Cochrane, Arthur Charles

Killed in Action 1943-03-31

Birth Date: 1919-April-27

Born:

A. O. Cochrane & Helen Cochrane, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Home: Vernon, British Columbia

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Decorations: DFC

Distinguished Service Cross

Service

RAF

Unit

87 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Maximus Me Metuit The most powerful fear me

Base

Setif or Tahir, Algeria

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Flight Lieutenant

Service Numbers

42195

Hurricane Mk IIc HW-619 failed to return from operations in North Africa, cause unknown.

F/Lt A C Cochrane DFC (RAF)(Can) was missing, presumed killed.

Flight Lieutenant Cochrane, a very experienced fighter pilot, had flown Gladiator aircraft with 263 Sqn during 1939/40 and flew Hurricane aircraft with 257 Sqn in the Battle of Britain. He was an ace and was credited with 6 German and 1 Italian aircraft destroyed (www.acesofww2.com, malcolm_raf ww.rafcommands.com).

Flight Lieutenant Cochrane has no known grave and is commemorated on the Malta War Memorial.

Flight Lieutenant Cochrane was BROTHER to Squadron Leader Homer Powell Cochrane DFC MiD (RAF)(Can) who was also an ace fighter pilot and survived the war.

Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc.
Source BBMF
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The Hawker Hurricane is a single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s"“1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Hurricane developed through several versions, as bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers, and ground support aircraft in addition to fighters. Versions designed for the Navy were popularly known as the Sea Hurricane, with modifications enabling their operation from ships. Some were converted to be used as catapult-launched convoy escorts. By the end of production in July 1944, 14,487 Hurricanes had been completed in Britain and Canada.

A major manufacturer of the Hurricane was Canadian Car and Foundry at their factory in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. The facility's chief engineer, Elsie MacGill, became known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes". The initiative was commercially led rather than governmentally, but was endorsed by the British government; Hawker, having recognized that a major conflict was all but inevitable after the Munich Crisis of 1938, drew up preliminary plans to expand Hurricane production via a new factory in Canada. Under this plan, samples, pattern aircraft, and a complete set of design documents stored on microfilm, were shipped to Canada; the RCAF ordered 20 Hurricanes to equip one fighter squadron and two more were supplied to Canadian Car and Foundry as pattern aircraft but one probably did not arrive. The first Hurricane built at Canadian Car and Foundry was officially produced in February 1940. As a result, Canadian-built Hurricanes were shipped to Britain to participate in events such as the Battle of Britain. Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) was responsible for the production of 1,451 Hurricanes. Wikipedia and Harold A Skaarup Web Page


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General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Kestrel Publications Hurricane - Kestrel Publications