AirVibesVancouver Island

Aircrew AssociationUnder the Distinguished Patronage of The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC,

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

Regular and Special EventsDecember 21 - (3rd Wednesday) Christmas Mixed Luncheon - at the Bay Street Armoury, the SE corner of Bay and Douglas Sts. (enter driving north on Douglas St then turn into Field St. one block short of Bay.) January 18 - (3rd Wednesday) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - at the Bay Street Armoury, the SE corner of Bay and Douglas Sts. (enter driving north on Douglas St.).

Published by the Vancouver Island Aircrew AssociationPO Box 43022, Victoria North PO, Victoria, B.C. V8X 3G2

Issue No. 210, December, 2011

December, 2011

F/O Vernon Williams and F/O Schultz tell of terrific combats in which they destroyed three bombers. An Airfield in England, Dec. 13. 1943-(CP Cable)- Rayne Denis Schultz, a 20-year-old RCAF flying officer from Bashaw, Alta., who destroyed three of the four German bombers shot down over Britain Friday night, is a modest fellow and so is his navigator, F/O Vernon Williams, 24, of 132 Cavell avenue, Hamilton, Ont.

Three Fierce EncountersThe two, who have been flying together for a year,

seemed surprised Saturday that so many newsmen should want to crowd around them to hear how it was done. The first German plane was left a burning mass on the sea. The second was blown up at such close range that their night-fighting Mosquito barely avoided colliding with pieces of the wreckage. The third was shot down with their last bullet.

The Schultz-Williams plane was so badly damaged after the three combats that Schultz had to make an emergency landing at a strange airfield.

Schultz, whose father emigrated to Canada from his native Germany, let Williams relate most of the story and the Hamilton redhead started off by extolling the “guts” of his slim, six-foot pilot who quit the farm to join the RCAF in 1941.

“When we went down after the third Jerry we knew the Hun was a hot flyer, particularly when he got in the first smack,” Williams said. “Rayne got in a burst right after, but I was all for pulling out, for our port engine had caught fire and conked and Jerry’s shells had also bashed in the instrument panel all over Rayne’s lap.”

“Ganged Him Into the Sea,Airman Tells of Nazi’s Fate”

by Louis V. Hunter, Canadian Press Staff Writer, 1943 - Google - Canadian Aces of WW 2 - Ed.

“Ganged Him” Into the Sea“But the guy wouldn’t quit. ‘I’ll get that so and so

if it’s the last thing I do.’” he shouted, and poured on the coal. “We followed the Jerry right down to the deck (sea) and Rayne’s last burst of ammunition, the last we had, ganged him into the sea and we pulled up just in time to miss going in ourselves.”

Schultz said it happened so quickly he couldn’t recall his impressions except he remembered shouting “whoopee” after blasting his first Dornier and also that, “I felt very sick of my stomach when the excitement was over.”

Schultz and Williams crossed together from Canada as sergeants a year ago and were commissioned at the same time. Friday night’s combat was their second. They destroyed a Dornier in their first brush with the enemy.

Williams said a great part of their success is due to Schultz’ keen night vision. “He continually picks out things at night that I can’t see,” he said.

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The 2011 ExecutivePresidentBlair Wilkinson 250-727-7287Past PresidentLew Duddridge 250-474-3413Vice-President Scott Eichel 250-360-0939Secretary, Membership Secretary Wendy Clay 250-655-6325TreasurerBill Mills 250-380-4828Communications Coordinator Bill Rodney 250-592-3707Member at LargeClive Loader 250-477-8212

Committee ChairsTelephone Gordon Lough 250-592-2052Welfare Tom Burdge 250-592-5366Events Coordinator Volunteer requiredLew Duddridge 250-474-3413Recruitment OfficerClive Loader 250-477-821250/50 Draw Peter Lake 250-598-7015AttendanceRegistrar Bill Mills 250-380-4828Air Cadet Liaison Jack Dixon 250-595-1266Accounts Auditor Don Walker 250-6581625

Past Presidents Alex Jardine 1991-92 Blake Clark 1992-93Jack Ferguson 1993-97 Jack Dixon 1997-99 Ken Pask 1999-01Atholl Sutherland Brown 2001-03 Jerry Frewen 2003-05Gary Brown 2005-08Lewis Duddridge 2008-10

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALThis is just a gentle reminder to those of you who have still not renewed your 2012 memberships. Please renew now to ensure you are eligible to vote at the upcoming January AGM.

