World War II
He was over 40 when World War II began, and with No. 57 Squadron RAF, he moved to Metz as part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force, equipped with the Bristol Blenheim light bomber. He volunteered to carry out the squadron's first operational mission, a flight from Metz to reconnoitre Hamm-Hannover-Soest on 13 October 1939. His Blenheim was however shot down by a Me109 flown by Uffz. Stephan Lutjens, of 11./JG 53, near Birkenfeld. Day managed to bail out, suffering burns to his face and hands, but otherwise landed safely by parachute. He was immediately captured by the Germans and placed in the custody of Luftwaffe doctor Hermann Gauch. His two crew-mates, Sgt E.B. Hillier and AC1 F.G. Moller were both killed.
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Famous quotes containing the words world war, world and/or war:
“Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong.”
—Anonymous. Popular saying.
Dating from World War I—when it was used by U.S. soldiers—or before, the saying was associated with nightclub hostess Texas Quinan in the 1920s. It was the title of a song recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1927, and of a Cole Porter musical in 1929.
“We come into the world laden with the weight of an infinite necessity.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“... the next war will be a war in which people not armies will suffer, and our boasted, hard-earned civilization will do us no good. Cannot the women rise to this great opportunity and work now, and not have the double horror, if another war comes, of losing their loved ones, and knowing that they lifted no finger when they might have worked hard?”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)