MACFIE, DONALD ‘DON’ MITCHELL

Donald ‘Don’ Mitchell Macfie was born in 1921 the son of Donald Roy and Edith (Mitchell) Macfie of Sunny Slope.

Don Macfie

Don enlisted in 1940 and on July 18, 1942 Don was assigned to #423 Squadron of Coastal Command of the RCAF which initially operated out of Oban, Scotland. The Squadron later transferred to Loch Erne, Castle Archdale, Ireland. 

Don was a wireless operator and gunner. 

Above Don Macfie, at left, on his first flight in the back seat of a Tiger Moth, and a right, firing a Vickers gas-operated machine gun probably in a Sunderland Flying Boat which was used to locate and sink enemy submarines. The Sunderland was nicknamed the ‘Flying Porcupine’ because of its gun turrets.

No. 423 Squadron RCAF was a World War II unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was formed on May 18, 1942 in Oban, Argyll, Scotland for General Reconnaissance duties as a Coastal Command General Reconnaissance squadron. The Squadron’s primary task was contributing to the security of the North Atlantic convoy routes during the Battle of the Atlantic.

In late 1942, the Squadron moved to the RAF Castle Archdale seaplane base on Loch Erne in Northern Ireland where it flew Sunderland flying boat patrol bombers. During the Squadron’s time at Castle Archdale, its crews were involved in several notable U-Boat actions. 

In 1945, the Squadron was reassigned to a transport role and flew Consolidated Liberator aircraft out of Bassingbourn, England for a short period prior to being disbanded in September of 1945.

The Sunderland pictured above was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the Second World War. Although the Sunderland’s .303 guns lacked range and hitting power, the Sunderland had a considerable number of them and it was a well-built machine that was hard to destroy. On April 3, 1940, a Sunderland operating off Norway was attacked by six German Junkers Ju 88C fighters. During the engagement, it shot one down, damaged another enough to cause it to retreat and later perform a forced landing and drove off the rest. The Germans are reputed to have nicknamed the Sunderland the Fliegendes Stachelschwein ("Flying Porcupine") due to its defensive firepower

One of the aircrafts used by the Squadron when it assumed a transport role 

Don Macfie wrote that they flew all over Europe from their base at Castle Archdale 

In August of 1946, Don’s squadron officially became part of Transport Command, flying Liberators