On the eve of D-Day, when allied troops were getting their orders for the invasion of Normandy, France, James Francis “Stocky” Edwards turned 23 years old. The boy from Saskatchewan had barely seen a plane until he signed up for the military at age 19. On the eve of a defining moment of the Second World War, he was already a veteran fighter pilot.
- B.C.’s ‘Stocky’ Edwards, top Canadian ace of WWII’s Western Desert campaign, dies
- From Prairie boy to aviation legend: Second World War veteran recalls D-Day