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> | ) ' g | | I -- WWinitenitine on n incsmonarmmmace srer enc teemsrmescarcet ies oce concrmrantaeimes reciaaies pteciun--sesreag gm=~>, o rmretects . se The Kincardine News _ M Tuesday.November6,2012'5 | : Vet reluctantly shares WWII adventure as aircraft mechanic -- ToyPatterson 0_ _ _ 0 > -- @Q'Effid"@'tfilaflgm"im? with the bunks as high as the ceiling,".__| fi busees | C TTTTimmcmmaamy,. [J Keith Armstrong, 89, of Ripley, was ' RuadnNes _ ... _ _ __ entadkntme |) ... ttS8 . ) _ w2 \_ _ _ [ ( an airframe mechanic in the Royal 3;| _ Keith Armstrong of Ripley didn't _ :-':fi@?*w':_m'!'!'"'em"% semplojer / LC 1aqdqdmm%1?§rfifil"md,mm,ha; =' % c e -- _ % [ [ Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from I _,c,.s,:i_ story know, he signed up for service at a strong said since they _ A T :. ) [ 1942--1946. Armstrong worked on _ 7 %fid\h}ar. y 'Mamilton recruitment office on Nov. _ to do with them, they were sentto dif-- _ OF _ _ OO s O O } ~B Halifax and Liberator aircraft in *\_ gutforthearmenwhoflewtheHal-- 22, 1942 at the age of 19. The recruit-- _ ferentstations arourclldthe country.Hg > P t e { | [ CGanada and Great Britain. Below: 3 | ifacand Liberator bombers herepaired _ »~e1§lmm%¢a'fi}YPId<9d&?°Ph!SP?de received commant ({'a'.lglh"%me _ C O O |. [ Leading Air Craftsman (LAC) Keith \ as a airframe mechanic in Canada _ skills which disappoin: him initially combattrgnmpfin saidhednever [ / ET [ Amstrong was 19 in this phots, ) | and Great Britain from 1942--46, itwas -- ;ifii?mwt.hem"s'medh'swme . e aooun} mili robl [ & -- : se \ °[ taken in Brantford in 1942 (TROY & dwmng Crleas 000 _ > § Teould run five miles no problem _ [ %f» &# O _ [ PATTERSON/KINCARDINE NEWS) d fixatpomtdunfi duringacon: _ "Iwantedtobeapilot buttheysaid -- andTfeltlikeTcouldpulltrees outof [ _ t ..\ versationwith TheKincardineNewslest _ theyneededairframemechanics, andI _ theground, hesaid.. : : ie " -- ~ ~ it ) ~a 'upmemn $ sdfon_'ffix,ink*lwa;esmsa;aatenoughtobea dillwqrt?'elrtBfltm?flso saw him i 0e e s c 0 0p \ brance Day ceremoni in Kincardine _ pilotanyways," i eal with a bout of pneumonia, . | 1w02 . e Sale [ e _mm Kin 523 :?:g?gis.tmining saw him travel to -- which spurred a humourous, but _ %rr*, P ,~ e e>d l =-- |> Armstrongsstory is one farremoved . ;'-Guel%:Ga\t,Tomnto, St. Thomas and _ . disturbing rumoutr at his air base that 6 S se i : Cl > -- \ from the combat roles of the Second. -- Brantford where he built up his skills . caused him a detour when he was | o e iqflg < s | * > supportrole for the Royal CanadianAit .'5'..---. used to train RAF pilots "There was a rumour that I had U L/ is JA : == | Porce (RCA Em&fll'fi'-"anflfiéwmember& -- died, so when I got back my stuff Ns 1 + ;'@ + _' *\ whose bombardment of Axis--occu--__ _ Thadone instructortellme 'Eorget was gone and my bike was the only s t e o4 E >\ ced Buropehas beentrecorded as vital -- everything you learned in school, we. thingleftbecause itwas chained to v a § ~ B ~~ _ | totheAlliedvictoryin1945. _ _ dothings ourwayhere," hesaid. apost... ohandmyc_hr?laund;ly," f a C == / | ButArmstrong maintained thathe _ Armstrongsaid hesawplane crashes _ Armstrong said. "Ididntknow the l s | wl ?;fimch,n*gutbytbe;e'm}lrbf;ihe -- and miracles, where in one case an station very well, so I went to look Wwhos e td ' == | conversation hed revealed how his -- aircraft made a "hard landing" and _ forsomeonewhoknew wheremystuff _ fauly it was that caused the _ _ | adventure had taken him around the _ bounced 50--feet into the air, but was _ was." f injury, o > U world, united him with a distant rela_ _ still okay to fly. He recalled how.an air-- He found an officer who allowed "And I said I'm not saying any-- " and © _ | tive allowed him to meetnew friends, -- craftcrashed near Armow in a field, in himtoe:qflainhls"sadsmt}/'andaig thing," he laughed. a7 MWSkfll& experience tragedy a case where one ofthe "best test pilots . offered him up a space until he got Armstrong also experienced f == | first--hand and have some odd stories around" was able to getit back into the Eroblemsoxted out. While searching, _ somemoments oftension in Britain. ? | totelldecadeslater. -- __ _ airafterbouncing it over a fence before e also bumped into a distant relative, Tn one case they were forced into an , a --= |__ LeadingAirCraftsman ((LAC) Arm-- _ takeoff _ Jack Armstrong of Nanton, Alberta, _ airyaid shelter over threats of a Ger-- | -- | strong, now 89, left high school earlyto _ "There were some minor crashes which Armstrong said was an 0dd _ man attack In another case a Ger---- W § es = \ workin Hamilton as ateen, after grow-- _ and bad ones where some d%uysmade coincidence. § man aircraft made a flyby near a post e ts Hud-- -.