Page 12 - Nov_2018

Ian Ormston had an adventurous spirit, joining Gord Wilson
the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 19.

from the British Desert Air Force, pose on a Spitfire
during the Battle of El Alamein, 1942.

"Air warfare is not like

hand-to-hand
He went on to become one of the youngest
commanding officers in the air force (No. 411 combat, it’s
Squadron). Ian flew over the English Channel
impersonal and you
more than 200 times during the Second World
War and crashed into the cold waters once. The
know, they’re going to
Spitfire aircraft he had named Marguerite, after
his fiancé, had sprung a coolant leak, which
meant imminent engine failure. With only a split try and shoot you

second to react, the then 22-year-old pilot
calculated the optimum speed to allow the heavy down, you’re going to

aircraft a soft glide toward the relative safety of
the Channel, where he at least had a chance of try and shoot them

eventual rescue. His heroics during the war
resulted in him being awarded the Distinguished down."
Flying Cross from King George VI at Buckingham
Palace. Ian often commented that the king was

not an easy man to make conversation with. Ian
returned to Canada in 1943 in a body cast and
later married Marguerite Lang.