wing Commander Bill Kofoed, decided to fly it out of the remote airfield—where it had been hidden—with the landing gear down all the way. As he was flying over 200 miles of Kiwi-held territory and did not have full official authorization, he smartly painted the Zero with Green Cross surrender markings. Note the RNZAF Corsairs in the background. Photo: Royal New Zealand Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878095692-L7P9SNXTX8ADEX1P0WYI/DC969442-4850-4CC1-BF75-F4FF37680D45.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Wing Commander William Kofoed, RNZAF, poses with the Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero (Reisen) at Kara airstrip on 15 September 1945 before flying it out to Piva. Photo: RNZAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878127619-JKF2OZML2OPMGGIB36IB/A25D2C78-5125-4893-90D1-36B51C5A82EC.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Kiwi airmen line up at Piva to get a good look at the Kara Zero just moments after it landed. As seen previously, three other Zeros had landed at Jacquinot Bay and were handed over to the RNZAF. Of these, two were given to the Royal Australian Air Force and the other was flown about as a joyride aircraft by curious pilots. Given the lack of official interest in the Jacquinot Bay Zeros, Kofoed decided to pack his Zero off to New Zealand to save it—ASAP. It rode as deck cargo on the inter-island ferry Wahine which was then employed in repatriating Kiwi personnel to New Zealand. Photo: Royal New Zealand Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878148718-JUVRVWKGUN7VV9CNIPYE/D1A29CF2-4360-48D7-B14F-86D2B0BD8441.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out In Piva airfield in New Britain, Wing Commander Kofoed’s war prize is inspected by members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Photo: Royal New Zealand Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878186517-MY60HD8Q42KNUIBPARZ1/8AF8DB91-E920-41D8-AFA5-2F2E72EDE611.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The same Zero at Piva has been readied for transport aboard the ferry Wahine to New Zealand as a war prize—with propeller and horizontal stabilizers removed for travel. Photo via State Library of Queensland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878214683-YHCHWVPYXH9ADKWX9APD/031FDC92-40A7-487B-9161-8EEDEA53AA90.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Today, the Kara Zero has been restored with it original Hinomaru markings and is on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878235974-PYC9HI9EBHD7I4AK6BGU/8268E54E-C032-4EF5-AE1D-8B2B56C85EAA.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Another Mitsubishi Zero with ersatz Green Cross markings—a white square with cross and the wing hinomarus replaced by simple white squares and no crosses. Like pretty well every Japanese aircraft surrendered, captured or found, it is not in flyable condition with a missing starboard wheel and damaged left wheel. Photo via aviarmor.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878262495-PFPPWYD4QAPH403FRGOE/201F863F-13F9-4C10-A867-D5773791B7D6.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out These Green Cross Mitsubishi Bettys are painted in the surrender markings but appear to have had their propellers removed. These are not the Iejima Bettys. Photo via historybanter.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878280495-QE68CQE4RCU32IWIW3O1/3A65C57B-8E06-4BB5-A86E-150B2DF052FB.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out An entire flight line in Matsuyama airfield on Formosa (now Taiwan) wears Green Cross markings, including several Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu (Flying Dragon) heavy bombers. Photo via ijaafphotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878329530-PK9MHEZF4BY3ZHSUXHK8/4705C494-7741-4732-9843-2B52E2378EAB.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Two Japanese Green Cross aircraft at Labuan—an island off the coast of Borneo in East Malaysia. The Mitsubishi Ki.21 heavy bomber aircraft (allied code-name Sally) (left) has been painted white with a green surrender cross, and was used to transport Japanese prisoners for trial between Borneo and Labuan. This aircraft was probably the Sally which was flown to Australia in February 1946, having been nicknamed Tokyo Rose. The Tachikawa Ki.54 transport aircraft (allied code-name Hickory) (right) has not been painted white but its hinomaru fuselage marking has been transformed with a white surrender cross over the red circle and the wings carry white crosses next to the red meatballs. The Hickory was used to fly Lieutenant General Masao Baba, Commander of the Japanese 37th Army and Supreme Commander of the Japanese Forces in Borneo, to surrender at Labuan. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878347352-AVJ5QP1O55MPR8CPWXWM/2A356749-F928-4E57-B277-AEACB4814DF5.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The same Tachikawa Ki.54 Hickory as in the previous photo is a good example of surrender markings being either misinterpreted or simply ignored. It sports a white surrender cross over its fuselage Hinomarus and a white cross side by side with the meatballs under the wings. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878376104-Q34VADUT1BL2EEE6GOCH/8A044DDE-45C9-4597-AC9B-A6E0F47EF00E.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A Japanese Nakajima Ki-49, Army Type 100 heavy bomber, allied code-name Helen, taxiing after landing on the Pitoe airstrip on Morotai, carrying some of the staff of the commander of the Second Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Fusataro Teshima, on 9 September 1945. As the Japanese were short of serviceable aircraft General Teshima arrived from Pinrang in an RAAF C-47 to surrender the Japanese Second Army to General Sir Thomas Blamey. Note the unusual drogue attached to the tail and the American B-24 Liberator in the background. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878400421-F2QUJ655TD5W9OAXQXZF/B00F9904-91C7-4FD8-AB4C-AEC4247E4314.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out A Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21, Army Type 97 heavy bomber, allied code-name Sally, leading the Nakajima Ki-49, Army Type 100 heavy bomber, (from the previous photo), off the Pitoe airstrip. Both Green Cross aircraft are carrying some of the staff of the commander of the Second Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Fusataro Teshima. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878425728-HA9YS6ZGNABBYOIMULQ4/5B46339C-6FE5-4254-9BB6-A4304C864A69.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out After coming to a stop at Pitoe airfield, the Helen is surrounded by curious Australian airmen. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878453550-OBRP65LV9C87TQGM8643/3D540D5C-D77A-49D2-B286-81F408256CCD.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out Wherever Green Cross surrender aircraft went, they were sure to attract every Allied airman, sailor and soldier from miles around—curious to see a Japanese aircraft up close, but even more so to see a Japanese serviceman up close and humbled. Photo via Australian War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878480553-93RZR2QMQNVGMGYTEX2E/FD0638E8-7565-4622-8788-AFCEC0D4B28B.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The surrender arrangements dictated by the Allies specified that aircraft carrying peace delegates (or even flying anywhere for that matter) were to be painted white overall and carry the green cross instead of a red hinomaru. This was done to display the peaceful intentions of an army and a navy that was altogether mistrusted by the Allies. In the specific case of a massive four-engined flying boat like the gorgeous Kawanishi H6K Mavis, it was quite possible that the Japanese maintainers would not have the time or the paint to get it fully white. The Mavis in this photograph has only half the fuselage painted as per surrender specs. Photo: USAAF via Major Robert C. Mikesh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625878508401-R8M5KEWV3HQZGCCVL0RJ/947D2935-770D-4CAA-987F-EF21A4BB46AF.jpeg The Stories - GREEN CROSS TO BEAR - Make it stand out The same Kawanishi Mavis flying boat from the previous photograph lies anchored and displaying white outlined green crosses applied right over her red hinomaru markings, which are still visible. Photo via theminiaturespage.com https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/avro-what monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625854929359-UY5I4NA8GSH3G9HTGGZV/AvroFlash.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855064889-TUROWOZLID1KANZM0IQX/Ottawa13.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The famous (some say infamous) Avro Vulcan prototype VX770 (with four Rolls-Royce Avon engines) showing off the breathtakingly beautiful and futuristic shape of the Vulcan’s massive delta wing. VX770 was equipped with the early straight-edged leading edge wing. Everything about this aircraft would make it the darling of the V-force bombers, inspire the nation and keep it flying as a bomber well into the 1980s. VX770 had a catastrophic wing failure during a climbing turn at an air show at RAF Syerston in 1958. The crew of 4 was killed as were three on the ground. Photo: Avro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855141456-D1KEL8WE7IL8P0FER3JS/Ottawa26.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Ottawa around the time of the Avro Vulcan’s development—logging industry and Parliament in one place. Photo: Malak Karsh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855178927-BBKT2ES4XWWR30Q8I90W/Ottawa23.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The two Avro Vulcan prototypes (VX770 and VX777) fly in formation with four Avro 707s, the Vulcan’s proof-of-concept progenitors. This was at Farnborough in 1953, by which time the name Ottawa was forgotten—thankfully. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855423022-CK08H5WW7XZS7WTYQ0GS/Ottawa01.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out I’m not certain that the Bristol Blenheim was named for a city—more likely after Blenheim Palace or perhaps the Battle of Blenheim, where John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough defeated the French. Regardless of the origin of the name... there is the city of Blenheim in New Zealand to be considered. Here, three Blenheims from No. 13 Operational Training Unit at RAF Bicester hold position perfectly in echelon right. No. 13 OTU was associated with 6 Group, Bomber Command which was comprised of squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855580519-14Q008BF6Z3YFAILQ6YJ/Ottawa15.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The Handley Page Hereford was named after the county city of Herefordshire near the Welsh border. The Hereford differed from the Hampden in that it was powered by the completely unreliable Napier Dagger engine which offered no appreciable performance over the Bristol radials of the Hampden. They were soon pulled from service. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855637027-361KLLD3GNO75M981V4Y/Ottawa16.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The Bristol Bombay, named after the city that is now called Mumbai, was designed as a transport for the RAF with the ability to function as a medium bomber. Used mostly as a transport and supply aircraft, its bombing career was as a night bomber in the North African campaign. The design bomb load of 250 lb bombs under the fuselage was supplemented by improvised bombs thrown out of the cargo door by hand! Only 51 were constructed. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855710864-OAWJX63WX5BLT2Y0WMKI/Ottawa27.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Similar in many repsects to the Bristol Bombay, the Handley Page Harrow was named after the London suburb of Harrow. The two had about the same performance qualities, except that the Bombay had nearly twice the range of the Harrow. Photo: Dan Shumaker Collection, via 1000AircraftPhotos.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855775802-6MS574PM956WA8AHHRBJ/Ottawa03.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley was one of three medium bombers available to Bomber Command at the outset of the war—the Hampden and Wellington being the others. Despite being obsolete by the time of the war, some 1,800 Merlin-powered Whitleys (mostly Mk IVs) were built, seeing service in a wide variety of roles. The two examples above are Coastal Patrol aircraft with 612 Squadron, based in Iceland. The Whitley’s major flaw was that it could not maintain altitude on a single engine. It also flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude—due to a wing that was set at a high angle of attack (AOA). The wing’s AOA was set in this manner because the original design had no flaps. Even after flaps were added to the design, the wing’s angle never changed. It had a snooty aristocratic look about it, and was named after the West Midlands town of Whitley, a suburb community near Coventry and the place where one of Armstrong Whitworth’s factories was situated. The same Whitley plant site is now home to Jaguar Cars Limited and houses its design, research and development facilities. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855828519-TRHM2EBPLW59ZXQQARVZ/Ottawa04.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out The Vickers Wellington was the most capable of the medium bombers available to the RAF’s Bomber Command at the start of the war. Wellingtons of No. 9 and No. 149 Squadrons, along with Bristol Blenheims, participated on the first offensive attacks by Great Britain in the Second World War—attacks on German shipping and naval vessels at Brunsbüttel Roads at the western mouth of the Kiel Canal. The Wellington, nicknamed the “Wimpey”, was unique among the aircraft of the Second World War in that its fuselage construction was largely fabric over a geodesic structure—designed by Barnes Wallis, the genius armaments designer who devised the bouncing bomb used by the Dam Busters later in the war. The criss-crossing framework of the geodesic concept allowed the Wellington to absorb considerable damage and still return safely to base. While the aircraft was named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, one could also claim that since the city of Wellington in New Zealand was also named after Wellesley, the aircraft was therefore named after a city. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855875537-BB3SSMTZM2IYDUPB92RE/Ottawa19.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out An amazing photograph of the Wellington’s (and Warwick’s) unique geodesic structure, over which wood battens were laid to accept the fabric outer skins of both aircraft types. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855920192-1L9226CNQBLFK20ZAWG3/Ottawa20.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Named after the small city of Warwick in Warwickshire, the heavy two-engine Vickers Warwick was developed along with the Wellington and was its larger counterpart, sharing the same geodesic structure. Its use was limited compared to it smaller sister, the Wellington—842 built to the Wellington’s 11,460 airframes. It saw use as a transport, Coastal Command patrol bomber, air-sea rescue aircraft (with underslung lifeboat as above), and maritime recce platform. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625855979346-71SJQAAZ3M02FN73MVH9/Ottawa30.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856013851-8S0D74FH2KW1W9B89MUT/Ottawa29.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856061071-6P1PXPUPEK2DA248ZJWI/Ottawa21.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856099438-VP8CP5MDLY2OOEK0E0QY/Ottawa17.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856170103-00G1ZORZISIIL33O95W9/Ottawa05.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856299746-ERTLAUDAJ86ZJKELQ0HM/Ottawa06.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856347894-WA6UAUPDDPAGU9URXA6Y/Ottawa07.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856480567-Y0JIXOJTFV0E3SKZDHW8/Ottawa18.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856515678-15FCN1V4FVDOBN7Z7VAR/Ottawa09.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856569728-ZCPD5661XSMU7JA6YJYA/Ottawa37.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856661499-55JSEH0BWN2AIHQZV33V/Ottawa10.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856697298-IJYD3B8Q9T7VZJJ0D76P/Ottawa11.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856753758-90BQ2XHDR94O1Y0LZJFE/Ottawa12.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625856812677-EQG2VNI4EIKA1YAKLYYP/Ottawa14.jpg The Stories - AVRO WHAT? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/legends-at-geneseo-2010 monthly 0.5 2021-12-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634246252881-0F3K803XVO7UP68T8T11/Geneseo2010TitleE.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out Relatively few Canadian pilots were in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War. Among them was Vintage Wings' own Lieutenant Hugh “Moe” Pawson who flew Corsairs from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Here we see him with the FG-1D Corsair known as “SKYBOSS” flown by Dan Dameo. Photo: Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634246387929-MT7HBLUCV9RDE00ES0FY/Geneseo20107.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out Part of the collection of aircraft from the Great War Flying Museum of Brampton, Ontario, this Fokker Dr.1 replica, wearing the markings of Leutnant Paul Bäumer (nicknamed “the Iron Eagle” with 43 victories), brings early military aviation history to life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc1c1c16-4fa1-4b65-a989-7a634f935446/Geneseo20102.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out The former Canadian P-51D Mustang Red Nose flown by John “Skipper” Hyle over Geneseo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a92f3755-75f3-42eb-9021-8ee04a454571/Geneseo20106.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out Mustangs on the Prowl the CAF's Red Nose and Red Tail in formation over Geneseo's bucolic landscape. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b800a2e1-48ed-4be9-be46-eebacbb1a1b1/Geneseo20105.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out Geneseo is one of few places that will allow you to take sunset photos - the results are always beautiful. This is David Tinker’s TBM Avenger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/84a4f4b8-01f5-42b1-9533-c1bbc4b9158c/Geneseo20103.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out Jerry Yagen brought his immaculate de Havilland Dragon Rapide to Geneseo. The classic twin-engine de Havilland still carries its original Royal Marines paint scheme and British registration. The beauty is part of the collection of Yagen's Military Aviation Museum which hosts an annual spring air show known as Warbirds over the Beach in late May. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c28a12ad-9fb4-4a30-a9d8-a33f144876de/Geneseo20104.jpg The Stories - LEGENDS AT GENESEO 2010 - Make it stand out The newly restored Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Westland Lysander was one of the highlights of the 2010 airshow. Exceedingly rare and displayed in a striking yellow and black “Oxydol” paint scheme of a BCATP target tug aircraft, the STOL bird is seen here doing a low speed pass. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/this-is-it monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625836739338-HCYWDXFRI3GVMUK8ZKP3/Ditching000.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625838698495-6SB4EFDSWMIZ4F55VOAI/Ditching01.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Pan American World Airways’ Boeing 377 StratoClipper Sovereign of the Skies (Serial Number 15959, US Registered as N90943) in magnificent flight over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the 1950s. Not long after this photograph was taken, she met her end in the sea halfway between Hawaii and San Francisco on 16 October 1956. The StratoClipper (Stratocruiser in Boeing parlance) was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser’s first flight was on 8 July 1947. Its design was advanced for its day; its innovative features included two passenger decks and a pressurized cabin, a relatively new feature on transport aircraft. It could carry up to 100 passengers on the main deck plus 14 in the lower deck lounge; typical seating was for 63 or 84 passengers or 28 berthed and five seated passengers. N90943 Sovereign of the Skies had a Boeing production serial of 15959—the aircraft just before serial number 15960 on the Boeing assembly line. Air frame 15960 became Clipper Romance of the Skies, and, flying as Pan Am Flight 7 was lost the following year in exactly the same waters near Ocean Station November as did Sovereign of the Skies. Photo: Pan American World Airways https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625838841833-FZRF8T5UA052ZJ3VJ8A6/Ditching30.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out USCGC Pontchartrain in the all-white paint and gun configuration of the 1950s when she was involved with the salvation of Pan Am Flight 6. Pontchartrain was an Owasco Class (sometimes referred to as a Lake Class as all the cutters in this class were named after lakes in the United States) high-endurance cutter built for Second World War service with the United States Coast Guard. The ship was commissioned just days before the end of the war and thus did not see combat action until the Vietnam War. Pontchartrain was built by the Coast Guard yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland, one of only two Owasco class vessels not to be built by Western Pipe & Steel. Named after Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, the ship was commissioned as a patrol gunboat with ID number WPG-70 on 28 July 1945. She was used for law enforcement, ocean station, and search and rescue operations in the Pacific and Atlantic. At the time of the ditching, Pontchartrain was acting as Ocean Station November, one of a series of ships holding station in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, forwarding weather information and standing by for such rescues as she carried out with Flight 6. Photo: United States Coast Guard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625838898107-UII8JD1HJ65UVGD9U5ZH/Ditching39.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out An exciting scene of the Honolulu International Airport from the 1950s. Four Boeing Stratocruisers grace the ramp—Left to right: Pan Am (N1024V), Northwest, United and another Pan Am Clipper. Photo: Aviation.Hawaii.gov https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625838944691-0JCF6ZJ2QHNCS36UWL3T/Ditching40.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out It is clear from period photos that the Boeing 377 Statocruiser dominated Honolulu-based international airline travel. Obvious in both of these images is the heavy moisture in the skies behind the aircraft. Photo: Via Ian Lind at ilind.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625839004503-BPSQUYS35AQKV2SNWKK0/Ditching34.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out This is likely the scene that welcomed the passengers and crew of Flight 6 on the evening of 15 October 1956—heavy cloud with low angle sunlight, blowing palm trees and the beauty of a Pan American World Airways StratoClipper. Clipper Glory of the Skies (N90942) was the aircraft before Sovereign of the Skies on the Boeing assembly line. N90942 was eventually sold to American Overseas Airlines, then to Aero Spacelines where she was to be converted to a Boeing 377 Guppy oversize cargo carrier. She was damaged beyond repair at Mohave in 1967 during a ground incident with another Stratocruiser. Photo: Via tumblr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625839098453-MFHAJ6AY8FOEM626YRY0/Ditching38.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out An overspeed propeller was a real concern for an airliner out over the ocean. This photo of a Boeing B-29, from which the Stratocruiser was developed, shows the damage suffered when No. 3 engine’s Constant Speed Unit failed and the runaway propeller could not be feathered. The propeller tore from the shaft and flew into the fuselage, where we can see the damage caused by two blade strokes. Other photos of this ship show that some of the propeller exited up through the left side of the fuselage. To say they were lucky to get to Iwo Jima for an emergency landing is an understatement. Photo: USAF via 7thFighter.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625839830853-6MR2JPCAMI4HDMYGUV8H/Ditching03.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out A blurry photograph, taken by travelling Navy Seabee Albert Spear, shows weary and worried parents Jane and Richard Gordon holding their sleeping twin daughters Maureen and Elizabeth during the long and stressful hours as the StratoClipper circled Pontchartrain. Photo: Albert Spear via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625839903869-39VSQH703S3LXHC11Q4Q/Ditching04.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out A photo taken sometime during the early hours of the morning, as the StratoClipper flew in circles above Pontchartrain and passenger Hiroshi Shiga stands to stretch his legs wearing his life jacket. In the aisle at the staircase leading to the upper compartment, Pan American Airways navigator and Second Officer Richard Brown looks the epitome of calm as he chats with passengers. These remarkable images taken at time of great stress reveal the strength and resiliency of both passengers and crew. Photo: Albert Spear via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840039224-PAVB9O3IALEMO5RTTUM2/Ditching58.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Just the year before, Pan American World Airways Clipper United States (N1032V-above) with a runaway propeller that resulted in the loss of No. 3 engine was forced to ditch 35 miles off the Oregon coast. In that instance the tail and rear fuselage tore off on impact and four people were lost. Photo via ThisDayInAviation.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840100387-KE4OZZPYVQWYZ0SGDI3O/Ditching06.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out A photograph taken by Dutch passenger Hendrick Braat from the cabin of the Sovereign of the Skies shows Pontchartrain about to lay down a “runway” of foam on the otherwise calm surface of the Pacific Ocean. Photo Hendrick Braat via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840147081-QIR7V3D48HPX8V4FPFM6/Ditching02.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Coast Guard sailors aboard the Unites States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Pontchartrain use foam from firehoses to lay down a “runway” for Captain Ogg and Flight 6. In addition to giving him something to aim for, the foam allowed him to judge his height better and would help in the event of a surface fire. Photo: William Simpson, USCG via Google Books and LIFE magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840206351-EGQFULCDQ09D1GCPIGNQ/Ditching05.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out With the sun just up, Captain Ogg in N90943 thunders low overhead Pontchartrain before setting up for a dangerous ditching. No. 1 engine (port outer) is still wind-milling, while his Number 4 engine (starboard outer) is shut down and its propeller clearly feathered. This dramatic image somehow expresses the stress and fear felt by all those inside her cabin and cockpit. Moments later, Ogg would set up for the ditching, announcing just prior to hitting the water that “This is it!” Photo: William Simpson, USCG via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840281795-87MA98FTI19LD4A825HC/Ditching11.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out A rather poor and slightly retouched enlargement of a photograph of Ogg’s approach to a water landing—flaps down, gear up, starboard propeller feathered and not visible. The photographer was Pontchartrain’s cook by the name of William Simpson. Photo: William Simpson, USCG via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840339914-0EV14ZAT5W2W7S3ZT6WJ/Ditching07.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Flight 6 slams into a swell and chunks of the two powered propellers (2 and 3) fly off. In 2009, when pilot Chesley Sullenberger did exactly the same thing, there were not the same quality of images of the event itself, despite Smart phones and closed circuit TV in New York’s harbour. The nose-high impact would break off the aircraft’s tail, but the crew was ready for this eventuality and had all passengers over or forward of the wings. Photo: William Simpson, USCG via Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840387708-Z3XPY6AIS1J58XXK12RF/Ditching08.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out With water mist still settling, the aircraft slews around to the left as Pontchartrain steams towards them. Photo: William Simpson, USCG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840433308-0EGLYU68E96SSB8086AG/Ditching09.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Pan Am Flight 6 comes to a complete stop about half a mile from Pontchartrain with her tail now broken off and about to sink. Inside, stewardesses and crew are taking up predesignated positions at the doors and passengers are just unbuckling their seat belts and getting ready to get into life rafts. Photo: William Simpson, USCG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840487694-1FKHS9RFVYP0PLDI90RQ/Ditching22.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out An illustration from LIFE magazine, October of 1956, depicts the metrics of the ditching. Illustration by Randolph E. Brotman via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840529007-JDXXKIR3LACSS91VURYV/Ditching12.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out As Pontchartrain approaches, passengers on both sides of the aircraft clamber into inflated life rafts, as the cutter’s crew drop whaleboats into the sea for the rescue. This image is eerily reminiscent of Sullenberger’s Airbus in the Hudson River. Photo: William Simpson, USCG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840580866-1WZHETI057LFNMEM23N2/Ditching23.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out A photo taken from the deck of Pontchartrain shows passengers in two of the airliner’s three launched inflatable life rafts. The raft released from the starboard side would become snagged in the wreckage of the broken-away tail. Photo: William Simpson, USCG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840616597-A8YNL6UECESG09C3EBRJ/Ditching21.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out In a photograph taken by Captain Nick Bountis from the cockpit of his Transocean Airlines aircraft orbiting the scene, USCGC Pontchartrain steams up to the now tail-less Boeing StratoClipper with her boats suspended halfway in their davits ready to be lowered. We can just make out the life raft at the back of the broken fuselage on the starboard side. The foam “runway” can be seen at upper right. Photo: Captain Apostolis “Nick” Bountis via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840654005-WX0X518FWGZETJF94WMZ/Ditching10.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Pontchartrain moves in closer as one of her whaleboats hurries to help passengers with a small inflatable raft across her gunwales. Stunned passengers seem to be staring into the open cavity where the Stratocruiser’s tail had once been. Other Coast Guardsmen were to keep a sharp eye out for sharks. Moments later, Coast Guardsman Ronald Christian would leap from his boat and enter the shattered fuselage of Sovereign of the Skies to check that everyone had escaped. He needn’t have worried, as Ogg made sure he was the last person off. But Christian showed great courage entering the sinking wreckage. Five minutes after he left, the fuselage sunk. Photo: William Simpson, USCG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840691768-26FUIG6VTG436HJ8OWJK/Ditching19.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Passengers in one life raft that was tangled in the wreckage transfer to another by stepping onto and crossing the port wing. Photo: Hendrick Braat via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840728597-1UL1A6P52IDX2I5KTMSN/Ditching20.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out With the port outer engine (the one that started all the trouble) in the foreground, passengers clamber over the wing to the forward side to get into another raft. Photo: Hendrick Braat via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840769361-M5088LZ01AO2XFM0J1FC/Ditching13.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Grateful passengers pack the whaleboats of Pontchartrain. Under a bright morning sun on a bright blue sea, they all have been granted a second chance at life. Photo Marcel Touzé via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840819357-6HFHC84O9VCJ4ZZW62KN/Ditching35.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out French Army doctor Marcel Touzé sits in one of Pontchartrain’s boats with Mrs Rebecca Jacobe and her 3-year-old daughter Joan. The stress can be seen on their faces, but one can also read the sense that they have been given a new life. That spectacularly sunny day on the Pacific will live on in their memories until their dying days. Photo: Hendrick Braat via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840870641-MHOJQ2CYZXTT3ZNYNRDH/Ditching15.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out The last to leave the sinking aircraft was Captain Ogg, having just checked to make sure that no one was left in the passenger cabin. Similarly, 50 years later, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who was 5 years old at the time of the Pan Am ditching, would do exactly the same thing. In this photograph taken by passenger Braat, he seems hardly stressed at all, smiling almost. No doubt the realization that all of his passengers and fellow crew members not only survived, but did so without a scratch, gave him much comfort at this moment. Photo: Hendrick Braat via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840917467-4O39ENAKLY58SUP3L93A/Ditching16.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out With the abandoned life raft snagged in the wreckage, StratoClipper N90943 pitches down and begins to sink. Just twenty-one minutes after the ditching, she sank out of sight and began one last long and dark journey to the bottom of the ocean, where she rests today. Photo: Captain Dr. Marcel Touzé via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625840949917-34UV6OXN64MJU2PQGDL0/Ditching17.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Three wonderful photos from the reunion in San Francisco. At left, Richard Ogg, the hero of Flight 6, kisses his wife Blanche. In the middle photo, Coast Guardsman Ron Christian, who entered the wrecked Stratocruiser before she sank to look for survivors, is embraced by his fiancée Lois Cloud. At right, three of the true heroes of the ditching—the Stewardesses (as they were known then)—leave Pontchartrain. They are Purser Pat Reynolds (left), Katherine Araki and Mary Ellen “Len” Daniels. In those days, while the “Stews” were all beautiful young women, they were highly-trained and dedicated to their first responsibility, the safety of their passengers. Photos: Left: Robert Lackenbach, Centre and right: Bill Young via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625841017620-WYWM60VI03IWJ1D322YS/Ditching18.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out With their ordeal behind them, Richard and Jane Gordon hold their daughters close as they are about to stand on solid ground for the first time in three days. Photo: N.R. Farbman via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625841058353-3U55AOOCJE7NWO7RIZ6C/Ditching24.jpg The Stories - THIS IS IT! - Make it stand out Nothing depicts the relief felt by passengers and their families than this photograph of passenger Ruby Dami being swept off her feet by her husband Ray, after which he ran with her for about 200 feet into the pier building at San Francisco before he let her back down. Photo: Lonnie Wilson via Google Books and LIFE magazine, October 1956 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/undaunted monthly 0.5 2021-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625833449137-RSCKMNBECZP6DRD8WLYP/UndauntedFlash.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625830877521-NV7BB82M934NNBRGXUUH/Undaunted37.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out In 2012, Vintage Wings of Canada honoured Harry Hannah by dedicating our Boeing Stearman in his name. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625830942024-URJUAAJHNQFZW38B4901/Undaunted36.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Harry and me in his 96th year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625833143988-CT9WG9U1R7ATVAV6AE89/Schools.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Harry’s early Glaswegian education was at Kent Road Public School (left) and Woodside Secondary School (right). Photos: Left: The GlasgowStory.com; Right: FlicrRiver.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831195803-K0RL67DZY5PBO4DURDKH/Undaunted02.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out An aerial photograph of RAF Abbotsinch/RNAS Sanderling taken in 1942 shows the wide open grass field used for takeoffs and landings into wind. The airfield was located at the confluence of the Black Cart and White Cart Rivers, where the Cart River is formed and flows for a mere kilometre before joining the Clyde. Today, it is the site of the Glasgow Airport. Photo via abct.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831253026-E670XBIDKO3GG8V470O1/Undaunted07.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Belting .303 ammunition was one of the more tedious tasks that ground crews endured during early operations in the Second World War. Hours of work would be blasted away in mere seconds in aerial combat. The mind-numbing and thumb-strengthening job left an indelible memory on young Harry Hannah. Here, 85 Squadron ground crew check ammunition belts at an airfield in France during the Battle of France. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831320822-MXZXWMCY41A9O9VNHCE8/Undaunted11.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out 602 Squadron mechanics pose with a squadron Spitfire at RAF Drem, where Harry joined the squadron following his mechanics’ course. Photo: 602SquadronMuseum.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831363857-83IT0U3OUPYG0ALLCSFS/Undaunted05.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Harry’s fellow 602 Squadron mechanics work on a Spitfire I at RAF Drem in March of 1940. This Mark I has the half white/half black underside paint scheme with the demarcation line running up the underside of the engine cowl. This ID paint scheme, originally introduced by Hugh Dowding himself, was meant to make friendly aircraft more identifiable to RAF ground observers and anti-aircraft crews. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831419622-90156YZNP6RS0PQ3AVXH/Undaunted10.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out When the Spitfire pilots of 602 Squadron moved their Spitfires from RAF Drem to RAF Westhampnett, Harry and his fellow mechanics followed in a Bristol Bombay, a British troop transport and sometime medium bomber. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831486347-JSG9WYPLI5SQ4MEYPIBU/Undaunted29.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out At RAF Westhampnett, Harry and his fellow mechanics lived in 40-man Nissen huts and tents close to the aircraft they serviced. Here a 602 Squadron Spitfire Mk I (X4382) awaits an op at Westhampnett in late 1940. Photo: Britmodeller.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831528618-C025GJBGJ99Q6IYSXSJ8/Undaunted12.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Nissen huts at RAF Westhampnett. Living in a 40-man Nissen hut was cramped, uncomfortable, smelly and not in any way private, but in the winter months of late 1940 when Harry and 602 were still at Westhampnett, it was also an icy misery. The entire hut was heated by one totally inadequate coal stove (centre left). Photo: 602SquadronMuseum.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831562899-6BIDX1T1PLR2BB8GV123/Undaunted30.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Aircraft mechanics are known to have great affection for the pilots who flew “their” aircraft, especially those who understood the importance of working closely with their ground crews. By all accounts, the pilot of Harry’s Spitfire, Flight Lieutenant “Micky” Mount was a wonderful human being, much loved by all who served with him in the Battle of Britain and beyond. It is because of the inspirational effect of Mount that Harry Hannah asked him to intercede with the squadron commander to request retraining as a pilot. Mount left 602 in March 1941 to form and command 317 (Polish) Squadron of the RAF. Mount, who retired from the RAF as an Air Commodore, died in 2002 at age 88. Photos: Left: Military-Art.com; Right: Daily Mail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831604847-OVZJJMXQZE6YFPKU7D4Y/Undaunted06.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out A 602 Squadron Spitfire Mk I is readied for a flight while a section of 602 Spitfires sweeps in across the field at Westhampnett. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831667570-H1BMC3V23ALK8Y5DRQNQ/Undaunted34.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Aircrew trainees right dress at Initial Training Wing Torquay in Devon. Though Harry had been an auxiliary member of the Royal Air Force since 1938, he was still required to undergo basic training at Torquay when he asked for a transfer to air crew. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831729406-9RBVAMQM7IF7I7OXXE09/Undaunted14.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out When Harry crossed the Atlantic and braved the U-boat threat for the first time, it was on the commandeered French liner Louis Pasteur, seen here at left tied up at Pier 21 in Halifax harbour with the older liner Aquitania. Louis Pasteur had the distinction of having the largest funnel ever fitted to a ship up to that point in time. Photo: CruiseLineHistory.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831791832-787R2U6B7OKZX7LHGW7Z/Undaunted15.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Falcon Field, near Mesa, Arizona offered excellent weather and endless skies for training Royal Air Force student pilots far from marauding German fighter and bomber aircraft. Two of the aircraft types Harry trained on can be seen here—T-6 Texans in the foreground and in the distance a Boeing Stearman. Photo: FalconFieldAirport.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831825385-TF7GGT7WEDP8LHE4SALO/Undaunted16.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out A group of Royal Air Force student pilots, salted with a few “Yanks”, pose with a Falcon Field T-6 Texan at No. 4 BFTS. The RAF sent British students to six different flying schools throughout the American south—No. 1 BFTS Terrell, Texas; No. 2 BFTS Lancaster, California; No. 3 BFTS Miami, Oklahoma; No. 4 BFTS Mesa, Arizona; No. 5 BFTS Clewiston, Florida; and No. 6 BFTS Ponca City, Oklahoma. Photo: FalconFieldAirport.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831857952-W9KELXJUL8JCGYNPV7A5/Undaunted33.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Harry learned the fundamentals of flying on the beefy and lovely-to-fly Boeing Stearman trainer. When Vintage Wings of Canada was looking for a pilot of the Second World War who had experience with the type to dedicate our Stearman to, Harry fit the bill. The Harry Hannah Stearman flew hundreds of young cadets during the 2012 Yellow Wings summer tour. Photo: Shorpey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831910803-AA4JLQS6XA51CJV8M1PE/Undaunted17.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Unlike most Commonwealth pilot trainees of the Second World War who earned their wings in two aircraft stages (Elementary and Service Flying), pilots such as Harry, who learned to fly at one of the six America-based British Flying Training Schools, got their wings after three stages of flying—Primary, Basic and Advanced. The intermediate or Basic flying was done on the Vultee BT-13 Valiant. While hardly known across the Canadian border, the Valiant was built in large numbers (9,525) and performed well in its role. Student and instructor pilots called it the Vultee “Vibrator” for its tendency to shake violently before entering an aerodynamic stall. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625831946606-Y9VO6PKAFCKPQQJ5AB7R/Undaunted40.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Harry and his fellow graduates from his flying training course at Mesa crossed the Atlantic on the way home aboard the Royal Mail Motor Vessel (RMMV) Stirling Castle, a 25,000 ton liner of the Union Castle Mail Steamship Co. Originally completed in 1936, she was converted to a troopship for the duration of the war. In this service, she travelled unscathed for more than half a million miles and carried some 128,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen and women to and from theatres of war and training grounds. Here we can see she’s painted in grey for wartime trooping and looking less than the luxury liner she was designed to be. Photo 458RAAFSquadron.orb https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832001789-MXOW9P2GTGFPOKDCZV1K/Undaunted19.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out When Harry was asked to return to his old 602 Squadron, he was delighted for many reasons, not the least of which was its commander at the time, the famous Irish-born fighter ace, then-Squadron Leader Brendan Eamonn Fergus “Paddy” Finucane, DSO, DFC and two Bars. Above: Finucane with his personal Spitfire at 602 Squadron—LO-W, nicknamed “Queen of Salote” after Queen Salote and the people of Tonga who had donated the money to buy the Spitfire, a common fundraising practice of the war that often earned one’s name on the fuselage. Behind the name can just be seen Finucane’s famous shamrock symbol, while on the side of the engine it carries the heraldic red lion of Scotland from the squadron badge. Finucane, the son of an Irish rebel, ironically became the poster boy for the Battle of Britain, scoring 26 victories over German aircraft. He did not survive the war. Photos: Top: ww2aircraft.net; Bottom: InRathmines.blogspot.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832061001-J2LY0BSQKWX0CGHAW4BY/Undaunted22.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Hoping to start flying Spitfires at 57 Operational Training Unit at RAF Harwarden, both Harry and his pal Jimmy Kelly found themselves instead towing target drogues about the sky in offshore ranges for gunnery training of the Spitfire pilots that they had hoped to be among. They flew the Fairey Battle target tug, seen here in its yellow and black striped paint scheme—designed for visibility and nicknamed the “Oxydol” paint scheme for its similarity to the box of detergent. The protrusion on the port side of the rear cockpit is the wind turbine that powers the winch that pays out and pulls in the target drogue. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832113950-E3GOWP1XTFLGNQUZZOQZ/Undaunted35.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832141074-KAZSHOUA965SD8SWVXB4/Undaunted21.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Being a coastal station, RAF Harwarden (both photos) was subject to plenty of rainy weather. Photo via forum.keypublishing.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832238023-MQB78KY7ZKE3O6I1RMVW/Undaunted20.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out 602 Squadron pilots pose for a group photo at RAF Lasham where the squadron was based for most of April 1943, a few months before Harry was shot down. This is the only image of Harry from his wartime service, all his photographs having been lost in the intervening years since the war. Harry sits in a relaxed manner beside his best friend Jimmy Kelly. Kelly would be shot down and killed after D-Day the following year. The loss of Kelly hit Harry hard when he found out about it after returning from prison. Photo: 602SquadronMuseum.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832300526-QEV3K7K30P0070IZLORX/Undaunted23.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out When Harry needed to get out of his cockpit, he was required to jettison the canopy by pulling on the black ball (red in this photo) on the canopy rail. The Spitfire Site explains the mechanism: “This was attached to the locking bars on either side of the canopy by means of steel cables which run down the sides of the hood in the piping visible here. Pulling the ball would disengage the bars and thus release the canopy.” Unfortunately when Harry pulled on the ball, it came away in his hand. Photo: SpitfireSite.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832363881-62CO5P6WS66EFW1B6QNH/Undaunted24.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out The wooden front gate of Stalag IVb. Through these gates Harry walked on his way to captivity and then again on his way to Dresden for his court martial. Photo via lager-muehlberg.de https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832408330-IFT5WZE4PSY0FP1U2IBM/Undaunted25.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Paratrooper Sergeant Ted Wrathall was Harry’s co-conspirator in the camera caper that got them a year in a punishment facility. He suffered numerous beatings after the botched attempt that became the subject of a war crimes tribunal after the war. Following this story is a transcript of part of the court proceedings in that war crime tribunal. Photo: wrathall.ork—family history website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832462097-87L2B1MTVBACPP9IID81/Undaunted26.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out One of Harry’s “favourite” prisons was the massive fortress of Königstein near Dresden, where he enjoyed daily constitutionals along its ramparts high above the Elbe River. Photo: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832515423-JTXT61XPIGWNZJGGI4YS/Undaunted28.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out The prisoner of war camp at Graudenz in Poland was reserved in the Second World War by the Germans as a punishment facility for Allied servicemen serving out sentences from courts martial. The prison dated from the First World War. Harry would spend the better part of a year here in a solitary cell in the top floor overlooking the parade ground. The window of Harry’s cell is probably visible in this image. Photo via GarethJones.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832554849-MB6X3I0MT87H9I3FRBG3/Undaunted32.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832582018-O60ZJHMMKFKEDXRB2G77/Undaunted42.jpg The Stories - UNDAUNTED — THE HARRY HANNAH STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS - Make it stand out While Harry was in prison at Graudenz, his best friend Jimmy Kelly was shot down and killed on 4 July 1944. A German photographer took photos of his wrecked aircraft and grave. Of the many trials and tribulations that Harry experienced during the war, it was the death of Kelly that he has never quite recovered from. He learned about his death after his return. Photo: Bundesarchiv https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/born-to-lead monthly 0.5 2021-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771225452-JTRV24YLP2Z23QICMW31/BillCarr000.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771342050-AH75OWWNC4E0WAVR8PN9/BillCarr01.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Stiff from hours in the cockpit, Flight Lieutenant Bill Carr eases himself out of his photo reconnaissance Spitfire after a photo sortie during the Italian campaign while his ground crew open the camera bays to retrieve his film. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771422939-37OO3CZ6X7QUJPDV6NZ6/BillCarr05.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out A 20-year old Bill Carr smiles from the cockpit of his Spitfire in a revetment on the island of Malta. Though it was usually hot on Malta, Carr wore heavy clothing to combat the freezing temperatures encountered at the high altitudes where he usually operated (25,000-30,000 feet). Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771528045-JB9DRT5S9CCEV92QFPKI/BillCarr03.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Bill Carr (right) and a fellow Spitfire pilot pose for a photo at Malta in 1943. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771586743-XBDODDL7NWFNKYHV3FOF/BillCarr04.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out King George VI (Left) chats with Bill Carr and an unidentified Group Captain during a visit to an airfield in Italy on July 26, 1944. Fifteen years later, Carr would fly the king's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, on a visit to Canada. The day before the King's visit, Carr flew a two-hour recce flight over enemy territory in support of X and XII Corps movements. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771661811-TKZ1983AVZQ3ZR6L9K0F/BillCarr02.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out While on Malta, Flying Officer Carr visited a photo studio so he could send his mother a picture of himself wearing his tan tropical uniform. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771723987-VLVO7PEXCEHKA2F1S7W1/Carr16.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Portrait of his mentor. Wing Commander Adrian Warburton, DSO and bar, DFC and Two Bars, Bill Carr’s commanding officer at 683 Squadron. The son of a naval officer, Warburton was born in England, and christened on board a submarine in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta. Below his decorations (DSO, DFC and 2 bars), on his left breast pocket, Warburton wears “The Order of the Winged Boot”, an unofficial award given to airmen who had been shot down and forced to return to their base on foot or by other means. Warburton became one of the most successful and best-known aerial-reconnaissance pilots of the Second World War while flying sorties from Malta and North Africa in 1941–1943. Photo via the Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771806359-NLQ47D53P5AEK5J1TEDA/BillCarr06.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out During his summers in the far North, Carr ferried photo survey crews and even did a little survey work himself. Carr loved to camp, fish and paddle his entire life, so his summers flying and navigating in the North held some of his favourite memories. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771877127-6TZ8FQ2DFJUDKZ2WCPRJ/TRAGEDY29.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Bill Carr’s Norseman 2496 is seen tied to the shore on an unnamed lake in Canada's far north. Carr can be seen squatting on one of the floats. Photo: Bill McRae Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625771915338-AR7PT1H1HYPAYUTJ9J21/BillCarr07.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out While Carr ascended to the very top of the Royal Canadian Air Force, his power came from his early experiences as a Second World War fighter pilot and northern bush pilot. He was, at his heart, a rugged, no-nonsense air force man, just as happy out in the bush where baths were few and far between as he was in the boardrooms of Air Command. In this photo taken during one of his summers in the North he looks straight out of Central Casting for a rugged bush pilot. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625772016154-F6BYBDMW60LOF2PUP47N/BillCarr08.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Wing Commander Bill Carr, commander of 412 Squadron, with Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker and Mrs. Olive Diefenbaker. Carr flew the couple and their entourage around the world in 49 days in 1958, visiting European and Commonwealth countries around the globe. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625772053028-DZYHE6R9HQLTC1L342NW/BillCarr09.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Bill Carr leans from the window ofthe unique 412 Squadron Canadair C-5 VIP transport and places the Queen's standard in the pennant stand during the Queen's visit in 1959. The flag flying from the aircraft on the ground indicated that the Queen was aboard. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625772119461-SIELO217C0CUK5HCQE1I/BillCarr10.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out A very telling photo of Major-General Bill Carr sharing a beer with a corporal in an all-ranks mess. One gets the feeling that Carr is truly listening to the corporal and offering undivided attention — a hallmark of his leadership over the years. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625772161321-J4TQ2587X72R3Y92TGVK/BillCarr12.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out Now a Lieutenant-General (three stars on the helmet), Carr poses in front of a T-33 Silver Star jet. Carr maintained currency as a pilot throughout his career, amassing more than 16,000 hours in dozens of aircraft types. Photo: Carr Family Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625772218807-26UF7XDC9E3AL0GPXTYZ/Carr09-1.jpg The Stories - Born to Lead - Make it stand out In 2013, Bill Carr was honoured at Vintage Wings of Canada with a banner raised to the rafters alongside those of other RCAF heroes like Stocky Edwards, Chris Hadfield, Bill McRae, and Max Ward. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/la-guerre-selon-donald-lambie-2 monthly 0.5 2022-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c93b4156-72bc-4ee7-85d0-f5e091df74f0/Lambie-Flash-FR-Ep-2.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe76f41b-c443-4b7f-96e3-1d3b1805cc1a/Lambie22.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le sous-lieutenant de l’aviation Donald Walter Lambie lors de son entraînement au Canada en 1944. Au moment où il atterrit en Europe à l’été 1944, il est déjà promu Lieutenant d’aviation. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a705380-fbc4-4953-9e0e-0a88cea0f8fc/92562826.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie a voyagé sur le HMT Andes, un paquebot de 27 000 tonnes et 648 pieds de long de la Royal Mail Line, au service de la Royal Navy, le 2 juin 1944. D’octobre 1943 à juin 1944, l’Andes passa huit mois à traverser l’Atlantique, généralement de New York ou Halifax à Liverpool ou vice versa. L’un de ses derniers voyages de cette période dans son illustre carrière de guerre fut à Liverpool avec Lambie et certains de ses amis à bord. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44eddb26-852f-4375-8d4b-bf147515c0bd/large_000000.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie a passé près d’un mois à RAF Fairford et est parti quelques jours seulement avant que cette station ne soit utilisée par la RAF dans l’opération Market Garden. Ici, des parachutistes se rassemblent sur le champ intérieur de Fairford devant les Short Stirling Mark IV de l’escadron 620 de la RAF garés sur la piste périphérique. Au loin, nous pouvons voir l’un des planeurs géants Horsa sur lesquels ils voyageront vers les Pays-Bas. Photo : Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb34ea53-d22e-4744-8aed-9a5bdad62fcf/Lambie148.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out En attendant une affectation dans une unité d’entraînement opérationnelle, Lambie a passé du temps chez sa tante Amy et son oncle. À en juger par le charmant bungalow et les vastes jardins, ces gens étaient relativement bien nantis. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff74a61a-004c-4562-b3f9-9859de9a5f5a/Lambie151.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et tante Amy, la directrice de son ancienne école primaire à Bolnhurst. Ils posent dans le jardin de sa maison. La dernière fois qu’Amy avait vu Donald, c’était 14 ans auparavant en 1930. Là où il y avait autrefois un garçon espiègle, il y avait maintenant un jeune pilote de chasse beau, élégant et engagé. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6b4b68c-ea49-40d4-b886-a8752928ed38/Lambie65.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Tante Amy et son mari vivaient près de Bedford, à environ 25 kilomètres de Cambridge. Lorsque leur neveu Donald est venu lui rendre visite, ils l’ont emmené visiter cette belle ville universitaire dans leur Ford Prefect Saloon de 1939. Durant la guerre, l’essence est rationnée et il y a surtout des véhicules militaires dans le stationnement, mais d’une manière ou d’une autre, ils ont réussi à acquérir de l’essence. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b1d3f00-1377-47d1-8940-a8e15e459fab/Lambie150.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out De l’extérieur de la porte principale et de Porter’s Lodge du King’s College, Cambridge, Lambie prend une photo des magasins et des appartements le long de King’s Parade avec l’église de St. Mary the Great (ou comme elle est connue des habitants Great St. Mary’s) en arrière-plan. En plus d’être une église paroissiale dans le diocèse d’Ely, c’est l’église officielle de l’Université de Cambridge. En tant que tel, elle joue un rôle mineur dans la législation de l’université : par exemple, les agents de l’université doivent vivre à moins de 20 miles de Great St Mary’s et les étudiants de premier cycle dans un rayon de trois. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c5ae11d-e98e-4e9b-83bf-989e45e3afc4/Screen+Shot+2022-02-12+at+10.19.36+AM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Presque rien n’a changé au cours des 80 années qui se sont écoulées depuis que Donald Lambie a pris la photo précédente, mais Google Streetview lui donne vie en couleurs. Je ne suis pas un fan de la colorisation de vieux films en noir et blanc, mais l’utilisation d’images couleur modernes nous montre que King’s Parade n’est pas, et n’était pas, un endroit sombre tel que ces vieilles photos le dépeignent. Photo : Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fff00f40-2c53-4c0c-8f54-4d7af3647f56/Lambie144.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lors de sa visite à Cambridge, Lambie se tenait à côté de la célèbre Front Court avant du King’s College de l’Université de Cambridge. Les clochers gothiques de la chapelle du King’s College sont à gauche. La première pierre de la chapelle a été posée en 1446 (avant le voyage de Christophe Colomb en Amérique) par le roi Henri VI, de sorte que Lambie était là presque exactement 500 ans plus tard. La structure fantastique au centre est la Gatehouse and Screen contenant Porters' Lodge et la salle du courrier où les étudiants ont des pigeonniers pour leur courrier. Seuls les camarades du collège, les personnes qui parlent aux camarades et les canards sont autorisés à marcher sur les pelouses du collège. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb68d3fe-8cfd-45e2-bf5f-31a89fdefa12/Screen+Shot+2022-02-12+at+10.24.20+AM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Aujourd’hui, Front Court est à peu près le même qu’à l’époque de Lambie, à l’exception de la quantité de lierre sur les murs de la Gate House. Les pelouses bien entretenues restent interdites aux touristes et aux étudiants. La fontaine à gauche a été construite seulement 70 ans avant la visite de Lambie et présente une statue du fondateur de Cambridge, le roi Henry VI, tenant la charte qui a permis la construction du collège. Sous lui se trouvent des statues représentant la « Religion » et la « Philosophie ». Photo : Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d26b856a-0918-47f2-857c-5c327c429d3f/Lambie290.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Dans l’album photo de Donald Lambie de ces trois années de sa vie, il y a beaucoup de photos de lui accompagné de jolies demoiselles. Il semble qu’il ait rencontré Carolyn Granger, l’élégante jeune femme en jolie costume alors qu’il était en Grande-Bretagne en attente d’une affectation dans une unité d’entraînement opérationnel. Pendant plus d’un an (y compris après le retour de Lambie au Canada), Mme Granger lui a envoyé des photos d’elle-même et des notes manuscrites au dos qui semblaient indiquer qu’elle avait un faible pour le beau jeune Canuck. Sur la photo de droite, prise en avril 1945 alors que Lambie était au combat avec le 417e Escadron, elle a trouvé le courage de s’asseoir sur une tombe sur le parvis de la cathédrale. Elle a écrit une petite note coquine au verso qui dit: « Ne pensez-vous pas que la vue sur la cathédrale de Winchester est plutôt bonne? Il a fallu beaucoup de nerf pour s’asseoir au sommet de la tombe, mais comme vous pouvez le voir... J’ai osé. Sincèrement Carol. Des photos comme celles-ci signifiaient sûrement beaucoup pour un pilote risquant sa vie en Italie. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7764189b-0536-4aea-b7c9-ed22d540e570/Lambie15.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Pendant qu’il était en Grande-Bretagne, Lambie a visité la station RAF Skipton-on-Swale (où il a pris cette photo), qui abritait les 433e et 424e escadrons de bombardiers lourds canadiens opérant des Handley-Page Halifax. On se demande si c’était pour rendre visite à un ami de ses jours d’entraînement. À l’époque, il était assez courant que « nose art » sur les Halifax et les Lancaster canadiens commence par la même lettre que le code de l’avion. Le « nose art » « Carolyn » suggère qu’il s’agissait peut-être de l’avion « C » de l’escadron (BM-C) avec son numéro de série MZ807 de la RAF ou celui de l’escadron 424e escadron (QB-C) ayant le numéro de série LW164. Les deux avions ont ensuite été perdus – Halifax MZ807 le 2 décembre 1944 et LW164 deux mois plus tard en janvier. Tout l’équipage du Halifax du 433 a été perdu lorsqu’il a été abattu au-dessus de la France et tous les membres d’équipage du Halifax du 424 sauf un ont été tués lorsqu’il s’est écrasé au décollage à Skipton-on-Swale. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f70915b8-33c4-49ba-b5b0-f3d48c3dee5d/Screen+Shot+2022-03-27+at+3.23.13+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Les conséquences de l’attaque de la Luftwaffe sur le magnifique hôtel Metropole de Bournemouth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f032403d-c4d6-4460-9b67-d480e8090f6c/Lambie304.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Les sourires des aviateurs canadiens tenant l’aile d’un Focke-Wulf Fw-190 abattu après l’attaque de la Luftwaffe sur Bournemouth démentent le traumatisme de l’événement. Photo via BBC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2bcda579-18e8-4c27-8b57-9d562a0395f1/Lambie296.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Plusieurs des hôtels de vacances de la ville balnéaire de Morecambe ont été réquisitionnés pour différents besoins de la RAF. Le Midland Hotel (à gauche) de type moderniste est devenu un hôpital militaire tandis que le Clarendon Hotel (à droite) au bord de la mer, a été utilisé comme un quartier général local de la RAF et plus tard, pour l’hébergement du personnel à destination à l’étranger. Photos: Wikipédia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/523914e5-b237-44b1-b790-18faf8eda306/Lambie295.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie est parti de l’Angleterre pour l’Égypte à bord du HMT Alcantara le 28 septembre, arrivant à Alexandrie le 11 octobre 1944. En 1939, l’Amirauté réquisitionne l’Alcantara et le fait convertir en croiseur marchand armé. Le mât principal et la fausse cheminée avant ont été enlevés pour augmenter l’arc de feu de leurs canons antiaériens. L’Alcantara a été envoyé à Malte pour d’autres modifications, mais en route, il a eu une collision majeure avec le navire de la Cunard, le RMS Franconia. L’Alcantara a été réaménagé en tant que navire de transport de troupes en 1943, et est resté dans ce rôle bien après la fin de la guerre. Il est retourné au service civil qu’en octobre 1948. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc8787b1-80d8-4b17-8f8a-7c27be88de08/Lambie29.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie (au premier plan) et quelques-uns des « boys», y compris les Canadiens Jack Leach et Bob Latimer (les deux hommes, à droite) en arrière-plan, à la station Damanhour, le 11 octobre 1944. Damanhur est une ville à environ 50 kilomètres à l’est d’Alexandrie, en Égypte, dans la région du Bas-Nil. Il s’agit probablement d’un changement de ligne de chemin de fer d’Alexandrie au Caire (Almaza) où ils rejoindraient le PTC No 22 le même jour. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/604ab25e-caba-421d-a5ac-b6375cf489a8/Lambie192.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out En octobre 1944, Lambie et son ami Dave Evans (à gauche) ont rencontré de jeunes femmes du Auxiliary Territorial Service, la branche féminine de l’armée britannique pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il s’agissait de la capitaine « Paddy » Arthur et de la capitaine Patricia Rawlinson. Lambie a bien choisi ses amis. Le lieutenant d’aviation David Evans, un Canadien de Windsor, en Ontario, resterait dans la RAF après la guerre et deviendrait éventuellement le maréchal en chef de l’air Sir David George Evans, GCB, CBE, un commandant très haut gradé de la Royal Air Force. À la fin de la guerre, après avoir piloté des opérations d’appui aérien rapproché sur Hawker Typhoons avec le 137e Escadron, il sera l’un des premiers officiers de la RAF à entrer dans le camp de concentration de Bergen-Belsen. En 1964, il a été le pilote de l’équipe britannique de bobsleigh à 4 hommes aux Jeux olympiques d’Innsbruck, en Autriche, où le Canada a remporté la médaille d’or. À une autre occasion, il a représenté le Canada aux Jeux d’hiver du Commonwealth et a remporté deux médailles de bronze. En 1973, Evans a été nommé officier de l’Air commandant du 1er Groupe et, en 1976, il a été nommé vice-chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne. Il est ensuite devenu officier de l’air commandant en chef du Commandement des frappes de la RAF l’année suivante. Il a été vice-chef d’état-major de la Défense de 1981 à 1983. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7e82c870-388c-4874-9927-36e7167067dc/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_25ed5c14-6f71-11ea-ac40-2259b5e452c2.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le Maréchal de l’air Sir David Evans, GCB, CBE sur le point de piloter un bombardier Panavia Tornado de la RAF. Bien qu’il soit resté dans la RAF après la guerre et qu’il ait finalement été anobli, Evans n’a jamais renoncé à son passeport canadien et est revenu souvent pour visiter. Il a la distinction d’être fait citoyen honoraire de trois villes, dont Winnipeg et Dunnvile, en Ontario, où il a reçu ses ailes. Né et éduqué au Canada, Evans a été commissionné dans la Royal Air Force en tant que sous-lieutenant de l’aviation dans le cadre d’une commission d’urgence pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il a suivi une formation de pilote au Canada, puis il a suivi un entraînement opérationnel à Ismaïlia, avant de joindre un escadron de Typhoons en Europe. Le Lgén (à la retraite) Lloyd Campbell, ancien commandant de l’Aviation canadienne et pilote de chasse hautement accompli, a ce souvenir personnel d’Evans. « Le 20 août 1977, j’ai eu le plaisir de piloter Sir David Evans à bord d’un CF-104D (numéro de queue 104649). C’était un homme très charmant et le devoir de l’emmener faire un vol dans le « zipper » était un vrai plaisir. Je lui ai été présenté la veille de notre vol lors d’un dîner en son honneur. Quand nous avons eu la chance de discuter après le dîner, je lui ai demandé s’il voulait le siège avant ou arrière. Il a été assez surpris de l’offre mais, quand je lui ai dit que je pouvais faire tout ce qui était nécessaire pour faire voler l’avion en toute sécurité depuis le siège arrière, il s’est porté volontaire avec enthousiasme pour prendre l’avant. Le lendemain, c’était une journée d’été assez agréable à Cold Lake et, alors que nous nous promenions vers le jet avec nos chutes, il m’a dit, chuchoté « Lloyd, quelque chose que je crois que vous devriez savoir, c’est que le dernier avion à voilure fixe que j’ai piloté était le VC-10 ... donc, si vous voulez changer d’avis, c’est OK » ou quelque chose du genre. Néanmoins, nous avons respecté le plan de match et avons passé un excellent voyage ensemble ... quelques vols supersoniques au niveau de la cime des arbres dans la zone aérienne, quelques attaques simulées puis un retour à la base pour quelques atterrissages « touch-and-go » avant un arrêt final ... tout cela, si je me souviens bien, Sir David a beaucoup apprécié et (avec assistance) réalisé avec une habileté admirable. » https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2fe523a9-c135-4cf5-b4b7-13f6889f16f3/Lambie293.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out L’une des femmes officiers du Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) sur la photo précédente était le capitaine Pat Rollinson. Grâce aux compétences obstinées de recherche de Richard Mallory Allnutt, écrivain et historien de l’aviation, une brève histoire de Rollinson a émergé. Patricia Kathleen Rollinson, de Camberwell, à Londres, s’est jointe au ATS en 1941. Elle s’est enrôlée en tant que sergent (comme indiqué ci-dessus), mais a été promue subalterne en mars 1942. Au moment où elle a rencontré Lambie, elle venait d’être promue commandant junior (temporaire), l’équivalent ATS d’un capitaine de l’armée britannique. Elle a épousé un homme nommé Philip Arthur Warner à Hendon en 1946. Warner était allée à Singapour avec le Royal Signals Corps et avait vécu la guerre dans un camp de prisonniers de guerre japonais. Ils ont eu quatre enfants ensemble. Malheureusement, Patricia est décédée à Hove en janvier 1971, tandis que Warner a vécu jusqu’en 2000. Son Altesse Royale la princesse Elizabeth, la future reine d’Angleterre, était également un officier ATS pendant la guerre et a servi de chauffeur de transport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9115040-088f-45fc-a19e-abf54e244cdd/Lambie68.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie (à droite) et trois amis (Al, Ted et Jack (selon les indications au dos de la photo) posent près de leurs tentes à Almaza (Héliopolis), en Égypte, en octobre 1944. Si vous regardez de près, vous pouvez voir la caméra omniprésente de Lambie dans sa main. Lambie et ses amis ont campé ici pendant un mois avant d’être affectés à la RAF Ismaïlia. La RAF Almaza (anciennement RAF Heliopolis) a été établie pour la première fois en tant qu’aérodrome civil en 1910 à Heliopolis, une banlieue nord-est du Caire. L’aérodrome serait repris par la RAF avant la guerre. Pendant leurs premiers jours ici, ils étaient avec le Centre de transit du personnel n° 22, et le reste du mois avec le Centre de réception des équipages du Moyen-Orient n ° 5 (MEARC) - tous deux à Almaza / Héliopolis - pendant qu’ils prévoyaient leur affectation à l’Unité d’entrainement opérationnel (UEO) sur Spitfire à Ismaïlia, près du canal de Suez et du Grand Lac Amer. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f83a25e-dabd-4814-81da-a5fa826086f5/Lambie38.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out En décembre 1944, Lambie pose avec ses deux ordonnances timides face à la caméra. En tant qu’officier, Lambie a bénéficié d’avoir un serviteur personnel pour nettoyer ses vêtements, faire briller ses chaussures, nettoyer sa chambre et généralement s’occuper de son bien-être. Les sergents-pilotes qui ont enduré les mêmes difficultés et les mêmes dangers que les officiers n’ont pas eu une telle aide. L’homme dans le fez sombre était Absid et l’homme dans le « kufi » blanc s’appelait Hassan. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/14b06478-8efd-4696-be7b-f1509b6bf9b2/Lambie294.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le légendaire commandant d’escadron Bert Houle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2019f349-f657-436b-8662-c3f4f2704ce6/Lambie217.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out À Ismaïlia, Lambie rencontre de nombreux autres aviateurs du Canada et du monde entier, dont certains le rejoindront plus tard au 417e Escadron. Sur cette photo de décembre 1944, nous le voyons à droite faire une grimace en compagnie de trois autres pilotes de Spitfire de l’UEO. De gauche à droite : le capitaine d’aviation John Joseph Doyle, « Chalky » White, de la Royal Australian Air Force et Robert Edward « Bob » Latimer, un autre Canadien qui allait devenir un ami proche. Le sweat-shirt de John Doyle avec « Elgin Field, Florida » comme inscription, nous dit qu’il a très probablement appris à voler aux États-Unis dans le cadre du Plan Arnold. Elgin Field n’était pas l’une des bases utilisées dans la formation des pilotes de la RAF, mais Clewiston sur les rives du lac Okeechobee, en Floride l’était. Doyle a probablement obtenu le maillot lors d’un vol de type « cross-country » à Elgin. Au cours des derniers jours, j’ai essayé obstinément (sans succès) de relier ce John Joseph Doyle à un autre pilote de Spitfire du même nom qui a volé en tant que « machal » (combattant étranger) avec l’armée de l’air israélienne dans la guerre israélo-arabe de 1948. Ce pilote était apparemment un pilote de Spitfire canadien pendant la guerre et est devenu un as après avoir remporté une victoire pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale et quatre dans la guerre de 1948. Si quelqu’un peut aider à déterminer si ces deux-là ne font qu’un, ce serait génial. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0214623-2365-4867-bae8-9cbd6ca1a6b3/Lambie191.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le 3 décembre 1944, Lambie et ses amis se préparent avant les services religieux du dimanche à la RAF Ismaïlia et posent pour une photo dans le jardin derrière le mess des officiers. Les deux amis de Lambie ont survécu à la guerre et ont atteint des niveaux élevés dans leur carrière. Dave Evans (à gauche) de Windsor, en Ontario, deviendrait le maréchal en chef de l’air sir David Evans de la RAF, tandis que Bob Latimer (assis) deviendrait sous-ministre adjoint de la Politique commerciale au ministère des Affaires extérieures du Canada. Ce jour-là, cependant, ils n’étaient qu’à trois copains du Canada et cherchaient du réconfort dans les messes du dimanche. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c8a7ef60-d5a5-4d95-be81-ade03e2fbd6c/Lambie40.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un groupe de cinq Supermarine Spitfire Mk VcT « Trops » à la RAF Ismaïlia à la fin de 1944. Les pilotes de l’UEO se sont entraînés sur des Spitfires usées de la guerre avec les filtres tropicaux Vokes qui modifient le profil et leur beauté. Le filtre a été initialement installé sur le Mk. V pour des opérations en Afrique du Nord et à Malte afin de filtrer la poussière des pistes rugueuses qui affectaient les performances et la durée de vie du moteur Merlin. Notez que le siège du pilote du Spitfire 49 a été retiré. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/624e89e5-4b5b-4777-967b-55cdf66266c2/Lambie39.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un gros plan de la même aire de vol montrant le Spitfire 49, un Mk VcT « Trop » de C-Flight au n ° 71 Spitfire UEO. Le siège du pilote a été retiré pour certains travaux de maintenance et placé au sol à côté du fuselage. Notez les porte-bombes sous le fuselage entre le train d’atterrissage. Bombarder deviendrait une compétence vitale pour Lambie alors qu’il se joignait à la campagne continue pour repousser les nazis hors d’Italie. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71d21f14-a26a-43c3-b576-2c05e9c9ed5c/Lambie41.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un autre angle sur l’aire de vol à Ismaïlia - ressemblant plus à un champ de la RAF en East-Anglia que celui dans le désert égyptien. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87c30731-c361-487b-8bea-e3fc304eb03e/Lambie35.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un pilote de Ismaïlia, dans le Spitfire MA360, un Mk VcT « Trop », vole avec Lambie en formation serrée au-dessus de l’Égypte, avec le Grand Lac Amer du canal de Suez au loin. Le Spitfire MA360 a passé tout son service opérationnel en Afrique, arrivant à Takoradi, au Ghana, à l’été 1943 et a finalement été radié de l’inventaire en 1946. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a38c13ad-4e5b-409d-af4d-1c320db7eede/Lambie190.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un compagnon de cours dans le Spitfire « Trop » No. B-46 s’éloigne vers la gauche près du canal de Suez alors que Lambie prend une autre photo de son cockpit. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b831089-81db-4307-9670-d9a163f4b2c0/Lambie37.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un groupe de garçons coloniaux devant le mess des officiers à Ismaïlia. Rangée arrière : de gauche à droite, le lieutenant d’aviation Robert Latimer de Seeley’s Bay, en Ontario, le lieutenant d’aviation Tony Whittingham, de Toronto, en Ontario, le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leach, Lambie et Ron Chapman. Devant, se trouve le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Weekes. Weekes se joindra au 417e Escadron un mois avant Lambie et sera abattu le 16 mars 1945, le lendemain de l’arrivée de Lambie dans l’escadron. Ce jour-là, il était avec cinq autres pilotes (tous mentionnés dans cette histoire) affectés au bombardement d’une ligne de chemin de fer, puis à l’escorte de 24 Martin Marauders de la RAF qui bombardaient le même chemin de fer. Il a été vu pour la dernière fois en train de commencer son attaque en piqué. Selon le registre opérationnel, « Aucune trace d’épave d’avion n’a pu être trouvée bien que la zone ait été soigneusement fouillée ». En fait, Weekes a réussi à survivre et a été capturé par les Allemands. Ce n’est qu’après la fin de la guerre que quelqu’un a su qu’il était vivant. Il est décédé à London, en Ontario, en 2017, à l’âge de 96 ans. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/070be9a3-817f-480d-8284-112d07c272a8/Is1+%282%29.JPG The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Sur cette photo en couleur du pilote de l’Armée canadienne LCol (retraité) John Dicker, nous voyons qu’Ismaïlia était à peu près la même dans les années 1970 – notez le type particulier de motif de toit métallique commun à cette photographie et aux photographies précédentes et suivantes. Les Canadiens sont retournés à Ismaïlia trente ans après la guerre dans le cadre de la force de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies connue sous le nom de UNEF II. Cette force a été créée en octobre 1973 pour superviser le cessez-le-feu entre les forces égyptiennes et israéliennes et, à la suite de la conclusion des accords du 18 janvier 1974 et du 4 septembre 1975, pour superviser le redéploiement des forces égyptiennes et israéliennes et pour gérer et contrôler les zones tampons établies en vertu de ces accords. Photo : John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/46c624b4-7019-417d-8f5d-5150306b7301/Lambie36.