James Graham Broadfoot

BROADFOOT, James Graham

War
2nd Word War
Date of Birth
Date Attested
Attested at
Toronto - Ontario
Regimental Number
18778
Rank
Pilot Officer
Date of Death
Age at Death
20 years 5 months
Biographical Summary

NAME                    BROADFOOT           James Graham
RANK                    Pilot Officer / Navigator            18778                                                                                                                          RCAF Group 6 - Bomber Command                                                                                          SQUADRON         RCAF No. 408 “Goose”
                              “for freedom”
                              RAF Linton-on-Ouse Airfield in Yorkshire
                              Squadron Markings EQ X                                                                                                              Born                       August 27, 1923 - Township of Tuckersmith - County of Huron.                                                  Residence             Seaforth - Ontario                                                                                                                        Died                       January 27, 1944          20 years   5 months                                                                    Cemetery               Hanover War Cemetery - Harenburg – Hanoover - Niedersachsen - Germany
                               6 B 8-14
Parents                  Mr.James and Laura Broadfoot - Seaforth                                                                          Sisters                   Mrs. Elinor Jones - London - Ontario                                                                                                                          Miss Mary Broadfoot - London - Ontario 

James was born on August 27, 1923. He enjoyed playing basketball growing up. As he grew up he had chicken pox and whooping cough. He would have attended Northside United Church. He attended Public School at SS No. 7 Tuckersmith 1930-36 and Seaforth Collegiate 1936-41 with his senior matriculation. Prior to his enlistment he worked for his father on the family homestead.

Canada

He enlisted into the Royal Canadian Air Force in Toronto on September 23, 1941. He received the rank of Aircraftsman 2 and at the time he stood 5' 7" and weighed 132 pounds. He had a fair complexion with blue eyes and fair hair. He was Taken on Service at the Toronto Recruitment Centre before being posted to No. 2 Manning Depot in Brandon - Manitoba.                                                                                                                                  Then on January 3, 1942 he was assigned to No. 4 Training Centre in Calgary fore being posted on January 22 to No. 7 Service Flying Training School in McLeod - Alberta. From there he was posted to No. 2 Initial Training School on February 15 and here he achieved an average of 91% and placed 2 in a class of 132. He also received the rank of Leading Aircraftsman. Then it was west to Edmonton to No. 2 Air Observer School on April 28 and he achieved an average of 77% and was 9 in a class of 24. He achieved the rank of Sergeant here. Once his training in Edmonton was complete he was posted to Halifax to "Y" Depot and prepared to go overseas. Sergeant Broadfoot volunteered for the RAF Training Pool on October 26.

Overseas

Sergeant Broadfoot embarked from Canadian shores on October 27 and arrived in the United Kingdom on November 5 and the following day reported to RAF No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre in Bournemouth - Dorset. On January 5, 1943 he was posted to RAF No. 6 Air Observer School at RAF Station Staverton - Gloucestershire. From here it was back to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre in Bournemouth - Dorset. He received the rank of Flight Sergeant here. His next posting was to RCAF Heavy Conversion Unit based at RAF Topcliffe - North Yorkshire on May 29.

In the Field

He was here 3 weeks before being posted to RCAF No. 408 Squadron on June 21 based at RAF Leeming - North Yorkshire. He obtained the rank of Warrant Officer 2 and Pilot Officer while with 408 Squadron.                    It was told to me that all he ever wanted to do was fly and to be in the clouds.
Pilot Officer Broadfoot was the Navigator of Lancaster MK II  DS 849 “X” and this was the first major raid for this aircraft. The aircraft lifted off of the runway at 5:48 pm. for the mission of January 28-29. The number of aircraft detailed for this mission from 408 Squadron was 16. The target had 100% cloud cover with stratus cumulus clouds. Pilot Officer Broadfoot and his crew reached Berlin safely and bombed their target from 20,000 feet. Berlin was the target for this night’s mission because the city had an industrial center that included textiles, iron and steelworks, rail cars, chemicals, machine works, aircraft engine factories, precision instrument factories, electrical production, army tank production and field artillery production. As well Berlin was the target because this is where the Nazi government was a great part of the time. Finally, Berlin was the target because of the way the Luftwaffe chose to bomb London and other British cities.
This was the 10th mission for P/O Broadfoot to Berlin and his 19th overall. Before this mission Pilot Officer
Broadfoot was becoming familiar with operations and in fact had just returned from the Middle East. He had    127 ½ hours of flying time. His squadron mates had called him “Jimmie” and he was known as an “ace” Navigator.
The aircraft crashed 300 feet south-east of the village of Wurges, near Kamberg which was 14 miles north of Wiesbaden. The crew was buried in one grave that had been well kept and had been marked with a cross.
For this raid 530 aircraft left their bases, 38 had to abort with 33 aircraft being lost during the mission. The
bomber stream was over Berlin for fourteen minutes. Group 6 lost 8 aircraft of the 48 sent out that evening.
                                                                                                                                                                                  In the month of April 1945 his mother Laura received the Memorial Cross and in the month of October 1946 the medals awarded to Pilot Officer Broadfoot were received by the family and included the 1939-45 Star, the Aircrew Europe Star, the Defence and War Medals along with the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp. The family also during October received the Operatio nal Wings of "Jimmie".

"Jimmie" is honoured and remembered on the Seaforth Cenotaph and on the Memorial Plaques of Seaforth Collegiate and Northside United Church. He is remembered on the RCAF Bomber Command Memorial as well as in the Books of Remembrance which are located in the Centre Block of the Canadian Houses of Parliament. He is also honoured and remembered on the RCAF No 408 Squadron at RCAF Trenton - Ontario and on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.