Canada's War Grooms by Judy Kozar

Author:Judy Kozar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BISAC: HIS027160 / HISTORY / Military / Canada
Publisher: General Store Publishing House
Published: 2012-12-11T16:00:00+00:00

JAMES ROBERT (BOB)

COWAN MACBAIN

Castlegar, British Columbia

I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on October 2, 1919. In 1938 I joined the RAF and was sent to Canada in 1942 to be part of the BCATP. I was posted to No. 34 Service Flying Training School in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

The airmen from No. 34 often spent their leaves in Nelson, British Columbia. The people there welcomed us with open arms, and we were able to stay at the homes of the local families. There was no shortage of invitations to the many functions in the area.

I met Marjorie Jorgensen at a party in Nelson in 1944, but I can’t remember who hosted the party. After Marjorie and I were introduced, I mentioned that I was going to a beach party the next day, and she said she was going, too. What luck! That was the start of it.

We courted for about six months and were married in December 1945. Although Marjorie’s mother favoured the marriage, her father didn’t. Just before we were married, he asked Marjorie if she still intended to marry that “so-and-so” Englishman, but he used a stronger adjective to describe me. She replied that she certainly did intend to marry me.

My family back home was very happy about the marriage, but they didn’t meet Marjorie until 1949 when we took a trip back to the U.K. By then, my father had died and my mother had remarried. My new stepfather was very supportive, and my sister, who was a nurse in the RAF during the war, was especially delighted to meet Marjorie.

During the time I was posted at No. 34 SFTS, I went with a group of airmen to tour an electric power plant in the area. The president of West Kootenay Power and Light Company, our tour conductor, said that if we were looking for a job after the war to come to see him.

After the wedding, I was sent back to England and was posted to a bomber station called Hamstead Norris. I was in an all-RAF crew on a Stirling Bomber, and we were extremely lucky to survive during operations. We received a few flak holes on some of the trips. I remember one night, however, when we were hit by German fighters, and we had an engine shot out. We managed to cross the English Channel, and we landed on the first landing strip we could find.

When I returned to Canada in 1946, I remembered the time I toured a power plant and what the president of the company had said. I took him up on his offer, and I was the only one of the group of airmen who did. I was hired, and after a time, I became the manager of a power plant just outside of Nelson.

I have absolutely no regrets about leaving England. I had more opportunities in this country than I would have had back in the U.K. Sadly, Marjorie passed away a few years ago. We had three children—a son and two daughters.

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