Geoffrey Wilson "Jeff" Northcott

Jeff Northcott and Lloyd Chadburn relaxing on 402 Sq. Spit V, AE-A (EP120) during a November '43 photo shoot

Canadians Bag 4 Nazis In Honor of New Chief

(By DOUGLAS AMARON.)
London, Nov. 23 (CP)—Canadian fighter pilots, who celebrated the arrival of Air Vice-Marshal Harold Edwards in Britain by shooting down four German planes over Northern France, were visited today by the new air officer commanding the R.C.A.F. in Britain and his predecessor, Air Commodore L. F. Stevenson.
Less than twenty-four hours after he stepped from a plane which brought him from Canada, Vice-Marshal Edwards went to the Canadians station and heard first-hand accounts of the engagements of the previous day, which are considered by air authorities to be one of the finest performances of the war in the particular type of operation in which the Canadians were engaged.
The Canadians, who also were credited with one probably destroyed and four seriously damaged enemy aircraft, were the toast of the station, and received an informal message of congratulations from Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air, and a formal message from Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh - Mallory, under whose command the squadron operates.
"Congratulations on a splendid showing. Well done, Canadians!" said Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory's message, read to all the squadron's personnel.
Like an excited crowd of youngsters who have just won a football game, the Canadians talked shop most of the day, telling and retelling about their combats with what was estimated to be a force of at least sixty German fighters.
Get First Huns.
Attention centered on Pilot Officer Ian Ormston of Montreal, Pilot Officer Don Blakeslee of Fairport Harbor, Ohio; Sergeant Omer Levesque of Mont Joli, Que., and Sergeant Don Morrison of Toronto, each of whom shot down his first plane of the war.
It was a particularly satisfying day for Blakeslee, Levesque and Morrison. Levesque, in addition to his confirmed victory, came to grips with a second Nazi and last saw him breaking up in mid-air, while Blakeslee and Morrison also both inflicted serious damage on a second German plane.
The squadron's commanding officer, Squadron Leader Norman Johnstone of Winnipeg and Regina, and Sergeant Jeff Northcott of Minnedosa, Man., were given credit for the other damaged German aircraft.
"Those boys made a might good show of it," said Johnstone, beaming with fatherly pride. "The odds were considerably against them, both in numbers and in consideration of the sweep that took us over enemy territory. It was the first real flight for a majority of them, and they pitched right into battle with plenty of courage and no end of ability."
Ormston, who, with Flight-Lieutenant E. L. Neal of Quebec City and Blakeslee and Morrison dived into a group of Messerschmitt 109's and new Focke-Wulf 190's, literally blew his Messerschmitt out of the air.
Levesque, who said that "once in action I forgot the perils because things were happening too fast," forced the pilot of the first plane he attacked to bail out and shot part of the wing off the second.
“He Simply Exploded.”
Blakeslee, who enlisted at Windsor, Ont., said he spotted the Messerschmitts at 15,000 feet and dived on them at 6,000. "All we did was dive and a one-second burst got my man," he said. "He simply exploded."
Morrison, who earlier in his first week with the squadron, scored a probable, spotted three Germans on the tail of Neal's plane.
"I came up from below and knocked off one," Morrison said. "He apparently didn't know I was there. Later I nearly joined three Focke-Wolf 190's which I thought were Spitfires. I took a crack at the last one and when last seen he was pouring out black smoke."
The Canadian fighter squadron co-operated with an English squadron whose members bagged another two enemy craft.
A veteran RAF wing commander with a personal score of eighteen confirmed victories led the combined English-Canadian squadrons operating from the fighter command's top-storing station. The six planes destroyed brought the station's total of aircraft shot down since the start of the war to nearly 900.
"We saw fifteen Messerschmitts about two miles below us climbing hard," the wing commander said in describing the action. "Leaving the British squadron on top, I sent down several sections of the Canadians to attack. I stayed with the others, keeping a look-out in case assistance was wanted.
"It wasn't. Those boys just sailed into the German fighters and they were a grand sight to watch, whooping down and mixing it with the Hun
Chased Into France.
"After the fight had been going on for some time our pilots started to chase the Messerschmitts deeper into France, and, as I didn't want them to get too widely scattered, I told them over the radio to come back and call it off. It was well that they did, for another bunch of Messerschmitts had approached higher up."
The wing commander sent the English squadron after these, and one German fighter promptly was sent smoking down to earth. Both squadrons then started for home, running into another batch of enemy fighters on the way.
During the flight home Levesque, who transferred to the air force from a French-Canadian army unit, got his Nazi.
"He was having a tough struggle," the wing commander said. "The Messerschmitt he was fighting finally plunged into a wood just inside the French coast and exploded like a bomb."
Over the coast and the Channel the squadrons met more German fighters in ones and twos, and the commander estimated that they encountered about sixty in all.
"Really," he said, "it was a grand afternoon for both squadrons."
J. P. Bickel, Toronto mine owner, who has held positions of importance in the Ministry of Aircraft Production, arrived with Air Vice-Marshal Edwards, as did Brigadier G. R. Turner, who is returning to his post at Canadian Corps Headquarters after a visit to Canada.
Mr. Bickel was met by Sir Archibald Rowlands, Permanent Secretary of the Aircraft Production Ministry. He said he was here "for a couple of weeks."
Flight Lieutenant Bill Broadribb of Ottawa also accompanied Edwards.
The flight across the Atlantic was described as "cold.”

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Canadian Fliers Slam Germans at Week-End

London, June 27 (CP). — Royal Canadian Air Force pilots shot down four enemy aircraft during the week-end, and attacked enemy airfields, laid mines in enemy waters and blasted a train in enemy-occupied territory, it was disclosed tonight.
Two of the enemy aircraft went to Sqdn. Ldr. Charles Cecil Moran, 28, of Trenton, Ont., and one to Wing Cmdr. J. E. Johnson, an Englishman serving with the R.C.A.F. Johnson raised his score to 19 in a conflict near St. Omer, France. Two pilots shared in destruction of the fourth.
Moran, commander of an Intruder squadron of the Fighter Command, finished off his two planes over an airfield south of Paris on Saturday night.
Johnson and his wing were flying to Northern France when they spotted 36 enemy fighters and tried to engage them, but the Germans scurried away. The Canadians jumped six others coming from the west. Johnson hit a Focke-Wulf 190 in six or seven places and saw it dive in a cloud of smoke. Meanwhile, pilots of another Canadian Spitfire Wing under Wing Cmdr. Lloyd V. Chadburn of Aurora, Ont., were having a busy time escorting a group of fighters that were attacking an enemy convoy within range of the heavy coastal defenses of Holland.
Toronto Men Made Kill.
In this action Flt. Lt. Jack Rae, 760 Spadina, Avenue, and FO. Bob (Dagwood) Phillips, 207 Strathmore Boulevard, Toronto, shared honors in bringing down a Focke-Wulf 190.
Sqdn. Ldr. Geoff Northcott of Minnedosa, Man., and Wing Cmdr. Chadburn damaged an ME-109 and a Focke-Wulf 190, respectively.

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NORTHCOTT, S/L Geoffrey Wilson (J15088) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.416 Squadron
Award effective 12 August 1943 as per London Gazette dated 27 August 1943 and
AFRO 2322/43 dated 12 November 1943.

This officer, who has completed fifty-five operations, has displayed outstanding ability. He has destroyed three enemy aircraft and damaged several more. In addition he has participated in several effective attacks on shipping. By his personal example he has won the confidence of all with whom he has flown.

