FLYING LEGENDS Guy Gibson handed over command of 617 Squadron to George Holden in early August 1943. This photo taken just after Gibson’s last flight with the squadron shows Harlo third left with Gibson and Holden standing side by side in the right foreground both holding their flying helmets and oxygen masks.
W/C Guy Gibson, now VC DSO and Bar DFC and Bar had certainly earned his status as the Commonwealth’s premier war hero. But he continued to fly and resisted or avoided all efforts to rest. This concerned Arthur Harris who had to make a personal appeal to another warrior of similar character, Winston Churchill, who immediately ordered Gibson down to Chequers to take him with him on a highly publicised visit to North America. On his 25th birthday Guy Gibson arrived at Quebec City aboard the Queen Mary as
Training Plan facilities in the country, ‘so the men in the camps may be inspired to follow his example’. As he crossed Canada he very likely did inspire the young airmen with words such as, ‘We are all damn good. That’s why we’re winning this war.’ The headquarters of No. 4 Training Command in Calgary was a natural stop on Gibson’s tour, but of course he had a personal duty to fulfil there. Terry Taerum’s mother was looking forward to meeting her son’s pilot and getting some up-to-date information on how Harlo was doing.
a member of Churchill’s delegation to the Quebec Conference with U.S. President Roosevelt. Upon his arrival Gibson was asked by newsmen if the Prime Minister called him by his first name. With his reply, ‘He calls me Dambuster’, the term was introduced to Canadians and further entrenched in World War II lore. During the news conference, Air Minister Power said that Guy Gibson had been ‘loaned’ to the Royal Canadian Air Force for a time in order to visit British Commonwealth Air
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The RCAF was planning to make as much as they could of Guy Gibson’s visit to Calgary and the public was very interested as well. By this time it was well known that his navigator was an Albertan and Hilda Taerum had been invited to be an important part of the visit. As the big day approached she was both excited and likely very nervous about meeting the great Wing Commander Gibson VC DSO and Bar DFC and Bar. Her album contains a paper with five type written lines on it. She was obviously rehearsing what she would say to Gibson,