[BCMA] Unveiling of Chaster Donation at Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives

Thu Oct 31 19:15:25 PDT 2013

The Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives  wrote: *"J**ames Barry Chaster, of
the Royal Army Service Corp, recalled a foggy night on January 3, 1942
when, as a 21 year old pilot, his mission was to fly a Lancaster airplane
from the 207th Squadron stationed near Nottingham. It was an experimental
flight with a new navigation system that allowed flying in dense fog.
Suddenly, as the crew neared their target, they flew out of the fog into a
perfectly clear sky. The plane was easily detected by a German Hienkel
fighter plane pilot who quickly opened fire and caused major damage. *

* *

*Barry’s crew parachuted out of the plane but Barry stayed and attempted to
fly the wounded Lancaster back to England. Another round of machine gun
fire decimated the cockpit and Barry was forced to parachute out of the
plane, landing in Holland. *

* *

*Like many stories from this time, the journey back to Allied territory was
treacherous but inspiring. Four members of his crew died, two were captured
and incarcerated in a POW camp. Barry was assisted by many people as he
escaped from occupied Europe. Some of the good Samaritans who helped him
paid for it when they were incarcerated to concentration camps. Barry did
make it back to England, via Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Gibraltar,
but he compared his experiences to those of his crew and friends as “a walk
in the park”. "*

One certain correction is "Corps" not "Corp." RASC is British Army. The
Canadian counterpart was RCASC (inserting Canadian in there). It is more
likely that being from B.C., he would have been in the RCASC.

More importantly the rest of the story just does not make sense. Perhaps
they have combined the stories of two separate men and even then there are
anomalies.

   1. What would an ARMY RCSC chap, likely a truck driver, be doing
   piloting a 4-engined bomber on an operational bombing mission?
   2. Why would it be flying over enemy territory in daylight as the RAF
   and RCAF flew their Lancaster bombing missions at night?
   3. Why would the whole crew bale out and abandon an army passenger in
   their aircraft? Normal practice is that the skipper (pilot) would be the
   last to bale out.
   4. A Heinkel (not Hienkel) fighter would be most unusual especially in
   the latter part of WWII when the Lancaster was in service. Heinkel did make
   fighters pre-WWII and some at the very end but I think this is a case of
   mistaken identity. Chances are that it was a Messerschmidt 109 or 110 or a
   Focke-Wulf 190.
   5. He stated that he was shot down on January 3, 1942 in a Lancaster.
   This was two months before Lancs became operational. "Lancasters first
   flew operationally in March 1942" ref:
   http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/lancbomber.html
   6. 207 Squadron Royal Air Force (RAF) flew Manchester bombers not
   Lancasters at that time in January 1942. "The squadron took the Manchesters
   on their first raid of the war on 24/25th February 1941, when six aircraft
   attacked a Hipper-class cruiser at Brest. A year later, on 12th February
   1942, its Manchesters flew on operations against the Scharnhorst and
   Gneisenau, when the German warships dashed in daylight from Brest to North
   German ports. The Manchesters continually gave trouble in service, mainly
   because their Vulture engines were unreliable under full load and, by June
   1942, No. 207 Squadron, and the six other squadrons similarly equipped, had
   exchanged their Manchesters for Lancasters. " ref:
   http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/207squadron.cfm
   7. A minor point, if James Barry Chaster was never captured then he is
   classed as an "evader."

Sadly, as a military historian I have to say that from what I can see, this
story is false and unless proof can be obtained, that particular story
should NOT be exhibited. In search of the truth, I would be happy to help
the museum to review the evidence (photos, documents, memoirs, badges
 etc.). Whether it is someone making up a story for the family (this does
happen, e.g. someone who was never in combat wanting to look good for the
ladies) or whether it is the family confusing and merging several stories
(this also happens) I cannot say at this time. I have spoken with many
veterans, including those who were shot down and were captured or evaded,
and MI-9 secret agents who  helped escapers and evaders to get back to the
UK via the Shelburn Line. Sadly I must say that the chances of the
above story being true *as related *is less than 1%.

