I did a Bonanza binge on one occasion with a pre Star Trek theme, and watched Doohan in "Gift of Water" (with voice undisguised). Episode originally aired February 11, 1962 and also had a pre Nurse Chapel Majel Barrett in it as well.
Posted on 01/07/2019 3:19:56 AM PST by gattaca
In his lifetime, James Doohan fought with Klingons, Romulans, Greek gods, and a deep space probe named Nomad.
He struggled with interstellar engines, transporters, tribbles and William Shatner, but all of these fights paled in comparison to what he endured during WWII.
James “Jimmy” Doohan played the resourceful, hard-drinking and loyal “Scotty” on the original Star Trek series, a number of movies and reprised his role on Star Trek: The Next Generation. What many people outside the world of Star Trek fandom don’t know is that Doohan landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 — “D-Day”.
James Doohan. Photo by C Thomas CC BY 2.0
Doohan was Canadian, not Scottish, and his family came from Ireland. He was born in Vancouver in 1920 to Irish immigrants.
Doohan’s father was a sort of medical jack of all trades – a dentist, veterinarian, and a pharmacist. He was also an alcoholic who made life very difficult for his family. When Jimmy was 19, he enlisted in the Canadian Army – just before the outbreak of WWII.
Doohan (left) visiting NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center with pilot Bruce Peterson April 13, 1967 in front of the Northrop M2-F2.
In 1940, Doohan had worked his way up to the rank of lieutenant and was in England with the 14th Field Artillery of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.
Initially tasked with helping in the defense of England should the Germans invade, his first taste of combat came some four years later when they 3rd Canadian landed at Juno Beach – the beach designated for the mass of Canadian troops.
Canadian soldiers landing at Juno on the outskirts of Bernières.
Juno Beach was the Canadians’ “Omaha.” Though less bloody than the American landing beach, Juno was no cakewalk, and Doohan’s unit faced the strength of two German battalions in their landing area.
Making life more difficult was the mass of equipment that accompanied them, making movement in the water and sand exceedingly difficult going.
The cruiser HMS Belfast bombarding Juno on D-Day.
During the monumental day, James Doohan single-handedly took out two German snipers who were holding up the men of his company.
Doohan’s unit, along with the majority of the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach that day, pushed inland and secured their first day’s objective.
James Doohan.
It seemed like D-Day had gone as well as could be expected for the future Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, but at around 11pm, as Doohan was making the rounds of his men, a nervous sentry opened fire, mistaking the lieutenant for a German.
Jimmy was hit six times: once in his right hand (which took off his middle finger – look hard and you can spot the wound, but Doohan tried hard to hide it during his acting career), four times in the left knee and once in the chest.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast and crew members. From left to right, the following are pictured: DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. “Bones” McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Roddenberry; NASA Deputy Administrator George Low; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).
Luckily, Doohan was a smoker – the metal cigarette case he kept in his breast pocket deflected the bullet, avoiding his heart. Later in life, Jimmy would joke that “Smoking had saved his life.”
When he recovered from his wounds, he returned to the artillery, but this time he trained as an observation pilot, spotting German positions and directing/correcting Canadian artillery fire.
The plane he flew was a Taylorcraft Auster – a slow moving, wooden and canvas plane that afforded its pilots little protection.
Taylorcraft C/2, impressed by the RAF in September 1941. Photo by RuthAS CC BY 3.0
Though Doohan was not in the Canadian Air Force, some dubbed him the “Craziest Pilot in the Canadian Air Force” because he often flew in a daredevil, haphazard way – most notably when he flew between two closely placed telephone poles, “just to prove that he could.”
When WWII ended, Doohan returned to Canada and was listening to the radio during the holiday season of 1945-46 when he listened to “the worst drama he ever heard” on the local radio station. On a whim, he went down to the station and did a recording of his own.
Los Angeles, USA – January 17, 2014: The handprints of the cast of the original Star Trek series in front of the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
Doohan had a knack for voices and accents. The station manager recommended that he enroll at a drama school in Toronto, and eventually he won a scholarship to attend the well-known Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.
From there, it was “onward and upward”…he got roles on Bonanza, Bewitched, and a number of roles for the stage and radio. In 1966, he auditioned for the role of the ship’s engineer.
There is a long history of Scotsmen being engineers in the Royal Navy and in the cruise lines of the early 20th century, and Doohan told Gene Roddenberry (the series’ originator) that if his character was going to be an engineer, he should be Scottish. The rest is television history.
Read another story from us: Golden Girl Bea Arthur was one of the First Female Marines to Serve in WWII
James Doohan passed away in 2005. Fittingly, his ashes were taken into orbit and scattered in space.
Beam me up Scotty!
Aye
“James Doohan passed away in 2005. Fittingly, his ashes were taken into orbit and scattered in space.”
After the fourth attempt.
Thanks for posting this. Very interesting. Always liked his character. Seems that the man himself was even tougher.
God Bless him.
Later in life, Jimmy would joke that “Smoking had saved his life.”
Saved my father’s life in Vietnam. Was a Flight Engineer on a C-123. Seated at his station, he tried to light his cigar. He dropped his lighter and bent over to pick it up. Suddenly he heard a loud explosion. He looked up and where his panel was and his head would have been if he didn’t drop his lighter was a big hole from enemy ground fire. He fixed the wires so the landing gear would come down. They landed safely and he was later awarded a DFC. He wasn’t impressed as he said he was just doing his job. Because of that he always maintained that smoking saved his life.
I did a Bonanza binge on one occasion with a pre Star Trek theme, and watched Doohan in "Gift of Water" (with voice undisguised). Episode originally aired February 11, 1962 and also had a pre Nurse Chapel Majel Barrett in it as well.
Shot 6 times by a nervous sentry - what was the sentry armed with? a Sten gun? Sure as heck wasn’t a bolt action Mk4 Enfield!
Doohan wrote an autobiography talking about his military career back in the 1990’s.
Seems likely. A cigarette case wouldn’t have done much deflecting of a .303 round.
I have a pocket bible my father had in WW2. It has a brass cover - no idea where he got it.
Thanks for posting!
“Thanks for posting this. Very interesting. Always liked his character. Seems that the man himself was even tougher.”
Another favorite of mine is Don Adams who, as Marine, fought at Guadalcanal and then was a drill instructor.
But you’d never think it watching Get Smart.
You've heard of the "mad minute"? Rate of fire (when user properly trained) is so fast that Germans mistook it for machine guns.
I own a couple (No. 4 and a Mk III as well as an actual No. 5 "jungle carbine" (not the Indian imitation).) I'm not as well trained as they were, but with the rear locking lugs and a VERY slick bolt it will cycle amazingly fast.
I have one of those too! It’s a pocket sized New Testament (KJV i think) with a statement on inside from the CiC, Franklin Roosevelt. It looks to me as though it was probably originally given to his parents to give to him on enlistment. Their signatures and brief blessing from them are on the inside of the front brass cover.
I found it among some of his stuff after he died. He never mentioned it.
A lot of actors in that age range served in WWII.
A podcast tip - Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It”. Very Paul Harvey-esque series.
Anyway, Mike did one recently about Scotty called “Conventional Hero” that was great. Only six minutes long (not including the commercial up front) so it won’t be a big time investment.
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