James Francis Edwards, CM, DFC & Bar, DFM, CD (5 June 1921 – 14 May 2022), later known as Stocky Edwards, was a Canadian

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

during World War II. With 19 confirmed aerial victories, Edwards is Canada's highest scoring ace in the Western Desert Campaign.

Early life

Born in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, Edwards grew up in Battleford, Saskatchewan. After graduating from St Thomas College in 1940 he volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

World War II

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Edwards was posted to 94 Squadron RAF of 223 Wing in January 1942 flying the P-40 "Kittyhawk". On 23 March, he flew his first operational trip, during which he shot down his first enemy aircraft, a

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

. In May, he was posted to

260 Squadron 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, and saw intensive action for the rest of 1942. By September, he had 6 "kills" and was commissioned, jumping four grades to the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. He was awarded a

Distinguished Flying Medal The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...

and Distinguished Flying Cross by the start of 1943, by which time Edwards was a flight commander. His tour finished in May 1943, total claims made being 17 aircraft shot down and several ground kills; in fact, German records show Edwards underclaimed - 22 victories had been confirmed by German records. One of Edwards' victims during the North African campaign was famous Luftwaffe ''experten'' Otto Schulz (51 victories), who was shot down by the Canadian ace on 17 June 1942. On 3 September 1942, Edwards likely damaged

Hans-Joachim Marseille Hans-Joachim Marseille (; 13 December 1919 – 30 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his Bohemian lifestyle. One o ...

's Bf 109 in combat. Marseille was the highest scoring pilot in North Africa, and shot down more Western Allied aircraft than any other German pilot. Three days later, Edwards was the pilot who was believed to have shot down and killed

Günter Steinhausen Günther Steinhausen (15 September 1917 – 6 September 1942) was a World War II Luftwaffe Flying ace with 40 combat victories to his name. He was also a posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Biography Günther Steinhau ...

. Though Edwards claimed only a damaged enemy aircraft, it appears this is another victory for which he did not receive full credit. In November 1943, Edwards was posted to No. 417 Squadron RCAF, then

No. 92 Squadron RAF Number 92 Squadron, also known as No. 92 (East India) Squadron and currently as No. 92 Tactics and Training Squadron, of the Royal Air Force is a test and evaluation squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It was formed as part of the Ro ...

, flying the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

VIII; while serving on the Italian front with 92 Squadron, he added three

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

s and a Bf 109 to his score, all shot down over the Anzio beachhead, three of them on a single day. At the beginning of March 1944, he was posted to the UK, flying operations over Europe with 274 Squadron, a fighter unit equipped, at the end of Edwards' tour, with the Hawker Tempest. After leave in Canada, Edwards returned to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, flying Spitfire XVIs as the commanding officer of 127 RCAF Wing in 1945. On 3 May, he shared in the destruction of a Ju 88, just a few days before VE Day. He finished the war with a total of 373 operational sorties without being shot down by the enemy. According to Shores and Williams' ''Aces High'', his final wartime score was 15 + 3 shared destroyed, with 9 more destroyed on the ground. Brown and Lavigne's ''Canadian Wing Commander'' credits him with 19 victories, 2 shared, 6.5 probable, 17 damaged and 12 destroyed on the ground. During an interview, Edwards himself specified that he had 19 confirmed victories during the war. Many who flew with him have said that he only reported those "kills" he was certain of and that his real number of aerial victories was probably much higher than officially reported. Eighteen of Edwards' 19 victories, according to Brown and Lavigne, were enemy fighters (14 Bf 109s, 3 Fw 190s and one Macchi 202).

Post-war

Edwards stayed in the RCAF until after amalgamation and retired from the Canadian Forces in 1972 as a lieutenant colonel. In that time, he flew

Vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

, Sabres and

CF-100 The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to e ...

s both in Canada and overseas. Edwards was a key player in the post-war air force as his experience and leadership were used to train new pilots. In 1983, Edwards and Michel Lavigne published a book about his wartime experiences entitled ''Kittyhawk pilot: Wing Commander J.F. (Stocky) Edwards''. Also in 2009, Edwards was honoured as one of the 100 most influential Canadians in aviation and had his name included with the others on the 2009 CF-18 Centennial of Flight demonstration Hornet. Edwards died on 14 May 2022, at the age of 100.

Vintage Wings of Canada

As part of their continued effort to honour and commemorate his achievements (along with those of all veterans),

Vintage Wings of Canada Vintage Wings of Canada is a not for profit, charitable organization, with a collection of historically significant aircraft. The facility is located at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by former Cognos CE ...

has decorated their P-40N in the markings flown by "Stocky" in Africa. On 19 September 2009, Vintage Wings took him for a flight over Ottawa in this P-40 giving him a chance to fly it as well. Vintage Wings has also published stories on Stocky Edwards including the following: *A Visit From A Living Legend. *Flying With The Ace

Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross (UK) The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 to other ranks, of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countrie ...

and Bar *

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

* Canadian Forces Decoration and Two Clasps *Member of Order of Canada 10 December 2004 * Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal March 2012 * Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame member. May 2013 Canada Aviation Hall of Fame, , Members List
Legion of Honour
France. Chevalier (Knight). 28 November 2014

References

*Ralph, Wayne (2005). ''Aces, warriors and wingmen: the firsthand accounts of Canada's fighter pilots in the Second World War''. John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.. . *Tate, Robert. ''Hans-Joachim Marseille: An Illustrated Tribute to the Luftwaffe's "Star of Africa"''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008. . *Heaton, Colin and Lewis, Anne-Marie Lewis. ''The Star of Africa: The Story of Hans Marseille, the Rogue Luftwaffe Ace''. Zenith Press, London. 2012. *Hehner, Barbara. ''The Desert Hawk''. Harper-Collins Books, Canada, 2005.

External links

A biography of Edwards at acesofww2.com

* ttps://globalnews.ca/news/8836872/stocky-edwards-ace-dies/ Stocky Edwards Ace Dies {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, James Francis 1921 births 2022 deaths Canadian World War II flying aces Royal Canadian Air Force officers Members of the Order of Canada Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II People from Rural Municipality Wreford No. 280, Saskatchewan People from Battleford Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Canadian centenarians Men centenarians