Trafford Publishing: Lancasters and Lanyards: Memoirs of Chief Superintendent Jack Denison Routledge (D.F.C.) Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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Lancasters and Lanyards: Memoirs of Chief Superintendent Jack Denison Routledge (D.F.C.) Royal Canadian Mounted Police

by Jack Routledge

240 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0462; ISBN 1-4120-0099-8; US$22.50, C$27.00, EUR17.55, £13.00

The complete memoirs of Jack Routledge, from his enlistment in the Air Force at age 16 to his time spent with the RCMP upon his return to Canada.

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about the book about the author excerpts catalogue info

About the Book

The memoirs highlight four distinct periods. A troubled childhood and problems with his father propelled him at age 16 into the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940.
As a rear gunner following his training in Canada and England he joined a crew in Scotland and remained with them for 3 years in Bomber Command's raids on Germany and Italy and laying sea mines in the German shipping lanes. After the crew completed their first thirty trips with 49 Squadron (R.A.F.), they returned for a second tour with 405 Squadron (R.C.A.F.) of the famed Pathfinder bombing Group. Routledge spent the night of his twentieth birthday at 18,000 feet over the infamous Nuremburg where Bomber Command suffered its highest losses in one night. During the war he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Repatriation brought disillusionment. Failure of his business venture left him at loose ends.
His marriage to his childhood friend and enlistment in the B.C. Provincial Police and then into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police gave his post war life a purpose and contentment. After over thirty years he retired with a notable record.
He was appointed Chairman of the Driver Control Board for the Alberta Provincial Government where he served for five years and then eventual retirement after over 40 years of working.
Readers' comments:
We wish to congratulate you on the successful completion and launch of Lancasters and Lanyards. It is a fitting tribute to life lived truly and purposefully, an inspiration to read and emulate. May your book bring you new friends and tie you closer to old ones.
Love,
Shirley and Kevin Campbell
"Hi Jack, I have read Lancasters and Lanyards straight through and I admire your recollections especially of Bomber Command, Pathfinders, and the B.C. Provincial police and The R.C.M.Police. I am very pleased with your story and wish you and Margaret many happy days."
Kevin Campbell, Armstrong B.C.
"I found Lancasters and Lanyards an extremely interesting book and good reading."
Marion Allan, Cranbrook B.C.
"Jack Routledge's book Lancasters and Lanyards was very interesting and brought back many memories for me. Jack and I are old school chums."
John Stuart, White Rock, B.C.
" I have just finished reading Mr. Routledge's book and found it just fascinating and the descriptions so concise. I had a son in the R.C.A.F. for 34 years and can identify with so many references".
Eileen InDear, Vernon, B.C.
"I want to compliment you on a very well written and and interesting book. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. I was flying Blenhiems at Number One Air Armament School at Manby, Lincolnshire, where you took your gunnery leaders course."
Don Weatherill, Coldstream B.C.

"Congratulations to Jack Routledge on the publication of his most readable book Lancasters and Lanyards. The book not only chronicles his life, it contains it contains historical data concerning R.C.A.F.achievments, statictics, and an excellent synopsis of Bomber Commands ahievements. Each year Pacific group, Air Force Association of Canada selects aviation books to donate to local secondary schools. Copies of Lancasters and Lanyards will be presented by 899 (RCAF) Wing in Vernon to Vernon Senior Secondary School and the Clarence Fulton Senior Secondary, the latter associated with the the Airport Training Council. We have invitied Jack Routledge to the presentations, and we wish him good luck with his worthy venture."
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
Val Ferguson, Regional VP (Okanagan) Pacific Group
Air Force Association of Canada.
"Recently I was given a copy of your book, Lancasters and Lanyards - which I have read with the greatest interest and pleasure. I would hope this book will find its way into the public libraries, especially in the high schools. Young people today have very little if any knowledge of how their grand parents tackled the problems of their times. With my congratulations and best wishes,"
Duggan Gray
Vernon B.C.
"I received a copy of Lancasters and Lanyards in yesterday's mail. -Congratulations! I have started into it and I like what I have read. I began, where one should, at the beginning, but after a point began leafing through, probably attracted by the photos. I came upon the section where you defended the actions of Bomber Command. It is actually Appendix 3 the extract from "So Many - 50 Years On" by Bill Gunston. A great piece to include at the conclusion of an important piece of history. Best wishes to you both,"
Roland Greenbank
Huntingdon, Quebec
"I finally sat down the other night to read your memoirs and couldn't put the book down. It is a long time since that has happened. You asked if I had any comments to make please feel free to do so. Well like it or not here they are.
The wartime action narrative is realistic and sustained by substantial research material. The home life stories are intimate and provide the reader with a lucid insight into the cultivation of your character. The hardships of police life for a member and spouse become visible in a sequence of extremely interesting police experiences. In retrospect Jack, you were obviously the right man for the times. In summary, an excellent, easy flowing and captivating read for anyone.
I envy you leaving this fascinating and indelible account of your life, not only for the survivors of Bomber Command, but the Routledge family of the future. Congratulation Jack on a job well done."
Jim Barr
September 11th, 2003

