Remembering LAC Kenneth Edgar Heal…
Monthly Archives: October 2017
No.7 Bombing and Gunnery School – Crests
From the collection of Lloyd William Brown, courtesy of his son Bill.
Bill told me that his father bought them while stationed at Paulson, Manitoba.
19 May, 1942 – No.9 B&G School, Mont-Joli, Quebec – Update of the crash scene
Chris Charland on Facebook added a few information about the crash scene.
The accident record cards noted that the aircraft was on a gunnery exercise when it crashed at high speed and burned five miles south-west of St. Eluce, P.Q. Pilot Officer Halamka was originally declared missing and believed killed. He had a total of 30 hours dual and 105 hours solo on the Fairey Battle.
Chris
Then I got thinking five miles south-west of St.Eluce?
Salut Pierre – Lots of spelling mistakes on the accident records cards. St. Luce had no military affiliation during the Second World War according to ‘Abandoned Military Installions of Canada’ Volume 2 – Quebec. It is a highly researched series by Ottawa-based Paul Ozorak. Worth the money if you can find a used copy.
Chris
St. Eluce was a typo of course, but five miles south-west of St.Luce would put the crash in the St. Lawrence River!
So I read the crash report again.
Farmer’s field in Ste. Flavie Parish!
That made more sense to pinpoint where the crash scene was photographed on May 19, 1942.
Collection Leonard E. J. Cote (courtesy Mark Cote)
Collection Leonard E. J. Cote (courtesy Mark Cote)
No. 2 S.F.T.S. Uplands Ont. – Logbook page 1
Note
This post was a draft written more than three years ago. I never got around to post it. I think the time is right.
I wanted to go through every page of Walter Neil Dove’s logbook that his grandson had scanned for me a few years ago. His grandfather was an instructor before being posted overseas.
That’s what I had been planning to do before someone else had shared all those pictures from his grandfather’s collection of WWII pictures. I had wanted to share everything that I could find like what I had written about LAC McLean and LAC Seid on this blog.
Harvard 2658
This picture was taken from this scanned image.
This is the reverse side of every picture.
These images were unique and Greg was sharing them through this blog about the BCATP.
You can use them, but I will ask you to give credits to Greg if you do.
The reason I write this blog is to find relatives of all those who appear in the logbook pages and on the pictures. I will try to post only once a week, but I can’t promise anything because sometimes people share so much it’s hard to keep up.
This being said, here’s the first post about the logbook and the information it contains. The first page shows four student pilots from Course 55.
LAC Nixon
LAC Wright
LAC Scholes
LAC Donald A McLean died in the war, and I wrote a post about him.
The three other student pilots likely survived the war because flight instructor Dove would have added a note. This is what he did with most of the airmen who died in WW II. LAC Nixon and LAC Wright might be hard to find while LAC Scholes might be easier.
There is a pilot with this name that might be him.
Excerpt
Crash site of Royal Canadian Air Force Canso A 11007 revisited
© Dirk Septer 2009
As a ghostly reminder of a long forgotten chapter in World War II history the wreckage of the flying boat sits in the coastal scrub forest near Tofino on Vancouver Island, B.C. Some shreds of fabric hanging down from the aircraft’s ailerons and tail gently move in the breeze. The faded number 11007 near the tail identifies it as the Consolidated Canso that crashed here just before midnight on February 8, 1945.
This Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Canso was just one of several that went down along British Columbia’s rugged and remote west coast. Some crashed in the dense coastal rainforest, while others have never been located and presumably crashed somewhere over water.
What makes the remains of RCAF 11007 (msn CV 285) unique is that the wreckage of this aircraft still sits in the same place where it crashed 60 years ago. This despite the fact that it rests not far from a well-travelled highway and inside one of Canada’s most popular national parks.
Fearing a possible invasion by the Japanese, the Canadian military constructed radar stations and military defences all along the pacific coast. A fleet of patrol bombers were constantly on the lookout for enemy submarines and paper balloon bombs sent over with prevailing westerly winds.
Being part of the Western Air Command and belonging to RCAF No. 6 (BR) Squadron Canso 11007 was built by Canadian Vickers at Cartierville, Que. On October 30, 1943, it was taken on charge. Early in 1945, this aircraft was temporarily assigned to RCAF No. 4 (BR) Squadron at Tofino, detailed to fly search and rescue missions in addition to the monotonous grind of anti-submarine patrols. Some two months after its crash, it was struck off military charge
on April 13, 1945.
On February 8, 1945 around noon, Canso 11007 had left Coal Harbour and flew to Tofino. The weather was quite blustery by the time they landed at this RCAF Air Station on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Several crewmembers then drove to Ucluelet to pick up some engine parts and spent the early evening hours in the Tofino Mess.
Later that day at 2300 hours, the aircraft left Tofino on a routine night patrol on its way to Coal Harbour, the next reconnaissance station further north along the coast. On board the aircraft were 12 personnel, including one WD. (WD, the abbreviation for “Women’s Division” also became the universal nickname for female members of the RCAF). Besides its normal emergency gear and a full load of fuel of about 750 Gal. (3,400 L), the aircraft carried four 250-pound (112.5kg) depth charges.
