Download Member of the British Empire

Russell Mackie Bragg (1914 – 1969)
Member of the British Empire
Squadron Leader - Royal Canadian Air Force
Battle of Britain
About 80 Canadian pilots flew in the Battle of Britain (August 1940), some of them
in the all-Canadian R.A.F. 242 Squadron and the rest with various squadrons. Their
numbers as non-British pilots were second only to the Poles (who were expatriates
whose air force had already been destroyed by the Luftwaffe). Eleven Canadian
pilots lost their lives in stemming the German onslaught.
On August 30, in a major engagement, 242 Squadron attacked a formation of over
100 Germans and shot down 12. None of the squadron's planes were lost.
Commemorative stamp - 1980
The men of No. 1 Squadron RCAF were the first Canadian fighter pilots to arrive in
Britain as a unit. They crossed the North Atlantic in ships, with their own Canadianbuilt Hawker Hurricanes still in wooden crates.
No. 1 Sqn. arrived in England at the height of the Battle of Britain. Their operational
training took place virtually between the air battles raging around their base at
Croydon. The Squadron (later re-numbered to 401) was swiftly declared
"operational" and became the first RCAF unit to engage the enemy when it
intercepted German bombers over southern England on August 26th. It shot down
three and damaged four, for the loss of one Hurricane.
By mid-October No. 1 Squadron had shot down 31 German planes, with another 43
"probables" or damaged, for a loss of 16 Hurricanes, and three pilots killed.
401 City of Westmount Squadron record:
Sorties: 12,087
Operational / Non-operations flying hours: 17,211 / 13,747
Victories: Aircraft:
195 destroyed, 35 probables, 106 damaged
Victories: Ground:
dropped 278 tons of bombs
Casualties: Operational:
61 pilots of whom 6 were killed, 28 presumed dead, 18 PoW, 9 evaded capture
Casualties: Non-Operational:
Canadian troop convoy TC.5 departed Halifax escorted by Canadian destroyer
ASSINIBOINE and SAGUENAY at 0900 with British troopships DUCHESS OF ATHOLL
(20,119grt), SAMARIA (19,597grt), DUCHESS OF BEDFORD (20,123grt) carrying
1173, 787, 1792 troops, respectively.
Troopship DUCHESS OF ATHOLL came from Montreal departing on the 8th and
joined the other two liners at Halifax.
Troopship EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (21,833grt) departed Halifax with the convoy
and was detached on the third day to Iceland.
Canadian destroyers ASSINIBOINE and SAGUENAY were detached at 1800/12th.
Battleship REVENGE was the ocean escort.
Convoy TC.5 safely arrived at Liverpool on the 20th escorted by destroyers
WANDERER and WITCH and Canadian destroyers ST LAURENT, SKEENA,
RESTIGOUCHE, FRASER.
On the 21st, battleship REVENGE arrived at Plymouth at 0645 and the Canadian
destroyers arrived at Plymouth at 0640.
10 killed
Rusty’s Life:
Rusty was born the 3rd of 4 sons at Gleichen, Alberta on September 14, 1914. He
grew up on the family farm, although during his early school years, the family also
lived in Calgary during the school year. They lived on 18th Avenue SW between 8th
and 9th Street. The boys attended King Edward Elementary School in Mount
Royal. In later years they went to Wheatacres School in Rockyford. At that time,
they rode horses to the one room school - about 6 miles each way. Rusty used to
talk about a strawberry roan he rode which never learned to stand still while he got
on and so he had to learn a flying mount.
After completing high school, Rusty went to Normal School at SAIT in Calgary and
returned to Wheatacres School a year later as teacher. He was an excellent
athlete, especially in track and baseball. In 1933 he was scouted by the major
leagues in the States - Chicago, I believe but was needed at home because of the
depression. He continued to teach for a couple of years and then returned to SAIT
to take a locomotive engineering course.
In 1937, he and his best friend Jack Elviss, decided to join the Air Force which had
just opened a station in Calgary. Because his name began with a B, he was the
first on the list to join up in Calgary.
After training in Vancouver, Calgary (where he met Mom when he was having his
tonsils out and she was his nurse) and St. Hubert Quebec, No 1 Squadron (RCAF)
was transferred to Dartmouth to await transport overseas.
After the flurry surrounding the declaration of war, things quieted down in Europe
and so (in hope that a major conflict could still be avoided) the Squadron was held
in Nova Scotia awaiting the developments over the ocean. For Dad it was a
wonderful opportunity to re-connect with family in Nova Scotia and he formed a
particular bond with his cousin Elmer Bragg from Collingwood. He also spent time
with his mother's family, the Gambles - getting to know his Aunts Hattie, Belle and
Ruth.
As the delay continued, he and Mom decided to get married and so just like his
mother had done in 1905, she got on the train - leaving her family and travelled
across the country to marry. Dad had always belonged to the United (Methodist)
Church (no doubt strongly supported by his mother) but Mom was Catholic and so
on January 13, 1940 he was baptized, confirmed, received his first communion,
went to confession for the first time and was married all at the same time. He used
to joke that if he'd left the church and ran into a telephone pole - he would have
gone straight to heaven. One of their wedding gifts was a lovely little book
containing the poem "Evangeline" from Tweet and Elmer Bragg that I still have.
Unfortunately, the honeymoon was interrupted by the war but not before Mom
became pregnant with my brother, Dan. So Dad shipped off for England and Mom
took the train back to Calgary to rejoin her family for the duration of the war.
On the trip overseas, two of the convoy were torpedoed and sank - the one in front
of Dad's ship (The Duchess of Athol) and the one behind. They arrived in England
just as the last of the allied forces landed from Dunkirk and the last RAF squadron
returned to Britain.
After some quick training in the North, No 1 Squadron was transferred to Biggin Hill
and was immediately in the heat of the Battle of Britain. Their first night, the
aerodrome was bombed severely, but still the Canadians were able to get into the
air and take part in the fight. Dad was the Squadron Engineering Officer and the
"old" man at 26. For 41 days they worked day and night to keep the planes in the
air and safe. He lost many good friends during this time but their efforts were a
great contribution to the besting of the Luftwaffe.
He once told me the story of being out on the tarmac working on a plane when a
German fighter flew low over the field and began strafing the flight line. Dad said
he hit the ground and watched the line of bullets heading straight for him. Just a
few feet from his head, the German ran out of ammunition and veered off into the
sky.
Over the next 4 and a half years, Dad served with Number 1 (RCAF) Fighter
Squadron (later renumbered 401 Squadron – City of Westmount) - being promoted
from Corporal to Squadron Leader. He earned several medals and was really proud
to receive the Member of the British Empire (the highest honour given to a nonflying serviceman) from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham
palace.
Always athletic, Rusty took part in hockey, baseball and track – representing the
RCAF is the British Empire Armed Forces Games in England in 1943 – winning a
silver medal in track. He was also very creative and invented a number of things
that made things better during the war. One was a way of shrink-packing survival
kits so that they would fit into the cockpits of the Hurricanes and later the Spitfires.
He initiated the printing of survival maps on silk (old parachutes) so they were
easier to carry and less noticeable on downed airmen. He also developed an
auxiliary fuel tank which permitted the fighters to escort the bombers all the way to
their target and back – saving thousands of lives. He implemented a process using
coloured rings and pegs for speeding up the turnaround time for servicing a fighter
aircraft so that it could be ready and airworthy hours faster than before.
His commanding officer in the early days was S/L Ernest MacNabb and the two
stayed in touch throughout their lives. He was also close friends with Keith Hodson
and Hartland Molson among others. Although he did not talk often about the war,
the bond between himself and the people with who he shared this experience was
lifelong and deep.
401 Squadron took part of the Dieppe raid and Rusty’s job on D-Day (as part of the
2nd Tactical Air Force) was to get a landing strip and repair depot set up in France
within the first 4 days. With mortars and machine gun bullets flying over their
heads in both directions they managed the feat in 2 1/2 days. A farm boy at heart,
when they realized that the ground off Juno beach was sandy and unstable, he
rounded up all the chicken wire he could, to serve as a base for the runway.
Finally, in September of 1945 a British Army Jeep did him in. He was driving down
a hilly French road on a motorcycle when the Brit came over a hill on the wrong
side of the road (thinking he was still at home, I guess) and drove Dad off the road
and into a brick and ivy hedge. He severely injured his neck and was finally sent
home to recover.
Returning home to Calgary must have been such a mixture of feelings. Many things
had changed – most importantly he had become a father, and his son was almost 4
years old when they first met. His father had died the year before and his mother
was in the early stages of what was probably Alzheimer’s Disease.
