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Daniel Lee served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
![Daniel Lee]({"id":"0bb299fb-0736-466a-affe-07671e44ae57","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"2536_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":226223,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T19:49:54.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T19:49:54.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #2536","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Daniel Lee in 1940.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2536 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/2536_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/2536_original.jpg","credit":"Daniel Lee","pivot":{"mediable_id":"330a8c37-6ebd-4650-9ad6-f1c024678e3d","media_id":"0bb299fb-0736-466a-affe-07671e44ae57","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":1},"translations":[{"id":"4f5594a0-37ac-4bb0-a222-19152ee96870","media_id":"0bb299fb-0736-466a-affe-07671e44ae57","title":"Memory Project Image #2536","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Daniel Lee in 1940.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2536 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"en","credit":"Daniel Lee"},{"id":"1c0cad08-1f90-4a56-b725-dd75f9ee5e97","media_id":"0bb299fb-0736-466a-affe-07671e44ae57","title":"Memory Project Image #2536","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Daniel Lee en 1940.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2536 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"fr","credit":"Daniel Lee"}]} "Memory Project Image #2536")
![Vincent Chan, Invisionation]({"id":"4dc016b9-e632-4397-8b49-96ebe65da721","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"2537_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":86959,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T19:49:56.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T19:49:56.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #2537","alt":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","caption":"Daniel Lee at the Chinese Canadian Military Museum, in Vancouver, British Columbia, December 2009.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2537 - Veteran #2178","source":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/2537_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/2537_original.jpg","credit":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","pivot":{"mediable_id":"330a8c37-6ebd-4650-9ad6-f1c024678e3d","media_id":"4dc016b9-e632-4397-8b49-96ebe65da721","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":2},"translations":[{"id":"7345afbd-186e-4413-aa7e-621d1e4494f8","media_id":"4dc016b9-e632-4397-8b49-96ebe65da721","title":"Memory Project Image #2537","alt":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","caption":"Daniel Lee at the Chinese Canadian Military Museum, in Vancouver, British Columbia, December 2009.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2537 - Veteran #2178","source":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","locale":"en","credit":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation"},{"id":"88d4a643-3301-49a1-8224-202d28ee21cf","media_id":"4dc016b9-e632-4397-8b49-96ebe65da721","title":"Memory Project Image #2537","alt":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","caption":"Daniel Lee au Mus\u00e9e militaire sino-canadien de Vancouver, Colombie Britannique, d\u00e9cembre 2009.","creator":"Memory Project Image #2537 - Veteran #2178","source":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation","locale":"fr","credit":"Vincent Chan, Invisionation"}]} "Memory Project Image #2537")
![Daniel Lee]({"id":"78bc920d-eb3d-4e90-baab-06fa65962b95","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"1319_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":709789,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:29.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:29.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #1319","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Although he was born in Canada in 1924, Mr. Lee was classified as an alien when his parents registered his birth.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1319 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1319_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1319_original.jpg","credit":"Daniel Lee","pivot":{"mediable_id":"330a8c37-6ebd-4650-9ad6-f1c024678e3d","media_id":"78bc920d-eb3d-4e90-baab-06fa65962b95","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":3},"translations":[{"id":"c9c81e1a-49e4-4099-8f7d-d6efeb7dcd32","media_id":"78bc920d-eb3d-4e90-baab-06fa65962b95","title":"Memory Project Image #1319","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Although he was born in Canada in 1924, Mr. Lee was classified as an alien when his parents registered his birth.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1319 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"en","credit":"Daniel Lee"},{"id":"b126eb80-78a7-4458-928a-249588af939a","media_id":"78bc920d-eb3d-4e90-baab-06fa65962b95","title":"Memory Project Image #1319","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Pourtant n\u00e9 au Canada en 1924, Daniel Lee a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9sign\u00e9 comme \u00e9tranger quand ses parents ont d\u00e9clar\u00e9 sa naissance.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1319 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"fr","credit":"Daniel Lee"}]} "Memory Project Image #1319")
