Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 37 Douglas Maxwell Cox was born on 5 August 1919 in Halifax. Upon finishing high school, he attended the Provincial Normal School (now NS Teachers College) where he obtained a teacher certificate. Doug enlisted in the RCAF on 19 July 1941. He trained and qualified as an Air Observer/Air Navigator on 27 April 1942 and was posted to Operational Training Unit 31, RCAF Station Debert, NS, on 14 May. Sergeant Cox was posted to RAF Ferry Command on 30 June 1942. Three days later, in Gander, NL, he took on the role of navigator for a Mitchell bomber bound for Britain. Doug would later recount that trip, noting that he and the civilian pilot made up the entire ‘crew.’He also remembered the pilot telling him not to get too concerned if he dozed off for a few minutes every now and then during the nighttime crossing of the Atlantic. After delivering the bomber he was transferred to Bomber Command and sent to No.14 OTU, Cottesmore, for more training. In late January 1943 Sergeant Cox was posted to 7 Squadron RAF (pathfinder force) and was assigned to a crew flying Short Stirling Mark I R9149 MG-B. The other crew members were Pilot Officer Frank Morton "Tommy" Tomlinson (pilot) of East Noel, Hants County NS; Warrant Officer I Vincent Albert Fox of Fairville, NB; Sergeant JR Cox; and RAF airmen Warrant Officer II C Davies, Sergeant G Howard, Sergeant L March; and Warrant Officer II J Jennings. Doug would later remark that very few airmen were keen on recent modifications that removed the nose gun position on the Stirling. That meant the bomber had no defense against a frontal attack by an enemy fighter. Sgt Cox flew his first bombing mission on 7 February. His last mission on that bomber, was on 9 March. That night MG-B was shot down near Élan, Flize, Ardennes, in northern France, by Lt. Helmut Bergmann of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Wing 4. Tommy Tomlinson stayed at the controls of the burning bomber, as the rest of the crew bailed out, and was killed in the crash. The other crew members became Prisoners of War; however, Doug escaped capture and became an ‘evader’. Douglas Cox - Evader Story by Gary Silliker continued ...
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