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William A. Byrnes 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.
![William A. Byrnes]({"id":"3c80d836-a356-438c-b0bd-62dd04d0426b","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"6420_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":258945,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:39.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:39.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #6420","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes posing with a cheetah somewhere in Africa during his service with No. 117 Squadron, Royal Air Force.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6420 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6420_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6420_original.jpg","credit":"William A. Byrnes","pivot":{"mediable_id":"54be79bb-7d09-4c6a-b25d-7d36d612872a","media_id":"3c80d836-a356-438c-b0bd-62dd04d0426b","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":1},"translations":[{"id":"4788e04b-6488-43e9-ac6c-b82ded921787","media_id":"3c80d836-a356-438c-b0bd-62dd04d0426b","title":"Memory Project Image #6420","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes posing with a cheetah somewhere in Africa during his service with No. 117 Squadron, Royal Air Force.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6420 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"en","credit":"William A. Byrnes"},{"id":"0cc3674d-f85a-439a-8769-7c170a3c60be","media_id":"3c80d836-a356-438c-b0bd-62dd04d0426b","title":"Memory Project Image #6420","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes posant avec un gu\u00e9pard quelque part en Afrique pendant sont service avec l\u2019Escadron 117 de l\u2019Aviation Royale.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6420 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"fr","credit":"William A. Byrnes"}]} "Memory Project Image #6420")
![William A. Byrnes]({"id":"664304d3-f7fe-47ae-a43f-b5015103a02d","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"6421_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":218437,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:41.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:41.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #6421","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes during his Royal Canadian Air Force basic training at RCAF Station Penhold, Penhold, Alberta, 1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6421 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6421_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6421_original.jpg","credit":"William A. Byrnes","pivot":{"mediable_id":"54be79bb-7d09-4c6a-b25d-7d36d612872a","media_id":"664304d3-f7fe-47ae-a43f-b5015103a02d","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":2},"translations":[{"id":"3ae97d8c-7f7d-4e11-924d-dc3b3f0c1d3b","media_id":"664304d3-f7fe-47ae-a43f-b5015103a02d","title":"Memory Project Image #6421","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes during his Royal Canadian Air Force basic training at RCAF Station Penhold, Penhold, Alberta, 1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6421 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"en","credit":"William A. Byrnes"},{"id":"85ba19fb-5a45-4223-9cb7-715b1a493859","media_id":"664304d3-f7fe-47ae-a43f-b5015103a02d","title":"Memory Project Image #6421","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes during pendant ses Classes dans l\u2019Aviation Royale Canadienne \u00e0 Penhold, Alberta en 1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6421 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"fr","credit":"William A. Byrnes"}]} "Memory Project Image #6421")
![William A. Byrnes]({"id":"957ab39c-474d-4acb-b729-588d95f9628c","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"6423_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":466110,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:47.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:47.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #6423","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes' service medals (left to right): 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM); 1939-45 War Medal.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6423 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6423_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6423_original.jpg","credit":"William A. Byrnes","pivot":{"mediable_id":"54be79bb-7d09-4c6a-b25d-7d36d612872a","media_id":"957ab39c-474d-4acb-b729-588d95f9628c","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":3},"translations":[{"id":"e39460a4-e891-49b6-8a5d-9b8783b77d2e","media_id":"957ab39c-474d-4acb-b729-588d95f9628c","title":"Memory Project Image #6423","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes' service medals (left to right): 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM); 1939-45 War Medal.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6423 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"en","credit":"William A. Byrnes"},{"id":"43c6f8e8-ca80-493e-a14d-c5e73fc2473c","media_id":"957ab39c-474d-4acb-b729-588d95f9628c","title":"Memory Project Image #6423","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"Il s\u2019agit des m\u00e9dailles de service de William A. Byrnes (de gauche \u00e0 droite) : Etoile de 1939-1945, Etoile de l\u2019Atlantique, M\u00e9daille canadienne du volontaire, M\u00e9daille de la guerre 1939-1945.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6423 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"fr","credit":"William A. Byrnes"}]} "Memory Project Image #6423")
