Edwin Dale Taylor was born on 20 January 1918 in Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma, USA, the youngest of the four children of Wayne Oscar Taylor (1895-1956) and Eula Sabra Taylor née Miller (1893-1950. His three siblings were: Wayne Forrest Taylor (b.1912), Haywood Oscar Taylor (b. 1914) and Louise Ruth Taylor (b.1916).
The United States Federal Census shows him living in Speairs, Bryan County, Oklahoma, but the 1930 census lists him at Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma.
Our Picture Source states that he went to Canada and in 1940 joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and initially served in England in No.121 Eagle Squadron, before transferring to No.133 Eagle Squadron on 31 July 1942 as a Flying Officer. It was on this day that he was credited with destroying three enemy aircraft and damaging another when participating in Operation Circus 201, escorting bomber aircraft on a mission to northern France. His aircraft was damaged but he managed to bale out and was hospitalised. Three other members of his squadron, Flight Lieutenant Coburn Clark King, Pilot Officers Grant Eugene Eichar and Carter Woodruff Harp, were killed in this action.
When the Eagle Squadrons were disbanded in September 1942 he was transferred to the 406th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group in the 9th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) where he served the squadron's commanding officer, ranked as a Major, from July 1943 to September 1944.
After the war he returned to the USA where he served in both the 261st and 269th Combat Crew Training Squadrons until he was honourably discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on 5 January 1946.
The 1950 United States Federal Census shows him as a divorced man living at 1509 Main Street, Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma, with his parents.
His nomination for a British Distinguished Flying Cross was lost in a change of squadron command, but he was awarded the following American decorations: the Air Medal with 8 oak leaf clusters (1 silver, 3 bronze), the American Campaign Medal, the American Defense Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 oak leaf clusters, the National Defense Service Medal, the Purple Heart, the World War II Victory Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 bronze stars and the Air Force Longevity Service Award with 5 oak leaf clusters (1 silver oak leaf cluster), plus the French Croix de Guerre.
He died, aged 85 years, on 23 September 2003 in San Clemente, Orange County, California, USA, and was buried in Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside County, California.
He is shown as F/O E Dale Taylor on the list of flyers in No.133 Eagle Squadron on the Eagle Squadrons war memorial in Grosvenor Square, London, W1.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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