Monthly Archives: November 2012

Lest We Forget Julian Sweet

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November is a good time to remember… what happened on November 21, 1942.

In memory of
Flying Officer

 JULIAN FREDERIC  SWEET

who died on November 21, 1942

Military Service:

  • Service Number: J/8938
  • Age: 29
  • Force: Air Force
  • Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
  • Division: 150 (R.A.F.) Sqdn

Additional Information:

Son of Frederic G. Sweet and Dorothea Sweet; husband of Dorothy N. Sweet, of Saulte Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Burial Information:

  • Cemetery: MINSTER (THANET) CEMETERY Kent,United Kingdom
  • Grave Reference: Grave 453.

Julian Sweet was Eugene’s friend.

Wally sent me his name last week when I contacted him through his blog.

He sent this comment… about this picture:

Hello, Pierre
 
Nadeau and  McGuire are not pictured in the course photo.  Reardon was posted to Brantford after training at St. Catharines. Julian Sweet was later killed serving with No. 150 Squadron. 

Fleet Finch 4462

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Windsor Mills 1945?

Nope… Gatineau 2012!

I took these pictures at Gatineau airport last September.

It rained a little…. but the day was memorable.

I knew this was a Fleet Finch.

I wonder how many visitors at Gatineau could identify it…

In 2010 I could not. I did not know anything about BCATP either. It took me some time to write the abbreviation properly… BCTAP… BATCP…

I still do.

This man has been guiding me since 2010…

1921-1947

He was not my only guide.

Marcel Bergeron became a close friend…

Marcel wanted to let the world know about his youth hero, an unknown French-Canadian Mosquito pilot with RAF 23 Squadron.

What became of our first meeting is a fascinating story…

Click here… 

So what happened at Windsor Mills after the war in 1945?

Curious…?

Next post on November 11.

Windsor Mills 1945

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This is what I wrote on another blog that pays homage to pilots and navigators with RAF 23 Squadron.

Click here.

If Cam Harrod is passionate about his Fleet Finch… and an avid reader of this blog about the BCATP…

I am passionate for letting the world know about this pilot and those who flew with him.

I am not closely related to him.

So why am I so interested in his story?

I could write a book on Flight Lieutenant Joseph Achille Eugène Gagnon DFC, a little known French-Canadian Mosquito pilot born in Bromptonville in 1921, or write a book on how I came about to find information on a civilian pilot who died in a plane crash on October 21, 1947.

 Click here.

So what happened at Windsor Mills in 1945 that Cam Harrod can relate to?

You will have to come back later on this blog about the BCATP.

Cam already knows.

So why am I so interested in his story?

A French-Canadian Mosquito pilot! 

St. Catharines July 1941

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Updated 25 April 2021

What more can I say…

November is a good time to remember… what happened in July 1941.

Eugène Gagnon did not die in a plane crash while training in a Fleet Finch like LACs Fetherston and Davie.

I will tell you how he died later.

Eugène Gagnon is on a picture his nephew Jacques Gagnon shared with me in 2011.

At first I thought that photo was taken at No. 4 Manning Depot in Quebec City. I had quickly identified Eugène.

I had this other picture which Jacques Gagnon shared.

There was something written on the back…

Pretty easy to identify who were on it and where it was taken thanks to Eugène’s handwriting.

Front : Nadeau – McGuire

Back : Reardon – Sweet – Cloutier

St. Catharines Ont July 41

Back in 2011, I had figured the group picture was taken later when Eugène was posted to No. 4 Manning Depot.

I wished I had known Cam Harrod back then. Cam’s father was an instructor with No. 9 EFTS St. Catharines.

Who Remembers LAC Thomas B. Fetherston?

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As I said yesterday November is a good time to remember…

Before I pay homage to Eugène Gagnon I have this question for you.

Who remembers LAC Thomas B. Fetherston?


Thomas B. Fetherston never went overseas.

He broke his neck.

He is buried in Prospect Cemetery in Toronto.

I did a little research on the Internet…

Guess what?

You can get access to his file for only 8 pounds a month. Of course you can get access to 4 million other files.

What more can I say…? This…!

Sometimes people have strange ways to pay homage to the fallen.

What more can I say…? Click here!

Windsor Mills September 1942

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November is a good time to remember… what happened on September 5, 1942.

Students Pilots Lost Lives As Planes Crashed in Mid-Air

First accident at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills…

Two LACs: Thomas B. Fetherston and James Robertson Davie. They never went overseas.

They are buried in Prospect Cemetery in Toronto.

Most instructors and staff pilots with BCATP were desperately wanting to go overseas and fight the nazis like Eugène Gagnon did when he enlisted in 1941.

Who is Eugène Gagnon?

I will tell you next time.

Windsor Mills 2011

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Sometimes you meet someone and it leads you to unchartered waters…

I have been waiting for the right moment to start this blog about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

In 2011 I went on a field trip with a friend, Marcel Bergeron… He acted as a guide.

I had known about the old St-François-Xavier airport since 2010 when I met Marcel for the first time. Marcel flew there in 1945!

I had to go!

Little did I know then that I would make contact with Cam Harrod in 2012 and start sharing what I have found about Windsor Mills.

Not that I have found that much.

But you have to start somewhere don’t you.

All clear!

Contact!

Click here…

Ground Crew at Windsor Mills

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This man was a ground crew at No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills.

No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills was in fact located at St-François-Xavier, a small town north-west of Sherbrooke, Quebec. 

He is posing in front of a Tiger Moth. This picture was sent last week by a contributor. He identified the man as Yvon Goudreau.

Mario Hains also contributed this picture.

These I found on the Internet.