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Si le nombre de photos est une indication, Jack Leach était l’un des meilleurs amis de Lambie durant la guerre en Mer Méditerranée – avec lui à Ismaïlia et en Italie avec le 417e escadron. Ici, nous les voyons tous les deux à la fin de 1944 à l’extérieur du mess des officiers de la RAF Ismaïlia, en Égypte. Leach demeurera dans l’Aviation royale canadienne longtemps après la guerre, prenant sa retraite en 1971. Je ne sais pas quel grade il a atteint, mais en 1971, l’Aviation canadienne avait adopté une structure de grade de l’armée, cependant sur sa pierre tombale, il a choisi de s’appeler F/L Jack Douglas Leach. Il est décédé en 2013 à l’âge de 91 ans. Sa nécrologie se terminait par la simple déclaration que « Jack était un homme qui valait la peine d’être connu ». Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d0840a6-5dc3-48b0-9612-8ef540289a71/Is5.JPG The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Les logements des officiers dans les années 1970 semblaient un peu rudimentaires pour les Canadiens de la UNEF II. Ce bâtiment, qui, selon le pilote de l’UNEF II John Dicker était derrière le mess des officiers à Ismaïlia, ressemble aux mêmes images de structure à droite sur la photo précédente (moins les volets). Photo : John Dicker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de4f8448-accc-4e3a-ae98-256ae347ddab/Lambie42.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Les pilotes du « C Flight » de l’unité d’entraînement opérationnel (UEO) No 71 se réunissent pour une photographie à la RAF Ismaïlia, la semaine avant Noël 1944. À partir des inscriptions de Lambie et de quelques dizaines d’autres photos, nous pouvons identifier un certain nombre de jeunes pilotes. Lambie est quatrième à partir de la gauche dans la rangée arrière. À gauche se trouve Jack Leach qui le rejoindrait au 417e Escadron. Le deuxième à partir de la droite dans la rangée arrière est Bob Latimer, un autre ami proche de Lambie au 417e Escadron. Quatrième à partir de la droite à l’arrière est le Rhodésien Whitfield. Le Canadien John Doyle, RAF est deuxième à partir de la droite en avant. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16986c61-b5f4-4d1c-8174-ece1ac062ed3/Lambie196.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Il est temps de célébrer. Peut-être pour célébrer la fin de leur cours de l’UEO, Jack Leach allume une « fusée deux étoiles » au-dessus du désert égyptien au crépuscule en janvier 1945, sous le regard du lieutenant d’aviation Shelton-Smith, de Londres en Angleterre, un autre pilote de Spitfire de la RAF. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f41d060-dade-4c7b-b50b-1891ad896b28/Lambie63.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Ismaïlia était une base aérienne bien installée avec des commodités très différentes des tentes d’Almaza et des endroits où ces jeunes pilotes vivraient plus tard durant la guerre. Le club des officiers comprenait un court de tennis où Jack Leach, le capitaine d’aviation Ken Archer et le lieutenant d’aviation Bob Latimer prennent la pose en janvier 1945. Ken Archer porte un sweat-shirt avec les mots USMC AirCorps, Yuma Arizona, ce qui signifie pour moi qu’une partie de son entraînement s’est déroulée aux États-Unis, peut-être dans le cadre du Plan Arnold. Archer, de Grande-Bretagne, a ensuite piloté des Spitfire avec le 241e Escadron avec John Doyle et Tony Whittingham. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3ec0ccb6-f546-4cd0-9b85-ce8d1ea0ce67/Lambie69.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out L’une des grandes attractions pour les touristes au Caire en 1945 et encore aujourd’hui sont les voûtes et les dômes arabes blancs brillants du palais Al-Ittihadiya, également connu sous le nom de palais Al-Orouba ou palais d’Héliopolis. Ce trésor national magnifiquement conservé était situé à une courte distance d’Ismaïlia. C’est aujourd’hui le lieu de travail officiel de la présidence égyptienne où le président reçoit des délégations officielles en visite. Le palais est situé dans le quartier chic, Héliopolis (Masr El Gedida), à l’est du Caire. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f5cf41b0-73a3-495d-bf56-4fe8a781dab2/2020-12-30-egyptian-palace-cairo-al-ittihadiya-heliopolis-outside.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le palais Al-Ittihadiya tel qu’il est aujourd’hui. Peu de choses ont changé depuis que Lambie a pris sa photo en 1945. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37f0a771-9744-4566-a534-978e2ee8f80d/Lambie70.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et ses camarades de cours de l’UEO savaient qu’ils étaient près de certaines des sept merveilles du monde antique et savaient également qu’ils ne reviendraient peut-être jamais. Alors ils ont passé leur congé à visiter les sites antiques, y compris les grandes pyramides. Je soupçonne que près de 100% du commerce touristique pour visiter les pyramides provenait de soldats, de marins et d’aviateurs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Photo: Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c03f700-4c70-45b6-88e7-61a283faac99/Lambie-229.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Absolument rien n’a changé depuis l’époque de Lambie à la pyramide de Khéops, la Grande Pyramide de Gizeh... mais les deux obélisques tombés ont maintenant été redressés. Voir certaines de ces images en couleurs modernes nous aide à transcender la distance créée par les photographies en noir et blanc fanées et jaunies. C’est pourquoi nous avons mis ces photos ici. Photo : Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f528812b-44b0-4835-ad28-f0e3c2b73bfb/Lambie71.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Après avoir terminé l’UEO à Ismaïlia, Lambie et quelques amis ont pris le temps de voir quelques sites en Égypte pendant un congé de deux semaines avant d’être affectés à un escadron de combat. Ici, son compagnon de l’UEO, Jack Smith, se tient au courant de l’actualité à l’hôtel LeRoi. Notez la rangée de bouteilles de bière sur l’étagère de la chambre d’hôtel. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e47520b-9dbf-4a64-9c08-196de31bc6bf/7119021103_2e7b91a0c4_b.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Une brochure d’époque pour l’Hôtel LeRoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c9dbad1-710b-4ed8-8a18-9956f88bc379/Lambie33.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Après s’être installés dans leur hôtel, Lambie et ses copains sont sortis pour voir les sites touristiques. Ici, il pose devant les portes du Bureau d’information des services impériaux à Alexandrie, en janvier 1945. J’ai trouvé une brochure en ligne appelée Le Guide des services du Caire, publiée pendant la guerre qui décrit le but du Bureau d’information sur les services là-bas (qui, je suppose, est le même pour celui d’Alexandrie): « Ce bureau met aux services des forces de Sa Majesté en permission la connaissance approfondie et l’expérience de ceux qui l’exploitent des conditions locales. Des conseils d’experts sont donnés volontiers sur les meilleurs endroits où séjourner, les meilleurs endroits à visiter, la façon la moins chère de faire les choses. L’une des principales activités des bureaux est l’organisation de divertissements par des civils pour les hommes en congé. De toute évidence, le bureau fonctionnait à peu près de la même manière qu’un bureau d’information touristique ou un concierge d’hôtel aujourd’hui. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b602a56c-1c4c-4fc9-8f17-925d1e1b8bbc/Lambie72.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Visite de « Alex » en janvier 1945. Lambie (en haut à gauche) et un couple d’amis s’arrêtent au pied d’une statue massive sur la corniche d’Alexandrie dédiée à Saad Zaghloul, un révolutionnaire et homme d’État égyptien. Il était le chef du parti nationaliste égyptien Wafd. La figure montrée ici n’est pas Zaghloul, mais plutôt une statue de soutien à la base du socle. Il est Premier ministre d’Égypte du 26 janvier 1924 au 24 novembre 1924. Les autres pilotes sont John Whaley (à gauche) et son ami constant Jack Leach. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ea80250-7fdc-4061-963f-a8a31544cdda/Lambie278.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Les genoux de la figure à la base du monument à Saad Zaghloul où se sont assis les touristes depuis avant l’époque de Lambie, sont usés et de couleur or. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8cb36c7d-1191-40d9-a7e7-74b92947bcd1/Lambie197.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Une photo d’époque du monument Saad Zaghloul à Alexandrie de la photo précédente. À l’époque, « Alex » était une base majeure de la Royal Navy et un carrefour militaire pour la RAF, l’armée britannique et la Royal Navy. C’était aussi beaucoup plus civilisé et confortable que Le Caire – un endroit où des aviateurs comme Lambie et ses amis pouvaient trouver un bon service, de grands clubs, des infirmières militaires et de la détente en bord de mer. Photo d’une carte postale https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e808057a-77da-4016-8051-179043caf994/Lambie34.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Don Lambie est assis sur une balustrade de quai sur le bord de mer d’Alexandrie avec la mer Méditerranée derrière lui. Il lui a fallu beaucoup de temps pour arriver là. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a130a6ef-9c31-40ba-b016-98c624fcbb29/Lambie235.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lors de son congé à « Alex », Lambie a pris rendez-vous avec un photographe u Studio Broadway, 10 Rue Cherif Pacha, Alexandrie. Il voulait un portrait formel à jour pour envoyer à ses parents et peut-être aux nombreuses dames qui l’appréciaient. Fait intéressant : Le photographe était Yasser Alwan qui, en plus de son travail en studio, a pris des images illustrant la vie quotidienne en Égypte pendant des décennies avant la révolution de 1952. Plus tard, ses photographies seront exposées au Caire, à New York, à Francfort, à San Francisco, à Londres, à Canterbury et à Abu Dhabi. L’Université de New York Abu Dhabi a accueilli une rétrospective de son travail au cours de l’année universitaire 2011-12. Il a enseigné la photographie dans diverses institutions, dont l’Université allemande du Caire. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c2a1721-a7bb-43d6-9962-795953b0fc44/Lambie297.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out C’était un C-47 Dakota du 44e Escadron de l’armée de l’air sud-africaine qui a transporté Lambie et ses collègues diplômés de l’UEO en Italie depuis le Caire à la fin de leur congé. En tant que membre du 216e Groupe des Forces aériennes alliées en Méditerranée, le 44e Escadron était responsable des vols de passagers, de personnes de marque (VIP), de fret et de liaison sur des vols réguliers et spéciaux sur l’ensemble de la zone de guerre vers des destinations exotiques telles que Khartoum, Téhéran, Lakatamie, Aden, Chypre, Habbaniya, Kalamaki et Alger. Ici, un pilote sud-africain d’un Dakota du groupe 216 fait une pause cigarette sur un aérodrome italien à côté de l’épave d’une Fiat CR.42 italienne. Photo : Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61b3e7a3-5f3c-4599-a6e1-eef29b5b4f3d/Lambie303.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out La première étape du voyage d’Athènes à Naples les a amenés à Malte, dont l’importance historique récente n’a pas été perdue pour ces jeunes pilotes de chasse. Pendant que le Dakota était ravitaillé, Lambie a pris quelques photos des avions qu’il y a trouvés y compris trois B-17 Flying Fortresses et un B-24 Liberator. À en juger par les montagnes lointaines, c’est Luqua, l’un des trois aérodromes légendaires de l’île. Puisque la date du vol de Lambie était le 29 janvier, nous savons que c’était la veille du début de la conférence historique de Malte entre Churchill et Roosevelt. Il est possible que ces poids lourds américains aient quelque chose à voir avec cela. La légende de la photo de Lambie dit qu’il s’agissait d’un « ’Fort portant l’un des trois Grands ». Bien sûr, ce n’est pas correct, puisque Roosevelt et Churchill sont arrivés à Malte sur des navires de leurs marines respectives. Ils étaient à Malte pour des discussions privées avant de rencontrer Staline à Yalta, donc cela aurait été les « deux Grands », pas les trois. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c8d8ffd-d576-46bf-b563-a132a27beef5/Lambie300.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le C-47 Dakota du 44e Escadron de la South African Air Force (SAAF) qui a amené Lambie d’Ismaïlia à Naples fait un arrêt à Catane, en Sicile, en route et les hommes s’entassent pour fumer, puis se promener. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ff6a04f-d0ec-4919-8fc6-5ec5d6fb20ba/Lambie228.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie photographie un groupe d’aviateurs à Catane, sur la côte est de la Sicile. L’homme qui se tient deuxième à partir de la droite porte la casquette et l’uniforme de style militaire de l’armée de l’air sud-africaine, tout comme Du Toit, le pilote du Dakota. Dans sa légende, Lambie désigne ses copains parmi les autres - Whitfield (troisième à partir de la gauche), un pilote rhodésien ; John Whaley (à l’arrière, 5e à partir de la gauche) ; Red Sharman, Royal Australian Air Force (6e à partir de la gauche); et Bill Bower, Royal Air Force à l’extrême droite. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/97c5a40a-1e85-4466-8879-ab07e0323a62/Lambie76.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un North American Mustang IV (P-51D) KH799 en métal sans peinture de la Royal Air Force à Catane en janvier 1945. Ce Mustang sera bientôt affecté au 5e escadron de l’armée de l’air sud-africaine dans la campagne d’Italie et portera le code GL-B sur son fuselage. On peut voir des Dakotas de la RAF bordant la ligne de vol lointaine, peut-être l’un d’eux est KK158, le Dak qui a amené Lambie à Catane. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/53c60dad-664e-4309-a5ed-1323f20decec/Lambie74.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Jack, l’ami de Lambie, pose avec un Mustang III de la RAF du 112e Escadron dans une base aérienne italienne à Catane, en Sicile. Lambie a indiqué au verso que c’était une photo d’un P-40, donc il ne regardait clairement pas au-delà de la bouche de requin peinte sur le nez. Le chasseur Mustang III a remplacé les P-40 Kittyhawks de 112 après l’invasion de la Sicile. En arrière-plan se trouvent les restes d’un hangar italien bombardé. En dessous se trouve un Bristol Beaufighter à droite et un Spitfire à gauche. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/694324a8-8f3a-420f-8842-9e30a0a4e2fc/Lambie77.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Sous la structure du hangar italien bombardé de la photo précédente, l’ami de Lambie, John Whaley, inspecte un avion de liaison Percival Proctor, tandis qu’en arrière-plan, nous avons une vue un peu meilleure du Beaufighter. On se demande ce qui couvrait à l’origine la structure – probablement une toile qui aurait pu brûler en laissant la structure telle quelle. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8db3db73-a048-4a28-8bfd-3b5129bcf53f/Lambie64.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out À Catane, Lambie aimait inspecter et photographier des avions alliés qu’il n’avait pas encore vus comme ce B-26 Marauder de la Royal Air Force. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2efe5e36-cf6a-4982-b968-36adc996cc2e/Lambie89.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Immédiatement à côté du Maraudeur à Catane sur la photo précédente se trouvait un B-25 Mitchell. Nous pouvons juste distinguer à gauche le Marauder de la RAF. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/698d61d0-8723-4ebb-bed5-fc8233998029/Lambie75.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Également à Catane était ce Vickers Warwick de la RAF entièrement blanc du Coastal Command. On les utilisait pour les vols de reconnaissance de longue portée au-dessus de l’eau. Le Warwick était un développement plus important du Vickers Wellington, le pilier du Bomber Command dans les premières années de la guerre. Il utilisait la même structure géodésique conçue pour le Wellington par l’inventeur de génie Barnes Wallis. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/020427b9-bbae-4f5f-8e61-37f7b1527c1f/Lambie78.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Lambie a trouvé beaucoup à photographier à Catane - des chasseurs Mustang les plus avancés aux amphibiens biplans désuets comme ce Royal Air Force Supermarine Walrus. L’inscription au dos de la photo prise par Lambie indique un Walrus ASR - pour Air Sea Rescue - utilisé principalement par la RAF pour le sauvetage des aviateurs abattus ainsi que les vols de reconnaissance. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc32b3c7-50bf-45d6-8c9e-a43dbb1dfb6f/Lambie80.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Un Bristol Beaufighter de la RAF à Catane. À en juger par le schéma de peinture sombre et l’absence de marquage, il s’agissait peut-être d’un chasseur de nuit nouvellement fabriqué qui n’avait pas encore été affecté à un escadron de la RAF dans la zone de guerre. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9eac3a26-f9fa-424a-9b25-d994b28cc2af/Lambie298.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le 24 mars 1944, dix mois avant la présence de Lambie, le Vésuve a explosé après une longue période éruptive de coulée de lave. À l’époque, le 340e Bomber Group de l’armée de l’air des États-Unis était basé à l’aérodrome de Poggiomarino, près de Terzigno, en Italie, à la base même du volcan. Le téphra et les cendres chaudes de plusieurs jours de l’éruption ont tout enterré et endommagé les surfaces de contrôle en tissu, les moteurs, les pare-brises en plexiglas et les tourelles de canon des bombardiers moyens B-25 Mitchell du 340th. Les estimations allaient de 78 à 88 avions détruits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4c7e3ae-b853-4cdb-a1a8-ef5cd546cec3/Lambie81.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Alors qu’il était à Portici, Lambie a visité Naples et a pris cette photo d’un port bondé avec le mont Vésuve en arrière-plan. Photo : Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77fd228b-6f2f-42e9-a84a-3cd970170517/shutterstock_1603280851.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Bien plus haut, c’est à peu près le même angle portuaire de Naples sur le Vésuve que celui de Lambie d’il y a 80 ans. Il aurait été sur le bord de la mer de l’autre côté du port pour prendre sa photo. Photo : Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7ad45db-e263-45e4-8eba-25020aa0c37f/Lambie225.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Après un trajet en camion de 56 PTC à une gare près de Portici, des pilotes de chasse et d’autres aviateurs déchargent les bagages de leurs camions et font la queue dans une petite gare pour monter à bord d’un wagon pour un voyage de plus de 300 kilomètres au nord à travers Rome jusqu’à Pérouse. Notez ’enseigne de la RAF flottant au-dessus du wagon qui fait signe aux pilotes excités. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41460bd5-2978-49b9-af01-e16d21de99fd/Lambie212.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Une photo prise en février 1945 par un autre membre de l’escadron — Lambie (en haut à gauche en bretelles et chemise) pose pour une photo avec d’autres pilotes canadiens se dirigeant vers Pérouse... finalement. L’inscription se lit comme suit : « Dans une voie d’évitement à Rome, en attendant que n’importe quel train nous tire vers le nord ! Don, Smithie [Jack Smith], Chapman [dans la porte] Phillips [accroupi dans la porte] et [de gauche à droite en bas] Latimer, Whitfield [le Rhodésien], Geoff Taylor, Manson, Beasley et inconnu. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e8ccd34-15d2-4f31-8f31-63e8425b1c16/Lambie299.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out L’aérodrome de Pérouse à Sant’Egidio en août 1944 avec des Spitfire du 145e escadron du 244e Escadre de la RAF garés à l’extérieur des hangars détruits. La RAF n’avait aucune envie de réparer les hangars car ils ne resteraient pas longtemps. C’était probablement la même chose lorsque Lambie est arrivé six mois plus tard. Photo : forum.12oclockhigh.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/69f88969-3f7a-4070-9314-73bd4ffe5710/Lambie185.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out L’Inscription de cette photo se lit comme suit : « Le mess des pilotes à Pérouse ... Boueux n’est-ce pas! » — la preuve que les conditions étaient souvent difficiles. Pérouse était bien derrière les lignes, mais même encore, les pilotes, les officiers et les hommes des forces aériennes alliées en Méditerranée se débrouillaient bien. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3c48fe0-f0f3-42bd-b221-0135d8da6e1a/Lambie82.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Dans l’album photo de Lambie, il y avait quelques cartes postales de l’époque où il était à Pérouse, en Italie, avec la Refresher Flying Unit n ° 5. Il y avait celle-ci adressée à ses parents et datée du 15 février montrant une vue d’Assise. La ville montagneuse d’Assise, lieu de naissance de Saint François, l’un des saints patrons de l’Italie et de Sainte Claire, se trouve à environ 30 kilomètres de Pérouse. Au centre se dresse la basilique Saint-François qui date de 1253 et abrite son sarcophage en pierre. Sur la droite se trouve l’entrée plutôt austère de la basilique Santa Chiara. (Sainte Claire). Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adccb4a1-e555-46f3-bce7-24e831231053/Lambie285.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out La même scène aujourd’hui nous montre que rien n’a changé depuis la visite de Lambie à Assise en 1945. La note écrite à ses parents au dos de la carte postale précédente fait allusion à sa frustration croissante : « Ma très chère maman et mon père. Je passe quelques jours dans cette belle et intéressante ville. Les gens sont très accueillants ici et avec ce que je sais de la langue française, je m’entends assez bien avec eux. La prise de vue est du château au sommet de la colline, où Frédéric « Barbe-Rosa » Ier d’Allemagne a vécu autrefois. Par temps clair, la vue sur la vallée avec ses nombreux vignobles, etc. est magnifique. Les soirées sont calmes et un endroit idéal pour se reposer. Non pas que j’en ai besoin. J’espère que vous allez bien tous les deux. Votre courrier commence à me parvenir une fois de plus. Don » Photo : Shutterstock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eec079fd-b97c-436d-aeae-f1ed8039f55e/Lambie199.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Debout sur la Piazza Santa Chiara à Assise, en Italie, Lambie prend en photo la façade avant plutôt sombre de la basilique Santa Chiara datant du 13ème siècle. Comme d’habitude, les photos en noir et blanc du temps de guerre ont tendance à donner aux lieux et aux paysages un aspect fatigué et en détresse. En fait, la basilique est une structure calcaire rose vif et blanc. Notez les ambulances alliées garées à droite. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d8b824c-235f-40cb-a0cd-f605f82d4265/Screen+Shot+2022-01-22+at+2.00.09+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Si vous deviez vous tenir à la place de Lambie sur la Piazza Santa Chiara aujourd’hui, rien ne serait changé, mais la basilique est maintenant un peu plus propre qu’en temps de guerre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/951e8d6a-b39b-4d76-9b7d-58d706717023/Lambie272.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out La légende au dos de cette photo dit « Notre camion dans le convoi. Nous avons utilisé le hayon comme table ». La date est donnée comme février 1945, ce qui signifie qu’il s’agissait du convoi d’aviateurs déplaçant La Refresher Flying Unit n° 5 et ses habitants de leur base de Pérouse au sud vers un nouvel aérodrome appelé Guado près de l’ancienne ville romaine de Paestum, au sud de Sorento. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/573d48e6-815d-4aad-8a7a-dd717002549e/Lambie284.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Alors que le convoi à destination de Paestum s’arrête pour le déjeuner, les aviateurs sont envahis par des enfants italiens (à gauche) qui chapardent tout ce qu’ils peuvent des aviateurs – une scène que Lambie décrit comme pitoyable. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7aea7cfc-b019-4c53-b402-dd39d4ef301b/Lambie224.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Le convoi de Lambie traverse une ville italienne historique avec des hommes assis sur le toit de toile ou regardant à l’avant, ne voulant rien manquer. Je suis sûr que cette journée a été gravée dans la mémoire de Lambie. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/523e878f-6870-4ca3-8f1a-bd89d665a0fc/Lambie84.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out À l’aérodrome de Guado près de Solerno, Lambie a photographié ce bombardier moyen Martin Baltimore qui, selon lui, avait subi des dommages causés par le tire antiaérien (flak). Notez le pilote debout sur le tambour d’huile, presque perdu dans le dommage du nez de l’avion. En plus des dommages sur le nez, les extrémités de l’hélice sont pliées vers l’arrière, ce qui signifie que ces pointes ont heurté quelque chose des deux côtés. Si les pointes des hélices se plient vers l’arrière lorsqu’elles touchent le sol, cela signifie que les moteurs ne produisaient pas de puissance. Je pense que Lambie ne faisait que deviner les dégâts causés par la DCA. Les dommages au nez vus ici et la façon dont il est plié sur le côté me portent à croire que le Baltimore a probablement fait un tête-à-queue (avec la puissance réduite), a quitté la piste et a basculé sur son nez tout en dérapant vers la gauche, avec les extrémités des pales d’hélice frappant le sol. Au moment où Lambie était ici à Guado, la guerre de bombardement pour attirer la flak était à des centaines de kilomètres plus au nord. Aucun pilote ne piloterait ses avions sur des centaines de kilomètres en contournant d’autres bases alliées sécurisées s’il avait subi ce genre de dommages. À l’arrière-plan se trouve un Bell P-39 Airacobra. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58aaee5f-74eb-4089-aaf6-9f0e8116b508/Lambie32.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Aérodrome de Gaudo, mars 1945. Le lieutenant d’aviation Jack Leach regarde de près un P-39 Airacobra américain à l’aérodrome de Guado. Une recherche du nom « Torrid Tessie » ne fait apparaître qu’un P-47 Thunderbolt avec ce surnom. Si quelqu’un avait des informations sur cet avion particulier et son unité à Guado, j’aimerais avoir de vos nouvelles. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/494829b0-5629-4e56-8844-3e8d233b933d/Lambie283.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Fait intéressant: À l’époque où Lambie était en Italie, les chasseurs à train d'atterrissage tricycle Bell P-39 Airacobra comme celui de la photo précédente, ont été utilisés non seulement par les Américains et la RAF, mais aussi par l’armée de l’air co-belligérante italienne (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana - ACI) dans des attaques au sol contre les Allemands en retraite. Ici, les cocardes vertes, blanches et rouges de l’ACI sont surpeintes sur la cocarde américaine. Photo via Pinterest https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fda0b8da-e7f2-4ec1-938f-e40aa20ffffd/Lambie234.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie-Deuxième épisode - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/retour-dela-faucheuse monthly 0.5 2022-05-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36939a9e-9f77-46ee-908a-4bad4a2f68d2/ReaperFlashFR.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13f21974-b142-44e7-8dd4-188c3abd9d0d/VWC_2022_423-2078.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Les ingénieurs de Vintech Aero, Paul Tremblay (directeur de la maintenance) et Pat Tenger (dans le cockpit), s’occupent des derniers détails avant le vol. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf910a88-d2b7-4ea4-9bb1-5fa8eb9c1af3/VWC_2022_423-2114.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out André Laviolette, TEA de Vintech, enfile ses chaussures de sport dont le style LE-A est inspiré par le premier vol de l’Hurricane. Les chaussures sont fabriquées par I Love a Hangar et le design a été proposé au fabricant par Timothy Dubé, l’autorité principale sur la vie et la carrière de vol de McKnight. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c84c3d3c-aafc-460a-a697-af0c76bdaa10/VWC_2022_423-2135.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Toujours dans le hangar, Dave Hadfield passe en revue ses listes de contrôle. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37c94111-f0f9-4ddc-ba90-8ca74731f3af/VWC_2022_423-2178.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Hadfield effectue une inspection visuelle de l’appareil avant le vol et tape du doigt les pots d’échappement pour les faire « sonner ». Le ton produit pourrait révéler une fissure autrement invisible. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8f06d8f4-12d9-4e15-894f-2053ba40e260/VWC_2022_423-2192.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Mike Potter (à droite) et Hadfield discutent avant que l’Hurricane ne soit poussé du hangar. Potter, fondateur de la Fondation des Ailes d’époque du Canada et de Vintech Aero, pilotera l’avion de poursuite, un Extra 330LT. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c31d0d03-86fc-4389-a4bb-b584caba5f2b/VWC_2022_423-2251.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Un faible soleil d’avril, tôt le samedi 23 avril 2022, accueille l’Hurricane poussé par Paul Tremblay. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3af266fa-0c7d-4489-8f79-9656cfb88106/VWC_2022_423-2352.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield vérifie le parcours du gouvernail alors que Paul Tremblay briefe les pompiers de la ville de Gatineau. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a93acd0a-e6df-4350-b79f-c8373dbdfaf2/VWC_2022_423-2413.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out C’est l’heure de monter à bord. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/89cdc2ab-b2cd-4caf-a757-e4ee6d304caf/VWC_2022_423-2439.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out L’œuvre d’art de la Faucheuse semble nous encourager — dans ce cas, il s’agit de tester l’Hurricane en vol. Un décollage, un vol court à faible vitesse, y compris quelques décrochages et un atterrissage — le tout avec le train sorti. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7bc09864-bf68-434f-972c-857206a6aa42/VWC_2022_423-2429.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out La Faucheuse elle-même montre le chemin à l’ingénieur de Vintech André « Lav » Laviolette. Photo : Peter handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d59914e-51b7-4faf-85a7-ff523140e993/VWC_2022_423-2491.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out C’est l’heure de démarrer. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3edc8948-663e-4cf8-a3d9-7433ad3a5c54/VWC_2022_423-2585.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Mike Potter dans l’Extra 330LT est prêt àdécoller avec le TEA Pat Tenger à l’avant. Ils prendront des photos et veilleront aux problèmes potentiels visibles comme les fuites et la fumée. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8994fb52-8b59-4eab-b5ca-f2862e848faf/VWC_2022_423-2684.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Sous des vents légers dans l’axe de la piste, Hadfield se dirige vers le tarmac principal à Gatineau où il effectuera ses vérifications finales. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0df430a-3f5e-4faf-a33c-81a78751c9c6/VWC_2022_423-2735.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Peter Handley saisit en photo l’Hurricane en parfaite symétrie, alors que Hadfield accélère le régime du Merlin. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a839cb8-88c3-4a36-a635-b7ef73c1dc06/following+Extra.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Dave suit Mike Potter et Pat Tenger dans l’avion de poursuite Extra 330 vers la piste unique à Gatineau. Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque de Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f6539ec-7484-42e0-80bc-896c8042e1fd/lining+up.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Plus que quelques secondes avant le moment tant attendu lorsque Hadfield amorce le virage qui lui permettra d’aligner l’Hurricane sur la piste 09 de Gatineau. Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque de Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e7575ef-d612-48fd-881e-f3af4688c551/VWC_2022_423-2921.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Décollage. Hadfield décolle dans l’air frais du matin et retourne vers son passé. Les roues resteront fixes pendant tout le vol, qui sera court et effectué à basse vitesse. Escamoter le train d’atterrissage figurera au programme du prochain vol. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9781de52-dda2-46ab-a062-5e5d6507325e/VWC_2022_423-2930.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Un Hurricane de l’escadron 242 s’envole au Canada pour la première fois. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4840df64-09c9-40ed-a35b-82878cc1676c/VWC_2022_423-2938.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out La montée. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2303cc8-c762-4aa2-a9e5-b78e221c5da3/airborne+and+turning.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Pendant ce temps, à l’intérieur du cockpit. L’Hurricane MK XII (numéro de série 5447 de l’ARC) prend son envol pour la première fois depuis plus de 20 ans et se dirige vers la zone d’essai au nord de l’aérodrome. L’ancien propriétaire de l’avion, Harry Whereatt, n’a piloté l’Hurricane (immatriculé C-GCAJ à l’époque) que quelques fois en 2000, après sa restauration. Avant ces vols, l’Hurricane était cloué au sol depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il est intéressant de noter l’effet de l’écran antiéblouissement de l’échappement sur cette photo. Son efficacité ne fait aucun doute pour réduire l’effet aveuglant des pots d’échappement la nuit. Bien entendu, cet Hurricane ne décollera plus jamais de nuit. Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque d’Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e838b36f-ed9b-42d6-9326-45d4fc6d580c/VWC_2022_423-2975.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Hadfield tourne autour de l’aéroport et nous survole accompagné de Potter sur son aile gauche. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7caf5111-1ea6-4e7c-b276-0bf5b5acbc44/FF5.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Alors que Mike Potter se glisse tout près de la “Faucheuse”, Pat Tenger réalise cette photo de l’Hurricane Willie McKnight et montre les marquages authentiques, fruits de recherches méticuleuses, de l’un des avions de combat les plus connus de la bataille d’Angleterre et des combats aériens défensifs du Blitz. Photo : Bundesarchiv https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6afbff1f-15b7-4df0-933b-3bd7ff5a7f96/FF3.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Potter se stabilise sur l’aile bâbord de l’Hurricane tandis que Tenger prend une belle photo montrant la livrée magnifique de l’appareil. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f7bcc9ef-2850-431c-8274-3816332d26a5/FF15.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out En grimpant un peu plus haut, Hadfield se tourne vers tribord et nous offre un aperçu des marquages sous les ailes et le fuselage — Noir “comme la nuit” sous l’aile bâbord et bleu “comme l’œuf d’un rouge-gorge” sous l’aile tribord et le fuselage. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21b6a8ea-0e9d-43e6-aea7-19ce36618c0b/FF16.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out En formation colonne avec l’Hurricane, Tenger obtient une bonne photo de l’Hurricane sous l’effet d’une lumière qui semble presque incolore. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b1ddb9a-edaa-4b17-b3a1-5e581ee7cb29/FF22.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Alors que Potter se rapproche de l’Hurricane, Tenger trouve un angle unique pour prendre cette photo. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72b2188a-85d9-46ec-9cb1-6f129e96b47d/stall+recovery%2C+facing+rockcliffe.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Hadfield effectue une sortie de décrochage. Dans le coin supérieur gauche du pare-brise avant (juste au-dessus de l’île Kettle) se trouve le Musée de l’aviation et de l’espace du Canada où est exposé un autre Hurricane XII Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque de Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5996aa26-2d4d-44a6-9418-0105be58ec98/FF14.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Avec les collines des Laurentides à l’horizon au nord, Hadfield a nivelé le Hurricane en direction de l’est. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0cbe194e-3372-458b-b659-0db5ed6464cf/FF20.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Un léger virage à gauche permet de voir la belle couleur du dessous de l’Hurricane McKnight, qui est différente de la teinte “ciel” utilisée sur la bande du fuselage et le cône de l’hélice. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a847696c-6eee-436c-a61a-c67ec5727e1e/FF8.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Hadfield continue son léger virage. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/455c8e98-c431-42ef-bdcc-3a0bcccd37e2/FF6.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Potter s’est glissé sur le côté tribord de l’Hurricane, qui permet à Tenger d’obtenir un joli plan serré de l’œuvre de l’artiste sur ce côté. Bien qu’intimidant, il n’est pas aussi emblématique que le dessin plus célèbre de McKnight sur le côté bâbord. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c99ebdc6-fd11-4e5b-99a7-baea14e794b9/FF9.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Nous nous dirigeons maintenant vers le nord-ouest au-dessus des banlieues de la région de l’Outaouais. On aperçoit le cours sinueux de la rivière des Outaouais de droite à gauche. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e0c07f1-6df5-4c82-ab67-762011be83c0/FF13.png The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Potter ajuste son virage pour bien voir le dessous de l’Hurricane et son camouflage du Fighter Command datant du début de la guerre. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82e5c895-c9d8-4ddb-9d5d-10720907d6c5/FF17.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Virage en finale. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e7989e29-22ce-49a5-9969-d143ba62ceb3/FF21.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out En route vers le bercail. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7db45c9e-7cc1-491a-8642-07a1a237fc28/over+the+fence+runway+09+landing.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Au-dessus de la clôture en approche finale, Dave s’apprête à se poser sur la piste 09. Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque de Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/10b173e8-5ed9-4689-b963-a6f49b338a81/VWC_2022_423-3095.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Hadfield décélère après son atterrissage. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/19102928-8f6a-4194-af3e-77cb20e42a51/thumb+up+to+photographers.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out En route vers le hangar, Hadfield lève un pouce triomphant aux photographes des Ailes d’époque. Photo via la caméra montée sur le casque de Hadfield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25c0be00-2410-46c4-82a9-3c4f3563471a/VWC_2022_423-3174.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out En virage sur la voie de circulation, on peut déjà apercevoir le sourire aux lèvres de Hadfield. Ce fut un vol parfait ! Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76d8d7a5-120c-4221-8ad0-973a57bf774a/FF1.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Un gros plan de ce sourire ! Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e706ac7d-c9e0-4dd8-8a97-94fef4dc7228/VWC_2022_423-3271.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Dave Hadfield récapitule les moments forts du vol et décrit le maniement de l’avion avec les ingénieurs de Vintech Aero. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/51cd32ab-e965-4453-83cc-7c0be3c9bd37/VWC_2022_423-3296.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Bravo Zulu Dave, Mike et Pat. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5bc5d78-620a-4877-9228-63e04a6683eb/VWC_2022_423-3330.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out Une bonne poignée de main entre Dave Hadfield et Mike Potter pour célébrer le succès de leur premier vol. Et maintenant, en avant vers Oshkosh ! Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9fdb0a18-0809-4851-8c89-71889c6336cb/VWC_2022_423-3340.jpg The Stories - Le retour de la Faucheuse - Make it stand out L’équipe principale qui a travaillé sur le projet Hurricane : Jim Luffman, bénévole ; Laurent Palmer, Vintech Aero ; Paul Tremblay, directeur de la maintenance, Vintech Aero ; Pat Tenger, responsable du projet de restauration, Vintech Aero ; Dave Hadfield, pilote ; Mike Potter, fondateur et donateur ; John Aitken, consultant en programme d’essai ; André Laviolette, Vintech Aero. Bien entendu, au cours des 16 années qu’a duré la restauration de Vintech, de nombreuses autres personnes ont travaillé sur le projet. Trois contributeurs notables qui n’étaient pas présents pour le premier vol sont Korrey Foisey qui a fait un travail extraordinaire du schéma de peinture, Mike Irvin qui a fait de la magie avec le tissu et Ken Wood qui a travaillé sur la fabrication de certains des composants de tôle les plus difficiles ainsi que d’autres travaux. Photo : Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/la-guerre-selon-donald-lambie-1 monthly 0.5 2022-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f1c09a58-2873-4b7b-ae2f-d028b6c80d38/Lambie-Flash-FR.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625832238023-MQB78KY7ZKE3O6I1RMVW/Undaunted20.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La seule image retrouvée de Harry Hannah pendant la guerre est cette photo de groupe de l’escadron 602 prise à RAF Lasham où l’escadron était basé pendant une grande partie d’avril 1943, quelques mois avant que Harry soit abattu. C’est la seule image de Harry de son service en temps de guerre. Toutes ses photographies ayant été perdues dans les années qui ont suivi la guerre. Harry est assis d’une manière détendue à côté de son meilleur ami Jimmy Kelly. Kelly serait abattu et tué après le jour J l’année suivante. La perte de Kelly a frappé Harry durement quand il l’a découvert après son retour de prison. Photo: 602SquadronMuseum.org.uk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/362023e0-520f-477c-8b07-1175b1547a10/Lambie250.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out L’album relié en cuir qui a attiré l’attention du collectionneur Tim Krete dans un magasin d’antiquités sur l’île Manitoulin. Le propriétaire de la boutique venait de Toronto et y passait les hivers à chercher des antiquités et des objets de collection uniques à vendre dans sa boutique saisonnière sur l’île. Photo Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1128814-fee2-4911-9988-125216143222/Lambie252.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Dès que Tim Krete a ouvert l’album, il a su qu’il était tombé sur quelque chose d’important. En tout cas, c’était beaucoup plus qu’un « objet de collection ». Sans faire exprès, il avait découvert une fenêtre unique sur l’expérience de la vie d’un homme au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. De plus, il s’agit d’un récit historique d’une période peu documentée dans les opérations de chasseurs de l’ARC. Photo Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3fe21f1-3612-4cac-b3f8-4d3bce1252b1/Lambie52.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une recherche initiale sur Internet a permis d’identifier cette photographie de Donald Lambie — un homme beau et élégant dans sa cinquantaine, travaillant dans le secteur de l’assurance. Il est immédiatement apparu qu’il s’agissait du même jeune homme de 20 ans dont la vie était si pleinement représentée dans plus de 400 photos de l’album. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce9ba27d-60d3-415b-90ff-1d34dc49f8a2/Lambie254.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Jeff Krete avec Karen Lambie à son domicile d’Etobicoke, en Ontario, en 2022, un peu plus de 100 ans après la naissance de Donald Lambie. Photo : Jeff Krete https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1a9aa9b8-f0df-4f55-91e3-c4264fcd3b40/Lambie253.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Donald et Karen Lambie à l’occasion de leur mariage en 2004. Avec l’aide de Karen et le don de ses souvenirs, nous sommes en mesure de raconter et d’enrichir l’histoire de sa vie au-delà de ce que Karen connaissait. Photo via Karen Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a410378-964d-4bd1-ac9b-9bc5fb5b2706/Lambie256.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La plupart des Canadiens anglophones au début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale avaient encore des liens sociopolitiques étroits avec la Grande-Bretagne. C’est l’une des raisons pour lesquelles tant de jeunes hommes se sont joints à la lutte pour sauver la Grande-Bretagne. Mais pour Lambie c’était encore plus prenant. Ses parents étaient britanniques et il a été conçu là-bas. Quand il était un garçon de 7 ans, il a traversé la mer en bateau avec sa mère pour rencontrer et vivre avec la famille en Angleterre pendant deux ans. Pendant qu’il y était, il a été scolarisé à Bolnhurst School dans le hameau de Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire. La petite école se trouvait à seulement 1 kilomètre de la station de la RAF Bedford à l’ouest et de la station de la RAF Little Straughton à l’est. Ici, nous voyons le jeune Lambie debout troisième à partir de la gauche tandis que sa tante Amy, la directrice de l’école, se tient derrière. Je dois admettre qu’il y a quelques enfants qui nous font penser au film Village des damnés dans ce groupe ! Photo : Donald Lambie Colllection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3673f723-e893-4ccb-b7e2-dae82eadaed4/Screen+Shot+2022-03-05+at+10.47.44+AM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Amy, la tante de Lambie, a été directrice à Bolnhurst pendant les 32 années qui ont précédé sa fermeture. Aujourd’hui, l’école Bolnhurst est une résidence privée sur School Lane dans une zone rurale. Ce sera la première de nombreuses photos modernes de lieux représentés dans l’album de Lambie que j’ai ajoutées pour ajouter une ambiance détaillée ainsi qu’un contexte moderne à ses images. Les enfants et Mlle Amy se tenaient devant la fenêtre à cadre blanc à gauche de la porte blanche dans cette capture d’écran Streetview. Photo : Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4f070af0-fa92-4245-862f-7aa48ba1e36d/Lambie237.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Donald Lambie a grandi seul dans une famille anglophone de la classe moyenne à Montréal. Beaucoup de ses camarades de la guerre ont eu la vie beaucoup plus difficile, travaillant à la ferme familiale dans les Prairies ou sur le bateau de pêche familial. Mais Lambie a bien grandi, s’est impliqué dans le monde qui l’entourait et a appris la valeur du travail acharné. Dans le sens inverse des aiguilles d’une montre à partir du coin supérieur gauche : Lambie en tant que tout-petit dans les vêtements ambigus préférés par les parents. Lambie, âgé de 11 ans, en 1933, avec son père David Lambie en visite du navire de la Royal Navy HMS Scarbourough, au quai du port de Montréal. C’était une canonnière de la Royal Navy lancée en 1930. Elle a servi comme escorte de convoi dans l’Atlantique Nord pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le père de Lambie travaillait dans le département des chaussures du grand magasin Eaton, comme en témoignent les chaussures de haute qualité portées par son fils. Puis une photo d’un jeune Lambie s’amusant un peu à transformer quelques outils de jardin en un véhicule quelconque. Enfin, une photo de Lambie à 8 ans, en 1930 avec son berger allemand à Sandy Beach à Hudson, au Québec. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cf29add3-4625-48b9-8410-0c837e566f29/Lambie248.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La recherche d’une photo peut être une obsession, une mission complexe et difficile. La photo du jeune Lambie et de son berger allemand de la photo précédente avait une seule inscription au dos de la photo — Hudson. Pendant un certain temps, nous avons pensé que c’était peut-être le nom du chien, mais c’était peut-être pour la petite ville d’Hudson, au Québec, sur les rives de la rivière des Outaouais. Celle-ci alimente le lac des Deux Montagnes à l’ouest de Montréal. Hudson était un endroit d’été préféré des Montréalais anglophones depuis un siècle. Google Earth n’a révélé qu’une seule plage de sable dans les environs immédiats de la ville — une parcelle de terre de 100 mètres de long connue sous le nom de « Sandy Beach ». J’ai comparé la photo de Lambie et de son chien avec celle que j’ai trouvée sur le Web — correspondance exacte ! « Ça sert à quoi ? » pourriez-vous me demander. Je trouve que la recherche de ces endroits et prendre des photos modernes équivalentes en couleur aujourd’hui nous permet une meilleure compréhension de ses propres expériences. Il s’agit là d’un excellent moyen pour mieux se lier à la vie de Donald Lambie et d’y apporter une grande richesse. Les photos en noir et blanc ont tendance à nous éloigner des réalités de l’époque et de l’endroit même où elles ont été prises. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50201911-ef6e-4f56-8ad2-41a72d81016e/Lambie246.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out C’est peut-être hors sujet, mais il s’agit du navire Scarborough de la Royal Navy, le navire que Lambie et son père sont allés visiter au port de Montréal en 1933, comme on l’a vu auparavant. Je trouve toujours que l’ajout de ces digressions dans ce mélange d’images aide à illustrer l’histoire de Lambie. Eh bien, du moins, je trouve cela intéressant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01804b77-b9d0-41d3-b00b-366c64cccdef/Lambie238.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une autre sortie en famille, cette fois à Saint-Jovite, Québec (près du Mont-Tremblant) La tante de Lambie, Amy a pris une photo de la famille — mère Edith Annie (Bayes) Lambie, Donald Walter Lambie et père David. On note l’élégance des vêtements portés lors d’aventures en plein air dans les années 1930. Photo : Collection Donald Lambi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78eb4faa-9295-4d72-93bb-e680dd5451e1/Lambie242.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La musique a toujours joué un rôle important dans de la vie du jeune Lambie et son cercle d’amis. Il était membre de la chorale de jeunes de l’Église anglicane St Matthew à Montréal — on le voit sur la photo du bas de la chorale de l’église mixte, à gauche, en surplis et en soutanes ; et dans la chorale de jeunes hommes sur scène, quatrième à partir de la droite. Tout comme le scoutisme, chanter dans la chorale de l’église était l’une des passions de Lambie. Après son déménagement à Etobicoke, une banlieue de Toronto, après la guerre, il a chanté dans l’Église anglicane All Saints' Kingsway pendant 16 ans. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/406cbf6f-bcc0-4612-9f2a-a22cf1a879f5/Lambie263.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La chorale sur la photo précédente se tenait sous les trois vitraux du côté sud de l’Église anglicane St Mathews. J’aime bien remonter dans le temps ! Photo : Google Streetview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b97fae20-95d4-4ef0-95fa-7444d0bb1e2f/Lambie239.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie était passionné du plein air et a consacré de nombreuses années de sa vie au mouvement Scouts Canada. Sur la photo du haut, Lambie (au milieu) profite d’une journée ensoleillée pour faire du ski en mars 1941 en compagnie d’amis scouts [est-ce Grey Rocks près de Tremblant ?]. En bas : Lambie (deuxième à partir de la gauche) et quelques amis d’un groupe de scouts en uniforme au Camp Tamaracouta, dans les Laurentides, au nord de Montréal. C’était l’été 1941, la première année de Lambie en tant que commandant de « Ruperts House » (son chalet particulier ?). Le Camp Tamaracouta se trouve à environ une heure au nord-ouest de Montréal, près de la petite ville de Mille-Îles. Le camp accueille des scouts depuis plus d’un siècle. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c5790417-3b18-4cf7-b6f9-6a536b778386/Lambie240.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out À gauche : Une photo de Lambie en tenue scoute complète prise en septembre 1942, le mois suivant son enrôlement initial. À droite : L’année précédant son enrôlement, Lambie s’engageait déjà dans l’effort de guerre à la tête d’une troupe de scouts lors d’un défilé au profit des emprunts de la Victoire au centre-ville de Montréal. Il ne fait aucun doute qu’il était en une longueur d’avance dans le maintien de son uniforme, le polissage des boutons et la marche. Photos : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64758cfd-2df2-432c-83f2-7b0e8d1db7da/Lambie220.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out L’une des premières photos de l’album. Donald Lambie (deuxième à partir de la droite) pose peut-être à proximité du mont Royal avec ses amis habillés en civil à côté d’un roadster Chevrolet Cabriolet de 1932 à l’Université de Montréal en octobre 1942 — . Les hommes (de gauche à droite : Chuck DePoe, Reg Chapman, Bob Gray, Lambie et Doug Howard.) suivaient un « cours de recyclage » selon l’inscription sur la page de l’album. Après l’enrôlement, afin d’améliorer leurs chances de formation de vol ou de personnel navigant, ils ont dû mettre à jour leurs compétences en mathématiques, d’autres sujets, et leurs habitudes d’étude. L’utilisation des cours de mise à niveau a réduit le nombre d’échecs à l’école de formation initiale. Une visite au Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada révèle que Doug Howard a été tué lors d’opérations avec le 166e Escadron de la RAF en décembre 1944 alors qu’il était à bord d’un Lancaster comme navigateur. Quant aux trois autres hommes sur cette photo, je n’ai rien trouvé sur le Web pour m’aider à raconter leurs histoires, mais je sais que Gray a été diplômé avec Lambie à Saint-Hubert. L’homme à l’extrême gauche, Chuck DePoe, présente une forte ressemblance familiale avec le célèbre radiodiffuseur canadien Norman DePoe, un Américain né en Oregon. De nombreuses histoires de famille DePoe trouvées sur Internet mènent au nord-ouest du Pacifique et à l’Oregon. Ils étaient d’origine amérindienne. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2eb63b6a-a03d-45c5-9c0b-65c9c23939bc/Lambie221.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Douglas Studholme Howard, de Sault Ste Marie, en Ontario, l’homme de droite sur la photo précédente a été tué lors d’opérations avec le 166e Escadron de la RAF dans la nuit du 4 au 5 décembre 1944. Ces photos ne font pas partie de la collection de Lambie et alors vous pourriez bien vous demander pourquoi raconter son histoire. Eh bien, il était l’ami de Lambie et l’histoire de tout son monde doit être racontée. Le lieutenant d’aviation Howard était le navigateur d’un équipage de sept personnes en grande partie canadien qui a été perdu lorsque leur Lancaster s’est écrasé au retour d’une opération de nuit. Le Lancaster de Howard (RAF LM176, code de l’escadron AS-X) a décollé à 16 h 25, heure locale, à la RAF Elsham Wolds pour bombarder la ville industrielle allemande de Karlsruhe avec une charge de douze bombes de 1 000 lb. Sur les 24 bombardiers participants, c’était l’un des deux Lancaster du 166e Escadron perdus lors de ce raid. L’équipage de Howard a failli rentrer à sa base, s’écrasant après sept heures de vol près du village de Kirmington, Lincolnshire à seulement 6 kilomètres de la base. Ils étaient en train d’approcher pour atterrir lorsque leur Lancaster, piloté par le Canadien Roy Stanley Hanna, a décroché et s’est écrasé dans le parc Brocklesby. Photos via Le Mémorial virtuel de guerre du Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8fb44e13-5ed5-4086-b6ee-5fc93b0a7d8a/Lambie44.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le jeune aviateur de deuxième classe Donald Walter Lambie, âgé de 21 ans, se tient fièrement dans son nouvel uniforme et son manteau près de chez lui à Montréal à l’hiver 1942/43. Cette photo a été prise peut-être immédiatement après son départ du Dépôt des effectifs ou peut-être après son retour du service de garde au Camp Borden avant de se rendre à l’École de formation initiale à Victoriaville, Québec. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/557a2176-165e-486d-9614-4713f554481b/Lambie51.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photo de l’aviateur de 2e classe Lambie avec une jeune femme nommée Tess qui était l’une des nombreuses jolies jeunes femmes en sa compagnie. Sans parenté à Montréal à l’exception de sa famille immédiate, c’est probablement sa petite amie. Compte tenu de la neige et de son grade d’AC 2, il est probable que ce soit après son séjour au Dépôt des effectifs, et juste avant qu’il ne parte pour le service de gardes au Camp Borden. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7b14259-6505-4fee-a59c-77720d618523/Screen+Shot+2022-01-22+at+2.45.45+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photographie aérienne durant la guerre du Camp Borden de l’ARC regardant vers l’est et montrant la longue file de hangars de l’époque de la Première Guerre mondiale le long du tarmac. Aujourd’hui, alors que les pistes ne sont plus utilisées et ont disparu, la ligne de hangars reste, mais pas dans son état d’origine. Photo aérienne via FlightOntario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b060bbc-6f88-4740-a44a-b5edfa94c750/Lambie142.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le 29 janvier 1943, un North American Yale basé à l’École de pilotage militaire no 1 du Camp Borden a dû se poser d’urgence dans un champ enneigé près de Milton, à l’ouest de Toronto, en Ontario. Le Yale effectuait un vol d’entraînement à la navigation. À l’atterrissage, le Yale, numéro de série 3416 de l’ARC, s’est retourné sur le dos et a subi des dommages de catégorie B. Comme la coutume le voulait dans l’ARC à l’époque, deux aviateurs de deuxième classe (AC-2) nouvellement recrutés en attente d’une affectation à l’École de formation initiale, ont été envoyés de Borden pour monter la garde sur l’épave afin de prévenir vol, accident ou vandalisme jusqu’à ce qu’un équipage de récupération et leur équipement puissent être sur place. Dans le cas du Yale 3416, l’AC-2 Don Lambie et un ami ont reçu un fusil et ont été conduits sur le site de l’accident, pour le protéger. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0732ddc-7e6c-45b5-ae5c-b200ace98dd8/Lambie54.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out L’aviateur Don Lambie, fusil à la main, monte la garde à côté du Yale écrasé. Une chaise pliante a été fournie à Lambie pour le confort lui évitant de rester debout toute la nuit dans des températures qui ont oscillé autour du point de congélation dans la nuit du 29 au 30 janvier — une nuit d’hiver relativement douce pour le Canada. Selon le registre des opérations de l’école de pilotage militaire no 1 à Borden, le Yale 3416, piloté par AVC B. J. Hart « s’est renversé en atterrissant près de Milton, en Ontario, à 1700 heures ». « Atterrissage près de Milton » doit être un euphémisme pour un atterrissage forcé, car il n’y avait pas d’aérodrome à Milton et si Hart y atterrissait, ils n’auraient pas utilisé le terme « près ». En fait, Hart s’était perdu lors d’un vol d’entraînement à la navigation et, avec le coucher de soleil, a effectué un atterrissage de précaution, mais il s’est « renversé ». Bien qu’il ait atterri à 17 h, l’heure du coucher du soleil cette année-là le 29 janvier était à 18 h 24, donc la lumière était encore assez bonne. Compte tenu des vents dominants dans cette région, il a probablement atterri alors qu’il était ébloui par un soleil couchant, ce qui, selon tous les Canadiens, est particulièrement mauvais lorsque le sol est recouvert de neige réfléchissante. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bd14c6db-9e7b-4261-91b3-88f6923f5c1b/Lambie141.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Les mécaniciens de Borden évaluent le travail pour remettre le Yale endommagé sur ses roues pour le démonter et transporter vers un dépôt de maintenance. Le fuselage (3416) a été évaluée comme ayant subi des dommages de catégorie B, ce qui signifie que : « L’aéronef doit être expédié, et non piloté sous ses propres moyens, à un entrepreneur ou à une installation de réparation ». De toute évidence, même si le Yale était en état de vol, il n’aurait jamais pu décoller d’un champ agricole enneigé. Nous avons de la chance que Lambie ait apporté son appareil photo avec lui afin que nous puissions voir le genre de mission auxquelles les nouvelles recrues étaient affectées. Il est rare d’avoir cet aperçu de la vie d’un aviateur. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f50df2b-28fa-4c23-bed3-f6c02b4967c7/Lambie143.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Don Lambie, cette fois vêtu de son manteau d’hiver, est assis sur le moyeu de l’hélice du Yale en se réchauffant le visage sous le soleil d’hiver. Les mécaniciens du Camp Borden évaluent les dommages et élaborent un plan. En faisant des recherches sur ces histoires, j’ai trouvé de nombreux détails intéressants et révélateurs dans les registres d’opérations. La veille de l’atterrissage bâclé de Hart (le 28), un pilote aux commandes de son Harvard a frappé un camion de carburant. Le même jour que l’accident de Hart, deux Harvard se sont percutés alors qu’ils pratiquaient le vol en formation, toutefois sans aucune blessure. Deux jours plus tard, un Harvard provenant de Borden s’est renversé à Edenvale, l’une des deux pistes secondaires pour l’École de pilotage militaire n° 1. Le mauvais temps a mis un terme aux vols jusqu’au 4 février. À ce moment, un Harvard, un Yale et un Anson se sont renversés à moins de 90 minutes l’un de l’autre à Borden. Le rythme de la formation ne s’est jamais arrêté malgré les taux d’accidents qui auraient compromis l’ARC moderne. Les écoles comme l’École de pilotage militaire no 1 ont compris que c’était le prix à payer pour la croissance rapide de l’ARC durant cette période de guerre. Photo : Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/480ac616-866d-4a82-81ee-f41583ce1ec2/Lambie206.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Prise le même jour que la photo précédente, Lambie prend une photo d’une jeune femme assise sur le même moyeu d’hélice. Il est douteux qu’il ait connu cette jeune femme qui demeurait dans la ville de Milton à des centaines de kilomètres de sa maison de Montréal. Il s’agissait tout probablement d’une femme de ferme locale ou d’une citoyenne de la ville, attirée par sa curiosité pour examiner l’avion écrasé. Il s’agissait d’une autre époque où les citadins pouvaient se rendre sur ces sites d’accident et se lier d’amitié avec les équipages qui le récupéraient. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d463e016-3f98-4ef4-b0de-45656a8cac45/Lambie205.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out C’était la fille du fermier. Il n’a pas fallu longtemps au beau jeune aviateur pour rencontrer et se lier d’amitié avec les habitants. Il est difficile de croire que Lambie connaissait cette femme de la région de Milton. Il est également difficile de croire qu’avec son collègue ils aient pu se faire un ami si vite et s’amuser avec une telle joie dans la neige. D’autres photos sur la page indiquent que Lambie séjournait à la ferme de cette jeune femme près du lieu de l’accident. Donc, je considère qu’il est probable que Lambie et l’autre garde montré ici ont été logés à la ferme pendant la récupération du Yale dans le champ voisin. En arrière-plan, le petit frère de la jeune femme « Dave » jette un coup d’œil. Les autres photos de la séquence montrent Lambie qui non seulement apprend à connaître la famille de cette femme, mais aussi de les aider autour de la ferme. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32510b90-8a0e-45bc-b1d0-8b2c1ae9fa22/Lambie264.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Pendant son service de garde, Lambie a donné un coup de main à la ferme où il était hébergé. Ici, il conduit un traineau à lait tiré par des chevaux avec la récolte de lait quotidienne. Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad88c409-c267-41a5-bf0e-17a734d5b24f/Lambie267.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie (à gauche) et son copain aident à déblayer la route de la ferme sous le regard du jeune Dave. Bien que ces photos ne contiennent pas d’avions ou de bases aériennes, ces expériences font tout autant partie de l’histoire de Donald Lambie que tout ce qu’il a vécu plus tard dans sa guerre. Nous sommes particulièrement reconnaissants pour ces images. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/da3849f9-5af2-46a5-bf7b-98e632174c17/Lambie58.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une superbe photo de l’équipe au sol changeant l’assemblage de la roue bâbord d’un Avro Anson 7231. Notez les déflecteurs dans les nacelles du moteur pour les protéger contre le froid. Cet Anson Mk II a été affecté au No. 1 Bombing & Gunnery School à Jarvis, en Ontario, du 1er décembre 1942 jusqu’à un an plus tard, date à laquelle il a été entreposé. Pour cette raison, je vais cataloguer cette photo avec celles réservées à la période dans laquelle Lambie purgeait son service de garde au Camp Borden. Son autre entraînement hivernal a eu lieu un an plus tard, lorsque cet avion était entreposé. Je pense que Lambie a peut-être pris cette photo au Camp Borden ou en prenant un vol entre Borden et Jarvis ou vers l’école de pilotage militaire no 14 d’Aylmer. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cca21183-cd31-4882-b724-f6b011ee62a9/Lambie62.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La plupart des images prises par Lambie n’ont pas d’informations écrites au dos, mais vu qu’elles sont regroupées sur une page, cela nous porte à croire qu’elles ont été prises à peu près en même temps. Cette photo de Harvard 3176 est liée à la photo suivante dans le sens qu’elles sont regroupées sur la même page. La disposition de la neige et de l’asphalte au sol autour du Harvard est également identique sur les deux photos, ce qui signifie qu’elles ont été prises au même moment au même endroit. Cet avion a servi à l’École de pilotage militaire no 14 à la station de l’ARC Aylmer, en Ontario, pendant toute sa carrière en temps de guerre. Il est donc probable que cette photo ait été prise là-bas, contrairement à Borden qui disposait de hangars datant de la Première Guerre mondiale. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2cdf64f9-b2c6-4b21-8348-2ad680915957/Lambie28.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Au début de l’hiver, Don Lambie, probablement debout sur la passerelle de la tour de contrôle ou sur le toit d’un hangar, prend en photo une partie d’une ligne de vol de l’École de pilotage après qu’une légère chute de neige ait été dégagée. Pour les raisons déjà indiquées, je pense que la photo ait été prise à Aylmer. Quatorze avions de formation Harvard sont préparés et prêts pour les étudiants et les instructeurs. Notez les deux cadres en bois debout sur l’herbe au centre au premier plan à côté de Harvard 3176. Ces cadres sont visibles, dans les mêmes positions, sur la photo suivante. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/65669b46-eb2c-4975-8735-74cf2136849e/Lambie59.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Un Lockheed modèle 12 non peint (numéro de série 7641 de l’ARC) s’éloigne de la ligne de vol d’un aérodrome par une journée ensoleillée du printemps 1943 (notez la neige sale résiduelle au bord du tarmac). Utilisé pour déplacer les commandants, les inspecteurs, les pilotes d’état-major, les enquêteurs sur les accidents et même les pièces nécessaires autour des différents commandements d’entraînement, le Lockheed 12 a été utilisé comme avion utilitaire et non à des fins de formation. L’ARC exploitait un petit nombre d’exemplaires usagés du type (aussi connu sous le nom de Junior Electra) achetés à des propriétaires privés aux États-Unis et au Canada. L’excellent et utile site Web de RWR Walker sur les numéros de séries de l’ARC (après la mort de Walker, le site est maintenant maintenu en opération par le Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum) indique que cet avion a été pris en charge par l’ARC en juin 1944 et vendu en janvier 1945. Pendant cette période, Lambie était en Égypte et en Italie, donc les dates doivent être fausses. Lambie a vraisemblablement pris cette photo un an auparavant. Les cadres en bois au premier plan peuvent être vus sur la photo précédente que Lambie a prise après une chute de neige, donc nous savons que cela a été surement prise pendant que Lambie était à l’entraînement. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcc78d01-7d5a-46fb-a749-e2dcd29e9cec/Lambie27.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out De la tour de contrôle, Lambie a pris une photo d’un remorqueur de cible Lysander. Je ne sais pas ce qui se passe ici, mais le seul avion jaune et noir dans ce paysage froid semble attirer beaucoup d’attention avec au moins huit hommes qui le regardent réchauffer le moteur. Ce Lysander (numéro de série no.2316 de l’ARC) a servi toute sa vie à l’École no 1 de bombardement et d’artillerie à Jarvis, en Ontario. J’ai donc choisi d’associer cette photo à la période où Lambie était dans le sud de l’Ontario en janvier 1943. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0146c523-62c5-4576-97c4-b58401f8a13b/Lambie67.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out C’est difficile à dire, mais le numéro de série de l’ARC sous les ailes de ce Tiger Moth adapté aux conditions hivernales est soit 8889 ou 8885. Quoi qu’il en soit, ces deux Tiger Moth ont vécu leur service militaire au sein du Commandement de l’instruction no 1 en Ontario. Il a probablement été photographié au même moment et en Ontario que les photos hivernales précédentes. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edb42af0-1885-482f-aac0-0372b110759d/Lambie50.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out À l’été 1943, l’aviateur en chef (LAC) Don Lambie, qui vient de terminer l’École préparatoire de l’aviation, se promène fièrement dans les rues de Montréal dans sa tunique d’été, ses chaussures polies et son insigne de calot blanc indiquant qu’il est maintenant un aviateur en formation. Comme toute nouvelle recrue, son souhait de devenir pilote au sein de l’ARC est exaucé. Lambie avait, pendant trois ans, écouté les histoires de pilotes de chasse canadiens comme Stan Turner, Willie McKnight et « Eddie » Edwards (surnommé Stocky après la guerre). Maintenant il était probablement extrêmement fier d’être en leur compagnie. Le beau Lambie n’a eu aucun mal à attirer la compagnie féminine, mais maintenant, avec son uniforme et son statut d’aviateur, on peut presque imaginer la bande sonore et les paroles d’ouverture de Stayin' Alive des Bee Gee alors qu’il marche dans la rue. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32f4ca26-ad8d-4703-bb30-7900545be9b5/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.12.55+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Vue aérienne des installations de l’École élémentaire de pilotage No.11 au Cap-de-la-Madeleine, au Québec, sur la rive nord du fleuve Saint-Laurent à Trois-Rivières. L’école utilisait d’abord le Fleet Finch, puis l’instruction a été confiée au Finch et au Fairchild Cornell. Sur cette photo, nous voyons à la fois des Cornells et Finches sur le tarmac et autour du terrain d’exercice. De plus, il semble y avoir un Anson et un Harvard sur la rampe et des Tiger Moths au bas de l’image. La caserne où Lambie vivait est en haut à droite. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32a6b615-fd21-4562-9a39-984932c695b7/Lambie43.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photo un peu floue prise par Lambie depuis le siège avant (remarquez l’entretoise à droite) de son entraîneur Fleet Finch de ce qu’il aurait appelé Three Rivers en 1943, maintenant mieux connu sous son nom français de Trois-Rivières. C’était la communauté la plus proche du No 11 EEP au Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Au milieu de la photo, nous voyons la forme distinctive de la piste de course de l’Hippodrome et au fond la rive du fleuve Saint-Laurent. La ville, maintenant la cinquième plus grande au Québec, se trouve au confluent des rivières Saint-Laurent et Saint-Maurice. « Mais ce n’est que deux rivières », me direz-vous. Le nom vient du fait que la rivière Saint-Maurice (en haut à droite), qui descend du nord, se jette dans le puissant Saint-Laurent par trois canaux distincts. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ace8849-f004-4ce2-97e8-5f3a4355f64a/Lambie56.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Au Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Lambie s’est entraîné sur des Fleet Finch comme les deux avions sur la photo. Nous savons que le Finch à droite (4723) a été endommagé à Trenton plus de deux ans avant que cette photo ne soit prise, alors peut-être a-t-il été réparé et affecté par la suite à l’EEP numéro 11. On ne sait pas pourquoi Lambie se trouve à l’extérieur de la clôture du périmètre, car surement il eut accès côté piste. Pour en savoir plus sur le Fleet Finch exploité par Vintage Wings of Canada, cliquez ici. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b8cfef45-effb-4ea1-9876-808c7015bf1f/Lambie02.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out À en juger par la clôture sur cette photo, elle a été prise en même temps que la photo précédente des Fleet Finch. Il montre une belle sélection du type d’avions du PEACB garés le long de la clôture et se déplaçant sur la rampe. Au premier plan se trouve l’Avro Anson 8359, un Mk II construit en Nouvelle-Écosse par Canadian Car and Foundry. L’avion d’entraînement multimoteur a été affecté au 3e Commandement de l’instruction, qui était responsable de toutes les bases d’entraînement au Québec et dans les provinces maritimes. À côté du 8359 se trouve un Harvard IIB nord-américain (H40 avec le numéro de série FE842 de la RAF), et au-delà, un entraîneur de bombardement et d’artillerie Fairey Battle de conception britannique arborant une bande diagonale blanche avec les chiffres 54 sur son fuselage. Au loin, Les Finchs de la flotte sont actifs sur la rampe. Étant donné que l’Anson 8359 avait été entreposé durant 5 mois avant le 2 août 1943, cette photo fut probablement prise en août ou en septembre à l’EEP no 11 du Cap-de-la-Madeleine où Lambie terminait sa formation élémentaire de pilotage. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e5879fc-ce18-4d2b-9424-241efd969472/Screen+Shot+2022-02-21+at+9.06.47+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out À Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Lambie se lie d’amitié avec l’un de ses instructeurs, le capitaine d’aviation George Morrison, et son amitié persistera jusqu’au 21e siècle. Dans son journal de bord, il a collé une coupure de presse du mariage de Morrison qui a eu lieu en janvier 1944 alors que Lambie était à Bagotville, au Québec. Image via le journal de bord de Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2282945f-737a-4390-845f-e269726143f3/Lambie180.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Tout au long des trois années couvertes par l’album Lambie, il y a de nombreuses photographies de lui en compagnie de belles jeunes femmes — connaissances, voisines, infirmières militaires et petites amies. Ce n’est pas surprenant compte tenu de sa belle apparence hollywoodienne et sa facilité à se faire des amis. Le titre de la page de l’album où cette photo apparaît indique « Île Perrot, juillet 1943 ». Ceci signifie qu’il était en congé là-bas pendant son séjour à Cap-de-la-Madeleine — peut-être avec un laissez-passer de fin de semaine. L’île Perrot est une grande île au confluent des rivières des Outaouais et du Saint-Laurent à l’ouest de Montréal et son littoral est peuplé de maisons d’été. Peut-être rendait-il visite à la famille de cette femme. La légende manuscrite au dos, évidemment écrite par la jeune femme sur la photo, se lit comme suit: « Je ne ressemble vraiment pas à ça, n’est-ce pas ? Quelle musculature que vous avez !! Quand vous serez seul et triste, si jamais c’est le cas, je suis sûr que cela vous ravivera. » Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/078af19f-5c5e-4c36-adbe-329807cf1dd3/Lambie61.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie, à bord d’un troisième avion, prend en photo deux autres Harvard jaunes de l’École de pilotage militaire no 13 en formation au-dessus d’un paysage brumeux au Québec. L’école était située près de la communauté de Longueuil sur la Rive-Sud de Montréal, de l’autre côté de du fleuve. Ces avions n’ont qu’un seul occupant et on se demande si Lambie volait également en solo lorsqu’il a pris cette photo – quelque chose qu’il fera aux commandes des Hurricanes et Spitfires plus tard dans la guerre. Ils survolent une région très distinctive à l’est de l’école, connue pour plusieurs grandes montagnes qui s’élèvent d’une plaine alluviale autrement plate connue sous le nom de Collines Montérégiennes ou Monteregian Hills’. Il s’agit d’une série de huit montagnes hautes et escarpées avec un sommet plat, situées dans la vallée du fleuve Saint-Laurent. Les collines s’étendent vers l’est sur environ 50 milles (80 km) de l’île de Montréal aux Appalaches. Le nom, dérivé du latin « Mons Regius » ou « Montagne royale », a été prononcé pour la première fois par Jacques Cartier, l’explorateur français, en 1535. C’est de là que Montréal tire son nom. Leur hauteur varie de 764 pieds (Mont-Royal au centre-ville de Montréal) à 3 635 pieds (Mont Mégantic). Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a8d3bb73-7389-447d-b209-6530d359ed37/Monteregian_Hills_in_the_Fall.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Les montagnes montérégiennes d’aujourd’hui — du haut du mont Saint-Hilaire, dans une brume similaire à celle de la photo précédente de Lambie. Le mont Rougement est le suivant avec le mont Yamaska à l’horizon à gauche et le mont Saint-Grégoire au loin à droite. Photo : Wikipédia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3dcbabe-b7fe-44d6-8e6d-281eb7dce3bc/Lambie195.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La photo n’est pas parfaite, mais elle illustre les conditions de vol autour de l’aérodrome de Saint-Hubert à l’hiver 1943 sur la rive sud enneigée du fleuve Saint-Laurent au sud de l’île de Montréal. Alors que la grande majorité des Harvard du PEACB étaient peints en jaune, cela ressemble ici au schéma de camouflage sombre arboré par certains Harvard de la RAF. On peut remarquer le tube de pitot sur le Harvard de Lambie dans le coin inférieur droit. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5ceb7e35-484c-42b5-a77d-910b4edf9870/Lambie187.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Un camarade de classe de Lambie se rapproche de lui aux commandes du Harvard FE523 dans le ciel de la Rive-Sud du Québec. Je crois que celui-ci est similaire à l’avion camouflé de la photo précédente (ou probablement le même avion). Nous pouvons distinguer le dessous jaune et le dessus en camouflage plus foncé. Compte tenu du cockpit ouvert et de la tenue d’été du pilote, je me demande si c’est d’une époque antérieure et plus chaude pendant la formation opérationnelle de Lambie entre août et octobre 1943. Prendre des photos depuis le cockpit, en particulier pendant le vol en formation, n’était pas nécessairement encouragé, mais Don Lambie semblait déterminé à documenter l’historique de la guerre. Plus tard, il fera de même en pilotant des Hurricanes et des Spitfire (deux avions monoplaces) tout en s’entraînant. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e785e317-53e5-4bb3-a1c1-519aaaeb6f2f/Lambie188.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Quelques instants après la photo précédente, son avion passe sous le fuselage jaune du Harvard FE523 et Lambie le prend en photo. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2231a8b-f2aa-4f16-9223-68db58ebc302/Lambie57.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il est difficile d’identifier positivement la tour de contrôle représentée sur cette photo prise par Lambie. Saint-Hubert avait une tour similaire, mais la photo précédente révèle que les structures de Saint-Hubert semblaient toutes peintes en blanc. Cette tour ne ressemble pas à celles de n’importe quelle base où Lambie était affecté — Borden, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Saint-Hubert ou Bagotville. Si quelqu’un peut identifier positivement cette tour, s’il vous plaît, écrivez-moi. Après avoir reçu ses ailes, sa première affectation fut à Bagotville, mais cette station avait une tour de contrôle qui était rattachée à l’un de ses hangars. Je vais placer cette photo ici dans la section réservée à sa formation au pilotage militaire, mais cette photo aurait pu être prise n’importe où — même en Ontario quand il faisait son service de garde. Il convient de noter le camion de communications radio et contrôle de vol garé sur le tarmac à l’extérieur. Ces camions, avec leurs cabines de contrôle mobiles, ont été utilisés pour compléter le contrôle de la circulation aérienne, en particulier sur les champs d’atterrissage secondaire (relief fields) sans dotés de tour de contrôle. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3879f4aa-b535-4a31-81df-d2915a88b47c/274227806_3188422928056571_6949923146675520503_n.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le jour où il reçut ses ailes à Saint-Hubert, Lambie a fait mention avec 14 de ses compagnons d’aviation et un officier de l’armée dans les pages du journal The Montreal Daily Star . Lambie est au centre. Le sergent R. B. Gray (rangée arrière gauche) est le même Bob Gray qui a suivi des cours sur le plan d’entraînement de sécurité d’urgence de guerre avec Lambie à l’Université de Montréal en 1942. Tragiquement, le seul de ces hommes à mourir pendant la guerre fut le lieutenant Henry James Stuart O’Brien, qui quitta l’armée et s’enrôla dans l’ARC. Il sera tué presque exactement un an plus tard aux commandes d’un P-51 Mustang lors d’une opération de reconnaissance au-dessus de la vallée de la Ruhr. Coupure via Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff8e1f11-7edb-4efd-9990-2dd5f29b75cb/Lambie265.