Almost immediately after take-off from runway 28, before the radio operator even had time to send a routine message, the aircraft’s port engine quit. An attempt to turn back to the airfield failed. While making a 180-degree turn the aircraft lost altitude and started skimming some trees on the edge of a plateau rising up into a hill.
The pilot, F/O Ronnie J. Scholes later said that they were too low to turn and could not gain altitude so he decided to land straight ahead. Scholes managed to slow the plane by pulling it into a full stall landing at impact. He then skillfully pancaked it into the bottom of a heavily wooded hillside only a few miles from the airport.
If the aircraft had touched down a few seconds earlier, it would have ended up in a soft open bog with only a few scrubby pine trees.
19 May, 1942 – No.9 B&G School, Mont-Joli, Quebec
Collection Leonard E. J. Cote (courtesy Mark Cote)
Collection Leonard E. J. Cote (courtesy Mark Cote)
Category A
+ HALAMKA, P/O A.F. (Pilot)
+ ROOKE, Cpl C.J. – RCAF
+ SHAW, LAC I.J. – RAAF
+ WEAL, LAC K.G. – RNZAF
Battle Mk. I
Ex RAF L5207.
Serving at No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mt.-Joli, PQ at time of crash.
first date: 22 July 1941
last date: 3 July 1942
Taken on strength
Struck off, after Category A crash on 19 May 1942
Accident report
About the pilot (body never recovered)
About the accident (Rooke’s death certificate)
Clarence Rooke was a teacher before he enlisted.
About the other two airmen
Name: WEAL, KENNETH GEORGE
Initials: K G
Nationality: New Zealand
Rank: Leading Aircraftman
Regiment/Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force
Age: 19
Date of Death: 19/05/1942
Service No: 413287
Additional information: Son of Arthur Thomas Weal and Christina Weal, of Pukeatua, Auckland, New Zealand.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Lot 34. Grave 1.
Cemetery: METIS BEACH (UNITED CHURCH) CEMETERY
Name: SHAW, IRWIN JACK
Initials: I J
Nationality: Australian
Rank: Leading Aircraftman
Regiment/Service: Royal Australian Air Force
Age: 27
Date of Death: 19/05/1942
Service No: 413494
Additional information: Son of John Henry and Emelie Shaw; husband of Kathleen Mary Shaw, of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Lot 34. Grave 2.
Cemetery: METIS BEACH (UNITED CHURCH) CEMETERY
Summer 1942 – No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mont-Joli, Quebec
Updated 21 May 2021
Original post
Courtesy of Mark Cote whose father, Leonard E. J. Cote was a air gunner during World War Two.
More tomorrow.
On this photo, this is the information David Young added…
Fairey Battle S/N 1794 of the 9 B&GS at Mont Joli……
On the 4th July 1942, the Battle 1794 struck the airfields boundary fence during its take-off and the undercarriage sustained damage. During the subsequent landing the undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft was damaged further. Initially it was thought repairable but this was not confirmed and the aircraft was cannibalised for spares. The three crew members survived uninjured…..
(Clipped Wings Vol 2)
Unknown Pilot – Update
Four years ago I wrote this about someone whose photo was taken by Eugene Gagnon. I knew he had died in World War II.
From Eugène Gagnon’s collection.
This is not Eugène Gagnon. Only a name found at the back…
Gilles Poudrette
Gilles Poudrette
Only a name just like Eugène Gagnon was just a name back in 2010 when I started my research.
I wonder who is Gilles Poudrette.
I wonder if this is Gilles Poudrette…
In memory of
Leading Aircraftman
Leading Aircraftman
JOSEPH GILLIES POUDRETTE
who died on October 23, 1943
Military Service:
- Service Number: R/104609
- Age: 21
- Force: Air Force
- Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
- Division: 432 Sqdn.
Additional Information:
Son of Mr. and Mrs. O. Poudrette, of West Sherbrooke, Province of Quebec, Canada.
Update 74 years later…
Gilles Poudrette was not a pilot but an airframe mechanic.
His record of service tells how he died in England.
June 23, 1942 – No.7 B&G School, Paulson, Manitoba
A day in the life of Sergeant Eugène Gagnon and Lloyd William Brown…
Collection Jacques Gagnon
(nephew of Flight Lieutenant Eugène Gagnon DFC)
From a page in Lloyd William Brown’s logbook.
Courtesy Bill Brown
Remembering Lloyd William Brown (1913-2017)
Lloyd William Brown was a staff pilot in Paulson, Manitoba.
LLOYD WILLIAM BROWN February 28, 1913 – May 8, 2017 Lloyd Brown passed away peacefully at Riverview Health Centre. He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Alice; his sons, Richard (Judy) and Bill. Left to mourn his loss are his grandchildren, Sarah (Keith), Craig (Laura), Glen (Laura), Justin and Andrew, as well as his great-grandchildren, Colleen and Kyle McConnell and Cailan and Camille Brown. Lloyd was born on a large farm just outside of Winnipeg’s West perimeter. He had many happy memories of his time on the farm, helping his parents, Peter and Emma, playing with his four siblings and skating on Sturgeon Creek. One of the greatest highlights in Lloyd’s life was during the Second World War when he was a Flight Lieutenant, training hundreds of airmen. His postings included many areas of Canada and England.
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan 