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Flight Lieutenant J.T.Edmonds, R.A.F.
Lew Ranger recalls ...
My first contact with this officer pilot was in mid-November 1944 at No 73 O.T.U. Fayid, Egypt where he was O.C. 'E' Flight.
I had come from the U.K., and at Fayid where, after a refresher course on Harvard trainers in 'B' Flight under the watchful eyes of tour-ex 3 Squadron pilots, Ron Matthews and Bob Rowe, I converted to Kittyhawks.
After a short period at 5 R.F.U. Perugia with Chas. Wannan as
O.C. (and 'Natter' Forsstrom in attendance) converting to the newly arrived
Mustangs, I joined 3 Squadron at Fano for only a few days before moving to
Cervia on February 25th, 1945.
It was here that I met up with and got to know 'Jungle Jim' as he was affectionately known from his having done a tour on fighter-bombers in Burma. He was a laconic, lanky, quietly-spoken English gentleman of sandy complexion who appeared at times to have a permanent crick in his neck ... the result of squeezing his frame into restricted fighter cockpits most likely ... and at all times was delightful company.
Jim was shot down (the operational records show he was killed on April 11th) and was the last pilot flying with 3 Squadron to give his life, and the tragedy here involved is that he opted to come to 3 because of his liking for Aussies gained from his earlier associations.
It is my belief that many pilots who were transferred from Asia and Pacific areas to the European theatre tended to underestimate the accuracy of German flak as compared to that encountered in the East, flying on one course or at one altitude for too long a time, so courting disaster as they identified targets. I feel that Hodgkinson and Davies were hit in this manner, as most probably was Jim Edmonds, but they survived.
Vale Jungle Jim.