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Un récit alarmant. À la dernière page de la section du journal de bord de Lambie consacrée à l’EPM no 13, il y colle une petite coupure de presse d’un des journaux de Montréal en janvier 1944 alors qu’il est à Unité d’entraînement opérationnelle (UEO) de Hurricane à Bagotville. D’une longueur de trois paragraphes seulement, il nommait le capitaine d’aviation J. F. Kosalle, de Toronto, comme le jeune instructeur de vol de Harvard à Saint-Hubert, qui a été congédié de l’ARC après une cour martiale. Il a été trouvé négligent de la mort de deux officiers de l’Armée canadienne et des blessures de quatre autres. L’accident en question s’est produit lors d’une démonstration de ce que nous appelons maintenant l’appui aérien rapproché au Camp Farnham, une base d’entraînement de l’armée dans les Cantons-de-l’Est, au sud-est de Montréal. Kosalle et d’autres pilotes réalisaient un mitraillage au sol simulé à très basse altitude, mais Kosalle était le plus bas de tous et a frappé six officiers qui se tenaient debout avec son aile bâbord et son hélice. Deux ont été tués sur le coup, tandis que les quatre autres ont été grièvement blessés. Encore pire, une ambulance se précipitant pour amener les victimes à l’hôpital du camp a fait une embardée pour éviter les troupes sur la route et s’est renversée dans un fossé. Cette tragédie s’est produite le 5 août 1943, deux jours seulement avant que Lambie n’arrive à Saint-Hubert. Après une enquête, Kosalle a été traduit en cour martiale le 12 octobre, mais son nom n’a été rendu public qu’au début de janvier. Cette histoire a dû laisser une profonde empreinte sur Lambie alors qu’il commençait sa formation au pilotage de service. Kosalle était un homme bien qui avait travaillé si fort pour ses ailes qu’il est arrivé premier de sa classe à Dauphin, au Manitoba… un moment de mauvais jugement est venu gâcher et couvrir de honte cette réussite et tout ce travail acharné. La guerre, c’est l’enfer. S’entraîner à la guerre, c’est aussi l’enfer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe76f41b-c443-4b7f-96e3-1d3b1805cc1a/Lambie22.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une superbe photo de Lambie décontracté, assis sur l’aile d’un Hurricane nommé SALOME. Selon l’inscription au dos de la photo, elle aurait été prise à Saint-Hubert en novembre 1943 après son affectation à l’UEO sur les Hurricanes. Nous sommes quelques jours seulement après qu’il a obtenu ses ailes, car il porte une casquette d’officier. Peut-être que les Hurricanes étaient à Saint-Hubert pour fins d’influencer le prochain cours d’élèves pilotes sur Hurricane. La fierté et l’excitation pour les prochains mois d’entraînement sur des avions de chasse sont faciles à voir. SALOME a probablement été nommé d’après une autre chanson populaire du début des années 1940 par le leader du groupe britannique Harry Roy et son orchestre. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8856811a-4f68-4ab6-96a6-26301c27b916/Lambie18.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Mon cœur a fait un bond quand j’ai vu cette photo prise à Saint-Hubert d’un ami de Lambie debout devant un Hurricane avec les mots « STAR DUST » sur son capot. Star Dust était une chanson de jazz populaire de la fin des années 1920 composée par le chanteur, compositeur et musicien américain Hoagy Carmichael. Le Hurricane XII (5447) des ailes d’époque du Canada, qui était également à Bagotville à l’époque de Lambie, avait également ces mots peints sur son capot, mais dans une police de caractères différente et avec un grand numéro 71 en jaune. Il n’y a aucun moyen de connaître de quel avion il s’agit ou si le capot de notre Hurricane provenait de 5447 à l’origine. Peut-être y avait-il deux ou plusieurs Hurricanes STAR DUST, ou peut-être qu’il a été repeint après avoir subi des dommages. Nous ne le saurons jamais. De plus, il semble que le Hurricane « Salomé » soit en arrière-plan. Nous pouvons à peine distinguer l’art du nez sur son capot. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd8fd56c-30e0-4635-98b0-0301ab6cc92b/harry-whereatt-and-wife-anna-800.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photo du Hurricane XII 5447 «Star Dust» avec Harry et Anna Whereatt sur leur ferme d’Assiniboia, en Saskatchewan, en 1993, lors d’une visite de la Société canadienne d’histoire de l’aviation. Cet avion est maintenant entièrement restauré par Vintech Aero/Ailes d’époque du Canada et sera connu sous le nom de Willie McKnight Hurricane. S’agit-il du même avion que le plan précédent? Photo d’Angie McNulty https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/032b31f1-7f1c-4928-a6af-a3d36c2b4005/Lambie48.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une autre photo de Lambie et de la jeune femme nommée Tess ensemble en 1943. Étant donné que Lambie est maintenant clairement un officier, cela signifie que la photo a été prise à Montréal peu de temps après qu’il ait reçu ses ailes à l’École de pilotage militaire no 13, à Saint-Hubert, ou en congé de Bagotville à la fin de l’hiver. Je parie que c’était à partir de la fin de novembre 1943. Le cours de Lambie à Bagotville ne commencera que le 13 décembre et son dossier de service — « Record of Service Airman » — indique qu’il a obtenu deux semaines de congé après sa graduation comme pilote. Une chose qui me frappe immédiatement, c’est à quel point son uniforme est parfait. Sa chemise bleu clair semble faite sur mesure, sa cravate nouée avec expérience et style, son grand paletot et sa casquette toute neuve. Lambie projette l’air de l’officier et du gentleman parfait. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/67ea180a-3356-424e-a353-14bb45e794e9/Lambie49.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La main dans la poche de sa tunique, le sous-lieutenant de l’aviation Donald Walter Lambie, de l’ARC, de Montréal, au Québec, fils de David et Edith Lambie, adopte une pose confiante en congé à l’hiver 1943/44. Avant son départ vers Montréal, Lambie a reçu ses ailes à Saint-Hubert l’après-midi du 26 novembre de la main du commandant d’escadre Georges Roy, Croix distinguée de l’aviation (DFC), un commandant d’escadron du Bomber Command. Roy avait été le mois précédent commandant du 424e Escadron en Tunisie, d’où les Vickers Wellington de l’escadron attaquaient des cibles en Italie. Après 32 missions, il était de retour à la maison pour se reposer. Au cours de cette période, il a réalisé une courte tournée de levée de fonds pour la guerre et ensuite il a eu l’honneur d’épingler les ailes sur la poitrine de Lambie et de ses camarades de cours à Saint-Hubert où, en 1940, il avait été instructeur de vol. Par coïncidence, il avait également été instructeur à Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f1083d8-8d33-46dc-87e8-d8ba0851595d/Lambie174.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il y a une page ou deux dans l’album de Lambie consacrée au jour, peu de temps après sa nomination comme officier, où il a rendu visite à ce couple et à leurs trois garçons. Il n’avait pas de parents dans les environs immédiats, alors peut-être que c’étaient des voisins, des amis de la famille ou un collègue de travail. Étant donné qu’ils semblent endimanchés, peut-être que c’est, en fait, dimanche et que la photo a été prise avant ou après la messe. Le couple et leurs garçons, vêtus en tweed, cravates à carreaux, pantalons de type « plus fours » et chaussettes aux genoux, se tiennent devant leur berline Dodge 1939 à deux portes. Cette photo représente bien le milieu socio-économique d’où Lambie est issu — c’est-à-dire issu solidement de la classe moyenne, éduquée et urbaine. Au Canada, pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, peu importe de quelle classe socio-économique vous apparteniez, le niveau d’éducation que vous aviez atteint ou votre origine religieuse — tout le monde n’hésitait pas à offrir ses services ou même sa vie à la cause commune. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f356371c-237b-4c58-8319-31095d2fe338/Lambie175.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le héros est de retour. Lambie n’a pas encore piloté de chasseurs ou n’a même pas été plus de quelques centaines de kilomètres de sa ville natale de Montréal, mais cela importait peu pour ces trois jeunes frères posant avec lui devant leur porte d’entrée. Ayant grandi au cours des trois dernières années de la guerre avec les livres d’aventures de la vie de jeune héros, les bandes dessinées des journaux et les histoires en série illustrant la bravoure des pilotes de chasse de l’ARC comme George Beurling de Montréal, ces garçons étaient sans doute bien impressionnés par ce jeune officier en bleu. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6de5062-6965-4ed8-aeab-4dafd8e27fed/Screen+Shot+2022-01-21+at+6.15.07+PM.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Vue aérienne de l’Unité d’entraînement opérationnel (UEO) no 1, Bagotville (Québec), peu après l’ouverture de portes en juillet 1942. C’est là que Lambie suivrait une formation avancée en vol sur le Hawker Hurricane. Contrairement à d’autres aérodromes du PEACB dans le sud de l’Ontario et dans les Prairies qui étaient entourés de terres agricoles plates et ouvertes, Bagotville était situé dans les régions sauvages du Bouclier canadien du Québec, au sud du lac Saint-Jean, la source de la rivière Saguenay. Au sud-ouest (en haut à gauche ici), la rivière Mars serpente à travers la forêt. Tout pilote de Hurricane en difficulté à plus de quelques kilomètres de la base devrait trouver un endroit où poser son avion dans les collines escarpées, les montagnes, les lacs éloignés ou les forêts de la région du Saguenay. Le saut en parachute pourrait être une meilleure option dans certains cas. Notez les rampes et les aires bétonnées remplies de Hurricanes et les cinq aires d’essais de moteurs en forme de plaque de but au seuil de la piste. Photo via Flight Ontario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6bdce95a-64d8-42a4-902a-ca2ae2b95839/1-OTU-Hurricane-bagotville-1943.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une vingtaine de Hurricane en marche alignés sur le tarmac de l’UEO no 1 de Bagotville à l’automne 1943, quelques mois seulement avant l’arrivée de Lambie. Photo du musée de la Défense aérienne de Bagotville https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71ecd363-1fc2-4b47-8f60-1b7d6c22ae98/Lambie47.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Donald Lambie est arrivé à la mi-décembre à Bagotville pour sa formation opérationnelle, où il a appris non seulement à piloter des avions de chasse avancés, mais surtout à les exploiter pour combattre l’ennemi lorsqu’il arriverait en Europe. Le voici à l’entrée de la hutte H-Hut 3A — un bloc de caserne en grande partie non isolé et mal chauffé qui serait son « chez lui » pour les prochains mois. Plus de la moitié de ses camarades de classe ne termineraient pas ce cours exigeant pour une raison ou une autre. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f7162e2-040f-4544-b5d0-47ccae781b75/Lambie13.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photo de Lambie par un jour ensoleillé, sur des skis de fond en février 1944 alors qu’il était à Bagotville. Lambie aimait le plein air. D’ailleurs il soutenait le mouvement de scoutisme même longtemps après en avoir quitté les rangs. En cette période de sa formation au Québec, le grand nombre de ses photos prises les jours ensoleillés me porte à croire que l’hiver était particulièrement froid. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ab83f96-9860-4e75-8340-c25420293140/Lambie04.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Sous le soleil de fin de journée d’un hiver québécois, un pilote réchauffe le moteur de son Hurricane avant les exercices d’entraînement de la journée, tandis qu’un Harvard se trouve de l’autre côté de du tarmac. Quand Lambie était à Bagotville, il y avait 64 Hurricanes et 22 Harvard disponibles sur place. Tout au long du PEACB, les tarmacs, les aires d’essais de moteur, les voies de circulation et même certaines pistes n’étaient pas déneigés jusqu’à l’asphalte. Plutôt la couche de neige était simplement aplatie. La seule façon de savoir où la piste se terminait et où le gazon débutait était d’indiquer la bordure avec de jeunes sapins comme ceux-ci qui bordent le tarmac de Bagotville. Il y a tellement de choses que j’aime dans la découverte de l’album photo de Lambie, en particulier ses vues personnelles uniques sur la formation et les opérations auparavant inaccessibles aux chercheurs comme moi sur les « interwebs ». Lambie a pris le temps de documenter son expérience afin de la partager avec les autres et de savourer les souvenirs longtemps après la guerre. C’est pourquoi il est si étrange et même triste que Lambie ait perdu le contact avec son album, quelque chose que je suis sûr qu’il aurait aimé partager à l’approche de son centenaire. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d79d8da-61dd-4810-87ca-ed97a08d38ef/Lambie03.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Un remorqueur de cible Bristol Bolingbroke en peinture jaune et noire « Oxydol » reçoit un son carburant d’un camion-citerne à Bagotville. Les Bolingbrokes étaient similaires aux Bristol Blenheims, mais construits sous licence à Montréal. Les remorqueurs de cibles étaient pilotés par le personnel de Bagotville et remorquaient un câble attaché à une bannière. Ceci permettait aux pilotes de Hurricanes d’exercer leurs tirs sur la bannière à l’aide de leurs 12 mitrailleuses Browning.303. Les cartouches de chaque élève ont été peintes de couleurs différentes qui laissaient des marques de peinture colorées autour des trous faits par les balles. Cela permettait aux instructeurs d’évaluer l’efficacité de chaque pilote. En moyenne, les étudiants de la cohorte de Lambie ont tiré 3 000 balles au cours de leur formation. Vu que l’Hurricane XII était un chasseur armé de 12 canons, 3 000 s’épuiseraient assez rapidement car chacune de ses mitrailleuses Browning était capable de tirer 1 150 cartouches par minute. Si tous les canons tiraient, cela signifierait que chaque canon n’a tiré que 250 coups… ce qui n’aurait duré que 13 secondes. Je soupçonne que seulement un ou deux des canons de l’Hurricane ont été utilisés pour ces exercices. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/20074cf1-cdfd-40d4-bf90-f406a9fa4af1/Lambie11.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il est difficile de distinguer ici si c’est le matin ou en fin d’après-midi, mais la lumière évoque cette qualité merveilleusement fraîche d’une chaleur hivernale que tant de Canadiens connaissent si bien. Image prenante de quatre Hurricanes alignés en silhouette montrant un pilote ou mécanicien ici et là au soleil près du Hurricane de premier plan. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fdade369-0a5c-4efa-ac23-ca47f6042d88/Lambie5.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out L’ailier de Lambie dans le Hurricane « 32 » survole un paysage froid et enneigé marqué par la ligne droite d’une ligne électrique taillée dans la forêt et la rivière Saguenay. Pendant les journées comme celles-ci où l’horizon était obscurci, ces indices distinctifs orientaient les étudiants familiers avec la région pour fins de navigation. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfa6977e-7f56-4512-bffe-7ff0b104a8e8/Lambie07.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie prend un moment pour prendre une photo de son ailier dans le Hurricane « 32 » (numéro sur son nez et son fuselage) par une journée enneigée près de Bagotville. Les conditions brutalement froides de l’hiver dans la région du Saguenay ravageaient les systèmes sensibles du Hawker Hurricane. Dans le résumé de l’activité de l’UEO no 1 pour février 1944, seulement 33 des 64 Hurricanes en station étaient en service. D’autre part, 18 des 22 Harvard étaient prêts à partir. Cela vous en dit long. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78af55ff-d546-466e-a889-5a80811c3b17/Lambie12.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Cette photo a été prise lors du même vol que les photos précédentes, avec le Hurricane « 18 » à ses côtés en formation serrée. Lambie a quitté l’horizon des yeux et a lâché le « manche à balai » et s’est tourné vers la gauche pour prendre une autre photo. Don Lambie était un homme confiant. Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e88cc9c9-2510-43ea-9d57-722b9ddb266c/Lambie181.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie obtint un congé à la fin de janvier 1944 où il retrouve quelques amis à Montreal pour une célébration dans une salle privée de l’hôtel Mont-Royal pour ce qu’il appelle le « Banquet continental ». Lambie est le seul à porter un chapeau idiot, le genre qu’on porte pour le Nouvel An, la Saint-Patrick ou un anniversaire. En janvier, les Allemands étaient loin d’être vaincus, le jour J attendrait encore plus de quatre mois, alors on ne vivait que pour le moment et on savourait la compagnie d’amis. Photo: Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4de866fd-71cd-4732-aa9e-c1234f9973ac/Lambie10.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out En lisant les registres opérationnels pour l’UEO n 1 à Bagotville pendant le temps où Lambie était là, il y a eu un certain nombre d’incidents avec Hurricanes, dont 26 pouvaient être réparés sur les pistes sans démanteler l’avion. Il y a eu deux pertes complètes d’Hurricanes — l’une un accident mortel, l’autre un saut en parachute réussi. Il y a eu sept atterrissages forcés à l’extérieur de l’aérodrome (certains assez éloignés) qui auraient nécessité le démantèlement et le transport de l’avion endommagé jusqu’à la base. Cette épave était probablement l’une d’entre elles. Il y a également eu un cas de Bolingbroke endommagé et un accident de Harvard impliquant la mort de ses deux occupants. En temps de paix, ce taux de pertes serait inacceptable, mais nous étions en guerre et la formation ne s’arrêtait que pour les funérailles. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c5d04fd2-48f3-4fd1-b1dc-1b661a8bc251/Lambie25.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie (dans la porte de chargement) et son ami inspectent un C-47 Dakota américain parti de Presque-Isle, dans le Maine, en février 1944. Il s’agit des seuls C-47 à faire escale à Bagotville pendant la période où Lambie était affecté. Ils sont arrivés en soutien d’un B-17 Flying Fortress américain volant de Presque-Isle à Goose Bay, au Labrador, qui avait survécu un atterrissage d’urgence près de Bagotville après s’être perdu et avoir manqué de carburant. Ils sont venus le 27 février pour récupérer l’équipage, puis le premier et 3 mars pour récupérer l’avion. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dc3d6dee-b906-4511-a693-92fb41451e7a/Lambie266.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out J’aime toujours trouver des images pour corroborer les suppositions formulées pour la photo précédente. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la base aérienne de l’armée de Presque-Isle servait de base pour la 23e escadre de transbordement de l’AAF, affectée au Commandement du transport aérien et responsable du transport transatlantique des avions, des équipages et du matériel. Ici, un groupe de GI retourne à Presque-Isle, dans le Maine, à la fin de la guerre à bord d’un C-54. Si vous regardez à droite, vous verrez que l’écusson sur le fuselage du C-54 ressemble beaucoup que celui visible dans la même position sur la photo de Lambie à Bagotville. De plus, j’ai trouvé cet écusson brodé d’appartenance du Ferrying Division of Air transport Command à Presque-Isle, confirmant ainsi que le Skytrain américain C-47 (Dakota pour nous les Canucks) sur la photo précédente provenait bien de Presque-Isle, Maine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0d60adc-c1d2-4790-898a-b718025a17db/Lambie06.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et un camarade de cours qu’il identifie comme « Frank » posent à l’entrée de leur caserne Hutte H n 3A à Bagotville. Ils sont sur le point de vivre leur rêve d’être pilotes de chasse et leur confiance est incontestable. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0cc1b9b3-3cb2-4195-a85c-9bb8b3c1f09e/Lambie46.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Fier et confiant, Lambie à la porte de sa résidence de Bagotville. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d18587ea-a285-4aec-887e-dc04937b0e9f/Lambie09.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il y a quelques photos dans l’album représentant Lambie et divers camarades de classe debout devant la base de Hurricanes. Cette photo de son ami le lieutenant de l’aviation George « Bahamas » Moseley devant le Hurricane « 14 » sur un tarmac enneigé montre également un certain nombre d’autres Hurricanes et l’un des remorqueurs de cibles Bolingbroke. Le capitaine d’aviation George Winthrop Sargent Moseley, membre de la Royal Air Force, était l’un des très rares pilotes bahamiens de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Moseley n’a pas terminé le programme à Bagotville, mais le 30 janvier 1944, il a été affecté à l’UEO no 36e à Greenwood, en Nouvelle-Écosse, pour apprendre à piloter le de Havilland Mosquito. Dix mois plus tard, dans la nuit du 25 au 26 novembre 1944, Moseley, 25 ans, et son navigateur, le sergent Kingsley Nugent, ont été tués lors d’une opération d’intrusion nocturne en Allemagne avec le 305e Escadron (polonais) de la RAF. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81e89036-e88d-4bf0-af43-0eab6d4bcd0f/Lambie08.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Cette photo d’un autre camarade de classe de Lambie, le pilote Jack Campbell, également avec le Hurricane « 14 » a été prise à un autre moment (remarquez le Harvard à gauche, le capot mal installé et les Hurricanes et Bolingbroke manquants). Je me demande si c’était une coïncidence ou si cet avion avait une signification particulière. En fait, Lambie a piloté le Hurricane « 14 » à plusieurs reprises. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b57888d0-5ced-4d98-8cf1-12b7ae9781d7/Lambie247.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le journal de bord de Lambie est extrêmement soigné, bien entretenu et rempli de pièces supplémentaires agrafées et collées sur diverses pages — plus un livre d’histoire qu’un document officiel. La page à la fin de son séjour à Bagotville comprend des coupures de journaux concernant deux hommes qui étaient à Bagotville pendant son séjour. L’histoire à gauche raconte la perte du capitaine d’aviation Llewellyn Evan Price, de Québec, instructeur de vol à Bagotville. Price et le capitaine Abraham Steinberg, le dentiste de la base, volaient dans un Harvard de Bagotville à L’Ancienne-Lorette, près de Québec, le 21 janvier 1944, lorsqu’ils se sont écrasés par mauvais temps. L’épave a été retrouvée qu’après deux jours. Les deux hommes n’avaient pas survécu. L’histoire à droite concerne la nomination d’un nouveau commandant de l’UEO no 1, le colonel d’aviation Vaughan Bowerman Corbett, Croix distinguée de l’aviation (DFC). Corbett, un vétéran de la bataille d’Angleterre, a été promu à la tête de l’unité d’entraînement Hurricane à Bagotville, alors qu’il venait de commander la station de l’ARC à Moncton. Corbett a été tué en février 1945 avec deux autres personnes dans un accident d’avion à Bagotville. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0edc4011-96ab-4ef2-ad2f-a3fbc3f64873/2F5EDF60-A499-4B1D-AA3C-BE83EA7826CC.jpeg.595deb453ceca0aac701f46ac79e244f.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le simulateur de char d’assaut RYPA. L’acronyme de ces simulateurs signifiait « Roll, Yaw, Pitch et Alter Course » imitant ainsi les mouvements subis par un char lors du tir. Photo via l’Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/035383f1-12d5-4e40-b3ce-8065416f7cf9/Lambie161.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Cours 22B, l’UEO No. 1 Bagotville. Sur les 50 camarades de classe de Lambie du cours no 22 seulement 23 ont reçu leur diplôme. De ce nombre, 11 ont été affectés à l’entraînement tactique avancé (ATT) au Camp Borden en tant que cours 22 B. Il est à noter que le Camp Borden de l’Armée canadienne comprenait le côté de l’Armée et aussi la station aérienne de l’ARC. Ici, nous voyons 11 jeunes hommes, dont Lambie (deuxième à partir de la droite devant à côté de son ami Frank tandis que le gars agenouillé à gauche j’appellerai le « gars en tenue de vol » pour l’instant, car il va réapparaître). Je soupçonne que ce sont les 11 diplômés du cours 22B de l’UEO de Bagotville. L’homme moustachu au centre de la première rangée est Tony Whittingham qui suivra Lambie jusqu’en Italie. Il semble que ce soit au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford (également connu sous le nom de Meaford Tank Range), à environ 80 kilomètres au nord-ouest du camp. On dirait que le groupe a décidé de poser pour une photo de groupe en débarquant du camion sous des conditions hivernales à Meaford. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85e2dfaa-5f87-499b-a820-3458f2dde556/Lambie163.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il y a plusieurs photos de la visite de Lambie à Meaford et Borden qui montrent les hommes près d’une cabane en bois ronds, qui servait probablement comme leur lieu d’hébergement pour une excursion d’une journée. Ici, un groupe d’étudiants d’entraînement tactique avancé de Bagotville trouve leur fantassin intérieur, enfilant des casseroles pour des casques et utilisant pour une arme tout ce qui est à portée de main — haches, pelles, une scie à godets et, dans le cas de Lambie, un balai de combat (accroupi à droite). Le gars en tenue de vol se tient à gauche. Il semble que cette cabane était leur demeure pour toutes leurs activités ensemble. Comme les conditions météorologiques et les vêtements sont identiques à ceux du groupe sur la photo précédente, on peut supposer qu’ils proviennent du même jour ou de la même excursion. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3079d444-d5dd-4e52-9ad5-14fdc36d755a/Lambie169.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Version canadienne de « American gothic » Lambie et son camarade de cours de Bagotville Frank, vêtus d’une combinaison d’équipage de char, posent à la porte ouverte de leur cabane dans les bois du Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford. Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44a0be79-654a-4c69-b2dc-0eca12609a4a/Lambie162.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le pilote de chasse Lambie semble tout à fait à l’aise dans le poste du commandant d’un char Ram de l’Armée canadienne. D’après les marques de piste, il est probable que Lambie ait faire un petit tour abord. Le Ram était un char rapide conçu et construit par le Canada pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, basé sur le châssis du char moyen M3 des États-Unis. En raison de l’uniformisation canadienne des chars Sherman américains pour les unités de première ligne, il a été utilisé exclusivement à des fins d’entraînement et sa tourelle n’a jamais été utilisée au combat pour de tir de canon. Le châssis a cependant été utilisé pour plusieurs autres rôles de combat, tels que char lance-flammes, poste d’observation et véhicule blindé de transport de troupes. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5df610c2-3bc0-4e57-a271-07926203cbd2/Lambie164.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie prend son tour dans le poste du conducteur du même char Ram que sur la photo précédente alors qu’il était à Meaford. La tourelle du char est tournée vers l’arrière. Lors d’une de ses excursions à Meaford, Lambie reçut une formation sur le tir à la fois du canon principal de 6 livres du Ram dans la tourelle et des mitrailleuses du châssis. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61895133-89b5-40aa-97e5-e94c4b6df823/Lambie171.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et son ami Frank posent à côté d’un char léger Vickers-Armstrong Mk VI au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford ou à Borden (je ne sais pas lequel). Le char léger Mk IV a été utilisé pour l’entraînement des chars d’assaut de l’Armée canadienne au début de la guerre. Celui-ci, monté sur un socle de béton, agit comme pièce de musée ainsi que le gardien de la porte. Avec la neige maintenant disparue, c’était évidemment plus tard dans leur période d’entraînement. La région de Meaford, sur la rive sud de la magnifique baie Georgienne, recevra beaucoup de neige à certains moments pendant l’hiver, mais les températures peuvent se réchauffer rapidement et la couverture de neige peut fondre en quelques jours. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dafaccc4-2c2e-46eb-b334-2cbba640c160/Lambie165.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie prend une photo de deux de ses camarades du cours no 22B (ami Frank dans la tourelle et le Gars en tenue de vol) posant avec un char Medium Mark A Whippet, un char britannique de la Première Guerre mondiale. Il était destiné à soutenir les chars lourds britanniques plus lents que nous connaissons tous, en utilisant sa mobilité et sa vitesse relatives (8 mi/h !) pour exploiter toute brèche de la ligne ennemie. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1f9757a1-0c78-43de-862e-0a4f8473664d/Lambie166.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out De son pouce, Don Lambie approuve d’un char d’entraînement M1917 de l’Armée canadienne du sommet de sa tourelle. Le char M1917 était une version américaine du char français Renault FT construite sous licence. Le gouvernement canadien a acheté 265 de ces chars de la Première Guerre mondiale comme « ferraille » payant le tarif en vigueur pour la ferraille soit environ 240 $ US par char. Les premiers chars M1917 sont arrivés au camp Borden le 8 octobre 1940, transportés par train depuis un stationnement du Fort George G. Meade dans le Maryland. Pendant près de deux ans, le M1917 s’est avéré un véhicule d’entraînement de char utile. Cependant, ces chars légers de 6 tonnes manquaient de suspension, ce qui donnait une conduite très rigide lorsque les étudiants sortaient des routes pour traverser la campagne. Ils avaient tendance à souffrir fréquemment de pannes mécaniques et certains ont même pris feu. L’avantage consistait à donner aux étudiants plus d’expérience pratique dans l’entretien et la réparation des chars. Les équipages en formation ont dû apprendre le sémaphore et les signes de main, car les chars n’étaient pas équipés de radios. Celui-ci était exposé au Meaford Tank Range. (info de The Online tank Museum) Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4351c2c7-d2b0-4158-92c6-21d0577aabfa/Lambie231.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Bien qu’il ne s’agisse pas d’une des photos de Lambie, cette photo de journal est suffisamment intéressante pour être incluse comme arrière-plan. En 1940, des mécaniciens de l’Armée canadienne inspectent au moins 60 des 256 « nouveaux » chars d’entraînement M1917 du Canada. Acheté pour la ferraille à 20 dollars la tonne, utilisé pour l’entraînement. Image : Le Corps blindé royal canadien : une histoire illustrée https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2e81b8f0-af8c-47e7-80a7-05f4f955c4b2/Lambie170.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie et son ami Frank posent sur le châssis d’un char Churchill au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford en avril 1944 Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79954509-f76c-47bd-8f4c-e711fe108728/Lambie168.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Quatre des compagnons de Don Lambie du Course 22B de Bagotville (Tony Whittingham à droite) posent devant un char Churchill de construction britannique au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford. Les Canadiens se souviendront bien du char Churchill grâce aux photographies de plusieurs épaves brûlant sur les plages de gravier de Dieppe après le raid raté sur ce port côtier français en août 1942. Ce raid a coûté la vie à 907 Canadiens en une journée. Bien que le Churchill soit connu pour son habileté à gravir des pentes abruptes, il pouvait à peine se déplacer sur les pierres lisses des plages rocheuses de Dieppe. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1df05ff6-d9e4-4770-956a-eccb93586ee2/Lambie167.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie fait semblant de soulever un char RAM afin qu’il puisse être équipé d’un nouvel ensemble de chenilles. Notez la trappe d’entrée latérale unique typique du RAM. Lambie n’a pas tardé à remettre son appareil photo à ses amis afin d’enregistrer ses expériences personnelles. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ededcef3-10e7-4898-b00f-708fe621375d/Lambie230.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out L’ami et compagnon de cours de Lambie, « le gars en tenue de vol », pose avec une Jeep Willys empruntée au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford alors qu’il participe à un entraînement tactique avancé. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ce060b3-e0d3-4e1f-bd7a-5d57242a44a0/Lambie257.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Par un après-midi ensoleillé au champ de tir de Meaford, certains des copains de Lambie posent pour une photo de groupe. Tony Whittingham est à droite et son ami Frank à gauche. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d97b213f-21db-44e2-a48f-f53f96e375f8/Lambie258.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Au Centre d’entraînement au combat pour véhicules blindés à Meaford, l’identification et la manœuvre des blindés étaient souvent enseignées à l’aide de maquettes dans un carreau de sable. Pendant son cours à Borden, Lambie a suivi des leçons sur l’identification des véhicules blindés ennemis. Il est probable que ces maquettes de chars Panzer et Tiger aient été utilisées à cette fin. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d93f5237-6091-4285-b0fc-97fc6cf0709f/Lambie259.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Les pilotes du détachement de Lambie s’amusent sur un canon de 6 livres à Meaford sous le regard perplexe d’artilleurs. Tony Whittingham est deuxième à partir de la gauche. Le canon «Ordnance, Quick Firing 6-Pounder 7 » était une arme utilisée dans les unités antichars canadiennes pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9c1ebe73-3e30-4559-ab43-5b206e28d8bf/Lambie260.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Un char RAM de l’Armée canadienne est sécurisé sur un porte-char M9 « lowboy » après avoir donné une démonstration sur l’utilisation de son canon de 6 livres à Lambie et à ses camarades de classe. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0409af9d-3a26-43d2-9bc9-448ec58c7afa/Lambie172.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Bottes de vol, combinaisons d’équipage de char et un arc. De temps en temps, l’une des photos de Lambie nous a étonné Jeff et moi. Rien de plus curieux que de voir Don Lambie prêt à tirer un arc, lors de son séjour à Meaford. Au loin, à droite, il semble y avoir une sorte d’activité de tir. Tout renseignement sur cette photo serait le bienvenu. C’était peut-être une façon d’enseigner la théorie de la trajectoire. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28431a8b-c142-40da-839e-56d690daff1c/Lambie23.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Au cours de ses visites au champ de tir pour blindés de Meaford, Lambie et ses camarades de classe ont pu tirer quelques obus de Grizzly (6 livres) de chars RAM (75 mm) ainsi qu’une pièce d’artillerie de 6 livres. Ici, vêtu d’une combinaison d’équipage de char (et bien sûr, la cravate !) il tient ce qui semble être trois obus pour le canon de livres du Grizzly — il s’agit peut-être de son allocation pour la journée ! Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47127889-4940-4359-8551-52805c9695b4/Lambie223.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photographie aérienne de l’aérodrome de Greenwood, en Nouvelle-Écosse, port d’attache de l’Unité d’entraînement opérationnel no 36. La pointe de flèche jaune indique l’endroit et la direction où la photo suivante a été prise. Photo via FlightOntario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/419a63ad-4285-4828-9922-ab4cb434237e/Lambie01.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Des Hurricanes, des Harvard et des véhicules d’urgence couvrent le tarmac du Détachement d’entraînement tactique avancé no 1 à Greenwood, en Nouvelle-Écosse, à la fin d’avril et au début de mai 1944. Le détachement provenait de l’UEO no 1, Bagotville, mais opérait aux côtés du principal locataire de Greenwood, l’UEO no 36, une école de formation de Havilland Mosquito et de Lockheed Hudson. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9ddae59-98c7-4bc3-aa85-2d94eff4491a/Lambie189.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Les onze hommes (il y en a un 12e, mais il a été supprimé par le recadrage) du cours no 22B profitent du soleil du début du mois de mai lors de leurs derniers jours en cours au Détachement d’entraînement tactique avancé no 1 à Greenwood. Lambie se tient à droite, Tony Whittingham est quatrième à partir de la gauche avec Frank derrière lui. La confiance et la camaraderie évidente de ces pilotes se distinguent même aujourd’hui. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f071ec9c-fbb7-4254-b338-f7c74bb94c69/Lambie20.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Comme pour la plupart de ces photos, il est difficile de déterminer quand elles ont été prises au cours les séjours de Lambie lors des différentes étapes de son entraînement. La température semble chaude et ensoleillée et Lambie est légèrement habillé. Il est très probable que la photo fut prise à Greenwood, bien que le Hurricane #93 n’apparaisse nulle part dans son journal de bord. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5ae74978-e7c3-4362-a6f7-081f233ada9e/Lambie19.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Une photo d’un de Havilland DH. 98 Mosquito B Mk. VII (KB314) de construction canadienne de l’UEO No. 36 prise par Lambie le 29 avril à Greenwood. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95051e47-7bba-4746-a270-31ad4491b309/Lambie17.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Alors qu’il était en congé après son stage à l’UEO avec les Hurricanes, Lambie a rendu visite à sa famille dans une propriété du lac Orford. On ne sait pas si la famille était propriétaire de ce chalet ou si elle l’a loué. Ici, nous le voyons avant de monter à bord du train à la gare d’Orford Lake Photo : Donald Lambie Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dc45bee-9eca-4480-bcfe-29abc5204246/Lambie249.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Don Lambie se détend sous le soleil printanier pendant son congé à l’été 1944 dans ce qui pourrait être un chalet familial. À droite, sa mère et son père devant la même maison. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/839b102f-2a07-4a55-9785-b070444bf572/Lambie55.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Pendant son congé de préembarquement en mai 1944, Lambie a été vu à Montréal en compagnie d’une jeune femme, officier du Service de la Marine royale canadienne (les femmes étaient connues sous le nom de « WRENS »). Le Service féminin de la Marine royale du Canada (SFMRC) a été créé le 31 juillet 1942 pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. C’était l’équivalent naval du Service féminin de l’armée canadienne et le Service féminin de l’Aviation royale canadienne, qui l’avait précédé en 1941. Le SFMRC a été établi en tant que service distinct de la Marine royale canadienne (MRC). Il a été dissous le 31 août 1946. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e74bf9c0-62bb-48a7-a1f9-7e923db94e8f/Lambie24.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie a profité de deux congés consécutifs de 14 jours après avoir terminé son cours d’entraînement tactique avancé — l’un pour avoir terminé le cours ardu de l’UEO n 1 suivi d’un congé de préembarquement, accordé à toute personne sur le point de partir outre-mer. Pendant l’un de ces congés, il a rendu visite à des amis à Washington, D.C. et a posé avec deux jeunes femmes (parenté ?) ici à la fontaine du Sénat près du Capitole. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cae72dca-0b36-49ff-ad37-f04174785bbc/upper5.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La même fontaine du Sénat aujourd’hui sous un angle similaire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ba4153f-fddd-4757-b574-5471eb979cc9/Lambie208.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie pose avec des parents et amis devant la fontaine Columbus, un monument à l’honneur de l’explorateur qui se dresse devant l’immense Union Station de Washington. La femme avec les chaussures oxfords noires et blanches qui tient la main de Lambie est la même jeune femme du Service féminin de la Marine royale canadienne, vue sur une photo précédente. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d87567ba-0c3b-47cd-a6d4-83402e9cb05d/Monumento_a_Cristobal_Colon_-_Washington_DC.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out La fontaine de Columbus, la cible de vandalisme anticolonialiste ces dernières années, ressemble toujours beaucoup à ce qu’elle était à l’époque de Lambie en 1944 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99b9bb65-8171-42a0-8725-14ebc716037d/Lambie261.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il semble que plusieurs des collègues de classe de Lambie aient traversé l’Atlantique ensemble, y compris son ami et camarade de classe de longue date Tony Whittingham, que l’on voit ici en attente au Canada avec son sac et ses valises en route vers la Grande-Bretagne. Non seulement Whittingham s’entraîna à Bagotville et Borden avec Lambie, mais il le suivit jusqu’au 417e Escadron en Italie, rejoignant l’escadron le 31 janvier 1945, un mois avant Lambie. Encadré : Photo de John Anthony « Tony » Whittingham lorsqu’il s’est joint au Barreau de l’Ontario en 1948. La nécrologie de Whittingham en 2007 indiquait : il a servi son pays pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans l’ARC. C’était un avocat, un gentleman, un grand pêcheur, un raconteur talentueux muni d’un sens de l’humour légendaire. Il était largement aimé. On le voit très bien. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie, encadré : Ashley et Crippen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1a694dc4-2c22-4960-b13b-e512fe9de78e/Lambie255.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Il y a un ensemble de photographies sur une page montrant Lambie et son ami Frank (à droite) grimpant sur un navire le long d’un quai. Il y a des bâtiments évidents en arrière-plan qui nous font contester la taille du navire sur lequel ils se trouvent. Lambie est montée à bord du navire de troupes de Sa Majesté Andes à Halifax, mais après une inspection minutieuse de ce navire, il est évident qu’il n’avait pas ces ventilateurs ressemblant à des tubas (voir la photo suivante). De plus, Andes était un grand navire qui aurait dominé n’importe quel bâtiment à quai. Alors, de quel navire s’agit-il ? Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a705380-fbc4-4953-9e0e-0a88cea0f8fc/92562826.jpg The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Lambie s’embarqua sur le navire de troupes de Sa Majesté Andes en route pour Liverpool, en Angleterre, le jour J, le 6 juin 1944. Andes était un navire relativement nouveau, construit en 1939 pour la Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. L’Amirauté l’a presque immédiatement réquisitionné comme navire de troupes et l’a fait convertir pour transporter environ 4 000 soldats. Au service des troupes, il a battu trois records de vitesse pour les voyages longue distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b562d5d4-147b-43a8-a007-103d448683c7/Lambie233.png The Stories - La guerre selon Donald Lambie - Premier épisode - Make it stand out Le deuxième épisode de la Guerre selon Donald Lambie présentera 150 photographies inédites de la vie d‘un pilote de Spitfire au sein d’une UEO en Égypte et dans un escadron de l’ARC (417) vers la fin de la guerre en Italie. Il y aura des photos de prisonniers allemands, d’avions ennemis détruits, du Jour de la victoire en Europe, de centres de repos de l’armée de l’air et de visites touristiques à Venise et dans les Alpes italiennes. Ici, nous voyons Lambie dans sur son Spitfire (LZ923) lors des derniers jours avant le retour à la maison. Photo : Collection Donald Lambie https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-hros-commmor-par-la-restauration-du-roseland-spitfire monthly 0.5 2022-05-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629910720683-34VYCWEROQHKFGZ7RCX6/RoselandTitle.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917333334-E0CN8B1I9OBUHJQOV1NZ/Roseland11.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Pilotes du 442e escadron nouvellement formé en 1944. Arnold Rosey Roseland est à l’extrême droite. Au milieu (avec le t-shirt rayé tout juste visible) se trouve le commandant d’aviation Blair Dalzell « Dal » Russel. La date et le lieu exacts de cette photographie ne sont pas connus, mais Russel commandait cet escadron entre le 1er mai et le 15 juillet 1944, ce qui donne une idée de la période de temps. Photo : RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917506318-0LUJ4BKIFS7ZVQ8HP21H/Roseland2.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out L’aviateur-chef Arnold Roseland lors de sa formation. Arnold s’est enrôlé en 1940 et, comme beaucoup d’autres avant et après lui, il a commencé sa carrière dans l’ARC au dépôt no 1 du personnel à Toronto. De là, il a été envoyé à l’École de formation élémentaire no 11 (Fleet Finch) au Cap-de-la-Madeleine, au Québec, puis à Ottawa pour suivre son entraînement au pilotage militaire (Harvard et Yale) à l’École de pilotage militaire pilotage no 2 d’Uplands. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917573941-VMBX2ST7UXD9VB6BBH6M/Roseland3.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Il est facile de voir que la formation de pilote chez Arnold a produit un jeune homme sûr de lui. Il porte les ailes d’un pilote de l’Aviation royale du Canada, le galon unique d’un officier pilote récemment commissionné et le sourire confiant et quelque peu narquois d’un homme sûr de lui-même. Après avoir obtenu son brevet de pilote, Arnold est affecté à l’École centrale de pilotage de l’ARC à Trenton, sur le lac Ontario. Il y devient un pilote généraliste, formé sur de nombreux types d’appareils, ce qui lui permet de piloter une multitude d’avions (Anson, Battle, Bolingbroke, Fawn, Cornell, Crane, Finch, Harvard, Hudson, Hurricane, Oxford, Ventura, Lockheed 10). Cet ensemble de compétences était une nécessité pour les pilotes dans les écoles de navigation, de bombardement et de tir. Après Trenton, il est affecté à l’École de bombardement et de tir de Macdonald, au Manitoba. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917642765-T2BXIDFY33N1NHN5FZ8X/Roseland4.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Arnold prend une pose fière et protectrice auprès de sa belle épouse Audrey. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917683412-DZSCPPNEAVXOIZCSEO97/Roseland9.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Après avoir reçu son brevet de pilote, Arnold Roseland a passé un séjour comme pilote de l’École de bombardement et de tir no 3 à Macdonald, au Manitoba, avant son transfert au 14e Escadron. Cet escadron de chasseurs équipés de P-40 Kittyhawk était basé à Ottawa, à la station Rockcliffe de l’ARC, juste de l’autre côté de la rivière face au site actuel des Ailes d’époque du Canada, à Gatineau. Ici, Roseland (au milieu) vole avec deux autres pilotes pour leur photo de carte de Noël. À l’arrière-plan, on aperçoit les montagnes de la chaîne côtière de la Colombie-Britannique. Cette unité a été formée à Rockcliffe, en Ontario, le 2 janvier 1942. Elle est commandée par le commandant d’aviation B.D. Russell, DFC, jusqu’en novembre 1942, date à laquelle le nouveau commandant B.R. Walker, DFC, prend la relève. De mars 1942 à février 1943, Roseland est basé à Sea Island (Vancouver) mais, du 3 mars au 15 septembre 1943, il est basé à Umnak dans les Aléoutiennes. Des détachements sont déployés à Amchitka du 17 avril au 15 mai, puis du 9 juillet au 29 août. Lors du premier détachement, l’escadron participe à 14 missions (88 sorties) et à 16 missions (102 sorties) lors du deuxième. En général, il s’agissait d’attaquer les positions japonaises par bombardements en piqué sur Kiska. Au cours de cette campagne, huit membres de l’escadron ont reçu l’US Air Medal et deux ont été fait eu une Citation dans l’ordre du jour. Du 24 septembre au 23 décembre 1943, le 14e Escadron est basé à Boundary Bay, en Colombie-Britannique. Il est ensuite assigné outre-mer, renommé 442, et devient un escadron muni de Spitfire. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917735672-C6ZDKB5PG5V3GRRKVBT6/Roseland6.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out L’inscription au dos de cette photo se lit comme suit : « Canadiens juste avant le raid de Kiska, Amchitka 1943 ». Arnold Roseland est accroupi à gauche au premier rang. Remarquez le revêtement de métal de la piste nécessaire pour empêcher l’avion de s’enliser dans la boue des pistes aléoutiennes. Photo : Archives de la famille Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917769835-XJF7KWJYHDJEP2R1CWSG/Roseland7.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Les pilotes du 14e Escadron de l’ARC quelque part dans les Aléoutiennes à l’été 1943. Roseland est le deuxième à partir de la droite. Il est revenu avec son escadron à Boundary Bay, près de Vancouver, le 5 octobre, un peu trop tard pour assister à la naissance de son deuxième fils, Ronald. Photo : Archives de la famille Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917827582-WV0VTXLMWZH8GQKDY09Z/Roseland8.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Photo probablement prise à Sea Island en 1942. Il s’agit ici d’une photo plus officielle des sous-officiers et officiers pilotes du 14e Escadron. Rosey est quatrième de la droite debout au dernier rang. Photo : Archives de la famille Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917878233-F1H5HC2CH9SYLXL5KFV1/Roseland5.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Arnold et Audrey. À en juger par les galons d’un capitaine d’aviation qu’on aperçoit sur les épaulettes d’Arnold, cette photo a peut-être été prise en hiver avant son départ outre-mer avec le 14e Escadron, qui a été reformé comme 442e Escadron. En discutant de cette photo avec Ron Roseland-Barnes, nous avons pensé qu’elle avait peut-être été prise à Lachine, Québec ou Montréal, ou dans les environs. Roseland et son épouse Audrey ont profité de leurs trois semaines de congé avant d’embarquer sur un navire de transport de troupes pour l’Europe. Photo : Archives de la famille Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629917960121-ITLA5A6O7OTTWL591WOG/RoselandA.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Un mois après la mort de Roseland, l’escadron continua ses missions à partir de terrains d’atterrissage temporaires en France. Voici le Spit de Rosey, Y2-K, qui se fait installer un nouveau moteur par l’équipe sur le terrain le 14 août 1944. Photo : RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918001598-PS7MVDTNT3SIUXQQRV1O/Roseland12.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Il ne fait aucun doute que le Y2-K était le Spitfire préféré de Roseland. Sur cette page typique de son carnet de vol, on peut voir qu’il l’a piloté 16 fois au cours de cette seule période de deux semaines et demie. En tout, il a effectué 65 sorties aux commandes de Y2-K. Photo : Archives de la famille Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918052620-KP2EPH6JZVS9KF3BMZ5Y/Roseland13.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Cette page de son journal de bord s’aligne à celle de la page précédente ci-dessus et décrit en détail les événements de chaque opération. On peut voir que le 14 juin, il a reçu un « Nouveau K » soit peut-être un avion de remplacement. De même, les deux croix gammées dessinées dans la marge le 30 juin, lors de la deuxième de ses trois sorties de la journée, indiquent qu’il a abattu deux avions ennemis. Les commentaires inclus dans son journal de bord sont beaucoup plus détaillés que la plupart des pilotes et montrent un souci particulier pour les autres membres de son escadron. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629918165945-2K8ZNT6VLXEHRRVP2P2G/Roseland10.jpg The Stories - LE HÉROS COMMÉMORÉ PAR LA RESTAURATION DU ROSELAND SPITFIRE - Make it stand out Ronald Roseland, le deuxième fils d’Arnold, n’a jamais pu connaître son père, mais les libertés acquises par ses actions altruistes ont permis à Ronald de grandir dans un environnement sûr et robuste. C’est ce cadeau qu’il a fait à son fils. Ici, le jeune Ron se laisse dorloter par la belle Audrey dont la photo a été retrouvée sur le site de l’accident d’Arnold. Photo : Archives familiales Roseland https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/une-source-inpuisable-de-force monthly 0.5 2022-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1643745745699-KFMHCB39YTXL7ZQC5MUQ/RobillardLead.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293524256-1B5YZPMBPBC7XLVOZCEJ/Rocky3.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Une photo de groupe prise en juillet 1943 des stagiaires du cours de Rocky Robillard et Fred Mahler à l’École de pilotage militaire no 2 (EPM) à Uplands, en Ontario. Les jeunes hommes sont groupés devant l’avion sur lequel ils obtiendront leurs ailes : le North American Harvard 2. Photo par Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293621924-9PQRZRE4087A3YQHYNRU/Rocky4.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Un gros plan de la photo précédente. Rocky Robillard est à l’extrême droite de la rangée du fond, tandis que Fred Mahler est à l’extrême gauche de la même rangée. Ces jeunes hommes enthousiastes, fiers et déjà accomplis, sont sur le point de commencer l’une des plus grandes phases de leur vie. On peut se demander combien d’entre eux n’ont pas réussi à rentrer au foyer. Tous les participants portent l’insigne blanc de stagiaire de l’aviation dans leur képi ce qui indique que cette photo a été prise avant la remise des diplômes. Photo via Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293680770-QKE80HG69R3GSRLDKOV7/Rocky5.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Une image tout à fait merveilleuse de Rocky Robillard assis sur un banc de neige pendant ses jours de formation à l’EPM n° 2, Uplands. On peut lire sur le visage de ce jeune homme à la fois de la confiance, de la gentillesse, de la sincérité et de la bonne humeur. Rocky porte toujours son insigne d’aviateur chef (LAC) sur sa manche gauche et l’insigne blanc d’un élève pilote dans sur son képit. Étant donné que Fred Mahler et Rocky allaient tous deux obtenir leur brevet de pilote en juillet 1943, cette image a dû être prise à la fin de l’hiver ou au début du printemps de cette année-là. L’intensité du soleil et la saleté incrustée dans une neige défraîchie indiquent tout probablement le printemps. Photo de Fred Mahler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293718745-JCT8UN62WAT9J7BTVBAW/Rocky8.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Les gars du 442e Escadron posent avec un Spitfire juste avant de passer au Mustang IV. Rocky Robillard est accroupi au premier rang, deuxième à partir de la droite. Photo via flyingforyourlife.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293775850-IX6AVDU2AX7E23AVQK06/Rocky6.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Aujourd’hui, le Mustang IV des frères Robillard arbore les mêmes insignes (Y2-C, numéro de série KH661) qu’un Mustang du 442e Escadron, connu pour avoir été piloté par le frère cadet, Rocky. Cet été et dans un avenir proche, le Mustang des frères Robillard restera bien au chaud dans les installations de Firefly Aviation à l’aéroport de Springbank, près de Calgary, en Alberta. Photo par Andrea Kormylo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629293807745-EO2PHIO1QW98OWWTC1EU/Rocky7.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Todd « Pepe » Lemieux, président et membre du conseil d’administration du contingent de l’Ouest des Ailes d’époque, synchronise son vol en formation avec le Mustang des frères Robillard aux environs des montagnes Rocheuses, nouveau domicile du P-51. Photo via Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294209109-M1B9UADTIB9U1SLWF1PO/Rocky9.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294231472-M4ONTBXAANXPTKR6MIRM/Rocky12.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294273924-5EZKN3VX3R7AL866NQPI/Rocky13.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629294302454-0ZZVP7HSG7XZ13V0YU00/Rocky11.jpg The Stories - UNE SOURCE INÉPUISABLE DE FORCE — L’histoire de Rocky Robillard - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/johnny-typhoon-fr monthly 0.5 2022-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955369043-0AHECWGHB9LWEZLR0H0N/Colton56.jpeg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628882940824-2QRAUMLE5HC5ZNA7FMCL/Colton03.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out En 2005, au Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum de Hamilton, Johnny retrouve par hasard le Tiger Moth 8922 qui l’avait amené à rencontrer sa future épouse le 25 septembre 1942. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628882983642-G2P7ZOI99ROLBNS860Z4/Colton04.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le carnet de vol (Logbook) de Johnny à l’époque de son apprentissage de pilote au EFTS Nº 4. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883026299-40ZA84607Q4ACUUBZSXK/Colton05.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out L’avion du destin! Le voici photographié en 2007 à Geneseo par le photographe Jean-Pierre Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883053841-W5J7CDYLM0ZJ523ZJDKL/Colton06.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Windsor Mills aujourd’hui. Source : Google Map, collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883117402-CYKVY9KKMUGPTR9SUDN1/Colton07.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Yvon Goudreau, que l’on voit ici à côté d’un Tiger Moth sur skis, faisait partie de l’équipe au sol de l’EFTS Nº 4 à cette époque. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883148467-SJVVVYKQR5MXZFG74Q5U/Colton08.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le 8 septembre1942, 2 avions d’entraînement sont entrés en collision à l’EFTS Nº 4 à Windsor Mills. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883228806-CAUY0DTSLMKFGL4WTXEH/Colton09.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Carton d’invitation de la RCAF pour un bal à Victoriaville. Johnny y est allé danser. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883323381-WMQOD4TGXGF71IWUUOCI/Colton11.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Deux bons amis, Ralph Hassall et Johnny Colton, à Bournemouth au Royaume-Uni en 1943. Ils ne seront pas affectés aux mêmes escadrons. Johnny avait perdu contact avec Ralph et avait recherché son ami pendant de nombreuses années après la guerre. Après de multiples efforts, Johnny l’a enfin retrouvé 59 ans plus tard. Mais Ralph était mort en 2001 près de Cleveland en Ohio, là où il avait élu domicile. Johnny s’est organisé pour obtenir pour Ralph une pierre tombale mentionnant qu'il était un pilote de chasse de la RAF à l'escadron 3. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883379537-6GPEMSCS4GI6M4YNK7TH/Colton10.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny a découvert que son ami Ralph Hassall faisait parti de l’escadron 3. Ironiquement, ils ne savaient pas qu'ils étaient si proches en même temps fin 1944 aux Pays-Bas : Ralph à Volkel, Johnny à Eindhoven, juste à quelques kilomètres de distance l’un de l’autre! Ralph volait alors aux côtés du célèbre pilote français Pierre Clostermann. Debout, de gauche à droite : Ralph Hassall, Pierre Clostermann, Walker, Peter West, Bruce Cole et Macintyre. Assis : Gordon, Dug Worley, Wright et Torpy. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883568648-XEHY1UHECP155UP3PYAM/Colton12.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Gauche : Johnny Colton à 22 ans Photo : collection John Baert Droite : Le sergent pilote Johnny Colton en visite au château d’Édinbourg en Écosse en 1943, « et ayant besoin d’aller chez le coiffeur! » commente Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883751518-U0EQ66W7ZD9TPQJHEZ2E/Colton13.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Début 1944, Royaume-Uni. Cette photo date de l’époque de la transition du Hurricane au Typhoon. De gauche à droite : Charlie Hall (CAN), Pat McConvey (CAN), Bill Speedie (AUS), Johnny Colton (CAN), Ralph Hassall (CAN). Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628883921440-KQ56IENDU4AH64MQH0FZ/Colton41.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Moteur Napier Sabre 2A de 2 180 ch de Typhoon Mk IB Photo : Paul Maritz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884004161-1QMY84566OSUZ1OF5E3Z/Colton02.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton et le Hawker Typhoon à Manston, en Angleterre en 1944 Photo : collection Johnny Colton et colorisation par Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884052610-ROPBV6SI953DZFYH1TQ7/Colton15.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out La bête : le Hawker Typhoon Mk IB au roulage. Johnny a piloté ce Typhoon de l’escadron 137 lorsqu’il était en Hollande en 1944. Ce Typhoon fut par la suite descendu pendant la campagne des Ardennes en décembre 1944. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884158154-6RTXD1PAATQBR7D3Q9K2/Colton16.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Ce Typhoon muni de bombes est guidé au roulage par cet homme assis sur l’aile droite, heureusement pour le pilote! Photo : collection Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884331360-0IKA7R43RC1CVI3Y8ASM/Colton50.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out V-1 Buzz Bomb. Photo : Imperial War Museum (C 5736) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884417507-9IGHHB16YEJS08L8VABF/Colton52.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Normandie, 1944. Escadron 137, Johnny est le quatrième du rang du milieu en partant de la gauche. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628884500354-V2OCP4M8P6QEDABMWJHV/Colton19.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le pilote Paddy Shemeld, un ami de Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885157416-RX1NFZDQEZ1P1UPJ21JQ/Colton20.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le terrain de Coulombs (B-6) en Normandie. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885230345-WOQC96RTYFJMENK3YF1M/Colton55.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Coulombs et B-6 aujourd'hui. Photo : Google Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885394354-W4TN98KTHGJJERV5HXF4/Colton21.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Stèle commémorative à Coulombs. Photo : Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885433719-4Y3GL36NPFY526WJVSKB/Colton22.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Question à Johnny : « Johnny, reconnaissez-vous cette église? » Réponse : « Oui, c’est l’église de Coulombs, je l’ai frappé avec mon aile. » Photo : Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885615857-PHUQXW95KTE1YFE1NAWW/Colton23.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Typhoon de Johnny, le SF-Y. Maquette et photo réalisées par John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885734341-32WHQSFRHXICTV9GKHB3/Colton24.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Articles sur l’attaque contre le château où résidait le général Kurt Student. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885842190-KMD4AOMT8JLJJKZARAJD/Colton25.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Typhoon endommagé, un exemplaire qu’il avait piloté à plusieurs reprises. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628885967546-96JL3EEUASRPWXDERK4G/Colton46.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Typhoon SF-K, Eindhoven, 1944. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886016168-3GKLLL81CZGN5IAGWFTM/Colton53.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Eindhoven, Pays-Bas. Deux Hawker Typhoon prêts à décoller. L’avion de tête est le SF-P de l'escadron 137. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886079895-6C6WETU816AH2VBC1NBU/Colton44.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Würger (Shrike) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886134435-LG6LXJZSM0SCUUTAMHPK/Colton28.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Groupe de pilotes allemands du Sturmstaffel JG Udet en 1945. Oscar Bösch est deuxième à partir de la droite. À l’exception de 3 pilotes, tous les autres ont été tués. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886172696-QVP6KG2YIT7I2YIEMVNM/Colton32.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Feldwebel Oscar Bösch, à 19 ans. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886209473-NRF2OLYU9MMKYKH4WUQG/Colton30.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton et Oscar Bösch auprès de son planeur immatriculé selon ses initiales, été 1978 à Sherbrooke, Québec. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886271560-JCEP3ONZN1Q91Q4NXAO3/Colton31.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out L’amitié entre pilotes ne connaît pas de frontières. Il y a quelques années, Johnny a reçu un cadeau de la part d’Oscar Bösch en mémoire de leurs expériences communes de l’Opération Bodenplatte du 1er janvier 1945 : une photo autographiée d’Oscar, à côté du célèbre as allemand Erich Hartman. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886341287-HNJVXXN57HKDS23AXQVR/Colton43.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Messerschmitt Bf-109, ou Me-109 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886431458-FKNLRKZNZW1ANK28RVYI/Colton42.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886539097-GW79RUJ60DHDZOOOKHDR/Colton33.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Détails du Carnet de vol de l’escadron 137. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886648083-FJFIA3Q0T282RYJBOAZ3/Colton34.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Typhoon du musée de Hendon, en Angleterre, l’unique survivant, sauvé grâce aux Américains, viendrait l’année prochaine au musée de l’Aviation et de l’Espace du Canada à Ottawa pour une période de 3 ans. Photo : John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886698420-QY2PIQI6Y0B0Z8W68NZD/Colton35.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Au cours de la réunion de l'escadre 124 en Normandie en 1994, Johnny a reçu des médailles commémoratives des maires de deux villages proches de B-6, l’un des premiers terrains d’aviation alliés en opération après le débarquement – Le maire de Noyers-Bocage, Roland Heudier et le maire de Sainte-Croix-Grand-Tonne, Claude Marguerite. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886729533-03PJ9WT1RZAS5MBATMAJ/Colton36.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Réunion de l'escadre 124 à Noyers-Bocage en 1994. Johnny est dans la rangée en arrière, quatrième à partir de la droite. Au milieu en avant se tient leur hôte, Jacques Bréhin. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886784318-9MR3TPGZPXP6UVYA8423/Colton37.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny demeure très actif en participant à des événements commémoratifs, comme ici, à celui de l’anniversaire du Débarquement qui a eu lieu à Sherbrooke, Québec, en juin 2012 à la Légion Royale Canadienne, Branche 10. Johnny est troisième à partir de la gauche. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886831167-8ORM6BCMSAM82GRVXH0I/Colton38.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton a reçu le 30 septembre 2012 la Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886867785-E6AJK13P9BZ9DZIKWWO3/Colton39.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le 12 octobre 2012, Johnny Colton reçoit des mains du général Yvan Blondin, au nom de l’ARC, un certificat de reconnaissance pour ses services hors pair de pilote de chasseur-bombardier Typhoon en Europe pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. On peut y lire : « qu’avec sa bravoure, son courage, ses aptitudes et son audace, Johnny Colton a survécu à 104 missions et est aujourd’hui l’ultime modèle pour nos aviateurs d’aujourd’hui en période de combat. » Cette distinction pourrait aujourd’hui être considérée aussi élevée que la fameuse DFC (Croix du service distingué dans l'Aviation) donnée aux pilotes en temps de guerre. Photo : Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886906063-EQIS3EAYWOMP6MFA90FO/Colton40.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Gauche : Le 9 novembre 2012, dans le cadre des célébrations du Jour du Souvenir, Johnny a rencontré les élèves d’une école primaire à Sherbrooke, Québec. « Ils étaient très intéressés » a commenté Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton Droite : Ceux qui écrivent l’histoire, au passé comme au présent. Réunion de Johnny Colton et John Colton Junior avec l’astronaute canadien Chris Hadfield. Spectacle aérien Gatineau en vol aux Ailes d’époque du Canada en 2010. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628886937659-5QEIYQN6NS58ROXRENCR/Colton54.jpg The Stories - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Pierre Lapprand et Johnny, 2 août 2012 https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/war-pigeon monthly 0.5 2025-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621625806903-4432HK14JRDMR2G5P564/WarPigeon00.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626449778-NSAW8BAKR15HJ9J5JM7X/Dickin05.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out A pair of beefy 42 Squadron Bristol Beauforts of Coastal Command thunders over the countryside somewhere in Great Britain. Beauforts of 22 and 42 Squadrons (the first two operational Beaufort units) which were powered by the Bristol Taurus radial engine, were grounded in June of 1940 due to unreliable engines that resulted in the loss of several aircraft under mysterious circumstances. Bulky and not particularly pretty, the Beaufort was designed as a multi-role attack aircraft capable of carrying and delivering bombs, mines and torpedoes. Used effectively by Coastal Command early in the war, the Beaufort continued in service more as a medium day bomber in the Mediterranean and North African theatres. It was taken from front line service not long after Channel Dash, but continued on to the end of the war as a training and conversion platform. The Australians built 700 of them under licence and used them effectively against the Imperial Japanese. One of the Beaufort's greatest claims to fame is that it is the forerunner to the marvelous Bristol Beaufighter, one of the most vaunted anti-shipping aircraft of the Second World War. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626493932-DHRAOHMNSIEXJEYC9YUQ/Dickin52.png The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Squadron Leader Hedley Cliff's Beaufort AW-M (RAF Serial No. L9965). Illustration by Peter Scott via Wings Pallet—wp.scn.ru https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626549333-WSRH5305JV3D2WGTGIIB/Dickin21.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out An RAF pigeon fancier loads a bird into a bank of waterproof cages at an RAF Coastal Command base, ready to be drawn by aircrews as they would draw parachutes, rations and sensitive equipment before a mission. Wicker baskets were used early in the war, but later these yellow-painted aluminum box cages were used. The bird could be sealed inside using the lid attached to the left side of the container, giving the pigeon up to an hour and a half's worth of air. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626582013-8WEO67AHELS6L5RPAGBW/Dickin06.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out While ground crew (“erks”) do last minute checks on a 42 Squadron Beaufort, others help the four crew members (donning their Mae West jackets) of AW-G for George get ready for a mission. Second from left, an erk places two pigeon carriers next to other equipment. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626614309-9NDPPSS8ADQIU3HEK6QS/Dickin24.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626641852-0EOWHY97R9SD66PIIZ0I/Dickin22.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Two photos showing members of a Coastal Command B-24 Liberator crew loading two waterproof yellow-painted pigeon boxes for pigeons 19A and 19D. In the upper photo, the box on the right has a trough so that the bird can be fed and watered during the long 10-hour plus patrols of many Coastal Command Liberators. The trough had been clipped on 19D's cage as well by the time they were loading them in the bottom photo. These were similar to the type used by 42 Squadron's Beauforts in 1942. Photos: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626694684-PZ22CL6BF40CRC8SCK25/Dickin08.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Three members of a four-man crew of a Bristol Beaufort climb aboard through the portside access hatch, with the air gunner sitting behind his twin Brownings inside the aircraft's Bristol B.1 Mk V turret. This was the hatch through which the crew of AW-M escaped their sinking aircraft. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626745612-95LC3JNV9S7M0QHR3YWY/Dickin01.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Squadron Leader W. Hedley Cliff and his 42 Squadron Beaufort crew bob in the cold sunlight on the sea as a Lockheed Hudson of 320 Squadron overflies them at 1115 hrs on the morning of February 24, 1942. As well, three of seven 42 Squadron Beauforts involved in the search sighted the dinghy and the circling Hudson and helped to vector a high speed rescue launch to the location of the downed airmen. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626793481-WPODM14ED2BHU6VLBO9Y/Dickin02.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out The 64-foot High Speed Launch (HSL) 118 of the Royal Air Force's Marine Craft Section, ensigns snapping in the slipstream, leaves the Air Sea Rescue Base at Blyth on the East Coast of England headed in the general direction of the suspected ditching. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626832148-43OBPG4WUHUCC2CKA3MG/Dickin03.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out The 64-foot High Speed Launch (HSL) 118 of the Royal Air Force's Marine Craft Section, ensigns snapping in the slipstream, leaves the Air Sea Rescue Base at Blyth on the East Coast of England headed in the general direction of the suspected ditching. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626892829-2GUQP5OLVPPXI3O4D4XG/Dickin04.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Not long after their rescue, Squadron Leader Cliff (in sling) gives Winkie the pigeon an affectionate stroke while his crew gather around. According to the squadron Operations Record Book, the crew suffered some cuts and bruises as well as frostbite as a result of sitting in an open raft on the North Sea in February. When the Beaufort torpedo bomber impacted the water, Cliff was thrown forward and injured his shoulder, as evidenced by the sling. Squadron Leader Cliff, DSO sits in foreground while the others are: (L-R) Flying Officer John McDonald, MeD, Sergeant Venn and Pilot Officer Tessier. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626927734-0BZ6Q6EVOGHD7SE55VI1/Dickin14.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Civilian pigeon fancier and Dundee plumber George Ross displays the super-squab Winkie for an RAF photographer shortly after the story broke in the British newspapers. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621626976984-0BBWOT0EIGRP1B1OLYLO/Dickin12.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Mrs Mia Dickin presents the first Dickin Medal to Winkie who is being handled by Wing Commander Lea Raynor, CBE, the founder of the RAF Pigeon Service. Photo: PDSA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627012017-YOMST29POZHI9GFU4PFI/Dickin35.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out Pigeon fancier and RAF Wing Commander Raynor shows us a spread of Winkie's beautiful right wing, while Mia Dickin holds the Dickin Medal the pigeon was awarded. Winkie was a Blue Checker Hen, bred at Whitburn Bents Farm by farmer A. R. Colley and then trained for RAF service by Ross. Breeders and fanciers who joined the National Pigeon Service (NPS) during the war were given a special ration card that enabled them to purchase rare corn and other feed for their pigeons. Note that the background of this photo appears to have been entirely painted over with black ink. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627046989-WATYAQCT9M2RU8EJBGMM/Dickin34.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon - Make it stand out The brass plaque presented by the members of 42 Squadron to Winkie (The inscription reads Pigeon No. 40 N.S.1.) following the awarding of the Dickin Medal. The citation, which is the same that came with Winkie's Dickin reads “For delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in February 1942.” The plaque, designed and made by an armourer of the squadron, was presented at a ceremony at RAF Leuchars. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627339850-98HLTELN2NR9RH1KTXZ7/Dickin09.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Pigeons first came into the service of aviators during the First World War, when they were dispensed to seaplane pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service. Here in a staged photo, a supposed downed RNAS pilot stands on the float of his Sopwith Baby to release his homing pigeon. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627346464-ISTVZ4EA4C3N65JIMGXD/Dickin10.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Another staged shot of an RNAS pilot releasing his pigeon in flight. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627345831-JIGZHLSB2VVVTLQ9MTJ0/Dickin11b.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon The crew of Short Type 184 of the RNAS is handed up a wicker box with a pigeon prior to their mission. The aircraft sits on a dolly which will be lowered into the water, much the same way a bass-boat is launched these days. With its two-bladed prop, large radiator housing forward of the upper wing and suspended torpedo shackles, this looks possibly like one of the Short Admiralty seaplanes of the RNAS. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627345693-Q6B2796XU4G8O8MRRT90/Dickin14b.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Pigeons were also used by the British Army to send messages from their tanks—given the numerous mechanical problems that beset these early behemoths, releasing a pigeon was necessary to pass on a request for assistance or perhaps to pass on reports of enemy concentrations. Given the horrendous noise and stifling heat inside these early Mark I battle tanks, the pigeon would likely be all too happy to race for the safety of home. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627345195-5RF280V5VA03O1E90TPQ/Dickins38.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon The Pigeon Service was important enough to warrant a special display at the Royal Air Force Museum in London. This scene depicts three crew members wearing inflated Mae Wests and carrying the typical yellow pigeon carrier used later in the war. The skull cap that the airman on the left is wearing is part of the survival kit—a skull cap that protects the hatless airman from the sun and doubles as a collapsible bailing bucket. Despite the fact that these are mannequins, the display is a powerful image with the men just releasing what is perhaps their only hope for rescue—their pigeon. Despite its power, only a few crews managed to save themselves by releasing their pigeons. Photo: Mark Hogan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627344990-1ZHSVRENWU14AYBVXGHY/Dickin07.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A crew of a 224 Squadron Lockheed Hudson get ready to board their aircraft at RAF Leuchars in Fife, Scotland. The wireless operator/air gunner at right carries, in addition to his log book, thermos of coffee and bagged sandwiches, a wicker basket with a squadron homing pigeon. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627344529-1OZZMQW9KQXMGPHZOIAH/Dickin32.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon The same Hudson wireless operator/air gunner from the previous photo holds up his pigeon basket so we can get a closer view. The pigeon in this window appears to be quite different from the one in the previous, leading me to assume that these wicker baskets held two pigeons, separated from each other and with separate windows. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627344446-05L1Z2VYW7IKJREQUH09/Dickin15.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A typical Royal Air Force pigeon house at a Coastal Command air base in Great Britain. Identical houses were found on most Coastal and Bomber Command bases during the first years of the war. Many of the official RAF photos in this story were part of a series taken in 1942 to showcase the role of pigeons in the war effort, likely inspired by public interest following the media excitement around the rescue of the Cliff crew. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627343941-NNELDUT79QH1DHUDFK56/Dickin16.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Pigeon “keeping” was a very common hobby throughout Great Britain (and indeed the world) before the war, with many a London rooftop housing small pigeon lofts where pigeon “fanciers” bred and kept pigeons in three different categories —flying/sporting, fancy and utility. As a result, many a “fancier” who joined the Royal Air Force, such as the corporal shown here, were selected to continue their hobby on bases throughout the country. Pigeon keeping remains a widespread hobby around the world to this day, practiced at all levels of society. Famous pigeon fanciers include Mike Tyson, Nicola Tesla, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles Darwin, Yul Brynner, Manual Noriega, Walt Disney, Willie Mays, Pablo Picasso and Maurizo Gucci. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627343857-V017A6I86NLJ3GIABSUR/Dickin18.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A Coastal Command pigeon fancier (the same man from the previous photo) demonstrates the proper the way to hold and launch a homing pigeon, while two members of an aircrew look on. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627343318-IFLJM99KYVZ0LIU5R92J/Dickin17.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon It would be a terrible situation for both the crew of a downed bomber and the hard-working bird if the pigeon was nailed and carried off by a hawk at the very moment the message was delivered. As such, pigeon fanciers of the RAF also patrolled the areas around their pigeon loft with a shot gun. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627343425-1TKQVERA945YEEJ57CGE/Dickin19.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Two Coastal Command airmen demonstrate the proper hold and technique for launching a homing pigeon from the waist blister of a PBY Catalina flying boat. Pigeons were also expected to be launched from a flying aircraft in the event an important message needed to be sent home under radio silence. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627342772-YI31TCT25MT4YY4TJ3FJ/Dickin20.