B-17 CC Additional Material by Robert M Stitt

Sgt Joseph Edouard Roch
Boudreault. (Laurette
Chagnon)
Laurette Chagnon: “Roch sent most of his pay cheque to my mother to help her make both ends meet
for our large family. Thanks to my big sisters and brothers, I could keep studying nursing and public health.
In 1944, my mother received $354.00 that Roch had willed to her.”
“In 1997, I received an invitation to attend the annual 220 Squadron reunion, this time held in Stratford-on-Avon.
We had learned that Maureen Diehl, the caretaker of the cemetery in the Azores, was trying to
trace our family… so we combined the trip to England with one to The Azores. At Stratford we met, for the
first time, the courageous men of 220 Squadron. They reminisced about their World War Two experiences
and gave us our first opportunity to find out what had happened to Roch.
“We learned that his aircraft was packed with food, cigarettes and other things not available in England
and there was a rumour in Canada that Roch was on his way to England to be decorated. The reunion organizer
[former 220 Squadron WOp/AG] Joe Ayling confided in me: ‘You know that if Roch had lived you
could have had links with my family.’ It turned out Roch was very fond of Joe’s sister and was hoping to visit
her after the plane arrived in England.
“Roch loved flying so much. Aeroplanes meant adventure, challenge, a passion for something new and
extraordinary. Although he died in an aeroplane, he was at the same time realizing his greatest passion.”
With special thanks to Laurette Chagnon, sister of Roch Boudreault.
Jack Delarue on gaining his
pilot’s flying badge, April
1941. (via Edgar Delarue)
The house at 3 Dangar
Street, Lindfield, New South
Wales, where Jack Delarue
was born on March 24,
1916. (via Edgar Delarue)
Jack Edmond Delarue
‘That’s Jack Delarue! A fantastic cricketer… bowled left-handed and batted with his right. A very
good all-round sportsman and a good friend to have.’ That is how 91-year-old Group Captain Paul
Metzler, RAAF retired, responded on being shown photograph of his former school mate while visiting
a new exhibit at the Historical Society Rooms, located at Old Gordon Public School where both were
pupils in the 1990s.
Jack Edmond Delarue was born in Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia – some 12 miles north of
Sydney – on March 24, 1916. He was the first child of commercial traveler Leopold Emile Victor Delarue
and his wife Hilda Majel Cliff. He had two bothers and one sister.
A keen sportsman, who grew to love cricket and golf, Delarue attended the local primary school in
the Ku-ring-gai District until his teachers tried to dissuade him from being left-handed. Outraged, his
mother moved him to the main school at Gordon. On leaving school, Delarue joined the Rural Bank of
New South Wales as a clerk.
On August 19, 1940, Delarue enlisted as an Aircraftsman 2 at 2 Initial Training School at Bradfield
Park, New South Wales, joining Course 4(P). Two months later, he was posted to 8 Elementary Flying
Training School at Narrandera to begin training on de Havilland Tiger Moths. Over 3,800 student pilots
trained at Narrandera under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
With his primary training completed after 51:40 hours of flying, Delarue departed Sydney for
Canada on December 28, 1940, and on arrival was attached to the RCAF for training on Avro Ansons
with 7 Service Flying Training School at RCAF McLeod, Alberta. He received his pilot’s flying badge on
April 14, 1941, was promoted to Sergeant Pilot, and recommended for flying bomber types. Remustered
as an Airman Pilot, Delarue was attached to the RAF and posted to 31 General Reconnaissance School
at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to continue training on Avro Ansons in preparation for joining
RAF Coastal Command and the vital campaign against the U-boats. He flew a total of 131:40 hours on
Ansons.
Delarue departed Halifax by ship for the United Kingdom on August 15, 1941, and was posted to
1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit at RAF Silloth on October 13, to begin training on Hudsons in
advance of joining an operational squadron – two months later, on December 25, he was posted to 206
Sqn at RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland. His first operational
flight took place on February 20, when a flew as
second pilot with Flt Sgt S L A Goodson on an anti-shipping
sweep in Hudson AM566 ‘F’.
On February 28, Delarue was promoted to Pilot Officer
and from March 7 was detached to RAF Stornaway
as part of a strategy to position the relatively short-range
Hudson closer to the convoy routes and U-boat operating
areas. His first flight as captain took place on April
12, a six-hour sweep in AM711 ‘E’, and on the night of
June 25/26 he led one of twelve crews provide by 206
Sqn for the third so-called ‘1,000-bomber raid’. Taking
off from RAF Donna Nock, a satellite field for RAF North
Coates on the Norfolk coast, he dropped his bombs on
the city of Bremen, although it proved impossible be-
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