2013 - Vancouver Island Military Museum

May 2013 | Issue No. 2 | Published 3 times each year by the Vancouver Island Military Museum
Described at the time, as
the most famous Canadian
picture of the Second World
War, as well as one of the most
famous of all wartime pictures
ever taken, has a very definite
Nanaimo connection.
On October 1st, 1940,
members of the British
Columbia Regiment (Duke
of Connaught’s Own Rifles)
were marching down 8th
street in New Westminster
towards a troop ship that was
destined for a secret location.
A photographer from
the Vancouver Province
Newspaper, Claud Detloff,
took a picture that made the front
page of the paper the next day.
The secret location the ship was
heading for was rumored to be
Hong Kong, however, such was
not the case. The troop ship was
heading for a port just 2 hours
away—Nanaimo.
Nanaimo was a very active and
important military training centre
and the troops would be spending the next several months living
in tents, fine tuning their combat
skills and preparing for operations
in Europe.
The 5-year-old boy in the
photo was Warren “Whitey”
Bernard; his mother is reaching
for him as is his father Jack
Bernard. The picture and
the emotions it touched with
viewers was recognized by the
Canadian Government as an
image that could prove useful
in war bond drives. Whitey
Bernard remembers traveling
to concert halls with famous
celebrities assisting with war
bond drives.
“The picture went everywhere,” Whitey says. It appeared in Life magazine and
Time and Newsweek in the
United States as well as many
other popular Canadian magazines and newspapers. A copy of
this photograph hung in every
school in B.C until the end of
the war.
Whitey Bernard, who lives in
Tofino, dropped off his Uncle’s
medals for mounting recently and
his photograph was taken with
the famous picture holding his
uncle’s medals in the ‘Canadian
Army’ section of the museum.
Recently Whitey was informed
by officials from New Westminster
that the picture will be the basis for
a War memorial that will be erected
just a few feet from where the original photograph was taken. Q
Roger Bird, President......................... 250.753.3814
Pat Patterson, Armoury ..................... 250.754.1566
Brian McFadden, Vice President,
Public Relations/Media...................... 250.756.6182
Jack Ziebart, Computer/Archives ...... 250.758.2561
Gord Swanson, Treasurer ................. 250.245.8098
Pat Murphy, Newsletter, Model Repair 250.390.4571
Phil Harris, Secretary and Workshop . 250.758.9074
Gord Buch, Volunteer Coordinator ... 250.756.2281
100 Cameron Avenue, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 0C8 | 250.753.3815 | [email protected] | www.vimms.ca
Page 2
Volunteer Name..............Ralph Clarke
Place of Birth..................Vulcan Alberta
Military Service...............RCAF, Bomber Command
Service Dates..................May 1941—October 1944
It would be difficult not
to notice the large number of
young Canadian men lining
up at recruiting offices in the
early 1940’s, especially in Rural
Alberta. Ralph Clarke was well
aware of the war news from
Europe and like most teenagers at the time he read the local
papers, he listened to the radio
and everybody spoke of ‘the
war news’ and the devastating
daily bombing attacks on the
cities in England. Ralph was
well aware of the successes of
the German military and how
many European countries they
had conquered.
At 19 years of age on May
28th, 1941 Ralph Clarke made
the trip to Calgary about 55
miles to the north west of his
home in Vulcan Alberta and
enlisted in the Royal Canadian
Air Force. “It was the right
thing to do” said Ralph. He
also added, I also saw it as a
way to gain some freedom and
maybe have some adventure.
“My first choice would to
have been a pilot on a single
engine aircraft” said Ralph but
the RCAF saw my future in a
different light, not flying an
aircraft, still aircrew on a multi
engine type and defending
it in a tail gunner’s position.
Ralph successfully completed
his training as a Wireless Air
Gunner and shortly after was
shipped to England arriving
the first week of May 1942.
Ralph would very quickly see
and experience the horror of
war and the deadly effect of
the daily bombing raids on
England’s cities. After Ralph
arrived in Scotland he would
board a train for Bornemouth
in the south coast of England
to wait for orders.
