LEST WE FORGET 237 McGILLIVRAY, Allan Robert WWII Allan was born on March 30, 1920, in Central Butte, Saskatchewan, the son of Jack and Lulu McGillivray. At age 21, in the spring of 1941, after seeding, Allan went to the Royal Canadian Air Force recruiting office in Regina and applied to join the RCAF Air Crew. In the fall, after a poor harvest, he got the call for compulsory training and in November began training as a pilot observer in Brandon, Manitoba. After basic training in March, Allan was posted to bombing and gunnery school in Dafoe, Saskatchewan. In May, they went to Initial Training School in Saskatoon where he was chosen to go to Navigation School. In July, he was posted in Regina to learn practical navigation. They flew training in the twoengined, reliable Avro Anson. Halfway through, they were packed off to Pearce, Alberta. They completed the course in October 1942 and were awarded their wings, some as sergeant, but six of them were given a commission rank (2nd Lieutenant). In mid-November, they were told they were going overseas and spent three weeks in Halifax before being marched down to a train not knowing where they were going. To their surprise, they ended up in New York harbour boarding with (10 000 troops in all) the Queen Elizabeth, the largest and fastest liner afloat. After six days at sea, a pair of Spitfires escorted them into a shore train. They travelled through the blacked-out countryside to the south coast of England. Ration cards were a necessity for troops in the food-starved England. They spent some time training until the first of April 1943 when they went out training in the Tiger Moth aircraft to get used to finding their way over the different countryside in England. In May 1943, Allan was promoted to Flying Officer and more training courses completed, they were told they would be assigned to an Operational Unit. In June, they were sent to Northern Scotland. Their flight crew was assembled (Canadian pilot, navigator), and bomb aimer with British wireless operator and rear gunner. They trained for night bombing in the large twin engine Wellington bomber. In August, they finished training and were considered ready for operations, but as most operational squadrons were now using four-engine aircrafts, their aircrew was posted to a Conversion Unit. It was now November and their conversion to the Halifax bomber was complete and with two new crew members, mid gunner and flight engineer, they were posted directly to operation squadron #158. It was just over a year since he landed in England, and delays continued as operations were converting from the Halifax MKII to the MKIII and in January 1944 the squadron appeared on the operational board. After several trips without incident, on March 24, on a bombing run to Berlin, the Squadron came upon strong winds that broke up the formation. Their Halifax was struck by cannon fire and one engine was set on fire. They got another blast which knocked out two more of the engines and were put out of control. They were ordered to put on their parachutes and abandon the plane at once. After struggling to open the escape hatch. He just stuck his feet out and the slipstream did the rest. Allan landed safely in a hay field in enemy territory and there was no sign of the aircraft anywhere. He came upon his bomb aimer, McDonagh in a ditch with a mangled ankle from a cannon shell. He was unable to walk. In the darkened night, Allan found his way to a village and by early morning was able to arouse a village family. They alerted the authorities and Mac was taken by stretcher into town where four of their crew were rounded up and as it turned out, they were the only four that survived. They were taken by rail to Berlin, then with others captured, on to an (continued)
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