Quote:
Originally Posted by joegpho
Happy Birthday to your dad!
How old was he when he earned his wings?
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I had to call and ask him. He was 19. Got his wings on a Tiger Moth, moved up to an Anson then got shipped to the UK via Canada. Flew Ansons in training in the UK then moved to Coastal Command flying Wellingtons. He was briefly transferred to a training base to transfer to Lancaster's, flew his one and only time in a Lancaster on D-day. From D-day, the war was starting to turn, bombing training was rapidly being downgraded and he was sent back to Coastal Command.
He never saw a U-boat but they were instructed to search for crew from a ship. They did find a lifeboat with survivors who apparently were US sailors but apart from that he doesn't know anything more about them other that he understood they were picked up. He said that was nothing special. It was fairly common to find a group of survivors and report back.
When you ask him about such things he just brushes them off saying that was too long ago to remember. Always has. I don't push him on it.