Sutherland, Frederick Edwin

Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:: February 26th, 1923 (Peace River/Alberta, Canada)
Date of death:: January 21st, 2019 (Rocky Mountain House/Alberta, Canada)
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Frederick Edwin Sutherland was born on 26 February 1923 in Peace River, Alberta, Canada, the only son of Dr. Frederick Henry and Clara Sutherland. Dreaming of becoming a bush pilot, he joined the RCAF as soon as he turned 18 in 1941, volunteering for air gunner training after initial instruction.

Arriving in England in 1942, Sutherland joined a training unit before joining 50 Squadron in September. He completed 25 operations before transferring to the newly formed 617 Squadron in March 1943.

After the raid, a number of his crew members were decorated. Others, like himself, were not.

In September, during the Dortmund-Ems raid, Sutherland parachuted to safety and, with the help of a Dutch farmer and the underground network, evaded capture. He was smuggled through Belgium and France to Spain.

Back in the UK by 1944, he returned to Canada, proposing to his girlfriend Margaret Baker upon his arrival.

After the war, Sutherland served another 12 years in the RCAF, then studied forestry, becoming a superintendent in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.

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