James Francis Edwards

James Francis "Eddie" Edwards

"The Hawk of Martuba"

P-40 Ace, North Africa

Artwork and research is by;

Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette

www.aviationartstore.com

James F. Edwards, P-40L Kittyhawk III

12x18"

Limited Edition Series 350 Prints, Price $75.00 Each print autographed by RCAF Ace, James Edwards.

Poster Print $18.00

Poster prints are not autographed or numbered.

James F. Edwards, Spitfire IXc

12x18"

Limited Edition Series 350 Prints, Price $75.00 Each print autographed by RCAF Ace, James Edwards.

Poster Print $18.00

Poster prints are not autographed or numbered.

James F. Edwards, Hawker Tempest

12x18"

Limited Edition Series 350 Prints, Price $75.00 Each print autographed by RCAF Ace, James Edwards.

Poster Print $18.00

Poster prints are not autographed or numbered.

James F. Edwards, Messerschmitt Bf-109F

12x18"

Limited Edition Series 350 Prints, Price $75.00 Each print autographed by RCAF Ace, James Edwards.

Poster Print $18.00

Poster prints are not autographed or numbered.

P-40 Kittyhawk print painted by the Ace, "Stocky" Edwards.

This is a print that was published by the famous RCAF Ace, James "Stocky" Edwards.

Edwards took up painting after he retired from the Air Force.

This is a painting of one of the P-40 "Kittyhawks" that "Eddie" became famous flying over the deserts of North Africa.

There is only 850 Limited Editions in the series. There are not many left considering they were published years ago.

Each print is autographed by the Artist and Ace, "Stocky" Edwards.

If you are interested in purchasing one of Edward's prints, or one of Sir Hamilton's prints, please go below.

P-40 Kittyhawk over the Desert by RCAF Ace, "Stocky" Edwards.

The painting and print were published by the Canadian Ace!

Very rare print.

Limited Edition Print. Price $125.00

Set of both prints.

The print by Edwards on the left and the print by Sir Hamilton on the right.

Buy both for $150.00

Both prints are personally autographed by Edwards.

This is a $50.00 savings for both prints.

Buy both prints for $150.00 below;

James was born in Nokomis, Saskatchewan in June 1921. He attended the local school in Battleford. With war in Europe and the United Kingdom engaged he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in October 1940. He completed flight training as a Sergeant Pilot in the spring of 1941. By summer James was in England with fighter training at No. 55 OTU in the north near Newcastle.

By January 1941 James who had been nick-named “Eddie” was serving with 94 Squadron in Egypt. His rank was still Sergeant Pilot. At first the squadron was equipped with the Hawker Hurricanes but when Eddie arrived the squadron was in the middle of changing over to the American made P-40 Kittyhawks. Squadron conversion was completed and was operational by March. Eddie did in fact fly a few flights in the Hurricane to get familiar with the area and for squadron practice flights but Eddie never flew the Hawker fighter in combat. He quickly checked out in the P-40 Kitty Hawk and flew the American fighter into combat against the German aces of JG 27.

Eddie’s first combat mission was to escort Boston twin-engine bombers on an attack of the Luftwaffe airfield at Martuba. Martuba was well defended and the attack brought up enemy anti-aircraft fire as well as the Aces of JG 27. In the ensuing battle, Eddie was able to confirm a Bf-109 destroyed. The 233 Wing Commander touted Eddie as the “Hawk of Martuba” for his stout bravery in action that day.

The battle for North Africa was expensive in both men and machines for the Allies and the Axis. 94 Squadron was withdrawn from service in May after suffering from losses and becoming war weary. Edwards remained in Africa and was transferred to 260 Squadron. On his first mission he was credited with damaging a Bf-109. During his second mission Eddie was credited with the destruction of a Bf-109. In July Eddie was promoted to Warrant Officer and promoted again to Pilot Officer in August.

