[ChairmanMilo]

Found this at another forum. I found it especially interesting that he became an ace during the Battle of Britain and that he was the "enemy ace" in "Captains of the Clouds". Rest in peace, "Dead-Eye Dick".



Wing Commander Dal Russel

Canadian ace who fought in the Battle of Britain and over Normandy

Joining the Royal Canadian Air Force at the outbreak of war in September 1939, Dal Russel arrived in England the following year with No1 Squadron RCAF, just in time for the Battle of Britain during which he became an ace (five combat victories). He was still flying fighters operationally, in combat and on bombing and strafing sorties, during the Normandy campaign in the autumn of 1944, and he ended the war as one of Canada’s most decorated pilots with a DSO and two DFCs.

Blair Dalzell (Dal) Russell grew up in Montreal, where he learnt to fly at Montreal Flying Club. When Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, he was commissioned in the RCAF with whose No1 Squadron he arrived in Britain in June 1940.

Its Hurricanes were soon in the thick of the Battle of Britain, and on August 26 he shot down a Do17 bomber over Gravesend. In an intense period of air fighting he brought his score to five over the next few weeks, was awarded the DFC and earned the nickname “Dead-Eye Dick” from his ground crew.

Back in Canada in 1941 to train a new generation of pilots, he was asked to participate in simulated air combat for the war movie Captains of the Clouds, starring James Cagney. For this he flew a Hurricane disguised as an Me109 complete with black crosses and swastikas, in which he “attacked” a squadron of five Hudson bombers off Nova Scotia.

After training Canadian pilots on the American P40 Kittyhawk fighter, and commanding a squadron at Sea Island near Vancouver, he was returned to the European theatre, flying Spitfires as bomber escorts. He became a wing leader in July 1943 and was subsequently awarded a Bar to his DFC, the citation remarking that under his leadership not one of the bombers escorted by his wing, No127, had been lost.

With the Normandy landings impending, in April 1944 he asked to be dropped a rank to squadron leader, in order to be able to fly sorties over the beachhead as CO of 442 “Caribou” Squadron RCAF. Four days after D-Day the squadron flew to France to operate from one of the first airfields to be liberated. Russel’s logbook noted: “First Spit pilot to make a successful landing in France.”

He was soon back in charge of a wing, No 126 this time, operating mainly against trucks, tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles as part of that overwhelming tactical air superiority that made life such a nightmare for German commanders on the ground. By the time Russel was finally stood down from operations in January 1945 he had flown a total of 256 sorties, and was awarded the DSO. He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Order of Orange Nassau and the Czechoslovak War Cross.

Demobbed in July 1945, Russel returned to Canada and worked for Sperry Gyroscope in Montreal. He and his wife, Lorraine, subsequently bought and ran a high-class linen store in Montreal, later opening a Toronto branch. In retirement he was a keen trout and salmon fisherman, but although invited on hunting expeditions by friends, he declined, saying that his war experiences had disinclined him ever to shoot anything again.

His wife predeceased him, and he is survived by a daughter and two sons.

Wing Commander Dal Russel, DSO, DFC and Bar, Canadian wartime fighter pilot, was born on December 9, 1916. He died on November 20, 2007, aged 90

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3232759.ece

[flyXwire]

Interesting piece of trivia! I was watching "Captains of the Clouds" the other day and didn't notice him on the credits as one of the players, though. Guess I'll have to view it again.

RIP Mr. Dal Russel.

Originally Posted by ChairmanMilo

Found this at another forum. I found it especially interesting that he became an ace during the Battle of Britain and that he was the "enemy ace" in "Captains of the Clouds". Rest in peace, "Dead-Eye Dick".

[no4mkit]

Great post Milo.

Godspeed Sir.

[Captain Eddie]

Thanks for posting, Milo. God bless his family.

[Kaptin_Kirk]

Thank you and Rest in Peace Sir.

[STARMAN 352ND]

What a great man.....Rest in peace..
JP