people and planes · 2019. 7. 5. · stewart robertson -a calgarian in the raf phil black -a...

Dave Birrell

PEOPLE AND PLANESBomber Command Museum of Canada

Stories from thew

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PEOPLE AND PLANESStories from the Bomber Command Museum of Canada

NANTON LANCASTER SOCIETY

TheseStories from the

Bomber Command Museum of Canadaare those of a wide variety of people who all

have a direct connection to the museum.

Through these stories, the history presented atour museum is told –the wartime history of

Bomber Command and the BritishCommonwealth Air Training Plan, the history of

our aircraft, and the history of theBomber Command Museum of Canada itself.

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PEOPLEAND

PLANES

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forThe Ten Thousand

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PEOPLEAND

PLANESSTORIES FROM THE

BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUMOF CANADA

Dave Birrellww

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Copyright Dave Birrell 2006, 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage orretrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing fromthe publisher.

Published byThe Nanton Lancaster Society

Box 1051Nanton, Alberta, Canada

T0L 1R0www.bombercommandmuseum.ca

First Edition, 2006Second Edition November, 2006Third Edition, 2011

Canadian Cataloguing Information

Birrell, DavePeople and Planes -Stories from the Bomber Command Museum of Canada

ISBN 978-0-9680440-6-3

1. Bomber Command Museum of Canada - History - Anecdotes 2. Bombers3. Royal Canadian Air Force - HistoryI. Birrell, Dave II. Title

Front cover photo: The Warren Twins at No. 5 Elementary FlyingTraining School at High River, Alberta in 1941.

Back cover photo: Ex-Air Gunner Doug Penny DFM (left)with museum restoration shop volunteer Charlie Cobband the restored Bristol mid-upper gun turret at the museum’s“Salute to the Air Gunners” event in 2004. [photo: Kathy Taerum]

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CONTENTSINTRODUCTIONLYLE JAMES -Flak over the River CanardIAN BAZALGETTE -An Alberta-born Victoria Cross RecipientGEORGE WHITE, HOWIE ARMSTRONG, AND FRED GARRATT

-A Lancaster for NantonJOCK PALMER -The Grandfather of Alberta AviationALBERT PRINCE -The First of the Ten ThousandAL HYMERS -Sole SurvivorFRANCES WALSH -A Teacher becomes a WW II HeroROY CHADWICK -Architect of WingsMURRAY PEDEN -A Thousand Shall FallHARLO TAERUM -A First Class ManROBERT CLOTHIER

-“Relic’s crew” and Canada’s Bomber Command MemorialBILLY BISHOP -The Clayton Knight CommitteeREG LANE -The Legendary Canadian PathfinderSHERE LOWE -A Dambuster’s DaughterJOE ENGLISH -Operation MannaDOUG CAMERON -122 Operations and three VC PilotsDOUGLAS TWEDDLE -Sinking the TirpitzDON CURRIE -The Real Story about the Bouncing BombSTEWART ROBERTSON -A Calgarian in the RAFPHIL BLACK -A Halifax for the Lancaster MuseumRON GROENEVELD

-Hiding out with the Resistance in Occupied HollandCHARLIE PARKER -The Saga of the Red Deer LancasterBARRY DAVIDSON -Prisoner of WarJONATHAN SPINKS -Airplane HunterMATTHEW FERGUSON -The Greatest Canadian Nose ArtistTHE WARREN TWINS -Nanton’s Spitfire PilotsJOHN LARDIE -The Chaplain on the MotorcycleKEN BROWN -Dambuster PilotNORM ETHERIDGE -Lancaster Restoration EngineerDUKE DAWE AND FRIENDS -Flying FM-159 in the FiftiesPETER ENGBRECHT AND GORDON GILLANDERS -Air GunnersJIM LOVE -The Pennemunde RaidHAMISH MAHADDIE -A Horsethief for the PathfindersJACK ALLAN -Nanton’s Golden HawkJOE McCARTHY -The RCAF’s American DambusterMINNIE SIMCOE -No. 431 Squadron’s MascotRON JENKINS -Ronnie’s Lancaster is Still FlyingMAURICE BRIGGS -F for Freddie -Calgary’s VE Day TragedyJOHNNY FAUQUIER -A Renown Canadian Bomber PilotGLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

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103107115119131135

147151159163167177183195203211219225231233241245249259266

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The Nanton Bomber [ca. 1980]

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INTRODUCTION

BOMBER NEEDS COMMUNITY SUPPORTby Herb Johnson

Nanton News -September 26, 1985Back in the days of World War II, Canadians listened faithfully

each week to a CBC radio program called, “L for Lanky” that followedthe adventures of a squadron of Lancaster Bombers that made regularforays deep into enemy territory.

Each week the fate of one particular Lancaster hung in thebalance as it limped home across the English Channel, guided safelyback to base by a crew that never gave up and supported by someunseen spirit that simply would not let that Lancaster plunge into thesea.

While the parallel may not be precise, Nanton’s LancasterBomber now faces a similar situation. Battered by the elements andsuffering the effects of vandalism, the old girl won’t last too muchlonger without some help.

Help is on the way, but it may not be the kind of assistancelocal citizens are looking for. The bomber is now very rare and a lot ofpeople would like to give her a good home . . . somewhere else.

The town office received a letter, read at Monday’s councilmeeting, from CFB Comox which would like to buy the bomber,suggesting that if a deal could be arranged a Voodoo jet or Starfightermight be found as a replacement.

At the same council meeting, municipal administrator Lila Toddreported she’d received a phone call that same day from a gentlemanin Manitoba who would like to buy the plane.

Just how the situation is handled will depend to a great extenton local involvement in finding a way to restore the bomber to flyingcondition and maintain it in a suitable building.

George White, who along with Howard Armstrong and the lateFred Garratt bought the plane and brought it to Nanton twenty-fiveyears ago has been asked to see if he could form a local society thatwould take on the job.

Right now Mr. White is assessing the extent of local supportand investigating ways of getting the funds and expertise that would beneeded.

Anyone that wants to contribute time and support should get intouch with Mr. White . . .

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We’d borrowed a ladder butGeorge wasn’t sure where the key tothe padlock on the crew door was. Hecouldn’t remember the last timeanyone had been in the airplane. Itwas the spring of 1986 and membersof the fledgling Nanton LancasterSociety were curious. None of usknew anything about Lancasters orBomber Command but it was a neatlooking airplane and we all wanted tosee inside.

It had to be a fairly long ladder because the crew door in the rearfuselage of the airplane was fifteen feet above the fenced off rectangle oflawn below. The Lancaster had been placed on the supports that held it in ahorizontal position in 1963. Other Lancasters that were placed on display hadbeen mounted on concrete plinths. Their floors had been cut away, concretepoured into their bomb bays, and their main wing spars partially cut. Georgeand his friends had mounted the Nanton Lancaster properly so the aircraftwould not be damaged.

George found the key. As we explored the fuselage with flashlights,we found a somewhat dusty but otherwise fairly clean interior. There were noinstruments or interior equipment in the Lancaster. It had all been stolen orvandalized shortly after the aircraft arrived inNanton in the fall of 1960.

Harry Dwelle had done a great job back in1962. He had carefully removed all the brokenplexiglass and covered the turrets and canopy withperfectly shaped pieces of tin. There wasn’t a signthat even a single bird had been able tomanoeuvre its way through Harry’s work. Harryand others had ensured the plane would beprotected.

The following spring we were back insidethe Lanc again, this time getting ready for “OpenBomber Days.” Using tin-snips we cut somerectangular windows in Harry’s cockpit canopy,filling the holes with plexiglass to let some light in.Stairs were built so that the crew door could besafely reached and a ladder placed to access theescape hatch in the bomb aimer’s position in thenose of the aircraft.

“Open Bomber Days” was a huge success.Some seven hundred people of all ages stood in

Pilot’s instrument panel [Spring, 1986]

Installing plexiglass for OpenBomber Days

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long lines to climb up the ladder to reach the cockpit of the Lancaster andthen make their way through the fuselage to the crew door and down thestairway. A few of us were stationed at various locations in the plane to chatwith the visitors. What we found during this weekend was that there was apowerful connection between many of the people and the plane.

Some of the visitors were former Lancaster aircrew. One gentlemanseemed familiar with some aspects of the aircraft and I asked him how heknew about it. He replied that he’d, “flown them a bit.” We later found out thathe had completed 54 operations over enemy territory. We were learning ofthe self-effacing modesty that characterizes those who survived. A formernavigator told us how he manned the fuel selector levers and the flightengineer’s instrument panel while the engineer assisted the pilot with the takeoff. He wanted us to understand the teamwork that was necessary betweenmembers of a bomber crew. Another former Lancaster crewmemberdemonstrated how a fellow crewman, terrified as their aircraft was goingdown, held onto the sides of the door and refused to jump. He stayed with theplane and was killed while his friend survived -one of many stories we heardof terror in the wartime skies. Later in the day two veterans who had been partof the same crew actually met inside the airplane, having not seen each othersince World War II. One had already toured through the plane when henoticed the other’s name in our guestbook. He returned saying, “There’s aguy in here I’ve got to meet,” and there was an emotional reunion inside thefuselage. We were learning of the strong bonds that had formed betweenmembers of a Bomber Command crew.

