Renowned Civil Air Patrol WWII Subchaser 'Eddie' Edwards Dies

"(NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS) - One of Civil Air Patrol’s most famous World War II “subchasers,” honored for heroism by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, died on Saturday, Dec. 5, after a long illness. He was 96 years old.

Col. Edmond I. “Eddie” Edwards was widely known as the first Coastal Patrol (later Civil Air Patrol) pilot to spot a Nazi U-boat and radio its position to U.S. naval forces. The vessel crash-dived and headed farther out to sea, where it was less of a menace to U.S. shipping. This occurred on March 10, 1942, near the start of the war.

“He was probably one of the first subchasers to see the enemy,” said Roger Thiel, a senior member and independent historian with CAP.

Based at Coastal Patrol Base 2 in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Edwards flew sub-hunting patrols offshore in Delaware and Maryland, safeguarding oil tankers headed for Delaware Bay. The Coastal Patrol flights, made from 21 bases along the East and Gulf shorelines of America, were instrumental in making CAP an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, which it is today."

Renowned Civil Air Patrol WWII Subchaser 'Eddie' Edwards Dies - Salem-News.Com

May he rest in peace :mourn: