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McHardy, Malcolm (Sergeant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-August-07

Birth Date: 1919-May-19 (age 25)

Born: Sangudo, Alberta

Son of James and Lealia May McHardy, of Lac La Biche; Alberta.

Husband of Maurine Velma McHardy and father of Ronald Gordon, of Edmonton, Alberta. Sgt McHardy was employed as a civilian training instr

Home: Lac La Biche, Alberta

Enlistment: Edmonton, Alberta

Enlistment Date: 1940-12-30

Service
RCAF
Unit
1 AOS- Air Observer School
Base
Malton, Ontario, Canada
Rank
Sergeant
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
Pilot
Service Numbers
R/86572

Anson Mk. I / IV W1729

BCATP Training 1944-August-07 to 1944-August-07

Anson aircraft engaged in mutual instrument practise when it crashed two miles north of Markham, Ontario. Both airmen were killed in the crash.

In 1944 Lee Williamson was 10 years old and was staying at his grandparents farm just north of Markham in Mount Joy. farm is now the cite of The Markham Museum.

He and another boy (Harold was his name) were playing in the hay mow at Harold's farm on the south side of the highway. They heard a mighty roar and then an explosion. They looked out and saw a yellow plane doing a loop in the sky and then saw it cross the road and disappear. They ran to the site of the crash and saw a lady hanging out her laundry. She had covered the bodies with sheets and Lee remembers seeing a hand sticking out. They were told to go home. Jean Williamson, wife of Robert Lee Williamson (goes by Lee).

Canada Primary Source School Daily Diary Entry – 1944-08-07

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)

Burial
Google Map Claresholm Cemetery, Canada
Block 14 Lot 7 Grave 2

Crew on Anson Mk. I / IV W1729

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. I / IV W1729

To No. 3 Training Command on 10 July 1941, for use by No. 31 General Reconnaissance School at Charlottetown, PEI. To Eastern Air Command with this School on 5 November 1941. Category C14 damage at Charlottetown at 14:35 on 11 March 1942. Anson N9938 was swung by a heavy gust of wind while taxiing, and struck this unoccupied aircraft. To Canada Car & Foundry for overhaul and conversion to Mk. IV, 10 March to 8 September 1943. To No. 1 Training Command when completed, for use by No. 1 Air Observer School at Malton, Ontario. Still with this School when it suffered a Category A crash on 7 August 1944. Ownership to No. 6 Repair Depot on 11 August 1944 for scrapping.
1941-05-27 Taken on Strength Canada Car & Foundry 2019-08-20
1942-March-11 Accident: RAF CHARLOTTETOWN Loc: Aerodrome Names: Giles | Grant | Mcnulty | Moore
1944-August-07 Accident: 1 Air Observer School Loc: Markham Township Names: Bruce | Mchardy
1944-09-15 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20

1 AOS- Air Observer School (1 Air Observer School)

Air Observers were later called "navigators". For recruits in this stream, the training path after ITS was 8 weeks at an Air Observer School (AOS), 1 month at a Bombing & Gunnery School, and finally 1 month at a Navigation School. The Air Observer schools were operated by civilians under contract to the RCAF. For example, Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were run by CP Airlines. However, the instructors were RCAF. The basic navigation techniques throughout the war years were dead reckoning and visual pilotage, and the tools were the aeronautical chart, magnetic compass, watch, trip log, pencil, Douglas protractor, and Dalton Navigational Computer. They trained in the Avro Anson.
No. 1 Air Observer School. Dominion Skyways (Training) Ltd. Malton, Ontario.

The School was established at Malton, Ontario. The former school is now the Toronto (Pearson) International Airport.

More information on the RCAF Station at Malton can be found at

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Malton Ontario

  • General Wartime Canada - Wings presentation December 1943

    • 1940-05-27 Primary Location Malton ON Canada Now site of Toronto International Airport CYYZ

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