Dallas Wilbur Schmidt, DFC and bar, (August 9, 1922 – November 22, 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

with the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He later served in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

from 1975 to 1982 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. During his time in public office he served as a cabinet minister in different portfolios in the government of

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding ...

. Born in

Camrose, Alberta Camrose ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Camrose County. Located along Highway 13 it had its beginnings as a railroad hub. History The area around Camrose was first settled by Europeans around 1900. At that time t ...

, Schmidt grew up in

Millet, Alberta Millet is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Alberta's capital city of Edmonton. History The Town of Millet was named in honour of August Millet, who was believed to be a canoeist for Father Lacombe. (Another poss ...

Personal life

Dallas Wilbur Schmidt was born August 9, 1922, to parents Herbert Julius Anton Schmidt (b.1902- d.1980), and Gertha Lenna (''née'' Nilsson) Schmidt (b.1903- d. 1969), the oldest of their three children, he had two younger sisters, Iona and Shirley. His paternal Grandfather, Christian Schmidt, had immigrated with his family from Germany first to the United States and then later to the Wetaskiwin area in the early 1900s. His maternal grandparents, Peter Nilsson and Johanna (''née'' Johansdotter) Nilsson had come to Canada from Sweden when his mother was a small child. The family moved to

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, Alberta in 1931, when Herbert Schmidt became a buyer for the National Grain Company. He completed his schooling in Millet in June 1940, and enlisted into the RCAF two weeks before his 18th birthday two months later. In April, 1946 he married Christine Sommerville, and they had three children. He went into the construction business in 1950, but rejoined the RCAF in 1951. After rejoining, Dallas trained

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

pilots in Gimli, Manitoba, and in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In February 1956, he and his family moved to Bonnie Glen and he started farming in the livestock business. He died in November 2007, and is buried in

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word ''wītaskiwinihk'', meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is ...

, Alberta. His flight suits and service dress uniforms are now on permanent display at the local museum in Millet.

Air Force career

Schmidt volunteered for service in the RCAF on January 8, 1941, and was trained at Claresholm under the

Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

. He was quickly shipped overseas to see action in World War II. In August to December 1942, he was placed in Malta, just off Axis Italy, said at the time to be the hottest place for fighting in the world. He was credited with either 8.5 or 10.5 aerial victories (sources differ), including two large Junkers troop-carrying planes, and sank two ships.Edmonton Journal, December 22, 1942, in the "Dallas Schmidt" information file at the Provincial Archives of Alberta He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on October 5, 1942, and then the bar, for his daring and destructive sorties. During the war he served in No. 227 Squadron. He flew a wide range of military aircraft used by Canada at the time. His aircraft was shot down by enemy fire on five separate occasions. On Christmas Day 1942 he parachuted out of his plane over Malta and through good fortune landed on the island itself, suffering only a twisted leg. He was then transferred to Rhodesia then to Britain where he joined

No. 404 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(the Buffalo Squadron) and attacked German shipping. He came home on leave in August 1943 and was feted as Millet's air ace, before travelling on to visit his parents at Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta. After V-E Day, he returned to Canada in July 1945 and was released from service in September of that year. He re-enlisted in the Air Force and served his second stint from 1951 to 1956.

Political career

Schmidt first ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1967 general election in the electoral district of

. He finished a close second to incumbent

Albert Strohschein Albert William Strohschein (January 5, 1905 – February 27, 1985) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1963 to 1971 sitting with the Social Credit caucus in governme ...

. Schmidt ran again in the 1975 general election in the electoral district of Wetaskiwin-Leduc. This time he won by a landslide margin over three other candidates to pick up the seat for the governing Progressive Conservative party. On April 3, 1975 Premier Peter Lougheed appointed Schmidt Minister without Portfolio. On August 26, 1976 he was appointed Associate Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Responsible for Public Lands. In the 1979 general election he won in a landslide. Schmidt was promoted to Minister of Agriculture on March 23, 1979 and served in that position until he retired from politics at dissolution of the legislature in 1982.

References

External links

Dallas SchmidtLegislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Dallas 1922 births 2007 deaths Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Canadian World War II flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Members of the Executive Council of Alberta