Unknown - September 15, 1946
Flight Lieutenant James Pyle Jessee, DFC, was a member of RAF 184 Typhoon Squadron. He was mentioned in a press release dated February 1, 1945. "Expert tank-buster of the RCAF and veteran of air fighting both against the Japs and the Nazis, F/L J. P. Jessee, DFC, is at an RCAF repatriation depot on his way home to Lebanon, Virginia, and Vancouver BC (1915 Haro Street). Never wounded, the young pilot flew rocket-equipped Typhoon fighters in attacks on Nazi tanks, transport, shipping and army headquarters. Attacking barges in the Rhine at tree-top level, Jessee was caught by intense antiaircraft fire. His fighter was riddled with over 60 hits, but still carried him back to his base in France. When Jessee and another pilot attacked 30 German transports on a road in eastern France last October, their rockets and cannon shells left 15 of the trucks in flames. Attacking a Nazi tank concentration with rockets during the fighting around Avranches, Jessee was credited with destroying six tanks and damaging four. He also carried out a number of dangerous attacks on German shipping in the Scheldt. Before coming overseas, F/L Jessee flew RCAF Kittyhawks in the Aleutians, attacking Japanese forces on Kiska. 'They could never touch us,' he said, revealing that one tiny flak hole was the only damage his fighter ever suffered from Japan defences."
More information can be found in Hugh Halliday's book Typhoon and Tempest.
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