Devil’s Dance Floor

           With this entry I’ll open with a famous speech from British prime minister Winston Churchill. To many, it is with these words which the 1940 Battle Of Britain began;

          “We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”

          With that speech, the commonwealth and Britain were rallied to the cause. Soon after, the RCAF would receive its first aerial victories, aces, and awards. No. 1 Squadron RCAF played a vital role in defeating the Luftwaffe over Britain during that perilous time, and with it brought prestige and honor to one Saskatchewan resident.

          Ernest McNab, commander of No. 1 Squadron at the time of the Battle Of Britain, was a Saskatoon native and had a passion for flying. Since his university years he was an experienced aviator and was appointed commander of No. 1 Squadron at the outbreak of war in 1939. As part of the RCAF, he was officially the first Canadian pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in August of 1940 during a training exercise when he spotted a Luftwaffe Dornier bomber. As a unit, No. 1 Squadron flew for the first time later on that month equipped completely with Canadian-made Hawker Hurricanes and in their first action shot down two more Dornier bombers.

          By October 1940, the battle had inevitably turned towards the civilian population of Britain. By then the squadron had accumulated a total of 23 aerial victories, and by November that number climbed to around 70. Squadron leader McNab would later go on to describe the plight of the civilians in London, describing their livelihoods, homes, and families being obliterated by the endless waves of German bombers. Like all pilots based in Britain, the Canadians of No. 1 Squadron often received little downtime. Often flying to the point of exhaustion, the squadron pressed on, and doing so saved countless lives. 

          Ernest McNab would later go on to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions leading No. 1 Squadron during the Battle Of Britain, and survived the war. He passed away in 1977- a well deserved and long life. I first found out about McNab from an exhibit that was once at the Regina International Airport near the gift shop. A book I own that I can highly recommend on him and the RCAF during the war and of course the Battle Of Britain itself is “Canada At War”, a graphic novel written by Paul Keery and illustrated by Michael Wyatt. The book has a whole chapter dedicated to the efforts of No. 1 Squadron RCAF.

          However, McNab wasn’t the only Saskatchewan native involved with the Battle Of Britain. Others were involved as well, their names listed below.

R.S. Baker-Falkner- Broadview

C.A. Bonseineur- Gull Lake

M.H. Brown- Battleford

E.F.J. Charles- Lashburn

W.A. Cuddle- Regina

E.G. Ford- Regina

E.H. Hill- Ogema/Lucky Lake

R.G. Lewis- Fort Qu’Appelle

J.A. Milne- Yorkton

O.J. Peterson- Lloydminister

K.M. Sclanders- Saskatoon 

H.N. Tamblyn- North Battleford

R.H. Wiens- Jansen

J.S. Young- Saskatoon

          All of these men fought valiantly to keep Britain from the jaws of Nazi oppression. In a future article perhaps, it might be a good idea to track some of the family of these servicemen down and see if I can find any more information on their stories as well. All information I’ve provided today has been sourced from the Saskatchewan government website and the website of Legion Magazine.