Membership are still only $30.00 for regular members and $15.00 for associates. Cheques should be made payable to the “Vancouver Island Aircrew Association” and either brought to the Christmas luncheon, or mailed to myself at:

Vancouver Island Aircrew Association PO Box 43022 Victoria North PO Victoria, BC V8X 3G2.

Wendy Clay, Membership Secretary.

G/C (Ret’d), Rayne “Joe” Dennis Schulz DFC, OMM, CD

After a fighter pilot’s struggle slipped the surly bonds of earth appropriately on

Remembrance Day 2011 in his 89th year. Husband and partner of the late Mary Schultz (nee Butler.) His love of flying carried over a distinguished 37-year career with the RCAF and beyond.

A well-documented WWII Mosquito night fighter pilot with 410 Squadron he went on to fly over 40 different aircraft including the CF-18 twice in his later years. Known as “Mr. Flight Safety” his efforts were recognized internationally by the International Flight Safety Foundation in 1977 and he was elected as honorary member of the USAF Aerospace Safety Hall of Fame.

In Canada he was awarded the Trans Canada McKee trophy in 1978 and was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997 with the following citation: “Over many years in cooperation with the military and the civilian agencies associated with aviation his vision, dedication and pursuit of excellence resulted in significant advancement in air operations generally and flight safety accident prevention programs in particular”.

He will not be forgotten.

Merry Christmasand a

Happy New Yearfrom the

Management andStaff of AirVibes

December 2011, AirVibes 3

Sometimes at the Canadian War Mus-eum one looks at a

display piece and wonders what story it could tell. Willie the Wolf is a nose panel from a Halifax bomber and one of half a dozen pieces of nose art on display. Following the storyline like a flight path, it leads to a house on Island Park Drive where sits 88-year-old Ron Sierolawski, who flew half a dozen bombing missions at the controls of that aircraft. They parted company after anti-aircraft fire blew away one of the stabilizers and its attached rudder, but they managed to limp back to base. Willie went for repairs, and pilot Sierolawski and his crew were given another aircraft. They never flew a mission with Willie again.

Pilot and crew went on to complete their full tour of 33 operations. “I never lost a crew member. None of us were wounded. We were very lucky!” Often a pilot picks his crew but in this case, the crew, needing a pilot, chose him. He looked the part. He was movie star handsome with a set to his square jaw. He was the picture of confidence. It was an older crew with some of its half dozen members in their late 20s. It was 1944. “I never told them how old I was;” he said. He had just turned 20.

This being the start of remembering season, is there one name he would like remembered in this story? “Harry Knobovitch he replied instantly. A fellow pilot. We were close friends. When we had a break in operations we went to town together. Went to the movies. Had a few beers.” The artwork of Willie the Wolf indicates the crew might have had some interest in chasing girls.

With the mortality rate among these young men running at one in three, pilot Knobovitch, a Montrealer, and his crew failed to return from a night raid. It was the

kind of situation that would see a letter sent to the family saying he was missing in action over Germany or France or wherever. After the war, feeling a need, Sierolawsiki went to

the Montreal home of his friend. He had no doubt his friend had been killed. The home had a curved stairway to the front door, typical of that city. He knocked. The woman who answered the door, he was certain, was his friend’s mother. She screamed and ran to the back of the house. I learned that many families were left hanging after the war. They held hope that their loved one would eventually be found wandering around Europe. I supposed she feared my being there would end her dream! Another son appeared at the door and confirmed his conclusions, and offered to make a phone call. He said the upper gunner from his brother’s bomber was the only survivor and lived nearby. That man soon arrived and told Sierolawsiki an antiaircraft shell had exploded beside the cockpit that night, and as he worked his way out of the falling aircraft he saw the pilot had been decapitated. When he returned to Canada he looked up the pilot’s family in Montreal and told the story to the brother. They agreed it was best to let the mother keep her hope alive. Next we can follow the storyline