Jon Spinks assists Open Bomber Days visitors up the stepladderand into the Lancasters’ bomb aimer’s position [Spring, 1987]

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Brothers and sisters ofLancaster aircrew toured through theplane. One lady had lost her brotherduring the war when he was shotdown and killed. He had been anavigator and his sister wanted toknow all about Lancaster navigatorsand what they did. We told her whatwe knew, not much at that time, andpointed out the navigator’s position inthe cockpit. She turned to her friendand said sadly, “Isn’t it nice to knowwhere Henry sat.” We saw a hint ofthe pain that still lingered from a family’s wartime loss and how important theairplane could be to them.

Sons and daughters filed through the aircraft. Many said that theirfather had flown in Lancasters but hadn’t told them anything about his roleduring the war or what it had been like. Some vowed to bring Dad to Nantonso that he could go through the plane with them and tell about his wartimeexperiences. We found that this generation was very interested in learningabout what their parents had gone through.

As one pilot’s son from Calgary went through the plane he asked if hecould work on it, to help restore it. It was heartening to see that people fromoutside Nanton were willing to get their hands dirty and help out. Fred

Touring the Lancaster’s cockpitduring Open Bomber Days

Plexiglass windows placed into Harry Dwelle’s tin cockpit canopy

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Wearing World War II flight jackets, flying helmets, and parachute harnesses,Jon Spinks (left) and Milt Magee welcome visitors to Open Bomber Days

Hollowell has been travelling to Nanton on a regular basis ever since. As partof the Merlin engine restoration team, he watched with pride as the starboard-inner started and the Lancaster came to life during the summer of 2005.

A lady waiting patiently in line pointed up to an engine nacelle andsaid proudly, “I put those rivets in.” She told us what it was like to work in theVictory Aircraft plant in Malton, Ontario with a team that reached the point ofbeing able to roll-out a new Lancaster every day. We learned of the massiveeffort that went into producing Lancasters and other aircraft in Canada duringthe war and the pride felt by the individual workers and the country.

Jon Spinks drove up from Lethbridge to help with Open BomberDays. A history student at the University of Lethbridge, Jon had made usaware of the dozens of Lancasters that had been sold to farmers in southernAlberta following the war. He told us about the British Commonwealth AirTraining Plan stations where Avro Ansons and other training aircraft hadserved and then were sold to farmers as well. Jon showed us how we couldcollect valuable parts from wartime aircraft right in our own back yard. Hethought we should collect training aircraft too and we soon began to do justthat. Although barely out of his teens, Jon was a true enthusiast and had evenapproached the Town of Nanton, prior to the formation of the LancasterSociety, with the hope of buying the Lancaster. Through Jon we learned that

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there were other people who were interested in preserving vintage aircraftand their history.

The people who attended Open Bomber Days in 1987 providedinspiration to the founding members of the Nanton Lancaster Society. We sawthe need and the reason to carry on, to strive to see the Lancaster becomethe centrepiece of a museum that would honour, not the aircraft, but thepeople who contributed to Bomber Command during World War II –the peoplewho built the aircraft, the people who kept them flying, the people who servedwith the BCATP to train the aircrew, and the people who flew. It was a tallorder for a town with a population of fewer than 2000 people.

Although the Society’s initial vision and goals have been met andexceeded, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada continues to operateon the premise that it is the people who lived the history that we present at themuseum that are paramount. Today, visitors to our museum or our websitesoon become aware that a number of individuals are intimately connectedwith the aircraft, artifacts, artwork, and displays in the museum. Through afocus on these remarkable individuals, the museum honours all who served.The stories of forty-three of these people are told in this book.

Visitors descending the recently built stairwayfollowing their Open Bomber Days experience

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LYLE JAMES-Flak over the River Canard

Lyle and Gladys James visited themuseum late one afternoon. As a couple ofus showed them through the museum, welearned that Lyle had flown a tour of 32operations as a Lancaster pilot with No. 101Squadron, Royal Air Force. This was a“Special Duty” squadron and Lyle’s crewincluded a German-speaking radio operatorwho transmitted false orders to enemyfighter pilots.

Later we found out that Lyle hadbeen awarded the Distinguished FlyingCross for his service, the citation reading,“Throughout his operational tour FlyingOfficer James has displayed the utmostdetermination and courage which,combined with skilful airmanship andunfailing devotion to duty have set a commendable example to all. Hehas completed many operational sorties which have included attacksagainst heavily defended targets. His aircraft has been damaged onseven occasions. In spite of this, he has always remained cool andundaunted. While engaged on an attack against Bremen, although therear turret of his aircraft was rendered unserviceable and the mid-upperturret was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, he successfully completed hismission. The following day Flying Officer James participated in a sortieagainst Emmerich. His aircraft was again damaged by anti-aircraft fireand two of the fuel tanks were holed. Yet again he pressed home hisattack and flew his aircraft safely back to base.”

Lyle and Gladys invited us to join them for supper at the localTruck Stop and, over dessert, Lyle told us an incredible, hilarious storythat involved his being shot while training in a Tiger Moth aircraft inOntario. Perhaps he thought we didn’t believe him because afterfinishing his story, he showed us a few bumps on his hand where theshot pellets still remained, five decades later.

Lyle James

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Since this initial visit, Lyle has become an staunch supporter ofthe museum. He remains intensely proud of his crew and haspurchased “square-footer” memberships in each of their names. Theplaques have been placed together on the Square-Footers’ Board atthe entrance to the museum.

“Flak over the River Canard,” the story that we had thepleasure of hearing over dessert in the Nanton Truck Stop, was writtenby Lyle and first published in the April 1996 issue of the Legionmagazine.

The day was November 21, 1942, the place was No. 7 ElementaryFlying Training School, Windsor, Ontario. Course No. 65 of the BritishCommonwealth Air Training Plan was rapidly coming to the end of the eightweeks that had been allocated to turning 36 keen young airmen into pilotssufficiently trained to warrant being passed on to the Service Flying TrainingSchools of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

We had all thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Windsor, myself possiblymore than anyone else, as it was while at No. 7 EFTS that I met Gladys. Itwas a very brief meeting, as a few days later I was posted to Camp Bordenand then overseas. We were married in 1949, and she is still as sweet andpretty as she was in 1942!

The weather had been perfect, the instructors were all superbgentlemen, and the students were among the finest fellows that one couldever have wished to be associated with. By this stage of our training, we hadamassed about 65 to 70 hours of flying time, were very proud of ourselvesand, I suspect, not nearly as good as we thought we were!

Our postings had come through, and those who were to advance totwin-engined aircraft were to be posted to No. 8 SFTS at Centralia on Ansons.Those who would be flying single-engined kites, (Harvards) were posted toNo. 1 SFTS at Camp Borden. I was one of the latter. These postings wereeffective December 6th, and all students were to be given a seven day leavebefore reporting. As most of us had only a couple of assignments to completebefore our course graduated, our commanding officer, Flying Officer Edwards,as a reward for the good record our course had set, decreed that as soon aswe had completed all assignments, we were free to leave! This amounted to afive day bonus and was received by the students with great glee, and forged abond of undying devotion to F/O Edwards!

I needed only a cross-country and my instrument test, and I would beout of there! However November 21st dawned very stormy, with a low ceiling,and poor visibility. Solo flying was washed out, but dual flying with aninstructor in charge was authorized. Therefore, our Flight Commander, Mr.Tommy Calladine, checked me out for a dual cross-country with my instructor,Sgt. Al Boden as safety pilot. The cross-country was to be a triangular one,from Windsor to Leamington, to Amherstburg and back to base. We took offat about 9:00 a.m. in Tiger Moth No. 9660, and I set course on my first leg. So

LYLE JAMES -FLAK OVER THE RIVER CANARD

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far, so good. Then the devil squeezedinto our cockpit, and in his insidiousway, suggested to Sgt. Boden thatinstead of proceeding on a longtedious cross-country we should do alittle unauthorized low flying and enjoyourselves instead! Never loath to alittle fun and excitement, I was awilling accomplice to this plan.

As soon as we were away from the airport, we set course for the river,crossed over into Detroit (strictly taboo!) circled the vast Ford complex atRiver Rouge, then came back out over the Detroit river. Seeing some trafficon the river, we started to buzz whatever we could see, and received somewaves and hand signals, (mostly friendly, but one I remember was in the formof a clenched fist waving most menacingly at us from the bridge of a tugboatwhose super-structure we missed by about three feet). Tiring of this, wespotted some ducks on the water and started chasing them at nought feet. Aswe flew abreast of River Canard, we saw a fairly large group of birds on thewater, close to the shore, and near a large body of marsh reeds. Circling inover the land at about ten feet of altitude we came back towards the flock,diving off most of the ten feet. Just as we crossed the edge of the reed patch,there was a thud, and we were over the birds who, instead of flying off inpanic as the others had done, just sat there, perfectly docile and contented.They were the most realistic decoys I had ever seen!

