Indian Tea and the First Flight Test

Heroes Remember

Indian Tea and the First Flight Test

Transcript

Interviewer: What was your impression when you landed in India? Well, I was quite surprised at India because it’s pretty poor. But we had ... anywhere I went, being a commissioned officer, it seemed that we got the best of everything, so I never suffered anything, you might say, in any way in that respect. You even had a bearer wake you up in the morning, bring you your cup of tea and stuff like that. So things like that can grow on you, you know. All that ceased when the war ended.My first trip was as a navigator with an experienced crew. So they just ... my pilot and I were just given to another crew and they went on a mission. And instead of their navigator and pilot doing the operation, it was my pilot was doing it and I was doing the navigation. And we had two trips like that. So it was under supervision. Once you had the two trips and if they were happy with your work, you’re on your own. So I guess I passed the test.

Description

Mr. Hosegood remembers simple pleasures like being served tea in the morning when he arrived in India, and discusses his first operational flight with an experienced crew.

William George Hosegood

William George Hosegood was born May 7th 1924. A carpenter’s son, Mr. Hosegood grew up with four brothers and five sisters in Fort William, Ontario. All of his brothers were in the military. “Money was scarce”, says Mr. Hosegood, who worked full time as a clerk at age 16, and held many other jobs before joining the army at 17 or 18. Originally placed in the reserve army, Mr. Hosegood joined the RCAF the next year. After graduating at the top of his navigational training class in Saskatoon, he was selected to go to Burma as a navigator. Mr. Hosegood says that his career in the military fashioned the rest of his life.

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