Bomber nose art carries a storyby Dave Brown, Ottawa Citizen, 31 Oct 11 - slightly edited by Hu Filleul

Ron Sierolawski, 88, flew missions during the Second World War as the pilot of a Halifax bomber called Willie the Wolf. The bomber’s nose panel art is on display at the Canadian War Museum.

4 AirVibes, December 2011

to the Ottawa office of Vic Johnson, editor of Air Force Magazine, who has cornered the market on information of this kind. He refers us to Airdrie, Alta., where lives the expert on aircraft nose art.

He is Clarence Simonsen, and he says Willie the Wolf was a cartoon character of those years, and a popular song during the war. The wolf became the subject of nose art about 50 times, and that’s why the war museum collection has three – Willie the Wolf; Willy Wolf; and Willie the Wolf of the West. The original crew that signed out a new aircraft chose the artwork, but if the aircraft went for extensive repairs that crew likely didn’t connect with it again. The original crew flew 24 missions with Willie the Wolf, a craft that would complete 66 missions before making a final trip to a scrap yard. This story’s flight plan brings us back to the museum, where resident historian Jeff Noakes says it’s important to understand the message of nose art. It lets it be known that these war machines were operated by young men, often teenagers, and the artwork shows the interests of that age – beer and women.

Visit to St. Petersburgby Atoll Sutherland-Brown

We just got back from ten days in St. Petersburg visiting the Hermitage and the Russian Museum. At the latter there were two

paintings I photographed that might be of interest. One is an aerial view of St. Petersburg above the Hermitage in 1934 (then with a red roof ) of the Maxim Gorky, then the biggest aircraft to have flown. It was designed by A. N. Tupolev and crashed in 1935.

The second is of an unnamed pilot of WWII who looks like he might be one of us. Too good looking to be a pilot; must have been a Nav. Ed

The Pilot and the Priest A priest dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly

Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.

Saint Peter addresses this cool guy, ‘Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven ’

The guy replies, ‘I’m Jack, retired airline pilot from Victoria.’

Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the pilot, ‘Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom.’ The pilot goes into Heaven with his robe and staff.

Next, it’s the priest’s turn. He stands erect and booms out, ‘I am Father Bob, pastor of Saint Mary’s for the last 43 years.’

Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the priest, ‘Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter

the Kingdom.’ ‘Just a minute,’ says the good father. ‘That man

was a pilot and he gets a silken robe and golden staff and I get only cotton and wood. How can this be?’

‘Up here, we have management by results,’ says Saint Peter. ‘When you preached – people slept. When he flew, people prayed.’

<<- Adjoining Column: Photo of the Maxim Gorky aircraft provided by Atholl Sutherland Brown.

December 2011, AirVibes 5

The Prey of EaglesThis came from a gent who runs a 2000 acre corn

farm up around Barron, Wi., not far from Oshkosh. He used to fly F-4Es and F-16s for the Guard and articipated in the first Gulf War.

His story: “I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field before tomorrow morning and witnessed The Great Battle. A golden eagle big,

with about a six foot wingspan, flew right in front of the tractor. It was being chased by three crows that were continually dive bombing it and pecking at it. The crows do this because the eagles rob their nests.

At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive maneuver, then landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood about three feet tall. The crows all landed too, and took up positions around the eagle at 120 degrees apart, but kept their distance at about 20 feet from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps towards one of the crows and they’d hop backwards and forward to keep their distance. Then the reinforcement showed up.

I happened to spot the eagle’s mate hurtling down out of the sky at what appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact the eagle on the ground took flight, (obviously a coordinated tactic; probably prebriefed) and the three crows that were watching the grounded eagle, also took flight thinking they were going to get in some more pecking on the big bird.