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German Chemical Works At Leverkusen Are Hit During Night Offensives

Düsseldorf Is Attacked— Five Bombers Lost in Widespread Raids
London, Aug. 23.—(CP) — R.A.F. and Canadian bombers returned to their crushing attacks on Germany last night after an interval of two nights and the Air Ministry announced that the chemical works at Leverkusen, six miles north of Cologne, were the special target.
The German radio said that Düsseldorf, in the Rhineland, also was attacked and that 11 British fighters and a "number" of bombers were shot down in "random" attacks on other objectives in the western Reich. The Air Ministry described these as intruder patrols over railway targets and airfields.
The Air Ministry said five bombers were lost in the night's activities.
A Canadian Spitfire wing encountered more than 15 Messerschmitt 109s over the Gosnay area in northern France. The English leader, Wing-Cmdr. J. E. Johnson, shot down an enemy aircraft to become the second highest scoring pilot still serving with the fighter command, with 23 victims.
The Vichy radio said American planes raided a place in Normandy.
F.O. R. S. Middlemiss, of Montreal, a member of the R.C.A.F. Wolf Squadron, damaged a Messerschmitt in the Canadian-Nazi scrap over the Gosnay area.
During these night operations, it was learned to-day, Squadron-Ldr. G. W. Northcott, of Minnedosa, Man., was credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft over France.

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NORTHCOTT, S/L Geoffrey Wilson, DFC (J15088) - Bar to DFC - No.402 Squadron
Award effective 29 December 1943 as per London Gazette dated 31 December 1943 and
AFRO 297/44 dated 11 February 1944

Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross this officer has participated in a large number of sweeps, during which he has destroyed four enemy aircraft, bringing his victories to at least nine destroyed. Squadron Leader Northcott's fine fighting spirit has been an inspiration to all members of the squadron he commands.

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RCAF FIGHTERS DESTROY 24 ENEMY PLANES

London, Oct. 3 (CP)> — Hitting hard at Hitler's Western European aerial defenses, Fighter Command aircraft shot down 24 enemy fighters over occupied territory today, with Canadian aces bagging nine of the total.
Flt. Sgt. H. W. Bowker of Granby, Que., and FO. Art Coles of Vancouver led the Canadians by blasting two Germans each. Others fell to Sqdn. Leader R. W. McNair of North Battleford, who got his 16th victim in leading the Canadian Red Indian Squadron, Wing Cmdr. L. V. Chadburn of Aurora, FO. W. G. Dodd of Winnipeg, FO. Frank Packard of Montreal, and PO. John Hicks of Ottawa.
The Canadians, providing a strong escort for day-long bombing raids, met and bested the Nazis in a series of heavy dogfights in which, as Sqdn. Leader G. E. W. Northcott of Minnedosa, Man., commented, "The Jerries were in a scrapping mood for once." Two Canadian planes were lost.
Scattered 28 ME-109's.
The biggest fight involved the City of Winnipeg and City of Oshawa Squadrons which ran into
30 Messerschmitt 109's and scattered them after 20 minutes when Chadburn and Dodd sent two German planes down to earth spiraling smoke.
Coles, former Dominion downhill ski champion, destroyed two Focke-Wulf 190's in separate engagements, blowing the wing off one. Packard's victory, his first, was scored by riddling his foe at the top of two barrel rolls the German made before Packard's Spitfire. Bowkers' pair came in a scrap between his squadron and 15 Focke-Wulf 190's near the French coast.
Besides McNair's victim the Red Indian squadron shot down two other planes—making a total of three of the seven Nazis destroyed by fighters escorting bombers on the Holland airfields attack. McNair's engine gave out as the enemy went down, and as McNair attempted to glide over the Channel he dropped 9,000 feet before the engine started again. This was the third time he experienced trouble. Once he glided home all the way from France after the engine failed, and another time he was forced to bail out over the English Channel.

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NORTHCOTT, S/L Geoffrey Wilson, DFC (J15088) - Distinguished Service Order - No.402 Sq
Award effective 26 September 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and
AFRO 2373/44 dated 3 November 1944.

This officer has completed two tours of operational duty and throughout has set an example of skill, gallantry and devotion to duty of the highest order. In recent operations in Normandy, his squadron has provided fighter cover over the beaches and convoy area, often in bad weather and, during these missions, Squadron Leader Northcott has displayed gallant and inspiring leadership. This officer has destroyed nine enemy aircraft.