Pulling up to about thirty feet, I mentioned to Sgt. Boden that we hadhit something with our tail wheel. He thought it had been an engine misfire.However, we decided that we should go back and take a look around. Thatwas our second mistake! As we came around, again at about ten feet off thedeck, and crossed over the decoys, I saw three hunters standing in whatremained of a duck blind. The lower part of it seemed all right, but the wholeupper part of it was gone! I also noticed something else. Each of the huntershad double-barrelled shotguns, which they had brought up to shoulder level,and were aiming right at us! Then, before you could say “Jack Robinson,” Isaw flames come from the barrels of each gun, then felt red hot needleshitting my hand, leg, and most embarrassing, my derriere! From this, Irealized two things. One, that light travels faster than buckshot, and secondly,that we were in deep trouble!

With one volley, the Duck Hunters won the Battle of River Canard, asthat old Tiger Moth left there just like a scared jack rabbit! Climbing to adecent height, we took stock of ourselves. Sgt. Boden had blood runningdown his face from a hit just over his eye, and had fifteen other slugs in him. Ihad come off a little better, only having collected nine pieces of number twobird shot in my carcass. The aircraft was running well, but had over twohundred holes in it that weren’t there when we left the base a half hour before.

De Havilland Tiger Mothphoto: Maynard Norby

STORIES FROM THE BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM OF CANADA

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courtesy Stephen Snider [www.stephensnider.net]


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As I said earlier, F/O Edwards was a most enlightened and understanding c/o,but we were both pretty certain that he was not going to see any humour inthis particular situation. Here I should point out that as the facts stood, wewould be charged with the serious offence of low flying, intentionallydamaging one of His Majesty’s aircraft, and possibly incurring self-inflictedwounds, any one of which could result in a court martial and our beingwashed out of aircrew. Also, if apprehended, a most dire fate awaited theunfortunate hunters. Therefore, it was necessary that we come up with aplausible (but not necessarily truthful) explanation of what had happened. Sgt.Boden, as instructor and aircraft captain was understandably quite concerned,and couldn’t seem to come up with any kind of a plan that would hold waterso I thought up the following story. While it didn’t seem too convincing, it wasthe only one we had.

We had left the base on the preset course for Leamington withmyself, Sgt. Lyle James, flying and navigating, Sgt. Boden acting as safetypilot going along for the ride and to assess my flying and navigational abilities.As stated, the weather was only marginal, with a very low cloud base. As weprogressed, the ceiling lowered to about two hundred feet. Not wishing toabandon the flight, I climbed up into the cloud, and flew for about twentyminutes on a compass course of 135 degrees. At the estimated time ofarrival, I let down through the cloud, and came out over lake Erie, about sixmiles off shore. The cloud base was still about 200 feet, so in accordance withthe King’s Regulation, Air, which states that the minimum height to bemaintained below a cloud level is 65 feet, I started flying a reciprocal courseand we reached the shoreline almost dead on track! As we crossed theshoreline, I felt a stinging sensation in my hands and legs. Sgt. Boden wasbleeding from the face, and we realized that we had been shot! Therefore, Iabandoned the cross-country and returned immediately to Base, where welanded and reported to the commanding officer.

Well, you cannot begin to imagine the consternation that our returncaused! Two wounded aircrew, two hundred holes in 9660, police andreporters all over the place. The two medical officers who, until now hadtreated nothing more serious than hangovers and athlete’s foot, took overand, because Sgt. Boden was bleeding, devoted their attention to him. OurFlight Commander, Mr. Tommy Calladine, an old bush pilot who had flownforestry patrols in Gypsy Moths back in the thirties, seeing me surrounded byall types of questioners, came to my rescue and bundled me into Tiger Moth9657 and away we went for my final instrument test. This suited me fine, as itgot me away from my inquisitioners, and gave me some time to collect mythoughts. However, by this time, the M.O.’s came for me, only to find that Iwas up flying again. They then started to vent their wrath on the system for, intheir words, “sending up a wounded boy for a test, when he should have beenin sick bay.” Mr. Calladine, (whose picture hangs in the 7 EFTS room at theWindsor Air Force Association Club) was kind enough to pass me, and I wasready to go to SFTS.


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courtesy Stephen Snider [www.stephensnider.net]There was, however, the matter of the buckshot to be removed. The

M.O.’s decided that we would be better served at Grace Hospital, Windsor,than in their sick quarters, so away we went in the c/o’s station wagon, noless! At Grace Hospital we received the utmost care and attention, and werethoroughly enjoying ourselves, surrounded by pretty nurses and attentivedoctors. The next day they started removing the slugs, but after taking a fewof them out, the doctors in their wisdom decided that they would do less harmif they were left in us. This turned out to be strictly to our advantage, becauseafterwards, when relating this story and seeing the disbelief of some doubtingThomas, it does help to say, “If you don’t believe me, here is the evidence.”Our stay at Grace came quickly to an end and we left, Sgt. Boden to go backto the base and me, on my interrupted leave, to bask in the notoriety that thisevent had brought me. Needless to say it had been big news, published in allof the national papers right across Canada.

Well, it seemed that all had blown over and we were in the clear.However, I received a telegram ordering me to return to Windsor onDecember 5th for a Court of Inquiry. No sweat. So on the morning of Dec. 5thI crossed over to Port Huron, Michigan and proceeded to hitch a ride toDetroit. This was no problem, as any one in uniform didn’t stand on the side ofthe road very long in the United States! Almost the first car to come along wasa big Chrysler with a rather elderly lady school teacher driving. We had amost pleasant drive to Detroit, and as we were rolling down Gratiot, shedecided she’d like a drink. She was driving in the right lane and promptlywheeled across the intervening lanes, and, so help me, a Buick piled right into


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the side of us! The driver was a big 250 pound individual who was most irate!However, he must have mistaken me for a general in my foreign uniform, forhe immediately started calling me “Sir” and “Your Honour,” assured us that hewas a citizen of good standing, and that he would take care of everything!Agreed! Now, if that lady needed a drink before that, you should have seenher by then! After a couple of whiskey sours she settled down and I caught abus the rest of the way downtown, and from there through the tunnel toWindsor. What a start for the day of my Court of Enquiry!

I immediately reported to the c/o, who informed me that I had doneexceptionally well at No.7 EFTS, and was leaving there with arecommendation for a commission upon graduation, therefore, if I was entirelytruthful in what had actually transpired, all would be well. I assured him thatwas exactly what I intended to be. However, he did not know that I hadalready been out to the hangar, contacted Sgt. Boden, and refreshed ourstory with him.

The Court of Enquiry opened at 2:00 p.m. with Sgt. Boden and myselfon one side of a deal table and F/O Edwards and an LAC clerk on the otherside. I related to him exactly what I had said regarding the trip to Leamington,backed up with the route map that I had started our trip with. Sgt. Bodenverified my statements, and after a rather cursory cross examination, thecourt was over. But now the fun really started! F/O Edwards then told me thatMr. Al Lewis, the chief flying instructor, was going to fly me to Leamingtonwhere an RCMP cruiser was waiting. I was to show Mr. Lewis where theshooting had taken place, he would then buzz the cruiser, and the Mountieswould investigate it. No problem. Mr. Lewis, whose picture also hangs in theWindsor Air Force Club room, was a grand gentleman who was later to losehis life as a flying missionary in Venezuela after the war, took off and we flewdown to Leamington, located the cruiser, then started off for the scene of thecrime.

Now, I had never been to Leamington, (which, incidentally, is aboutforty miles from the River Canard), but I wasn’t unduly worried, as all I had todo was pick out a plausible location, point it out to Mr. Lewis, and leave it upto the Mounties. However, when we crossed the shoreline at the point soneatly delineated on my route map, I was in for both a shock, and a surprise!Instead of a normal lakeshore that would be selected by duck hunters, thispart of the Lake Erie shore was completely filled with the luxurious and well-manicured estates of American millionaires from Detroit! There wasn’t a placewhere a small rabbit could hide, let alone a full size duck blind! What to do?As I frantically scoured the horizon for any spot at all that would be better thanwhat I was looking at, I spotted the only place that would offer salvation. Asmall stream flowed down into the lake, and its ravine had a very tall stand ofscraggly spruce trees and rocks. Tapping Mr. Lewis on the shoulder, I smiledat him as convincingly as possible, and pointed down most emphatically tothis oasis. In short order we were once again over the RCMP cruiser, guided


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them to it, and left for the flight back to base. Acouple of hours after landing, the unbelievablehappened! The Mounties phoned the c/o to tell himthat they had found two freshly fired shotguncasings on the ground of this ravine! Case closed!After receiving the congratulations of all round, I leftfor Camp Borden, never to hear any more of thisadventure that was unique in the training annals ofthe RCAF!

Four years after the war ended, Mr. GerryLynch, an engineer at No.7 EFTS contacted me andturned over the elevator trim tab of 9660 to me. Thisaluminum tab, 10 inches by 2 inches, has twentyholes in it. This gives an indication of the closeproximity of the business end of those shotguns toour poor old Tiger!

In conclusion, I have always been very thankful that this thoughtlessprank did not injure the three hunters who were part of the story. The endingcould have been very tragic had we been a few inches lower! It has alwaysbeen my most sincere wish to someday meet those three gentlemen andapologize for our actions on that far away November day when we ruinedwhat was likely a good day’s hunting for them!

Lyle James with Tiger Moth9660’s trim tab

ADDENDUMDAILY DIARY - No. 7 EFTS; Windsor, Ontario (21/11/1942)

An unusual incident happened today. R111251 Sgt. Boden,A.P., instructor and R90011 Sgt. James, L.F., student, were on across-country flight to Rutliven, Tilbury, and return. At Union it wasnecessary for the pilot to drop the aircraft (Tiger Moth No. 9660) to alow altitude to get an accurate position due to low ceiling. Someoneunknown fired at least two shots at the aircraft with a shotgun. The shotentered the aircraft, the occupants being slightly injured. The pilotreceived about 18 gun shot wounds and the student three or four. Theaircraft was flown back to the station. The damage to the aircraft wasassessed as “C” category. The RCMP and Provincial Police are

Lyle James (back row, fourth from right) and his No. 101 squadron crew


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IAN BAZALGETTE-An Alberta-born Victoria Cross Recipient

Shortly after the formation of theNanton Lancaster Society in 1986, membersbecame aware that a similar, but much moreambitious project was underway in Hamilton,Ontario at the Canadian Warplane HeritageMuseum. This group was restoring a Lancasterto flying condition. An important part of theirplan was that the aircraft would become the“Andrew Mynarski Memorial Lancaster,”dedicated to a Winnipeg native who had beenawarded the Victoria Cross for his braveryduring an operation aboard a Lancaster in1944.

With this in mind a society memberwas at the Nanton Library one evening,browsing through a book that listed all the Canadians who had beenawarded the Victoria Cross and other medals for bravery. We werehoping to find an individual with which the Nanton Lancaster could beassociated. A page was turned and there was a photograph of IanBazalgette, not only another Canadian VC recipient who flewLancasters, but one who had been born in Alberta and only eighty-fivekilometres north of Nanton. Here was the perfect man to associate withthe Society’s objectives that included building a museum, preservingand restoring the Nanton Lancaster Bomber, and honouring all thosewho served with Bomber Command.

But little information could be found about Ian Bazalgette. Likemany other Canadian wartime heroes, he had been virtually forgottenin his home province. There was a mountain named in his honour nearJasper and a school in Calgary, but nothing more could be found outabout him. There were no Bazalgettes in the Calgary phone book andthe project was put on the back-burner.

Over the next two years however, through successful detectivework and good fortune, some wonderful contacts were made. Baz’s(we learned that Ian had been referred to as ”Baz” during his air force

Ian Bazalgette


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career) rear gunner, wireless operator, and flight engineer werecontacted as was his sister, Ethel Broderick. Larry Melling, a fellowpilot from No. 635 Squadron was located as was Hamish Mahaddie,the RAF officer in charge of recruiting and training the “Pathfinders”and who had known Ian well. We even found out that Bazalgetterhymes with “jet” and not “spaghetti.”

And so the markings of S/L Bazalgette’s aircraft, “F2-T,” wereplaced on the Nanton Bomber and on July 27, 1990, with Baz’srelatives, friends, and crewmembers looking on, the Nanton Lancasterwas dedicated and became the “Ian Bazalgette Memorial Lancaster.”Since then, every visitor to the museum has been introduced to IanBazalgette VC DFC and through him, to the courage of all Canadianswho served with Bomber Command during World War II.

Ethel Broderick, Ian Bazalgette’s sister, unveils a plaque at the dedicationof the Ian Bazalgette Memorial Lancaster in 1990

photo: Frank McTighe

IAN BAZALGETTE -AN ALBERTA BORN VICTORIA CROSS RECIPIENT

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“You’ll have to put her down Baz, we’re badly on fire.” FlightEngineer George Turner told his pilot what he must have already known.The bomber was 1000 feet above the ground, the starboard wing was amass of flames and both its engines had been knocked out, and now oneof the port engines had failed.

“Bail out Boys,” ordered the pilot and four parachutes openedbeneath the mortally wounded Lancaster. But before leaving his station,F/S Turner was ordered to fix the pilot’s crash belt tightly around him. Bazhad no intention of bailing out and leaving his two injured crewmemberswho were still aboard. Now alone in the cockpit, the pilot foughtdesperately to control the aircraft.

Baz must have known that the odds of him being able to crash-land the flaming Lancaster on one engine without sustaining serious injuryor having the aircraft explode were very low. Even if this first step wassuccessful, his chances of being able to drag his two woundedcrewmembers from the burning wreckage to safety were probably evenless. Baz’s decision not to escape the burning aircraft with the others waslikely instinctive. He just could not leave his injured crewmembers.

After flying low over the tiny French village of Senates, Bazbanked to port as he descended to attempt a landing. “I could see it all,”said Godfrey, the wireless operator. “He did get it down in a field... but itwas well ablaze and with all the petrol on board it just exploded.” The hugefireball killed the three on board instantly.

Ian Bazalgette was born in Calgary, Alberta. Educated in Ontarioand England, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. By mid-1943 he hadcompleted a tour of thirty operations and been awarded the DistinguishedFlying Cross. He then arranged with Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie tobe assigned to the elite Pathfinder Group which marked targets for themain bomber force and was posted to No. 635 Squadron stationed atDownham Market in Norfolk.

Baz’s crew (l-r) Ian Bazalgette (pilot), Geoff Goddard (navigator), Ivan Hibbert (bombaimer), Chuck Godfrey (wireless operator), Bob Hurnall (mid-upper gunner), Douglas

Cameron (rear gunner), George Turner (flight engineer)F/L Hurnall was not aboard on the Victoria Cross flight,

his place having been taken by F/S V.V. Leeder.


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The target on August 4th,1944 was a V-1 site at Trossy St.Maximin near Paris. It had beenbombed on each of the previous twodays and, as rear gunner DouglasCameron recalled, “A solid sea of flakfilled the width of the bomb run” asBaz approached the target. This flakshot down the Master and DeputyMaster Bombers as they approachedthe target, leaving Baz with theresponsibility of placing the targetmarkers. Flak then struck thestarboard wing setting it on fire andknocking out both engines. Despitethe damage and risk of explosion,Bazalgette stuck with his course and successfully marked the target beforespinning. Regaining control, he turned west toward the Allied lines. The firesin the starboard wing continued to burn and then the port engine failed. “Icould not believe my eyes,” Doug Cameron remembered, “The starboardwing was like a herringbone after all the flesh has been eaten off it. I couldhardly believe we were still flying. I knew we were a doomed aircraft.” At 1000feet, with no hope of regaining altitude on a single engine, the Lancaster’sstarboard wing ablaze, and two wounded crewmembers on board, Bazalgettegave the order to bail out.

F/S Larry Melling DFC joined No. 635 Squadron about a month afterIan. He clearly recalls being impressed by him on his first day at the squadronwhen he walked into the flight office. “He had a tremendous sparkle in his eyeis the best way to describe it. He stood out amongst the people who werethere. He was an inviting sort of a person, a person that you wouldn’t hesitateto approach. He was always the first to volunteer for a job, no matter whatsort of job it might be. Even though he was a Squadron Leader he wasn’tabove pushing a car to get it startedor pumping up someone’s bicycletire.”

Douglas Cameronremembers Ian Bazalgette as, “anofficer who was equally at home withhis peers and other ranks; whoearned the respect of all by hispursuance of carrying the offensive tothe enemy; who won the affectionand gratitude of his subordinates forhis care and promotion of their

V-1 Flying Bomb being launched

(l-r) George Turner, Chuck Godfrey, andLarry Melling at the dedication ceremony in


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welfare, not less than the approval ofhis fellow and senior officers.”

Ian kept a bible by his bedduring his days in the Royal Air Forceand had other interests which weregenerally not shared by hiscontemporaries on the squadron.One of these was collecting classicalmusic, upon which he had writtenessays while at school prior to thewar. He was a connoisseur,comparing different orchestras andconductors before choosing arecording. He wanted each work inhis collection to be performed by themusicians he felt were most suited to the particular piece of music and to thecomposer.