Arriving home on the train after 4 and a half years overseas and a long slow train
trip across the country Rusty stepped off the train and no one was there to meet
him. – or so he thought. The family had been given the wrong platform number
and so when the train pulled in, they were all on the back side of the train. Finally,
righting the situation he was reunited with his mother, brothers, his wife and his
new son, his best friend, Jack and numerous inlaws, friends and all their kids. It
must have been quite overwhelming, to say the least.
BRAGG, S/L Russell Machie (C15132) - Member, Order of the British Empire No.401 Squadron (AFRO gives unit as "Overseas (No.125 Wing Headquarters") Award effective 1 January 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO
809/44 dated 14 April 1944. Home in Calgary; enlisted there 28 May 1937. Award
sent by registered mail from Government House, 1 April 1947. Aeronautical
Engineering branch, no citation in Canadian sources. Public Records Office Air
2/8959 has recommendation which also ties him to No.401 Squadron.
This officer is the squadron engineer officer. During the Battle of Britain and during
several bombings of Northolt, and later at Digby, he was always in the forefront
directing others and setting an example for all. It has been due to his unrelenting
efforts that his present unit was transferred from older to newer aircraft in record
time. He has been responsible for the fine serviceability record of the unit and has
rendered outstanding services throughout.
Following the war, Dad remained in the Air Force serving 23 years as Chief
Technical Officer at Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and finally at Penhold,
Alberta. He retired in 1962 at the time of the Armed Forces amalgamation - which
he opposed. In the Ottawa job, he was with 412 Squadron which was responsible
for transporting the Prime Minister and other dignitaries. Several times Rusty was
woken in the night because Mr Diefenbaker wanted to go fishing around Prince
Albert.
Returning to Calgary, Dad taught school at St. Augustine, St. Angela and Sacred
Heart Schools.
Always active in the community, Dad was involved in the Air Cadet League of
Canada, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede and the Bragg Creek Community
Association.
His greatest joy was becoming a grandfather to Little Rusty.
He enjoyed many years at our various cabins at Bragg Creek.
Dad died suddenly after a bout of Hong Kong flu in January 1969 at the age of 54.
*****
Particulars of Service
Royal Canadian Air Force
2184, Squadron leader Russell Mackie Bragg
1 Enlisted at Calgary Alberta, May 28, 1937 and posed to Camp Borden, Ont for
trades training as an aero-engine mechanic.
2. Posted to No. 1 fighter Squadron, June 20, 1937, servicing various fighter
aircraft.
3. Promoted Leading Aircraftsman, July 1, 1939, Corporal September 1, 1939 and
Sergeant, June 1, 1940.
4. Embarked for overseas June 21, 1940
5. Commissioned (Pilot Officer) December 13, 1941 and promoted Flying Officer
June 13, 1942.
6. Graduated as an Aeronautical Engineer fro No. 2 School of Technical Training at
Cosford, England July 2, 1942.
7. Promoted flight Lieutenant and posted to No. 126 Wing Tactical Air force, July 9,
1943, assuming the duties of Officer Commanding Repairs and Chief Technical
Officer.
8. Promoted Squadron Leader October 1, 1943.
9. Returned to Canada where he resumes his duties as chief Technical Officer at
Clairesholm and Calgary Alberta, November 23, 1944.
10. Resigned his commission on enlistment as an airman (Warrant Officer 1st
Class) in the RCAF (Regular) October 1, 1946. Employed as NCO in charge of
inspection, identification and repairs of a technical services unit at Toronto, Ont.
11. Commissioned (Pilot Officer) January 1, 1949 and Promoted Flying officer the
same date.
12. Posted to Ottawa, Ont march 2, 1949. Assumes duties in Engineering
Maintenance and Administration.
13. Appointed Officer in charge of a mobile equipment section at Calgary, Ab, Aug
18, 1950.
14. Promoted Flight Lieutenant and assumes the duties of Engineering Officer 442
and 443 (F) Auxiliary Support Squadron, Sea Island BC June 1, 1952.
15. appointed Station Aircraft Maintenance Officer, October 16, 1956 and Station
Aeronautical Engineering Officer, June 11, 1956
16. Transferred to 412 Squadron, Uplands Ont. and appointed Squadron Technical
Officer April 5, 1957.
17. Posted to RCAF Station Penhold AB where he resumes his duties as Station
Aeronautical Engineer Officer Aug 2, 1960.
18 Retired Feb 1, 1964
19. Service awards:
Member of the Order of the British Empire
France and Germany Star
Defence Medal
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp
War Medal 1939 - 45
Canadian Forces' Decoration with Clasp.