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Clarence Murl "Jas" Jasper

Murl Jasper

RCAF   F/L

DFC

Born in Ottawa, Kansas, 29 March 1915.
Graduated from Long Beach Poly High School in 1933.
(He had already earned a private pilot's license).
He tried to join the Air Corps but was turned down
for lack of a college education
("They treated me like I had some kind of disease").
He then joined the United States Navy [1933-1937].
Home in Spokane, Washington.
Enlisted in Vancouver, probably June 1940.
Posted to No.2A Manning Depot.
To No.4 ITS (August 1940; graduated a LAC, Sept. 1940).
To No.5 EFTS (graduated in November 1940)
To No.12 SFTS (graduated a P/O, 13 March 1941).
At Trenton, 30 March 1941 to 17 May 1941(42?).
Instructed at No.11 SFTS, 18 May 1942 to 22 June 1943.
(Another source says he instructed at trenton for 2 years
after graduation so darker text may need some fine tuning).
By this time he had 1,459 hours & 45 minutes flying logged.
To No.36 OTU, Greenwood, N.S., 23 June to 12 Sept. 1943
(Learning to fly night-fighter Mosquitos).
Embarked from New York, 8 October 1943.
Arrived in the UK 16 October 1943.
Trained at No.60 OTU, 26 October to 28 December 1943.
With 418 Squadron, 28 December 1943 to 30 July 1944.
His Navigator was O.A.J. "Archie" Martin DFC, of Ottawa.
Their Mosquito sported Al Capp's comic book character "Earthquake McGoon" on its nose.
Returned to Canada and instructed at No.8 OTU, Greenwood, 18 September 1944 to 30 July 1945.
Released from the RCAF on 13 October 1945.
Why didn't he transfer to the USAAF? - "I'd have made more money, but I had talked to some of my American friends who had gone to the USAAF from the RCAF, and they were treated like stepchildren and given rotten duty. So I thought, to hell with it. I'll stay where I am and fly my Mosquito." 		 

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R.C.A.F. Finds Spitfires Fine Fighter-Bombers

Ottawa, April 14, 1944 - (CP) - Spitfires are now being used as fighter-bombers by R.C.A.F. squadrons in Britain, it was revealed tonight in the R.C.A.F.’s weekly summary of overseas operations.
The summary did not reveal what changes had been made to the Spitfire, one of Britain's most efficient fighters, to turn it into a fighter-bomber. It said, however, that "success of the Spitfire fighter-bomber technique was attested in the enthusiastic reports of pilots."
The pilots stated that "the accuracy of the bombing was such that only one bomb fell outside the target area."
Highlights of activity for the week ended yesterday were the destruction of three enemy aircraft and damage to several others, the bombing of railway centers in Northern France and Belgium and the mining of enemy waters by aircraft of the Canadian bomber group, the summary said.

None Missing
R.C.A.F. fighters provided cover for United States bomber groups during attacks on Belgium and Northern France.
Not one of the Canadian aircraft is reported missing as a result of the operations.
"The Easter weekend found aircraft of the R.C.A.F. bomber group blasting railway targets in conjunction with the R.A.F., the summary said.
About half the attacking force which laid bombs on the railway yards at Villeneuve St. George, near Paris, Easter Sunday, were Canadian-operated Halifaxes. Similar targets at Ghent, in Belgium, and Laon were attacked by R.C.A.F. Halifaxes and Lancasters, while Canadian personnel were among the RAF crews which smashed at Tergnier on Monday night."

Easter Eggs
"Tell the folks back home that the Goose Squadron delivered her Easter eggs." added F/S Al Reid of Windsor Ont.
Among other squadrons which took part in the attacks were the Iroquois, Ghost, Lion, and Snowy Owl.
Air Commodore A.D. Ross of Winnipeg flew in an Alouette Squadron bomber, piloted by F/L W.L. Venaxen of Smiths Falls, Ont., in the attack on Ghent Monday night. The Bluenose, Lion, Iroquois, Moose, Ghost, Bison, Porcupine, Tiger, Snowy Owl, Leaside, and Thunderbird Squadrons were represented in the Ghent and Laon attacks.
R.C.A.F. fighters provided the cover for Marauders which attacked railway yards at Charleroi, Belgium, Tuesday, and for Bostons which attacked the same target the following day.
Escort was provided for Mitchells which opened the attack on Charleroi on Monday. The flying "'Millers," F/O G.N. Miller of Edmonton Alta., and his observer, F/O G.D. Miller of Vancouver, of the City of Edmonton Squadron, made two sweeps over enemy territory, claiming the destruction Wednesday of an unidentified twin-engined aircraft and severe damage to an He111 and He177.

Ground Planes Damaged
They also said that in a sweep on Sunday seven other aircraft on the ground were damaged. Two of Sunday's bag were left in flames. F/O C.M. Jasper, Long Beach, an American flying with the City of Edmonton Squadron (418) on his second tour, and his observer, F/L A. Martin, Ottawa, were "stooging" around to get back on course near Metz Wednesday night when they encountered a FW190. .
"I gave it a short burst," said Jasper, "The starboard wing tank, burst into flames and I had to pull up to go over the Jerry. He went straight down, hit the deck and exploded."