Ian’s sister, Ethel Broderick, remembers that her brother, who thefamily referred to as “Will,” was very enthusiastic about gardening, inparticular flowers. He planted all the roses in their mother’s garden and, “wasalways very keen to see how they were doing when he came home on leave.”She recalled that when she visited the site where her brother’s Lancaster hadexploded, “the plane bits were scattered everywhere but all amongst it werethese purple crocuses. I think it was the heat of the explosion that hadbrought them up. With Will’s interest in flowers it was lovely that they werethere. It gave me a wonderful feeling that this had happened for him.”

Ethel mentioned an example of Ian’s more flamboyant side. “I waswith the American Eighth Air Force stationed near Ascot and one morning abomber came over, very low, buzzingthe camp and I just knew it was Will.Out came the General and all theothers and they were looking up atthis aircraft. That evening Will calledme and asked, “Did you see me?” It’sa wonder they didn’t take his numberor something because it was quitewrong what he did actually. But thatwas his sense of humour.”

Clearly, Ian Bazalgette was awell-rounded individual, an exemplaryRoyal Air Force officer, a talentedpilot, and a gifted leader who exudedconfidence. Off duty, he could relatewell with and enjoy the company of

Ian Bazalgette with his mother, Marion

Charles Bazalgette, Ian’s nephew (left), withDeryck Bazalgette, Ian’s older brother, and

Deryck’s wife Ruth next toThe Ian Bazalgette Memorial Lancaster


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his fellow airmen and ground crew. Privately, he had his own challengingcultural interests that he pursued and probably sought comfort in, especiallyduring his terrifying wartime duties.

S/L Bazalgette’s Victoria Cross citation concludes by noting, “Hisheroic sacrifice marked the climax of a long career of operations against theenemy. He always chose the more dangerous and exacting roles. Hiscourage and devotion to duty were beyond praise.”

Following the explosion of the aircraft, citizens of the Senantes areahid the remains of S/L Bazalgette from the occupying Nazis. After theliberation of their village, permission was obtained to bury Baz in theirchurchyard. A ceremony was held at which Ian’s sister was present. Sincethat time the citizens of Senanteshave cared for the grave andregularly held cermonies to honourS/L Bazalgette’s memory.

On the sixty-fifth anniversaryof the Victoria Cross Flight, the Townof Nanton and the museum werepleased to host a delegation from theVillage of Senantes. During their visit,the mayors of Senantes and Nantonsigned a twinning document that,"acknowledges that a firm bond existsbetween the two communities," andrefers to the hope that S/L BazalgetteVC, "will not be forgotten and that a special relationship between the citizensof the two communities will continue to develop into the future."

“Beyond Praise -Baz over Senantes” by Len Krenzler


Christian Gavelle, Mayor of Senantes andJohn Blake, Mayor of Nanton, signing the

Twinning Agreement.[pnoto: Ian Watson ]

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GEORGE WHITE, HOWIE ARM-STRONG AND FRED GARRATT

-A Lancaster for Nanton

The Bomber Command Museum of Canada is the legacy ofGeorge White, Howard Armstrong, and Fred Garratt, three prominentNanton citizens of their day. They were visionaries. While others sawan old aircraft as scrap aluminium -a source of pots and pans, George,Howie, and Fred saw it instead as a tourism attraction, a memorial, andperhaps some day, even more.

George had the idea. He was a soft-spoken farmer andrancher who lived west of town near the foothills on land his family hadhomesteaded. He always had a weakness for airplanes. This interestmay have been kindled during the war when pilots training at thenearby No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School at High River landedTiger Moths on the family farm in order to visit his sister. The pilots, ofcourse, were supposed to be practicing flying not visiting girls, so inorder to burn off the necessary fuel they would chock the wheels andleave the engine running while they chatted with George’s sister.Eventually George obtained his private pilot’s license but was generally

George White Howie Armstrong Fred Garratt


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GEORGE WHITE, HOWIE ARMSTRONG, AND FRED GARRATT -A LANCASTER FOR NANTON

too busy with the farm work to domuch flying.

When George mentionedhis scheme to Howie Armstrong,the response was an instant,“Count me in.” Howie ownedArmstrong’s Department andVariety Store in Nanton. It was hisidea to declare that the springwater that was piped to town fromthe nearby foothills was,“Canada’s Finest Drinking Water.”The title was never disputed andHowie’s declaration led to Nantonacquiring the nickname “Tap-Town” after he and friends madethe water available to passing motorists. This, in turn, led to NantonWater Ltd. becoming one of the first companies in Canada to bottle andsell drinking water. Howie was a tireless promoter of the town and hisefforts directed towards acquiring the Lancaster and “The Tap” wereonly two of many initiatives he took to champion the town he loved.

Fred Garratt operated McKeague and Garratt Hardware inNanton with George McKeague. Like Howie, Fred needed littleencouragement to get involved.When the Lancaster was beingvandalized and thieves werestealing anything of value from theinterior, it was Fred who workeddiligently to try to protect theaircraft.

In 1986, when no oneseemed to know what to do withthe Nanton Lancaster, GeorgeWhite took the lead in organizingthe Nanton Lancaster Society. Hebecame its founding president andcontinued to play an active role onthe Board of Directors until hisdeath in 2003. Howie Armstrongwas a strong supporter as welluntil he passed away the followingyear. The official sod-turning for the

construction of the museum in 1991(l-r) George White, Kay Garratt (Fred’s

widow), and Howie Armstrong

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Lancaster FM-159 being prepared for its trip to Nanton at theRoyal Canadian Air Force base southwest of Vulcan

During the spring of 1960, a number of Royal Canadian Air ForceB-25 Mitchell bombers were flown into the RCAF base near Claresholm,Alberta to be stored pending disposal. After hearing of the availability of theseaircraft, George White wrote a letter to Crown Assets Disposal Corporationdated June 30, 1960 inquiring as to the possibility of acquiring a B-25 as atourist attraction and memorial for the Town of Nanton. Crown Assets repliedthat indeed a B-25 was available and, in fact, was “all tuned up and ready togo.” However the cost of $2500 was more than George had planned on.Crown Assets advised that as an alternative, George might consider one of anumber of Lancasters that were due to be put up for tender in the near futureat the RCAF base southwest of Vulcan, Alberta.

During World War II, the Vulcan base had been the home of No. 19Service Flying Training School and No. 2 Flying Instructor School. When theschools closed down in April 1945, the station became a long term storagefacility from which a great many aircraft were sold as surplus. Still in use in1959, RCAF Vulcan was to receive four recently retired No. 407 SquadronLancasters. FM-159 was one of these and on Feb. 12, 1959 a civilian crewflew the aircraft from Calgary and FM-159 touched down for the last time atthe old aerodrome. The other three Lancasters that were to be disposed ofwere KB-894, KB-949, and FM-136. By March 16th the engines andpropellers had been removed and placed in storage and the airframes werestored as well, awaiting uncertain futures.

But luck was with Lancaster FM-159. The Nanton delegation made anoffer of $513 for the aircraft and it was accepted on August 11th with the


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Lancaster FM-159 fording the Little Bow River

aircraft to be made available on September 1. Later a group in Calgarypurchased FM-136 but no interest was shown in KB-894 and KB-949. Theywere eventually broken up on the ramp and scrapped.

George recalled that since the Lancaster’s main wheels were too farapart to permit travelling along the roads and telephone poles might pose aproblem as well, the first thing that had to be done was to plan a route throughthe fields and secure the permission of the farmers along the way. George ledthis project and with the help of a few others the planning was completed. Thetransfer of FM-159 to Nanton was then forced to wait until the crops were allharvested. Finally on September 27th, a crew of Nanton volunteers arrived atthe base to take possession of the aircraft and escort it to its new home.

Archie Clark of Nanton had considerable experience moving largevehicles and was hired to do the towing. The tail wheel was firmly secured onthe back of one of his trucks and the bomber was towed backwards on itsmain wheels with two logging chains fastening the landing gear to the rear ofthe truck for additional safety. Two fencing crews were organized, one to takedown the barbed wire fences ahead of the aircraft and a second to put themback up again after the Lancaster had passed. Forbes Henry and AlmerKjinserdahl bulldozed crossings over the deeper roadside ditches where itwas necessary. Sheldon Wilson, Gerald Loree, and others left their farm workat a busy time to give a hand, one of Gerald’s jobs being to ride on top of the


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aircraft to help ease it undertelegraph lines. One of the moreinteresting challenges along the routewas when FM-159 had to descendinto the valley of the Little Bow River,through a ford, and up the other side.

Late in the day, FM-159passed between the south end ofSilver Lake and Mosquito Creek andreached the Canadian PacificRailway’s tracks just three kilometresnorth of Nanton where the strange procession stopped for the night. Thepermit from the railway to cross the tracks had been issued for the nextmorning. Fred Garratt and others kept guard over the Lancaster through thenight.

Early the following morning the bomber was pulled across the tracksand up onto Highway No. 2. It was smooth sailing from there andtriumphantly, but likely somewhat uncomfortably, Lancaster FM-159 enteredthe Town of Nanton and was parked by the side of the highway.

