Cochran, Robert Hearne
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-01-14
Birth Date: 1916-April-16
Born: Pudacah, Kentucky
George A. Cochran & Martha Wilson Cochran
Home: Buffalo, New York, USA
Enlistment: Windsor, Ontario
Enlistment Date: 1941-04-21
Service
RCAF
Unit
1 GRS- General Reconnaissance School
Base
RCAF Stn. Malton, Ontario
Rank
Sergeant
Position
Sergeant
Service Numbers
R/98168
First Burial
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario
Anson 6739 was on a navigational exercise. While en-route, the left hand engine failed and the pilot could not maintain altitude. He ditched the aircraft in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the Magdalen Islands. The aircraft sank in approximately 20 minutes, but the four crew made it safely into a dinghy. They were later sighted by a search aircraft and the two RCAF and two RAAF crew members were rescued by a boat that was directed to them.
Crew:Sergeant R H Cochran RCAF R/98168 pilotWarrant Officer Class 2 J A McKay, RCAF R/50463 Wireless Air GunnerSergeant C J Turner RAAF traineeSergeant W P Watts trainee.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comThis incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. I Serial: 6739
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Anson 6739
Avro Anson
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
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 
Avro Anson History1 GRS (1 General Reconnaisance School)
The General Reconnaissance School trained pilots and air observers in the techniques required for ocean patrol. It was the equivalent to an Operational Training Unit (OTU), and last stop before aircrew were assigned to operations. The topics included DR Navigation, Astro Navigation, Compasses and Instruments, Meteorology, Signals, Reconnaissance, Coding, Ship Recognition, Aerial Photography, and Visual Signals.
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Summerside PEI
Anson 6739
Anson Mk. I 6739
Ex RAF W2528. To No. 1 Training Command on 6 August 1941, for use by No. 16 Service Flying Training School at Hagersville, Ontario. Category B crash at 15:30 on 11 May 1942, at St. Williams, Ontario (about 40 miles west-south-west of Dunnville, on the Lake Erie shore near Long Point). Struck trees while attempting a forced landing. To de Havilland for crash repairs, 14 May to 27 July 1942. To No. 1 Training Command when completed. Category A crash on (or before?) 23 August 1943. To No. 6 Repair Depot for write off.1941-07-12 Taken on Strength de Havilland Canada 2019-08-20
1942-May-11 Accident: 16 Service Flying Training School Loc: St Williams Ontario Names: Griffin
1943-January-14 Accident: 1 Air Observer School Loc: Names: Barnett | Bricker | Cochran | Miller
1943-11-19 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20