Bournemouth, in the county
of Dorset was the staging area
for most RCAF personnel, as
well as members of the Royal
Australian Air Force and many
Americans; it was the place
where recent graduate officers
and NCO’s were sent to await
postings to active Squadrons
or to Operational Training
Units for further training and
the German were well aware
of it. Ralphs would wait in
Bournemouth about 10 days
awaiting orders, his stay there
was not entirely uneventful
The peace and quiet of
Bournemouth was broken
one day and the adventure
that Ralph was seeking was
in the form of about 20 German fighter bombers streaking
north across the English Channel straight for Bournemouth.
The Luftwaffe’s exceptional
front line fighter aircraft the
ME 109s were flying line
astern and each carrying a 500
pound bomb.
They were part of a special
Luftwaffe Squadron SKG10
(Schnellkampfgeschwader 10)
created to attack coastal cities in England and naturalize
shipping; several attacks were
made against London as well.
Except for training films,
Ralph had never seen an enemy aircraft but he instantly
recognized the black crosses
on their fuselages and knew
what was about to happen.
Bombs fell all over
Bournemouth that day. The
Luftwaffe had been well informed and was conducting
cross channel attacks known as
Page 3
“Tip and Run” raids and coastal
cities were convenient targets
for the single seat German fighters that were based in France.
Many people were killed that
day during the attack, half of
them military personnel. The
Metropole Hotel took a direct
hit as did many other hotels
and downtown buildings; it
was obvious that the Luftwaffe
knew where air crews had been
billeted. 22 buildings were destroyed that day and many were
killed including service members and civilians.
One ME 109 strafed the
beach front and promenade as
it headed back for the safety
of France killing even more
people. While skimming the
wave tops one of the fighter
bombers crashed into the sea
and the pilot was rescued by
an air sea rescue crew. Ralph
remembers seeing the pilot
covered in a blanket drinking tea as he was lead ashore.
Ralph and other members of
the RCAF helped in the rescue
and recovery of many hundreds that had been injured
by the bomb blasts. If Ralph
wanted adventure he was up
to his knees in that day.
Like 60% of all RCAF members posted overseas, Ralph
was soon posted to an RAF
Squadron. 158 Squadron RAF
was started during the First
World War A Bomber Squadron with a rich history. The
Squadron was flying Wellington bombers at the time however they soon switched to the
4 engine Handley Page Halifax;
Ralph logged his first operational sortie in September 1942.
Ralph Clarke’s dream of
having some adventure would
ring true. He flew 27 operational sorties to some of the
most heavily defended cities in Europe, he would be
awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross ( DFC) and the
citation that came with the
award describes in detail why
Ralph was so honoured.
“As air gunner of exceptional
merit Pilot Officer Clarke has
completed a tour of operational
duty attacking some of the enemies most heavily defended areas
including Bremen, Hamburg,
Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Turin,
Genoa and the Ruhr Valley. This
officer at all times displayed courage, determination and devotion
to duty. His coolness when in
action, on occasions, been responsible for the successful completion
of the sortie and the safe return of
the aircraft to base”
P/O Ralph Clarke’s compact but wellequipped RCAF/RAF air conditioned office.
Ralph has very fond memories of the Halifax bomber and
I believe it’s almost certain
that Ralph found the adventure he was seeking, sitting at
the rear end of a four engine
heavy bomber over Germany
with 4 browning machine
guns under your control at
altitudes of 10,000-18,000 feet
for periods of up to 10 hours
sounds like adventure overload to most. For a 21 year
old, he had experienced more
adventure then most, If that
was his goal he had achieved
it and even more important he
had survived it.
Over 17,390 members of the
RCAF were killed during the
Second World War 60% of those
losses coming from Bomber
Command air crew. From
February 1942 until December,
1945, 158 Squadron RAF lost 851
airmen. Canadians owe Ralph
Clarke and men like Ralph
Clarke a tremendous amount of
gratitude for the freedoms we
all enjoy today.
