Flying Bullets

Heroes Remember

Flying Bullets

Transcript

The trips averaged about 13:20, 13 hours 20 minutes. So I did over three, just over 300 hours, 312 hours on ops. That averaged, I think it was around 23 or 24 trips. And I would think we probably got holed to some extent, small arms fire in many cases. But that’s because we were low and we’d get hit with rifle fire and stuff like that. So we probably got hit on half the trips. And sometimes they hit things that, you know, made the oil splash around inside. You know, we never were on fire, which was a good thing. But we had a lot of hydraulic oil, you know, splashing around the place. Interviewer: Never lost anybody? Wounded, couple wounded, but never anybody killed. So, you know, you see a hole through the instrument panel and you’re looking at it, flying the target area, and suddenly what you’re looking at is now a piece of ragged metal. You’re looking around for something else to take its place in terms of what’s happening. But again, that’s experience and you get, I think that you ... well, it’s always twitchy. And I must say, you bowstring tight, I suppose. But you’re accustomed to it. I guess there’s something about it that makes you accustomed to it. Interviewer: Did you ever have any close calls? Well, I guess, if something goes through the cockpit and knocks out an instrument, that gets fairly close. I never was touched by a bullet, but my navigator was hit. He was, he had something on his leg. He used to stand in the astrodome over the target. It was out on the nose, the astrodome, and he would stand out there watching what was going on, ‘cause nothing for him to do over the target. And his leg was itchy or something. He put his hand down and put his hand back up again. I could see him. I could see the blood running down his hand and he looked down and suddenly saw his hand. I saw him vanish down out of the astrodome. He’d put his hand on his thigh because it was itchy, but he had five or six holes in his leg that a shell got off, and there was some very small bits of shrapnel that had burned through his pants and into his leg and he was bleeding. He was bleeding a lot. But this itching was just sort of an initial reaction to the wound. But it was almost comical to watch him because he was looking that way and put his hand up. And I could see the blood on this hand from where I was sitting, about where you and I are, and his head turned around and he’s gone. He vanished down in there again. We spoke on the intercom and he said he’d been hit on the thigh but he was alright. But it’s a long time ago and I suppose, I know some of it, some of it has worn off, I suppose. But maybe we were more scared than we think we were then.

Description

Mr. Sharpe talks about getting shot at and a few close calls.

Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe

Charles Richard Sharpe was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on February 11, 1925. His father worked for the Canada Customs Service, getting pensions for wounded Veterans. A Veteran of World War One, Mr. Sharpe’s father told him many stories about the war.

Mr. Sharpe joined the RCAF on the morning of his 18th birthday and became a pilot. He flew 23 missions for the RCAF and rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. After the war, Mr. Sharpe became a very successful businessman, serving for many years as CEO of Sears Canada. Among his many awards and recognitions, in 1998, he became a member of the Order of Canada.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:54
Person Interviewed:: Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Southeast Asia
Battle/Campaign:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 159 Squadron
Rank:: Lieutenant
Occupation:: Pilot

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Flying Bullets

Heroes Remember

Flying Bullets

Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe

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Flying Bullets

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