Vernon Albert WILLIAMS

Name:	WILLIAMS, Vernon Albert
Nationality:	Canadian
Regiment/Service:	Royal Canadian Air Force
Rank:	Flying Officer
Service No.:	J/9577

WILLIAMS, F/O Vernon Albert (J9577) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.410 Squadron - Award effective 1 January 1944 as per London Gazette dated 14 January 1944 and AFRO 410/44 dated 25 February 1944. Home in Hamilton, Ontario; enlisted there 20 December 1940. Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 3 July 1941), No.1 BGS (graduated 22 November 1941), No.1 AOS (graduated 12 October 1941) and No.2 ANS (graduated 22 December 1941). Award presented 8 May 1948. Cited with F/O Rayne D. Schultz (see Schultz below for citation). As Radar Operator/Navigator he was involved in the following victories: 15/16 August 1943, one Do.217 destroyed; 10/11 December 1943, three Do.217s destroyed; 13/14 February 1944, one Ju.88 destroyed.

"GANGED HIM INTO THE SEA," AIRMAN TELLS OF NAZI'S FATE
F.O. Vernon Williams and F.O. Schultz Tell of Terrific Combats in Which They Destroyed Three Bombers
(By Louis V. Hunter, Canadian Press Staff Writer)

An Airfield in England, Dec. 13. — (CP Cable) — Rayne Denis Schultz, a 20-year-old R.C.A.F. flying officer from Bashaw, Alta., who destroyed three of the four German bombers shot down over Britain Friday night, is a modest fellow and so is his navigator, F.O. Vernon Williams, 24, of 132 Cavell avenue, Hamilton, Ont.

The two, who have been flying together for a year, seemed surprised Saturday that so many newsmen should want to crowd around them to hear how it was done. The first German plane was left a burning mass on the sea. The second was blown up at such close range that their night-fighting Mosquito barely avoided colliding with pieces of the wreckage. The third was shot down with their last bullet.

The Schultz-Hamilton plane was so badly damaged after the three combats that Schultz had to make an emergency landing at a strange airfield.

Schultz, whose father emigrated to Canada from his native Germany, let Williams relate most of the story and the Hamilton redhead started off by extolling the "guts" of his slim, six-foot pilot who quit the farm to join the R.C.A.F. in 1941.

"When we went down after the third Jerry we knew the Hun was a hot flyer, particularly when he got in the first smack," Williams said. "Rayne got in a burst right after, but I was all for pulling out, for our port engine had caught fire and conked and Jerry's shells had also bashed in the instrument panel all over Rayne's lap."

"But the guy wouldn't quit. 'I'll get that so and so if it's the last thing I do' he shouted and poured on the coal. We followed the Jerry right down to the deck (sea) and Rayne's last burst of ammunition, the last we had, ganged him into the sea and we pulled up just in time to miss going in ourselves."

Schultz said it all happened so quickly he couldn't recall all his impressions except he remembered shouting "whoopee" after blasting his first Dornier and also that "I felt very sick of my stomach when the excitement was over."

Schultz and Williams crossed together from Canada as sergeants a year ago and were commissioned at the same time. Friday night's combat was their second. They destroyed a Dornier in their first brush with the enemy.

Williams said a great part of their success is due to Schultz' keen night vision. "He continually picks out things at night that I can't see," he said.

Flying Officer Vernon Williams, of this city, and the pilot of his speedy night fighter, shot down three enemy planes over Britain one night recently. The feat was revealed in a Canadian Press dispatch to the Spectator.

At the Palace theatre this week, part of the newsreel is devoted to F.O. Williams and P.O. E. J. Schultz, Alberta, pilot of the plane. It is a splendid piece of photography and many Hamiltonians will be anxious to see it.

The newsreel will be shown at 2:25, 5:30 and 8:25 o'clock Monday to Thursday of this week inclusive. F.O. Williams is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Williams, 132 Cavell avenue.

In the "cat and mouse game" of aircraft night fighting, according to Flt.-Lieut. Vernon Williams, D.F.C., Hamilton navigator returned from England after a tour of operations with the Cougar Squadron, "you've almost got to lay the enemy down in a town square before the air force acknowledges your kill." Member of the crew of a Mosquito night fighter which blasted five Hun planes from the skies over Britain, Flt.-Lieut. Williams was one of eight veteran airmen from Hamilton arriving home late yesterday after completing eventful tours of air operations overseas.

Yesterday was an important day for Hamilton for the combined operational record of the returning airmen was the greatest of any party to arrive back from Britain since the outset of the war. In addition, there was the record of enemy planes damaged or destroyed.

Flight-Lieut. Williams, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Williams, 132 Cavell Avenue, is a graduate of Central High School of Commerce and former employee of the Steel Company of Canada. After 22 months with the Cougar Night Fighter Squadron, he was posted back to Canada four days in advance of the Allied landings in Normandy.