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon The caption with this photo reads "Any sort of throw won't do" explains the instructor "grasp it like this - and like this". Crews were trained in the proper throwing technique in the event that the massage had to be sent from a flying aircraft (possibly running out of fuel). The RAF Pigeon Service Manual explains one preferred method for crews of aircraft such as the PBY Catalina (pictured): “ It is generally a simple toss into the air, ensuring that the bird is carried well over the tail planes, and falls clear of the machine. It is, however, the practice of some experienced observers to grasp the bird in his right hand, the thumb between the legs and the four fingers over its wings and back, and then throw the bird well out at the right hand side of the machine at an angle of 20 degrees below the horizontal. Experience indicates that this latter is the best method of releasing from seaplanes or aeroplanes. Again, a firm and strong hold are essential if the pigeon is not to be blown on to the tail planes.” One wonders how many pigeons met a mercifully quick end striking the tail planes before the best practice was adopted. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627342607-7VEDXBJXIK4L9QYYPUA8/Dickin23.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon In another staged photo, a crew member of a Coastal Command Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley releases a pigeon “in flight”. One imagines, even in the slipstream of a lumbering Whitley, the airman would not look so indifferent to the nearly 200 mile an hour blast and the camera would never have been able to capture the blur of the pigeon as it was ripped from his hands. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627342180-IYDI9QYPYP05S6KSPXIL/Dickin26.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A fistful of pigeon leg cannisters. the cap could be screwed off to place a small sheet of paper containing the message (usually the last known co-ordinates) into the sleeve and before sending the pigeon aloft and bound for home. It is assumed that the pigeons wore the cannisters into battle, ready to deliver a message. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627342111-ASWOZKJ19ID9JRXNOF0Z/Dickin27.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A Coastal Command sergeant, opens the side door of a flying boat and gets ready to throw his “wee culver” into the slipstream. Assuming the pigeon survives going from zero to 200 mph in a second, she now has to collect her senses and find her way over a trackless sea to her home. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627341500-5HQAFHMUBTSX299XCTH9/Dickin29.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A superb colour photograph of Bomber Command crew waiting outside their RAF Waddington crew room for a ride out to their Lancaster bomber in October of 1942 — a great, clear photo of exactly what the pigeon boxes looked like. It's possible that this crew was from 44 Squadron, which suffered very heavy casualties during the night bombing campaign over Germany—an astonishing 43 Hampden bombers and 171 Lancasters lost (including 22 in accidents). A crew of a Hampden totaled 4 while the Lanc had 7 airmen aboard—meaning the total casualty count for this one hard-bitten squadron was more than 1,369 killed, wounded and captured. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627341390-099IRT3VCB90XK76HN9Q/Dickin30.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon A great shot also taken at RAF Waddington of Pilot Officer (Acting) S, Jess, a Canadian airman on a 44 Squadron Lancaster crew responsible for his crew's pigeons. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627340782-58708M779MJ6MT6ZP1W2/Dickin41.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon Recent graduates of the Pigeon Handlers Course No. 1 the Royal Canadian Air Force, March 1943. These men would be sent on to coastal air stations on both coasts, to manage pigeon lofts and train crews. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627340801-XX5PON1CKAE5EENST4MN/Dickin42.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon The condo-sized pigeon loft at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in 1929 seems to be getting an addition, perhaps a screened-in “porch” where the birds can remain safe from predators. Not quite sure what the painted stripes on the building are for, but perhaps the height of the loft constituted a flying hazard that necessitated enhanced visibility for pilots. Photo: Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-062607 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627340371-CKA0IOSYE2JLE4KFBJX0/Dickin43.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon I think this shot, taken in 1931 is of the same pigeon loft as the previous photo from Rockcliffe. Library and Archives Canada / PA-062835 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627340370-2DV09KGBN9QAAWF1LFRQ/Dickin44.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon In May of 1943, recent graduates of the RCAF's Pigeon Handling Course No.3 pose with baskets of pigeons at an unknown location (possible Rockcliffe) in May of 1943. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1621627339793-21DU7O7DZ4HRRBFS8D08/Dickin45.jpeg The Stories - War Pigeon An RCAF Warrant Officer demonstrates the backward underhand toss while sitting in the rear seat of a pilotless Fairchild 71. Photo: Library and Archives Canada https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/high-flight-harvards monthly 0.5 2021-11-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137868168-8XZI9TL5SGYEOX99GLWW/HighFlightHarvards.jpg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138061633-1PVOKPKKXJUZXYROH36F/MyOld4312.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A posed photograph of American student pilots of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan at No. 2 SFTS Uplands, Course 25 in the spring of 1941. This was in the weeks leading up to the filming at Uplands of major sequences of Captains of the Clouds, Warner Bros.’ largest production to date. Starring James Cagney, the producers of the film looked to a premier in New York early in 1942. At left is Leading Aircraftman John Magee pointing to some lofty goal with posed determination and perhaps a bit of embarrassment. Perhaps this promotional shot was destined to inspire Americans to step up and get behind the Allies in the expedition of the war. While the film was in post-production, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor eliminated any need for the film to encourage the Yanks. Captains of the Clouds opened in February of 1942 but America hardly noticed, preoccupied as it was with war preparations. The pilots are (L to R): Aircraftmen John G. Magee of Washington (J5824); Arthur C. Young of Cleveland, Ohio; Claiborne Frank Gallicher of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Curtis Gilman Johnston of Chicago, Illinois; Arthur Bernard Cleaveland of Springfield, Illinois; and Ober Nathaniel Leatherman of Lima, Ohio. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138109939-J3KIQOKJLT2Q8135RGUT/MyOld4310.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out 16 June 1941—Leading Aircraftman John Gillespie Magee, still wearing the white cap flash of an airman in training, beams with pride and delight as he is pinned with his RCAF wings by Group Captain Wilfred A. Curtis, DSC and Bar at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, Uplands. It was one week after Magee’s nineteenth birthday. Curtis was a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service in the First World War. Photo: DND https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138151594-LWICCV8XQL0UADGUITUM/MyOld4328.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Pilots and instructors of Magee's spitfire course at No. 53 Operational Training Unit ar RAF Llandow in the summer of 1941. Magee is standing third from the left in the third row. Interestingly, the young sergeant pilot at the far right of the second row is Sergeant Gerald Edgar Wood-Scawen, whose two cousins, brothers Phillip and Tony Woods-Scawen were shot down and killed during the Battle of Britain, one day after the other. The Woods-Scawen story was published by Vintage News just this past week. Photo via Ray Haas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138194448-AOIR7ORUROJFZEI4K4DR/MyOld4311.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Magee leans casually and confidently against 412 Squadron Supermarine Spitfire Vb (VZ-B, nicknamed Brunhilde) and judging by the warm gear, this was close to 11 December 1941—the day that he died over the village of Roxholme, England in a tragic mid-air collision with an Avro Anson piloted by LAC Earnest Griffin. Spitfire Brunhilde (AD329) was damaged by Magee on 5 November, suffering wing tip damage during a dodgy landing at RAF Wellingore. Photo via Stephen Fochuk/Robert Bracken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138266189-NH4N2ANLSHGINV1G9KJU/MyOld4301.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Of the 12 Harvards whose serial numbers are written in teenage John Magee’s logbook during his time at No. 2 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at RCAF Station Uplands, only one, RCAF Serial 2866, surfaced in photographic form after our search for an aircraft which would inspire the markings of the High Flight Harvard. The photo, from aviation enthusiast Benno Goethals, was a perfectly posed image which, though poor in resolution, enabled us to accurately size and position the markings. It was the best we could hope for in a template for the project. Photo via Benno Goethals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138312156-05Z77TP70MH1GNS0M2IK/MyOld4303.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Mike Potter and Dave O’Malley work on a bare yellow canvas to apply the Second World War markings to the High Flight Harvard in 2009. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138347073-TUYALGDF6O7GOAI6I8IQ/MyOld4302.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out The Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard 4 takes off shortly after her debut in the markings of a Harvard that was flown in these very same skies by one of the RCAF’s and aviation’s most tragic sons, John Gillespie Magee. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138430175-30OBXVGBF31KLL9J4TSE/MyOld4304.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A fine view of the new markings in 2009. The Vintage Wings of Canada Harvard 4 has been a stalwart performer ever since, both as a training platform and an air show and aerobatic demonstrator. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138487446-HMPZFDARM779IACXXWGZ/MyOld4309.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out In 2011, the High Flight Harvard visited Oshkosh’s EAA AirVenture with Vintage Wings of Canada's Yellow Wings Tour under the leadership of veteran pilot Ulrich Bollinger. While the Yellow Wings crew was there, the author created and sent this suggested illustration via e-mail so that they might suggest a similar paint scheme to pilots in attendance from 15 Wing at Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw. At the time, nothing came of it. In 2016, however, the time was obviously right. Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138757558-JZ6ULFCZJ0M9PSNPDEBD/Myold4326.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out Many of Canada’s 400 series squadrons were born in 1941, some of which are celebrating the year with special paint schemes. Clockwise from upper left: 419 Squadron Hawk painted in Second World War Lancaster markings; 412 squadron (Magee’s unit) celebrating from Spitfires to Challengers (designed by the author); 410 Squadron Cougars anniversary scheme by the inimitable Jim Beliveau; 408 Squadron commemorates its P-51 heritage and D-Day role. Photos: RCAF, Dave O’Malley, Cold Lake Sun, RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138845911-J5L1M1E3P0RHMOOP6GKL/MyOld4327.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out The initial concept proposed by Moose Jaw was spectacular in every respect and beautifully presented, but unfortunately from a period nearly 20 years after the cessation of the BCATP. It would have been a wonderful thing to see. The postwar maple leaf roundels were the giveaway. Photo: RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138904460-6PQAREJPBXKMK7FCSCTY/MyOld4305.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A Royal Canadian Air Force Raytheon CT-156 Harvard II freshly painted in the colours of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of the Second World War taxies in the rain at 15 Wing Moose Jaw, itself a former BCATP pilot training base for the Royal Air Force. The aircraft commemorates a young man who gave his life and left a gift for the world of a very special verse. Photo: Norm Swayze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622138989226-6HCDSEJWGI18C69QHH81/MyOld4308.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A week after the previous photo, and in considerably finer weather, the BCATP Harvard II was on static display at the Quinte International Air Show at 8 Wing, Canadian Forces Base Trenton. That is where transport pilot Rob Kostecka, the Polish Falcon and creator of the concept of the original High Flight Harvard, posed for a photo with the beautiful bird. Photo via Rob Kostecka https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139029028-1X33GQKJ440ZTU7AD2AZ/MyOld4322.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A beautiful close-up of the markings on the RCAF’s Raytheon Harvard II (RCAF serial No. 156120) at rest before a very special heritage photo flight launched from Vintage Wings of Canada’s facility in Gatineau, Québec. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139080594-N2LHOOTLKPE45WE2UP1N/MyOld4319.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out So much has changed in the 75 years that separate the paint schemes of these two Harvards, yet little has changed. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139129168-GFFIRE2I7V7V1V0J3MAQ/MyOld4324.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out A young Royal Canadian Air Force pilot prepares for the heritage flight. John Magee, at just 18 years of age when flying Harvards would have been considerably younger than today’s military student pilot or, as in this case, instructor pilot. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139181627-X3YU48T89ADM2XAJ8O2F/MyOld4325.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards - Make it stand out The traditional walk around inspection of a Harvard or any aircraft for that matter has not changed since the Second World War. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139309962-YODNFV8VIRGGVUMLKKD5/MyOld4315.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards Peter Handley, one of the finest aviation photographers in Canada, captures the magnificent sight of not one, but two Harvards dedicated to a young man who left a lasting legacy for all of aviation. Here we see test pilot Rob Erdos in the Vintage Wings Harvard 4 leading the 15 Wing Harvard II in a smooth right turn over cottage country north of Gatineau. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139310623-TQK30RA9VV6PFYR7GWRP/MyOld4317.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards “Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;…” John Gillespie Magee, 18 August 1941. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139309935-RGNVCNFWU3VT6DOKTDRT/MyOld4316.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards “Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of…” John Gillespie Magee, 18 August 1941. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139311243-VPVVEB7PRJ01XO28GTLM/MyOld4330.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards “Wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air….” John Gillespie Magee, 18 August 1941. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139310712-ER8ZNOLY9EWAH2GUJW7P/MyOld4318.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards “Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew…” John Gillespie Magee, 18 August 1941. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622139311086-VZ36P9SIX83FPOOQPUV6/MyOld4320.jpeg The Stories - The High Flight Harvards “And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.” John Gillespie Magee, 18 August 1941. Photo: Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the-hero-around-the-corner monthly 0.5 2021-10-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137772964-RZZQSBYVUVVLSITZXLIX/HeroAroundtheCorner.jpg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622136985865-LV6PXPZ9DBJSQ16PZVYQ/Burpee13.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out I took a break from writing this evening and strolled five blocks down Bank Street, turned west into the sun onto Powell Avenue and found Lewis Burpee’s childhood home, just a block and a bit to the west. In a neighbourhood overwhelmed with fancy and expensive renovations, 111 Powell Avenue looks much the same as it did 75 years ago—a typical upper middle-class brick pile that the Glebe is known for. I stood for a while and thought about the fine evening and the warm lowering sun and the 27,000 such evenings this beautiful young man never got to see and enjoy. I felt exceedingly humbled and sad. I stood there for about a minute, then slowly shook my head, snapped a photo and walked back to my office to write down my thoughts. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137021555-529F4I6PVE51MORIU1RF/Burpee05.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out A photo of Lewis Burpee after his 1940 graduation from Kingston, Ontario’s Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, politics and English. Photo: A.R. Timothy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137078699-J1M8WBIHXI0A10C2O5DA/Burpee07.png The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out A photograph of Course 31 (21 June–30 August 1941) at No. 9 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Summerside, Prince Edward Island. As they still wear their white cadet hat flashes and no pilot’s brevet, this was before their graduation. Burpee (standing at far right) started his flying training on Fleet Finches at No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St. Eugene, about 60 miles east of his Ottawa home. Most men who earned their wings at No. 9 SFTS went on to single seat fighters or maybe twin-engine fighter-bombers, but Burpee ended up as a Lancaster pilot. Also in this course is the famous Second World War Canadian fighter ace John McElroy, who fought for the Israeli Air Force in 1948 in their War of Independence. On the final days of that war, McElroy shot down two Royal Air Force Spitfires. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137118878-W5KV41F067LVMWNMC46W/Burpee01.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Shortly after receiving his wings and being promoted to Sergeant Pilot in September of 1941, Lewis Johnstone Burpee took leave for home in Ottawa. Here we see him neatly turned out for the folks at his family cottage along the Rideau waterway system. He was just 23 years old. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137168711-KHDH8B2DTC0OAAOSRSFP/Burpee16.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out If 617 Squadron crews made it through to their targets, they faced one of the most dangerous attack scenarios in bombardment history—at extreme low level, at night, at specific heights, speeds and distances against heavily defended targets. Illustration: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137270370-7OW18PVD1DFZRFM7FNGT/Burpee03.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Before being selected by Wing Commander Guy Gibson for the elite 617 Squadron, Lewis Burpee (third from right) was with 106 Squadron, another elite unit that was, at the time, also commanded by Gibson. Here we see him with members of his 106 Squadron Lancaster Crew at RAF Syerston in the early morning after a night op on 18 January 1943. Four months later, Burpee would be dead. Those of his 106 Squadron crew who volunteered for a second tour stayed with him when he transferred to 617 Squadron, they are (Left to Right): Gordon “Gordie” Brady, Rear Gunner; William “Ginger” Long, Air Gunner; and Guy “Johnny” Pegler, Flight Engineer. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137307498-EFY4TFT6ESLEVERMGSTW/Burpee02.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Burpee (second from right) and other 617 Squadron airmen pose with squadron mascot and Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s Labrador puppy with the cringe-worthy name of “Nigger”. On the day the Dambusters were to launch against the Ruhr dams, the dog was struck and killed by a car. Nigger was buried at midnight on the grounds of RAF Scampton while Gibson was leading the raid. The dog, with its ridiculously inappropriate and racist name, had a starring role in the later motion picture made of the Dambusters Raid. In this photo, I can’t help but notice the change in Burpee’s physical appearance. He has lost considerable weight and looks drawn and tired, wrought no doubt by the strain of a 32-op tour with Bomber Command, followed by hard training for the upcoming raid under dangerous low-level night conditions. Photo: eBay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137354078-JG16AYA7XMW920QSGIKV/Burpee06.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out The caption for this photograph on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial reads: “P/O Leonard George Weller (Wireless Operator) No 106 Squadron 1943 with Lewis Burpee (right)”. Looking at this, there are some things that make me question this caption. Weller is clearly a Sergeant in this photo and it seems that Burpee has lost his Sergeant’s stripes. Since Burpee was made a Pilot Officer after he transferred to 617 squadron at RAF Scampton, this may in fact be post 106 Squadron. Weller, another Canadian, was Burpee’s Wireless Operator in his 617 Dambusters crew and was killed with him in Holland. The grassy knoll on which they stand is similar to that seen in other crew photos taken at Scampton. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137399043-VST6DT45EK7W5R4QW3I3/Burpee08.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Sergeant Lewis Burpee (left) with members of his 106 Squadron crew including his Flight Engineer Guy Pegler (right) and his Rear Gunner Gordon Brady (second from right). I can’t identify the fourth man. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137462789-CY5UFSPM7HMQVCOT3LY1/Burpee04.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out Burpee’s father, who was the General Manager of Ogilvy’s Department Store in Ottawa, was a pillar of the community, and as such his son was considered somewhat of a local hero. Still a Sergeant Pilot when he received the decoration, the story of his award of the Distinguished Flying Medal came out after he was promoted to Pilot Officer at 617 Squadron. In a particularly unfortunate twist of fate, the story was published in the Ottawa Evening Journal on 17 May, the day of the Dambusters raid. In the very same issue of the paper was the headline Great Ruhr Dams Smashed! and a brief story of the previous night’s raid. Sadly, the family had yet to be informed of the death of their son. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137499336-XV3YPHDP7BJNK98DXYPM/Burpee09.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out A letter to Burpee’s parents a month after the Dambusters Raid from Squadron Leader H.F. Davidson, the RCAF Chaplain for both 106 and 617 Squadrons, implies that his bride Lillian is pregnant with their child and wants to join them in Canada. His words to Burpee’s parents state “Lillian says that she is waiting for an exit permit so that she can go out to you in Ottawa. I hope she is successful. It is very hard on her in her condition and I’m sure it would be some comfort both for you and her if you could be together just now.” Lewis Johnstone Burpee Jr. was born on Christmas Eve of the same year, seven months after his father was killed. He was born here in Ottawa and quite possibly lived at 111 Powell Ave. Photo: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1622137584339-7PGIVT2D32U7CLEYGCB5/Map2.jpeg The Stories - The Hero Around the Corner - Make it stand out This simple map demonstrates the locations of the homes of some of the heroes that grew up in my neighbourhood. These men are just the ones I have come across in my research of disparate stories. There most certainly are many scores of others in the area covered by this map. However, in this small sampling, we have an extraordinary representation of some of the most famous and pivotal events and campaigns of the war—a Dambuster pilot, a Battle of Britain pilot and Great Escape participant, a Spitfire pilot lost during aircraft carrier resupply of Malta, a Coastal Command Beaufighter pilot lost at sea and two men lost on Bomber Command night operations. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/thememorythatwouldnotdie monthly 0.5 2022-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244641720-RHRJRP6I9P656S4KBOV3/BinghamFlash.jpg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244782669-KFS2EDIS3ZE6A7ZWJMNC/Bingham09.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244804100-QOI66C8NKATKJFAMSNNB/Bingham10.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244889108-RWU6LSEGPHHLTN94W0B7/Bingham33.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A Whitley Mk VII of Coastal Command showing the radar mast installation on its top side. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244924262-1HA7MG68OVGZVD217HZ3/Bingham31.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Three members of a typical five- or six-man Whitley crew work in the very tight confines of the cockpit in this RAF promotional shot. At right is the pilot in command, while left, the second pilot who also was required to handle navigation, confers with the radio operator. The role of pilot/navigator on Whitley EL-L was filled by Flying Officer Clifford Mervyn Bingham of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625244959716-QP7PW9TG0BJEHKN2Y4QU/Bingham11.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A view of a Whitley cockpit. The empty seat at right is for the pilot/navigator who did the navigational work and relieved the pilot-in-command on long anti-submarine patrols. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245031446-QZQLJOSBMZVSHFRO2ZWJ/Bingham01.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out The Italian Marcello-Class submarine Barbarigo with crew turned out for a photo op from a warship keeping station alongside. Photo: WeaponsandWarfare.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245148288-8HTUJV6SBPKTMNI6JH7S/Bingham02.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A poor photo Barbarigo's crowded conning tower as she comes home after a cruise. The graffiti on the side says: “Chi teme la morte, non e degno di vivere” which means “Those who fear death, are not worthy of living.” She completed 14 war cruises and was the fifth-highest scoring Italian submarine of the Second World War, but her life was not without controversy. Her first two Mediterranean sorties were without results, after which she was moved to the German submarine base at Bordeaux. Over the next months she carried out three more offensive cruises in the waters around Ireland, which netted her only one merchantman slightly damaged. In October of 1941, under command of Capitano di Corvetto Enzo Grossi, Barbarigo found a lone lighted ship — the Spanish SS Navemar — which was a recognized sign of neutrality. Grossi torpedoed and sank her anyway. The spring of 1942 found her in Brazilian waters where she attempted to attack a merchantman, but was caught and harried for five days by Brazilian B-25s and surface ships. She managed an escape and on May 20, found the cruiser USS Milwaukee and the destroyer USS Moffett on the surface. Grossi fired two torpedoes at Milwaukee (which he wrongly claimed was a Maryland-class battleship) and then claimed to have seen the explosions and heard the sounds of her sinking. Oddly, Milwaukee and Moffett were unaware of the attack and in fact both survived the war. It's hard to understand how a 7,000 ton four-stack light cruiser could be mistaken for a 32,000-ton behemoth like Maryland, but Grossi received plenty of chest pumping press, a promotion and the Medaglia d'oro al vala militare (Gold Medal of Military Valour). Five months later, off the coast of Africa, Grossi came across the corvette HMS Petunia on the night of October 6. He fired four torpedoes at her, then claimed it was a Mississippi-class battleship and that he had sunk it. Both Mississippi-class battleships (Mississippi and Idaho) and been sold to the Greeks in 1914 as Kilkis and Limnos. Both were training ships at anchor in a Greek port when they were sunk by German bombers a year before Grossi claimed to have sunk one. He was promoted again and given another Medaglia d'oro al vala militare. Petunia escaped unharmed and also survived the war. Two post-war enquiries stripped Grossi of his promotions and medals, but stated he acted in good faith. Photo: sixtant.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245196973-M30SPUCP7BH987LM7T3Q/Bingham34.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out In a similar surface attack, a Royal Air Force Whitley of 77 Squadron drops depth charges on U-705 in the Bay of Biscay in 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245252927-00Z6JSPCEXSGKK4YK1KN/Bingham20.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A studio portrait of handsome Flying Officer Clifford Mervyn Bingham. The Second World War was a happy time for studio photographers, as every serviceman or servicewoman had their formal photos taken in uniform to share with family and sweethearts. These also were shared with hometown newspapers in the event of newsworthy stories such as the award of pilot's wings, arriving safely overseas, or reports of being missing or killed in action. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245299128-2TB5TBMX5PZWK91FDLL3/Bingham15.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out In addition to Cliff Bingham, another Canadian was killed with the crew of Whitley EL-L. Pilot Officer Archie Durnell was a Navigator who grew up in Windsor, Ontario. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245365257-ENYALF59VG8UJXBNKZDI/Bingham38.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A photo of the Bingham family (L-R: Olive, Jack, Jean and Billy) as they greeted Jack on his return from England in 1944 to begin training the reserve 3rd Battalion of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. They all look relieved and happy, but their smiles hide the damage done to them by Clifford's death. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245401852-2QXS9XDIKHBXVN96KOES/Bingham26.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff's younger sister Jean at age 18. She posed for the photo after turning 18 in 1942 and sent it to her father overseas as a Christmas gift. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245455040-ZIDXXK8S09KI85YNP2KW/Bingham13.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Bingham Lake lies at the very top of the province of Manitoba near the border with Nunavut Territory. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245490218-3JYBN454PS5VTV4QKP9E/Bingham14.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Bingham Lake is so remote, that likely no one has yet put a canoe on its surface. Whitish areas show where the 3-kilometre long lake's surface has been disturbed by high wind gusts. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245654011-5IIBWJFIBSX1MEAQW68L/Bingham43.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out The Memorial Cross representing the terrible sacrifice made by Clifford Bingham and his mother was dumped on the ground behind this Petro Canada station in Vernon, British Columbia—a meaningless trinket to an unthinking thief. Luckily, it was found by someone who cared enough to find its rightful owner. Photo: Google Maps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245752771-RGJ4MEKCDKOE7ZAH5C78/Bingham03.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Two of the items in the stolen jewellery box were Olive Bingham's Memorial Cross and a silver cloisonné British Empire Service League—Canadian Legion lapel pin that once belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Jack Bingham of St. James, Manitoba. Photo: Brendan Shykora, Vernon Morning Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625245897650-3HU4UC4K9Z9LV37AFC9W/Bingham07.png The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out The back of Mrs. Olive (Park) Bingham's Memorial Cross with the name of her first child engraved. I can imagine her thumb rubbing across this inscription while she struggled to bring up memories of her son with so much promise. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246043150-ZQ3MH8MBNOKWSOOTPOT9/Bingham27.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A photo of a young Cliff Bingham and his little sister Jean on the steps of their home. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246078831-GZKGSLMZIFMHFQ9Z5U5G/Bingham29.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out In the late 1920s, Cliff and his sister Jean sit atop the family car as their mother looks on smiling. One looks at this photo and sees the bright promise that was the life of young Clifford Mervyn Bingham and feels the loss deeply. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246130203-QC89CS9JRRUI8COXCU1M/Bingham28.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff Bingham shows his sister and brother and family German Shepherd a bird he has just killed with his rifle on the banks of the Assiniboine River near their family home on Thompson Drive in the community of St. James, Manitoba. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246172711-I8TZHIXXHUNUL1UEQ8PQ/Bingham40.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff's little sister Jean flies her own airplane on the sidewalk of the family home in St. James. A quick search of “Airplane model EF-499” on the internet revealed other photos of this very same photo prop. Back in the late 1920s and early 1930s, a photographer went door to door in St. James, Manitoba dragging this wonderful model aircraft and taking pictures of kids. I wish they still did these sorts of things. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246221672-LGGVDF56GCIBPQPPHW8O/Bingham30.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A formal photo of the Bingham family in the mid-1930s. Olive and Lt. Col. Jack Bingham stand on either side of a teenaged Clifford while in front are his two siblings—sister Jean and younger brother Billy. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246347255-705BA1L3VFNQJEN6DHNY/Bingham37.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out The cover of The Aircraftman, a monthly publication produced at No.1 TTS, St. Thomas, Ontario, depicting the importance of the technical skills of mechanics, fitters and other ground crew in keeping RCAF aircraft in the skies. Note that Newfoundland and Labrador are not included in the red of Canada. They would join Confederation in 1949. Photo: ElginCounty.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246403558-H0P3F9099RPJCHJSK3BP/Bingham19.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff Bingham's parents— Lieutenant Colonel Jack Bingham and his wife Olive (née Park) are photographed at Camp Debert, Nova Scotia. Camp Debert was a staging and training area for units deploying overseas. It was here that Bingham's Royal Winnipeg Rifles trained and prepared for duty overseas early in the war. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246442221-GINOQILJCEKCHFIGVZ8A/Bingham35.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Clifford Bingham poses proudly with his father (right) Lieutenant Colonel Jack Bingham, MC, VD, Commanding Officer of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Known as the “Little Black Devils”, this regiment would earn hard fought battle honours during the Northwest Rebellion, the Boer War, the First World War (including Vimy), the Second World War and the War in Afghanistan. This photo was likely taken after he had completed initial aircrew selection training No 1 TTS as he is wearing LAC propeller badges on his sleeves. Since his father and another Army officer are present, it possible that this was when he was at No. 8 SFTS and was visiting his father who was training with his Royal Winnipeg Rifles in Camp Debert, Nova Scotia. The other officer was apparently the regimental chaplain. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246555883-IOTGCIXCN1GBRGOYTS5E/Bingham21.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Before Cliff Bingham did his Elementary Flying Training on Fleet Finches at No. 17 EFTS in Stanley, Nova Scotia, he spent a few months at No. 3 Initial Training School at Victoriaville in Quebec's Eastern Townships. Here Bingham (right) and some friends snack on something (possibly patates frites?) they have just bought at Lou's Restaurant in the small town of Richmond, Québec, about 50 kilometres from Victoriaville. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246607691-IBXW67X7KADMVR9NK0ZF/Bingham18.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Corporal Cliff Bingham (left) and a pal say goodbye to friends from the passenger door of a rail car. Taken in August of 1942, it was likely taken at the train station at Stanley, Nova Scotia en route to No. 2 SFTS at Uplands there to begin flying Harvard trainers. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246649816-39ACBJUIC6GCG63SJVOH/Bingham17.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff Bingham joined Course No. 63 at No. 2 SFTS Uplands in Ottawa, one of the larger of the advanced flying schools in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It's not known how many of these 29 graduated, but Cliff (third from left in the front row) was second in his class overall. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246773176-5LJZISCCAM0BUKGY5PT4/Bingham42.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A great shot of Cliff Bingham flying a Harvard trainer over the snow-covered Ottawa Valley near No. 2 SFTS Uplands in late November or early December of 1942. In order to see his face better for the shot, Cliff has slid back the canopy which no doubt let in a thundering stream of freezing air. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246835267-3WR4JDW6KZRN5BWLNNZC/Bingham41.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out While at No 1 General Reconnaissance School at Summerside, Cliff Bingham's commission came through, earning him a new officer's service number and requiring a new photo for his identification card. Photo: From Cliff Bingham's service file, Library and Archives Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246878222-NPX24NV5LXLCPQHX5OUY/Bingham25.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out In a letter to his father from RCAF Station Summerside, Cliff's pride and excitement at being just made an officer in the RCAF was clearly evident. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625246972187-URYDX130SF18F3F14K7W/Bingham16.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Cliff Bingham photographed in the winter of 1942-43 at Summerside P.E.I. with his new Pilot Officer stripes on the epaulettes of his great coat. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625247046544-SQMS3CZVDCAD7G3LZCWD/Bingham46.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out A wonderful image of Clifford Bingham at the reigns of a one-horse cutter in Summerside P.E.I.. The caption in the back written in Clifford's hand is the inscription: “Acme Taxi Co. “Drive Ur Self” Anywhere in Town for 25 cents.” Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625247247672-AY07YATNSGUPYUBG99RU/Bingham24.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Pilot Officer Cliff Bingham sheltering from the wind and rain aboard a troopship on its way to Great Britain. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625247299726-WCW7585WCDCU1MX1YWEL/Bingham32.jpeg The Stories - The Memory That Would Not Die - Make it stand out Another dramatic photo of Cliff Bingham aboard a troopship heading across the Atlantic at the height of the U-boat wars. Photo: Jean (Bingham) Brimmell Collection https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-courage-et-la-croise-des-chemins monthly 0.5 2022-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574098921-EY149BJJFOOMXQXBR8M6/BarklowMcKnightTitle2.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574148579-EMRR1R8WZUJ508D5TPNR/BarklowMcKnight04.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Le système de transport en commun de Calgary (le C-train) rejoint l’est, le sud et une partie de l’ouest de Calgary. Certains wagons portent le nom de McKnight et suivent un trajet et un horaire serrés. Les hommes et femmes d’affaires utilisent ce moyen de transport chaque jour mais combien d’entre eux ont une pensée pour ce valeureux as pilote mieux connu comme Willie, qui a connu une fin tragique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574404351-DLLQW57EBOUA0JC6XJZX/BarklowMcknight14.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Photo de Bader assis sur le Hurricane LE-D du 242e Escadron. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574443424-BW2W7B13XDNBYOVSO0ZU/BarklowMcKNight13.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Le colonel d’aviation Douglas Bader balance sa prothèse pour embarquer dans un Spitfire. C’était à la fin de la guerre, quand il avait été promu à ce rang en 1946. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574552494-IMD63QH91LZGAV7VSN1U/BarklowMcKnight15.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Des avions du 242e Escadron en vol lors de la Bataille d’Angleterre. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574657004-8QGSNS4MQSRV0LBTDHJG/BarklowMcKnight09.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Son sens d’humour et ses connaissances médicales ont été mis à profit par McKnight sur le fuselage de son Hurricane LE-A qui dénote un squelette souriant de la « faucheuse » qui pointe sa faucille vers l’ennemi pour le faucher. L’image apparait sur les deux côtés du fuselage. Photo: RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574800238-EAAION2BAZQGZ9D6IK0B/BarklowMcKnight03.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out L’aérodrome de Duxford est aujourd’hui le site du Imperial War Museum où siège l’une des meilleures organisations de restauration d‘avions d’époque ainsi que l’un des meilleurs sites de spectacles aériens d’avions d’époque : Les légendes volantes de Duxford. Lors de la Deuxième Guerre et durant la Bataille d’Angleterre, le 242 opérait de Duxford. Trois de ces pilotes légendaires sont sur la photo : de gauche à droite McKnight, Bader et Ball. Les trois portent leurs uniformes et chaussent les mêmes bottes reflétées sur le fuselage des Hurricanes qui portent un coup de pied au derrière d’Hitler. Bader chausse des souliers car il n’avait pas besoin de bottes compte tenu de ses prothèses. Les trois pilotes portent leurs décorations, McKnight et Ball la Croix de service distingué dans l’Aviation et Bader l’Ordre de service distingué. Photo : Imperial War Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574861342-DGJB4JCX9624K142DI6W/BarklowMcKNight12.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Deux des plus grands portraitistes de la Seconde Guerre mondiale étaient Eric Henri Kennington (un fantassin pendant la Première Guerre mondiale) et Cuthbert Julian Orde (un observateur du Royal Flying Corps pendant la Première Guerre mondiale). Kennington a dessiné à la fois Bader et McKnight, mais il a choisi de mettre le portrait de McKnight sur son livre de 1942, Drawing the R.A.F. (à gauche). Cuthbert Orde a publié un portrait du commandant d’aviation Douglas Bader (à droite) dans son recueil de portraits Pilotes du Fighter Command - 64 Portraits de Cuthbert Orde – un album de portraits de pilotes de la bataille d’Angleterre. Images: Wikipédia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627574943123-J8AT23G3SW5NAHD7AN45/BarklowMcKnight49.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Noel Barlow et Willie McKnight se sont tous deux rendus à Liverpool, en Angleterre, à bord du même navire, le CPS Montclare, l’un des navires à vapeur du Canadien Pacifique. McKnight l’a pris en janvier 1939, tandis que Barlow en décembre 1937. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575052252-T7E54QEZOKYDGKTS677A/Relic18.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Un B-25 Mitchell de l’Unité No 5 de formation opérationnelle (OTU) dans le ciel de la région de Vancouver. La photographie a été prise par Noel Barlow pendant sa formation là-bas. Photo par Noel Barlow, DezMazes Collection, via la page Facebook n ° 5 OTU https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575107706-OCJD6REM0M93943SHKLT/BarklowMcKnight01.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Deux photographies d’un Noel Barlow vieillissant et à la retraite. À droite, il tient une photo probablement prise pendant ses jours d’entraînement à la British Flying Training School No 3 en Oklahoma. À gauche, il tient une autre photo de lui-même en tant qu’officier pilote dans l’Aviation royale canadienne. Photos via Clarence Simonsen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575159468-ONOQ3VYBS1S9MN2TOOHD/BarklowMcKnight08.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out La pierre tombale de Barlow au cimetière de Strathmore en Alberta montre que, malgré le fait que l’ARC l’ait nommé pilote et officier, sa véritable allégeance allait à ses compagnons d’escadron du 242e Escadron canadien et à son leader bien-aimé Douglas Bader. Photo par Ancaster à FindaGrave.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627575197366-0DOYATR8YKK5I74P03JR/BarklowMcKnight05.jpg The Stories - Le courage et la croisée des chemins - Make it stand out Un panneau routier à Calgary, en Alberta, porte le nom d’un simple caporal mécanicien dans la Royal Air Force. Un hommage à l’histoire, à la loyauté, à la détermination et à l’amitié. https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/magee-un-jeune-hros-et-pote-lgendaire monthly 0.5 2022-05-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2593a8a-72e3-404f-9a3b-b2f638e95b0e/Magee-Flash-FR.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997530228-EW19OMD2QLEIICWHX6X6/HighFlight75_03.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Voici John Gillespie Magee, Jr, né le 9 juin 1922 à Shanghai, en Chine. Il dort dans une chambre d’enfant plutôt humide, l’ombilic enveloppé et sa couche en tissu plutôt basse. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997589237-GCCB778JKDERI4W2YPEL/HighFlight75_02.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out John était le premier-né du révérend John Gillespie Magee (né en 1884) et de Faith Backhouse Magee (née en 1891). Magee, issu d’une famille éminente de Pittsburgh, PA, est parti en Chine en 1912 en tant que missionnaire ; de même, Faith, missionnaire d’origine britannique, était arrivée en 1919. Ils sont tombés amoureux quelques semaines après leur rencontre et se sont mariés à Kuling, en Chine, en juillet 1921. Par ce mariage, Faith devient américaine. Les quatre enfants Magee, nés en Chine, au Japon et en Angleterre, sont néanmoins citoyens américains en vertu de la citoyenneté de leur père. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997658731-KZ5BAJ4OYK3N55HDOC7J/HighFlight75_04.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Les nouveaux parents ont rempli un « album de bébé » des souvenirs des premiers jours de John : des photos, des listes de cadeaux reçus et les noms des amis de la famille. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997694364-T7B7HNXDGUE2U7INGSJY/HighFlight75_06.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Faith a écrit « Carte de baptême du bébé en chinois » au bas de ce document familial. John Jr. a été baptisé en 1922 vêtu d’une robe de baptême faite à la main et cousue par sa tante Ruth Backhouse. Expédiée d’Angleterre, la robe est arrivée à temps pour la cérémonie en Chine. Alors que des centaines de documents Magee ont été donnés par la famille à la bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School, la famille garde précieusement la robe. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Divinity School de Yale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997734211-4JUZTCY418DISP88Y28K/HighFlight75_01.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out John Magee a vécu ses premières années à Nankin (Nanjing), en Chine, qui était alors la capitale. Les Magee vivaient dans un complexe construit dans les années 1920 par le révérend Magee à Hsiakwan (Xiaguan), un quartier pauvre situé à l’extérieur des anciens murs de Nankin. La chapelle, l’école pour les enfants chinois locaux et les maisons des Magee et des autres membres du personnel se trouvaient près de la rivière Yangzte. Depuis la passerelle sur le toit de leur maison, les enfants Magee observaient la navigation sur cette rivière. Dans cette ancienne photo on peut apercevoir les bâtiments de l’école et de la chapelle dans les années 1920 ; aujourd’hui la chapelle sert de bibliothèque scolaire nommée en l’honneur du « premier directeur » John G. Magee Sr. D’après les archives de la famille Magee et la bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997769491-C9M3TGY7X81RFRORDMIW/HighFlight75_41.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Le révérend John G. Magee est un héros en Chine pour son travail au sein du Comité international de la zone de sécurité, un groupe d’hommes d’affaires, de médecins et d’ecclésiastiques qui a sauvé la vie à plus de 200 000 civils chinois lors du « viol de Nankin » en 1937. Pendant que Magee et les autres luttaient pour tenir en échec l’armée d’invasion japonaise, ses enfants demeuraient en sécurité en Angleterre avec leur mère. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997809796-U7KJ26EZP22E60Q8ESV9/HighFlight75_07.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Par une journée pluvieuse, père et fils ont visité le mausolée du Dr Sun Yat-sen, le père de la République de Chine, établi en 1911. Sun Yat-sen, que John G. Magee a rencontré, est mort en 1925. Sa tombe a été construite entre 1926 et 1929 au sommet de la « Montagne pourpre » à Nankin (Mont Zijin, Nanjing). Cette photo a été prise en 1928 ou 1929. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997856576-BRMQ4AXNUPSO9SI7RYR7/HighFlight75_44.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Le passeport délivré à John Magee, 11 ans, le 10 avril 1934, le décrit comme mesurant 1,80 m, avec des cheveux et des yeux bruns. Lieu de naissance : Chine. Étudiant. Une page ultérieure est tamponnée à New York, le 18 avril 1934 car John est en transit vers l’Angleterre, « retournant à l’école St. Clair [Clare], Walmer, Kent ». John G. Magee, père et fils, ont signé la photo du passeport. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997905804-SVDRMP189360MMYDT0E9/HighFlight75_08.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Toute la famille Magee pose pour cette photo prise en février 1933 à Deal, au Kent en Angleterre. À partir de la gauche, on voit David, John et Christopher. Frederick Hugh, qui naîtra en août, est également « présent ». Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997940657-DPLZ54KX18YBFDYIHH3U/HighFlight75_05.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Les Magee ont décidé que la scolarité de leurs enfants se déroulerait en Grande-Bretagne, mais que leurs études universitaires auraient lieu aux États-Unis. De cette façon, l’héritage, les traditions et les familles des deux parents feraient partie de la vie des enfants. Les trois premiers enfants déménagent en Angleterre avec Faith ; John Sr. quitte la Chine pendant ses années de permission. Le quatrième fils Magee, Frederick Hugh, est né à Londres en 1933. John, l’aîné, tient Hugh dans ses bras le jour de son baptême (voilà encore la robe de baptême Magee). Il est accompagné de ses frères Christopher (1928-2005, né au Japon), à gauche, et David (1925-2013, né en Chine), à droite. Hugh Magee est un ecclésiastique à la retraite qui vit en Écosse. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626997983254-0T6UJ3XBHQOS94H69HIZ/HighFlight75_50.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Cette photographie, qui aurait été prise en 1937 à Tunbridge Wells, en Angleterre, saisit en un seul cliché, à la fois l’adolescent audacieusement confiant et le malin effronté. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998018281-FRT9YG6KPG67BM3HSJ3Z/HighFlight75_12.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Une des rares photographies en couleurs (coloriée à la main) de John. Elle a été prise au printemps 1938, alors que John rendait visite à sa famille à Mortehoe, un village du Devon, en Angleterre, pendant la saison de l’agnelage. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998071897-WK550Z6TAIGPEU4JZJWP/HighFlight75_10.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998100469-Q3ICFFSPO0GBCXBDW3FF/HighFlight75_09.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out La veste (de la photo précédente) réapparaît sur la photo de famille prise la même année, lors de la permission du révérend Magee passée avec sa famille en Angleterre. Étant donné la nature du travail missionnaire de Magee en Chine, la famille se réunissait rarement pendant les années 1930. John a rendu visite à sa grand-mère à Mortehoe sa dernière visite en 1941, quelques semaines avant sa mort ; lors de cette visite, il a porté un nouvel uniforme « qui lui va beaucoup mieux que l’ancien ! » a-t-il noté. (De gauche à droite sur la photo du bas : John G. Magee père, Hugh, John, Christopher, David, Faith). Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998152255-OXAV1GH8M3J3Z6NIT4M1/HighFlight75_14.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Des verres fumés super distingués ! La voile, en fait, tout ce qui a trait aux bateaux de toutes sortes, était un passe-temps favori. Ici, John pagaie à l’école de Rugby en 1938. Trevor Hoy, le partenaire d’étude de John, l’a décrit comme un « casse-cou brillant ». Alors qu’il excellait en latin et en grec (« quel dialecte ? » ) demandait-il avec insolence. Il écrivait également des articles pour le magazine littéraire de l’école. C’était aussi un farceur qui grimpait la tour de l’horloge de l’école et qui subissait sa punition dans « la tour de Birching ». À la grande consternation des professeurs, John sortait de la tour en souriant ! À Rugby, John était également membre du Corps d’entraînement des officiers. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998234284-E8XMYC8UNHEKLGZAQM4Y/HighFlight75_15.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Avant de partir pour ses vacances d’été à Pittsburgh, John, 16 ans, accueille sa mère à la Journée du discours de la Rugby School, en 1939. On lui remet le prix de poésie de l’école de Rugby pour son sonnet : « Le meilleur des mondes ». Un ancien élève de Rugby, Rupert Brooke, le célèbre poète qui a été tué pendant la Première Guerre mondiale avait remporté ce prix en 1905 ; John idolâtrait Brooke et il lui a plus tard dédié un sonnet. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998283698-SDC3HD0GWNBUR34Q5BEA/HighFlight75_42.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Sur la photo du jardin, prise le jour du discours, Faith Magee est assise sur le banc ; John est debout, face à elle. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998312451-OLKANZ7YSDCXC7IPHDZP/HighFlight75_13.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Lorsque la Seconde Guerre mondiale éclate en 1939, John Magee rendait visite à sa tante, Mary Scaife, à Pittsburgh. Il était venu d’Angleterre avec un ami, et pendant leur séjour aux États-Unis, ils ont visité l’Exposition universelle de 1939 à New York. Cependant, à la fin de l’été et lorsqu’il est temps de retourner en Angleterre pour sa dernière année d’études à l’école de Rugby, John ne peut pas quitter les États-Unis. En tant que citoyen américain, il ne peut pas obtenir de visa ; son ami anglais retourne seul à Rugby. John passe sa dernière année de secondaire à l’Avon Old Farms School dans le Connecticut. On ne peut qu’imaginer ce que c’est que de fréquenter de façon inattendue une nouvelle école, sans amis proches, séparé de ses parents (le père John est toujours en Chine ; la mère Faith est en Angleterre avec ses frères), et de devoir se mettre rapidement au diapason des différentes attentes du programme scolaire. Néanmoins, John obtient son diplôme en juin 1940 et il est accepté à l’université de Yale. Toutefois, il demande à reporter le début de ses études à Yale afin de pouvoir participer à l’effort de guerre. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Divinity School de Yale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998352452-XJSUGHZ77Z028FMKXB3L/HighFlight75_11.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Pendant son séjour à l’école Avon Old Farms (1939-1940), John continue à écrire des poèmes. En fait, dans le cadre d’un travail scolaire, il a produit un recueil relié de ses poèmes. Il a effectué la composition typographique et imprimé les pages sur la presse de l’école. Il a également relié le volume avec du papier bleu clair. Le recueil de poèmes est, bien entendu, antérieur à « Haut vol » (1941) et ne comprend donc pas ce poème ni « Per Ardua », considéré comme le dernier poème qu’il a écrit avant sa mort. Environ vingt exemplaires du recueil Poems by John Magee ont été imprimés par John ; il s’agit d’un volume rare. Cette photo de l’annuaire de l’école montre John en tant que « poète » dans la nature pendant sa dernière année de secondaire. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998385770-8F5C734TZC208VVBEB7X/HighFlight75_16.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out John a mentionné à un journaliste qu’en septembre 1939, il « devait y participer [à la guerre] ». Il a dit qu’il « était trop jeune à 18 ans pour se qualifier pour le British Ambulance Corps [alors] il a fait ses bagages et est parti pour Montréal. Il était sur le point de s’engager dans l’armée canadienne lorsqu’il a rencontré des amis qui l’ont persuadé de rejoindre l’ARC ». Le New Paramount Portrait Studio de Toronto (toujours en activité) a photographié de nombreuses recrues de l’ARC. En 1940, John Magee, sans moustache, a posé pour son premier portrait militaire. Via le Dépôt des effectifs No. 1 à Toronto, il se familiarise bientôt avec la « toux du Horse Palace », car il dort avec des centaines d’autres dans des lits superposés installés sur le terrain de l’Exposition nationale canadienne (ENC), près du lac Ontario. Tout près, la promenade et les salles de danse offraient des distractions à John et à ses nouveaux amis de l’ARC. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998563689-02JAX5DZ85RSEULF5W3W/HighFlight75_18.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Aviateur de deuxième classe Magee. Cette photo, prise à la fin de 1940, montre John au cours de ses premières semaines dans l’ARC, alors qu’il était en service de garde à Trenton, en Ontario. Âgé de dix-huit ans et loin de sa famille, John exploite vigoureusement son temps libre à socialiser dans la ville voisine de Belleville. Plus tard, il se rendra à l’école de formation élémentaire à Toronto. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998598864-URVSH8SN0F08YOR9A814/HighFlight75_37.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Lorsque John est arrivé à Uplands à Ottawa en avril 1941, il a rendu visite à un ecclésiastique local, le révérend Frank Fidler, dont la femme était, depuis son enfance, une amie de l’infirmière de l’école Avon Old Farms. John est arrivé tôt un samedi matin, se souvient Mme Marguerite Fidler, et il semble qu’il ait eu « une longue nuit » le vendredi. Alors que M. Fidler terminait son sermon du lendemain, il a demandé à John d’attendre dans le salon alors que Mme Fidler continuait son travail dans la cuisine. Au bout de quelques minutes, elle passe la tête dans le salon pour voir si John va bien et le trouve allongé sur le canapé en profond sommeil. Lorsque Joan Fidler, âgée de cinq ans, jette un coup d’œil à l’adolescent endormi, Marguerite l’implore « de laisser le garçon dormir, il est fatigué ». Finalement, John se réveille, mange un peu, et le révérend Fidler et John quittent la maison pour une tournée rapide de la ville d’Ottawa en voiture. Par la suite John a été déposé à la base. Mais avant de quitter la résidence des Fidler, John a signé leur livre d’invités. Des années plus tard, les Fidler ont appris que le jeune homme qui avait fait une sieste sur leur canapé était l’adolescent pilote qui avait écrit « Haut vol ». La page du livre d’invités est devenue un trésor familial. Et Joan, en 2016, note : « J’ai encore une image très nette de lui endormi sur notre canapé dans le salon ». Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998662981-CO7IX2KFACE9OK6BQPRT/HighFlight75_19.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Une magnifique photographie de John Magee, fier et confiant, debout à côté de l’un des Harvard 2 construit par Canadian Car and Foundry pour l’École de pilotage militaire no 2 à la station Uplands de l’ARC, à Ottawa. Il porte un casque auquel est fixé un tube Gosport pour parler à l’instructeur en vol. Il est remplacé maintenant par l’interphone. Cette photo a été prise au début de l’été 1941. Photo : MDN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998714699-GHKO7RRUP4P0VXUSRW13/HighFlight75_21.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Photo posée d’élèves-pilotes américains du British Commonwealth Air Training Plan du cours 25 de la 2e SFTS d’Uplands, au printemps 1941. Cette photo a été prise dans les semaines précédant le tournage à Uplands des principales séquences du film Captain of the clouds , la plus grande production de Warner Bros. à ce jour. Avec James Cagney en vedette, les producteurs du film prévoyaient une première à New York au début de 1942. Contrairement à certains reportages, Magee n’a pas participé au tournage de la célèbre scène de la parade des ailes dans Captain of the clouds. À ce moment-là, il était déjà parti pour l’Angleterre. À gauche, l’aviateur-chef John Magee montre du doigt un objectif dans le ciel avec une détermination posée et peut-être un peu d’embarras. Peut-être ce cliché promotionnel était-il destiné à inciter les Américains à se mobiliser et à soutenir les Alliés à remporter la guerre. Alors que le film était en postproduction, l’attaque japonaise sur Pearl Harbor rendait superflu tout encouragement des Yankees. Le film est sorti en février 1942, mais, préoccupé par les préparatifs de guerre, l’Amérique l’a à peine remarqué. Les pilotes sont (de gauche à droite) : les aviateurs John G. Magee de Washington (J5824) ; Arthur C. Young de Cleveland, Ohio ; Claiborne Frank Gallicher de Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Curtis Gilman Johnston de Chicago, Illinois ; Arthur Bernard Cleaveland de Springfield, Illinois ; et Ober Nathaniel Leatherman de Lima, Ohio. Photo : MDN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998762670-3D616N23IK01ZVQXE4AJ/HighFlight75_22.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out 16 juin 1941 —L’aviateur-chef John Gillespie Magee, qui porte encore l’insigne blanc d’un élève pilote sur son képi, rayonne de fierté et de joie lorsqu’il se fait épingler son brevet de pilote de l’ARC par le colonel d’aviation Wilfred A. Curtis, Croix de service distingué et barrette à l’École de pilotage militaire no 2, à Uplands une semaine seulement après le dix-neuvième anniversaire de Magee. Curtis était un pilote de chasse du Royal Naval Air Service pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Photo : MDN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998811664-X0AZ7I96VHTRC04RA0FE/HighFlight75_17.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Peu après avoir reçu son brevet de pilote à Uplands, à Ottawa, John s’est rendu à Washington D.C. pour visiter sa famille avant de partir pour l’Angleterre. Son père, son travail comme missionnaire en Chine maintenant terminé, servait à l’église St. John’s, « l’église des présidents » située en face de la Maison-Blanche. Au cours d’une entrevue pour le Washington Post, John mentionne qu’en septembre 1939, il « devait s’y mettre ». Il a raconté au journaliste qu’il « était trop jeune à 18 ans pour se qualifier pour le British Ambulance Corps [alors] qu’il a fait ses bagages et est parti pour Montréal. Il était sur le point de s’engager dans l’armée canadienne lorsqu’il a rencontré des amis qui l’ont persuadé de rejoindre l’ARC ». Le lendemain de la parution de l’article dans le Post, la portraitiste de silhouettes Florence Browning a réalisé ce portrait de John G. Magee Jr. où l’on voit clairement la moustache à la Errol Flynn que portaient tant de membres des forces aériennes de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il est intéressant de noter que les silhouettes sont généralement découpées par paires, le côté noir des deux morceaux de papier se faisant face pour une image et une image inversée. Ces deux silhouettes, qui n’ont jamais été encadrées, se trouvent dans la propriété Magee à Yale. On peut se demander à qui John les destinait, si elles avaient peut-être été mises de côté pour lui plutôt que postées ou livrées à un admirateur. La famille Magee vit John une dernière fois lors de sa visite à Washington avant son départ pour l’Angleterre. Six mois plus tard, il était mort. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998855076-SEWOLG7HKBK2IPTOL6KQ/HighFlight75_23.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Un moment de détente à la caserne, en Angleterre, 1941— probablement à la base RAF Digby. Photo ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626998932387-6OB4V7R1ABV9MFGDLO6N/HighFlight75_24.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out L’album photo personnel de John Magee comprend cette image de lui et d’un Spitfire. « Quel as! » est la légende que John a écrite avec toute l’humilité qu’un adolescent pilote peut avoir! Lors d’une interview accordée au Washington Post juste avant son départ de Washington D.C., John a déclaré qu’il était « heureux d’avoir gagné son brevet de pilote, mais encore plus heureux à l’idée de piloter un Spitfire, le rêve ultime de tout pilote britannique, et à la perspective d’un peu d’action ». Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999018518-V7IEDYAUCEM2W1RXP03W/HighFlight75_28.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Photo de mauvaise qualité, néanmoins une image dont John est fier. Nous le voyons ici dans le cockpit d’un Spitfire du 412e Escadron, comme l’indique le marquage d’escadron « VZ » sur le fuselage de l’avion. La photo a été prise quelque temps après son départ de l’Unité d’entraînement opérationnel n° 53 de la RAF Llandow, à Glamorgan, au Pays de Galles, en août. Magee rejoint le 412e Escadron à RAF Digby, Lincolnshire, le 23 septembre 1941. Pendant les deux mois et demi qui suivent, il perfectionne sa formation, mais il a aussi réussi plusieurs opérations de combat, dont une qui lui a permis de tirer sur un Messerschmitt Bf 109. En tout il a piloté le Spitfire à 80 reprises. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999052598-9K4Z2T69RMYBHM9T3D3P/HighFlight75_26.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out John a choisi cette image à partir de la planche contact d’un photographe montrant de multiples poses de portraits. Il s’agit de la photographie officielle de l’ARC que l’on voit le plus souvent accompagnant les documents « Haut vol ». Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999102535-PSR3PRJTT4AX7QDAX9JM/HighFlight75_27.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out La copie originale et très fragile de « Haut vol »,(High flight) de la main de John. Le poème apparaît au dos d’une page d’une lettre envoyée en septembre 1941 à ses parents à Washington D.C. La lettre et le poème ont été prêtés à Archibald MacLeish, le bibliothécaire du Congrès, pour une exposition intitulée « Poèmes de foi et de liberté ». Cet artéfact est devenu un cadeau des Magee au peuple américain et « Haut vol » est conservé de manière permanente à la Bibliothèque du Congrès. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999134982-KPL8T8D2EIK4MCPJIAPF/HighFlight75_29.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Magee prend une pose à la fois désinvolte et confiante appuyée contre le Supermarine Spitfire Vb (VZ-B, surnommé Brunhildë) du 412e Escadron. Le Spitfire Brunhildë (AD329) a subi des dommages à l’extrémité de l’aile avec Magee aux commandes le 5 novembre lors d’un atterrissage difficile à RAF Wellingore. Photo via Stephen Fochuk/Robert Bracken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999170419-G2GIXK9RNDZ06QB2RQG5/HighFlight75_38.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Personne ne savait pourquoi John avait nommé son Spitfire Brunhildë, jusqu’à ce qu’une cache de ses lettres à « Regine » soit envoyée à Rusty Maclean, le bibliothécaire de la Temple Reading Room de l’école de Rugby, en Angleterre. On a demandé à l’historienne Linda Granfield de transcrire les lettres parce qu’elle connaît bien l’écriture de la famille Magee. « En fait, je me suis surprise à réagir à voix haute en dactylographiant cette lettre sur mon portable », raconte-t-elle. « J’avais l’explication de Brunhildë sous les yeux. Mystère résolu ! ». Il a écrit « J’ai nommé mon Spitfire, pas en ton nom [Régine] — (ni d’ailleurs au nom d’aucune autre fille que je connaisse) — mais Brunhildë, parce que si tu as déjà vu un Spitfire, deux qualités te frappent : la puissance et la grâce, d’où l’image de la déesse teutonne. Je l’ai peint en gros caractères allemands sur le côté du capot, de sorte que si le Boche la voit un jour, il se rendra compte que même les divinités allemandes sont de notre côté maintenant ». Le reste du texte de la même page est également intéressant. Il décrit ce qui se passe sous sa fenêtre pendant que John écrit, et révèle également ce qui est important pour un pilote adolescent. « Pendant que nous étions partis en manœuvres, l’escadron Eagle a pris notre place ici. C’est un bon groupe de gars, mais ils m’assourdissent en ce moment. Tout leur escadron décolle en formation ensemble au moment où j’écris. Le ciel est couvert d’une belle formation d’Hurricanes. Au fait, je n’ai pas oublié les consommations que tu devais m’offrir à mon retour. Je vis dans l’attente ! En attendant, bon courage, ma chérie, et préserve bien la flamme au foyer. À toi pour toujours, John P.S. Si jamais tu as une cigarette dont tu ne sais que faire, mets-la dans une enveloppe et marque-la « Magee », car il est difficile d’en trouver ici ! Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999269345-IP61FK4XYFIO7123NTTT/HighFlight75_30.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out La vaste collection de pièces militaires de l’artiste Michael Martchenko spécialisé en aviation confère un caractère authentique à cette peinture, l’une des illustrations de High Flight: A Story of World War II, une biographie de John G. Magee Jr. par Linda Granfield. Le livre a été publié en 1999. Un adolescent a servi de modèle ; il portait les vêtements et l’équipement, et rigolait lorsqu’on lui disait qui et ce qu’était une « Mae West ». Illustration : Michael Martchenko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999367684-CWMTOCNHB5NIA16WC8JS/HighFlight75_39.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out « Haut vol » (High flight) a été publié dans le bulletin de l’église St. John’s en décembre 1941, peu après la mort de John. Pendant des décennies, on a cru que la copie du bulletin était la première impression publique de « Haut vol » ; cependant, en 1998, Linda Granfield a découvert que le poème avait déjà été publié, avec des erreurs, dans le Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, le 12 novembre 1941. Sa tante Mary Scaife l’avait fièrement envoyé, accompagné d’une note sur le service de John dans l’ARC. La recherche d’une éventuelle publication antérieure du poème se poursuit. Remarque : la date du 3 septembre 1941 imprimée avec le poème est celle de la lettre de John à ses parents ; le poème a été écrit le 18 août, selon les informations de vol figurant dans le journal de bord de John. John Magee savait-il que le public avait lu « Haut vol » en novembre ? Nous l’ignorons. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999391158-GKN9MLHE2UE6XQX4ZSCI/HighFlight75_31.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Le tableau de Michael Martchenko représente la collision entre le Spitfire de John Magee et l’Oxford d’Ernest Aubrey Griffin, le 11 décembre 1941. John s’était précipité dans la guerre, craignant, comme bien d’autres jeunes, que la guerre ne se termine avant qu’il n’ait pu faire sa part. Toutefois, les États-Unis se sont lancés en guerre au lendemain de l’attaque japonaise sur Pearl Harbor, à Hawaï, quelques jours seulement avant la mort de John. Cette illustration, basée sur les rapports de la collision réelle, apparaît dans High Flight: A Story of World War II de Linda Granfield. Illustration : Michael Martchenko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999447816-J4MPB7NW8EI3AAY8OME0/HighFlight75_32.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out L’aviateur-chef de la RAF Ernest Aubrey Griffin, comme John Magee, n’avait que 19 ans lorsqu’il est mort. Il n’était dans la réserve volontaire que depuis six mois. Sa mère et Faith Magee ont correspondu lorsque chacune a appris l’identité du fils de l’autre. Griffin est enterré au crématorium d’Oxford, à Headington (anciennement Stanton St. John), en Angleterre. C’est là que son nom figure sur un panneau du Mur du souvenir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999519160-OMO2WJ35W3YJSRIGW6T4/HighFlight75_33.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Le télégramme reçu par la famille Magee à Washington D.C. La partie censurée contient l’adresse de la famille, une maison louée alors que le révérend Magee servait à « l’église des présidents » pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Quelques semaines après avoir été informée de la mort de John, la famille a reçu des lettres de condoléances du grand public et d’autres, plus célèbres, qui avaient également été touchés par le poème de leur fils. Parmi les personnes qui ont envoyé des notes figurent Helen Keller, les actrices Katherine Hepburn et Merle Oberon, ainsi que des membres du gouvernement américain. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999558173-96MIB4WX3QKSDZ0ST1PX/HighFlight75_34.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out La famille Magee a reçu cette photographie de la tombe de John en Angleterre. Cette simple croix dans le cimetière de Scopwick, dans le Lincolnshire, a été remplacée plus tard par l’une des pierres tombales standardisées de Portland installées par la Commission de guerre impériale (maintenant connue sous le nom de Commission des sépultures de guerre du Commonwealth. John Gillespie Magee Jr. est enterré avec d’autres aviateurs de l’ARC qui sont morts en service à la base de Digby. Comme d’autres parents, les Magee ont choisi l’inscription gravée sur la pierre de leur fils soit deux lignes de « Haut vol » . « Je me suis libéré des âpres liens de la terre / J’étends la main et je touche le visage de Dieu. » Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999586573-HT4C6I7CXM1AXQALV32M/HighFlight75_36.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out En juin 1943, l’artiste Jere Wickwire, un camarade de classe du révérend Magee à Yale, réalise un portrait du jeune John d’après la photo prise par l’ARC. La famille Magee a posé avec un dessin préliminaire pour le portrait, un cadeau de l’artiste. Faith Magee porte la « Croix d’honneur de la mère » (croix du souvenir) à ruban violet. David s’était engagé dans la US Army Air Corps. Christopher (à l’arrière) a servi dans la marine marchande de combat pendant la guerre. Hugh (à gauche) était étudiant. En 2012, David Magee a donné le dessin, signé par l’artiste, au Musée canadien de la guerre (Ottawa) comme cadeau de la part de sa famille au Canada, où John avait été formé et dont il portait l’uniforme de l’ARC. La version finale de la peinture à l’huile est accrochée à l’école de Rugby en Angleterre. Archives de la famille Magee/Bibliothèque de la Yale Divinity School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999633256-OZNNPLNVSQKBW7XX21E4/HighFlight75_35.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Le poème « Haut vol » a inspiré des créateurs dans de nombreuses disciplines. Il a été mis en musique, utilisé dans des fictions et des films, et inscrit sur des murs, des meubles et des peintures. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Comité des citoyens pour l’armée et la marine a retenu des artistes pour la conception et l’exécution de triptyques d’autel. Ces écrans pliables pouvaient être transportés sur le terrain ou à bord des navires afin de constituer une « chapelle mobile» pour les troupes. Ce triptyque « Haut vol » a été peint par Alfred James Tulk (1899-1988) pour la chapelle existante de Bolling Field, Washington D.C. Il a été inauguré par la famille Magee en 1946, mais a malheureusement été détruit dans un incendie quelques années plus tard. La rumeur veut qu’une photographie de John Magee ait servi de modèle pour le visage du jeune Christ, mais rien ne permet de le confirmer. Source de l’image non disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999678022-KDW7HS47MQ82L4NLCWBN/HighFlight_45.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Pour un grand nombre de Canadiens, le livre de lecture de cinquième année intitulé « Haut vol » a servi de première rencontre avec le poème de pilote adolescent. La maison d’édition, Copp Clark Co. Limited de Toronto a reçu la permission écrite du Révérend et de Mme John G. Magee d’inclure le poème dans la publication de 1951. Des vers de « Haut vol » apparaissent sur le frontispice et le poème entier se trouve à la page 8, dans une section intitulée « Grandir au Canada ». Un astérisque (*) indique les auteurs canadiens ; le nom de John n’a pas d’astérisque. Cela dit, il est en compagnie immédiate de Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, le très honorable Vincent Massey (" On Being Canadian ") et Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. Et ce n’est que la liste des auteurs de la première section. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999729992-BSPSUJA9LX2JAELXVEQ5/HighFlight75_40.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out L’autel de la chapelle du Trinity College à l’université de Toronto est un autre exemple d’inspiration de « Haut vol ». Cette conception de Gordon Peteran en 1994 comprend des lignes de « Haut vol » gravées sur la surface supérieure. L’autel a été offert par la classe de 1944 à la mémoire de leurs camarades étudiants morts pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il est approprié qu’au sein d’une salle gothique remplie de vitraux et d’une paix palpable, où les étudiants et les professeurs prient et où l’on célèbre les mariages et les vies perdues, les paroles éternelles d’un jeune pilote qui n’a jamais eu la chance d’aller à l’université s’insinuent dans les cœurs et les âmes. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999709079-TVROXYL6U5D2YHBHOHVI/HighFlight75_43.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Diplômé de l’université de Yale, Frederick Hugh Magee (Hugh) s’est formé à l’ordination à Westcott House, à Cambridge. Il a été ordonné en 1959 et a depuis servi des paroisses des deux côtés de l’Atlantique, y compris comme doyen de Wenatchee dans le diocèse de Spokane. Récemment retraité, Hugh reste chanoine honoraire de la cathédrale épiscopale de Dundee, en Écosse, où il a servi pendant quinze ans. En plus de ses fonctions sacerdotales, Hugh est depuis trente ans un étudiant de A Course in Miracles, un enseignant et un écrivain. Il vit avec sa femme Yvonne, artiste-peintre, en Écosse. Photo : Linda Granfield https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999786390-29QZ8QRG16KO9MF2HEUS/HighFlight75_47.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out En décembre 2011, à l’occasion du 70e anniversaire de « Haut vol » et de la mort de John Gillespie Magee Jr, des cérémonies ont été organisées près de sa tombe. Parmi les hommages déposés sur la tombe figuraient une couronne de coquelicots, des drapeaux et une feuille d’érable pressée envoyée du Canada. Hugh Magee a assisté aux cérémonies au cimetière de l’église de Scopwick, dans le Lincolnshire, en Angleterre. Photos : Gauche et centre : via Hugh Magee ; droite via Panaramio https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626999853177-H3L9VUTNEUE5M9N8SR61/HighFlightPoem.jpg The Stories - MAGEE – Un jeune héros et poète légendaire - Make it stand out Camarade de classe de l’école de formation initiale d’Uplands et contemporain de John Magee Jr, le capitaine d’aviation Fred Jones grimpe son Spitfire PR tout bleu vers un azur illuminé en Angleterre en 1944. Jones fait partie du premier groupe de jeunes pilotes à connaître et à chérir le poème de Magee. « Haut vol » a été lu à ses funérailles par son gendre, Dave O’Malley, en 2007. Photo via Rosemary Jones https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/archie-pennieun-bref-au-revoir monthly 0.5 2022-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793706397-PRKJAJF129J0Q0H2W18T/Archie01.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793771072-QCIPHEUVMXBISLLEJEWI/Archie05.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out Un Archie Pennie souriant explique à sa famille comment l’indicateur de vitesse rudimentaire fonctionnait sur le Tiger Moth lors de notre première rencontre avec lui en 2007. Photo : Frank Charette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793959186-LANKWMFEB43NGKZWPB2W/Archie03.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out Archie Pennie, toujours dans son pull argyle bleu, parle au moment de la dédicace de notre Fairchild Cornell en son nom. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628794004193-UA5C3HQDYAPSEI00S9BW/Archie04.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out Alors que Gord Simmons et Francis Bélanger partent pour un vol en soirée à bord du Fairchild Cornell -Archie Pennie, Archie nous regarde avec inquiétude et nous rappelle l’appréhension qu’il a déjà eue lorsque chacun de ses pilotes stagiaires prenait l’air en solo pour la première fois. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628794045006-KGC31ZYOH9NL87XDJYRE/Archie06.