James Barry Chaster Primary Source

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The author of this source is James Barry Chaster. James Barry Chaster enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1941 and served for most of the war as a bomber pilot. In 1943, James Barry Chaster was shot down in Holland. He was briefly imprisoned in Spain before being sent back to England. He spent the rest of the war back in Canada helping train other bomber pilots. In this testimony, he provides insight on his experiences during wartime making it a primary source as it is a firsthand account of his training, combat missions, being shot down and surviving enemy territories. This testimony can be valuable for both novice and expert audiences, but it can be particularly useful for experts in military aviation history. Novice people with basic knowledge …show more content…

He talks about everything from learning to fly to going on dangerous missions and being captured. He shares the excitement and dangers of flying, the strong bonds among his fellow crew members, and the difficulties they encountered during wartime, such as being shot down and navigating enemy territory. His story gives a sense of what it was like for a frontline airman during wartime. His conclusions revolve around exhilaration and difficulties of flying and the feeling of freedom experienced at lower altitudes with little danger. While still remaining a reliable source, this source does contain bias, including generalizations, opinions stated as facts and bias by omission. Firstly the quote, "went down to Bournemouth like everybody else did" (Chaster, 2022), is generalization as it implies that everyone went through the same experience without showing proof or recognizing potential differences in every individual's experiences, for example the people who did not go to Bournemouth. The quote, "You feel like you're flying if you fly low” (Chaster, 2022) is an example of stating opinions as

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