Royal Air Force
Hazelhoff Roelfzema became frustrated by the treatment and joined the Royal Air Force in 1942. He attended flying school in Canada, where he became the best pilot cadet of his group.
He returned to England in 1944, and joined No. 139 Squadron RAF, part of the elite Pathfinder Force, tasked with illuminating targets for the night bombers of RAF Bomber Command. He made 72 sorties in Mosquito bombers, of which 25 went to Berlin, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Read more about this topic: Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
Famous quotes containing the words royal, air and/or force:
“Oh, I know my family’s not of royal blood, but you needn’t throw it in my face all the time.”
—Robert N. Lee. Rowland V. Lee. Queen Elyzabeth (sic)
“Nor sequent centuries could hit
Orbit and sum of SHAKSPEARE’s wit.
The men who lived with him became
Poets, for the air was fame.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Men have two ways of righting their wrongs, by force and by the ballot. Both are denied to women, one by nature, the other by man.”
—Ida A. Harper 1851–1931, U.S. women’s magazine contributor. Fireman’s Magazine, repr. In The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 423-5 (May 1887)