When the aircraft arrived in Nanton it was complete and could haveflown had the engines and propellers not been removed. Two years later itwas a gutted shell, thieves having removed the instruments and interiorequipment and vandals having broken the cockpit, turrets, and bomb aimer’sperspex, and torn the fabric of the control surfaces. The aircraft was on theedge of town at the time and despite efforts by Fred Garratt and others, therewas no stopping the vandalism.

Lancaster FM-159 preparing to cross therailway tracks just north of Nanton,

with Silver Lake beyond at right

Lancaster FM-159 arriving in Nanton [September 28, 1960]


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In 1962, a group of volunteers led by George, Howie, and Fred beganto put FM-159 back on the road to recovery from its sorry state. Engines andpropellers were purchased and installed. The aircraft was placed on steelmounts, its tail high in the air to limit access. Fortunately those in charge tookthe time to ensure that the aircraft would not be damaged. Steel mounts werefabricated and the aircraft continued to rest on its landing gear.

Harry Dwelle fabricated aluminum “windows” to cover the brokenperspex. This was most important as bird droppings cause rapid corrosion toan aluminum airplane. Ray McMahon, together with his family and friends,repaired the exterior as much as possible and painted the aircraft.

George White, Howie Armstrong, and Fred Garratt then donated theLancaster to the Town. Over the following twenty years volunteers andservice clubs did what they could to keep FM-159 looking its best as millionsof people drove by on Highway No. 2 and the “Nanton Bomber” became asymbol for the town.

Ray McMahon was a devoted volunteer during the 1960’s and 1970’s


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JOCK PALMER-The Grandfather of Alberta Aviation

The museum’s 2002 special event wasa, “Salute to the British Commonwealth AirTraining Plan.” The “Plan” had been one ofCanada’s major contributions to the war effort.At its peak, 94 schools were operating at 231sites across the country, 10,840 aircraft wereinvolved, and the ground organizationnumbered 104,113 men and women. 3000trainees graduated each month. With themassive presence in the country of theBCATP, the Royal Canadian Air Force was theservice of choice for tens of thousands ofyoung Canadians. A total of 131,553 aircrewwere trained in Canada, 55% of themCanadians. As the war progressed, this majorcommitment to the war overseas, and inparticular to Bomber Command, inevitablyexacted a very heavy toll in Canadian casualties during operations.

As part of the museum’s commemoration, there was a specialfocus on No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School that operated at HighRiver, just 25 kilometres north of Nanton, from June 1941 until October1944. The one name that seemed to dominate the story of No. 5 EFTSwas that of “Jock Palmer” and we were pleased to have his family joinus for our event and unveil a model of “Jock’s School” at High River.

Aviation in High River began with the establishment of aCanadian Air Force base northeast of the town in 1921. When wordspread that the base was to be built, some of the town’s citizens werevery concerned. One was quoted in the High River Times aswondering, “Have you figured out what you would do if you weredriving along a road with a nervous horse and an aeroplane from theHigh River Aerodrome suddenly swooped down and frightened thehorse into a runaway that smashed your wagon and injured the animaland yourself?” However the base was established. Four former WorldWar I hangars were erected, and with the presence of ten aircraft the

Jock PalmerDrawing by Irma Coucill

[Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame]

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JOCK PALMER -THE GRANDFATHER OF ALBERTA AVIATION

station was the largest in Canada. Its main purpose was to patrol thenearby foothills and mountains with the hope of spotting any forest firesin their early stages.

Although the air force had left in 1931, the hangars were still inplace when Jock Palmer and No. 5 EFTS were transferred from theiroriginal base at Lethbridge to the High River field in June 1941. Initially,Tiger Moths were used as primary trainers but they were replaced byFairchild Cornells in late 1942. Jock and his fellow instructors did well,graduating a total of 106 classes and overseeing in excess of 250,000flying hours during the existence of the school.

John Enderby “Jock” Palmer was born in Cambridge, England in1898 and moved to Lethbridge in 1905. It is said that in 1911 he watched asE.B. Ely’s Curtis biplane was assembled at the Exhibition Grounds for whatwas the first flight of an aircraft in Lethbridge.

In October 1914, Jock joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forceserving in the 10th Battalion. He was awarded the Distinguished ConductMedal for gallantry as a corporal machine gunner at Festubert in May 1915. InJune 1916, Jock was wounded and when released from hospital, transferredto the Royal Flying Corps. After becoming a pilot, he flew observation aircraftover the trenches inFrance, and wascredited with nine“Victories” over enemyaircraft. In 1917 and1918, he instructed inEngland where he alsoflew channel patrolflights. Upon theformation of the RoyalAir Force, he wasautomatically transferredand served with the RAFuntil November 1919,when he returned toLethbridge.

Between the wars, Jock flew extensively as a barnstormer,commercial pilot, and instructor. From 1920 until 1922, he was involved withthe Lethbridge Aircraft Company, test flying the company’s Curtiss JN-4 afterit arrived in the city by train. He then proceeded to take passengers for flightsand gave a flying exhibition over the city to advertise the Locklear film, “TheGreat Air Robbery” that was showing at a local theatre. He was issued withCommercial Pilot Certificate #64 in September 1920. By the end of 1921, theLethbridge Aircraft Company reported that they had flown over 30,000 milesduring the year and that they would be giving up exhibition flying in favour of

(l-r) Lieutenants Macdonald, Jock Palmer, and Hay in 1916 or 1917

Glenbow Archives [na-3206-7]

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operating a school to train new pilots.In 1922, Jock organized the first mail plane flight from Lethbridge to

Ottawa to advertise the City of Lethbridge and promote his company’s flyingschool. However, the aircraft was wrecked in Minot, North Dakota when a carwas driven in front of it during a landing. An investigation revealed that the carhad been operated by a woman learning to drive and that she was unawarethat she had driven in front of the airplane.

Palmer had learned about radio during the war and in 1926 heobtained a license for the first radio station in Lethbridge, forming apartnership with Bill Grant to get a license. He was assigned the call lettersCJ by the license office and used the letters OC to make it sound like hisnickname, “Jock.” CJOC radio began its broadcasts from the kitchen of Jock’smother’s house but was soon moved to a shed behind the house. He sold thestation in 1928 but it continues to broadcast today.

In 1927, Jock returned to flying with Lethbridge Commercial Airways.He appears to have had lots of interesting ideas to promote his business. Forexample, on September 12, 1927, in order to publicize a weekly flight toWaterton National Park, Jock dropped tickets over the City of Lethbridge. Theperson who picked up the winning ticket was to receive a free flight toWaterton. Another money-maker was advertising for the local brewery byhaving, “Drink our Beer -Without a Peer” painted on the bottom of his wing.

Jock flew the first six-place cabin plane to be operated in westernCanada. It was purchased by Emil Sick of the Associated Breweries and forsome time they operated the plane for the brewery. Jock then moved toCalgary, flying with Great Western Airways until 1930. Later he formed twocompanies of his own, Western Flying Service and Skyways, but both fellvictim to the difficult economic times. In 1937, he moved to the Windermerearea where he spent sixweeks cutting down over200 trees and grading arunway. With others, heoperated a flying servicein the Columbia Valleyuntil the war broke out.

After his yearsas a barnstormer andcommercial pilot he wasable to claim to haveflown 98 types of aircraftwhen he joined theRoyal Canadian AirForce when war brokeout again. He attendedFlying Instructor School Jock Palmer [ca. 1930]



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The original instructors at No. 5 Elementary FlyingTraining School in Lethbridge, Alberta [1940]

(l-r) Joe Patton, Homer Thomson, Bill Roy, Jock Palmer, Bill Smith, Ken Piper, Frank Hawthorne, Fred Lasby


in Trenton, Ontario in June and July, 1940 and became one of the eightoriginal flight instructors at the newly formed No. 5 Elementary Flying TrainingSchool in Lethbridge.

When the school was transferred to High River, Jock went with it anda newspaper article written when it opened indicates that he was by then theassistant chief flying instructor. The article goes on to say that Jock, “isbelieved to have rolled up the highest number of flying hours of anyone inCanada. He has officially logged 9782 hours and put in about 1500 morehours that he didn’t take time to log.

On October 26, 1943 Jock Palmer was awarded the Air Force Cross,a medal presented to officers and warrant officersfor an act or acts of valour, courage, or devotionto duty whilst flying but not in active operationsagainst an enemy. The citation read, “Havingbeen connected with flying training for the pasttwenty years, this officer, for the past two years,has capably fulfilled his duties as assistant chiefflying instructor and chief flying instructor. Hisexperience and unfailing devotion to duty haveinspired confidence and respect in both traineesand Instructors. Through his untiring efforts aschief flying instructor all courses graduated ontime with all sequences completed despite thedifficulties that had to be overcome.”

Jock went on to serve as thecommanding officer of the school for a time. TheNo. 5 EFTS History notes that he, “was well-known and liked by all the staff and by hundreds

Jock Palmer at High River [1941]


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Tiger Moth at No. 5 EFTSThe De Havilland Tiger Moth was used as a

primary trainer at the school from itsopening in early 1940 until late in 1942.

