How Was Your War?
Below are some excerpts from my grandpa Bissky’s WWII Air Force diary. He left Canada for England in July 1941, when he was nineteen years old, and stayed for the duration of the war.
July 20, 1941
Got on board Shathnauer at Halifax at 11AM. Grand ship & good quarters. Cabin mate Roy Colwell. Weather fine.
July 25, 1941
Calm water
Changed escort at 11 o’clock - 7 Br destroyers - 2 subs sighted - both believed to have been sunk. Otherwise all quiet.
July 31, 1941
Left ship at 6:20 in the morning. On train at 7:00 & left at 7:15. Arrived Bornmouthe 5:30PM. Stayed at the Hotel Metropole. Took a walk around. Grand place. Weather cloudy & raining at times.
August 3, 1941
Posted to Odiham. 400 Squadron remnant of 110 all Canadian. Grand place. Tomihawks for aircraft. Weather fine.
August 9, 1941
Flew over to Oakland Hill in Harvard with N.S. Clarke. Started on “Tommy’s.” Beautiful aircraft, & no kidding. Fell in love with them right off the bat. Got in 3 hours of flying - Expect to finish tomorrow. Weather fine. Top Speed so far 350 M.P.H. on “Tommy’s” Aug. 9.
August 14, 1941
LUCKY DAY. Lucky is right - ran into a pile of bombs - fortunate to be alive. Weather not too bad. AH895B my aircraft.
August 17, 1941
Mock Invasion this morning at 6 o’clock & air attack - camp taken - some fun. Weather not too bad - cloudy & scattered rain - flew today.
September 2, 1941
Nothing doing all day - wasted - no flying - Grant crashed my plane - 2 killed in a Blenheim - crashed & k----- just outside our field on take off - one engine out.
September 4, 1941
Flew formation all afternoon - foggy in morning - weather fair. Lovely moon at night - sat and talked til 1 o’clock.
September 17, 1941
Jack McGrath flew me down to Brighton in Lyzzy - Saw Harry. Stayed overnight - nice time. weather good.
July 20, 1941
Got on board Shathnauer at Halifax at 11AM. Grand ship & good quarters. Cabin mate Roy Colwell. Weather fine.
July 25, 1941
Calm water
Changed escort at 11 o’clock - 7 Br destroyers - 2 subs sighted - both believed to have been sunk. Otherwise all quiet.
July 31, 1941
Left ship at 6:20 in the morning. On train at 7:00 & left at 7:15. Arrived Bornmouthe 5:30PM. Stayed at the Hotel Metropole. Took a walk around. Grand place. Weather cloudy & raining at times.
August 3, 1941
Posted to Odiham. 400 Squadron remnant of 110 all Canadian. Grand place. Tomihawks for aircraft. Weather fine.
August 9, 1941
Flew over to Oakland Hill in Harvard with N.S. Clarke. Started on “Tommy’s.” Beautiful aircraft, & no kidding. Fell in love with them right off the bat. Got in 3 hours of flying - Expect to finish tomorrow. Weather fine. Top Speed so far 350 M.P.H. on “Tommy’s” Aug. 9.
August 14, 1941
LUCKY DAY. Lucky is right - ran into a pile of bombs - fortunate to be alive. Weather not too bad. AH895B my aircraft.
August 17, 1941
Mock Invasion this morning at 6 o’clock & air attack - camp taken - some fun. Weather not too bad - cloudy & scattered rain - flew today.
September 2, 1941
Nothing doing all day - wasted - no flying - Grant crashed my plane - 2 killed in a Blenheim - crashed & k----- just outside our field on take off - one engine out.
September 4, 1941
Flew formation all afternoon - foggy in morning - weather fair. Lovely moon at night - sat and talked til 1 o’clock.
September 17, 1941
Jack McGrath flew me down to Brighton in Lyzzy - Saw Harry. Stayed overnight - nice time. weather good.
posted by Marla at 3:26 p.m.
3 Comments:
Wow, that is good stuff. Neither of my grandfathers fought in the war I think both were about 14 at the end. Why do we call it Novemberance Day? (Besides the obvious it is in November and we remember)
Niki, you can't take my Novembrance day because #1: It's mine. #2: It's because of my stupidity that it was created. Now, you don't want to sound stupid do you? Anyways, Marla, it was very interesting to read your Grandpa's entries.
so now you can be "niki-nazi-noodle"!
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