1943

"He has been flying since he was 18".

prev a a stunt-man and crop-duster. 

1933-4 instructor to 60 Chinese pilots of the army of General Chang Kai-shek

 m. to Mary E (d. 1986)

[arrived in Manchester 5 Sep 1940]

[Transferred to AtFero, probably in Mar 1941]

"His name was scratched from the crew list for a ferry flight to Montreal, so that he could return to London to renew his papers.The bomber flew into the side of a mountain, and all 22 of the crew were killed and the ship completely destroyed." [This was Liberator AM261, on the 10th August 1941. See also F D Bradbrooke (joined 1939) and George Thomas Harris]

"Lt. Edison helped to bury this group of fellow fliers, immediately after which he received an assignment to leave for another trip. On this day, one hour before take-off, and while en route to the airdrome, there was an air raid and while the taxi in which he was riding was waiting, there was an automobile accident that resulted in two broken ribs for the lieutenant, sending him to the hospital instead.

Before getting away, however, he saw the ship in which he was supposed to leave run off the runway, catch fire and all 22 of the fine American pilots which made up the crew were burned to death.  [This was Liberator AM260, on the 14th August 1941. To be precise, 12 pilots [9 of them American], 8 radio operators, 1 flight engineer and 1 civilian were killed. See also Elbert Anding, Philip Lee, Buster Trimble and Martin Wetzel,]

He says he made his next journey with fingers crossed - but safely."

Later joined the US Navy and was Chief Aviation Pilot at Stanford Naval Air Station, FL, in 1943.

d. 28 Apr 1945 in PV-3 (ex-RAF Lockheed Ventura) which crashed after hitting trees shortly after take-off from NAS Lake City, FL.