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out Au moment où nous avons été informés du décès d’Archie, le président du conseil d’administration et chef de l’équipe des «Yellow Wings» Todd Lemieux (ci-dessus) a écrit à la famille d’Archie par l’intermédiaire de sa fille Sheena pour exprimer d’importantes émotions au nom de la famille des Ailes d’époque du Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628793879832-8KYU63N6T7IM5JX293QJ/Archie02.jpg The Stories - ARCHIE PENNIE — Un bref au revoir - Make it stand out L’aviateur principal Archie Pennie (à droite) et un autre cadet de la RAF, William Denzil Livock, à l’École de pilotage militaire no 37 à Calgary, de grands amis malgré leurs différents caractères. Compte tenu de son âge avancé, 98 ans, Archie avait probablement abandonné le tabagisme après la guerre. Malheureusement, le charismatique et flamboyant William Livock n’a pas survécu à la guerre. Il est mort lorsque son chasseur-bombardier Mosquito s’est écrasé dans la mer près de sa base écossaise alors qu’il effectuait un atterrissage avec un seul moteur en marche. Ce n’est qu’au 21ième siècle que Pennie a appris ce qui était arrivé à son bon ami de l’époque de la formation. C’est en apprenant cette triste nouvelle que son chagrin l’a motivé à écrire l’une de ses merveilleuses histoires que, pour votre compréhension, nous avons reproduite ci-dessous. Photo via Archie Pennie Archive https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/un-homme-de-coeur monthly 0.5 2022-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd285635-fbfb-4b37-9af2-ada773af89a3/homme-de-coeur-FR.jpg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Hart Finley s’appuie contre l’aile bâbord d’un Spitfire du 403e Escadron. Encart : Hart Finley en tant que jeune Aviateur -chef dans l’Aviation royale canadienne en 1940. Photos: Famille Finley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647648072-ZG5MXSF5HB1C47GXSCGZ/14C6DC6A-EABB-4E5B-82D1-549C4BF92803.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Hart Finley (à droite) et d’autres élèves-pilotes de l’École élémentaire de pilotage no 4 de Windsor Mills, au Québec, posent avec Fleet Finch le jour de leurs premiers solos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647673508-U0TFM5HP7ZCLMGTVU2L5/66DAB327-6AAE-4B72-A48C-62698160A125.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Le pilote Blake Reid inspecte le moteur du Finch des Ailes d’époque du Canada — Numéro de série 4462 de l’ARC. Ce Finch a servi à Windsor Mills au moment où Finley s’y trouvait. Un examen rapide des journaux de bord de Finley a révélé qu’il avait piloté cet avion plusieurs fois. Cette année, nous consacrerons le Finch en l’honneur de Hart Finley. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647717198-9RGM8510TJ6NRPOE8U0V/0475F3E6-751D-42BD-8D29-4D1A158F6099.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Le VW Fleet Finch a été restauré au complet cet hiver et émergera sous peu avec de nouvelles marques - celles qu’il portait lorsque Hart Finley l’a piloté pour la première fois. Photo : Vanessa Lefaivre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647805700-F37XRXHBQTGA4D101OMX/52CF102A-E691-423B-A6EE-1E558C243B91.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Avec son visage de gamin, et de pilote nouvellement breveté dans l’Aviation royale canadienne. Finley a d’abord été affecté, à sa grande consternation et à sa frustration, en tant qu’instructeur de vol dans la même école où il venait d’obtenir ses ailes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647845522-55HUYIGVYZU7PF4X58AW/027A8F4B-B9DA-48FC-8086-7F131535F431.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Au cours d’une deuxième affectation à titre d’instructeur de vol, cette fois à l’École de pilotage militaire no 2 d’Ottawa à Uplands, Hart Finley a joué au football pour l’ARC d’Ottawa. Son équipe a failli atteindre la Coupe Grey cette année-là. Ils ont perdu contre les Hurricanes de l’ARC de Toronto (voir ici) qui allaient battre l’ARC de Winnipeg au Varsity Stadium pour la 30e Coupe Grey en 1942. Il est clair que la guerre a eu un grand impact sur la composition des équipes de football avec plusieurs des joueurs éligibles qui se sont enrôlés. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647870733-LYCIO37YILR0O5FSU51D/1D7DB88C-68D6-44CF-8787-DC712DE13A15.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Hart Finley debout devant un Typhoon à son Unité d’instruction opérationnelle (UIO) de Typhoon. Hart Finley était de grande taille, on a donc une idée de la stature massive de l’avion. Beaucoup penseront : « Si c’était en 1942, comment se fait-il qu’il y ait des bandes d’invasion du jour J sur cet avion? » Les premiers Typhoon avaient trois bandes noires et deux blanches. (Une utilisation antérieure de groupes en noir et blanc était sur le Hawker Typhoon et la première production du Hawker Tempest Mark Vs. L’avion avait un profil similaire à celui du Focke-Wulf Fw 190 et les bandes avaient été ajoutées pour faciliter l’identification au combat selon l’ordonnance promulguée le 5 décembre 1942. Au début, ils ont été appliqués par les équipes au sol mais ils ont rapidement été peints à l’usine; quatre bandes noires de 12 pouces de large (300 mm) séparées par trois bandes blanches de 24 pouces (610 mm) sous les ailes près de du fuselage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647924401-KEGFLVTEGHPU5TSMBB45/2074FCA5-3859-4509-8A8C-FF23785DF905.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Un jeune Hart Finley (à droite) avec des pilotes de l’Unité d’instruction opérationnelle (UIO) assis sur l’aile d’un Typhoon à l’été 1943. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647949853-R445OY6EU2E5NHDL29YE/35A26C60-7D02-45F0-8B07-25E01DCF4306.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out En septembre 1943, le 403e Escadron, y compris le Hart Finley nouvellement arrivé (à droite, en chandail à col roulé), inspecte un char Sherman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647975741-FDKOGZ6JYCH0FGZJEW39/A75A70E2-546F-489D-B69D-5CF5D8255CA3.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Un Hart Finley étonnamment décontracté à côté d’un Spitfire du 403e Escadron Wolf dans une rare photo prise la nuit. Comparez la hauteur de l’aile Spitfire à celle de Hart avec l’aile du Typhoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629647997138-TUK7278PD30WUK6SLQXT/D16ED7FD-4A24-4B0D-8CB9-45E7C6B7CE1E.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Les pilotes de l’armée et de l’aviation suivent les instructions sur les rudiments du pilotage du planeur en bois Hotspur. Ceux-ci ressemblaient à un Mosquito sans moteurs. Les pilotes des Escadrons 403 et 401 ont reçu une formation pour piloter ou remorquer ces planeurs dans la zone de combat pour transporter le personnel de maintenance de leur escadron. On peut trouver peu de choses sur Internet et dans les écrits sur cette période, à l’exception de ce que des pilotes comme Finley et le regretté Bill McRae ont écrit à ce sujet. Si quelqu’un a une image d’un Spitfire remorquant un Hotspur, nous aimerions la voir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648023563-28PBIU2TP8VK2ZRJ7WOG/06FACEB0-C12E-4B50-B3C1-B730041BFE4D.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Un pilote de Hotspur décolle d’un aérodrome en Angleterre... peut-être remorqué par un Spitfire? L’équipe au sol en route vers la France était assise blottie dans le fuselage étroit conçu uniquement pour le transport du personnel. Heureusement, ils n’ont pas eu à vivre cette « expérience ». https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648061618-MB3EZPRQ4E7GDHRQD7OQ/3DB6935D-69EC-4B20-8C98-DDDFD64AC490.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Un Spitfire XXI similaire à ceux testés par Hart Finley lors de son assignation hors combat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648087251-0CJE33YZ90BFLSAUIUVR/6177D23B-5D6F-4688-8919-85EE9CAFD2BF.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Une paire de Spitfires de la 443e Escadrille de la 127e Escadre de l’ARC survol l’aérodrome au-dessus de l’unité de contrôle de vol de l’escadron à Petit-Brogel, en Belgique, en mars 1945. Photo via le fabuleux site web de spitfiresite.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648113633-F4PSSCH2MTF45WYMLSFX/472969D0-6944-4DB6-891B-EA1933036141.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Avant un vol d’essai, nous voyons Hart Finley aux commandes d’un Focke-Wulf Fw 90 avec des marques de l’ARC à Soltau, en Allemagne, à la fin de la guerre. L’avion porte les marques JFE de James Francis « Stocky » Edwards qui rendait visite à Finley à l’époque. La taille du chasseur allemand est évidente ici, étant considérablement plus grande que le Spitfire Hart habituellement volé. Ayant combattu contre ce type à plusieurs reprises, Finley a apprécié l’occasion de comprendre ce qu’il avait affronté. Les deux pilotes estimaient que le Spitfire était supérieur. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648144281-BDQ7SF0ZG85ENU6L6SC0/492F8B20-BDBC-4ADD-B5D1-C6617739845B.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Hart Finley (à gauche) se tient aux côtés des autres membres de l’équipage lors de de la tournée royale de 1959 devant le Vickers Viscount CF-GXK gris et or du ministère des Transports. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648167040-XPWVBL0RT2BJ7HSXPTCY/5C09A37E-299E-4FE3-BC0D-A3E796798BF0.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Finley a accumulé de nombreuses heures sur le magnifique Vickers Viscount CF-GXK du vol PDM (VIP) du Canada, vu ici en août 1972 à l’aéroport international d’Ottawa. Photo : Steve Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648200887-QXCRW1HSMFVX2OECJ079/509DBA09-EA78-45BD-866E-2D055C5D7FE6.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Bien que Finley ait pris sa retraite après son service à son pays, il a contribué à sa communauté et est resté un personnage dynamique jusqu’à la fin de ses jours. Ce n’est pas le cas pour son beau Viscount du ministère des Transports. Il est devenu le Viscount de Transports Canada avec un schéma de peinture beaucoup moins élégant. Il a langui à l’aéroport d’Ottawa pendant un certain temps avant d’être dépouillé, découpé, utilisé et brûlé comme fuselage d’entraînement pour combattre le feu au début des années 1980. Photo : David Bland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648229268-1NOJXI62Y2RDMKHPGMTI/97D5F129-D560-4DF8-8025-766336A329D4.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Finley accueille le premier ministre John G. Diefenbaker avant de monter à bord du Vickers Viscount PDM (VIP) du ministère des Transports. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629648253692-CM6F4ZAZKUDJZ3I0R1BY/40AC7D0F-4720-4930-B60A-217E765CD669.jpeg The Stories - Un homme de cœur—L’histoire de Hart Finley - Make it stand out Une carrière, qui a commencé sur les Fleet Finch jaunes de Windsor Mills, s’est terminée avec le Lockheed JetStar, la version musclée des avions d’affaires. Photo : Howard Chaloner https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/le-dernier-canadien-rcipiendaire-de-la-croix-de-victoria monthly 0.5 2022-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098406660-X0JIVJKJHJFHNQXLMSCF/RHGTitle3.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Photo: Katherine Norenius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098433620-GGD5PA3936FHBT6RWR8Y/RHG14.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out En regardant de l’escalier qui descend sous le pont des Sapeurs d’Ottawa jusqu’au canal Rideau, nous pouvons voir le panthéon des grands héros canadiens connus sous le nom de Valeureux. Robert Gray est le buste en bronze à gauche près de la bannière. À côté de lui se trouve le buste d’un autre aviateur canadien qui a reçu la Croix de Victoria - Andrew Mynarski de l’ARC. Au-delà se trouve le célèbre ancien hôtel de chemin de fer - le Château Laurier. Cet hôtel a joué un rôle important dans le film Captains of the Clouds au sujet du Plan d’entraînement aérien du Commonwealth britannique (BCATP) - en vertu duquel Gray a reçu son entraînement comme pilote et ses « ailes » d’aviateur naval. Photo: Vincent Alongi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098492013-TLKGGKH1KWGK1G49MZO0/RHG16.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Gros plan du buste en bronze du lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, Réserve de volontaires de la Marine royale du Canada (RVMRC) Photo : Monument des Valeureux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098522155-XLYKF1HO3MMI43EM9ZTV/RHG3.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Robert Hampton Gray, 28 ans au moment de sa mort. Il était un meneur respecté et courageux au combat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098778229-EFIEOT31LKB2UIJYFYX7/RHG2.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Gray a commencé son entraînement élémentaire sur un Mile Magister, avion de formation de base, à l’EFTS n° 24 de Luton. Photo : RAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098802399-UFL30QDBN3USVWXTPL4G/RHG23.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Hammy (à gauche sur la photo en médaillon) a retraversé l’Atlantique pour faire son entraînement de vol militaire au N° 31 SFTS à Kingston, Ontario, Canada. À ce jour, l’ancienne base du PEACB est le site de l’aéroport de Kingston, où un mémorial à Robert Hampton Gray (en bas au centre) se dresse devant l’entrée, sous un Harvard 2. Photo : Will S. sur Flickr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098848920-CO84S0ZJNVN5LTV0NKZ0/RHG24.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out HMS Formidable dans son schéma de peinture camouflage de l’Atlantique Nord. Photo: RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098883820-5BGZGBUSED7LNDAOP4GC/RHG1.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Des Corsairs sur le pont du HMS Formidable en prévision de missions dans l’Atlantique Nord. On note le camouflage « Temparate Sea » sur les avions. Photo: RN. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098905931-SBT63T1KP8GVHT4I24XS/RHG4.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out La seule photographie que nous ayons vue montrant Robert Gray volant - ou plutôt décollant du porte-avions d’escorte, le HMS Rajah, en 1944. Avec le Corsair peint en camouflage et ayant une cocarde complète sur le côté, cela correspond au schéma de couleurs de l’Atlantique Nord. Source : Major A.E. Marsh RM (retraité). Fleet Air Arm Négatif : CRSR/43. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098957690-6CLWUFR762J1X6GKNNML/RHG6.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Cette photo de Corsairs sur le pont du HMS Illustrious montre le schéma de peinture du théâtre du Pacifique - de la peinture bleue et des cocardes centrées blanches avec les barres de style américain. Photo RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630098990422-IT1BUOE5ULZPSB9QL27F/news_06212008_5.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out La seule photo qui ait été retrouvée montrant le Corsair numéro 115 original de l’escadron 1841 de la Royal Navy. Il est généralement admis que le no 115 n’était pas l’avion habituel de « Hammy » Gray, car le sien était inutilisable au moment où il a décollé du Formidable, ce jour fatidique. Ici, nous voyons le 115 enchaînés et attachés contre les intempéries en route vers une mission inconnue. Le capot moteur et la verrière étaient recouverts de toile pour les protéger des effets de l’eau salée. En médaillon - l’écusson de l’escadron 1841 montre un aigle s’attaquant à un dragon au-dessus des vagues - une représentation héraldique de l’action finale de Robert Hampton Gray quand il a poursuivi son attaque contre le navire d’escorte japonais Amakusa, le coulant dans la baie d’Onagawa. Certains croient que 115 n’était pas l’avion qu’il a piloté ce jour-là et d’autres insistent sur le fait que les marques étaient légèrement différentes (le chiffre « 1 » avant la cocarde et « 15 » après). D’autres insistent sur le fait que le numéro de série n’était pas KD658. D’autres encore insistent sur le fait que son avion personnel était le 119. C’est également possible, mais jusqu’au jour où une preuve irréfutable sera offerte quant aux différentes marques, notre Corsair volera avec ces marques - il sera facile de faire un changement. Indépendamment des documents perdus depuis longtemps qui peuvent ou non soutenir ces revendications, notre Corsair sera toujours un hommage à Gray. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099027939-OFOFIB3NRCH1MLC9X0CI/RHG9.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Les conséquences immédiates sur le pont du Formidable, alors que Hammy et ses coéquipiers combattent les incendies et le chaos à la suite d’une attaque Kamikaze. Photo RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099060978-WK92RZX6KNK0Q4IB08QR/RHG10.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Une photographie dramatique du pont avant du HMS Formidable montre son équipage aux prises avec le chaos à la suite de l’attaque kamikaze. En avant de « l’îlot», se trouve un Corsair qui pourrait être Corsair 115, à l’abri des incendies et de la destruction sur le pont arrière. S’il s’agit du no 115, ce ne serait toujours pas la cellule pilotée par Gray, car cet avion (KD658) a été livré par le porte-avion d’escorte HMS Arbiter le mois suivant. Peut-être que celui-ci a été perdu ou endommagé après la date de l’attaque Kamikaze et avant la livraison de KD658, ou a reçu un nouveau numéro plus tard. Photo RN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099092733-FEMF28RWEIE1OAJAN3I1/RHG11.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Cette photo montre les conséquences d’une attaque Kamikaze sur le HMS Formidable deux mois avant le dernier vol de Gray. Il montre également à notre équipe l’emplacement du code de pont du navire (la lettre « X » a été portée par tous les avions à bord du Formidable). De plus, il ne semble pas y avoir de position fixe pour les titres de la Royal Navy à l’arrière de la cocarde. Dans d’autres photos de la RN dans le Pacifique, ces titres sont dans des positions différentes. Le code de pont du navire a également été peint sur le pont des porte-avions de la RN pour empêcher les avions d’atterrir sur le mauvais porte-avions lors de leur retour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099129620-87WZLJO77JQF57H3KIZE/RHG26.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Pour la première fois (à notre connaissance) nous avons des images en vol du Corsair similaire au nôtre - numéro 115. Les images (en fait des captures d’écran à partir d’un DVD) provenant du « B-roll » d’une équipe de tournage prise dans le Pacifique au moment où Robert Hampton Gray était à bord, montrent Corsair 115 décollant du pont du HMS Formidable. Selon la date de cette photo, ce Corsair 115 particulier pourrait ou non être le numéro de série KD658. La fumée au bout du pont est très probablement un indicateur de vent. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099161736-BKFDEVXT3MXUUUWB1SNK/RHG27.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Une photo d’action du Corsair 120 qui vient de soulever sa roue arrière du pont, alors que son pilote pousse les gaz à fond pour décoller. Il y avait deux escadrons équipés de Corsair opérant du Formidable à l’époque – le 1841 et 1842. Les moyeux d’hélice des Corsairs du 1841e escadron étaient peints d’une couleur foncée (bleu ou peut-être rouge) tandis que les Corsairs de 1842 avaient des moyeux blancs. Cela ferait de 120 un Corsair avec le 1841. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099193667-4STOA59XH5QG1LHYW988/RHG28.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Une photo dénotant l’entretien des avions sur le pont du HMS Formidable à l’été 1945. L’avion en arrière-plan est un Hellcat (119). Les Corsairs opérant à partir de porte-avions de la Royal Navy avaient le bout des ailes plus courte pour permettre l’entreposage dans le hangar sur les plus petits porte-avions britanniques. L’aile du Corsair au centre montre clairement cette caractéristique. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099224926-8J8C1G3TYIYRXG0FK7VB/RHG30.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Cette photographie prise à partir de l’ascenseur du HMS Formidable montre un Corsair de l’escadron 1842 (146) recevant beaucoup d’attention de la part des responsables de la maintenance. Sur les ailes se trouvent les cales d’avion qui étaient utilisées pour empêcher tout mouvement sur le pont. Images via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099249691-KQDEKNEDOIO44IVG2E7R/RHG31.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Six des Corsairs du Formidable et un Avenger sont attachés sur le pont avant. Le Corsair au centre est en marche, surveillé de près par des membres d’équipage, cales à la main. L’aile du Corsair de droite est repliée à la main par l’équipage de pont. Comme les barres de sécurité ne sont pas installées sur les ailes, nous ne pouvons que deviner qu’il a subi une possible défaillance hydraulique qui a entraîné l’abaissement involontaire de l’aile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099312404-EVG3CUV0ZIH1RQ9FONB1/RHG32.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Les Corsairs (principalement de l’escadron 1842 avec des moyeux d’hélice blancs) et les Avengers à bord du HMS Formidable réchauffent leurs moteurs avant de décoller pour une mission. Photo: RAFImages via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099339253-X9LUUUDWWR4DRNFAV25W/RHG33.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Les Corsairs (principalement de l’escadron 1842 avec des moyeux d’hélice blancs) et les Avengers à bord du HMS Formidable réchauffent leurs moteurs avant de décoller pour une mission. Photo: RAFImages via Mark Peapell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099382884-JMLU47EXROVOXBWGP5A3/RHG12.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Le bateau escorte Amakusa de la flotte impériale japonaise. C’était un navire de la classe Etorofu (Vu ici dans ce tableau de Takeshi Yuki scanné à partir de « Peintures en couleur de navires de guerre japonais » https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099422137-8Y1QW3W4IJH0ZK2Z53V8/RHG13.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Le Ohama de la flotte impériale japonaise, une plate-forme de canon antiaérien, a également effectué un barrage de tirs antiaériens sur Gray et ses hommes. Image via SnowCloudInSummer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099522961-08SMIOSRXT6R03GYQ51W/RHG19.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Le Amakusa de la flotte impériale japonaise attaqué par Robert Hampton Gray. Don Connolly, l’artiste canadien de l’aviation très apprécié, dépeint les derniers moments de l’attaque de Gray. Image : Don Connolly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099560680-TW6DN2RA6BR8SYOU5LP4/news_06212008_4.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out En 2006, des officiers du NCSM Ottawa de la Marine canadienne ont déposé une couronne au monument à la mémoire de Robert Hampton Gray sur les rives de la baie Onagawa au Japon. Le monument de Gray est le seul mémorial dédié à un membre d’une force armée alliée sur les îles principales japonaises. L’avion de Gray s’est écrasé dans les eaux en arrière-plan, le tuant dans les derniers jours de la guerre. Photo du MDN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099620377-7OFDRJOA6NO6Z3HC0CJE/RHG25.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Quelque part sous les eaux étincelantes et maintenant paisibles de la baie d’Onagawa, préfecture de Miyagi, au Japon, se trouvent la dépouille mortelle de Robert Hampton Gray et les débris de son Corsair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630099656568-A676YIXIQV3260XOE9XZ/RHG18.jpg The Stories - ROBERT HAMPTON GRAY — Le dernier canadien récipiendaire de la Croix de Victoria - Make it stand out Tout au long de l’année 2010, Les Ailes d’époque du Canada présentera son programme Gray Ghosts, y compris le Robert Hampton Gray Corsair à travers le Canada dans le cadre de la célébration du centième anniversaire de la Marine canadienne. Restez à l’écoute pour un calendrier complet des événements. Photo : Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/un-homee-de-classe monthly 0.5 2022-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125208430-N6T1ASYKEWIYIBFQU9BC/Timmins01.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125264669-2MPR2YYYBV3RSI1FDZ01/Timmins2.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Un jeune officier d’aviation Tim Timmins (à gauche) pose avec trois autres membres d’équipage de CF-100 sur la ligne de vol pluvieuse de la station Comox de l’ARC à l’automne 1959. Cette image est apparue dans un article paru en 1960 dans le magazine Aviation Quarterly au sujet de l’exploitation des CF-100 au Canada. De gauche à droite : Tim Timmins, John Eggenberger, Dick Bentham et Jerry Frewen – Officiers d’aviation. Photo : Aviation Quarterly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125332625-FEQ5UPQD3CK62JF9B6EU/Timmins3.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Un Avro CF-100 « Canuck » du 409e Escadron Nighthawk tient la pose pour le caméraman de l’ARC au-dessus du détroit de Georgia. Le CF-100, affectueusement connu sous le nom de « Clunk », était un intercepteur et chasseur à réaction construit au Canada pendant la guerre froide, tant dans les bases de l’OTAN en Europe que dans le cadre du NORAD. Le CF-100 a été le seul chasseur de conception canadienne à être produit en grande quantité, servant principalement dans l’ARC et les FAC et en petit nombre en Belgique. Le CF-100 était reconnu pour son décollage rapide et un taux de montée au décollage élevé, ce qui le rendait bien adapté à son rôle d’intercepteur. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125398593-N29JUSIMA62973M9U0PF/Timmins4.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Le grand « E ». Au cours d’une visite par Sa Majesté la reine Elizabeth II, à la base de Comox de l’ARC, en Colombie-Britannique, dix CF-100 du 409e Escadron Nighthawks se forme en une lettre géante « E » en son honneur. Le lieutenant d’aviation Tim Timmins pilote l’avion à la tête de la traverse au milieu du « E ». Photo de l’ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125499432-DX9CZV26RK53ZGTPST8I/Timmins6.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Tim Timmins a eu la chance et les habiletés d’avoir volé avec deux des exploitants d’aéronefs les plus respectés au monde – l’Aviation royale canadienne et Trans World Airlines. À gauche : le jeune, d’apparence légèrement batailleur, Patrick Joseph Timmins, d’Ottawa, peu de temps après avoir obtenu son brevet de pilote, puis l’élégant capitaine Tim Timmins, de Trans World Airlines, dégageant la force et la confiance qui résultent de plusieurs milliers d’heures de vol comme pilote de l’ARC et pilote de ligne. Photos via Timmins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125528250-4FLJD5DXNP1ZH1627XG5/Timmins7.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Lorsque Tim Timmins a été recruté par Trans World Airlines en 1964, il a été embauché, comme beaucoup de pilotes expérimentés, en tant qu’ingénieur de vol sur le Lockheed Super Constellation. En 1964, le Constellation approchait de la fin de sa durée de vie avec TWA. Tim n’a servi que pendant environ 4 à 6 mois comme ingénieur de vol du Connie, avant que ce dernier ne soit retiré du service. Son contrat en tant qu’ingénieur de vol était de deux ans, donc après son service sur les Connie, il était toujours tenu de rester en tant qu’ingénieur de vol, mais cette fois sur le Boeing 707. Le 7 avril 1967, TWA est devenue aux États-Unis, une des premières compagnies aériennes n’utilisant que des avions à réaction après le retrait de leurs derniers Lockheed L-749A Constellation et l’avion-cargo L-1649 Starliner. Ce matin-là, le l’ensemble du personnel de service au sol de TWA a placé un livret sur chaque siège passager intitulé « Props Are For Boats » (Les hélices sont pour les bateaux). Photo d’archives TWA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125579044-GFJK2GBF3PZIJWMDLXTQ/Timmins23.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out C’est avec cet avion que TWA a inauguré les services d’avions à réaction internationaux le 23 novembre 1959, pendant que Tim Timmins était encore en train semer la pagaille pour la NORAD à Comox. La série -300 était le soi-disant Boeing 707 International. Tim pilotait trois des types de Boeing TWA - 707, 727 et 747. Photo : Collection Ed Coates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125605792-BE2R8O4EHJILX13I68O9/Timmins8.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Tim passait la majeure partie de son temps de vol sur le Boeing 727 de la TWA, occupant l’un après l’autre les sièges de l’ingénieur de vol, du copilote et du commandant de bord. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125632138-FCCHK44B4H5PH4NF91NB/Timmins9.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Déjà commandant de bord sur le Boeing 747, Timmins occupe un siège de droite en tant que premier officier sur le puissant 747, mais quand même être appelé capitaine, un titre et un grade qu’il avait déjà gagné. Photo via Tim Timmins Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125668212-KJ387LCL80VUIKRXX1WU/Timmins10.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Tim Timmins a terminé sa carrière de pilote de ligne aérienne en tant que pilote de Boeing 747 « Jumbo Jet » chez Trans World Airlines. Un problème médical imprévu l’a empêché de piloter avant qu’il ne veuille arrêter de voler. Toutefois, il se battrait pour piloter à nouveau des années plus tard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125694296-EOXHZ9OCVSOMRWCPHN3G/Timmins11.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Pendant une période après sa carrière à la TWA, et avant de rétablir son statut de pilote, Tim a utilisé son charme irlandais considérable, son attitude de pilote de chasse et sa diplomatie en tant que superviseur des cérémonies pour l’Expo 86 de Vancouver, qui comprenait également le salon aéronautique d’Abbotsford. Cela a fait de lui le choix logique pour devenir coordonnateur des services de soutien aux médias et chef adjoint de la presse au centre de presse principal aux Jeux olympiques d’hiver de 1988 à Calgary. Ici, nous voyons Tim (à l’avant gauche) marchant avec confiance, comme le font les pilotes de chasse, avec le président du Comité international olympique de l’époque, Juan Antonio Samaranch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125740885-KZRFJGGHHYX22415QOB7/Timmins17.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Le gourou de l’avionique Graham Smith (à gauche) regarde Dave O’Malley faire un court discours sur la personne qui sera commémorée sur le côté du Chipmunk – en s’assurant de ne mentionner le nom de Timmins qu’au moment du dévoilement. Debout à côté de lui se trouvent les propriétaires du Chipmunk et pilotes des Ailes d’époque Don et Kathryn Buchan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125777254-7287TXGRTE1ZLUY021YJ/Timmins22.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Les bénévoles des Ailes d’époque du Canada, les mécaniciens, le chien mascotte Wallace et même un bébé in utero étaient heureux et fiers de déposer leurs outils pour une cérémonie impromptue et surprise pour « dévoiler » le panneau de dédicace sur le de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Tout le monde avait vu le panneau Tim Timmins sur l’avion, alors ils étaient ravis de garder la dédicace secrète. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125809325-6Z1OITSRN2WGROTHTRFL/Timmins21.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Juste une fraction de seconde avant que Tim Timmins ne réalise qu’il est le sujet du panneau de dédicace qui vient d’être dévoilé, le propriétaire et pilote des Chipmunk, Don Buchan, se tourne vers lui pour sa réaction. Bien sûr, Tim, étant à la fois irlandais et d’Ottawa en plus d’être pilote, a été lent à s’apercevoir qu’il était honoré. Photo : Angela Gagnon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125854899-8IYFCA9RHHXSPRCTZNBF/Timmins19a.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Cela prend un certain temps, mais les pilotes irlandais réalisent à leur tour. Tim Timmins réalise enfin que c’est son nom sur le côté du Chipmunk, un avion qu’il a piloté pour la première fois à la station Centralia de l’ARC lorsqu’il s’est enrôlé dans l’ARC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125890406-LEN82GW7BJ4U3TUUDTWV/Timmins14.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Une photo prise au moment où le capitaine Tim Timmins saisit pleinement le fait que le de Haviland Chipmunk lui est dédié. Peu de temps après, on pouvait voir des larmes dans ses yeux irlandais. Mission accomplie! Photo: Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125930037-DHXCLJ5YONJTJYT7ADSW/Timmins15.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Trois pilotes de Chipmunk – Kathryn Buchan, Don Buchan (qui a fourni son avion bien-aimé pour le programme Yellow Wings et qui était fier d’appuyer le choix de Timmins) et un capitaine Timmins aux yeux larmoyants – posent avec le Chipmunk fraîchement dédicacé. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125964364-TI276OFHUA4UJRD8Y5G4/Timmins16.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Il n’y a jamais eu de pilote plus méritant. L’élégant, joyeux et travaillant capitaine Tim Timmins et « son » Chipmunk. Ils se joignent à d’autres grands aviateurs canadiens et « leur » avion immortalisé avec le Programme de dédicace d’aéronefs En son nom - Stocky Edwards, Hammie Gray, Les Frères Robillard, Hart Finley, William Harper, Willie McKnight, Rosey Roseland, Bunny McLarty, Bill McRae, Harry Hannah, Fern Villeneuve, John Magee, Archie Pennie, Terry Goddard, Cliff Stewart, George Neal et Russ Bannock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629125991896-PDS1RNA0A16W8AJU1Y2S/Timmins12.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Tant que le magnifique Chipmunk de Don Buchan fera partie de la famille des Ailes d’époque du Canada, il portera, comme tous nos avions, un panneau de dédicace sur son fuselage portant le nom et la carrière de l’un des meilleurs ambassadeurs de vol au Canada, le capitaine d’aviation Patrick Joseph « Tim » Timmins, ARC, TWA, d’Ottawa. Photo : Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629126022680-JSKWV2M576BDAWQFPEW4/Timmins13.jpg The Stories - Un homme de classe - Make it stand out Le de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk dédié au -Capitaine d’aviation Patrick Joseph « Tim » Timmins. Qu’il vole longtemps en son honneur. Photo : Dave O’Malley https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/il-tombe-de-sept-milles-pieds monthly 0.5 2022-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627654313085-P35CZLG05GFBME1QWVEA/Falling00.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454433487-5J7OF833L6FZJD6I3BWE/_Falling01.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out En octobre 1941, l’aviateur principal Andrew Carswell (deuxième à gauche, troisième rangée à partir du haut) pose fièrement pour une photo de groupe de la section « G », escadron no 2, à l’École d’entraînement initial no 5 de l’Aviation royale du Canada à Belleville, Ontario, sur le lac Ontario. La date est. Photo : Archives de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454528347-POFSX4TOQBRFUORA22S0/Falling02.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Âgé de 18 ans, à l’École élémentaire de pilotage no 12 de Goderich, en Ontario, sur le lac Huron, l’Aviateur chef Andrew Carswell rayonne de fierté auprès d’un Fleet Finch (4581). Deux ans plus tard, ce Finch sera perdu dans un accident de catégorie A à Goderich. Photo : Archives de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454578503-G978NZDJW8GD9Q7390CP/Falling05.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Quelque part au-dessus du Canada au début des années 1940, des élèves de l’École élémentaire de pilotage perfectionnent leur vol en formation à bord des Fleet Finches. Photo : D’après une copie imprimée de BAC-Canada. D&D-PL 4178 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454615511-8KKXUBICJIXVCH35G4HZ/Falling13.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Dans un hangar en compagnie d’officiers et d’un Fleet Finch, les élèves pilotes (l’insigne blanc dans le calot indique un élève du PEACB) du cours # 15 du 12 École élémentaire de pilotage sont assemblés. L’Aviateur chef Andrew Carswell est le quatrième à partir de la gauche au premier rang. C’est le jour du Souvenir, le 11 novembre 1941. Photo : J. Gordon Henderson via Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454652574-7I63LXB6RYE8KIIH2WG2/Falling14.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Un gros plan de la photo précédente révèle bien la jeunesse des élèves-pilotes dont beaucoup sont encore adolescents. Ils mettront bientôt leur vie en jeu. Andrew Carswell est au premier rang, quatrième en partant de la gauche. Photo : J. Gordon Henderson via Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454719193-B3JPN0CZUCPC8FF91VQX/Falling15.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out L’école de pilotage militaire numéro 5, où Andrew Carswell a suivi son entraînement de pilotage militaire. Typique des installations d’entraînement à travers le pays, cette image révèle plusieurs détails caractéristiques standards d’une base : le camion d’intervention de secours en cas d’écrasement, la tour de contrôle et les buttes de tir en béton pour tester et aligner l’armement des avions. Photo : ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454760377-KJ99LKBDQRNF8H900QAU/Falling03.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Lors de son deuxième vol d’entraînement « cross country », Canada, 1942. Andrew Carswell est aux commandes d’un Avro Anson à trois mille pieds d’altitude Photo : Archives de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454806518-GG6KQ1D4JXOTV9MZ99QE/Falling07.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Un Avro Anson survole les rives soit du lac Ontario ou de la rivière des Outaouais. L’Anson 7150 a été affecté à l’escadron d’essai en vol et de développement de la station de l’ARC Rockcliffe, à Ottawa, et à l’établissement d’essai en vol et de développement de l’ARC Trenton, en Ontario. Photo : D’après une copie imprimée de BAC-Canada. D&D-PL 9658 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454869559-BFBG8TNK7JBI05R0PDAN/Falling11.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Andy Carswell (à droite) et son frère Jim rendent visite à leurs parents à Ottawa pour le Noël 1941. Le père des garçons Carswell était un ingénieur électricien qui avait déménagé à Ottawa pour travailler au ministère de la Défense nationale. Andy est maintenant un sergent pilote avec son nouveau brevet de pilote tandis que son frère est dans l’armée canadienne. Jim Carswell est diplômé du Collège militaire royal et il est artilleur. Après la guerre, Jim a travaillé dans le programme spatial américain (Nike, Titan, Mercury, Apollo et la navette spatiale) où sa spécialité consistait à analyser les trajectoires. Photo : Archives de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454924957-SDPVFSUX6EYX39NC3FZW/Falling12.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Par une journée ensoleillée en Angleterre, probablement lors de leur cours de conversion au Lancaster, Andrew Carswell (à droite) et un membre d’équipage posent auprès d’un Lancaster. Nous supposons qu’il s’agit bien du cours de conversion, car Carswell n’a effectué que quatre sorties opérationnelles avant d’être abattu à la mi-janvier. Le temps sur cette photo semble décidément chaud et peut-être automnal. Photo : Archives de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628454958788-NIEJ574QFS6DQ64GALNZ/Falling10.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Un Lancaster du 9e escadron décolle d'Angleterre. Photo : Musée impérial de la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455005738-F94V19TIYE9KVEUDXYED/Falling04.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Vue aérienne du quartier Schöneweide de Berlin, près du canal de la Landwehr, les 16 et 17 janvier 1943, la nuit de l’attaque. Les taches blanches indiquent l’emplacement des canons antiaériens lourds. Photo : C 5713 / Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-45 / Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455051553-P2B4UVZ05CBNR8QBL8HL/Falling24.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Cette même banlieue de Schöneweide à Berlin aujourd’hui. Il est ironique de constater que Johannisthal (coin supérieur gauche) a été le site du premier aérodrome en Allemagne qui a ouvert ses portes le 26 septembre 1909, quelques semaines seulement après la construction du premier aérodrome au monde à Reims, en France. Photo via GoogleMaps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455122061-J1LL8K4ZN7ZXL5U8LUON/Falling16.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out L’ingénieur de bord d’un Avro Lancaster se retourne pour actionner un interrupteur sur le tableau de bord pendant le vol. Il est assis sur un strapontin rabattable. C’est ce même siège que Jock Martin a replié afin de permettre aux autres membres de l’équipage d’accéder à la trappe d’évacuation avant. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455156601-EI81CIL1ETE2JD1BVN0D/Falling17.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Une vue vers l’avant depuis le poste d’Eddy Philips (l’opérateur radio de Carswell) montre l’espace extrêmement étroit réservé aux membres de l’équipage. Le siège faisant face à la gauche était le poste de navigateur de John Galbraith. Lui et Andrew Carswell ont été les derniers à quitter l’avion. Cette illustration et les suivantes sont une gracieuseté de Piotr Forkasiewitcz, un artiste numérique polonais aux capacités prodigieuses. Pour voir d’autres de ses œuvres exceptionnelles, lisez Une beauté terrifiante ou visitez son site Web étonnant à l’adresse peterfor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455235280-UMUDW18DDPZ0NATDEHXF/Falling19.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out La position du pilote dans l’Avro Lancaster. Pour évacuer l’appareil, l’équipage devait s’accrocher à la main courante jaune, descendre dans le compartiment du bombardier et plonger par la trappe ouverte. Illustration par Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455276363-1FUO25IMY07TF3KKLB92/Falling18.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out On aperçoit dans cette photo la trappe d’évacuation par parachute situé à la position du bombardier dans le nez de l’avion. C’était la responsabilité du bombardier de Carswell, Paddy Hipson, de tirer sur l’anneau de largage pour ouvrir la trappe. Cette trappe de secours était réservée pour tous les membres de l’équipage situés à l’avant de l’appareil. Pour finalement s’échapper dans l’obscurité, ils devaient s’y rendre encombrés par leur équipement et leur parachute dans un avion qui basculait vers le sol en piqué incontrôlable. Illustration par Piotr Forkasiewicz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455347964-J4HC1W9PWFJ94UK5WZV2/Falling26.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Le sergent Andrew Carswell (au dernier rang, quatrième à partir de la droite) pose avec ses codétenus dans un camp de prisonniers de guerre allemand. Les chapitres suivants de Over the Wire brossent ensemble une image puissante et émotionnellement épuisante de la défiance. Photo : Collection de la famille Carswell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455383665-E828NHU2QM3WPPBIKQO6/Falling23.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Aperçu d’une page du journal des opérations du 9e Escadron concernant les équipages partis en mission le 17 janvier. On y voit que Carswell pilotait le Lancaster W4379 et qu’il a décollé à 16 h 54, mais n’est pas revenu. Photo : 9 Squadron ORB https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455427665-D9JWQBB1KQSCJ7P1UW61/Falling25.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Pour déterminer le code avion du Lancaster W4379, nous vous invitons à consulter les pages de journal des opérations de la nuit précédente (16 janvier) au cours de laquelle il a également piloté le W4379. La page sommaire indique qu'il s'agissait de l'avion « A ». Photo : ORB du 9e escadron https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628455483763-47TMQY0FQ81G6LZTZPX5/Falling20.jpg The Stories - Il tombe de sept milles pieds - Make it stand out Andrew Carswell lors des cérémonies du jour du Souvenir au Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum en 2014. La cérémonie a eu lieu avec le Lancaster à l’intérieur du hangar. Chacun des sept postes d’équipage a été honoré par la présence d’un vétéran du Bomber Command de la Seconde Guerre mondiale occupant ce poste. Andrew Carswell représentait le rôle du pilote dans l’équipe du Lancaster. Il porte son épingle de cravate d’évadé, son épingle de ver en soie de parachute Irving, son agrafe Bomber Command et sa cravate de personnel navigant. Il n’a pas été décoré de l’étoile d’Europe de l’équipage aérien, car il aurait fallu à son actif des vols opérationnels pendant deux mois pour la mériter... mais il a été abattu lors de sa quatrième opération. Il porte également la Croix de l’Armée de l’Air pour le service en temps de paix. Andrew Carswell a poursuivi sa carrière de pilote en temps de paix au sein de l’ARC en pilotant, entre autres, l’hydravion Canso dans le cadre de missions de sauvetage aérien et maritime en haute mer. 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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27381c66-7999-48b0-b03b-a2212452dd9b/PJH_53882.jpg Events - Annual General Meeting - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/events/aero-gatineau-ottawa-air-show monthly 0.5 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e49146c2-5cee-4839-acee-231143663a0a/Air_Show_Gatineau_Quebec_%2839163945780%29.jpg Events - Aero Gatineau/Ottawa Air Show - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/events/fly-days monthly 0.5 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70d2c3f3-10f8-44aa-9b8e-684a655f85d5/08092019-IMG_4168.jpg Events - First Warbird Fly Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/events/pilot-refresher-training-day monthly 0.5 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64ed8540-90a8-41e3-aba5-6c93d5c389d9/PJH_55675.jpg Events - Annual Pilot Refresher Training Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/1r8tk3xidj7depitvesxb45zbwrfkx monthly 0.5 2022-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/04ba532f-835c-422e-9353-e590ea22b94f/Screen+Shot+2022-03-10+at+12.33.02+PM.png Événements - La Bataille de l’Atlantique - De l’affrontement à la victoire - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/spectacle-arien-aero-gatineau-ottawa monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e49146c2-5cee-4839-acee-231143663a0a/Air_Show_Gatineau_Quebec_%2839163945780%29.jpg Événements - Spectacle aérien Aero Gatineau-Ottawa - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/event-four-tyrkb monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70d2c3f3-10f8-44aa-9b8e-684a655f85d5/08092019-IMG_4168.jpg Événements - La première journée de vol historique - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/lassemble-gnrale-annuelle monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27381c66-7999-48b0-b03b-a2212452dd9b/PJH_53882.jpg Événements - Assemblée générale annuelle - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/event-five-ekl2n monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b14bbb6a-cb06-4af4-a77b-62cf3211b0f5/10257403_763061280424128_795411563823670215_o.jpg Événements - La première activité de Petit-déjeuner et rassemblement d’avion en 2022 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/event-three-lkr6b monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64ed8540-90a8-41e3-aba5-6c93d5c389d9/PJH_55675.jpg Événements - Formation d’appoint annuelle des pilotes - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/evnements/event-two-7l7zg monthly 0.5 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a7b8e49-422e-4640-870b-f2c709fb73bf/_PHD0539.jpg Événements - Venez rencontrer la ‘’Faucheuse’’ - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-histoires daily 0.75 2023-04-13 https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-histoires/sur-le-sentier-de-la-geurre-avec-421 monthly 0.5 2026-01-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32409287-ebb0-45e7-a41f-3c78ea33e256/Sentier.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e638836f-c2ec-4aaa-8d63-8f847fa83171/archie.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out L’auteur Archie Robertson (à droite) avec son frère Alex de Bainsville, en Ontario, sur la rive nord du Saint-Laurent, en amont de Montréal. Quatre des six frères Robertson étaient au service du Canada pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Les deux plus âgés — Albert et William — ont rejoint l’armée, tandis qu’Archie (le plus jeune) et Alex sont devenus tous les deux mécaniciens d’avion dans l’ARC. Photo : Archie Robertson Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/810b76f7-13a4-494e-8ab3-d23b22a5d462/Screen+Shot+2022-07-26+at+1.58.10+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Dans le paragraphe précédent, l’auteur, Alex Robertson, fait référence au manuel d’éducation/guide de conversation français-anglais « A Canuck Goes to the Continent - Volume 1 » qui enseignait un vocabulaire français et allemand de base aux militaires canadiens. Chaque soldat canadien qui a pris d’assaut les plages le jour J ou qui a débarqué dans les semaines qui ont suivi en avait un exemplaire. Le volet français a été rédigé et compilé à Vancouver par Isabelle Burnada. Cette brochure a été publiée pour la première fois en 1941. Les troupes canadiennes l’avaient déjà utilisé en Afrique du Nord et au Congo. Photo : Juno Beach Centre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d841cf54-0b7d-4177-b967-3c718ec45e20/Spitfire_Mk_IX_421_Squadron_RCAF_at_B2_Bazenville.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out B2, le premier aérodrome d’assaut utilisé par le 421e Escadron sur le continent, était à Bazenville, en Normandie. Selon l’auteur : « Il ressemblait au désert du Sahara — de la poussière et du sable partout ». Ici, un pilote de Spitfire du 421e Escadron se prépare à une sortie au-dessus des lignes ennemies, à quelques kilomètres de là. B2 a été construit par les Royal Engineers qui ont commencé la nuit du 6 juin. Bazenville aurait dû devenir le premier terrain d’atterrissage allié en Normandie le 9 juin, mais un B-24 Liberator s’est écrasé sur l’aérodrome inachevé ce matin-là et a arraché une grande partie du treillis métallique utilisé pour les pistes et les rampes. L’aérodrome a été achevé deux jours plus tard, le 11 juin, et les 36 premiers Spitfire de la 127e Escadre de l’ARC ont été ravitaillés le même jour. Le 421e Escadron, une unité du 127e Groupe, arrivera trois jours plus tard. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c89e57-093e-48c1-b24c-6b1f571d790d/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+5.51.59+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Une photo du capitaine d’aviation John N. Paterson assis dans son Spitfire qui est également celui de l’auteur lors des opérations après le Jour J. Notez les trois marques de victoire sur le fuselage. Photo via Northeast Ontario Air Search and Rescue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6043d545-4dbf-4392-ad87-897fb4493b5e/IMG_6718.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Les pilotes du 421e escadron posent avec leur commandant d’escadre Johnnie Johnson, DFC1 avec barrette (au centre avec un ascot à motifs) et le commandant de l’escadron, le chef d’escadron Buck McNair, DFC et 2 barrettes (avec un ascot en soie blanche). John Paterson est assis au premier rang à l’extrême droite. Cette photo a été prise en août 1943. Photo: Len Thorne via Spitfire—The Canadians by Robert Bracken 1 Distinguished Flying Cross https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2a1c9d6-f0e3-48fa-a6e1-e2f54f2701b8/ArchieSpit.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Une mauvaise photo tirée d’une photocopie de l’auteur Archie Robertson (à droite) avec des amis à côté d’un Spitfire du 421e Escadron, qui pourrait très bien être le « H » pour Harry (la lettre H est peut-être lue sur le fuselage, devant la bande du fuselage). On ne sait pas qui étaient les autres, mais l’homme au milieu est probablement le capitaine d’aviation John N. Paterson. Photo : Archie Robertson Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7d219118-ea90-4741-9c13-b344f45b57ec/CFNUS2.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Une photo spectaculaire du Spitfire CF-NUS de Paterson lors de son premier vol à l’hiver 1961/62 au-dessus de Fort William. Le Spitfire était de couleur bleu clair avec des éclairs de couleur blanc et noire via Fly North, le bulletin du Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/41fbc242-2a5b-439e-a37f-683b8b704475/CF_NUS.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out John Paterson aux commandes de son Supermarine Spitfire nouvellement restauré à l’aéroport de Lakehead durant l’été 1962. Notez l’emblème guerrier du 421e Escadron sur le fuselage. Paterson était le descendant d’une famille d’armateurs maritimes aisée de ce port du lac Supérieur. Photo : Allan Peden. Technicien en météorologie à l’aéroport de Lakehead à l’époque. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9539a66-2168-488a-98c5-5190e901af6a/Peden.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Le Spitfire CF-NUS vu sous un autre angle. Il s’agit peut-être du premier Spitfire privé au Canada. John Paterson est aux commandes alors que l’appareil réchauffe son moteur en juin 1962. Photo : Allan Peden. Technicien en météorologie à l’aéroport de Lakehead à l’époque. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72a42b0f-7c73-4faf-baad-1e90a154638f/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+2.55.20+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9f6fbab-544b-4b7d-b1d8-8b5ad421489d/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+2.56.15+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Un modéliste britannique du pseudonyme de « lancfan », qui a le sens de la rareté, a affiché une maquette de la marque Airfix qu’il a reconfigurée pour créer une ressemblance avec le Spitfire de Paterson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70dcdbb5-3833-44b9-af0c-b4801d49fae5/Peden2.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out John Paterson discute avec des amis après son vol, sous le regard admiratif des gamins. Photo : Allan Peden. Technicien en météorologie à l’aéroport de Lakehead à l’époque. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9b88ead8-cc27-4172-90ba-1c3902d41c74/Paterson.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Spitfire à ailes tronquées du 421e Escadron du Musée de l’aviation et de l’espace du Canada a été offert à la collection par John Paterson, ancien pilote du 421e Escadron. Le Spitfire était semblable à celui qu’il avait piloté pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans l’ARC et, à une époque où la préservation des aéronefs historiques était encore peu courante, il l’a restauré et remis en état de vol et l’a fait peindre avec les marques que « son » Spitfire portait lors de son service à l’escadron 421. Une fois la restauration terminée, il l’a piloté pour la première fois au cours de l’hiver 1961/62 dans la région de Lakehead (Thunder Bay) jusqu’en 1964, date à laquelle Paterson en a fait don au Musée canadien de l’aviation à Ottawa. Nous voyons ici le « pilote de l’auteur », John Paterson, le piloter en 1964 sous l’immatriculation civile CF-NUS au-dessus du lac Supérieur, près de ce qui est aujourd’hui Thunder Bay. Photo Wiki Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76513f19-cd60-4534-9791-2c7f785cd60b/Screen+Shot+2022-09-21+at+3.35.12+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out CF-NUS sur le gazon de la station de l’ARC Rockcliffe en 1964, peu après que Paterson l’ait piloté de Thunder Bay à Ottawa où l’appareil trouvera son lieu d’exposition permanente. On peut le voir dans l’exposition sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale de l’actuel Musée de l’aviation et de l’espace du Canada, toujours à Rockcliffe. La seule chose qui diffère aujourd’hui de cette photo est la suppression de l’enregistrement civil sur la queue. Photo : The Caz Caswell Collectionda Aviation and Space Museum still at Rockcliffe. The only thing that is different today from this photo is the removal of the civil registration on the tail. Photo: The Caz Caswell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/27e72366-6a9f-401f-bdc3-e274af1fa4f2/t_conrad_wally_854.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out À son premier débarquement en Normandie, le 421e Escadron était commandé par le commandant d’escadre Walter Allen Grenfell « Wally » Conrad qui était très apprécié par tous. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc7e046d-652c-4777-a22e-1be43a64fdbd/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+11.34.27+AM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out En plus de manger en plein air le 421e Escadron et d’autres aviateurs de la 127e Escadre organisaient des services religieux toujours en plein air. Ici, le chef d’escadron Révérend H Crawford Scott, un aumônier protestant de l’ARC, dirige un service informel dans un verger en bordure de B2/Bazenville, en Normandie, en présence de l’équipe au sol. À l’arrière-plan, un Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX (AU-H) du 421e Escadron de l’ARC subit un entretien. AU-H est le Spitfire entretenu par Archie Robertson et piloté à de nombreuses reprises par le capitaine d’aviation J. N. Paterson. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3168d1bd-d870-4689-87d3-af8b8b0104a6/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+11.42.33+AM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Un Spitfire de la 127e Escadre (canadienne) décolle de B2/Bazenville, en Normandie, pour une patrouille au crépuscule, tandis qu’un Spitfire Mark IX du 403e Escadron de l’ARC attend en position d’alerte. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc1e83be-3af5-4643-ae22-8777cb16b2af/large_000000+%285%29.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Winston Churchill entre en Caen en empruntant le « pont Winston » pour visiter les dégâts causés par les Britanniques et les Canadiens qui ont repris la ville au prix fort. Pendant qu’il est au front, le 18 juillet, il visite l’aérodrome B2 de Bazenville pour prononcer un discours d’encouragement aux hommes de la 127e Escadre. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a83d532d-a473-4df8-92fc-382805b62a7c/fox01.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out L’auteur écrit dans le paragraphe précédent que « Rommel a été atteint aussi. J’espère qu’un de nos appareils l’a eu et que notre travail n’aura pas été vain ». Un pilote canadien de Spitfire du nom de Charley Fox est l’un des nombreux pilotes qui ont été reconnus ou qui ont prétendu être ceux qui a attaqué la voiture d’état-major de Rommel sur une route de Normandie. Le général a été si gravement blessé qu’il a été renvoyé chez lui en Allemagne. Indépendamment de la véracité de toute affirmation, les services rendus par Charley pendant la guerre et surtout dans ses dernières années ont été extraordinaires. Il est devenu le colonel honoraire du 412e Escadron et a travaillé sans relâche au nom des anciens combattants et pour honorer leur souvenir. Photo : RCAF https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c6b98c9-bd53-4488-87ce-2fdd350842df/1617309_10202446161589704_1891251732_o.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Chargement des C-47 Skytrain américains à B-82 Grave en vue de l’opération Market Garden. L’auteur est arrivé à Grave une semaine après que l’opération ait eu lieu. L’ombre du L-19 du photographe est visible en bas. La piste d’atterrissage, dans l’ancien avant-pays de la Meuse à Keent, a été aménagée par les Allemands comme terrain d’atterrissage d’urgence qui n’a jamais servi. Cependant, le 26 septembre 1944, 209 C47 Dakota du 52nd Wing Troop Carrier Command ont atterri à Keent avec des troupes et du matériel pour les Américains et la 2e armée britannique. Malgré le sol marécageux et détrempé, la piste continue d’être utilisée par les escadrons de chasse de la 2nd Tactical Airforce. Photo : ForgottenAirfields.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/779ff9b6-10bf-47c4-96e1-37b158d17d95/Keent.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Une photo de reconnaissance de la B82 à Keent/Graves entourée d’une digue en bas et à gauche. Photo : Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e99316bd-5b89-4cbe-bf7a-acfad23ea793/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+4.24.07+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Spitfires sous le feu ennemi à B-82 Grave/Keent en 1944. Photo : LiberationRoute.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/146f92d5-8038-4a2a-9928-b68775b948eb/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+1.22.16+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Photo de reconnaissance aérienne prise de l’aérodrome de Melsbroek, en Belgique, après une attaque de jour par des avions du Bomber Command le 15 août 1944. Les cratères des bombes couvrent la majeure partie de l’aérodrome, qui était l’un des neuf attaqués en préparation d’une nouvelle offensive de nuit contre l’Allemagne. En quelques semaines, il sera capturé par les Alliés et utilisé comme base principale pour la 2e force aérienne tactique de la RAF. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de6f9cec-7243-4096-b6c1-f12d42385651/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+1.29.53+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Afin de préparer Melsbroek à recevoir les unités avancées de la 2e TAF, les bulldozers et les niveleuses du 5205 Plant Squadron de la RAF s’affaire à réparer les dégâts que la 2e TAF a causés au terrain lorsqu’il était aux mains des Allemands. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66fd9e11-bcd2-4f47-8bbb-817086e67393/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+3.33.38+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Les hangars de Meslbroek ont été minutieusement camouflés pour ressembler à des maisons et des magasins civils. Le déguisement incluait des toits mansardés, des fenêtres et des cheminées et semblait probablement très réel vu du ciel. On peut se demander si les pilotes d’attaque se sont déjà posé la question : « Que fait une rangée de maisons et de magasins sur un aérodrome ? ». On peut encore lire le panneau « Interdiction de fumer » en allemand sur le mur arrière du hangar. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c62340ba-6f5e-4e92-8874-5b983f00b83e/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+3.09.42+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Le 3 septembre 1944, la zone de Haren-Evère est libérée, et seulement trois jours plus tard, les premiers escadrons de la RAF atterrissent. Elle fut désignée comme Advanced Landing Ground B-56 Evère. Les Allemands étant partis précipitamment, les aérodromes jumeaux n'ont nécessité que très peu de travaux de réparation. Entre septembre 1944 et octobre 1945, les Britanniques ont agrandi les pistes, les voies de circulation et les aires de trafic davantage. À la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, les deux aérodromes ont continué à servir les militaires. Il a fallu attendre mars 1946 pour que les aérodromes soient entièrement libérés pour un usage civil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e4db28f-0c2b-4615-a343-e9b1173199b6/421.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Les Spitfires du 421e Escadron sur l'aérodrome B-56 d'Evère, en Belgique, se préparent à une opération hivernale tandis qu'un Hudson du RAF Transport Command se pose sur la piste dégagée. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c60e8466-d041-4f73-94d6-e761e93d1571/Screen+Shot+2022-09-19+at+4.37.05+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Les Spitfire de l’escadre 127 de B-56 Evère, en Belgique, se préparent à une sortie matinale sous des conditions hivernales. Tout comme l'auteur, les monteurs s'assuraient qu'ils étaient prêts, quelles que soient les conditions. Photo: LAC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a1f36fa0-fea7-4496-b902-04ad75750d8e/Butte.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Le pilote de Spitfire du 403e Escadron, le Sous-lieutenant d'aviation Steve Butte, de la Colombie-Britannique, a abattu 3 chasseurs allemands (deux Bf 109 et un FW 190) le jour du Nouvel An, lors de l'attaque Bôdenplatte de la Luftwaffe. Cette photo a été prise plus tard, car on peut voir son ruban de la Croix distinguée de l’aviation (DFC) . Plus tard dans sa vie, Butte sera le colonel honoraire du 403e Escadron, transformée en unité de formation d'hélicoptères commandée par le lieutenant-colonel Dean Black. Photo via https://rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/16979cdb-0b11-4f84-8d82-d12218bdc366/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+2.18.42+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Les suites de l'attaque de l'opération Bödenplatte à Melsbroek le 1er janvier 1945. L'opération Bödenplatte prévoyait une attaque surprise contre 16 bases aériennes alliées en Belgique, aux Pays-Bas et en France, visant la destruction ou la paralysie d'un maximum d'avions, de hangars et de pistes d'atterrissage. Photo: Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d58f8c12-d051-4cd9-9232-a38a44617bab/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+2.12.43+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Du site Web belgians-remember-them.eu : L'opération Bodenplatte, l'attaque aérienne allemande du 1er janvier 1945, a durement touché Melsbroek. Selon Emil Clade (chef du III./JG 27), les positions de la DCA n'étaient pas en service et les avions étaient regroupés ou alignés, ce qui en faisait des cibles parfaites. L'attaque a causé des dommages considérables parmi les unités basées sur place et a été reconnue comme un grand succès. Les Recce Wings (Escadre de reconnaissance) avaient perdu deux escadrons entiers d’appareils. Le 69e escadron de la RAF perd 11 Vickers Wellington et deux sont endommagés. Il est possible que tous les Mosquitos de l'escadron 140 de la RAF aient été perdus. Au moins cinq Spitfires du 16e escadron de la RAF ont été détruits. Le 271e escadron de la RAF perd au moins sept transports Harrow « hors service ». Quinze autres appareils ont été détruits. La 139e escadre rapporte que cinq B-25 ont été détruits et cinq endommagés. De 15 à 20 bombardiers de l'USAAF ont également été détruits. Une autre source indique que 13 Wellington ont été détruits, ainsi que 5 Mosquito, 4 Auster et 5 Avro Anson du 2e escadron de communication des forces aériennes tactiques. 3 Spitfires ont également été perdus et deux endommagés. Au moins un Douglas Dakota du RAF Transport Command a également été détruit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/88acb24b-acf9-4eea-90c4-933dc9dff4d6/shutterstock_1028117350.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out La fontaine Manneken-Pis de Bruxelles, qui représente un enfant grandeur nature urinant dans une fontaine, est encore aujourd'hui l'une des destinations préférées des touristes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9d086dfa-056a-43d8-a050-4b4a3c1c1111/Q-Spr17-Varsity-1.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Planeurs américains WACO en route vers Wessel dans le cadre de l’opération Varsity. Photo : warfarehistorynetwork.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d336103-02a4-4081-84c9-24de394c0f4a/Q-Spr17-Varsity-2.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Des centaines de planeurs WACO jonchent le paysage près de Wessel. Photo : warfarehistorynetwork.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73d7c460-4eec-4a8f-8309-0f917463fc54/Screen+Shot+2022-07-27+at+3.56.59+PM.png Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Des Supermarine Spitfire LF Mark IXE à ailes tronquées, de l’escadrille B du 443e Escadron de l’ARC, stationnés dans une aire de dispersion recouverte de treillis métalliques (PSP), à B114/Diepholz, en Allemagne. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/afff2bac-c99d-4e16-a52a-21aa84578f8a/Flugfeld_Ho%CC%88pen_1.jpg Les Histoires - SUR LE SENTIER DE LA GUERRE AVEC LE 421e ESCADRON - Make it stand out Contrairement à la croyance de l’auteur selon laquelle il n’y avait pas de lieu nommé Reinsehlen près de l’aérodrome B-154, il y avait et il y a toujours un petit village de ce nom à proximité. Aujourd’hui, le grand B-154 n’est plus un terrain d’aviation fonctionnel, mais à un kilomètre à l’ouest se trouve Segelfluggelände Höpen (le champ de planeurs de Höpen). Photo : wikipedia https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-histoires/johnnytyphoon monthly 0.5 2021-06-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955369043-0AHECWGHB9LWEZLR0H0N/Colton56.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952670451-08C84Z2JP125WW0UDPX9/Colton03.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out En 2005, au Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum de Hamilton, Johnny retrouve par hasard le Tiger Moth 8922 qui l’avait amené à rencontrer sa future épouse le 25 septembre 1942. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952694471-BBV42JYIPMV3NLICF1FE/Colton04.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le carnet de vol (Logbook) de Johnny à l’époque de son apprentissage de pilote au EFTS Nº 4. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952803539-7A7TFWP6QNE0MQPUE6R2/Colton05.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out L’avion du destin! Le voici photographié en 2007 à Geneseo par le photographe Jean-Pierre Bonin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952827748-FD9960GYB5KYJVJ0MMDT/Colton06.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Windsor Mills aujourd’hui. Source : Google Map, collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952877816-TTSTGANLQ1ERHIA0NXRT/Colton07.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Yvon Goudreau, que l’on voit ici à côté d’un Tiger Moth sur skis, faisait partie de l’équipe au sol de l’EFTS Nº 4 à cette époque. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952921832-X7PUWXER4RY4R61L73CJ/Colton08.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le 8 septembre1942, 2 avions d’entraînement sont entrés en collision à l’EFTS Nº 4 à Windsor Mills. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623952974156-V8DZOVQ47DV0AVW4H22J/Colton09.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Carton d’invitation de la RCAF pour un bal à Victoriaville. Johnny y est allé danser. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953082513-TO6JMUHWJS2ARWJZE3EM/Colton11.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Deux bons amis, Ralph Hassall et Johnny Colton, à Bournemouth au Royaume-Uni en 1943. Ils ne seront pas affectés aux mêmes escadrons. Johnny avait perdu contact avec Ralph et avait recherché son ami pendant de nombreuses années après la guerre. Après de multiples efforts, Johnny l’a enfin retrouvé 59 ans plus tard. Mais Ralph était mort en 2001 près de Cleveland en Ohio, là où il avait élu domicile. Johnny s’est organisé pour obtenir pour Ralph une pierre tombale mentionnant qu'il était un pilote de chasse de la RAF à l'escadron 3. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953127538-EWITUNZM2U1CE9JSPHD6/Colton10.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny a découvert que son ami Ralph Hassall faisait parti de l’escadron 3. Ironiquement, ils ne savaient pas qu'ils étaient si proches en même temps fin 1944 aux Pays-Bas : Ralph à Volkel, Johnny à Eindhoven, juste à quelques kilomètres de distance l’un de l’autre! Ralph volait alors aux côtés du célèbre pilote français Pierre Clostermann. Debout, de gauche à droite : Ralph Hassall, Pierre Clostermann, Walker, Peter West, Bruce Cole et Macintyre. Assis : Gordon, Dug Worley, Wright et Torpy. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953215623-TP3E4485TDSF4Q43SZLL/Colton12.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Gauche : Johnny Colton à 22 ans Photo : collection John Baert Droite : Le sergent pilote Johnny Colton en visite au château d’Édinbourg en Écosse en 1943, « et ayant besoin d’aller chez le coiffeur! » commente Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953280384-FA4VF6G7MQV0B2OZDQYB/Colton13.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Début 1944, Royaume-Uni. Cette photo date de l’époque de la transition du Hurricane au Typhoon. De gauche à droite : Charlie Hall (CAN), Pat McConvey (CAN), Bill Speedie (AUS), Johnny Colton (CAN), Ralph Hassall (CAN). Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953377443-NRDNY608404K0E1JHEVZ/Colton41.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Moteur Napier Sabre 2A de 2 180 ch de Typhoon Mk IB Photo : Paul Maritz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953448310-FQOENAP60SGWOIXWF5HB/Colton02.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton et le Hawker Typhoon à Manston, en Angleterre en 1944 Photo : collection Johnny Colton et colorisation par Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953495501-8ZOB1DSR73H0QCJG38Y7/Colton15.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out La bête : le Hawker Typhoon Mk IB au roulage. Johnny a piloté ce Typhoon de l’escadron 137 lorsqu’il était en Hollande en 1944. Ce Typhoon fut par la suite descendu pendant la campagne des Ardennes en décembre 1944. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953541941-YS2ND7FU0V9HZVY458XE/Colton16.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Ce Typhoon muni de bombes est guidé au roulage par cet homme assis sur l’aile droite, heureusement pour le pilote! Photo : collection Michel Côté https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953644494-9DFDGDP5EP5F7J6SISUU/Colton50.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out V-1 Buzz Bomb. Photo : Imperial War Museum (C 5736) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953708062-BHO1QTBKPJN46EGH7JP7/Colton52.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Normandie, 1944. Escadron 137, Johnny est le quatrième du rang du milieu en partant de la gauche. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953774076-AALVWM6XAP96N8GYSPVX/Colton19.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le pilote Paddy Shemeld, un ami de Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953837036-16JIMX1CSWVKLOMM6M1S/Colton20.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le terrain de Coulombs (B-6) en Normandie. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953883248-OWFEGRC335ATBLJVL571/Colton55.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Coulombs et B-6 aujourd'hui. Photo : Google Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953940621-DUIGLEN7EOUP7HPSGDRQ/Colton21.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Stèle commémorative à Coulombs. Photo : Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623953984807-R3EYNJNCZ8G5736KQ5OO/Colton22.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Question à Johnny : « Johnny, reconnaissez-vous cette église? » Réponse : « Oui, c’est l’église de Coulombs, je l’ai frappé avec mon aile. » Photo : Matthieu Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954058115-JDAB08XQVWWSNLPXBIQT/Colton23.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Typhoon de Johnny, le SF-Y. Maquette et photo réalisées par John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954147930-BCJTW66J31SCAUBS99IL/Colton24.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Articles sur l’attaque contre le château où résidait le général Kurt Student. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954209099-010IDTJ3FX8UVKKIP25F/Colton25.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Typhoon endommagé, un exemplaire qu’il avait piloté à plusieurs reprises. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954285368-0MKKJEOFUWN6FKGFU3VR/Colton46.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Typhoon SF-K, Eindhoven, 1944. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954327378-HX5L094BZ9T24DSR89QI/Colton53.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Eindhoven, Pays-Bas. Deux Hawker Typhoon prêts à décoller. L’avion de tête est le SF-P de l'escadron 137. Photo : Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954395774-U2W9JQU9L5CZNDMAAY7S/Colton44.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Würger (Shrike) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954452296-L20EJI3NDNHSZLW6MF5O/Colton28.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Groupe de pilotes allemands du Sturmstaffel JG Udet en 1945. Oscar Bösch est deuxième à partir de la droite. À l’exception de 3 pilotes, tous les autres ont été tués. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954496427-FNUBKAS6C407LND54X6N/Colton32.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Feldwebel Oscar Bösch, à 19 ans. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954558542-MII5VLSQQBAFS9V7LSPP/Colton30.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton et Oscar Bösch auprès de son planeur immatriculé selon ses initiales, été 1978 à Sherbrooke, Québec. Photo : collection John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954598138-G46602U2AZOTUQB7SZU0/Colton31.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out L’amitié entre pilotes ne connaît pas de frontières. Il y a quelques années, Johnny a reçu un cadeau de la part d’Oscar Bösch en mémoire de leurs expériences communes de l’Opération Bodenplatte du 1er janvier 1945 : une photo autographiée d’Oscar, à côté du célèbre as allemand Erich Hartman. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954666098-XSFHBQZTM6DSNN7637X6/Colton43.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Messerschmitt Bf-109, ou Me-109 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954721402-XKUP13L216QYY0OQB1WD/Colton42.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954776143-ZWL8Y5XCWO4C425IT9MM/Colton33.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Détails du Carnet de vol de l’escadron 137. Collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954877933-XAINY53OZADF3Q6L3VCZ/Colton34.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le Typhoon du musée de Hendon, en Angleterre, l’unique survivant, sauvé grâce aux Américains, viendrait l’année prochaine au musée de l’Aviation et de l’Espace du Canada à Ottawa pour une période de 3 ans. Photo : John Baert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954932688-Z33PWT2RQB7HHOOMV48K/Colton35.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Au cours de la réunion de l'escadre 124 en Normandie en 1994, Johnny a reçu des médailles commémoratives des maires de deux villages proches de B-6, l’un des premiers terrains d’aviation alliés en opération après le débarquement – Le maire de Noyers-Bocage, Roland Heudier et le maire de Sainte-Croix-Grand-Tonne, Claude Marguerite. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623954983204-LDFUH8M6L6UW1HKS9EIV/Colton36.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Réunion de l'escadre 124 à Noyers-Bocage en 1994. Johnny est dans la rangée en arrière, quatrième à partir de la droite. Au milieu en avant se tient leur hôte, Jacques Bréhin. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955029309-CXRFHQXGFMLZ3XMNRUAG/Colton37.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny demeure très actif en participant à des événements commémoratifs, comme ici, à celui de l’anniversaire du Débarquement qui a eu lieu à Sherbrooke, Québec, en juin 2012 à la Légion Royale Canadienne, Branche 10. Johnny est troisième à partir de la gauche. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955069921-E4UHJDCLZTJC50JAMFYC/Colton38.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Johnny Colton a reçu le 30 septembre 2012 la Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955127826-XOIE1XHC3UGLFFCULRJH/Colton39.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Le 12 octobre 2012, Johnny Colton reçoit des mains du général Yvan Blondin, au nom de l’ARC, un certificat de reconnaissance pour ses services hors pair de pilote de chasseur-bombardier Typhoon en Europe pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. On peut y lire : « qu’avec sa bravoure, son courage, ses aptitudes et son audace, Johnny Colton a survécu à 104 missions et est aujourd’hui l’ultime modèle pour nos aviateurs d’aujourd’hui en période de combat. » Cette distinction pourrait aujourd’hui être considérée aussi élevée que la fameuse DFC (Croix du service distingué dans l'Aviation) donnée aux pilotes en temps de guerre. Photo : Pierre Lapprand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955170258-C1X5L4ZGDIYI4BF6E1IK/Colton40.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Gauche : Le 9 novembre 2012, dans le cadre des célébrations du Jour du Souvenir, Johnny a rencontré les élèves d’une école primaire à Sherbrooke, Québec. « Ils étaient très intéressés » a commenté Johnny. Photo : collection Johnny Colton Droite : Ceux qui écrivent l’histoire, au passé comme au présent. Réunion de Johnny Colton et John Colton Junior avec l’astronaute canadien Chris Hadfield. Spectacle aérien Gatineau en vol aux Ailes d’époque du Canada en 2010. Photo : collection Johnny Colton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623955214391-ULOT61IRO2017VB6B2MK/Colton54.jpeg Les Histoires - Johnny Typhoon - Make it stand out Pierre Lapprand et Johnny, 2 août 2012 https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-histoires/lesgars monthly 0.5 2021-06-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623956871624-28WOG2JRKTEVU7HRG326/StAnneTitleFrench.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623957071696-D5ZIVIOP2H4ICCHUDOPO/StAnne59.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out À la fin de la Première grande guerre, l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne avait son propre embranchement ferroviaire, permettant de recevoir directement les blessés acheminés en civière via Halifax, probablement. Ceci en dit beaucoup sur le volume de patients prévus à l’époque… (Photo : gracieuseté de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026491288-H4MJGKHV2KUU1V87NACZ/StAnne53.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Au moment de la Deuxième grande guerre, plusieurs des infirmeries de l’hôpital étaient couvertes de vignes et paraissaient pittoresques à première vue, tout comme la Résidence Rideau pour anciens combattants que j’apercevais lors de mes randonnées en vélo durant ma jeunesse. Les soins de longue durée prodigués aux résidents étaient sans doute bien intentionnés, mais plus primitifs que ceux d’aujourd’hui. Photo : gracieuseté de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026567071-G47ZRMAG7U29HA5P7IFM/StAnne54.