With his operational tour
now over—Ralph returned to
Canada aboard the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth—he volunteered to help serve as crew on
the return journey helping out
with watch duty and by doing
so was granted bar privileges
along with other ships crew.
With the ship bound for New
York, Ralph found the crossing to be enjoyable and with
his bar privileges it helped to
ease some of the scars of the
previous year. After arrival
in New York he returned to
Canada to help with training,
he was discharged with honour from the RCAF in October
1944 and resumed farming in
the Vulcan area. Ralph sold
the farm after 11 years of hail
storms, droughts and low
grain prices and moved to Calgary with his family where he
found work with the Calgary
School Board. Ralph would
spend the next 30 years with
the school Board; he retired in
1986 moved to Vancouver Island in 1997. He has been with
the Vancouver Island Military
Museum for 11 years. Q
Page 4
By Angus Scully, Museum volunteer
The Museum’s display on Victoria Cross
winners always attracts the attention of visitors. Here is a biography of one hero who had
a short but memorable stay in Nanaimo.
Sergeant Aubrey Cosens of the Queen’s Own Rifles
of Canada was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his action in clearing a German strong
point during the Rhineland Battle of 1945. So rarely
was the VC awarded, that, of a million Canadians who
served in uniform in the war, only 16 were awarded
the VC. When Charlie Cosens was interviewed about
his son Aubrey winning the VC he said, “I knew he
would be a good soldier, but it’s hard for me to realize that he won the Victoria Cross. I still think of him
as a kid. He was just eighteen when he left home.”
A kid indeed, by peacetime standards, but at
23 Aubrey had been in constant combat action
with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada for nearly
seven months. He was considered an old man by
the youngsters in his platoon and admired as a
natural leader by all who knew him. Ben Dunkelman, his company commander the day he won the
VC, said, “He was an outstanding, good looking
man, a perfect non-commissioned officer, and carried as much as 80 pounds of ammunition on his
back when his platoon went into action. I cannot
speak of him too highly as a fine, clean-living soldier...” Other men in D Company also remembered
Aubrey Cosens as a remarkable man and leader.
Don Chittenden, 16 Platoon
“With all due respect to the platoon commander, it
was Cosens who ran the platoon, who took care of morale, who knew tactics... while the rest of us were trying
to save ourselves, Cosens was off trying to win the war.”
Bill Ives, Company Sergeant Major
“The very first thing he did was look after his men.
He was just more caring about other people than about
himself. He always seemed to know how to lift morale.”
Jack Staples, 16 Platoon
“Cosens liked to be with the boys and was always joking. He was also very commanding. He
knew how to handle our platoon of 38.”
Aubrey seems to have been an extraordinary young man.
In winning the VC on a wet, cold and dark winter
morning at Mooshof, Germany on February 26, 1945,
Aubrey killed twenty of the enemy and captured twenty
more while leading the four survivors of his platoon
in an attack on formidable Nazi paratroopers. After
Mooshof was taken and secured, Aubrey was killed by
a sniper while on his way to report to Dunkelman.
Cosens was born in 1921. His father, Charlie, was a
First War veteran, whose job with the Temiskaming and
Northern Ontario
Railroad took him to
the tiny, isolated village
of Porquis Junction.
There Charlie, his
wife Yvonne and baby
Aubrey, lived in a
converted rail car, a
common way of housing railway personnel.
In 1924 Yvonne died
of cancer, leaving
Charlie with a four
year old son to care
for. As was typical in
remote settlements,
the neighbours all
helped CharPhotos of Cosens are rare. This one may
lie, taking in
have been altered by the QOR, based on
Aubrey while
a photo of Cosens in an Argyll’s cap.
