211374 Flt.Sgt. Hugh David "Boomer" Hardy Royal Canadian Air Force 408 Goose Squadron from:Saskatoon This is a short little story about Hugh David Hardy known as Dave. On Nov.10 1944 returning from a bombing run, the Halifax, that Dave the tail gunner in, caught fire as a result of flack. The pilot gave the order to bail out. Dave had heard of fellows who bailed out with their intercom still attached, so he took his headgear off and bailed out. In the meantime, with the aircraft badly damaged, the fire went out and the pilot rescinded the bailout order. The Halifax went on to make a soft crash landing across Allied lines and the rest of the crew were uninjured. Dave went off to prison camp where he lost a fortune in cigarettes when he went onto a 500 mile forced march. About 1960 he went looking in an old settlers trunk of his aunt's where he had left all of the medical records starting with the letter H from the first Camp. I think it was Stalag Luft VII. He had become ill with a problem he first had before the forced march. A Lancaster pilot who worked at veteran's affairs told me Dave was considered a hero at Veteran's affairs as there were quite a number of former POWs who got their pension with the proof of illness that the records showed. The members of Dave's aircrew are all now dead but stayed in touch. Dave succumbed to his illness Dec.17 1962 and was the first to go again. He was 37 years old. I have two very good photograghs of the Halifax and the full aircrew. And a Sargent's picture and a Pilot officer's picture of Dave.
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