Emmott, Norman: my Air Force recollections (November 27, 2006)
Interviewee: Emmott, Norman
ABSTRACT: Flight Sergeant Norman Emmott Norman Emmott began his careers in the Royal Canadian Air Forces in the beginning of 1937. He served as a ground crew member. He trained to be a store keeper in Trenton Ontario. He was sent to Winnipeg at the number 2 equipment depot to work as a store keeper. After a mix up at the store, Norm was accused of making mistakes that he did not make. As a result he was recommended for discharge. The Discharge did not go through, but rather he was sent to Vancouver where he was recommended to go from AC 2st class to AC 1st class to leading airmen. He was promoted very quickly. Freddy Nelson was the Tuff sergeant that recommended him. He was sent to a sea plane base in Ucluelet. Where he was promoted to be a Flight Sergeant. At the beginning of the Second World War, all leading aircrafts men were promoted to corporal. He was then a store keeper corporal. While he was a corporal, he was accused of being a coward, by a higher ranking officer, because he was busy counting equipment when he could have been serving and "blowing holes in the sky". A couple more officers took on this point of view and accused Norm of being a coward. Then went to Alberta, where he was promoted to a Sergeant Major. He felt he wanted to take a more active part in the war. Pilots needed a college education at the time, and he only had a high school education. Operations training school decided he would make a good navigator and a poor pilot. He applied for air crew officer and after passing a physical, he was once again accused of being a coward, because he was perfectly fit. So he decided to stop taking the abuse. He was demoted to Sergeant so he could switched over and take air crew training as a Navigator in Prince Albert Alberta. After graduating, he was sent to Dawson Manitoba. For bombing and gunnery place where he learned to shoot down air craft. Although he never had to shoot down a plane during the war. He had a friend who worked at his old location in Winnipeg, at the number 2 equipment depot. There Norm was introduced to his future wife. He spent time with his wife at Pat Bay, before being sent off to war. Norm knew he was being sent off to a dangerous situation, but his feeling was that there was nothing you could do accept fight. So he did not worry about being killed, as "Things happened to you for no reason and you had to put up with them". He went overseas as a fully trained torpedo bomber crew. The reason he was with a torpedo bomber crew was because following a course in Summerside in the Maritime they asked him where he wanted to be sent. He figured if he said one thing the Army would sent him to another, so as a result he asked for torpedo bomber crew, even though this is not what he wanted. He was surprised when that is where he was assigned. His crew was trained in Hampton aircraft. When he was overseas, he was quickly sent to the 433 squadron as that crew needed to be filled purely with Canadians. Was sent to Persshoru. He survived with his wireless operator who later became his best friend, and his pilot who Norm still keeps in contact with as he lives in Salmon Arm. Norm owes his life to his pilot as he feels he was so well trained that he got him through the war. Norm did 36 operations with his 433 squadron. They were shot up four times, but no one was ever injured. He was sent back to Canada after his tour in 1944. England had plenty of air crew at the time. He flew under Vice Air Marshal McEwen. His Squadron was not sent to hot targets deep in German territory like Hamburg. They spent most of their time destroying German targets such as railway junctions, German air fields, ports where they kept their Schnell bullets, and sometimes to help the army. These missions were not very dangerous. All of the missions took place at night, except for the bombing of the German troops in Normandy, just after D Day. In July when the Allies were starting to advance. There was a miscommunication in some of the bombing missions. The Army troops were told that if the people on the ground think that the bombs were going in the wrong place, then they should sent up red flares. Norm's squadron was told to bomb the areas where they saw red flares. As a result the 433 squadron bombed its own troops. Norm explains how these types of mistakes were common during the war. This occurred in the Peninsula near Normandy. Although there were mistakes, Norm felt that the war was won though the efforts of the bombing campaign. (History books will tell you otherwise) The Bombing accuracy was limited. On a clear moon light night about 1 air craft in 10 could get within 5 miles of the target. If it was worse night the average bomb fell 15 miles from the target. The average during the war the average bomb fell 15 miles from the target. Following the Normandy invasion, they could put the bombs right on target. He comments that the pathfinder markers were not always accurate, and that was the bases for the rest of the bombs. Bomber Harris had two objectives, to destroy the German armament, and the second was to break German morale. November 1944, the Germans had reached the peak of their production. He felt that the German moral was upheld by the Gestapo. Norm explains that the bombing of factories was not very efficient as the roofs were often blown off, but the equipment was often not damaged and the workers could get back to production faster that the allies had hoped. Norm feels that Bomber Harris had failed in his two objectives to defeat the German armament and to destroy the German morale. Norm does not recall being scared while serving under bomber command. Reflecting on this idea is surprising to Norm as he now realizes that serving for Bomber Command was one of the most dangerous duties in the war, with exception to serving on the German U-boats. He went back to Pat Bay, searching for Japanese submarines which they never did find. He then got sent to Port Hardy, with his wife. He served as Search and Rescue in Port Hardy. There a medical officer called him a coward, for not volunteering in the war effort in Japan. He was tempted to do so after these comments, but the war had ended. Norm was transferred to a Navigation lab. He worked with the artificial star tracker. Norm worked with engineers experimenting with the advancement of navigational equipment. The project was unfortunately cancelled due to high expenditures. He has made a name for himself through this project, and Norm was offered jobs outside of the air force. As a result, he decided to retire with his pension and work with other companies where the pay was about three times as much. He left the Air Force in 1963. He worked with Lytton aerospace industry's for 20 years until that age of 65.
Interviewer: Young, Craig
An interview/narrative of Norman Emmott's experiences during World War II. Flight Sergeant Emmott served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Interview took place on November 27, 2006.
Rank: Flight Sergeant.
- In Collection:
- 4 sound recordings (MP3)
- 52.16045, -0.70312
- 35.68536, 139.75309
- Original recordings (CDA) on compact disc (CD) in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- EN_511
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- January 18, 2013
- Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 44 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2013. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SC141_MilitaryOralHistory_GenericThumbnail |
|
|
|
Emmott_N_0511_01.mp3 |
|
|
|
|
Emmott_N_0511_02.mp3 |
|
|
|
|
Emmott_N_0511_03.mp3 |
|
|
|
|
Emmott_N_0511_04.mp3 |
|