![Daniel Lee]({"id":"b6301d42-0405-4c4f-acc4-b164ecced861","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"1321_600","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":45030,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:31.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:31.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #1321","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Letter from Mr. Lee, then President of the Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans, Pacific Unit 280, to the Chinese Benevolent Society in Vancouver, urging them to get involved in the discussions about the Chinese Head Tax.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1321 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1321_600.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1321_600.jpg","credit":"Daniel Lee","pivot":{"mediable_id":"330a8c37-6ebd-4650-9ad6-f1c024678e3d","media_id":"b6301d42-0405-4c4f-acc4-b164ecced861","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":4},"translations":[{"id":"3666fc3b-4a6a-41bd-838c-3d123428fdff","media_id":"b6301d42-0405-4c4f-acc4-b164ecced861","title":"Memory Project Image #1321","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Letter from Mr. Lee, then President of the Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans, Pacific Unit 280, to the Chinese Benevolent Society in Vancouver, urging them to get involved in the discussions about the Chinese Head Tax.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1321 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"en","credit":"Daniel Lee"},{"id":"6f8e11ec-14f1-460a-b1bf-12b17b3cf696","media_id":"b6301d42-0405-4c4f-acc4-b164ecced861","title":"Memory Project Image #1321","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Lettre que Daniel Lee, alors pr\u00e9sident des v\u00e9t\u00e9rans de l'Arm\u00e9e, de la Marine, et de la Force A\u00e9rienne, Unit\u00e9 Pacifique 280, a adress\u00e9e \u00e0 la Chinese Benevolent Society de Vancouver pour l\u2019inciter \u00e0 participer aux discussions sur l\u2019imp\u00f4t de capitation chinois.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1321 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"fr","credit":"Daniel Lee"}]} "Memory Project Image #1321")
![Daniel Lee]({"id":"c6821e60-bf26-43ec-af3d-276ed82fe08d","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"1318_600","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":28492,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:27.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T19:00:27.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #1318","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Daniel Lee's Royal Canadian Air Force Hat. Mr. Lee served with the Mail Transport Squadron which was formed because Merchant Ships carrying mail and parcels kept getting torpedoed. Mail from home was needed to keep troops' morale high.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1318 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1318_600.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/1318_600.jpg","credit":"Daniel Lee","pivot":{"mediable_id":"330a8c37-6ebd-4650-9ad6-f1c024678e3d","media_id":"c6821e60-bf26-43ec-af3d-276ed82fe08d","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":5},"translations":[{"id":"34d26df0-25e6-43e6-84c7-0cb6e474305b","media_id":"c6821e60-bf26-43ec-af3d-276ed82fe08d","title":"Memory Project Image #1318","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"Daniel Lee's Royal Canadian Air Force Hat. Mr. Lee served with the Mail Transport Squadron which was formed because Merchant Ships carrying mail and parcels kept getting torpedoed. Mail from home was needed to keep troops' morale high.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1318 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"en","credit":"Daniel Lee"},{"id":"ec13e750-f1a4-4e09-8474-6def67b68761","media_id":"c6821e60-bf26-43ec-af3d-276ed82fe08d","title":"Memory Project Image #1318","alt":"Daniel Lee","caption":"B\u00e9r\u00eat de l\u2019Aviation royale du Canada de M. Lee, qui a servi dans l\u2019escadron de transport postal qu\u2019on avait cr\u00e9\u00e9 en raison du torpillage incessant des navires de la marine marchande qui transportaient le courrier et les colis. Les nouvelles qui venaient du pays \u00e9taient indispensables pour maintenir le moral des troupes.","creator":"Memory Project Image #1318 - Veteran #2178","source":"Daniel Lee","locale":"fr","credit":"Daniel Lee"}]} "Memory Project Image #1318")
Transcript
My name is Daniel Lee. I joined the service in the RCAF in 1942. The squadron I served with, in the panicked motto we called them then, "We Keep Them Flying." That means that any aircraft we serviced, they'd get to their destination and safely home again.
While serving in the RCAF with 168 Heavy Transport Squadron, we were flying Flying Fortresses – the B-17 – acquired from the United States Bomber Training Command, and they were best described by the one pilot as, "Third-hand rejects." It was a tough and arduous task for all trades to get these aircraft brought up to our airworthy standards. Engines had to be changed to a better performing type, and interiors with modifications to carry the heavy loads intended for them.
Transport Command was under heavy pressure to get our aircraft as soon as possible, of which the main purpose was to boost morale of the servicemen. A parcel or a letter from home was just as important as ammunition.
Our home base was Rockcliffe, Ontario. Before I left Rockcliffe, my two brothers were in the Army at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, and they were heading for their ship in Halifax and going overseas to India, via UK and Suez. On a forty-eight hour pass, I was walking with another airman in London, the Palladium, we bumped into my brothers and cousin with their army buddies. What a real surprise! They were... in Ottawa, and I did not get to see them.
At that time in England, they were still having the flying bombs (we called 'Doodlebugs') with engines, to attack areas of London, and when the engines on these Doodlebugs quit, then the bomb would explode when it hit the ground.
Younger people nowadays, they haven't the faintest idea what happened back in those days. Just like when we were younger, in our time, they would talk about the First World War. So I have to tell them what happened in our generation.
