The 408: A Canadian Story
R.C.A.F. Halifax Bomber, 408 Squadron, Leeming, England.
The story of the people, not the war.
Stories of bombs and bullets have been told over and over. What has not been told well is the story of Canadians in the Second World War. The 408 follows the men and women of one RCAF bomber squadron, aircrew and ground crew, through the missions, the friendships, the loves and the losses, and home again, changed.
Flight Engineer Jack "Trapper" Greene
He was 7 years old when he built his first plane. He split the wood from old orange crates, assembled the wings and fuselage, scrounged for an elastic band and then took flight. From that point on, flight was his goal.
His father, a French Canadian, and his mother, an East Coast woman, knew he was different from their other four children. He was the one who took to the books, the only one in the family who wanted to finish high school. At 18 he wanted into the Galt Aircraft School so badly that he got the local Member of Parliament to use some influence to get him in. It was 1939. At 18 he knew two things: the war would be short, and when it was over he would be able to fly.
Overseas, he told the British he ran a trap line down Yonge Street to Front Street. They believed him. From then on, he was Trapper.
