 On 3 October 1940 — two weeks after his wedding — Crombie embarked a ship at Sydney , bound for Canada . He arrived three weeks later , where he completed an additional two months of advanced flight training . Crombie was commissioned as a pilot officer on 17 January 1941 , and set sail for the United Kingdom nine days later . In May , he was attached to the Royal Air Force 's No. 25 Squadron , piloting Bristol Beaufighters . While with the unit , he flew his first operational sortie on 13 June ; he was promoted to flying officer the next month . Crombie continued to serve with the squadron until October , by which time he had flown a total of twelve operational sorties over the European theatre , including two raids ; one over Germany , and the other to Brest , France . 
