[SMF144]

Off-the-cuff remarks? Is the pot calling the kettle black?

I find the remark about George Beurling being self-centred rather uncalled for. On, what basis, Graham? Could you please provide the forum with examples? If this is indeed the case, then why did Beurling spend “his” time with pilots teaching them the art of deflection shooting? Just ask Andy MacKenzie, DFC what he thought of Beurling – you’d be surprised. Without having my reference at hand, I believe Andy’s comment was something along the lines that I didn’t know how to shot down aircraft until Beurling showed me. Over the years I’ve managed to interview several pilots who flew with or knew Beurling and all but a couple of them had nothing but good things to say about Beurling. The ones that didn’t have anything nice to say were obviously jealous of the man because it was quite evident in their answers or the way the talked about him.

The CBC interview conducted with Beurling after the war is quite revealing and it offers a side of the man that, as far as I can tell, has gone unnoticed in the books and articles about the man. When the interviewer, Bob Bowman asked Beurling about reaching officer status, Beurling’s response is very interesting.

Bowman: “How’s it feel to be an officer, seeing that you’re supposed to dislike them?”
Beurling: “Well, that’s not exactly right that I hate officers. The thing is that an officer or AC2 are all the same to me if they are doing a job.”

Obviously, when Beurling acted in an undisciplined manner towards an officer maybe that was his method of showing his displeasure? I realize there are better methods to deal with incompetent people who hold authority but all that Beurling wanted to do was fly, hence his reluctance at becoming an officer. The infamous spat between W/C Hugh Godefroy and Beurling is well known and documented but from those who knew Godefroy, one gets a sense that he was self-centred and had an inflated ego. So, I can see why this all came about. Did Laddie Lucas have any trouble with Beurling? Not that I am aware of.

As far as I can tell George F. Beurling was a professional who understood his occupation and took it very seriously. I guess spending time studying and practicing the art of deflection shooting made him the odd man out because everyone else was either busy in the pubs or nursing a hangover. Then again, maybe that’s why he was so successful in shooting aircraft down while the others couldn’t hit a bull in the arse with a shovel.

Oh yes, Beurling was known on occassion to wear his battle dress void of ribbons. I guess that’s another trait of being self-centred?

Stephen