Description
Graham McDonald
Bernard Graham (B.G.) McDonald was born on December 26, 1920, and raised in Granby, Quebec. His family enjoys a long history in Granby. His grandfather, John Sr, who had emigrated from Ireland, was the first chief of police in the late 1800's. Bernard joined the Non-Permanent Active Militia in 1936 and when war broke out, he attempted to enlist in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 1939, but was turned down because there were too many volunteers. Mr. McDonald successfully enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Montreal, Quebec, in October 1940, but had to delay his entry until February 1941 due to an outbreak of measles. He served with the Royal Air Force 103 (Black Swan) Squadron in Elsham Wolds, England, and completed 31 successful operations. Mr. McDonald was honourably discharged on June 26, 1946, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, as a flying officer and was stationed in Gander, Newfoundland, as the transport officer in charge of 164 Squadron. Shortly after this posting, he returned to civilian life to work as the advertising manager for the Miner Company in Granby. He married Connie, originally from London, England, in 1946 and together they raised three children. Mr. McDonald has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for 65 years.
Transcript
Interviewer: And how was the weather a factor to your flight operations?
Uh, big, the weather was a big deal because I remember taking off many times when the weather was very, very poor in England but at the same time in the continent there were some parts of Germany that we were going to bomb maybe it wasn’t. We preferred to bomb a target that wasn’t covered with cloud. But at the same time, we had a method of bombing through cloud, you know, by the bomb aimer. Although he couldn’t see the target, he knew where we were and so on. But we preferred to bomb in the clear and at the same time it made us sitting ducks too.