The youngest member of Harris’ crew was rear air gunner RCAF Sergeant Douglas James Hicks. Born December 1, 1925 in Toronto, Canada, Hicks was one of four children. Prior to enlisting, Hicks was working as a cabin cleaner for Trans Canada Airlines at the Toronto Airport and at age seventeen, he joined the RCAF with his mother’s permission.
Hicks’ training began at the No. 1 Manning Depot located in Toronto and continued at #10 Bombing and Gunnery School at RCAF Mount Pleasant, PEI alongside Tom Ditson. He qualified as an air gunner on May 17, 1944 and was sent overseas in July of that year.
After sustaining burns and parachuting to safety when the crew was shot down during a raid on Dessau, Hicks was quickly taken into custody as a POW and would spend a month at Dulag Luft before being liberated by the US Army. After his liberation, Hicks would be treated at the Canadian Wing of the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, becoming the youngest ‘Guinea Pig’ to receive burn treatment at this pioneering hospital.
At the end of his treatment, Hicks would be repatriated back to Canada, along with over 4,000 other troops, aboard Canadian Pacific steamship ‘The Empress of Scotland,’ coincidentally the same ship he sailed on to the UK fourteen months prior. Doug arrived home in Toronto on September 10th.
Hicks was awarded a commission in the Royal Canadian Air Force and discharged at the age of 19 with the rank of Flying Officer, upon which he went to work at Air Canada. He lived with his mother and sister Anne (and her growing, young family) in Toronto until marrying his wife Madelaine, a flight attendant for Air Canada. Hicks ultimately became the Airport Manager for both Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports, retiring after 42 years. He and Madeleine were married for over 54 years, until her passing in 2011 and they had five children: Katherine, Candace, Brian and twins Janet and John.
Hicks continued to be an active member of the Ex Air Gunners Association, the 550 Squadron Association and the Guinea Pig Club. Hicks passed away August 16, 2014 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at the age of 89.
The Harris Crew 