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A childhood dream

The Second World War gave Flight Lieutenant (Retired) George Brewster a chance to combine his two lifelong passions—flying and helping people.

Brewster, who was born in New Brunswick and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at age 18, had dreamed of being a pilot since he was a boy building toy planes from sticks of wood, horse glue and sardine cans.

“I longed to fly,” Brewster, now 102, said.

“I had my mind set on flying Spitfires when I joined as a 118-pound runt.”

As a young newspaper delivery boy, he became aware of the terrible injustices unfolding in Europe and was deeply troubled by the German invasions and occupations. “I was very upset. They brutalized (the Netherlands), took their cattle and food and left them starving,” he said.

Getting his wings

After completing the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, he earned his wings and became a fighter pilot.

Brewster went overseas in 1944 and eventually joined 416 Squadron, No. 127 Wing of the RCAF.  Realizing his dream, he began flying Spitfires in England and Scotland.

The following year, he was in combat as part of the RCAF Tactical Force, attacking ground targets related to the German war effort to clear the way for Allied forces on the ground.

“These people needed help and I wanted to help as much as I could to make a difference. I would have given my life if I had to. I never dreamed I would survive.”

During the day, he was trying to shoot at them, but at night, he silently prayed for the German boys his age. He knew many of them didn’t want to be fighting a war any more than he did.

“I prayed they would somehow realize what they were doing was wrong and they would show some heart,” he said.

The freedom of flight

When he crawled into the spitfire cockpit and ascended above the clouds, the rhythm of flight made him feel like a child again, dancing in his mother’s arms.

“There were moments of exhilaration,” he explained, then recited, verbatim, High Flight by American pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr.:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

“You feel like you are a bird, soaring,” Brewster said.

There was a beauty to it, but there was also a very dark side — avoiding being shot by, and shooting at, the enemy mid-flight.

“It takes a shock to find out just how much courage you have. I concentrated and had speed and accuracy on my side. I approached the enemy at a surprising angle, and it saved me time and again.”

He dealt with shooting at the same young men he prayed for by thinking of nothing but getting those enemy planes out of the sky.

“It had to be done. I was destroying machines, not people. They were bombing innocent people. The good guys didn’t start it, we didn’t want it, but we had to bring it to a stop.”

V-E Day memories

The day the war ended in Europe in 1945, Brewster was testing a recently repaired Spitfire when his base commander came on the radio to tell him the war was over.

“I radioed him back and said ‘how would you like me to approach sir?’ His response was “any way you wish Brewster.”

He flew the Spitfire upside down past the control tower in a stunt that still makes him smile to this day.

When he landed he revelled in the love of the Dutch citizens he had helped liberate. “They were so thankful, there is so much love between the Canadians and the Dutch people to this day,” he said.

The end of the war brought intense memories for Brewster and the other airmen, as many of them saw the recently liberated concentration camp, Buchenwald. They had defeated the regime that perpetrated horrible atrocities.

He returned to Canada after the war.

In 1950, Brewster became a military engineer for the Canadian Army and worked as an RCAF pilot instructor and survival trainer in the Arctic until his retirement from the military in 1967.

After his service, he was the Provincial Chief of Junior Forest Wardens for the Province of Alberta. He had a ranch where he and his family raised horses, cattle and sheep. For years, he volunteered to work with youth through 4H, Boy Scouts and other organizations.

“I was able to help so many young people reach their maximum potential,” he said, adding he still gets thank you letters from people he knew when they were young.

He retired and travelled the world, enjoying his hobbies: cruising, camping, fishing and dancing.

The importance of kindness

Being part of the Liberation of the Netherlands at such a young age led him to a lifetime of service to others, he said.

“I always hoped I could impact someone in a positive way and God has given me the opportunity, strength and will to do that. I felt a sense of being privileged to serve my country.”

Recently a woman who lives in his assisted living facility in Duncan, BC, was having a difficult day. She was feeling lonely and low about losing her vision to macular degeneration.

Brewster offered her raisin toast and tea and asked her to sit for a chat.

It was a little thing, but it was what he could offer her in that moment. “We get chances every day to help each other and make life a little easier for each other, we have to take them,” he said.

“I can still help people with a kind word to lift them up. If we treat each other with respect and kindness it will be a better place, I hope and pray.”

Brewster recently celebrated his 102 birthday.

If he had his life to live over, he would fight for his country all over again.

“I would give my life for Canada at the drop of a hat.”

With courage, integrity and loyalty, George Brewster has left his mark. Discover more stories.