Cornells at No. 5 EFTSThe Fairchild Cornell replaced the Tiger

Moth and was used at High River until theschool closed in the fall of 1944.

of students who passed through his hands.”After the war Jock remained at High River where he had an electrical

business. He ended his flying career in 1955 with over 18,000 hours,receiving the unofficial title, “Grandfather of Alberta Aviation”. In 1988, he wasinducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

Looking south to No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School [1943 or 1944]

Looking southwest to the Town of High Riverfrom the roof of a No. 5 EFTS hangar


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This model of No. 5 Elementary Flying School at High River, Alberta was builtfor the museum by Larry and Debra Kunz of St. Gregor, Saskatchewan

Members of Jock Palmer’s family at themuseum’s “Salute to the BCATP” in 2002

photo: Bob Evans


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ALBERT PRINCE-The First of the Ten Thousand

To commemorate the sixtiethanniversary of the beginning of World War II, itwas decided that the museum should honourthe first of the approximately 10,000 Canadianswho were killed while serving with BomberCommand. Determining that the individual wasAlbert Stanley Prince was straightforwardenough. Finding his family that we hopedwould participate in the commemoration wasmore difficult and required some good fortune.

According to “They Shall Grow NotOld,” the wonderful book published by theCommonwealth Air Training Plan Museumlocated in Brandon, Manitoba, F/S Prince wasfrom Vancouver, British Columbia. So wecontacted Don Currie, a long-time museumsupporter and former No. 635 Squadronnavigator living in North Vancouver and askedhim to see what he could do. Don went throughall the Vancouver newspapers of the day butcould find no mention of Albert Prince. Othersfrom Vancouver who had been killed during theearly weeks of the war were mentioned, but notPrince.

Don then contacted John Mackie of theVancouver Sun. With the hope that there mightstill be family members in the city, Mackiewrote an article in which he asked his readers for information about theperson that we thought must have been the city’s first casualty of thewar. His call was answered by Jim Foster of Squamish, BritishColumbia who was Albert Prince’s cousin. We were, of course,delighted to have had the good fortune to have contacted a familymember but later we were to learn that we were much luckier than wehad thought we had been.

Albert Stanley Prince

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It turned out that Prince wasn’t from Vancouver at all and hadnever even visited the city. He was from Montreal and it was onlythrough a lucky coincidence that his cousin Jim was living in theVancouver area and had noticed the newspaper article. Jim was ableto put the museum in contact with Bill Prince of Stoke-On-Trent,England. Bill had been a very young child when his father had beenkilled attacking the German battleship, “Admiral Scheer” on September4, 1939.

Bill provided us with wartime photos and information about hisfather. Together with his wife Margaret, he joined us in Nanton for thespecial event honouring his father on September 4, 1999, exactly sixtyyears after his death. The museum’s display honouring his father wasmade more special when Bill presented his father’s wings andsquadron crest to be added to it.

Four years later, the museum was contacted by theDepartment of Veterans Affairs in Ottawa who had come across ourinformation about Albert Prince on our website. They thanked us forbringing him to their attention as his name had, for some unknownreason, never been entered into the Books of Remembrance in thePeace Tower.

So as well as having Albert Prince’s name finally entered intothe Books of Remembrance, we were pleased that we had focusedsome attention on this brave Canadian who had been the first of tenthousand of our countrymen to be killed servingwith Bomber Command during World War II.

The following article was first publishedin the Summer-1999 issue of Airforcemagazine.

The fifteen young men of No. 107Squadron sat in their flying gear as the messagefrom the King was read. It was meant to inspirepatriotism and confidence. “The Royal Air Forcehas behind it a tradition no less inspiring thanthose of the older Services, and in the campaignwhich we have now been compelled to undertakeyou will have to assume responsibilities far greaterthan those which your service had to shoulder inthe last war… I can assure all ranks of the air forceof my supreme confidence in their skill andcourage, and in their ability to meet whatever callsmay be made upon them.”

By the end of the day, four of the fiveaircraft which set out from RAF Wattisham on thesquadron’s first operation of the war had been

F/S Prince in hisflight suit

ALBERT PRINCE -THE FIRST OF THE TEN THOUSAND

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destroyed and one of the pilots had become the first of almost ten thousandCanadians to be killed while serving with Bomber Command during theSecond World War.

Albert Stanley Prince was born in Montreal, Quebec on November 22,1911, the son of Eliza and Harold Braithwaite Prince who had seen servicewith the Royal Highlanders of Canada. Following the Great War, the familymoved to Neston, in England. Albert’s late grandfather had operated thewater works for the town which is near the Irish Sea, just north of the WelshBorder. Albert’s father took over his duties of water works engineer for thelocal Council.

Known as “Nab” to the family, Albert attended Caldey GrangeGrammar School. A tall, athletic looking young man, he played tennis andcaptained the Nestor Nomads football team. After completing his schooling,he spent seven years working for the Neston Council, performing variousclerical duties. Highly thought of by his employers, he was presented with anengraved gold watch and cufflinks upon his resignation in 1935 following hisdecision to join the Royal Air Force.

After initialtraining at Bristol, Princeattended the MartinSchool of Navigation atShoreham by Sea wherehe trained on the twin-engined De HavillandDragon Rapide aircraft.He married WinifredMary on November 21,1936 and the couple hada son, William.

As a pilot with“B” Flight, No. 107Squadron, Royal AirForce, F/S Prince wasbased at Wattisham,Suffolk. Granted leaveon August 15, 1939, he returned to base on September 2nd, listened to newsof war being declared on the 3rd, and was ordered to fly on the first bombingoperation of the war on the 4th. The squadron operated Bristol Blenheim IVaircraft which, with its distinctive scalloped nose, was one of four twin-enginedbombers which were ready for action at the beginning of the war. Togetherwith the Wellington, Hampden, and Whitley, they would carry the load forBomber Command until the four-engined Stirlings, Halifaxes, and Lancasterstook over.

F/O Andrew McPherson and crew were the first members of the RAF

Albert Prince (right) at the Martin School of Navigation


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to fly into enemy airspace. Their reconnaissance flight in a No. 139 SquadronBlenheim on the day war was declared had observed the German pocketbattleship Admiral Scheer, cruiser Emden, and other warships anchored atthe German naval base at the entrance to Wilhelmshaven on Germany’snorth coast. Flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet, the crew also confirmed thatthe ships were well away from shore so that there was no risk of enemycivilians being injured or killed, an important consideration during the openingstages of the war. No. 2 Group of Bomber Command issued orders thatfifteen Blenheims were to attack the warships, five from each of No. 107, No.110, and No. 139 Squadrons.

The morning of September 4, 1939 was cloudy over southernEngland and as the message from the King was read the skies had becomeheavily overcast and stormy with a strong northwest wind. Shortly before thescheduled take-off, deteriorating weather required changing the alreadyloaded bombs to 500 pounders with 11.5 second delay fuses so that thecrews could attack at a low level and by doing so, ensure that no bombswould fall on land where civilians might be injured. Together with the otherfour crews from No. 107 Squadron, F/S Prince took off from RAF Wattishamat 16:00 hours. His aircraft was serial #N6240 and carried the markingsOM-K.

Weather conditions were unchanged over the English Channel as thefifteen aircraft of Bomber Command flew just above the wave-tops throughmist and cloud, struggling to see during periods of heavy, continuous rain.The five aircraft from No. 139 Squadron jettisoned their bombs and turnedback after failing to locate the warships.

However the No. 110 squadron aircraft found the targets. P/O SelbyR. Henderson from Winnipeg, Manitoba was the navigator in the lead aircraftand, as he sat in the very nose of the aircraft, was the first member of BomberCommand into action during World War II. His pilot, Squadron Leader K.C.Doran, led the attack as the five Blenheims attacked the enemy warships atlow level.

The Germansailors likely mistook theattacking aircraft forLuftwaffe Ju-88’s until theRAF markings becameapparent. Clearlysurprised, the ships’crews were later reported,“to have looked up as ifwatching an airshow.”The Blenheims hit theAdmiral Scheer with atleast four bombs, none of

This drawing of the RAF attack on German warships atWilhemshaven appeared in the Illustrated

London News shortly after the raid


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which exploded probably because of the extremely low altitude of the attackand the battleship’s thick armour plating. Later, S/L Doran gave an interviewin which he described the raid as follows: “We could see a German warshiptaking on stores from two tenders at her stern. We could even see somewashing hanging on the line. Undaunted by the washing, we proceeded tobomb the battleship. Flying at 100 feet above mast height all three aircraft inthe flight converged on her. I flew straight ahead. The pilot of the secondaircraft came across from one side, and the third crossed from the other side.When we flew over the top of the battleship, we could see the crews runningfast to their stations. We dropped our bombs. The second pilot, flying behind,saw two hit. We came round, and the ship’s pom-poms began to fire as weheaded for home. My navigator saw shells bursting almost on the tail of theaircraft.”

