[2] Born in Cumberland, Ontario in 1922 to Eva Farmer and Robert James Kennedy (a veteran of World War I, injured in 1917 at Vimy Ridge).

The war started when he was 17 in his final year of high school in Ottawa, and he joined the RCAF in October 1940.

As a Sergeant Pilot he was posted overseas to the UK in August 1941, flying Hawker Hurricane fighters at No.55 Operational Training Unit (OTU).

In April he and American ace Squadron Leader J.J. Lynch caught and destroyed three Ju 52 transports off Sicily, and awarded two victories.

Over Sicily and Italy he claimed five more victories, including a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 of SKG 10 on both 4 and 10 September and two Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs of JG 77 on 13 October.

[citation needed] He then returned to the UK and began another tour on 15 June 1944 as Commanding Officer with No.

After parachuting into a field in occupied France, he initially hid in a hayloft and was cared for by a French family.