During WWII I served in the UK with Bomber Command in 419 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, flying Wellingtons and Halifaxes. In 1942 I met and married Joan Saunders of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, but we had only a few weeks together when I was shot down on my 17th operation, spending 800 days as a POW and playing a part in the Great Escape. After 72 years of happy marriage she passed on, in April 2015. We have five wonderful daughters.
Staying in the RCAF after the war, my numerous assignments included 3 years, 1946-49, with a USAF/RCAF crew flying B-29s all over northern Canada including the Pole and Alaska, the Korean airlift from Dorval, Quebec, the DEW Line (Cape Parry sector), tours in Personnel and Training Command, Air Defence in St. Hubert, Quebec, and in Colorado Springs.
After retirement I taught World History, US History, Physical and Political Geography, International Relations, and Algebra in Colorado Springs, 1970-82. From 1986 to 2014 I was the editor of the bimonthly 971 RCAF Air Marshal Slemon Wing of the Air Force Association of Canada newsletter (www.971WingAFAC.com).
In 1981 I published a book, "It's All Pensionable Time" on my RCAF career then updated it to e-book format in 2014. In 2010 I donated 10 years of research on 2,000 veterans, from the United Empire Loyalists to Afghanistan, to the Historical Society of my home town, Port Hope, Ontario.
Staying in the RCAF after the war, my numerous assignments included 3 years, 1946-49, with a USAF/RCAF crew flying B-29s all over northern Canada including the Pole and Alaska, the Korean airlift from Dorval, Quebec, the DEW Line (Cape Parry sector), tours in Personnel and Training Command, Air Defence in St. Hubert, Quebec, and in Colorado Springs.
After retirement I taught World History, US History, Physical and Political Geography, International Relations, and Algebra in Colorado Springs, 1970-82. From 1986 to 2014 I was the editor of the bimonthly 971 RCAF Air Marshal Slemon Wing of the Air Force Association of Canada newsletter (www.971WingAFAC.com).
In 1981 I published a book, "It's All Pensionable Time" on my RCAF career then updated it to e-book format in 2014. In 2010 I donated 10 years of research on 2,000 veterans, from the United Empire Loyalists to Afghanistan, to the Historical Society of my home town, Port Hope, Ontario.
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