Eddie was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal on January 31, 1943. On February 4, 1943 he received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Eddie was one of the first top scoring legends to emerge from the North Africa Campaign. By the end of January 1943 he was credited with 11 confirmed aerial victories. By the end of the North African Campaign Eddie was the top ace of his squadron. All of Eddie’s aerial combat in Africa was while flying the P-40.

The P-40L illustrated above was flown by Eddie from March through May 1943. In this P-40 Eddie scored five of his last aerial victories in North Africa. One of the Luftwaffe aircraft Eddie shot down was the giant Messerschmitt Me-323. Eddie was leading the flight as they came upon the behemoth Luftwaffe transport. Eddie said that he lined up on the transport which filled his windscreen. Eddie fired all six fifty-caliber machine guns into the Me-323. His gun fire was devastating causing the aircraft to crumple up like a kite on fire which fell head-long into the sea.

His final tally was 15 enemy aircraft destroyed while sharing in the destruction of three other enemy aircraft with fellow pilots. Eddie is also credited with probably destroying eight more enemy aircraft in that he damaged them severely but no one witnessed the damaged aircraft crash. Eddie was credited with damaging five other enemy fighters but just scoring visual hits but no lethal strikes. During ground attacks, Eddie was credited with destroying 9 enemy aircraft and damaging 3 others on their airfields. Finally, James Edwards ended his combat career as the third highest scoring Canadian Ace of World War Two.

Eddie was reassigned after a period of rest to 203 Group located at El Ballah as a gunnery instructor. Eddie was promoted to Squadron Leader and was assigned to 417 Squadron in Italy where he would be flying the Spitfire MK VIII. In the first months of 1944 Eddie added several more aerial victories to his tally while flying the Spitfire. In March 1944 he was posted to command of 274 Squadron in England. The unit had been recently re-equipped with the Spitfire MK, IX, as it flew over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Eddie and his squadron assisted in air cover for the invasion.

In August his group was converted to the new Hawker Tempest. Their mission was to chase down the V-1 Buzz-bombs that were terrorizing England. Eddie was transferred out of the squadron just before it was deployed to its new mission. Eddie never flew the Tempest in combat but he told me, "I wish I had." The Tempest was a larger aircraft or a heavy-fighter like the P-47. It was also fast and lethal. 274 Squadron was later transferred to France. Eddie was awarded a “Bar” to the Distinguished Flying Cross he had won earlier. After a rest period back in Canada, Eddie became Wing Commander of 127 Wing. The war in Europe ended and in August 1945 Eddie returned to Canada.

His final tally was 15 personally destroyed enemy aircraft and sharing in the destruction of three others. Eddie probably destroyed 8 other enemy aircraft and shared in the damaging of another. In aerial combat Eddie was credited with damaging 13 more enemy fighters. On the ground, Eddie was credited with destroying 9 enemy aircraft and damaging 3 others. Finally, James Edwards ended his combat career as the third highest scoring Canadian Ace of World War Two.

Below are write-ups of the extensive interviews I had with Edwards plus references from reading The Desert Hawk by Barbara Hehner and Kittyhawks over the Sands by Michel Lavigne and James Edwards, our star ace.

Fighting the best, JG-27

As James arrived to his first assigned airfield in Africa , the squadron was in disarray with only four aircraft able to fly. However the airfield was not in proper condition for take off and landing because of mud. The loss of the pilots was exampled with the arrival of Edwards along with five other replacement pilots. Conditions were casual at best. Moral was low but supported by the genetic positive attitude the British are born with.

As Eddie reported for duty, so did new aircraft. Squadron 94 and No 260 Squadron both were the recipients of the new P-40 Kittyhawk Mark II. They were changing from Hawker Hurricanes to new American fighter. Everyone had to be checked out in the new aircraft. Edwards and the other replacement pilots had just finished training in the Hurricane. The veteran pilots from both squadrons had been flying the Hurricanes as well. The Kittyhawk was new to everyone. The senior pilots as well and the squadron leaders took to the air first.

