Escape from Siam

Postscript 2:
Restoring Crane No. 7862

by Peter George

Another remarkable coincidence relates to Harry V. Smith and a reunion of a different sort. After retiring from a career as an engineer with Atomic Energy of Canada, Harry joined Canadian Warplane Heritage in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Harry Smith is in the middle row, third from left.

One cold winter morning in the early 80’s he wandered into the hangar and noted that a group of us were in the process of restoring a Cessna Crane. At that point the aircraft was devoid of fabric and was undergoing major woodwork restoration.

Harry asked if he could get involved with the restoration as he had gotten his wings on a Cessna Crane. At any rate Harry became the spark plug behind the project and as we neared the final stages of the restoration Harry enquired as to what we had in mind for markings on the Crane. Some of us on the crew knew the details of the aircrafts history and when we told Harry she was 7862 from No.4 Service Flying Training School, Saskatoon, he realised for the first time that the aircraft was from the training base where he got his wings.

Alas, there was no trace of 7862 in either Harry’s logbook or his snap shots of the time so we figured that was where serendipity ended. However, the Almighty works in strange ways!

The attached picture (at right) of B Flight of Harry’s graduating class was taken in front of 7862 so a major event in Harry’s life came full-circle after many years when he helped breath new life into the old girl.

Harry does not know the wartime survival statistics for his fellow classmates but he noted to me that his 358 Squadron lost 24 of 28 of the original flight crews during 6 months of operations from November 1944 to June 1945.

Post Script 2 by Peter George who has been rewarded by having Harry as a friend for the past 20 years; was one of the Crane restoration crew; and ultimately flew Harry’s Crane for Canadian Warplane Heritage.

Escape from Siam RAF 358 Squadron, Burma 1945

More Siam 1945

RAF Memoirs of SE Asia: 358 Squadron Special Ops and P.O.W by William A. Pugh

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© Copyright 2002 by Harry Smith
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