Home > CMH > Vol. 4 (1995) > Iss. 2
Abstract
This narrative is part of a longer one of personal reminiscences of my experiences in the RCAF during the Second World War and only concerns my operational tour flying Beaufighters with 177 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in Southeast Asia from early March 1944 until the end of the year. Preceding the operational tour I had spent two years training and waiting in Canada and the United Kingdom. During operational training at East Fortune near Edinburgh flying Beaufighter lis, I was crewed with Flight Sergeant A.J. Aldham, a reserved, slim, blonde Englishman as Observer (i.e. Navigator-wireless operator-gunner). Alf quickly established his capability as a navigator and good companion in the as yet poorly understood game of war. Following a second stage of operational training of Beaufighter Is and Vis at Catfoss near Hull, Yorkshire, we picked up a new Beaufighter X from the factory at Filton, tested it, and then flew it to India on a reinforcement flight. We were surprised on arrival at Karachi on 1 September 1943 to find we were separated from the aircraft. We were then left to languish in an aircrew pool until December when we were assigned to the Southeast Asia Air Command Communications Squadron. Here we put in three months flying lesser VIPs about India until we were posted to 177 at the beginning of March.
Recommended Citation
Brown, A. Sutherland "Indian Days and Burmese Nights: Flying Beaufighters in Southeast Asia with 177 RAF Squadron." Canadian Military History 4, 2 (1995)