The first crow being targeted by the diving eagle never stood a snowball’s chance in hell. There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers and that crow was done. The diving eagle then banked hard left in what had to be a 9G climbing turn, using the energy it had accumulated in the dive, and hit crow #2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.

The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an altitude advantage on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward in full burner, made a short dive then banked hard right when the escaping crow tried to evade the hit. It didn’t work –crow #3 bit the dust at about 20 feet AGL.

This aerial battle was better than any air show I’ve been to, including the war birds show at Oshkosh. The two eagles ripped the crows apart and ate them on the ground and, as I got closer and closer working my way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by and you could see in the look of that bird that it knew who’s Boss Of The Sky. What a beautiful bird!

I loved it. Not only did they kill their enemy, they ate them. One of the best Fighter Pilot stories I’ve seen in a long time...There are no noble wars – Only noble warriors.” Those crows must have been from Oshkosh. Ed.

2012 ANNUAL GENERAL

MEETINGThe Annual General Meeting of the Vancouver

Island Aircrew Association (VIAA) will be held at 1200 hours, Wednesday, 18 January 2012 in the Bay Street Armoury.

The ACA Nominating Committee, chaired by Lew Duddridge, recommends to the Branch the following Executive for the year 2012:

President - Blair Wilkinson Vice-President - Scott Eichel Past President – Lewis Duddridge Treasurer – Bill Mills Secretary - Wendy Clay Membership Secretary - Wendy Clay Communications Coordinator – Bill Rodney Member-at-Large – Clive Loader

Nominations from the floor will be welcomed.The ACA Nominating Committee also

recommends to the members that the following Committee Chairs be appointed:

Telephone – Gordon Lough Welfare – Tom Burdge Special Events Coordinator – Vacant Memorial Services Coordinator – Lewis Duddridge Recruiting – Clive Loader Air Cadet Liaison – Jack Dixon Attendance Registrar – Bill Mills 50/50 Draw – Peter Lake

The Beriev Be-200 Altair is a multipurpose amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company. Marketed for fire fighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo, and passenger transportation.

6 AirVibes, December 2011

Last Flight – Albert Hennessey3 July 1922 – 5 November 2011

Albert is survived by Dora, his wife of 63 years, two daughters,

Kate and Joan and Joan’s two sons, David and Adam. He is also survived by his sister Jeanne of Calgary and his brother Roland (Vivian) of Pipestone, Manitoba and many nieces and nephews. Albert was predeceased by his brothers Henry (Betty) and Arthur (Ruth) of Calgary, Alberta.

Born to Octave and Rose Henuset, Albert and his four siblings were hardworking children who grew up on the family farm and attended Belleview’s one-room schoolhouse. His favourite playtime was tinkering in his father’s blacksmith shop, inventing tools with his brothers. His greatest hero was his Grandpa Gonty.

Albert enlisted in the Air Force in 1941 and served overseas as a tail-gunner on Lancaster bombers at 424 and 415 Squadrons. As a veteran, he completed high school matriculation at Tyee Road School in Victoria and attended Victoria College where he met his future wife, Dora Steven, in summer classes. After their marriage, Albert completed his degree in Physics at UBC.

In 1954, he and Dora sold all that they had in Vancouver and moved to Midale, Saskatchewan to begin their business ventures in the oil patch. Albert worked on oil rigs, pipelines and finally settled in the float equipment business in Edmonton in 1963 where he worked for 45 years creating his company and greatest pride Top-Co Industries.

Ever the great innovator, Albert and Dora did a huge renovation on their house in the Uplands. See:

http://www.homesandcottages.com/Articles/tabid/134/Default.aspx?ArticleId=67

“We now have symmetry with regard to the windows,” says Hennessey. “People can find our front door, and we have a door upstairs that finally goes somewhere – over 75 years after the fact. Best of all, I can now sit outside on the balcony and enjoy the garden and views from above.”

