226514 Lt. James Doohan Canadian Army 13th Field Artillery Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery James Doohan was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Artillery and landed on Juno Beach on D-Day, leading his men through a mine field on Juno beach and personally taking out two German snipers in the process.
After his unit was secured in their position for the night, Doohan was crossing between command posts, when a Canadian machine gunner mistook him for the enemy and opened fire. Doohan was hit by four rounds in one of his legs, one in his hand, which ultimately resulted in him losing his middle finger, and one in the chest. The shot to the chest likely would have been fatal except that he had a silver cigarette case there, given to him by his brother, which deflected the bullet.
After recovering from his injuries, he became a pilot in the Canadian Air Force. Despite not ever flying in combat, he was once called “the craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force†when he flew a plane through two telegraph poles after slaloming down a mountainside, just to prove it could be done. This act was not looked upon highly by his superiors, but earned him a reputation among the pilots of the Canadian Air Force.
Post war, James became an actor, preforming in over 4000 radio shows and 400 TV shows in Canada, being particularly noted for his great versatility in voice acting, but was most famous for his portrayal of Chief Engineer Scott in Star Trek. Additional Information: | He volunteered for the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1939 at the start of World War II. He was first placed in the 14th Field Regiment, RCA but was transferred to the 13th FR after they formed in 1940 where he was commissioned a Lieutenant. They shipped to England and trained until Jun 5, 1944. On June 6, 1944 D-Day he landed under fire at Nan Sector, Juno Beach as part of a Recee Party accompanying the Regina Rifle Regiment and led his men off the beach and through a Mine Field while shooting two German Snipers. Late that evening he was crossing between unit lines and shot by a nervous Canadian Sentry firing a Bren Gun. He was hit 6 times including in the chest where his silver cigarette case, a present from his brother, stopped the bullet. He was also hit in the leg and hand then shipped back to England where a finger was amputated. During his later Film career he always tried to hide his right hand from the camera. After recovery from his wounds he was assigned as an Artillery Observation Pilot flying with the RCAF 666 AOL Squadron. Although technically still in the Army he quickly gained a reputation as "the craziest pilot in the RCAF" from various unauthorized air manoeuvres which landed him in trouble. In 1946 he started appearing on Radio Shows while training as a Film Actor. That led to more training in New York then hundreds of appearances in Hollywood on TV Shows and Series. His most famous was portraying Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott on the Hit Series "Star Trek". He kept Acting up to his death in 2005.Steven Oatway
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