Malcolm James "Mac" Gordon

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Canadians Down 8 Nazi Planes; Audet Gets 2 Jets

London, Jan. 23, 1945 – (CP) – Canadian fighter pilots in continuous strikes today destroyed at least eight German aircraft in combat, damaged as many others and blew up ground targets with withering cannon and machine-gun fire.
Five of the destroyed planes and six of those damaged were twin jet-propelled ME262s.
They fell to the planes of the Ram and Grizzly Bear Spitfire Squadrons in two separate engagements. This is believed to be a record day’s bag of jet-propelled aircraft.
Two of the jets were shot down by F/L Dick Audet, DFC, of Lethbridge Alta., and the double kill brought his score to 11½. Audet, a Grizzly Bear Squadron pilot, only started scoring a few weeks ago when he destroyed five German planes in one dogfight, in one of the greatest single triumphs of aerial warfare.
The latest victims were about to land at an airfield near the city of Rheine on the Ems River, 65 miles north of Dortmund.
Ram pilots destroyed the three remaining jet craft when they encountered more than 15 of the jets either landing or taking off an airfield near Osnabruck. F/O D.F. Church of Peterborough, Ont., was credited with one.

Attack Near Hamm
Remainder of the planes destroyed were FW190’s. The Red Indian Squadron pounced on several near Hamm, big rail center east of the Ruhr, and shot down two in flames. F/L M.J. Gordon of Edmonton and F/O Fred Evans of 310 Durle St. Toronto shared one of them.
During the day Spitfires of this wing destroyed a locomotive and damaged four others and 15 freight cars. They also destroyed eight motor vehicles.
RCAF squadrons flew almost 400 sorties and among other achievements, 17 cuts were made in German rail lines carrying supplies and reinforcements to the front.
The day-long activities cost the RCAF five planes but one of the pilots is safe.

Audet Is Modest
F/L Dick Audet, the young Canadian who made air-war history in a Spitfire over Germany by destroying five German aircraft in a single dogfight failed to claim a fifth kill at first interrogation, the Maple Leaf reports from Holland.
It wasn’t until he and his squadron mates returned from a subsequent mission and retraced the battle Hun by Hun that the 22-year-old Lethbridge Alberta pilot claimed two Me109s and three FW190s destroyed.
It was all the more remarkable in that it was his first success in the air. He had no luck at all on his first operational tour from English bases.
Audet’s five-to-seven minute dream battle materialized 14,000 feet over Osnabruck where, leading a section of the high-scoring grizzly Bear Squadron, he spotted a mixed gaggle of 12 MEs and FWs

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GORDON, F/L Malcolm James (J7908) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.421 Sq.
Award effective 29 March 1945 as per London Gazette dated 10 April 1945 and
AFRO 802/45 dated 11 May 1945.

Now on his second tour of operational duty, Flight Lieutenant Gordon has participated in many successful engagements with the enemy. He has led sections and flights on fighter patrols, bomber escorts and other sorties from this country and was among the first pilots to operate from bases in Normandy. He has destroyed at least four enemy aircraft and damaged another as well as much enemy transport.

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Victories Include :

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Photos Include :

PL-26571 (standing by a door),
PL-26648 (by Spitfire) and
PL-26658 (by Spitfire).

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