On 28 August
1941 he was awarded at flying Badge and
commissioned as a Pilot Officer while with
No 12 Service Flying School in Brandon,
Manitoba. He was promoted to Flying
Officer on 23 February 1943. He underwent
training at several locations in Canada
before starting training on Hurricane
fighters with 1 Operational Training Unit in
Bagotville, Quebec. After several more
postings he was sent to England in 30 March,
1944. He arrived at No 12 New Zealand Air
Force Personnel Despatch and reception
Centre at Brighton on 8 April 1944. From
there he was sent to 57 O.T.U. at Padgate,
where he converted to Spitfires. In August
of that year he transferred to Typhoon
fighter-bombers. On the 20th of that month
he was posted to No 84 Ground Support Unit,
which was part of the Tactical Air Force
which supported the ground troops in
Normandy.
On 28
August he was promoted to Lieutenant. F/L
Oden was sent to the continent on 10
September 1944, where he joined 198 Squadron
which was stationed at Merville, France. He
flew 49 missions with 198 Sqn from bases in
France, Belgium and The Netherlands. These
missions were flown in the rocket firing
typhoon in support of ground troops. Some of
the targets he flew against were Dunkirk,
Boulonge, Calais, Cape Grisnez, ANtwerp,
Walcheren, Breskens and the Reichswald
forest.
In December
1944, 198 Squadron was based at the Dutch
airfield of Gilze Rijen (B77).
On 11 December
1944, the 2TAF flew many missions over
occupied the Netherlands. 198 squadron
attacked a rocket storage facility near a
train station in Leiden and were also
enganged in a reconnaissance sweep over the
Zuiderzee area.
F/L Oden took
off in Typhoon IB JR245/N at 0935 with seven
others as 'Green Leader' (leading a flight
of four planes) on this latest mission. He
was shot down by German anti aircraft fire.
His plane was last seen at 6,000 feet in a
steep dive, with his engine on fire, trying
to make for the Allied lines. F/L Oden
survived the crash landing near Zaltbommel,
was taken prisoner, but died the next day in
a German hospital. He had a total of 980
hours as a pilot.
F/L Oden was
21. He is
buried in Soestbergen General Cemetery.
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)
