Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum logo

Click on CASPIR logo to go to the entire CASPIR system.

Use the panel to:

  • select Optional Sections
  • Remove Page Breaks, that is, return to the non-print formatted document.
  • Click on the ⇩ to go directly to that section.

Burke, Gordon Cragg (Leading Aircraftman)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-August-18

Birth Date: 1921-June-22 (age 21)

Born: Toronto Ontario

Son of Wolsely Stewart Burke and Alice Irene Burke, of Toronto.

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
1 BGS- Bombing & Gunnery School
Base
Jarvis, Ontario, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
R/148501
Anson aircraft 8207 was engaged on a low-level bombing exercise near target B3 at Evans Point, Lake Erie and had completed the exercise when it collided with Fairey Battle aircraft 1604 which had just completed a gunnery exercise. The collision occurred at about 2,500 feet and both aircraft went into a spin, the Fairey Battle crashed into the lake in about ten feet of water and the Anson crashed on shore and burned. Both aircraft were completely demolished, LAC W.M. Kirkby, LAC A.C. Reed, and Sgt J.W. Whitehead (RNZAF) were killed in the Fairey Battle. F/O Poole, LAC J.A. Lefurgey, and LAC G.C. Burke were killed in the Anson.

Canada Primary Source School Daily Diary Entry – 1942-08-18

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Find-A-Grave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

  1. Anson Mk. II 8207
  2. Battle Mk. I / IT 1604

All the aircraft in the above list are in this report.

Crew on Anson Mk. II 8207

Crew on Battle Mk. I / IT 1604

Avro Anson

Avro Anson Mk. V
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Museum's Anson Mk. V was built by MacDonald Brothers in Winnipeg in 1944. It flew with No. 7 Photographic Wing and No. 414 Squadron in Ottawa on photo survey work until the late 1940s. In 1956, it was purchased by INCO and used for mineral surveying until 1980, when it was donated to the Museum. The exterior is painted in the yellow colour common to all BCATP trainers and is in its same wartime RCAF markings.

The Avro Anson was known by a number of nicknames including "Faithful Annie" or "Flying Greenhouse". It was the first aircraft to be flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force to have a retractable undercarriage, which was a comparative novelty in 1936. In 1940, a Canadian government owned company, Federal Aircraft Limited, was created in Montreal to manufacture the Anson for Canadian use. Nearly 3,000 Anson aircraft were produced and, in the early days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the Anson was the standard trainer for many pilots, observers (navigators), wireless operators and bomb aimers. More than 20,000 aircrew received training on the Anson. In Canadian service, the aircraft was substantially re-designed with the substitution of North American engines and many other airframe and equipment changes. Harold Skaarup web pages

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Avro Anson History

YouTube Avro Anson Construction

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF On Strength (4404), RCAF 400 Squadron (6), Canadian Aircraft Losses (257)
last update: 2022-02-22 21:45:24

Anson Mk. II 8207

Delivered to stored reserve, issued from storage on 4 May 1942. First assigned to No. 1 Bombing & Gunnery School at Jarvis, Ontario. Still with this School when it crashed on lake shore near Evans Point on Lake Erie at about 17:00 on 18 August 1942, after a mid air collision with Battle 1604 from the same School. Burned after crash, pilot Flying Officer M. Goole and two students killed. To No. 6 Repair Depot for write off.
1942-04-15 Taken on Strength No. 1 Training Command 2019-08-20
1942-August-18 Accident: 1 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Burke | Kirkby | Lefurgey | Poole | Reed | Whitehead
1942-10-29 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20

Battle Mk. I / IT 1604

Ex RAF N2158. TOS 24 Feb 1940 at Trenton. To No. 1 Training Command, for AAS. Collided with #1814 3 m W of Fisherville, ON, 9 Dec 1941; landed safely. Collided with Anson 8207 of the same School over the range near Evans Point, on the Lake Erie shore, at 17:00 on 18 August 1942. This aircraft spun into the lake. Sgt J.W. Whitehead, LACs AC. Reed and W.M. Kirkby were all killed. SOS 27.10.42. Cat “A” write-off.
1940-02-24 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1941-December-09 Accident: 1 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Fisherville Ontario Names: Agnew | Barber | Bounds | Gould | Gray | Mitchell
1942-August-18 Accident: 1 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Burke | Kirkby | Lefurgey | Poole | Reed | Whitehead
1942-10-27 Struck off Strength Struck off, after Category A crash on 18 August 1942. 2019-08-20

1 BGS- Bombing & Gunnery School (1 Bomb and Gunnery School)

The Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) offered instruction in the techniques of bomb aiming and aerial machine gunnery to Air Observers, Bomb Aimers, and Wireless Air Gunners. These schools required large areas to accommodate their bombing and gunnery ranges, and were often located near water. The Avro Anson, Fairey Battle, Bristol Bolingbroke, and Westland Lysander were the standard aircraft used at B&GS schools.
1944 Navigation chart showing RCAF Jarvis and surrounding area. from: http://www.flightontario.com/BCATP/bcatp-schools.htm

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Jarvis Ontario

  • General RCAF Jarvis Blog

    • 1940-08-19 Primary Location Jarvis Ontario Canada Now site of Imperial Oil Refinery

    © Canadian Warplane Heritage 2024

    To search on any page:
    PC — Ctrl-F
    Mac — ⌘-F
    Mobile — or …