A Funeral Service honouring Albert was held at 11am, Nov. 18 St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. The poppy ceremony was performed by members of VIAA Albert was interred at Grand Clairiere, Manitoba.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to 848 (Royal Roads) Air Cadet Squadron or the Grande Clairiere Cemetery Committee, c/o Harvey Mahy, Hartney, Manitoba, R0M 0X0.

Albert Hennessey - Post Warfrom 2009 interview by Bill Cline edited by Ed.

I was discharged at Jericho Beach and the question was what to do now. Someone suggested university, and I said, “How do you do that”? to which somebody

said, “Get your senior matric, you (expletive).” The personnel officer said I was just in time as the Tyee School in Victoria was offering a course, grades 9 through 12, condensed to six months.

That must have been specifically for veterans?We had some prerequisites, like IQ tests. The

math, trigonometry etc. required a lot of work, but I passed. Then I got into Victoria College for first year university and then to UBC where I completed a degree in Science.

What about Pipestone, Manitoba?Well, my Dad was ailing, and my younger brother

had taken over the farm, so there was nothing there for me. I worked for a while with a Texas company in Alberta doing seismic exploration for oil and gas. I soon realized that you wouldn’t get rich working seismic in the oil fields, so I began re-building gas plants.

That would be for natural gas, I presume? Yes. I soon discovered that improvements could be

made to the plants and the tools, especially to drilling. Did that lead to your invention, an improved design

of casing collars, and subsequent patents for them?Yes, in drilling when you have more than one “pay

zone”, you need what they call “stage collars”. Those are what made the money for me. When President Reagan came along, he cut off all supplies of oil drilling tools for Russia. That meant I was the only manufacturer of stage collars, outside of the U.S. My company was grossing about $100,000 per year prior to this. The Texas supplier referred the Russians to me and I was happy to oblige, as price didn’t appear to matter to them. I had to re-tool because they wanted a much larger collar, so I was able to do that and negotiate the same price they had been paying to the American supplier. So the money began to roll in, starting with a purchase order of $5 million.

Tell me about your mishap servicing one of your gas-drilling customers.

We were working in this gas plant when suddenly I began to feel faint, and told Norman, the other guy – that’s the last thing I remember, until waking up after 20 days in a coma on life support. The doctors had given up, and wanted to remove the tubes, but Dora, my wife, would not allow that. After a long recovery, I had some loss of short-term memory, but was able to resume my life. The doctor said I owed my recovery to the Vietnamese workers blowing into my mouth while waiting for the ambulance (which got lost for 15 minutes.) They restarted my heart with electric shock.

December 2011, AirVibes 7

Vancouver Island Aircrew AssociationMinutes of VIAA Luncheon Meeting – 16 November 2011

The meeting was called to order at 1210 hrs and the President proposed toasts to “The Queen”, “Canada”, and “Absent Friends”, remembering particularly Albert Hennessey who had recently passed away. The President announced the details of Albert’s funeral, to be held November 18th, and requested members attend if they could, as a poppy ceremony would be held.

The following guests were introduced: Al Brown (Red Lead), a pilot of some renown, by Scott Eichel; Bruce Kitchener, an RAF pilot with Far East experience and currently a wine connoisseur, by George Baker, and Roger Turner, a former member of the SGIAA, by Peter Keith-Murray. All were warmly welcomed by the members.

In the absence of the Welfare Officer, the President noted that all members were progressing as well as could be expected although Ray Rose continues to have problems with his legs and Andy Wojciechowski is still essentially bed-ridden. They both hoped, however, to be able to attend the Christmas luncheon. He also reminded members to advise Tom of their shortbread orders prior to the next meeting.

The Treasurer reported that no one had volunteered either themselves or their relatives to provide Christmas entertainment. He therefore requested that members bring CDs of suitable Christmas music that could be played as background during lunch.