About the Author

Jack and Margaret retired to the Okanagan Valley where they pursued their hobbies of model railroading and Margaret as an aspiring artist. They both have other activities that keep them busy. In Jack's spare time he has an uphill and ongoing battle with cancer.

Excerpts

Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
1. My Earlier Conflicts
2. Enlistment
3. 49 Squadron (R.A.F.)
4. Life in the Air and on the Ground
5. 405 Squadron (R.C.A.F.) Pathfinder Force
6. Bomber Command Casualties
7. Back Home Confusion
8. B.C. Provincial Police & R.C.M. Police
9. Williams Lake Detachment
10. North Vancouver Detachment
11. Squamish Detachment
12. Vancouver Town Station Detachment
13. Grand Forks Detachment
14. Special 'D' Section, Nelson, BC
15. Criminal Intelligence Liaison Officer
16. National Crime Intelligence Officer, Ottawa Ont.
17. Officer in Charge Edmonton Sub-Division
18. Officer in Charge Criminal Investigation - Alberta
19. Chairman of Driver Control Board - Alberta
Appendix A Awards and Decorations
Appendix B Mine Laying
Appendix C 50 Years On
Chapter 1 - Page 21
...he chased me through the house. He caught me at the top of the basement stairs and gave me a boot on the backside and I tumbled twelve steps to the basement floor...
Chapter 2 - Page 46
...other than having an engine fire, an engine failure, a near catastrophic explosion, and an injured crew member, we managed to graduate from this training establishment and proceeded onto an operational squadron...
Chapter 3 - Page 52
...we flew low level over the North Sea across Denmark where we nearly struck an old three-masted schooner anchored in a bay on the Baltic side. A German flak ship opened fire on us but we managed to get away unscathed...
Chapter 3- Page 55
...while over France, our high pressure oil reservoir blew up, filling the entire front of the aircraft with a fine mist of hydraulic oil. Everything and every person, except me in the rear turret, were soaked in oil...
Chapter 5 - Page 92
...This was my birthday and here I was 18,000 feet over Germany, in the rear turret of a Lancaster, making a grand entrance to my twentieth year amidst absolute mayhem...
Chapter 6 - Page 116
...Moving with such rapidity out of uniform where I had been successful, into the work force, and not knowing what direction to take concerned me deeply. I had many memories of the war but no training for a post-war future...
Chapter 8 - Page 120
...suddenly stopped, jumped out and took a rifle from the back seat. We got out of the police car, Stan on one side and I on the other, with our revolvers drawn and pointed at him as he had the rifle aimed at me. I ordered him to drop the rifle which he refused to do...
Chapter 8 - Page 123
...He had not proceeded very far when a door flew open and a nude person screamed and leapt onto him. Howard was knocked to the floor, and with his hands around his throat, Howard was punching him in an effort to break free...
Chapter 9 - Page 129
...A trip to Likely, Horsefly, or the Circle S Ranch at Dog Creek would take a whole day going to and from never mind counting the time for the investigation that caused the trip...
Chapter 13 - Page 174
...A rifle shot rang out and than there was silence. I heard a noise very close to where I was lying on the ground and I could see a silhouette of a person standing about ten feet away. I fired a shot from my revolver at the silhouette, which was answered by another rifle shot...
Chapter 14 - Page 180
...we deduced tthat we had the right ones in gaol. The prison was built to be as fireproof as possible but these rebellious prisoners still managed to set fire to the mattresses as a show of protest against man's law...
Chapter 16 - Page 190
...in 1974 a Royal Commission of Enquiry into Certain Sectors of the Building Industry was called under Mr. Justice Harry Waisberg of the Ontario Supreme Court. I was asked to give testimony on the association of certain organized crime groups from Montreal with...
Chapter 18 - Page 199
...I have endeavored to give the reader a cross section of the many and numerous tasks, adventures and situations that a member of the R.C.M. Police is confronted with over the years. It is not possible to write about every...
Chapter 18 - Page 201
...Margaret, who put up with my long absences while on trips and late hours while on the job at home. During our time on smaller detachments, in the absence of member from the office, she would answer the phone, operate the radio, deal with the public and prepare meals for the prisoners. She shouldered the responsibility of...

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