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out L’extérieur de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne était très accueillant. L’atmosphère au début était selon le site internet du ministère : ‘L'ambiance à l'HSA était amicale, mais disciplinée. En 1916, la Commission des hôpitaux militaires imposa une discipline militaire aux institutions qu'elle gérait afin d'augmenter la participation aux programmes de formation professionnelle et de réduire les risques d'écarts de conduite de la part de certains anciens combattants. Les districts militaires furent transformés en unités du Hospitals Commissions Command, faisant ainsi passer le personnel et les patients sous autorité militaire. La discipline militaire fut la règle à l'HSA jusqu'au déménagement, en 1971, dans le nouvel édifice. Photo : gracieuseté de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026633106-IVWEA9YL6AO0NXM3IAJ2/StAnne56.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Site de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne au moment de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Plusieurs blessés canadiens y étaient transportés en provenance de navires-hôpitaux et ensuite par train. Photo : gracieuseté de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026678729-O7LO2H1C7NQ8G7O0WUI6/StAnne57.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Une photo de Sainte-Anne prise durant la même période que celle de la photo précédente. On y voit que même durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, on accordait une importance à l’accessibilité, comme en témoignent les rampes sur les trottoirs. Sandy Sanders, une abonnée à nos info-lettres, nous a relaté ses souvenirs sur l’art de « classer » les patients de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne juste avant la Deuxième Guerre. ‘’J’étais étudiante à l’école secondaire Macdonald situé à Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue en 1939. Je me souviens très bien de cet hôpital. Nous apercevions les patients vêtus de gris ou de bleu. Ma mémoire faiblit mais les couleurs n’étaient pas assignées aux patients réguliers. Une des couleurs voulait dire que le patient ne devait pas prendre de boissons alcooliques dans les bars du coin. D’autres avaient des croix ou un cercle rouge dessinés au dos de leurs chemises, ce qui voulait dire qu’ils ne devaient pas quitter les environs de l’hôpital. Photo : Hôpital Sainte-Anne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026722836-ZMU5CDPN0C6G18K92R7M/StAnne55.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Un nouvel édifice plus moderne fut construit en 1971. Il y eut des rénovations importantes récentes qui avaient permis de passer du vieux concept d’aires ouvertes aux chambres privées. Photo : Memorablemontral.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026787878-LVQVA5GSL41MPLIUEBHT/StAnne73.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out L’Hôpital Sainte-Anne avec son nouveau Pavillon du souvenir sur la gauche. Photo : gracieuseté de MemorableMontreal.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624026898520-K89FMJDFSTZK04DH6YJ6/StAnne19.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Andrée-Anne Desforges, coordonnatrice au développement de la Fondation de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne, et Marc Lessard, l’un des infirmiers, rendent visite à Monsieur Rosaire Gaston Ouellette. Les résidents sont encouragés à apporter des photos ou des souvenirs pour faire de leur chambre la leur. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028270063-CG9S29A90XNAPE8GOPKX/StAnne20.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Les résidents qui ont besoin de soins de longue durée s’installent tout en faisant de leur chambre des oasis de souvenirs et d’objets personnels qui les réconfortent. Leur chambre devient ainsi leur ‘’chez eux’’. Le poteau de transfert à la droite du lit permet aux résidents de se lever en toute sécurité. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028382491-GCU1Y58OSZYSN5Z9XXO0/SteAnne75.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Les patients souffrant de dysphasie ont de la difficulté à avaler. Leur servir des repas de purée ou d’aliments liquéfiés n’est pas appétissant. Mais reformer la purée sous forme d’aliments d’un repas, comme du jambon, des ananas, des asperges ou des betteraves, affecte positivement et profondément ceux qui souffrent de cette maladie. Photo : Prophagia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028437726-AYWQJPT5UU41DAK1AKXS/StAnne03.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Il y a plusieurs anciens combattants dont l’état de santé fera en sorte qu’ils termineront leurs jours à l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne. L’hôpital leur fournit plus que des soins thérapeutiques. Par exemple, un atelier de menuiserie qui est l’un des endroits préférés des résidents masculins. Pierre Groulx, un employé de l’atelier, aide les résidents à utiliser des outils en toute sécurité en plus de leur donner un coup de main. Les anciens combattants construisent différents objets comme de petites boîtes de jouets pour leurs arrières petits-enfants. Monsieur Groulx indique que l’activité de menuiserie n’est pas un remède miracle pour les anciens combattants, mais cela à un effet positif pour réduire le niveau de stress qui accompagne un changement de vie important et sur la solitude résultant de la perte d’un conjoint ou de plusieurs connaissances. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028476942-GXP664WFK5Z8UR1M0T7N/StAnne04.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out L’atelier est bien équipé de plusieurs types d’outillage, autant électrique que traditionnel. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028501662-86XHFBG4WIHUGV0A452R/StAnne05.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Anthony Ozanick, un homme doux et élégant, était un ancien membre de l’équipe des mécaniciens de l’escadrille 408 ‘’Goose’’. L’escadrille faisait partie du Groupe 6 de la Royal Air Force basé à Linton-on-Ouse. De nos jours, ses visites à l’atelier lui permettent de relaxer et de retrouver de la camaraderie. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028556970-EPWFWNDSY8DAFH374HHB/StAnne66.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Anthony Ozanick a participé aux missions à bord des Avro Lancaster pour le Bomber Command à partir de l’imposante base de la Royal Air Force de Linton-On–Ouse. Cette dernière était l’un des 11 aérodromes affectés au Groupe 6 de l’Aviation royale canadienne (ARC) .On l’utilise encore aujourd’hui pour la formation des pilotes d’avions à réaction. Photo : Royal Air Force https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028600322-R15BMMMZ0TMK1974Q4KJ/StAnne06.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Plusieurs anciens combattants adorent passer du temps dans l’atelier. Pierre Groulx est là pour leur donner un coup de main à construire des maisons de poupée pour les arrière-petits-enfants ou des cabanes d’oiseaux à offrir en cadeau aux visiteurs. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028628204-7VU1V5HFN1KNCF7K1LKR/StAnne14.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Un studio d’arts et métiers jouit de lumière naturelle abondante. C’est un endroit fort apprécié qui permet aux résidents de passer des journées agréables à faire de la peinture, à tisser ou à fabriquer des poupées ou de petits jouets. On voit ici Diane Martineau, conseillère en arts et métiers, aider une résidente avec l’un des nombreux métiers à tisser. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028670568-T7915K9ARY7AXFYVE2VN/StAnne12.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out On aperçoit madame Lacasse, l’une des trente résidentes de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne, tisser des napperons et des chemins de table, fort populaires à offrir en cadeau aux amis et aux familles. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028713422-YW829F7IG7UPSJ7FPEUG/StAnne72.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Madame Hélène Lacasse glisse la navette du métier à tisser pour enfiler les ficelles. Travailler sur les métiers à tisser permet de garder un esprit vif et actif en plus d’aider à maintenir une bonne coordination. Un après-midi de tissage entouré d’amis renforce non seulement la vie sociale, mais aide aussi à produire du travail créatif. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028749254-YEVBZN541LNNY0J76PF3/StAnne11.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Le studio des arts et métiers contient plusieurs produits finis comme des animaux en peluche, des cabanes d’oiseaux, de la poterie et des cadres à photos. Tous ces objets sont en vente à des prix très avantageux et les profits sont versés directement aux anciens combattants qui les ont conçus. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028787881-55CM3VQWPRM6OY3YSAZE/StAnne15.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Des serpents colorés, fait de feutre, décorent le studio des arts et métiers. Les projets simples et répétitifs comme le tissage et la fabrication de jouets favorisent la stimulation mentale, l’entregent, une veine artistique, en plus d’apporter la satisfaction d’avoir créé quelque chose. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624028897406-0UZMT88HSU4W6EP5QLNI/StAnne80.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Lors de nos rencontres avec le personnel et les anciens combattants dans le studio, j’ai découvert que l’on pouvait acheter les item exposés et que les profits iraient directement aux anciens combattants responsables de leur fabrication. Même si les sommes n’étaient pas importantes, ceci permettait de confirmer que leurs efforts étaient appréciés et valorisés. J’ai acheté deux petits moutons en peluche pour ma petite-fille, que je lui ai remis la semaine suivante. Son expression en dit long! Nous avons fait parvenir cette image à la Fondation et ils l’ont montrée aux anciens combattants ayant fabriqué ces jouets. Quelle satisfaction de pouvoir fermer la boucle. Photo : Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029104990-G24JMRPPY9VU7DXOI6CO/StAnne07.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out La Fondation ainsi que l’Hôpital ne ménagent pas leurs efforts pour répondre aux besoins individuels des résidents, en leur procurant divers appareils comme des fauteuils roulants, des canes, et des marchettes. Ceci leur permet de demeurer mobiles et autonomes plus longtemps Ces démarches assurent un haut degré de confort et d’utilité tout en démontrant aux anciens combattants combien ils sont uniques et importants. Tony Pednault, le technicien responsable de l’atelier, est très apprécié pour sa créativité à modifier les différents appareils, pour rencontrer les besoins individuels de confort et d’utilité des résidents qui lui rendent visite. Comme les exigences changent continuellement, les résidents viennent souvent à l’atelier pour faire effectuer de petites retouches au besoin. On nous a dit que Tony est prêt à tout faire pour ses résidents. Photo Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029155823-YGX6RMZ8KUJZ2IDBO1Z1/StAnne08.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out De nombreux coussins de fauteuils roulants sont empilés. La Fondation et l’Hôpital fournit tous les appareils et les activités qui rendent la vie dans le milieu hospitalier plus agréable pour les anciens combattants qui vieillissent. Les salles d’entrepôt sont remplies de toute sorte de fauteuils, de coussins, de pièces d’équipement technique que l’on utilise pour favoriser le niveau de confort et la mobilité des personnes dans leur fin de vie. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029230234-DWPKXLEO16A9SLY7V7GX/StAnne16.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out La Fondation de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne comprend que plusieurs anciens combattants de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale et de la Guerre de Corée ont grandi en étant croyants et plusieurs le sont toujours. Ils trouvent un réconfort dans la communauté spirituelle de leur choix. On voit ici deux simples détails dans la chapelle de l’hôpital qui dénote l’attention accordée au bien-être des cœurs et des esprits des anciens combattants. La chapelle est multiconfessionnelle. Ainsi, on peut la convertir pour servir les besoins religieux des différentes dénominations, soit juive, chrétienne ou islamique. Les quatorze stations du chemin de croix que l’on retrouve dans les églises catholiques se retrouvent dans de petits alcôves dans les murs derrière de petites portes que l’on ferme s’il y a un service d’une autre religion. On y voit aussi des caméras de télévision qui suivent automatiquement les mouvements du célébrant. Les résidents peuvent participer aux services en personnes mais ceux qui sont moins mobiles peuvent participer en écoutant les services retransmis sur les téléviseurs dans l’intimité de leur chambre. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029271985-7FNYV237JRVX9WMV61FY/StAnne18.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Il y a des techniques simples pour aider les préposés à mieux servir les anciens combattants. Sur chaque unité de soins, il y a une salle à manger pour les résidents. Pour chaque résident, il y a un napperon qui, avec l’aide de pictogrammes, permet de bien identifier les besoins spécifiques de chaque résident en ce qui concerne la nourriture. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029382251-RLLDA718E298GRSPAZO9/StAnne21.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Des bénévoles de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne permettent aux résidents d’avoir accès à une grande bibliothèque qui comprend des titres de grand intérêt pour la « Grande Génération ». Les bénévoles jouent un rôle primordial pour maintenir la meilleure qualité de vie possible des anciens combattants. En plus de gérer et maintenir la bibliothèque, ils organisent des activités et des sorties, tout en les accompagnant. Ils établissent aussi des liens avec ceux qui reçoivent des soins palliatifs et qui n’ont pas de famille ou dont les familles sont trop éloignées pour les visiter régulièrement. Avoir la visite d’un ami quand la mort est proche est fondamental dans le processus palliatif. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029423525-6QK3AKJ3HUZLDUJF5VE4/SteAnne69.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Le nouveau Pavillon du souvenir à Sainte-Anne a été conçu pour les anciens combattants qui souffrent de problèmes cognitifs. Ce complexe moderne a été créé spécifiquement pour aider cette clientèle dont les besoins sont distincts et uniques. Par exemple, il n’y a pas de corridors sans issue et ceci permet aux résidents de circuler librement tout en leur permettant de revenir au point central de la résidence. Les chambres du Pavillon ont plusieurs grandes fenêtres qui permettent une aire ensoleillée. Des babillards au chevet des lits utilisent aussi des pictogrammes pour informer le personnel es besoins en soins des résidents. Photo : Jean-Guy Lambert de Jean-Guy Lambert Photographie https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029662112-P5DQG5MK06ZDT5GS9PYZ/StAnne23.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out La Fondation est toujours à la recherche de moyens thérapeutiques et de programmes pour améliorer la vie des résidents et de leurs familles, plus particulièrement ceux qui contribuent à un niveau émotionnel et de bien-être élevés avec peu d’investissements. Dans le Pavillon du souvenir, des bénévoles et des membres du personnel ont créé un projet unique mais significatif. Ce projet a permis de créer des sentiments forts et des souvenirs pour les familles de résidents qui souffrent de démence. Lorsque les résidents glissent de plus en plus vers la démence, les familles sont réconfortées par le Projet des mains jointes à jamais. L’idée est simple, élégante et forte en émotions. Le résident, en tenant la main d’un être cher, trempe les mains dans une solution non-toxique gélatineuse durant environ cinq minutes. Il en ressort un moule qui est ensuite utilisé pour recréer la sculpture en plâtre des mains. Cette sculpture reflète les plis, les rides, les jointures et même l’émotion du moment. Les mains jointes, des conjoints ou arrières petits-enfants est un message d’affection très fort que les familles peuvent garder à jamais. Je ne peux qu’imaginer comment il aurait été merveilleux d’avoir eu une sculpture des mains de mon grand-père, un vétéran des batailles de tranchées durant la Première Guerre mondiale. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029702095-2G352Q664W4XF1ELRNCZ/StAnne24.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Toute personne est une histoire sacrée. Cet écriteau se retrouve à l’entrée du salon principal du Pavillon du Souvenir. Plusieurs parmi les anciens combattants ont oublié leurs propres histoires. L’amour et le respect démontrés par le personnel envers eux leur permettent de vivre une fin d’histoire pleine de dignité. Les décorations faites à la main par un bénévole sont changées régulièrement et selon les saisons. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029750390-QJO1XMK6AV7O1OVU4PP1/StAnne26.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Un pianiste visite Sainte-Anne chaque semaine et joue des chansons que les valeureux guerriers chantaient lorsqu’ils étaient des jeunes hommes et femmes. Il y a habituellement deux sessions de chants, une dans la tour principale de l’hôpital et l’autre dans le Pavillon du Souvenir. Le livre de chansons contient les paroles de centaines de chansons anglophones et francophones. Dans le passé, la chanson était souvent le seul refuge pour les jeunes aviateurs au combat et éloignés de leurs patelins. Durant ces années de guerre, on entendait dans les salles de mess, de l’Écosse jusqu’au Ceylan, des chansons d’amour, de solitude, d’espoir et même un peu obscène. C’est toutefois approprié pour des personnes de 90 ans et plus, puisque les chansons leur apportent de la joie et du soulagement. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029840317-7JMXPN5WC1N8XIXMV68N/StAnne28.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out L’accueil le plus chaleureux que nous avons reçu à Sainte-Anne était celui du capitaine d’aviation à la retraite Leonard Allistair Fuller, un ancien bombardier qui a complété son service dans des bombardiers Handley Page Halifax de l’escadrille 415. Chaque personne interviewée par les Ailes d’époque avait été approchée auparavant pour leur demander si nous pouvions les rencontrer. Le matin même, nous avons aperçu monsieur Fuller dans la salle de physiothérapie qui nous a dit avec un clin d’œil : ‘’ je vous verrai plus tard ‘’. Quand nous l’avons rencontré dans sa chambre plus tard, il a traversé le corridor pour inviter d’autres anciens aviateurs pour parler du bon vieux temps et pour apporter des chaises pour tout le monde. Il était clair que notre visite était un fait saillant de leur journée et que ces vétérans prenaient un grand plaisir de pouvoir relater leurs histoires. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029880949-SMZLQUMP51NQD0W56GJL/StAnne29.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out La bande de gars de Sainte-Anne, l’ancien capitaine d’aviation Leonard Fuller (à gauche), le sergent Gilbert Prévost, retraité (à droite). Ils ont été les hôtes de Claude Brunette, Dave O’Malley et Peter Handley des Ailes d’époque. Ensemble, nous avons partagé un après–midi rempli de belles histoires d’aviation. Par cette belle journée ensoleillée, les visiteurs des Ailes d’époque furent ravis de l’accueil chaleureux donné par ces aviateurs de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029920728-NWI754044DZ116NZQOBQ/StAnne30.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Gilbert Prévost relaxe dans son fauteuil roulant tout en répondant aux questions de l’auteur (à gauche) tandis que Everett-Paul Firlotte, un ancien mitrailleur de queue de Lancaster, se joint à la conversation. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029976970-Y4N2K6ODYXBNFBE5P0MB/StAnne31.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624029994855-RGENNLZVPT3DQUMH0OEN/StAnne35.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030061392-BUB69MCO9U1A4ANC3S8O/StAnne61.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Pour se joindre à la guerre, plusieurs aviateurs ont traversé l’Atlantique dans des convois comme passagers sur de lents paquebots . D’autres, comme messieurs Prévost, Fuller et Firlotte, ont traversé à bord de paquebots rapides, qui, grâce à leur plus grande vitesse voyageaient seuls et ainsi pouvaient contrer la menace des U-Boats. Il se trouve que Messieurs Prévost et Firlotte aient fait la même traversée sur le même bateau, le tout nouveau bateau de la Royal Mail du nom de RMS Andes. C’était l’un des bateaux les plus luxueux de son époque. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030107655-LO4HIRPRJAYKPCUAE4GV/StAnne62.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Les caractéristiques de luxe du paquebot RMS Andes ont été enlevées et on l’a peint en gris pour les besoins de sa conversion à un transport de troupes. Cette photo de combattants australiens de retour après la guerre démontre les conditions d’entassement qu’ont vécues les sous-officiers comme Messieurs Firlotte et Prévost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030164052-JVLSPE1XHTVT30LRXDNR/StAnne02.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Les mains du sergent à la retraite Prévost en disent long sur qui est l’homme. En les regardant, on perçoit un homme d’une grande gentillesse, d’un abord facile et méticuleux dans ses soins. C’était un grand plaisir de faire la connaissance du sergent Prévost. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030212011-L0OSFPBLWHUG996NWJMJ/StAnne64.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Tandis que Gilbert Prévost tentait de minimiser sa tâche de soutien à l’entretien des avions, son rôle ainsi que celui des autres : mécaniciens, techniciens, monteurs et autres préposés aux services au sol, sont honorés par une plaque souvenir à l’ancien aérodrome du Groupe 6 situé à Leeming, Yorkshire. Photo : AirCrewRemembered.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030256681-RAPEA5ITZTOZUIUU486C/StAnne32.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Cette photo fait preuve de la nature charmante et pétillante de Leonard Fuller. C’est bien à cause de sa belle personnalité et de ses remarquables traits de caractères qu’il a déjà été président du chapitre québécois de la Légion royale canadienne. Nous avons vécu en sa compagnie des moments drôles mais aussi tristes de souvenirs d’amis disparus. Ce nonagénaire a survécu à 30 missions et il a perdu beaucoup d’amis durant la guerre, ainsi que des connaissances et confrères de la Légion après la guerre. Lorsqu’on atteint l’âge de monsieur Fuller, les seules choses qui vous restent sont souvent les souvenirs. Toutefois, à Sainte-Anne, on retrouve de l’amitié, de la dignité, et de nouvelles histoires sont racontées. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030358541-BRHXH6SEIY9F0RPPRWSE/StAnne27.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out On voit ici les médailles décernées au Capitaine de l’aviation Leonard Allistair Fuller, un bombardier sur les Halifax de l’escadrille 415. Sur la gauche, sont les médailles décernées par la Légion royale canadienne (similaires à celles remises par la Veterans of Foreign Wars aux États-Unis). Il y a la médaille décernée pour ses 55 ans de service et une autre pour marquer sa Présidence du chapitre québécois de la Légion royale canadienne. On voit sur la droite ses médailles de service militaire. De gauche à droite, il y a l’Étoile de 39-45, L’Étoile de la France et de l’Allemagne, la Médaille de la défense, la Médaille du service volontaire canadien, la Barrette tant convoitée de la Bomber Command et la Barrette du service de 60 jours, la Médaille du centenaire canadien (1967), et finalement la Médaille d’argent du jubilée de la Reine Élisabeth II.(1972) Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030417686-SIOQ9HQPLKMFZ81WOXSP/StAnne60.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Un bombardier Handley Page Halifax 6U-I (Numéro de série NA124 de la RAF) est stationné à l’aérodrome de la RAF d’Eastmore. Un des rares modèles de Type II avec une tourelle ventrale. C’est sur ce type d’avion que monsieur Fuller a complété ses 30 missions avec la Bomber Command. Il n’y a aucun registre sur Internet de la perte de NA 124, me laissant croire qu’il s’agit d’un survivant. De nos jours, il n’en reste seulement qu’un exemplaire, qui a été retiré 50 ans plus tard des eaux du lac Tromso en Norvège. On l’a restauré et il est exposé au musée de l’ARC à Trenton en Ontario. Photo : 6BomberGroup.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030471447-HDQAYXPL12PTOYGC0655/StAnne34.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030515361-8BOY9B07SFC04YRUWPEX/StAnne68.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030574081-C3TWQRUY6B19CVHJYGXC/StAnne37.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Leonard Fuller montre à Gilbert Prévost son livre sur l’histoire du Handley Page Halifax avec l’ARC. Les corridors où habitent messieurs Fuller et Prévost ressemblent à des rues de quartier où se rassemblent les voisins pour socialiser. Bien illuminée par le soleil qui pénètre des deux côtés, l’aile de l’hôpital est d’ambiance aimable et même attirante si ce n’était un endroit de soins de longue durée. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030614111-2POI3Q542800WHUXQPCF/StAnne42.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out L’un des résidents les plus heureux de l’hôpital est le caporal de l’ARC à la retraite William ‘’Bill’’ Myers de Westmount, un quartier de la ville de Montréal. Il a vécu auparavant dans un centre public de soins de longue durée. Son statut d’ancien combattant de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale lui a permis d’être transféré à Sainte-Anne. Il n’a pas donné de précisions quant à son séjour dans l’ancien centre de soins de longue durée. Son expression disait tout. Lorsque je lui ai demandé son opinion au sujet de sa nouvelle vie à Sainte-Anne, il nous a répondu que pour lui, c’était le ‘’vrai paradis’’. Il était soulagé et reconnaissant d’être dans un endroit où chaque membre du personnel s’occupe de lui et de son bien-être. Durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, monsieur Myers est demeuré au Canada suite à son enrôlement en 1942. Il était employé par la section médicale du personnel à Toronto. Il enseignait aux aviateurs comment reconnaître les signes de l’hypoxie et d’autres maladies propres à l’aviation. Il formait aussi les gens sur l’utilisation des systèmes d’oxygène, et des jumelles de nuit. Il fut assigné à Halifax et ensuite à Vancouver pour former les équipages avant leurs départs outremer. La section médicale du personnel de vol située à Toronto est l’endroit qui permit les premières études médicales en aéronautique. En 1941, on y a développé les premières combinaisons anti-G. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030658532-GLB9X5UHALYGQO3GLHGE/StAnne39.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Monsieur Myers nous paraissait très joyeux de l’extérieur. Toutefois, il vivait encore une grande tristesse en pensant à son frère, le sergent Peter Myers, un opérateur radio et mitrailleur, qui a disparu durant une mission en 1943 à bord d’un Halifax. La physionomie de monsieur Myers est passée rapidement d’exalté à triste lorsque je lui ai posé une question au sujet de la peinture de son frère qu’il avait mise sur son mur. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030703769-IH9WFUMHYLUW3A2QID2T/StAnne38.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Bill Myers a établi dans sa chambre un espace commémoratif à la mémoire de son frère bien-aimé Peter, disparu au-dessus de l’Allemagne en 1943. Monsieur Myers a vendu plusieurs coquelicots pour La légion canadienne pour le Jour du Souvenir pour honorer son frère. Plusieurs de ces coquelicots de ses années de bénévolat ornent la peinture de son frère, tout comme les coupures de presse et autres objets qui rappellent son sacrifice ultime. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030751408-P6DYDRS6E1ZFD9MFVDHP/StAnne41.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Monsieur Myers sait seulement que son frère a disparu avec tout l’équipage lors d’une mission à bord d’un Halifax de l’escadron 138 (Missions spéciales). Pour l’histoire, L’escadron 138 avait été formé en 1941 à partir d’une autre formation, la No. 1419, et il est devenu escadron 138 de missions spéciales. Initialement basé à la base de la RAF de Stadishall, il a ensuite été transféré à la base de la RAF de Tempsford. Le rôle de l’escadron était de transporter des agents secrets et de l’équipement pour le Special Operations Executive. Les détails de la dernière mission de Peter Myers n’ont jamais été dévoilés à la famille Myers au moment de la mort de Peter, compte tenu de la nature très secrète des missions auxquelles il participait. C’est lors d’une mission de nuit du 14 mars 1943 que Maurice Teller Peter Myers a été porté disparu. Son appareil, un Handley Page Halifax de type II, immatriculé (NF-O), a été la cible de défenses anti-aériennes près de Munich lors de son retour d’une mission avortée de transfert d’agents vers la Tchécoslovaquie. Les membres d’équipage disparus comprenaient le commandant d’escadrille Christopher Gibson DFC, pilote de la RAF; l’ingénieur de bord, le sergent Malclom Hudson de la RAF; le sous-officer Douglas Lisson de l’ARC, co-pilote; Le sergent John Rigdon, navigateur de la RAF; le sergent Harold Sharwood, mitrailleur de la RAF; le sergent Arthur Stokes, DFM de la RAF; le sergent Leo Ward, opérateur radio et mitrailleur de la RAF. Disparus aussi, trois agents tchèques : Bohumir Martinek, Francis Vrbka et Antonin Kubek. Photo : Peter Handley Avec l’aide d’Internet, j’ai pu obtenir les détails connus de la mission courageuse de son frère pour le Special Operations Executive, et je les ai partagés avec monsieur Myers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030795713-3FXE083HBTZBY5NDWIII/StAnne40.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Une vie pleinement vécue comprend beaucoup de souvenirs et de possessions. Toutefois, si une personne déménage en résidence, elle peut apporter seulement les biens qui leur sont les plus précieux, soit les clés de leurs histoires, tout en laissant les autres de côté. Bill Myers ne pouvait pas se départir des mémoires de son frère. On peut voir sur le mur de la chambre, tout près du portrait de Peter, une petite photo de son frère disparu datant de ses jours de formation comme opérateur radio et mitrailleur. C’est probablement la dernière photo prise de lui, devant la demeure familiale de Westmount. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030841093-HP67EIFT75T0D7LA6GSC/StAnne43.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Une histoire qui se rattache à la dernière est le fait que la mère de monsieur Myers était une infirmière à l’hôpital de Sainte-Anne après la Première Guerre mondiale. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030888937-DXVAH2O8LEGRY8VIDLBY/StAnne44.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Chaque résident est invité à mettre sa photo sur la plaque à côté de sa porte de chambre. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624030939636-273APCH0TF80KZGE632G/StAnne50.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Le sergent Germain Beaulac, que nous avons aussi rencontré, est un homme tout à fait charmant. Son grand sourire, son visage expressif et sa personnalité détendue ont été un rayon de soleil à Sainte-Anne. Grâce à lui, nous avons appris plusieurs choses méconnues au sujet du service dans l’ARC durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Monsieur Beaulac s’est enrôlé dans l’ARC en 1943 au dépôt des effectifs à Lachine. Il fut envoyé à Toronto à l’École de formation de base numéro 1. La langue de rigueur dans l’ARC était alors l’anglais. Monsieur Beaulac, qui ne parlait pas la langue de Shakespeare, a donc passé un an dans une école de langue à Toronto pour parfaire son anglais. On l’a envoyé ensuite à Welland pour une formation en communications. En dépit de cette formation, il devint maître de poste de l’ARC pour débuter sa carrière militaire. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031001008-VQK851U42APMXN8U1Q9L/StAnne51.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Les yeux pétillants de monsieur Beaulac sont devenus émotionnels lorsqu’il a commencé à se remémorer sa conjointe, Louise Matteeuessen. Elle était maître de poste en Belgique après la libération par les alliés. Monsieur Beaulac était maître de poste à Antwerp et assurait la livraison des lettres et colis postés aux troupes canadiennes. Monsieur Beaulac nous racontait que plusieurs de ces colis contenaient des cigarettes. Par la suite, il a été transféré à Lot en Belgique. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031045170-HSFEZ6FVCDR39K2BXI5Q/StAnne46.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out On retrouve sur le mur de la chambre de Monsieur Beaulac une photo du couple Beaulac lorsque Louise est arrivée au Canada après la guerre. Il a fait la connaissance de sa future conjointe au bureau de poste militaire situé dans le petit village de Lot, tout près de Bruxelles en Belgique. ‘’C’était ma patronne à l’époque’’ nous a dit monsieur Beaulac. ‘’ J’étais très nerveux de la demander en mariage’’. Mais un évènement est venu changer les plans. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031112594-73IIJK6KAFIVGSJ6YQI7/StAnne52.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out J’ai demandé à monsieur Beaulac s’il était revenu au Canada sur un navire de transport. Il a sourit et nous a répondu ‘’non, sur un navire-hôpital’’. Je n’avais pas remarqué ses mains qui reposaient sur lui. Tous ses doigts saufs ses petits doigts ont été endommagés ou arrachés à cause d’un détonateur. Monsieur Beaulac nous a conté que dans le village de Lot, il nettoyait un abri pour y cantonner, lorsqu’il a cueilli un objet dans les débris. Sans le savoir, il avait mis la main sur un détonateur et le simple fait de le toucher l’a fait sauter, le blessant sérieusement aux deux mains. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031217317-2UQE8OBEUJ0368Y2G6J5/StAnne47.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out À son réveil à l’hôpital de Bruxelles, il s’aperçut que ses mains étaient complètement couvertes de bandages. Personne ne lui avait dit la nature de ses blessures. Seuls ses petits doigts ressortaient des bandages comme il nous l’a démontré sur la photo. Louise est venu le visiter et, sans savoir l’étendu des blessures de monsieur Beaulac, lui a demandé en mariage. Ils ont été réunis suite à son rapatriement au Canada. Son service militaire comme maître de poste lui a permis d’obtenir un emploi dans le bureau de poste de Ste-Hyacinthe après la guerre. Il a ensuite travaillé pour le ministère des Transports à Goose Bay et à Dorval. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031293758-IF96J21STY8615L4K1P6/StAnne17.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Dans le foyer de l’hôpital, non loin des bureaux de la Fondation, on retrouve l’Arbre de Souvenir. C’est un projet de levées de fonds qui commémore les anciens combattants qui ont vécu à Sainte-Anne. C’est un projet qui permet aux résidents et à leurs familles d’exprimer leur gratitude, ou de dire ‘’merci ‘’. C’est un endroit où l’on peut se souvenir d’un membre de la famille, même si ces derniers n’ont jamais résidé à l’hôpital. Germain Beaulac a fait un important don pour ce projet, en remerciement pour la dignité obtenue chaque jour ainsi que l’amour et le bien-être qu’il partage avec le personnel. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031355016-SM7WFKJN18SSK270PJMO/StAnne48.jpeg Les Histoires - La bande de gars - Make it stand out Le geste que Germain lègue à sa famille atteste de la qualité des soins, et l’amour qui entoure la ‘’Bande de gars de Sainte-Anne’’. Photo : Peter Handley https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-histoires/leffet-hadfield monthly 0.5 2021-06-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624031739255-EFI99IQKDXQV5DDVE01H/ChrisFrench00.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038293786-26Z34AZC7G8DDRLQSBFN/Chris38.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Typique de chacune des rencontres à laquelle j’ai assisté ce jour, les parents qui s’avancent, avides que leur enfant rencontre leur héros espérant faire jaillir une étincelle pour que leurs filles et garçons poursuivent leur rêve jusqu’a la fin. C’était beau à voir. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038402602-QTZA76K24R1O8I55L8UL/Chris11.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Chacun des jeunes à qui Hadfield a pu parler, et ils étaient des centaines, vécurent la même expérience : un contact direct les yeux dans les yeux, une solide poignée de main et de sincères questions au sujet de leurs rêves et aspirations. Certains eurent droit à une leçon sur la bonne manière de serrer la main. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038592572-5C399SU8XFGJ39KQUJDC/Chris02.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Le premier devoir d’Hadfield fut de rencontrer, dans la salle du conseil, quelques familles chanceuses s’étant méritées par l’entremise d’un concours de station radio, 15 minutes en privé avec la célébrité mondiale. Ici, il décrit son séjour de 5 mois dans l’espace à une fillette attentive. Chris fit part de ses réflexions autant en français qu’en anglais et même en russe pour un jeune garçon. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038638408-SJ91RX3GX43CTNXQDS52/Chris03.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out La famille gagnante et Chris ont eu une intéressante conversation sur la vie au-dessus de la planète et dans la plus petite sphère d’une famille. Élever deux jeunes filles était leur engagement et tout comme Hadfield ils y ont tout mis. Être en mesure de partager quelques instants avec un tel modèle aura été, j’en suis convaincu, une expérience formatrice pour ces jeunes canadiens. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038575713-D6W2MPT20M8AJY3Y651M/Chris04.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Lors d’une rencontre avec trois familles anglophones, les parents se placèrent en retrait afin de permettre aux enfants d’être le plus près possible de Hadfield et aient une expérience directe avec lui. Ceci donna le ton pour toute la journée. Ici, il explique les effets de l’apesanteur sur le développement des os. Photo : Peter Handley. Hadfield, s’il en est un, comprend bien qu’un spectacle aérien est le résultat du travail acharné et de la contribution de nombreux professionnels et bénévoles. Il est toujours disponible pour partager quelques mots ou pour une séance de photos avec les organisateurs du spectacle. Ici, il pose avec l’équipe gatinoise des services d’information de vol dans la tour de contrôle. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038729962-GCV7MV7VPTSNM2HPKIEE/Chris05.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Hadfield, s’il en est un, comprend bien qu’un spectacle aérien est le résultat du travail acharné et de la contribution de nombreux professionnels et bénévoles. Il est toujours disponible pour partager quelques mots ou pour une séance de photos avec les organisateurs du spectacle. Ici, il pose avec l’équipe gatinoise des services d’information de vol dans la tour de contrôle. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038710060-8JZBNK70YEJVPJ8W2S48/Chris06.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Après sa rencontre avec les gagnants du concours radiophonique, le commandant Hadfield s’est rendu dans la tour de contrôle puis sur le toit du terminal où il reçut un prix de la Canadian Owners and Pilots Association pour sa contribution à la promotion de l’aviation générale au Canada. Le prix lui a été remis par Kevin Psutka devant la foule. Ici, il observe Kevin le présenter. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038794639-HKWLVLL6ZM06ZU3KYW88/Chris07.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Pendant son interview par l’annonceur, Chris, l’éternel enfant, observe l’avion de ravitaillement Polaris CC-150 lors de son passage traînant ses conduites d’approvisionnement en carburant devant deux CF-18 Hornet apparemment assoiffés. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038864295-TEXIFO1OXRGU09YLA906/Chris08.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Alors qu’il prend la parole, le public se retourne puis s’approche de son perchoir sur le toit. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038918800-1KZCOYJIN4URVJ641RHN/Chris09.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Plus tard, dans la section des dignitaires, il est présenté à deux des plus généreux souscripteurs des Ailes d’époque : Helen Salkeld (droite) et Isobel Creelman (gauche). Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624038965175-HMJOSSKSVXYM4LY1Q1E6/Chris10.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Helen Salkeld (gauche) et Isobel Creelman (droite) discutent avec Hadfield de leurs propres expériences de vol, Helen étant pilote. Pouvoir connecter des gens comme Salkeld et Creelman, qui soutiennent notre mission avec d’autres supporteurs comme Hadfield est un accomplissement offrant une grande satisfaction. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039042637-95U5O7K95NHXIMD0ASIU/Chris12.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Hadfield a dédicacé de nombreux objets au cours de cette journée: ukulélé, chandails, affiches, casquette, ordinateur portatif voire même un avion. Ici, une jeune fille aidée par le fondateur des Ailes d’époque, Mike Potter, fait signer sa veste avec panache. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039196348-K8NEX5G9PN0YT1GHZHK1/Chris13.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out En tant que membre du conseil des Ailes d’époque et un de ses pilotes, Hadfield était dans sa famille. Il bavarde ici avec Paul Kissmann, chef pilote de l’organisation, qui, comme Hadfield, est un ancien pilote de CF-18, pilote d’essai et pilote du Sabre Hawk One. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039331498-IRGXONADBTAFAJJUGGGX/Chris14.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Hadfield dédicace ici le superbe Cornell de Fairchild « The Spirit of Fort Erie » appartenant à Alf Beam. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039405501-3LWELLDPV29M5LDHNDJT/Chris15.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out En marchant sur le tarmac pour éviter la cohue, Hadfield croise son frère Dave se dirigeant vers le Kittyhawk P-40 et en profite pour échanger quelques bons mots. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039639737-UEL36BM0BS1VLEX6L8PR/Chris45.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Hadfield ne se lasse jamais de serrer des mains de bénévoles. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039700857-29TMYZ5D8HSI7QPEIE1W/Chris16.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out En février 2009, Chris Hadfield pilota le Sabre Hawk One au-dessus de Baddeck, Nouvelle-Écosse, où, 100 ans auparavant J.A.D. McCurdy exécuta le premier vol motorisé au Canada. Le Sabre F-86 Hawk One fut restauré pour célébrer ce centième anniversaire, mais il continuera de voler dans les années à venir pour rendre hommage aux militaires de la guerre froide. Lors du spectacle aérien, après avoir atterri, le pilote de démonstration du Hawk One, Mike Woodfield, demanda à Hadfield de prendre les commandes pendant que l’appareil était remorqué près du public afin de servir d’arrière plan pour une séance photo avec le commandant de la Station spatiale internationale. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039749656-BQJ765LC7BFUHH5ZOHOC/Chris17.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out « Fields of Dreams! » Près de la foule, Had-field et Wood-field discutent brièvement de leur « Sabre » le Hawk One F-86. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039799503-UZJRK6F38RF943C7JAAU/Chris18.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Pendant ce temps, la foule patiente. Certaines familles, en reconnaissant la passion bourgeonnante de leur enfant pour l’espace et son exploration, les ont emmenés entièrement vêtus de combinaisons spatiales. À mon époque, les garçons auraient porté leur six-coups arborant une veste de Davy Crockett pour répondre à Roy Rogers ou Hopalong Cassidy. Les efforts déployés par ce jeune homme et sa famille leur auront permis de se mériter un tête-à-tête avec un véritable astronaute! Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039844987-4FQDYIEZ8HVTCWT3EGL9/Chris19.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Cette scène déchaîna la mitraille de nombreux appareils photo voulant graver cette image d’un commandant de SSI rencontrant un astronaute de l’avenir. Nous sommes en droit de nous demander si nous serons prêts pour Mars lorsque ce jeune enfant sera assez vieux pour faire partie de l’odyssée. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039888137-EZ5KDQDFLAKU9KXLY9B4/Chris20.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out La joie et le respect visibles sur les visages de ces Canadiens « ordinaires » sont une preuve irréfutable que Chris Hadfield est peut-être le Canadien vivant le plus connu. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039927051-KDAGYG1YL4IMJRSQ8PGT/Chris21.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Il suffit de balayer du regard ces visages d’enfants pour comprendre l’influence qu’Hadfield pourrait avoir sur leur vie. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624039981528-0DBO0KEN719M0ENG3KEK/Chris22.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Photographie ou autographe, Chris Hadfield était infatigable. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040029347-N23VMK3APMW6CH66YN7T/Chris23.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Avant toute chose, Chris Hadfield est un homme de famille impliquant sa propre épouse et ses enfants dans sa nouvelle entreprise de communication. Hadfield fait partie de ce que nous aimons nommer la Première famille de l’aviation canadienne : Père, frère, neveux et parents tous impliqués en aviation. Sa mère, Eleanor, ne faisant pas exception, étant présente au spectacle aérien des Ailes d’époque pour présenter un engin de démarrage de moteur d’avion appelé le « Hucks Starter ». Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040075337-JARZZ2G01EQFPAMLS9RQ/Chris25.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Emporté par le moment, la mère de Chris lui a également demandé un autographe. Le message inscrit sur sa manche est révélateur. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040127187-0RMQT5JDM87A9ZT0W91R/Chris24.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Ce jour ne faisant pas exception, Chris Hadfield accorde une attention particulière aux cadets de l’Aviation royale du Canada. Ayant lui-même vécu ses premiers moments en aviation comme cadet de l’air, Chris attribue une grande partie de sa formation à ce qu’il a appris en étant cadet. Outre les compétences de pilote acquises durant ses années avec les cadets, il reconnait que ce sont d’autres aspects moins tangibles qui auront formé sa volonté de réussir, sa discipline, sa patience, et sa capacité à établir des objectifs. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040173049-XIZAF8EO0VHVD4OUE8TP/Chris26.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Des admirateurs de Chris au courant de sa visite apportèrent de nombreux objets à faire autographier du ukulélé à la maquette de la navette spatiale jusqu’au casque de pilote. La nouvelle arme de choix de Hadfield... le crayon Sharpie. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040216976-3T7N7114PWD19NLESXU7/Chris27.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Le lien que Chris créé avec chaque jeune devient incassable pendant le temps que dure la conversation. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040262695-7NJGUK5NYWMDNFSLIAS4/Chris28.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Chris consacra également du temps à rencontrer les vétérans de la Seconde Guerre mondiale qui étaient nos invités au chapiteau d’accueil des anciens combattants. Il tira une chaise puis les aviateurs et soldats vétérans vinrent le rejoindre pour entamer la conversation. L’homme s’adressant à Chris sur cette photo faisait partie d’une équipe d’ingénierie ayant construit le célèbre aérodrome avancé B-2 de l’aviation canadienne en Normandie, près du village de Bény-sur-Mer. L’ouvrage fut complété le 15 juin 1944, seulement 10 jours après le Jour-J. Rapidement il fut utilisé par les escadrons canadiens 401, 411 et 412 et les escadrons anglais 2, 193, 197 257, 263, 266 et 268 équipés d’appareils Typhoon et Spitfire. L’aérodrome de Bény-sur-Mer fut en service jusqu’au début d’août 1944. Par la suite, il fut démantelé et ses équipements réutilisés. Le terrain fut remis aux agriculteurs qui le transformèrent en zone agricole. Il ne subsiste plus rien aujourd’hui de l’aérodrome initial. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040312768-ZRUTXWJYLVGVX3ML4KEX/Chris29.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Tout le monde se recula pour permettre aux anciens combattants d’être en contact avec le héros canadien moderne. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040364157-L3ETO2AH6J2CTA8AMUFS/Chris30.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Après que les anciens combattants eurent eu leur Pow-wow avec Hadfield, un duo de jeunes cadets, fraîchement sortis du moule, purent partager un moment avec le commandant de la SSI. Le garçon sur la droite porte un écusson de la mission de Hadfield sur un chandail porté sous son uniforme de cadet. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040411167-MDUTD96LPPMNBT9YL4VT/Chris31.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out L’organisation du spectacle aérien avait mis en place une table d’autographe où le spectateur ordinaire pouvait lui aussi faire la file afin d’obtenir une signature et échanger quelques mots avec Hadfield. Le regard sur le visage de ce garçon vaut un million de mots. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040521569-IAUP3AUZJLSJVETE3VCD/Chris43.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Cette image dit tout. Le ravissement de ce jeune garçon devant son héros est contagieux. Photo : Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040570478-TKJ3A8KUY5JV5JMO52C9/Chris34.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out La file s’étirait sur 50 mètres pendant une heure. Malheureusement, nous durent interrompre la séance devant des gens qui attendaient depuis un long moment bien que nos bénévoles les informait du peu de temps pendant lequel Chris pouvait continuer. La plus grande préoccupation de Chris étant que personne ne quitte en étant déçu. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040638297-SW46GT0IJUJJSTMVRFP8/Chris35.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Une partie de la foule autour d’Hadfiled et de Kissmann alors qu’ils signaient des autographes… et que d’autres préféraient se glisser derrière pour une photo surprise plutôt que d’attendre en ligne. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040698479-KSMWFTNEP9AFJEUKH8Q9/Chris36.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out Plusieurs enfants présentés à Hadfield portaient des combinaisons spatiales miniatures y compris cette imitation de combinaison Sokol (faucon) de conception russe arborant le drapeau canadien sur la manche. De toute évidence préparée pour un jeune homme des étoiles par une maman pour représenter celui porté par Hadfield lors de ses vols sur Soyouz depuis et vers la SSI. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1624040748984-BLMO9A3TSYSSZGQZGOMO/Chris37.jpeg Les Histoires - L’effet Hadfield - Make it stand out La façon dont cette jeune fille regarde Hadfield est typique de toutes ces rencontres et démontre bien que les jeunes d’aujourd’hui qui seront les leaders de demain comprennent que les réalisations de Hadfield font de lui un modèle à imiter. 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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c049676d-5ef4-4124-bed2-b634d9705639/_PHD6428.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/135cf4f2-bed2-47e4-b43b-ad879357d32d/21AERO-695.jpg Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6f8947c6-ec01-4d06-8e5f-536302d7a27b/canopy+shadow+%282%29+%281%29.png Spitfire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/efd01ca6-e78c-45c3-b2a8-8336a04e8833/_PHD7236.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a18c7d84-b2e2-427d-8979-509926abe378/21AERO-691.jpg Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/38e20268-1660-415a-a968-363c55571862/_PHD4723.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/369b043e-6388-4e46-9900-607e3c3e7a25/_PHD7189-Edit+%281%29.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3a1a484-1fd1-4fdc-b8ea-b0f3517f9fca/21AERO-702.jpg Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71af69b2-0606-4ab9-8087-1a5799d49b34/D5H_3007.jpg Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f019ede0-186c-4af1-91f2-b1f534673393/D5H_3021.jpg Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2024ff6a-ad2e-4131-abb7-1da1d8b35c9e/DSC03843.jpg Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9299abf3-0c88-4292-a2ec-f28bd2ac07af/_PHD6299.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/774d6cdb-a86e-4652-ab65-6a2a403fdf8f/_PHD4706.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d94fa5aa-01db-4c34-a9c7-af6881d77bbd/_PHD2499.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3a72873-a26a-43cf-97c1-bb7046289efc/unnamed-1.jpg Spitfire Scott Slocum Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/42acb153-ba94-46c7-8441-a24bad41bda6/VWC_2017-0510.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0178be0e-184d-4aa0-ba88-94f1f82885e8/_PHD5622-Edit.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/215cbb1d-c7e2-45e7-8743-b229df3f26a0/_PHD4706.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/59bbad74-2359-4d02-9fc4-8b28ec4b4bf2/_PHD2076.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623959475765-3K5E02EZ3KCRLSFIDII6/_PHD6321.jpg Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbad2e72-a983-4053-9a05-9bbd7c6d5713/Roseland.jpg Spitfire Arnold Walter Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad457d76-06c3-4a0e-a02c-9154f47c4e30/Roseland11.jpg Spitfire 442 Squadron in Europe in the Second World War. Roseland is on the far right. https://www.vintagewings.ca/mustang daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c42f95a-4abc-40f5-85c8-d728dccdb209/_PHD5046.jpg Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e81d64e3-e341-4dc9-97ef-9b51125979dd/6170463459_1e84f57bc2_o+%281%29.jpg Mustang J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3a1f1ffb-e9c9-4a82-9456-4b6ac9d63e49/19Aero-500.JPG Mustang Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5533cb0b-8640-45d1-a88d-516d702297b7/Sept15-81.jpg Mustang Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd17d73d-7e2e-49e6-b97a-a52f325a4130/Mar_Mustang_Allnutt.jpg Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7cb0503c-e331-4e75-b602-66a6fdcc1aac/DSC_2093A.jpg Mustang Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d99bc66e-7f03-40cf-87e3-7f1c57b2229b/Screen+Shot+2021-07-08+at+9.14.44+AM.png Mustang https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2872fd0-2aee-41df-8158-6e1033f4b74c/DSC_4760.jpg Mustang Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5cc19e43-3515-46e4-8461-4ce7c339973c/RobillardBros.jpg Mustang The Robillard Brothers of West Centretown, Ottawa — Right: Laurent (Larry) and Left: Rolland (Rocky) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc20f7a3-220f-4118-827d-53c5e924eb0d/VWC_2014-9423.jpg Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa294334-fc39-4188-896e-a7787dbc719b/VWC_2014-9402.jpg Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a206e409-3b43-414a-adfe-915176c8d5ae/_PHD2554.jpg Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb2efbb8-671d-463c-920f-fb0ddcd2aad7/P-51-Mustang-2283.jpg Mustang Heath Moffat Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4291b0c5-d87b-4a83-a3fa-d78d28d863bf/_MG_7497+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Night+Fighters+Photo+Shoot+-+VWoC+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+16%2C+2011-Edit.jpg Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8176423-e986-49bd-9b18-da9d8194b51c/_MG_9496+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+18%2C+2010.jpg Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b8f267d-552e-45ac-96e5-a999c2823079/_MG_7491+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Night+Fighters+Photo+Shoot+-+VWoC+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+16%2C+2011.jpg Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/441d6c7b-9629-47ed-8f43-9d13721dd15b/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.20.22+PM.png Mustang Larry Robillard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/405923e9-6667-4cc1-bd0e-2770507bf9e1/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.20.15+PM.png Mustang Larry Robillard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5532a1b-f1cc-4e22-bb24-830b087770f5/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.19.17+PM.png Mustang Larry Robillard https://www.vintagewings.ca/cornell daily 0.75 2021-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0d95b27-312e-49d5-8936-39396574d3e7/8013606637_5df3ee85a1_o+%281%29.jpg Cornell Bruno Laplante Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ccf9ef0-1003-4016-99aa-d698fe1f7e78/Cornell_4.jpg Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e6df170-50a6-4807-8e6a-f50963c68bc9/PJH_56947.jpg Cornell Flight Lieutenant Archie Pennie at the dedication of the Cornell. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/659f12ca-4966-46ed-a8b8-1d9bb28151e8/PJH_55730.jpg Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64ed8540-90a8-41e3-aba5-6c93d5c389d9/PJH_55675.jpg Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47765fd0-77a8-4031-8a5c-9793bf503c12/Sept15-129.jpg Cornell Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75129b4e-1fe9-494f-b1fe-0520819103e3/21AERO-89.jpg Cornell Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70d2c3f3-10f8-44aa-9b8e-684a655f85d5/08092019-IMG_4168.jpg Cornell Michel Roy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64714f52-f1d7-438e-a48b-b9a23ca9b39d/Cornell.jpg Cornell J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68f33a17-f5b2-4791-be9c-362a12c8f520/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+011.jpg Cornell Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06208c25-732b-4479-bb07-ce7908fb9d41/East+Coast+12+253.jpg Cornell Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc33ed6c-4228-4d1b-9bf9-c4b4dbe0c4f7/East+Coast+12+256.jpg Cornell Wayne Giles Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/harvard daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/91700b89-622a-4599-ba0e-43cc6b018c12/Harvards2.jpg Harvard Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6f380166-8243-42fa-8031-f9a1f7bcde13/Harvards6.jpg Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/586499ed-f240-4a69-aa3e-3b180dbcab08/3497473816_b3b375d13a_o.jpg Harvard A silhouette of an Avro Arrow graces the tail of the Harvard. Prior to the new paint scheme, the tail was struck by a 5-foot long RC model of the Arrow, destroying the model and requiring repairs and new paint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb718a0d-b247-470b-8560-97ec0ca4723e/21AERO-645.jpg Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d15452f2-1562-453f-bc50-146b34e063f3/harvard_hf2.jpg Harvard The original Harvard 2866 seen flying near Ottawa in the 1940s. This photo was used to create accurate markings for the High Flight Harvard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe4e5642-c87a-40bc-8886-044abdf35f0c/PJH_56665.jpg Harvard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eaab60af-33ff-46fc-89b3-17eb25ac5859/21AERO-642.jpg Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/939e88ba-c8c6-4017-8127-3411a54e4b53/21AERO-628.jpg Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cc9cddef-f169-48c5-8323-e1c540849b34/JMRoy+%2804%29.jpg Harvard Jean Michel Roy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b53dae7e-4c7e-4629-852b-59af938f822b/_PHD6491.jpg Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e38cbbc-d56a-482c-97d2-aa1df2f7c6b5/_PHD6506.jpg Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b6aff8f-f231-4381-bb7f-3cf035ca44ee/27599641603_fdd16efc13_o+%281%29.jpg Harvard Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd3879e2-485e-4339-9bcf-468fb077083a/Screen+Shot+2021-11-23+at+6.09.43+PM.png Harvard Benoit Foisy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edf40c7c-aab8-4ca6-9e01-cf07f4037cd8/harvards4.jpg Harvard John Gillespie Magee with a Harvard at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands in Ottawa in the summer of 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36009cdb-145a-455a-b5bf-2d92c0446eb8/John_Gillespie_Magee%2C_Jr.jpg Harvard John Magee shortly after getting his wings. Karsh of Ottawa Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34ddc29d-26eb-4580-9321-855017ae82cb/161209-Z-XX999-0004.jpg Harvard John Magee in England shortly before his death https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2508fb00-77b3-44cc-b458-ea3c346ac9fe/118953408_10157424786691937_6029268742803672343_n.jpg Harvard https://www.vintagewings.ca/p40-kittyhawk daily 0.75 2021-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921024661-XCIM14E7TRU39SZBM0XY/Tadji13.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Before she was restored, Kittyhawk HS-B was a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40 Kittyhawk called “Come in Suckers!” (A29-414 HU-Z) with 78 Squadron in Papua New Guinea. Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921381551-HNFJPY1KSOPOU7M3P16Z/Tadji14.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk “Come In Suckers” was destroyed in a landing accident at a remote airfield called Tadji on the PNG coast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63b51d19-96ba-4e2a-b32e-8afa4ccf90b3/797b73eb41afaf72eff794052db5d235.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards in P-40 in North Africa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9dc6958c-d2b7-4a59-818b-bc5145f5eb65/IMG_6960.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk The first post restoration flight at Pioneer Aero, Ardmore, New Zealand. Colin Hunter Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470172161-TOLE719ILN5I1GIITXNL/Kitty14.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk First flight after restoration by Pioneer Aero. Colin Hunter photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe5716c3-1fa2-46df-babb-3602de11c3a9/PJH_53819.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e1a85ec9-3937-4029-8497-db7da61f0f7b/P40N_gc5.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78eb14e5-03e3-4a2c-84c5-b730b27efcf9/P40N_ph11.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards shares his thoughts after flying “his” P-40 Kittyhawk at Vintage Wings — with VWC founder Mike Potter in the background. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3ac2ce68-8c14-47f9-9731-438fc514966e/_PHD5009.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3092c3e2-208e-4548-9928-cc3b634c92e5/PH_VWC_2014_-8064.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/185572a1-6dcb-4374-a231-9eabc5777c6d/stocky-edwards.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards in Italy during Second World War https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b4c101a3-f6f3-4030-91de-e7d86d49c0eb/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+3.17.12+PM.png P-40 Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/08381bf6-ac38-4cad-a68b-a375d0a72ca2/19Aero-505.JPG P-40 Kittyhawk Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/166849b2-166f-4c06-9e3f-a7ef5e77cf01/unnamed-3.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Ron Janisse Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c33dde-d939-47e8-91eb-3ea0ca15b146/Gusair-740.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Gus Corujo photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0923d66-dbb2-48c8-854f-88a6b7cda016/ExzjSNZXIAYHCgk.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa8a39bc-d8de-4b2a-8908-27da4674da72/IMG_6962+2.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c640579-3ce1-458f-b2ee-f5dffff39102/IMG_6961.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8234d48a-243f-4741-ba43-1f923673edcb/VWC_2014-0678.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922567031-ZSOTPXKSP518BGM9YLRJ/Tadji28.jpg P-40 Kittyhawk https://www.vintagewings.ca/fleet-finch daily 0.75 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6d9bad7-49f8-4fa0-a47e-ce984ffacdd6/DSC_0649.JPG Fleet Finch Stephan King Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/55c48ad2-3e92-4300-8594-5c5ce74169dd/June_3_Finch_Allnutt.jpg Fleet Finch Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5964351f-2a9a-4142-b2b8-f3c294ff5d77/East+Coast+12+158.jpg Fleet Finch Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c9b90673-6aff-4dd6-8d30-4a31f5325234/IMG_2236.JPG Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f53d215-4133-43e6-a469-8732762382c8/PJH_53841.jpg Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e1534bf-6bb6-4793-b8f2-8e9399ca4371/PJH_38371.jpg Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de000fee-1b0c-4c99-9d2a-0dc76652ded6/IMG_2332.JPG Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0f98057-7e1d-4032-97ed-d5c7448106a6/IMG_2331.JPG Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a1880d77-e51e-4394-b4e8-255ce9ba945f/_MA_4418+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Wings+Over+Gatineau+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+15%2C+2012.jpg Fleet Finch Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aac98acc-191f-48a3-81be-e96d3acc734e/FinchRear.jpg Fleet Finch Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06f63e3a-0b7c-4162-bbe0-22d1340bd9a8/VWC_2021-III-8422.jpg Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6661e13-dc32-4283-9ae2-802869134d0c/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+012.jpg Fleet Finch Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/53e020cf-0e67-434f-af5b-1187f7e66913/Sept15-130.jpg Fleet Finch Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85f31189-952c-404e-b926-fe5d6a6d8442/DSC_0654+%281%29.JPG Fleet Finch Stephan King Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5df45f29-fe7b-45de-babc-44a5b7466751/DSC_0619.JPG Fleet Finch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82ff918f-5a5a-4cfa-a261-8a4755695237/IMG_6969.JPG Fleet Finch Young Pilot Officer Hart Finley after receiving his pilot's brevet at No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands in Ottawa. https://www.vintagewings.ca/chipmunk daily 0.75 2021-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9b847c31-fa0d-442a-83af-81f4c72c34dd/IMG_2218.JPG Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/373cd8e2-9fcd-474e-a406-38378786ad02/CF-EGO%291.jpg Chipmunk 18028 Reinhard Zinabold Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50eff476-9cc0-46c9-948e-dcfd9490930f/IMG_3548.JPG Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e5300ac9-1e5e-4968-8771-4e60d04475cf/Sept15-128.jpg Chipmunk 18028 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b79414fc-963c-4751-853d-82ca4fa15ea8/CF-EGO_2.jpg Chipmunk 18028 Mike Henniger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32eeef9c-59c0-4334-bd40-d7442aba76ce/10005594476_3a2181e9f9_o.jpg Chipmunk 18028 Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/804e2849-4a37-4500-9974-9c775322bf0e/DSCN4817.JPG Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a61fbb8f-2a01-412a-baee-a43c4d4d6008/IMG_6974.JPG Chipmunk 18028 Young Pilot Officer Timmins and Captain Timmins, TWA 747 Captain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c50d9d3f-ef43-42d3-86fb-9522397dfe34/IMG_6973.JPG Chipmunk 18028 Tim Timmins (left) on CF-100 Canucks at RCAF Station Comox https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebbb573a-8a02-4d62-993c-715689f55c9d/IMG_6972.JPG Chipmunk 18028 The dedication panel. https://www.vintagewings.ca/corsair daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/854012df-22f8-439a-b5ca-8810c3e08761/PH_VWC_87136_FG-1D_Corsair.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9e976ab-f4e7-4565-b21b-cbc1ff6e7a55/CorsairEdwards.jpg Corsair Jonathan Edwards Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4619542-b0b0-4ec7-ae99-75a4d0429b9f/2883965032_0b9eea6162_o.jpg Corsair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2180809-1463-446e-a564-23694c86a4a8/DSC_2087.jpg Corsair Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/980c2ec4-0f75-439c-af2d-6380ca3a492c/CORSAIR.jpg Corsair J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d437954-f820-4cfb-a865-2d275e0cf378/VWC_2016-29930.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d34cf61-0cfa-4ccb-9bdb-707aba6a23bc/LAV_3016a+%281%29.jpg Corsair André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5fcdabab-1f5c-4246-8ae8-1df2c3f5cb9a/PHD_28207.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f04deed-9269-4af1-86d0-25b156c34000/PHD_28982.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa713b84-be88-47c6-9512-ff788822c890/PJH_87307.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0eef0c3-6cd2-43c6-a3ce-a40584e0f1db/PJH_40192.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff720b14-97df-4c50-8b08-b40434d74dea/PJH_40169.jpg Corsair Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a79e50d7-c3e2-474b-8b15-c0ea2d3313ae/_MG_0319+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebec+-+May+01%2C+2010.jpg Corsair Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6cd98913-2abc-429e-ba64-9c70389e7725/_MG_9369+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+18%2C+2010.jpg Corsair Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76b6b35d-35a8-4437-a882-3466b74794c2/CorsairSun.jpg Corsair J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cebeb64c-0e88-404a-b1d3-3b844ad8b8f0/large_000000.jpg Corsair Robert Hampton Gray before the war https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/425c46f7-1097-458e-b8b5-8c576cf1062f/2558303_12.jpg Corsair Robert Hampton Gray in the Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f18d7ecc-c9ef-44bd-8136-7c187ce29af5/Corsairs_Formidable_jul44.jpg Corsair Gray was a Corsair pilot aboard HMS Formidable, depicted here in July of 1944 https://www.vintagewings.ca/hurricane-mk-xii daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/329c280c-0f90-4c62-bc69-6943a2945101/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+4.16.16+PM.png Hurricane Mk XII Willie McKnight, looking exhausted at RAF Duxford. Imperial War Museum Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a628138-a0bf-4aa6-9cbf-94b3f1afd0d4/McKnight-Hurricane-opt.jpg Hurricane Mk XII The famous grim reaper pilot art was said to have been painted by McKnight himself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75b6ec83-bf6f-41b7-8d5a-3f02daa7bd6c/_PHD1739.jpg Hurricane Mk XII The grim reaper skeleton holding a sickle on one hand and pointing at the enemy was a unique piece of pilot art for its time—a time when such visual displays were frowned upon by the RAF. It is rumoured that McKnight himself, a pre-med student at the University of Alberta, painted the skeletons on each side of the fuselage. We've taken to calling this character “Willie”. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b683f24e-36d7-49ed-b98a-c756ba135c99/242.jpg Hurricane Mk XII In September of 1940, during the Battle of Britain, members of 242 (Canadian) Squadron of the Royal Air Force pose alongside their commander's Hurricane LE-D at Duxford. Left to Right: F/O Hugh Norman Tamblyn, Flight Lieutenant Percival 'Stan' Turner, P/O Norman Neil "Neil" Campbell, S/L Douglas Bader, F/L Eric Ball and P/O Michael Giles Homer. On the wing: Sgt Joseph Ernest Savill and P/O William Lidstone "Willie" McKnight. Five of these pilots would not survive the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/427d42cb-c8aa-464b-b191-029dfa3fb250/WillieStarboard.png Hurricane Mk XII The only available photo of the starboard side of McKnight's Hurricane with himself leaning casually on the wing. A higher quality copy of the image could not be found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb4899c4-c6d8-4836-8eb3-35990d6d173b/2022.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Mimicking the 1940 242 Squadron Photo at left, some of the key people in the restoration of the McKnight Hurricane. Left to right: Dave O'Malley (research and markings), Paul Tremblay (Director of Maintenance, Vintech Aero); Ken Wood, Structures and Metals; Mike Potter, Funder and Founder; Laurent Palmer, AME; Jim Luffman, Volunteer technician representing dozens of other volunteers who worked in the project in the early years. On wing: André Laviolette, AME; Pat Tenger, AME and Hurricane Project lead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d16c7df-fcf8-482e-8789-04819b68070c/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+4.19.29+PM.png Hurricane Mk XII Willie McKnight, Douglas Bader and Eric Ball. All three are decked out in full dress and two are sporting the very same flight boots which kick Hitler’s behind on the noses of their Hurricanes. Bader, of course, did not need heavy flight boots as he had no legs and his artificial legs sported shoes. All three are wearing ribbons—McKnight and Ball the DFC and Bader the Distinguished Service Order. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/525efbc3-e370-45cd-b19f-96f3cc6f4c94/Squadron_Leader_Douglas_Bader_%28centre%29_and_fellow_pilots_of_No._242_Squadron%2C_Flight_Lieutenant_Eric_Ball_and_Pilot_Officer_Willie_McKnight%2C_admire_the_nose_art_on_Bader%27s_Hawker_Hurricane_at_Duxford%2C_October_1940._CH1412.jpg Hurricane Mk XII 242 Squadron pilots Eric Ball, Douglas Bader and Willie McKnight view the recently applied squadron nose art of Hitler getting the boot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2429fee5-4197-4306-a216-6b8c1197a445/McKnight-Kennington-opt.jpg Hurricane Mk XII A black and white copy of war artist Erik Kennington's immortal colour pastel portrait of McKnight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/505198dd-ca4c-476c-882a-b4e6e65dacb4/GettingItRight_C.jpg Hurricane Mk XII William Lidstone McKnight was born on 18th November 1918 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and educated at Crescent Heights High School and the University of Alberta. He was a medical student before joining the RAF on a short service commission in February 1939. McKnight joined the newly-reformed 242 Squadron at Church Fenton on 6th November 1939. He went to France on 14th May 1940 on attachment to 607 Squadron. After moving to 615 Squadron on the 16th, he shot down an Me109 near Cambrai on the 19th. McKnight returned to England two days later. Over Dunkirk on 28th May, McKnight destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109, on the 29th another Bf 109, a Dornier Do 17 and a probable Bf 109, on the 31st destroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 110s and a Bf 109 and on 1st June destroyed two Junkers Ju 87s and damaged two more. He was awarded an immediate DFC on 4th June and decorated by the King three days later. 242 Squadron flew to Le Mans on 8th June 1940 to reinforce the hard-pressed squadrons in France and support the Army in its rearguard actions back to the Atlantic ports. On 14th June McKnight destroyed two Bf 109s. The squadron returned to England on the 18th. McKnight claimed three Bf 110s and a Heinkel He 111 destroyed on 30th August, two Bf 110s on 9th September and a Do 17 and a shared Junkers Ju 88 on the 18th. He was awarded a Bar to the DFC (gazetted 8th October 1940) and on 5th November he claimed his final victory, a shared Bf 109 over Gravesend. On 12th January 1941 McKnight, in Hurricane I P2961 and accompanied by P/O MK Brown, was on a Rhubarb operation (searching for targets of opportunity). They crossed the French coast near Gravelines and strafed enemy troops. As they turned to make a second attack, a Bf 109 was seen, at 500 feet. Brown attacked the troops but, when he looked for McKnight, he had vanished. He did not return to base and either fell to the flak or the Bf 109. McKnight is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, panel 30 and also by a commemorative plaque at Calgary Airport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/961b252c-f9af-464f-8041-460464886060/_PHD1678.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Michael U. Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada foundation and driving force behind the Hurricane dedicated to McKnight. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3595d66-07d7-4571-b2a7-19faf00c5b1b/IMG_6778.JPG Hurricane Mk XII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac1eb579-1127-42c4-94d2-cc4883be4f54/IMG_6776.JPG Hurricane Mk XII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4516f762-f034-4fdf-9d26-1701414a799c/Hurricane+2022+winter+day.jpg Hurricane Mk XII “The Reaper” sees the light of day for the first time since full restoration. Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61ecf951-84b0-475a-b864-9d0c3955cd82/IMG_6777.JPG Hurricane Mk XII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb507749-dc16-4116-baa7-a6270543260a/DSCF6963.JPG Hurricane Mk XII Steve McKenzie Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/827cd097-3a1c-40c6-9d54-53ff66260a85/LE_A+side+12-11-21.JPG Hurricane Mk XII Steve McKenzie Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17db8f58-62a0-48ca-a37c-c0f3ab69ca31/_PHD1586.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3aaff4ba-9980-4e14-891f-dce10414b143/_PHD1594.jpg Hurricane Mk XII The fuselage sports a modified Type A-1 Roundel comprised of Red, White and Blue rings of 7 inches with an outer 5 Inch yellow ring. This is different from existing decal kits and other visual portrayals of the McKnight Hurricane which depict an outer yellow ring of the same dimension as the others. The decision to go with a smaller outer ring is based on a pair of photos of a Hurricane in a French scrapyard after the fall of France. This aircraft (P2959) is just 2 airframes from P2961 on the Gloster assembly line. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2500fa7c-6b65-48d2-86c3-52de3c2a3c23/_PHD2071.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ba5cc02-defc-4ceb-9a5d-ecae04cf58fe/_PHD1609.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Several Hurricanes belonging to 242 Squadron were known to carry the squadron nose art — a 242 Squadron flying boot kicking Hitler in the ass. There is no photographic proof that McKnight's Hurricane was eventually painted with this design, but it is likely. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ba553b05-50fa-4f44-a13b-5b84eacb348d/_PHD2038.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb7ad2ff-7b77-4fc0-ac86-5347c7aef264/_PHD2030.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d601d929-87c8-47f4-a818-ed321f25d1ae/_PHD1983.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/928584e4-ff92-4b6e-94b5-d43d2da91b91/_PHD1991.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6225e841-0496-4c50-a0a9-68a1939f033e/_PHD1951.jpg Hurricane Mk XII As the Battle of Britain was coming to an end, a re-assessment was made by RAF Fighter Command of its aircraft camouflage and markings in light of that combat experience. With the Luftwaffe’s daylight attacks now limited to high-flying fighters and fighter-bombers, there was a general consensus of opinion that favoured a return to the pre-war Night/White finish to aircraft undersurfaces as a means of immediately identifying friendly fighters above. After 27 November 1940, all RAF day fighters were ordered (AMO X.789/40) to have the underside of the port wing again painted Night, with a 2-inch Yellow surround added to its roundel. At the same time, to contrast with the Luftwaffe’s fighters which usually had brightly coloured noses and tails, all RAF single-engined day fighters – including McKnight’s Hurricane P2961 – had their propeller’s Black spinner painted Sky and an 18-inch wide band in that same colour added around their rear fuselage just forward of the tailplane; all to aid in the rapid visual recognition of RAF fighters from the ground and in the air. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/38851247-c1d1-4f60-a168-37c9c84fb08d/_PHD1928.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f1963659-f074-47d0-a4f7-fc7f1300f7e3/_PHD1933.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad561a04-a1ca-4b01-b23e-3d521efb3688/_PHD1926.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/902be4f9-9a58-40a9-9112-3236462c2ea4/_PHD1913.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c131035e-184c-4070-ab07-0645f7af8018/_PHD1876.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34251d3b-26de-4435-b224-6d2c59776f88/_PHD1861.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b30e72b-a6ed-4ff1-a197-a2977c8d8fc9/_PHD1829.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6491302-c7f0-4d0d-ab5d-68a1c2a193aa/_PHD1774.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e66f3991-169e-4847-b4f5-d511a621f56e/_PHD1752.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/766d8319-7e14-4d3f-80f7-6051da6efa7e/_PHD1747.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7febb304-4c37-4d66-8fd5-22e80f923aee/_PHD1727.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e4cf2d6-4498-495b-b338-9ab2adbabd32/_PHD1724.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/84c84ff8-a5a8-433c-97cf-f69da7cf5e5b/_PHD1720.jpg Hurricane Mk XII The reaper on the starboard side was not as well drawn as that on the port or entry side of the aircraft. The only known photo of this side of the aircraft is far too low resolution to extract exact details of bones and hands. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58c161a7-ed6b-4cae-8684-b7c8591f59a5/_PHD1635.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3c89911-cfc6-4ada-acba-df158cb5d20f/_PHD1631.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df773737-5dee-4a22-a159-b7bd4be90c47/_PHD1609.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e72c9a88-2be6-4d80-b4b9-487dca50d972/_PHD1588.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c60b835-c381-4f41-ba1f-3da169e98d21/IMG_2972.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98dc39a9-d4ef-4b67-b10c-352d7f32268c/IMG_2989.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dcd0689-3d54-4cbe-9892-0018f434b4d9/IMG_2995.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fdc7b5fe-7112-4bc4-a14b-a391e18217b3/IMG_2997.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5df12fa-333b-44dd-a283-31675afad604/IMG_2998.