Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 181 SEARY, James Ellis WWII James was born in Windsor, NS on January 11, 1920. In 1940 he tried to join the Royal Canadian Navy but was rejected for being underweight at 135 pounds. In June 1941 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 21. Ellis (Jim as he was called during the war period) along with 150 other recruits, spent his early days in the Air Force in a Precision Drill Squad. In fall 1941, he went to Initial Training School (ITS), in Toronto where Air Craftsman II (ACII) Seary took an intensive six-week ground school course, studying such things as meteorology, aircraft recognition and the theory of flight. On finishing this course he attained the rank of leading Air Craftsman (LAC) and went on to Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Oshawa, ON, followed by Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Hagersville, ON. After completing these courses, he earned his pilot wings and the rank of Sergeant. Jim was posted to Nassau where he flew new Douglas Dakota airplanes as a co-pilot to the RAF who was fighting in North Africa. This flight route took five days to complete. Then the flight crew were flown back to Nassau as passengers in a converted Bomber. After three trips ferrying planes across the South Atlantic, Sergeant Seary returned to North Bay where he was commissioned as an officer and received the rank of Pilot Officer. In spring 1943, P/O Seary flew a Dakota from Scotland to the Cotswolds in England, where he underwent training in dropping paratroopers and towing gliders and was assigned to the 437 Squadron. (He flew a couple of missions termed 'Leaflet Raids' to drop propaganda leaflets behind enemy lines in France). Jim dropped Paratroopers the night before DDay near the French city of Caen and in the days immediately following D-Day, he and his crew made several trips to Normandy to transport wounded back to England. The Dakota could be converted to transport eighteen stretchers and six walking wounded per trip. In spring 1945, he successfully towed a glider from England over Holland to cross the Rhine River, with dangerously overheated engines, using a thousand gallons of gas and returned safely to England. It was for this mission that he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). With the war almost over F/O Seary spent some of the remaining days flying liberated Prisoners of War back to England. At this time he came across his best friend from his hometown, Jack Morison. Jack had spent three years as a POW and weighed less than 100 pounds when Jim saw him again. He later discovered after the fact he had been promoted to Flight Lieutenant which is the rank he left the Air Force in 1945. Jim received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the 1939-1945 Star, the Atlantic Star with the France and Germany Bar, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945. He was member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 009 in Windsor for 64 years. Jim passed away on November 13, 2013 at Camp Hill Veterans Memorial in Halifax. Submitted by Hants County Branch #009, The Royal Canadian Legion
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