225 Winston Churchill dubbed the fighter pilots of the RAF in the Battle of Britain as “the Few” – over the decades the ranks of the famous Few became fewer and fewer; now there is just one. Like sand slipping away in an hourglass, this same feeling applies to the ranks of Canada’s living fighter pilots of the SecondWorldWar. Of the thousands of Canadians who flew in fighters, a diminishing few remain. In May, we lost one of the very best Canada ever produced with the passing of 100-year-old Wing Commander James “Eddie” Edwards. He was among an elite group of flyers, Edwards was an “Ace.” The term “Ace” originated in the Great War and applied to a pilot with five or more confirmed kills. There were just over 150 Canadian aces in the Second World War and Edwards was one of the very best. “Eddie”, as he was known during the Second World War, was born in Nokomis, Saskatchewan in June 1921. He attended school in Battleford and graduated from St. Thomas College in 1940. Soon after, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in October 1940 and completed flight training in early 1941 graduating as a Sergeant Pilot. By July, Edwards was overseas and posted to No. 55 OTU (Operational Training Unit) near Newcastle England undergoing fighter pilot training. In January 1942, twenty-year-old Flight Sergeant Edwards was posted to 94 Squadron RAF in Egypt. The squadron had just traded in its clappedout Hawker Hurricanes for new American made Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk’s. The working up process concluded, 94 Squadron became operational in March as part of 223 Wing, RAF. Edward’s first operational trip was as an escort for Boston medium bombers to the enemy’s well defended Martuba airfield, Edwards made an immediate mark by shooting down a Me 109F of Jagdgeschwader 27. Wing Commander Beresford dubbed Eddie the “Hawk of Martuba” shortly afterwards in recognition of his quick reflexes, flying By John Goheen AK Wing Commander James Francis “Eddie” Edwards, CM, DFC & Bar, DFM, MiD, CD 5 June 1921 – 14 May 2022 FAREWELL TOAHERO
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