Harold Edwards

The son of a coal miner, Harold Edwards, C.B. was born in England on December 24, 1892. He had one brother, Benjamin. In the summer of 1903 the Edwards family came to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Harold left school at 14 to work in the coal mines as a "trapper boy," opening the ventilation door for ponies pulling coal wagons from the mine, but continued his education by studying at home.

During the First World War, on December 3, 1915, Harold was accepted in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), sailing for England on February 7, 1916 as a probationary Flight Sub Lieutenant. Arriving at Portsmouth, England, Harold was asked if he was related to American songwriter and vaudeville performer, Gus Edwards. Harold replied jokingly, "I am Gus Edwards", and the name stuck! Harold became Gus for the rest of his life.

With the RNAS he earned his pilot's wings. In operations in France he shot down one aircraft, but later the Sopwith biplane he flew was seriously damaged in an enemy attack and crashed behind enemy lines. His observer/gunner, J.L. Coghlan, suffered fatal injuries and Edwards became a prisoner. He escaped on his third attempt, with two fellow prisoners, but they were all captured and returned to prison camp for the rest of the war.

After the war Gus was a member of the Royal Air Force, which was formed on April 1, 1918 by combining the RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps. He served as a repatriation officer, working to return prisoners to England. Returning himself in 1919, Gus held the rank of Captain in the RAF. He signed up for the British mission to South Russia and for service there received the Order of St. Stanislaus and the Order of Ste. Anne as well as being Mentioned in Despatches.

In 1920 Gus Edwards returned to Canada and was accepted as a Flight Lieutenant in the newly-formed Canadian Air Force, receiving further flying training at Camp Borden. With the formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force on April 1, 1924, Gus became one of the first officers in the new force of 68 officers and 307 other ranks.

Instrumental in creating the RCAF, he returned to flying in the 1920's and was a leader in pioneering air force missions that included aerial photography, transporting officials to inaccessible regions, blazing new air routes and carrying treaty money to reserves. Flying included forest fire patrols and transporting sick and injured traders, trappers, farmers and indigenous people to places where medical attention was available.

While posted to Ottawa, he met Beatrice Coffey, whom he married on May 21, 1924. In August 1926 Gus and Bea sailed for England, as Gus was posted as RCAF liaison officer at the Air Ministry in London. His promotion to Squadron Leader soon followed. A son, William, was born in 1926. Returning to Canada in January 1929, Gus and Bea settled in Ottawa, where he was a staff officer at RCAF Headquarters. In September, 1934 Gus was posted to Nova Scotia to oversee development of RCAF Station Dartmouth (now 12 Wing Shearwater) and assume command of No. 5 (Flying Boat) Squadron, consisting of five detachments in eastern Canada. The Edwards family, now including daughter Suzanne, born in 1931, returned to Ottawa in the spring of 1938 when Gus, now Wing Commander Edwards, was posted as Senior Staff Officer, Air Personnel and Records, at Air Force Headquarters.

At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, with just over 4,000 members in the RCAF, numbers of the force began to increase rapidly and quick promotion followed. On April 1, 1939 he was promoted to Group Captain; on February 1, 1940 to Air Commodore; on August 5, 1941 to Air Vice Marshal; and June 20, 1942 Gus became Air Marshal Edwards.

With the Second World War came the development of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), a massive undertaking in Canada that saw the building of over 100 airfields across the country and the training of over 131,000 air crew and 80,000 ground crew including 17,000 in the Women's Division. In June, 1941 Gus was in England to attend to matters concerning the BCATP, including personnel requirements and involvement of Canadians in the Plan. In November, he was transferred to London, England as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RCAF Overseas, a position in command of all RCAF personnel in England and in the Middle and Far East.

The BCATP called for the formation of 25 squadrons of RCAF personnel, a number increased to 35 in June 1942. Air Marshal Edwards was committed to seeing Canada's responsibilities met, but the reality was that most RCAF personnel were serving in RAF squadrons. On orders from Ottawa, he embarked on a program of "Canadianization" whereby Canadians would form distinct RCAF squadrons that would fight as Canadian units under Canadian command.

Despite harsh criticism from some RAF officers, his unimpeachable principles and tenacious perseverance won the battle. RCAF squadrons formed six fighter wings and provided the largest Commonwealth contingent in the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force. Similarly, 15 squadrons in No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group demonstrated that Canadian bomber crews were second to none. By the end of the war, RCAF squadrons overseas constituted the fourth largest Allied air force.

At Buckingham Palace on Fenbruary 3, 1943 A/M Edwards was invested by King George VI as a Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB). For his role in directing the RCAF's contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War, Gus received awards of distinction from the United Kingdom, Czechoslovakia, and Commander of the Legion of Merit from the United States

On December 31, 1943 Gus returned to Ottawa and he retired from the RCAF on September 29, 1944. His health continued to decline and Air Marshal Edwards died at Ottawa, Ontario on February 23, 1952. On February 29 at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Gus was buried with full military honours for the first time for someone with the RCAF's highest rank of Air Marshal. On June 15, 2012 Gus was reinterred with military honours in the National Military Cemetery which had been established at Beechwood in 2001.

Gus Edwards was inducted as a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame on June 14, 2012 at a ceremony held in Montreal, Quebec.