There were some however that refused to fly the Kittyhawk and demanded to be transferred to other units still equipped with the Hawker fighter. They were not questioned and they received their transfers. Truthfully that was the only correct thing to do but to let these men go. Since these pilots were willing to fly, fight and know that at any moment they may die, let them have the proper platform for their deeds.

For Edwards, this was just another challenge. He put that airplane on and pulled every mussel in his body to make the Kittyhawk obey his commands. He was able to get everything out of the fighter and would pass his knowledge on to the others he flew with and later in training other pilots.

Edwards got his chance in the P-40 and found the flying characteristics of the Kittyhawk were much more demanding and stiffer to fly. There were excellent up-sides to the fighter in that it was well built, well armed, was fast in a dive and could turn inside a Messerschmitt, they required mort diligence on the pilot to both fly and fight. A few pilots lost their lives in the transition.

The Bf-109F out-classed the American made P-40, but Edwards would later prove that in the right hands the P-40 was a formidable advisory to the Messerschmitt. Yet in the hands of the expert, the Kittyhawk was no match for the Messerschmitt Bf-109F. One such Luftwaffe ace was Oberfeldtwebel Otto Schultz with 4./JG 27 who was stationed at the airfield at Martuba , Libya . He was known to be able to shot down at lease two to three RAF fighters on every mission.

Squadron Leader Imshi Mason was a Battle of Britain ace and hero. He led a group from 94 and 260 on familiarization flights including flying in formation. Even though he made an effort to get acquainted with the new fighter it proved not enough time.

On February 15, 1942, Squadron Leader Imshi Mason flew a surprise raid on the Luftwaffe airfield at Martuba. The raid was to catch the Germans by surprise. Imshi and another five pilots from 94 Squadron and twelve from 112 Squadron had barely a dozen hours in the new American P-40’s. At this time Edwards was still too new for full fledge combat missions and was checking out with the other new pilots in the Kittyhawks.

With the flatness of the dessert the flight of Kittyhawks came in low to the target. They would then rise up another 200 to 300 feet just before they reached the airfield in order to shoot down onto the enemy aircraft along the air strip. This helped in giving the pilot the opportunity to pick a target. The low level approach also would conceal the RAF from radar detection.

Squadron Leader Mason was over confidant in the new fighter. It took more than a dozen hours in the P-40 to be considered proficient. Edwards realized right away that the controls of the Kittyhawk were far more demanding than the Hawker Hurricanes he had just trained in as well as Squadron Leader Mason and his men had just previously flown in combat.

They did surprise the Germans somewhat. They attack was spotted when the RAF was about a mile from the airfield. Luftwaffe fighter pilots were in the process of scrambling to their fighters as the RAF Kittyhawks rose up to review the air strip and their targets. One Luftwaffe Ace was quicker for at this point in time he was sitting in his cockpit as his ground crew helped start the engine and only time to pull the blocks from under the fighter’s wheels. The tan and light blue 109 had already been prepared for service.

As Squadron Leader Mason led his men onto the field, Oberfeldtwebel Otto Schultz fighter was rolling as the expert shoved the throttle forward for full power. Within thirty or so seconds the Messerschmitt was lifting its tail as the Kittyhawks roared over Schultz’s head. The anti-aircraft guns were roaring in a chorus of explosive chatter of multiple calibers.

As the Kittyhawks whizzed over the opposite side of the airfield the 109’s wheels were being pulled up into the belly of the fighter with its wheels still spinning. Looking around Schultz witnessed the flight path of the Kittyhawks and while lifting the nose of his fighter he banked towards the enemy. The Messerschmitt powered up quickly and rose is pursuit. The P-40’s were now turning for their return to hit the airfield again. As one Kittyhawk slowed in its turn Schultz gained and matched the P-40 as it straightened its flight back for another attack on the air strip.