 *POST-SCRIPT*

After writing the above, I did an Internet search for "James Barry Chaster"
on a whim and miraculously turned up an interview recorded by New
Westminster Museum and Archives with him in 2001. The summary says that the
was an RCAF (not RASC) pilot (air force, not army) and was shot town in
1943 (not 1942.) "James Barry Chaster known as Barry was born February 4th
1921 in Duncan, BC. Barry enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941
and served for most of the war as a bomber pilot. In 1943, Barry was shot
down over Holland. He was briefly imprisoned in Spain before being sent
back to England. He spent the rest of the war back in Canada helping train
other bomber pilots and performing other tasks till he was discharged in
Ottawa in July 13th, 1947. After being discharged, Barry decided to go to
school to get his degree in architecture. Barry moved with his wife and two
children to New Westminster after he became the city’s city planner in
1966. He retired in 1985. Barry belonged to numerous veteran associations
including the POW association. Barry passed away April 24th, 2007. "
ref:   http://archives.newwestcity.ca/permalink/41035/

This further evidence having surfaced, the family story must now be
rewritten in an accurate form. The Comet Line referred to in the
interview is a famous MI-9 one, similar to the Shelburn Line whose members
I interviewed many years ago.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_line

On 30 October 2013 14:03, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. <
bcma at lists.vvv.com> wrote:

>   *For Immediate Release October 30, 2013*
>
> *Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives*
>
> *Unveiling of the Chaster Family Donation*
>
>
>
> *The Chaster Family Donation** *exhibit will be unveiled at the Cowichan
> Valley Museum & Archives on Monday, November 4 at 11 a.m., followed by a
> reception. Ruth Chaster and her family recently donated a framed document
> featuring photographs of members of the Chaster family who served in the
> military.  The document creates a record of their service to Canada,
> British Columbia and the Cowichan Valley. The family has taken the time to
> record their experiences, both harrowing and humorous.
>
>
>
> On loan to the museum is the uniform worn by Ruth Chaster during her
> service in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1943 to 1946. After completing
> basic training in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s Division, she had
> hoped to be assigned as a Motor Transport Driver but was required to remain
> in General Duties. Ruth was inspired to join the military by her older
> brothers, especially James Barry Chaster.
>
>
>
> James Barry Chaster, of the Royal Army Service Corp, recalled a foggy
> night on January 3, 1942 when, as a 21 year old pilot, his mission was to
> fly a Lancaster airplane from the 207th Squadron stationed near
> Nottingham. It was an experimental flight with a new navigation system that
> allowed flying in dense fog. Suddenly, as the crew neared their target,
> they flew out of the fog into a perfectly clear sky. The plane was easily
> detected by a German Hienkel fighter plane pilot who quickly opened fire
> and caused major damage.
>
>
>
> Barry’s crew parachuted out of the plane but Barry stayed and attempted to
> fly the wounded Lancaster back to England. Another round of machine gun
> fire decimated the cockpit and Barry was forced to parachute out of the
> plane, landing in Holland.
>
>
>
> Like many stories from this time, the journey back to Allied territory was
> treacherous but inspiring. Four members of his crew died, two were captured
> and incarcerated in a POW camp. Barry was assisted by many people as he
> escaped from occupied Europe. Some of the good Samaritans who helped him
> paid for it when they were incarcerated to concentration camps. Barry did
> make it back to England, via Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Gibraltar,
> but he compared his experiences to those of his crew and friends as “a walk
> in the park”.
>
>
>
> The exhibit will be on view until November 16, including Remembrance Day,
> Monday November 11th, following the ceremony at the cenotaph.
>
>
>
> The Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives is located in the heritage
> designated Duncan Train Station, 130 Canada Avenue, Duncan.  Please
> contact curator Kathryn Gagnon at
>
> (250) 746-6612 or cvmuseum.archives at shaw.ca for more information. Museum
> hours:  Wednesday to Friday, 11 -4 and Saturday 1-4. Admission is by
> donation.
>
>
>
> [image: clip_image002]
>
> Cenotaph in Duncan, BC, with Agricultural Hall in background.
>
> Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives
>
>
>
> Kathryn Gagnon
>
> Curator/Manager
>
> Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives
>
> _______________________________________________
> BCMA mailing list
> BCMA at lists.vvv.com
> http://lists.vvv.com/mailman/listinfo/bcma
>
>

-- 
Colin MacGregor Stevens
Richmond, British Columbia, CANADA
Museum Manager & Curator (Retired)
The 2012 recipient of the British Columbia Museums Association Annual
*"Distinguished
Service Award"*

Served as a Captain in the Canadian Army
Researcher, collector & author - Writing a biographical book on "Smokey
Smith, V.C.

Collector specializing in WWII Canadian special units such as:
1 Canadian Parachute Battalion; First Special Service Force ("The Devil's
Brigade"); RCN Commando "W"; British Security Co-ordination (BSC);
post-WWII Canadian SAS Company; and Canadians who served on WWII special
service in British special units such as S.O.,E. (including Force 136);
MI-9; Commandos; the Parachute Regiment, SAS, RSR, SRU, BAAG etc.
http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20131031/35438b14/attachment.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 9467 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20131031/35438b14/attachment.jpeg 