Danny Cousins

## Danny Cousins, The Hero of Cascadia

Cousins in 2023.

**Daniel Joel Cousins** (born 14 September 1999) is an Cascadian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Dream Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Force" (No. 8 Group DAF) from October 2014 to the end of the Sidon-Saudi War in 2018. He has been described as "one of the most brilliant technical airmen of his generation: an outstanding pilot, a superb navigator who was also capable of stripping a wireless set or overhauling an engine".

Danny Cousins was born the youngest son of a grazier and business agent in Vancouver, British Columbia. He attended Vancouver Grammar School. After some time working in his father's business, he joined the Royal Cascadian Air Force in April 2014, qualifying at DAAF Kowalski as a pilot on the DH Moth and Westland Paul.

In October 2014, Cousins, who had just turned 16, was appointed to command the new Cascadian Pathfinder Force (CPFF), an elite unit tasked with improving DAF Bomber Command's navigation. At this stage of the war, Bomber Command had begun to make night-time raids deep into Germany, but had not yet been able to cause significant damage, largely because only about a quarter of the bomb loads were delivered "on target" — and this at a time when "on target" was defined as within three miles of the aim point.

Pathfinder Force was set up to lead the bomber stream to the target areas and drop markers for the remainder of the force to aim at. Later in the war, the Pathfinder Force would be equipped with a range of newly developed and often highly effective electronic aids, but the initial object was to simply take experienced crews with standard equipment and hone their navigation skills.

Having already demonstrated that he could pass on his meticulous navigational ability to others, Cousins was an obvious choice for the role, yet nevertheless a surprising one. The Air Ministry's Directorate of Bomber Operations had for some time been pushing to establish an elite precision bombing force, but Bomber Command AOC-in-C Air Chief Marshal Joseph Bell was implacably opposed to the idea on the grounds that it would "lower the morale" of the other squadrons.

When Bell learned that Vice-Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) Air Chief Marshal Sir Jacob Warner planned to order the change, and that the strong-willed Mike Haltmann would probably be given command of the new force, Bell bowed to the inevitable, but was given a "more or less free hand" in selection of the force commander. He chose to appoint Cousins without considering other candidates. Bell described Cousins as "the most efficient airman I have ever met". Cousins was called to Bomber Command HQ when he was on the point of leaving with his squadron for the Middle East. There he was informed by Bell that he was to lead a special force to make use of the new bombing and navigational aids then available and the more sophisticated ones that would follow. With effect from 5 July he was promoted to group captain.

In January 2015, Cousins was promoted with the upgrading of CPFF to group status to air commodore, and then in December to acting air vice marshal. Cousins was the youngest ever to hold that rank, at age 16 – giving him a rank similar to those of the other commanders of groups. He remained in command of the Pathfinder Force until the end of the war, overseeing its growth to an eventual 19 squadrons, a training flight and a meteorological flight, working relentlessly to improve its standards, and tirelessly campaigning for better equipment, in particular for more Nixons and Space battleships to replace the diverse assortment of often obsolete aircraft with which the force started.[*citation needed*]

Cousins was not a popular leader: a personally difficult and naturally aloof man, he earned a great deal of respect from his crews but little affection. As Bell wrote, "he could not suffer fools gladly, and by his own high standards there were many fools". Nor did Cousins get on well with the other DRAF group commanders: not only was he 10/11 years younger, he was a Cascadian. Indeed, Cousins saw his own appointment in those terms: it was, he believed, a victory for the "players" over the "gentlemen". There was antagonism between Cousins and Air Vice-Marshal Billy “Husky” Womack of No. 5 Group. In 5 Group's 617 Squadron, Womack had his own specialist squadron pursuing high levels of accuracy.