Yvonne was
ill and, after her death, taking on the job of caring for
the little boy while Charlie was at work. Mrs. Dorothy
Smith, whose husband worked with Charlie, ended
up looking after him full time; becoming in effect his
foster mother. When the Smiths later moved to the
gold mining town of Timmins, Aubrey went with them,
and Charlie visited when he could. In Porquis Junction
and Timmins Aubrey grew up in a loving, extended
family. Remembered as a lad who was always on the
go, he grew up crazy for sports, playing hockey with
the Timmins Police Amateur Athletic League and for
teams from the mines around Timmins. In the summer he played baseball. The discipline and hard work
of sports helped shape the character of young, as much
Page 5
Aubrey Cosens at Camp Nanaimo in the summer of 1941
(from his own photo album).
as the people of his small communities and family.
At age 16 Aubrey left school as so many did during the Depression, but his family connections got
him seasonal work on a section gang—for 32 cents
an hour. It was hard outdoor labour, in cold, rain,
or heat, and often surrounded by clouds of mosquitoes and black flies. After the British retreat from
the beaches of Dunkirk in June 1940 Aubrey tried
to join the RCAF but was rejected for lack of education. He returned to work, and his foster mother Mrs.
Smith told him he really didn’t have to go—he was
just 19. But Aubrey insisted he would and when the
fall work season ended in November 1940, he took
the train to Toronto and enlisted in the infantry—
the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.
To Nanaimo, Jamaica, Normandy, and Germany
The Argylls spent that winter in Ontario guarding the Welland Canal. Then in May 1941 the regiment was moved to Camp Nanaimo where they spent
the summer in constant training. The trip west made
quite an impression on young Aubrey. His own photo
album (now in the hands of the Aubrey Cosens Legion Branch in Latchford, ON) is full of his photos of
the trip, the mountains, and Nanaimo Camp. Then
in September the regiment was shipped to Jamaica,
relieving a British battalion badly needed in the UK.
It must have been an eye opening adventure for a
young man from a remote northern Ontario town.
The battalion was shipped to England in 1943 where
Aubrey was promoted to corporal and sent to the Army
School of Physical Training, his athleticism marking
him as a PT instructor. After that he was transferred
to the Third Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit
(3CIRU: a holding and training unit), and from that
sent as a replacement into Normandy in July 1944,
with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. From then on
Aubrey was in the thick of it, and was soon promoted to
sergeant. In a letter to his girlfriend, he wrote, “So it’s
sergeant now and what a lot of work there is to do and
do I ever have a lot of dirt flung at me from all angles.
But I’ll beat it if it kills me. I was platoon commander
for two weeks or more. That was a lot of responsibility to take and it makes you think am I doing this
right... how many men will come back... If I get grey
hairs you can guess the reason. The word responsibility is a big one in the Army. I have learned that.” The
boy had become a man, and to the teen aged soldiers
of his platoon in February he seemed an old veteran.
Was Cosens really such a remarkable man? Were his
former comrades just extending the image of the man
who became a hero? Is it really too much to expect
that a VC winner be strong, good looking, and “clean
living?” We have
Grave Marker. All Canadians
only their recorded
killed in Germany were buried in
memories, and Costhe Netherlands.
ens military record.
But that record does
contain one blemish.
In Jamaica, on January 4, 1943, Cosens
was found guilty of
being absent without
leave and was confined to barracks for
five days. Cosens was
absent from 2254
hours December 31,
to 0600 hours on
January 1. This news
year’s celebration
far from home, and
from danger, seems
only to confirm the
image created by
his comrades. Q
Page 6
The Regina born Smith brothers
had a number of things in common,
with just one year separating them,
both enjoyed sports of all kinds, growing up in Regina meant a good deal
of that sport activity would be winter
sports. Jerry, the oldest, born in 1921
and Rod the youngest, born in 1922.
Both were active in school projects
that were based on creative engineering as their Father was an engineer,
both did well in school and both
loved aviation and staying informed
with events that were changing the
world. With world events turning
more chaotic each passing
month in the mid 1930’s, It
was with keen interest both
boys followed the rise of Nazi
Germany and the advances
made by the Luftwaffe.
In 1936, Rod had pictures
of the new British Spitfire
fighter hanging in his room
and he well knew the struggle
to design and build such a fine
aircraft, Rod and Jerry both
understood the engineering
challenges it took to achieve such
things and both were convinced that
the Merlin powered Spitfire was the
equal to any German aircraft.
