Emotions of a Spitfire Pilot

Mr. Sager describes the emotion he felt when he had an enemy in his sites and when he was being tailed by an enemy, and his greatest fears while flying.

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:

04:32

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