![William A. Byrnes]({"id":"a3c04ace-4f1f-458b-8159-77b8b02952c3","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"6419_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":164958,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:37.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:37.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #6419","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes (middle), on home leave shortly after his enlistment in the Royal Canadian Air Force, flanked by his mother, Anastasia, and his father, William John, in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, 1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6419 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6419_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6419_original.jpg","credit":"William A. Byrnes","pivot":{"mediable_id":"54be79bb-7d09-4c6a-b25d-7d36d612872a","media_id":"a3c04ace-4f1f-458b-8159-77b8b02952c3","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":4},"translations":[{"id":"67b0dbbe-2787-42e2-af02-15c0f3a48930","media_id":"a3c04ace-4f1f-458b-8159-77b8b02952c3","title":"Memory Project Image #6419","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes (middle), on home leave shortly after his enlistment in the Royal Canadian Air Force, flanked by his mother, Anastasia, and his father, William John, in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, 1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6419 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"en","credit":"William A. Byrnes"},{"id":"895e21dc-e41a-430e-90ad-1d4d6432d42e","media_id":"a3c04ace-4f1f-458b-8159-77b8b02952c3","title":"Memory Project Image #6419","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"William A. Byrnes (au milieu) en permission chez lui peu de temps apr\u00e8s son enr\u00f4lement dans l\u2019Aviation Royale Canadienne, sur les c\u00f4t\u00e9s, sa m\u00e8re Anastasia et son p\u00e8re William John \u00e0 Kerrobert, Saskatchewan en1941.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6419 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"fr","credit":"William A. Byrnes"}]} "Memory Project Image #6419")
![William A. Byrnes]({"id":"c573c0f8-27f9-462b-a6b7-932ba4699245","disk":"s3","directory":"The-Memory-Project\/image","filename":"6422_original","extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","aggregate_type":"image","size":1000853,"variant_name":null,"original_media_id":null,"created_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:45.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-08-02T22:26:45.000000Z","title":"Memory Project Image #6422","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"Pages from William A. Byrnes' Royal Canadian Air Force Service Flying Log Book. The entries document flights from September 1944 ranging from Gibraltar to India, and numerous African and Asian points in-between.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6422 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","conversion_urls":{"original":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6422_original.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net\/The-Memory-Project\/image\/6422_original.jpg","credit":"William A. Byrnes","pivot":{"mediable_id":"54be79bb-7d09-4c6a-b25d-7d36d612872a","media_id":"c573c0f8-27f9-462b-a6b7-932ba4699245","mediable_type":"App\\Models\\Article","tag":"gallery","order":5},"translations":[{"id":"07684b33-032a-4389-8449-272dfd1eeffc","media_id":"c573c0f8-27f9-462b-a6b7-932ba4699245","title":"Memory Project Image #6422","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"Pages from William A. Byrnes' Royal Canadian Air Force Service Flying Log Book. The entries document flights from September 1944 ranging from Gibraltar to India, and numerous African and Asian points in-between.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6422 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"en","credit":"William A. Byrnes"},{"id":"44b63ce5-c664-4fbf-be26-bb7c3c81aa7c","media_id":"c573c0f8-27f9-462b-a6b7-932ba4699245","title":"Memory Project Image #6422","alt":"William A. Byrnes","caption":"Pages du carnet de bord de William A. Byrnes Les donn\u00e9es d\u00e9crivent des vols de septembre 1944 allant de Gibraltar jusqu\u2019en Inde et de nombreuses escales en Afrique et en Asie.","creator":"Memory Project Image #6422 - Veteran #3908","source":"William A. Byrnes","locale":"fr","credit":"William A. Byrnes"}]} "Memory Project Image #6422")
Transcript
I went in to sign up and they put in they put me in the Royal Canadian Air Force, [No.] 117 [Squadron] BR [Bombing Reconnaissance]. We were out looking for subs, 18 and 20 hours sometimes. Wireless operator/air gunner. Wireless operators travelled, and worked in RT [radio telephony]. There was a pilot and a navigator. The pilot was from Saskatoon [Saskatchewan], Johnnie Peaker. The navigator was from Kelowna [British Columbia]. I liked the flying. We were out 18, 20 hours some days searching for subs. We didn’t find any. Just went and did what they told me to do. Just went and did what they told me. Hurry over here and stand over here, wait over there.
