A Yank IN THE RCAF

[Jack Cook]

This is a set of photos depicting PO Harold "Flash" Pederson of Corvallis, OR who joined the RCAF in 1940 trained at Spartan, OK and flew with 165 Squadron flying Spits in combat including Dieppe Raid where his flight downed a DO-217 with the Warren brothers. He was hit in the windshield by return fire but landed safely. Flash transfered to the AAF in Fall of 1942 and joined the 52nd FG. They landed in N. Africa in Jan 1943 and he was KIA on Feb. 4, 1943 when his Spit V was downed by 220 kill ace Eric Ruddorfer of JG 2 flying a FW-190.
Pederson left himself defenseless has he was circling a downed pilot whom he believed was going to be straffed in his chute. This pilot Capt Hugh Williamson survived and stated Pederson downed 3 190s before he was killed. Pederson recieved the DSC posthumisly and lies in grave 540 of section C in the Golden Gate National Cemetary.

PO Harold Pederson Spit MK I or II 56 OT (?) 1942

Pederson lies by his Spitfire while on alert at Aye, Scotland 1942.

165 Squadron Aye, Scotland S/L Archie Winskill DFC commanding. Pederson is standing 2nd from left.

Last edited by Jack Cook on Wed May 16, 2007 2:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.

[Jeff Hunt]

That is one tired looking Spitfire in the first photo.

Jeff

[Dan Johnson II]

Gotta be an OTU Spit I that he was flying during training.

Great stuff as always Jack

[PeterA]

Interesting photographs Jack.

The first shot seems to have the monotone finish normally associated with PR Spitfires or even faded black night fighters.

The second shot SK-L is from 165 Squadron, possibly serial number BM418.

S/Ldr Archie Winskill was actually the CO of 165 Squadron from April through August 1942.

Keep 'em coming.

PeterA

[Jack Cook]

Big fingers little keys.
I meant 165 Squadron with the Warren brothers.

[Jack Cook]

This is from Duke Warren concerning the squadron photo.
Regarding the men who are posed around the Spitfire. The chap
sittin gn top is Allen Bunte, an American from Texas who was in the RCAF
before going over to the USAAF. The three men sitting on left wing (as you
look at a/c) I am not sure of. On the right wing the man sitting next to
the a/c is Warren Shrader, of the NZ airforce. The other two I am not sure
of. Standing on left, second man in is Pederson, fourth man is RAF
Glover, sixth is John Banton, seventh is "Walt" Disney, RAF. By right
wing next to a/c is Williams the Adj, RAF. then the engineering
officer, Ian Forbes RAF, Lotinga, the M/O, then Kelly, an American in RCAF,
then Thompson, RAF, last is Denis Greenwood the Intelligence Officer.
Is there a photo of "Ped" Pederson holding up the glass from his
windscreen which a bullet struck? I had a painting done by one of
Canada's best aviation artists showing Ped and three others shooting
down a German bomber at the Battle of Dieppe, 19 August 1942. It was
used in connection with an article in the RCAF Assoc magazine.
The three men sitting down are; on left, F/L McGregor, S/L Archie
Winskill, and F/l "Gin" Seghers, a Belguim officer in the RAF. I am
still in close touch with Winskill. He is now Sir Archiebald Winskill
with several letters behind his name and lives in England not far from
London.

[Andy in West Oz]

Slightly related to Jack's excellent biographical shots. Just found this Canadian Spit resto site:

http://www.y2kspitfire.com/index.html

Cheers

Andy

[JDK]

And an account of the BBC 'People's War' website by a New Zealander in the Squadron.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stor ... 4652.shtml

...I was transferred to 165 Squadron in Gravesend in October 1942 and then eventually went to Tangmere in Sussex. It was a very busy time for airmen.

...

165 Squadron was posted to Peterhead in Scotland for a rest. Whilst there, seventeen Dornier 217’s came over from Norway and bombed Aberdeen . It was decided after the raid by the Dorniers, that one flight of 165 squadron Spitfires should be stationed at Dyce, an airfield near Aberdeen . While at Dyce two aircraft were scrambled for a hostile blip and intercepted a JU 88 German bomber. They closed in to shoot it down, it put its wheels down and shot off white verey lights. The Section leader, Flight Lieutenant Roscoe — an American, radioed this info back. The message received in response was,
“We don’t know him, shoot him down.” The Spitfires repeated the closing in, and received the same response; - wheels down and verey lights.
“I’m going to try to bring him in,” Roscoe informed Operations.

They did. It landed safely at Dyce, a brand new aeroplane which had aboard all the latest German in-flight airborne radar. It’s a good job not all the Americans are trigger happy. The intelligence gained from that one aircraft probably contributed to saving many Allied lives.

I was due for a rest but the last thing I wanted was rest. I found another Kiwi with the same mind and we approached the C.O. He was a chap named Seagers ( Known to all as ‘Gin’!). He referred to us as ‘Bloody colonials”. There were two English lads posted to go to Malta. They didn’t want to go and they needed relief so we arranged to change places with them.

As ever, lots of different threads and nationalities running through the stories.

[Jack Cook]

Here's another shot of Pederson with his 165 Squadron Spit Vb.