Canada, Commonwealth. The Wartime Diary of Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot Bernard T. Elliott, c. 1944

The wartime diary of Pilot Officer Bernard Trueman Elliott of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The diary is contained in a binder with heavy cardstock covers and with a green oilcloth exterior. Each page of the diary bears the entries of three to four days. The year of 1944 is filled using the pre-divided paper pages that were supplied with the diary binder, while Monday January 1st, 1945 onwards, the pages are segmented into days by hand. The diary binder is accompanied by a larger binder with a photocopy of the entirety of the diary with a “foreword” by Bernard to Guy, whom the copied diary is intended for. The the diary binder measures 158 mm (w) x 215 mm (l), while the binder with the photocopy of the diary measures 290 mm (w) x 255 mm (l), accompanied by a few photographs of Bernard’s wife, Enid Elizabeth, as well as an invitation for their wedding on January 2nd, 1943, and a letter addressed to Heather, Bernard’s mother. The diary is extremely well preserved with only select pages loose in the binder, but with all present, in overall near very fine condition.

Footnote: Bernard was 25 years of age at the starting point of the diary. At that point he had been in the Royal Canadian Air Force for 4 years, a flying instructor for 3 years, and happily married to Enid for 2 years. Interestingly, On May 7th, 1944, loaded with a navigator and wireless operator, Bernard’s Beaufigther caught fire while temporarily landed on a runway. The diary includes countless other stories of Flight Officer B.T. Elliott’s flying career in the Royal Canadian Air Force.