}Bemie, where his parents -- somebadmistakes," hesai For a time he was stationed at RAF _ office, where an Allied machinegun son.crew asked themif they wanted fls Spm He earned _ One accident that came to mind. . base Linton--on--Ouse with the Thutn-- _ pestabove the building opened fire. to fly down low to checkout some ice-- " _\ his welding and sheetmetal ticketand _ claimed the life of his childhood friend, derbird-S&luadIon.426 #6 Bomber _ "near the end of the war, therewas _ be ==, | secured a job buildingnacelles for Avro -- MacAlexander of Bervie, who he heard. _ Command, where he switched from___ one day when the sky was just black E%xemthmd the motors "_| Anson twin--engine multi role planes -- had died out westin a midair collision . maintenance to flight maintenance |-- wih aircraftheading overto Germany," _ Started to stutter," hesaid. * | atWhite Ca m itfl aft after the two aircraft were circling and _ and £reparation.When asked what _ pe said. "We saw them all the time, but Armmostrong said the crewman quickly 7| | said his job and skills allowed him to -- observing the scene of another crash _ condition the aircraft returned in, he _ tharone dayitwasreallysomething." _ pulled open the door, dro;zged down © = . bypass service for a time, but deep _ minutesearlier _ x said many Halifax bombers came back _ Afrerthewarinlate 1945, asashowof _ on his knees and opened the reserve _ . downhe wantedtoenlist _ _ _____-- His chance to serve overseas came f'shotug and full of holes," and it was _ "appreciation" to ground crews across . fuel tank valves that were carried on 4 J'*g.frfllnwbuddxeswmmtheseww -- after he heard there was a posting . their jo to repair everything but the _ prifain he was one ofthe fewfrom his _ board before the planestalled. % 3 C o_ 1ool_;mgforvahmtet_arsfora1ma§_ ; _ motors and electronics. .. -- squadron selected to join a transport "It happened so fast, it wasn't until * Cl <~m. iA & _ | maintenanceandflightmechan-- ... _ _ "It was interesting, but you did aircraftonarépatriafiontripwitgzs we landed that we realized there was e | | sc 3 -mul,anam. get most of your excitement at night soldiers from Tempsford, England to a chance we wouldn't have made it W s Once I heard I dropped eve--_ . when youwent to the pub," Armstrong _ . Karachi, Inda (nowPakistan), withstops _ back" hesaid. . --a || * o rything, my tools were left out, laxfi't;ed. _ in Tripoli, Libya (one day), Cairo, Egypt _ A member of the Kincardine »nos | and ranlike the devil and wound recalled a tale of one friend who (three days) and Iraq, Atonepoin%?'u';- Legion Branch 183, Armstrong says 3 | up the second last man on it... _ was a very poor driver on his bicycle ing the flight the pilot gave him a blast _ he remembers his friends who served <f fill\%ggeded'zo, he said. "I was afterthepug.o_nemght,hisfriendpm- while he was cing back and forth in each Nov. 11 and has taken his turnlay-- B | f |RE, Tucky to getoverseas Hfigured. My _ ceeded to ride in a circle, before slam-- fpg 1ane,asE§welgmwasmmwmg ing the wreath for the branch during s | TR wife didn't know that at the time nun(%;lgt.o.Annstrong's front wheel, Offlfie autopilot, helaughed. -- the Remembrance Day ceremonies * U though" _ _ _ & bendingitinto a'C shape. "T really did get to see a lot of the _ overthe years. s iA s i 4 > y did g A -- o _ n 1944 he boarded the troop-- ___ "Ihad to bend it back into shape word hesaid. He was disheartened to see many * l | ship Isle de France, with a crew Wflhaflgeh}e?a@dendedup spraining _ Armstrongspent NewNYearsEve 1945 _ people, at times, repulsed by military x ff | of 1,000 and 10,000 passengers _ myankle riding it on the way back," he ---- and a few more days in India, before _ Service during his years at Stelco Steel pte arnee ho Alantic onwhatwas ----sald. § heading back to Englandvia Palestine, _ from 1959--1986, but he still has faith > known as thethird largesttroop-- .. Thatsame night they wound uP 2t _ Heflewbackto CanadainMay 1946 . youngpcoplewouldagainheedthecall e | ship at the time, Armstrong said. _ another 'big party' at the First Aid hut. _ on a Tockheed Hudson via Scotland _ of thenation ifneeded for its defence. m I S Servicemen's bunks were stacked "éggrmn?mf where the medical _ ang feeJland. Armstrong said his clos-- T have to think if war broke out and ' _\ Armstrong smiles for a photo. _ Tike crates, with little room for _ officer gave him a broomstickand had _ cs¢ call came during rie trip home _ wewereinit, people would step up," he s | O CCb Smiles JOF a PNOFO WIth is comfort. > ___ himflipitupside d : § * |I belongings while on furioug ( ar } ip it upside down as a makeshift _ peryeen Tcelandand Goose Bay, Lab-- -- Said. B leaveyoutside hfs% ugh (temporary _ "Itwas so cramped, whenyou _ crutch. Thenextday on "sickparade" to _ pagoy _ | J iR cutside his Parent's store in Bervie . went to bed at night you had explain why he was unable to work his -- when the + ------ h s > /" mt o * neovelstas 14904 about a foot of space around you _ commanding officerwanted to know (ar=-- T * | P : 2P 2 , $ 2 j 4 s e ~ , ,