Let Me Fly

Heroes Remember

Let Me Fly

Transcript

I managed to get malaria while I was there and at the same time, I had some kind of a lung condition. It was a pleurisy sort of thing, an infection of the lung lining or chest lining. But the symptoms were masking each other so that they couldn’t diagnose the malaria, exactly. And they couldn’t diagnose this other thing. They didn’t know what I had. And two of us had the same thing at the same time. And this was a tent establishment. It was a temporary village. The medical hut was a tent with a sheet between the two beds. And this guy had the same thing, was next to me in the next bed. You could hear everything that was going on there and I could hear his diagnosis. So I recognized it was exactly the same as mine. But unfortunately, he died. And you know, we were young. And we were healthy, as far as we knew. So I heard all these low discussions going on, but I could hear everything very clearly. They were concerned now about the guy in the next slot. That maybe they should get him out of there and send him in to Bangalore where there was a full military hospital, a British ... it had been there since Clive of India was around, I guess. But it was a brick building, a proper building. So off they sent me there. And I was glad they did because, you know, I recovered. But I dropped, I weighed then about the same as I weigh now, about 170. And when I got out of that hospital, I weighed 135. So I’d come down a long way. I went straight from there. They said my flying days were over. The group captain that ran the hospital said that, “You’ve, you know that we’re going to send you back to England and then back to Canada. Your flying days are over.” I really prevailed upon this fellow to let me stay. And I told him my story of getting in on my eighteenth birthday. You know, I made my way, half-way around the world. Now I’m just on the threshold of really why I joined this bloody service and you want to send me home. You know, let me fly. Finally, he could see how serious I was about this thing and he said, “What I’ll do, I want you to take a month’s leave and go up into the hills, Himalayan Mountains. You can go up somewhere, someplace where it’s cooler. Get some good food and get some weight on yourself, get built up. When you’re ready to fly, a month from now, come down and report to your squadron and you can get, you may have to change crews or whatever, but you’ll get going.” So I thanked him immensely and I got organized with a train over to Madras and up to Calcutta. And I called there to the squadron and said that I was up in Calcutta. And this squadron’s based about 120 miles north of Calcutta at a place called Dighori. I said that I was there, that I was posted to Dighori, would they have a vehicle? ‘Cause it was a long way from the station at Dighori to our camp, was. Could they have a vehicle to pick me up when I arrived at Dighori? And they agreed to do that. So I got off the train, got in a truck and went to the station. And I went to the adjutant’s office and I said that my name’s Sharpe and I should’ve been here two months ago, but I’ve been ill. He said, “What trade are you?” I said, “I’m a pilot.” He said, “Are you fit to fly?” I said, “Yes sir.” He says, “Fine, I’m going to put you in with Pissy Horton,” who was an Australian guy. There were two bed basha huts. He said, “I’ll put you with Pissy Horton.” And he said, “Briefing’s at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning. Pissy will show you where to get a parachute, a Mae West, and oxygen masks and all that stuff you need, and good luck.” And off I went. So, next afternoon about three o’clock I’m on my first trip down the Bay of Bengal.

Description

Mr. Sharpe talks about getting malaria and being told he would be sent home.

Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe

Charles Richard Sharpe was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on February 11, 1925. His father worked for the Canada Customs Service, getting pensions for wounded Veterans. A Veteran of World War One, Mr. Sharpe’s father told him many stories about the war.

Mr. Sharpe joined the RCAF on the morning of his 18th birthday and became a pilot. He flew 23 missions for the RCAF and rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. After the war, Mr. Sharpe became a very successful businessman, serving for many years as CEO of Sears Canada. Among his many awards and recognitions, in 1998, he became a member of the Order of Canada.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 3:40
Person Interviewed:: Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Southeast Asia
Battle/Campaign:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 159 Squadron
Rank:: Lieutenant
Occupation:: Pilot

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Let Me Fly

Heroes Remember

Let Me Fly

Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe

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