Cooley, John Morgan
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-02-22
Birth Date: 1913-July-24
Born:
William James Cooley & Edith Cooley
Home: Toronto, Ontario (parents)
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
10 AFU- Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Base
RAF Dumfries
Rank
Pilot Officer
Position
Pilot Officer
Service Numbers
J/25764
First Burial
Troqueer New Burial Ground, Dumfries, Scotland
Took off from Dumfries at 20:17 on a night flying exercise. and IR bombing practice.
Aircraft was over the target for IR Bombing purposes at 2320, but this was abandoned due to poor visibility. The aircraft then set a course direct to Base from West Freugh Occult, and crashed into the summit of Cairnsmore Hill, Bardnock Wood, Scotland.
Killed:Pilot Officer John Morgan Cooley RCAF J/25764 KIA Troqueer Cemetery Sec. H. Extn. 2. Grave 113.Flight Sergeant Mervyn Charles Simpson RAF KIA Troqueer Cemetery Sec. H. Extn. 2. Grave 17.WO Jack James Mount Ward RAF KIA Riddrie Park Cemetery Glasgow Sec. G. Grave 38.
Survivors:Sergeant R McLeod RAF pilot seriously injured but recovered.Flying Officer P J LaLonde RCAF nav J/35917 seriously injured but reovered.
Canadian Virtual War MemorialAvro 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 History