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Trussler, Duncan Mckenzie (Leading Aircraftman)

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-07-19

Male Head

Birth Date: 1919-01-06 (age 24)

Son of Milton and Olive Victoria Maud Trussler, of Red Deer; husband of Ethel Adene Trussler, of Calgary.

Husband of Ethel Adene Trussler, of Calgary.

Home: Red Deer, Alberta

Service
RCAF
Unit
14 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
Aylmer, 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
aero engine mechanic
Service Numbers
R/121100
Harvard aircraft 2554 and Harvard 3003 were engaged in a night test when they were in a mid-air collision. Harvard 2554 was flying straight and level at 5,000 feet when Harvard 3003 came up from ahead and underneath and struck 2554 at the rear of the fuselage rendering the controls of 2554 useless. The occupants of 2554 parachuted to safety but 3003 crashed seven and one half miles north-west of Aylmer. LAC Trussler and P/O J.D. Seagram were both killed in the crash.

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. Harvard Mk.II 3003
  2. Harvard Mk.II 2554

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

Crew on Harvard Mk.II 3003

There were no casulaties listed on Harvard Mk.II 2554

North American Harvard NA-26 NA-44

North American Harvard Mk. IV
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The North American Harvard appeared in 1937, in response to a US Air Corps proposal for an advanced trainer. The first of 50 Harvard Mk. Is ordered by the Canadian Government were delivered to RCAF Sea Island, BC in July 1939. By early 1940, the Mk. II was being assembled in California with an all metal fuselage replacing the original tube and fabric structure. 1200 Mk. IIs were supplied from US sources, until Canadian built Harvards started being produced in 1941.

In August 1938, Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal farsightedly signed an agreement with North American, to build the Harvard under licence. When the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) came into being in December 1939, Noorduyn received its first orders and went on to produce nearly 2800 Harvard Mk. IIBs for the RCAF and the RAF, between 1940 and 1945. In Canada, Harvard Mk. IIBs were used as advanced trainers with the BCATP at fifteen Service Flying Training Schools across the nation. They helped pilots make to the transition from low powered primary trainers, like Fleet Finch or the de Havilland Tiger Moth, to high performance front line fighters such as the Spitfire.

At the end of WW II, although the RCAF retained the Harvard as a trainer, a large number of them were sold off to civilian operators. The RCAF soon regretted this, for by 1949 the Cold War with the Soviet Union was in full swing and the RCAF urgently needed trainers again. 100 T-6J Texans were leased temporarily from the USAF and a further 270 Harvards, the Mk. IV version, were ordered from Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay. The RCAF used the Harvard Mk. IV for a further fifteen years, before finally retiring it in 1966.

A total of 20,110 Harvards were built between 1938 and 1954, 3,370 of them in Canada. Countless numbers of privately owned Harvards are still flying today.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Harvard Mk. IV was built by Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay, Ontario in late 1951. The aircraft saw service at four RCAF flying schools across the nation until it was sold to a civilian owner in 1965. It was the third aircraft to join the Museum after Dennis Bradley, Alan Ness and John Weir donated it in 1973. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

YouTube Harvard Advanced Trainer

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Harvard Advanced Trainer

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF On Strength (2196), RCAF 400 Squadron (1), Canadian Aircraft Losses (374), RCN On Strength (3)
last update: 2021-10-19 20:12:13

Harvard Mk.II 3003

With No. 14(F) Squadron on 10 January 1942. With No. 14 Service Flying Training School at Aylmer, Ontario when it collided with Harvard 2554 of the same school on 19 July 1943, 7.5 miles north and 1.75 miles west of town of Alymer. Pilot Officer Seagram (an American in the RCAF) and LAC Trussler killed. Occupants of other aircraft parachuted and survived.
1941-03-29 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1941-July-21 Accident: 11 Service Flying Training School Loc: Calder Saskatchewan Names: Kreuger
1942-November-08 Accident: 2 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Binion | McCullock
1943-March-30 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: R1 Yarmouth Ont Names: Burton | Gore
1943-July-19 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aylmer Names: Molesworth | Seagram | Trussler | Wilson
1943-07-31 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares. 2019-08-20


Harvard Mk.II 2554

Category B damage on 2 June 1941 while at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, Uplands, Ontario. Also served at No. 6 Service Flying Training School, Dunnville, Ontario. With No. 14 Service Flying Training School at Aylmer, Ontario when it collided with Harvard 3003 of the same school on 19 July 1943, 7.5 miles north and 1.75 miles west of town of Alymer. Occupants of this aircraft parachuted successfully.
1940-08-30 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1941-April-27 Accident: 2 Service Flying Training School Loc: Amsterdam NY Names: Gain
1941-June-02 Accident: 2 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Hayward | Owen
1943-January-23 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Bunning | Schatte
1943-January-26 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Rosenberg
1943-April-07 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: East Of New Glasgow Names: Ellis
1943-May-12 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Powell | Strathy
1943-July-19 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aylmer Names: Molesworth | Seagram | Trussler | Wilson
1943-07-31 Struck off Strength Struck off after crash 2019-08-20

14 SFTS- Service Flying Training School (14 Service Flying Training School)

Graduates of the EFTS "learn-to-fly" program went on a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) for 16 weeks. For the first 8 weeks the trainee was part of an intermediate training squadron; for the next 6 weeks an advanced training squadron and for the final 2 weeks training was conducted at a Bombing & Gunnery School. The Service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the RAF.

There were two different types of Service Flying Training Schools. Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 14 Aylmer, where they trained in the North American Harvard or North American Yale. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 5 Brantford where they learned multi-engine technique in an Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.

SFTS14 Aylmer ON

For More Information on RCAF Station Aylmer see here

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Aylmer ON

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field St Thomas ON

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Tilsonburg ON

  • General 14 SFTS Aylmer ON History

  • Museum Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum - 14 SFTS Aylmer ON

  • SFTS 14 Moved from Aylmer ON to Kingston ON 14 August 1944

    For More Information on RCAF Station Kingston see here

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Kingston ON

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Ganaoque ON

  • RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Sandhurst ON

  • 1941-07-03 Primary Location Aylmer On Canada Abandoned now Ontario Police College.
    1941-07-03 Relief Field Tillsonburg ON Canada Current location of Tillsonburg Airport CYTB
    1941-07-03 Relief Field St Thomas ON Canada Current location of St Thomas Airport CYQS
    1944-08-15 Primary Location Kingston ON Canada Current site of Kingston Airport CYGK
    1944-08-16 Relief Field Ganaoque ON Canada Current site of Ganaoque Private Airport
    1944-08-17 Relief Field Sandhurst ON Canada Current site of Lennox Power Generation Station

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