A Missed Opportunity

I was though, I had good eye sight and I reported this bogey, an unknown aircraft, behind at 6 o'clock down below and nobody in the wing, we were two squadrons flying on the wing and nobody saw it, so my CO said, "Okay Art, go and, go and investigate." So I went after and here was this German Messerschmitt flying along as though it were Sunday afternoon and he wasn't, I don't think he even saw the wing going by. Anyway, I could hardly believe it and there I was very close and it was only when I got close that I realized it was not another Spit, it was a Messerschmitt. But he saw me before, but he saw me in time and he did this flip and started down. Well I went down after him and I, we were going down in this spiral, we were at 24,000 feet, and I was shooting all the time, at least firing, I was missing all the time because I was skidding all the way, all the way down. I got down to the deck level, he straightened out and I thought, "Now I've got you," and I was 50 yards behind him and I lined him up and I pressed the button and there were no, no more ammunition, it was done. So I got, I went crazy, I went up beside him I put a little hole in the side of his aircraft and I flew formation on him, for a couple of seconds, and I waved at him and he was looking at me in a strange way, I think he was a young, new pilot and I waved at him and tried to get him to attack me. Silly, this sounds fantastic of how stupid you get, I thought it would be better to get home with some holes in my aircraft because then, then I could have an excuse, but he wouldn't chase me so I went home. I could have, I wanted to cut his tail off but then I realized I'd have to spend the rest of the war in prison camp perhaps.

Mr. Sager tells a fantastic story of an encounter with a German fighter that should have been a ‘kill', but ended when he ran out of ammunition.

Arthur Hazelton Sager

Mr. Sager was born in Hazelton, BC, where his father was working as a medical missionary. He was the eldest boy in his family, growing up with two brothers and four sisters. He and his family were pacifists (against war). Mr Sager quit school at age seventeen and went to work in a gold mine. At the outbreak of war Mr. Sager was living in London, England, working as a professional actor, as well as a reporter and had the opportunity to interview Jews and other people that had fled mainland Europe. The stories he heard from these people led to the changing of his pacifist attitudes. Mr. Sager also had two brothers who served, one in the Royal Canadian Navy and the other in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mr. Sager joined the RCAF and flew many combat missions over Europe. He had a very successful career earning the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with bars, and his flying record at the end of the war stood at six destroyed, two probable and five damaged. By the end of the war, Mr. Sager was made a commanding office After the war Mr. Sager also had a distinguished career as a private citizen. Among his many jobs, he spent twenty years working for the United Nations as Project Manager for developing countries, as well as a member of the Executive of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association.

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:09
Person Interviewed:: Arthur Hazelton Sager
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 416, 421, 443 Squadron
Rank:: Flight Commander
Occupation:: Pilot

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

Language selection

Heroes Remember