S/L Doran had bombed accurately, two of his bombs hitting thebattleship. The first became imbedded in the armour-plated deck and thesecond bounced off, neither exploding. A second aircraft scored a direct hit aswell only to see its bomb bounce harmlessly off the ship’s thick armour. Theenemy reacted quickly and the remaining aircraft of No. 110 Squadron cameunder fire. Blenheim N6199 was struck by flak and crashed directly into thebow of the cruiser Emden killing all four aboard the aircraft. The pilot, by wayof a remarkable coincidence, was F/O H.L. Emden. The impact resulted in theGerman Navy’s first casualties of the war as nine sailors aboard the warshipwere killed as well. As the four surviving No. 110 Squadron Blenheimsheaded for their base Albert Prince and the No. 107 Squadron aircraft

“The First of the Ten Thousand” [A commissioned painting by John Rutherford]


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prepared to attack.There was no

element of surprisewhen F/S Prince arrivedover the target. TheGerman flak was heavyand well directed. Threeof the four bombers thatattacked were shot downduring their low levelbombing runs. AGerman witnessreported the fate of afourth: “The crew of oneBlenheim attacked atsuch a low level that theblast of their own bombon the warship destroyed the RAF aircraft.” Apparently the delay fuse musthave malfunctioned.

With its bombs still on board, a single No. 107 Squadron aircraftreturned to base after being unable to find the target, landing safely atWattisham. A Blenheim wireless operator/air gunner later recalled, “Therewas tremendous excitement when “A” Flight (No. 110 Squadron) returned andconsternation when the lone Blenheim of No. 107 landed. It occurred to usaircrew that if this was to be the pattern of future operations we were in for avery short career.”

The aircraft flown by Albert Prince was one of the three that appear tohave been shot down by flak. In an interview with a German journalist, F/SG.F. Booth, Prince’s observer (navigator) whose position was in the nose ofthe Blenheim, was asked, “if he noticed how the aircraft was brought down.”He answered, “We hit something…I was looking forward. I just saw the waterand heard the crash.”

It appears that the aircraft went down quickly but Prince must havehad some control as the bomber was ditched in the harbour. All threecrewmembers were successful in getting out of the aircraft and were pickedup by a pilot boat. But Prince had been mortally injured and died later inhospital. Booth suffered a broken foot and the wireless operator/air gunner,AC1 L.G. Slattery, had his jaw dislocated when his face was dashed againstthe machine gun in his turret. F/S Booth and AC1 Slattery become the firstallied Prisoners of War and remained in confinement until liberated fromStalag 357 by Allied forces in the spring of 1945, five years and eight monthslater.

The enemy honoured F/S Prince and the fifteen other RAF aircrewwho died during the raid with full military funerals. Their coffins were draped

German naval personnel inspect the wreckage ofF/S Prince’s aircraft (Blenheim 6240) after it

was recovered at Wilhelmshaven


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with the Union Jack and taken by hearse to the grave site in GeestemundeCemetery. A naval honour guard stood at attention as they were interred.Later, their remains were transferred to Becklingen War Cemetery at Soltau,Germany.

Initial reports stated that the raid was somewhat successful in that theEmden was put out of action for two or three months although the AdmiralScheer appears to have escaped unscathed.

However the raid had provided the British public with the first heroesof the war. The Ministry of Information reported that the Blenheim pilots andcrews were, “proud to have been chosen to strike the first blow at the Germanwar machine.” F/O McPherson, the Blenheim reconnaissance pilot, and S/LDoran were awarded the war’s first Distinguished Flying Crosses.

The first Canadian serving with Bomber Command to be killed duringWorld War II, Albert Prince was also the first Canadian casualty in any of theservices. Before the war in Europe ended over five and one half years later,some ten thousand young Canadian aircrew had been killed serving withBomber Command in what has been described as the most continuous and

The Germans held a full military funeral for F/S Princecomplete with an honour guard. Chivalry played a role in the

early days of World War II. The RAF aircrews avoidedtargets where civilians might be injured.


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F/S Prince’s wings, squadron badge, and identification tagsare on display at the museum

Bill Prince, son of F/S Albert Prince, speaks atthe museum’s commemoration of“The First of the Ten Thousand”


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AL HYMERS-Sole Survivor

The statistics regarding those whoserved with Bomber Command are daunting.Ofevery 100 airmen who joined BomberCommand, 45 were killed, 6 were seriouslywounded, 8 became Prisoners of War, andonly 41 escaped unscathed (at leastphysically). Of the 120,000 who served, 55,573were killed including over 10,000 Canadians.Of those who were flying at the beginning ofthe war, only ten percent survived. During theRCAF's Halifax operations between March1943 and February 1944, the average loss ratewas 6.05%, producing a mere 16% survivalrate (for a tour of 30 operations).

When a bomber went down overenemy territory, fewer than 20 percent of the aircrew survived. Of thosewho did not, some were killed by the flak, bullets, and cannon shells,others died in huge explosions when their bomber was hit, many wereburned in their flaming aircraft, others fell to their deaths as the aircraftbroke apart, and many were trapped by “G-forces” within the spinning,out of control bomber. Many aircrew who successfully escaped theaircraft drowned in icy waters and others were set upon and killed byinfuriated civilians seeking revenge. Hundreds of pilots, rather thangetting out themselves, controlled the doomed aircraft for as long aspossible so that their crew might have a chance to successfullyparachute from the plane.

Al Hymers of Bruderheim, Alberta has been a regular visitor tothe museum, attending almost all of our summer events. He was one ofthe lucky twenty percent who escaped from an aircraft that was goingdown. During the museum’s “Salute to the Air Gunners” event in 2004,he described how he became the sole survivor of Lancaster LM-213.

Al Hymers

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My hometown is Winnipeg and that’s where I joined the RCAF when Iturned eighteen. At the time I joined they were not taking aircrew so I woundup ground crew and it took a few years before I finally got to re-muster. I triedout for a pilot but didn’t make it. The war was getting on towards the end and Ihad to get into it so I volunteered to be a gunner. I went to Mont-Joli, Quebecwhere I took my gunnery training. We flew Fairey Battles with Bristol turrets. Iwent overseas and eventually wound up on an RAF squadron, No. 12, whowere flying Lancasters which was fine with me. The Lancaster was the birdthat everybody wanted to fly.

Our first trip was to Essen in the Ruhr Valley. That first trip -the flakand the searchlights and the bombs going down. It was absolutely beautiful -better than any fireworks display I’ve ever seen. As the trips progressed youbegan to realize that we were killing them and they’re trying to kill you and thefear sets in. You don’t really let that bother you because it’s a short durationthing, eight to ten hours and you’re back home. You go to the pub, get drunk,and have a good night’s sleep in a bed with sheets. The food is fair and thenaway you go the next night to another hair-raising experience.

On my tenth trip we went to a German city called Zeitz –very deepinto Germany. It was an oil refinery. We had a bad feeling about this trip –apremonition. We all had it. We discussed amongst ourselves whether we’dput the aircraft unserviceable. We decided, no, we’d go ahead and fly it. Whobelieves in premonitions? Anyway, we were over the target. We’d bombedand it was quite different there. There was a layer of thin cloud over the targetand the fires below and the searchlights, there were hundreds of them playingon the cloud layer, made a glowing screen and every plane in the bomberstream was clearly visible from above. We knew there were fighters aroundbecause they were dropping fighter flares and the photoflashes were goingoff. It was quite spectacular.

Anyway, I had a nasty feeling we were being hunted. I wasdesperately looking around. I swung my turret around and looked down andthere was the hunter, a Messerschmitt 410. He was tilted up about 25 yardsaway. I directed my guns down immediately and opened fire. At the sametime I yelled for the skipper (F/O William Kerluk RCAF) to corkscrew. This allhappened within a heartbeat. The fighter opened fire. I could see his fourcannons blink once. One cannon shell took the two guns out of my turret onthe left side. One hit under my feet and blew out the pipelines (the hydrauliclines that powered the turret) and the intercom. One hit the tail and one I’msure went up the fuselage and killed the navigator. All this happened just likethat. I opened fire. I yelled for the skipper to corkscrew starboard. All he heardwas, “Corkscrew,” before the cannon shell cut off the intercom. He’s yelling,“Which way? Which Way?” I could hear him but he couldn’t hear me. It was allover in seconds.

I opened fire when this happened and I could see my tracersbouncing off him. Then he broke away down and it was all quiet. I used the

AL HYMERS -SOLE SURVIVOR

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hand crank to turn my turret and my intercom came back on. So I told theskipper the enemy fighter was directly below us and we had about tenseconds to live. I told him to corkscrew or dive to the clouds or do something.The last words he said were, “I’m afraid to move it. The controls are shot up.”I said, “Here he comes!” and he tilted up and opened fire. He hit us in the gastanks and we started to bur

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