John Baptiste Bernard Rainville

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John Rainville in the "President Roosevelt" of 403 Squadron. The Spit was a gift to England from Warner Brothers™

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Literally Blasted Nazis From the Air in Battle
CANADIAN PILOT CASUALLY RELATES EXPLOITS IN SHOOTING DOWN ONE OF FOUR PLANES

SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, Aug. 26, 1941— Pilot Officer Don Ball, of Edmonton, described casually last night how he had "no trouble at all" in shooting down one of four Nazi planes his squadron accounted for on August 19 last. Through faulty transmission P/O Ball was erroneously described as missing yesterday.

BLASTED OUT OF AIR
THIS was the fight in which P/O D. R. Dick of Canora, Sask. shot down two Messerschmitts and saved the lives of at least two companions when his cannon fire literally blasted the Nazis out of the air.
Pilot Officer Ball said his one-sided joust with "Jerry" occurred over northern France. He dived for the Messerschmitts below his squadron leader, who also got one.
"Mine was a Messerschmitt 109F. I stuck with him. It was over in five seconds," Ball said.
Dick, a slim, blond Spitfire pilot, returned to his station after a few days leave yesterday to find he was the hero of the group of channel-hopping Canadian airmen with whom he is flying in one of the first Royal Canadian Air Force fighter squadrons formed in Britain under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
His mates still were talking of the August 19 bag when the squadron boosted by four Messerschmitts the station's score to more than 1,000 planes downed and probably downed. In addition, the Canadians were credited with a probable and with two others damaged.

HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE
Dick, who will be 21 this week, had a hairbreadth escape but it "wasn't so bad" while it lasted, he said. The young airman managed to get what was left of his machine almost all the way across the channel after the sweep, but before it landed off the English coast, he shot down the two Messerschmitts and came to the rescue of his companions.
While Dick had his brush with his pair, his commanding officer, a member of the Royal Air Force since posted as missing, and Pilot Officer Ball got the other two. Another pilot officer of the RAF attached to the squadron was credited with a probable, and Sergeant Pilot J. Rainville of St. John's, Que., was credited with damaging two Messerschmitts.

"EVERYTHING BUT ME"
A veteran of more than a dozen sweeps over France, Dick confessed that "this is the first time anything has happened to me and they shot everything but me."
He had to pause a moment when asked to list the damage to his plane.
"Engine hit. Control column put out of commission. Right wing tip torn off right to the aileron. Three cannon shells through the wing. Covering of one machine-gun completely ripped off. Left wing riddled. Fuselage riddled, reflector sight splintered and radio I think also hit. Elevators damaged.
"All I had was good rudder control and left aileron control."

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A group of 403 Squadron Fighter Pilots - 1941

Back row : P/O Derick Colvin, (RAF); P/O Cryil Wood, (RAF); F/L Ted Cathelo of Vancouver, B.C.; S/L Tony Lee-Knight, (RAF, KIA); F/L B.S. Christmas, of Montreal, Que.; P/O Phil Carrillo of New York City; P/O Don Ball of Edmonton, Alta.; F/O L.E. Price of Quebec City, Que.; P/O L.S. Ford of Liverpool N.S.; F/O S.J. Peeson of Singapore, S.S.;

Front row (Left to right) : Sgt. Charlie Grigg of Mount Brydges, Ont.; Sgt. Lawrence Soanes (RAF); Sgt. John Rainville of St. Johns, Que.; Sgt. Hugh Belcher of Roblin, Man.; F/O C. A. Hyde Bray, (RAF); Sgt. Eric Crist of Wallaceburg, Ont.; Sgt. Ken Collinson of Niagara Falls, Ont.; Sgt. Jack Ryckman of London, Ont.; Sgt. Doug Granham of Winnipeg, Man.

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RCAF Shoots Down 26 Enemy Planes
in Normandy Between Dawn and Dusk

By P.O. H. R. McDONALD, A Canadian Airfield in France, June 29, 1944 - (CP) - Canadian fighter planes, in one of the most brilliant achievements in the history of the R.C.A.F., shot down 26 out of a total of 34 enemy aircraft destroyed over the Normandy front between dawn and dusk yesterday.
In addition, R.C.A.F. pilots chalked up a number of enemy planes probab1y shot down and a number of others which were damaged.
Four pilots scored double kills. They were W/C J.E. (Johnny) Johnson, English–born commander of a Canadian fighter wing operating from an R.C.A.F. base in Normandy, and F/Ls H.C. Trainor, Charlottetown; W. T. Klersy, 14 Harcroft Rd., Toronto, and R. K. Hayward. St. John's, Nfld.

Destroys Two, Damages Third
Hayward destroyed two FW-190's and damaged a third, which gave him the highest R.C.A.F. individual score of the day. Earlier reports indicated the Canadian airmen had downed 18 enemy planes in yesterday's daylight operations.
The complete figures were reached by intelligence officers today after a period of aerial operations which exceeded in intensity anything since the Allied Normandy beachhead was opened June 6.
Besides the toll of enemy planes; which included all fighter types, R.C.A.F. pilots also strafed transport on the roads. Final claims on two aircraft are being sifted.
Among the R.C.A.F. Spitfire pilots contributing to the total with one Hun each were: F/Ls Irving Kennedy, Cumberland, Ont.; G.R. Patterson, Kelowna, B.C.; John McElroy, Kamloops, B.C.; Henry Zary, New York; R.M. Stayner, Saskatoon; A.F. Halcrow, Penticton, B.C.; G.W. Johnson, 102 Beechwood Ave., Hamilton, Ont.; D.E. Noonan, 146 Willingdon Ave., Kingston, Ont.; J.B. Rainville, Montreal; and Flying Officers W.J. Banks, Leaside, Ont. and G.H. Farquharson, Corbyville, Ont.
W/C Johnson's score of two brought his total of enemy planes downed to 32, equaling the mark set by Group Capt. A. G. (Sailor) Malan, a South African, now on ground duty.
Among the R.C.A.F. fliers scoring probables were F/O A.C. Brandon, Timmins, Ont.; F/O J.B. O'Sullivan, Vancouver; and P/O J.M. Flood, Hearst, Ont.

Nine Others Damaged
At least nine others were damaged by fliers of the R.C.A.F.
Of the wings comprising Group Capt, W. (Bill) MacBrien's R.C.A.F. sector, the one led by 22-year-old W/C George Keefer, D.F.C. and Bar, Charlottetown, was high scorer of the day with 13 confirmed victories. Johnson's wing was second with seven in a close race with a unit led by W/C R.A. Buckham, Vancouver.

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Victories Include :

Stats from "Those Other Eagles" by Chris Shores

*Newspaper article above says he damaged 2 that day

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