Not knowing that a Luftwaffe Ace was on his tail, the Kittyhawk pilot, a veteran of the desert campaign was confident as he remembered the target he hit and the one he missed on his first pass. This time he would hit another target. Schultz was in range and fired hitting the fuselage behind the pilot enough to find a weak spot. Schultz saw the Kittyhawk as it trembled from the assault. As Schultz pulled past the stricken Kittyhawk out of the corner of his eye he saw the nose of the doomed fighter point downward.

Schultz then applied rudder to pull in behind another unsuspecting Kittyhawk to the left. It was an easy deflection shot. He pointed just in front on the oncoming Kittyhawk. A volley of gunfire form Schultz hit the Allison engine which belched forth black smoke instantly. The P-40 pulled up sharply probably up and away from the battle as Schultz zoomed past him.

All the P-40’s were speeding towards the airfield about to fire for a second time. Anti-aircraft fire was sending a folly straight at the oncoming group which now included Schultz. He too witnessed the fireballs from his own anti-aircraft guns rocket by his fighter. The defenders on the field witnessed the first Kittyhawk downed by Schultz nose into the ground exploding as the wings that had broke away cart wheeled towards the airstrip.

Schultz fired on the third Kittyhawk as it fired onto the Luftwaffe ground installations. The P-40 banked over quickly and nosed into the earth at the edge of the field. Schultz followed the Kittyhawks as they flew over the field and banked to come around for another assault. Some of the RAF pilots realized now that an enemy was in their mist.

Some of the Kittyhawks broke away winging over to gather the situation only to witness Schultz as he closed on another Kittyhawk catching it in its turning bank giving the Ace the maximum target at its most vulnerable point. Only a few rounds, many in the cockpit canopy sent the Kittyhawk into a nose dive into the sands.

It was too late, by the time the RAF pilot’s started defensive actions they were low and slow, Schultz was already firing on another, his fifth aerial victory within minutes. The attack was broke up and the remaining Kittyhawks sped away in somewhat of disarray with their brave Squadron Leader Mason dead in the cockpit of his fallen fighter. Schultz did not pursue the enemy he had broken up the attack before any further damage was done to the Luftwaffe facilities.

Edwards felt positive that it was the inexperience in the new fighter that caused the deaths of combat veterans. The new P-40 was rugged but it was sluggish in being pulled up quickly at all with full speed, but at such a low altitude where the attacks took place, the P-40’s were flying fast but they were not as fast as their maximum capabilities. As the Kittyhawk banked and turned they lost valuable power plus the fighter wanted to wing over or roll. The pilots having to struggle with control of the flight stick with the right hand as well as trying to control both the throttle and trim with the left hand was simply too much. It caused the pilot to use too much of his talents to fly the fighter and not watch out for himself and the others.

A few weeks later Eddie Edwards caught Schultz by surprise. Edwards came on a downed RAF Hurricane from another squadron. There were three German fighters in the distance while a fourth Luftwaffe fighter, the one that had shot down the Hurricane was now attacking the RAF pilot who survived the crash landing. Schultz was attacking an RAF fighter pilot on the ground which was very impolite. Edward’s concern for the downed pilot rose up and he carefully kept an eye on the three Messerschmitts as he winged over to attack the one trying the kill the RAF pilot.

Schultz was not paying attention to his situation. A fighter pilot must always be aware of everything around him. However Schultz was not in fact paying attention. His sole attention was applied on the downed pilot and ending his life. It was not enough to have shot his aircraft down, but Schultz knew that if the RAF pilot returned to his group, he would fly and fight again. As the Luftwaffe Ace completed a turn and was flying back at the downed pilot, Edwards was coming in at about a 90 degree angle. The perfect shot was ready for Eddie to take.

Eddie was able to give Schultz a full broadside in the cockpit and along the side of the 109’s fuselage sending the Luftwaffe Ace rolling over nose first into the desert. As his 109 burned on the desert floor Oberfeldtwebel Schultz died credited with 51 confirmed aerial victories against the RAF all of which he earned within a few months. Impressive.

Concerned with the other three Messerschmitts, Eddie did not see them. A sure mistake that Schultz probably told his fellow pilots to “go on and I will catch up with you.” Very stupid. I do not have another more proper word for such a decision. Schultz had a wingman who should have been circling over him, not flying back to base.

However it was Edwards that was flying back to base after falling one of the feared scourges of the Luftwaffe. Taking down Schultz saved the lives of several more RAF pilots in the future, one could have been Edwards.

Statistics

Statistics are everything at times. Yet they mean nothing if what they are trying to give you a reflection on, or of is not relevant to the reader.

Case-in-point. Statistics in lives, the loss of lives, mean more to those who survived than to the one simply reading them.

There were a total of 136 RCAF pilots that fought in the air war over the deserts of North Africa with No 94 and 260 Squadrons. Among the RCAF pilots were thirteen Americans. When the war ended in North Africa on May 13, 1943 forty of these men had lost their lives. That is a loss of 29%.

Edwards said that is was refreshing to se a new face in the mess tent, but when it got to the point that there were more new faces than the original groups, it lost something. Edwards commented to me that they became strangers. I have heard that story over and over after listing to the stories of other aviators as well in the many books others wrote about the lives of the aviators. One pilot that I can not remember his name right now told me once that it was un-nerving when you realize that you and just a few others were the only ones left.

Not all of the forty lost pilots died in combat. Only sixteen were shot down and killed in aerial combat against the Messerschmitt. Six were shot down by the nimble Italian fighter, the MC202. The rest were lost in other situations like the five that were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Six were killed in flying accidents checking out in the Kittyhawks. Seven other of the original 136 died while flying with other squadrons in the desert in Spitfires or Hurricanes during the air war over North Africa . Three of them were killed in action and the rest died in operational accidents.

Again of the original 136, fifteen further were killed later in other campaigns. So the numbers change, 136 minus 40 and then minus 15 equal eighty one that survived the war. That makes a loss of 40.4%.

To you the reader these numbers or figures may seem common after you have seen so many statistics from the war. They mean a lot more to Edwards.

Flying Bomber Escort Missions

Both 94, and 260 Squadrons combined their efforts against the Luftwaffe and the German and Italian armies. It seemed like half of all the missions were to escort and protect twin-engine bombers. The RAF bombing groups were flying the American A-20 Boston which proved itself well. They also flew twin-engine British bombers. The desert was no place for the larger four-engine bombers. Yet when America entered the war they introduced the B-17 Flying Fortress but after several bombing missions, the American bombers were forced to switch from the attempted high altitude bombings to low level bombing missions.

They RAF would use their fighter escorts logically in the positions of the fighters around the bombers. The attacking bombing group and escorts would always fly at higher altitudes that would alert the Luftwaffe radar. Messerschmitts were always waiting on them. The first attack would be on the top-cover escorts. If the RAF were fortunate the top cover once it was activated would tie up the Messerschmitts. This would leave the fighter escorts flying along the sides, front and back of the bombers unmolested.

Yet Edwards who started as a member of the close escorts flew along as planned in formation for the entire mission several times as the top-cover fought away the Germans. When there were more enemy fighters they would slowly pull away every escort fighter to get the bombers unprotected. Still the British lost more bombers to anti-aircraft fire as it did to enemy fighters, though many bombers still fell to the guns of the Luftwaffe Aces.

At first Edwards felt frustrated not being able to tangle with the enemy but his time came. Edwards stayed in his assigned place as expected.

Hawker Tempest

This is my paintings of Edward's Tempest. I loved painting this fighter!

Edwards had the opportunity to chase after V-1 "Buzz-bombs" flying the above Hawker Tempest.

P-40 Information.

First of all, the profile in the Osprey book, Commonwealth P-40 Aces, the P-40 with the checkerboard tail was not how Edward's fighter was painted.

