German soldiers guard a food dump established in forward area, talking to one of the Dutch drivers who is to distribute the food in a Canadian truck.  3 May 1945, near Wageningen, Netherlands. (Photographer: Alex Stirton; Library and Archives Canada a134416)

Canadians & German put killing aside to save lives

February is Black History Month in Canada. What better way to contribute to the collective knowledge of what black Canadians have accomplished in the face of intolerance and repression, than to tell the story of the courageous man who was the first black combat pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. And what a story it is.

While most students of aviation history, and indeed North American history, are aware of the famed Tuskegee Airmen and their determined struggle just to be allowed to fly combat missions alongside white combat pilots of the United States Army Air Force, it is almost unknown that one black Canadian officer pilot flew on operations with the RCAF in Europe in an integrated front line squadron. That man was Flying Officer Allan S. Bundy and that squadron was 404 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force, “The Buffaloes”, flying the powerfully armed coastal strike fighter, the Bristol Beaufighter and later the de Havilland Mosquito.

In searching the web for information about Bundy and his fellow Second World War “negro” airmen, one comes across a number of spurious and apocryphal histories of Canada's pioneer black aviators. More than likely written from a relative's memory of stories oft embellished, they do not bear comparison to the individual's service files, squadron records or even RCAF policies, traditions and processes. The best way in which we can honour these heroic barrier breakers, is to offer the facts as accurately as we can. There exists some definite confusion (oxymoron?) about what “firsts” Bundy should be credited with. Some say he was the first black man in the RCAF, or the first black officer, or the first black combat airman or first black combat pilot. Thanks to dedicated researchers like Jim Bates, Mathias Joost and Terry Higgins, we are certain of a few things though. Bundy was not the first black airman in the RCAF – that honour goes to men like E.V. Watts and Gerald Bell. He was not the first black man to be commissioned in the RCAF either – that accomplishment goes to Pilot Officer Tarrance Freeman of Windsor, a navigator, who was commissioned on July 9th, 1943. Nor was he the first black Canadian combat pilot, as that honour goes to a Canadian in the RAF. He was indeed, we are sure, the first Canadian-born black pilot in the RCAF and his combat record speaks for itself.

F/O ALLAN S. BUNDY

Top Canadian Tank Crew
By Ross Munro
WITH THE CANADIANS IN FRANCE, 7 August 1944 - (C.P. Cable) -
Twenty-four-year-old Maj. S. V. (Woppy) Radley-Walters from the Gaspé Coast and his crew of four in their Sherman tank named "Caribou" are the leading tank destroyers in the Canadian armored units in France.

Their score now is 12 German tanks knocked out and the Caribou is still rolling with the same crew.

Radley Walters and his men are members of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers, a regiment which has made a fabulous name for itself in this Normandy campaign. They landed on D-Day with the regiment and have fought with it in every battle since.

The youthful major, who lived most of his life at Shigawake, Que., and whose father, Rev. A. R. Radley-Walters, now is rector of St. Peter’s in Quebec City, said they got their first German tank near Buron in the action there the day after landing. This was believed to be the first enemy tank destroyed in the battle of France.


The Caribou, which mounts a 75-millimetre gun, destroyed two more German tanks later in fighting at Buron and got another near Thaon when the regiment was moving over to Bretteville to support western infantry there. Another kill was made south of Bretteville and yet another in a second battle at Buron.

These Canadian aces also destroyed a self-propelled gun at Buron, but that was not included in their tank kills, although such weapons are just as formidable and as heavily armored as tanks.

The biggest two days the major and his men had were at St. Andre, south of Caen, when they knocked out two tanks one day and four the next. The four were destroyed in 15 minutes.

Gunner in the crew is Paul Paquette, French-speaking Canadian from Kirkland Lake, Ont., where, he worked in an hotel. Paul is short and weighs only 108 pounds but is a giant where his gun is concerned and his regiment calls him "grand Paul" — big Paul.

The loader operator is Jimmy McDougall, Hamilton, Ont., and the driver is L./Cpl. Ed Herman, also of Hamilton. The co-driver is R.B. Taylor, St. John's Nfld.

The major and Taylor thought up the name Caribou, the former remarking: “after all, we hunted them all our lives, Taylor in Newfoundland and me in Gaspe."

For nearly two months this crew has been in the line, engaged in battles or skirmishes every few days with enemy tanks, guns and infantry. During the battle for Caen, the Caribou was right in the fore and was the second tank to enter the city in support of the Stormont Dundas and Glengary Hlghlanders.

Radley-Walters is a tall, well-built officer with closely-cropped blond hair. He was attending Bishops’ College at Lennoxville, Que., preliminary to studying medicine at McGill when he joined the Fusiliers in 1940.
