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Flight Lieut. [Sam Estwick], Royal Canadian Air Force (retired), is 89. The eyes are sharp, the mind is quick and he talks tough. In 1940, most men his age had one war to fight. He had two. He fought discrimination. On arrival in Durban, he and a handful of radar buddies dropped into a bar. A beefy bartender ordered him out. Wrong colour. Although Sam was only 5-foot-7, he had a reputation as a boxer. He had fast hands and an attitude. But he never got a chance. Photo: Kier Gilmour, The Ottawa Citizen / During a layover one time while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Flight Lieut. Sam Estwick was denied service in a bar because of his skin colour. Although a British soldier fought and won that battle, the 5-foot-7 man with a reputation as a boxer said: 'He didn't have to. I could have done it. Where the hell was I supposed to eat?'; Photo: Because of discrimination, Flight Lieut. Sam Estwick, back row, fourth from right, was refused admission to pilot's school.

\"I remember I asked him once, 'If they didn't want you in, why did you make such a fuss about going to go get shot at?'\" Mrs. [Leslie Theodore] recalled. Though he never got accepted as a pilot, Mr. Estwick was accepted into the Royal Canadian Air Force to train as a radar technician. In the Second World War, the RCAF trained between 6,000 and 7,000 radar technicians, who were then handed over to the Royal Air Force and dispatched around the world to serve on aircraft, ships and at air strips. Mr. Estwick went to England in 1942 and spent most of the war serving in North Africa and India. Colour Photo: Wayne Cuddington, The Ottawa Citizen / [Sam Estwick] retired from the Air Force in 1963 and went on to work in telecommunications for Nortel. He became involved in community activities, helping to found Gloucester's Senior Adults' Centre and the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club. ; Photo: Though he never got accepted as a pilot, Sam Estwick did train as a radar technician with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was stationed in England in 1942 and spent most of the war serving in North Africa and India. ;

[Sam Estwick] emigrated to Canada from Barbados at the age of four and his family settled in Glace Bay, N.S. When war broke out, Estwick heard the Air Force was looking for fighter pilots. But when he showed up in Halifax to enlist, the officers at the recruiting office wouldn't take him. \"What do you mean? There's a war,\" Estwick said. \"We can't trust a black pilot,\" they told him. Estwick will never forget what his church minister said to him when he won a school award the age of 14. \"He said to me, 'That goes to prove that a young lad of your colour can be as good as any other colour.'\" Estwick also remembers meeting members of the Second Construction Battalion from the First World War. \"My family was from Barbados so we had a very strong allegiance to the British,\" Estwick said. \"Everyone would say how handsome they all looked in uniform.\" Despite the red maple leaf sewn onto his uniform, Estwick was continuously denied entry into local restaurants. One night when he and a group of his radar buddies went into a bar, a beefy bartender ordered Estwick out. Estwick was only 5-foot-7 but he had a reputation as a feisty boxer with an attitude.