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500 American Bombers Blast Submarine Base In Biggest Day Attack

London, Nov. 3 (AP) —The largest force of heavy bombers ever sent out by the United States Air Force —probably 500 or more—battered its way with long-range fighter protection through strong German opposition to smash the important port and naval base of Wilhelmshaven and other targets in Northwestern Germany today.
The raiding force destroyed 34 German planes, 18 falling to the heavy bombers and 16 being shot down by the escorting fighters. In other daylight operations over Occupied France and Holland, Spitfire pilots knocked down 12 German fighters, all but one being victims of Canadian pilots. Medium bombers destroyed two, bringing the total loss for the day to 48 for the Nazis.
The total Allied losses for the day were five heavy bombers, two medium bombers and three fighters, a joint Air Ministry and United States Air Force communiqué said.
The cross-Channel air war continued after dark with a short alert in London—indicating Britain's 13th German raid in 19 nights—and German radio stations went off the air, often a sign that the R.A.F. is raiding the Continent.
(D.N.B., German agency, said in a broadcast that the R.A.F. bombed Cologne wednesday night.)
The record raid by the heavy bombers followed earlier sweeps over the Continent by 8th Air Force medium bombers escorted by R. A. F., Dominion and Allied Spitfires in attacks on enemy airfields at St. Andre de L’Eure and Tricqueville in France and Amsterdam-Schipol in Holland.
In other operations Typhoon bombers raided shipping along the French coast, damaging 12 barges and four boats
Today's attack was the sixth American raid on Wilhelmshaven and the third assault on which escorts went all the way to the target and back with the bombers but it was the fighters' longest trip. The other two-way trips were to Emden, a little short of Wilhelmshaven,
Vigorous opposition by groups of as many as 75 German fighters were reported by the fliers. But, they were unanimously enthusiastic about the way the two-engine twin-tail Lightnings — flying close to the bombers while Thunderbolts provided high and surrounding cover—kept the Germans on the run.
Nine of the German fighters destroyed by Spitfires were victims of an R.C.A.F. fighter wing commanded by Wing Cmdr. Lloyd V. Chadburn of Aurora, Ont., and were destroyed as the fighters protected Allied bombers raiding Schipol Airdrome at Amsterdam. The other two were shot down by Sqdn, Ldr. Charles Magwood of Toronto and Flt. Lt. John Sherlock of Calgary while escorting bombers in a raid on St. Andrew de L’Eure Airport in France.
Chadburn and Flt Lt, Jack Mitcher of Kitchener, Ont., each got two planes. Other Canadian victors: Flt. Lt. Danny Noonan, Kingston, Ont., 1½ planes; Flt. Lt. Arthur Sager, Vancouver, one-half plane; Flt. Lt. Doug Booth, Vancouver, Flt. Lt. Jeff Northcott, Minnedosa, Man., and a Toronto flying officer named Jacobs, one each.

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19 Canadians Decorated At Buckingham Palace London, July 3 (CP). — Three decorations, the highest number ever presented to a single Canadian flier at one time since Flt. Lt. George (Buzz) Beurling of Verdun, Que., was decorated, were handed by the King today to Wing Cmdr. Geoffrey Northcott of Minnedosa, Man. The fighter ace received the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. While W/C Northcott refused to discuss the exploits which won him the triple award, records show him winning the DFC in August, 1943, after flying 55 operations as a Spitfire pilot and the bar to the DFC came three months later. The DSO he received for "outstanding actions over the Normandy Beaches" during the invasion of France last June. Northcott is 25 and a wartime volunteer known in the Air Force as an expert in attacks on shipping.

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NORTHCOTT, S/L Geoffrey Wilson, DSO (J15088) - Officer,
Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords (Netherlands)
Award effective 6 February 1948 as per AFRO 81/48 of that date.
Public Records Office Air 2/9293 has recommendation drafted when he was a W/C:

In operational commnd of No.126 Wing, Royal Air Force [sic], stationed at the aerodrome Heesch from February until April 1945, through his excellent work has greatly contributed to the liberation of the Netherlands.

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--- Canadian Aces ---