Luck of the Draw

Heroes Remember

Luck of the Draw

Transcript

We’d meet everyday to get the word whether we were posted or not, you know. And it was a matter of luck where you were going, see. From there, you were going to go to a Spitfire OTU or a Hurricane OTU and you might be very unlucky and go to some other command. But if they were looking for troops, it was just alphabetical, see. It was like the roulette wheel, you know, and you just had to be lucky. We would think often, afterwards, how difficult it was to be a fighter pilot, you know. It really, really was that really difficult. Not the flying part or anything, just getting there. You could be dragged away. Interviewer: So everyone was hoping to be going to the Spitfire operational training unit? We all wanted to be fighter pilots. The majority, I’d say, the majority. But they were starting, they were starting night fighters then too, you see, and they were looking for navigators and they were looking for night fighter pilots. We were going on the train and we stopped somewhere on the siding, I think, to wait for another train, and there was a little air field next to the railway and we saw these six Spitfires scramble off. They were Spit I’s or II’s. We saw them go, head south, you see. Well we were there long enough and four of them came back. So, you know, it was just that indication that, well, where’d the other two go? You know, it sort of fitted something in our minds that maybe, they were shot down. Interviewer: Were you having any second thoughts at that time? No, no. It’s very strange how that goes, you know. But anyway, as we go along we might.

Description

With the many things that could happen in a manning pool, being chosen to fly was more a matter of chance than talent. After being chosen, the challenge was to stay alive.

James Francis Edwards

Mr. Edwards was born on a farm near Lockwood, Saskatchewan on June 5th 1921. His father, a First World War Veteran, kept horses until the depression forced him to move the family to Battleford where he became an insurance salesman. His mother had been a nurse during the First World War. In June 1940, Mr. Edwards enlisted in the Air Force. He was sent to the Brandon, Manitoba to do his Initial Training, then to Edmonton, Alberta for Flying School. After completing Flying School, Mr. Edwards was sent to overseas. He was assigned to 55 Operational Training Unit in Osworth, England where he flew Hurricanes. From there he was posted to Africa to take part in the Desert Campaign. Among many battles and operations, he took part in the El Alamein Battle (Egypt) and the Tunisian Campaign. In Egypt, he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. After a period in Cairo running a gunnery school, he was called back to combat in Italy. There he fought in the Battle of Ortona and Anzio and he was given his own squadron, the RAF 274. He was shot down on his first flight as squadron commander. Surviving, he and his crew were sent back to England to take part in D-Day. He would also fight in Holland and Germany. In total, Mr. Edwards served two tours of duty, flying over 360 missions. He had more than 19 confirmed kills. After the war was over he returned to Canada and continued service with the air force retiring as a wing commander.

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