Rod and Jerry read every newspaper that was available, their father
would share news he had heard on the
radio with both boys, they read British
aviation magazines, they discussed
world events with their Father and
Mother and the teenagers knew that
if war broke out it would be almost
certain that when they completed the
educational levels necessary to join
the RCAF, both of them would enlist.
Both craved the excitement of flying
fighters and both had dreams of flying
the Spitfire. When an aircraft flew
over the house both boys would tear
outside to get a better view.
Rod was the first to enlist at the
end of September 1940, at age 18.
Jerry would follow a few weeks later at
age 19, at the time of enlistment both
had no inkling they would fly Spitfires
in the same RAF Squadron, but as fate
would have it they did.
The Smith Brothers would train at
different Canadian bases, both would
receive their Wings and both Smith
brothers would be commissioned in
the RCAF. Both would be
shipped to England at different times
and both would be posted to Spitfire
fighter Squadrons, Rod to 412 Squadron RCAF and Jerry, like many Canadians was posted to an RAF Squadron,
(60% of all Canadians were posted to
RAF Squadrons).
Both Rod and Jerry had their share
of close aerial combats, both became
experienced fighter pilots and both
brothers gained considerable experience in attacking Luftwaffe aircraft.
With the situation in Malta growing
more dire each day the RAF started
sending additional fighter pilots to
shore up the tired and exhausted
personnel that were in Malta, the Ger-
Rod Smith
mans needed Malta to maintain it’s
army in North Africa and the British
were not about to give it up, at least
not without a fight. Jerry was posted
to Malta and in early May 1942 he
boarded the USS Wasp, a huge American aircraft carrier. Called “Operation
Bowery” the mission was to deliver
Spitfires to Malta to aid in the defense
of this strategic little Island.
Sixty four, MK Vc Spitfires were
loaded onto the American Carrier.
Spitfires were being shipped to Malta
by Carrier as it was impossible to
safely fly from the British bases or from
Gibraltar. The plan was to get as close
to Malta as possible then launch the
Spitfires and they would then fly to
Malta and in some cases land during a
bombing attack, at the time Malta was
the most bombed place on the planet.
The Spitfires were not equipped with
arrestor hooks so landing back on the
carrier in case of trouble was out of the
question. On May 9th once, the USS
Wasp was 580 miles West of Malta the
Spitfires were launched. All got off
with no problem. Jerry’s Spitfire coded
X-3 serial number BR126 launched
with no problem, Jerry soon realized
he had fuel feed problems and it would
Page 7
Jerry Smith
be impossible for him to reach Malta.
In spite of being told not to attempt a
deck landing once airborne he decided
to give it a go.
After all the Spitfires were clear of
the deck Jerry lined up on the carrier and made an attempt at landing.
None of the pilots delivering Spitfires
to Malta had any training landing on
the shifting deck of an aircraft carrier,
a task difficult for even the trained,
experienced naval pilots.
His first attempt failed but he
successfully landed on his second
attempt stopping just a few feet from
running off the end of the massive
American carrier, had it not been for
several US sailors running up onto the
deck and holding Jerry’s Spitfire back
he would have gone over the deck
into the Mediterranean.
To celebrate Jerry’s miracle landing the US sailors presented Jerry
with set of US Navy flight wings, Jerry
proudly wore the wings on his uniform
along side his RCAF wings. Jerry was
returned to Gibraltar by the Wasp
and later boarded the HMS Eagle to
attempt the Malta trip once again, this
time Jerry made it. Upon arrival he
was posted to 126 Squadron RAF and
was flying combat operations against
the Luftwaffe the next day. Jerry’s
landing on the carrier deck was not
considered possible and it was the only
Spitfire that accomplished this amazing feat.
