Most Memorable Operations

jJim cites as his most memorable operation the one in which his aircraft was shot down. The hit occured at around 01:00hrs., about a half-hour after having dropped the bomb load. The aircraft was on fire and rolling wildly and the pilot gave the order to bail out.
The F/E and B/A were having considerable difficulty with the front escape hatch and there was confusion in the rear.

Jim says that he was standing behind the pilot when the perspex blew out. He pulled himself through the opening and jumped, landing safely in tall evergreens. In retrospect, Jim says the most amazing thing was, in jumping where he did, he missed the propeller of the in-board engine and the tail plane. He believes that he was lucky in that the aircraft was on its side at the time he jumped. Having landed in tall evergreens, Jim says that he did not know how high he was up. As his eyes became used to the darkness, he found that he was up about 40 feet. He clambered down and landed in waist high snow. The aircraft had crashed nearby with the remaining crew of six dead. Search parties were on the prowl and he was captured shortly after. A local official took him into custody and sent him to an interrogation centre in Frankfurt, then to Nurnberg. He was incarcerated in a Stalag until March 1945 and then marched towards Munich. They got as far as Landshut or Regensburg where they were liberated by US forces.
Jim was demobbed at Winnipeg in August 1945.

Post Service

Jim returned to Law School. Employed by Blue Cross, and the Ontario Hospital Services Commission. He ended his career as Customer Services Manager, retiring in 1985.
Jim is a widower of about ten years with five children and seven grandchildren. Jan11/2001

Front Row: Spencer B/A
                   Rumball MUG
                   McKay   R/Gun

Back Row: Tedford,   Pilot
                 Eddy,        Nav.
                 Thomson  Rad/Op
                   Williams  F/E (RAF)