[1]: 275 In 1938 Turned joined the Royal Air Force, completing his pilot training right at Britain's entry to the Second World War.

His posting there spurred many requests to be transferred to the squadron, a notable one accepted was that of Robert Wendell "Buck" McNair.

He flew escort for the mission that was agreed to by the Germans to drop an artificial leg to Douglas Bader.

Bader won over Turner and the other Canadians by generously replacing their kit they had lost in France from his personal stores, not to mention by demonstrating his flying skills.

Turner was portrayed by Lee Patterson in Reach for the Sky, the 1956 film biography of Douglas Bader.