Year by Year
Bill’s war, one year at a time: where he was, what he flew, what he wrote home, and what the papers and the books say about it, from his first weeks in England in 1936 to his last flight in 1945.
- 1936
To England and the Royal Air Force
Bill leaves Calgary for England in the summer of 1936. He joins the Royal Air Force on 12 October and begins training as a pilot, writing home almost every week about the people, the flying and the strangeness of England.
59 letters · 1 book
- 1937
A fighter pilot with 41 Squadron
Training gives way to the front line. In September 1937 Bill is posted to No. 41 (Fighter) Squadron at Catterick in Yorkshire, where he flies Hawker biplane fighters.
83 letters · 1 book
- 1938
From the RAF to the Fleet Air Arm
When carrier flying passes from the RAF to the Royal Navy, Bill is in the first group re-commissioned into the Fleet Air Arm, on 1 August 1938. He joins HMS Glorious in the Mediterranean, flying from the carrier and from shore bases in Egypt and Malta.
64 letters · 2 newspaper cuttings · 1 book
- 1939
HMS Glorious and the coming of war
With 802 Squadron, flying Gladiators from Glorious and from Hal Far in Malta, Bill is at sea when war is declared in September. He is promoted Lieutenant two weeks later, and in December he is sent home to RNAS Eastleigh to fly patrols over the North Sea.
53 letters · 1 book
- 1940
Skuas over Norway, Dunkirk and Calais
Flying Skuas with 801 Squadron, Bill makes 29 daylight raids over Norway, France and Belgium, more than any other Fleet Air Arm pilot. He helps cover the evacuation from Dunkirk, attacks the long-range gun at Calais, and shares in shooting down a Heinkel over Norway. Two Mentions in Despatches and the Distinguished Service Cross follow.
37 letters · 16 newspaper cuttings · 8 books
- 1941
The King, a film, and HMS Indomitable
Bill is the first naval pilot to take the advanced instructors' course at the RAF Central Flying School, then teaches at Yeovilton. On 20 May King George VI presents his DSC. In September, flying Hurricanes at Sumburgh, he earns the name “Moose”, and in October he joins 880 Squadron as Senior Pilot aboard the new carrier HMS Indomitable. His surviving log book begins in July.
24 letters · 194 flights, 134 hours 35 minutes · 1 newspaper cutting · 3 books
- 1942
Madagascar, Pedestal and command of 880
Indomitable sails with the Eastern Fleet and supports the landings on Madagascar in May. In July Bill climbs Kilimanjaro. In August, on the Malta convoy Operation Pedestal, he shoots down a Ju 88 and brings his damaged Sea Hurricane back for a dead-stick landing on the carrier. In September he is given command of 880 Squadron, and in November his Seafires cover the landings in North Africa from HMS Argus.
7 letters · 168 flights, 153 hours 15 minutes · 1 newspaper cutting · 12 books
- 1943
Seafires: Sicily and Salerno
Bill takes 880 Squadron's Seafires back aboard Indomitable in March and is promoted Lieutenant Commander. Off Sicily in July the carrier is torpedoed. In September, flying from HMS Stalker, he leads the Seafire wing over the Salerno landings.
7 letters · 161 flights, 129 hours 55 minutes · 6 newspaper cuttings
- 1944
The Tirpitz and a Bar to the DSC
After the Fighter Leaders' course, Bill takes 880 Squadron aboard HMS Furious for strikes off Norway, flying cover for the attacks on the battleship Tirpitz in April and July. In August he leaves the squadron to become Commander Flying of HMS Ruler, and he is awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Service Cross.
8 letters · 129 flights, 84 hours 15 minutes · 1 newspaper cutting · 2 books
- 1945
The Pacific, and home
Ruler sails for Australia and joins the British Pacific Fleet, supporting the fleet off the Sakishima Islands in May and the raid on Truk in June. Bill then flies from RNAS Nowra near Sydney. His last flight is on 27 November 1945. He is home in Canada by March 1946.
17 letters · 48 flights, 45 hours 40 minutes