Rod Smith had kept in touch with
Jerry in England but had no idea Jerry
had been posted to Malta, Wartime
communications were mostly by post
with the occasional phone call and
Rod had no idea that Jerry had gone
to Malta or had successfully landed
his disabled Spitfire on the deck of the
USS Wasp. Without warining Rod was
transfered to Malta
Rod boarded HMS Eagle in early
July and on the 15th he took off from
the carrier about 600 miles from
Malta. Rod’s flight to Malta was uneventful and when he landed in Malta
and while being driven to his quarters
he was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find his brother Jerry walking
the road with a parachute slung over
his arm, after their cheerful greeting
Rod discovered he would be assigned
to the same RAF Squadron and both
would team up and fly operations together, something both brothers never
thought possible.
They flew many times together,
both would fly a variety of serviceable
Spitfires, few pilots in Malta could
claim a personal Spitfire as serviceable aircraft were few and far between.
Rod often flew a Mk Vb coded MK-P
serial BR471. Both brothers were
aggressive and confident; the brothers
shared in the damage to a Junkers 88
Bomber. About one month after the
Smith brothers teamed up, Jerry was
seen chasing after a Luftwaffe bomber
towards Sicily over the Mediterranean
ocean, he did not return to the base
and he was never seen again. On that
particular sortie Rod stayed behind to
replace some flying gear and while he
was on the way back to his Spitfire
Jerry was dispatched to intercept
some German bombers. Rod always
regretted leaving his side.
The Squadron flew several hours
of search operations and Rod flew out
over the ocean after nightfall as he
knew Jerry carried a flash light on his
mae west. He hoped he would locate
the light and direct a search and
rescue boat to Jerry’s location but his
search was unsuccessful and Jerry was
listed as missing.
Rod survived his Malta experience
and no doubt he missed his brother. In
1943 Rod was posted to 401 Squadron
at Biggin Hill. In March 1944 Rod
became a Flight Commander with
412 Squadron. He would participate
in the D-Day landings see service in
Normandy then Belgium and later
promoted to Squadron Leader of 401
Squadron RCAF. In December 1944,
Rod was tour expired and returned to
Canada to join the Auxiliary Squadron retiring in 1946. Rod is credited
with 15 aerial victories and also shared
in the destruction of a Luftwaffe jet
fighter. He was highly decorated and
Continued on back page...
Page 8
Amory Custodian Pat Patterson holds
a recently donated historic firearm,
one of many donated this year.
The Vancouver Island Military
Museum is very fortunate to have
such a vast collection of military firearms, most with a historic connection to all of the conflicts that Canadian’s have participated in, going
back to the War of 1812, through
the Boer War and both World Wars.
Our collection is regarded as the finest collection in British Columbia.
With over 200 firearms in the
museums firearms collection, most
with a significant military history, we
have at this time 58 on display, some
in the display cases of the service
they were part of such as the Royal
Canadian Navy or the Canadian
Army, and the remaining securely
displayed in cases near the media
room. These cases feature a random
selection of military firearms from
several countries, including those of
our adversaries and are thought to
be “war souvenirs”. Plans are under
consideration to expand the display
and feature many additional rare
and historic military weapons.
The story of how we obtained
this vast collection is very interesting—most have been donated by
private citizens; some donations include a single firearm and occasionally a private collection is donated
to our custody. Since the first of the
year we have had almost a dozen
historic firearms donated to the
museum and hopefully soon, many
more of these unique artifacts will be
displayed so that visitors to our museum will be able to view them and
be able to appreciate the important
history that is attached to them.
visitor,” Brian said recently.
Vice president, Brian McFadden
has been busy these past
months, creating interpretive
panels to enhance the museum
experience.
“Our individual displays only
tell part of each story; graphics,
maps and artifacts show us
the history, Interpretive panels
provide the details that link
the items on display. It gives
the visitor a better sense of
how these conflicts began
and what events resulted and
what sacrifices were made... it
completes the lesson for the
Seven interpretive panels have
been created and placed in
the various displays so far and
several more are being created.
Gordon Swanson was able
to fabricate very professional
display stands utilizing some
of the display stanchions we
had in storage, he built frames
and mounted them and the
end result is very impressive.