He confirmed that aircraft numbered AK759 was the Kittyhawk he scored his first victory in however only a couple of the fighters had red and white checker-board painted on the rudder.

Edward's said that a new commander who came in had this design painted on his fighter a few of the other P-40's, but he was soon killed in combat and no other aircraft was painted with the checker-board.

This is the fighter that Eddie shot down his first enemy aircraft in. It was painted like the one in the Osprey book, but without the red and white rudder checkers.

(Osprey artwork above.)

Eddie clearly stated to me that his fighter never carried the red and white checkers.

The other P-40 in the same Osprey book (above) was one he also flew. But the P-40 he wanted me to paint is the last one he flew in Tunisia which is below.

Here is my painting of Eddie's last P-40. He flew 41 missions in this P-40L claiming five aerial victories.

Of course, I do not know why the name and squadron are not straight.

I painted them straight, it is just an optical illusion, or something.

Eddie scored his last five aerial victories in the P-40L coded HS-B, #AK436.

This is the Kittyhawk Eddie liked the best. He said that the L model was longer and it made the P-40 easier to fly. Eddie flew this P-40L 41 times.

The P-40L illustrated was flown by Eddie from March through May 1943. In this P-40 Eddie scored five of his last aerial victories in North Africa . One of the Luftwaffe aircraft Eddie shot down was the giant Messerschmitt Me-323. Eddie was leading the flight that day as they came upon the behemoth Luftwaffe transport. Eddie said that he lined up on the transport which filled his windscreen. Eddie fired all six fifty-caliber machine guns into the Me-323. His gun fire was devastating causing the aircraft to crumple up like a kite on fire and fell head-long into the sea.

Spitfire Information.

The profile in the Osprey book below, "Late Model Spitfire Aces", the Spitfire in the book is one that he flew but he told me about another Spitfire he wanted me to paint.

The Spitfire above is from the Osprey book of Spitfire aces. But the one Eddie liked the best is below.

Here is my painting of Eddie's Spitfire. I finished this painting on June 26, 2008. It is a joy to paint a Spitfire.

I must note that I made a few mistakes in the painting. The IX model did not have a retractable tail wheel. I really forgot to add it.

The spinner could have been white because Stocky told me that they had both black and white spinners on their fighters.

The Spitfire Eddie liked was a Mark IX, a late model with the pointed tail. It was painted in the Continental colors, Ocean Gray and Medium Green. The code was JF-E # TD147. The spinner was white. There was no fuselage band. Code letters were in the English foam green/pea green color. The aircraft numbers were in black.

I just love getting this information. The great fighters Eddie and his fellow aviators flew have long since sold for scrap metal.

I will bring them back to life. Enjoy.

James Edwards and his Spitfire.

Here is a Bf-109F the squadron captured when they took over a Luftwaffe airfield.

The Bf-109F above was flown by Luftwaffe Aces from JG-27. This very Luftwaffe fighter may have met Edwards in aerial combat. After the Luftwaffe left this machine behind during a retreat, Eddie’s squadron got the Messerschmitt running and painted it up in RAF roundels. Many of the pilots including Eddie flew the Bf-109 many times giving each of the pilots the feel for the fighter and its combat characteristics.

Eddie was under the impression that the visibility for the pilot was limited because the canopy looked so "boxy" and framed in. After taking off in the Bf-109 Edwards found that the pilot had in-fact excellent visibility and that the framework of the canopy did look "boxy," but it was well built and protected the pilot. The cockpit was the perfect size for Edwards but it could get small for a larger framed aviator.

The Bf-109F was exposed to out-class the American made P-40. And it did, yet Edwards proved that in the right hands the P-40 was a formidable advisory to the Messerschmitt. However in the hands of the expert, the P-40 Kittyhawk was no match for the Messerschmitt.

Here are photos of the Messerschmitt that Edwards squadron repaired and flew, not in combat, but to get familiar with the enemy's fighter.