It was interesting to observe the British reaction to the news of the invasion, he said. For months ahead every one in Britain had been waiting and since the invasion was inevitable, they received it in a matter of fact sort of way.

The business of night fighting, Flight-Lieut. Williams said, is a "cat and mouse game," where you discern another aircraft and determine its type in the split seconds before firing commences. "It's tough and at times monotonous, but the fact that I was in Mosquitoes made it easier to take."

The purpose of the night fighter is to intercept enemy bombers over the south coast of England or over the Channel. Members of the squadron work from dusk to dawn, waiting beside a telephone or doing three and four-hour "stooge" patrols to see what the enemy's up to.

On one such mission, Flight-Lieut. Williams, flying with his regular pilot, Flight-Lieut Ray Schultz, a native of Alberta, came in behind a number of Dornier 217's on their way to bomb English targets. "We coasted along behind them and they probably thought we were one of them. Suddenly, I saw one of the aircraft sitting up ahead. He didn't know anything until we banged him in the tail." He crashed in flames.

The story of how Flt.-Lt. Williams and his pilot got three planes in one night has been told often. "But its pretty much luck," according to the Hamilton officer. "Its luck being in the area where the enemy is, and sometimes its luck seeing and identifying him first"

The toughest scrap of all was the last one in which he was involved. He had come within a matter of feet of a Ju-88, blasted it, and it began to "peel over" quickly. Ordinarily, his pilot would have gone away underneath the aircraft, but it fell too quickly, and as the Mosquito was lifted to pass over the enemy, a burst from its rear gun sprayed the Mosquito from wing tip to wing tip underneath.

"The engineers said they couldn't understand how we got home. One motor was gone, one was faltering and the kite was badly mauled generally."

Flight-Lieut. Williams described how carefully the R.C.A.F. and R.A.F. study reports of kills. It was almost like requiring an affidavit from the German shot down, he said, because, if there were prisoners, they were questioned to determine if engine trouble, ack ack or British fighters had sent it down.

SCHULTZ, F/O Rayne Dennis (J16359) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.410 Squadron - Award effective 1 January 1944 as per London Gazette dated 14 January 1944 and AFRO 410/44 dated 25 February 1944. Born in Bashaw, Alberta, 17 December 1922; home there. Enlisted in Edmonton, 10 July 1940. Trained at No.2 ITS (graduated 1 October 1941), No.8 EFTS (graduated 5 December 1941) and No.7 SFTS (graduated 10 April 1942). Commissioned 1942. Arrived overseas in May 1942. Further trained at No.2 (P) AFU, Brize Norton (posted there 16 June 1942), No.3 (P) AFU (1 July to 18 August 1942) and No.54 OTU, Charter Hall (18 August to 24 November 1942). No.410 Squadron, 1 December 1942 to 1 June 1944; at No.54 OTU, 1 June to 17 July 1944; at No.51 OTU, 17 July to 20 December 1944; No.410 Squadron again from 20 December 1944 to 30 May 1945. Victories as follows: 15/16 August 1943, one Do.217 destroyed; 10/11 December 1943, three Do.217s destroyed; 13/14 February 1944, one Ju.188 destroyed; 10/11 April 1944, one Ju.88 or 188 destroyed; 21/22 April 1944, two Ju.88s destroyed. The first five scored with F/O Williams as radar operator and the last three with F/L J.S. Christie (RAF). Remained in postwar RCAF. Awarded Queen's Coronation Medal, 23 October 1953 as a Squadron Leader, No.3 (AW) OTU, North Bay. Appointed Director of Flight Safety, August 1966. Made Officer, Order of Military Merit, 1974. Retired in October 1977. Cited with F/O Vernon A. Williams (Radar Observer). For additional details see H.A. Halliday, The Tumbling Sky and article in Flight Comment, No.3, 1977.

As pilot and observer respectively, Flying Officers Schultz and Williams have completed several sorties at night and have displayed a high degree of skill, courage and determination. During one sortie one night in December 1943, they destroyed three Dornier 217s, a feat which well illustrates their fine fighting qualities. In other sorties they have attacked locomotives and bridges.

SCHULTZ, F/L Rayne Dennis, DFC (J16359) - Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross - No.410 Squadron - Award effective 6 July 1945 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 1453/45 dated 14 September 1945.

This officer has at all times displayed great skill and courage in air operations. He has completed a large number of sorties and has invariably pressed home his attacks with much success. Flight Lieutenant Schultz has been responsible for the destruction of eight enemy aircraft at night, two of them during a patrol in April 1945. This officer has set a splendid example of keenness, ability and gallantry.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: F/O Joe Schultz ranks number sixty-five in the order of Canadian Aces of WWII.