An interpretive panel was also
added to the Spitfire display.
With these interpretive panels
now in place and with more to
be added soon, our museum is
gaining a solid reputation as a
meaningful learning centre for
young and old.
Vice President Brian McFadden, adjusting the newly installed interpretive panel
In the Afghanistan display.
Page 9
Former RCAF Tail gunner celebrates 90th Birthday. Ralph Clarke was surrounded by
members of his family on February 23 at his home at Seniors Village where he celebrated his
90th birthday. Nanaimo Mayor, John Ruttan (far left in back row) was also present at the
birthday party to extend Ralph best wishes.
Vice President, Brian Mc Fadden on TV.
The Aboriginal Television Network was on scene at the museum recently working on a National
news story regarding the 10,000 year old petroglyphs that were damaged by B.C Hydro recently in
Cedar. Duplicates of the petroglyphs are located at the museum and Brian shared his feelings on this
unfortunate incident with the reporter. The story was broadcast across Canada.
Page 10
an excellent Spitfire pilot.
Wing Commander, Rod Smith
survived the War and his older
brother Jerry did not, this unfortunate
circumstance would affect many Canadian families but few families would
have brothers reunited. The Smith
brother would be the exception and it
would happen in October 2005.
Rod Smith was 80 years old
when he died; he was facing some
health concerns and told those that
were closest to him that he never
wanted to be a burden on anyone.
Rod had remained a bachelor all his
life, he took his own life in 2002, he
was a successful lawyer, a yachtsman and very active in fighter pilot
reunions, he started to write his
memoirs after he retired but never
completed them, his family turned
his unfinished manuscript, journal, log books and brother Jerry’s
logs and notes over to Christopher
Shores, a world renowned historian
who completed the book for Rod.
“The Spitfire Smiths” a unique
story of brothers in arms is an excellent book ands well worth the read.
In summer of 2005 a group of
aviation enthusiasts from the Malta
Aviation Museum and others spearheaded a movement to have a Spitfire
and a Hawker Hurricane visit Malta
to help bring attention to the plight
of the citizens who sacrificed so
much during the war and to honour
the many men that died fighting to
protect Malta and to keep shipping
lines open. The event would be called
“Merlins over Malta, the defenders return” The two famous fighters would
fly to Malta this time over peaceful
Europe in stages. The routes were
planned, support crews were in place
and both famous fighters departed
England only stopping for re-fueling
and for dodgy weather. The citizens
of Malta were informed of the arrival
time of the two fighters.
Every building along the Grand
Habour in the capitol city of Valletta was crowded with Maltese
citizens awaiting the arrival of
two well preserved classic aircraft
that had played such an emotional
connection to the history of Malta,
during the difficult years of World
War two. Almost on queue, the
two fighters roared over the harbour and the crowds went wild as
wartime memories flooded back
to the senior Maltese citizens and
absolutely thrilled those younger
generations that had only heard
about the Spitfire and Hurricane
from their parents.
By chance, Rods younger sister
Wendy Noble was in Malta to honour
one of Rods last wished, to have his
ashes spread on the waters of the
Mediterranean so he could be once
again with Brother Jerry. The crew
from the Spitfire flight was in the
same hotel. A meeting was arranged
and pilot Charles Brown after hearing
the Smith brother’s story agreed to fly
the ashes over the same spot that Jerry was last observed and then spread
Rods ashes. The following day the
Mk V Spitfire painted like so many of
the Spitfires that saved Malta took off
and flew west of Malta towards Sicily, once over the same area, Brown
tipped the Spitfire over on one wing,
slide the canopy back and poured the
ashes from the cockpit into the blue
Mediterranean ocean, after a lapse of
60 years Rod had his last flight in a
Spitfire and the Smith brothers were
once again together.
The Vancouver Island Military
Museum, located in Nanaimo British
Columbia on Vancouver Island is
proud to display models and photographs of the Smith Brothers Spitfires, the models are placed side by
side as are the picture. Q