Family, friends and Service Personnel gathered in Truro to celebrate the incredible life of a former RAF Spitfire Pilot, on what would have been his 100th Birthday.
Dr Edmund James (Flight Lieutenant retired) from Falmouth who served in the RAF during WWII, passed away 02 February, just three weeks short of reaching 100 years old. Family from as far as the United States made the journey to honour the memory of a man who committed his entire life to serving others.
Dr Edmund James
The Service was attended by 20 Royal Air Force personnel from RAF St Mawgan, standard bearers from the Royal Air Force Association and a bugler from Padstow Sea Cadets.
Flight Sergeant Hardy, a former Gunner of the Queens Colour Squadron escorted the coffin, clad in Union Flag, into the Trelawny Chapel. At the end of the service, the Union Flag which covered the coffin was presented to Dr James family by RAF St Mawagn.
Station Personnel from RAF St Mawgan line the road leading upto Penmount Crematorium as family and friends of Dr James enter Penmount Crematorium.
Dr Edmund James, known by most as Ted, was born on 23 February 1922 and joined the RAF at just 18 years old. He was immediately called into action to defend the skies over the UK against enemy attack and continued to do so until the end of the War. Reflecting on her father’s time as a pilot, Teds’ daughter Mrs April Panczak said; “My dad told me you needed three things to survive as a Spitfire Pilot, luck, luck and luck”!
On one occasion after being scrambled to intercept enemy aircraft, Ted’s aircraft took a direct hit of bullets into the engine block causing a plume of smoke to erupt from the nose of the aircraft, blocking his view.
Ted was able to bank the aircraft over, flying the fighter at a 45-degree angle long enough to make an emergency landing. Approaching the runway with one wing tip down, ground crew were certain he would crash, but righting the aircraft at the last moment Ted brought the plane down for a safe landing.
Personnel from RAF St Mawgan line the entrance to Penmount Crematorium as Dr James arrives.
Later in the War Ted was to make another crash landing, but this time he wasn’t as fortunate, fracturing his spine in the process.
Ted spent the subsequent year in a body cast before retraining as a Doctor. Mr Rob Jeffries, a close friend of Ted said; “I remember him telling me that he attended his interview at the London Medical School in a wheelchair as he was still recovering from a broken back”.
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After the War, Dr James was posted to an Allied Forces hospital in Germany to look after the wounded sick and injured. During this time, he was accommodated in a grand house which, according to Ted’s recollections, transpired to be the former residence of Herman Goering, head of the German Luftwaffe.
Station personnel from RAF St Mawgan Stand to attention along with RAF Veterans as Dr James arrives at Penmount Crematorium.
For the remainder of his working life, Dr James returned to Cornwall, living in Falmouth and heading up the maternity and children services across the County. The Station Commander at RAF St Mawgan near Newquay, Wing Commander Marshall Kinnear, who attended Dr James Funeral said; it was an honour and a privilege to have met Ted in December 2021 when he shared fond memories of his time as a Spitfire pilot, he had some amazing stories to tell!
Following the funeral service Mrs Panczak said; “Dad lived such an incredible life, I’m just really grateful for everything the Royal Air Force have done to give him the send off he deserves”.
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