Jack Rife Beirnes

Jack Rife Beirnes (24 November 1914 – 1 June 1945) was a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron leader who flew Kittyhawk fighters on home defense in Canada and then commanded a squadron of Hawker Typhoons over Europe during the Second World War. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar for his successes while serving with No. 438 Squadron RCAF. He lost his life in a flying accident at the end of his third combat tour. He was an Army Cadet in Tofield from 4 September 1927 to 22 November 1933 and liked to build model aircraft. He did his basic training at No. 1 Initial Training School in Toronto from 29 April to 24 May 1940. In January 1942, Jack received word that his brother Donald, a Flight Sergeant pilot in the RCAF, was lost on operations overseas. He was serving with a British squadron in the Mediterranean at the time. His 82 Squadron Bristol Blenheim disappeared while in transit between Malta and Egypt on 4 January. The squadron arrived on station on the 25th and began armed coastal patrols. Jack and Gwendolyn were married in Edmonton on September 12, 1942. Wilson was succeeded by the newly promoted S/L James Easson Hogg D.F.C., transferred from 440 Squadron on 20 January. Beirnes had already volunteered to return to Europe and left Canada on 11 March, arriving in the UK on 18 March.

3rd tour - 438 Squadron Back in the UK, Beirnes was initially sent to No. 83 Group Support Unit to train pilots on the Typhoon and ferry replacement aircraft to operational units. But recent events meant that on 6 April, S/L Jack Beirnes once again took command of 438 Squadron. Barely a month from the end of hostilities in Europe, the danger was still quite real in the form of heavy anti-aircraft fire near most targets. The end of the war in Europe saw the Wildcats of 438 Squadron based in Germany proper at B150 Celle. They moved to B166 Flensburg on 29 May. A large aerial display was planned for the people of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the entire RCAF 143 Wing would perform a flyover with all of their Typhoons. It was during a practice for this event that Beirnes would lose his life.

Beirnes was killed on 1 June when he crash-landed after his engine failed. His wingman F/L Ronald Claire Getty wrote in his report:

He died of his injuries 10 minutes later. He was buried in the cemetery in Aabenraa, Denmark, with full military honours.

The award of a Bar to his DFC was posthumously announced in September 1945. The citation read:

On six occasions, he flew three sorties in one day: 17 June, 24 June, 9 August and 18 August at the height of the Battle of Falaise, 30 September and 2 October 1944. Overseas, on 4 June 1944, S/L F.G. Grant described him as a "Particularly good flight commander on the ground and outstanding in the air. Confident and self-assured on operations". On 27 October 1944, Group Captain Paul Davoud D.S.O., O.B.E., D.F.C. wrote that he was "A fine organizer and a brilliant fighter-bomber leader whose judgement was outstanding".