Kevin: This attachment contains two pieces: your own summary of Jack's life and career and the obit. from the Globe and Mail for which you asked. I scanned the text from the original cutting. I have a couple of notes to add by way of explanation and nothing I write is meant to detract from Jack's undoubted contribution to radar technology. Having said that it is worth remarking that in time myth, fiction and legend attach themselves like barnacles to the exploits of brave and intrepid men like Jack. I came to know him exceptionally well while writing Winning the Radar War and found that as his memory of past events dimmed he added touches to exploits that made them more compelling, more commanding, more impressive to the listener. It is the historian's job to get at the facts and clear away the embellishments, which is not to suggest that Jack told a tall story. He didn't but, towards the end of his life, he simply added bits and pieces. For example, his minute by minute account of the time he spent on the Dieppe Raid simply didn't add up; this is a passage I had to fudge. He could not in six hours have gone from the village to the Freya Station three times under fire (a distance of 1.5 miles for a total of nine miles), walked south and back (12 miles), organized and fought a rearguard action, then escaped in the manner he described. [Having been a soldier myself, I well know what effort it takes to move two and a half miles an hour in battle gear.]

Jack was a lovely fellow. He had an alert, original mind and could grasp principles of applied science and electronic technology like the burrs that stick to your clothes. His analysis of the effect of radar pulses showing the Stavanger Mountains during his time in Scotland was a stroke of genius, for every scientist at that time believed in the linearity of pulse waves (and who but the few understood Einstein's theory of relativity and the bending of light in those days?)

I've read your piece on Jack with much interest. Any changes I've made are cosmetic. A couple of things: the Brits and Canadians did not use the word 'mission' to describe raids, sorties, operations, attacks, etc; hence, the Dieppe Raid, not the Dieppe Mission. The USAAF introduced mission with their bombing raids; I think you should be precise in naming Pourville, not just Dieppe; I'm pleased to note that you refer to 'German Freya', the Germans, etc. and not that appalling word Nazi that our American friends attach to anything of the German Armed Forces; it is true that Watson-Watt is credited with inventing radio detection and ranging although, to give them their due, the Germans also developed their stiletto systems, which were precision systems as compared with the British megaphone-like ‘range finding’ in use early in WWII; to my mind, the Canadian connection in radar is strong, for without the involvement of the National Research Council, the British could never have produced the mandrel, which as you know, is the heart of short wave radar; regarding fees, be assured that I am delighted to be of assistance and do not expect payment. Good luck with your project. If I can be of more help I expect you will tell me. The two pieces follow, beginning with your own text. [Jack's obituary is here omitted.]

AWC.