Douglas Stinson was born October 30, 1922 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  His father was a Great War veteran who served in the Canadian navy, and after the war he continued as a wireless operator, and Doug recalls that the family was often on the move during this time.  Doug was the oldest of six, and living in remote areas during the Great Depression, he remembers that there was not much to keep them busy – fishing was a common pastime!  When the war came, Doug volunteered on his father’s advice:  his father counseled him to seek a trade that would stand him in good stead after the war and urged him to learn the wireless trade.  With that in mind Doug chose the RCAF, and his odyssey in the BCATP began, with early stops in Toronto and Galt, followed by the No. 1 Wireless School in Montreal.  There he learned the tools of his communications trade, which he first put to the test in an “overseas” posting in Gander, Newfoundland.  That was followed by another stop in Torbay, where Doug worked on the aircraft that helped to monitor the convoys in the north Atlantic.  The RCAF sent Doug to Jarvis, Ontario next, where he was enrolled at the No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School.  He maintained the equipment there – and also met Jacqueline, who he would marry before his overseas posting to England.  He boarded the Ile de France for the six day journey, arriving in Greenock, Scotland.  He was briefly seconded to the RAF and stationed at Ainsworth, and then he was sent to the RCAF Squadron 434 at Croft.  They became known as the Bluenose Squadron.  Doug’s war would finish in England, where he would serve for about a year-and-a-half, servicing the radios on the aircraft and base.  During that time he also performed many other duties, including the grisly task of dealing with damaged aircraft and bodies after they returned from their missions.  VE Day ended up being anticlimactic for the men at Croft as they were kept in their quarters.  In short order Doug volunteered for duty in the Pacific, so he found himself on the Louis Pasteur, bound for Canada.  The war in the Pacific ended before he could be deployed so he returned to Toronto – and his young wife – and they began to fall into the rhythms of civilian life, raising a family and enjoying what Canada had to offer.  Doug Stinson was interviewed in October 2024 at his home in Toronto by Scott Masters and Zach Dunn.