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PL-28013"Back from a successful daylight trip, two of 418 Squadron's crews are interrogated by the Intelligence Officer. F/O Johnny Caine left two enemy aircraft, a Ju52 and a Ju86P, burning on the ground and F/O C.M. Jasper badly damaged another Ju86P during the course of their one thousand mile trip. From left to right: F/L Archie Martin, the only original member of the Intruders still with the Squadron and F/O Jasper's observer, F/O G. Morris, the Intelligence Officer, P/O Earl Boal, Caine's observer, F/O C.M. Jasper, F/O Johnny Caine & S/L Hal Lisson, Edmonton, Alta. the CO of the Squadron."[1]

16 RCAF Men Given Awards

Ottawa, Aug. 14, 1944 - (CP) - Air Force Headquarters announced tonight the award of 16 decorations to members of the RCAF overseas. Five officers received a bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross and 11 others the DFC. The awards:

BAR TO DFC
W/C W.F. Newson, Victoria;
W/C J. B. Millward, Sherbrooke;
F/L T.W. Pierce, Bracebridge;
F/L J. F. Lewis, London, Ont.;
F/O C.G. Finlayson, Victoria.
DFC
F/L P. Buttar, Rosetown, Sask.;
F/L J.R. Dow, Winnipeg;
F/L F.T. Judah, Edmonton;
F/L H.A. Hewitt, Lac Vert, Sask.;
F/L J.O. Richard, Alder Point, N.S.;
F/L R.N. Douglass, Edmonton;
F/L J.K. Hamilton, Edmonton;
F/L C.M. Carter, Lewisville, N.B.;
F/L D.G. Hall, St. Thomas;
F/L C.M. Jasper, Spokane, Washington;
F/L O.A. Martin, Ottawa.

Award of the DFC to Dow, Judah, Hewitt, Richard, Douglass, Hamilton, Carter and Hall was covered by a joint citation saying they had completed in various capacities many successful operations against the enemy in which they had displayed "high skill, fortitude and devotion to duty."
F/L Martin was cited for participating in many sorties both by day and night, and for assisting, as observer, in destroying four enemy aircraft. F/O Finlayson, also an observer, was cited for taking part in a large number of sorties, many of them of a difficult and dangerous nature, and for assisting in the destruction of five enemy aircraft during a sortie far into enemy territory in May.

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JASPER, F/L Clarence Murl (J10611) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.418 Squadron
Award effective 15 August 1944 as per London Gazette of that date &
AFRO 2052/44 dated 22 September 1944.

This officer is a most skilful and resolute pilot whose determination to engage the enemy has always been evident. He has completed many sorties and has destroyed three enemy aircraft in the air and others on the ground.

NOTE: Public Record Office Air 2/9158 has recommendation raised 23 May 1944 which is much more detailed. He had flown 23 sorties (86 operational hours):

This officer has completed 23 operational sorties over enemy and enemy occupied territory; of these 19 have been Intruder and Bomber Support sorties and four Day Rangers.

Flying Officer Jasper has shown a marked determination to engage the enemy and has patrolled many of the most heavily defended enemy airfields. His unfailing keenness has rewarded him with the destruction of six enemy aircraft destroyed and the damaging of another.

On the night of April 12th, Flying Officer Jasper planned an Intruder sortie into Western Czechoslovakia. While en route to his target, he encountered and shot down a FW.190.

Much of the success enjoyed by this squadron on recent daylight sorties has been due to the support and personal participation of this pilot. On March 12th, Flying Officer Jasper damaged a Ju.52 at Clermont. On April 16th this officer planned and led a very successful daylight sortie to Luxueil where he destroyed a Caudron Goeland in the air and two more on the ground. Again on May 14th, Flying Officer Jasper planned and led a sortie in daylight to Haguenau. At Atzlot he destroyed a Ju.87 on the ground and at Nancy he shot down and destroyed a He.111.

Flying Officer Jasper has shown fine fighting qualities and has played an important part in the operations of this squadron. His usefulness to an operational squadron cannot be rated too highly and his personal example is most commendable.

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Victories Include :

12 March 1944
12 April 1944
16 April 1944

14 May 1944

15 June 1944
19 June 1944
27 June 1944
5 July 1944
9 July 1944		 one Ju86P ?
one FW190
one Goeland
two Goelands
one He111
one Ju87B
one Ju88
one V-1
one Ju88
one V-1
one V-1		 damaged
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed
destroyed		 OTG (Toulouse, Fr) [1]
(Verdun, Fr) [2]
&
OTG (Luxevil, Fr) [3]
&
OTG [4]
(near Greifswald) [5]
[6]
(Near Rostock) [7]

5 / 0 / 0
+
3 / 0 / 1  On The Ground
&
3  V-1s

O.A.J. "Archie" Martin DFC, was his Navigator.