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17079f9f-97c4-48ad-a21b-7e45402bdcdd/IMG_3007.jpg Hurricane Mk XII Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/fleet-canuck daily 0.75 2021-10-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99c8370e-d3a6-43ff-800c-2fea66e45b5d/2006Gusair-7.jpg Fleet Canuck Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/822c5c32-f12a-44ec-b469-ff6f4e0790d9/Canuck.jpg Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a10bebec-efe1-478f-86c0-4ef374ff6988/Screen+Shot+2021-10-14+at+2.53.31+PM.png Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56e6f898-0371-4af0-963f-7d038f15cd34/Canuck2.jpg Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/11222711-abd0-4072-a51e-6ec610c943c5/2006Gusair-3.jpg Fleet Canuck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b096d090-bcc8-4427-90df-e5bc08f78d72/2006Gusair-4.jpg Fleet Canuck Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9af263a-e83c-47d2-be48-f9c3abcccb90/4822880830_c033da18a5_o+%281%29.jpg Fleet Canuck J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0aeff3ea-2fa4-461d-9923-b785df7b8f4e/83780280_3464270406969855_8981934457514622976_n.jpg Fleet Canuck Vintage Wings photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/689a3606-0583-4894-94af-aa41d4ba1d90/83643206_3464270363636526_3418621009282990080_n.jpg Fleet Canuck Vintage Wings photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/chipmunk-18025 daily 0.75 2021-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe23f186-39bd-46e2-b8a4-15321045c0b3/IMG_6971.JPG Chipmunk 18025 Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0154f309-0dc4-47b9-b347-d6f83cd03e87/Screen+Shot+2021-07-08+at+7.47.35+AM.png Chipmunk 18025 Fresh from the factory, a de Havilland civilian pilot delivers 025 in the 1950s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25e65983-3658-4a86-a498-1511b959ffb1/21AERO-626.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd742e6e-7a6e-496f-83c3-3cd849f86703/21AERO-640.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2eb21f6-ddb0-4a68-8929-917fdc266e65/21AERO-643.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5108cc26-2024-4c79-acb8-89ce70b1528a/Chipmunck.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ade1c0a-613a-4639-9fe0-cd0d789b4c10/Chipmunkrear.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0c1bc6b-c983-43b9-8d13-83b15d6016d7/Russ_Bannock_in_1944.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Russ Bannock during his days as commander of 406 Squadron, RCAF — a de Havilland Mosquito intruder squadron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c46ba4a4-5be2-4563-94bb-093fadda4a36/984.103.102-1.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Russ Bannock at the controls of the first de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. Photo via Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6ac5184c-2135-46f7-9336-721b1619f945/0117756.jpg Chipmunk 18025 CF-RRI, with Bob Fassold at the controls flies over Ottawa in it's previous paint scheme for the Gatineau Gliding Club https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/96a39875-1ba6-4ec4-a6c6-c8d66c485da4/Fassold-3.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd1e8a14-b9db-4166-84cd-e3134f113177/Fassold-2.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e02d4b2-8fa1-4498-bd83-b8278e5857bb/Fassold-1.jpg Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://www.vintagewings.ca/fox-moth daily 0.75 2021-12-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98ea5627-33e5-4a2e-9dfa-3c54fa9ba6bd/906861961_a5f2527991_o.jpg Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ee68399-c7ce-4dfa-9e18-b3c066ffbfb6/851289814_a091bedbe7_o.jpg Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626127712-DPSA6NJMQFDDKHAVG418/KiwiMoths86.jpg Fox Moth Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f5cf91e-0b81-4e24-be95-d0699583df88/17fe017074114baacb5d93f2bd1731c7.jpg Fox Moth Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f243ac71-5ffe-4cc8-ae80-e435a2164caf/6433189303_7222b8d0c5_o.jpg Fox Moth Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/555923ae-1b88-4013-a019-495e69ef3f36/21AERO-231.jpg Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87bf6231-71e4-40a9-94dc-3a7528e3fdbb/21AERO-248.jpg Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/62e92e57-1166-4517-8088-df0364c4817f/21AERO-244.jpg Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57e333ea-ba9b-4947-b545-428dcfc65a3b/2569629981_ebccc35b31_o.jpg Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c105f578-a2e4-4592-8616-c7fa68b82c6c/PHD_28882.jpg Fox Moth Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3d2c865-40cd-4aeb-93a0-1a744380e878/855180337_fc834f81be_o.jpg Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68c2d310-89bf-40ad-ba95-0ba6e55af475/856039346_d72e76b333_o.jpg Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cdcf7865-a204-45b0-8678-bf6c675059da/270952390_1510427826004732_8086788262658142039_n.jpg Fox Moth Cold weather flying, December 2021. Peter Ashwood-Smith Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/lysander daily 0.75 2022-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039593170-RIGSW1BWTIBNI165W2O8/LizziePR10.jpg Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d1c299c1-b36a-474f-9064-33fdc8f71177/21AERO-585.jpg Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe4720f5-7e62-4b02-bf7a-ad4296ac2294/21AERO-587.jpg Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c4635da-54c0-4f59-a48b-53d2a1e14a1e/21AERO-591.jpg Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61933654-cf7c-47a5-9492-d51cf5621258/21AERO-604.jpg Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c593cd34-2957-4126-a12b-64f42ed60cf0/21AERO-582.jpg Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/401df0ef-e411-4cca-8931-0400ad5b2f19/LAV_3768-2.jpg Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f66e2270-eb08-4d10-b296-6c65d1ed2bc6/carswell_air_force_plane.jpg Lysander Andy Carswell during Elementary Flying Training https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003347432-SB6SMFZ8EX7HKCU3VP1O/LizziePR13.jpg Lysander The Andy Carswell Lysander is painted in the markings of the first Lysander to come off the assembly line at National Steel Car in Malton, Ontario during the Second World War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c88a20d-37c2-45ff-9f15-a48b4d41a0e9/carswell_cadet.jpg Lysander LAC Andrew Carswell, RCAF after enlistmnet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c95643b2-74cb-427c-a0a3-a4d875a6985a/Andy_Carswell_with_Queen_Elizabeth_II.jpg Lysander Flight Lieutenant Andy Carswell receives the Air Force Cross from Queen Elizabeth II in 1958 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7019ba9f-6163-45ba-887c-cdb06d10bd13/Carswell.jpg Lysander Andy Carswell at Vintage Wings of Canada. Pierre Lapprand Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1e5ea7df-752f-44e0-91ab-585b62084bbf/Carswell2.jpg Lysander Andy Carswell and an old friend. Pierre Lapprand Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a003fa1-ab55-414b-b7c0-147d64a2651a/LAV_5516+%28002%29.jpg Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bcdc7225-d0e0-4f7c-a195-4434a5386040/LAV_5452.jpg Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/23c20a71-5d8c-4749-b95c-cf4ea7ead3b6/VWC_2021-III-8254.jpg Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/971871cf-8ad1-4ebb-95ee-9a63660005bd/VWC_2021-III-8086.jpg Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f06c3085-1a69-4500-b63c-3549f13d4115/VWC_2021-III-8031.jpg Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e3bb20f-a11e-4377-b7b1-c19af85b3d10/Carswell3.jpg Lysander Andy Carswell with Vintage Wings Volunteers Pierre Lapprand and Richard Lacroix. 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P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b82c37e8-24dd-42f7-b8be-1524093802ef/PHD_17315.jpg North American F-86 Sabre The Canadair F-86 that was to become Hawk One arrives at Vintage Wings in 2007. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9165f96c-18fd-428f-963f-d5a358fa6f87/PHD_17404.jpg North American F-86 Sabre Veteran F-86 pilot and air show legend Ron Iberg taxies the future Hawk One at Gatineau in 2007. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a914d42-1c99-456e-a089-fd0c2fc1dd5e/PHD_17472.jpg North American F-86 Sabre Ron Iberg (left) and Mike Potter chat after Iberg's ferry flight in 2007. 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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d57c5671-dc8e-4e17-aea9-113dc83cd452/_MA_1247+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011-Edit+%281%29.jpg Fairey Swordfish III Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8782e5f-dbc9-405c-847d-987da15805fc/_MA_1224+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Fairey Swordfish III Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e846154a-08f7-4305-9b18-81073d2c3302/_MA_1066+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Fairey Swordfish III Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2237646b-88fe-4c16-b87f-606a2667162e/_MA_0779+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Fairey Swordfish III Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/supermarine-spitfire-mk-xvi daily 0.75 2021-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/18e34d98-9695-46e8-a545-9d5ae27d9221/PHD_15214.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a10439b8-2071-4f07-b31e-72a8247ee2d2/_PHD4988.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72ae980d-5f84-4e6b-a145-ecf3aaab6e33/2008Gusair-31.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Gus Corujo Photo 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Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c155a5b-682f-4b4b-8467-ef6d497b077f/PHD_15244.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/30a1748d-47b2-42d0-b48b-386b1655df73/PJH_11565.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9d2f6d1-b9bc-4d97-82e9-6031d638353c/Gusair-5.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Mike Potter taxies SL721 at Gatineau. Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/801ab064-65b1-438d-977d-8388d476977c/16776902930_584ffe8e5c_o.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Ken Mist Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd392fe3-827f-4cb4-b509-b3bd0a901e78/img_8235+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93d5b50f-95a1-4049-a587-cd26486f02f4/img_8027+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/be04d49c-fe8f-40f0-9f2b-cfd7ab0e730c/img_7981+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003-2.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a3e204e9-4a5a-464e-9dca-641dc19784cf/PHD_15351.jpg Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/beech-d-17s-staggerwing daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e12a82eb-9b91-4cda-b8fb-042d7711e852/_PHD2470.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e21daca-f8d8-43ce-913b-1bf46e180401/_PHD2471.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d46ceec-51cc-48e3-bff0-f0e724ce8605/Dec_Staggerwing_Allnutt.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22ac8eef-a433-4bfa-bd57-29c7639bfc8f/PHD_27670.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/580a9ad7-7280-423a-adfd-8fdc675cbbcd/PHD_28503.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd98aa73-10a0-4502-965a-27987c943d39/2008Gusair-22.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9707a88b-54d5-4d36-b666-96385cd93cb1/2008Gusair-21.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e85cd72c-8b5f-410a-9ffb-4a65c6e00b6a/PHD_29165.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4f3328b5-f9ce-4573-a7d7-7b1f8785894f/PHD_27665.jpg Beech D-17S Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/boeing-pt-27-stearman daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/39671f35-9e80-4273-b29c-88ea9ec26669/VW-Stearman.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc5ac0c6-7ad9-4624-939b-ecfa9e094d04/stearman-6621.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/175a7eff-ff0c-4287-ad92-d5faa9f7bf2e/Stearman-PT-27-Kaydet-2828.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Heath Moffatt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81925c29-6e44-4698-adbc-5511189331a3/Inspiration03.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Todd Lemieux Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56ef7f96-d376-4eb9-a2a0-7bb7a8ad0e12/FlyingHarry2.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab380345-e603-4eb0-b50d-26e8cca5ce39/FlyingHarry22.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71a65eeb-ca3c-40e7-a8f4-9c06765abe75/FlyingHarry11.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/167a1299-576f-49bf-a6c2-aef404c741d9/PJH_86105-1024x681.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Harry Hannah goes flying with Todd Lemieux in “his” Stearman, 2011. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a234ce38-7f46-4e47-80e2-af07f665986e/Undaunted37.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Harry and the Stearman. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21c2b4ae-120a-4c05-a05d-c5d0ef06150c/IMG_7896.JPG Boeing PT-27 Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3584a2d-0a9e-4bd6-b8e9-d42240e588a4/IMG_7945.jpg Boeing PT-27 Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc0c4570-8835-4bc1-b96e-7cbdbc682da8/IMG_8067.JPG Boeing PT-27 Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/de-havilland-dh-82-tiger-moth daily 0.75 2021-11-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ecf456f1-8d60-4de0-ab77-79762a245eeb/PJH_32395.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6b3c49f-4273-42bc-855a-7b4fe1cb0288/PJH_32542.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d72ec56-2dc6-41d0-aa41-cf2b5518e6a9/PJH_32838.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6e74794-a761-4516-a44a-9fd14a9a28f9/PJH_33711.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e36e27ae-61ba-418d-af67-1843bad2356d/PJH_33682.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77c5d2d5-33fa-479d-b66a-48cbb4a7fb4f/PJH_33645.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN, Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f46f77a-04c0-4c3e-8913-2b85676cc0a9/CF_DHQ.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bbc4cd8f-ad20-4277-b32c-a58b27bbea97/8542130872_9e9086930e_o.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50d1140d-cc33-4fcb-892b-d019bc0ee9a8/31815_1158352743-1.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13e438a0-4b12-4600-bea0-72a97a5cbbdd/6928384666_89a35b2464_o.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a252500-1f83-4aab-8c2d-91aa4a0d2e44/3153252761_7891424207_o.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcc9ae42-0443-4522-a78b-dfe14d6f193e/8572938768_3f9355957b_o.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fce877a9-1194-4e2b-bb8d-897b5ffb5457/Gusair-708.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8480b39f-a64e-41b1-ad08-62f78deab61e/Gusair-709.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/995fcc83-b4b4-4e7a-bd62-2226ad1b15dd/Gusair-711.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adfc4b80-a249-4438-8293-a462baa860b7/tigermoth_rma2.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e00cb59d-8c57-4d8b-92f5-46f27b70e320/TigerMoth4.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Michel Coté Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c15d872-b974-42bd-b134-dd184bdddbd8/PJH_56649.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c73b257-0927-462a-81e7-2cda56cec92a/TigerMoth_3.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/54922ef5-2c9a-40ee-a195-916a72c1e804/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+151.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth Tiger Moth CF-ANN in Moncton. Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/611e5f61-01e0-4cd3-a15e-9863dcee1845/East+Coast+12+178.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d92eac44-3bea-430b-921a-e4d4ef9b6ac6/East+Coast+12+044.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d7fcea3-8970-4ce1-a4cd-9662609c1be9/5437010319_69ca5aa2d2_o.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3e68325-01c4-4af7-b6cb-0a046efcd2b2/_ma_0597-2+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+vintage+wings+of+canada+-+gatineau%2C+que+-+september+18%2C+2010.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2aaf889f-35c7-4458-b912-52e518e01f29/2008Gusair-42.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Gus Coruso Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c7ffac6-33ff-433f-845c-aa7b42c599e1/_MA_9451+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+17%2C+2010.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/676ad089-a867-4856-b554-df3459a575d2/_MA_6261+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Montebello+Fly-In+-+Montebello%2C+QUE+-+February+04%2C+2012.jpg de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallor Allnutt Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/the-builds daily 0.75 2022-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4dceb0d8-2001-4d58-ba41-17ccb3980f58/SpitBits04.jpg The Builds Possibly a Mark de Vries photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/695db74c-3076-4cba-8edd-ae54ccd6b81e/6483L.jpg The Builds Harry Whereatt completes engine test on the Hurricane in Assiniboia. Via Whereatt Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfcd9d09-8dbd-4f31-a850-cdd8ed700a22/NewWings29.jpg The Builds Way back in the 1970s, the Lysander is seen in the hangar of legendary Harry Whereatt -the Obi-Wan Kanobe of Canadian aircraft restoration. Harry was personally responsible for saving some of our most cherished aviation artifacts. Whereatt (and his family) would work tirelessly for decades to build the Lysander from the remains of three Lysanders. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/19e54bbe-9377-4c1d-869c-140342e576e0/vintagewings_046-EDIT.jpg The Builds The sabre is taken apart at Gatineau in 2007 shortly after its ferry flight. Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4386f98-0be6-4c03-a393-3e7c23998536/NewWings12.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce77332d-ed8f-4a8b-95ee-f4624f9f95e7/860423_498215610242031_1535465049_o.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd8fd56c-30e0-4635-98b0-0301ab6cc92b/harry-whereatt-and-wife-anna-800.jpg The Builds Harry and Anna Whereatt on the their Assininboia farm with the Hurricane in 1993 during a visit by the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. Photo from Angie McNulty https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8c8cda1-e7c6-4e4d-8e44-dade9a38d534/NewWings30.jpg The Builds In Harry Whereatt's hangar in Assinaboia, the Lysander nears completion in 1993. Whereatt chose to paint the Lysander as a Target Tug for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f29e2db9-4bb0-411d-a7bd-edea4dd24ba6/vintagewings_052-EDIT.jpg The Builds Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219520b7-6315-41f1-a325-e7c7511a01d1/26811950114_6e55f230ab_o.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9efbb63f-04ac-4435-899a-9d8ccc6ce476/SpitfireUpdate20.jpg The Builds The multi-dimensional complexities of building a Spitfire in the Castle Bromwich factory during the Second World War were overcome by jigs, custom tools, forms, molds, templates and thousands of employees. To build Spitfire wings, controls and fuselage components in Canada in the Third Millennium—70 years after the factories were closed—took some ingenuity on the part of Wood. In many cases, he needed to first build tools that would enable him to build the parts or to form three-dimensional magic in metal—tools like the “Fuel Bay Sumptuator”, “Wing-Rib Former 2000 Max”, “Fairey Fastener Locator”, and the world-famous “Bearing Dust Seal Flangetron” (patents pending). Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7b681c7-4cc8-46fc-941c-3586c84439ae/NewWings31.jpg The Builds The first engine run in July of 1996. With harry at the controls, her Bristol Mercury engine coughs into life with a farm pick-up truck providing the power to crank. Despite a successful engine start, the Lysander never flew - qualified Lysander pilots being in short supply. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4b4a32a-2fa0-4547-a4ea-6fa35de39e3b/vintagewings_035-EDIT.jpg The Builds Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bee74c13-c660-4f0d-a96c-c37f80bb0d7d/IMG_7237.jpg The Builds The Hurricane arrives from Saskatchewan, 2006. Vintage Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21231cdc-dd82-4b47-83b1-ae5256d0e44b/MellowYellow9.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc662969-79bd-4194-9c8a-a23684f7dff2/IMG_2588.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c597510-0f15-40a0-9a66-f6cc5fb26bef/PHD_32311.jpg The Builds Test pilot Paul Kissmann during engine tests. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/931f9dbf-c109-4129-871c-acafd794e3c2/NewWings51.jpg The Builds Don't worry Harry, we'll take good care of her. A somewhat wistful Whereatt plays along for a photo-op at the time (May, 2007) that we picked his Lysander up in Saskatchewan. Photo by John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d72435ea-1f26-4dea-8689-fd735676c843/IMG_7340.jpg The Builds The Hurricane arrives from Saskatchewan, 2006. Vintage Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98e3c0a2-9f3e-444c-94c7-359eb9d6cc91/MellowYellow6.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bfa3002-4001-479a-b1af-53242fe5b08b/PHD_32157.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1d912b7e-c0e4-4c79-a209-42392ffd41e0/1782065_704471892949734_276075834_n.jpg The Builds Topside wings skins are about to go in the starboard wing. Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0dc39884-b294-4445-ad5c-67e7d254be9c/NewWings32.jpg The Builds Our new Lizzie arrives in Gatineau, May 28th, 2007. Upon her arrival she was put into storage for more than two years with her engine going to England for overhaul. Photo by Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4003a236-c621-46be-a712-791990afa99e/IMG_7123.jpg The Builds The Hurricane arrives from Saskatchewan, 2006. Vintage Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd9bd0be-b7eb-467c-b227-bc64b36314b0/MellowYellow3.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7665c5e3-00d3-428a-8557-d7dbf5216db5/SpitBits14.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bde555e-7928-410d-8d54-a4e54ff3c950/NewWings44.jpg The Builds Volunteer power was critical to the speedy restoration of the Lysander - here VWC pilot Blake Reid (foreground) and Ted Devey prepare the Lysander's access panels to receive a new fabric covering. The airframe on the left is our Hawker Hurricane XII project. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e70deac-8b18-4d62-9bcb-ec47d5d5dbb0/25696869201_8836bb4281_o.jpg The Builds Robert Sullivan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/967ec2b9-ff55-4cb7-aca2-b55b92dc7ce7/vintagewings_047-EDIT.jpg The Builds Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f057d964-74c1-47f3-9c68-1a01d097f39e/MellowYellow10.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/18a234f2-ecba-45fc-b57d-fe02b041f0d5/1455835_656193327777591_712483305_n.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86caae28-f1be-49eb-8e94-111147bcbea9/NewWings46.jpg The Builds Tall and quirky beyond description, the Lysander was not an easy aircraft to work in and around. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c641875-e53c-49a0-94c9-c4978d309396/vintagewings_051-EDIT.jpg The Builds Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4637887-f0d9-400b-bf1c-c9ea436be8b9/_MG_4574+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg The Builds The Hurricane IV's centre section undergoing restoration in the purpose-built jig. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bd773ca-21f3-4cf8-bcd5-e40899d2bc2d/MellowYellow11.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f8d5f43-6650-4585-8f4c-9fef1ff9f0e4/SpitfireUpdate01.jpg The Builds Lead structures engineer on the Roseland Spitfire, Ken Wood preps the aluminum skin panel for the port side engine cowling. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6836387b-3175-4771-97ee-fa036703dca4/PJH_12402.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/043e4467-ff83-4033-acb4-cf54defa6a59/25765887846_3b23969d17_o.jpg The Builds Robert Sullivan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5199080f-49d1-4b3e-8a94-8fad790ef343/P6124376.JPG The Builds Patrick Rossiter Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1632940114957-R4B7VIFLLJKI2F6434LO/MellowYellow5.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0543f23b-8354-47b1-8691-d8f61342ceca/ICEFIRE05.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3ff6cf4-b372-44bd-a0ac-ac3fa41a607c/25164642853_68fab955bc_o.jpg The Builds Test pilot Paul Kissmann performs a engine run-up at Gatineau airport. Robert Sullivan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f714151-f2d5-4d9c-a464-314ba5c61363/_PH24872.jpg The Builds The Roseland Spitfire Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b51a16fc-e8df-45fa-a9c4-4c5a78ba4323/_MG_4450+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg The Builds The Westland Lysander is a big aircraft, with a large engine compartment. We see the accessory bay here, shortly before the freshly overhauled Bristol Mercury was remounted on the airframe. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5170745-d9fb-4547-a69d-bb95ccda4dd2/Hurricane51+2.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff990a7f-267e-4a02-affe-932d685508ac/ICEFIRE02.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4710f7b-d421-42d3-8aef-50f6438fff0a/25164568223_601529a460_o+%281%29.jpg The Builds Engine tests. Robert Sullivan photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/40972574-b8ba-4305-97f2-8d6a87e57e91/_MG_4414+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg The Builds One of Vintage Wings technicians works on re-skinning the Lysander's horizontal stabilizer. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01e0061b-7d39-4338-a5e7-e0aa439e6b4c/P6124375.JPG The Builds Patrick Rossiter Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a56456f7-0a16-44a4-9625-7afe571570f1/SpitfireUpdate19.jpg The Builds Beneath those extraordinarily sublime and elegantly simple elliptical Spitfire wings ran a labyrinth of ribs, supports, straps, wells, access panels, bays, channels, spars and linkages—held in place by thousands of rivets, each part with specific requirements for gauge, strength and hardness of material. Ken Wood’s methodical and unhurried pace ensured that mistakes did not build upon each other, rendering weeks, months or even years of work scrap. To be in the company of Wood near his wing build throughout this period was to be in a sort of Zen-like zone where voices were lowered, decisions were made only after checks were made and remade, and where craftsmanship and quality of work became a fetish. Photo: Ken Wood from GoPro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f943b34c-9c3e-4770-87c8-9ce376f547eb/Screen+Shot+2021-10-21+at+4.28.57+PM.png The Builds The skeletal fuselage and empennage on display at an air show at Gatineau. Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac0bf9f8-4fdd-4169-b6fb-8c4e7656e2c7/PHD_33494.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87e9a6fd-dada-4e8e-9ced-293becfeb81b/PJH_11819.jpg The Builds Volunteers hoist and attach the port wing. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/202adecf-866c-43c2-9e10-80fb9c515518/_PHD9127.jpg The Builds The McKnight Hurricane. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66fb153d-e0c4-49e1-8605-ad7be3cf333a/PHD_33190.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87816318-f2f2-4220-b7c4-fec5088b2069/PJH_11788.jpg The Builds Young Christian Brunelle, now a 412 Squadron pilot, secures the tip on the port wing during installation. Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b53f8717-9f29-4c05-9f32-a6ebf0cae0ff/DearRosey25.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86caae28-f1be-49eb-8e94-111147bcbea9/NewWings46.jpg The Builds The Andy Carswell Lysander. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f586369-f3b3-432c-b733-c2bc9a265f4a/Screen+Shot+2021-12-19+at+11.48.45+AM.png The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8f77d933-059b-46dc-b692-d1fb75411876/IMG_2628.jpg The Builds The gang from Comox was on hand to see the work. Left to right. Ken Hazell, Dean Sept, Ken Wood and Ian ward. With work on the fuselage and engine progressing nicely, Sept will make a few trips to Gatineau over the next year to help Wood who has single-handedly done all the wing work so far. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92e1bbdb-ce23-4248-b2eb-7c3c8d3e4844/PHD_33012.jpg The Builds Engine start during first test flight. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87dd0caf-456d-4a34-b611-e7209bc33c0b/PJH_11962.jpg The Builds It was a big occasion indeed when her Bristol Mercury was finally re-attached - Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/572d7bd8-676c-427b-b066-da8be31ed920/10294280_940210036042584_4402309431399720301_n.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f29e2db9-4bb0-411d-a7bd-edea4dd24ba6/vintagewings_052-EDIT.jpg The Builds Hawk One F-86 Sabre. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcf38873-af9b-4baf-87f7-507bbdaf4fbd/PHD_33089.jpg The Builds Hawk One takes off for first post-restoration flight. A few weeks later, it headed to Cold Lake, Alberta for a new golden Hawks commemorative paint scheme applied by the RCAF. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e7a10e48-4099-44f5-8da0-4bb90536e179/PJH_12392.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a7b8e49-422e-4640-870b-f2c709fb73bf/_PHD0539.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c8add316-a8c8-49cf-bfff-024b5a3d17b5/_PH24799.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219520b7-6315-41f1-a325-e7c7511a01d1/26811950114_6e55f230ab_o.jpg The Builds The Archie Pennie Cornell. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a6d80c8-0a47-47c8-83df-0f174632823a/IMG_1830.JPG The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb8417c3-f9e3-430b-a49f-2a3e6063929c/PHD_32193.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b7dbd96f-800c-4ed4-9404-8d054589024b/PJH_11754.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/202adecf-866c-43c2-9e10-80fb9c515518/_PHD9127.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f9c71afe-fdb7-485d-b104-47e2224d3663/PHD_33093.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d7c4d11-b4d0-478a-ba07-ae46bbae367a/PJH_4659.jpg The Builds Deryck Hickox teaches proper rib stitching techniques to Vintage Wings volunteers. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/399d0799-d129-4c9e-aeb3-08aa1d74611d/970890_560047090725549_677626366_n.jpg The Builds The craftsmanship is extraordinary. Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5cb9ce55-63cb-44f6-bc5a-56dccd2bd248/vintagewings_041-EDIT.jpg The Builds Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22f655fa-1e82-4226-a9d6-9019efba8618/SpitfireUpdate02.jpg The Builds The starboard engine cowling panel is now fully shaped and perfectly fitted, ready for riveting to its underlying structure. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/681723ad-7093-414c-8d16-c8b052b093de/PHD_33572.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d49c33c8-9010-4ac5-8e7f-090ae7b17e80/PJH_4694.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0700bdb6-5a7c-4dec-9019-8325e9ca00f0/PJH_12404.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa09a00a-8a20-47b0-89b5-79b95251a98e/LizzieFlight32.jpg The Builds Restoration lead Deryck Hickox (left) with founder Mike Potter and the three members of the Brunelle family who volunteered to work on the Lysander. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2f1985a5-6893-4361-99f1-4a2f73d989e9/PHD_33241.jpg The Builds 520 knots baby! Paul Kissmann is jubilant after the successful first flight. As the designer/applicator of the vinyl decals Hawk One was wearing, Dave O'Malley was jubilant that they were still attached after reaching speeds of 960 kph.! Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3c0baeb-d12e-4893-82f7-2e1505f50a98/_PHD0507.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f992711-bfcb-442f-9238-df758fddb748/_PJH4204.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ee6998e3-df0e-4789-ad0b-a16d542c2d57/PJH_18094.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e7335d4-6018-4d84-8d81-1cfb4a224723/980760_550725321657726_2089232970_o.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bd4b107e-6797-462a-8f2e-8d4f390e5bfb/_PJH4108.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2ce601f-331f-4fc7-8a91-65548edee707/Hurricane52.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f81bb8b-9103-4c58-a7eb-175d8c4e5175/PJH_18000.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/faf63038-d62d-4249-b6e6-158b5028024d/981719_550725434991048_338884959_o.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6b1d350-ffa8-4a71-bdb4-8456ce3ec667/_PHD1951.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f714151-f2d5-4d9c-a464-314ba5c61363/_PH24872.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/329462ad-3537-4071-8723-fff7fcbbbb79/LizzieLife5.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e43df5f5-497a-4459-a173-72d8a44a66c2/461173_550725394991052_898908214_o.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44ee733e-963f-46d7-a764-4497317a66f8/_PHD0479.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bad5445-a7f5-4ba3-ad02-967ae37d983e/_PJH4339.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b9312ee-1490-47c1-bbb9-d12d46af0502/DearRosey03.jpg The Builds Ken Wood begins the complex structural work on the Spitfire’s elevator. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73f77d54-a9c9-4eb5-9d81-e2f9c7526ce6/NewWings47.jpg The Builds The Lysander restoration team poses with their project prior to recovering. Front Row: Allan Macmillan, Jim Ashby, Jim McGregor, Ted Devy, Renaud Gagne, Steve McKenzie, Deryck Hickox, Rob Fleck Back Row: Jim Luffman, Nelson Smith, John Aitken, Bob Boyer, Wayne Giles, Terry Cooper Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c4478eeb-d964-4050-a9ff-da854a28d989/_PHD9147.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac3f42cc-513b-4765-932a-08be94b2b14f/25801697296_a480148bf3_o.jpg The Builds Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5bad8e0-9042-41fe-ad77-426a8f785875/1385900_636510599745864_566795366_n.jpg The Builds Everything from tiny components to structural assemblies had a fresh coat of paint. Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/076e24a5-beec-4dc4-87f2-caf7f72fa8b2/_MG_4439+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg The Builds The Westland Lysander, and her wings, before they were completed, and the fabric changed in mid-2009. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77bdbab0-5940-4ea8-96d3-2aef8902fd70/Hurricane51+3.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2f79c66-edc8-42d1-88d5-8a3cfea4bc3f/SpitfireUpdate16.jpg The Builds Last year, with the major components completed, Wood began work on the wing tips—a combination of cabinet-work and extreme sheet metal work. The Spitfire’s wing tip structure was made from wood to save vital war materials, then covered with aluminum. Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56cd49bc-e4a0-4f90-8d40-0bb94cf171d0/_PHD5040.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/062e1c4f-b037-409e-88e8-d3389f3f63ca/_MG_4589+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg The Builds This is just one of many highly complex welded joints on the Westland Lysander. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4f1dd76-5a96-4df3-8f8b-7510a351df25/IMG_2598-2.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e5124f8-40dc-49a8-98b6-7e5fdac91cc6/IMG_7241.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2285d311-bb9a-41a0-9155-cb3e18a9d0a8/_MG_8179+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Winter+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+November+23%2C+2009.jpg The Builds The Vintage Wings Lysander as she looked last December with freshly doped fabric. Her wings are already painted silver, in the markings of the prototype Canadian-built example, which first flew on 16th August, 1939 at the hands of E. Leigh Capriol. Rob Erdos will take the Lizzie up on her first post-restoration flight, much like he did with the Canadian Warplane Heritage example in 2009. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85abcf02-0da7-4d20-beff-53b32df0a868/773733_484220081641584_1465609125_o.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d3d8950-6758-4855-a27b-f0d0f7d69c78/_PHD5045.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b84f00e5-b9a7-4612-a413-d32524f97064/PJH_13750.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7cc5adfc-df59-4f17-aa39-096ff4eab943/IMG_4564.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/52b88607-3b38-4f65-9a96-0797429f71f1/SpitfireUpdate03.jpg The Builds Ken Wood (left) and mechanic Pat Tenger place the top cowling panel over the engine bay to assess work needed to create the perfect fit. At this point the cowling panels lack structural integrity and need further shaping and trimming before being backed by structural stiffeners. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3de92aa8-1d43-4a77-9b22-c2b75c723354/IMG_4563.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2750581d-cf50-4398-a1e5-4c05eba91b0f/SpitfireUpdate06.jpg The Builds Wood contemplates his next step as he fits the port engine cowling to the Spitfire’s frame. As beautiful as the polished aluminum is, her final coats of primer and camouflage paint will tell a Canadian story of heroism that will outshine anything. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b8b4520-ac35-4fdb-bfb2-6741fb43d9d8/SpitfireUpdate09.jpg The Builds Never hurried, Wood contemplates his next move when re-attaching the Spitfire’s propeller. More than half a year ago, the Spit was towed outside and its big Rolls-Royce Merlin was ground run—twice. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/52623d0e-bfb5-4000-8bab-47afb5db8b79/Hurricane23-2.jpg The Builds Pre-completion Engine Run-up. Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbb735d0-7473-4e70-95f9-487b5defdb3e/577043_515703308493261_1355521174_n.jpg The Builds Vintech West Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/884ba4d1-8a20-403b-abc3-b7518bb86c35/LAV_0386.jpg The Builds Pre-completion Engine Run-up. André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87af9429-117a-4bd8-9909-a48749571f51/Spitbits13.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0acb090c-c363-4a89-abb6-e16fcc3ddb69/LAV_0351.jpg The Builds Pre-completion Engine Run-up. André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a124ac91-da64-4c53-92ec-4fcc0d72be49/10517605_862140117182910_1575970624294974866_o.jpg The Builds Roseland's great grandson Aiden takes a peek at the finished cockpit. Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce5a3e25-2ed2-48ea-84ce-7e7075069edd/_PHD0642.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99d92fd0-4213-4aa2-bdd3-2b71a656f9ad/IMG_4788.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c4c65366-e75d-4b87-b03c-e67589ce0d42/_PH24374.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/427e23cf-fe7b-4726-a8d0-851d59760499/DearRosey08.jpg The Builds A detail of the markings on TE294 as 442 Squadron Spitfire IX MK304. It was at this time that I discovered the mistakes made in previous Y2-K provenance. Painting the Spitfire involved many other types of markings such as W/T Wire Terminus stencils, Technical Directorate paint type stencils (Cellulose and Synthetic), and factory/Civilian Repair Organization contract stencils—all of this so complex, detailed and interesting to a geek like me, but far too complicated to explain here. Suffice it to say that the complex numerical stencils one sees on Second World War RAF aircraft are UNIQUE to each aircraft and cannot be simply copied from a previous aircraft—long story for another day. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/121f5cec-81ef-4ed3-b12b-f5469ede73ec/_PHD0595.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc6caf0c-a570-4346-83a4-d180fed53538/SpitfireUpdate23.jpg The Builds It takes a village to raise a Spitfire. Some of the mechanics involved today with the Roseland Spitfire project: (standing left to right): Pat Tenger, Ken Wood, Mark Dufresne, Gerry Bettridge. At right is Mike Irvin, who has just joined Vintech Aero. Taking a knee: André Laviolette and Paul Tremblay. Photo: Dave O’Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edfdb11c-10ca-4c9c-bd07-7d6cace5da02/VWC_2021-3146.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6cf840b9-f115-4591-95a9-6142f5f3bc3c/_PH24374+%281%29.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6cc5134-225d-4e2d-8035-ec489806c2ce/VWC_2021-3245.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fbb00d66-8649-42bc-b73e-044507e89c90/_PJH4346.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa2b0b9c-e611-49fa-8741-f19747dd52f4/VWC_2021-3186.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b533aca2-98cb-4deb-92a2-17b9f16f9254/42475510_2536524536411118_5735565246236459008_n.jpg The Builds The Roseland Spitfire restoration earned Vintech Aero, its builders, a Golden Wrench award from the Experimental Aircraft Association at Oshkosh's Airventure in 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9157190-30d8-4bb9-9725-00ef9e943646/VWC_2021-3300.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58da3b3f-5a88-48d0-930b-6ad27f551c07/VWC_2021-3357.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/028a66de-9ff1-49b8-93bf-bc09222faaa4/VWC_2021-3379.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b04dd25c-fd00-4be9-ac0f-963ac03036a1/VWC_2021-3480.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ed06c64d-b6a4-4c60-ab00-71305e3475c0/VWC_2021-3512.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44fe3313-b6a9-467d-9402-2f83d6979cbb/IMG_7288.jpg The Builds Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3595d66-07d7-4571-b2a7-19faf00c5b1b/IMG_6778.JPG The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4df65b5b-0206-4e8c-847e-6f8f7c7ea76f/Screen+Shot+2021-12-19+at+11.48.55+AM.png The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb3af5df-2f60-4bd2-a648-0e0e5344b275/Hurricane316.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/39399ff5-5a45-4644-9b0d-cf11c3bafe51/Hurricane34.jpg The Builds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0fc10dd8-f017-4ab4-9819-f9f2076945f9/Hurricane51.jpg The Builds Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bcedd90-2380-493a-b08a-6730868020f4/_PHD0567.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bca84f7-5550-47ea-8203-998ff28e2b47/_PHD0620.jpg The Builds Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/memberships daily 0.75 2025-06-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766923315-OEZHLQKG2VVLE48D0VW1/YouthMembership_540x.jpeg Memberships - Youth Membership - Adhésion Jeunesse $40 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766491156-6IH42CYCVESA3XT3E5SS/IndividualMembership_540x.jpeg Memberships - Individual Membership - Adhésion Individu $80 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766804096-M7WQFTQ7LLQ85IFNG1TS/Family-Membership_540x.jpeg Memberships - Family Membership - Adhésion Famille $130 https://www.vintagewings.ca/hawker-fury daily 0.75 2021-12-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9de9c62d-a9d3-4e8d-aca2-cf41c5e689f9/_PHD0481.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28fc5a4a-5fd7-4e18-b4e6-452d7e19c5f6/_PHD0485.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0f97065-4d3c-47d9-8ba0-da2070482e3d/_PHD0490.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/35bfd313-a3e5-4304-b98f-9422d4a77644/_PHD0479.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37a63f99-de5a-4bf5-9956-220ef1a7804a/_PH25072.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d118fdd4-537d-48d4-ba34-a4066ce3d6db/_PHD0478.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/626e86c2-f676-4268-b290-e941f7e481a4/_PHD0476.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ba23906-3067-4de4-a7bf-72e127adb449/_PH25051.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e1b4cbf7-de81-4f2d-8152-2d0437b685a5/_PH25067.jpg Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79ee50fd-bc7d-4ed7-ac45-0e65c93034ed/fury+update+2022.jpg Hawker Fury The restoration begins in earnest... 2022. Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4a53e7e-126f-4d6a-a775-9eb9f358f7d9/Kestrel.JPG Hawker Fury The Kestral Being Overhauled in Great Britain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8b6a710-5273-4b07-8797-54cd372699ed/Kestrel+rear+end.JPG Hawker Fury The Kestral Being Overhauled in Great Britain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e3e9127-4c86-4c59-984c-bc49b7675361/Kestrel+engine+almost+complete+in+England.JPG Hawker Fury The Kestral Being Overhauled in Great Britain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71bb5289-744e-4b73-a45d-b8cdc9272b64/Screen+Shot+2021-12-03+at+3.03.32+PM.png Hawker Fury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1638913872719-0WH7DY7W97SPVTKG6SF9/3290L.jpg Hawker Fury A Fury from the RAF's visit to Canada in 1934... possibly at Rockcliffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36fd3749-8cce-49ae-b8e2-328ff773ce28/60f85be827522ef790d0d9b6_P119-1-6_024.jpg Hawker Fury Three Hawker Furys, No. 1 Squadron. As per the licence plate on the fuel truck, it was in 1934 and in the province of Quebec. The picture comes from a collection of the archive of Quebec city. The picture was most likely taken at the aerodome Saint-Louis also named aerodrome du Bois-Gomin. This was before the construction of the actual airport. The interesting thing is the last three numbers (878) of the only plane with a partially visible registration number. This means that there were more than five aircraft taking part in this visit. (Jean-Francois St-Pierre) Library and Archives Canada photo via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7068e7b0-7987-4c9b-beac-384bebbe2bb8/60f85be7409cba49e5d65549_a062966-v8.jpg Hawker Fury Hawker Fury, RAF (Serial No. K2901), No. 1 Squadron officers, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 14 July 1934. K2899, K2878, K2900, K2901, K2071 and K2074 are in the line-up. Library and Archives Canada photo via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6816462f-d22d-4ba3-bca1-8ebad14119ea/60f85be7ff5c244f831b0ae1_Hawker-Fury-warming-up--Rockcliffe--14-July-1934---MIKAN-No--3580856.jpg Hawker Fury Hawker Fury, RAF (Serial No. K2900), No. 1 Squadron, warming up for an airshow at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 14 July 1934. Five were shipped to Canada and took part in airshows across Canada, including Toronto, Ontario. Library and Archives Canada photo and text via Silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6871c95c-bd01-4ef4-afc5-859b0850f0d4/60f85be7107e16a6fd3fdca1_Hawker-Fury--K2901--No--1-Sqn--RAF--Rockcliffe--28-June-1934--LAC-MIKAN-No--3521020.jpg Hawker Fury Hawker Fury fighters from No. 1 Squadron, RAF, visiting Canada. They arrived by ship possibly in late May 1934. They then toured Canada, and put on airshows like this one at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, on 28 June 1934. It appears the Serial Numbers for these five aircraft are K2899, K2900, K2901, K2071 and K2074. They were returned to the UK by ship after the tour the same year. Photo and text via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d296c9b5-86d9-4266-a57b-19a2893e3fa9/KW.jpg Hawker Fury The RAF Fury Fighters at the Waterloo flying club airfield in 1934. The Waterloo Record stated : "Flying so closely together that their wings seemed to overlap, the visitors screeched back and forth, flipping and turning at over 200 miles an hour without ever losing their formation." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f18f6486-cf75-481f-9371-3b7a42e00ae8/K2899.jpg Hawker Fury Hawker Fury I RAF serial K2899 somewhere in Eastern Canada, 1934. Photo via San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbfcf723-9338-4177-a21f-1265f70702a3/K2900.jpg Hawker Fury Fury K2900 from the RAF team that visited canada in 1934. In the background stands Fury K2878. Photo via San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7175d8e9-f6aa-4f86-82be-3477aea2e0e6/K2899_3.jpg Hawker Fury Perfect shot of Fury K2899. Photo via San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bba44e11-0d00-419b-b49c-6c08fe03827d/K2899_2.jpg Hawker Fury RAF personnel show the inner workings of the Fury and its Kestral engine to members fo the Royal Canadian Air force in 1934 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c8142d5-44be-4b20-a455-2418e172cdbd/FlightFyry.jpg Hawker Fury Hawker Fury in flight https://www.vintagewings.ca/bellanca-citabria daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c26eb009-5a10-45ef-aa27-546b41d4d3d8/BrainBall.png Bellanca Citabria Brian ball Photo — in honour of his late friend Eric Dumigan who encouraged him to come out to Guelph Air Park for the Tiger Boys event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64e7fef7-3591-473f-9398-ea1f863489ab/A002Winter+2009-10+%2839%29.jpg Bellanca Citabria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/817d270f-2dc7-4c5e-a9f3-3ac060f874f0/Screen+Shot+2021-12-15+at+6.29.45+PM.png Bellanca Citabria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7166c76a-0c91-4a38-b3ee-01b8881ab481/cf-bsy_orig.jpg Bellanca Citabria Bancroft Community Airport photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07664da6-39d4-426c-92cc-5238a901678c/CITABRIA2.jpg Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ef3fea1-4ded-4cb2-9233-212ccbfbedb7/CITABRIA1.jpg Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4ad5160-0d0d-48f7-b2f1-ebc3c74239f6/Citabria3.jpg Bellanca Citabria Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9d7b64d-029a-4dd0-92ee-b16e7f036b28/Citabria4.jpg Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/31b9cb0f-613e-44d6-8b99-8f29adfbf481/3154091716_74472016df_o+%281%29.jpg Bellanca Citabria J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aabb7f19-820a-4774-bbee-74c34ffa3be6/1369353378_3673cfc188_o.jpg Bellanca Citabria J. P. Bonin Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-de-havilland-beaver daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbf2b15c-ea27-43e5-a177-92f5f3dc7af8/Beaver-2.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Photo: Dale Klippenstein https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4235a8bd-8236-43a1-9ae6-2151986a8b0c/21AERO-82.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f8ca315e-25f7-4dda-a5ef-f935dfa4fd76/DNG+Originals+GUPM+July+13-7587.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Photo: Dale Klippenstein https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ea4ff36f-c1e2-4a29-baa4-908319b24567/Beaver-3.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Photo: Colin Rogal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c3572a22-df6b-4879-9539-a28ce182de3a/Beaver-4.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Photo: Colin Rogal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d75195f-d3a1-49a3-ba5a-f3d0ecfc05a5/Beaver-1.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Photo: Colin Rogal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bd6bf719-5396-4129-a2e1-85bb55757b32/Screen+Shot+2022-02-02+at+12.48.37+PM.png Le de Havilland Beaver Démonter les flotteurs amphibies. Photo Paul Tremblay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a430111-967f-471d-aea9-de57cad7be49/floats+removed+january+2022.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Démonter les flotteurs amphibies. Photo Tremblay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6706ba82-d6d6-45cf-bb8c-9e04461d0fbc/Beaveer+ready+to+Fly+for+mike+P.jpg Le de Havilland Beaver Monter sur roues après avoir retiré les flotteurs. Photo Paul Tremblay https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-fleet-finch daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6d9bad7-49f8-4fa0-a47e-ce984ffacdd6/DSC_0649.JPG Le Fleet Finch Stephan King Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/55c48ad2-3e92-4300-8594-5c5ce74169dd/June_3_Finch_Allnutt.jpg Le Fleet Finch Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5964351f-2a9a-4142-b2b8-f3c294ff5d77/East+Coast+12+158.jpg Le Fleet Finch Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c9b90673-6aff-4dd6-8d30-4a31f5325234/IMG_2236.JPG Le Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f53d215-4133-43e6-a469-8732762382c8/PJH_53841.jpg Le Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e1534bf-6bb6-4793-b8f2-8e9399ca4371/PJH_38371.jpg Le Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/de000fee-1b0c-4c99-9d2a-0dc76652ded6/IMG_2332.JPG Le Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0f98057-7e1d-4032-97ed-d5c7448106a6/IMG_2331.JPG Le Fleet Finch Don Ledger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a1880d77-e51e-4394-b4e8-255ce9ba945f/_MA_4418+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Wings+Over+Gatineau+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+15%2C+2012.jpg Le Fleet Finch Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aac98acc-191f-48a3-81be-e96d3acc734e/FinchRear.jpg Le Fleet Finch Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06f63e3a-0b7c-4162-bbe0-22d1340bd9a8/VWC_2021-III-8422.jpg Le Fleet Finch Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6661e13-dc32-4283-9ae2-802869134d0c/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+012.jpg Le Fleet Finch Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/53e020cf-0e67-434f-af5b-1187f7e66913/Sept15-130.jpg Le Fleet Finch Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85f31189-952c-404e-b926-fe5d6a6d8442/DSC_0654+%281%29.JPG Le Fleet Finch Stephan King Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5df45f29-fe7b-45de-babc-44a5b7466751/DSC_0619.JPG Le Fleet Finch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/82ff918f-5a5a-4cfa-a261-8a4755695237/IMG_6969.JPG Le Fleet Finch Le jeune sous-lieutenant de l’aviation Hart Finley après avoir reçu son brevet de pilote à l’École de pilotage militaire no 2 d’Uplands, à Ottawa. https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-fleet-canuck daily 0.75 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99c8370e-d3a6-43ff-800c-2fea66e45b5d/2006Gusair-7.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/822c5c32-f12a-44ec-b469-ff6f4e0790d9/Canuck.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a10bebec-efe1-478f-86c0-4ef374ff6988/Screen+Shot+2021-10-14+at+2.53.31+PM.png Le Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56e6f898-0371-4af0-963f-7d038f15cd34/Canuck2.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/11222711-abd0-4072-a51e-6ec610c943c5/2006Gusair-3.jpg Le Fleet Canuck https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b096d090-bcc8-4427-90df-e5bc08f78d72/2006Gusair-4.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9af263a-e83c-47d2-be48-f9c3abcccb90/4822880830_c033da18a5_o+%281%29.jpg Le Fleet Canuck J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0aeff3ea-2fa4-461d-9923-b785df7b8f4e/83780280_3464270406969855_8981934457514622976_n.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Vintage Wings photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/689a3606-0583-4894-94af-aa41d4ba1d90/83643206_3464270363636526_3418621009282990080_n.jpg Le Fleet Canuck Vintage Wings photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-lysander daily 0.75 2022-03-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627039593170-RIGSW1BWTIBNI165W2O8/LizziePR10.jpg Le Westland Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d1c299c1-b36a-474f-9064-33fdc8f71177/21AERO-585.jpg Le Westland Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe4720f5-7e62-4b02-bf7a-ad4296ac2294/21AERO-587.jpg Le Westland Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0c4635da-54c0-4f59-a48b-53d2a1e14a1e/21AERO-591.jpg Le Westland Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61933654-cf7c-47a5-9492-d51cf5621258/21AERO-604.jpg Le Westland Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c593cd34-2957-4126-a12b-64f42ed60cf0/21AERO-582.jpg Le Westland Lysander Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/401df0ef-e411-4cca-8931-0400ad5b2f19/LAV_3768-2.jpg Le Westland Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f66e2270-eb08-4d10-b296-6c65d1ed2bc6/carswell_air_force_plane.jpg Le Westland Lysander Andy Carswell lors de son entrainement élémentaire de vol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1627003347432-SB6SMFZ8EX7HKCU3VP1O/LizziePR13.jpg Le Westland Lysander Le Lysander Andy Carswell est peint des marques du premier Lysander à sortir de l’usine de la National Steel Car à Malton, en Ontario, durant Seconde Guerre mondiale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c88a20d-37c2-45ff-9f15-a48b4d41a0e9/carswell_cadet.jpg Le Westland Lysander Aviateur chef Andrew Carswell, ARC après l’enrôlement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c95643b2-74cb-427c-a0a3-a4d875a6985a/Andy_Carswell_with_Queen_Elizabeth_II.jpg Le Westland Lysander Le capitaine d’aviation Andy Carswell reçoit la Croix de l’Aviation (AFC) de la reine Elizabeth II en 1958 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7019ba9f-6163-45ba-887c-cdb06d10bd13/Carswell.jpg Le Westland Lysander Andy Carswell aux Ailes d’époque du Canada. Pierre Lapprand Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1e5ea7df-752f-44e0-91ab-585b62084bbf/Carswell2.jpg Le Westland Lysander Andy Carswell et un vieil ami. Pierre Lapprand Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0a003fa1-ab55-414b-b7c0-147d64a2651a/LAV_5516+%28002%29.jpg Le Westland Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bcdc7225-d0e0-4f7c-a195-4434a5386040/LAV_5452.jpg Le Westland Lysander André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/23c20a71-5d8c-4749-b95c-cf4ea7ead3b6/VWC_2021-III-8254.jpg Le Westland Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/971871cf-8ad1-4ebb-95ee-9a63660005bd/VWC_2021-III-8086.jpg Le Westland Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f06c3085-1a69-4500-b63c-3549f13d4115/VWC_2021-III-8031.jpg Le Westland Lysander Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e3bb20f-a11e-4377-b7b1-c19af85b3d10/Carswell3.jpg Le Westland Lysander Andy Carswell avec les bénévoles des Ailes d’époque Pierre Lapprand et Richard Lacroix. Photo via Pierre Lapprand https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-fairchild-cornell daily 0.75 2022-05-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0d95b27-312e-49d5-8936-39396574d3e7/8013606637_5df3ee85a1_o+%281%29.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Bruno Laplante Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ccf9ef0-1003-4016-99aa-d698fe1f7e78/Cornell_4.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3e6df170-50a6-4807-8e6a-f50963c68bc9/PJH_56947.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Le capitaine d’aviation Archie Pennie lors de la cérémonie de dédicace du Cornell. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/659f12ca-4966-46ed-a8b8-1d9bb28151e8/PJH_55730.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64ed8540-90a8-41e3-aba5-6c93d5c389d9/PJH_55675.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/47765fd0-77a8-4031-8a5c-9793bf503c12/Sept15-129.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75129b4e-1fe9-494f-b1fe-0520819103e3/21AERO-89.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/70d2c3f3-10f8-44aa-9b8e-684a655f85d5/08092019-IMG_4168.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Michel Roy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64714f52-f1d7-438e-a48b-b9a23ca9b39d/Cornell.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68f33a17-f5b2-4791-be9c-362a12c8f520/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+011.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/06208c25-732b-4479-bb07-ce7908fb9d41/East+Coast+12+253.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc33ed6c-4228-4d1b-9bf9-c4b4dbe0c4f7/East+Coast+12+256.jpg Le Fairchild Cornell Wayne Giles Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-hawker-fury daily 0.75 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9de9c62d-a9d3-4e8d-aca2-cf41c5e689f9/_PHD0481.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/28fc5a4a-5fd7-4e18-b4e6-452d7e19c5f6/_PHD0485.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0f97065-4d3c-47d9-8ba0-da2070482e3d/_PHD0490.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/35bfd313-a3e5-4304-b98f-9422d4a77644/_PHD0479.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37a63f99-de5a-4bf5-9956-220ef1a7804a/_PH25072.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d118fdd4-537d-48d4-ba34-a4066ce3d6db/_PHD0478.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/626e86c2-f676-4268-b290-e941f7e481a4/_PHD0476.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9ba23906-3067-4de4-a7bf-72e127adb449/_PH25051.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e1b4cbf7-de81-4f2d-8152-2d0437b685a5/_PH25067.jpg Le Hawker Fury Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/79ee50fd-bc7d-4ed7-ac45-0e65c93034ed/fury+update+2022.jpg Le Hawker Fury Le début sérieux de la restauration... 2022. Photo de Paul Tremblay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8e3e9127-4c86-4c59-984c-bc49b7675361/Kestrel+engine+almost+complete+in+England.JPG Le Hawker Fury Le moteur Kestral en cours de révision en Grande-Bretagne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8b6a710-5273-4b07-8797-54cd372699ed/Kestrel+rear+end.JPG Le Hawker Fury Le moteur Kestral en cours de révision en Grande-Bretagne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4a53e7e-126f-4d6a-a775-9eb9f358f7d9/Kestrel.JPG Le Hawker Fury Le moteur Kestral en cours de révision en Grande-Bretagne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71bb5289-744e-4b73-a45d-b8cdc9272b64/Screen+Shot+2021-12-03+at+3.03.32+PM.png Le Hawker Fury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1638913872719-0WH7DY7W97SPVTKG6SF9/3290L.jpg Le Hawker Fury Un Fury en visite au Canada en 1934, probablement à Rockcliffe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36fd3749-8cce-49ae-b8e2-328ff773ce28/60f85be827522ef790d0d9b6_P119-1-6_024.jpg Le Hawker Fury Trois Hawker Fury de l’escadron N. 1. Selon la plaque d’immatriculation du camion-citerne, c’était en 1934 et dans la province de Québec. L’image provient d’une collection des archives de la ville de Québec. La photo a probablement été prise à l’aérodrome Saint-Louis également nommé aérodrome du Bois-Gomin. C’était avant la construction de l’aéroport actuel. Ce qui est intéressant, ce sont les trois derniers numéros d’immatriculation (878) du seul avion partiellement visible. Cela signifie que plus de cinq avions ont pris part à cette visite. (Jean-François St-Pierre) Photo de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7068e7b0-7987-4c9b-beac-384bebbe2bb8/60f85be7409cba49e5d65549_a062966-v8.jpg Le Hawker Fury Hawker Fury, RAF (Numéro de série K2901), officiers de l’escadron N. 1, base de Rockcliffe de l’ARC (Ontario), 14 juillet 1934. K2899, K2878, K2900, K2901, K2071 et K2074 sont alignés. Photo de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6816462f-d22d-4ba3-bca1-8ebad14119ea/60f85be7ff5c244f831b0ae1_Hawker-Fury-warming-up--Rockcliffe--14-July-1934---MIKAN-No--3580856.jpg Le Hawker Fury Hawker Fury, escadron N. 1 de la RAF, (Numéro de série K2900), se préparant pour un spectacle aérien à la base de Rockcliffe de l’ARC, en Ontario, le 14 juillet 1934. Cinq appareils ont été expédiés au Canada et ont participé à des spectacles aériens partout au pays, y compris à Toronto, en Ontario. Photo et texte de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada via Silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6871c95c-bd01-4ef4-afc5-859b0850f0d4/60f85be7107e16a6fd3fdca1_Hawker-Fury--K2901--No--1-Sqn--RAF--Rockcliffe--28-June-1934--LAC-MIKAN-No--3521020.jpg Le Hawker Fury Chasseurs Hawker Fury de l’escadron N. 1 de la RAF, en visite au Canada. Ils sont arrivés par bateau peut-être à la fin de mai 1934. Ils ont fait une tournée au Canada et ont présenté des spectacles aériens comme celui-ci à la base de Rockcliffe de l’ARC, en Ontario, le 28 juin 1934. Il semble que les numéros de série de ces cinq aéronefs soient K2899, K2900, K2901, K2071 et K2074. Ils sont retournés au Royaume-Uni par bateau après la tournée en 1934. Photo et texte via silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d296c9b5-86d9-4266-a57b-19a2893e3fa9/KW.jpg Le Hawker Fury Les chasseurs Fury de la RAF à l’aéroclub de Waterloo en 1934. Le Waterloo Record a rapporté : « Volant si étroitement ensemble que leurs ailes semblaient se chevaucher, ces avions littéralement hurlaient en effectuant des vrilles et en se retournant à plus de 200 miles à l’heure sans jamais perdre leur formation. » https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f18f6486-cf75-481f-9371-3b7a42e00ae8/K2899.jpg Le Hawker Fury Le Hawker Fury de la RAF numéro de série K2899 quelque part dans l’est canadien en 1934. Photo provenant du San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cbfcf723-9338-4177-a21f-1265f70702a3/K2900.jpg Le Hawker Fury Le Fury de la RAF immatriculé K2900 en visite au Canada en 1934. On peut voir à l’arrière-plan le Fury K2878. Photo provenant du San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7175d8e9-f6aa-4f86-82be-3477aea2e0e6/K2899_3.jpg Le Hawker Fury Une belle photo du Fury K2899. Photo provenant du San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bba44e11-0d00-419b-b49c-6c08fe03827d/K2899_2.jpg Le Hawker Fury Le personnel de la RAF montre aux membres de l’Aviation royale canadienne le fonctionnement interne du Fury et de son moteur Kestrel en 1934 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4c8142d5-44be-4b20-a455-2418e172cdbd/FlightFyry.jpg Le Hawker Fury Le Hawker Fury en vol. https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-chipmunk-18028 daily 0.75 2022-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9b847c31-fa0d-442a-83af-81f4c72c34dd/IMG_2218.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/373cd8e2-9fcd-474e-a406-38378786ad02/CF-EGO%291.jpg Le Chipmunk 18028 Reinhard Zinabold Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50eff476-9cc0-46c9-948e-dcfd9490930f/IMG_3548.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e5300ac9-1e5e-4968-8771-4e60d04475cf/Sept15-128.jpg Le Chipmunk 18028 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b79414fc-963c-4751-853d-82ca4fa15ea8/CF-EGO_2.jpg Le Chipmunk 18028 Mike Henniger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/32eeef9c-59c0-4334-bd40-d7442aba76ce/10005594476_3a2181e9f9_o.jpg Le Chipmunk 18028 Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/804e2849-4a37-4500-9974-9c775322bf0e/DSCN4817.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Photo via Don Buchan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a61fbb8f-2a01-412a-baee-a43c4d4d6008/IMG_6974.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Le jeune sous-lieutenant de l’aviation Timmins et le commandant de bord de 747 Timmins de la TWA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c50d9d3f-ef43-42d3-86fb-9522397dfe34/IMG_6973.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Tim Timmins à gauche, avec des CF-100 Canuck à la base de Comox de l’ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ebbb573a-8a02-4d62-993c-715689f55c9d/IMG_6972.JPG Le Chipmunk 18028 Le panneau de dédicace du Chipmunk https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-hurricane-mkxii daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/329c280c-0f90-4c62-bc69-6943a2945101/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+4.16.16+PM.png Le Hurricane MkXII Une photo prise à la base de Duxford montrant un Willie McKnight épuisé. Photo du Imperial War Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a628138-a0bf-4aa6-9cbf-94b3f1afd0d4/McKnight-Hurricane-opt.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b683f24e-36d7-49ed-b98a-c756ba135c99/242.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Cette photo a été prise en septembre 1940 durant la Bataille d’Angleterre. On y voit des pilotes de l’escadron(canadien) 242 de la RAF, à Duxford, posant avec un Hurricane immatriculé LE-D de leur commandant. De gauche à droite le lieutenant d’aviation Hugh Norman Tamblyn, le capitaine d’aviation Percival «Stan» Turner, le sous-lieutenant d’aviation Norman Neil «Neil» Campbell, le commandant d’aviation Douglas Bader, le capitaine d’aviation Eric Ball et le sous-lieutenant d’aviation Michael Giles Homer. Assis sur l’aile sont le sergent Ernest Savill et le sous-lieutenant d’aviation William Lidstone «Willie» McKnight. Cinq de ces pilotes n’ont pas survécu à la guerre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/75b6ec83-bf6f-41b7-8d5a-3f02daa7bd6c/_PHD1739.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Le squelette portant une faucille (La Faucheuse) pointée vers l’ennemi était une œuvre d’art unique et originale exécutée par un pilote en ce temps là, alors que la RAF n’encourageait pas ce type d’affichage sur ses avions. Selon la rumeur, McKnight, ex-étudiant en médecine à l’Université d’Alberta, aurait lui-même peint ces squelettes sur le fuselage de son avion. On a décidé de surnommer le squelette « Willie ». Photo de Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb4899c4-c6d8-4836-8eb3-35990d6d173b/2022.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Reprenant la même pose que sur la photo de pilotes de l’escadron 242 en 1940 à gauche, l’équipe de restauration se compose de gauche à droite en avant de Dave O’Malley, recherche et marquage; Paul Tremblay, directeur de maintenance; Ken Woods, structure et métaux; Mike Potter, fondateur et bailleur de fonds; Laurent Palmer, technicien d’entretien d’aéronef (TEA) et Jim Luffman, technicien bénévole représentant des douzaines de bénévoles qui ont participé au projet de restauration au cours des années. Sur l’aile sont André Laviolette, TEA, et Pat Tenger, TEA et chef de projet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/427d42cb-c8aa-464b-b191-029dfa3fb250/WillieStarboard.png Le Hurricane MkXII Voici la seule photo disponible de McKnight posant décontracté sur le côté droit de son avion. Une copie de haute qualité n’a pas été retrouvée. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d16c7df-fcf8-482e-8789-04819b68070c/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+4.19.29+PM.png Le Hurricane MkXII Willie McKnight, Douglas Bader and Eric Ball. All three are decked out in full dress and two are sporting the very same flight boots which kick Hitler’s behind on the noses of their Hurricanes. Bader, of course, did not need heavy flight boots as he had no legs and his artificial legs sported shoes. All three are wearing ribbons—McKnight and Ball the DFC and Bader the Distinguished Service Order. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/525efbc3-e370-45cd-b19f-96f3cc6f4c94/Squadron_Leader_Douglas_Bader_%28centre%29_and_fellow_pilots_of_No._242_Squadron%2C_Flight_Lieutenant_Eric_Ball_and_Pilot_Officer_Willie_McKnight%2C_admire_the_nose_art_on_Bader%27s_Hawker_Hurricane_at_Duxford%2C_October_1940._CH1412.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Le commandant Bader (au centre) de l’escadrille 242 avec deux de ses pilotes les plus doués--le lieutenant Eric Ball à sa droite et le lieutenant McKnight à sa gauche. Les trois examinent l’illustration de nez qui dénote une botte portant le numéro 242 qui frappe le derrière d’Hitler. Ce logo était peinturé sur les deux côtés du fuselage des Hurricanes de l’escadrille. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2429fee5-4197-4306-a216-6b8c1197a445/McKnight-Kennington-opt.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Une version noir et blanc d’un portrait de couleur pastel de McKnight par l’artiste Erik Kennigton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/505198dd-ca4c-476c-882a-b4e6e65dacb4/GettingItRight_C.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII William Lidstone McKnight est né le 18 novembre 1918 à Edmonton, en Alberta, au Canada. Il fit ses études secondaires au Crescent Heights High School et poursuivit des études en médecine à l’Université de l’Alberta. En février 1939, il s’enrôla dans la Royal Air Force (RAF) pour une affectation de courte durée et en novembre 1939, il fut assigné à l’escadron 242 (canadien) récemment reformé à Church Fenton. Il s’envola pour la France le 14 mai 1940, ayant été assigné temporairement à l’escadron 607. Deux jours plus tard, il rejoignit l’escadron 615 et descendit un Bf-109 le 19 mai au-dessus de Cambrai. Il retourna en Angleterre deux jours plus tard. Le 28 mai, lors d’une patrouille au-dessus de Dunkerque, McKnight a descendu un Messerschmitt Bf-110, puis un autre Bf-109 le 29 mai. Le premier juin, deux Junkers Ju-87 tombent sous ses attaques et deux autres furent endommagés. On lui a remis la Croix de service distingué de l’Aviation (DFC) le 4 juin et officiellement des mains du roi trois jours plus tard. L’escadron s’envola pour le Mans en France le 8 juin 1940 pour appuyer les escadrons débordés, et pour soutenir les troupes en combat d’arrière-garde vers les ports de l’atlantique. L’escadron retourna en Angleterre le 18. Le 30 août, McKnight revendique de trois Bf-110 et un Heinkel He-111, puis de deux autres Bf-110 le 9 septembre. Le 18 septembre, un Do-17 et un Ju-88 (partagé) furent victimes de ses tirs. Le 8 octobre 1940, il se mérite une barrette à sa Croix de service distinguée de l’Aviation. Il a obtenu sa dernière victoire le 5 novembre, une victoire partagée contre un Bf-109 au-dessus de Gravesend. Le 12 janvier 1941, lors d’une opération offensive de type « Rhubarb » qui constatait à attaquer des cibles d’opportunité ennemies, McKnight, à bord du Hurricane P2961 et accompagné du pilote MK Brown traversèrent les côtes françaises près de Gravelines. Ils mitraillèrent des troupes au sol et au moment d’effectuer une deuxième passe, un Bf-109 fut aperçu à 500 pieds. Brown poursuivit son attaque, et quand il chercha McKnight, celui-ci avait disparu. Il n’est jamais rentré à la base. On croit qu’il a été descendu soit par tire antiaérien, soit par le Bf-109. Son nom est gravé sur le panneau 30 du Runnymede Memorial et aussi sur une plaque commémorative à l’aéroport de Calgary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/961b252c-f9af-464f-8041-460464886060/_PHD1678.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Le fondateur des Ailes d’époque du Canada, Michael U. Potter, grand responsable du projet du Hurricane dédié à McKnight. Photo Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3595d66-07d7-4571-b2a7-19faf00c5b1b/IMG_6778.JPG Le Hurricane MkXII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac1eb579-1127-42c4-94d2-cc4883be4f54/IMG_6776.JPG Le Hurricane MkXII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4516f762-f034-4fdf-9d26-1701414a799c/Hurricane+2022+winter+day.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61ecf951-84b0-475a-b864-9d0c3955cd82/IMG_6777.JPG Le Hurricane MkXII Paul Tremblay Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb507749-dc16-4116-baa7-a6270543260a/DSCF6963.JPG Le Hurricane MkXII Steve McKenzie Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/827cd097-3a1c-40c6-9d54-53ff66260a85/LE_A+side+12-11-21.JPG Le Hurricane MkXII Steve McKenzie Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17db8f58-62a0-48ca-a37c-c0f3ab69ca31/_PHD1586.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3aaff4ba-9980-4e14-891f-dce10414b143/_PHD1594.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII On aperçoit sur le fuselage une cocarde modifiée de type A-1 comprenant des cercles de 7 pouces de couleurs rouge, blanc et bleu, plus un cercle extérieur jaune de 5 pouces. Ce qui est différent de la cocarde et d'autres aspects visuels attribués en général au Hurricane de McKnight, c’est-à-dire une cocarde avec un anneau jaune extérieur de la même dimension que les autres cercles. La décision d’utiliser un cercle jaune de plus petite dimension est basée sur les photos du Hurricane P2959 gisant dans un parc à ferraille français après la Bataille de France. Le Hurricane P2959 est seulement à deux exemplaires près du P2961 sur la chaine de production de Gloster. Photo Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2500fa7c-6b65-48d2-86c3-52de3c2a3c23/_PHD2071.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ba5cc02-defc-4ceb-9a5d-ecae04cf58fe/_PHD1609.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII On aperçoit sur le fuselage une cocarde modifiée de type A-1 comprenant des cercles de 7 pouces de couleurs rouge, blanc et bleu, plus un cercle extérieur jaune de 5 pouces. Ce qui est différent de la cocarde et d'autres aspects visuels attribués en général au Hurricane de McKnight, c’est-à-dire une cocarde avec un anneau jaune extérieur de la même dimension que les autres cercles. La décision d’utiliser un cercle jaune de plus petite dimension est basée sur les photos du Hurricane P2959 gisant dans un parc à ferraille français après la Bataille de France. Le Hurricane P2959 est seulement à deux exemplaires près du P2961 sur la chaine de production de Gloster. Photo Peter Handley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ba553b05-50fa-4f44-a13b-5b84eacb348d/_PHD2038.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb7ad2ff-7b77-4fc0-ac86-5347c7aef264/_PHD2030.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d601d929-87c8-47f4-a818-ed321f25d1ae/_PHD1983.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/928584e4-ff92-4b6e-94b5-d43d2da91b91/_PHD1991.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6225e841-0496-4c50-a0a9-68a1939f033e/_PHD1951.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Vers la fin de la Bataille d’Angleterre, la RAF Fighter Command a voulu réévaluer ses normes de camouflage et marquage en fonction des expériences de combat. On est arrivé à un consensus de retourner à l’approche pré-guerre d’un camouflage blanc/noir sous les fuselages et les ailes pour fin d’identification immédiate des avions alliés volant en hauteur. Cette décision fut prise compte tenu que les attaques de jour de la Luftwaffe étaient effectuées par des bombardiers et chasseurs en haute altitude. Le 27 novembre 1940, la RAF ordonna (AMO-X.798/40) que tous les chasseurs de jour soient peints en noir (nuit) sous l’aile gauche avec l’addition d’un cercle jaune de 2 pouces ajouté à la cocarde. Pour faire contraste aux chasseurs de la Luftwaffe qui avaient des couleurs vives sur leurs nez et gouvernails, les chasseurs de jour de la RAF, y compris le Hurricane de McKnight, arboraient un cône d’hélice de couleur pâle (Sky) avec une bande de 18 pouces de même couleur autour du fuselage près du gouvernail. Ceci avait pour but de permettre de mieux reconnaître les chasseurs de la RAF depuis le sol et dans les airs. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/38851247-c1d1-4f60-a168-37c9c84fb08d/_PHD1928.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f1963659-f074-47d0-a4f7-fc7f1300f7e3/_PHD1933.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad561a04-a1ca-4b01-b23e-3d521efb3688/_PHD1926.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/902be4f9-9a58-40a9-9112-3236462c2ea4/_PHD1913.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c131035e-184c-4070-ab07-0645f7af8018/_PHD1876.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34251d3b-26de-4435-b224-6d2c59776f88/_PHD1861.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4b30e72b-a6ed-4ff1-a197-a2977c8d8fc9/_PHD1829.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b6491302-c7f0-4d0d-ab5d-68a1c2a193aa/_PHD1774.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e66f3991-169e-4847-b4f5-d511a621f56e/_PHD1752.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/766d8319-7e14-4d3f-80f7-6051da6efa7e/_PHD1747.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7febb304-4c37-4d66-8fd5-22e80f923aee/_PHD1727.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4e4cf2d6-4498-495b-b338-9ab2adbabd32/_PHD1724.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/84c84ff8-a5a8-433c-97cf-f69da7cf5e5b/_PHD1720.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII La «Faucheuse» du côté droit du fuselage n’est pas aussi bien dessinée que celle du côté gauche. La résolution de la seule photo existante ne permet pas de bien détailler les os et les mains. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58c161a7-ed6b-4cae-8684-b7c8591f59a5/_PHD1635.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3c89911-cfc6-4ada-acba-df158cb5d20f/_PHD1631.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/df773737-5dee-4a22-a159-b7bd4be90c47/_PHD1609.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e72c9a88-2be6-4d80-b4b9-487dca50d972/_PHD1588.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c60b835-c381-4f41-ba1f-3da169e98d21/IMG_2972.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98dc39a9-d4ef-4b67-b10c-352d7f32268c/IMG_2989.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3dcd0689-3d54-4cbe-9892-0018f434b4d9/IMG_2995.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fdc7b5fe-7112-4bc4-a14b-a391e18217b3/IMG_2997.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a5df12fa-333b-44dd-a283-31675afad604/IMG_2998.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/17079f9f-97c4-48ad-a21b-7e45402bdcdd/IMG_3007.jpg Le Hurricane MkXII Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-north-american-mustang daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c42f95a-4abc-40f5-85c8-d728dccdb209/_PHD5046.jpg Le North American Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e81d64e3-e341-4dc9-97ef-9b51125979dd/6170463459_1e84f57bc2_o+%281%29.jpg Le North American Mustang J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3a1f1ffb-e9c9-4a82-9456-4b6ac9d63e49/19Aero-500.JPG Le North American Mustang Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5533cb0b-8640-45d1-a88d-516d702297b7/Sept15-81.jpg Le North American Mustang Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd17d73d-7e2e-49e6-b97a-a52f325a4130/Mar_Mustang_Allnutt.jpg Le North American Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7cb0503c-e331-4e75-b602-66a6fdcc1aac/DSC_2093A.jpg Le North American Mustang Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d99bc66e-7f03-40cf-87e3-7f1c57b2229b/Screen+Shot+2021-07-08+at+9.14.44+AM.png Le North American Mustang https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2872fd0-2aee-41df-8158-6e1033f4b74c/DSC_4760.jpg Le North American Mustang Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5cc19e43-3515-46e4-8461-4ce7c339973c/RobillardBros.jpg Le North American Mustang Les frères Robillard du Centreville ouest d’Ottawa — A droite: Laurent (Larry) et è gauche : Rolland (Rocky) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc20f7a3-220f-4118-827d-53c5e924eb0d/VWC_2014-9423.jpg Le North American Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa294334-fc39-4188-896e-a7787dbc719b/VWC_2014-9402.jpg Le North American Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a206e409-3b43-414a-adfe-915176c8d5ae/_PHD2554.jpg Le North American Mustang Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb2efbb8-671d-463c-920f-fb0ddcd2aad7/P-51-Mustang-2283.jpg Le North American Mustang Heath Moffat Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4291b0c5-d87b-4a83-a3fa-d78d28d863bf/_MG_7497+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Night+Fighters+Photo+Shoot+-+VWoC+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+16%2C+2011-Edit.jpg Le North American Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8176423-e986-49bd-9b18-da9d8194b51c/_MG_9496+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+18%2C+2010.jpg Le North American Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b8f267d-552e-45ac-96e5-a999c2823079/_MG_7491+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Night+Fighters+Photo+Shoot+-+VWoC+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+16%2C+2011.jpg Le North American Mustang Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/441d6c7b-9629-47ed-8f43-9d13721dd15b/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.20.22+PM.png Le North American Mustang Larry Robillard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/405923e9-6667-4cc1-bd0e-2770507bf9e1/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.20.15+PM.png Le North American Mustang Larry Robillard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5532a1b-f1cc-4e22-bb24-830b087770f5/Screen+Shot+2021-12-08+at+5.19.17+PM.png Le North American Mustang Larry Robillard https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-robert-hampton-gray daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/854012df-22f8-439a-b5ca-8810c3e08761/PH_VWC_87136_FG-1D_Corsair.