Scott Stanfield
Record staff
James (Stocky) Edwards, a decorated Second World War fighter pilot, was honoured in a Thursday ceremony at the Sid Williams Theatre by the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement.
The organization recognizes people who have excelled in their field, and who have made significant and lasting contributions in their professional or personal lives.
Canada’s highest scoring ace in the western desert campaign during the Second World War, Edwards served with 260 Squadron in the Western Desert Air Force in North Africa in 1943.
He flew Spitfires after first piloting a Kittyhawk.
On June 6, 1944 he and his squadron helped protect the Allied forces that landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Edwards, 94, has been inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, and received an Order of Canada medal.
Last year, he was appointed a Knight of France’s Legion of Honour for his actions during D-Day and the Battle of France.
Stocky and his wife Toni have lived in Comox the past 40-plus years.