Donald A. Crawford
How proud I am to know this man. My Father in Law. Today we honour him in his home town in Alexandria On. A lovely tribute to him organized by Scott Graham and the Quigley Pipe band. Don would normally be in the parade but this year he has had trouble with mobility so they came to honour him at his home. He had his 97th birthday Sept. 25th this year.
Don enlisted at the Air Force Office in Montreal when he was 17.5 yrs old. He was 18 when he set sail on the Atlantic for England in 1944. His position was wireless operator and air gunner. He was first stationed in Bournemouth and then sent to Barrow-in-Furnace (North). His crew was formed later in Silverstone, assigned to the RAF station.
His first flight over Germany was a terrifying experience. He recalls flack exploding all around the plane and damaged planes were diving to the ground. Don still has the tape of the air crew and explosions occurring around them. He has a log book of his trips over Germany which included dropping food to the Dutch and returning liberated prisoners of war to Britain before VE Day.
Thank you for your service Donald.
PS, Thank you to all the Veterans world wide.
