Jack and Edward

The Story of Canada's Forgotten Spitfire Ace

By: Adam Cotton

Narrated by: Cammie Vavich

Names like Douglas Bader and Robert Stanford Tuck are well known. They are household names because they belonged to that small band of Second World War fighter pilots who applied themselves to their deadly business with quite exceptional vigor, achieving commensurate success and enshrinement in public memory.

Equally vigorous, and undoubtedly deserving of similar recognition and acclaim, was a Canadian named Edward Francis John, or "Jack", Charles - yet almost no one has heard of him. Given his war record, it seems odd that his name is known to but a few with a specialist interest in day fighter operations over Europe during the Second World War, but the key perhaps lays in the years that followed, when an impossible-to-forsee change in personal circumstances ensured his name was largely forgotten.

This book is, therefore, an attempt to remedy a wrong, and covers the whole story. But it is much more than just a detailed account of an outstanding war record, it is also the tale of a man forever changed by war. The story of how Jack became Edward.

©2020 Adam Cotton (P)2020 Adam Cotton