November 2020
56th Edition
Flying Passion Defines Military Career
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By Barbra Fairclough Jack Barker started school in the tiny borough of Bavelaw, Saskatchewan, riding to school with the teacher Mrs. Perrin in a Ford Model T. By the time he attended high school, kids rode their bicycles four and a half miles to nearby Spy Hill High School. As a young student Jack set the stage for his flying career, working a part time job for a local fellow who manufactured snow planes. In the long snow filled prairie winters this was the only mode of travel. At seventeen and a half he was old enough to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. In March 1943 he said his goodbyes and took a midnight train to Brandon Manitoba. In Brandon, nearly 1000 new young recruits gathered for what one sergeant correctly named ‘Boot Camp.’ The hard work and training of the recruits narrowed the ranks and those successfully completing the course graduated with a designation of Leading Air Craftsman. They earned 15 cents per day. From this group, selections were made for some to receive pilot training. Jack was then off to Prince Albert Saskatchewan to train as a pi-
lot on the Tiger Moth airplane. He took further training on the twin engine Cessna Crane. On March 10, 1944 Jack received his wings. Three months from his 19th birthday and after a short commando course in Calgary and with a rank of Pilot Officer, he was commissioned overseas to Burma where the war was completely supplied by air. First Landing in Scotland it quickly became apparent by the sounds of nearby bombardment that the war was very real. They left Lineham Scotland under cover of darkness as passengers on an American DC3 to Gibraltar then on to Karachi India, eventually making their way to Rawalpindi near the Afghanistan border. Jack was soon flying in supplies, landing on quickly bulldozed airstrips. His return trip cargo was severely injured casualties from a hospital in Chittagong. The cargo area of the aircraft was outfitted with canvas stretchers to accommodate the wounded. Six weeks after starting operational flying, the monsoon season started to build. It was about this time Jack became Captain of his own crew. (Continued on page 3)
