Aviation History - USA (2019-09)

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AvIATORS

september 2019

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36

I 58

n a few short weeks he downed 27 Axis aircraft. A deeply

religious, nonsmoking teetotaler who eschewed profanity

and possessed little more than a grade school education,

George Beurling was obsessed with flying and shooting and

confessed to love to partner his passions. Canada’s most visi-

ble war hero in 1943 ruined his fundraising war bond tour by

telling a reporter, “One of my can shells caught him in the face

and blew his head right off....I must say it gives you a feeling of

satisfaction when you actually blow their brains out.”

The public knew him as “Buzz” Beurling, but his fellow

airmen called him “Screwball.” He first took the controls of

“SCREWBALL” BEURLING TURNED INTO A STONE-COLD

KILLER IN THE COCKPIT OF A SPITFIRE, BECOMING

CANADA’S HIGHEST-SCORING ACE OF WORLD WAR II

BY BOB GORDON

AT HOME AND ABROAD

George Beurling mugs for the

camera in Montreal (left), and

shows off souvenirs from one

of his Malta victories (above).

an airplane at 12, soloed at

14 and was licensed by 17.

“Ever since I can remem-

ber,” he later wrote, “air-

planes and to get up in them

into the free sky had been

the beginning and end of my

thoughts and ambitions.”

In 1938 Beurling tried to

get to China to join the air

war over Manchuria. With

Canada’s entry into World

War II he sought to enlist in

the Royal Canadian Air Force

(RCAF), but was rejected

because of his lack of educa-

tion. Desperate to experience

aerial combat, he crewed

on a freighter to England.

Finally, in September 1940,

Beurling was accepted by

the Royal Air Force (RAF). A

year later, on September 9,

1941, he qualified as a pilot

and earned his wings. In

May of the following year he

scored his first two victories,

flying a Supermarine Spitfire

Mk. Vb against Focke-Wulf

Fw-190As.

Alongside Beurling’s

aerial skills and puritanical

habits rode an irascible,

arrogant and antagonistic

alter ego. Fellow pilot Hugh

Godefroy described him as

“a tallish slim fellow with

a disheveled crop of blond

hair, sharp features and deep

creases down each cheek....

He had large ice-blue eyes

that rarely blinked.” His

squadron leader on Malta,

Stanley Grant, described him

as “high strung, brash and

outspoken. He was a rebel.”

Beurling repeatedly refused

promotions, and when finally

The Falcon of Malta