Jack Dixon reported that, in his capacity as Air Cadet Liaison, he had contacted all three local squadrons offering to help with their training program. Although he had not heard back from either 89 (Pacific) or 676 (Kittyhawk) Squadrons, he had received a very enthusiastic response from (848) Royal Roads Squadron and expected further contact in the New Year. He requested that anyone interested in helping with the training program contact him.

The President raised a number of items:Remembrance Day: The President thanked Lloyd Skaalen for laying the wreath at the cenotaph on behalf •of the VIAA. He also reported that the Air Force memorial in Pioneer Square, which had been defaced just prior to Remembrance Day, had now been cleaned.

Nominations: The Past President, who is currently in Australia, will chair the Nominations Committee. •In the meantime, the President requested that any member who was interested in serving on the Executive give his or her name to a member of the Executive.

Gun Room Renovations: The renovations, which had been scheduled to start in early September, and •subsequently delayed until October 31st, had finally commenced at the beginning of this week and were expected to take at least two months.

Special Events Coordinator: The President advised that Jack Dixon had resigned from the position since •members did not seem interested in participating. However, the President still felt there was a role for a coordinator for selected and well publicized events and asked anyone who was interested in this position to let him know.

Membership Bio Project: So far the President has received bios from about 20% of the membership and •expects the project may take longer than originally anticipated. He encouraged those who had not yet submitted their bios to please do so if they wished to be included in the booklet.

The Vice-President then introduced Colonel (ret’d) Terry Chester, a former Argus and Aurora pilot, who had converted from Radio Officer, and who had served a tour on the AWACS in Germany. Terry is now residing in Comox, is the Project Manager of the local Spitfire reconstruction and had recently assumed the position of President of the Air Force Association of Canada (AFAC).

Terry provided a clear and well-organized description of the AFAC, a federally incorporated organization that is currently in transition as a result of the recent passage of the Not for Profit Corporations Act. The AFAC was fully formed in 1948 as a national advocacy association to support the Air Force and its veterans. However, Terry noted that the organization had actually been in existence since the early 1920s and, in fact, the RCAF had been formed out of the association. Currently its mission statement describes the AFAC as a leading force in aerospace commemoration, education and advocacy. Its membership has declined from a high of approximately 15,000 members to its current 10,138 members, spread over 65 Wings. Approximately 50% of the members are members-at-large.

8 AirVibes, December 2011

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Send submissions to Hu Filleul, 702-1665 The Collegeway, Mississauga ON L5L 0A9 or email: hufilleul@rogers.com.

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To receive AirVibes by email contact Don Walker at Ph: 250-658-1625. A PDF version is on our website: www.aircrew.ca

Remembrance Day VictoriaLloyd Skaalen places our wreath then presents a salute.

The AFAC currently has three main roles:

Advocacy: This is accomplished through the Airpower Advocacy Committee which prepares position •papers on issues of current interest; full membership in the Conference of Defence Associations; the work of the various Wings; and recognition of RCAF personnel and units through its annual awards.

Heritage: The AFAC participates in ceremonial events, provides financial support to museums and •operates the AFAC Trust Fund.

Youth: The AFAC provides support to air cadets, offers scholarships and provides school briefings on air •topics.

The AFAC maintains regular liaison with the Legion, ANAVETS and the National Coalition of Veterans Associations.

With the recent passage of the Not for Profit Corporations Act, the AFAC is entering a 3-year period of transition to bring its by-laws into compliance with the Act. In addition to undergoing strategic planning, two major changes will be the need to elect a Board of Directors who will represent the membership at large and elect the Executive, and the abolition of any distinction between classes of membership such as regular and associate, assuring ever member of a vote.

Following his presentation, Terry was warmly thanked by the Vice-President, and presented with a copy of Aircrew Memories.

The 50/50 draw was won by Ken Pask – again!There being no further business, the President declared the meeting adjourned at 1305 hrs.

W.A. Clay, Secretary

“Did you know that when many of us cross-trained from ANAV to pilot a few years ago, the story went around that, as a consequence, the IQ of both trades went up?” Scott Eichel