[1] "I was number-two man with Johnny Caine. We planned to hit the airdrome at Toulouse/Clermond-Ferrand in France. We flew wide of each other on such missions so that we were harder to spot and so we could keep an eye on our course more than on each other.
"As we followed Caine's navigator, Archie kept an eye open for aircraft trying to climb up our rear. These missions were difficult for the navigators because they were trying to determine our position from an altitude of below 20 feet. We would cross rivers and railroad tracks and, of course, never fly along them, or we'd run into a flak tower sooner or later. When we crossed a river or a track at such low altitudes, we were never sure of where we were. And flying so low, we nearly always flew under power lines and bridges.
"We're going along there on the deck. Of course, our Mosquitos were all black on the bottom; no markings on the undersides of the wings. And here we came up on a flak nest with 40mm, sandbags and plenty of Germans. It was a Sunday afternoon. I said to myself, 'Oh, no!' We were so low that we could see the unit emblems on their helmets. Ole Johnny Caine goes sailing over, and they wave at him! The Mosquito looked an awful lot like an Me 210 or 410. The soldiers waved, and I rocked my wings as I sailed over them and kept on going.
"When we hit the drome, Johnny set one plane on the ground on fire. I just damaged one-a twin-engine Ju-86P. We hit the field just once and kept heading north for home. Archie looked back and spotted an FW 190 diving on our tails. He had altitude and speed on us. I radioed Johnny. When the Focke-Wulf got within 400 or 500 yards of our tail, Johnny hollered, 'Break right!' I broke right. He broke left and came around trying to get on the German's tail. The 190 got the idea that it wasn't a healthy place to be and chandelled out of there. We hightailed it for home."

[2] Exploded in a field in verdun.

[3] "When I came across the drome, I lined up on two Goelands. I could see that one was loading troops, and I splattered the hell out of those. One caught fire and blew up. I flew over and found one transport taxiing out; it apparently had already loaded up. I blew him up. Over the runway, I found another Goeland that had just taken off and was maybe 300 feet in the air. I pulled in behind him. He exploded when he hit the ground."

[4] "He found himself battling a thunderstorm near Strasbourg, France, on the west bank of the Rhine. Heavy rain lashed his windscreen as it winged over the countryside no more than 100 feet off the deck. "It was a hell of a rainstorm," he recalls. "It was right near Strasbourg that this Heinkel, an He 111, came barreling out of the rain right at me. It was damn near a head-on collision! I passed him going in the opposite direction, so I did a 90-degree turnaround. If I had done a 180, I wouldn't have found him. So I did a 90 and a 270 and came around; pretty soon, he showed up in the rain. I was closing on him pretty fast and damn near ran into him. At 50 yards, I gave him about a half-second burst. Fortunately, at that range, he didn't blow up. His left engine just went up, and then I lost him. I tried to find him again but never did. The wreck was found later, and Fighter Command confirmed the kill."

[5] "a Daylight Ranger mission near Greifswald, Germany. He found the Junkers at 400 or 500 feet and came up under the bomber and close behind it before letting go with his eight guns."

[6] "We'd patrol at 8,000 feet. The V-1s would come over at about 3,500 feet; cruising at about 350mph. Control would vector you into the area when the V-1s were spotted by coastal radar. If two or three Mosquitos spotted the tail of fire at the same time, we would turn on our navigation lights so we wouldn't run into each other. The pilot who was closest got the shot; the others would break off. At night, it was difficult to estimate your range accurately, although you had a rough idea. You saw the fire and just put your bead on it.
"Of course, we dived on the V-1s to get a speed advantage. If you tried to catch them in straight-and-level flight, they'd be over the coast before you could catch them. You didn't want to chase them over the coast where the balloon barrages and flak would take over."

[7] "We crossed out of Graal at 1749 hours and from position 54 17'N, 12 05'E sighted a Ju 88 at 800 feet traveling 135 magnetic two miles farther out to sea. We maneuvered to a position astern IAS [Indicated Air Speed] 290. When almost below, we closed the throttle and pulled up to about 20 below and astern. We then opened fire with a two-second burst of cannon and machine gun from 150 yards closing to 50 yards. Strikes were seen on both wing roots; the port engine burst into flames followed almost immediately by the starboard. A violent explosion then took place. The Ju 88 disintegrated, and flaming pieces fell into the sea over a wide area. We then pulled away to starboard, but even so, our aircraft sustained slight damage in that the fabric on the rudder was almost entirely burned off, as was a large strip of fabric on the port side of the fuselage and a smaller piece of the port wing.
"The Ju 88's tactics were obviously to seek the protection offered by a large passenger liner of approximately 10,000 tons that was below. The enemy aircraft maneuvered so that we had to pass almost directly over the liner. Just prior to and during the attack, we were subjected to fairly accurate, light flak from the liner. We then set course for base. Cine camera automatically exposed."

 

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Thanks go out to

James Farmer & the June 2004 issue of Flight Journal magazine

On these pages I use Hugh Halliday's extensive research which includes info from numerous sources; newspaper articles via the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC); the Google News Archives; the London Gazette Archives and other sources both published and private.

Some content on this site is probably the property of acesofww2.com unless otherwise noted.     Mail