D-Day veteran Charlie Starkes in 2019: “Peace don’t come cheap, you know. Millions of people lose their lives. It’s an awful price to pay for an argument, and that’s mostly what it is.” - SaltWire Network file photoST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Another of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Second World War veterans has died — Charles John Starkes died on Friday, Nov. 25, at the age of 100.
"All our aircraft went ashore and none of them came back. We didn't know if they all got shot down or if they may have made it back and landed in England. There was too much gunfire to come back over France."Starkes recalled watching the troop barges heading toward the shore, and the ship’s crew bracing for any hits from German land guns or from German U-boats.
When the ship was on the hunt for U-boats, Starkes would fit the planes with depth charges, or with torpedoes for surface attacks. Sometimes, to make sure the torpedoes were calibrated correctly, Starkes said, he would have to fly with the pilot to monitor the process and make sure the torpedo hit the water at the proper angle.
Leaving to mourn are his son, Raymond; daughters-in-law, Faye Starkes of Ontario and Carol Starkes; grandchildren, Jay “John” , Cheryl Cull and Venette Starkes ; great-great-grandchildren, Semiah Cull, Emeric and Ellie Scott; his siblings, Maire Hynes, Bill Starkes, Maisie Wilson, Fred Starkes and Mabel Starkes.
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