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d9e976ab-f4e7-4565-b21b-cbc1ff6e7a55/CorsairEdwards.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Jonathan Edwards Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4619542-b0b0-4ec7-ae99-75a4d0429b9f/2883965032_0b9eea6162_o.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c2180809-1463-446e-a564-23694c86a4a8/DSC_2087.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/980c2ec4-0f75-439c-af2d-6380ca3a492c/CORSAIR.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray J. 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Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d437954-f820-4cfb-a865-2d275e0cf378/VWC_2016-29930.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d34cf61-0cfa-4ccb-9bdb-707aba6a23bc/LAV_3016a+%281%29.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5fcdabab-1f5c-4246-8ae8-1df2c3f5cb9a/PHD_28207.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f04deed-9269-4af1-86d0-25b156c34000/PHD_28982.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa713b84-be88-47c6-9512-ff788822c890/PJH_87307.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d0eef0c3-6cd2-43c6-a3ce-a40584e0f1db/PJH_40192.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff720b14-97df-4c50-8b08-b40434d74dea/PJH_40169.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a79e50d7-c3e2-474b-8b15-c0ea2d3313ae/_MG_0319+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebec+-+May+01%2C+2010.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6cd98913-2abc-429e-ba64-9c70389e7725/_MG_9369+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+18%2C+2010.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/76b6b35d-35a8-4437-a882-3466b74794c2/CorsairSun.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cebeb64c-0e88-404a-b1d3-3b844ad8b8f0/large_000000.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Photo de Hampton Gray avant la guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/425c46f7-1097-458e-b8b5-8c576cf1062f/2558303_12.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Robert Hampton Gray dans la Royal Navy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f18d7ecc-c9ef-44bd-8136-7c187ce29af5/Corsairs_Formidable_jul44.jpg Le Robert Hampton Gray Gray était un pilote de Corsair à bord du HMS Formidable que l’on voit ici en juillet 1944 https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-spitfire daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c049676d-5ef4-4124-bed2-b634d9705639/_PHD6428.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/135cf4f2-bed2-47e4-b43b-ad879357d32d/21AERO-695.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/efd01ca6-e78c-45c3-b2a8-8336a04e8833/_PHD7236.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a18c7d84-b2e2-427d-8979-509926abe378/21AERO-691.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/38e20268-1660-415a-a968-363c55571862/_PHD4723.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/369b043e-6388-4e46-9900-607e3c3e7a25/_PHD7189-Edit+%281%29.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3a1a484-1fd1-4fdc-b8ea-b0f3517f9fca/21AERO-702.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71af69b2-0606-4ab9-8087-1a5799d49b34/D5H_3007.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f019ede0-186c-4af1-91f2-b1f534673393/D5H_3021.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2024ff6a-ad2e-4131-abb7-1da1d8b35c9e/DSC03843.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9299abf3-0c88-4292-a2ec-f28bd2ac07af/_PHD6299.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/774d6cdb-a86e-4652-ab65-6a2a403fdf8f/_PHD4706.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d94fa5aa-01db-4c34-a9c7-af6881d77bbd/_PHD2499.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3a72873-a26a-43cf-97c1-bb7046289efc/unnamed-1.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Scott Slocum Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/42acb153-ba94-46c7-8441-a24bad41bda6/VWC_2017-0510.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0178be0e-184d-4aa0-ba88-94f1f82885e8/_PHD5622-Edit.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/215cbb1d-c7e2-45e7-8743-b229df3f26a0/_PHD4706.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/59bbad74-2359-4d02-9fc4-8b28ec4b4bf2/_PHD2076.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1623959475765-3K5E02EZ3KCRLSFIDII6/_PHD6321.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbad2e72-a983-4053-9a05-9bbd7c6d5713/Roseland.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Arnold Walter Roseland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ad457d76-06c3-4a0e-a02c-9154f47c4e30/Roseland11.jpg Le Roseland Spitfire Le 442e Escadron en Europe pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Roseland est à l’extrême droite. https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-harvard daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/91700b89-622a-4599-ba0e-43cc6b018c12/Harvards2.jpg Le Harvard Stephen Parry Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6f380166-8243-42fa-8031-f9a1f7bcde13/Harvards6.jpg Le Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/586499ed-f240-4a69-aa3e-3b180dbcab08/3497473816_b3b375d13a_o.jpg Le Harvard Une silhouette d’un Avro Arrow orne la queue du Harvard. Avant le nouveau schéma de peinture, la queue a été heurtée par un modèle radio commandé du Arrow d’une longueur de 5 pieds, détruisant le modèle et nécessitant des réparations et une nouvelle peinture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb718a0d-b247-470b-8560-97ec0ca4723e/21AERO-645.jpg Le Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d15452f2-1562-453f-bc50-146b34e063f3/harvard_hf2.jpg Le Harvard Le Harvard 2866 original en vol près d’Ottawa dans les années 1940. Cette photo a été utilisée pour créer des marques précises pour le Harvard Haut vol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe4e5642-c87a-40bc-8886-044abdf35f0c/PJH_56665.jpg Le Harvard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/eaab60af-33ff-46fc-89b3-17eb25ac5859/21AERO-642.jpg Le Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/939e88ba-c8c6-4017-8127-3411a54e4b53/21AERO-628.jpg Le Harvard Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cc9cddef-f169-48c5-8323-e1c540849b34/JMRoy+%2804%29.jpg Le Harvard Jean Michel Roy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b53dae7e-4c7e-4629-852b-59af938f822b/_PHD6491.jpg Le Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e38cbbc-d56a-482c-97d2-aa1df2f7c6b5/_PHD6506.jpg Le Harvard Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0b6aff8f-f231-4381-bb7f-3cf035ca44ee/27599641603_fdd16efc13_o+%281%29.jpg Le Harvard Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd3879e2-485e-4339-9bcf-468fb077083a/Screen+Shot+2021-11-23+at+6.09.43+PM.png Le Harvard Benoit Foisy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edf40c7c-aab8-4ca6-9e01-cf07f4037cd8/harvards4.jpg Le Harvard John Gillespie McGee au côté d’un Harvard à l’École de pilotage militaire no 2 à la station Uplands de l’ARC, à Ottawa durant l’été de 1941 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/36009cdb-145a-455a-b5bf-2d92c0446eb8/John_Gillespie_Magee%2C_Jr.jpg Le Harvard John Magee peu de temps après avoir obtenu ses ailes. Photo Karsh d’Ottawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34ddc29d-26eb-4580-9321-855017ae82cb/161209-Z-XX999-0004.jpg Le Harvard John Magee en Angleterre peu de temps avant sa mort https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-chipmunk-18025 daily 0.75 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe23f186-39bd-46e2-b8a4-15321045c0b3/IMG_6971.JPG Le Chipmunk 18025 Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0154f309-0dc4-47b9-b347-d6f83cd03e87/Screen+Shot+2021-07-08+at+7.47.35+AM.png Le Chipmunk 18025 Fraîchement sorti de l’usine, un pilote civil de Havilland livre 025 dans les années 1950 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/25e65983-3658-4a86-a498-1511b959ffb1/21AERO-626.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd742e6e-7a6e-496f-83c3-3cd849f86703/21AERO-640.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2eb21f6-ddb0-4a68-8929-917fdc266e65/21AERO-643.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5108cc26-2024-4c79-acb8-89ce70b1528a/Chipmunck.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8ade1c0a-613a-4639-9fe0-cd0d789b4c10/Chipmunkrear.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f0c1bc6b-c983-43b9-8d13-83b15d6016d7/Russ_Bannock_in_1944.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Russ Bannock alors qu’il était commandant du l’escadron 406 de l’ARC , un escadron de Havilland Mosquito. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c46ba4a4-5be2-4563-94bb-093fadda4a36/984.103.102-1.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Russ Bannock aux commandes du premier De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. Photo via le Temple de la renommée de l’aviation du Canada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6ac5184c-2135-46f7-9336-721b1619f945/0117756.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 CF-RRI, avec Bob Fassold aux commandes, survole Ottawa dans son schéma de peinture précédent pour le Club de vol à voile de Gatineau https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/96a39875-1ba6-4ec4-a6c6-c8d66c485da4/Fassold-3.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd1e8a14-b9db-4166-84cd-e3134f113177/Fassold-2.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e02d4b2-8fa1-4498-bd83-b8278e5857bb/Fassold-1.jpg Le Chipmunk 18025 Photo via Classic Aviation https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-fox-moth daily 0.75 2022-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98ea5627-33e5-4a2e-9dfa-3c54fa9ba6bd/906861961_a5f2527991_o.jpg Le Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4ee68399-c7ce-4dfa-9e18-b3c066ffbfb6/851289814_a091bedbe7_o.jpg Le Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628626127712-DPSA6NJMQFDDKHAVG418/KiwiMoths86.jpg Le Fox Moth Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f5cf91e-0b81-4e24-be95-d0699583df88/17fe017074114baacb5d93f2bd1731c7.jpg Le Fox Moth Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f243ac71-5ffe-4cc8-ae80-e435a2164caf/6433189303_7222b8d0c5_o.jpg Le Fox Moth Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/555923ae-1b88-4013-a019-495e69ef3f36/21AERO-231.jpg Le Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87bf6231-71e4-40a9-94dc-3a7528e3fdbb/21AERO-248.jpg Le Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/62e92e57-1166-4517-8088-df0364c4817f/21AERO-244.jpg Le Fox Moth Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57e333ea-ba9b-4947-b545-428dcfc65a3b/2569629981_ebccc35b31_o.jpg Le Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c105f578-a2e4-4592-8616-c7fa68b82c6c/PHD_28882.jpg Le Fox Moth Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e3d2c865-40cd-4aeb-93a0-1a744380e878/855180337_fc834f81be_o.jpg Le Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68c2d310-89bf-40ad-ba95-0ba6e55af475/856039346_d72e76b333_o.jpg Le Fox Moth J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cdcf7865-a204-45b0-8678-bf6c675059da/270952390_1510427826004732_8086788262658142039_n.jpg Le Fox Moth Vol par temps froid, décembre 2021. Photo -Peter Ashwood-Smith https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-partis daily 0.75 2022-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634150113418-8XSLZA09N7HQLSI3HS7C/SpitfireHead.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634155528064-7JE6BVQXKRHGRWDFXKUU/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+3.17.12+PM.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634149511856-X13DV6LGP1U7XLBOGNA9/HurricaneIV.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634150397047-PURXVEESYFTJLRNLS4EP/HawkOne2014Desjardins.jpg Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634151767013-JFXX7MCDNLZKNMVSMQHV/Taperwing1.jpg Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634152717566-WEI5ZNX6YXRKZOLOSU0P/Dec_Staggerwing_Allnutt.jpg Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634153894970-GFBV5K6BMCQLHBZF92XG/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+3.16.31+PM.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634157551620-0RPY4XJZSRMGF24THQVI/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+3.16.53+PM.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f713b540-aea7-431e-8b24-9d09a2d16ea6/TigerTitle.png Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1634157479765-S2LNA6CE3XJMNPSLNEI2/stearman_v7.jpg Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8b1e5d82-22ed-4df8-b4e8-c4f167f26a1d/CitabriaTitle.jpg Les partis - Make it stand out LES HISTOIRES ET LES PHOTOS https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-bellanca-citabria daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c26eb009-5a10-45ef-aa27-546b41d4d3d8/BrainBall.png Le Bellanca Citabria Photo Brian Ball — en l’honneur de son défunt ami Eric Dumigan qui l’a encouragé de venir au Guelph Air Park pour l’événement Tiger Boys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/64e7fef7-3591-473f-9398-ea1f863489ab/A002Winter+2009-10+%2839%29.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/817d270f-2dc7-4c5e-a9f3-3ac060f874f0/Screen+Shot+2021-12-15+at+6.29.45+PM.png Le Bellanca Citabria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7166c76a-0c91-4a38-b3ee-01b8881ab481/cf-bsy_orig.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria Photo à l’aéroport communautaire de Bancroft https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/07664da6-39d4-426c-92cc-5238a901678c/CITABRIA2.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1ef3fea1-4ded-4cb2-9233-212ccbfbedb7/CITABRIA1.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f4ad5160-0d0d-48f7-b2f1-ebc3c74239f6/Citabria3.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e9d7b64d-029a-4dd0-92ee-b16e7f036b28/Citabria4.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/31b9cb0f-613e-44d6-8b99-8f29adfbf481/3154091716_74472016df_o+%281%29.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aabb7f19-820a-4774-bbee-74c34ffa3be6/1369353378_3673cfc188_o.jpg Le Bellanca Citabria J. P. Bonin Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/tours-1 daily 0.75 2022-01-19 https://www.vintagewings.ca/les-restaurations daily 0.75 2022-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/695db74c-3076-4cba-8edd-ae54ccd6b81e/6483L.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Harry Whereatt termine l’essai du moteur du Hurricane à Assiniboia. Photo: Famille Whereatt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4386f98-0be6-4c03-a393-3e7c23998536/NewWings12.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4dceb0d8-2001-4d58-ba41-17ccb3980f58/SpitBits04.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Des restes- Photo de Vries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dfcd9d09-8dbd-4f31-a850-cdd8ed700a22/NewWings29.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible On aperçoit le Lysander dans le hangar du légendaire Harry Whereatt – « le maitre jedi » canadien de la restauration d’avions.. Harry était personnellement responsable de la sauvegarde de certains de nos artefacts d’aviation les plus précieux. Whereatt (et sa famille) travaillera sans relâche pendant des décennies pour reconstruire le Lysander à partir des restes de trois Lysanders . Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/19e54bbe-9377-4c1d-869c-140342e576e0/vintagewings_046-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Sabre est démonté à Gatineau en 2007 peu après son vol de convoyage. Photo : Warwick Patterson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd8fd56c-30e0-4635-98b0-0301ab6cc92b/harry-whereatt-and-wife-anna-800.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Harry et Anna Whereatt sur leur ferme d’Assiniboiaen 1993 avec le Hurricanellors d’une visite de la Société historique de l’aviation canadienne. Photo : Angie McNulty https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219520b7-6315-41f1-a325-e7c7511a01d1/26811950114_6e55f230ab_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible John Maloney Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce77332d-ed8f-4a8b-95ee-f4624f9f95e7/860423_498215610242031_1535465049_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e8c8cda1-e7c6-4e4d-8e44-dade9a38d534/NewWings30.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dans le hangar de Harry Whereatt à Assinaboia, le Lysander est presque terminé en 1993. Whereatt a choisi de peindre le Lysander des couleurs que portaient les remorqueurs de cible pour le Plan d’entraînement aérien du Commonwealth britannique. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f29e2db9-4bb0-411d-a7bd-edea4dd24ba6/vintagewings_052-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bee74c13-c660-4f0d-a96c-c37f80bb0d7d/IMG_7237.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Hurricane arrive de la Saskatchewan, 2006. Photo: Ailes d’époque https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/98e3c0a2-9f3e-444c-94c7-359eb9d6cc91/MellowYellow6.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9efbb63f-04ac-4435-899a-9d8ccc6ce476/SpitfireUpdate20.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Les complexités multidimensionnelles de la construction d’un Spitfire dans l’usine de Castle Bromwich pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale ont été surmontées par des gabarits, des outils spécialisés, des formes, des moules, des modèles et des milliers d’employés. Pour construire les ailes, les commandes et les composants du fuselage du Spitfire au Canada aujourd’hui, 70 ans après la fermeture des usines, Ken Wood a dû faire preuve d’ingéniosité. Dans de nombreux cas, il devait d’abord fabriquer des outils qui lui permettraient de construire les pièces ou d’arriver à effectuer une magie tridimensionnelle avec le métal : on parle d’outils tels que le « Fuel Bay Sumptuator », le « Wing-Rib Former 2000 Max », le « Fairey Fastener Locator » et le mondialement célèbre « Bearing Dust Seal Flangetron » (brevets en instance). Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c7b681c7-4cc8-46fc-941c-3586c84439ae/NewWings31.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le premier essai du moteur a été exécuté en juillet 1996. Avec Harry aux commandes, son moteur Bristol Mercury prend vie avec une camionnette de ferme fournissant la puissance partir le moteur. Malgré un essai de démarrage, le Lysander n’a jamais volé - les pilotes qualifiés de Lysander manquaient à l’appel. Photo via Bill Ewing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4b4a32a-2fa0-4547-a4ea-6fa35de39e3b/vintagewings_035-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d72435ea-1f26-4dea-8689-fd735676c843/IMG_7340.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Hurricane arrive de la Saskatchewan, 2006. Photo: Ailes d’époque https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fd9bd0be-b7eb-467c-b227-bc64b36314b0/MellowYellow3.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc662969-79bd-4194-9c8a-a23684f7dff2/IMG_2588.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/931f9dbf-c109-4129-871c-acafd794e3c2/NewWings51.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible ‘’Ne vous inquiétez pas Harry, nous prendrons bien soin d’elle’’. Un Whereatt un peu mélancolique joue le jeu pour une séance de photos à l’époque (mai 2007) que nous avons pris possession de son Lysander en Saskatchewan. Photo par John Brennan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8c597510-0f15-40a0-9a66-f6cc5fb26bef/PHD_32311.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le pilote d’essai Paul Kissmann pendant les essais du moteur. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4003a236-c621-46be-a712-791990afa99e/IMG_7123.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Hurricane arrive de la Saskatchewan, 2006. Photo: Ailes d’époque https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f057d964-74c1-47f3-9c68-1a01d097f39e/MellowYellow10.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1d912b7e-c0e4-4c79-a209-42392ffd41e0/1782065_704471892949734_276075834_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le revêtement supérieur est sur le point d’être installé sur l’aile tribord. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0dc39884-b294-4445-ad5c-67e7d254be9c/NewWings32.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Notre nouvelle « Lizzie » arrive à Gatineau, le 28 mai 2007. À son arrivée, il a été entreposé pendant plus de deux ans et son moteur a été envoyé en Angleterre pour révision. Photo par Mike Henniger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bfa3002-4001-479a-b1af-53242fe5b08b/PHD_32157.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/967ec2b9-ff55-4cb7-aca2-b55b92dc7ce7/vintagewings_047-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bd773ca-21f3-4cf8-bcd5-e40899d2bc2d/MellowYellow11.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7665c5e3-00d3-428a-8557-d7dbf5216db5/SpitBits14.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bde555e-7928-410d-8d54-a4e54ff3c950/NewWings44.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible La participation des bénévoles a été essentielle à la restauration rapide du Lysander - ici, le pilote des AEC Blake Reid (au premier plan) et Ted Devey préparent les panneaux d’accès du Lysander pour recevoir un nouvel entoilage. Le fuselage à gauche est notre projet Hawker Hurricane XII. Photo: Peter Han https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6e70deac-8b18-4d62-9bcb-ec47d5d5dbb0/25696869201_8836bb4281_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Robert Sullivan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4637887-f0d9-400b-bf1c-c9ea436be8b9/_MG_4574+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible La section centrale du Hurricane XII cours de restauration dans le gabarit spécialement conçu à cet effet. Photo : Richard Mallory Allnutt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21231cdc-dd82-4b47-83b1-ae5256d0e44b/MellowYellow9.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/18a234f2-ecba-45fc-b57d-fe02b041f0d5/1455835_656193327777591_712483305_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86caae28-f1be-49eb-8e94-111147bcbea9/NewWings46.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible De grande taille et complexe, au-delà de toute description, le Lysander n’était pas un avion facile à travailler dans et autour. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c641875-e53c-49a0-94c9-c4978d309396/vintagewings_051-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5199080f-49d1-4b3e-8a94-8fad790ef343/P6124376.JPG Les restaurations – bientot disponible Patrick Rossiter Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f8d5f43-6650-4585-8f4c-9fef1ff9f0e4/SpitfireUpdate01.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible L’ingénieur en chef des structures du Roseland Spitfire, Ken Wood, prépare le panneau de revêtement en aluminium pour le capot bâbord du moteur.: Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6836387b-3175-4771-97ee-fa036703dca4/PJH_12402.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/043e4467-ff83-4033-acb4-cf54defa6a59/25765887846_3b23969d17_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Robert Sullivan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f714151-f2d5-4d9c-a464-314ba5c61363/_PH24872.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Roseland Spitfire Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d5170745-d9fb-4547-a69d-bb95ccda4dd2/Hurricane51+2.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0543f23b-8354-47b1-8691-d8f61342ceca/ICEFIRE05.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b51a16fc-e8df-45fa-a9c4-4c5a78ba4323/_MG_4450+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Westland Lysander est un gros avion, avec un grand espace pour le moteur. Nous voyons le compartiment accessoire ici, peu de temps avant que le Bristol Mercury nouvellement révisé ne soit rattaché au le fuselage. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f3ff6cf4-b372-44bd-a0ac-ac3fa41a607c/25164642853_68fab955bc_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le pilote d’essai Paul Kissmann effectue essai de moteur un point fixe à l’aéroport de Gatineau. Photo : Robert Sullivan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01e0061b-7d39-4338-a5e7-e0aa439e6b4c/P6124375.JPG Les restaurations – bientot disponible Patrick Rossiter Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ff990a7f-267e-4a02-affe-932d685508ac/ICEFIRE02.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/40972574-b8ba-4305-97f2-8d6a87e57e91/_MG_4414+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible L’un des techniciens des Ailes d’époque travaille à refaire la « peau » du stabilisateur horizontal du Lysander. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a4710f7b-d421-42d3-8aef-50f6438fff0a/25164568223_601529a460_o+%281%29.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Essai du moteur : Photo Robert Sullivan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/202adecf-866c-43c2-9e10-80fb9c515518/_PHD9127.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le McKnight Hurricane. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f943b34c-9c3e-4770-87c8-9ce376f547eb/Screen+Shot+2021-10-21+at+4.28.57+PM.png Les restaurations – bientot disponible L’ossature du fuselage et de l’empennage exposée lors d’un spectacle aérien à Gatineau. Photo : Pierre Langlois https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a56456f7-0a16-44a4-9625-7afe571570f1/SpitfireUpdate19.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Sous ces ailes elliptiques de Spitfire, sublimes et d’une simplicité élégante, s’étendait un labyrinthe de nervures, de supports, de sangles, de puits, de panneaux d’accès, de compartiments, de canaux, de longerons et de tringleries maintenus en place par des milliers de rivets. Chaque pièce avait des exigences spécifiques en matière de gabarit, de résistance et de dureté du matériau. Le rythme méthodique et tranquille de Ken Wood garantissait que les erreurs ne s’accumulaient pas les unes après les autres, risquant des semaines, des mois, voire des années de travail inutile. Se trouver en compagnie de Wood auprès de son projet pendant toute cette période correspondait à se retrouver dans une sorte de zone zen où les voix étaient basses, où les décisions n’étaient prises qu’après avoir fait et refait des vérifications, et où l’artisanat et la qualité du travail devenaient une obsession. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87e9a6fd-dada-4e8e-9ced-293becfeb81b/PJH_11819.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Les volontaires hissent et attachent l’aile bâbord. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac0bf9f8-4fdd-4169-b6fb-8c4e7656e2c7/PHD_33494.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/86caae28-f1be-49eb-8e94-111147bcbea9/NewWings46.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Lysander Andy Carswell . Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0f586369-f3b3-432c-b733-c2bc9a265f4a/Screen+Shot+2021-12-19+at+11.48.45+AM.png Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b53f8717-9f29-4c05-9f32-a6ebf0cae0ff/DearRosey25.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87816318-f2f2-4220-b7c4-fec5088b2069/PJH_11788.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le jeune Christian Brunelle, maintenant pilote du 412e Escadron, sécurise la pointe de l’aile bâbord pendant l’installation. Photo de Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66fb153d-e0c4-49e1-8605-ad7be3cf333a/PHD_33190.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f29e2db9-4bb0-411d-a7bd-edea4dd24ba6/vintagewings_052-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Hawk One F-86 Sabre. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/572d7bd8-676c-427b-b066-da8be31ed920/10294280_940210036042584_4402309431399720301_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8f77d933-059b-46dc-b692-d1fb75411876/IMG_2628.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Un groupe de Comox était présent pour voir le travail. De gauche à droite. Ken Hazell, Dean Sept, Ken Wood et Ian Ward. Le travail sur le fuselage et le moteur progressant bien, Sept a fait quelques voyages à Gatineau au cours de l’année pour épauler Wood qui, jusqu’à présent, a fait tout seul le travail sur les ailes. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87dd0caf-456d-4a34-b611-e7209bc33c0b/PJH_11962.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Un moment marquant quand son Bristol Mercury a finalement été ré-attaché - Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/92e1bbdb-ce23-4248-b2eb-7c3c8d3e4844/PHD_33012.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Démarrage du moteur lors du premier vol d’essai. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/219520b7-6315-41f1-a325-e7c7511a01d1/26811950114_6e55f230ab_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Cornell Archie Pennie . Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6a7b8e49-422e-4640-870b-f2c709fb73bf/_PHD0539.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c8add316-a8c8-49cf-bfff-024b5a3d17b5/_PH24799.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e7a10e48-4099-44f5-8da0-4bb90536e179/PJH_12392.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcf38873-af9b-4baf-87f7-507bbdaf4fbd/PHD_33089.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Hawk One décolle pour son premier vol post-restauration. Quelques semaines plus tard, il s’est rendu à Cold Lake, en Alberta, pour recevoir le nouveau marquage commémoratif des Golden Hawks appliquée par l’ARC. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/202adecf-866c-43c2-9e10-80fb9c515518/_PHD9127.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a6d80c8-0a47-47c8-83df-0f174632823a/IMG_1830.JPG Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b7dbd96f-800c-4ed4-9404-8d054589024b/PJH_11754.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cb8417c3-f9e3-430b-a49f-2a3e6063929c/PHD_32193.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5cb9ce55-63cb-44f6-bc5a-56dccd2bd248/vintagewings_041-EDIT.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Warwick Patterson Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/399d0799-d129-4c9e-aeb3-08aa1d74611d/970890_560047090725549_677626366_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le savoir-faire technique est extraordinaire. Photo : Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d7c4d11-b4d0-478a-ba07-ae46bbae367a/PJH_4659.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Deryck Hickox enseigne les techniques de couture de l’entoilage aux bénévoles d’Vintage Wings. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f9c71afe-fdb7-485d-b104-47e2224d3663/PHD_33093.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0700bdb6-5a7c-4dec-9019-8325e9ca00f0/PJH_12404.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22f655fa-1e82-4226-a9d6-9019efba8618/SpitfireUpdate02.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le panneau tribord du capot moteur est maintenant entièrement formé et parfaitement ajusté, prêt à être riveté à sa structure sous-jacente. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d49c33c8-9010-4ac5-8e7f-090ae7b17e80/PJH_4694.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/681723ad-7093-414c-8d16-c8b052b093de/PHD_33572.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3c0baeb-d12e-4893-82f7-2e1505f50a98/_PHD0507.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7f992711-bfcb-442f-9238-df758fddb748/_PJH4204.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa09a00a-8a20-47b0-89b5-79b95251a98e/LizzieFlight32.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le responsable de la restauration Deryck Hickox (à gauche) avec le fondateur Mike Potter et les trois membres de la famille Brunelle qui se sont portés volontaires pour travailler sur le Lysander. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2f1985a5-6893-4361-99f1-4a2f73d989e9/PHD_33241.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Oui Monsieur ! 520 nœuds ! Paul Kissmann jubile après le succès du premier vol. En tant que concepteur et applicateur des autocollants en vinyle que portait Hawk One, Dave O’Malley était ravi qu’ils soient toujours attachés après avoir atteint des vitesses de 960 km/h ! Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e2ce601f-331f-4fc7-8a91-65548edee707/Hurricane52.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bd4b107e-6797-462a-8f2e-8d4f390e5bfb/_PJH4108.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ee6998e3-df0e-4789-ad0b-a16d542c2d57/PJH_18094.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e7335d4-6018-4d84-8d81-1cfb4a224723/980760_550725321657726_2089232970_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6b1d350-ffa8-4a71-bdb4-8456ce3ec667/_PHD1951.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f714151-f2d5-4d9c-a464-314ba5c61363/_PH24872.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f81bb8b-9103-4c58-a7eb-175d8c4e5175/PJH_18000.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/faf63038-d62d-4249-b6e6-158b5028024d/981719_550725434991048_338884959_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44ee733e-963f-46d7-a764-4497317a66f8/_PHD0479.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4bad5445-a7f5-4ba3-ad02-967ae37d983e/_PJH4339.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/329462ad-3537-4071-8723-fff7fcbbbb79/LizzieLife5.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e43df5f5-497a-4459-a173-72d8a44a66c2/461173_550725394991052_898908214_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c4478eeb-d964-4050-a9ff-da854a28d989/_PHD9147.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7b9312ee-1490-47c1-bbb9-d12d46af0502/DearRosey03.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Ken Wood commence le travail structurel complexe sur le gouvernail de profondeur du Spitfire. Photo Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/73f77d54-a9c9-4eb5-9d81-e2f9c7526ce6/NewWings47.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible L’équipe de restauration de Lysander pose avec son projet avant la pose de l’entoilage. Première rangée : Allan Macmillan, Jim Ashby, Jim McGregor, Ted Devy, Renaud Gagne, Steve McKenzie, Deryck Hickox, Rob Fleck Rangée arrière : Jim Luffman, Nelson Smith, John Aitken, Bob Boyer, Wayne Giles, Terry Cooper Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac3f42cc-513b-4765-932a-08be94b2b14f/25801697296_a480148bf3_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Photo: Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77bdbab0-5940-4ea8-96d3-2aef8902fd70/Hurricane51+3.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b5bad8e0-9042-41fe-ad77-426a8f785875/1385900_636510599745864_566795366_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Des plus petits composants aux assemblages structurels, le tout a reçu une nouvelle couche de peinture. Photo: Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/076e24a5-beec-4dc4-87f2-caf7f72fa8b2/_MG_4439+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Les ailes du Westland Lysander, avant qu’ils ne soient terminés, et l’entoilage changé à la mi-2009. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56cd49bc-e4a0-4f90-8d40-0bb94cf171d0/_PHD5040.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f2f79c66-edc8-42d1-88d5-8a3cfea4bc3f/SpitfireUpdate16.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Une fois les principaux composants terminés, Wood a commencé à travailler sur les extrémités des ailes. Ce travail exige une combinaison de travaux d’ébénisterie et de tôlerie avancés. La structure de l’extrémité de l’aile du Spitfire a été fabriquée en bois et recouverte d’aluminium pour économiser des matériaux vitaux pour la guerre. Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/062e1c4f-b037-409e-88e8-d3389f3f63ca/_MG_4589+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Hangar+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+Quebeck+-+April+24%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible L’un des nombreux joints soudés très complexes sur le Westland Lysander. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e5124f8-40dc-49a8-98b6-7e5fdac91cc6/IMG_7241.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d4f1dd76-5a96-4df3-8f8b-7510a351df25/IMG_2598-2.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2285d311-bb9a-41a0-9155-cb3e18a9d0a8/_MG_8179+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Winter+Maintenance+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+November+23%2C+2009.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Le Lysander des Ailes d’époque comme on le voyait avec un entoilage fraîchement dopé. Ses ailes sont déjà peintes en argent, dans les marques du prototype d’exemple de construction canadienne, qui a volé pour la première fois le 16 août 1939 aux mains de E. Leigh Capriol. Rob Erdos a piloté le Lizzie lors de son premier vol post-restauration, un peu comme il l’a fait avec l’exemple du Canadian Warplane Heritage en 2009. Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d3d8950-6758-4855-a27b-f0d0f7d69c78/_PHD5045.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/85abcf02-0da7-4d20-beff-53b32df0a868/773733_484220081641584_1465609125_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b84f00e5-b9a7-4612-a413-d32524f97064/PJH_13750.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7cc5adfc-df59-4f17-aa39-096ff4eab943/IMG_4564.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/52b88607-3b38-4f65-9a96-0797429f71f1/SpitfireUpdate03.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Une fois les principaux composants terminés, Wood a commencé à travailler sur les extrémités des ailes. Ce travail exige une combinaison de travaux d’ébénisterie et de tôlerie avancés. La structure de l’extrémité de l’aile du Spitfire a été fabriquée en bois et recouverte d’aluminium pour économiser des matériaux vitaux pour la guerre. Photo: Ken Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3de92aa8-1d43-4a77-9b22-c2b75c723354/IMG_4563.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2750581d-cf50-4398-a1e5-4c05eba91b0f/SpitfireUpdate06.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Wood réfléchit à sa prochaine étape alors qu’il ajuste le capot du moteur au châssis bâbord du Spitfire. Aussi magnifique que soit l’aluminium poli, ses dernières couches d’apprêt et de peinture de camouflage reflèteront une histoire d’héroïsme canadien qui éclipsera tout. Photo : Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/52623d0e-bfb5-4000-8bab-47afb5db8b79/Hurricane23-2.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Essai de moteur au sol avant la finalisation. Photo : Pat Tenger https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2b8b4520-ac35-4fdb-bfb2-6741fb43d9d8/SpitfireUpdate09.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Jamais pressé, Wood contemple sa prochaine étape en réinstallant l’hélice du Spitfire. A un certain moment, le Spit a été remorqué à l’extérieur et son gros Merlin Rolls-Royce a été rodé à deux reprises. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/884ba4d1-8a20-403b-abc3-b7518bb86c35/LAV_0386.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Essai de moteur au sol avant la finalisation de la restauration. André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dbb735d0-7473-4e70-95f9-487b5defdb3e/577043_515703308493261_1355521174_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Vintech West Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0acb090c-c363-4a89-abb6-e16fcc3ddb69/LAV_0351.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Essai de moteur au sol avant la finalisation de la restauration. André Laviolette Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/87af9429-117a-4bd8-9909-a48749571f51/Spitbits13.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce5a3e25-2ed2-48ea-84ce-7e7075069edd/_PHD0642.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a124ac91-da64-4c53-92ec-4fcc0d72be49/10517605_862140117182910_1575970624294974866_o.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Aiden, l’arrière-petit-fils de Roseland, jette un coup d’œil au cockpit fini. Photo de Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/99d92fd0-4213-4aa2-bdd3-2b71a656f9ad/IMG_4788.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c4c65366-e75d-4b87-b03c-e67589ce0d42/_PH24374.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/121f5cec-81ef-4ed3-b12b-f5469ede73ec/_PHD0595.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/427e23cf-fe7b-4726-a8d0-851d59760499/DearRosey08.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Un détail des marquages sur TE294 du Spitfire IX MK304 de l’escadron 442. C’est à cette époque que j’ai découvert les erreurs commises dans la provenance précédente du Y2K. Les couleurs du Spitfire impliquaient de nombreux autres types de marquages tels que les pochoirs W/T Wire Terminus, les pochoirs de type de peinture de la Direction technique (cellulose et synthétique), et les pochoirs de contrat de l’usine ou de l’organisation de réparation civile. Tout cela est complexe, détaillé et intéressant pour un connaisseur comme moi, mais beaucoup trop compliqué à expliquer ici. Il suffit de dire que les pochoirs numériques complexes que l’on voit sur les avions de la RAF de la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont UNIQUES à chaque avion et ne peuvent pas être simplement copiés d’un avion précédent. Mais voilà une longue histoire pour un autre jour. Photo : Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/edfdb11c-10ca-4c9c-bd07-7d6cace5da02/VWC_2021-3146.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fc6caf0c-a570-4346-83a4-d180fed53538/SpitfireUpdate23.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Il faut toute une équipe pour restaurer un Spitfire. Certains des mécaniciens impliqués dans le projet du Roseland Spitfire (debout de gauche à droite) : Pat Tenger, Ken Wood, Mark Dufresne, Gerry Bettridge. À droite, Mike Irvin, qui vient de rejoindre Vintech Aero. Agenouillés: André Laviolette et Paul Tremblay. Photo : Dave O'Malley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d6cc5134-225d-4e2d-8035-ec489806c2ce/VWC_2021-3245.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6cf840b9-f115-4591-95a9-6142f5f3bc3c/_PH24374+%281%29.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fa2b0b9c-e611-49fa-8741-f19747dd52f4/VWC_2021-3186.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fbb00d66-8649-42bc-b73e-044507e89c90/_PJH4346.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9157190-30d8-4bb9-9725-00ef9e943646/VWC_2021-3300.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b533aca2-98cb-4deb-92a2-17b9f16f9254/42475510_2536524536411118_5735565246236459008_n.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible La restauration du Roseland Spitfire a valu aux constructeurs de Vintech Aero, le prix prestigieux Golden Wrench de l’Experimental Aircraft Association lors de l’Airventure d’Oshkosh en 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58da3b3f-5a88-48d0-930b-6ad27f551c07/VWC_2021-3357.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/028a66de-9ff1-49b8-93bf-bc09222faaa4/VWC_2021-3379.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b04dd25c-fd00-4be9-ac0f-963ac03036a1/VWC_2021-3480.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ed06c64d-b6a4-4c60-ab00-71305e3475c0/VWC_2021-3512.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/44fe3313-b6a9-467d-9402-2f83d6979cbb/IMG_7288.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Dave O'Malley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3595d66-07d7-4571-b2a7-19faf00c5b1b/IMG_6778.JPG Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4df65b5b-0206-4e8c-847e-6f8f7c7ea76f/Screen+Shot+2021-12-19+at+11.48.55+AM.png Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fb3af5df-2f60-4bd2-a648-0e0e5344b275/Hurricane316.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/39399ff5-5a45-4644-9b0d-cf11c3bafe51/Hurricane34.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0fc10dd8-f017-4ab4-9819-f9f2076945f9/Hurricane51.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Pat Tenger Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3bcedd90-2380-493a-b08a-6730868020f4/_PHD0567.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bca84f7-5550-47ea-8203-998ff28e2b47/_PHD0620.jpg Les restaurations – bientot disponible Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-spitfire-mk-xvi daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/18e34d98-9695-46e8-a545-9d5ae27d9221/PHD_15214.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a10439b8-2071-4f07-b31e-72a8247ee2d2/_PHD4988.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/72ae980d-5f84-4e6b-a145-ecf3aaab6e33/2008Gusair-31.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c03e7fe9-ba41-4848-bfac-7188bdd35ae7/2008Gusair-28.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bcf11fe3-5d84-4abb-be72-899aca0a95ae/_PHD5047.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8bb95b0-11b1-4bda-968a-ef4278a87c08/PJH_56625.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9e436c55-8328-4057-a5b6-f92f6dd9d057/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+2.31.50+PM.png Le Spitfire Mk XVI Marty Periard Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c814a631-bf3c-4adf-b26c-b708065542fd/PHD_31856.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/89a1ca22-0957-4bc4-995d-cf4932366ad1/PHD_31812.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1c155a5b-682f-4b4b-8467-ef6d497b077f/PHD_15244.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/30a1748d-47b2-42d0-b48b-386b1655df73/PJH_11565.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b9d2f6d1-b9bc-4d97-82e9-6031d638353c/Gusair-5.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Mike Potter aux commandes su Spitfire SL721 à Gatineau. Photo Gus Corujo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/801ab064-65b1-438d-977d-8388d476977c/16776902930_584ffe8e5c_o.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Ken Mist Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd392fe3-827f-4cb4-b509-b3bd0a901e78/img_8235+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93d5b50f-95a1-4049-a587-cd26486f02f4/img_8027+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/be04d49c-fe8f-40f0-9f2b-cfd7ab0e730c/img_7981+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+flightfest+ottawa+-+ottawa%2C+canada+-+august+24%2C+2003-2.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a3e204e9-4a5a-464e-9dca-641dc19784cf/PHD_15351.jpg Le Spitfire Mk XVI Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-fairey-swordfish-ii daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c77c2c84-ca66-4ca1-8c57-a3b2ff0ce638/PJH_62767-2.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cad8d9ce-8006-4fdb-8b71-d824505fed24/PJH_62934.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792718134-6018ZV0QT95OXGJF0R07/DownandBack8.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Adam Smith Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792323546-LC2Y6BBATLN9A3W9RSH8/DownandBack6.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Adam Smith Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792370506-SW8X96AIHH9FQZZR0PVY/DownandBack14.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Adam Smith Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1631792085509-XDDG1L2E86QFT6AOJLCW/DownandBack12.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Adam Smith Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2496fc0e-67c2-4900-a0c5-c82260af1064/VW-Swordfish.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95107616-73eb-4447-abc3-8aafeb417a55/June30-112.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cd4d485e-cca6-4435-88fe-d9fd78bf7b17/Screen+Shot+2021-10-14+at+3.18.43+PM.png Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b17112cd-460b-4140-a8d4-e264a19ae028/Swordfish_7.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Capitaine Terry Goddard à bord du HMS Ark Royal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/728c0212-d888-446a-b14f-833d41983cbd/Gusair-728.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b7f0a613-498a-4290-9374-6785270b6494/Gusair-724.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9cdc9062-0c6b-4f95-945c-09b00da1f3f9/PJH_62537.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6b6c852b-f3df-4eed-bc30-a5237b0eda8b/PJH_62465.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/68cf3e08-c068-4b06-9266-e8774905d4d5/PJH_62653.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b2cf402f-6735-4daa-b0e4-c60383453d26/_MA_1983+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0d19ce89-eddf-4b17-8082-5b61f0beee0d/_MA_1937+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9c0992bd-f3b3-48c3-9f7f-4e9de53c75c8/_MA_1855+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f1f763d2-0f3b-4d1f-b1f0-646fc5b9fa32/_MA_1640+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8626f5c8-3ecc-4e15-a082-7314885403c7/_MA_1582+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fef04f7b-d551-4ff7-a5ae-4fcf89c435c1/_MA_1405+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d57c5671-dc8e-4e17-aea9-113dc83cd452/_MA_1247+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011-Edit+%281%29.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8782e5f-dbc9-405c-847d-987da15805fc/_MA_1224+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e846154a-08f7-4305-9b18-81073d2c3302/_MA_1066+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2237646b-88fe-4c16-b87f-606a2667162e/_MA_0779+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Isobel+and+Helen+Fly+a+Swordfish+-+Vintage+Wings+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+21%2C+2011.jpg Le FAIREY SWORDFISH II Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-boeing-stearman daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/39671f35-9e80-4273-b29c-88ea9ec26669/VW-Stearman.jpg Le Boeing Stearman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc5ac0c6-7ad9-4624-939b-ecfa9e094d04/stearman-6621.jpg Le Boeing Stearman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/175a7eff-ff0c-4287-ad92-d5faa9f7bf2e/Stearman-PT-27-Kaydet-2828.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Heath Moffatt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/81925c29-6e44-4698-adbc-5511189331a3/Inspiration03.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Todd Lemieux Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/56ef7f96-d376-4eb9-a2a0-7bb7a8ad0e12/FlyingHarry2.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ab380345-e603-4eb0-b50d-26e8cca5ce39/FlyingHarry22.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/71a65eeb-ca3c-40e7-a8f4-9c06765abe75/FlyingHarry11.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/167a1299-576f-49bf-a6c2-aef404c741d9/PJH_86105-1024x681.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Harry Hannah à bord de «son» Stearman, avec Todd Lemieux en 2011. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a234ce38-7f46-4e47-80e2-af07f665986e/Undaunted37.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Harry et le Stearman, Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/21c2b4ae-120a-4c05-a05d-c5d0ef06150c/IMG_7896.JPG Le Boeing Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3584a2d-0a9e-4bd6-b8e9-d42240e588a4/IMG_7945.jpg Le Boeing Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bc0c4570-8835-4bc1-b96e-7cbdbc682da8/IMG_8067.JPG Le Boeing Stearman Kathryn Evans Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-hawk-one-sabre daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/680083d0-e10f-48be-9326-22816165f712/2883119935_01175defa2_o.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b82c37e8-24dd-42f7-b8be-1524093802ef/PHD_17315.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Le Canadair F-86 qui allait devenir Hawk One arrive aux Ailes d’époque en 2007. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9165f96c-18fd-428f-963f-d5a358fa6f87/PHD_17404.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Ron Iberg, pilote chevronné de F-86 et légende des spectacles aériens, arrive avec le futur Hawk One à Gatineau en 2007. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4a914d42-1c99-456e-a089-fd0c2fc1dd5e/PHD_17472.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Ron Iberg (à gauche) et Mike Potter discutent après le vol de convoyage en 2007. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/671f48fe-1bc0-4a49-b1d4-7171422b892e/60f81e7438aa9c6bfa37fba6_Canadair-CL-13-Sabre-Mk--5--Serial-No--23314---Peter-Handley.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ac3f42cc-513b-4765-932a-08be94b2b14f/25801697296_a480148bf3_o.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Cpl. Jennifer Chiasson, AETE, Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d3427962-17dd-4d3e-be26-9ed290ba3d1b/PJH_86650.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7ae6bc6e-e7f9-42b7-8772-e6ca4f0183d8/_MA_6181+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-September+14%2C+2013.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c512bf5d-1316-4074-8bbd-60113dceb68e/Apr_Sabre_Katsu.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Katsuhiko Tokunaga Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/62ad2caf-6c4b-4fb8-8eaa-9385d3b75e2f/HawkOneD.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Katsuhiko Tokunaga Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1b1a272a-0f70-44b1-9812-d8a9e5414d40/HawkOneE.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Katsuhiko Tokunaga Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/923cd961-4fbb-486f-b2d0-261d3626b33a/a97649f8fec2d2398724b6addc8b36d2.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Golden Hawks dans une formation d’échelon parfait. Photo de l’ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3c326784-f4ce-4137-a2c4-f8b55167b512/RCAF_Golden_Hawks_1959_-_PCN_164_Cpl_George_Hardy_ed-2-resized.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Golden Hawks dans une formation d’échelon parfait. Photo de l’ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1bbd22a6-b284-4bda-87a1-e781ddf515e2/EN86hjeWkAA94Je.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Fern Villeneuve, agenouillé, avec d’autres pilotes des Golden Hawks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/400943e4-323e-4e02-99a3-c508a059593c/pl-64157.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Le Commandant d’aviation Fern Villeneuve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e4b20ad-dbec-41d3-abe3-b7c4f15151c9/AE2012-139-04.JPG Le Hawk One Sabre DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/35823d32-bacb-4eb1-8c9a-4fbb493af0b8/AE2012-139-29.JPG Le Hawk One Sabre DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/49d98c36-722d-4fa7-8243-611253e987ee/AE2012-139-30.JPG Le Hawk One Sabre DND Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/83707f76-06b7-4253-8c12-455e069dc711/1991115.jpg Le Hawk One Sabre Acote Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-dh-82-tiger-moth daily 0.75 2022-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ecf456f1-8d60-4de0-ab77-79762a245eeb/PJH_32395.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6b3c49f-4273-42bc-855a-7b4fe1cb0288/PJH_32542.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d72ec56-2dc6-41d0-aa41-cf2b5518e6a9/PJH_32838.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c6e74794-a761-4516-a44a-9fd14a9a28f9/PJH_33711.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e36e27ae-61ba-418d-af67-1843bad2356d/PJH_33682.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/77c5d2d5-33fa-479d-b66a-48cbb4a7fb4f/PJH_33645.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN, Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3f46f77a-04c0-4c3e-8913-2b85676cc0a9/CF_DHQ.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bbc4cd8f-ad20-4277-b32c-a58b27bbea97/8542130872_9e9086930e_o.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/50d1140d-cc33-4fcb-892b-d019bc0ee9a8/31815_1158352743-1.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/13e438a0-4b12-4600-bea0-72a97a5cbbdd/6928384666_89a35b2464_o.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a252500-1f83-4aab-8c2d-91aa4a0d2e44/3153252761_7891424207_o.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dcc9ae42-0443-4522-a78b-dfe14d6f193e/8572938768_3f9355957b_o.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-DHQ Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fce877a9-1194-4e2b-bb8d-897b5ffb5457/Gusair-708.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8480b39f-a64e-41b1-ad08-62f78deab61e/Gusair-709.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/995fcc83-b4b4-4e7a-bd62-2226ad1b15dd/Gusair-711.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/adfc4b80-a249-4438-8293-a462baa860b7/tigermoth_rma2.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e00cb59d-8c57-4d8b-92f5-46f27b70e320/TigerMoth4.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Michel Coté Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c15d872-b974-42bd-b134-dd184bdddbd8/PJH_56649.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c73b257-0927-462a-81e7-2cda56cec92a/TigerMoth_3.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Capitaine d’aviation Bill McRae, escadron 401 de l’ARC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/54922ef5-2c9a-40ee-a195-916a72c1e804/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+151.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth Tiger Moth CF-ANN in Moncton. Yellow Wings Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/611e5f61-01e0-4cd3-a15e-9863dcee1845/East+Coast+12+178.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d92eac44-3bea-430b-921a-e4d4ef9b6ac6/East+Coast+12+044.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Wayne Giles Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3d7fcea3-8970-4ce1-a4cd-9662609c1be9/5437010319_69ca5aa2d2_o.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b3e68325-01c4-4af7-b6cb-0a046efcd2b2/_ma_0597-2+-+r.m.allnutt+photo+-+vintage+wings+of+canada+-+gatineau%2C+que+-+september+18%2C+2010.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2aaf889f-35c7-4458-b912-52e518e01f29/2008Gusair-42.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Gus Coruso Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5c7ffac6-33ff-433f-845c-aa7b42c599e1/_MA_9451+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+17%2C+2010.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/676ad089-a867-4856-b554-df3459a575d2/_MA_6261+-+Richard+Mallory+Allnutt+photo+-+Montebello+Fly-In+-+Montebello%2C+QUE+-+February+04%2C+2012.jpg Le DH-82 Tiger Moth CF-ANN Richard Mallor Allnutt Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-de-havilland-dhc-2-beaver daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/58bfe744-f96f-4065-a4df-764c205a2e5e/8057480633_a02830b508_o.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/bf5d0ff3-cc2d-4423-b2bb-0c17b7dd5f1c/8057920495_28d8955584_o.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/37b395e4-acfe-4f0d-9b4a-70ee2ffa6cb2/3877593481_a9bd6a9328_o.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Peter Polgar Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9cf7c9f6-3720-4280-9c49-56ca335cc665/6930431326_6c811bba8e_o.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Pierre Langlois Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0dff91c6-e5b9-45da-8fb9-18119377933a/potter_beaver.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Dave O’Malley a conçu le design de la pointe de flèche https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d686958-785b-4f03-a667-94ed549492b8/PJH_56637.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/19925439-690c-4ac6-a5e4-489c26e36e09/2008Gusair-18.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/30cfc86a-e2a1-4ccd-8ce9-01583bbd9b55/2008Gusair-20.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/95200670-d2a4-4b91-8383-0f158b7f6d70/2008Gusair-2.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/61d52eb2-4ac9-4fdf-a333-d69a94548abb/2008Gusair-46.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fefdf6ee-29cb-4e0a-b80b-f9cc854730d8/Yousuf-Karsh-Russ-Bannock-1943.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Russ Bannock. Yousuf Karsh Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8c2cbf8-d54b-45fd-b254-616831b334c6/DHCBeaver_KAF1.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Le Beaver des Ailes d’époque a été accidenté alors qu’il était en service dans l’armée de l’air kényane https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f6de42e4-636b-4c01-9845-2aec6d841524/george+neal.jpg Le de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver George Neal lors du programme d’essai pour le de Havilland Caribou https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-beech-d-17s-staggerwing daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e12a82eb-9b91-4cda-b8fb-042d7711e852/_PHD2470.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0e21daca-f8d8-43ce-913b-1bf46e180401/_PHD2471.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8d46ceec-51cc-48e3-bff0-f0e724ce8605/Dec_Staggerwing_Allnutt.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/22ac8eef-a433-4bfa-bd57-29c7639bfc8f/PHD_27670.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/580a9ad7-7280-423a-adfd-8fdc675cbbcd/PHD_28503.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/dd98aa73-10a0-4502-965a-27987c943d39/2008Gusair-22.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9707a88b-54d5-4d36-b666-96385cd93cb1/2008Gusair-21.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e85cd72c-8b5f-410a-9ffb-4a65c6e00b6a/PHD_29165.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4f3328b5-f9ce-4573-a7d7-7b1f8785894f/PHD_27665.jpg Le Beech Staggerwing Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-waco-taperwing-ato daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b266da80-9a34-44d9-842a-c23dc69de737/2008Gusair-45.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6c6a0cdc-dba7-473a-8c4b-1248704613a4/2008Gusair-10.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2714e29b-7a3b-4eea-b0b5-a40b05165ceb/2008Gusair-44.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/0fb88fad-e4fc-480d-b62f-b78c8406666c/2873672595_8dc134f615_o.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. J. P. Bonin Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/01422e8b-308b-4634-9c9a-122a71eac79f/PHD_29045.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4333e13a-cdba-4284-9af7-5a3abfbcebae/PHD_27775.jpg Le WACO Taperwing A.T.O. Peter Handley Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-p40-kittyhawk daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921024661-XCIM14E7TRU39SZBM0XY/Tadji13.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Avant d’être restauré, le Kittyhawk HS-B était un P-40 Kittyhawk de la Royal New Zealand Air Force appelé « Come in Suckers! » (A29-414 HU-Z) dans l’escadron 78 en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. Photo via Pioneer Aero https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629921381551-HNFJPY1KSOPOU7M3P16Z/Tadji14.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk « Come In Suckers » a été détruit lors d’un accident d’atterrissage sur un aérodrome appelé Tadji sur la côte en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/63b51d19-96ba-4e2a-b32e-8afa4ccf90b3/797b73eb41afaf72eff794052db5d235.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards dans un P-40 en Afrique du Nord https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9dc6958c-d2b7-4a59-818b-bc5145f5eb65/IMG_6960.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Le premier vol suivant la restauration à Pioneer Aero, Ardmore, Nouvelle Zélande. Photo Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1633470172161-TOLE719ILN5I1GIITXNL/Kitty14.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Le premier vol suivant la restauration à Pioneer Aero. Photo Colin Hunter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/fe5716c3-1fa2-46df-babb-3602de11c3a9/PJH_53819.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e1a85ec9-3937-4029-8497-db7da61f0f7b/P40N_gc5.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/78eb14e5-03e3-4a2c-84c5-b730b27efcf9/P40N_ph11.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards partage ses impressions après avoir piloté de nouveau «son» P-40 Kittyhawk au Ailes d’époque. En arrière-plan le fondateur des AEC Mike Potter. Photo Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3ac2ce68-8c14-47f9-9731-438fc514966e/_PHD5009.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3092c3e2-208e-4548-9928-cc3b634c92e5/PH_VWC_2014_-8064.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/185572a1-6dcb-4374-a231-9eabc5777c6d/stocky-edwards.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Stocky Edwards en Italie lors de la 2ième guerre https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b4c101a3-f6f3-4030-91de-e7d86d49c0eb/Screen+Shot+2021-10-13+at+3.17.12+PM.png Le P-40N Kittyhawk Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/08381bf6-ac38-4cad-a68b-a375d0a72ca2/19Aero-505.JPG Le P-40N Kittyhawk Gus Corujo Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/166849b2-166f-4c06-9e3f-a7ef5e77cf01/unnamed-3.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Ron Janisse Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/57c33dde-d939-47e8-91eb-3ea0ca15b146/Gusair-740.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Gus Corujo photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e0923d66-dbb2-48c8-854f-88a6b7cda016/ExzjSNZXIAYHCgk.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Peter Handley photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa8a39bc-d8de-4b2a-8908-27da4674da72/IMG_6962+2.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7c640579-3ce1-458f-b2ee-f5dffff39102/IMG_6961.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk Gavin Conroy Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8234d48a-243f-4741-ba43-1f923673edcb/VWC_2014-0678.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1629922567031-ZSOTPXKSP518BGM9YLRJ/Tadji28.jpg Le P-40N Kittyhawk https://www.vintagewings.ca/le-hawker-hurricane-mk-iv daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5962d0af-4726-4d84-9c47-bbe6c89af19b/Warbird_Hurricane_MkIV_OO-HUR_KZ321_20190914_EBBL_5V1A8863_WVB_3200px.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Walter Van Bel Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/aa79839c-dd6a-400d-98f7-835c640113e0/Warbird_Hurricane_MkIV_OO-HUR_KZ321_20190914_EBBL_5V1A8877_WVB_4700px.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Walter Van Bel Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/31e0b97c-cf86-4d31-8ea4-a256b1a814a0/2019-09-14+Sanicole+%28183%29.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Jaco Spruyt Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5f2585ba-bae4-43b3-99ac-d025b63d2c80/9960133374_4078e0b91c_o.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Bruno Laplante Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c1f63f5-1356-4771-a61c-cee2b146b21c/PJH_56639.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a597db9f-48d2-450f-8f65-90ae1e9d1e08/7c3dd437bf1581260a638fd5daaa3218.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Eric Dumigan Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/501d35dd-d81f-452a-9561-3a9005208bfe/PHD_31845.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ce4d7afc-7a16-4c1d-b486-b6a700e226a5/PJH_39786.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/500259b0-f4e7-4afc-86fd-2c994f0bc09c/PJH_39790.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Peter Handley Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/66590191-e8e0-4ec7-bb53-06cdc646035b/_MA_9391+-+R.M.Allnutt+photo+-+Vintage+Wings+of+Canada+-+Gatineau%2C+QUE+-+September+18%2C+2010.jpg Le Hawker Hurricane Mk IV Richard Mallory Allnutt Photo https://www.vintagewings.ca/bientt-disponible daily 0.75 2022-01-24 https://www.vintagewings.ca/visites daily 0.75 2026-02-09 https://www.vintagewings.ca/adhsions daily 0.75 2022-03-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766923315-OEZHLQKG2VVLE48D0VW1/YouthMembership_540x.jpeg Adhésions - Adhésion Jeunesse $40 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766491156-6IH42CYCVESA3XT3E5SS/IndividualMembership_540x.jpeg Adhésions - Adhésion Individuelle $80 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625766804096-M7WQFTQ7LLQ85IFNG1TS/Family-Membership_540x.jpeg Adhésions - Adhésion Famille $130 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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9746e817-f5f4-40a4-be88-8a5c15319861/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+2.25.07+PM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e6661e13-dc32-4283-9ae2-802869134d0c/Yellow+wings+moncton+2012+012.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d7377cd-929b-41c6-9f6c-2a8cb208ef05/2677659f-8681-4ad5-ae41-2a0432f2fdec.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/55c48ad2-3e92-4300-8594-5c5ce74169dd/June_3_Finch_Allnutt.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625683567373-PEU6EIF1XP72AFM76YUO/Cornell_2_1024x1024%402x.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4841c9be-1160-4439-9333-0fb688f57986/HarvardTitle.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f221ee99-f663-4a8b-ab2a-3fc9cdeeee6e/Chipmunk.jpg https://www.vintagewings.ca/lesavionsjaunes daily 0.75 2024-07-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/746eab8b-1c15-4d2f-92b7-6dbdaf54e9ae/RCAF-100.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7a0f60e8-be69-4131-a392-bc4f815896c0/YYellowWingsPartnersFrench.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/9746e817-f5f4-40a4-be88-8a5c15319861/Screen+Shot+2023-02-13+at+2.25.07+PM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5d7377cd-929b-41c6-9f6c-2a8cb208ef05/2677659f-8681-4ad5-ae41-2a0432f2fdec.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/55c48ad2-3e92-4300-8594-5c5ce74169dd/June_3_Finch_Allnutt.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1625683567373-PEU6EIF1XP72AFM76YUO/Cornell_2_1024x1024%402x.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4841c9be-1160-4439-9333-0fb688f57986/HarvardTitle.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f221ee99-f663-4a8b-ab2a-3fc9cdeeee6e/Chipmunk.jpg https://www.vintagewings.ca/cessna-l-19a-bird-dog daily 0.75 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a2a50a17-c06e-4cac-b0d7-5182f9921d47/BatOneCover.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Mike Virr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/baf02f40-7782-4281-948c-587dd2aaa79b/453155101_994814075769894_5865329990922330220_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog The Bat One Cessna L-19A celebrates the history of Canadian tactical aviation. Seen here with two Chinook helicopters at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2ae5df2c-51ed-454e-8008-313baecc663b/VWC_100524_6596.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Bat One at Arnprior prior to dawn photoshoot with Fairchild Cornell. Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/48b2a5ba-1fa1-4e2b-9cf9-37ceaff4cf61/VWC_100524-8764.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a310982a-6db9-424d-aba1-c23f47cfc9c7/L-19A+1670920250104_12532196.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog LCol John Dicker took this photo while he was attending his Light Aircraft Pilot Course at AATTS CJATC Jan-Apr 63. 709 was parked on the tarmac along with several other L-19s on strength CJATC at the time. The coloured band on the fuselage at that time was red as opposed to yellow. It changed over the years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/93819d16-8cab-4736-b537-61f120d5db93/Screen+Shot+2024-10-07+at+5.45.42+PM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog The snowy ramp at Rivers, Manitoba in 1967. The third aircraft from the right is 709. In the foreground is a Cessna L-182. Photo via Sentinel Magazine and MilitaryBruce.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/697389db-d13b-462d-ba84-8ae69c4d213e/AirCadet.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo of L-19A (119709/C-FTGF) when it was operated by the Royal Canadian Air Cadets as a glider tug in British Columbia. Photo via Aviation Education Wing, Hong Kong Air Cadet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ae37fd55-87c8-4135-90e4-58567a67130e/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+8.39.04+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog Earlier Paint scheme for C-FTGF in its empty with the British Columbia Air Cadets. Photo likely from 80s or 90s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/b74f8231-3da7-4c5f-908c-1ed29226eab3/Unmuth.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog C-FTGF tied and tapped at Abbotsford in 2007. Photo by Peter Unmuth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/00a53ed3-14c4-41e8-bc90-5f885ce99a15/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+8.55.13+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog C-FTGF at Nanaimo, BC in 2007 in a new paint scheme. Tim Martin photo via AerialVisuals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/c1133543-7c98-42ca-8629-7d0d792dde46/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+8.09.50+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog C-FTGF at Comox in the early 2000s with other Cadet League glider tugs on the ramp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2895b9ac-b078-4e0f-91a7-f49fe7286fdc/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+8.33.45+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog C-FTGF after it flipped on its back in Comox in 2010. It was sold into private hands following the accident and restored to its present configuration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ceea956b-3e1c-4e86-8533-8d0fd80b0a38/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+8.14.26+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog C-FTGF after it flipped on its back in Comox in 2010. It was sold into private hands following the accident and restored to its present configuration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/8a6d468a-bcf1-4b85-ab03-c7862b1b2ae6/VWC_100524-8739.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ccd294f0-2e94-41f0-923c-5523d5504b97/VWC_100524-8710.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6713ee94-a044-4b9b-8d69-d8f6ff256bb5/Screen+Shot+2024-10-07+at+11.10.01+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog Bat One at Vulcan, Alberta prior to cross-country flight to Arnprior. Photo via Todd Lemieux https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/3df477fe-677e-40b7-84c0-65b476e304a9/VWC_100524-8554.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/231cea67-a50f-4641-bcd8-744bec67b048/VWC_100524-8499.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/382b0bfd-f72d-4d54-8f91-172e7c702f5a/VWC_100524-8446.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/ffa87184-40b1-474c-b38e-943927845304/VWC_100524-8418.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/d8aade8c-9279-41fa-80e1-9d9569980359/VWC_100524-8174.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Peter Handley https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6d853a1a-c7cc-4922-a3c6-48b81836067d/66af4e3ecf72050c196cec86_63b0ed8310410e10d12b3df5_L-19.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19A Bird Dog (Serial No. 16711), Rivers, Manitoba. Pilot (Student) Lt. Dave Rowlandson, checks flap of his L-19 A aircraft during pre-flight check. Note everything around him is green, including his helmet, but he is wearing RCAF wings. Image via Mike Kaehler and text via Harold Skaarup, Silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/05a86f0f-aade-4d80-9b12-362c57314364/66af4e3ecf72050c196cec8f_60fadaf4a2e81533a1e59ee4_Cessna-L-19-Bird-Dogs--Canadian-Army--James-Craik.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna Bird Dogs of the Canadian Army, likely at Rivers, Manitoba DND Photo via James Craik https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/e97f84b6-6e51-44a0-aa35-e8355cefdfa4/66af4e3ecf72050c196cec92_60fadaf531a0b53311e83a17_Cessna-L-19-Bird-Dogs---DND-Photo-PCN-67-1075.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19 (later model E) Bird Dogs (Serial No. 16733), and (Serial No. 16724) Canadian Army, possibly CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick. Image: (DND Photo PCN 67-1075) via Harold Skaarup, silverhawkauthor.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/6acadf6c-9db4-408f-b614-1a8e3a5cfe87/66af4e3ecf72050c196ceca1_6351a1f3881b14a684e07c5b_e010786685-v8.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19 (later Model E) Bird Dog spotter aircraft, Canadian Army with 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, Germany, 1964. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235776) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/632e644e-c73d-437c-974d-299bc1dd4610/66af4e3ecf72050c196ceca8_60fadaf5dc05e05a53950308_Cessna-L-19-Bird-Dog---Serial-No--16706----Mike-Kaehler.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19A Bird Dog (Serial No. 16706), Canadian Army, ca 1970s. DND image via Mike Kaehler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/5e16f3b4-fce9-4e21-9908-9220a7f18b32/66af4e3ecf72050c196cecb1_60f424b7aefa52121d30d2d8_Cessna-L-19E--Serial-No--16733---Canadian-Army-in-flight.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19 Bird Dog (Serial No. 16733), Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Artillery Spotter Plane in flight over Oromocto, New Brunswick, July 1973. Photo via Shearwater Aviation Museum https://shearwateraviationmuseum.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/580ce1b5-f752-4ef7-b5da-d104d4384580/66af4e3ecf72050c196cecc9_60f801828d7f89564bcb2f98_Cessna-L-19E--Serial-No--16717---Canadian-Army.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Cessna L-19E Bird Dog (Serial No. 16717), Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Artillery Spotter Plane. Photo via Shearwater Aviation Museum https://shearwateraviationmuseum.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/7fca8d13-1772-458c-a25c-f1fdb1cbdd3d/bfae36d350.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: Hangar57.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a9327e38-02d2-4d79-b3d8-b304f3dc4f6a/175bfdb850.jpeg Cessna L19A Bird Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2c00a997-42e1-4dfd-8ac4-4b2fd4532520/Screen+Shot+2024-10-08+at+9.16.16+AM.png Cessna L19A Bird Dog Aircraft Record Card — It's been 70 years since L-10A 16709 (later 119709) was taken on strength with the Canadian Army https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/54aa66d6-a670-4e08-a559-7897bff4c89f/533544281_1995166037984903_4376858077790057379_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/00ddab63-91c8-4bff-97e4-69c7095d7ed9/526911699_1984890009012506_387878849566141146_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/30d727a7-fd64-4dd3-bb16-f45808f6b881/515438701_1978104933024347_1107698291288815611_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4938158c-6939-46d5-a6e4-a8b04f5fc6fd/534900996_1995163757985131_4365051891931442894_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/039479b5-afde-4f7f-8a31-3e586b0c833f/536276521_1995340307967476_5190895436333095139_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/a3d84cc2-4c54-4a05-a755-659b0707f0a7/534940691_1995160094652164_2841714443896605925_n.jpg Cessna L19A Bird Dog Photo: George Szukala https://www.vintagewings.ca/partners daily 0.75 2025-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/2fb5dc91-714a-48db-abc2-28cce2f630b7/RCAF.jpg Partners https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/cab37d6c-6f41-4f2c-a9a6-4e7d032a849f/AeroGatineau.jpg Partners https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/34f1b13f-6c1e-4d43-9dcb-752d4ff0534e/RCAFA.jpg Partners https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/14596919-3b23-4990-9869-30033dc31614/Vintech.jpg Partners https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4d6b1456-b9a4-488b-a2e5-3ef9aba9f8d0/Arnprior.jpg Partners https://www.vintagewings.ca/the-stories daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1620418451276-2V1IJW3TP6UJHFUJAU3H/North+American+P-51Mustang.jpg The Stories STORY AND PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/39edadc4-f005-4e0d-8806-4afe979af84c/CornellTitle.jpg The Stories STORY AND PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/4841c9be-1160-4439-9333-0fb688f57986/HarvardTitle.jpg The Stories STORY AND PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/f461bcc3-275b-4fbc-bb5e-9cfe69a2fd3b/FinchTitle.jpg The Stories STORY AND PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1620418789360-4VP3TCGZX30Z5P99YUGQ/Beaver.jpg The Stories STORY AND PHOTOS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1628805402751-676NPG9UVLJA403BFOSN/FoxMothHome.jpg The Stories - 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Mustang T-Shirt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626896380220-DKJKRARWP94R9KYZNVK7/IMG_4735_1024x1024%402x.jpeg Gear Up Store - Mustang T-Shirt https://www.vintagewings.ca/gear-up-store/p/airplanes-mini-puzzle-100-pcs monthly 0.5 2021-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626896066792-CIMTRCEO6J84E0D78HJ8/8104-0086_1024x1024%402x.jpeg Gear Up Store - Airplanes Mini Puzzle - 100 Pcs https://www.vintagewings.ca/gear-up-store/p/wwii-aircraft-puzzle-300-pcs monthly 0.5 2021-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626895888721-1IF7WVKX6I5VSYTM8SMB/8300-0075_1024x1024%402x.jpeg Gear Up Store - WWII Aircraft Puzzle - 300 Pcs https://www.vintagewings.ca/gear-up-store/p/evolution-of-military-aircraft-puzzle-2000-pieces monthly 0.5 2021-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1626895977234-NHLWH4JZXYBIU2VFEJMH/8220-0578_1024x1024%402x.jpeg Gear Up Store - 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