orth shore! news SECTION

November 9, 1983

Newsroom 985-2131

close range.

‘*Lieutenant Daniel then
fired a burst of almost a hun-
dred rounds into the
Rumpler’s fuselage at point
blank range ... Lt. Daniel
fired again and the enemy
aircraft fell in flames, the tail
falling off before it crashed
near Mercatel (France).’’

So read the official ac-
count crediting North Van-
couver resident W.C. (Dan)
Daniel with his first and only
‘kill’ of the great ‘‘war to end
all wars’’, as a 19 year old
fighter pilot with 64
Squadron, Royal Flying
Corps.

Sixteen days later, follow-

FROM PILOT TO PADRE
War led to new life

‘**ON 2ND MAY, 1918, at about 10:55 a.m., Cap-
tain Burge (Flight Commander) attacked a German
Rumpler two-seater from underneath its tail —
with Lieutenants Daniel and Walkderdine diving
on either side, each firing about thirty rounds from

By BRIAN ELLIS

ing ‘‘a confused dog fight’’
in which the young lieutenant
was ‘‘too occupied to
distinguish friend from foe,"’
he had most of the leading
edge of the upper right wing
and aileron controls shot
away on his S.E. 5a biplane
fighter.

Dan Daniels, now 85,
resides at 515 East 8th Street,
North Vancouver, with
Frances, his charming wife of
56 years and is best known to
North Shore residents as a
former rector of St. Agnes
Anglican Church, North
Vancouver.

That near-fatal crash-
landing was virtually the end
of the war for the young
aviator, but heralded the
beginning of a lifetime of ser-
vice to his fellowman.

In 1942, Daniel was back
in uniform. Although he
wore pilot’s wings above his
left breast pocket, the ‘‘flying
cross’’ insignia on his tunic
lapels and cap badge in-
dicated that he was a
chaplain in the Royal Cana-
dian Air Force.

The transformation from
fighter pilot to padre evolved
during the years between the

FASHION « FOOD
TRAVEL

two World Wars.

When he entered the First
World War it was looked
upon as a great adventure
and, ‘‘... flying was
relatively new, nobody had
too much experience,’’
Daniel reminisced, ‘‘. . . so it
promised to be quite ex-
citing.’’ The situation § in
Europe at that time looked
‘*pretty desperate for the
Allies and 1917 was one of
the darkest years in the war,”’
he recalled.

Mr. Daniel had seen a
good number of his school
chums at St. Catherines’
Ridley College, precede him
in military service and was
“‘very much encouraged to
answer the call to duty.’’

During primary flight
training, in which he ‘soloed’
after 70 minutes of ‘dual’ in-
struction, he crash-landed on
his first attempt when the
engine of his Curtiss JN4
(Jenny) malfunctioned. He
was soon to learn that flight
training schools accounted
for as many casualties as
enemy action.

His experiences in a fighter
squadron, close to the
‘front’, made an indelible im-
pression on Daniel, who
came out of situations with a
strong feeling that he had
been ‘‘preserved.’’

During his convalescence
from his injuries, Daniel
came to the conclusion that
he wanted to make some use
out of his life. Eventually he

CONTINUED ON PAGE C2

NEWS photo Terry Peters
IN THE COMFORT of his livingroom (above) W.C. ‘‘Dan”’
Daniel recalls World War I experiences through his collection

of military memorabilia. As a flight-Heutenant in 1942,
Daniel is shown In his RCAF chapltain's uniform (right).

Special
Notice

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November 11

For the Remembrance Day Hier 1, all sta brane hes
of the North Shore Community © redit: Union will be
closed on Friday November 11

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