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Finniss, Charles Harold (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1942-July-10

Birth Date: 1921-November-30 (age 20)

Born: Vancouver, British Columbia

Son of Charles Bryson Finniss and Hallie May Finniss, of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Home: Vancouver, British Columbia

Enlistment: Vancouver, British Columbia

Enlistment Date: 1941-02-24

Service
RCAF
Unit
10 (BR) Sqn- Squadron
Rank
Flight 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
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
R/92328

Digby Mk. I 739

Convoy Patrol 1942-July-10 to 1942-July-10

(BR) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Gander, Newfoundland

The crew of Digby Mk I 739 were engaged in guarding a convoy as it passed through the Strait of Belle Isle when they crashed in the Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland.

Aircraft failed to return. Wreckage was not found until August 1956, when it was found by RCMP Beaver CF-MPN, 20 miles east of Port Saunders, Newfoundland and a demolition party had to destroy some unexploded depth charges that were strewn among the wreckage before the bodies of the crew could be brought out for burial. All were buried with full military honours.

Killed: Pilot Officer D E Corey RCAF J/9325 KIFA Pilot Officer G T Crerar RCAF KIFA Pilot Officer E J Padden RCAF KIFA Pilot Officer S S Stubbs RCAF KIFA Sergeant T H Few RCAF KIFA Flight Sergeant C H Finnis RCAF KIFA

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Google MapVancouver, British Columbia
Burial
Google MapGoose Bay Military Cemetery
Sec A Plot 5 Grave A

Digby 739

Pilot Officer Corey, Douglas Earle (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
St John's Joint Services Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Pilot Officer Crerar, George Taylor (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
St John's Joint Services Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Sergeant Few, Tomas Harold (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
cemetery unknown

Flight Sergeant Finniss, Charles Harold (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
Goose Bay Military Cemetery, Dakota Drive A0P 1C0, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada

Pilot Officer Padden, Edwin Joseph (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
St John's Joint Services Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Pilot Officer Stubbs, Stanley St George (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1942-July-10
St John's Joint Services Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Douglas Digby

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3581607) (Source Harold A Skaarup web page)
Douglas Digby Mk. I, RCAF (Serial No. 740), coded R, No. 10 (Bomber) Squadron, RCAF.

The RCAF acquired 20 Douglas Digby Mk. I in 1940. These were American twin engine B-18A Bolo bombers which served during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Digby, named after the RAF school of bombing at RAF Digby, was based on the Douglas DC-2 airframe. The RCAF Digbys were immediately issued to No. 10 Squadron to replace the squadron's Westland Wapitis, to carry out anit-submarine patrol duties. RCAF Eastern Air Command (EAC) Digbys carried out 11 attacks on U-boats. U-520 was confirmed sunk by Flying Officer F. Raymes' crew of No. 10 (BR) Squadron, on 30 October 1942, east of Newfoundland. The Digby antisubmarine role was relatively short-lived, and they were superseded in this role in 1943 by Consolidated B-24 Liberators, which had a much heavier payload and a substantially longer range which finally closed the mid-Atlantic gap. Harold Skaarup web page

YouTube Digby bomber

Wkikpedia Wikipedia, Digby bomber

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF Owned (20) Canadian Crewed (5)
last update: 2021-09-06 14:28:30

Digby Mk. I 739

First used at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. To RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario from 24 May to 31 July 1940, then back to Rockcliffe. To stored reserve with Eastern Air Command at Halifax on 9 August 1940. Issued to No. 10 (BR) Squadron at RCAF Station Dartmouth, NS on 14 December 1940. Also used by A flight of this Squadron at RCAF Station Gander, Newfoundland. Coded "P". Disappeared while on patrol on 14 July 1942. Wreckage not located until August 1956, when it was found by RCMP Beaver CF-MPN, 20 miles east of Port Saunders, Newfoundland.

1939-12-29 Taken on Strength No. 1 (E) Depot 2019-08-20
1942-July-11 Accident: 10 Squadron Loc: Rcaf Stnorth Gander Names: Corey | Crerar | Few | Finnis | Padden | Stubbs
1942-12-07 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20

10 (BR) Sqn ()

Battle honours

The Second World War

NORTH-WEST ATLANTIC, 1940-1945.

Lineage

Authorized as ‘No.10 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron’ 1 April 1938.Footnote1

Redesignated 'No.10 (Bomber) Squadron' 28 August 1939.Footnote2

Redesignated 'No.10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron' 1 September 1939.Footnote3

Disbanded 13 August 1945.Footnote4

Notes:

No lineal connection with '10 Experimental Squadron', of 1967-70. See 10 Experimental Squadron.

Operational history

The Second World War

The squadron flew on anti-submarine operations on the Atlantic Coast under 'Eastern Air Command'.Footnote5

Footnotes

Footnote 1

GO 48/38. Authorized but not formed (AFGO 19/39)

Footnote 2

AFGO 41/39

Footnote 3

AFGO 57/39\

Footnote 4

Secret Organization Order 279, 4 August 1945, file S.17-10-1 (DOE), Kardex 181.009 (D5432)

Footnote 5

AFGO 25/40; Statement and Organization Charts for the Home and Overseas War and BCATP Organization, 15 April 1942, file S.8202, Kardex 181.002 (D421); Memorandum, Notes for CAS, Appendix A, 12 September 1939, Document Collection 77/543

Government of Canada

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