Clifford Burton Cliff Guest

My name is Clifford Burton Guest. I was born north of Barrie, [Ontario] between Cundles and Midhurst at the top of Paddy Dunn’s Hill [on 7 May 1906; died 20 October 2009]. I was getting $1,700 a year I believe at the time I joined the air force. And I requested that I be entered as a pilot officer. I served at air force headquarters in Ottawa from the time I joined in 1940 until 1942. I was sent to Hagersville for some field training. I sublet my place in Ottawa and moved to Hagersville and I was only there about three months when they transferred me overseas. And I was posted from the reception depot there up to Topcliffe, Yorkshire, where I received training in the RAF method of operations. I was posted to the Canadian bomber group as equipment staff officer. We met in a little room in one of the houses in York [city in north England]. And there were about four or five of us together. And that was the beginning of the Canadian bomber group. We had all the rules and regulations of course of the RAF, so we started from scratch. And my job was to supervise the ordering of all the equipment that was necessary, all the spares that were necessary, all the food, the aircraft replacements that were required. The funny part of it was that I found it very exciting. Very exciting to see those aircraft going over. (emotional) And to think I had a part in that. And I know I did a good job. I think it’s important that we not have any more wars. If they realized how much that war took, took from Canada, they would never want to see another war again. In the morning, at breakfast, you’d find that a lot of your pals had not returned. It was very difficult. That I think is the lesson that we should learn that although people like Hitler come along and so on, it seems so stupid now that we allow anyone to get away with the tricks that he had pulled and Mussolini, etc.